Autobase CRM VS Higher Gear CRM

Autobase is the single worst program I have ever used since I had to paint some Sesame Street pictures on the Apple IIe back in college for a computer class.  Avoid this outdated mess like the plague. If you loved MS DOS, you will be perfectly at home.  Autobase is antiquated, does not work well, is completely averse to customizing -- it is just bad.  Terrible!  AVOID IT.

I know this thread is pretty much dead, but it still comes up in searches towards the top of the list, so just in case someone stumbles upon it doing research:

For those of you looking for a CRM, or being pitched by Higher Gear to buy into their CRM, you need to be aware of some MAJOR issues with the software, at least they were still issues when I worked there as of a few months ago:

1.  Merging dupe customers is not a true merge.  You have to choose a customer you're merging into, and all that customer's data is the only data you keep.  The other customer loses all its data, so if it had any unique data or fields that weren't filled in other spots, you lose it all.  And don't even try merging a service order with ANYTHING.  Just don't.  You'll regret it.  There are several outcomes from doing this, and they're all bad and mess up your database.

2.  The mass mail system is severely broken.  Yes, it will utilize most of your HTML code as long as there's no 21st century animation technology in it.  It also e mails customers who do not want e mail.  If they opt out, it ignores that.  If they have several vehicles of interest from a lead, but it's all the same person, it will e mail them for each vehicle.  And if you try to do a query of your database that's too big (meaning going back more than about a year for unsold customers) it will lock up the entire system for you, and slow it way down for anyone else trying to use the software.

3.  The follow up system will anger your customers beyond all belief.   If you have a customer call you and say they are no longer interested in a vehicle and you delete any automated follow up associated with that deal, the system might still e mail them, even though you show nothing in the queue for that customer.  You have no recourse for this.  The e mail already went out, the customer is already mad.  Again, the opt out feature sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. 

4.  Most of the reports in Higher Gear are extraneous and were put there to keep big name clients who demanded a custom report.  Many of the developers who created them are gone, and since a lot of these reports have no documentation as to how they pull data, many current employees don't have any idea either.  In reality, on that huge multi tabbed menu packed with a zillion reports, there are probably less than 10 or 15 that give you any data you can actually utilize. 

5.  The support team is very burned out at all times.  They are highly under staffed, under paid, and over worked.  If you call them and need help with 10 e mail templates (in actuality, it's really not your CRM support rep's job to design your templates for you, and Higher Gear really should charge customers for labor for these type of projects) they are not going to get them done for a long time, and it's not because they're not trying.  They just don't have time for any big projects, and in turn will probably be short with you on the phone sometimes too.  No excuse for that kind of thing on the phone, but the company's culture breeds  that kind of behavior.

Those are just a few things off the top of my head.  The Reader's Digest version is that the software was built on 15+ year old (read: obsolete) coding technology, and nobody that works there now knows how to get through that rat's nest to fix anything.  It's just patches on top of patches on top of patches.  The people who created it don't work there anymore, and the people who work there now can barely decipher it.  That's why it still looks like software made in the early 90's.  Because it's still the same software!!

Hello Chris,

Funny you ask that, I just finished the 2010 Comparison chart. Do you have an email address I can send it to?

Thanks
Imran

I was wondering if anyone has seen a comparison sheet of the top 5 automotive CRM/ILM companies? Feature/function comparison and pricing would be helpful. I'm in the very early stages of comparison shopping and need a overview of what's out there.

Chris

Hello Dave,

I'm a late comer to this conversation. However I wanted to know whether you had the chance to review the different CRM's yet. I'd like to know what core functionalities are you looking for in a CRM? I'd also like to add SalesEDGE to your list for review.

Our CRM technology solutions include:
- Fully-Integrated Loyalty Program
- Enterprise-Wide Management
- Executive-Level Dashboard Reporting
- Robust Marketing ROI Analytics
- Unified Desking and Menu
- Feature Rich F&I and Service Integration

Feel free to contact me anytime for more information. Thanks
Imran

@ Dave,

I think that having screen-shots posted on here would be a violation with some of the CRM companies. Why don't you just ask them for a free DEMO and decide?

