Bracing for life without a CRM, help?

[Eley Duke]

The best tool, I have found is a car antenna. It isn't obvious, like a bat, but the effects are immediate but not life threatening.

- Come on Doug, lay off watching too many Quentin Tarantino movie's.

 

[Eley Duke]

Well I'm officially in panic mode. As the ISM here my day to day activities are at very least 50-60% CRM based if not more. I was never an organized person until I began utilizing technology. I am forgetful with short term tasks, so reminders, automated tasks, etc multiply my productivity infinitely. The decision has come down from the top to cut our current CRM. That decision is mostly based on the general lack of efficiency regarding salesman use of the program. This issue frustrates me as well but is really a technicality. The irony is the salesman do complete their daily activities, they just are inconsistent with logging them.

The decision maker's current (mis) understanding of the function of a CRM is daily activity tracking and bulk emails. My request for help would be one of two things...could someone provide some make-shift solutions for internet department/dealership success without a CRM? The other...could someone help me out with an argument as to why removing a CRM from a dealership is devastating to email marketing. His argument is that we have all the information stored in our DMS and we can just import that and find another way to send bulk emails.

Thanks guys and girls. Let me know if you need anymore information.

Jesse, everyone is providing good insight to help you. Its seems to be a knowledge and accountability problem with the decision makers. Take all the info you got here from a lot of very smart people and make a pros & cons sheet for the dealer or GM and meet with them. Explain the pros and cons, make it very simple. Also explain the pros and cons for the sales people. CRM is like a personal assistant for any good salesperson. Why wouldn't your GM want your sales people using CRM so your managers can monitor their daily activities and progress. There is the accountability.

Your decision makers, from the top down, perhaps don't see the big picture with CRM, therefore they don't even know how to hold anyone accountable with CRM. They need to realize as everyone has pointed out how not having CRM will impact daily operations back to the stone age, well, maybe just "Outlook Express" days.

You got your hands full it seems, you got to figure out how to approach the dealer or GM and explain the benefits of CRM to them. I wish you luck!

 

[ddavis]

- Come on Doug, lay off watching too many Quentin Tarantino movie's.

Easy Eley, that was in jest. Not only have I never hit a salesperson, I can't remember a time where I raised my voice.

 

[Sachin Raja]

Try giving Autoraptor CRM a call. We use them and the costs are VERY reasonable. It might not be as robust as some of the more expensive options, but it is something that an individual would be able to pay for out of their pay with ease.

 

[JesseJ]

Sorry for falling off the radar here. Thanks for all the help everyone. I was actually able to save our CRM so luckily it's a non-issue for the time being.