Benefits Automotive CRM for Today’s Digital Dealership

Modernization has touched all aspects of the industry and affected supply chain logistics, auto retail, and sales cycles. Besides optimizing sales in the automotive area, new technologies have opened up additional revenue streams and made it easier to serve customers. One of these technologies is automotive CRM.

It is expected that by 2025 over 25% of global car sales will be made via the Internet. According to Lab42, 48% of shoppers study the market for 1-3 months before making a purchase and expect to have an exceptional experience at any stage of their shopping journey.

In addition, 80% of customers already make most of their new car purchases digitally and are especially loyal to companies that deliver exceptional value with minimal friction or stress. Therefore, the approach should be personalized, targeted, intuitive, and consumer-friendly.

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Why Do Dealers Need Automotive CRM?

Two types of solutions are required to run a dealership. One is a Dealer Management System (DMS) and the other is a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. The difference between the two is that DMS manages inventory and deals, while CRM manages your customer database.

DMS is used to manage transactions, track earnings, generate credit reports for consumer finance, generate reports, and maintain inventory under a single account.

The CRM system should manage all potential customers, track lead sources, and calculate ROI from advertising costs. In addition, tracking the activity of sales representatives is necessary for working with leads and closing sales. Dealers must send emails and text messages and make calls within a system with advanced features such as call recording. Many CRM systems are configured to optimize and automate customer interactions to ensure consistency and continuous engagement. A good CRM stores valuable information about business operations with actionable data and analytics that help drive the business.

What Is Automotive CRM?

CRM is a customer and perspective management software that increases a company's revenue by 41%. Solutions for the automotive industry are no exception. They combine back-office systems with artificial intelligence capabilities to deliver innovative and scalable solutions. CRMs not only store contact information for all users but also help identify potential buyers, remember their preferences, maintain after-sales relationships, and provide warranty service. Using the cloud infrastructure of such systems, large and small companies automate their processes without the cost of purchasing and maintaining specific equipment.

What is CRM in the automotive industry?

Advanced automotive CRM solutions cover all aspects of the industry - from choosing the right vehicle to aftermarket customer support. The system collects and analyzes customer data to find preferences and give personalized service. Automation improves the productivity of the automotive industry by offering customized delivery models through dealerships.

With the help of automotive CRM, companies provide their customers with assistance at all stages of their journey to a vehicle that meets their requirements. Dealers, in turn, focus on purchasing parts and accessories for resale. In addition, suppliers team up with purchasing dealers to help consumers achieve their goals.

It does this by combining processes, channels, and teams to improve overall operational efficiency. Most auto dealer CRM solutions integrate with other dealer software, eliminating the need for duplicate customer data entry.

Automotive CRM Profits

Top automotive CRM offers all the necessary tools for manufacturers, specialized automotive companies, and dealerships to attract and keep leads and increase sales conversions. Dealership CRM software focuses on providing a unique experience for car buyers and more.

For OEMs

A centralized CRM in automotive creates opportunities for more personalized customer interactions and relationship management for all involved parties.

For Suppliers

The CRM offers the creation of meaningful customer relationships and more efficient operations by automating repetitive processes that demand a lot of attention and time.

For Dealers

Independent auto dealer CRM can best organize workflow - and ultimately sell more vehicles. They distribute leads on a cyclical schedule, optimizing test drives and setting up the entire sales process.

For Mobile Service Companies

CRM helps companies improve customer service efficiency, which eliminates congestion.

With automotive CRM, users can:

• Empower sales teams with custom applications tailored to their specific needs and workflows.
• Drive business growth with built-in analytics to identify the most profitable segments with the best possible resources.
• Turn leads into connected via mobile services at all customer touchpoints.
• Save employees’ time so they can handle more meaningful tasks like customer interactions.
• Accurately predict business revenues using single data, with an eye to current performance against forecasts.
• Allow sales, service, and other departments to collaborate with data from different sources and make correct data-driven decisions.

Basic Features of Automotive CRM

By purchasing off-the-shelf CRM software for the automotive industry, you get a core set of features that make processes more efficient, transparent, productive, and consistent. The table below shows the most important ones:

Main Reasons to Use CRM Automotive Software

With the best automotive CRM software, connected dealer customers will be able to not only moderate their car buying and selling activities but also strengthen customer relationships through better after-sales service.

1. Increase conversion

Keeping a record of hot and cold leads is critical to maintaining positive order dynamics. CRM helps you analyze inactive leads and convert them utilizing multiple marketing strategies. When planning a marketing strategy, the customer’s position in the sales funnel and other available data are also considered. This helps you optimize your campaigns for increased conversions and ROI.

2. A better understanding of customers

Complete customer data, including purchase history, personal preferences, family data, etc., is collected and saved in a CRM database. Every registered customer record, every report, and every process gives dealers more information about their customers. More information means more chances to close the deal and retain customers.

