Black Book Online offers Dealerships the “Super Lead”

With the announcement of the new Credit Activator, Black Book Online is offering dealerships a “Super Lead“. Most DealerRefreshers are very familiar, if not already a user of Black Book Online trade appraisal service. We’ve had many discussions around trade appraisal tools for dealership websites here on DealerRefresh but this new service is quiet different from the usual Black Book Online offering.

I sat down with Mike McFall, President of Black Book Online,  for a quick Q&A about the new service.

Follow the jump for the Q&A

Jeff – What exactly is this Credit Activator Service?

Mike – Credit Activator is a new service offered by Black Book as part of the Activator Complete package. It offers online shoppers a realistic estimate of their credit score so they’re better prepared to meet with a dealer, and in turn, the dealer receives a promising sales lead.  The process takes about 3 minutes to complete and doesn’t require sensitive personal information or a credit bureau inquiry.

Jeff – What made you decide to offer a service like this?

Mike – We determined that there was a need. In testing on other product concepts and in formal research, a recurring theme from customers is the need for access to information about credit. Car shoppers want to know where they stand before visiting the dealer.  But to get a bureau based score, they must either pay a fee or be willing to submit personal information like date of birth and SSN. We developed a better way.

Jeff – How does Credit Activator it work?

Mike -  Unlike a formal credit application, the Credit Activator process asks customers to complete a few short answer questions. In return, they get an instant credit score estimate that allows them to shop with more confidence.  You can go to www.blackbookcreditscore.com and experience the process yourself.

Jeff – Why is this concept unique?

Mike -  We are creating a Super Lead for dealers. Connecting a credit score estimate to a lead service is the first step – the second is offering a connection with the trade appraisal. Customers will have the option to get both the appraisal and credit score estimate on the dealer website.  These customers become “Super Leads” because they’ve indicated their purchase intent and a large portion of the buying process has already been done online.

Jeff – What exactly is a “Super Lead”?

Mike -  Most leads offer very little information to the dealer, usually just customer name, vehicle preference and contact information.  A Super Lead is different because it includes information about the customer trade-in vehicle and the customer credit score.  The more a Dealer knows about the customer the easier it is to arrange a visit and sell a car.

Jeff – Do customers really want a credit score estimate?

Mike – Yes. A recent study conducted by Harris Interactive indicates that 91% of car shoppers would select a dealer who offered more transparency in lending options.  More than 12 months of testing with 18 pilot dealers confirms this finding.

Jeff – How was the credit score process created?

Mike – Our own internal experts, drawn from banks like Wachovia, created this patent pending scoring engine which is tuned especially for auto lending. Black Book is known for the best used car values, which are also used by lenders.  So, it’s natural that we would expand our services in to the credit area.

Jeff – How do automotive manufacturers and dealers benefit?

Mike – The results from our pilot program show that when placed on a dealer website, the Credit Activator product can double the lead volume compared to having the trade-in service only.

Jeff – Will lenders use the score estimate to grant credit?

Mike – No, the score estimate is not intended to replace the normal credit review process at the dealership.  But, dealers report that it can help reduce the amount of time customers must spend buying a car.

Jeff – How does Credit Activator compare to other similar services like FICO?

Mike – Credit Activator is a truly unique, patent pending service.  It provides a credit score range estimate based on questions relating to a user’s finances. Users are not required to supply a credit card, date of birth or Social Security Number and are not required to sign up for a monthly service.  And the entire process takes less than three minutes for the average user to complete.

Jeff – Why would dealers want to offer this new service?

Mike – This new service works for all dealers who have websites and who want to sell more cars.  Dealers can expect to increase their website lead volume by including the new service. Our pilot program reflects this.

If anyone has additional questions, use the comment section below and ask away!

Q&A with Mike McFall, President of Black Book Online is a post from: Internet sales manager training

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Last week’s announcement by Autotrader.com, combined with previous announcements by Cars.com and other

automotive website providers, shines the spotlight on live dealer live chat.

