Hit Every Opportunity

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) took center stage at the National Automobile Dealers Assn. convention this year. Today, CRM is vita, as more consumers rely on it for product information and comparison shopping.

I talked to many dealers at the convention. I heard a recurring theme: How to effectively capture and manage customer information across the dealership to better target customers with the right message at the right time.

That's where CRM comes in. It is an integrated approach to identifying, acquiring and retaining customers. By managing customer interactions across the business, CRM helps dealers maximize the value of every customer interaction and drives satisfaction.

With the Internet, call centers, direct mail and floor traffic, there are many ways in which a customer can interact with the dealership. Each is an opportunity to win new business or, on the flip side, lose business if a customer should fall through the cracks. The challenge of CRM is to make it easy for customers to do business with your dealership, and empower employees to recognize customers at every point.

Success starts with a process, backed by trained employees and an integrated CRM system, that enables you to capture, control and convert every selling opportunity.

You should have defined processes and proficiencies in the following:

Follow-up creates opportunities for employees to verify customer information and build relationships.

That, in turn, increase service and sales business.

Here are some types of follow-ups:

With the right people, processes and tools in place, your dealership can start capturing, controlling and converting every selling opportunity that presents itself to your dealership.

Rob Urbanowicz is CRM marketing director for Reynolds and Reynolds Co. (www.reyrey.com)