CDK Modern Retail Suite Alternative for Car Dealerships

Keep the CDK back office and give your sales floor one platform for leads, conversations, desking and a customer deal page that sells for you.

Franchise stores on the CDK dealer management system are often offered the matching set of sales tools, and many take them because they arrive from the same vendor. When a general manager starts searching for an alternative, the reason is rarely the back office. It is the front of the store: how leads arrive, how fast they get answered, how a customer sees the numbers, and whether the sales floor actually lives in the system or around it.

The common triggers are familiar. The store buys leads from one company and works them in another. Salespeople text customers from personal phones because it is quicker than the CRM, and the manager loses sight of the conversation. The digital retail experience a shopper sees online does not match the desk the sales manager builds in the store. Contract terms are bundled with the larger relationship, which makes it hard to evaluate the sales tools on their own merits.

Every one of those is a front office question, and the front office is exactly what LeadLocate is built to win. It runs beside the CDK dealer management system, so accounting, parts and service keep running where your controller expects them.

CDK Global is one of the largest dealer management system providers in the country. Its Modern Retail Suite is publicly positioned as the sales side of that ecosystem, bringing CRM, digital retailing and in store selling tools together so a shopper's online progress and the showroom desk share data with the CDK DMS. Its appeal is strongest with franchise stores that already run CDK and want the front office inside the same vendor family.

Suite contents, packaging and pricing change over time, and pricing inside a larger vendor relationship is often quoted as a bundle. Confirm current pricing and terms with the vendor directly, in writing, and ask which pieces can be contracted and priced on their own.

The comparison that matters is about where each product was born. A sales suite that grows out of a dealer management system is shaped by the back office it serves. LeadLocate was built from the sales floor outward, starting with lead generation and conversation, and every piece of it, from the zone editor to the softphone to the customer deal page, is built by LeadLocate for the moment a customer is ready to talk.

Leave your number and a lead specialist calls you back to answer your questions about pricing, coverage, and setup. Mon - Sat, 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM Pacific.

Prefer to talk right now? Call or text 844-376-2274.

Exclusive local leads from the same vendor as the CRM. In Leads Manager you draw your zone with the zone editor, choose the campaign type and prescreening questions, and preview sample ads with See Samples. Our team builds and runs the campaigns from those selections on the webXintel Ads Network, included with every plan. Every lead in your zone is delivered to you and only you, prescreened at capture with the questions you chose, and backed by a replacement review, so a bad lead costs you nothing. Opt in seller leads from local owners who asked for an offer add used inventory without fighting the auction lane.

A phone and texting stack inside the CRM. Two way texting with MMS and delivery status on every bubble, RCS messaging with automatic SMS fallback, a browser softphone with click to call, call recording with transcription, Call Alerts on the keywords you choose, voicemail drop, email, bulk texting and bulk email. Tracking numbers per source show which campaign rang the phone, and the IVR call flow builder and virtual receptionist route every inbound call to the right person.

Follow up that runs itself. Automated Templates respond to each lead the moment it lands, Follow Up Processes run multi step cadences per lead type, Texting Chatbots answer after hours, and the Phone Validator and Email Validator mark every contact with a validity dot so reps spend their time on numbers that ring. Our CDK CRM alternative page covers the CRM side in more depth.

Most digital retail tools sit on the website and hand a half built deal to the showroom. LeadLocate puts digital retail on the deal the sales manager is already building. EZ Desking in DealTracker covers cash, finance and lease with a multi pencil grid, a fifty state tax matrix, semimonthly frequency, trade credit caps and three lease tax methods. When the structure is right, the customer receives a deal page branded to your store with PIN access.

On that page the customer builds and reviews the deal, reviews documents, requests a shipping quote, signs with e-signature and talks to the salesperson in deal chat with photos and link previews. PencilRecap turns the numbers into a clean recap sheet the customer can share with a spouse. The Incentives Showroom inside the deal view shows the manufacturer incentives that apply, and the Road to Sale checklist keeps every deal moving in the right order.