Much better than a screen shot! IMHO

I am a new sales manager looking at CRM software. IF anyone has screenshots of their CRM software, I would greatly appreciate it. It would be a major help in making this decision.

Oh and one more on Vin Solutions and why we did not go with them. At NADA we had a set appointment to view their product, with all of our dealer principal at their booth 8:45am - they never showed up. We found out later that the staff got drunk and didn't maket it.

So that's why we decided not to go with Vin. When we need support, will they be there to help us or getting drunk off of their a$$?!

To "HG really blows" We're talking about CRM here and not your personal issue with HG just because your husband worked there.

We have HG at our dealership and the new desking software is quite nice! We shopped for Autobase, Vin Solutions, DealerSucket and many other CRM at NADA. Tried out DealerSucket and after three months at four of our stores. We realized how much business we were losing.

Back to the debate, Autobase did not provide a lot of the functions that we needed for our BDC/Internet department. We shopped them heavily and well, we were promissed the world with DealerSucket. What a disappointment!

There's no one single silver bullet of a CRM that does all and have all the bell & whistle... My advice, look deep and hard for what you want out of your CRM. Make sure you get all people to buy in. Even the best CRM in the world is not going to help if you have crappy management and salespeople!!

Thanks!

So not to hijack the thread but what do people think of Vin Solutions? I gotta tell ya, a month to month contract (even if I don't get my first month's money back after I used it for a month) sounds pretty tempting. No user licenses (if we hire 30 people its the same price as the 6 we have now) and my favorite ability (they can tell you when a client is reading an email you sent him) blows me away. I'm working on convincing my boss now to switch from Promax (a special finance desking tool that we don't use for desking) to VinSolutions ILM

Higher Gear, from my simple minded point of view, quite simply does INDEED have boneheads in charge. My husband was employed with THGG for years only to be laid off one week before Christmas. I do not have a degree in finance but I could see quite clearly that they were not headed in a very profitable direction by sending my husband to California (we are from the East coast) while sending someone from Cali to the east coast. Why? Why would they spend all that money for airfaire, hotels and per diem just to flip flop two people across the country needlessly? Also the person in charge of travel was constantly booking ridiculously expensive flights. Or better yet booking flights where my husband couldn't make his connecting flight causing him to miss valuable time with the dealership he was going to visit. I knew from the get go this company wouldn't last.
Not only do they not take care of their employees, but they do not listen to there customers. That is just sad. As a potential customer I wouldn't want to do business with a company who gets rid of employees with children a week before Christmas with absolutely no warning.

It's cool, my honey doesn't have to travel now and I don't have to hear anymore stories about how it sucks working for THGG when noone in the dealerships even wants to use the software and it makes him feel useless.

IMHO go with something other than HG as far as I know they have let go almost everyone, and they won't be around much longer.

I haven't been on here since Feb. of this year and I am surprised how many posts have been added since. It looks as though these are the final days of THGG. I wonder how many trainers are actually left at the THGG. As another poster wrote, THGG became WAY too big for their own good and with the lack of motivation and experience it looks as though these may be the final days of a once great company.

I looked at all these software programs but Daily Gameplan just made a CRM $20 per month, per man price. From what the rep at Autobase was telling me, I'm saving over $1,000 a month now. I really like it, although I haven't tried any other CRM systems for my dealership.

tinker bell,

works great today, wait until the release of reynolds next update. hg will be useless until they figure a way around it. what do you do in the meantime? they don't have the manpower to figure this one out.

Higher Gear installed their Reynolds interface and its AWESOME. Real time service functionality - finally! Screw Reynolds, I want Arkona anyways!

