Car dealerships are naturally tech-savvy, staying up to date with the latest and greatest in automotive technology and engineering innovations. The amount of tech found in today’s vehicles is unimaginable compared to just a decade or two ago, from safety sensors and automation to infotainment systems and precision GPS. 

But when it comes to optimizing dealership operations with tech, some dealerships find themselves behind the times. Solutions are out there, but the path to integration and value creation isn’t always obvious. In other words, dealerships want tech — they need tech to survive and thrive — but there are some missing pieces of the puzzle that leave them wanting more.

As a leader in the automotive advertising and marketing space, AUT0MiZE comes from a unique position, one where tech adaptation and rapid results reign supreme. By learning the landscape and applying our practices, we construct a vision that takes dealerships from square one to tech stardom. 

So, what are the tech essentials that every dealership needs, but doesn’t necessarily have? We’ll cover the most critical categories that make up the ultimate tech stack for dealerships, empowering everyone from owners and GMs to sales teams, marketers, service departments, and more. Let’s dive in and see what tech solutions move the dial for dealership success.  

Customer Relationship Management

CRM is a universal business tool, used in various industries to different degrees. But in the fast paced world of auto dealerships, where companies live and die by the lead, customer relationship management is non-negotiable. 

CRM systems for car dealerships are designed to streamline the sales process, enhance interactions with customers at every step of the buyer journey, and improve communications efficiency across every touchpoint. These systems, when optimized and utilized properly, provide a central database that can be accessed by sales teams, marketers, analysts, and service teams alike.

From managing leads to aggregating customer data and identifying sales opportunities, a well-constructed CRM system can mean the difference between average results and record-shattering performance. 

So, what are some points that dealerships should consider when looking at their CRM solutions? Let’s summarize the most important aspects here:

Lead Management

CRMs capture leads from various sources such as the dealership’s website, third-party listing platforms, online advertisements, walk-ins, and more. The system organizes this information, making it easily accessible to the sales team and whoever else could benefit from the data. 

A good CRM also tracks interactions with potential customers, recording communications and any relevant details that can drive the sales process forward. This also applies to service departments in their efforts to coordinate maintenance, repairs, and other forms of assistance to customers. 

Customer Data Management

A CRM provides a centralized database for customer information, ensuring that sales representatives have access to accurate and up-to-date data. It should also record key events in a customer’s history, including past purchases, services, and interactions, helping sales reps understand customer preferences and needs.

Communication and Follow-up

CRMs can automate follow-up emails, appointment reminders, and other communications, from sales and service to promotions and more. This ensures timely and consistent contact with potential and existing customers, with nobody falling through the cracks. 

An optimized system should also offer personalized communication by utilizing customer data to tailor messages and offers.

Sales Process Automation

When sales teams need a boost, a reliable CRM system should be there to help. CRM must guide sales reps through the sales process, ensuring that all necessary steps are taken, and nothing is overlooked. CRMs can also store and manage necessary sales documents, making the paperwork process more efficient.

Performance Tracking and Reporting

Reports give teams the info they need to make adjustments and hit relevant targets. A CRM system provides tools for tracking sales performance, helping identify top performers and areas needing improvement. When it comes time to analyze reports, CRM systems offer precise information in one centralized location, providing insights into sales trends, customer behavior, and inventory management.

Integration with Other Systems

Many CRMs can integrate with Dealer Management Systems (DMS), creating a seamless connection between sales, service, and inventory. This can also connect with marketing tools, ensuring that sales efforts are aligned with marketing campaigns to improve campaign ROI and overall effectiveness.

Customer Retention and Loyalty

Customer retention is often the deciding factor in how dealerships compete with regional rivals and on a national scale. This means focusing first on keeping customers happy and coming back for service, trade-ins, and additional vehicle purchases. 

CRMs can send automated service reminders to customers, helping maintain ongoing relationships and encouraging repeat business. It can also manage loyalty programs, tracking customer points, and rewards — all crucial aspects of the retention equation for dealerships. 

Inventory Management

A dealership’s inventory is its lifeblood, the supply of vehicles that keeps profits flowing and ensures the bottom line is always on the rise. However, many dealerships overlook the potential for tech solutions to aid in inventory management operations, leaving money on the table as a result.

Fundamentally, inventory management software should keep track of all vehicles in stock, from new and used cars to trade-ins and the future pipeline that allows them to look two steps ahead. It’s more than just a stock-keeping tool, however. The best inventory management tools can also integrate data from various sources and compile them into accessible formats that anyone in the dealership can easily use at any time.