Many of us are asking questions about what this means for our dealerships, so I conducted an exclusive interview with Marc Hayes, the founder and head of products for Contact At Once! whose software powers the live chat features on both Autotrader.com and Cars.com.

Jeff: What are the implications of last week’s Autotrader.com announcement?

Marc: The broad implication is that, if live chat wasn’t already a mainstream technology in automotive retail, it is now. The momentum behind dealer chat has been building for several years with adoption by Cars.com, CarsDirect, and others. Now Autotrader.com has implemented chat. Dealers that don’t already have a chat strategy will need to develop one.

Jeff: Chat is a 15+ year old technology so, unlike other trends born of “new” technologies, such as social networking, why is chat just now trending in automotive retail?

Marc: The short answer is that consumers like it. This is evidenced by conversion data like that in the Autotrader.com announcement “Early value tests conducted by AutoTrader.com showed that dealers who added dealer live chat to their listings experienced an average lift in shopper interaction of about 20%”. Our other customers report similar increases in the amount of consumer engagement realized from including chat on their sites. As a result, it helps dealers sell more cars and improve the return on their digital advertising spend.

Jeff: And why do consumers like chat so much?

Marc: There are many reasons, so in the interest of time I’ll just highlight a few. First, people often shop for cars while they are at work. The web logs of any automotive website will confirm this fact. People at work can’t discreetly call or be called, but they can discreetly initiate a chat, ask a few questions at the moment of interest, and schedule an appointment. Second, consumers increasingly prefer text-based communications of all types – SMS text messages on mobile phones, Twitter, Facebook messaging, Skype chat, etc. As consumers use text-based communication more and more in their daily lives, it follows that they will use it when car shopping too. Third, consumers desire instant gratification. Fewer and fewer are willing to fill out a lead form and wait for someone to contact them.

Jeff: Autotrader.com is the latest in a long list of sites such as Cars.com, CarsDirect.com, CarSoup.com, and many regional and local players who’ve selected Contact At Once! to power their chat features. How is it that your company has become so pervasive on automotive sites?

Marc: When we founded the company in 2005 we had a vision unlike any other chat vendor then or since. We didn’t view chat as just an add-on for dealer websites. Rather, we looked a data showing that 90%+ of car shoppers start their search on a website other than a dealership website and said to ourselves “so why does chat software only work on dealer websites?”. We felt dealers could sell more cars if we could connect them to shoppers on all of the sites their inventory appeared on. Thus, we built ContactAtOnce! to include both the traditional dealer website chat software and, uniquely, an advanced patent-pending layer of chat features that enable it to work on 3rd party sites as well. Because of that, our company stood out when Cars.com, Autotrader.com, and other automotive site providers conducted their in-depth vendor evaluations and selections.

Jeff: Dealer conversations around chat inevitably turn to the topic of whether or not dealership personnel are capable of answering chats effectively. What has been your experience on this matter?

Marc: We know many dealers are not only capable of but do answer live chats quite effectively. As a company we are agnostic. The vast majority of our dealers prefer to answer their own chats but many use a BDC as a “backup” during busy times and after hours. Other customers feel our BDC can do a better job than their people and just outsource it 100%. Still others don’t want anyone other than their personnel interacting with customers. So, it varies from dealer to dealer, and our goal is to provide a valuable service no matter which model a given dealership prefers.

Jeff: What would be the best thing to compare chat to for reporting purposes? Most of the time it is graded against Internet leads, but it is really more like a phone call right?”

Marc : Our customers report closing ratios in the 20-25% range which is more like phone leads than form leads. One of our customers, Marc Ray of Grogan’s Towne Chrysler Jeep Dodge, recently told us “Chat is today’s phone up. If you don’t have chat it is like not having your phones plugged in.” I love that quote!

Jeff: Since it is more like a phone-up than an Internet lead, is there a specific way a dealer should be training (or looking for training on) instant chat?

