Rank the CRMs

[Brad Burlingham]

Hi all,

Realizing this is a loaded question, but curious who you all think are leading the pack in crm. We are currently on elead at our 12 stores and i cant even remember the last innovation they had. As painful as it is to change, we are considering making the move.

I know the choices aren't that great, but curious what people think these days of Vin Solutions and Dealersocket. Any other new kids on the block. No input from CRM Vendors in this group please.

Love to hear your input and your rankings..

 

[ChrisR]

My list of preferred CRMs:
- XRM
- VinSolutions
- Anything else
- eLeads / Dealer Socket

 

[Justin Rindos]

I use XRM and love it!

 

[BillKVMotorCo]

I've only used Vin and DealerSocket. There is a lot to like and hate about both. I think that's the typical CRM story though, isn't it?

 

[Zhendrix]

Take the house hunters approach. For example, if you have a family of 6 it probably excludes the downtown loft you've wanted since college. Come up with a list of "must haves" based on your dealer group vitals and then some "wants" based on where you want to be. When I worked retail we formed a committee with 1-2 members from every department to create the must haves list and take demonstrations from providers. We boiled it down to 3 main criteria for selection... 1. Ease of use. 2. Accessibility: features such as mobile app, integrations, data extraction 3. Accountability

@Alex Snyder wrote a great and still relevant series about "How to select a CRM provider" a while ago. Tried to link to it but couldnt find it. If I know alex, this conversation might just make him write a new series.

 

[Alex Snyder]

@Alex Snyder wrote a great and still relevant series about "How to select a CRM provider" a while ago. Tried to link to it but couldnt find it. If I know alex, this conversation might just make him write a new series.

right. I can promise you I am not writing a new one in the current state of CRM offerings. This one here How to Buy a Dealership CRM is still relevant. That piece is in the DealerRefresh Resources for your download folks.

And I'll opine a bit further...

The larger marketshare CRM systems were originally developed in the late 1990s and early 2000s. They're old AF in technological terms

They're also used poorly because they're not as relevant to today's way to doing business. Linear process plans are the key issue. Too many dealerships run with the default process the CRM provider bakes into their install and that was made well before COVID hit our world. Things have changed significantly in the last year and old tech is feeling way more outdated than ever.

TLDR: don't get too hung up on CRM features. Look at the simplest to use interface in doing daily SMS messages and secondly emails. Process plans will fill your sales people with irrelevant tasks while clogging your customers' inboxes with irrelevant emails. Look elsewhere for assistance in these areas.

 

[john.quinn]

Forget about the wallpaper and the curtains... and god forbid, run away from the chandeliers.

What is the EASIEST way to get from the basement to the 3rd floor?

Workflow... not features. Make it soooo easy for your peeps to get from A-Z, and you'll be rewarded.

 

[ChrisR]

Much more to dislike about some, more than others.

Forget about the wallpaper and the curtains... and god forbid, run away from the chandeliers.

What is the EASIEST way to get from the basement to the 3rd floor?

Workflow... not features. Make it soooo easy for your peeps to get from A-Z, and you'll be rewarded.

That's what I LOVE about XRM more than the rest. When reps set tasks, they are sorted in a task list by name! So, if a rep has a "Call Monday" set of tasks, they are all bundled together. Same thing with Call on X Date, etc - makes it much easier to know what needs to be done in a specific order.

 

[Dan Sayer]

@Brad Burlingham here is my opinion. The further down the list, the more time has passed since experiencing them, in all fairness.

1. DriveCentric, based on dealer conversations, vendor opinions, and past demos.
2. VinSolutions is our current solution but the UX/UI is so bad and the reporting so horrible that I'm just worn out.
3. eLead is our prior provider that said they could do "customer lifecycle management" and could not.
4. DealerSocket was a provider that literally conceded their improvements were "paint and curtains" (their own words) so we left and got sued (they had auto-renewals).

 

[BillKVMotorCo]

@Brad Burlingham here is my opinion. The further down the list, the more time has passed since experiencing them, in all fairness.

4. DealerSocket was a provider that literally conceded their improvements were "paint and curtains" (their own words) so we left and got sued (they had auto-renewals).

Why are you always causing trouble, Dan?