The Technology Magazine for Dealers & ManagersThe Technology Magazine for Dealers & Managers

Internet Sales:Why Are Some Dealers Still Fighting the InternetDepartment?page 15

CRM/BDC:Are You Really Ready for a BDC?page 22

CRM to the 2nd Power: e-Newsletterspage 24

Internet Sales:Why Are Some Dealers Still Fighting the InternetDepartment?page 15

CRM/BDC:Are You Really Ready for a BDC?page 22

CRM to the 2nd Power: e-Newsletterspage 24

April 2006

ANTHONY SUTTON

Hare Auto Group page 00

ANTHONY SUTTON

Hare Auto Group page 26

4 DD April 2006 DigitalDealer-magazine.com

April 2006

FEATURES

CRM Interview18 Insights into CRM Implementation

Interview with Ted Rubin CEO of DealerUps.com

Digital Dealer Cover Story26 Anthony Sutton, General Sales Manager

Hare Auto Group

Digital Dealer Vendor Profile30 BZ Results.com: Profile on Innovation

COLUMNS

AAISP12 From My Desk to Yours . . .

Dr. Lloyd Richardson

Internet Sales14 The ‘What's In It For Me?’ Factor

Cory L. Mosley

15 Why Are Some Dealers Still Fighting the Internet Department? Jamie Lyons

Web Site Strategies16 Who Can You Trust on the Internet?

Mark Dubis

CRM/BDC20 The Most Abused Business Opportunity

Chuck Barker

22 Are You Really Ready for a BDC? David Hein

24 CRM to the 2nd Power: e-Newsletters Brian Epro

DMS Workshop34 How to Be Sure You Don’t Fund

the Lien PayoffJim Skeans

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DEPARTMENTS

6 Editor’s Note

8 Tech Toys

10 Industry & Tech News

Anthony Sutton Hare Auto Group

A Dealer Communications publicationA Dealer Communications publication

24 DD April 2006 DigitalDealer-magazine.com

AUTO DEALERS HAVE CUSTOMERRELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT (CRM)fever and for good reason. Over the pastseveral years, dealers have been usingCRM systems that offer huge potentialfor driving vehicle and service sales andto capture valuable customer data.Thanks to CRM, dealers know when acustomer’s lease is up. They know whena customer’s vehicle is due for service. Infact, they often know a customer’sentire purchase history complete withmodel, make, and option preferencesthat can be used to anticipate thebuyer’s need for a new vehicle or to flagpotential interest in a new model due tohit your lot next month.

The promise CRM systems offerdealers is the ability to capture marketintelligence and capitalize on that datathrough targeted, well-managed andcarefully timed touch points with con-sumers. However, many dealers arecollecting this data and then forgettingone key component: execution. Nomatter how much data you capture, it’sworthless until you do something withit. E-mail marketing is getting easier,but will a marketing specific e-mail gettheir attention and build a closer rela-tionship with your dealership and bringin trackable results? Maybe, and thenagain maybe not. To better leverageyour investment in CRM systems, deal-ers are turning to e-newsletters, one ofthe fastest growing online marketingtools among automotive retailers today.

E-newsletters enable dealers to notonly proactively collect customer andprospect data, but to act on that intelli-gence to drive increased sales—andfulfill the promise of CRM at last.Dealers can create their own e-newslet-ters using do-it-yourself software or

impossible? Well, it’s not. In fact, it’sactually quite easy.

E-newsletters benefit a dealership ina number of important ways. Theykeep your brand “top of mind” withyour customers and prospects. Theyprevent e-mail list burnout by engag-ing readers with interesting, relevantcontent. They result in dramaticboosts in traffic back to your Web siteafter each send. And very importantly,they keep your customers loyal.According to Deloitte & Touche(2000), a 5 percent increase in cus-tomer retention can increase a dealer'soperating profit by 25 percent. Thekey is to not only create an e-newslet-ter that provides engaging content, butto use a platform that allows you tolearn more about the interests of thefolks who are receiving it.

