Automotive & car dealerships
Marketing automation for car dealerships and dealer networks: planned centrally, personal from the sales adviser
The PBM Campaign Platform accompanies your customers from the end of their lease to their tyre change – by email, letter, landing page and SMS. Head office sets the framework, and every location speaks in its own brand. The sender is the person the customer knows.
Autohaus Muster GmbH, Köln · Lease ends in 5 months
Sales adviser: Marco Pohl
What questions do manufacturers and car dealerships ask before automating?
Manufacturer head office
“Our campaigns don’t reach the dealers – or arrive in the wrong look.”
Brands & locations:
One template, automatically in the corporate identity of each dealership. Legal fields stay locked.
Sales and service advisers
“These are my customers. I want to know what they receive.”
Customer card and intervention:
The sales adviser sees every message and can take individual customers out of a campaign.
Management of a dealership group
“Sales and service are talking past each other.”
Relevance instead of volume:
Contact rules and prioritisation across all departments.
Privacy policy
“Who is allowed to see which customer data?”
Hard brand boundary:
No dealership sees another dealership’s customers. Head office only sees what has been approved for it.
Manage centrally, deliver locally
How does a manufacturer head office steer campaigns without taking away the dealers’ voice?
Head office sets the framework, and every location speaks in its own brand. Technically, each dealership is a separate brand in your installation – with its own corporate identity, its own sender and a hard visibility boundary.
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Head office: plans journeys, templates, arguments and contact rules. Locks the logo, fonts, legal notice, legal footer and sender identity.
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Dealership: adds local content via brand building blocks – such as opening hours, event date or contact person. Design fields such as the accent colour remain open.
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Sales adviser: appears as the sender, sees their customers in the customer card and is notified about warm leads.
Brands & locations
- Muster Motors head officeDefault brand
- Autohaus Muster Köln
- … Bonn
- … Aachen
- + 38
CI tokens · Autohaus Muster Köln
- Logolocked
- Primary colourlocked
- Fontslocked
- Legal noticelockedLocked by head office
- SenderMarco Pohl · Autohaus Muster Kölnlocked
- Accent colouradjusted locallyeditable
- Social linkseditable
Preview · Invitation “Premiere”
- Autohaus Muster Köln Invitation “Premiere” Marco Pohl · Autohaus Muster Köln
- Autohaus Muster Bonn Invitation “Premiere” [NAME] · Autohaus Muster Bonn
- Autohaus Muster Aachen Invitation “Premiere” [NAME] · Autohaus Muster Aachen
Journeys from practice · Examples
Which journeys deliver the most for car dealerships?
Four occasions from sales and aftersales. All names and values are examples.
Journey 1
LetterLanding pageEmailEnd of lease or financing: the last five months (example: Stefan Lang, 51)
- Trigger / occasion
Recurring ongoing campaign. Every month, the customers whose lease or financing contract ends in 150 days enter the journey.
- Segment
vertrag.ende in 150 Tagenandvertrag.art in (leasing, finanzierung)– per dealership brand.- Channels & steps
- Month −5 – letter from sales adviser Marco Pohl with photo and personal access code: “Mr Lang, your lease ends in February. You have three options.”
- Landing page with three paths: view the successor model · prepare the return · talk to Marco Pohl.
- Wait for event: landing page login, 10 days. No login → reminder by email (with consent), otherwise a second letter.
- Interest in the successor model, lead score ≥ 60 → task for Marco Pohl: offer a test drive.
- Month −3 – invitation to a pre-return check in the workshop, so there are no surprises at the return.
- Month −1 – final summary, then exit.
- Fallback
If Marco Pohl has left the dealership, the fallback chain takes effect (e.g. sales management). Without a resolvable sender, nothing is sent.
- Personalisation levers
current model and successor model, argument (switch to electric, same segment, predictable instalment), image of the successor model as an approved AI image variant, sales adviser as sender.
- Compliance specifics
Contract data from a leasing or financing company is passed to the dealership only with a legal basis. Email only with consent or within the limits of Section 7(3) UWG.
- Goal
Micro – landing page login, test drive booked · Macro – follow-up contract signed (event from the DMS via API).
- Metrics
Login rate per channel, test drives, follow-up rate per dealership, exit reasons.