Marc : Absolutely. I think most chat vendors offer some type of live chat training. We offer free online self-paced training courses, as well as free live webinar-based training. Users can register for the webinars and/or access the online training courses from http://contactatonce.com/support-training. We also partner with a number of training and consulting firms who have incorporated chat training into their overall internet department and BDC training programs.

Jeff: Is Autotrader.com your customer, or are they reselling your software to dealers?

Marc: Autotrader.com is our customer. They licensed our software because they found during trials that chat increased the number of online shoppers interacting with dealerships by about 20%. They spend significant sums on advertising to attract shoppers to their website, so a 20% improvement is a big deal.

Jeff: So a dealer can use your software to handle chats coming from Autotrader.com, Cars.com, or other 3rd party sites because those sites have, in effect, licensed your software and “bundled” it with their advertising packages?

Marc: Correct.

Jeff: And if a dealer wants to add your chat software to their own website, they can buy a license for that directly from you?

Marc : Correct. In that way, a dealer can use one set of tools and processes to handle all chats no matter where they originate. Pricing and product details for our Dealer Edition license can be found on our auto dealer chat website.

Live Dealer Chat – Exclusive Interview with Contact At Once! is a post from: Internet sales manager training

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Perfecting the Lead Mix for your Dealership – White Paper

Dealers receive leads from their own websites; their OEM’s site; and independent Internet sites, which can include large portals as well as auto research, buying, and enthusiast sites. Each source represents different types of investments and different types of buyers – and no two dealers will have the same formula for how much of their lead mix should be allotted for each source. To explore the question of lead mix, Dealix hosted a moderated panel discussion at the 2010 NADA convention. The panel, attended by 50 invited guests representing dealerships of all sizes, resulted in a robust information exchange and debate. In response to requests for transcripts of the discussion, Dealix compiled this edited transcript of the event. You can download it here.

Agreement and Controversy

The panelists agreed on certain important points. For instance, all stated that dealers should have leads from each source in their business mix, and all agreed that evaluation of results should be based, not on lead close rate, but on gross profit per vehicle sold. Certain items, however, produced controversy. Most notably, the question posed by John Holt, CEO of The Cobalt Group and moderator of the discussion, produced different opinions from the panelists

“Which type of lead do you assign to your top salespeople?”

The Set Up

Three industry experts were asked to present and advocate for each type of lead (see speaker bios on page 15 of the white paper.) David Kain spoke of the value of leads from the OEM sites, Brian Pasch of PCG Digital Marketing addressed the contribution of leads from dealers’ own websites, and Anna Zornosa represented the value of leads from independent Internet sites. Note, Zornosa explained that she purposely avoided the term “third party lead” – a term she felt was confusing; instead using the term “independent Internet leads” to refer to leads from independent sites.

Reading through the white paper, there are a few topics that I’ll highlight for discussion purposes, you can then download and read the rest – come back here and share with us your opinion subject(s).

As I read through this, I ask myself; are we really still talking about this? Yes we are, just as we continue the need to talk about lead response and quality of response. I guess that’s why consultants and trainers, many times make a shit load of money training on the same stuff year after year – tweek it a little, and throw their own spin on it – it’s ok, 90% of the population/dealers/businesses never really change and that’s because people never change. Ok – getting of my little rant, let’s move on .

Kain was in the corner for OEM leads.

“From an OEM’s perspective, what is critical is that a ‘lead’ be an opportunity to talk to a consumer at a personal level about why a car is designed the way it is, how it fits that consumer’s lifestyle, how it provides safety and security, and what they can expect from owning it.”

Pasch was in the Dealer website corner.

“They (dealer website leads) convert at twice the rate as OEM or independent site leads. I work with dealers who are closing 20 to 25% of their own site leads and 10 to 12% of their independent site leads.”

Anna was in the corner of 3rd Party Leads.

“All three types of leads are important and need to be in the mix. But leads from independent Internet sites uniquely represent an opportunity for a dealer to expand market share.”

Much of the conversation surrounds around not only figuring out what percentage of these 3 lead sources should be apart of your dealers lead mix but what type of consumers are predominantly associated each one. More importantly do you need to “speak” to each one of these customers differently?

