Future of CRM

[Zhendrix]

I love the discussion! CRM is my favorite acronym in our space. (I love acronyms in general so let's roll with that for this rant)

IMO I can't help but laugh when I hear plea's and prayers for technology DISRUPTION. OMG! STFU! Disruption is the only word in our space used more than Co-Op. The daunting challenge we face is this: technology changes so wickedly fast, but humans do not. Let’s face it, if you are praying or pointing the finger at vendors for technology disruption it’s for one of two reasons 1. You are kicking ass and have graduated your current tech stack and need a technology change to grow. OR… (and most us fall here, present company included) 2. You suck at your business and blame tech. In which case I would tell you to GFY and give you a mirror to find your problem. (rant over, kinda)

IRL, we easily accept the benefits of technology but rarely have a clue about the associated consequences leading us to coping problems when things go wrong (and “wrong” feels like a permanent state right now with DR, Direct, Subscription, and Carvana threats/rumors). Remember, humans are still at the core of most of the decisions that are being made, whether that decision is to click a link, set a national cybersecurity policy, or marking a task complete in a CRM.

I’m with Alex in having FAITH but it’s the people that support and love this industry I have faith in, not a shiny startup. I think we should TBT and focus on CTR. CTR being “Choose the Right” not (click through rate, and I don’t mean the right politically either) It’s time to get back to using CRM to just being a good person that just accommodates a consumer’s preferences rather than forcing them to communicate our way. All too often I see dealer’s CRM mindset being YOLO. The only thing YOLO got me was credit card debt.

If you agree, LMK. If you disagree, IDK. If this post made you LOL, even better.

 

[john.quinn]

Wow... (even though I don't understand all the acronyms), some of the best reading I've done here in a long time! Bravo!

We've split the hairs of technology-aided selling down to the atomic level...we're bored. Just take care of your friggin customers and you'll be just fine!

Love it

JQ

 

[Baron Ringler]

I've decided to add the story of ReyRey's attempt to create an all-in-one web-based CRM/DMS/ Sales/Finance/Everything system in 96-97. It's been over 20 years, and some of the details are a bit foggy, and there may be people who dispute the account, but I was there and experienced this personally. It's a great story, although a little long.

I get called in to Dayton, Ohio with a team of other top installers to start debugging a new system being developed, creatively named ERA2. Energizer batteries had just come out with a battery named ERA2, trade-marking the name, and Reynolds had to pay a hefty fee to be allowed to use the name. The plan was to jump so far ahead of the competition that it would take YEARS for them to catch up. Reynolds Executives were having wet dreams about dominating the market and having dealers just lining up to be fleeced; long-term contracts, higher billing, etc.). So to that effect, Reynolds had contracted several companies (Sun, Oracle, Peachtree, Microsoft, etc.), each to work on and program separate areas of dealership ops; parts, service, sales, finance, accounting, document management, etc.) and each of the installers was to begin testing out separate systems and give feedback and suggestions. Why all the different programming platforms? Because Reynolds wanted to move on the whole thing fast. They had just divested the medical side of their business and had money burning a hole in their pockets.

And at first everything seemed to work okay. Service was overly complex, with too many steps, but overall it didn't seem so bad. Running through F&I and Desking, making mock deals, pushing deals, all the fun stuff, it seemed to work great. In fact, it was smooth as silk... until I went to print forms...where are the forms? No forms. They forgot to tell the programmers about forms. They didn't exist. Reynolds goes back to the developers, costs to double and a time-frame of 6 months to a year. Reynolds says that forms were to be included in all costs but the programming company shoves the contract in their face, as Reynolds has done to so many others, and says "Um, no". I think it was Sun on that one, and they weren't just going to throw in all that extra programming for nothing. Regardless, it's hard to deliver cars when you can't print temp tags, or bank contracts, or ATPI's, etc. <STRIKE ONE>.

CRM, by today's standards a mess but revolutionary at the time, although too many steps and contradictions. But at least it was something, right? Parts, I heard no complaints except that it wasn't intuitive. Well, new things often go against learned behaviors and that prevents intuitive learning. Not a big deal in my book, but then again I wasn't using it. Accounting I was told was a disaster, bordering on criminal, and that a run-of-the mill general Accounting system, which it was (no customization for the automotive space), couldn't be made to work with all the different accounts and setups that a dealership may use on a Statement. <STRIKE TWO>

Regardless, we are there to debug and make recommendations. This is still a year or two away from introduction, right? Wrong, because some Einstein had the marvelous idea to actually pilot an install of this system at TWO small dealers groups (I want to say Van Tuyl and a small part of Tuttle-Click, but I may be off on that) and fix things on the fly, even though we haven't fully tested everything. Forms will be printed by re-entering all the information in the old ERA system, and the rest will all be done through the new one. <STRIKE THREE>

Here's where the real fun begins. For the next several weeks nothing goes right and NOTHING can be integrated. NONE of it works with anything else. And the speed of the things that can be done is at a snails pace. All the small items we came up with, like too many steps in service, now rear their ugly head as just another excuse for people to complain. Reynolds tells the dealers that it's because their computers are too old and slow. So these stores dutifully go out and spend $50k to upgrade all the computer systems, buying the latest/greatest processors; the newest and fastest and most expensive computers on the market...no change. We call the developers for each system; no idea. Those of us who were supposed to go in to the field and do other installs on the old system are kept in Dayton. As for Dayton, if you ever have a chance to go there...don't. The problem with Dayton isn't the fact that it's a dump (it is) but the fact that it's a really BIG dump.

