Recently, the CBT Automotive Network was on-location at NADA 2020 in sunny Las Vegas where host Jim Fitzpatrick discussed CDK Global‘s new customer rewards program with Bob Marvin and Leigh Ann Conver. Bob is the Senior Vice President and Business Leader of Core DMS and Leigh Ann Conver is the Senior Director of Fortellis as well as CDK Data Services.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:
Jim Fitzpatrick: We’re at the 2020 NADA convention and there’s a tremendous buzz in the room right now for all things automotive. And so it looks like it’s going to be another good year, right? In automotive.
Bob Marvin: Yeah, absolutely.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Yeah. For sure.
Bob Marvin: Yeah. We’re excited. We see a lot of energy here-
Jim Fitzpatrick: I know.
Bob Marvin: … the first day and-
Jim Fitzpatrick: For sure.
Bob Marvin: … having great conversations with our partners and customers and-
Jim Fitzpatrick: That’s right. You guys are always on the cutting edge of some dynamite things working with dealers nationwide, right? CDK is a phenomenal brand in the business. Right?
Bob Marvin: Right.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Talk to us a little bit about CDK customer rewards program and the benefits to customers.
Bob Marvin: Yeah, absolutely. So really CDK, we are relentlessly focused on the customer experience, whether it’s on the customer service side with some of the actions we’ve taken over the past year, as well as on the innovation side with some of the product enhancements and innovation going on there. The customer rewards program is a step in that direction on the commercial side. So it’s really a new pricing structure that we’re introducing to the market that really is focused on driving more consistency, transparency and simplicity in our model and better aligning our pricing to the value of our solutions that our dealers place.
Jim Fitzpatrick: And simplicity is the key there.
Bob Marvin: The simplicity-
Jim Fitzpatrick: Because dealers want it-
Bob Marvin: … is the key.
Jim Fitzpatrick: …. to be simple, right? Over and above anything else, they want to move on with their life. They want to sell cars and hire people and manage their people and that’s a big element. What is the elimination of most third party data access fees mean for CDK partner program?
Leigh Ann Conver: Yeah, so CDK, we really think of our partner program as foundational. We have over 500 partners with 800 applications-
Jim Fitzpatrick: Wow.
Leigh Ann Conver: … that are able to be integrated into our system-
Jim Fitzpatrick: That’s incredible.
Leigh Ann Conver: … so we’re very excited about it. And what I’m most excited about the partnership with the customer rewards program, partner program, is even though we’re eliminating those managed by directional integration fees-
Jim Fitzpatrick: Right.
Leigh Ann Conver: … we’re doing it without changing any of the levels of integration or support security that comes with the integration. We’re just making it a little easier to do business with us from a CDK perspective.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Yeah.
Bob Marvin: Yeah, it’s really about being open-
Jim Fitzpatrick: Right.
Bob Marvin: … which we’ve been very vocal about.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Sure.
Bob Marvin: We want to be open …
Jim Fitzpatrick: Right.
Bob Marvin: … through the secure integrations. So there’s open and secure, open through secure integration.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Sure.
Bob Marvin: So we want to ensure our customers that we were going to maintain that level of security that we’ve had in the partner program to date as well as the investments we’re making in Fortellis.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Wow. Fantastic. And how does the new customer rewards program compare to other programs across the industry?
Bob Marvin: We really think CDK we are in a unique position to bring a program like this to the market, given the breadth of our solutions.
Jim Fitzpatrick: That’s right.
Bob Marvin: So we’re really excited about when you have the breadth of solutions that we have in the market, how can we drive that simplicity in our billing in creating a structure that incentivizes our customers to deepen their relationship with us. And we don’t see anywhere else in the industry, others being able to replicate what we have been able to develop here and bring to market with this rewards program. So we’re really excited about.
Jim Fitzpatrick: What customers are eligible for the customer rewards program?
Bob Marvin: So all new customers are eligible for the program, as well as all customers who are up for a contract renewal-
Jim Fitzpatrick: Oh, okay.
Bob Marvin: … with us.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Okay.
Bob Marvin: So it’s really a new commercial agreement and arrangement with CDK.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Great.
Bob Marvin: So any of those customers are eligible.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Okay, awesome. And how will customers be able to easily track the rewards that they receive?
Bob Marvin: So the rewards are going to appear on the customer’s invoice.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Okay.
Bob Marvin: So we’re actually rolling out a completely new invoice for our customers. We’re, I think by the end of the summer roughly we should have the new invoice available for all of our customers. The rewards for any customer who enters the program, the rewards are going to be clearly defined on their invoice.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Nice. Very nice. How will the program evolve over time?
Bob Marvin: So we’re continuously looking at ways to evolve the program, improve the program.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Sure.
Bob Marvin: So if you think about, we were trying to think of this program almost like a B to C consumer-centric rewards program.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Sure.
Bob Marvin: So think of your airline programs, other type of programs. So as we define opportunities to improve the program, bring new benefits into the program, we will and we’re excited about that.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Yeah. Has this been something that you find that your customers are looking for?
Leigh Ann Conver: Absolutely. And, I mean a lot of what we’re doing at CDK is making ourselves easier to do business with and this is a great example how we’ve been listening to our customers, creating this where we really do price what we have to the value that we provide and make it simpler and easier for the dealers to be able to see what’s going on. So it’s been a really great reception from the dealers that we’ve been working with so far. I’m excited.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Yeah, that was my next question, is how are the dealers receiving this? Pretty good?
Bob Marvin: Yeah.
Leigh Ann Conver: Yeah.
Bob Marvin: Yes.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Yeah.
Bob Marvin: Absolutely. When you are able to create a new experience for them, with respect to the commercial-
Jim Fitzpatrick: Sure.
Bob Marvin: … relationship and the pricing, and being able to take something that can be complex and turn it into something that’s simple and transparent and consistent-
Jim Fitzpatrick: Right.
Bob Marvin: … I think is been a huge win for us to get that feedback from the dealers, that they’ve been receptive to this.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Right.
Bob Marvin: And they’re giving us feedback on how we can continue to improve the program as well.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Sure. And that’s extremely valuable to you, right? I mean, that’s really what it’s all about, is creating a system around the needs of the dealer and they’re-
Leigh Ann Conver: Exactly.
Jim Fitzpatrick: … going to be continually feeding you that feedback, right?
Leigh Ann Conver: Right.
Bob Marvin: Correct.
Leigh Ann Conver: It’s all about the dealer. At CDK we like to we’re dealer people and this is, I think is a great example of it.
Jim Fitzpatrick: That’s for sure. CDK enjoys such a good name in the automotive community that it’s just makes perfect sense. So Bob Marvin and Leigh Ann Conver I want to thank you so much for joining us here on CBT news. And I’d like to do a followup interview with you post NADA to see how it’s rolling out.
Leigh Ann Conver: Right.
Bob Marvin: Absolutely.
Jim Fitzpatrick: That’d be great.
Leigh Ann Conver: Appreciate that.
Jim Fitzpatrick: Thank you so much.
Bob Marvin: Great. Thank you.
Leigh Ann Conver: Thank you for your time.