Source: R.L. Polk & Co. Consumer Expectations for Internet Lead Shopping Study, May 2008

If you have a solid process dialed in – taking a slightly different approach between the 3 different leads can be beneficial during the initial correspondence and introduction. But let’s face it, getting your lead response time under 10 minutes with most dealerships is a challenge in itself.

Do you approach your dealer website leads differently than your OEM leads or 3rd Party leads and if so, what are you doing different?

Perfecting the Lead Mix: The Key to Growing Sales in Your Dealership is a post from: Internet sales manager training

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Edmunds.com, they’re stealing from me!

We spend a lot of money with Edmunds.  We buy leads off their site (through a third-party) and participate in their PDP program for premium placement.  We have been a very good customer of theirs for YEARS!  And they’ve been good to us….until now.

Before I get into what is going on, I want to say that I have sent emails and made phone calls to my rep who aids us in all things Edmunds.  He has pushed things up the chain, along with my request for “at least a phone call” before 5:00 PM EST today to work things out.  Well, the phone call didn’t come.  So, I feel that I have given Edmunds time to respond.  They could have simply said “5:00 PM isn’t enough time” and I would have been fine with that.  So here we go:

I was checking on new search results for our dealership names on Google and came across a PPC ad on the search term “Checkered Flag MINI“:

Do you see what’s wrong with this?

Here is a company we pay lots of money to buying AND USING our name to get people to submit a price quote request on their site to either sell back to us OR to sell to one of our competitors.  Ladies and Gentlemen, that is THEFT!!!

Here’s the full screen shot:

We own the rights to our name within our marketplace.  We did not give Edmunds permission to parade as us on Google (another big nasty issue for a later DealerRefresh article).  And I also don’t like the fact that there is a company we pay good money to who is competing with us for SEM placement on our own friggin’ name (and another big nasty issue for another DR article).

Just to show that Checkered Flag is not the only dealership being effected, here are our friends at Proctor Acura:

I want to believe that Edmunds made a mistake.  I want to believe that they just forgot to filter something out of their gigantic SEM campaign.  I want to believe that they wouldn’t outright steal from a long-term partner.

So, what do you have to say Edmunds?

Dealers – you better start Googling your name!

UPDATE:  12/5/2009

Edmunds has publicly responded in the comments section of this posting that they have stopped this PPC practice.  However, many other points have been brought to light because of this.  Also in the comment string below are points on Edmunds SEO practices and use of dealership names.  Read the comments to formulate your own opinions.

As best we can tell, Edmunds has not apologized for any of this as of yet.

Is Edmunds STEALING from you? is a post from: Internet sales manager training

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KBB wants to change how auto leads are bought and sold

Guest Posting by Cliff Banks

Kelley Blue Book is launching a bold initiative, hoping to revolutionize the way online leads are bought and sold.

In the process, it’s turning its back on a rather successful revenue generator while speeding into a business dominated by AutoTrader.com and Cars.com.

In July, Kelley announced it was launching an online classified listings service for new and used vehicles and will charge dealers on a per lead basis. It’s calling the venture KBB’s Trusted Marketplace.

For years, AutoTrader.com and Cars.com have employed a subscription-type model, in which dealers pay a flat rate each month to list their inventory on the two automotive sites. The price is determined by the level of service a dealer chooses.

At times, dealers have grumbled about the seemingly high prices AutoTrader charges, and say the cost does not always match the level of performance.

Justin Yaros, Kelley’s executive vice president-product design and development, who helped develop the new strategy says the initiative will provide dealers greater control over their lead generating costs, while improving the performance of leads by better matching customers with the right vehicles.

Dealers will pay Kelley $20 for every lead their inventory listed on KBB.com generates.

Although, other firms such as, Dealix, AutoUSA, AOL, Overstock.com and Autobytel Inc. started implementing pay-per-lead strategies with their dealers within the last year, the model has been slow to take off. Kelley’s brand cache and consumer traffic should lend weight to the concept, executives say.

