Internet Lead Manager (ILM) Tools, where are they?

Here is some more relevant info:

iMagicLabs does have two products last time I talked with a rep. One is the full blown CRM package with ILM. Runs for about $5,000 per month per roof top. The other is the basic ILM which i believe runs for $2500 per month.

Another alternative might be AutoJockey. www.autojockey.com - One of the dealers we support uses this product. While it has its own quirks like any CRM, it is robust and cost effective. On average $600 per month if you just use the CRM/ILM, but essentially unlimited users. We currently have an entire BDC staff and 25-30 sales people all using AutoJockey for one low fee of $600 per month. Mike or Everett will be happy to demo the system for you.

Hi everyone:

Well, this is an open opportunity to talk about Lead Machine from Dealer.com. Especially when coupled with a Dealer.com website, the possibilities with this product are endless...

Here are a few capabilities.
Anyone on our sales team can run you through a complete demonstration.

Lead Tracking
[automatically track incoming website and 3rd party leads]
• Track and organize leads from your own website, AutoTrader,
Cars.com, Autobytel, regional websites and more
• Monitor response times to these valuable leads

Email Tracking
[automatically receive + track all incoming and outgoing email]
• Respond faster with web-based email and email bouncing
• Create email template blasts with our PowerMail Broadcast
Email System
• Bring live inventory to customers
• Automatically track all archived email for each lead sales representative dashboard

Activity Tracking
[automatically track all correspondence for your contacts]
• Track all types of correspondence and activities for each
contact
• Monitor all activity in one place including email, 3rd party leads, notes, phone calls, trade-in leads and much more

Dealer Group Version
[manage multiple locations from one login]
• Manage all dealership leads from one login or several, you
choose
• Track each store’s sales process and create real accountability
• Sales Managers can assign and track multiple sales people » advertisement performance

Take Control Of Your Dealership’s Success
• Full sales person activity history and reports
• All activities are stored and time/date stamped for manager
review
• Track success and closing rates with our detailed sales
reporting system
• Track efficiency ratings for all sales reps

Sales Processes
[set up automated tasks, reminders & media-rich emails]
• Leave no customers behind
• Consider the power of advanced PowerMail email marketing
campaigns: Email media-rich, monthly, weekly or daily specials
to people who know who you are
• Schedule unlimited, calendar-based automated emails and
task reminders
• Offer virtual “Walk Arounds” to your customers with our
media-rich email content
• Convert your expensive third-party leads into qualified leads
on your website
• LeadMachineTM can market to your current and potential
customers for years to come

Thank you for this opportunity to post.

Oh, Lead Machine is included with all of our websites and can be purchased very inexpensively as a stand alone product.

Mike DeCecco
www.dealer.com

Richard beat me to the punch- but I was exposed to AUTOJOCKEY a couple of years back, and it is a highly functional CRM that has the power you need to manage leads, set appointments, etc., and it is very affordable. I am not sure what our rate was, but I believe it was under $500/mo. Check them out at www.autojockey.com- they also have some other tools that can bring you more sales. They are also pretty responsive whenever you have a problem.

Richard - I think your prices for iMagicLab are a lot on the high side. I think they're priced a bit better than that, but you can package things up to get to numbers like you quoted.

I started with AVV's Webcontrol before they were bought-out. It was a fantastic tool until support went down the tubes almost 4 years ago (haven't used it in years, so I can't say much about it today). It was Webcontrol's demise that got me looking around. Rafi Hamid (formerly of Napleton - now vAuto) introduced me to Keith Latman over 3 years ago, and I started using iMagicLab ILM at that time. I was so happy with the ILM that I eventually convinced our entire auto group to adopt their CRM platform earlier this year.

We also have Dealer.com's Lead Machine on the backside of our website and that is a very good tool as well. It doesn't have the advanced features iMagicLab has, but you can certainly get the job done with it. If I had to get rid of iMagicLab tomorrow, I'd use Lead Machine.

----About our CRM search in early 2008-----
Before switching to iMagicLab CRM (previously AutoTown (1997-01) > AutoBase (2001-06) > ADP CRM (2006-08)) we looked at DealerSocket and eLeads heavily. DealerSocket has a fantastic CRM and service piece, but are seriously lacking on the ILM (not nearly as bad as AutoBase is lacking though). We had a very rough time with ADP CRM, and also felt DealerSocket had a look and feel too similar to it, so buy-in would have been more difficult. eLeads is a good looking tool! At the time, we heard too many horror stories about downtime and ruled them out. eLeads is the current leader in third-party BDC calling paired with a CRM...and they have some good cookies!

One thing to keep in mind with all CRM/ILM vendors is that they all have problems. The automotive industry is very demanding of these vendors because we have so many departments that are structured completely different (Sales, Service, Parts, Accounting, Bodyshop, Rental, Inventory) and stale DMS systems that complicate absolutely everything. I can't wait till someone builds a modern DMS, and shows us that DMS is not central to dealership technology - it is just a vault for clean information. When we shed that old "DMS is King" propaganda, we'll be able to do some amazing technological things! Getting back on topic...CRM/ILM providers have to code things to work with so many other parts and that is where these problems stem from. Just be aware of it, ready for it, and not afraid to call support in a patient manner.

As a programmer, I looked at a lot of different CRMS at NADA last year. They all seemed to have too much data. It has lead me to ask the question, what features are most important in a CRM? Is there a market for a personal CRM? I think it would give the high performance sales guy the ability to purchase leads for personal use and ensure they remain in his control. I know it is common practice in the real estate industry, but haven't seen it in the auto industry. Are there any personal CRMs out there?

Microsoft outlook works well for one person. Drawback is you have to manually enter them in. But setting appointments and future to do lists are an easy setup.

for a personal crm for automotive, Joe Verde Personal Sales Assistant. It's perfect.

There are more decent, low cost ILM tools today than ever before... Heck, a lot of them are free if you are at a dealership of a particular brand. Ford dealers get SalesPoint, one of the first ILM's ever released at no charge to the dealership... Well, let's just say it's buried in something else any FLM dealer has to get anyways. Personally, over the last 4 years I have grown very fond of the various NetTrack/BuzzTrak variations from the company in Houston that started with NetTrack about 10 years ago. They have over 2,000 ISM's using their tool, and I personally used it for a couple of years while working at Courtesy Chevrolet and really was amazed at how easy it is to use, yet how powerful the automation and template builders can be. A lot of ADP dealers use NetTrack and they pay less than $500 for all the users in the dealership.

