We use higher gear, but getting out as soon as possible. They haven't upgraded their program since the 90's. Currently looking at DealerSocket, DealerPeak (who won't return my phone calls), Vinsolutions, and IzmoCRM (which has less features, but easier to use than the other 3)
Which CRM are you using?
- Thread starter Alex Snyder
- Start date
We are on Salesforce.com. We have three stores in our dealergroup each except Honda allows instant integration. Salesforce.com is not an approved vendor with Honda. We are very happy with the performance and ability to modify our CRM tool to fit our processes in store. The downside to this tool is the expense and it does require an IT capable administrator who can dedicate many hours of prep-time to get it off the ground.
- Apr 10, 2009
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- Matt
Wow I can't believe you guys use Salesforce.com for a car dealership. We use it internally for our company and we like it, but seems like it would be missing a lot of essential functions an automotive CRM needs.
Did you do a lot of customizations for DMS integration, desking, receiving internet leads, auto responders, sales processes, etc?
I would think you would have to have a full time Salesforce administrator just to keep making changes to get it work for your store. Which would make it way more expensive than available CRM solutions.
- Apr 28, 2009
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- Jerry
I agree with what Matt said. It's kind of like building your own CRM from scratch and Salesforce.com is the shell. Most of the automotive CRM companies have already done what you're trying to accomplish with SF.com. When you look at the man hours and the cost associated to use SF.com, you'd probably be better off exploring some of the better known automotive CRM solutions.
Rdempsy, I am going to be getting a demo of Dealer Socket next week and will let you know my thoughts if you ask. I've been exploring others as well. I'd say there are probably three or four really good solutions out there to consider. I'd suggest doing some good DD to determine which one is the right fit for your dealership.
Rdempsy, I am going to be getting a demo of Dealer Socket next week and will let you know my thoughts if you ask. I've been exploring others as well. I'd say there are probably three or four really good solutions out there to consider. I'd suggest doing some good DD to determine which one is the right fit for your dealership.
It was a good amount of work, however it is paying dividends at this time. One feature that has made it successful in our store is the highly customizable dashboards. This feature has drawn the GM and Owner into frequently using the CRM tool. We find that a fish decays from the head down and if the guys on top are not users the second tier managers are not.
Example Service Penetration Dashboard.
For internet sales we had to write hooks into Sendmail our MTA to parse and create inbound leads. This took 1 day. The mail application Sendmail parses and archives all mail in and out of the store currently. We added a feature that stores the content of the email as a completed activity between sender and receip.
Screen shot of completed activities under customer record.
We started using SF in 2005.
If we needed to make a choice today not having the Build your Own as an option there are a number of very successful Automotive CRM's available;{ Except R&R Contact Management. }
Example Service Penetration Dashboard.
For internet sales we had to write hooks into Sendmail our MTA to parse and create inbound leads. This took 1 day. The mail application Sendmail parses and archives all mail in and out of the store currently. We added a feature that stores the content of the email as a completed activity between sender and receip.
Screen shot of completed activities under customer record.
We started using SF in 2005.
If we needed to make a choice today not having the Build your Own as an option there are a number of very successful Automotive CRM's available;{ Except R&R Contact Management. }
- Apr 10, 2009
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- Matt
Salesforce does have great reporting and dashboard capabilities. When we built custom reporting in to our CRM system we used it as a reference for a lot of ideas. We have dozens of salesforce reports and dashboards that we use internally. They are awesome.
- Apr 7, 2009
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- Joe
- Sep 16, 2009
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- Mitchell
I thought I'd share some initial impressions with you on our choice of Vin Solutions as our CRM!
So far I am incredibly impressed. The fact that I've seen two updates already and we're not live is amazing. I've been setting up all the processes and templates and it really is so intuitive that it looks like it's going to be super. There are so many ways to set things up that it looks like I can do any thing I need to market properly.
I'm also very impressed with the level of support we have been receiving. Everyone seems to know what we need and just get it handled. Very nice for a change.
I really like the ease it looks like the salespeople will have compared to what they're used to. With primarily one screen access they won't have to jump around to 10 screens just to enter a customer and work the customer. I also like the ease the manager's will have taking care of the desklog and marking customers sold or not sold.
The best part is even when I've seen things that I felt could work better, I just needed to submit an enhancement request and I know someone will look at it!
Can't wait to go live.
So far I am incredibly impressed. The fact that I've seen two updates already and we're not live is amazing. I've been setting up all the processes and templates and it really is so intuitive that it looks like it's going to be super. There are so many ways to set things up that it looks like I can do any thing I need to market properly.
I'm also very impressed with the level of support we have been receiving. Everyone seems to know what we need and just get it handled. Very nice for a change.
I really like the ease it looks like the salespeople will have compared to what they're used to. With primarily one screen access they won't have to jump around to 10 screens just to enter a customer and work the customer. I also like the ease the manager's will have taking care of the desklog and marking customers sold or not sold.
The best part is even when I've seen things that I felt could work better, I just needed to submit an enhancement request and I know someone will look at it!
Can't wait to go live.
After 3 months of frustration with ADP's CRM I am contemplating asking the powers that be for an ILM. It just seems so limited-can't access it from home, no mobile version...I am sure you are well aware of it's funcionality.
Budget will be an issue as if it is too expensive I am sure I will be told to make due with what I have until the CRM contract is up. Also, I just got a budget increase to change our websites.
Anyone gone through a similar situation with wanting to add a solid ILM? How did you justify the cost and was it worth the additional expense? Assuming I am working on a limited budget, which ILM offers the most bang for the buck?
Budget will be an issue as if it is too expensive I am sure I will be told to make due with what I have until the CRM contract is up. Also, I just got a budget increase to change our websites.
Anyone gone through a similar situation with wanting to add a solid ILM? How did you justify the cost and was it worth the additional expense? Assuming I am working on a limited budget, which ILM offers the most bang for the buck?
