Quorum's CRM X-Sellerator! Bam! Biff! Pow!

Canada-based Quorum Information Technologies Inc. has announced today the signing of five more dealership customers to XSELLERATOR.

Awright, now that's the kind of product name we need more of in this business. Forget these boring anodyne names, we want names that sound like superhero weapons from 1950s comic books and TV cartoons. The X-Sellerator! The Custo-Phaser! The Electro-Profitometer! The Rival-Crushator!

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One of the five is Quorum's second DaimlerChrysler branded pilot in the United States to sign-up, and the other four dealerships are signing up to General Motors' Integrated Dealer Management System -- two of these dealerships are in Canada and two are in the United States.

Quorum has now signed a total of 38 dealerships to its IDMS offering. As one of only two approved GM IDMS suppliers in North America, Quorum's IDMS product is XSELLERATOR software, an integrated, Windows-based DMS that automates and streamlines automobile dealerships' Sales, Service, Parts, Accounting and CRM processes.

"It's great to add a second DaimlerChrysler pilot in the United States, and it fits right in with our plans to expand our XSELLERATOR offering to other manufacturers," said Maury Marks, President and CEO of Quorum, "We also continue to see interest growing in our IDMS offering among GM dealerships, which is resulting in more sales."

For some reason selling cars isn't one of the tasks that's covered by much of the CRM studies. Strange, since it's one of the industries well-suited to CRM, one in which customer loyalty is of great importance.

Last month software vendor 5square released a Web-based system automating every part of the sales process, including lead management, CRM, showroom control, desking, F&I, inventory, customer marketing campaigns, and dealership analytics. It guides the sales team on every lead and every deal, improving sales processes, customer satisfaction, and closing ratios, and integrates with both ADP and Reynolds and Reynolds DMS systems.

NADA statistics show that the average dealer spent $571 in 2005 on advertising and lead generation for each new vehicle sold. This investment dwarfs the cost of all management systems combined -- DMS, CRM, Desking, F&I, etc.

"How the dealership manages its leads and its sales process determines whether this investment is a gusher or a dry hole. Effective follow-up will substantially increase sales," said Yuri Pikover, 5square.com chairman and CEO.

And just last week vendor FireSocket has announced what company officials call "significant enhancements" to its enterprise-wide customer relationship management (CRM) platform, DealerSocket.

The upgrade focuses on the automotive service department and includes dynamic appointment scheduling, service management and follow up support tools that promise to optimize a critical but often neglected part of a dealer's business operations.

With as much as 60 percent of the average automotive dealership's profits coming from automotive service and repair departments, these new features stand to be welcomed by dealers. Most CRM technologies focus solely on a dealer's sales and customer service operations.

David Sims is a contributing editor for TMCnet. For more articles please visit David Sims’ columnist page.