When it comes to Lead Management Tools (LMT), everyone has an opinion, and it is usually most influenced by whatever that person is most recently used to using. I was a big fan of AVV WebControl for many years, and managed a team of people that put it into 322 Mercedes-Benz dealerships as "StarLeads". WebControl is another oldie but goodie.

Yet, when I think of what it was like to manage over 5,000 leads a month coming in to a single-point Chevy dealership... I still like the way i could get a new ISS up and running in less than an hour with NetTrack, while at the same time myself and a couple of other people on the team were able to add to, and customize a lot of the automation tools based on the status changes of each lead so that we did not have to click and type as much every day, instead we focused on phones and let the NetTrack tool do a lot of what we probably should have been doing... Anyways, we went from selling about 1,200 cars a year to web and phone leads to selling just over 4,000 cars to web and phone leads in 2006 while using NetTrack to organize, control, manage and measure everything... Oh yeah, and the reporting functionaility is hard to beat with customized configurations any way you want to look at stuff, along with a drill down function that gets to the facts very quickly.

I used to like WebControl's reporting functionality the best and when i worked for Reynolds I was always showing webControl's reporting to the Contact Management CRM team to try and get the reporting in CM to be more useful... But, the reporting in netTrack is so easy to use it is deceptively simple until you want to open the hood... And then you can configure just about any time range, and set of comparison parameters you want to see.

Yes, i work for ADP and ADP bought NetTrack last year after i went to work for them... Pure coincidence? You figure it out!

Ooops, i forgot to put in the URL if you want to check out NetTrack... it is www.LeadCRM.com

I'm using AVV now and I find it very old school. I have been looking at Vinsolutins( www.vinsolutions.com ) just the ILM! Anybody knows anything about it?

Thanks,

Most of the comments seem to focus on the aesthetics rather than functionality. Only the Sales guy from Dealer.com gave any specifics of what his CRM actually does. I have used Imagiclabs, Cobalts LMCC, AVV and the IZmocar tool which they bought from reckonup. All of them have similar features. Some try to emphasize some specific functionality over the other but over all, the user experience is similar.
As long as the tool provides accurate tracking and reporting, the sales team or person can interact efficiently with the customers, what else is needed? I do not recommend using your ILM tool as your email broadcast center. This invariably affects all your emails. Not necessarily but gradually.
The Izmo UI is good but it is lack in some basic functions. AVV is blah but it is efficient. Imagiclabs is basically AVV with a better look.
How about creating an ILM that has seamless integration with REynolds and ADP, Is fluid with email responses, can be set to send automated responses to some leads and not others, can be set to autodial for phone appointments. Automerges leads to the first one that was received and has a widget that can be built into the dealer website.
There is available technology to accomplish all of this and it also makes the ILM tool more interactive than just an outlook tool with tracking.

I have used Contact Manager (Reynolds & Reynolds) Car- Research, but the easiest lead management tool I've seen is NET TRAK.

We use Webcontrol AVV and yes it is old and a bit stale but the reporting is decent and it is an easy LMT for new user to pick up.

I would like to introduce the best keep secret in the industry, Dealerpeak E-Lead Manager. We created E-Lead Manager in conjunction with our CRM Center inside of an auto group 8 years ago. We are the industries first completely integrated system that encompasses CRM,ILM, inventory management, desking, and websites all on one unified platform. E-lead manager also has our patent pending process monitoring system that will give you real time alerts when your process is not being followed. It will not only identify that the department is trending out of process, but the monitoring system will tell you who is falling out of process along with what they haven’t completed that is causing then to fall out of process and it all resides right on your dashboard. If used, there is no other system in the industry that can affect the bottom line as positively as Dealerpeak e-lead managers ILM process monitoring.

Below you will find some addtional features you get with e-lead manager.

Easy Start Interface
Automated Follow up
DMS Sales Integration (ADP, Reynolds, Arkona)
DMS Inventory Integration
DMS Service Integration (ADP, Reynolds, Arkona)
Multilocation Architecture
Send/Receive Email Tracking
No user limits
Customer Centric Structure
Flexible Permission Rules
Customizable Lead Status
Do Not Call Management
Extensive Reporting
3 rd party lead management
Inventory exports
Inbound call tracking
Dealer Web site Integration*
Unlimited Phone Support
Outbound call tracking
Complete Automated Sales Process
Campaign manager (Data Mining)
Multi-media emails
Track all in coming/outgoing emails
Unlimited Training & support
100% ASP
Major Benefits:
Increased Closing Ratios
Reduced Advertising Costs
Higher CSI Scores
Quick User Adoption
Consistent Measurement
Streamline Deal Processing
Manage Multiple Locations
Reinforces Sales Process
No Expensive Hardware

Cost: $795.00 per location/per month
Setup $995.00 (One Time)

@ Daniel Ice, I have seen many top performing sales people have their own form of CRM. Either it be a program or index cards.

There are many dealers that will not allow the sales person to have their own CRM in fear that if they leave the dealer, they will take the customer information with them. In reality there is no way of stopping that.

There are a few personal CRM programs out there on the web but they are not geared towards the car biz BUT you could make them work for you on a personal level with a few work arounds. If I were in a dealer that did not have a CRM, I wouldn't be able to function.

I use Highrise CRM for a few personal things and with the tagging and dropbox email feature you could use this as a personal CRM if you wanted to. www.highrisehq.com

Another one I mess around with is salesforce. It too has a dropbox feature, daily todo list, tagging and more. www.salesforce.com

Again, you would have to use some work arounds to make it work for the car biz but for something personal...you could use either one of these.

Both offer a free feature and then charge for the upgrades.

For less than $20 a month you can have a very effective results oriented lead follow up system with iContact.com, aweber.com or constantcontact.com

We have seven stores all on webcontrol and while it was a solid ILM, it was outdated, the reporting was lacking and there was little to no flexibility with the program. I moved half of our stores to Dealerpeak since they seemed to be open to change and working with us to make a better crm. To their credit, they made a LOT of major changes thanks to our suggestions. However, this created more bugs and i spent a TON of my time pointing out bugs and issues. I decided to move us back to webcontrol after they were sold by autobytel. I'm still often disappointed with webcontrol, BUT it is EASY to use and stable. Soo many of these crm companies like to focus on their bells and whistles instead of the basics like clean user interface. What good are all the tricks if you can't get your salespeople to use it properly.

www.keepyourcustomer.com

This is the website for DealerSoft, LLC of Illinois (and their "Jeeves" C.R.M. program) which fully discloses the look and feel of their "Jeeves" Real-Time Prospect and Customer Follow-Up software program.

