Craig,
I believe in a strict policy concerning maintaining an active tool to manage prospects and customers. My point was those that manage relationship and do not understand the customers experience, will fail. I will monitor Action Toyota and report in social media your progress and throw in a few mystery shops to boot. Best in the New Year.

In regards to stats, I was trying to be conservative on the numbers, thank you John & Jerry for jumping in. I think if you are in a College Town, Higher dollar demgraphic,High-end brand, the percentages will spike to larger percentages. I would say less than 30% of the Dealers can really tell you how many calls, ups, internet leads have come into there stores and created sales, and if it was a be-back or fresh-up with or without a CRM. I can tell you this year has changed a lot of people. Dealers, GM's, Managers, salespeople are starting to pay attention to the reports and functionality and are actually looking forward to our monthly calls.

@John,

John in this context by "hype" I meant the obsession the industry seem to have with social media. Not a bad thing in fact I used it very effectively at motortrendsonline.com, and write about social media quite often.

Secondly I would argue that social media is a separate topic, in fact what salespeople should be doing with CRM they should also be doing with social media.

Engaging customers, answering questions, helping them with issues, and following up on concerns.

Is there something in the list above you would not have a salesperson do with CRM?

The only difference, the conversations that take place in social media do so in public rather than within your CRM system, the good and the bad.

While I DO NOT want to turn the comments in this post to social media, I am compelled to address comments that these things are separate, they are not and in fact social media is closer to CRM than it is to marketing.

@Mitchell

Seems like every post I read lately has something to do with social media. In fact most of my posts lately have been about social media so, I was glad to see one that wasn't about social meida, that's all.

Who's agenda are you referring to yours or mine?

Thanks John. I probably misinterpreted the use of the term "touch you," thinking Guy meant "contact" rather than exposure to the dealership.

@Mitch - I am in dealerships of all sizes, franchised and independent, working with their sales staff every day and, like you, I have been in this business for over 27 years. There are still professionals and not-so-professionals on the sales floor.

I just thought your original assessment was rather derogatory toward salespeople in general and I wanted to point out that it's management's responsibility to hire, motivate and, if necessary, develop professionals rather than lazy salespeople who don't take their jobs seriously.

Hope you have a Happy New year.

Again, phone, Internet and walk-in traffic is NOT mutually exclusive. Internet should account for 80+/-% of all your traffic, walkin, phone etc. If it doesn't your sales people are lying to you or you have a pay plan set up for sales people that makes sure they do.

Alex, Great article. One could write a book on CRM and you've certainly nailed some of the better chapters. This would be a great forum discussion thread.

@lightnup, Thanks for the laugh this morning. You said what I was thinking.

As far as the 60% number by mentioned by Guy, I can validate some of that. I did a study on a little over 100 dealerships using CRM last year. I looked at the percentage of customers who were Walk-in, Internet & phone. Internet represented 40% of the customer base while, phone was around 30%. In any given day other than Saturday, most dealers are logging more Internet & phone-ups than walk-in traffic.

First off, we have the best pay plan of all Acura dealers in our region so we don't "Nickle and Dime". Secondly, when I was a salesperson I had my own CRM called my looseleaf that I carried with me everywhere and followed up regularly so I know there are salespeople out there that can, and do, do a good job. The problem is there are less and less of them. Our sales staff, for the most part, have been here on average over 5 years and are good salespeople. They are not, however, above taking short cuts and "knocking out" their To Do list without actually doing the job. They cherry pick! I've been in this business 27 years and the caliber of salespeople have dropped significantly over the last few years (read Why We Suck Why We Suck! – DealerRefresh). As your new years resolution maybe you should go back to working in a dealership, any dealership, and see the quality of salespeople and then get back to me.

And 60% is a low number - it is actually over 80% that will touch you by Internet alone.

