- May 1, 2006
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Joe Pistell and I were just talking about some data @jon.berna has and it led us down a path of whether a lift in sales can be tracked when the same dealer switches from one CRM to another CRM. I think that answer can be found in time using Jon's software, but it might take months to years to have the right circumstances, and enough of them, to conclude a valid point.
In the meantime we are left with opinions.
I have personally seen sales lifts during my days at Checkered Flag, and again, when we were selling CRM at Dealer.com and Dealertrack. When dealers switched from difficult CRMs like AutoBase, Highergear, CDK, Reynolds, etc. to more modern ones things improved.
I am under the belief that the CRMs that require lots of clicks to perform a task, or ones that do not have good pencil tools, or ones that do not provide the GM decent reporting, or are more utilized as a salesperson babysitting device are hindering a dealership. And lucky for those CRM sales teams that their clients typically are not educated enough, on CRMs, to appreciate just how handcuffed they are.
When these stores do switch to something with a better user experience, buy-in increases and utilization climbs. Buy-in and utilization lead to more follow-up, better negotiations, and smarter marketing. All of those things lead to more sales. Of course, that is just my opinion and I haven't spent a whole lot of time thinking about CRMs
In the meantime we are left with opinions.
I have personally seen sales lifts during my days at Checkered Flag, and again, when we were selling CRM at Dealer.com and Dealertrack. When dealers switched from difficult CRMs like AutoBase, Highergear, CDK, Reynolds, etc. to more modern ones things improved.
I am under the belief that the CRMs that require lots of clicks to perform a task, or ones that do not have good pencil tools, or ones that do not provide the GM decent reporting, or are more utilized as a salesperson babysitting device are hindering a dealership. And lucky for those CRM sales teams that their clients typically are not educated enough, on CRMs, to appreciate just how handcuffed they are.
When these stores do switch to something with a better user experience, buy-in increases and utilization climbs. Buy-in and utilization lead to more follow-up, better negotiations, and smarter marketing. All of those things lead to more sales. Of course, that is just my opinion and I haven't spent a whole lot of time thinking about CRMs