“KBB.com adds legitimacy to the pay-per-lead model,” says Anna Zornosa, Dealix’s executive vice president and general manager, a proponent of the concept.

AutoTrader’s CEO and President Chip Perry declined to comment for this story, but has dismissed the pay-per-lead model at industry conferences and in previous conversations with Ward’s.

He can afford to. AutoTrader is the clear leader in the space, generating more than $1 billion a year in revenue. Why kill the golden goose?

“KBB is a strong brand when it comes to used-car valuations,” says Mitch Golub, Cars.com’s president. “However, pay-per-lead classified listings are a completely different business. They clearly have their work cut out, especially if they pursue a model that aggregates listings from a wide array of providers. That model has yet to work.”

Although the concept of pay-per-performance is attractive, whether Kelley can move the market sufficiently to create a groundswell among dealers to make a switch to its model, remains to be seen.

Kelley has several challenges. One, it’s new to the listings game — a game Cars.com and AutoTrader play very well.

Another challenge for Kelley is inventory. It gets the consumer traffic, but has depended on either Cars.com or AutoTrader.com in the past for inventory listings.

Cars.com or AutoTrader (depending on which firm Kelley was partnering with at the time) paid Kelley millions of dollars to list their inventory on its site.

KBB.com, because of its high consumer traffic, would drive more leads back to AutoTrader’s or Cars.com’s dealers. Or at least, that was how the concept was to work.

Privately, executives from both firms claim the number of leads received didn’t warrant the high listing prices Kelley commanded.

Kelley executives say listing inventory for other firms is an advertising play. While the money is good, the companies listing the inventory controlled the consumer experience, something Kelley thinks it can improve significantly.

Whatever the reason, AutoTrader and Kelley ended their partnership in July, six months before the contract was scheduled to end.

Kelley then turned to Vast Inc., a technology firm that has been championing the pay-per-performance model the last couple of years.

Vast’s goal is to create a network of automotive online sites that together will create enough pressure on AutoTrader.com Cars.com to force them into the pay-per-performance model.

“The subscription players underestimate the innovation that comes with the pay-per-lead model and what that does to the quality of the lead,” Zornosa says.

Vast aggregates inventory from numerous industry partners, such as Kelley, Dealix, Autobytel, AutoUSA, AOL, Dealer Specialties and Overstock.com.

Vast then optimizes the inventory and pushes it back out to its partner sites. The value is that each firm’s inventory shows up on each of Vast’s partner sites, extending their reach and visibility.

Kelley’s move is big because the enterprise brings in the most consumer traffic as one of the most visited automotive sites online.

Vast says its value goes beyond just extending the reach of a firm’s inventory listings. It’s created search algorithms that will match consumers with the right vehicle, which in theory, should lead to more valuable leads.

Each of Vast’s partners can customize how they want the search algorithms to work, letting them control the consumer experience on their site.

Like Google, Vast combines its search technology with a bid process to determine where each vehicle appears in the listings. This lets a third party company provide better leads to its dealers by bidding more to push the inventory closer to the top of the listings.

The dealer pays a certain amount per lead. This can include phone leads and online leads. Whom and what they pay depends on which site lead came from. Firms such as Dealix or AutoUSA may charge more or less that Kelley at $20 per lead.

Whichever firm pushed the lead to the dealer pays Vast a percentage of what the lead costs the dealer. Everybody potentially wins: the consumer, the dealer, the third-party companies and Vast.

The end result, says Vast’s Ben Cohen, is that, unlike the subscription model, dealers aren’t paying for leads they don’t necessarily want.

“Dealers have an alternative now,” Cohen says. “But they have to vote with their wallets.”

About the Aurthor: Cliff Blanks is the Editorial Director at Ward’s Dealer Business. Cliff also writes for his own blog on WardsAuto.com

Kelley Blue Book’s Big Move? is a post from: Internet sales manager training

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Be careful! Dealix is/was purchasing leads from a lead provider “New Car America” and it could be a scam.

