Westlake Village, Calif. — 5square.com, which delivers sales process automation software to automotive dealerships, has released an automated follow-up tool that is built directly into the 5square.com Web-based system, and greatly expands upon the previous follow-up functionality. It includes features specifically requested by dealers to help improve prospect follow-up.

The new tool is the first of its kind to specifically link each lead to an automated follow-up schedule that allows dealerships to tailor follow-ups by lead source and the reason the customer left. It ties directly into how the dealership is getting prospects into the store and then targets why they leave, and how to get them back into the store.

The follow-up schedule is also linked to the source the lead originally came from; a newspaper ad, AAA, OEM, Web site, etc., and a schedule of follow-up events is tied to how that specific buyer behaves with a schedule of calls, tailored e-mails and letters.

The automated follow-up tool can also be set up to independently follow the customer by lead source and vehicle purchased. If an existing customer purchased a used vehicle one year ago and is currently looking at purchasing another vehicle, the customer could be sent communications such as service coupons for his existing vehicle and a separate set of communications tied to the reason he was interested in another vehicle.

"Consistent, timely follow-up of prospects is a huge problem for many dealers and yet it is vital not to waste these valuable sales opportunities. They've already demonstrated a strong interest in the dealership and told you what they want. Most importantly, those prospects will buy — from someone. Our new tool helps dealers make sure that someone is their dealership," said Skip Kinford, president of 5square.com.