ADP web CRM Software - Who's using it?

[Allan Hadley]

I've read through these postings several times, and just can't help myself. I have to reply.
First, I will admit (?) that I worked for ADP for over 10 years, the last 5 of those going to dealerships to install the CRM product. In the early years, we learned one basic fact: If the dealership(s) did not have a designated person to manage (oversee) the product, it would often fail.
You have Used Car managers to manage the inventory; you don't just wait for vehicles to be traded in. And yes, you will need a CRM Manager, for ANY of the CRM products mentioned.
And that's where I am now. I got "burned out" on the travel involved in installing CRM systems, so I went to work for a dealership group as the CRM and DMS manager. This person doesn't need to spend 8 hours a day on CRM; they can have other duties, such as managing Internet leads, working with DMS users, and any other software programs the dealership wishes to use.
The main advantage of the ADP CRM program is its integration with the DMS. I could try to answer several of the questions that are posted above this reply, but I think most of them have been overcome or are not fully understood by the end user.
Yes, there's a lot of screens and information, but isn't that what we want? We have about 50 salespeople using CRM on a daily basis, and it certainly helps identifying previous Internet Lead customers when they come to the showroom. And all of our dealerships use CRM reporting to help go back over customers who have not yet purchased.
We also do regular "Campaigns" (mostly mailings), Customer follow-up (prospects and sold customers) and Service Reminders to our customers. All through CRM.
Sure, it's not a perfect product, but if you just had ADP train your salespeople and sales managers, and then sat back and watched it fail, maybe it's not all product related.

 

[Ryan]

I had to share my thoughts on w.e.b. CRM...

My dealership has used the w.e.b. CRM from ADP since it was first released. I'll admit that it is better now than it was then...but it is still terrible.

The biggest problem I have with CRM is loss of customer information. At some point during the overnight DMS update, some customer information gets switched (i.e. Customer A that bought a Camry, now suddenly owns Customer B's Tundra, or Customer A's phone and address information is now Customer C's). I've been addressing this issue with support and technicians for months...

To address your specific questions:

What features do you like and/or dislike?
It does do a good job for laying out follow-up through BDC campaigns via phone, mail, e-mail, etc. There is a section on the salesperson's screen that lays out how many phone calls need to be made, who to follow-up with, and all of the other tasks that typically get ignored. There is also a campaign manager that I use for direct mail, which is helpful for tracking direct mail response. One final feature I like is that the CRM will also tell the salesperson if any of his/her assigned customers have a service appointment.

What I don't like is that there is no "skate alert" feature. It's far too easy to work the system and skate each other. Ileads...useless. It's also difficult to learn for some people (just in my observations). Doing some tasks require about a 5-6 step process that has been hard for some salespeople to grasp. This may be more of an issue if you don't have someone available to spend at least an hour or two with a newbie to go through the system.

How would you rate their customer service?
Phone support is ok if the answer is something the support rep can do on the spot, and over the phone. Beyond that, my experience has been that it takes months to get an answer (with daily phone calls and messages). I don't slack off and wait for them to call me back, especially when it's an important issue like customer information getting screwed up! The account reps never answer the phones, or knows the right answer. We've been waiting 2 years to get license scanners in, and we finally have one due to arrive in 2 weeks (pray for us that it shows up).

What ongoing issues have you had with ADP web CRM?
1. Timeliness of support addressing issues
2. Lost/misplaced customer information (by the way...confirmed to NOT be operator/input error)
3. Cumbersome to use - too many steps to accomplish simple tasks

How strong are the Internet Lead Management features?
THe ILM features are basically nonexistent. We do not use CRM for managing our Internet leads because it's so poor, and we found another alternative that helps our reps better manage the leads, and has a lot more options in terms of ways to follow-up. For a bare bones solution that will have a place for incoming leads to land, it's fine. If you want to sell the customers a car, I'd recommend using something else for ILM.