DealerSoft is a small midwestern based company. For $10 per day per roof (and a month to month agreement you can cancel at any time) you can't beat the price for a "full featured" C.R.M. software program.

For a couple of bucks more per day you can integrate their Internet Dept. E-Lead Capture and Automatic Processing Software module with the C.R.M. module.

Their "Jeeves" C.R.M. program was created by car people for car people so it make real sense to almost every salesperson and manager. In fact, their program is so easy to understand and logical, special training is almost unnecessary (the program is so easy to use even a caveman will understand it!).

Of course their program doesn't have all the "eye candy" and rarely used features the "big boys" include (and charge dearly for), but for a practical follow-up program that gets the job done, improves a dealers market share, sales and C.S.I. and maintains "cradle to grave contact" into the next millennium what more does a dealer really need? Here is a product at least worth checking out.

Please add VinSolutions MotoSnap ILM/CRM to your list. We have an excellent product.

MotoSnap ILM Feature Highlight:

* Automatically catch and track duplicate leads. Save thousands of dollars from paying multiple vendors for the same lead.
* 100% Internet based. No software or other components to install.
* 100% email integration. Customer and internal emails in one place.
* Receive prospect emails in real time. No more 15-30 minute delays to simply receive leads and responses
* Easily email vehicle photos and details to the prospect via our seamless integrated inventory module
* Automated emailed brochures including similar vehicles
* Easily email videos to prospects
* Fully customizable sales processes
* System keeps track of all prospect history and communication.
* Mobile alerts notifiy your salespeople instantly when a new lead arrives
* Respond to customer emails on your smart phone for quicker response times
* DMS integration to pull sales data automatically (ADP, ERA, Arkona)
* Lead Source ROI reports
* Anti-skating and customer duplication
* Advanced HTML editor for email and templates
* Receive automated management email reports of daily activity
* Complete BDC department support
* Fully integrated with optional MotoSnap™ CRM

Hi Jeff,

We have emailed in the past but haven't managed to touch base on the phone. We currently are not targeting the US but I think we have a fastastic product that can really help dealers not only manage Internet leads but also drive organic traffic.

Our product is SmartDealer DMTS, our website www.dealer.ca

DMTS Features:

Online Marketing Center: Manage your entire online campaign and achieve market leading results.
The Online Marketing Center will provide all the resources and the reporting you will require
establishing and managing your internet strategy and sell more cars.

The DMTS Internet Lead Management System is a system that will ensure every potential sale has
received the attention needed. The salesperson can access inventory or complete and submit a credit
application, calculate monthly payments and more with just the click of a button, leaving more time to
focus on closing the deal. The DMTS ILM effectively manages the hot lead while submitting all other
leads to a process that will provide future sales opportunities.

Real-time Dashboard an all-encompassing overview tasks, appointments, e-mail and sales
performance in an intuitive and organized display.

PowerSERP diligently labors to build you websites presence in the Organic section of the SERPs for
hundreds even thousands of Keyword Phrases. Organic Results are the ultimate objective of any
online marketing campaign and are essential to reducing costs and building your dealerships Internet
Sales.


Smart Inventory, the imaginary sales rep becomes a reality as a customer relationship marketing
techniques is applied to today’s sophisticated automated-response technology. Using simple yet
comprehensively-designed tools, sales reps can create vehicle search requests based on their own
unique criteria. Sales reps can also create personalized search requests in response to phone-ups
and floor traffic. Any number of specifications, including: brand, price, features, monthly payments
and more can be entered. Immediately after this information is captured, Smart Inventory can scan
current stock and display vehicles that match or are similar to the visitor’s requests.


Finance and Insurance automatically transfers credit applications safely and securely to the
DealerAcess, Curomax and Route One. Use the smart book desking tool to find the right vehicle
for your customer while maximizing your profit!!

Reports Analyze sales, appointments and lead performance by dealer group, dealership, or by
individual salesperson

Multimedia emails add the “WOW” factor to correspondence with a complete audio and video
presentation that you can send to prospective customers. There are 18 types you can select from (10
dormant and 8 hot leads). Global Automotive Technology Solutions


DMS Integration: They are charged per DMS pull. There can be a few different types of pulls. DMS
only, Autotrader only or synchronized DPS trader pull. With the synchronized pull vehicle information
is pulled from the DMS and then picture and options are pulled from the Autotrader site.

We include unlimited phone/Internet support and our PowerSERP will get your inventory indexed organically by search engines for; geographical references,type, price, payment, body style, year, make, model...on the horizon will be behaviour reference, drop down geotargeting...imagine the power of thousands upon thousands of indexed pages...think of the PPC cost savings!

try a few examples...look for "inventory.dealershipurl.com"

ford freestar edmonton
toyota suv ontario
chevrolet minivan toronto

It's a bolt in product. We currently have Inventory integration every major DMS supplier in the US and Canada. We can scrape and match pictures if they are displayed online and have lead scripts for manufacturers and lead providers.


Shane Hambly
eDealer

Depending on how familiar/comfortable you are with php, there are several FREE open source options. One is Sugar CRM Community Edition. You can fully customize it to do whatever you need it to. There is some initial set-up to be done, but once you have it going, it can do some good for you. Of course, there are extended versions that add-on certain features, but the Community Edition can do more than enough to manage leads effectively.

ILM.. ecarlist.com

Has anyone been with ADP's CRM tool in the last 6 months? I looked at it and I don't like the fact that it is not web-based. They claim that they have made so many changes in the last 6 months but I haven't seen anyone give them a ringing endorsement. I was considering possibly looking at pairing them with buzz trak. The best DEMO i have seen for a CRM/ILM tool is Imagiclab. However, I am concerned because of the negative press the CEO has received. Is this information true? I'm not trying to hammer the guy but I don't know what to believe.
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20060324&slug=latman24

I have also looked at Dealersocket which seems to be decent but I wasn't blown away by it. Anyone who has input let me know what you think. I would prefer a CRM that could do it all but wouldn't be oppossed to looking at a CRM/ILM combo.

