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Are you hungry for increased sales and more loyal customers? Automotive CRM systems can bring your dealership to the next level.
If you talk to veteran auto salespeople who have been in the game for a long time, you’ve likely heard a story or two harkening back to “simpler” times before the Internet. Their greatest weapon was the phone, and a full page spread on the back of the daily newspaper brought in plenty of qualified buyers. And to stay organized? A desk calendar, a pad of sticky notes, and a pen.
Yes, something is comforting about the nostalgia of the “good old days,” but let’s be honest: The Internet has given car dealerships the ability to sell more cars than they ever imagined and to develop meaningful, lasting customer relationships. And while the idea of so many moving parts can be overwhelming to salespeople, an automotive CRM system is just what your team needs to streamline and simplify your entire dealership.
Why choose an automotive CRM system over a general CRM system?
Before calling out why you should choose an automotive CRM system over a basic CRM 
system, let’s get on the same page in understanding what a CRM system is.
CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management, and all types of businesses use a CRM system to store customer data and manage relationships with those individuals. It’s a way for your entire dealership to have a central location for customer/prospect information, leads, and opportunities. Most CRMs have these essential features.
Some general CRM systems, though, will have additional features you’ll never need in the auto industry that just complicate and confuse things. They also might be missing key features that would make your life in a dealership so much easier. That’s when it may be a better idea to invest in an industry-specific CRM platform, like an automotive CRM system.
How an automotive CRM system can improve how you do business
What are some unique benefits of an automotive CRM system? Here are some ways it can help your dealership elevate the entire way it does business:
1. Eliminate annoyances associated with distributing leads
What’s your current process when leads come in? Are your sales managers assigning each lead manually? Is it every man for himself and the first to claim the available lead gets it? And regardless of how you assign the leads, aren’t you getting sick of your salespeople complaining to you about the assignments not being “fair”?
You can set up an automotive CRM system to distribute leads in a round-robin fashion so lead distribution is equal and your sales managers aren’t wasting time.
2. Get help minimizing missed deals
Too many potential deals fall through the cracks because something gets forgotten in the sales process. In an automotive CRM, you can set an action plan that creates specific tasks based on stages of the selling process. That way, your salespeople can’t lose a deal because a particular task slipped their mind. And, if the deal still falls through, you’ll be able to look in the CRM, see what may have happened, and follow up with the customer to try and save the sale.
3. Manage those pesky up sheets
Managing a customer’s up sheet can be time-consuming, but an automotive CRM system will help with that. You can schedule tasks and appointments from within the up sheet and create them on the fly with mobile barcode scanning for customer driver’s licenses and VINs.
4. Streamline the test drive phase
Juggling numerous requests for test drives can be overwhelming at times, but an automotive CRM will help simplify everything. If a customer submits a test drive request through a form on your website, it will go right into the CRM, they’ll get an automatic confirmation email, the lead will be assigned, and the task will get added to your daily workflow. All of the customer’s information will automatically populate within the CRM.
5. Personalization of the entire sales experience 
Creating trust with your customers is so important, and they need to feel like they’re not just another nameless, faceless sale. An automotive CRM system will personalize emails, let you create targeted campaigns, and keep track of important dates in your customers’ lives (birthdays, car purchase anniversaries, etc.) and remind you to follow up with them on those days. It may seem small, but regular, personalized contact is big in creating lasting customer relationships.
Your dealership is unique. Your needs are unique. So why let your dealership’s success hinge on old-fashioned management techniques and hand-written notes? When you make the decision to invest in a CRM system that has been specifically created for the auto industry, there’s no doubt you’ll see the positive difference in your team as soon as they adjust to the change.
Interested in an Affordable, Full-Featured Auto Dealer CRM?
Schedule an AutoRaptor Demo Now!