For example, a salesperson may be face-to-face with a customer ready to buy — how can they offer a great deal while ensuring profitability for the business? Inventory management software should be readily available on their phone or tablet, with immediate access to optimal prices and alternative offers that may better suit the needs of the prospective customer. 

That’s just one example of a streamlined inventory management application in practice. Here are some other must-haves in a modern inventory management solution:

Reporting and Analytics

An inventory management tool should be able to quickly analyze inventory turnover rates, time on lot, and other key performance indicators. Predictive features are also invaluable for sales teams and managers — software to help predict future inventory needs based on historical data and market trends.

Integration With Other Systems

What good is an inventory management tool if the information is not connected with other databases in the business? The best systems ensure that inventory data is synchronized with the dealership’s DMS for consistent and accurate information across all dealership operations.

Integrating inventory data with the dealership’s CRM system is also vital. This will assist sales staff in quickly finding the right vehicles for their customers and following up with personalized communications at the perfect time.

Vehicle Inspection and Condition Reporting Tools

Shoppers will want access to the full history of a vehicle and inspection info to determine if it’s a good buy. Inventory management tools should allow users to create and manage detailed vehicle condition reports, including photos and descriptions of any damage or wear. Digital checklists can also ensure that all necessary inspections are carried out on new arrivals and trade-ins.

Photography and Imaging Tools

Where are high-quality images kept to use for website VDPs and third-party platforms? The inventory management system should keep these images tracked, organized, and ready to use in any situation. The ability to create 360-degree views of vehicle interiors and exteriors for online listings is also an expected feature for today’s shoppers.

Website Integration

These days, a dealership’s inventory is only as good as its online presence. That inventory data should be seamlessly integrated with the dealership’s website, allowing for real-time updates to online vehicle listings. Tags and metadata are also essential, providing website visitors with robust search and filter tools to easily find the vehicles they are interested in.

Website and Online Presence

Building and maintaining a strong online presence is crucial for car dealerships, and it goes beyond user experience and navigation. A website is responsible for many aspects of dealership success — it enhances visibility, attracts potential customers, and serves as a central hub of communication for service teams and other departments. 

Because most dealerships already have a web presence, it’s now a matter of optimizing their existing assets and streamlining their operations on every front.

From navigating inventory to exploring promos, financing options, and parts ordering, customers should be able to do everything they expect from an in-person visit to a dealership. That’s easier said than done, of course, but that’s where tech optimization — and perhaps a total overhaul — comes into play. 

Here’s a rundown of essential technology components and third-party platforms that can contribute to an effective website and online presence:

Website Builder and Content Management System (CMS)

While professional web development is a must for any serious dealership, it all starts with a website builder and workable CMS. This platform should allow dealership staff to easily update content, add vehicle listings, and manage other website elements without having to learn the intricacies of web design and software development.

Mobile responsiveness is another box to check for today’s multichannel shoppers. This means ensuring the website is accessible and performs well on various devices, particularly mobile phones and tablets. 

Inventory Integration and Display

Real-time inventory updates should be streamlined and automated. The website CMS should readily integrate with the dealership’s inventory management system to display current vehicle stock on the website. When changes and updates are made, the website should reflect them immediately so there’s no confusion among departments or sales team members. 

Analytics and Performance Tracking

Web analytics are increasingly important for dealerships, and this is where AUT0MiZE focuses our efforts in the first 30 days. We leverage tools to track website performance, user behavior, and conversion data, showing where the real work needs to be done. We apply the same principles to monitor the performance of online advertising campaigns, SEO, and much more.

Customer Interaction and Lead Generation

Live chat tools can interact with website visitors in real-time and capture lead information, setting the stage for sales teams and remote BDC teams to capitalize on opportunities. Websites should also have a wide array of contact forms and lead capture systems. These offer ways for potential customers to get in touch, schedule test drives, or inquire about a specific vehicle they’ve been tracking.

Customer Reviews and Testimonials

Reputation is everything in the automotive industry. Websites should be capable of managing and displaying customer reviews and testimonials, while also synchronizing them with other platforms across the web. 

Don’t forget the power of third-party review sites, which can make or break a dealership’s brand. Dealerships should be ready to claim and manage their profiles on third-party review sites and respond in a timely, professional manner to any comments or inquiries. 

