CRM, ILM, Chat, Desking, Emails, Phone, SMS

A vendor is surveying dealerships to understand whether mobile CRM app adoption is dealer-driven or customer-driven, and seeks input on which features are most in-demand. The post aims to gather nationwide dealership feedback to inform product development priorities. The thread explores the market gap between dealership needs and customer expectations for mobile CRM functionality.

Dealers across different brands and sizes report mixed June 2011 results, with a Baltimore Honda store hitting 98 cars against a 110 target despite inventory challenges, while responses indicate the month was universally slow compared to May. The consensus suggests June 2011 was an unexpectedly weak period across the industry, with one smaller dealership's strong performance attributed more to luck than market conditions. Internet sales continued to represent a significant portion of business (ranging from ~30% to 46%), with dealers noting that lower traffic volumes made closing internet leads more critical to their monthly totals.

Import dealers facing severe inventory shortages (down to 20-30% of normal stock) are learning to hold pricing firm and avoid discounting aggressively, since low inventory gives them pricing power and customers will pay sticker if they want the vehicle badly enough. Key lessons include: stop giving away gross margin during good times, sell from existing stock at full price rather than chasing internet deals, and capitalize on shortage conditions by adding accessories and holding the line on negotiations. The consensus is that scarcity of supply—not aggressive pricing—is the real competitive advantage right now.

Rick Buffkin reports experiencing duplicate leads in his CRM when customers who initially submit leads through ResponseLogix (which assigns alias contact information) later call or visit the dealership, where staff log them with actual contact details. Multiple solutions are suggested: disabling alias functionality in ResponseLogix, leveraging iCarMagic's duplicate detection features to flag repeat contacts, or utilizing ResponseLogix's non-aliased product option while still retaining analytics capabilities. The core issue stems from ResponseLogix's aliasing feature designed for tracking metrics, which creates contact data mismatches when the same customer interacts with the dealership through multiple channels.

# Summary A dealer shares positive feedback about Carsforsale.com's $99/month service for listing 120 used vehicles, highlighting valuable bundled features including a Craigslist HTML tool, daily trade-in notifications, window sticker printing, and free Facebook inventory listing—making it a cost-effective alternative to separate services like Homenet. While lead quality is described as "not spectacular," the combination of tools and features appears to justify the modest monthly fee for dealers seeking multiple marketing channels in one platform. One commenter suggests that self-directed online marketing may ultimately be more effective than relying on these aggregator services.

# Summary Dealership managers discuss whether closing ratios should be calculated based on unique prospects or raw leads, particularly when the same customer generates multiple lead entries from different sources. The consensus is that closing ratios should be based on deduplicated prospects (100% ratio if you close one customer regardless of how many lead submissions they generate), and dealers should implement CRM/ILM systems that automatically merge duplicate customer records to avoid paying for duplicate leads and skewing performance metrics.

# Summary A small used car dealer seeking an ILM/CRM system under $1,000/month receives multiple vendor recommendations including MotorLot, eLead, eautobusiness, VinSolutions, Dealer.com's LeadMachine, and Autobase's AVV Webcontrol. The thread confirms there are numerous viable options in this price range, with eautobusiness notably offering entry-level service starting at just $55/user/month. The key takeaway is that budget-conscious independent dealers have several solid choices and should request online demos to compare features before deciding.

# Summary Dealers discuss Rapid Recon, a web-based inventory tracking tool designed to streamline vehicle reconditioning by monitoring progress through mechanical, recon, and sublet phases. While several respondents acknowledge the tool's value over traditional spreadsheets for reducing vehicles "slipping through the cracks," a key concern emerges: dealers prefer solutions that integrate directly with their DMS rather than requiring manual data entry or yet another login system.

A dealer asks for feedback on a free Autobase seminar titled "Turning your relationships into revenue." One respondent hasn't attended but recommends trying it anyway, mentioning positive experiences with related companies Dominion and AutoRevenue. The thread provides minimal concrete information, with no actual attendees sharing detailed feedback.

A long-time iMagic user raises concerns about recurring issues with the platform and seeks confirmation from other dealers about their experiences. The discussion focuses primarily on problems with iMagic's round-robin lead distribution system, which incorrectly routes new and preowned leads to the wrong sales staff despite proper configuration attempts. An iMagic representative responds by offering direct support and emphasizing the complexity of their system, suggesting users contact their training team rather than troubleshoot independently.

# Summary A dealer's assistant posts critical feedback about iMagicLab's implementation and support, but the thread quickly devolves into a technical dispute between iMagicLab's CEO and the dealer's VP of Marketing (Rafi Hamid) over whether the vendor should build a tri-directional email integration feature for lead management. The core tension reveals a fundamental disagreement: Hamid values a redundant, independent lead-routing system he built in 2001, while iMagicLab's leadership refuses the integration on data security grounds, with the CEO ultimately threatening to escalate to Hamid's dealer principal to resolve the dispute.