3. Fast response

The faster you answer customer questions, the more likely you are to attract them and convince them to purchase from you. Seventy-eight percent of customers will choose the company that will be the first to respond to their request. A CRM with autoresponder functionality will allow you to respond immediately to potential customers, so you will not miss sales opportunities.

4. Collecting customer reviews

Along with customer data, customer testimonials are an important piece of information that helps companies operate. By collecting feedback, companies obtain a clearer understanding of what customers want and improve processes in a more targeted manner. Collecting and analyzing reviews becomes easier when the company has car dealership CRM tools.

5. Individual approach

With customers having the option to choose a vehicle from the many options available to them online, marketing and targeting the right audience are game-changing processes. CRM and advanced analytics help do this with personalized messaging marketing campaigns. You will establish more personalized relationships with your customers, and the CRM solution will carry out these processes.

6. Cross-selling opportunities

With a detailed customer database and CRM, you can propose a variety of products to the same customers. By exploring untapped opportunities and setting up your campaigns accordingly, you will be able to fill in the gaps your customers require. The system itself selects the most suitable products for your customers, relying on existing data and requests in real-time and data.

7. Detailed accountability

Every action and campaign designed for your customers should deliver tangible results. Analytics reports help you explore comprehensive marketing and sales data in a dealership and share it with every member of your team.

8. Access from mobile devices

A CRM system for car dealerships helps you communicate with customers across all channels, including email, chat, social media, and form submission. The system is fast and efficient and may be integrated with a variety of online tools and resources that the business uses to maintain sales continuity.

CRM Software for Car Dealerships

Choosing the best CRM for auto dealerships is extremely important for any dealer looking to grow their business. Here are several ways the software manages your business and develops customer relationships:

• Gives shoppers the ability to browse the car models on your site and select the options that suit them before visiting your store.
• Improves online customer engagement months before the actual purchase.
• Enables dealers to provide the most personalized customer service possible.
• Minimizes the incidence of missed leads, as dealers can always look into the CRM and contact the customer to proceed and complete the deal
• Assists in the scheduling of test drive requests from interested customers. It also provides automated email confirmation and adds a prospect to your daily schedule.
• Helps dealers track the car delivery process.
• Permits salespeople to automate lead distribution and manage scheduled tasks and customer appointments.

Best CRM Systems for Automotive Industry

Keeping in mind the unique goals and needs of your dealership, look at the comparison table of function-leading CRM systems for dealers:

How Do I Choose the Right Automotive Solution?

CRM software has many features, capabilities, and benefits for businesses operating in the automotive industry. Based on a variety of automotive CRM reviews, the best CRM software for car dealerships is expensive, so you should consider all your options before deciding. Different technologies and a growing number of must-have features make it even harder to find what works for your business. If this is your first time choosing a car dealership CRM system, then follow this plan:

• Identify all the needs of your business;
• List the features you need and check their compatibility with your business processes;
• Find a software solution that suits your culture and goals;
• Deploy it with a trusted partner company.

You will have to choose between an out-of-the-box option and a custom solution. You can see the differences between them in the comparison table.

If you’re still unsure about why you should choose to develop your own automotive CRM solution for your company, check out a recent dealer survey, which found that the overall performance of off-the-shelf CRM auto sales solutions in the automotive industry is only 2 out of 5. Customizing an off-the-shelf solution costs a substantial amount, but this does not guarantee its full compliance with your needs. However, there is a way out.

Automotive CRM & Inventory Solution Case Study

Payne Auto Group aimed to improve customer service and increase sales. Their previous solution was expensive and limited in scope; it was also poorly maintained and rarely updated. It lacked important features, and the system itself was limited.

The dealer network needed a more flexible solution with the ability to manage unlimited assets and inventory. As a result, the dealership's CRM software had to combine information from different platforms into a single data source for all files.

Because our team specializes in custom automotive CRM solutions and has deep knowledge of the industry, Ergonized was able to develop a SaaS platform that allows the dealership to manage an unlimited number of websites. We have implemented a flexible inventory management system with API and a template management system to improve the customer experience. With the launch of the website and inventory management platform, the dealership groups and retail agents of the Payne Auto Group have been able to interact more closely with their customers. The company cut its monthly fee costs to zero and digital tools by 50% and paved the way for future growth. Because the interface remained almost unchanged, the sellers did not need additional training.

Case Study: CRM And Inventory Solution For Automotive Industry

Many CRM systems are configured to optimize and automate customer interactions to ensure consistency and continuous engagement. A good CRM stores valuable information about business operations with actionable data and analytics that help drive the business.

Custom CRM solution was built for a client's dealership chain in order to improve customer experience and drive sales. Case study in details >>

Output

Properly implemented automotive CRM software customized to your business needs helps you organize your sales process, automate critical CRM workflows, and implement your most daring sales growth strategies.

Ergonized will help you implement and customize a turnkey solution or create an individual car dealer CRM for you. We are seasoned professionals who understand the value of creating personalized and interconnected experiences for today's clients. Our automotive CRM solutions can help you make a significant leap in productivity, strengthen customer relationships, improve customer service, and ultimately increase your bottom line.