If you have no idea what has been happening in Iran, it is probably because you’ve been living under Iraq a rock.  I’m going to try to stay out of the politics behind it, but Iran is the “religious democracy” with an Ayatollah as the head of government and an elected president who serves as the “faceman”.  The recent Presidential election ended up in conspiracy as many of the citizens did not believe the outcome (who, why, what are irrelevant for the purpose of this article).  As a result Iranians poured into the streets in protest of the election results.  During the protests, violence broke out and the Iranian government banned foreign news reporters from the country.

Without adequate reporting how is the world keeping up with everything that is happening in Iran?  How are Iranian citizens rallying people to their cause?  Social media!

Twitter, YouTube, blogs, and facebook have been the main forms of reporting and the coverage has been much better than any major broadcasting network could ever fathom.  Of course the quality of the media might be a little off, but the number of stories, conveyed emotions, and believability more than make up for cell phone pictures and hand-held video footage.

Ladies and gentlemen, whether you care about what happens in Iran or not, this event is going to go down in history as a major change in the way people communicate and how much power a single voice can have.

I have read stories by newspaper journalists stating that the state of accurate information is going to decline along with the decline of the newspaper.  I have also heard people say that things like Watergate will never be exposed again because the professional journalist will not be around to snoop things out.  These could be true; only time will tell.  However, there is a trend of information sources moving to social media that has now been exposed by the conflicts in Iran.

Like you, I am getting tired of reading all the stuff about social media.  I am not going to tell you this is a must and you’re going to go out of business if you don’t use it.  I just wanted to point out a major event in our lifetime and maybe give you a little something extra to think about.

An Important Video Message from AutoTrader.com

Alan Smith, Sr. Vice President of Dealer Sales, and Chip Perry, CEO

This video will open in another browser/tab

Alan Smith and Chip Perry talk about the challenging times and some of the changes that are taking place at AutoTrader.com. This is a good message, I recommend watching it in it’s entirety. If you have an opinion, lets keep them positive and/or professional.

How do car dealers advertise on facebook, MySpace, twitter and other social networking sites?

Social networking is all the buzz right now and everyone from the Automotive Industry to Real Estate is trying to figure out how to use sites like facebook to grow their business. One of the largest areas of growth is in the automotive sector. The attraction of social networking sites isn’t hard to figure out. Millions of people to reach and you can basically do it for free…if you don’t scare them all away. Wouldn’t it be nice if you had a more effective way to utilize facebook and other social networking mediums to reach your clients? I have a clear plan that is guaranteed to be better than 90% of the efforts being put forth today. Grab a pen and paper and write this down…

STOP POSTING YOUR ADS ON FACEBOOK AND OTHER SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES - THEY DON’T WANT TO BE YOUR FRIEND!

No, that wasn’t a typo. Some of you may be shaking your head at what you just read but frankly I don’t care, and you’ll thank me in just a moment when you read on. Many of you remember MySpace and the popularity it had when it first launched onto the social scene. I am in my mid thirties and I was a MySpace addict at first launch. I had my background all tricked out and added a TON of friends so that I could try to become a networking machine.

Not too long after MySpace became the latest craze, ads started popping up. I have to give kudos to Tom (the founder and everyone’s default friend on MySpace) for being intelligent enough to cash in on the financial opportunity however this was the beginning of the end for MySpace as a “place for friends”. It is now a place for movie trailers, advertisements and my personal favorite (no I’m not joking) MySpace Karaoke.

Just after MySpace began the advertising overload a new social networking site took the world by storm. You may have heard of a little site called facebook. Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook with fellow computer science major students and his roommates Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes while he was a student at Harvard University. Facebook is estimated to have over 200 million users with over 100 million logging in each day.

Why did facebook become so popular? Because you and your ads weren’t cluttering up the space where my friends and I want to communicate. If we aren’t careful, our advertisements could do more damage than good when it comes to social networking.

THERE IS GOOD NEWS AND A WAY TO EFFECTIVELY USE THIS SOCIAL NETWORKING MEDIUM

Why is social networking so popular? For the same reason that the internet is now the #1 choice for consumers when they want information: You can get what you want, when you want it, delivered in a format that you want.

