The Winners...Customer Relationship Management Tools

Retaining a spot at the top of the CRM category is proving to be very difficult. Many dealers reported switching providers in this category in the last six months, which may be indicative of the difficulty in finding the provider that meets all the needs of the dealer. This year, yet another new winner rose to the top, and the surprising part is, unlike the last three Diamond Award winners, AutoRevenue (127.4) (a Dominion Enterprises company), focuses primarily on CRM through the service department.

When John Miller, general manager for AutoRevenue, was asked why he felt dealers were more focused on CRM in the service department this year, he said, “If CRM is done properly in service it raises the dealerships absorption ratio, which in turns allows the dealership to focus on core initiatives in sales,” all of which should result in higher profits.

Slipping from the top spot is the only returning winner in this category: Platinum Award winner AVV/Web Control, scoring 104. That means Dominion Enterprises, which recently purchased AVV, now owns both the Diamond and Platinum Award winners. Another new winner in this category, one that has been steadily gaining ground over the last several years, was Nettrack, who claimed the Gold Award with a 103.3 score.

Click here for Complete Results of the 2008 Dealers' Choice Awards.