Digital Dealer
By Jim Roche
The landscape of the automotive industry is changing at a lightning pace. Erosion of brand loyalty, the advent of the Internet and proliferation of consumer choices is causing upheaval in the marketplace. When the dust settles, Customer Relation Management (CRM) will define who wins the battle for the customer.
Smart dealers have always recognized the importance of developing a close relationship with customers. So why is CRM such a hot topic in the news today? With new technology, CRM gives you the ability to "reach out and touch" more customers more often. This builds loyalty within an existing customer base, driving additional revenue, reducing conquest expenses and increasing your dealership's profitability. At the same time, it allows you to do more with fewer people, saving you time and extending your reach.
With the growing emphasis on CRM and the development of on-line e-CRM techniques, new technologies and vendors are flooding the market. This flurry of activity has created several problems:
Fragmentation: Some vendors are only focusing on one piece of the process. Dealers typically do not want to evaluate and administrate multiple vendors for new vehicle sales, extended warranties, F&I, accessories, parts and service.
Methods: Most vendors do not provide services that match all consumer communication preferences. There are traditional "off-line" companies using direct mail and "on-line" companies with Internet-based solutions, but few are true "click and mortar" solution providers.
Hype: There is a lot of hype, but only a handful of vendors have a history in the CRM industry. Dealers must be careful to evaluate who has the most appropriate solution for their needs.
Lack of Coordination: Currently the manufacturer and dealer coordinate very little on CRM. This creates an inefficient communications process that can irritate the vehicle owner rather than build a solid relationship for future business.
CRM Today
Today, the best CRM and e-CRM systems re-invent the consumer experience with an auto dealership. While increasing vehicle sales, generating more service revenue for dealers, these systems use traditional methods and the Internet to provide feedback from customers that help dealers continually improve overall customer satisfaction and build brand loyalty.
At its best, CRM begins when a customer makes a purchase at a dealership and extends the relationship through the entire ownership cycle of service/warranty of the vehicle into the next purchase. This "cradle to grave" process covers all aspects of the vehicle ownership cycle. By continually nurturing the customer relationship at every point of contact, the dealership develops a history that can be used to better serve the customer today and into the future.
Current CRM efforts need to address the needs of both off-line and on-line customers. Service reminders, reservations and customer satisfaction surveys via e-mail can be used for a dealer's most Web savvy customers, while direct mail and telephone contact serves to support traditional CRM techniques for those customers not yet on the Web. Comprehensive CRM systems allow you to maintain all types of communication through a single data warehouse that works directly with the dealer's internal system. This gives the dealer a complete history of customer information.
Today's most successful CRM and e-CRM systems are based on a deep understanding of dealership operations. For example, when making reservations for service visits, a system needs to understand shop capacity and internal notification requirements for shop personnel. If the customer uses a dealer's Web site to make a reservation, the site will instantly access the customer's driving record and service history. The reservation is then scheduled with the dealer's internal system. The actual service visit is followed up by a customized customer satisfaction survey based on the specific work that was performed by the shop. For off-line customers, reservations are handled over the telephone with an operator who knows the customer's service history, required maintenance and has the information to properly schedule the vehicle into the service department. A customized satisfaction survey is sent through the mail. All efforts are tracked through a central system.
Throughout the process, a comprehensive customer and vehicle data warehouse is used to drive individually customized, perfectly timed communication with customers. These warehouses can combine data from the manufacturer and dealer with external demographic information to give dealers the power to more accurately predict customer needs. And, by coordinating promotional activities with the manufacturers, dealers get the right message to the right customer at the right time - helping the dealer to best predict when they need aftermarket items, maintenance/service or are considering purchasing another new or used vehicle. This adds value for the both the customer and the dealer.
In looking toward the future, the next generation CRM systems will go beyond parts and service to facilitate "concierge" services being offered by dealers. Services such as "pick up and delivery" detailing will offer the ultimate in personalized service and will become an integral part of a complete CRM initiative.
As CEO of Ford Jacques Nasser states: "There is a revolution underway in the automotive industry-and the consumer is driving it." In the coming consumer era, the manufacturer and dealer who share data and optimize each others' activities will present a single, unified process that touches the consumer in the correct way at the correct time. Both dealers and customers stand to win.
Jim Roche is the senior vice president of the e-Services division of Newgen Results Corporation. jroche@dealeronline.com
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