CRM for the automotive industry: key features, benefits & best platforms
July 23, 2024
Automotive CRM software enables dealerships and automakers to aggregate lead and customer information, facilitate marketing and sales operations, and provide more effective car servicing and customer support.
With over 10 years of experience in CRM development and consulting, Itransition provides automotive companies with a comprehensive range of services to assist them throughout their CRM implementation journey.
Top automotive CRM capabilities
Lead management
CRM solutions provide a full range of marketing features to identify new leads and nurture them, including:
- Automatic lead information capture from web forms and other touchpoints
- Lead segmentation based on their online behavior and personal data
- Targeted advertising to deliver personalized offers and communications
- Lead ranking to estimate their likelihood of converting and prioritize the most promising ones
- Marketing automation to generate messages or promotional content via AI and trigger their delivery automatically
Contact management
CRM systems serve as unified repositories to store and search for information on your contacts (prospects, customers, etc.), providing your staff with valuable insights to better engage and serve them. These records can include, for instance:
- Personal details like name, address, and email
- Customer preferences on vehicles, services, and communication channels
- Communication history
- Financial documents like invoices and car loan applications
- Car service history
Sales management
Automotive CRM can assist BDC agents and sales reps with a variety of tasks, such as:
- Distributing prospects to dealerships and single sales reps based on geographic area, needs, and requests
- Establishing automated workflows to trigger certain engagement activities, like sending follow-ups or reminders
- Monitoring leads and customers via visual dashboards as they advance through key steps of the sales pipeline
- Scheduling test drives or other activities based on available slots
- Interacting with customers through various communication channels (phone calls, email, etc.)
- Desking car deals, including negotiating selling prices, financing terms, and monthly payments
Vehicle inventory management
Despite lacking comprehensive inventory and warehouse management functionality provided by specialized software, an automotive CRM can include basic capabilities to monitor your stock and help you better meet customer demand for vehicles or parts. Common features in this regard are:
- Inventory consoles providing details on available, reserved, or recently purchased vehicles and parts
- Vehicle and component mapping across suppliers, warehouses, and showrooms
- Automated synchronization of stock information with online listings
Car service management
Automotive CRM software offers customer support features to streamline vehicle service operations, helping dealerships build stronger, long-term relationships with clients and maximize customer lifetime value. Capabilities worth considering include:
- Service scheduling to book appointments, assign maintenance operations to your team, and send appointment reminders
- Order management to track and request new parts for repairs
- Warranty management to collect claims from customers and submit them to car manufacturers
- Self-service functionality enabling customers to request assistance through an online portal
Analytics & reporting
Advanced CRM solutions are often equipped with AI-powered features for data analytics and business intelligence to perform:
- Social media monitoring and sentiment analysis
- Predictive lead scoring
- Sales and revenue forecasting
- Marketing, sales, and customer service KPI tracking
Software integrations
Automotive CRM products should provide extensive integration possibilities to exchange information with other systems or third-party services, including:
- Dealership management software (DMS)
- ERP software
- HRMS
- Accounting software
- Online stores and marketplaces
- VoIP and telephony systems
We’ll help you implement your automotive CRM system
Best automotive CRM software on the market
While some OEMs and dealerships choose to invest in custom CRM software fully aligned with their unique requirements, companies prioritizing faster implementation and lower upfront costs opt for an out-of-the-box, typically cloud-based automotive CRM. There are several software providers that offer automotive-specific CRM systems; alternatively, automotive companies can look for generic CRM platforms featuring automotive-oriented modules and add-ons. Here are a few popular options you should consider shortlisting:
Key strengths & capabilities
- Product portfolio management functionality to organize vehicles or components into catalogs and categories, map them across suppliers, and create sellable product bundles
- Stakeholder management capabilities to track relationships between suppliers, car dealers, and drivers and access information about partners and their customers
- Lead management to capture lead information (preferred dealers and products or source of the lead) from your website or other channels and engage them according to their preferences
- Vehicle and asset consoles to access details on vehicles and parts (related purchases, accounts, installation dates, etc.), view warranties, claims, repair orders, or other activities, and schedule service appointments
- Finance console to track automotive loans and leases (including associated vehicle, due amount, interest rate, and related debit or credit transactions) and address queries related to transactions, fees, balances and statements, and title transfers
- Scheduling system to book test drives or service appointments based on customers’ preferences and agents’ availability
- Vehicle inventory management to track the location and transfers of cars and parts across plants, warehouses, or showrooms and requests for easier replenishment
