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ADP CRM - Hate It or Love It?

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Alex Jefferson

Alex Jefferson

Bone King
Apr 7, 2009
64
1
First Name
Alex
#1
We are changing over from Reynolds & Reynolds Contact Managment, to ADP CRM in the next 45 days. I have said it before but it is so interesting that out of all the clients that ADP has, I have not seen or heard one good post about their CRM tool wowing anyone.

So I will ask again:

-Has anyone had success or known anyone who has had success using ADP CRM?
-Does the support team actually "support" you do you have to essentially figure out everything on your own?
-Have you used a ILM that integrates "pushes/pulls" with ADP's CRM?

I will do my best to give detailed updates as we transition so the next one who follows suit will have a blueprint on how to make this work.
ADP says that have had lots of upgrades in the last 12 months but we will soon find out if the "upgrades" are practical.

They will either hate me or love me!
 
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#2
I wanted to bring these over from the other thread where things started...

Me said:
That's it! Thanks Matt.

Yep, using two different systems is just stupid. That's what took us to ADP originally. They told us all their modules were ready and we bit. It was also DMS-recontracting time.

Here's my synopsis on using a DMS company as the entire technology bread basket. This synopsis is based off of personal experience with ADP, and may not be the same experience someone else has.

We have too many different technologies for different things: DMS, Inventory Solution (with differing modules), Website, ILM, CRM, Campaign Management, SEM, OEM portals for ordering cars and managing new car inventory, desking tool, F&I solutions, aftermarket solutions, and I can go on and on....not to mention you need some of this stuff to push/pull with the DMS. It boggles the mind that we can actually keep up with all this stuff.

In 2006 ADP told us they had most of this good to go in a package of: ADP DMS, ADP CRM, webVehicle, a phone system, and BZ Results websites. Because of our relationship with Dealer.com we immediately axed BZ Results from the package. And because I was leary of their lack of options for handling Internet Leads there was no way I was giving up iMagicLab ILM.

So, at the time we had:


  • CRM: AutoBase
  • ILM: iMagicLab
  • Web: Dealer.com
  • SEM: ReachLocal through AutoBidSystems
  • Desking: ePencil
  • Inventory: pushing ourselves

We were going to be able to replace AutoBase, ePencil, and have a good inventory module all for a cheaper price than what we had been paying just for AutoBase alone. We could have gone even further with ADP and really reduced our bill....that is, if you factor the very expensive Cisco VOIP phone system out of the equation.

At the end of the day, because these new ADP tools couldn't deliver on our needs, we ended up partnering with HomeNet, DealerTrack, not having a desking tool (major gross hurt) and found we had to buy more Internet Leads because our ADP CRM utilization rate was 63% (the highest in the country according to ADP) and we needed to balance things out with more customers to talk to. So, what was supposed to save us money ended up costing us a lot more.....even when we got the CRM for free.

In retorspect, I believe it is too early to put all your eggs in one basket. I have also discovered that the big companies are too large to move the ship fast enough to be proactive in today's technology world. As you get more advanced they can't pump out solutions quick enough, or if they do, it is such a tangled web/mess of solutions you need a degree in computer programming to figure it out....on top of that, they're all done in the same logic the DMS is written so you have to speak another language to make logical changes.

Even though I am wishing for a single solution, I know it is too early. There are just too many pieces to the puzzle for one company to handle it all. And the puzzle changes all the time. So, I'll continue to bang my head against the wall :banghead: with the frustrations that come from trying to get different systems to work together.....but I have the experience with the "single solution" to know this is the best way to do it right now.


-------------------------------AND here's Alex Jefferson's questions------------------------------

1. Do you have to designate someone to manually send out all emails for the dealership? It doesn't seem to make sense that you cannot setup automated schedules in their CRM other than one sales autoresponse.
2. Can you setup a text notification to go to all salespeople on your internet team so the first person that "grabs" the lead get's assigned the lead?
3. Can you control the times that Automated emails go out on your schedules?
4. If someone walked in the dealership 8 months ago and they haven't been contacted by a floor sales person...when the "new" internet lead comes in does it automatically get assigned to this salesperson or can you define rules of a "non-active" prospect?

--------------------------------- My Response to those ----------------------------------

1. Like when you do a print-run on the postal letters? Not 100% sure because we never sent a single email out of ADP CRM. They didn't have any spam control and they also couldn't work with our Active Directory - they wanted to use our corporate email addresses (@checkeredflag.com) which is never a good idea with a CRM company. So, we continued using our trusty old ILM for the Internet Department & email campaigning and let sales people email customers as they liked through their own corporate account. Back then, they weren't sending much. But I do seem to recall something about email checking from the demo - my thought then was: that's a little Joseph Stalin-ish.....are dealers really that paranoid to request such a feature?

2. :lol: that's a joke right? Did you forget which company we're talking about? They couldn't even get email right.

3. Not sure about how well it works with automated email, but this is the absolute best thing about ADP and I have yet to see another CRM vendor get this right yet: Campaign Manager. If I were you Alex, I would learn how Campaign Manager works as soon as possible because this is where you can overcome the problems with ADP CRM. Nowhere can you get so targeted with your database and be able to do a lot of different things with it. Once you get in there I think you'll start to realize the possibilities.

4. ADP did not have duplicate lead checking of any sort when we were on. They launched an ADP ID system that was supposed to fix all of that, but we left shortly therearter and I didn't get to see whether it really worked or not. You can ask Peg at iMagicLab what she thinks of dealer database imports from dealers who came from a CRM with no duplicate lead checking....I'm sorry Peg....thanks again for all your help getting through that mess :bow:

I think I've done enough ADP bashing in this thread. They still service our DMS and a few other products, but we just had a terrible time on the CRM. If you could fumble it, they did. They certainly tried to get it right for us, but they just couldn't move fast enough. There is definitely some blame on our end as well, but at the end of the day we're much happier now. We have times with our current CRM providers where we take 1 step back, but when it is fixed we end up taking 2 steps forward. With ADP CRM it was just the opposite.
Click to expand...
 