We all know that consumers are drawn to places that allow them to feel like they have control; aren’t we all? Knowing this, the real question isn’t ‘how do I advertise on facebook and MySpace and twitter and social networking sites’. The real question is how do I use these sites, in the context they were designed, to expand the network that I’ve been building.

Here are 5 simple ideas on using social networking sites in a way that will allow you to expand your network and improve your business

1. Create a profile on facebook, MySpace and Twitter and create a group on facebook that people can choose to belong to.
2. Begin with people who already do business with you because they will be more receptive to your advertising For example: have a computer set up in your service lounge at the dealership with a sign inviting people to create a facebook account and join your group to receive coupons in service and other discounts. What if someone got a free oil change for joining your facebook group? Couldn’t you then market them with updates? NOTE: Make sure you have people ready to help your customer set up a facebook account if they don’t already have one.
3. Have weekly or monthly specials and post them on your facebook profile and facebook group page.
4. Use a site like www.ping.fm to do all of your ’status updates’. Ping.fm will allow you to do a quick update like “Check out the facebook group for ABC Motors and get a free oil change in June plus $3000 off any new vehicle”. You can type it once and it will hit your twitter, MySpace, facebook and any other social networking site you are using. (Thanks Jeff Kershner at DealerRefresh.com for that handy tip I use the site daily).
5. Don’t forget that the consumer is King. Sam Walton said: “There is only one boss, the customer, and he can fire everyone from the CEO on down. All he has to do is take his money elsewhere.” If we’re going to market our business on the internet we have to take an approach that will attract the consumer. Ask yourself these questions: Why did consumers shift to the internet instead of just counting on commercials and other interruption advertising? If consumers came online to avoid interruption advertising; what will happen to sites like facebook if I bombard consumers with interruption advertising?

Congratulations in advance on a successful 2009 and best wishes on becoming a social networking pro!

About the Author: Mat Koenig is a 12 year veteran in the Automotive industry and is currently serving a Sales Trainer traveling across the United States.

Even though the Cash for Clunkers Legislation has not passed yet, there is a lot of potential business already circulating around this program.  If you’re the first on the scene, you can seriously rule your market for anyone trying to find more information about the bill.

First:  Build your site and prepare your staff
“This bill is not official”, and those should be the first words out of your mouth, followed by a big BUT.  “But, when the bill is passed we want to be the dealership that earns your business.  Let me tell you a bit about the bill as it currently sits - have you visited the Cash for Clunkers page on our website (Checkered Flag’s Cash for Clunkers page)?  We are a participating Cash for Clunkers dealership, and ready to help you with the program when it does launch.  Basically, the program covers vehicles over X years old with a combined MPG of less than XX…”  you get the idea.

Second:  Find a site to partner with for better SEO
As this program is getting a lot of attention, chances are you will have a tough time climbing through the Google results and beating all the national news articles about the Cash for Clunkers program (tough to beat CNN).  Various sites are selling leads, but one is not only selling leads, it is also helping with some search engine exposure for your own site.  That’s because Brian Pasch is behind it.  The site is http://www.cashforclunkersfacts.com if you want to check it out - the pricing isn’t bad at all!  If you want to follow on Twitter, go to http://twitter.com/cashclunkers

Brian says:

Lead territories are exclusive and exclusivity is gained on a first come - first serve basis, so hurry to contact Carrie Valentine at carrie@paschconsulting.com for signups.  You can also reach her at (732) 450-8200.  Or you can click here to view the 3 easy steps for setup.

I think most dealers are on the wait and see method right now, but there are a lot of leads to work from customers they never would have seen, even now.  I also bet that if the bill fails, manufacturers may come up with their own CFC program because demand will be so backed-up.

Third:  This is Temporary
Keep in mind that this program, if it is passed, is currently slated to run through September so we’re talking 3-4 months of opportunity.  You need to make as strong a run on it while you can!  You don’t need a long term strategy, you don’t need a fancy website, you just need to capitalize on this short opportunity as fast as possible.

