January 30, 2007

Auto Mate Intros Phone Mate for CRM

By David Sims, TMCnet Contributing Editor

Auto/Mate Dealership Systems has announced the addition of Phone/Mate, what it's calling "a salesperson productivity tool" within its CRM module, Customer/Mate.

Available as an option, Phone/Mate is powered by Toll Free Edge, Inc., a vendor of voice software applications.

Phone/Mate is described by Auto/Mate officials as "a tool for tracking inbound and outbound sales calls," allowing the dealership sales management team to "create salesperson accountability, increase salesperson productivity, and measure advertising campaign results."

"One of the biggest problems dealers have is salesperson productivity," said Mike Esposito, President and CEO of Auto/Mate Dealership Systems and former dealership General Manager. "As all dealers know it's not what you expect it's what you inspect."

Phone/Mate, he said, "helps managers identify areas in which the salespeople are effective and areas that require improvement. By implementing this knowledge on a day to day basis, managers can help their salespeople become more successful."

The way it works is throughout the day, managers can see that the salespeople are making their calls since Phone/Mate will automatically update call status within the manager's view on Customer/Mate CRM. In addition, managers can run reports showing how many calls were completed, length of calls, and then specify parameters of certain calls to be selectively listened to, such as all calls longer than five minutes.

Listening to recorded calls can tell a manager how salespeople are interacting with their prospects or customers. Recorded calls can then be played back in training scenarios for the staff to help them improve phone techniques.

"Instead of asking, What did this person do today? Phone/Mate allows managers to ask, How can we improve what this person did today?" said Esposito.

A couple weeks ago Auto/Mate Dealership Systems announced the introduction of a new feature in its Automotive Management Productivity Suite dealership management system. Dash/Mate can be used to select graphical elements, called widgets, that can display dealership vital statistics, and allows them to be viewed at-a-glance.

AMPS by Auto/Mate offers more than 20 fully integrated modules, including Sales, F&I, Fixed Operations, Accounting, CRM, Fleet Sales and more.

Users throughout a dealership can use Dash/Mate to set up customized, graphical representations of particular metrics they are interested in. For instance, a general manager might want to keep abreast of the number of vehicle sales each day to see if the dealership is on track for the month. Dash/Mate allows the GM to create a widget graphical element such as a bar chart, meter or thermometer, that can be displayed in AMPS at all times. Arrows or colored indicators will let the GM know at a single glance if the dealership is below, meeting or exceeding goals.

So a Sales Manager might set up a speedometer to show their rate of new vehicle sales. A Finance & Insurance Manager may set up a gauge to show the percentage of how many cars are sold with extended warranty contracts and if that number is meeting a goal. A Service Manager could create a digital "clock" to show where the service department is in meeting its gross estimates.
David Sims is a contributing editor for TMCnet. For more articles please visit David Sims' columnist page.

(source: http://news.tmcnet.com/news/-auto-crm-/2007/01/30/2290388.htm)