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?

Jennifer Schrader is the Internet sales and BDC manager at Williams KIA in Traverse City, MI. We were on the subject of reports and how crucial it is for Internet sales managers / BDC managers to track their performance. So I asked her if she would write a quick article on how she came about tracking her performance and how it has benefited her and her department.

Here it is:

——————————-

Benefiting from your Reports

Starting in the Internet Sales department for a small buy-here-pay-here dealership with 5 locations I had quickly gained knowledge on how to sell to internet leads. I then moved onto a volume dealership with an increased flow of internet traffic and leads. I had done very well working with the increased volume of leads and was successful with setting appointments and closing sales.

After setting a few sales records for the dealership; I felt the need to track my performance; number of appointments made, shown appointments to customers sold. I decided throw down what was floating in my head into a spreadsheet. Within a short time I had a resourceful report for tracking my MONTH END and a YEAR END SUMMARY results.

I quickly found that tracking; total internet leads to scheduled appointments, kept appointments to appointments sold provide huge benefits and enable you to track your strong and weak key performance areas.

Here are some of the benefits that have been very useful to me and my department.

• Keeps yourself and your team on track
• Quicker buy-in from General Management
• Measuring your success
• Allows you to set obtainable goals
• Determines where improvements are needed:

1. 1. Appointments are down (follow-up needs to improve)
   2. Kept appointments down (follow-up and more accurate appointment confirmation)
   3. High shows ~ Low Sales (closing the customer needs improved)

The number 1 benefit of tracking your performance is receiving acknowledgement from upper management while being prepared to answer “the questions”. How many times has your GM or GSM asked you for a number off the top of your head regarding status of your Internet sales performance? With this report there are no questions to be asked; everything is there!

My spread sheet reports have been a huge asset for myself and my BDC. I thought I would share them with whoever is interested. If you’re not already tracking your appointment to sales performance, maybe these will help.

Jennifer’s MTD summary report

Jennifer’s YTD summary report

Guest Posting by Jennifer Schrader
Business Development Center Director for Williams KIA

Our three-location dealership family is in the process of switching websites.  After a bit of research, I’ve categorized our web options into three groups:

1. All-inclusive website/online marketing/CRM tool
2. Standalone website
3. Local web design/host service

After considering cost, functionality, relevance, and flexibility, we have decided to pursue a standalone website.  We all use Autobase as our CRM, ADP WebSuite internally, and our IT manager (who is VERY sensitive to Can-Spam requirements) requires Mozilla (and his watchful eye) for our email campaigns.

Out of our standalone site options, we are considering two.  ADP Dynamic Web Premier and Dealerskins.  Two locations (our MB-Volvo-VW store and our Audi-Nissan-Subaru-Toyota-VW store) have decided on ADP and our Dodge store opted for Dealerskins.  Ownership would like to use only one vendor, so we have a dilemma.

As an ADP advocate, here is my argument.  I believe there are three main differences between the two.  Here are two.

1. The look.  In my opinion, ADP offerings are clean, fresh, and plenty flexible for our needs.  With a few small icon changes on the inventory pages, I think ADP would be a homerun for an Import store.  Inventory is represented well, and the media gallery (with int. and ext. spins) is very impressive.  I think Dealerskins sites are naturally too busy.  Both have good navigability, but seeing through the clutter is a bit trying.

2. Calls to action.  Dealerskins uses too many calls to action that require giving up gross.  In a market where most of our OEM lines are exclusive to the area, I don’t believe such a plan is needed.  ADP uses well-placed, relevant calls to action throughout all pages of the site.  I can see the benefit to a Dodge store, but I don’t know if the average Volvo buyer would necessarily respond to a $200 Internet coupon.

Which finally brings me to my question.  I believe that compatibility with our current inventory database is another very important difference. Since we use ADP already, our compatibility with Dynamic Web regarding inventory polling should be seamless.  And I have heard that Dealerskins uses a 3rd party program to link ADP inventory to the site.  I have also heard that ADP considers any non-ADP polling as hostile, and treats it differently.  From what I understand, some manual input is necessary.  Is this true?  Is there a distinct disadvantage to Dealerskins because of this?  With the exception of photos, I would prefer to be hands-off when it comes to inventory updates to our site.

Sincerely,

Eric J. Deising
Internet Sales Manager

I thought this was worthy of a separate posting. Peter over at Mercedes-Benz had a few questions and I was up for the challenge!!

Jeff, All this talk about Autotrader.com. I have been a big believer of “featured listings”. About 1/2 the cost of premium listings. If you actually put search criteria that an actual car shopper would use (example Mercedes-Benz C230 in a 25 mile radius), Your featured listing will still show on the first page of listings. You can use the $1,000 you save monthly on Dealix or another lead provider. Just some thoughts from an old-school ISM.

-Pete

Peter, I’m in line with your thinking. I’ve been considering dropping back down to the Featured Listings.

From 2005, working the (lesser) Premium package, to 2006 working the Partner package, my accredited AutoTrader sales increased ONLY 1.4 vehicles a month. Was this due to being a Premium partner or due to having a larger selection of used car inventory in 2006?

Thinking about this, I dug a little deeper and compared JUST my Pre-Owned Mercedes vehicles sold from 2005 to 2006. I did this because we are a Partner with ONLY Mercedes-Benz, this means my non Mercedes vehicles are listed in the Premium displays and not the Partner (top) displays. I recorded a .3% increase (basically none)  in Mercedes Pre-Owned sales on the 2006 Partner package over using the 2005 Premium package.