Anyways, finally a Parts guy at one of the stores figures it out. Here we are, a group of several dozen, all college educated, well-dressed professionals, left scratching our armpits in confusion while a Parts guy comes up with the solution. Each company contracted to develop the different portions (Parts, Service, Finance, Accounting, and Sales) all used different programming languages: nothing was compatible and none could communicate with the other departments. It was like the old 'pounding a square peg in to a round hole', except that there was no hole to pound in to and no mallet to do it with. Today you can overcome that because there is technology to do it. There wasn't in 1997. <NOW WORKING ON A NO-HITTER>

Whole thing gets scrapped. Although I have no personal knowledge and cannot confirm the number, I was told that it cost Reynolds $40 million dollars; 1997 dollars.. Even if the amount was half that, it's still major coin. It certainly cost a few dozen people their jobs, including a VP. Meanwhile, you just took the top few dozen installers in the country and wasted 8-10 weeks of their time in Dayton, Ohio, trying to polish a turd. The already scheduled ERA1 system installs were left to rookies, inexperienced people, and generally the people who would normally never have been put in charge of an install. It was a debacle took about 6 months, and all the costs involved, to straighten out, leaving the wreckage of dozens of pissed off dealerships in it's wake. <Have now just hit a walk-off grandslam in the bottom of the 9th inning, with two outs and an 0-2 count>.

So if Reynolds has fear of doing anything new, that may be why. <Swept In A Double Header>

 

[Alex Snyder]

Thanks @Baron Ringler for sharing that horror story. Was there a clear leader of the project? Was it a vision by committee?

 

[VVAuto1]

Alex,

Long time no chat! Great thread!!

So we’re talking CRM in the future that’s “built for the future” let’s blow some minds - going from simple ending with holy shit

I would say the crm of the future needs to evolve to become a dealer suite

Sales. Service. Work flows. Marketing flows. Human capital management. Inventory management. Accounting. Desking/ bank submissions. Reporting ( data warehouse)

Specifically

# 1) incorporate live chat directly in crm platform

#2 ) rather focusing on crm being able to send out data for custom reports - allow it to accept data and become a data warehouse

#3) internal social networking ecosystem

#4) true timeclock/payroll/hr management/recruiting/ document warehouse

#5) customers information is already in crm, submit the deal and print paperwork all from system...... Because everyone’s working in 1 system - incorporate finance into workflows.

#6) better collaboration between OEMs/CRMs as it relates to recalls

#7) Better access for customers to view their profile on the go. Viewing - service work, service intervals, we owes, all signed paperwork for sales and service, save payment methods,

#8) for dealerships/dealer groups that have video cameras - incorporate The feeds directly into this app

#9) Activity heatmap of actual dealership by day/time ( I think I just made this up sounds cool!!!)

#10) Number 10, and by far the most radical - yet actually could end up being the future of our industry and necessary to build into the CRM of the future

Begin building the infrastructure for inventory management as it relates to ride sharing utilizing dealership inventory such as flex car

...... is this the crm of the future????

 

[DealerHack]

I agree 100% with everything you said. I've agreed that the customer experience is going to be the key determining factor for future sales. I'm actually a software developer (I currently work for an automotive group), and the state of software in the automotive sector is horrifying. Almost every system I've worked with, I've completely despised (our dealer group uses VinSolutions/CDK). The amount of man hours that are wasted dealing with these systems is completely absurd. I'm currently working on a CRM that addresses all of these concerns, while expanding into what I believe will be the future of automotive CRM and customer experience.

The bar is just set too low for me to not be doing this.

 

[Baron Ringler]

Thanks @Baron Ringler for sharing that horror story. Was there a clear leader of the project? Was it a vision by committee?

I can't remember the name of the VP in charge, but he had made all sorts of promises about deadlines, functionality, etc. So in that aspect, it was a one-man gang. But he was also getting his information from project leaders who were also over-promising, so by the time the whole thing went up to the top the exaggerations of completion were way over the top. The attempt to blame the testers, like me, fell flat because we had nothing to do with deadlines, etc. Upper management was told that we had collectively given the 'ok' to start the pilot, specifically me because I had just completed the only successful pilot install of their ODS F&I ERA upgrade. No one believed them.

So to your point, it was 100% a collaborative effort by middle management, compounded by a VP who wasn't involved enough to know what reality was. All the money they had from the divestiture of their medical forms side was blown on one throw of the dice at the craps table.

 

[DealerHack]

I agree 100% with everything you said. I've agreed that the customer experience is going to be the key determining factor for future sales. I'm actually a software developer (I currently work for an automotive group), and the state of software in the automotive sector is horrifying. Almost every system I've worked with, I've completely despised (our dealer group uses VinSolutions/CDK). The amount of man hours that are wasted dealing with these systems is completely absurd. I'm currently working on a CRM that addresses all of these concerns, while expanding into what I believe will be the future of automotive CRM and customer experience. The bar is just set too low for me to not be doing this.

 

[Baron Ringler]

http://crmomentum.com/

I'm starting to hear about this start-up CRM, based out of California. Anyone know anything about it?

 

[Alex Snyder]

http://crmomentum.com/

I'm starting to hear about this start-up CRM, based out of California. Anyone know anything about it?

Yup. Although I wouldn't classify them as a startup. They've been at it for a while.

The fact that they aren't owned by any of the giants is probably the biggest thing going for them at the moment.