r in your own living room. If a CRM is not web based then you have to download it on your computer, every time there is an update to the system a rep from the CRM company has to come to the dealership and download new information from a disk. If you computer crashes or your local server goes down then you are at risk for losing your information.

If a CRM company has a web based system, make sure you ask about their redundancy plan. The redundancy plan refers to how a vendor backs up their data. I have heard too many stories of dealerships losing most, if not all, of their lead information because of a system failure. One of the key things to look for in a web based CRM is dual servers that back each other up so that even if your computers crash you still have all of your lead information. Most importantly, let an outside vendor build and maintain your CRM. You don’t make money building computer p

How many times have you purchased leads from an Internet lead provider or direct mail vendor, only to wonder…

Where are my leads?
Has anyone called my lead?
Did we sell cars from our leads?
Are there any referrals?

At the end of the month did your lead provider leave you with more questions than answers? What happens with your lot-ups? Are there follow-up and closing opportunities at the bottom of your sales rep’s drawer? What about those phone calls that come straight into the dealership? Is your lead on the back of a salesman’s business card?

It has been our experience that dealers are most successful when they know which leads are producing the best return on their investment. It is important to have several lead sources but it is more important to know the performance each lead source. The real question isn’t whether or not you are tracking your leads but how accurate are your numbers. Is it a matter of who’s calling or who’s buying?

When I discuss tracking leads, I am referring to the art of accountability. General Managers (GM’s) expect accountability from salesmen, F&I, management and inventory. A GM’s livelihood depends on accountability but when it comes to lead generation they are comfortable with uncertainty.

With leads coming from internet, television, radio, and mailers, it can be a daunting task to determine which lead is giving you the best ROI. True accountability comes at a price; you have to invest both the finances and the time. A lead tracking system requires technology, process and most importantly commitment, commitment, commitment.

If tracking your internet, television, radio, and mailer leads wasn’t enough, you also have to consider your Lot-ups. Now with five possible lead sources it is understandable why a GM would not take lead tracking serious. What I find most amazing is that a dealer will spend $1,000 to $60,000 a month on advertising but have little accurate knowledge of their ROI.

Dealers have heard every sales pitch when it comes to lead tracking systems and their technological advances. If a dealer is not willing to mandate and enforce compliance with their lead tracking system from their SubPrime department then there isn’t a cheap enough system.

The most popular lead tracking system today is a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. At the 2006 NADA Meeting in Orlando there were over two hundred different CRM’s companies. Needless to say, there are many similarities between the different CRM’s but there are a few key elements you want to see in a CRM.

All CRM’s should have these basic functions: gather data, track that data, and give you enough information to analyze the data. I see many dealerships use a CRM for both there Prime and SubPrime traffic. The key problem to this approach is way SubPrime is sold. If you are running a dedicated SubPrime department correctly, you need to track information that is unique to the SubPrime sales.

The information you won’t get in a prime CRM are Look-to-Book ratios, Stip Management, Contracts-in-Transit (CIT’s), appointments made/shown ratios, and most importantly your advertising ROI. With so much money being spent on advertising it is more important to know who is buying versus who is calling. The only way for marketing to be profitable is to sell more cars: plus business!

So now it is time to buy a CRM, what do you look for? First of all, make sure the CRM is internet based. A web based system allows you to access you information from anywhere you have internet access. You can keep track of the dealership while you are on the road or in your own living room. If a CRM is not web based then you have to download it on your computer, every time there is an update to the system a rep from the CRM company has to come to the dealership and download new information from a disk. If you computer crashes or your local server goes down then you are at risk for losing your information.

If a CRM company has a web based system, make sure you ask about their redundancy plan. The redundancy plan refers to how a vendor backs up their data. I have heard too many stories of dealerships losing most, if not all, of their lead information because of a system failure. One of the key things to look for in a web based CRM is dual servers that back each other up so that even if your computers crash you still have all of your lead information. Most importantly, let an outside vendor build and maintain your CRM. You don’t make money building computer pr

urate are your numbers. Is it a matter of who’s calling or who’s buying?

When I discuss tracking leads, I am referring to the art of accountability. General Managers (GM’s) expect accountability from salesmen, F&I, management and inventory. A GM’s livelihood depends on accountability but when it comes to lead generation they are comfortable with uncertainty.

With leads coming from internet, television, radio, and mailers, it can be a daunting task to determine which lead is giving you the best ROI. True accountability comes at a price; you have to invest both the finances and the time. A lead tracking system requires technology, process and most importantly commitment, commitment, commitment.

If tracking your internet, television, radio, and mailer leads wasn’t enough, you also have to consider your Lot-ups. Now with five possible lead sources it is understandable why a GM would not take lead tracking serious. What I find most amazing is that a dealer will spend $1,000 to $60,000 a month on advertising but have little accurate knowledge of their ROI.

Dealers have heard every sales pitch when it comes to lead tracking systems and their technological advances. If a dealer is not willing to mandate and enforce compliance with their lead tracking system from their SubPrime department then there isn’t a cheap enough system.

The most popular lead tracking system today is a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. At the 2006 NADA Meeting in Orlando there were over two hundred different CRM’s companies. Needless to say, there are many similarities between the different CRM’s but there are a few key elements you want to see in a CRM.

All CRM’s should have these basic functions: gather data, track that data, and give you enough information to analyze the data. I see many dealerships use a CRM for both there Prime and SubPrime traffic. The key problem to this approach is way SubPrime is sold. If you are running a dedicated SubPrime department correctly, you need to track information that is unique to the SubPrime sales.

