I guess it’s time to establish some rules for commenting.

I started DealerRefresh as a place to write about my thoughts, opinions and daily obstacles as an Internet Sales Manager. Over the course of the last year or so, DealerRefresh has become quite the popular site and is now being looked upon as a resource for Internet Sales Managers and others in this business.

It’s been a tough call for me..do I keep the site geared towards my personal opinions and thoughts (while allowing others to comment) or do I try and stay neutral and allow DealerRefresh to transform itself into a unbiased resource? I’m torn! Maybe it’s possible for both to coincide?

I don’t know if I have the answer right now, until then I think it’s important to establish some rules.

So here they are:

1. No advertisements inside your comments. (If you want a vendor profile, contact me).
2. No Slandering – especially on a personal level. If you have had a bad
   experience with a company and their product, please share your thoughts
   but keep it tasteful and give examples to back up your opinions and
   comments (I would recommend including something positive about your
   experience with the product or vendor as well).
3. No anonymous posts (unless I authorize) and no “free” email accounts
   (yahoo, msn, aol) unless you provide a valid full signature.
4. Excessive self-promotion or promotion of a website or other entity will
   be deleted. If it reads like you are mad or getting paid by someone for
   your words, your comments will be deleted.
5. No hyperlinking to your website for promotional purposes within the body of your comments.
6. Take full ownership of your comments. Always re-read your comments and feedback before hitting the post button. Don’t call me 3 hours later asking if I’ll remove your comments from the thread because you said something that maybe you shouldn’t have. This is the Internet, take ownership for your actions.

Best to all to DealerRefresh readers. It’s because of YOU this site is what it is!!

Jeff Kershner
DealerRefresh

Last week, Google added a few new features to its Local Business Center. This is the place where any business with a physical location can go to essentially plant themselves on Google Maps. If you have not already done so, get your dealer listed in Google Local. This has clear SEO benefits for local search.

1. Sign up for a Google account www.google.com
2. Go to Google maps  http://maps.google.com/maps
3. To the left of the map you will see link for Add/Edit Your Business. This will take your to the admin portion of google local. Use the link for “Add a new business”.
4. Enter your dealers name and continue.
5. You  should then see your dealer name from a list of possibilities, if
   not, use the option “  My business doesn’t appear here”.
6. From here you can fill out or edit your dealer information.

After you have edited your information, you now need to confirm your dealer for Google to authenticate. Google provides 2 ways of doing this (I recommend the phone call – it’s faster).

• Receive a phone call at the number provided
• Receive a postcard at the address provided

Once you have authenticated your dealer, it usually takes about 3 weeks or more for Google to go live with your new or edited local business listing. Google even allows you to add coupons to your listing; I usually rotate a service department special coupon.

If you’re paying big bucks to a vendor for your dealership website SEO and they have not already done this or informed you about this, ask them why.

Cliff Banks over at Wards Dealer Business wrote an article with Lisa Keller of eValuation Inc. on how we, as Internet sales managers, need to be careful that our leads are not “evaporating”. Basically saying; it’s always possible for technical problems to arise (like servers crashing) and not allowing leads from our website to make their way into your Internet lead management (ILM) software, and never knowing about it.

I’m sure this could be a possible concern, but how would someone on “our end” track this unless a server went down for hours and it became obvious? I would hope that the vendors providing dealer websites realize the importance of a dealer receiving every lead and have back up measures in place to prevent such a
problem.

What I found more interesting are the statistics that Lisa is able to gather with their mystery shopping service. We all know the longer it takes a dealership to respond to a lead less chance you have of selling that customer. BUT it’s nice to see some hard numbers proving it.

The article also touched on the importance of strong email responses.
The quality of the response is an area many dealerships fail at. According to Keller, strong e-mail responses should include the following six things:

• The Greeting

  You want to thank the customer for the opportunity and introduce yourself and the store. Pretend the customer is in front of you.

• Provide at least one alternative vehicle

  Two or three are better. Always include a certified pre-owned alternative. A pricing range also should be included. Studies show most customers have not decided on what they want when they contact the store. More information may help you set that appointment and close the sale.

• Give the customer a reason to buy from you.

  Keller calls it a value proposition statement. According to a Cobalt Group study last year, more than 90% of online automotive shoppers buy from a dealership other than the first one they contacted.

• Ask two qualifying questions

  Provide reasons why you are asking the questions. For example, determine the trim level of the vehicle they are interested in. Why? Different trim levels can change a vehicle’s by as much as $10,000.

• Be direct and ask for the appointment.

  “We see many responses in which the salesperson says, ‘Let me know if there is anything else I can do,’ and leaves it that,” Keller says. “Seeing that is like nails on a chalkboard.”

• The signature

  Provide your name, e-mail address and phone number along with the web site address and physical address of the dealership.

My question to Lisa; does a dealer include all of this information in 1 email or do you spread this information over a few emails?

I personally spread the information over a few emails. When writing email I think you have to be quick and too the point. Long winded emails will quickly loose your readers’ attention. AND using a few emails to get your point across gets your name in front of the customer a few more times. It makes it easier for the customer to find YOU in their inbox.

Lisa, if you read this..contact me!

We are looking closely at using either iMagicLab or Higher Gear for our CRM.

Is anyone using the iMagicLab CRM that has also used Higher Gear?

Which did they like better?

Is there anything you did not like about the iMagic’s DealerCRM or Higher Gear?  We have been told that the Higher Gear system communicates better with your Reynolds DMS than iCar, is that true?  I would appreciate any input…

Kevin Frye
eCommerce Director – Jeff Wyler Automotive Family

So the 2nd AAISP was last week and I was unable to attend. I heard it was a lot better then last year. They apparently were coining it as Internet Sales 2.0 – The Age of the Customer, though I’m not sure they ever explained what they meant by that.

I personally have been back in forth with my opinion on the AAISP. I think the intentions were good in the beginning but then came too much shift in management, lack of support (at one time they were selling shares of their stock?) and the website still lacks.

I think they need to stick with the conference no matter what happens. I know for myself, just having the opportunity to converse with other Internet Sales Managers, bounce ideas off one another and surrounding yourself around others that “get it” can be more rewarding then the conference itself and somehow regenerates your drive to succeed.

So..did I miss anything this year?

• What session did you learn the most from?
• What was the single most important thing that you walked away with?
• Was it worth it and will you attend next year?

I’d love to hear from some other ISM’s that attended. Share you thoughts!

Did Priority Toyota attend?