Marketing and Advertising

Dealerships have been at the forefront of marketing and advertising for decades, with aggressive budgets and innovative tactics to boost traffic and engagement. But as the digital environment evolves, many dealerships find themselves ill-equipped to beat the competition online with new methods and mediums. 

This is the cornerstone of the AUT0MiZE approach — giving dealerships the tools they need to thrive online and the metrics that actually matter. Here are some of the key aspects of modern marketing and advertising that dealerships should be ready to embrace with the help of AUT0MiZE.

Digital Advertising Platforms

Outbound advertising is all about getting a dealership’s name and offerings in front of audiences that matter. This means using platforms for creating pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaigns that appear in search engine results and across the web. Social media advertising tools are also a must — they are used to create and manage campaigns on Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms, targeting specific demographics with vast data resources.

Email Marketing Software

Email remains at the top of the heap for direct communications with huge possible returns. Dealerships must be equipped to design, send, and track email campaigns for customers at every stage of the buyer journey  or service lifecycle. 

And while email campaigns can take time and effort to set up, automation does the heavy lifting once the foundations are in place. Eventually, dealerships will gain capabilities for sending targeted emails based on customer behavior or milestones.

Content Creation and Blogging

Content rules the web, and dealerships that don’t capitalize on content are missing out on massive gains. It starts with a CMS — a system with  blogging capabilities to create and share content, enhancing SEO and providing value to visitors. 

This is just the beginning, of course. Dealerships also need tools for creating and embedding videos, images, and other multimedia content. This content must then be repurposed for use on social media and optimized to perform on various channels, maximizing results on all possible fronts. 

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Tools

Search engine results pages are more competitive than ever, so dealerships can’t expect to enter the arena without SEO tools and strategies. Keyword optimization is step one, identifying keywords to target in content and advertising. On-page optimization is the next level, using tools to optimize website content, meta tags, and other on-page SEO elements.

While SEO might not yield immediate results like advertising, dealerships must be ready to play the long game and commit to SEO strategies that pay off down the road. The SEO experts at AUT0MiZE can lay the foundation for your dealership and follow through at every level, setting you up for search engine success. 

Social Media Management

Many dealerships have a social media presence, but are they making the most of these valuable resources and getting the returns they deserve? Posting consistently and strategically is the foundation of any successful social media effort, which means scheduling posts and managing content across multiple channels.

The focus then turns to analytics — how are posts performing, where are leads coming from, and what can be done to improve the process? Analytics tools can track social media engagement and campaign performance, pointing dealerships in the right direction for future spending and creative approaches. This is where AUT0MiZE can dramatically improve a dealership’s presence online and turn the tides in a matter of weeks. 

Analytics and Reporting

Today’s dealerships face the classic conundrum of marketing. They’re spending money and staying consistent, but they’re not able to effectively track metrics, attribution, and the actual results of their efforts. This is where analytics and reporting come into play, tracking website traffic, user behavior, and the effectiveness of online marketing in every dimension.

It comes down to ROI and return on ad spend (ROAS) — two notoriously difficult metrics to obtain in digital marketing. Here’s the good news: AUT0MiZE has the tools and strategies that can help dealerships accurately measure the returns from different marketing and advertising campaigns.

No longer do dealerships need to guess which efforts are profitable or worth pursuing in the future. AUT0MiZE will deliver transparent, trackable reports that show how campaigns are performing, and more importantly, how they impact the bottom line.

Empower Your Dealership Tech With AUT0MiZE

Assessing a dealership’s tech stack is easy at first, but gets more complicated the more we explore the inner workings of their systems, how they’re connected, and how they’re performing as a whole. 

In other words, looks can be deceiving. While a CRM or inventory management system might appear useful to sales teams and marketers, it might be outdated, improperly integrated, or leaving out crucial information that could significantly impact a dealership’s performance.

Meanwhile, a dealership’s SEO and social media presence could be functional, but lacking the insights and direction needed to connect with untapped audiences. 

With so much to account for, dealerships are understandably going to fall short in one or two areas of the tech ecosystem we’ve outlined here. But with AUT0MiZE to offer fresh perspectives and bring proven best practices to the table in every aspect of tech and service, the potential for improvement is tremendous. 

Whether your dealership is focused on growth opportunities, customer retention, or in need of an all-out tech audit and overhaul, we know the path forward. AUT0MiZE is ready to dive in with custom solutions and the ongoing support you need to dominate online and beyond.