It is true

Reynolds integration is gone (officially) they are attempting to create their own integration but as with all things in perpetual development @ HG it is months away from being anything like it should be.

As a result they are in breach of contract with all Reynolds dealers...If you are looking for a way to get out of your contract with them, this is it.

Since HG gets paid for their contracts up-front by selling them to leasing companies they will have to refund the money...As they appear to be broke (where is all the money????) if dealers begin to stop payment for breach of contract (which you have the legal right to do) HG will go under like a fast sinking ship.

Does anyone know the boneheads who are in charge of this company? How is it possible to be in such a state?

We have stopped paying the monthly fee for our HG untill they are back to complience with our contract. Along with the Reynolds integration being screwed up they are behind on our training vists we are owed. Another breach of contract.

Our dealership has begun the search for a new CRM software, I recommend that all dealers on HG begin to search for an alternative...the buzzards are overhead the HG head office.

I heard a rumor that there were more layoffs at THGG this week and that they are discontinuing Reynolds integration. Anyone know if there is truth to these?

"we are too busy working on a new system for NADA that will never make it to production and if it did, it ends up breaking everything else"

Now that's funny!!

Did Higher Gear ever fully release their desking tool they were flaunting at NADA 2 years ago? I never heard much about it after that. I guess it broke everything else.

Sounds like another Top Self CRM I know of.

"I am not trying to bash THGG"? Just look what you said silly. Nothing but bashing THGG.

As one of the 5 year vets to be laid off from THGG I can honestly say that you are all very correct about the support at THGG. No body really cares about all the trouble tickets due to all the bugs and problems with the programming code. The biggest fix was always just a band-aid, never really resolved the issue and would in the end break something else. Losing customer data always happens with a customer import, due to old out dated programs that never work properly. I am not trying to bash THGG, however, when support finds a problem and points it out, programmers give you yeah we will look into when we get a chance, we are too busy working on a new system for NADA that will never make it to production and if it did, it ends up breaking everything else. From a dealership stand point, I would stay away from THGG. They got too big for there own good. They no longer care about the customer just how much money they can make before they quit. THGG is all show and no go. Just my 2 cents from the inside. I am not sure how much longer THGG will be around.

Its interesting to see how long this discussion has been progressing. I can guess that in the time that this post has been here, many companies in this industry have found both success and failure.

There have been many valid points and counterpoints here, and I am far from the one to decide which is right and which is wrong.

In my humble opinion it matters less which tool you choose, and more about whether it meets the needs which will truly bring you success. This is the real key to finding the right software (or lack thereof).

Beware the glitz and glamor of the newest "thing". Will it help you sell more cars, set more service appointments, or make your customers raving fans? It might, but it might not. It is important to honestly ask yourself, Does this "thing" fit into my way of communicating/selling? Do I have a need for this "thing" or will it get in the way of the success I already have?

Regarding the original question of Autobase / Higher Gear I would suggest the same logic. Both tools are fundamentally designed as Showroom control tools, and have features designed to maximize and control the showroom and sales staff. If that is what your dealership needs by all means take a hard look at either. If your dealership is looking for a strong service reminder /scheduling piece, there are strong candidates for that as well.

The important thing to consider is what is best for YOUR situation not what is best for their situation.

Not to belabor a point but consider...
will I need to combine reporting across multiple locations?
How much volume will I need to manage?
What kind of Automation do I want? How much do I want to be involved?
Am I (my coworkers) technologically advanced to utilize all the features of this software?
Have all the people that are going to be using the software involved in the needs analysis/decision making?

CRM is not something to be changed often, so it is imperative that you understand your needs and find a tool that will meet those needs well, and commit to making it a priority throughout your dealership.

"sometimes pencil and paper is the best tool"

I can tell you one thing: if you are a large dealer, give yourself PLENTY of time to prepare accurate Internet Lead Management reports in AB. Or better yet... just get yourself an Excel Spreadsheet and keep track of whatever you need to keep track of daily: you'll save yourself a week or so at reporting time.

