According to VinSolutions' CRM Usage Report, a study co-released by DealerKnows on Tuesday, the average dealer struggles to use their customer relationship management effectively in several key areas.

The recent survey on the automotive industry's overall CRM usage and its impact on dealership performance showed that CRM usage is closely tied to overall dealership success.

DealerKnows surveyed what it called “best-in-class dealers,” a group of stores that recently evaluated its CRM usage and implemented a plan to improve performance, along with a representative sample of dealers nationwide and compared the results.

The analysis found that average dealers substantially trail behind the best-in-class dealers.

Only 44 percent of average dealers received regular automated reports from their CRM, while 83 percent of best-in-class dealers did, according to the study.

Additionally, the study shows the average dealer set four fewer appointments per day, and they report an 11 percent reply rate for emails sent through the CRM, compared to 18 percent for best-in-class dealers.

"At VinSolutions, we've always believed that the CRM is the most important piece of technology for the modern dealership," said Mark Vickery, senior director of performance management. "This study proves that using the CRM well is essential for dealers' success. Although many dealers still have some work to do to get the most value out of their system, we hope this research will be the inspiration they need to start using their CRM more effectively."

CRM usage was judged in three categories: utilization, reporting and lead process.

The full study can be downloaded at www.vinsolutions.com/whitepaper.