Thanks.
Alex J.

Alex,
I can't comment on ADP's CRM tool, but I will chime on re: DealerSocket. Our dealer group decided that all the stores needed to use the same CRM / ILM tool a few months back... and DealerSocket got the nod. Presentation was decent, so we signed on. I absolutely cannot stand it.... Site is very slow to load if you're on anything less than a very fast connection. I use Sprint Mobile Broadband most of the time.. so this matters to me.

It's very counter-intuitive for most tasks... and the system isn't nearly as "smart" as I think it should be.. lots of manual 'cleaning up' of things along the way. Also we've had *VERY* flaky text message alerts, with no resolution. To make matters worse, there are *NO* text alerts for emails received.. ONLY for new leads.

The broadcast email tool is theoretically very powerful... but EXTREMELY unfriendly to use. It's something you would have to see to understand.. but it's simply horrible from a user interface standpoint.

If they could clean up the interface drastically, and fix the text shortcomings ( inexcusable in 2009, seriously ), they would have a decent product. Until then, we'll suffer through using it.

Rob,
Great insight on Dealersocket. What were you using before if I might ask? Currently we use Reynolds Contact Management which can be very slow at times along with server issues. Our text messages come through fine for emails and leads. What do you mean when you say "manual" cleaning up? There are many different areas that can cause this....From what I have heard Dealersocket may be staying the same or even going backwards from what we already have.
I hope someone else chimes in.

Previously we used iMagicLab ( Webcontrol before that ). I did not love imagic.. but it was a heck of a lot better than DealerSocket.

DS is To-Do focused, which isn't a bad thing. The problem is that the system will often automatically create multiple to-do's ( sometimes 2, 3, or 4 ) per customer. For example, if you have an action plan set up to schedule calls on certain days.... if for some reason you miss a call, it will often ( not always ) schedule a duplicate call, with the previous call still hanging out. Just an extra step that's time-consuming when you're talking about lots of customers.

Also, another thing that I can't believe I forgot.. there are THREE ( 3! ) separate and different "views" for each customer record. Some functions are only accessible in certain views.. and each one is layed out quite differently. Insanely frustrating. I cannot recommend DS to anyone... until they make some major changes.

Wow...
Those things you spoke about would probably annoy the hell out of me. It looks like the schedules that are created by Dealer socket are all "results based schedules". In Reynolds CRM we can at least choose between a set schedule and a results based schedule. It looks like it's back to the drawing board for me. I'm looking into BZ/ADP's Buzztrak/Netrak today to see if their ILM may work well with ADP's CRM tool. I looks like when your looking at CRM/ILM tools your just trying to find the one that gives you the least amount of headache's.

Haha I think you're absolutely right. You aren't likely to find the perfect ILM tool... just one you can live with.

Sounds like all the ILM/CRM tools are just designed differently. They all have things they are good and bad at. It is hard to do everything perfectly.

I've used the following and rate them accordingly on a 1-10:

Imagiclabs = 2
EleadCRM = 7
Higher Gear = 6
DealerSocket = 5

I have looked at both Reynolds Contact Management but dont trust the CEO, Brockman. Hes the Hitler of Contracts what WhatI've heard.

Have spent the last 3 days evaluating and talking with dealers at NADA, No one has got CRM right yet for reason I cant understand.

ADP's CRM appears to have the edge from what I see.

Wow Randy! I have had quite the opposite experience; especially with your favorite contender.

Randy,
You don't leave any personal ID on your post, so, you leave me to conclude that you work for ADP and have simply created an advertisement ala Web 2.0 (nest your product within the outline of a peer review).

If I am wrong, c'mon and finish the job, show thy self! The 'net is all about transparency, so get to trans-parencing already!

CRM Review Starved
Joe

Hey Pisstell, we need your blood type, HIV screen, SSN, phone number, DOB, mothers maiden name, Grand Ma's report card from the fifth grade, for "Transparency" reasons. Who died and made you the Dealerrefrsh police?

Let people comment with out you jumping in their grill claiming that they have a hidden agenda.

People blog to give their opinion, not their DNA.

Joseph "Joey" Stivick, Jr

[email protected]

I have used a number of CRM and ILM tools over the years. I have seen just about every CRM mentioned on here. I have found Dealer Socket to be the best solution for our organization. Their capabilities are fantastic.

We have over 200 business rules and campaigns running automatically every day . . .touching almost every department in our dealer group. Works great for us!

Reuben Muinos

Does anyone have experience with Arkona's CRM, specifically with the Contact Activity Scheduler? Arkona's website has no details on building activity schedules.

We currently use Reynolds CM. The interface is clunky and the reports are limited, but the phone support is very good, IMO. I also use the VinSolutions inventory tool for organizing and sending out our used inventory. It's a great tool, and the folks at VinSolutions are always helpful.

Bill Congdon
Atzenhoffer Chevrolet Cadillac Mitsubishi Mazda

My dealership has been with DealerSocket for the past 3 1/2 years and prior to that we were with Salespoint.

Our Internet department has been named eDealer of the Year for both 2007 and 2008 by Ford Motor Company and Ford Direct. We use DealerSocket for a complete CRM (We had ADP Right Relationship for CRM prior), but obviously DealerSocket’s functionality for Internet leads allowed us to sell more Ford sourced leads than any other Ford dealer in the nation.

I don't agree with the earlier assessment of DealerSocket at all. As simple as the fact that if a call is left open and a new call "To Do" is scheduled the past due call will be updated "incomplete" automatically and only the new call will exist in the employee's dashboard. Duplicate calls are avoided because of this process.

Additionally, you need to look at the support staff for a CRM or ILM tool. DealerSocket's support staff is extremely helpful. They will resolve the issues you have and if you have suggestions about changes they open a ticket and once a week review them for future enhancements. I just looked and there were 37 enhancements or new features released in 2008 alone. DealerSocket is interested in meeting their customer's needs as they change or develop.

Face it; no software program will ever do everything the way each individual user wants it to happen. You need to find a software tool that best meets your needs as a department or dealership. We went with DealerSocket because they provided a software tool that met the needs of our dealership and the results speak for themselves. In addition to our Internet success our dealership has been ranked 4th in Ford retail sales in the Nation for 2007 and 2008? At the end of the day it is about People and Processes and having a software tool that can support those two.

