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!!

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

Thanks

Imran

Chris

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

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

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$$?!

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!