What is the difference between automotive CRM and DMS systems?

Feb. 25, 2010 - PRLog -- C.R.M is the short for Customer Relationship Management it is a software that posses the quintessential capabilities for an automotive dealership to maintain a good relationship with their existing or new customers. In a nut shell the CRM is designed to sort, filter, and management customer’s information in an effective way. It has some eerie resemblance to a well known software everyone uses on a daily basis called “Micro Soft Outlook”.

There are some key differences between a CRM and a DMS, don’t get caught up in the big words. A DMS system or Dealer Management Software should have a build in CRM capabilities, and in addition some functionalities a CRM can not offer. But today we are going to focus solely on the CRM aspect of the technology.

When choosing a CRM service provider, the customer should be aware of few key issues. Such as the creation date of the software, database scheme of the CRM used, and of course the cost of the software. There are few big name providers in the automotive industry each with their own version of a CRM program. It is surprising with the amount of subscription fee dealers pay to them, the software is still stuck in the 80s, using “flat file” system for their database, and poorly designed interfaces for the users. The cost of a CRM software can range from 2000-3000 per month, with setup installation fees up towards 10,000, all the way to 0 installation fee, and monthly cost of $300. One tell tale sign of an aged software is its “interactivity”, on mouse over a button, or on click event, and easily tell you if the software is more than 10 years old in age.

Many automotive CRM providers today refuse to upgrade their system, due to lack of programming staff and IT support on site, these companies are literally stuck in the 1980s. With today’s growing demand for interactivity, such as web integration, real time database modifications, paying a hefty bill does not necessarily mean you got the best product out there.

This article is brought to you by Dealer Elite Canada, visit us online for more information and tutorial videos at http://www.dealerelites.ca

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Dealer Elite CRM is a Toronto based software company that provides automotive dealerships with CRM and DMS solutions.