Salesforce Data Management for Cat Dealerships

Six Pillars of Salesforce Data Management at Cat Dealerships

Building in Efficiency, Scalability, and Profitability to enhance competitive advantage

While every Cat dealership is unique, certain principles will always apply to solid data management on Salesforce CRM. This blog post looks at the critical foundations of a robust dealership data strategy.

1. Always have a Single Customer Number.

Customer relationships at Cat dealerships are often complex. Contacts from the same account will typically engage with the dealership via multiple channels, online and offline. Relating all of this activity via one Account record allows you to keep a single unified view of the customer. This is a significant step in preventing data silos from forming across multiple departments or business units. It will also be a big factor in maintaining data accuracy and reducing the risk of duplication.

2. Think carefully about data visibility.

In other words, who can see what?! Imagine if the whole sales team could access data such as gross profit and margins for used machines. The results would likely be a race to the bottom, with your salespeople competing solely on price.

That’s just one example of data visibility being critical.

Salesforce provides robust data visibility controls, allowing dealerships to manage and restrict access to sensitive information, ensuring data confidentiality while empowering teams with relevant data.

3. Adopt a Dynamic Data Model

Alongside your customer data, Cat dealerships will rely heavily on other data feeds coming into Salesforce from external sources. Pricing information is a prime example. Having instant access to refreshed data and real-time price updates is crucial. With a dynamic data model, dealerships can offer their customers faster and more adaptable quotes, while effectively handling modifications like adjustments in pricing.

The alternative is a world of pain: updating quotes based on the next static feed of data imported to Salesforce and issuing new prices. More often than not, the dealership will simply stick to the original quote and leave money on the table. It truly pays to be dynamic.

4. Build in scalability

This one is a no-brainer, but building a sustainable data management system that can scale with the growth of Cat dealerships is essential. As a dealership expands, a higher volume of data will come into the CRM, and appropriate data limits need to be considered from the get-go. 

What’s more, if your dealership acquires another business, a well-architected Salesforce solution will mean everything when it comes to successful data migration and integration of systems. It’s hard to emphasize how great an advantage this will deliver.

5. Maintain Data Accuracy

Data accuracy is paramount for Cat dealerships. Integrating data from multiple sources, such as ERP systems and other tools, is crucial for providing teams with comprehensive and reliable information. Salesforce's data integration capabilities allow dealerships to consolidate data from various sources, ensuring that every team has reliable data at their fingertips.

6. Establish an Account Hierarchy

Establishing a clear data hierarchy is vital to effective data management at Cat dealerships. Corporate structures are sometimes bewildering, but it’s critical information to understand all of those parents and subsids. The goal is a single view of the account and the broader context. This information belongs in a system you can work with. If you think it sounds complicated to devise that structure upfront, try imposing it retrospectively. Not pretty, we guarantee.

Endiem has worked with a wide variety of Cat dealerships, each with its unique mode of operation. What is common across every dealership is the importance of establishing these data fundamentals.

Salesforce is the right data platform for dealerships that want to enhance operational efficiency, maximize profitability, and provide exceptional customer experiences. What we know to be true is that these are the dealerships outperforming the competition.

Want more Salesforce expert content for machinery dealerships?

If you’d like to know more about how Salesforce can save time and cost with processes that scale, then take a look at our guide for Heavy Equipment dealerships.

Want to talk to Endiem about implementing excellent Salesforce data practices at your dealership, don’t hesitate to get in touch.