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Automotive CRMs help dealerships, OEMs, and garages connect with and organize leads and prioritize prospects ready to buy or service a vehicle. The top automotive CRMs offer general tools such as lead generation and pipeline management, plus industry-specific features like inventory management, license and VIN scanning, and dealership management system (DMS) integration. We’ve evaluated the top six automotive CRM software to help you choose the right one.
Here are the six best automotive CRMs in 2022:
In our evaluation of the best CRM software for automotive businesses, we divided our scoring into six major categories, each of which included several weighted subcriteria. We then assigned subcriteria scores and tallied up each category, which resulted in an overall score out of five for each CRM. Using our research, we assigned a primary use case to each CRM that scored highly enough to make our list.
Our scoring prioritized the features dealerships and other automotive companies need — including general tools that come with any quality CRM, plus automotive-specific tools — and their cost. We also looked at ease of use to ensure that each software can be used by anyone. App integrations and customization came next, followed by customer support.
We considered setup fees and tiered pricing flexibility, especially with paid features tailored to auto companies’ specific needs.
We looked at general features plus industry-specific tasks like lease tracking, equity mining, texting automation, and desking functions to streamline the buying process.
This measured the convenience, simplicity, and practicality of each CRM to ensure it can be used by the entire team.
Auto businesses must be able to connect to third-party integrations, such as a DMS, to improve their data.
Dealerships use various processes to sell various vehicles to different customers at different price points, so the CRM should be easily customizable to fit their unique needs.
We evaluated the types of support and service provided to users of each CRM, including email, chat, and phone.
Note: All per-user prices are with a one-year commitment unless noted.
While all general and industry-specific CRMs performed well in various categories, a winner emerged after we totaled the results. Salesforce scored best overall and also placed first in the Core Features, Integrations, and Customization categories. None of the industry-specific CRMs list pricing on their website, which affected their scores, but all six software on our list are worthy options. Read below to understand how each CRM fared in each category.
Powerhouse general CRM giving users the ability to personalize the software for automotive features.
Salesforce is a popular CRM known for its strong analytics, automations, customizations, and contact management tools. Beyond these robust general features, it offers automotive-focused tools to market certain cars to potential buyers and even allow them to purchase the exact car they want. After the sale, send personalized resources and service reminders, all while storing ownership, service history, and other details within each customer's CRM contact record.
Salesforce is a powerful platform, but it's too complex for some automotive companies' needs, and its higher tiers are expensive. If you're looking for a simpler, more affordable CRM that still offers robust features, check out Zoho CRM.
Sales and marketing CRM that helps automotive companies connect with leads via social media, email, and more.
Zoho CRM is a top sales and marketing CRM with omnichannel lead generation and nurturing tools. Automotive companies using Zoho CRM can market to potential customers via social media, Google Ads, and other marketing platforms, then direct them to your website where you can capture their info via webforms. Once you've generated the leads, Zoho CRM will help you send email campaigns to promote dealership sales or invite them for test drives.
Zoho CRM is a great general platform for automotive companies willing to spend time personalizing it to their needs, but some will want an out-of-the-box CRM. If this is you, consider Salesforce for its ability to easily customize the entire platform for automotive purposes.
Industry-specifc CRM designed to help automotive retail groups grow through service-oriented features.
Elead CRM is a highly-ranked automotive CRM that includes sales, marketing, and service features specifically to help car dealers build great relationships. Communicate with leads using their preferred method (phone, text, email, or in person), let them easily schedule their own appointments, send follow-ups prompted by alerts, and use data mining tools to know which prospects are ready to buy so you can personally reach out at the right time.
Elead CRM is our top automotive-specific CRM, but common user complaints include slowness, glitches, and other technical difficulties, especially when multiple people use the platform at once. For a more stable CRM, look into Salesforce.
Streamlines the buying process with targeted data insights to ensure dealers identify the right customers at the right time.
VinSolutions Connect CRM is a data-driven auto dealer CRM with powerful lead analytics that deliver insights into leads and how they shop. Its database pulls lead data from thousands of third-party sources, which it imports into your CRM and uses to suggest likely vehicles of interest so you can appeal to potential customers’ preferences. It also analyzes leads' emails and texts to predict when they're ready to buy or losing interest so you can reach out.
Although VinSolutions Connect CRM provides useful lead data insights, the contact dashboard is cluttered, and it's not always easy to pull up the lead information you need. For a more well-designed and reliable option, try Salesforce.
A powerful CRM that consolidates leads from various sources and assigns them to reps for follow-up.
AutoRaptor is an easy-to-use automotive CRM for independent dealers. Its sales dashboard clearly shows leads and customers plus their engagement touchpoints, letting sales managers and reps see all activities at different stages in the pipeline and manage contacts directly from the dashboard. Best of all, it comes with built-in (no-code) round robin rules for lead distribution so prospects interested in buying a vehicle are auto-routed to the next available salesperson.
AutoRaptor is a solid choice for those looking for an automotive-specific CRM with lead routing capabilities, but its reporting functionality is insufficient for many businesses. For the best reporting features, learn about Salesforce.
An auto CRM that helps dealerships new to CRMs learn how best to use it for lead generation, nurturing, and more.
Selly Automotive is an automotive CRM and internet lead management (ILM) platform made for independent used car dealers. Its personalized customer support makes it a great fit for dealerships new to CRMs — Selly's onboarding team will help you set up the platform and then train your sales and management team to use it properly. Afterward, you'll have full access to phone support, plus self-guided articles and videos in the Selly Help Center.
Selly Automotive's support is a major plus for automotive companies that haven't used a CRM before, but it's the least customizable CRM on our list. If customizations and support are equally important to you, check out Elead CRM.
The best automotive CRM software have these features in common:
With these scanning tools, you can scan customers' license and their car’s vehicle identification number (VIN) and save it within their contact record in the CRM.
Automotive CRM software helps automotive companies efficiently manage their interactions with existing and new customers. By giving dealerships the industry-specific CRM tools they need, these platforms can support dealerships and similar businesses to close more deals. The top six auto CRMs highlighted on our list provide useful features and resources to sell and engage with clients; check them out and choose the one that will serve you best.
Eze is a New Orleans-based writer, business software expert, and technologist holding a Master's Degree in communications. Apart from writing comparison guides, his multifaceted writing includes topics as wide-ranging as DevOps, cybersecurity, and more. He is a sports enthusiast who once considered a career in professional sports but says his talents never quite matched his ambitions.
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