How to increase car sales with a CRM for automotive industry + Top 5 solutions

These days, the first place customers look at a car is online. Compared to walking into a dealership and interacting with a sales team, this makes it more challenging for auto dealers to capture these prospective buyers and close deals.

With a CRM for the automotive industry, online shopping becomes an extension of your physical dealership. As customers browse different car models, fill out forms, and drop their details, sales agents can use a CRM to instantly follow up with these leads, learn more about what they’re looking for, and eventually, sell a vehicle.

In this blog post, we’ll dive deeper into why CRMs are so important for any auto business, and we’ll introduce you to some of the best automotive CRMs on the market. We’ll also look at what makes monday CRM an excellent option for any kind of auto dealer looking to increase sales and never lose a customer.

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What is a CRM for the automotive industry?

Automotive customer relationship management (CRM) software is a platform that helps car dealerships and independent sellers improve customer relationships and close more sales. With the right CRM, auto dealers can strengthen customer relations, promptly respond to leads, launch and track digital marketing campaigns, and keep tabs on sales goals and progress within their team.

According to a study, 23.5% of new leads don’t receive a follow-up within 24 hours, meaning dealerships risk losing these potential leads altogether. With an automotive CRM to nurture incoming leads before a sales agent can get in touch with them, auto dealers can make sure all sales opportunities are explored, leading to more sales and increased profits down the line.

Benefits of using an automotive CRM

92% of car buyers search online before even stepping foot into a dealership. While they’re shopping online, these potential costomers can interact with auto dealerships to get more information, making it critical for auto dealers to have processes and tools in place for handling new leads. An auto CRM helps auto dealers elevate their customer relationships and streamline operational efficiencies. Here’s a closer look at how a CRM can positively impact your business:

• Connect with every customer: Centralize customer data to build stronger relationships and make sure customer interactions are meaningful and topical
• Never lose a lead: Track leads in real-time and set timely follow-ups so that no lead falls through the cracks
• Engage with customers through the sales funnel: Delight your customers with consistent communication and customer service through initial contact to post-purchase care
• Automate repetitive tasks to close more deals: Save time by automating workflows for lead scoring, follow-ups, sales documentation, communications, and more
• Wow customers with personalized service: Use detailed customer data to offer a tailored customer experience, turning one-time buyers into loyal customers

Top automotive CRMs for your dealership

With so many options out there for CRM software and specifically, CRMs for the automotive industry, it can be tricky to find the right fit for your company. Not every option is going to be right for every team, but there are solutions out there that can fit a wide range of needs, whether your company is a small business or a large dealership. Here are a few of the best CRMs for the automotive industry and their key features.

1. monday CRM

Best for: Teams looking for a customizable platform that helps them nurture relationships with customers while boosting car sales

monday CRM is a flexible, scalable, and multi-functional platform suitable for all business sizes, from independent car sellers to large dealerships. With monday CRM, users can keep track of their contacts, capture and nurture new leads, gain valuable insights on sales, and consistently communicate with buyers without losing a beat.

Key monday CRM features

• No-code automations: Set and forget custom workflow automations for client reminders, like follow-ups, vehicle servicing, insurance renewals, and more
• Advanced analytics and insights: Generate tailored reports to track sales performance, sales trends, and see where workflows can be improved
• Centralized customer data: Keep all the information you need about clients in one place, including data, customer communication history, purchases, and more

monday CRM pricing

• Starting at $12/seat/month
• Four plans to choose from: Basic, Standard, Pro, and Enterprise
• Free trial available
• Learn more about monday CRM plans and pricing
  

2. Salesforce

Best for: Dealerships looking for a robust, cloud-based CRM to improve operational and sales efficiency

Salesforce offers an all-in-one CRM platform designed to help teams streamline sales and service processes. For automotive teams, Salesforce’s lead generation and service features make it easy to follow, guide, and engage clients through their entire buying experience.