The information you won’t get in a prime CRM are Look-to-Book ratios, Stip Management, Contracts-in-Transit (CIT’s), appointments made/shown ratios, and most importantly your advertising ROI. With so much money being spent on advertising it is more important to know who is buying versus who is calling. The only way for marketing to be profitable is to sell more cars: plus business!

So now it is time to buy a CRM, what do you look for? First of all, make sure the CRM is internet based. A web based system allows you to access you information from anywhere you have internet access. You can keep track of the dealership while you are on the road or in your own living room. If a CRM is not web based then you have to download it on your computer, every time there is an update to the system a rep from the CRM company has to come to the dealership and download new information from a disk. If you computer crashes or your local server goes down then you are at risk for losing your information.

If a CRM company has a web based system, make sure you ask about their redundancy plan. The redundancy plan refers to how a vendor backs up their data. I have heard too many stories of dealerships losing most, if not all, of their lead information because of a system failure. One of the key things to look for in a web based CRM is dual servers that back each other up so that even if your computers crash you still have all of your lead information. Most importantly, let an outside vendor build and maintain your CRM. You don’t make money building computer p

e lead tracking serious. What I find most amazing is that a dealer will spend $1,000 to $60,000 a month on advertising but have little accurate knowledge of their ROI.

Dealers have heard every sales pitch when it comes to lead tracking systems and their technological advances. If a dealer is not willing to mandate and enforce compliance with their lead tracking system from their SubPrime department then there isn’t a cheap enough system.

The most popular lead tracking system today is a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. At the 2006 NADA Meeting in Orlando there were over two hundred different CRM’s companies. Needless to say, there are many similarities between the different CRM’s but there are a few key elements you want to see in a CRM.

All CRM’s should have these basic functions: gather data, track that data, and give you enough information to analyze the data. I see many dealerships use a CRM for both there Prime and SubPrime traffic. The key problem to this approach is way SubPrime is sold. If you are running a dedicated SubPrime department correctly, you need to track information that is unique to the SubPrime sales.

The information you won’t get in a prime CRM are Look-to-Book ratios, Stip Management, Contracts-in-Transit (CIT’s), appointments made/shown ratios, and most importantly your advertising ROI. With so much money being spent on advertising it is more important to know who is buying versus who is calling. The only way for marketing to be profitable is to sell more cars: plus business!

So now it is time to buy a CRM, what do you look for? First of all, make sure the CRM is internet based. A web based system allows you to access you information from anywhere you have internet access. You can keep track of the dealership while you are on the road or in your own living room. If a CRM is not web based then you have to download it on your computer, every time there is an update to the system a rep from the CRM company has to come to the dealership and download new information from a disk. If you computer crashes or your local server goes down then you are at risk for losing your information.

If a CRM company has a web based system, make sure you ask about their redundancy plan. The redundancy plan refers to how a vendor backs up their data. I have heard too many stories of dealerships losing most, if not all, of their lead information because of a system failure. One of the key things to look for in a web based CRM is dual servers that back each other up so that even if your computers crash you still have all of your lead information. Most importantly, let an outside vendor build and maintain your CRM. You don’t make money building computer p

y dealerships use a CRM for both there Prime and SubPrime traffic. The key problem to this approach is way SubPrime is sold. If you are running a dedicated SubPrime department correctly, you need to track information that is unique to the SubPrime sales.

The information you won’t get in a prime CRM are Look-to-Book ratios, Stip Management, Contracts-in-Transit (CIT’s), appointments made/shown ratios, and most importantly your advertising ROI. With so much money being spent on advertising it is more important to know who is buying versus who is calling. The only way for marketing to be profitable is to sell more cars: plus business!

So now it is time to buy a CRM, what do you look for? First of all, make sure the CRM is internet based. A web based system allows you to access you information from anywhere you have internet access. You can keep track of the dealership while you are on the road or in your own living room. If a CRM is not web based then you have to download it on your computer, every time there is an update to the system a rep from the CRM company has to come to the dealership and download new information from a disk. If you computer crashes or your local server goes down then you are at risk for losing your information.

If a CRM company has a web based system, make sure you ask about their redundancy plan. The redundancy plan refers to how a vendor backs up their data. I have heard too many stories of dealerships losing most, if not all, of their lead information because of a system failure. One of the key things to look for in a web based CRM is dual servers that back each other up so that even if your computers crash you still have all of your lead information. Most importantly, let an outside vendor build and maintain your CRM. You don’t make money building computer p

r in your own living room. If a CRM is not web based then you have to download it on your computer, every time there is an update to the system a rep from the CRM company has to come to the dealership and download new information from a disk. If you computer crashes or your local server goes down then you are at risk for losing your information.

If a CRM company has a web based system, make sure you ask about their redundancy plan. The redundancy plan refers to how a vendor backs up their data. I have heard too many stories of dealerships losing most, if not all, of their lead information because of a system failure. One of the key things to look for in a web based CRM is dual servers that back each other up so that even if your computers crash you still have all of your lead information. Most importantly, let an outside vendor build and maintain your CRM. You don’t make money building computer programs, you make money hanging paper, rehashing deals, and landing cars on customers.

The key is beginning with the end in mind! Know what you want CRM to do for you. You also need to know what you are willing to sacrifice both, with your finances and your commitment to success. Once you commit to selling SubPrime properly, you have to begin with research. You should research companies that sell advertising, leads, and CRM’s. There are companies that offer each element individually but there are also companies that offer all three in one solution. One thing I want to stress is that there are no quick-fixes, but there are solutions that stand out above the rest.

Having readily available Business Intelligence that gives you the tools to “inspect what you expect” and to be certain your marketing dollars are returning the gross they should is the reason for having a CRM at all.