There are a lot of stats out there, and if no one comes back with any I will dig some up for you. BIG key to remember - touching you by Internet cannot be narrowed down to just email. Most online shoppers are 2nd and 3rd generational shoppers and have realized that in-store email processes are really bad, therefore they avoid email. That drive many people to the phone and directly to the showroom. JD Powers stated that over 42% of used internet shoppers do not phone or email but go directly to the store. If you're still only counting emails to measure interactive advertising success you're setting up a risk.

Guy wrote: "Over 60% of all your buisness will touch you by phone or Internet."

Guy, can you please provide the study or documentation for this statement? It contradicts the theory that a vast majority of people arrive at the showroom without having called or emailed first.

Thanks.

@Mitch

Perhaps two of your 2010 New Year Resolutions should be to, 1.)develop a better attitude toward your sales staff and, 2.)have your sales managers stop hiring lazy people who don't take their jobs seriously.

Managers who see their employees as "inherently lazy" tend to be condescending and somewhat dictatorial and end up with lazy employees who don't take their jobs seriously... and who harbor bad attitudes toward management. You get what you expect.

As a professional car salesman who had my own effective CRM processes in place long before CRM became a buzzword, and who was encouraged by management to view my position on the sales staff as if I were running my own business, I disagree with your characterization.

As an aside, valuing your salespeople with a good comp plan and not nickle-diming them with ridiculous packs and other little management "gotchas" will also help you keep motivated professionals who take their jobs seriously. (Not saying your store is guilty of this, but many are and you can usually tell just which ones just by walking in and seeing the caliber of the employees they are able to retain.)

Speaking on both sides of the fence, Dealers and Vendors have a responsibility to making the processes effective. And Alex consolidating systems is a 1st step. Every store has a system or best practices. My dad had a saying in the business. "There is a million systems, but if you deviate, you no longer have a system" So a Vendors job is to understand what the Dealer wants to accomplish and set those processes in place, and if the Dealer gets off track, as a vendor you better monitor let him know his process is breaking down. That is how you become valuable to a Dealer as a Vendor and he looks forward to your input monthly as a Consultant. Dealers should hear from Vendor on suggestions that work in other stores. Do you know what the Dealers benchmarks are? How can you help him raise his penetrations? The biggest process improvement that we see in CRM is making sure the phones are integrated into CRM and those calls are set up on an immediate process or schedule. Over 60% of all your buisness will touch you by phone or Internet. Phone has been lost with the high focus on internet over the last few years. Dealers are now starting to get back to that most basic opportunity. Happy New Year everyone.

Boy it was early when I first wrote this.

Larry,

What this post has to do with Social Media I have no idea so why would anyone bring it up? Personal agendas always get in the way.

Mitchell

I think everyone is living in some kind of dream world. Salespeople are inherently lazy and if left to their own devises would never pick up a phone, send a letter, an email etc. The fact that a CRM exists to "force" them to do a job is reason enough to have one and use it. I believe the point of the article is that it's not good enough to just set it and leave it but to be constantly monitoring your sales staff to make sure they are looking at their "tasks" as people. People who buy cars. Maybe now, maybe later but they do buy cars and the salesperson who maintains a good relationship with their customers (stemming from a good first experience) will be the ones who succeed. I have seen salespeople who never have to take a fresh up and just work their customer base. Unfortunately, I'm seeing less of that. If salespeople took their careers seriously, we wouldn't have to be talking about this. It's up to us, the managers, to insure the future of our dealerships!

Social Media is an entirely other topic, and it is not "hype" that can be ignored. It's not 1984, and marketing a dealership or selling cars in the same way will lead to disaster.

Larry,

What this post has to do with Social Media I have no idea so why anyone would anyone bring it up?

Very glad to see so many still focused on what get the job done and not side tracked with all the social media hype.

