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After what has been a long, snowy winter here in Kansas City, spring is finally here! For many of us, that means it is time for an annual dose of spring cleaning. Spring cleaning isn’t just for the storage shelves in your garage and that closet of random items, though. Most dealership CRMs could use a good spring cleaning too.  

For a CRM to do your dealership any good, your team has to actually use it. Just like the miscellaneous pile of poorly-writing promotional ink pens and out-of-date pizza menus keep you from getting to the one thing you actually need in the junk drawer, the clutter that piles up in your CRM can keep you from being able to properly use the tool.  

Your dealership and your customers are always changing, so the way you use your CRM should always be evolving too. There are three key areas in your CRM that could probably use a good spring cleaning: your data, your processes and your training.  

Your Data  
In conversations about CRMs, you’ve likely heard the phrase, “Garbage in, garbage out.” It is said often for a reason; it’s true, and it’s important. Keeping your data tidy is critical to CRM success, and the cost of failing to keep your data clean is high.  

Bad data costs quickly add up. First, there are the opportunity costs. With missing or inaccurate data, such as a wrong phone number, you miss out on sales opportunities. Second, there are the wasted marketing costs. Sending customers promotions in the mail can be a valuable marketing tool – but only if you keep their physical addresses updated. If customers addresses aren’t up to date, you might as well be tossing dollar bills out the window. Finally, there are the lost productivity costs. If your salespeople are directing half of their follow-up to incorrect email addresses and phone numbers, half of their time is wasted.  

Even the most stringent of CRM users likely accumulate some garbage data over a year’s time, so take stock of what you have and clean up what’s not right.  

Your Processes 
Your CRM should work for you, not the other way around, which is why we allow VinSolutions Connect CRM dealers to fully customize their CRM processes whenever needed. Since our processes allow for so much customization, dealers often ask me what the best process is. The answer, though unsatisfying, is that the best process is the one that your people will follow.  

There is some trial and error involved with getting processes right, so do some spring cleaning of every process you have built in your CRM. You may find that you don’t need some of the processes you currently have, or that there are big gaps that you need to build new processes to fill.  

Start your process spring cleaning by looking at overdue tasks. Too many overdue tasks often indicate that your processes are overly complicated or unrealistic. On the flip side, if you do not have any overdue tasks, your processes are probably not complex or thorough enough.  

Your Training Programs  
I see many dealerships begin and end their CRM training with new hire onboarding. Training new hires is critical to CRM success, but new hire training alone isn’t enough. To keep utilization high, CRM training must be ongoing. High CRM utilization means high ROI, so it is worth cleaning up your training programs this spring.  

To begin your training clean up, think about common problem areas in your dealership. Could the root cause of any of those problems be solved with training? For many dealerships, key CRM issues are caused by poor utilization, not the tool itself.  

A good CRM is always changing, and people are forgetful, so it is critical to work regular training into your staff’s responsibilities. Be realistic about it, though, and start small. If you only have training once a quarter currently, try shooting for once a month.  

It’s also important to take advantage of the training resources you have at your disposal. At VinSolutions, we offer online training sessions, an annual user summit and regular consultation with Performance Managers. The dealers that are most successful with their CRM are the ones who take advantage of all of this training and take it seriously.  

This spring, give your CRM a good spring cleaning, and start seeing even greater success.  

Kia Certifies ‘Xtime Suite for Kia Dealers’

Kia dealers know they have an effective shop loading tool with Kia Schedule. Now they also have access to a fully certified suite of Xtime products proven to help Kia dealers’ fixed operations become more efficient and profitable.

As of February 1, 2019, Kia Motors America partnered with Xtime, a Cox Automotive company, to expand the Xtime offering beyond service scheduling to create “Xtime Suite for Kia Dealers,” comprised of the Xtime products Schedule, Engage and Inspect. This fully integrated, end-to-end solution offers dealerships scheduling across all devices, tablet-based lane check-in, and electronic multipoint inspections.

Xtime began its relationship with Kia in 2013. Since then, Kia dealers have consistently achieved significant ROI through the use of Xtime products. Here are just a few ways Kia dealers have grown and succeeded in partnership with Xtime.

• Kia Schedule drives an average show rate of 86 percent.
• Kia customers checked in through Engage, Xtime’s automotive customer retention tool, are 15 percent more likely to return than with a traditional service write-up.
• With Inspect, Xtime’s vehicle inspection software, Kia dealers average $82,000 per month in additional service recommendation (ASR) sales.