With any CRM-driven activity, it’scritical that you make the right offer atthe right time, but do so in an appropri-ate manner that doesn’t come across asan invasion of privacy to your prospect.For example, armed with your list of300 readers of new showroom modelarticle, you don’t want to contact themwith any follow-up material that wasclearly sent as a direct result of theirreading the article. Similarly, you don’twant to start sending them bulk e-mailsadvertising your special lease rates on

CRM to the 2nd Power:

e-Newsletters

D IGITAL Dealer CRM/BDCBrian Epro

“E-newsletters enable

dealers to not only

proactively collect

customer and prospect

data, but to act on

that intelligence

to drive increased sales

– at last fulfilling the

promise of CRM.”—Brian Epro

they can leverage a fully managed solu-tion in which the e-newsletter and all ofits content are created for you. Themore sophisticated e-newsletter serviceproviders can also provide detailed leadtracking and reporting that enable youto understand the articles each recipientreads, how long a recipient spent read-ing them, and the ones the recipientpassed along to others.

Imagine this scenario. You send an e-newsletter, which includes an article ona new model in your showroom, to allof your customers and prospects. Atotal of 300 people click into and readthat article; an action that indicatessome level of interest in the vehicle. Youare then able to pull a list of those 300readers’ names, e-mail, and homeaddresses, and load that list into yourCRM system. You can then quicklyprint a direct mail piece offering a $25gift certificate to a local restaurant tothose folks who visit the dealership for atest drive within the next week. Mostdealers would agree that this capabilitywould net a few test drives, and moreimportantly, a few sold units. Sound continued on P-DD36

maximizing your return on that invest-ment? E-newsletters help deliver on thepromise of CRM by enabling you tocapture actionable customer andprospect information, which can thenbe executed on to drive more sales.There’s no better way to get the rightoffer to the right buyers at the righttime for increased customer retentionand a higher volume of vehicle sales.

Brian Epro is director of the AutomotiveServices Group with IMN (iMakeNews,Inc.), a leading e-communications serviceprovider in Waltham, MA. IMN offersIMN Loyalty Driver, a monthly e-newsletter service created exclusively forauto dealerships.

36 DD April 2006 DigitalDealer-magazine.com

If you wish to discuss this article withother dealers, or with the author,please go to the “Discussion Forums”at www.DigitalDealer-magazine.comand enter the “CRM” forum or e-mailhim at dhein@DigitalDealer-magazine.com.

those vehicles. Obvious follow-upactions like these will cause folks to opt-out of receiving additional e-mails fromyour dealership and will undermineyour CRM efforts.

A better approach would be toswitch your marketing medium—atactic that is easily supported by CRMsystems—to avoid having your follow-up contact perceived as an invasion ofprivacy. You’ve identified 300 peoplewho became “warm” leads via theirinteraction with your e-newsletter.They might very well become cus-tomers after receiving a piece oftargeted direct mail from your dealer-ship about those models. Leveraginge-mail and direct mail in combinationallows you to first probe the marketusing a low cost e-mail application,then make better use of your preciousmarketing dollars by sending tar-geted—rather than mass—direct mailto those customers and prospects whohave shown some level of interest.

You’ve invested time, money, andresources in implementing a top-notchCRM system, so isn’t it time you started

CRM/BDC, Hein (continued from P-DD22)

If you wish to discuss this article withother dealers, or with the author,please go to the “Discussion Forums”at www.DigitalDealer-magazine.comand enter the “CRM” forum or e-mail him at bepro@DigitalDealer-magazine.com.

CRM/BDC, Epro (continued from P-DD24)

Made your decision yet? Then it istime to move on. What do you thinkthe next step is? Hire staff? Buy phones?Build out a room in your facility? No,the next step is looking for the righttechnology to make your operationsrun seamlessly. Next month’s article,“Pick Your Poison,” will address thetools you need.

Dave Hein is president and CEO ofyourDealer.net, a business developmentcenter service and consulting firm servicingdealerships throughout North America.Mr. Hein has been providing dealershipsin-depth training and support services forthe past 15 years through companies such asADP, Proquest Co., AuctionAuto, TraverTechnologies and other leading automotiveservice businesses.