Customer retention is imperative to any business model, but fostering it requires more than just a good sales pitch. Customer relationship management is the ongoing process of making a customer comfortable enough to buy from your company again, and has become an increasingly successful strategy in the auto sales industry. For many, DealerSocket’s auto dealer CRM solutions have enabled new selling methods and new relationships by carefully monitoring the wants and needs of existing customers.

DelaerSocket’s full line of CRM software tracks customers through the initial purchasing process and into their service experience making sure they’re satisfied throughout the relationship. The software also allows dealers to automatically solicit, capture and manage feedback at every point in the sales and service process creating an archive of information for future reflection. It can also quickly flag problems so a staff can easily fix issues and improve customer satisfaction before they become an issue. This allows for a more thorough and collaborative trove of information of traditional business data catalogs.

Richard Herod, Director of eBusiness for Saturn of St. Paul chose DealerSocket to be the technology backbone of a major overhaul of their Internet department. “Our Internet department was set up with appointment setters in a traditional BDC, and with our old CRM we could not effectively follow up with a customer over time and market back to them. We wanted to be able to follow the total customer lifecycle, not just track inbound leads,” explains Herod. “DealerSocket was the only technology that brought to the table a total customer package. We are amazed at the ease of tracking inbound leads and inbound phone calls. We finally are able to quantify our total internet opportunities, both phone and e-mail”.

The addition of DealerSocket’s CRM to any automotive sales department can quickly result in more concrete and actionable customer information. With retention an essential focus in any sales strategy adding another tool to your garage is par for the course in this competitive environment.

Chris DiMarco is a Web Editor for TMCnet. He holds a master's degree in journalism from Quinnipiac University. Prior to joining TMC (News - Alert) Chris worked with e-commerce provider Suresource as a contact center representative and development analyst. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Rich Steeves