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Having worked in the dealership for the last 15 years I have firsthand experience with all these things and then some. Immediately prior to joining iMagicLab I made a conscious decision to enter the vender world, just as I made a conscious decision to enter the retail auto industry so many years ago. It wasn’t happenstance, wasn’t “a job” but is a career fueled by a passion. It's amazing to me when talking with dealers how many times they don't expect me to understand these things simply because I’m a “CRM Vendor.” Here’s a fun list of some of the more common highlights your CRM vendor doesn’t know or understand.

1. How to load a navigation disk. – Okay some manufacturers are getting away from them but still how much of a PITA is this? Don’t get me started on setting up Bluetooth or a rolling code garage door opener…

2. Contracts in Transit and what it really means for the Dealership!! – Every Finance Manager just broke a sweat!

3. They don't know what to do when the Internet is down. - Do you even know where to start to type or hand-write a contract?  Do you know how to get used car values without using the internet? This leads us to... #4

4. They don't know how to appraise a trade. – Sure they may have tools that pull numbers from KBB and black book, but we all know that’s NOT "appraising."  To them recondition cost is just a magical number. I know that wad of gum stuck in the driver's side carpet is going to cost $65.00 and the cracked windshield will be $133.50. No tool is going to have that info on the fly!!

5. They don't realize what an early model trade can do to a cash position. – We had a great weekend, sold 28 cars with 10 early model trades and sales people were mad because I wholesaled them all. We couldn’t floor them and we needed to preserve our cash position.

6. They don't know how to sell a car. – Sure, they can rattle off a preprogrammed road to a sale but can they create their own? Based on your store, your market, your brand and your team? Do they know how to switch a customer from an F250 Crew to a used Malibu? 

6.5 They never stood on point. – Enough said…

It’s my opinion that the key to working with dealers and providing the level of service needed to facilitate positive and sustainable change is understanding their business. Helping dealers find the right solution that matches their needs is what makes this job amazing.  I understand more than most of my contemporaries that cookie cutter approaches simply don’t work.

-Chris Vitale is Vice President of Sales for iMagicLab and resides in Baltimore, Maryland which is where the company’s headquarters is located.