So what about my Non-Mercedes-Benz? From 2005 to 2006 my increase in AutoTrader accredited sales increased .45. I looked at this figure for the simple fact that maybe my Partner Mercedes listings helped filter customers into our Non-Mercedes inventory. This obviously was not the case.

I also tracked the average gross of our Pre-Owned Mercedes-Benz over Non Mercedes-Benz AutoTrader accredited sales. My Pre-Owned Mercedes sales gross averaged $200.00 over my Non Mercedes sales gross. An increase, but not a huge one.

So..according to my reports, spending another $1,000 or so more for the Partner Listings is not making much sense.

AutoTrader would be quick to argue this due to the fact that you get a Banner Ad with the Partner and not the Premium. How valuable is that banner ad, especially when dealers and consumer have to deal with

stuff like this? I track my banner ad CTR (click through rate) every month and if I were paying just 200.00 per month for my banner ad on AutoTrader, I would be averaging around $3.77 per click (Ouch!). I believe that the banner ad has some branding value to it, but I’m not sure what price tag you place on it and there really is no way of tacking it unless you are sending the customer to your dealer website from your banner ad and you are able to track the conversion from there.

If I’m not mistaken the Partner package also allows you more then 9 photos and this could be a benefit that gives you a slight advantage over other dealers (though I find most dealers paying for the Partner Listings still only display 9 photos or less). I would always use this as an excuse to get a customers email address. “Mr. Smith, share with me your email address, I have 15 more photos of this car I can send you.” Then send them a link to the photos on your website.

Now AutoTrader is offering their 2007 products and I’m sure they have all new pricing to go along. I know it
seems like I’m hard on AutoTrader but I guess when you’re one of the “Big Guys” everyone has their eyes on you. Overall my ROI makes total sense with AutoTrader and I’m not looking to drop them unless they price themselves so far out of the market, though that seems to be their trend, especially for smaller dealers like
mine.

Email – The love/hate relationship – John Max Miller

Let’s first talk about the love…

Email is really the new telephone. It’s BETTER than the telephone. You never HAVE to answer it; you can even ‘listen’ and not answer it! It doesn’t ‘ring’ at dinner time! You can answer it at 4am and no one is upset by that! It’s more convenient for discussions; you don’t have to be available when someone wants to ‘talk’ to you. Email REALLY is cool…

Now the hate…

I have been using a blackberry since the day they came out. I am an ADDICT! It never leaves my side, wakes me up at night, and takes time away from my family every day when we are on vacation. I spend my day ON email and never seem to be able to get away from it.

Now let’s get down to business… How can email help me make more money?

Email will only help you make more money if you USE IT PROPERLY.

Email is NOT a business toy – it is a tool that if used wrong can cut you so deep you will bleed to death – financially!

Email is about communication! Email must first and foremost GET DELIVERED to your customer. No matter the message and how poorly or how well it is written, it has to get into your customers IN BOX.

How do YOU ensure delivery?

Understanding blacklists and becoming white listed is VERY important in this email delivery space.

Blacklists – If you are sending out multiple emails at a time, you need to make sure that you continually monitor blacklisting sites. These sites are independent non-profit companies that specialize in finding ‘open relays’ where ‘spammers’ may be sending emails from and literally can STOP YOUR EMAILS DEAD IN
THEIR TRACKS. You can send 2500 emails and not one of them ever gets delivered.

http://www.mxtoolbox.com/blacklists.aspx will allow you to check if you are blacklisted.

http://www.ordb.org will allow you to check if your servers have open relays and could be blacklisted.

If you are sending emails out of your dealership, over your network, you need someone to monitor your open relays and your black listings. If you become blacklisted, you will need to go through a process to be taken off the black list. This is a process that, if you are sending emails on a regular basis, will have to be CONTINUALLY monitored. Being blacklisted and being taken off does NOT mean you won’t be blacklisted again.

Let’s now get a good understanding of white lists.

Whitelists are, in essence, and approved sender list managed by the ISP’s (Internet Service providers – AOL/Yahoo/Excite etc.) themselves.

In order to be white listed with EACH ISP, you need to go through a formal process and prove/show evidence to the individual ISP that the people you are communicating with have asked for you to communicate with them (permission based). ISP’s, even if you are white listed, can stop delivering your emails to their customers if your emails receive certain levels of “This is spam”, complaints.

You might ask “why would someone who has asked me to communicate with them mark our emails as spam?” Think back to your desktop… When you receive emails, what do you review… advertisements selling you something or emails sent from someone personally to you. This is now where you get into the content of the email issue…

Let’s discuss content!

If you get an email with a bunch of cars zooming across the screen or videos or pictures… what is your first impression?

1. I just received an email from a friend.
2. I just received SPAM.

Most people will in less than a second choose #2. Make your emails personal. Don’t send canned responses with canned pictures. ALWAYS put your message first so they see you are writing them a personal email.

People buy from people they like and trust. This is still a people business and ALWAYS will be.

So we all know that delivery is the #1 issue. Get the email to their INBOX!

Manage your open relays on your servers; make sure you are not black listed – weekly. Make a concerted effort to get white listed with ALL the major ISP’s.

And once you know that your emails are being delivered, make them personal and relevant so the customer appreciates the communication and responds by coming into the dealership to SPEND MONEY.

After all – it does not say ‘Church’ or ‘Synagogue” on the front of your dealership! Make money with your email!

-
A big thanks to John Max Miller; over at @utoRevenue for writing this
article and clearing up a few questions I’m sure we all have about email and email delivery. If you have more questions or are looking for some help with your email marketing,  John invites you contact him at 1-413-243-4800 or  jmiller@autorevenue.com .