Fourth:  Continued discussion on the forums
You’re more than welcome to comment on this article here, or join us on the DealerRefresh technology forums for further discussion.  Cash for Clunkers discussion here.

Over 5 years ago I was approached by our Vice President of Variable Ops who wanted me to take what I had done as our Honda Internet Manager and spread it through all the stores in our group.  He told me the job was temporary and not to expect it to last more than a year or 2.  He titled me the Internet Director and my job was to train “Internet Sales Agents” on how to move a lot of cars through digital communication.  His thoughts were that I would eventually find a store to call home and continue working my way up in a more traditional manner.

Since he asked me to do this job back in March of 2004, my job title has changed and I’ve worked my way into quite a few very different directions.  Once we had figured out a good way to handle not just Internet leads, but all incoming non-physical traffic too, and we had the right people in place I was able to focus more on things like our website, new technologies, and CRM.  It is the CRM that gets you!

The most important technology of any dealership is the one that promotes process.

Traditionally, dealers’ only process was what to do when a customer was physically there.  How to get a customer there was more of something a salesmanager talked about in those early Saturday morning meetings, but he never followed up on anything he ever trained anyway.  Service Departments simply sent mail as the only form of consistent follow-up.  Of course there are exceptions to my stereotype of dealership process, but this was the traditional approach.  Today we have CRM to babysit instruct us on who and when we should be following up.

I hated CRM.  As a salesperson that thing was stupid. It never told me the right time to call and it never told me what to say on that call either. I felt like I was cold-calling even though these were people I had already worked with. I mean, Geeeez, the guy couldn’t buy 6 months ago, why do I have to keep calling him? On top of that, my monthly sales gross and volume was definitely above average, so the boss left me alone most of the time. I was under the management of a sales manager from 1999 to 2004 and that paragraph pretty much sums up my feelings toward CRM during that time (I bet some people still feel that way today).

When I finally started looking at things from the perspective of a career-minded professional who saw the interests of the entire company as something personal, my CRM views shifted. Since I was being paid on the entire organization’s Internet closing ratios, in my new Internet Director position, I had to make sure contacts and follow-ups were happening amongst the Internet staff - and I had to track all of it! (still the worst part of my job).  However, I was totally concentrated on the Internet department and screaming about how the sales floor was just a CRM black hole where customers were entered and left to die. It was up to the Internet Department to tackle the follow up. This is how we got into BDC’s.  Unfortunately, you have to over-staff a BDC to compensate for a lack of a consistent effort on the sales floor - that’s expensive! And a BDC does not help with rapport building or any of those things a salesperson or service writer worked so hard to do while the customer was physically in the showroom or service drive.

It has been 10 years since we installed our first CRM and we have definitely had a rocky history with some of the companies we’ve contracted with for CRM services, but I believe the technology has gotten to a point where we can truly rely on it to give us good data and take care of the most basic part: follow-up process.

As someone who provides technical support for dealership technologies, I strive for a fault error ratio where 10% of the faults are issues of the technology and 90% are issues with our people. We’re there!

In 2009, I’m sitting with my boss again, to retask my concentration points (a.k.a. job responsibilities), and the focus is now on the sales floor. I feel like I’ve made a complete 360 since my original promotion to this job except we’ve shed the “Internet” part of the whole thing. We’ve admitted that every customer is an “Internet” customer, and we need to concentrate on making the entire company better from the ground up - just like we did with the Internet Department.

With a weak economy, the days of compensating for inconsistencies by adding more staff is over.

The CRM, love it or hate it, is the heart of a dealership. The DMS is the backbone. Executive staff is the brain, and everyone else are the arms, legs, fingers, mouth, eyes, and ears. So how do we get this teenager in puberty walking without tripping over his own feet? That’s right, we’re all teenagers again!

Technology, through the Internet, crept in the back door and kicked us right in the ass. We’re all having to become “born-agains” as we reassemble our businesses to meet today’s standards.

Just like the Internet snuck in through the back door, your “Internet person” is rapidly becoming your savior.  That person understands and embraces all these changes the technology is engineering behind your back. But you already knew that!

