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Reynolds CRM?

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Jpopp1719

Jpopp1719

Green Pea
Dec 21, 2017
3
4
First Name
Jenna
#1
Hello Everybody!

We are currently shopping for a new DMS & CRM System. The idea of 1 system with Reynolds is intriguing for us since we are used to a hub and spoke concept that we currently have with Quorum and Elead One.

With that being said, who uses Reynolds DMS and CRM vs. Who uses Reynolds DMS with Dealersocket, Oplogic or VinSolutions?

Why?

Any feedback you can provide from experience using these products would be great for us to dig further into when we do our store visits to evaluate which option we plan to go with. I appreciate your time sharing your feedback!
 
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#3
Hi Jenna. Are you referring to Contact Management? To my knowledge, thats ReyRey's CRM. Something you need to ask (especially with it being a ReyRey product) is, what is the term of the contract with the CRM product? The term will prob be 6 month trial and then it assumes the remainder term of the DMS. ReyRey loves, loves, loves extended term contacts (I promise you I speak from this with experience). We tried CM at one store of ours. A painful trainwreck is an understatement. Ok... maybe I'm being a little too harsh. Painful is prob more like it. The premise of the CM CRM is based on the exact same follow up and processes that were set up 8 - 10 years ago on CRM's back then. At least that is what my experience was. Reynolds tools integrate with each other. Outside of that, there's not that much of playing nice with Reynolds and other vendors. The laundry list of issues we had were simply to long to list on this page. Our DMS is UCS which is ReyRey's sister company. We were told, it has full integration. There wasn't! It didn't have full integration at launch nor did it have full integration a year later when we kicked it out of our store! We were told a bunch of things that they fell short on. Honestly, sitting here typing this and thinking about it, I can't think of one simple compliment I can give that CRM. Not One!!!

If I was in your shoes, I would be searching and asking these questions....


How is the follow up structured for the sales reps? Is it time based or activity based or both?
Can you build (not their dev team) custom reports in the CRM or does it only have pre-built reports dictated by the CRM provider?
What does the mobile version look like? Would it be easy for your reps to use?
Video, video and video!!! How does their tool support and promote video for the the reps to create and deploy to customers?
How well is text messaging integrated into the platform? Can you send a text from the Desktop and mobile app??

These are just a couple questions. Honestly, I could almost write a book with questions. The thing is, you know the caliber of the staff and managers that will be using this tool. The last thing you want to get is something they feel is a boat anchor. Integration is awesome but it shouldn't come at the cost of production and actual usage of the product!
 
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#6
We just went through an extensive search for a new CRM...We looked at Reynolds, Vin Solutions, E-Leads, Dominion. I spent a lot of time on this personally. A big factor in your decision should be how your dealership or group handles leads from the start. Do you have a BDC? Is it centralized? What are your follow up processes? What CRM do you currently have? Are you using the current one properly? Do features do you need in your CRM? This is not a simple answer. My recommendation is this ..go with the vendor who does not require a contract and puts their money where their mouth is. Go with the vendor that pays their employees for their dealer customers to stay with their CRM and use it properly and maximize with it. In the end I found 2 vendors that do this...E-Lead and Vin Solutions...We chose E-Lead.
 
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#7
So I keep seeing some saying to stay away from DealerSocket and I have to scratch my head, one works for Cox Automotive so that makes sense, one I don't see as having every been in retail, the other I don't know. No CRM is perfect and there will always be some issues with any of them. But overall we have thousands of happy customers. Many of those are on ReyRey DMS. I always tell anyone shopping to get a demo and find out which one you will get the most buy in from your staff, which one can configure the best to your way of doing business. I mean if I wanted to talk about another company I could say VIN crashes at the worse possible times, usually at end of the month. Does it happen all the time, no but it does and has happened.

As for the DMS, save yourself some headache and money and look at Auto/Mate
 
#8
Jlewis74 said:
No CRM is perfect and there will always be some issues with any of them.
Click to expand...

:iagree: they all fucking suck. And that's me being nice about it. There isn't a CRM in the marketplace that isn't handcuffed to some old technology that keeps them tied to the decade they were originally coded in. Not to mention data dependencies upon the DMS. So, let's just call a spade a spade. They're all guilty there.

Is a dealer better off for having a CRM; even if the newest one was built in 2003? Yes. Does a CRM help sell cars? IMO, Yes.

@Jpopp1719 knowing they're all just as bad as the other one I think it is best to get familiar with each system's philosophy. @Todd Caputo is hinting at this. Every CRM had an initial vision that helped drive its core development. If that initial vision aligns with yours, then that's your tool. They all integrate with the DMS similarly poorly (not 100% the CRM's fault) and they all have enough features to be classified as a CRM. I don't believe either of those two parts are as important as most people think. Philosophies are, and that advice is seldom given.
 
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#9
Jlewis74 said:
So I keep seeing some saying to stay away from DealerSocket and I have to scratch my head, one works for Cox Automotive so that makes sense, one I don't see as having every been in retail, the other I don't know. No CRM is perfect and there will always be some issues with any of them. But overall we have thousands of happy customers. Many of those are on ReyRey DMS. I always tell anyone shopping to get a demo and find out which one you will get the most buy in from your staff, which one can configure the best to your way of doing business. I mean if I wanted to talk about another company I could say VIN crashes at the worse possible times, usually at end of the month. Does it happen all the time, no but it does and has happened.

As for the DMS, save yourself some headache and money and look at Auto/Mate
Click to expand...

Call me cynical, but stick with me. Years in this business have taught me that dealers as a whole have incredibly low standards for software and services. We'll sign up for some really, really bad stuff, and we'll pay a ton of money for it.

Sometimes all the options are terrible. Sometimes we just get dumb.

And I'll agree wholeheartedly about VIN. It's sort of ok sometimes, and terrible very often. It hasn't seen an update of substance in roughly forever.
 
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#10
Jlewis74 said:
one I don't see as having every been in retail, the other I don't know.
Click to expand...

I assume I'm one of these two.
I have been working with CRMs for years in my dealer interactions, consulting and when I worked at a dealership.
Most recently, worked very closely with a dealer group who switched from ReyRey CM to DealerSocket.

Disaster is an understatement.
I'm not talking about "it would have been nice if it..."
I'm talking about "why is this customer name on the wrong customer file?" and "what happened to the previous deal for this customer? it disappeared?!"

The group is in the process of switching back off DealerSocket due to so many issues.
 
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