Great article Alex and very timely considering all that changes in this business.I agree that smart use of a CRM will help in selling more cars but it is still the processes that make it all happen. Expecting your CRM to do it for you is part of the problem. It;s like behaving poorly getting depressed about it and expecting to take a pill to get better, when you really need behavior modification to break the habits of what got you depressed in the first place.
Too many managers in this business expect a salesperson to just handle their clients with the system the dealership has in place that they really don't even understand. With all of the contact and communication tools out there now it is just plain laziness if you can't stay in touch with a customer and build a relationship with him, and the relationship is what it's about. Make it a good one and they will stay with you. Make them feel cared about and they will be back again and again.CRM's are great and make a job a lot easier in most cases but I have never seen one sell a car.

The biggest problems is that dealers expect CRM tools to sell vehicles for them. CRM tools don't sell cars, people do, but CRM DO make people lazy. No one really considered just how rigid CRM tools are within the follow up process, which, considering the mass fluctuation in customer sales cycles, is a huge risk. Most CRM's simply set a follow up process that blasts out a note every 15, 30, 45 or however many days, which is the same for every customer - whether they are 3 days or 6 months away from a purchase. Also, dealers have unrealistic expectations of their sellers. If you just using a CRM system, thinking that more than 80 leads per month, per seller, is unrealistic. Even the best salesperson can't have over a 9 or 10% closing ratio handling 125 leads per month. You pay for the CRM and you pay for the Leads, it makes sense to pay for the process too. It will increase your ROI on every technology in the lead pipeline. There are process products out there that will maximize the results of your existing technology. Ever hear of ResponseLogix?

Ray,
Although I agree customers remember the experience... I believe this earns you the right to create and manage that relationship through effective process as well as CRM. Do you honestly think customers will just manage themselves because of their good experience?

I'll be the guy "failing" by focusing on creating great process and using our CRM in 2010....watch for us as Acton Toyota.
LMAO, Craig

The next generation requires customer experience management, (CEM). In 2010 those that focus on CRM as a process will fail, customers remember the experience not the relationship.

This was a great article and couldn't be more timely. We are switching CRM's to Vin Solutions January 15th and I've been setting up process after process for every conceivable situation and am ready, as the Internet Director, to work with the salespeople on using our CRM properly. The excuse was always about how bad Higher Gear was and made their jobs more difficult. This article really points out how important quality, consistent follow up is and not just "I completed my to do list. Aren't I great? What's for lunch". Since I got here after they've been using Higher Gear for 10 years it was not an easy switch but now that I'll be here at the ground level of the CRM I'll be able to get the most our the CRM and this article gave some great incite! Thank you!

Alex,
Nice work. Our CRM is the heart of our process as well as our marketing. The best part about it is I get to turn down marketing companies all the time when they promise to make the phone ring by email marketing, snail mail marketing, phone marketing or whatever else comes along.

With the information and email addresses cultivated over the years by salespeople and service writers we have the ability to make the phones ring constantly and consistently. With the only cost being the constant pain of reminding people to ask for an email address.

All the Automotive Technology products available do not make it possible for sustained growth without having a CRM that is used by employees and monitored and supported by management.

Alex,

Great post! You certainly answered the question if not in a round a bout way. The fact is that the CRM process when used sells more cars not the software. Too many dealers and salespeople think that because they have the software they will automatically sell more cars, then they are disappointed when it doesn't happen overnight.

What they didn't do is focus on the process making it more efficient and work the system they just got the tool and kept doing the same ole thing with it.

The definition of insanity - "Doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result." and now with their new CRM tool they can do the same thing over and over much faster!

CRM should cut the ad budget and give salespeople the ability to sell more...WHEN THEY WORK IT. Not when they just input the customer info send out a few letters and make a call or two in the first few weeks of a sale.

In 1984 @ Ron Craft Chevrolet in Baytown TX. I sold 30 cars per month with nothing more than a Clint McGee GOsystem card file. The premise is the same with all CRM apps. "Plan Your Work & Work Your Plan"

Larry Bruce (@pcmguy)