- Month −5 Letter from Marco Pohl (completed)
- Month −3 Pre-return check (current)
- Month −1 Final summary (planned)
- 0 Follow-up contract (planned)
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Entry
Segment: contract ends in 150 days
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Gate
Consent per channel
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Channel branch
Letter
M. Pohl
Email
M. Pohl
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Wait for event
LP login (10 days)
- Sender
- responsible sales adviser
- Fallback
- Sales management
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Yes
Condition
Lead score ≥ 60
Task
M. Pohl – offer a test drive
Goal · Macro, primary
Follow-up contract
No
Reminder
Reminder email
Reminder
Reminder letter
Journey 2
EmailSMSLetterService season: MOT, inspection and tyre change in one contact
- Trigger / occasion
Weekly: the MOT (HU) or inspection falls due within the next 6 weeks. Seasonally in October and March: customers with stored wheels.
- Segment
hu_faellig in 42 Tagenorinspektion_faellig in 42 Tagenorraeder_eingelagert = jain season.- Channels & steps
- Email or SMS (depending on consent) from the service adviser, with a link to the dealership’s online appointment booking. If two occasions fall due within 60 days, there is one message for both.
- Wait for event: appointment booked, 7 days.
- No appointment → reminder as a letter or postcard.
- After a further 14 days → task for the service adviser; by phone only with consent.
- Fallback
Without digital consent, a letter.
- Personalisation levers
Vehicle, services due, “Your wheels are ready for you here” vs. an offer for complete wheels, location and service adviser.
- Compliance specifics
Service reminders often contain offers and are then advertising – the consent check applies. No false urgency: there is no fixed deadline for winter tyres. The obligation applies depending on the situation in icy conditions (Section 2(3a) StVO).
- Goal
Micro – appointment page opened · Macro – workshop appointment booked (event via API).
- Metrics
Appointment rate per channel, share of bundled contacts, contacts postponed by the frequency limit.
Journey 3
EmailLetterLanding pageSMSModel change: premiere and test drive at your own dealership
- Trigger / occasion
Head office launches a one-off campaign for the market launch; each dealership takes part with its own date.
- Segment
Owners of the predecessor model with a vehicle age of three years or more, plus prospects with consent – per dealership brand.
- Channels & steps
- 3 weeks before – personal invitation from the sales adviser (email or letter) with the date and venue of their own dealership.
- Landing page with RSVP and preferred time for the test drive.
- No response after 7 days → one reminder.
- Acceptance → confirmation; reminder by SMS one day before (with consent).
- After the event – thanks and an offer; with a high lead score, a task for the sales adviser.
- Fallback
No sales adviser assigned → sender is the dealership’s sales management.
- Personalisation levers
local event date as a brand building block, predecessor model in the text, sender, channel.
- Compliance specifics
Central approval under the four-eyes principle; dealerships only add local building blocks.
- Goal
Micro – acceptance · Macro – test drive completed.
- Metrics
Acceptances and test drives per dealership, comparison of locations for head office.
Journey 4
LetterEmailSMSLanding pageRecall and safety information as an ongoing campaign
- Trigger / occasion
The manufacturer’s system reports affected vehicles via API. The journey starts immediately, including for vehicles reported later.
- Segment
fahrzeug.betroffen_von = [campaign code]andmassnahme_offen = ja.- Channels & steps
- Factual letter from the dealership with a personal code; email or SMS as an additional channel where approved.
- Landing page: what is affected, what needs to be done, appointment booking at your own dealership.
- Wait for the event “Measure carried out”, 30 days. Otherwise a reminder letter.
- After 60 days → task for the service adviser.
- Fallback
Letter as the standard channel.
- Personalisation levers
Vehicle, dealership, service adviser – deliberately no sales arguments.
- Compliance specifics
Highest priority; as a service message, it can be exempted from the contact cap. No advertising in the same letter. The journey supplements the officially supervised recall procedures; it does not replace them.
- Goal
Micro – landing page visited · Macro – measure carried out.
- Metrics
Completion rate after 30/60/90 days, open vehicles per dealership.
Stefan Lang
Campaign participations
End of lease 150 daysStep: landing page visited
ActiveActivities
- Letter delivered (time-based)
- LP login ✓
- Successor model viewed (3:10 min)
- Lead score 64 ↑ Sample data
Actions
What sets the PBM Campaign Platform apart for manufacturers and car dealerships?
