If you’re not currently using a customer relationship management (CRM) tool in your service department, you’re probably wondering if it’s worth having. I present the answer is yes in (almost) every case.

Think about it this way: In your service drive, you sell time, and optimizing the limited time you have with customers is crucial to your success. By using a CRM, you can effectively drive service opportunities and create positive customer experiences.

While every dealership operates differently, here’s some insight into how a CRM can help maximize your service drive’s potential.

1. Identify additional upsell opportunities while your customers are in the drive.

Imagine accessing all the information available for your customers while they’re in your service drive—service history, previously declined services, even sales notes, phone calls, and marketing materials or promotions they’ve received. With a CRM designed specifically to work with your DMS throughout your dealership, you can take any information about your customer and create a truly tailored experience for them.

Having a single unique identifier for everyone who visits your dealership allows you to easily keep track of every touchpoint they’ve had during their time with you. When you know what they’ve seen and how they’ve interacted in the past, you can create individualized upsell opportunities for each customer, every time you see them.

2. Seamless service scheduling for the entire dealership.

Just after the vehicle purchase is the perfect opportunity to get the customer set up for their first appointment. But is your sales person thinking about this or are they moving onto the next customer? You can make this a simple process when your CRM and DMS work hand-in-hand.

And as your customer moves through their ownership lifecycle, it should be easy for your BDC or service advisors to know when to reach out to schedule or confirm the next appointment. You can even set up an automated communication schedule so the customer receives a natural cadence of touches to bring them back to your store consistently.

When your CRM and DMS work hand-in-hand, your service, BDC, and sales teams can set, modify, or delete service appointments from anywhere. This helps to streamline your processes and create a team environment all while establishing a seamless experience for your customers.

3. Enhance customer experiences starting with the phone call.

You know each call is an opportunity to make—or break—a customer relationship. With the amount of phone calls you handle each day, along with walk-in customers, appointments, paperwork, and all of your other many tasks, you don’t have time to sift through screens searching for customer information.

But what if you could access all the customer details you need at the first ring. A quick glance at the notification, a single click into the details, and you can greet the customer by name. You’ll also be able to handle the concern the customer called about and recommend additional services based on their history. This allows the customer to have a better understanding of what their appointment will look like when they come in. And it makes your job easier to authentically engage and tailor conversations.

By using a CRM tool in your service drive, you’re setting yourself up to: increase upsell opportunities, streamline processes creating a team environment, and enhance your customers’ experiences. Don’t spend another day without the right tools. Consider what a CRM can do to help you win business and maximize the potential in your service department.

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