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Blue Sky AVA vs. VIN Solutions vs. iMagicLab

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J

JimInMadera

Tie Cut
Jul 5, 2010
12
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Jim
#1
We were just about to sign up with Blue Sky AVA when VIN Solutions called and it sounds like everything the Blue Sky AVA does, VIN Solutions can do and the price was almost the same. Then when looking for reviews on VIN Solutions I found iMagicLab which I know nothing about but supposedly does everything VIN Solutions does, and then some. Who has experience with AVA and one of the other two for comparison purposes and what are your thoughts?
 
#2
Today's CRM purchase is about integration. Integration to your DMS, and integration/certification by/with your manufacturer. Start there first and then do a little investigation for yourself. There are too many great providers to gamble with one that is not certified and integrated. BTW, been doing this for awhile and never heard of Blue Sky for what that's worth.
 
#5
Jim - AVA sounds like an add-on solution to a Lead Management tool. It sounds like it would work in conjunction with iMagicLab or Vinsolutions. I think AVA is more of a competitor for ResponseLogix, but I could be wrong. I didn't see anything about AVA being a Lead Management tool for you to work in. It would be interesting if someone from Blue Sky Marketing or AutoFerret.com would respond in this thread.....hopefully they have their Google Alerts on.

For anyone curious about AVA:
 
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#6
You hit the nail on the head Alex. AVA is not a CRM or an ILM and we have no intentions of developing AVA into either. AVA works as a stand-alone compliment to whatever CRM or ILM dealers are using. AVA is like a personal assistant for each salesperson, identifying the hot prospects, bubbling up the hot leads, engaging the customers, gracefully handing them off to the salesperson and following up with every lead...until they buy or die. AVA makes it possible for salespeople to spend more time talking with their customers and closing deals, and less time leaving messages and sending emails. The results of a pilot study we did with BlueSky showed that AVA increased lead response rate by 270%.

AVA works right along side any current systems and processes in place at the dealership to make sure that every lead truly gets worked until they buy or die. AVA currently does three things: 1. engages the leads (gets a dialog going), 2. sets up a phone appointment for the salesperson, and 3. follows up after the phone appointment to make sure they didn't slip through the cracks. Throughout the process, AVA sends text and/or email alerts to the salesperson at the dealership, letting them know when a lead is 'bubbled up' and ready for their call.

ResponseLogix does something completely different and I don't believe either of us considers the other a direct competitor. VIN Solutions is a partner of ours and I'm not aware of tool in their system that does what AVA does; however, they definitely have the best CRM/ILM on the market.

I don't want to clog up the thread with a huge, wordy response but I'd be happy to answer any questions about AVA. I can be reached offline at (888)633-7738 and by email at [email protected].

Happy Thanksgiving.

Ben Brigham
 
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#7
The main difference between AVA and VIN or iMagic is AVA's ability to continue the (email) conversation with the customer beyond an initial auto responder. Most CRMs and ILMs have the ability to schedule emails to be sent at certain milestones, like when a lead arrives, 6 days later, 30 days later, etc. AVA is an artificial intelligence system that doesn't just send messages based on a schedule but, more importantly, AVA is able to interpret customer responses and take action based on those responses: sending another message right back to the customer (while they are still sitting at their computer) setting up a phone appointment with the salesperson and sending a text alert to the sales person, letting them know that the customer is bubbled up and ready for their call. This process keeps the customer engaged with your dealership. AVA also follows up a couple days after the scheduled phone appointment to make sure the customer talked to the sales person. AVA isn't meant to replace the CRM, ILM or successful processes currently in place. AVA works alongside those systems and processes to engage your customers and keep leads from slipping through the cracks. If you receive 500-1000 leads per month, you can expect an additional 5-10 deals per month with AVA.
 
#9
Not a 1% closing rate Jeff: an Additional 1%-2% on top of the current closing rate. If a dealer is closing 6%-8% of their Internet leads, closing that additional 1%-2% of total leads represents an increase in lead conversion of 12.5% - 33.3%. This is especially significant when you consider these are the leads that are currently slipping through the cracks. It is completely hands-free and maintenance-free: you just set your CRM to forward a copy of your leads to AVA and AVA does the rest.
 
#10
Ben,

There are 2 classes of leads. Those with phone numbers and those without. I can see how AVA can be a productivity saver for leads without phone numbers.


  • Does AVA treat them separately?
    • If so how?

  • Does AVA require the rep to update lead status?
    • For example, I see if AVA does not get a reply, it follows a schedule to get the shopper to reply, what if the shopper has included a phone number and the shopper/sales rep has now moved past emails. What does AVA do in this example?
    • Things happen, like what if the shopper submits a lead, then calls the dealership 3 minutes later? Does the content of the automatic system look like "the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing"? (aka we look stupid). Does the rep need to interact with AVA?

  • Duplicate leads Management?
    • How does AVA recognize and manage multiple leads from a single shopper? Shoppers can send in 2-3 leads after hours (occasionally from multiple sources). Will it send the shopper the same message, or, does it recognize this and merge the replies into a single sdchedule, or, does AVA have a unique schedule for dupe leads?
    • Sometime dupe leads are not back to back, does AVA recognize a 2nd lead from an OLD unsold prospect AND how far back can it look?
      • How many records are needed to line up for a match? Name only? Name and email? Email only?
      • For these un-sold prospects that re-appear (often months later), Does AVA have a special schedule?
  • Prior Relationships
    • And, what if the shopper has a prior relationship with the dealership/sales rep and we have the phone number? We have shoppers that have a working relationship with us that may take offense to AVA not knowing them and asking for their phone number. How does the wording of AVA fit this scenario?

  • Texting reps.
    • How does AVA know who to send the text message to? Does it require the rep to "claim" the lead in AVA to make this work?
    • What are the conditions needed to fire off a Text message? (are all replies text'd to the rep?)

  • Fast Start Option?
    • In 2010, We have 10,600 open prospects. Can your team create a unique import from our CRM where by AVA identifies and labels the status of all these prospects, puts them into groups (to run schedules that fit the group), and AVA takes over all correspondence?
    • How does AVA handle long term idle leads?
 
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