In response to "Worried about friends at THGG", and the general input of the thread...

I came into the auto retail business kicking and screaming from a very good nine year tenure at ADP Claims Services Group, now a long gone entity. After spending four years plus a couple months as a field training consultant with THGG, I'm now out in the world again.

Now, I'm going to do my best not to make this a litany of "why I hate" or conversely not make this a "rah rah" post. Rather, I feel the need to share my general experiences of being in the software industry for the past 13 years.

I've seen it all, the bad with the good. I've used terms in the past like "Vaporware" (software which is touted to do something the client wants but never did), as well as overzealous players making claims that "we were the best and we do it all". I've also seen the successful sales reps underpromising and overdelivering, but the tool being an unqualified failure because the buyer had trouble getting the necessary buy in and everyone involved in the relationship coming out with a horrible taste in their mouths about it.

I'm sure if there are some readers out there who had Higher Gear in the Northeast, and even met me as a trainer, maybe even accused me personally of being bad because I worked for what they thought was a company developing a reputation for bad service.

Honestly, folks, the big deal that you should consider, and consider it very carefully, is whether the tool you're shopping for meets the needs of your company. Will it mesh with your business model? Are you expecting it to work for you or you to put a lot of effort into it? You also need a clear expectation not only of what part of your organization needs to use it, but also whether the system's expectations will touch people you never intended.

I personally did not interact with Autobase, and I don't want my post to be misconstrued as one-sided. I will say that over the course of my experiences with Higher Gear, there were frustrations which were common with my past job at ADP - these are things that any software product must deal with - clients clamoring for all sorts of upgrades or revisions that may or may not coincide with the intended course of development or intended feature set - lack of development direction to meet the needs of the client - it's all there. And the same could be said for ADP CSG at the time. Everyone on here is very right - the industry needs progress. As business changes so do the needs of the business infrastructure.

Best of luck in your CRM search - and from a former THGG trainer - please make sure you use your CRM, whatever it may be, and definitely invest your time and effort in training and having the support necessary to make the tool yours and get the most out of it.

Holy Crap. Be very worried about Higher Gears long term viability. no real direction and just let a ton of people go today. I had a bunch of friends call to say 5-7 year vets who have done a lot for the company were all released today. Something like 30-40 out of 150 employees.
I hope they're okay because other friends work there to but dang. Not a good sign. I dodged a bullet going to DS instead I guess

We just went through a major "upgrade" from an older HG system to the newest one. In the process they managed to lose almost all our customer data. When we complained about the data loss in their process they told us that they "knew it was going to happen and it was just something we had to live with" Not only is the system not much of an improvement (if any), but the lost information will have us all scurrying around for months if not years. Their process was terrible, their representatives were unprofessional and uncaring, and their condescending attitude was absolutely intolerable. I would NOT recommend HG.

Hello "Former Employee" I am looking at different CRM's/ILM for our Dealership. I like the simplicity of Buzztrak/netrak. I like imagic labs full functionality but am concerned about their reputation. I curious to know what your thoughts are CRM/ILM's you have seen out there in the market?

As a previous employee of THGG I can tell you every simple flaw there is with the Higher Gear software as well as the pros. Working in dealerships, daily, I got a chance to become pretty familar with the Autobase software and I have to say that it's much cleaner and professional than the Higher Gear product. Higher Gear has a LONG way to go before it will be able to compete the way other CRM companies do. There are simply too many bugs to list (as of January '09) and the timeframe for which it takes to fix them is next to forever. I can say that the interface is very simplistic (1st grade style images, color pattern, layout, etc.) so clients using THGG never had to fumble over learning something completely foreign to them. I can write a book w/ the pros vs cons but if anybody is interested in specific areas of the software (how well it works, layout, etc.) then please leave me a reply here and I'll get back to you. Best of luck in your choice.

