While CDK is working to restore systems at over 15,000 retail locations, reportedly caused by Blacksuit, automotive dealers are informing investors of the effects. DAS Technology is waiving subscription fees for new dealer activations who have problems with the recent CRM and DMS outages.
-DAS Technology, automotive’s leading consumer engagement SaaS technology company, with the industry’s first next-level Consumer Data and Experience Platform® (CDXP), is assisting automotive dealerships experiencing service disruptions with other vendors. The company is waiving subscription fees for new activations of lead response messaging, SMS solutions, and custom microsites for auto dealers impacted by any other vendor’s Consumer Relationship Management (CRM) and Dealer Management System (DMS) outages.
Within hours of the outage, DAS Technology’s current dealership clients were offered new features, at no additional cost, to allow them to route leads and communications around non-functioning CRM/DMS systems. The company also contacted the vendor experiencing challenges, offering them no-cost assistance as their industry partner. DAS Technology’s Digital Air Strike SaaS middleware platform integrates with over 200 data providers, enabling it to continue to deliver value and mission-critical communications from dealers to consumers.
Many DAS clients are already taking advantage of the company’s assistance, including Royal Automotive Group and Seeger Toyota.
“This past week, DAS was quick to partner with us to leverage their Response Logix solution to ensure that we could continue to communicate with our customers and prospects when other vendor systems were not operating,” said Kevin Cravo, sales director at Royal Automotive Group in Tucson, AZ. “We can work our leads in their platform, including sending emails and texts to consumers, without losing data. DAS Technology has always been innovative and fast-acting, giving us a real advantage.”
“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate how fast the Digital Air Strike team sent out communication to our clients, alerting them how to reach us while our other system is down,” said Christine Seeger, assistant general manager at Seeger Toyota in St. Louis, MO. “Thank you so much for the proactive support during this stressful time.”
Leading OEMs and dealerships see the value that DAS brings with a suite of SaaS middleware CX technology that integrates with and sits between other vendor systems. This technology collects and leverages data to proactively engage consumers with the right message at the right time.
The DAS AI-enabled Response Path messaging solution fields questions, collects leads, and schedules sales and service appointments on the dealer’s website or through DAS Power Text communication. Consumers can also get vehicle quotes and trade-in values in the messaging window. Response Path is available for dealers impacted by CRM or DMS outages at no subscription fee for the next month. The solution can be configured for any dealer, even non-DAS clients, within 45 minutes.
The patented DAS Response Logix lead response technology provides custom vehicle quotes by email and text directly to dealer prospects. It also builds a personalized microsite for every consumer in minutes so they can see available vehicles of interest. DAS has developed a solution to ingest all leads from a dealer’s lead sources and send out consumer responses immediately without needing the CRM to function. DAS is providing these new customized features for dealers who are subscribed to Response Logix for free during the disruption.
“We have always been focused on supporting the automotive industry to overcome challenges, whether with vendor communication disruptions, lead follow-up, or improving consumer satisfaction,” said Alexi Venneri, co-founder and CEO of DAS Technology. “Since 2010, our CX technology has helped dealers pivot and better manage consumer communication, social media, and reputation management, which started with solving challenges during the recession.
“A decade later, DAS helped dealers with pandemic messaging to better schedule appointments, allow for social distancing, and explain sanitization practices. And now, when other vendors experience outages, we can give consumers and dealerships a streamlined way to provide vehicle quotes and schedule appointments, all without losing crucial data that would otherwise be lost using only manual tools and personal emails or cell phones,” Venneri said. “Helping consumers have a five-star car-buying and servicing experience has always been core to our company’s mission and values. DAS provides thousands of dealerships nationwide with valuable messaging and an insurance policy.”
Dealers can reach a DAS team member 24/7 to receive a tailored plan for their dealership, including a free audit to show help that can be provided immediately. Dealers and OEMs can call 888-713-8958, email sales@digitalairstrike.com, or visit dastechnology.com.
Group 1 Automotive, Inc. a Fortune 300 automotive retailer with 202 dealerships located in the U.S. and U.K., announced that the cybersecurity incident recently experienced by third-party software provider, CDK Global LLC (“CDK”), has disrupted Group 1’s business applications and processes in its U.S. operations that rely on CDK’s dealers’ systems.
In response, the Company immediately activated its cyber incident response procedures and proactively took measures to protect and isolate its systems from CDK’s platform. Despite the CDK service outage, all Group 1 U.S. dealerships continue to conduct business using alternative processes until CDK’s dealers’ systems are available. The Company’s dealerships in the U.K. do not use CDK’s dealers’ systems and are therefore not impacted by the CDK service outage.
CDK has advised that it anticipates the restoration of the dealer management system will require several days and not weeks. The timing of the restoration of other impacted CDK applications remains unclear at this time. Group 1’s ability to determine the material impact, if any, of the CDK incident and the resulting service outage, will ultimately depend on a number of factors, including when, and to what extent, the Company resumes its access to CDK’s dealers’ systems. Group 1 is closely monitoring this situation and will take additional action if determined necessary.
“Our associates are coming together with an unwavering focus on delivering the best possible customer experience. Their efforts have been nothing short of exemplary. We’d like to thank our team, our customers, and our partners for their patience as we navigate this outage,” said Daryl Kenningham, Group 1’s President and Chief Executive Officer.
ABOUT GROUP 1 AUTOMOTIVE, INC.
Group 1 owns and operates 202 automotive dealerships, 264 franchises, and 42 collision centers in the United States and the United Kingdom that offer 35 brands of automobiles. Through its dealerships and omni-channel platform, the Company sells new and used cars and light trucks; arranges related vehicle financing; sells service and insurance contracts; provides automotive maintenance and repair services; and sells vehicle parts.