How to Increase ROI: 4 CRM Customizations to Boost Sales Results

How well do your CRM processes match your established store processes? When the two don’t align, it can create problems. The most common issue is that the CRM will be underutilized, which makes it difficult to measure your team’s effectiveness and improve results. In marketing, underutilization makes it difficult to measure campaign return on investment (ROI). Leadership also has less visibility into what’s happening in their stores.

CRM customization is the best way to fix these problems. The good news is that many CRMs are customizable. When a CRM is first installed, dealers typically opt for the stock options and say they’ll figure out the customizations later. Unfortunately, many don’t get around to it. If this sounds like your store, you may want to reach out to your vendor’s account manager and schedule some time to customize your CRM.

Here are a few examples of how customized processes can impact your store’s results.

1Lead Assignment Rules

Do you want all internet leads to go to the BDC or to the sales floor? Maybe it’s the sales floor during the day but the BDC after hours. Perhaps you want all leads from Kelley Blue Book to go straight to your used car manager for an appraisal. This customization creates more opportunities for you to hone in on leads before your competition does.

Leads can also be assigned to the Marketing team so they can build customized marketing lists. For example, do you have leads coming in for high-demand vehicles and don’t have any inventory right now? Assign them to your Marketing team and create a drip campaign that explains the shortage and keeps potential buyers updated on the situation. When inventory is replenished you’ll have a list of customers ready to buy.

2Lead Follow-Up

All leads are not created equal, but some dealers have a one-size-fits-all approach when responding to leads. Ideally, a lead from a third party is treated differently than a lead that comes in through your own website. When a customer comes into the showroom, they’re likely more than 80% through the buying funnel, so you need to take a different approach than you would with a brand-new internet lead.

Dealerships located in major metropolitan areas have more competition and should make lead response times a higher priority. Our data shows that the faster the response time, the faster the close and the higher the gross. The more you can tailor a follow-up cadence in your CRM to each lead source, the better your closing ratios will be.

3Car Dealership Marketing Strategies

Targeted communications are key to keeping customers engaged. Using CRM data in marketing campaigns can help make a big difference in ROI.

For example, dealers are currently struggling with inventory. Identify customers with desirable units based on their service and/or purchasing history, and create a marketing campaign focused on acquisition opportunities. Try creating a Service campaign that targets every customer who has been in your Service department in the last year or using the decline service tool to create a list of customers for a specific type of service. The possibilities for customized marketing campaigns are endless.

4CRM Permissions

This CRM customization allows employees and consultants to access different parts of the CRM to do different things in the system. Depending on your CRM, you may have as many as 200 boxes that you can check or uncheck for an individual, or based upon a title.

For example, maybe you want your receptionist to be able to create a marketing list but not create a campaign from that list. Some dealers allow salespeople to manually log showroom customers but not internet leads to ensure that the right source gets credit for each lead.

If your CRM isn’t being used to its fullest potential, Sales and Marketing results will inevitably suffer. Customizing CRM processes to your established store processes is critical if you want your team to embrace usage, which leads to higher productivity and sales.