My good friend and dealer owner brought this to my attention after speaking to a CUSTOMER (over the phone) that filled out the lead form. The phone conversation with the gentlemen that apparently filled out the lead form, supposedly confirmed that he was being paid to fill out leads request forms at $5.00 per form. The gentlemen went as far to say that he got the job by answering to a “work from home” ad.

• I did a little research and found their actual website.

http://www.newcaramerica.com/

Taken from their “About Us” page.

“NewCarAmerica.com is committed to providing consumers direct access to automobile dealers across the United States. Our automobile directory helps our users quickly find dealers in their area. Thru the use of the latest technology, such as our new car quote service and daily Blog on topics effecting today’s car and truck buyers, we provide the fastest information available to help you buy your next car or truck.”

• I did some more research and found their registration information.

Registration Service Provided By: BuffaloWeb Services, LLC

Visit: http://www.buffalowebhosting.com
Domain name: newcaramerica.com

Registrant Contact:
NewcarAmerica, Inc.
(I did remove the personal contact information)

• Here is a copy of the lead from Dealix.

————————————–
DEALIX CORPORATION SALES LEAD
————————————–
Michael Hopkins has asked to be contacted specifically by your dealership regarding the 2008 Nissan Titan 4WD below. Please contact them as soon as possible.
————————————–
Lead No.:    1217054999
Received On: 8/3/2008 12:02:00 PM (PST)
————————————–
CUSTOMER INFORMATION:

Name:        Michael Hopkins
Address:     Valley View Ave
City:        Lewistown
State:       PA
Zip:         17044
Distance:    Customer is approx. 19.6961722717323 mi. from you
E-mail:      mshopp69@yahoo.com
Phone:
Best Time:   Morning
Purchase Time Frame:  Within 2 weeks
————————————–
REQUESTED VEHICLE:

Year:         2008
Make:         Nissan
Model:        Titan 4WD
Trim:         XE Crew Cab Short Bed
Engine:       Not Specified
Transmission: Not Specified
Ext. Color:   No Preference
Int. Color:   No Preference
————————————–
ADDITIONAL INFO AND CUSTOMER NOTES:

No Trade-In Specified.
Payment Method: Cash
SPECIAL NOTES ON THIS LEAD:
Customer is approx. 19.7 mi. from you.
————————————–
CONTACT DEALIX:

Your Dealix Service Representative is:
Steve C. Diacont, 412-727-7857 (removed email)

It’s our goal to send you the very best sales leads in the business.
————————————–

After bringing this to Dealix’s attention, they did say they researched the lead and too called the customer to confirm that the gentlemen was indeed being paid to fill out the lead forms.

Props to Dealix for doing the research (I guess?) and for crediting the dealer for all the leads that had came from New Car America. It still concerns me that Dealix would even buy leads from a lead generator like this, just look at the website.

• Here is a copy of the email from the support rep at Dealix (take notice to his signature..he.).

Hi Jeff,

These are the 4 leads that you received from New Car America, i have compd them.  I will stay on top of this and let you know when we have a resolution.

(see attached)

Thank You
Steve Diacont
Delaix
412-980-8377

This is total crap! I encourage EVERYONE that is purchasing leads from Dealix or ANY 3rd Party Lead provider to be sure you’re NOT careful buying leads from New Car America.

ALERT – DO NOT BUY LEADS from New Car America! is a post from: Internet sales manager training

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Have you experienced the AutoTrader.com BLITZ?

Every once in a while you meet a salesperson who was obviously flexing his/her muscles to a coworker before trying to sell you something.  If things go awry, they have a tendency to say things that don’t usually make the sale, but probably push someone further away.

Well, I’m not going to get into what happened to my boss and me last Thursday, but would rather hear your Autotrader blitz stories.

Don’t know what the Autotrader.com blitz is?

Autotrader.com brings sales reps from different  areas into various markets to see if a change of face can get a dealer to sign-up for more stuff….or just sign-up.  I have heard it is called the Autotrader Blitz, but I’ve never actually heard an ATC rep say that.

