Anyone who uses an automotive CRM that prints on plain paper via a laser printer can probably already create digital documents today. Most people probably just don’t know how to.


If you’re using pre-printed forms, then you can’t create digital docs from those of course. (As a side note, you might consider switching to forms printed via a laser printer to save yourself some money.)



So how do you use your current CRM to create "digital documents" you can email to a customer?


Easily! If you can print the form, you can create a digital copy. If your CRM exports the forms to a PDF to print, well then simply click the save button and email the files. If not, then you can install a utility like Adobe (not reader edition) or dopdf (there are other products like this) to print to a PDF that can then be saved and emailed.


So the key is… any document that can be printed on a laser printer can be printed to a PDF and emailed, even if it isn’t a PDF (using programs like Adobe, MS Office, dopdf and others). Now of course that involves more steps than maybe just a "email to customer" button.


Of course there are some CRM vendors that have the nifty "email to customer" functionality built in. I have also seen some companies that tout "digital documents" as a product. To me it just seems like a basic ILM/CRM/Desking function, not really a product in itself… maybe I’m wrong on that point?


You could also use the email functionality to email the documents to someone within the dealership or to a 3rd party vendor. Like emailing a book out sheet to the bank, or a desk manager emailing a salesperson a purchase proposal.



Matt Watson
VinSolutions