P.S. DO NOT let the cut and paste PowerPoint presentation win you over. That presentation will run 110% smoother then the actual system will EVER work in your store(s).

In this debate, Higher Gear wins by a bigger landslide then Obama vs. McCain. Higher Gear gives you much more ability to do so much more with emails and graphics. It is much easier to use from a sales person stand point as well as a management standpoint. Also, Higher Gear has a much better support team that works fast with dealerships. Now where they both lose in my opinion is that they are not web based and ridiculously overpriced.

Nice plug for iMagicLab Sean. I'm setting us up in it right now!

Nothing is good or great until it is compared to something else. Is it web based product or server based product, is it customizeable or just a bunch of antiquated templates and call guides. Those are huge considerations and what separates the men from the boys in CRMs. Do your homework, dont just take your buddys word for it. Take a look at iMagicLab.

Back again and a quick comment.

I can assure that none of the CRM service providers EVER do testing in real time when developing their product or features.

Sure they have dealer "focus" groups in which to dazzle with the
sizzle of tech buzz words and use in a perfect enviroment.

It has been a kind of a force feeding in which the strength of service is more about how binding and long the contract your dealership signed is.

The question I can only ask is when Microsoft Dynamics CRM or Google's Salesforce decides to enter the retail automotive playing field, most of these companies will be scrambling to "improve" bad functioning software.

One big thorn in my side of common sense is why do 99.9% of all backend software tools are on the same ISP connection? I don't care what they say that xxx bandwith can handle it all because has anyone been on a five lane highway in rush hour?

But then again for a few hundred dollars to buy a new pc I also see dealers milking out old computers and monitors that should be thrown off a cliff and replaced with wireless laptops.

The future is the one who can converge CRM and be a LEAD provider. The web 2.5 for the auto industry if you know what I mean.

Okay sorry for a bit of ramble, they just called me and my coffee is ready....

This is easy. Higher Gear is NOT is viable tool. I cannot think of many...or any upsides. Since coming on board with our small company I have spent countless hours attempting to make Higher Gear work for not just an ILM, but store-wide.

To date I have 43 open "tickets" with HG. Non have been resolved. Many have been "escalated" just to fall into some programming abyss. Neither have there been "escalated" solutions, but a complete lack of follow through altogether.

Here are a couple:

1) No real email broadcast capability. Why? There is NO way to opt out customers from future blasts. And, there is no solution to the problem. Long term email capability is only functional on a 'one at a time basis'. Nobody at HG cares to do anything about it.

2) PDA capability is non existent. HG allows users to set up a PDA, but only as an alarm for new leads. The incoming message is however truncated and there is no way to cultivate the inquiry unless you can get to a network PC. Response time suffers immensely.

3) Templates are a major pain. Lousy HTML editor.

4) It takes up to 1 minute to "view" unread emails. I've clocked it.

5) When uploading images into email, text explodes all over the place.

This can go on forever. But, I digress and will stop here. Believe me, I really want this tool to work. It just doesn't deliver.

Jeff

You are absolutely right, please except my apologies.
After studying your site I realize being a 20 year sales veteran with Mercedes-Benz and having used every canned CRM available from Act to Goldmine what invaluable information you are providing. FYI we are currently the largest MB dealer in the nation, we use UDC.
Sincerely
Jeff Cotton, AutoAlert.

Jeff Cotton, please read the rules. I know it's exciting to get your name and business profile out there but you will actually get better results and more people visiting your website if you provide valuable feedback for readers. I have tracked the statistics on the site and when someone provides some good feed back..people are curious to who you are and then they usually click on your name. This is where the link to your website is placed when you fill out the URL portion of the Post a Comment form. Just an FYI.

Jeff Kershner

Jeff,
I see you're an agressive entrepreneur. Congrats! BUT... your self-promotion makes your effort look... "slumish". (Is that a word?)