Soooooo – have you been approached by an AutoTrader.com sales rep who usually doesn’t work your market area? If you have, how did it go?

P.S.  I promise to share my story later.

Have you been blitzed by team ATC yet? is a post from: Internet sales manager training

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What do you want from your 3rd Party Lead Vendors?

A.  ROI
B.  Conversion
C.  Marketing
D.  All of the above

Here is another Blueprint Series to discuss those exact things.  Tell your third party lead provider exactly what you want! Tell your third party lead provider what they’re doing wrong.  Yes, this includes anyone who sends you a lead, except your own website or direct ventures.

This one is for, but not limited to:  AAA, AOL, Adtel, AutoExtra, AutoMart, AutoUSA, AutoTrader.com, Jumpstart, CarFax, Cars.com, CarsDirect, Dealix, Edmunds, KBB, NewLeadsPlus, OEM’s, Vehix, Yahoo, USAA, ZAG, etc.

Blueprint Series: Third-Party Lead Providers is a post from: Internet sales manager training

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AutoUSA had 400 automotive dealerships surveyed AND 90% of respondents ranked "accuracy of the information" as the most important feature!?!? No Shit! The "amount of contact information" and the lead "closing ratio" were also very important. No Shit! x 2

I’m not sure we needed a study to figure this out.

Phil DuPree, president of AutoUSA said:

"Providing dealers with a volume of leads that can’t be worked because of inaccurate or incomplete information will drive down closing rates. Lead quality continues to be the overriding factor in achieving high close rates and dealer satisfaction with third party lead providers."

AND

"Dealers are looking for the right mix of lead providers that deliver the best coverage for their dealership and a high volume of quality leads," said DuPree. "They’re not afraid to switch providers if they aren’t seeing results."

Those are some impressive key factors to point, AND….I hope they didn’t pay too much to have that survey performed.

I’m not going to knock AutoUSA too hard (even though I still never got a solid answer for my duplicate lead issue). In my previous positions at past dealers, I did get my better leads from AutoUSA. Though, if you wanted to break it down even deeper, it was actually the leads from Edmunds.com that had the highest closing ratio (BUT..too often had the worse front end gross). Guess you can’t have both?

If you want, you can make the jump over to the
full press release..AutoUSA Study Finds Accuracy of Information Keeps Dealers Satisfied with Third Party Lead Providers

AutoUSA Study Finds Accuracy of Information in 3rd Party Leads Keeps Dealers Satisfied is a post from: Internet sales manager training

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Most of you (the one’s that sell cars for a living) may have to make a concentrated effort to look past the way you like to sell cars in order to answer honestly. With any luck, everyone that comments will do so from the perspective of a consumer.

Is there anything in the traditional or expected car shopping/buying experience that consumers really like? I’ve had dealers, General Mangers and salesmen tell me over and over for years that “buying a car is an emotional experience.” Those words are always spoken with an “I’m so smart and I really understand people” kind of tone. Do I disagree? Yes and no. Buying a car obviously involves some emotion, but the truth is that it’s primarily negative emotion. Car dealers and the typical way they run their businesses create tension, worry, frustration, anger, fear and depression often before the customer has even considered them.

Not that any of you read the newspaper, watch the boob-tube, listen to the radio or use the internet, but if you did then you’d know that car dealerships advertise in these places. Have you ever seen a TV commercial advertising a vehicle at what seems to be an impossible price? Have you ever seen a newspaper ad doing the same? Can you say loss-leaders? Can you say trickery, manipulation, coercion? So, what’s my point? When dealers market and advertise themselves in these ways they’re already stirring emotion in consumers. Guess what kind of emotion? Maybe this video will help paint the picture.

So…what do consumers want in a car buying experience? I have my opinions, but I want yours. You took the time to read this, so think like a consumer (if you can) and let the community know your thoughts.

With encouragement and hope.

Shaun is the CEO and Consultant for Dealer Advisor

What do consumers really want in a car buying experience? is a post from: Internet sales manager training

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