Key Salesforce features

• AI-powered insights: Salesforce’s AI feature, Einstein, can help with predictive analytics to improve sales forecasting, customer outreach, and sales strategies
• Effortless data analytics: Gather and track data from clients in dealerships to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for seamless collaboration
• Organize leads and clients: Create lists to segment clients based on priority to better engage with them and personalize service levels

Salesforce pricing

• Starting at $25/user/month
• Offers multiple tiers for small businesses and enterprises
• Free trial available
• Read more about Salesforce plans and pricing here

3. DealerSocket

Best for: Dealerships looking to improve customer satisfaction and dealer management system

DealerSocket is a leading automotive CRM platform designed for selling cars. The platform comes with a range of features to help teams improve their sales pipeline, manage service and dealership operations, and track marketing and email campaigns. It can be used for dealerships of all sizes, allowing for seamless collaboration between teams.

Key DealerSocket features

• Inventory management integrations: Keep real-time tabs on stock with seamless integrations with OEM systems
• Service scheduling: Streamline appointments and service reminders for vehicle maintenance to increase customer satisfaction
• Marketing automation: Launch, track, and plan targeted campaigns based on insights into customer behavior and engage them at every stage

DealerSocket pricing

• Custom pricing available on request by contacting the DealerSocket sales team

4. VinSolutions

Best for: Auto dealers who want to prioritize sales experiences

VinSolutions delivers a powerful automotive CRM that integrates sales, marketing, and service operations in one platform. With a data-centric approach, VinSolutions helps dealerships make data-driven decisions based on sales, customer data, and detailed reports.

Key VinSolutions features

• Dashboards and reports: Monitor important metrics, benchmarks, and goals with data from multiple sources
• Performance management: VinSolutions offers service in the form of a performance manager who will help you get the most out of your CRM
• Sales process automation: Automate routine tasks like follow-ups with customers and potential buyers, task assignments to team members, and communications like texts and emails

VinSolutions pricing

• Custom pricing available by contacting sales team

5. Selly Automotive

Best for: Independent dealerships looking for an uncomplicated automotive CRM

Selly Automotive is a simple CRM platform that’s straightforward and intuitive to use, making it ideal for smaller teams and independent dealerships. Selly Automotive includes essential CRM functionalities like lead management, workflow automations, collaboration tools, and more while maintaining a user-friendly interface.

Key Selly Automotive features

• Automated communications: Automate SMS messages and email blasts and responses to keep every lead and customer engaged
• Appointment management: Schedule and manage appointments from within your CRM to get key deals moving forward and improve customer interactions
• Sales analytics: Get an overview of your sales performance and marketing spending with a detailed analytics dashboard to make informed decisions

Selly Automotive pricing

• Pricing available on request by scheduling a demo with the sales team

How monday CRM takes care of all your automotive tasks

When considering your different options, a good way to narrow down your choices is to look for software that can be tailored to your business’s most pressing needs and that will grow with all types of automotive companies. In that case, opting for a completely customizable and scalable platform like monday CRM will help you reach your goals and make sure your business is set for years to come.

monday CRM is an all-in-one solution that helps auto dealers build stronger customer relationships and make more sales. With a simple and user-friendly interface that can be completely customized to meet any team’s requirements, monday CRM makes it easy for automotive businesses to keep track of leads while maximizing deal potential and gaining real-time insights into sales data.

In addition to the features we covered above, monday CRM offers plenty of other functionalities that make it indispensable to dealerships and independent auto dealers:

• Hundreds of customizable templates to make getting started quick and easy
• A mobile app to interact with leads and customers wherever you are
• Custom dashboards to track sales, deals, marketing spending, and more

• 27+ different work views like Calendar, To-Do list, Workload, and others to see tasks your way
• Over 200 app integrations to continue using the tools you’re familiar with
• AI-powered email composer to personalize messages for quicker communication with customers
• Lead scoring to help you qualify incoming leads and sort them accordingly

• Keep track of interactions with customers like phone calls, messages, sales and service histories, and more
• Create custom contact forms to get to know customer preferences or send out surveys
• Use smart templates to send out emails quickly

The best automotive CRM is the one your team will actually use

Rather than trying to fit your workflows to new software solutions, pick the platform that can be molded to your team’s requirements. monday CRM users love the platform for its ease-of-use, simple drag-and-drop interface, and customization features, with one G2 reviewer stating that “the flexibility and ease of customization are by far the best features.”

With a platform like monday CRM, you’ll spend less time onboarding and more time focused on creating winning sales strategies to enhance customer relationships and close more deals.