If someone offered you a tool that could deliver three signed contracts in four hours would you take it? This might sound like a fairy tale but for Shacks Holden it was the result of smart direct marketing through Pentana Solutions CRM software; DealerSocket.
Since the doors opened in 1922, Shacks Holden has continued to operate as a strong, family owned automotive business in Freemantle, Western Australia. In recent years Shacks has won three prestigious Holden Grand Master awards recognising them for all around excellence. Their continuing success lies in adopting tools that help them improve on customer service, new and used vehicle sales, as well as leveraging their PMA with effective communication. Shacks Holden understands that advertising and marketing communication are key elements of a successful vehicle dealership. It is this philosophy that drove the investment in Pentana Solutions’ Customer Relationship Management software, DealerSocket nearly 12 months ago.
It takes time to learn new tools but the investment in customer relationship management doesn’t go unrewarded. Tony Carter, Shacks Holden Dealer Principal, says since installing Pentana Solutions CRM software ‘we have moved through a crawl, graduated to walking in some key areas and then a run in one particularly exciting area – direct marketing.’ Most recently, Opel made the last of their Australia stock available as part of a clearance sale and Shacks was one of the dealerships selected to sell off the cars. Tony Carter took this opportunity to quickly develop a relatively simple marketing piece through customer relationship management tool: DealerSocket. With just three hours’ work an email was sent to current customers, service clients and prospects.
Tony says, ‘we sent this direct marketing campaign to nearly 8,000 people and the results were a great surprise.’ Within a few short minutes the CRM driven direct mail piece was sending Shacks a ‘solid stream’ of enquiries as well as highlighting undeliverable email addresses which were followed up by phone. In an hour, sales managers were inundated with phone calls which was ‘a fantastic outcome’ as far as senior management was concerned. Just four hours after the direct marketing campaign went live, Shacks Holden sold the first three of a final tally of fourteen Opel vehicles.
When asked about the return on investment from Pentana Solutions CRM software Tony Carter said, ‘if ever we needed proof that this CRM software works as a powerful marketing tool this is it. The team are convinced and I am convinced.’