Well I see many good friends here, and this is one subject which I am passionate about.

First, when we get into issues of CRM/ILM and then take into consideration cost, I am reminded of what one of my mentors said about leads...there is no such thing as a $20 lead. Ain't that right Ralph? A cheap system TYPICALLY begets cheap results…not always, but most of the time. Deeper issues here, I know.

And the same is true about CRM/ILM. I've used nearly every system spoken of here. As most of you know, I have been in the internet side of this business since it’s inception, and we all know there are many CRM/ILM “magic bullets” that have fallen by the wayside. In my dealer group, we’ve used many of them in a sort of disjointed manor. I study CRM/ILM, the interface, what each system is capable of, and which are most likely to have staying power. If it is cheap...but no one uses it...what good is that? Further, and here is the real issue; Which system allows my employees, across a three state region, to best communicate with our client base AND see the bigger picture, thus enhancing the ability to make deals in both sales and fixed operations. What about reporting/remote reporting? Who is going to provide effecting on site and online training, thus enhancing the viability of the tool? And most of all...who is going to take care of you when the chips are down, there is a problem, and it is Friday night at 5:00pm and most other companies are quitting for the day...and so now your weekend is shot due to a CRM/ILM problem.

At this juncture, and after a few years of direct involvement with several of the companies listed here, I can only say that DealerSocket has become, in my opinion, the only truly viable company with witch I would conduct business...and entrust my business with. Very few problems! And, when I have had a problem, they actually put a guy on an airplane to my store to fix the problem. DealerSocket is the only tool that I have seen effectively demonstrate internal business synergies which have created business for my teams, and it is the most effective at helping my employees communicate with our client base. Further, with some of the new product packaging they have right now, it is competitive purely on a dollars and cents level with most of the other less capable systems out there. I guess what I am saying is that DealerSocket seems to be the one that is packed with value and is backed by an honorable and financially viable company. Does it have 18 million different ways of looking at Client Data? Sure! That does not mean you have to use them all, however. It just means that they have considered all of the options and needs, and provided them.

Wow...this is interesting. The system (Dealersocket) that did not jump out to me seems to be getting the most "plugs" on this thread. I still haven't heard anyone say anything positive about ADP CRM tool which is interesting. Here are somethings I am looking for a CRM/ILM to be able to do.

1. Webbased and work in browsers other than just I.E.
2. Techonology to send out simultaneous blast notifications to salespeople phones when a new email lead comes in and have it setup on a first come first serve bases for who ever claims the lead.
3. Technology to notify salespeople phone when a customer opens any email received from the salesperson.
Spam assassain rankings for email templates.
4. Simple and easy to use without tons of pop-up screens that confuse non computer savy salespeople.
5. Accurate Reporting and the ability to customize reports
6. Schedule specific times automated emails go out instead of the server randomly sending them out on the day
7. Have automated activities on schedules pause when customer sends response. ex. customer responds on Tuesday night and automated email goes on on Wed morning before we have had a chance to manually respond.
8. Ability to stop duplicate autoresponses when customer submit leads back to back.
7. Automatically assign lead to next available salesperson after so much time of non reponse.
8. Good criteria for determining duplicates...(HUGE PROBLEM with Reynolds Contact Management) The system only looks if email address matches up when a new lead comes in. If it's a new email address then a new Client is created!
9. Mobile CRM...Response ability and tracking through mobile device.
10. Store car in system client is interested in and email salesperson automatically when that EXACT vehicle comes in. e.x. I'm looking for a 2005 BLACK Honda Accord with TAN LEATHER interior, under 50,000 miles and 17 inch wheels. (Most systems I see can only do make, model and year.

There are tons of other things but for the post I focused mostly on the internet lead handling capabilities of a system.

Let me know what you guys/gals think. Who is out there that can do all this that is not a "fly-by-night" company.

Thanks.
Alex J.

The only tool that can handle most of what you're looking for is iMagicLab:

1. Yep - works better in Firefox (IMO)
2. Yep - you can do whatever you want on notifications and can set timers for who should get what lead depending on their response time
3. Yep - you can set this however you want
4. Haven't seen much that is simpler
5. Currently, this isn't 100%. They have made a commitment to fix it, but I can't give IML reporting a perfect score yet.
6. Nope - this is based off of how long after a lead came in or when you hit send on an email broadcast. That would be a nice feature. I've been asking for a "newsletter"/"scheduled email" piece that could take care of this - just don't have an ETA on when that will be added.
7. Yep - this is based on how you set things up.
8. Yep - it puts the duplicate lead into the original record instead of creating a duplicate
7a. Yep - see response number 2
8a. Yep - you can set this up in a number of ways
9. Yep - mobile.dealercrm.com
10. Yep - this was a feature request I've been asking for and they just added it!

I can tell you iMagicLab tackles your list better than any other system out there. eLeads might be second, but DealerSocket can't based on what I last saw from them. AutoBase, Reynolds, ADP...not even close about 6 months ago. A lot could have changed in the last 6 months though.

Alex,
Thanks for you input. I agree that IMagicLab had the presentation I saw. However, I am concerned about 2 things. One-the negative press the owner/CEO has received. http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20060324&slug=latman24
I am concerned about this company not being around in a few years...And 2, based on what they told me they do not have "in house" training which would be good initial for some sales teams. How is there customer support and what to you know about thier Owner/CEO, I heard the contract is "suspect" when it comes to your client records and things of that nature.

LOL...I meant to say IMagicLab had the "best" presentation I saw.

Keith Latman isn't only a vendor-partner of ours, he is also a friend of mine. I was not involved in his previous business nor can I comment on it. Unfortunately, other vendors use that argument against him and also try to paint the picture that he'll sell to the highest bidder. I came to the conclusion they have no fight against the actual product and have to resort to these measures. It was a turn-off for me.

Any company could be sold tomorrow. Any company could fold tonight. Everybody has a skeleton or two in the closet. If you don't like something, re-write the contract.

I'm not trying to sell you on iMagicLab. I'm just trying to help you find an answer based on my own experiences.

I think I left my last comment a little too soon.