Xtime’s certification means full integration with Kia, synching with KORE Owner Marketing and Kia Recall Scheduling, plus seamless connectivity from Kia’s desktop owner portal and smartphone app. Kia’s Promise to Care encompasses scheduling convenience, a clear explanation of factory recommended service, a recap of all work completed, and complimentary multipoint inspections on every visit. Auto repair software for Kia Dealers allows every dealership to fulfill this promise and reach a new level of efficiency.

Persistence is necessary for achieving success in almost every area of life, and your dealership service department is no exception. The majority (at least 58%) of additional service recommendations offered by dealerships to their customers get declined. Successful dealerships know how to channel that rejection into a productive and persistent process for recapturing those services down the road. That process is made up of three simple steps.

1. Make Additional Recommendations

Many service lane customers come to the dealership for a particular purpose—often a singular, obvious, and bothersome problem with the vehicle. You should use a vehicle inspection software to identify, generate, and present additional vehicle service needs. If your dealership is like most, the majority of those recommendations will be rejected by the customer. Rather than seeing that rejection as a negative thing, view declined services as your starting point for future repair opportunities. Additional service recommendations (ASRs), in other words, have value whether or not they are initially accepted.

2. Store Declined Services Electronically

In the past, dealerships have relied on paper service notes and other ineffective means for storing declined services. Only when those declined services are stored electronically and in association with customer records, do they begin to generate future opportunities. Declined services should be electronically recorded during the initial service walkthrough and following any subsequent conversations between the customer and service advisor.

3. Target and Invite Customers to Return

Every good marketing initiative relies on the ability to match a specific audience with a relevant message. A well thought out system for capturing declined services is effective for this very reason. There is perfect alignment between an individual customer and a message promoting a service they know they declined in the past.

When declined services are stored electronically and connected to a customer record, they can be used in auto repair marketing to build personalized promotions and invitations to return. You can use electronically stored data to filter by service, and then craft customized emails, digital ads, mailers, phone calls, and old-fashioned point-of-sale conversations around specific declined services.

From the time we’re little, we’re taught to try, try again if at first we don’t succeed. But many dealership employees leave that lesson behind as soon as a customer declines a recommended service. In reality, a simple three-step process, the right auto repair software, and a little persistence can help dealerships recapture declined services and boost service lane profits.

If you’re getting serious about choosing a new CRM, you need to ask providers some serious questions about Performance Management.

In our new ebook, “The #1 Thing to Look for in Your New CRM,” we show you all the important roles a Performance Manager plays in making your dealership profitable, and tell you all the questions you need to ask before you sign on the dotted line.

If you already know utilization drives results, and you’re ready to see it in action, schedule a demo with us!

Fill out the form to download our new ebook

Improving the customer experience and sending internet sales soaring with VinSolutions Connect CRM

The motto of Montana’s Helena Motors is “the way it ought to be.” This belief guides every customer interaction, and treating customers right has been the basis for much of their success.

However, the group was ready to take its customer experience to the next level. It wanted a technology solution to help streamline and track interactions with potential and current customers to personalize the buying journey, as well as increase efficiency. These needs led Helena Motors to look for a new CRM provider that could provide:

• Unsurpassed workflow and reporting flexibility.
• Expert guideance and proactive support from a dedicated Performance Manager.
• Real-time integrations with its other Cox Automotive solutions.
• One central view for all customer information

Watch how VinSolutions Connect CRM elevated the customer experience and helped drive sales.

In today’s digitally driven world, it’s more important than ever for dealers to maximize the ROI from their digital advertising investment.

Google’s Dealer Guidebook was designed with the goal of helping dealers to utilize Google’s products and channels to generate and capture shopper demand efficiently and effectively. Learn how Dealer.com can act as your dealership’s very own automotive advertising agency, helping you to achieve success through a digital advertising solution built upon twenty years of dealer-focused innovation.

Learn how an SEO partnership with Dealer.com can help you own the search engine results pages where it matters most.

At Dealer.com, we bring the auto industry’s largest SEO team together to serve your unique dealership goals. Through agency-grade execution, unsurpassed capability, and a complete commitment to your success, we help you craft a search strategy that integrates with your complete digital marketing plan.

LEARN MORE ABOUT CAR DEALER SEO