- CRM analytics dashboards to monitor dealers’ sales performance and agreement compliance, inventory availability, and lead conversion rates
- Service console enabling customer support teams to get a full view of your clients, including previous conversations and case records, and deliver personalized service interactions
- Warranty claim management system enabling manufacturers to collect claims submitted by dealers on behalf of customers and automate the adjudication process
Limitations
- Steep learning curve and pricey modular licensing
Pricing
- Two Automotive Cloud plans: Enterprise ($325/user/month) and Unlimited ($325/user/month), both billed annually
- Five plans for Sales Cloud and Service Cloud starting at $25 per user per month
- Multiple plans for other Customer 360 products available on the Salesforce website
- 30-day free trial
Key strengths & capabilities
- Auto form feature offering a full view of each customer, including their preferences based on online customer journeys, to help salespeople deliver personalized offers
- B2C portals featuring integrated chatbots and enabling customers to browse your car inventory, configure vehicles, or schedule test drives
- AI-powered Copilot feature to generate personalized emails, email summaries, and opportunity summaries
- Service advisor to track daily appointments and access car service histories or other relevant information that can help identify cross-selling opportunities
- Lead disposition form to define how leads will progress through the sales funnel, including nurturing activities like sales discovery and test drives
- AI-based recommendations on the best engagement actions and automated notifications for contact activity and upcoming close dates
- Lead and opportunity scoring to predict a lead’s likelihood of converting and access associated opportunity information, including test drive activities and deal files
- Sales forecasting to predict revenue and track performance against set goals via KPI charts
- Service and after-sales management features to handle warranties, define service contract terms, create service orders, and schedule service appointments
- Vehicle inventory management dashboard to monitor the number of units available, aged inventory value percentage by model year, and other metrics
- Customer support features to route calls to suitable agents, help draft customer responses, and recommend knowledge base articles
Limitations
- Cumbersome UX and integration complexities with third-party apps
Pricing
- Multiple plans for each product (Marketing, Sales, Service, etc.)
- Full licensing guide available on the Microsoft website
- 30-day free trial
Key strengths & capabilities
- Personalized campaigns to target customers with automated communications based on their click behavior and areas of interest
- Service marketing functionality to create automated campaigns promoting a vehicle service offering based on criteria like mileage and prior payment type
- Surveys and reviews integrated into satisfaction follow-up messages to gather customer feedback and calculate CSI scores
- Desking tool to configure financing terms and lease options and create proposals with ready-to-use templates
- Call management capabilities to record and track inbound and outbound phone calls within the CRM system
- Integrated texting and internal messaging system to interact with clients directly from the CRM software and keep track of past communications
- Self-service portals enabling customers to autonomously manage their appointments, receive reminders, and access their vehicle maintenance history
- Configuration tool to create maintenance packages for specific car models and tailor them to each customer
- Credit qualification system to qualify customers via soft and hard credit checks, including data pushes to lending portals and access to prior loan and lease details
Limitations
- Complex interface navigation and poor customer support
Pricing
- Price upon request
Key strengths & capabilities
- Desking tool to create customized sales proposals and respective deal structures based on deal profitability and customers’ vehicles of interest and credit scores
- Built-in virtual assistant powered by AI to answer questions from leads or customers and schedule showroom appointments or follow-up sales tasks
- Automated marketing workflows defining next engagement actions, such as triggering an upgraded offer, based on predefined “if/then” rules
- Lead segmentation and customizable email templates to launch targeted marketing campaigns with personalized offers and communications
- Automotive intelligence to identify high-value leads, prioritize follow-ups, and probe customer interactions (text messages, emails, etc.) for sentiment analysis
- Vehicle inventory management system generating automated vehicle descriptions to provide customers with online listings updated based on availability
- Integrated texting tool to interact with clients, including via Facebook messages, directly through the CRM system and access customers’ conversation histories
- Mobile app to easily access customer and sales information, reply to clients in real time, and track appointments and dealership visits on the go
- Out-of-the-box integrations with third-party services, including online marketplaces like Autotrader.com, to aggregate vehicle ownership information and market data
Limitations
- Rather unintuitive user interface and sporadic lags
Pricing
- Price upon request
Key strengths & capabilities
- Social media monitoring capabilities to track conversations on your brand via relevant keywords, identify potential prospects, and timely engage with them
- Mass email creation via templates and scheduling to send e-invites for events to all contacts in the database
- Google Ads integration to identify the most effective keywords for lead generation and optimize advertising budget