I am simply telling my story to show how a job that is thought of as something a little extraneous and temporary can come back around to be something very central. Don’t ever discount the technologies and try to keep an eye on the back door - you never know who could slip in.

If you take anything away from this article, I’d like you to think about how you’re not leveraging your CRM to exercise its true potential through your own people.  If you need some help in finding a CRM solution or simple CRM best practices, visit the CRM Forum on the DealerRefresh technology forums:  http://forum.dealerrefresh.com

DealerRefresh Welcomes a New Ad Sponsor - CAR-Research

Since 1995, CAR Research, Inc. d.b.a. Consumer Automotive Rapport has paved the way for the use of market research in the automotive industry.

CAR-Research is a full service solutions provider. From Sales to Service, BDC to Marketing, CAR-Research has a solution to help your dealership increase its marketing share and customer satisfaction. Utilizing CAR-Research services can fill your sales funnel and steam-line your sales process.

Some of their features include:

• Complete CRM Software
• Internet Lead Manager
• Showroom Control Manager
• Marketing Center
• Missed Opportunity Interviews
• Sold / Service Interviews
• Service Reminder Program
• Service Drive Control Manager
• Full Mail House
• BDC Consulting
• Website Design and Hosting
• Bi-Directional DMS Integration

To read more about CAR-Research and their services, click here.

Dealers still playing the PRICE GAME on Classified Websites.

Are dealers still playing this game? …ofcourse they are!

I was hoping this shit would stop as print continues to diminish, but it’s obvious that some of the classified sites allow it to happen as well. Maybe it’s OK. Maybe at the end of the day there really is nothing wrong with it. After all, its the customers responsibility to read the print..RIGHT?

As dealers struggle, it only makes sense to find that “trick” that gets the phone to ring, more leads into the inbox and more people through the front door “We’ll deal with the objections once they’re in the showroom”..right?

I just don’t like it and think in the long run it makes it more difficult to brand your dealership as a reputable place to do business with. I also think it brings a bad image to the classified sites that allow this type of pricing technique to happen on their websites. IMO it’s taking away from the “consumer centric” appeal and again provides a disservice to the customer.

What do you think?

Are you providing the customer a disservice by pricing your inventory like this on the Online Classified Sites?

Should the Online Classified Websites allow this type of pricing technique (knowing consumers initially search by price) ?

What are your thoughts?

Guest Posting by Ryan Gerardi

For the past 3 years, the auto industry, specifically the dealer community, has inched its way into blogging and social media. It is actually safe to talk about these things whereas fewer than 2 years ago I purposely avoided using such terms in my conversations with dealers and auto insiders because they were still a bit taboo. Now with the unveiling of such companies and services like DealerFeeder, I think we can say that the past is officially behind us.

Of course this day would come, it was only a matter of time. With the efforts of people like Jeff Kershner of DealerRefresh and Ralph Paglia of Automotive Digital Marketing, dealers and auto insiders are becoming increasingly more emerged in the idea and practice of blogging and social media. But what are these things really?

Let’s be clear about something. Setting up a Twitter account or a Facebook account takes 2 minutes, literally. Setting up a blog takes 5 and it is free. If you are paying someone to do this for you without a master plan and direct correlation to your marketing strategy then you are wasting everyone’s time and money. The set up of these things is the least of your concerns. Utilizing them and incorporating them effectively into your sales process is the real challenge.

Looking back to the late 90’s and early 2000’s, I recall the blitzkrieg of car dealers taking on the Web. In the first few years the big question was “should I or shouldn’t I have a website?” Then it was should I or shouldn’t I do pay-per-click advertising (PPC). Now it is “should I or shouldn’t I have a blog and do social networking?”. It’s easy to say yes to these questions but what is not easy to address is the HOW.

Successful business comes down to 3 things most of us know - People. Product. Process. Car dealers have the product and despite today’s economic situation there is no lack of people. There is an abundance of people at the consumer level and at the industry level. But it is the process that throws a wrench into all this.

