Keep the record true.

Guides

• Reconciling the CRM record with what the customer actually said

  Four questions asked of twenty records a week, checked against the calls and texts behind them, which is how a CRM stays worth reading.

  The record · 6 min read

• The lead statuses that lie: what working, contacted and lost hide

  Working, contacted and lost are written by the person they grade, so define each one by an event the customer actually took part in and check a sample weekly.

  The record · 6 min read

• What a dealership CRM cannot see, and how to fill the gap

  Your CRM holds entries, not conversations, and the six things it cannot see are where most of the lost opportunity in a store sits.

  The record · 7 min read

• What belongs in the CRM note after a sales call

  Six items every note needs, a ninety second template, and the reason the next step field matters more than everything else written above it.

  The record · 6 min read

Vocabulary

• Activity logThe running history on a customer record: calls, texts, emails, visits, notes and what was promised each time.
• Appointment on the boardA scheduled visit posted where the whole store can see it, with the time, the customer, the vehicle and who is expecting them.
• CRM writebackSending what happened in a conversation back into the customer record, so the CRM reflects the call instead of a rep’s memory.
• Dealer groupA company that owns multiple dealership locations, often across several brands and sometimes several states.
• Dealership CRMThe system where a store logs customers, leads, notes, tasks and follow-up activity through the sales process.
• DMS (dealer management system)The dealership’s core system of record for deals, inventory, accounting, service and parts.
• Duplicate leadA second record for a customer who is already in the system, usually created by a new inquiry from a different channel.
• Equity miningScanning existing customer and loan records to find people whose situation makes a trade attractive right now.
• Lead assignmentDeciding who owns a new opportunity, by rotation, by skill, by source or by who handled the customer before.
• Lead sourceWhere an opportunity came from, recorded on the customer record and used to judge what marketing is producing.
• Lost reasonThe recorded explanation for why an opportunity ended without a sale, chosen from a short and honest list.
• Record reconciliationMatching a conversation to the right customer record, and deciding what happens when two systems disagree.

All 100 terms