Domain Name: AUTOALERT.COM
Registrant: Jeff Cotton
P.O. Box 447
Herndon, VA. 20172-0447

Domain Name: MBZSALES.COM
Registrant: Jeff Cotton
9 Dry Creek Ln
Laguna Hills, CA 92653

Plus, that MBZsales.com needs a makeover... bad.
For $99 you can step out of the slums and move uptown! Template sites are a dime a dozen http://www.i3dthemes.com/demos/impulse_cars

Hope this helps,
Joe

There is only one software product that 'Moves the iron"
AutoAlert.

To add to the list of comments on Auto base VS Higher gear. Let me start out by saying you need a company that doest have a contract. That would make it performance based. They don’t perform you don’t keep. theirs a concept. as far as Higher gear and Auto base really good stuff 7 or 8 years ago. They don’t seem to be as cutting edge as the market is at this time. And who wants servers in the dealership.I like my CRM being web based so I can get on line any where and work. do your research look at a company that is web based and no contracts. You will see how much lower the cost and better the results will be.

Have any of you folks even considered that the old crop of tools you are debating are just no longer relevant anymore? Let's just chart the facts shall we?

Autobase has no desking, no online inventory and still thinks ILM is a seperate component to a CRM tool.

HigherGear is so out of touch it hasn't done a major upgrade since 2002. In Internet terms and dog years that's ion's ago.

Tools like iMagicLab, DealerSocket, eLead and some little one's have never heard of are reinventing the space and it will be very hard for these legacy tools to adjust. Dealers will get buried in this battle if they are not careful because remember in lean times we need to be more efficent, not less.

One tool across every major customer touch point is the requirement all dealers should be looking at. Stop buying purple animals for the roof from guys you've known for 20 years, it's time to change the game. CRM MUST include inventory, desking, showroom, service and internet or you are wasting your time and your owners money.

Keith Latman
CEO
iMagicLab.com

P.S. Why do you think these old companies all have contracts? Have an idea?

We're using Higher Gear currently, and the biggest problem with it is the majority of sales people and managers don't use it anymore. There's a lot that you have to go through just to enter an up, and when you have someone on the floor you'd just rather not deal with it. Even with the driver's license scanner. Plus, you can't easily desk a deal through the system. EZDesk is still far away from being usable daily.

We're on the way to switching to ProMax, which, from an ISM point of view, helps out none. I do like having an internet based instead of server based CRM tool, but both leave TONS desired when it comes to an ILM tool.

Higher Gear does a good job of helping me keep up with my leads. The templates work pretty well, but there's no opt-in for mass-mailing. And it's not easy to edit templates. But it does do a good job of keeping track of customers and keeping you on your toes. And the inventory integration isn't quite as powerful as I'd like it to be.

Higher Gear's not bad, I have no experience with Autobase. But being an ISM I'm looking for better lead management.

As a reccomendation, ProMax has good inventory integration and desking tools. Logging ups even on the floor is quick. But reports generation is way lacking, and ILM is way way lacking.

If your dealership is geared toward internet sales I would highly urge you not to use Autobase as the program does a good job with floor sales but lacks full capabilities when it comes to web leads. When we signed up with Auto we were basicly told what we wanted to hear once we started using it it was a totally different story and no one wanted to step up the the plate. We even has the VP fly up to address teh issues we were having we had his word that our top 5 request would take place in the next upgade that never happend so we cut our loss $300,000 later and went to another CM not as good as BZ results but it does the job.

I did business with Vin Solutions recently and now I can't get my money back.

I was attempting to use the tool for a contact manager for a different industry from the car biz. I am a little discouraged by their internal staffing and processes:

Aug 07 - I happened to work with an awesome sales rep who got me what I needed and I was happy to sign up for their ILM product.

Sept 07 - Realized reporting and tool wasn't up to par, vital features missing.

Sept 07 - Realized tool was very slow on a cable connection. This indicates the lack of investment in storage solutions offering users quicker responses.

