My feelings have so far been backed up by their 4 day in house installation and training. Our staff quickly learned the system and have embraced it for the benefits it gives them. I am also impressed with the responsiveness of their support via email and phone. Although we have only used the system for about a month, I would highly recommend Dealersocket.

They have helped us increase profits even in this decreasing market.

I’m looking for a CRM with a sales process application, automated follow up, inventory, showrooom control, ILM and CRM features. I don’t care if it works with a DMS. I want something to control sales and follow up primarily.

What’s out there? How much can I expect to pay? Is it per frnachise, per roof or what?

1) ILM’s typically lack CRM capabilities too. They typically lack the database of prospects and customers and the ability to market to that database effectively as I understand it. The market is going to converge. Who has the advantage and will win? How?

2) IMO workflow flexibility must be balanced with accountability that managers demand. ILM’s allow more flexibility IMO because the Internet department is typiclly small and can held more accountable for results, as opposed to findng where the sales process breaks in the scope of the whole floor sales and sales management force.

4) CRM’s have weak email engines, I agree. eMail specialists are preferred to the CRM email tools IMO, because they manage whitelisting and blacklisting issues effectively. It’s slightly more difficult for server-based CRM systems to manage opting-in and opting-out IMO. I believe this issue can be fixed, and I’d love to know what CRM’s are fixing it in their toolset and email services.

Do you think ILM’s don’t face so many spamming issues because people have inherently opted from via the internet or by giving their email out via phone typically?

5) This does seem to be an issue CRM companies haven’t handles well. I wonder when or if it will change, becuase they are highly complex tools with great value if used effectively. Yet dealers also need to take responsibility for having people who know how to use them effectively. I suspect dealers fail in that capacity more often than they succeed.

One misunderstanding appears to be that ILM does not equal CRM. ILM’s are incredible valuable. I too hear iCar is great, and I hear some of the same about AVV. But they are simple ILM’s, managing a lead through the sales pipeline. They are marketing engines to target customers and prospects for specific campaigns AND follow them through the floor sales process. In fact, I hear of one dealership using AVV for phone and internet leads, then switching to another CRM provider for floor activity and follow up.

Another reflection on an item above————-
“I think it also says a lot when there is no contract with iCar while there is a 36 month + agreement with Higher Gear.”

It does say a lot, but not what may be implied above. These CRM companies aren’t out to ripoff dealers, get their money and pay no attention to them. That’s not their intent.

They simply have so much invested in installing and training people on highly sophisticated tools that profitability has to be achieved over a long period of time. In fact, profitability appears quite fleeting in this space, despite what you may hear or believe.

Interesting, automotive CRM appears to be a reflection of CRM’s issues in the rest of the world. Siebel has been a disappointment if not a failure for much of corporate America it seems. Achieving great results with all these tools, requires great investment of time. I have come to believe that CRM must be supported by either a) services to help dealers use the tools well or b) services that do it for them.

Reflections appreciated. Full disclosure – I work in a company that owns a CRM company as well as ILM products.

The big problem that I had with Higher Gear was that opportunities were based on vehicle of interest and that is fine but it’s the way the system implements it that makes it a pain. If you have a customer that is interested in 2 vehicles, Higher Gear generates a separate workplan for each vehicle. This is not a huge deal for showroom logins but a huge pain for internet leads.

If a customer submits more then 1 lead from your website or 3rd party lead provider you have just as many workplans for each lead. This forces you to go into each and every customer with more then 1 vehicle of interest and delete the work plan for each vehicle “opportunity”.

Another obstacle that my sales team found annoying was the fact that you would not view all of your active customers on the fly. My sales people were use to AVV Webcontrol and liked having the flexibility of placing your customers in different status within the “active folder”. This allows you to view all of their active customers on the fly. With Higher Gear you are forced to run a report each and every time you want to view customer customers in a designated status.

When working your customers in Higher Gear you are forced to work your workplan. Not a bad thing but you will find yourself jumping from screen to screen to achieve different tasks. Many things (like deleting those duplicate lead opportunities) you have to have a managers access do. I found myself spending too much time managing the CRM rather then performing real CRM/BDC functions.

Customer service was average to “sometimes” above average when compared to many other CRM vendors in this business (which basically sucks).

A nice plus is that they would send a trainer out to the dealer every month . A big props to Jeff White – he’s one of their best trainers and knows the product in and out. If I were to implement Higher Hear at my dealer I would insist upon having Jeff there for the install and training.

No remote access is a huge disappointment for me (since it’s server based) and up to the time we stopped using them (a little over a year ago) they still could not page my phone when I had a new customer.

With all of this said, at the end of the day a CRM is only as good as the people working it. All CRM’s have their issues and shortcomings but figuring out how to work the system and implementing into your dealers process is the real answer not the software itself.

I made a pact with myself after signing our last CRM contract with eLEAD CRM. From here on out I want a working demo account that I can log into and use/test the system for at lease a month OR visit a dealer for a few days that is utilizing the vendors CRM to it’s full potential.

Most CRM vendors install the system at your dealer and “train” you how to use the software..let me repeat, they train you how to USE the software! Many to most DO NOT train you how to implement the CRM software and a CRM process. There is a huge difference!

Choosing the right CRM the first time is very important. If you are constantly changing CRM systems, your sales people will recognize this and will never take it serious. Do your homework and don’t base your decision on price. You get what you pay for!

>>Have yet to witness a dealership implement any consistent follow-up with their database of customers; sold, unsold, or service- electronically or otherwise. <<<

I am a techy, data driven marketing kinda guy. My experience with R&R CRM was extremely frustrating due to the complexity of the GUI (user interface).

Features, options and data were there, it was like learning a new language.

Once a “CRM project” is begun, I could only get 10-30 uninterruped minutes before I was off putting out a fire somewhere. Then I’d sit back down again (hours later) and start all over again. This cycle repeats itself over and over and over.

What good is CRM if you need 3 weeks off to learn how to use it? I’ve never used Icar (or HigherGear), but if it is “intuitive to navigate” that’s money in the bank.

From a principals view, you don’t want software so complex that the only CRM operator in your operation has an emperor’s attitude and is dictating time lines.

Joe