Alex J - you should look at everything diligently. When that same information was presented to us (back in 2006) we were only using iMagicLab's ILM tool (iCarMagic/iCarConnect then) and it wasn't as crucial a piece of our process as it is today; now that we're using the full CRM. When we made the decision to switch to the CRM, those items resurfaced. ADP brought those things up to deter us from leaving their CRM product. They were discussed and we decided the iMagicLab product was superior enough to look past those things. I don't recall needing to negotiate any significant changes to the iMagicLab CRM contract. We did look at quite a few things about their architecture and back-up programs/servers.

Our IT Director and CFO did not want to move away from ADP CRM while our VP of Sales and eCommerce Director did, so we had to do a lot more diligence in order to make the change happen. All in all our internal opposition helped us make a clearer decision, and argument, that makes me feel good about the move.

I just wanted to make those points clear instead of just saying...

"Any company could be sold tomorrow. Any company could fold tonight. Everybody has a skeleton or two in the closet. If you don’t like something, re-write the contract."

IMagicLab seems to be head and shoulders above based on what I saw the product do. However, I am wondering how customer service is. I put in another call to them and left a message saying I was looking at a new CRM tool in the next 60 days or so on Friday and haven't heard back from them yet. If it takes that long to hear back with the opportunity to make a sale I'm wondering how their support line it. Alex do you have any integration issues with the CRM tool? Can it push and pull like they say?

Joshua,
Glad to hear you like Dealer Socket. I have not had the success you have though. *Sometimes* the duplicate calls are marked incomplete, while often they stay put and open. It's not consistent at all. With regards to support, I also haven't had the luck you have. I have only called twice.

1. Called to inquire about how to send a text alert when an email is received. DS doesn't support it, and apparently has no plans to. Terrible omission.
2. None of my salespeople were getting text alerts at all for several days. Called in, they blamed the carrier. Would be fine, if not for the fact that my team has Sprint, Verizon, AT&T, Cricket, etc. All different carriers, none working. The problem resolved itself several days later mysteriously. Alerts are still *very* flaky however.

Thanks for your input Rob.
Alerts are a VERY big deal to me and I was assured by the Dealersocket Rep that DS handles alerts for new leads and new emails. This concerns me to hear this.

Alex J.

Alex J - I have found it best to send an email to the iMagicLab support center when I can't get someone on the phone or start a ticket inside their online support forum. Yes, the support forum tracks all of your support items and keeps records of their responses to you. I wish every company did that.

I think you'll see a renewed sales effort from them once they've gotten all the new things they're doing pushed. You're not a current customer and that is probably why you haven't heard back. They don't want to take on too many new accounts right now, but I can make a connection for you if you want?

wow a lot of good info on this thread! There are a lot of details I could ask about here - one that caught my eye was the comment about "only working with IE", and that iMagiclab worked well on Firefox. Supposedly, a browser is a browser, so maybe there is something I missing by not using firefox? I have tried both and didnt see a difference.
Thanks!

'Excessive Pimping or Self-promotion of a website or company will be deleted. Be supportive, offer valuable feedback to other readers. This goes way further then merely plugging yourself or someone else. Believe me, we all see right through it.'
(DR Rule)

Has anyone Has any experience with Vin Solutions CRM/ILM?

this is a fantastic discusion. I am using a local firm and am looking to switch. I am looking at ImagicLabs, Vin Solutions and Imagic labs. They all seem to have similar features and it seems to come down to price and finding information from the people that actually have them and use them and to see what they think

Please throw our name on your list... SmartWeb CRM. We offer a wide variety of Dealer Web Solutions including: Websites, CRM, DealerChats(tm) and custom advertising portal sites. As well as SEO/SEM, phone tracking and custom shopping carts. There is really nothing we have not done or could not handle. We are mostly off the radar but we have been in this business since 1998. We are located just outside Sacramento California. I am the CTO/head developer etc. and I enjoy the challenge of making our dealers happy. Please contact us for a list of refernces. Thanks!

I was pointed in the direction of this CRM/ILM service a few days ago. Personally never heard of them but thought I would add it to the list here.

CAR-Research is a full service solutions provider. From Sales to Service, BDC to Marketing, CAR-Research has a solution to help your dealership increase its marketing share and customer satisfaction. Utilizing CAR-Research services can fill your sales funnel and steam-line your sales process.

http://www.car-research.com

I can say that the support team has been very helpful in correcting any startup problems some have described here. I have called whenever something pops up and causes problems. They have fixed it or gave me the solution to work with the system. The To-Dos is what most sales people need to organize the day to sell cars, other wise it wouldn't get done. When skipped I have only seen them marked incomplete and the new schedule appears. I like the system and have just starting to integrate the show room floor traffic with the new module. Rock on Dealersocket.

Alex Jefferson
I would be happy to give you a list of VinSolutions references from around the country. You might be suprised at some of the names on the list. I know there are a lot of Imagic fans on this site but i challenge anyone to look at both systems side by side. I agree Imagic has a good tool but I really believe that VinSolutions is more complete and can do everything outside of your DMS including Inventory Management, Desking with OEM incentive integration, and Websites.

I have use Imagiclabs ILM for over 3 years now and no only do I find it the easiest tool to use, it's the most affective. Its the only tool out there that lets me know if a customer even opens the email Ive sent them. Do you know how much time that saves me? The product is bold and stands out by allow the full color ebrochures and videos to be sent. The system by passes spam filters so the customer is actually getting the emails. Most other ILM product do not have this feature. I bet you didnt even know that with other tools, most of your emails are going right into the customers spam box because you got the lead from a 3rd party source and the customers email doesn't know who you are. For my money, about $500 a month for the ILM, it pays for itself. If your trying to do internet with a CRM, your missing the boat.

Ty
Imagic is not the only ILM that will let you know the second an email has been opened, without the recepient even knowing it. VinSolutions has that feature as well as hundreds of others. I agree Imagic is a great system but for an entire store application you need ILM and CRM.

check out prospect manager out of detroit, this app with the edge application blows adp, reynolds out of the water and its cheap

There are many CRM products in the market and there are many dealers that use them. But as a customer I have a simple question to ask. Why is it when I speak to a car salesperson inquiring about my next car purchase, they fail to take my name , my phone number or ask me for an appointment 9 out of 10 times. As a frustrated customer and accountant by profession I have developed a inexpensive simple to use tool that guarantees 100% that for each customers call or internet inquiry that a name , phone and appointment is made. If you what to turn those frustrated customers into happy purchasing customers then send me an email for free demo. Andrew Riolo [email protected]

Our company offers a web based contact management system called Leads PDQ. It was developed primarily for the automotive industry, but can be modified to accommodate other products / industries. It has been tested at various dealerships with encouraging results.