Sept 07 - I formally cancel my subscription to the product. Was told refund couldn't be processed back to my card because they canceled their PayPal account. So they idea was to send me a refund check, now if the would just send it!

Sept 07 - No Check Yet

Oct 07 - Well, 10 phone calls later, no check. Hopefully this post helps.

Before signing on the line with Vin Solutions be sure to ask them about their refund process and policy.

- - - STOP READING HERE, Vin Solutions employees - - -

The ILM tool that they ripped off of iMagicLab (iCarMagic, iLeadTools, iMagicLabs) actually looks better, but definitely doesn't perform as well. It is obvious that iML spent more on the Coding and Vin Solutions did a cheap rip off job.

Click on my name below to email me and get my address to send the check.

Having been the Number 1 Maybach salesperson for the last few years, and a top producer with Mercedes Benz for 19 years I must tell you that the focus of new leads is missing the target.
The time has come to look at our own client portfolio, to re contract our own clients into new contracts, just like the mortgage industry has done. We can no longer wait until our client finish their current lease or purchase, we as salespeople need to manage our client automotive portfolio for them and let them know when the time is right to get into a new car. Most of are clients need someone to tell them when it’s the right time for them to buy a new car. BDC software and CRM is not able to do this, there is only one program that does this successfully, that is AutoAlert,.it will tell you which of your current clients can get out of their contract into a new one keeping their payments about the same. Dealerships need to look a head and not stay in the past.

Thanks for the support Ash! Believe me, I am not "byass"ed, I just truly believe HG is inferior to Autobase and some of the most powerful people in the retail industry will back me up on this. However, I did not say AB is the best in the space by any means. Frankly, everyone is waiting for CRM 3.0 and I pray we get some new players in this space.

Up to a few weeks ago, I was ready to chuck AB out the window. (HG would have been chucked day uno) But, with our new awesome account manager and the ILM piece (bugs and all...no ones perfect, except maybe Kershner), I am as happy as a little girl (doing move from "Sprockets" from SNL). We are so far down the road with AB and are such a large group that the only CRM we would ever switch to would be our own and since we don't have that...we are with Autobase and not unhappy about it.

In conclusion, if you have to go with a server based CRM for some odd reason, then I firmly believe AB is the way to go and I can provide you with a plethora of companies unhappy with HG to back me up. However, if you are not married to server based, then I would look at Ashley's suggestions or the new DealerRefresh CRM suite coming this NADA....no pressure Jeff!

And on the staffing comment, when the next generation takes the lead as they will in the next 10 years, I will bet money that a majority of their generation and mine will transact fully online. Heck, if I could do the whole deal front to back right now, you wouldn't find me in a dealership and I work in the biz!

You're killing me Jake (W)! That is too funny, couldn't have said it better. I think we should get 10 of us 'DealerRefreshers' and start a CRM company... how bad could it be?! lol

Erica my love, you are as byass as me! LOL.
All jokes aside Higher Gear is no longer relevant anymore and neither is Autobase. In my opinion, E-Leads, DealerSocket and IMagicLabs all offer a much better mousetrap no matter how you are looking to use CRM in your store.

Nice save Higher Gear... good to hear from you!

That was well thought out post Erica. And you definately have some very good points. However, I think you are way off on your staffing comments and ILM functionality.

In today's store a good, seasoned Sales Professional is hard to come by and painful to loose. They are not on there way out and earn well over six figures in our dealerships because they can sell and know what to do! We are not only a volume stores but also trade punches with the big boys for gross. "newbie/generation D" sales people can answer inet leads and get them in but their grosses are traditionally low. I need EVERYONE in the dealership to use the tool not just the Inet Manager.

Oh yeah, and just in case you miss read me, I did use ABase and your precious "save a deal" just did not get used the right way. By the time the desk managers got to the save a deal it was to late, the customer bought from the competition which will take a bath just to beat us. I would much rather know that xyz is happening everytime, than just hoping the person is taking the right steps. Then I need to pray that someone else checks and then does the right things. You are obviously a little byass since you worked for Abase.

