Larry Tate, Fixed Operations Director for Dublin Toyota, Dublin, CA, has worked with a range of customer relationship management (CRM) systems during his years with both public and private dealership groups. He says the CRM tool generating the most consistent return on investment for him these days is from CIMA Systems.

CIMA Systems is more than a tool for capturing customer data for ongoing customer contact purposes. It is, rather, a comprehensive hub of tools for engaging with customers at almost every touch point within the dealership. For instance, Tate says it is advanced transparent marketing tools like this that engage customers that make CIMA Systems such a potent CRM solution.

“CIMA Systems is our profit tool, and we use it to maximize every opportunity to get in front of customers to earn their business, not just to send marketing communications to customers,” says Tate. “We know it works and works well for us. We dropped off the system for a short time in ’11 to try out our OEM’s version but retention and share dropped. We switched back to CIMA and both retention and share increased even more.”

He says a unique CIMA System tool, CIMA CarView, is boosting upsell closing rates 33 percent, from a previous level of 32 percent to 65 percent today.

CIMA CarView is an interactive, Web-based software platform that allows service departments to “visually explain” repair recommendations with real-time photos, videos and expert illustrations. Dublin Toyota’s service technicians snap pictures of the parts requiring replacement or repair using the CIMA CarView application on their smartphones. The system then retrieves customer email information from the DMS and automatically sends the pictures/video with descriptive information, even technician voice-over narration, via email or text message to the customer. Customers lacking email can access images through the dealership’s service department website.

“This visual presentation virtually sells almost every upsell opportunity like this we present to customers using this tool,” Tate says, “and its use here differentiates our dealership from the competition by providing total transparency and constantly relevant communications to our customers,” Tate says.

Dublin Toyota retails 3200 new and used vehicles a year, and generates more than 61,700 repair orders a year, of which 34,500 are customer-pay. Tate says the dealership enjoys second place in retention in its region. “That has a lot to do with the CIMA approach and how its marketing teams support us to maximize our ROI. We’re now getting communications through to people we didn’t before and they’re coming back because we continue to market to them relevant communications they value.”

He said retention dropped 2.5 points and market share dropped 3 points when the dealership dropped CIMA Systems in early 2011 for the Toyota CRM tool, but quickly switched back as they watched retention and share drop. “Share went up almost 3.5 point and retention three points, reversing the damage we did,” Tate says.
These days Tate is also using CIMA to drive a popular loyalty rewards points program that keeps customers returning for service. He’s also using CIMA’s Groupon-like coupon service, Thrupon, to market service specials via Facebook and Twitter. As Facebook fans click on these coupons, the coupons populate their social media site pages as well, multiplying the distribution and impact of this marketing.

“It’s amazing how these Thrupons go viral,” Tate says, “and how their incremental exposure explodes overnight.”

www.Dealer-Communications.com

Social Media is one of the fastest growing technologies today. When it comes to Facebook, Twitter, or blogging, how well is your dealership utilizing these important customer communication tools? With CIMA Systems, your customers can access all your specials through your CIMA generated emails, your website, your Facebook page and now via Thrupons (Similar to Groupons, Living Social).

We assist you in taking full advantage of Social Networking from the initial development of your Facebook/Twitter/Thrupons sites, to posting ongoing dealership promotional offers. Thrupons allows you to create custom online deals, as well as provide hard copy print outs for your customers to redeem. Once we post your promotions to Thrupons, they are automatically updated on your “Current Deals” Page tab on Facebook! In addition to the automatic posting of your coupons to Twitter and Facebook, we will provide you with a custom designed welcome webpage which serves as an introduction to your dealership’s Facebook presence.

When a customer clicks on the coupon, it automatically pulls their name from their Facebook account, places it on the coupon, AND posts to their Facebook telling all of their family and friend that they got that coupon from your store. Further, if the family or friend member clicks on the coupon it then posts to their Facebook and tells all of their family and friend about your offer. It is a GREAT way to have your promotions go viral to customers outside of your DMS. Thus no need to pay Groupon fees of 50% of your deal, with CIMA Social…it is unlimited deals for a flat monthly fee of $399 for unlimited coupons/postings.

Remember, all of this is automatic, you do nothing! Keep requesting your CIMA events with coupons, and we will integrate everything with your Facebook page. Plus, we will work with you to gain more followers and traffic to your social sites, website and dealership by promoting your dealership on Facebook, , Twitter, and the Thrupons Social Buying Network.

We are offering all of this to you for a small FLAT monthly fee. If you have any questions on Thrupons, would like more information, or to request other CIMA-built pages, please contact Marie Carter at (925) 461-4616.

What is Timeline?

Timeline is a new display format Facebook is requiring all individuals and businesses to use starting between now and April 5.This will be a rolling change Facebook implements.

Timeline makes it easier for your customers to view the history of your brand, as they are now able to easily navigate your past posts and activity. If your dealership maintains an active Facebook business page, there are a few important things to know and actions to take in the coming days.

Cover Photo

The Cover Photo is a large (850 x 315 pixels) picture that sits at the very top of your page. This photo can be of almost anything, but you will have to upload it manually.

There are a few rules regarding this cover photo:

- You cannot post promotional or price information. This means, no coupons or sales announcements can be used in the photo.

- No references to Facebook features (“press the ‘like’ button now”) or calls-to-action (“tell your friends”) can be placed here.

- Covers must not be false, deceptive or leading

It is important to choose a photo that communicates what your brand is about. If you want to feature a vehicle photo, choose something that makes viewers connect with the ‘feeling’ that vehicle gives them. Or, if you have a great employee photo, upload it there – the decision is up to you. Just remember this photo is not a direct selling tool, it’s merely an opportunity for you to add something aesthetically pleasing to support your dealership.

Custom Pages

Some of you (especially our Thrupons customers) have had CIMA build or edit custom tabs, or welcome pages for you. You may have even created one yourself. These pages initially were limited to a width of 520 pixels, but now with Timeline, they can be stretched to 810 pixels. If you would like your CIMA-built pages adjusted, please contact your Account Executive. We will only be converting new customers and those who specifically request the change.

About Description

Under your profile photo, there is now room for a lengthier “About” description where you can write a brief description of your dealership (now 170 characters).

Update More Often (But not too often)

If your dealership posts once every couple months, it will now be more obvious to your customers that you’re not active with date formatting changes Facebook is implementing. We suggest posting once a week or so for the best results, so if you are not in that habit yet, now would be a good time to start!

If you have any questions on the timeline page, Thrupons, or to request the widening of your Welcome or other CIMA-built pages, please contact Marie Carter at (925) 461-4600.

For a comprehensive list of all the changes coming with Timeline, please see the Kiss Metrics article here: http://blog.kissmetrics.com/new-facebook-pages/

We at CIMA Systems are continually searching for new ways to promote your dealership offerings in an effort to drive more traffic into your dealership. Many of our dealers have had us design their Facebook and Twitter accounts, which have resulted in additional ways to market to your customers, their family and friends. We are proud to announce our new partnership with Thrupons (competitor to Groupons) which allows us to announce your CIMA generated email promotions automatically to your dealerships Facebook page, Twitter page and now Thrupons Social Buying Network. With CIMA Systems Now your customers can access all your deals through your CIMA generated emails, your website, your Facebook account and now via Thrupons.

For a small FLAT monthly fee, we will add custom features to your Facebook page, including a “Special Deals” tab that will always house your latest and greatest coupons. it’s automatic, you do nothing! Plus, we will work with you to gain more followers and traffic to your social sites, website and dealership. Partner with us to make the most out of your online presence. Ask us for a demo today!