As part of the next phase of the development process, we are offering free use of the system to automotive sales professionals. If you are interested in a free trial, please visit www.leadspdq.com. All we ask in return is that you provide periodic feedback so that we can continue to develop and improve the system.

Thanks for your consideration!

I have used AVV Webcontrol for about 6 years at two different dealerships. This program is easy to use and extremely functional. I had evaluated quite a few ILM/CRM programs in the past and found AVV to be the most conprehensible. This is a web based program that is easy to use and access.

Since purchasing DealerUps in April we have purposely modulated our system. We do feel we have one of the stronger ILM's because we include Inventory and DMS Integration. We also provide automated schedules that are a must to stay in front of the Consumer long term. DealerUps also announced the 1st fully integrated Mobile piece this week.

Anybody familar with a crm/ilm for independent dealers on a budget? Joe Verde's system is at the top of my list right now considering we only have 2 sales people. Any other choices?

The beauty of a CRM company that has developed modules is they can help the independents. We have Pre-owned Dealers on DealerUps today. They start out simple and grow with there business. Companies are out there, you just have to weed thru the ones that are nothing more than outlook.

Vinsolution is an industry-leading developer of Internet-based customer relations management (CRM) and Internet lead management (ILM) software, VinSolutions provides 24/7 dealership sales and marketing information to their clients anywhere Internet access is available. In addition to CRM, ILM and inventory management products, VinSolutions builds custom dealership Web sites, uploads inventory photos, offers their clients quality training and consulting services, as well as valuable customer support. VinSolutions is GM, Ford, Chrysler, Audi and Subaru certified and has working relationships, alliances and integrations with several automotive software service providers such as CARFAX, Kelley Blue Book, AutoSoft, Inc., Autodata, RouteOne and DealerTrack.

www.vinsolutions.com or [email protected]

I recently took over a private cap dealer who owns six different OEM's. Currently we have three different CRM tools we are using. We are centralizing the whole out-fit and streamlining all of our vendors. After much debate and research we chose to go with Dealer Peak, as they customize and specialize in multi top dealers. While we are in the transitional stage we have dropped AVV and will be dropping IcarMagic. One thing that I have learned is be careful who you choose. Some CRM vendors hold your data HOSTAGE (IcarMagic)forcing you to make an extra payment before they will let you do a full export of YOUR data. Even if you have not cancelled. I was blown away on how they feel they have the right to make us pay up front for our data. Even if the bill is current or even if it has never been deliquent etc... Not a good pratice

<b>Steve</b> - glad you finally posted! I am familiar with iMagicLab's data policy - it is just like many other companies I've worked with in the past. But, at the same time it makes a lot of sense when you think about it. It is kind of like taking a rental car out for the weekend and returning it on Tuesday - that rental car company is definitely going to charge you for the extra day.

By the way, I'm assuming from your post that you guys decided to cancel sometime in October - after the new billing cycle started. If that wasn't the case, then I apologize for my assumption.

P.S. I'm probably sticking my nose where it doesn't belong.

Alex thanks for the feed back but that it is not the case. We have not cancelled and we have no problem paying what we owe. We want to make sure there are no problems with the new CRM before we decide to cancell. I did not have any issues with the other CRM tools pull our data.

Oh! Well, if you've still got the rental car out, then you should still be paying for it.

Are you just trying to export your data to the new tool?

Alex, sorry for the late response. Yes, we need the data for the new CRM.

Hi All,

Please also consider our Lead Management System called "DOLLAR." DOLLAR helps combines people, process, and technology in a highly profitable way.

It is designed not to reinvent the wheel, but rather to streamline your current process. We believe in accountability and a measured ROI, with that being said, one of the most important things to consider is your dealership can’t measure what it does not track.

We Have the Solution to manage your leads:
-Walk in traffic
--Internet leads
--Phone applications
--Import 3rd party leads from alternate sources
--Dealer Track Integration
--Route One Integration
Lead Freshness is our top priority:
--3rd party duplicate lead filtering
--New lead notification via text messages &amp; emails
-Send applications to over 200 electronically integrated lenders
-Track your response by running hundreds of reports
-Dollar will automatically distribute leads to individuals on your team or to separate locations
-Dollar can alert you or your team when leads arrive by text message &amp; email
-Set appointments through DOLLAR and email all leads with your own carloan.com email address

To learn more call 888-888-7227 or visit www.carloanco.com

Steve other dealerships have had that issue after they have notified the current CRM provider that they are switching to a new vendor. Some times it is just hard to let go I guess.

This sounds simple but when our stores designed follow up processes we wanted to have a flexible best-in-class tool. We have been with www.SalesForce.com for two years now and love it. This SaaS gives our IT managers the ability to dictate business process defined by brand managers and department heads. The downside is our DMS (R&amp;R) is so proprietary we have been forced to write our own API's with out their consent.

Daily Gameplan has produced Sales &amp; Follow-Up Systems since 1998 for the automotive industry. Recently, they came out with an online CRM that is only $20 per salesperson (plus a one time ULA of $299, $59 per individual.) There are also no contracts just month to month, which means you can cancel at anytime. Even if you use both the planners and the online, you're paying way less than the majority of CRMs out there for a comparable, if not better, product. Downfall? Although very inexpensive, the hardest part is getting your team to use them. If you can do that, you're golden.

We use Imagic for ILM and autobase for CRM. We are considering a move and know Imagic will be a problem holding our data hostage. We need an export each month for our e-newsletter and they make it nearly impossible! They claim to have a process but they torture us every month. I was considering moving my entire system to them ILM/CRM but won't do it based on their spotty tech support and draconian R&amp;R like data policies not to mention my unsubstantiated concerns about where their company is headed. I don't know whether Latman got a raw deal or what but I just can't risk it.