Finally, in regards to ILM, I have all the same templates and follow up that we had with Abase in Higher Gear

Ok, I just have to weigh in on this one!! Sorry to the people from Autobase and Higher Gear that read this, but I have had experience with both. I did work for Autobase for about 3 years, then flipped to the Call Measurement industry where I got a great outsider's view of the different CRMs in the space and how different dealers across the country use them. Now, I am with a 63 franchise dealergroup that uses Autobase in nearly all of our stores, except for our Motorworld location in Pennsylvania.

First, their is NO, I repeat NO perfect software! Look at darn Microsoft - do you ever count the number of problems you have with microsoft? Yet people still want to eviscerate their CRM for this lock up or that lock up. (Ok, probably because we all have to complain about something right? I do the same thing, so that was part advice to myself) This being said, I do believe in the Autobase vs. Higher Gear fight that Autobase wins.

A) They were just bought buy Dominion - can we say, "Hellooooo infusion of funds!"
B) As far as ILM goes, their new version kinda kicks some tail over Higher Gear. Yes, it is so fresh that it has some lil' bugs, but they have finally mastered the "hot fix" concept and are getting those cleaned up pretty quick.
C) Customer support is getting better - they are starting to figure out the whole account manager thing and that customers hate not being able to communicate directly with someone who they know will take care of them,
D) Showroom control is tops. I do not know who earlier was talking about "What I mean is, they can do what ever they want kill it, schedule follow 20 years out, or choose to follow up." and that HG provides more control - did you use Autobase dude? It's called Save A Deal, any time a salesperson takes any kind of action with a customer that puts them in an alternative status it flags the manager and they are required at our stores to review these deals and contact these customers. That is been in the system, since, oh 1989!
E) Opportunity Centric will be coming - at some point. Ok, this is a flaw. A lot of the newer systems are Opp centric vs customer-centric and Autobase is working on a full rebuild to incorporate this. It's not a huge fly in the ointment, but will be better when this is fixed. Currently, we can live without it fine.
F) Hideous. I think they should change the H in Higher Gear to Hideous Gear. I am glad that chimpanzees can use it, but we don't employ chimpanzees - we have homo sapiens, so that's not super useful for us. Plus, if you are still hiring "Old school" car guy who needs the "Second grader" mentality- good luck! Doesn't matter what you put in, his days are numbered. The customers are changing and so too should the tools they use.
G) If this was not just between AB vs. HG, then I would throw in some others for you to look at. A personal fave is DealerSocket and while people complain bc they are expensive, that is because they don't sell off their paper and they have to cover all of their training/sales expenses up front. The font is small and there is a lot going on the screen and I am so used to Autobase, that I find things a little hard to navigate, BUT if I was starting fresh - this is who I would go with. Plus, they are just really cool people who live in SoCal and when you are calling customer support, these are the people you want to be talking to! And they have a wicked smart team.
Eleads claims they are on the move, but some friends have the new version and want to blow their brains out, so not sure what is going on there. I do know they have brought in some top level management which will be interesting! Let's see what Hugh and his team have for us come NADA.

If anyone wants screenshots of These 2 CRM programs, I can provide 20+ of each.

Just email me and get 'em so you can see for yourself, without the lame sales guys at Higher Gear hassling you over the demo presentation.....

We've used Autobase for several years now and from time to time we have looked very closely at other CRMs including Higher Gear. We've had demos, visited other dealers for a first hand look and each had some points we liked and shortfalls in other areas but on balance we keep staying with Autobase.

We are extremely happy with the new version 7.2 it's definitely one of the biggest releases that we've seen from Autobase. We were also one of the early installs of the new version. There were some bumps in the road at first that they worked quickly to correct. The tech support they provide has been extremely good. The new internet lead tool has been greatly enhanced so when you combine it with the rest of the program, it's hard to beat.