CRM: A Cure for Dealer SilosBy Joanne Costin
Article Date: 09-01-2012
Copyright(C) 2012 Associated Equipment Distributors. All Rights Reserved.
Does the left hand know what the right is doing? A CRM system can take your people out of their boxes and into the customer-service game, together – but only if they buy in.
Managing customer relationships is challenging, but navigating the CRM choices might be equally as difficult. With hundreds of vendors to consider and an equally dizzying array of features, deciding upon a CRM system is a major undertaking for any dealership. Why CRM? When a business has a small number of customers, managing customer rela-tionships is fairly easy. But with growth it becomes more difficult to stay on top of all of the opportunities in the market. Kelly Emery, who manages business development for Emery Equip-ment, a Bobcat dealership located in Baton Rouge, La., described their operations before they implemented a CRM system. "It was like we had separate businesses running – parts, sales, rental and service. It had to be frustrating for customers. One depart-ment had very little knowledge of what the other one was doing."
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