Dealership CRM glossary

Short definitions a GM can use in a vendor call. Dedicated pages go deeper; the rest live here on the hub.

• DMS

  A DMS (Dealer Management System) is the dealership’s system of record for the deal, accounting, and often parts inventory — tools like CDK, Reynolds, Tekion, or LotWizard.

• Speed to lead

  Speed to lead is the amount of time between a car buyer’s inquiry and the dealership’s first real reply.

• BDC

  A BDC (Business Development Center) is the dealership desk that works internet and phone follow-up so salespeople can stay with the customer in front of them.

• Equity mining

  Equity mining is the practice of finding current owners who may have enough equity — or a payment gap that works — to trade into another vehicle.

• A2P 10DLC

  A2P 10DLC is how US carriers register Application-to-Person texting on 10-digit local numbers — the paperwork that lets a dealership text from its store number at scale.

• ADF lead

  An ADF (Auto-lead Data Format) lead is a structured XML packet from a marketplace or dealer site that carries the buyer’s contact and usually the vehicle they asked about.

• Up

  An “up” is a floor opportunity — usually a walk-in — that a salesperson owns for that turn on the lot.

• TCPA

  TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act) rules set how businesses may place marketing calls and texts to consumers in the United States, including consent expectations.

• Rooftop

  One physical dealership location. Group pricing is built around rooftops, not abstract “sites.”

• Buy Score

  A wholesale buy-or-pass note next to the car. Included on Floor and Group.

• Syndication

  Sending one lot list to the marketplaces shoppers already use.

• Showroom / Floor / Group

  The three published CarLotCRM plans: $499, $749, and $1,799.

• Consented SMS blast

  A text to people already in the CRM who opted in — $150/mo add-on.

• Service Convenience

  Pickup/delivery plus Mobile Service together at $299/mo.

• GM Essentials

  Morning briefing plus Buy Score together at $299/mo for Showroom stores.

• Lot aging

  How long a unit has sat — visible next to the car, not only in a month-end spreadsheet.

• Softphone

  Taking dealership calls in the browser or app instead of only a desk handset.

• Playbook

  An automated follow-up path (reminders, no-shows, sold-unit notes) the desk does not have to remember.

• Stock number

  The store’s own unit ID — the number that should already be on the AI draft.

• VIN

  Vehicle Identification Number — the 17-character ID that ties the unit across systems.