Scott we are hearing about added charges all the time for things just to function. There has been a big curve recently where Dealers are in fact using there CRM or ILM the way they should. The OEM's and DMS Data companies requirements to keep Dealers compliant and certified have really put a strain on some CRM-ILM's companies. With the loss of so many Dealers nationwide and added development cost many companies were not prepared for the added cost of additional development, hence passing a lot of changes on to the Dealer. If your looking for something extremely functional and priced fairly we would like an opportunity to talk. Look at www.DealerUps.com, call sales and we will call you.

I rarely chime in on this or any site but there are a couple of comments on iMagicLab data policy that needed clarification. This is not an ad for us and I likely won't comment further after this post to avoid it appearing as a sales pitch.

When I founded iMagicLab we had no data policy and I was fond of saying "it's your data and we'll never restrict you from having it". Over the years we've had to change that policy for 2 reasons:

1. Security of data. When you export data from any system it contains customer information that is both sensitive and private. Having it in a nice little file on your computer opens your dealership and iMagicLab to huge lawsuits if something happens to it. My whole company is based on protecting your customers information and the risk of having it floating around is huge. Now, before it's said; I am not suggesting that the individual asking for data is not responsible but as with anything valuable our policy requires dealer principles to approve the release of their data to their employees. This releases iMagicLab of liability and insures that data is only in the hands of a trusted employee. Many times over the years I have heard about people bringing customer lists to new stores, we error on the side of caution.

2. Some dealers were not being honest. iMagicLab runs a month to month service with a one month notice requirement in the contract. Also in our Agreement is the explicit notice that NO full exports will be given if your account is not paid in full for what you owe us. Look, we're not ignorant to the fact that dealers hate paying for something they are not using and when a dealer has decided to leave us they usually are in a rush to get going on their new tool. Unfortunately this means that a few dishonest people ask for full exports of their full data before they cancel our service and then never pay their closing bill as they agreed to do when they signed up with us. We do our part in providing the service as per the Agreement and we deserve to be paid without chasing the few dishonest dealers who have ruined it for the vast majority of our customers who would never conceive of trying to do this to save a buck.

Let’s just be honest here, our data policies are strict and our accounting policies are tough. IF our dealers think through their needs and get the signature of their dealer principles it all flows just fine.

Let’s have a great 2010.

Keith
[email protected]

For a low cost, easy to use CRM software program (fondly called "Jeeves") check out, DealerSoft, LLC (wwww.keepyourcustomer.com) of Hoffman Estates, IL.. For $10.00 per day for an entire dealership (per roof) with month to month agreement this is a "secure" server based CRM program (to protect data from off premise access by Identity Thief's, Hackers and disgruntled employees). Also, available is a ILM module and also an inbound "and" outbound call Telephone Call Control Module to insure more follow-up calls are made and Phone Up's are automatically entered in the CRM database.

We use Dealer.com for our website, and we use their Lead Machine product for ILM. Prior to Dealer, I used ProMax. Both systems are difficult to set up and use. I need a system focuses on the basics and makes it simple.

It would be a huge help if someone could post pricing so I could narrow down my list before I start doing demos.

Potential interested in:
1. VinSolutions
3. CarResearch
4. IMagicLab
5. SalesForce
6. DealerSocket
7. ELeadCRM

Craig
Contact me and I will be happy to give you pricing on VinSolutions. Are you looking for an ILM stand alone or as part of a CRM? Some of the vendors on your list can't/wont break out the ILM...FYI
[email protected]

Craig,

If you are looking for lead management tool, you can try our "DOLLAR" system. It can:
* Issue alerts when leads arrive
* Manage appointment scheduling -- even from other vendors or your own Web site
* Automatically distribute leads -- even at separate locations
* Manage follow-up efforts
* Pull credit in real time and submit to lendors via DealerTrack or RouteOne
* Customizable reporting on ROI
http://www.carloanco.com/products-and-services/lead-management/
Contact our one of our sales reps for a demo @ 888-888-7227

You forgot one name, DealerUps, Great custom Templates, nice automated schedule set-ups. No additional user cost,Can be used for multi points or single points.It is modulated to become anything you want, DeskLog,Inbound and outbound call capture, campaigns. More than happy to give you afforable pricing [email protected]

We've been using Dealersight for almost a year now. The emailing system is kind of broken if you're running Vista/7 (we get errors constantly, but thank god for Ubuntu Linux!), but it's simplistic and works. Recommended for small-to-mid dealerships looking for a cost-effective CRM, as long as you have a separate emailing client.

I am an independent consultant focused primarily on ADP w.e.b. CRM. One of my dealerships asked me to actually prove my concepts (it&#039;s easy to talk about selling cars, now show us you can do it)! They use ADP w.e.b. CRM and so we set it up and I&#039;m currently running the internet department for one of their stores from my office.

The first month (March 2010) we had as many appointment shows and had 2 less sales than they did the months of January and February combined.

ADP CRM iLeads does work. I&#039;ve worked with it for 8+ years, you just have to know how to work it.

Mike there in lies the problem &quot;ADP CRM iLeads does work. I&rsquo;ve worked with it for 8+ years, you just have to know how to work it.&quot; How many people are at a dealership for 8+ years. For a system to be effective and have buy in from the users it must be easy to use.

Shawn, you&#039;re exactly right, I guess I didn&#039;t complete my sentence. Contact me if you&#039;re interested in learning how. It really actually is easy once you get your arms wrapped around it.

Are there any lead management tools out there similar to Cobalt&#039;s LMCC, in regards to the personal organization/customization/layout &amp; broadcast (mass email) features?
We are averaging 50+ leads a day in our internet department, and our total customer database is closing in on 60,000 files in LMCC.
If we were to make a switch, some of the other lead management tools we have looked at just won&#039;t work with the volume we have, or the handling process we use.
LMCC is okay, but if there are any other tools out there similar to it, perhaps a little more up to date, I would really like to read up on them.
Any tips?

Sarah, not sure if this post is recent, but Eauto offers a feature rich ILM/CRM called Aeros that&#039;s an improvement on AVV. We have dealers convert from AVV now and again, including an Infiniti retailer just this week! Pricing starts at $55 / mo for ILM and it&#039;s manufacturer certified if you&#039;re a franchised retailer. Happy to help you if you have a need today... contact me if I can help: [email protected].

Nicely, if you've still got the rental auto} out, then you definitely should nevertheless be paying for it. are you currently just trying to export your information for the new tool?        
 
more information contact to http://www.50stateautoloan.com