Moving Target

23rd July, 2008

For the modern automotive dealer,
encouraging repeat business can be
like trying to pinpoint a moving
target. However, for Automate DMS
users the process is made much
easier thanks to its integrated
Customer Relationship
Management system – appropriately
called ‘Target’.

Gloucestershire-based Warners is
a long-standing MMI customer using
Target. As an Automate user, Warners
finds the DMS an essential tool for
streamlining day-to-day operations. However,
the added bonus of Target really helps to
maximise business opportunities, as Dave
Ryland, Warners’ Financial Controller, explains.

“We’d definitely struggle to operate as effectively as we do without Automate,” he asserts. “Sales and service are the lifeblood of our business, and Target is a real asset, helping us make the most of every sales opportunity.”

Target is a real time Windows-based CRM system designed by MMI Automotive to optimise CRM by customising sales and service requirements through a single portal, enabling users to analyse financial data against customer buying behaviour. This is particularly important for multi-franchise dealerships like Warners, as the software centralises core modules such as diary functions and automatic service calculations.

Ruth Hudson, Warner’s Marketing
Manager, uses both Target and
Automate on a daily basis and
benefits from the integrated
software first-hand.

“Target makes our marketing
operations so much easier,” she
explains. “For example, when new
vehicle sales data is entered,
Target automatically creates an
initial ‘Thank You’ letter for the
customer, and then routinely sends
reminder letters at 11, 23 and 35
months. The same thing happens with
service reminders. Target calculates
service and MOT intervals and generates
reminder letters in the same way.”

Hudson also values the fact that MMI
listens to and actively encourages customer
feedback; and proactively implements integration
changes to better suit client needs.

“There have been several occasions when we’ve felt the benefit of working closely with MMI,” she says. “We’ve made suggestions how certain aspects of the system could be more effective, and then seen our ideas come to fruition. It’s great to feel that we’re valued, after all that’s what good customer service is all about.”

Together with Automate, Target can maximise profitability, efficiency and customer loyalty, as Dave Hayward, MMI Automotive’s MD explains.

“The modern dealership offers so much more than sales alone, which is why like Automate, Target offers such diverse functionality,” he says. “Every opportunity needs to be maximised, and Target helps to generate repeat business from existing customers in an effective and accurate way.”

Warners incorporated 85 years ago and today has 150 employees across its four sites: three combined Citroen and Peugeot sites in Tewkesbury, Cheltenham, and Gloucester and a second Citroen sales operation in Gloucester.