Leads and contacts for used car dealers
The buyer who called about the Tacoma, the one who came back for a second look, the customer who bought from you two years ago and is ready to trade up. GARAGEBIRDS keeps them on one record each, in the same place as your inventory and your deals, so nobody gets typed in twice and nobody falls through the cracks.
These are the CRM basics a used car lot actually uses, built into the dealer management software rather than bolted on beside it.
Contacts that build themselves
Every buyer is saved as a contact automatically from the deal — no separate customer list to keep up. A searchable contact picker puts an existing buyer straight onto a deal and its forms, and the contact list labels everyone by where they are with you, automatically: Prospect, In deal or Buyer.
When someone new is entered with the same name and phone number as an existing contact, GARAGEBIRDS offers the existing one instead of quietly creating a duplicate.
Leads, linked to contacts
Track an enquiry as a lead before the buyer has picked a car. Each lead is linked to its contact, so the lead and the deal it becomes share one customer record instead of two copies of the same person.
- Stages show where each lead stands: New, Contacted, Desked, Negotiating.
- Converted or lost. A lead ends by becoming a deal, or as lost with the reason — bought elsewhere, credit declined, no suitable vehicle, price, not ready and the like — so you can see why buyers walk.
- Scenarios. On a lead you can lay out what the buyer can afford — cash, or finance terms — before a car is chosen. See finance desking.
The whole history on one contact
Open a contact and see everything the dealership has done with them: what they bought, a timeline of activity, and every lead on file for them. Before you call a buyer back, you know whether they bought from you before and what they were looking at last time.
Start a deal from a contact
Start a new deal straight from a contact, with their details already filled in. A returning buyer is never entered twice, and their details flow onto the deal’s forms like any other.
Notes and follow-up dates
Keep notes on a contact and set the date to follow up. Open follow-ups show on the contact, overdue ones stand out, and you mark each done when it’s handled — so the next conversation picks up where the last one left off.
Questions
Does GARAGEBIRDS have a CRM?
It has the CRM basics built in. Contacts are on the Free plan and are saved automatically from deals. On Pro you add leads linked to contacts, each contact’s purchase history and activity timeline, starting a deal from a contact, and notes with follow-up dates.
How do I stop duplicate customers?
Every lead and deal links to one contact, and when someone new is entered with the same name and phone number as an existing contact, GARAGEBIRDS offers the existing one instead.
Are contacts free?
Yes. Contacts, saved automatically from deals with automatic stage labels, are on the Free plan with unlimited users. Leads, contact history, deals from contacts and follow-ups are on Pro.
Keep every buyer on one record
Contacts are free forever, no credit card; leads and follow-ups are on Pro, with a 14-day Pro trial with no card, started by an admin from Billing.