#3
I need help from ADP CRM users. We currenlty use Autobase as our CRM. Autobase has done a decent job with their CRM but there are still a few holes. I am very interested in full intergration. Thus, I am taking a look at ADP CRM. I am told the CRM is new and different from the one I looked at 3 years ago. If anyone can give me insight into the "New" ADP CRM I would greatly appreciate your comments.

I am scheduled to have a one on one this Friday with ADP.
 
#4
Are dealership moved from Autobase to ADP's CRM a few years ago and within 7 months switched back. We were bombarded with complaints and unhappiness. But do take note, car guys are hard to change so the switch back may have not been do to poor performance by ADP CRM. I can say however, what I've seen from iMagic Lab kicks both there butts. We are currently moving to iMagicLab even though we still have a year contract with Autobase....its that good. I would highly suggest checking it out.


Note: I have not been keeping up with ADP's CRM so it may be much improved at this point.
 
#5
I've been using ADP's CRM Since October 2006. I feel I know it as well as anyone could.

It took some getting used to in the beginning because I had been using AVV WebControl via MazdaUSA.

They have made some changes over the last 2 years. Some improvements - some not so much.

I do agree that 95% of the issues I've had with their CRM in the past has been Operator Error.

The support system is hit or miss. For the most part it's a hit. There are a few people there who REALLY know the product inside and out and can help with anything.

When you get someone NEW - You KNOW they're new.

My biggest issue is that ADP makes assumptions about what a dealer "should" use for a process and we don't always agree. (Forced to go into "BDC > Templates > New" to create a broadcast email template instead of making it as you go.

Not a big deal, but something to deal with just the same.

If anyone has questions I'd certainly be available to answer.
 
#6
Blake Arbogast said:
Are dealership moved from Autobase to ADP's CRM a few years ago and within 7 months switched back. We were bombarded with complaints and unhappiness. But do take note, car guys are hard to change so the switch back may have not been do to poor performance by ADP CRM. I can say however, what I've seen from iMagic Lab kicks both there butts. We are currently moving to iMagicLab even though we still have a year contract with Autobase....its that good. I would highly suggest checking it out.


Note: I have not been keeping up with ADP's CRM so it may be much improved at this point.
Click to expand...

You know I've heard the sales pitch before of getting a second better CRM just to pay for the piece of junk first one your stuck in a contract on :) Sounds like your on that plan!
 
#10
(I originally posted this in the wrong place) -

VENDORS DO NOT CALL ME...THIS IS NOT THE OPPORTUNITY TO "MAKE A SALE"

Here are some things to consider about the "ALL-NEW" improved ADP CRM system. I will try to give an unbiased (fact-based) review, based on my 3 week experience.

We started with ADP's CRM about 3 weeks ago (July 17th) and so far I have been less than impressed. I have to say that the salespeople are the best thing about ADP CRM because boy did they SELL us. They spoke about the positives and deflected the negatives or things they truly did not know the answer to.

Here are some things that I am not enthused about: (There are more but I don't have time to write them all).


  • No access CRM access from your home computer unless you have a VPN setup (This has been a huge pain) They also have no mobile solution to counter this issue.
  • After 3 1/2 weeks the data (notes, customer information, etc) has still not transferred over. I'm still waiting on the "smooth" transition in terms of integration. This is one of the things they sold us on "SEEMLESS INTEGRATION"...However, it has been a absolute nightmare. :mad:
  • The system does not have an "out of office setting" You have to manually change the salesperson lead distribution every time someone takes a day off if you don't want them receiving leads. (Alex your right - their system doesn't effectively handle internet leads...one of their support people actually admitted it. I had him cornered off)
  • System only works in Internet Explorer which cuts out Mac users
  • The system cannot send notifications to more than 1 person at a time
  • Cannot forward emails from the system to your mobile device.
  • You have to manually send out ALL emails. You cannot setup fully automated schedules.
  • You must create individual jpg images in a photo editing program for your sales peoples signatures. (This just doesn't make any sense)
  • The templates have very little functionality and don't work properly. ex...If you put a merge field in for (assigned salesperson) when it gets generated it will show last name, first in the actual email that goes out. Also, no merge fields in subject lines of email templates.
  • The notifications don't work properly. I have had a ticket open on this for two weeks. I call everyday and they tell me they are "working on it".
  • Leads come in unassigned all the time which means if someone doesn't manually assign them they just sit there
  • When a lead is reassigned to a new salesperson, no notification goes out to the new person.
  • When unassigned leads come in, only one person can be notified.
  • Must jump back and forth between multiple two/three screens with-in the system to effectively manage contacts (Very cumbersome system)
  • Reporting is suspect but I'm still learning
  • Cannot change source after a vehicle is sold. (There are cases where salesperson does not put in correct source or no source at all)
They also seem to come out with meaningless "upgrades" that take 3 to 4 months to come out. The support staff seems to be very polite but there are only a few that really know there stuff. The others put you on hold - translation (They go ask one of those few people the answer).

In short - ADP CRM has a long way to go to catch up to what I am hearing other CRM vendors in the market "SAY" they can do. Well, come to think of it ADP sales reps claimed they could do a lot of these things and either they cannot or no one there knows how....sorry for the run on sentence but that's what happens when you VENT!:cursin:

Time to get back to work to figure out more WORK AROUNDS!
 
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