Customer relationship software has become essential in almost every sales industry. In the current economic climate, the importance of a customer’s happiness translates directly to the business they’re willing to do with you. Consumer apprehension has negative connotations for even the smallest purchases, but when you’re talking about an acquisition as large as an automobile, satisfaction becomes all the more important.

DealerSocket offers an auto dealer CRM platform that allows for complete management of the customer experience from purchase through service and support. ILM can help your sales people prepare for an impending purchase, but it does not prep them for a continuing relationship with the customer. Utilizing both has a demonstrated track of success and offers insight on how to achieve complete customer satisfaction.  

Eric Hoffman (News - Alert), GSM of McGrath Lexus of Westmont just outside Chicago adopted DealerSocket’s service to results that were incredibly positive to the organization. “At that time, we were using two separate solutions – one for CRM and one for ILM which were not integrated. I knew there had to be a single solution available that could not only handle both, but also enable us to operate more efficiently and sell more cars. I went to NADA (North American Dealers Association Expo) with the sole purpose of finding a single CRM solution that could help us accomplish this. I spent the first day going from booth to booth and narrowing down CRM solutions that fit our needs. By the end of the first day, I had targeted four solutions and spent the rest of the conference talking to each company about how their solution could support our needs. By the time NADA was over, I was convinced that DealerSocket was the right solution for our dealership. Two years later, there is no doubt I made exactly the right choice.”

According to Hoffman, the incorporation of DealerSocket’s CRM solution was directly responsible for 50 cars sold at in one month. The way the platform processed ILM reduced the response time on leads from over three hours to 11 minutes. In tandem, these solutions increased efficiency considerably, allowing them to focus on the contentment of a new customer.

Customer relationships do not end with the initial purchase, they begins with it. By carefully monitoring your customer’s needs dealers can will not only make the initial sale, but a lasting relationship that will result in return business as well.

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 Janice McDuffee