The recent post on the DealerRefresh forums about Social Media Gurus and scams led to the idea that some information might be helpful to dealers in deciding who to hire and trust.

Here are some questions to consider:

How can you research a company or consultant when they claim to be social media gurus?

What’s considered authentic in terms of social media consulting for your dealership?

These are justifiable questions, that deserve to be answered with examples of work and real results. It’s difficult however, for a company who isn’t quite clear on the examples they’ve been provided to make a confident decision on whether they’re hiring a quality provider.

Lets dive in and discuss five ways you can do some due diligence when selecting a high quality social media provider.

A Great Way to Build Customer Retention and Loyalty

Dealer Advisory Boards are a regular tool used by Automotive Vendors to maintain relationships with their top clients and to keep them engaged in the service they provide. Autotrader.com, for instance, has a great Dealer Advisory forum that they use to gauge customer satisfaction and product effectiveness. It is also a launching point for new ideas and services. Generally if their top clients don’t like it, neither will the masses. Autotrader.com not only gains valuable feedback from the dealer perspective through these meetings, but also strengthens the relationship they have with their major client base; which builds loyalty and retention.

So why not extend this idea to your best dealership customers as well?

I have an easy job for you.  I’m in the market for a new 55″ LED TV and I need your help to find the best one that is local to me.  Sears and Best Buy are right down the street, but I have ordered a TV from B&H Photo Video before – mind checking that one too?  I need:

1. Price
2. Soonest Availability
3. Best Ratings

Did you find one for me yet?   No!  What do you mean you didn’t look?  You just kept reading?  Okay – fine, I’ll tell you who this exercise is really for:  your staff or your HIPPO (HIghest Paid Person with the biggest Opinion).  You’re on DealerRefresh so you already know this stuff.

Critiquing a Live Dealer Chat Transcript

We have word tracks for when were face to face with a potential client.
We have word tracks for becoming a Ninja like phone-up professional, moving the customer to appointment.

Have the right words at the right time in your arsenal and move the customer that much closer to the appointment or sale.

But what about word tracks for Chat..”Chat Tracks“.. for when you’re in the introduction or knee deep in a chat with a customer on the other side of your monitor?

If your dealer is using chat to build a relationship and capture more leads from your dealers website or inventory listing site like Cars.com, it’s imperative to obtain ninja like chat skills.

Let me introduce you to the rule of equal incompetence.  It applies to many of us.  When a market of competitors all hire the same people and adopt the same practices you end up with equivalency.  When business decisions are not based in fact, you create incompetence.  Thus, the rule of equal incompetence.

If you’ve ever worked in a dealership, located in a competitive market, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

Over the years I heard a lot of “we should do this because I feel it is the best way to do it” and “I think we should ____.”  I rarely heard “I looked at the numbers and even though I don’t personally feel it is something I would use, the numbers don’t lie so we are going to do this.”  There are quite a few operators and General Managers who have made careers off of “feelings”.  They did this through a mix of talent, luck, short memories and the rule of equal incompetence.  I can’t say that my own career hasn’t had a few of these elements mixed in.  I’ll be the first to raise my hand and say guilty as charged.

Lately, I have heard “I think” and “I feel” more times than I care to think about.  I’m taking a stand.  No more decisions by gut.  Give me stats and A/B tests.

With so many numbers at our finger tips there is only one reason to ignore the facts:  you don’t understand them.