Credit applications run through SecureWebX apply links, with co-applicant support, stipulations, OFAC screening, state disclosures and adverse action notices from one record. The Send to Lender share gives the lender you choose a code gated, expiring, watermarked view of the file. Read more on our digital retailing software page.

Features change on every platform, so confirm each row marked for the vendor directly before you decide. The LeadLocate column is what your store runs from its first day, with training included in every plan.

Changing the sales tools leaves the back office untouched. Accounting, deal posting, parts, service and title work keep running in the CDK dealer management system, and LeadLocate runs beside it and beside the manufacturer programs your store already uses.

LeadLocate runs on its own from day one: neither a DMS connection nor an inventory feed is required to operate. If you have a feed, Inventory Link ingests it; if you have none, Inventory Link imports inventory from your website. Your units then appear in the CRM, in the phone app, in per salesperson inventory sites and behind the vehicle button in every text and email composer, so a rep can send a unit with photos and price from any conversation.

When the deal reaches the business office, SecureWebX exports the application to your lender or DMS in the format it expects, including STAR XML, fixed width and CSV. The customer record, the desk and the full communication timeline are already collected, so the office starts from a complete file. If the store is also weighing the DMS itself, the CDK Drive switching guide covers that project on its own terms.

Moving the sales side is a defined project. Sequence it this way and nothing slips.

1. Request your data first. Ask for an export of customer records, notes and communication history in writing before notice is given.
2. Map every lead source. Manufacturer lead programs, third party providers, website forms and chat all get pointed at LeadLocate. Website forms connect to your account's form intake link, and Lead Feeds Manager keeps a feed per source.
3. Set routing per rooftop. Global distribution rules, round robin, custom lead statuses and Manager Lead Copies are set before the first lead lands.
4. Build the phone flow. Tracking numbers per source, the Forward Calls To ring list, business hours routing and the IVR.
5. Overlap briefly. Keep the old tools readable for a few weeks while habits reset.

The guide to running two CRMs during a migration covers the overlap, and training is included with every plan: the video library, Live Training and Schedule Training from the top bar.

The fastest way to decide is to watch LeadLocate run on your own lead flow. Put one rooftop, or one team, on the platform for three to four weeks and compare time to first response, follow up touches and appointments set against the same weeks on your current tools.

Month to month terms make a pilot simple. CRM Only starts at $199 a month for stores that keep their own lead sources, and plans with exclusive local leads start at $799. Every plan with leads includes the CRM, because the CRM is what receives and works those leads. See every plan on the pricing page.

We cannot guarantee lead counts, close rates or results, and no vendor can. What we can do is show you the whole platform working on a real store. Start with the demo, or contact us and call 844-376-2274 to map a zone around your rooftop.

Do we have to leave the CDK DMS to replace the Modern Retail tools?

No. The CDK dealer management system keeps running accounting, parts, service and deal posting. LeadLocate runs beside it for leads, texting, calling, follow up, desking, deal pages and credit applications.

Is a DMS connection or inventory feed required?

Neither is required to operate. Inventory Link ingests a feed if you have one or imports inventory from your website, and SecureWebX exports applications to your lender or DMS in the format it expects.

What does the customer see online?

A deal page branded to your store with PIN access, where the customer builds and reviews the deal, reviews documents, requests a shipping quote, signs with e-signature and chats with the salesperson.

Are LeadLocate leads exclusive?

Every lead in your zone is delivered to you and only you, prescreened at capture with the questions you choose, and backed by a replacement review, so a bad lead costs you nothing.

What does it cost?

CRM Only starts at $199 a month. Inbound buyer leads start at $799, Marketplace Acquisitions seller leads at $999, and the Buyers and Sellers Hybrid Plan at $1,599. Every plan is month to month with no long term contract.

Can our salespeople work deals from their phones?

Yes. The LeadLocate app for iOS and Android carries texting, email, a VoIP dialer, the calendar, Deal Tracker desking, the deal jacket, deal chats, inventory and Team Chat.

See exclusive local leads, texting, calling with transcription, desking and customer deal pages on one screen. Month to month, so we earn your business every month.

Prefer to talk right now? Call or text 844-376-2274.