# Summary Phone-Up Ninjas, a phone sales training company, received media coverage in an AOL/AutoBlog article that Jerry Thibeau (the founder) felt misrepresented his business by framing his coaching techniques negatively and using audio recordings without permission. Thibeau and other forum members criticized the journalists for deceptive practices and sensationalism, while some dealers defended the training's effectiveness. The thread ultimately highlights tensions between media coverage and industry-specific business practices, with Thibeau taking legal action to remove unauthorized audio files.

# Summary Khoi Diep pitches a new lead generation platform offering unique (non-resold) third-party leads tied to specific dealer inventory, asking the DealerRefresh community how much they'd pay per lead. Forum members—experienced dealers and industry professionals—uniformly reject the concept, arguing that dealers already resent third-party leads and won't pay to outsource their most valuable asset (inventory) to an unbranded startup with no consumer authority or competitive advantage over established platforms like Cars.com and AutoUSA.

An automotive dealer inquires about Intellacar, an iPad-based sales process software that integrates with CRM systems to capture customer information and incorporate video into the sales experience. The poster views tablet-based tools as likely to become important sales enhancers in the future and notes that Intellacar represents an innovative approach in this emerging category. No responses are documented, leaving the question of actual user adoption and effectiveness unanswered.

A DealerRefresh user asked about rumors that Imagic laid off its sales staff, prompting speculation about company troubles or acquisition. Tom Harsha from iMagicLab clarified that the company actually hired experienced salespeople to capitalize on strong organic growth, but let them go after they struggled to adapt to the company's customer-relationship-focused sales model that relies heavily on word-of-mouth referrals. The key insight is that iMagicLab prioritizes its people-centric culture and existing customer relationships over traditional aggressive sales tactics.

Multiple DealerSocket users reported significant system slowdowns and timeouts during peak business hours in mid-to-late March, with complaints about poor support responsiveness compounding the frustration. A DealerSocket representative eventually clarified that the issues stemmed from their largest code release and infrastructure upgrade in company history, which affected approximately 400 of their 2000+ dealers, and confirmed the problems had been remedied with a new version launching the following week. The key insight is that proactive communication from vendors about planned upgrades and known issues can substantially improve client relations, as users were far more satisfied once they understood the root cause and timeline for resolution.

# Summary Parkavebmw asks whether their current practice of sending 2-3 marketing emails per month—plus separate CRM follow-ups—is excessive, given their 18-20% open rate. Responses vary from Jerry Thibeau's conservative stance (one email monthly maximum) to KoreyB's view that frequency matters less than content quality, with most dealers advocating for 1-2 targeted emails monthly focused on specific vehicles or segments rather than broad blasts. The consensus key insight is that personalized, conversational emails with soft-sell subject lines and single-topic focus generate better engagement than high-frequency mass blasts, and dealers should use analytics to identify and eliminate underperforming emails.

# Summary Automotive dealers across multiple brands (Honda, GM, Toyota, Nissan, Ford, Dodge) shared their March 2011 sales results, with the majority reporting strong performance ranging from 85% to 120%+ of goal, despite concerns about potential supply disruptions from the Japan earthquake and tsunami. Several dealers highlighted positive trends including increased email lead conversion, higher closing rates, and year-over-year growth, with one poster noting a record month and optimism about an industry rebound. The consensus indicated that March was a surprisingly strong sales month across the board, though import dealers expressed some concern about potential future inventory challenges from the crisis in Japan.

A dealer seeking an affordable VIN database solution for their upcoming CRM/ILM launch asks the community for recommendations. A forum member suggests VIN Power (ESP Data Solutions) as a viable option, clarifying it's separate from VinSolutions. The original poster confirms they've already contacted VIN Power and considers them a strong candidate for their needs.

Several automotive dealership professionals share positive experiences with VinSolution's VinCamera tool, noting that while the original version had quality issues, the current version delivers high-quality photos with an easy workflow (select stock number, shoot photos, plug in USB for automatic upload). The consensus is that VinCamera saves significant time and simplifies inventory photography training, making it a worthwhile investment despite potentially higher upfront costs compared to alternative camera solutions.

# Summary A DealerSocket user on Mac encountered a server error when attempting to save status changes and found that the software was not fully compatible with macOS across multiple browsers. DealerSocket representatives acknowledged the limitation and explained that while some Mac users successfully use the platform, perfect functionality requires running Windows through virtualization software like Fusion or Parallels, though the company indicated Mac support improvements were on their development roadmap. The thread highlights a broader industry problem where automotive vendors prioritize Internet Explorer compatibility over cross-platform support based on customer demand percentages.

The thread discusses Saturday sales strategy in automotive dealerships, with Jerry Thibeau arguing that reps should build appointments throughout the week to maximize Saturday volume, while Jeremy Smith counters that over-relying on Saturdays creates a self-fulfilling prophecy and dealers should push harder for weekday sales. The key consensus is that Saturday success depends on consistent weekday phone work and properly set appointments rather than walk-ins, with the additional concern that dealerships should staff phones promptly at opening time.