Product News & Updates
Check out the latest VinSolutions product news and updates to help you make the most of your products and help your dealership succeed.
November 2021
Connect CRM and Dealertrack F&I Integration Enhancement
VinSolutions dealers now have access to a recently launched enhancement to the Dealertrack F&I integration. With this integration enhancement, users can create and update leads from Connect Desking and Customer Dashboard. In addition, this new functionality streamlines the workflow for sending lead data from the Customer Dashboard, which will reduce duplicates within Dealertrack.
Additional benefits for Dealertrack credit leads:
- Full buyer and co-buyer details along with vehicle and trade details, which means less reentering of essential information
- Ability to update credit leads, which will reduce duplicate credit leads submitted to Dealertrack
Automotive Marketing Platform powered by VinSolutions approved for OEM Co-op Programs
Deliver a personalized marketing experience across every stage of the car buying journey with Automotive Marketing Platform powered by VinSolutions. Automotive Marketing Platform has been approved by more than a dozen OEM co-op reimbursement programs.
Approved OEM Programs:
- Buick • Chevrolet • Chrysler • Dodge • Fiat • Ford • GMC • Jaguar
- Land Rover • Jeep • Lincoln • Mazda • Porsche • Ram • Hyundai
To find out more program details, contact your Performance Manager.
Starting this month, CRM users will experience a more modern UX in Connect CRM, including new and improved navigation and header menu. This update consists of a new dark theme option for the top navigation menu, as well as new search capabilities added to the dealer switcher. These updates improve the overall UX across tablets and smaller device screens and overall styling throughout the CRM. If you have questions about this update, please contact your Performance Manager for more details.
Coming soon, Connect Desking dealers will be able to present two deal scenarios side-by-side within the same proposal using QuickPrint and Preview. A new option will be available to edit scenarios to choose different available payments to compare. Once options are selected, the proposal in Preview will update and be ready to print, email, or text message to your customers. Additionally, deal proposals will be saved in the notes of the customer CRM record.
To learn more about Connect Desking and the multiple proposals enhancement, contact your Performance Manager.
Accelerate My Deal, Dealer.com’s digital retailing solution, helps dealers provide a flexible retailing experience. The solution now offers new functionality for customers to securely upload and manage personal documents after submitting a deal from your website. Customers can share their driver’s license, proof of insurance, W2, and paystubs, which saves time in store and minimizes document management errors. Salespeople are notified of uploaded documents via email or text, and through Accelerate My Deal’s integration with VinSolutions Connect CRM, users are assigned tasks to review and check in the documents.
To learn more about Accelerate My Deal and the shopper document upload enhancement, please contact your Performance Manager.
eliver a personalized marketing experience across every stage of the car buying journey with Automotive Marketing Platform powered by VinSolutions. Dealers with Connect CRM and Automotive Marketing Platform powered by VinSolutions can now market to customers who have scheduled service appointments, giving you an additional opportunity to acquire used vehicle inventory and increase sales.
Want to know more? Contact Your Performance Manager
Connect CRM now allows a co-buyer to be added to a lead directly from the Customer Dashboard. This will save you time, allowing salespeople to use quick search functionality to look up existing customers. If a customer already exists in the CRM, you can now quickly add them as a co-buyer without the need to enter additional information, preventing duplicates.
Dealers with Connect CRM and Automotive Marketing Platform powered by VinSolutions can now enable settings to automatically create leads from Automotive Marketing Platform emails directly in the CRM. When your dealership’s customers engage with personalized emails, a unique link can be added as the call-to-action in the email. Consumers will not need to enter any additional information and can be used with processes created in your CRM for assigning follow up by your team. This enhancement can be utilized in emails for new car sales, service campaigns, and targeting older leads.
The Connect Mobile app has been enhanced with a new driver’s license scanner that is faster, easier to use, and more accurate. Users will no longer be required to tap to capture an image of the driver’s license; it will capture images automatically once the license is visible. Once the scanner opens, simply follow the on-screen prompts to position the driver’s license in frame and flip it over to scan the back.
Did you know you can now select various locations in Connect CRM when scheduling appointments to provide flexibility for changing consumer preferences? Whether setting up a sales appointment, a vehicle delivery, an appraisal, or any other type of appointment, you can now choose whether that will be at the dealership, the customer’s address, virtual, or remote.
Expand your Demand! Streamline Your Deals with a Seamless Deal Workflow
The integration between VinSolutions’ Connect CRM and Cox Automotive Digital Retailing allows you to capture all shopper activity directly in the CRM and receive alerts when a customer updates their deal. Your sales team can pick up each deal right where the customer left off in Connect Desking (no data re-entry), helping you close more deals in less time, while providing a great car buying experience to your customers.
NEW! Automotive Marketing Platform powered by VinSolutions
Our new Automotive Marketing Platform simplifies marketing processes, engages customers, and delivers personalized marketing experiences across the ownership lifecycle. With advanced data insights, automated workflows, and the hands-on support of a Marketing Account Manager, Automotive Marketing Platform keeps your customers engaged with marketing content relevant to their unique needs and buying stage.
Enhancements to Connect Desking Proposal Delivery
Did you know that you can now itemize deal fees and taxes to improve visibility and compliance when sending a proposal with Connect Desking? You can email, print, or text a proposal based on your customers preferred communication method. The enhanced formatting makes it easier for customers to understand their proposal and know they are getting a great deal on their new vehicle.
Contact your Performance Manager for more details.
Did you know you can now send tailored proposals to customers via text message right from Connect Desking, leveraging Connect CRM’s communications platform? Customers can initial or sign the proposal and send it back to the dealership directly from their phone. You can then view the signed proposal directly in the customer’s record in Connect CRM.
Contact Your Performance Manager or Customer Support for help getting started.
Amplify your sales team and maximize productivity using artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data provided by your dealership. VinSolutions’ new virtual assistant Vinessa can answer questions from online and showroom sales leads, as well as schedule follow-up tasks for staff. Vinessa provides more qualified leads and ensures that no sales opportunity, from an early-stage lead to one submitted after hours, falls through the cracks.
Contact your Performance Manager to learn more.
With 700Credit soft pull credit checks, you can accelerate the path to purchase by pre-qualifying your customers earlier in the car buying journey, putting your customers in the right vehicle for them and their budget.
A new feature in Connect Automotive Intelligence brings lifestyle and demographic data from numerous sources, including banks and DMVs, into the customer record to give you a clearer picture of each prospective buyer. These insights, combined with the power of Buying Signals, gives you the information you need to deliver the personalized experience that customers expect wherever they are in the buying journey.
“Start a Deal” With Shoppers With Digital Retailing and VinSolutions Connect CRM
As customers continue to expect fast and personalized responses from dealerships, VinSolutions Connect Mobile provides your salespeople with full follow-up functionality and quick, easy access to critical information, including inventory, customer records, and conversation histories. The app provides direct, mobile access to lead buckets and customer conversations, which allows salespeople to follow-up quickly while also recording these interactions in the customer history.
To download the latest Connect Mobile app, visit the App Store or Google Play Store