Top Dealer CRM/ILM Concerns for 2010?

[Shellie]

A question as we head into 2010.

If you could wave a Magic Dealer Wand in 2010 and get your CRM/ILM to do ONE thing it currently doesn't do, what would it be?

Thanks in advance for your responses!

Shellie Pierce
www.dealersocket.com
spierce@dealersocket.com

 

[idkmybffamir]

Sell the car.'literally'

/edit

But seriously, integrate social media communication. Set an email notification to forward to a CRM user an incoming tweet, or facebook comment, or car dealer review, or integrate with live chat services. That would be kickass.

 

[ghen]

I would have it integrate with active directory. This is probably impossible with web based CRMs so I'll continue to dream.
​

 

[ghen]

Ooh, so as an addition to my previous post... Build an on-site server that would act as a proxy/cache for the main one online. This would mean speedier connections when on site but still allow for the normal operations of the software as it's not a real web server, just a caching server. It could also be the one that talks to Active Directory and translates domain users and security into CRM users with security. One less place to change things if a salesman becomes manager or vice versa.

 

[Jerry Thibeau]

Good thread Shellie. For me it would be an easy interface to build custom reports.

 

[mattwatson81]

Ooh, so as an addition to my previous post... Build an on-site server that would act as a proxy/cache for the main one online. This would mean speedier connections when on site but still allow for the normal operations of the software as it's not a real web server, just a caching server. It could also be the one that talks to Active Directory and translates domain users and security into CRM users with security. One less place to change things if a salesman becomes manager or vice versa.

Do you guys have a proxy server in the dealership? It could help cache some files. A lot of the data is such dynamic HTML that it wouldn't be cacheable. But javascript, css, and images could probably be cached very well and help reduce bandwidth and speed up the system.

Active directory is an interesting idea. I wonder what % of dealers actually using active directory in the dealership. A lot seem to have XP home or something on the computers and no real network in place. I have also seen some though that are totally locked down and very sophisticated which I'm sure your network is.

 

[Jarrett]

We utilize active directory. I think inter departmental messaging software is a huge help. We use openfire.com products for this and it has increased our productivity, but is not CRM related. Our "Spark" chat client has a toast pop-up for incoming leads to our CRM. IT parses the ADF lead and sends a SOAP message to the chatbox and all internet responsible users see that a new lead has arrived.

A nice CRM feature we are implementing is customer opt in SMS notifications for special things like service reminders and SOP parts.

 

[Jeff Kershner]

True SMS and Chat integration would be very nice!

Toss in some social media engagement features in there so we connect with our customers using Facebook, LinkedIn and others.

Dropbox feature - So If you happen to email a customer from another account or program, you could forward it to a specific "dropbox" email address and it would automatically attach to the customers active profile.

These are just a few...

 

[Jarrett]

Dropbox feature - So If you happen to email a customer from another account or program, you could forward it to a specific "dropbox" email address and it would automatically attach to the customers active profile. .

This is a super nice feature to have!

I have seen this done by integration with the dealerships main email server. All inbound and outbound emails going through are attached as activities to the customer record related to the employee sending or receiving. We include the content of the email also for ease of reading by all who have access.

If anyone uses Sendmail as their mail server we have written hooks that can be used with slight modifications depending on your CRM tool.

 

[ghen]

Jarrett, that is so awesome. We use Openfire/spark as well, but only in our service and body shops. If it were to integrate into the CRM and attach conversations to customers ( there's plugins for outside communication ) that would be killer! Notifications are great too and a good starting point

Attacking the market for website "chat now!" clients would be a good step for CRM's IMO.

Do you guys have a proxy server in the dealership? It could help cache some files. A lot of the data is such dynamic HTML that it wouldn't be cacheable. But javascript, css, and images could probably be cached very well and help reduce bandwidth and speed up the system.

Active directory is an interesting idea. I wonder what % of dealers actually using active directory in the dealership. A lot seem to have XP home or something on the computers and no real network in place. I have also seen some though that are totally locked down and very sophisticated which I'm sure your network is.

We have a proxy server, but I only use it to block application downloads (.exe, .scr, .bat, etc.). It doesn't cache at all but you're right, it would be a decent start. As far as the percent of AD based domains? Probably like 5% LOL. When I jumped into the business I was so amazed at the lack of real domain setups, but since most dealerships focus on the sales department and salesmen don't really need computers it's just a lot slower than other industries that have been using computers for a decade or more.