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Every dealership a brand.
Its own corporate identity, its own legal notice, its own sender – from a shared template.
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CI locks per field.
Head office locks whatever is legally or brand-critical. The rest remains customisable.
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Hard visibility boundary.
No dealership sees another dealership’s customers.
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The sender is the adviser.
Sales and service advisers as personal senders, with a fallback chain.
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Relevance instead of volume.
Sales and service share one contact cap and one prioritisation.
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Your own installation.
Single-tenant, hosting in Germany, import by file or API.
Campaign prioritisation
- 1 Recall informationhigh
- 2 End of lease 150 days
- 3 Autumn service season
- 4 Premiere
Rule4 in 30 days (all channels) · minimum interval 3 days
Stefan Lang · Example
30 days
- End of lease 150 days[Contact]
- End of lease 150 days[Contact]
- Service reminderwaiting – end of lease running
Law · As of: September 2026
What do you need to consider legally for customer communication in a dealer network?
Three questions are decisive: who is responsible for the data, which channel is permitted, and is the message advertising or mandatory information?
- Responsibility: If the manufacturer and dealer jointly determine purposes and means, they are joint controllers and set out their obligations in an arrangement (Art. 26 GDPR). Alternatively, data processing on behalf is possible. The platform technically implements the agreed data sovereignty: brand boundaries, list access, roles.
- Email and SMS: Advertising generally requires prior express consent (Section 7(2) No. 2 UWG). Exception for existing customers: your own similar goods or services, no objection, clear notice at the time of collection and at every use (Section 7(3) UWG).
- Objection: Direct marketing can be objected to at any time, and then it must stop (Art. 21(2) and (3) GDPR). In the platform, a withdrawal immediately stops all journeys.
- State deadlines correctly: For new cars, the first general inspection (HU) is due after 36 months, then every 24 months (Annex VIII StVZO). Winter tyres are mandatory depending on the situation in icy conditions (Section 2(3a) StVO).
- Recalls: Recalls are subject to their own procedures under the supervision of the Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt. Supplementary customer communication remains free of advertising.
As of: September 2026. This overview does not replace legal advice.
Where would you like to go next?
- Brands & locations
- Journey Builder
- Contact frequency management
- Multichannel: email, letter, landing page, SMS
- Use case: contract renewal
- Use case: event communication
- Use case: cross- & upselling
- Industry: branch, dealer & franchise networks
- Playbook: [BLOG: Steer dealer networks centrally, deliver locally]
- Playbook: [BLOG: Lease returns at the dealership – the journey of the last five months]
Frequently asked questions from car dealerships and dealer networks
How does a car dealership contact customers automatically before their lease ends?
With a recurring ongoing campaign: every month, the customers whose lease ends in around five months enter the journey. They receive a letter or email from the responsible sales adviser, a personal landing page with their options and, if interested, a test drive appointment. The sales adviser is notified as soon as a customer becomes active.
Can each dealership communicate in its own brand?
Yes. Each dealership is a separate brand within the installation – with logo, legal notice, sender and colours. Head office decides which CI fields are locked, such as the manufacturer logo, fonts and legal footer. A template automatically adapts to each dealer brand.
Does head office see the customer data of all dealers?
Only if you decide so. The brand boundary is a hard visibility boundary: employees of one dealership never see another dealership’s customers. Which head office users see which brands is assigned per user and can be explained at the push of a button. Who is responsible for which data is agreed contractually between the manufacturer and dealers.
May a car dealership send service reminders by email?
Yes, with consent. Without express consent, Section 7(3) UWG only permits email advertising to existing customers for similar services and with a clear notice of the right to object. The PBM Campaign Platform checks consent per channel before every send and otherwise falls back to a letter. As of: September 2026, does not replace legal advice.
How does the platform prevent sales and service from writing to the same customer at the same time?
With cross-channel contact frequency management and prioritisation. Caps and minimum intervals apply across all campaigns. If the customer is already in a higher-priority journey, such as the end-of-lease journey, the service campaign waits until it ends.
Does the PBM Campaign Platform replace the dealer management system?
No. The PBM Campaign Platform is not a replacement for a CRM or DMS. It takes over customer and vehicle data by file import or API, orchestrates the communication and provides results by export. Sales advisers see in a customer card what their customer has received.