Would you recommend their CRM and Desking tool to other dealers?
I like the answer, "I sure would, to my competitors!" There are better options out there (I'm in the middle of researching replacements) with fewer bugs and (I hope) better customer service. Granted, there are no perfect solutions, but there are far better ones than w.e.b. CRM.

One final thing that irks me about CRM, but could simply just be a peeve of my own that nobody else shares, is that it's limited in the sense that only the sales floor has use for it. F&I, Parts and Service all use a sister program called w.e.b. Suite in their dealings, and information has to get migrated through an overnight DMS update. It's a minor thing, I know, but I simply would prefer there to be one program that can cover the entire house.

 

[Joe Nowicki]

Thank you for your time. I love the functions of web crm in retreiving data. We are using CRM for service reminders, Tracking ROI, BDC nightly programs to generate tasks,Internet Lead Management, monthly campaigns and lastly use the tool to hold people accountable to their jobs.
Once your systems and in place and they are tweaked to the comfort level of the users(employees) all you have to do is maintain your processes. If you are a BDC manager you will need to be in the loop of what is going on in the dealership. This means knowing who is working there and who is not. You need to know mfg. programs and everything that makes the dealership tick. If you just sit in your office and do nothing except campaigns you are just as good as someone not running the system.
One thing I would like, is to be able to generate reports on the fly. What I mean by this is I get to select and create my own reports that give me the results the dealership requires. The reports CRM gives are great but sometimes you need more detail. One example, If you are running service reminders, I would like to track $'s that came in for customer pay or warranty or internal ro's. overall CRM is a great product and like many other responders have said this system is designed to have a manager run and maintain it. Don't forget you are in a position of holding people accountable who might have never been in that situation before. So know your system, know your data and be sure of your results. If you are not you will decrease the value of the CRM product and your position. It's a fun product has some glitches but really works good. If you are good with access you can make this system dance and give you more detailed results from the exported data from campaigns or service reminders. Don't forget DMS aslo gives reports that can be used in conjuction with crm when using access to create more detailed reporting. Lastly If you are thinking of hiring someone for this position don't hire some one with no knowledge of computers, no education, and expect that a greater can give you the results you want. This system will not work and you will become frustrated with CRM when actually it was the employee.
Thanks Joe

 

[Joseph (blog)]

We just started using CRM from ADP...And we are unable to use email....Out of the blue, one day, we are unable to send emails or receive them....Our Admins have been on the phone trying to resolve this issue (2 days now)...Is anyone having similar problems or can offer any ideas would be greatly appreciated...

 

[ian.statler]

Our dealer had ADP crm. 1 word. JUNK! Get rid of it.

 

[Alex Jefferson]

Is there anyone who is currently using ADP for their CRM and ILM. They claim that they have made so many "new upgrades" and enhancements. We are looking into their system because we are possibly moving from Reynoylds Contact Managaement. I am currently Neutral on their (ADP's)CRM system.

 

[Alex Snyder (blog)]

We were on it until about June of 2008. I have heard they made some improvements since then, but if I could pay someone to help me forget the time we were on it, I would.

 

[Dewayne Todalen]

We have been using ADP web CRM for several years. My biggest complaint is the poor ILM tools, however they are working to improve them. Other concerns I have seen or heard are training, primarily access to this training. Poor inventory tools, display integration etc.

 

[Mike Leonard]

I actually use ADP w.e.b. CRM ILM (iLeads) tools and have developed processes to make it usable and profitable (and quick!).

 

[Mike Warwick]

ADP CRM is not the perfect system and I agree with most of the complaints but when a dealer invests $40k+ on a system, they need to put someone in charge of it. It's easy to complain about the systems drawbacks but when it's already in your store, you may want to consider becoming the stores' CRM expert. I've worked in three stores that used this system and I was able to demand more pay in each store because I was able to "make the monkey dance." You also need to demand in store training. If you can have Steve Lincoln come into your store, I highly recommend it!