Automotive giants – Germain Motor Company, Antonino Auto Group, and Fletcher Jones Motorcars – boost business with the use of the industry’s most experienced and highest-rated automotive CRM
Great dealers. Great partners.
Henry Ford once said, “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” Simple but profound, the truth of these words is evidenced every day in dealerships nationwide. Great dealers build great relationships with great partners. At least, that’s what Shaun Kniffin, Larry and Heather Lewis, and Chris Shields would tell you. Representing three of the most successful automotive giants in the industry, these dealership professionals share something in common: they have each found the success that Ford described by partnering in one way or another with Autobase, the recently united CRM arm of Dominion Dealer Solutions.
Germain: Driving growth with CRM
The Germain Motor Company is comprised of nine dealerships in central Ohio, seven dealerships in Florida, and dealerships in both Arizona and Arkansas. Shaun Kniffin, who serves as Director of Internet Sales and eBusiness Development for the Ohio stores, is a recognized industry expert and Autobase CRM enthusiast.
“When a solution like Autobase offers the breadth of tools and services that it does, maximum use is non-negotiable,” explains Kniffin. “It drives our corporate and individual development, and this organizational development is a driving force behind our success.”
Supported by Autobase since 2005, Germain Motor Company has not only remained competitive, but has grown through recent economic challenges. “Our Internet sales have continually climbed by as much as 36% for the last four years,” adds Kniffin. “We optimize Autobase to its fullest capabilities, which results in big returns.”
Kniffin would concur: a true CRM is an all-encompassing marketing and sales system that incorporates the showroom, sales desk, service drive, BDC, ILM, retention and reputation management, managed marketing, and data services into one powerful tool – driving process and profits throughout the dealership. “We save thousands on a monthly basis. With Autobase, we don’t have to spend money with multiple vendors,” comments Kniffin.
Always on the cutting-edge, Kniffin explains his excitement for new releases from Autobase. “From a technical perspective, Autobase has always offered us the speed and security of a server-based CRM, but now offers convenient web-based products and services to tie in the benefits of their equity-based marketing program, online reputation management, and social media marketing.”
Antonino: Leading with lead management
Consumers have never been savvier. The Internet has provided this new generation of car buyers with the information needed to make smarter and faster purchasing decisions. Lead management has never been a more important component of CRM, and for Chris Shields, Internet Sales Director of the Antonino Auto Group, there is no stronger solution for lead management than AVV Web Control.
Web Control, the lead management arm of Autobase CRM, stepped onto the scene in 1995, providing dealers with the simplest yet most powerful way to manage the ever-increasing number of Internet leads.
“We have increased our Internet sales nearly 400% since using Web Control,” comments Shields. “It enables us to formulate and follow easily-organized processes – processes that equip our Internet team to deliver timely and professional interaction with customers.”
Customizable and process-driven workflow is fundamental to Web Control. This is the case from the point of lead capture and engaging response mechanisms to the inventory integration that helps dealers make stronger stocking decisions. Their experience helping over 37,000 users deliver the ideal experience to customers on a daily basis speaks to their wealth of industry knowledge and expertise.
“As a result of Web Control, we continue to increase sales, maximize CSI, and grow retention,” states Shields. “We researched many other products but didn’t see a tool that allowed for this level of customization, as well as the capability to manage workflow so easily. The processes built for our business are invaluable.”
Fletcher Jones: Flexing its marketing power
A few readers may remember the days when CRM was little more than a letter writer. No more. Today, the crowning jewel of true CRM is its ability to target segments of the customer database with effective, multi-touch, multi-channel campaigns. To accomplish this, more dealers are partnering with proven marketing experts to help execute these campaigns from A to Z. Here, the true power of managed marketing services goes on display.
Larry Lewis, fixed operations director for Fletcher Jones Motorcars, maximizes the power of his customer data through the award-winning marketing services of @utoRevenue, the managed marketing arm of Autobase CRM.
For nearly 10 years, @utoRevenue has served as the industry’s leading provider of multi-channel marketing. E-mail and direct mail campaigns, custom video, one- and two-way SMS text messaging, pre-recorded voice messaging, live calls, e-newsletters, online appointment scheduling, and their all-new reputation management solution all provide dealers like Fletcher Jones Motorcars with the most innovative marketing tools available.
