Is your CRM doing its job of organizing your contact list, make your operation run more smoothly? Or better yet are your employees using the system correctly! Some of the common downfalls of a CRM solution include bad user interface design right from the get go. Bad choice of text input fields, mis-aligned form structure can result in confusion and costly mistakes. It is helpful when some one from the automotive industry step in to help the design process to make use the proper lingo and description for your software. Don’t assume the end user will understand what is a MySQL Query, because sales person are not trained to understand common computer lingo and languages. The result of poorly developed interface is end user confusion which can result in mistakes such as miscalculated finance payment, or worse wrong input of the vehicle cost into a different place holder. Coming from an automotive industry myself I have experienced this problem first hand. Where my account system is completely in chaos and dealership losing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Worst of all the price tag for the poorly developed CRM is sky high. If the CRM solution you are choosing will require user training course, you should re-exam your provider’s system. If it is not user intuitive enough right out of the box, this can be a very expensive mistake you will end up paying for.
A good CRM solution will appear simple to use on the surface. It is because they have taken the time to get user inputs and feed backs. Modifying their system to make it easy for the end user to understand. Hence minimize training expenses and costly mistakes. Don’t be taken by some sales gimmick when the CRM claims they have integrated with certain websites to help you sell more cars. Because at the end of the day you really have to evaluate if your CRM solution is a solution or a distraction. Another downfall of today’s CRM solution is over complicating the simple process of selling, by adding artificial rules of their own, the system can cause bottle necks and better yet complete failure for your dealership. Take for example if you have a customer coming through your showroom, after painstakingly adding him or her into the CRM, you are ready to sell them a car. But after you entered your inventory information for this customer, they decided to change the vehicle to another model. Now imagine your CRM system thinking its smarter than you, are telling you the customer has already purchased a vehicle, and wouldn’t allow you to delete the vehicle or the customer. So now what do you do? Well start from scratch again then, enter the customer’s information again into the system only to find out the CRM is now telling you there is duplicate information and the customer can not be saved…… Sounds frustrating doesn’t it? To a computer professional it sounds down right stupid and almost impossible. What kind of software can allow this kind of decision flow, and you would think some one during the development phase actually drew up a diagram or flow chart to avoid problems like this right? No…. this is a true story of a CRM solution provided by a big name to many dealerships across Canada.
So who control the quality of the software developed for car dealerships? The answer is no one, the rule of KISS or keep it simple stupid doesn’t apply to these B grade softwares. The end result is your customer will be frustrated due to the wait time, your accounting clerk will end up posting the wrong information. And your sales manager, remember it’s called “sales manager” not “IT manager” has no clue how to fix this bug. If this sounds like your current situation, you should think again about your current CRM solution provider. Because it is a CRM problem provider rather than solution provider.
This article is brought to you by Dealer Elite CRM, your true affordable CRM solution provider for the cutting edge dealers. For your demo and video walk through today visit us online at automotive CRM
Dealer Elite CRM solution is Canadian based CRM and DMS solution provider for today’s cutting edge dealerships. Visit us online for your affordable CRM needs with $0 setup fee.
