Project Summary

Eagers Automotive, a leading automotive retail group in Australia and New Zealand, needed a modernised Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system called SmartLead CRM to enhance customer engagement, improve lead management, and streamline sales operations. The existing system has been suffering from low usability, poor conversion rates, and a lack of essential functions. My role as a Product Designer was to redesign the platform, ensuring a seamless experience for various user roles while optimizing the lead management and sales processes.

The SmartLead CRM System was designed to:

• Streamline lead processing & customer interactions across social media, phone, and in-person inquiries.

• Enhance usability & automation for roles like Sales Executives, Business Managers, and Call Center Agents.

• Improve visibility & tracking of leads, opportunities, and sales milestones to boost conversion rates.

Discover: Understanding the Problem

1. Stakeholder & User Interviews

We conducted in-depth interviews with key user groups to identify pain points and needs:

• Sales Executives – Needed quick access to lead details and deal progress.

• Call Center Agents – Required a simplified workflow for inquiry tracking.

• Sales Managers – Wanted real-time reporting & lead performance tracking.

2. User Persona & Journey

To better empathise with users, we created personas and journey maps that highlighted:

• The frustrations of navigating cluttered interfaces.

• Inefficiencies in manual lead assignment.

• The time-consuming nature of tracking customer interactions.

3. Understand Business Needs

4. Competitive Analysis

We analysed top automotive CRM platforms like eGoodManners and Teamgate, identifying best practices in automation, UI navigation, and reporting dashboards.

Key Issues Identified:

• Leads, customers, and opportunities were not clearly separated.

• Poor UI hierarchy made navigation slow and confusing.

• Sales teams lacked automation & real-time updates, leading to missed opportunities.

Define: Framing the Challenge

Using insights from the Discovery phase, we defined the core design challenges:

1. HMW improve lead management and sales workflows to increase efficiency and conversion rates?

2. How can we enhance usability and streamline navigation to reduce time spent on administrative tasks?

3. How do we integrate automation and reporting features to provide actionable insights?

After defining the problem areas, we prioritized high-impact, low-effort solutions using an Eisenhower matrix.

Business & User Impact

📉 Reduced lead response time through automated lead allocation.
📈 Higher sales conversion rates by improving opportunity tracking & milestone reporting.
⚡ Optimized workflow efficiency, cutting down search time for customer & vehicle data.
💰 Improved customer engagement, increasing long-term retention & sales.

The Problem Statement

• Inefficient Lead Management – The system lacked clear separation between Customers, Leads, and Opportunities, leading to data clutter and inefficiencies in tracking inquiries and sales.

• Poor User Experience – The outdated UI, small text, missing breadcrumbs, and inefficient navigation slowed down daily operations for dealership employees.

• Lack of Automation – Sales managers struggled with manual lead assignments, lost opportunities, and inefficient workflows.

• Limited Data Insights – Users lacked real-time analytics and tracking, making it difficult to monitor lead conversion rates and sales performance.

Information Architecture

Develop: Ideating & Prototyping Solutions

With well-defined challenges, we began designing solutions through wireframing, prototyping, and iterative feedback.

1. Improved User Flow & Navigation

• Separated Leads, Customers, and Opportunities into distinct sections for clarity.

• Redesigned Dashboard with an intuitive “To-Do List” and Calendar View for tracking follow-ups.

• Enhanced Search & Filtering for faster access to lead and customer details.

📍 Lead & Opportunity Separation

• Users can view Leads, Customers, and Opportunities separately, making lead tracking faster.

• The system automatically cleans junk leads, improving database efficiency.

2. Data-Driven Insights & Reporting

• Customizable Sales Performance Dashboard – Enabled managers to track conversion rates & pipeline health.

• Finance Module Enhancements – Provided visibility into deal status and lost opportunities.

• Future AI Integration – Designed a framework for predictive lead scoring.

📊 Improved Lead Verification & Search Functions

• Search by customer name, phone, email, business name, and vehicle details.

• Cross-check new leads with existing customer records to avoid duplication.

📅 Appointment Scheduling & To-Do List

• Users get a clear overview of upcoming tasks & meetings to improve daily efficiency.

• Follow-up calls & emails are automatically logged in the system.

📂 Integrated Chat, Email & Text Communication

• Sales teams can chat with customers directly from the CRM, storing conversation history.

• Emails & text messages are linked to customer records for full interaction tracking.

🚀 CRM User Roles & Workflows

• Lead Agents: Verify new inquiries & assign leads to the right sales rep.

• Sales Executives: Convert leads into opportunities & track deal progress.

• Business Managers: Manage finance applications & approval workflows.

Deliver: Testing, Refinements & Implementation

1. Scalable UI & Design System

• Created a responsive, accessible UI with consistent typography and layouts.

• Optimized forms and data tables for faster scanning and input.

• Designed a flexible design system to ensure cross-product consistency.

2. Usability Testing & Iteration

• Conducted A/B testing on navigation improvements, leading to a 30% increase in task efficiency.

• Gathered real-time feedback from sales teams, making iterative refinements.

3. Implementation & Training

• Launched an onboarding program to train users on the new CRM features.

• Provided support documentation & in-app guidance to facilitate adoption.