“In January alone, our group revenue sales were over $1MM in ROs from customers we haven’t seen in over a year. The common denominator,” adds Lewis, “is that every single one of them was targeted in an @utoRevenue campaign.”
These results are achieved by reaching the right customers with the right message via the right channel at the right time. “We work daily with our @utoRevenue Relationship Manager on our efforts with direct mail, e-mail, and reporting,” explains Lewis. He adds that this daily partnership means Fletcher Jones can act with agility. “We regularly and proactively modify our messaging, audience, and media selection. We find out instantaneously if it is working because we get immediate response from our customers.”
How three became one
Prior to NADA 2011, Dominion Dealer Solutions announced that it had united its award-winning lead management provider (AVV Web Control) and its industry-leading retention marketing provider (@utoRevenue) under Autobase CRM to form the nation’s largest and most experienced provider of automotive CRM. The result: a marketing and sales powerhouse that offers tremendous value to dealers.
“The unification between Autobase, AVV Web Control, and @utoRevenue is smart business,” concludes Shaun Kniffin of Germain Motor Company. Antonino Auto Group’s Chris Shields agrees, “Autobase, AVV Web Control, and @utoRevenue make a feature rich combination, creating amazing opportunity for auto dealers.”
Nearly 50 years of combined experience; serving well over 80,000 automotive professionals nationwide; delivering a comprehensive marketing and sales solution – this is the all-new Autobase.
Dealers have spoken
Aside from being the preferred choice of Germain Motor Company, Antonino Auto Group, and Fletcher Jones Motorcars, the Dominion CRM companies (Autobase, AVV, and @utoRevenue) have each received notable industry recognition over the years.
Looking ahead
Today, the all-new Autobase offers dealers more collective experience, more product diversity, more service coverage, and more industry expertise than any other automotive CRM provider. But the future of Autobase makes the world even brighter for auto dealers.
PRIME Response™, its recently-released online reputation management solution (ORM), is already providing dealers with increased opportunity, consumer insight, and transactional leverage. Approaching ORM from a new and innovative perspective, PRIME Response enables dealers to manage, track, and influence their online reputation while thriving amidst recent changes made to search engines – a must see.
Looking ahead, dealers can anticipate the company’s next generation of web-enabled CRM, developed in cooperation by Autobase and AVV. Fletcher Jones’ Larry Lewis sums it up – “Their constant and progressive vision has us excited for the future.”
Learn more by calling 888.417.2249 or by visiting www.autobase.net, www.avv.com, and www.autorevenue.com.
Germain Motor Company, Shaun Kniffin, Director of Internet Sales and eBusiness: “We’ve increased Internet sales year-over-year by as much as 36% with the use of Autobase. They hit an absolute homerun with their solution. The alignment of products and benefits of online reputation, social media, and equity based marketing programs is like a drug and we aren’t quitting.” Germain Motor Company was established in 1947 and is comprised of nine dealerships in OH, seven in FL, and dealerships in both AZ and AR. With 15 brands provided, customers have diverse vehicle selection.
Antonino Auto Group, Chris Shields, Internet Sales Director: “Since using AVV, we have increased Internet sales by almost 400%! AVV is one of the strongest ILM tools on the market. The ability to track and manage Internet leads and phone ups has allowed us to drive a significant amount of business.” The Antonino Auto Group was founded in 1957. Starting as a single point used car location, the group now consists of eight rooftops and 12 franchises. For over 50 years, the Antonino Auto Group has been serving three generations of families in South Eastern Connecticut.
Fletcher Jones Motorcars, Larry and Heather Lewis, Fixed Operations & Business Development Directors: “In January alone, our group revenue sales were over $1MM in ROs from customers we haven’t seen in over a year. The common denominator is that every single one of them was targeted in an @utoRevenue campaign.” Family owned and operated since 1946, Fletcher Jones has grown into one of the largest and most-respected automotive groups in the world, now comprised of 17 dealerships across four states. Fletcher Jones Motorcars in Newport Beach is the largest Mercedes-Benz center in the world.