- Lead capture via prebuilt, customizable web forms and automated notifications to your sales team when leads visit your website or open your emails
- Workflow setup tool to streamline the delivery of personalized buying experiences (sending email communications, offering test drives, etc.) by lead segment
- AI-powered recommendations on cross-selling opportunities (such as scheduled maintenance after a car sale) and repeated purchase predictions (like engine oil)
- Car servicing scheduling, automated assignment to your teams, and online catalog for self-service appointment booking
- Branded self-service portals for customers to access the catalog of products and for OEMs and dealerships to communicate with partners and track sales orders
- Unified client records and document management to access invoices, notes, payments, support tickets, and customer details
- Advanced analytics to track conversion rates across the sales pipeline, monitor sales team KPIs, and forecast sales based on available opportunities
Limitations
- Integration issues and poor support reported by some adopters
Pricing
- Four plans, with pricing available on the website
- Monthly or annual billing, discount for the yearly option
- 15-day free trial
Key strengths & capabilities
- Aggregation of incoming inquiries from website forms, social media, dealership visits, auto shows, and other touchpoints
- Automated lead distribution to your sales team based on buyers’ vehicle preferences and budget, reps’ workload, and other custom rules
- Identification of cross-selling and upselling opportunities based on customer behavior on your website that trigger automated notifications to your sales reps and clients
- Automated multi-channel customer communications to answer inquiries via chatbots and send showroom visit invitations or service and policy reminders
- Inventory management dashboards to track vehicle units across showrooms and warehouses, edit your stock, and check booking opportunities based on availability
- Integrated mobile app for test drive and meeting scheduling, one-click texting and calling, and field sales team geo tracking
- After-sales service management functionality, including automated vehicle servicing reminders or policy claim and renewal updates
- Analytical features for agent KPI monitoring, marketing ROI tracking, showroom revenue reporting, and business trend analysis by area and buyer persona
Limitations
- Sporadic technical issues, including lags, downtimes, and glitches
Pricing
- Four plans for Marketing Automation, starting at $400 per month (up to 10,000 contacts)
- Four plans for Sales Execution, starting at $25 per user per month
- Billed annually
Automotive CRM adoption benefits
A 360-degree customer & process view
CRM systems consolidate sales, vehicle inventory, lead, and customer data from other corporate software and third-party services into a unified, easily accessible repository. This helps shed light on clients’ interests that you can address with tailored proposals, while maximizing visibility into your daily operations to optimize sales processes and other workflows.
Superior efficiency
Thanks to their marketing, sales, and service automation capabilities, CRM solutions enable dealers to speed up time-consuming tasks like online listing, lead distribution, and car maintenance scheduling. This results in reduced workloads for your staff, lower operating costs, and more responsive car servicing.
Increased profits
Automotive CRM software offers an extensive range of features to boost sales. You can use segmentation, targeted marketing campaigns, and omnichannel communication tools to enhance lead generation, and then maximize conversion rates with the help of opportunity scoring, automated follow-ups, and effective desking.
Better customer experience
Automotive CRM adoption enables car dealers to deliver tailored offers, communications, and customer engagement activities like test drives for more personalized buying journeys. Furthermore, businesses can access desking capabilities to provide clients with lease and retail options within their financial possibilities, along with scheduling features to ensure timely servicing.
Our CRM services
Itransition helps automotive dealerships and manufacturers to create and adopt custom or platform-based solutions designed to enhance their client-oriented operations.
- Business needs elicitation and CRM strategy definition
- Software ecosystem audit
- Solution conceptualization and tech stack selection
- CRM platform selection and license optimization
- Project roadmapping and budgeting
- Custom development or platform customization supervision
- CRM migration planning and backup strategy creation
- Data governance and management advisory
- User training and onboarding
- CRM architecture design
- Front-end and back-end development/platform customization, configuration, and workflow setup
- CRM integration with your software ecosystem (dealer management system, ERP, accounting software, etc.)
- End-to-end QA and testing
- CRM deployment to the selected environment
- CRM data migration from your legacy solution to the new one
- Software maintenance and troubleshooting
Partner with Itransition for seamless CRM adoption
Building stronger customer relationships with a CRM
Relationships between car manufacturers, dealers, and their customers typically don't end with the purchase of a vehicle but continue throughout years of ownership and necessary maintenance efforts. Making such a long-term collaboration as seamless as possible and delivering an exceptional customer experience should be a priority for every business in the auto industry, and CRM software promises to help in this regard. Turn to an expert partner like Itransition to select the best automotive CRM product for your needs and implement it into your workflows, or develop a custom solution from the ground up in line with your unique requirements.
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