Dealers have been able to follow a relatively consistent sales and marketing process for 50 or 60 years or so until the advent of the Web. Since then there has been a constant flux in their business processes. First came email, then came Automotive CRM, then Internet Departments, BDC, e-commerce directors, etc.  Now we have blogging and social media. Anyone who thinks that incorporating blogging and social media into their marketing strategy simply for the sake of doing it because they “should” is going to be sorely disappointed. So what if you get 500 people following you on Twitter. Are you selling more cars as a result? Is your service business increasing? Are you improving upon your brand equity?

If you are doing these things, what impact are these efforts having on your results? If you can not draw a clear distinction amongst these things then you may be at risk of treading water. Studying your customer behavior and correlating it directly to your efforts is the ugly side of this business which is no different from any other form or method of marketing, conventional or progressive. Obtaining the tools for the trade is as easy as going to the store and buying them, but that doesn’t mean you end up with a killer deck.

So, let me ask again..what impact are these efforts having on your results?

About the Author: Ryan Gerardi is an Internet expert that specializes in WordPress, AWeber, Vidego, and other online tools used for Blog Marketing, Email List-Building, Video Marketing, and the likes. He is the proprietor of BlogPro Automotive which is an on-demand video training resource for car dealers interested in such practices.

Kbb.com adds new Classified Inventory Listings for Dealers

Ahhh, another classified inventory listing website for dealers. As if all the other sites are not enough, we now have another option/site to list our dealers inventory on. Just what we need, right!

Starting July 2009, Kbb.com is launching their new inventory listings program. Dealers will be able to sign up to list their New and Used car inventory in KBB.com (Kelly Blue Book).

What ever happened to the Kbb.com and AutoTrader.com Strategic Partnership?

That sure was short lived. It’ll be interesting to see how this play out.

Below is a C/P from Kelly Blue Book about their new service.

The #1 Automotive Web site is premiering a new inventory listings program

We’ve recognized that, now more than ever, it’s critical to maximize inventory exposure to in-market car shoppers. That’s why beginning in July 2009, kbb.com is launching a new inventory listings program.

Committed to helping dealers engage with serious car shoppers, our new program will help drive millions of consumers from the vehicle research section of kbb.com directly to new and used car listings on our site.

Dealer Showcase customers will receive special advantages within kbb.com’s inventory listings

And because this is a new inventory listings program, we’re able to offer you, our Dealer Showcase customer, an opportunity to maximize your brand and inventory exposure not available anywhere else.

Now available to Dealer Showcase customers for the first time ever:

• NEW ways to showcase and merchandise new and used inventory listings on kbb.com
• NEW Dealer Showcase ad units on kbb.com
• NEW premium ad and inventory placements throughout kbb.com
• NEW Dealer Storefront page hosted on kbb.com - dedicated to your dealership
• NEW lead generating opportunities throughout kbb.com

All of this is offered through our brand new product, Inventory Listings Package.

At a fraction of the cost of traditional classifieds listings, Inventory Listings Package will help deliver more dealership exposure, more ad units, more placements, and more leads than ever before.

Don’t miss this opportunity to sign up for the Inventory Listings Package and be the first to showcase your inventory and web portal on kbb.com. Be a part of our big announcement when we premier our brand new inventory program to millions of car shoppers on kbb.com nationwide this July.

Sign up for the Inventory Listings Package and receive:

As auto manufacturers and suppliers grapple with tough economic times, understanding consumer preferences becomes even more important for near-term survival as well as future viability.

J.D. Power and Associates’ Web Intelligence Division utilizes social media to help the auto industry gain consumer insights, mining the blogosphere for unvarnished insight and unbiased opinion.

We invite you to join us for a webinar to discover how J.D. Power Web Intelligence can take the blogosphere beyond monitoring and turn social media information into action.

This webinar delves into the opinions found social media on topics like the following:

• What are short- and long-term auto industry trends, such as consumer purchase intent?
• How are consumers responding to recent OEM incentive and marketing programs such as job-loss insurance?
• How can automakers more successfully approach Gen Yers?
• How has J.D. Power’s newest spin on segmentation – Tribe ReportsTM – helped other companies gauge marketing effectiveness?

DATE: Thursday, May 28, 2009
TIME: 2 pm Eastern
SPEAKER: Chance Parker, Vice President & General Manager
J.D. Power Web Intelligence