It is scary to think that the dealer group I work for has been with 4 different site vendors, 5 different SEM vendors, 2 different SEO vendors, and who knows how many Internet click-through campaigns since 1999.   I know there are dealers out there who flip between these companies faster than Paris Hilton hops to the next party.  I like to think we have found a good home with a few of our current programs, but there is always something better on the horizon.  Forget about the next greatest thing and forget about any fancy gadgets one company has; let’s talk about tracking.

Tracking is one of the greatest things the Internet provides us.  It is also one of the hardest things to police.  One company’s 1,000 unique visitors are another company’s 5,000.  Who is correct?  We have a tendency to flock to companies with backing tools such as Google Analytics, but what happens when two Google Analytics companies show differing numbers?  It has happened to me, and I’m sure it has happened to others here.

Let me get back to my company’s vendor jumping…sure, it has been due to a better deal coming along.  Sure, it has been due to a fancier product coming out.  Sure, it has been for many of the same reasons everyone else can state too.  The one thing that seems to be the major shot of death, is a loss in faith due to untrustworthy tracking numbers.

I’m sure most of the DealerRefresh participants watch their own site’s traffic like hawks, but is it truly trustworthy?  Why is there no standard out there that everyone abides by?  Why do I get different numbers from my site provider than I do from what my current banner ad on www.whereBmybannerad.com tells me they sent to me last month?  Why are the differences so huge?

P.S.  To the vendors reading this thread – I’m not attacking anyone in particular.  If this article is taken as an attack, please point it toward the Internet industry in general, and not solely the automotive end.

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If your not using an RSS reader, it’s time you get on board and the site
I recommend subscribing to first is DealerRefresh.

For those who are not familiar with RSS. RSS or Really Simple Syndication
is an XML-based Web syndication tool for Web sites and blogs. RSS feeds news
content with information and a descriptions of the posting. An RSS Reader then
interprets this feed so that the user need only read the description and link to
the news story or blog post.

I personally like the Google Reader and since I have been getting my news via
RSS, I would freak out if I didn’t have it. So here is a quick tutorial on
getting your RSS reader up and running and adding DealerRefresh to your
subscriptions.

1.
www.google.com/reader and sign up for a Google reader account.

2. To the left of your reader, you will see "Add Subscription". Click and
type in
www.dealerrefresh.com. The Google reader will automatically find my RSS feed
and add it to your reader.

It’s that SIMPLE, now you’ll never miss a new posting on DealerRefresh.com!!

What websites and blogs are in Jeff Kershners Google Reader? Here are a few:

http://www.copyblogger.com/

http://www.grokdotcom.com/

http://www.copywritingmaven.com

http://www.searchnewz.com/

http://www.autonews.com/

http://feeds.wired.com/wired/topheadlines

http://blogproautomotive.com/

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I stumbled across this nifty program several weeks back. I don’t want this posting to sound like a sales pitch, but if you’re tired of managing duplicate leads every month you should really consider checking into i-LeadControl.

After spending some time on the website I was intrigued and decided to make a phone call. I had a long conversation with Steve Williams (one of the owners and ALSO an Internet Sales Manager!) about his product and sat through a quick demonstration. Needless to say I was impressed and wondered why didn’t I come up with this myself?

You basically forward ALL of your leads (3rd Party leads, dealer website, AutoTrader, etc.) to i-LeadControl. As your leads pass though the system, it gathers all the information then instantaneously passes the leads along to your ILM or CRM system. i-LeadControl automatically monitors, analyzes for duplication, and documents every lead that you receive.

I get tired of tracking all of my duplicate leads (since eLead Evolution 1 does’nt have a duplicate lead report). I try to keep track of it on a day by day basis but I eventually get behind and find myself trying to track them down at the end of the month. There are a few CRM’s that do a decent job tracking your duplicate leads but most do not. And the ones that do, don’t produce and actual credit invoice that you print off and send in with your bill, saving you some money .

I’ve been on board for a a few weeks now and it’s really simple to use. The set up was easy and pulling the reports is even easier. I will say, I don’t think the lead providers are going to like this too much BUT HEY; they have been screwing the dealers for so long, now it it’s time we stand our ground and get credit for all of those duplicate leads they send us.

After speaking with Steve, I really wanted to help him get his product off the ground while letting everyone know of a program that will save us ISM’s some time and money. SO we decided to offer a "DealerRefresh Special"!! If you are interested in trying out i-LeadControl, DealerRefresh readers get $100.00 OFF the setup fee.

The normal set-up fee is usually $499.99 but IF YOU MENTION DealerRefresh you get your set-up fee at a reduced rate of $399.99.

If you have a few questions before calling, you can
read the FAQ’s about i-LeadControl. I recommend taking 5 minutes and sitting through a demo to see if it works for you.

www.ileadcontrol.com

Screen shot of a duplicate lead report.

Screen shot of a generated invoice that you send it with your bill.

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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 .

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Sales coupons for your dealerships website have been around for some time. There are several providers that offer them as an add-on feature (edealertools, Zablo, etc.) for your existing dealership website and there are a few that incorporate coupons as a major function of their dealership website.

*Please keep in mind that I am referring to a money savings sales coupon and not a service department coupon.

So what is the purpose of a money savings sales coupon? Are they really beneficial to have? Do shoppers find them as a valuable feature of your dealerships website?

If your website has the right formula for conversion and you have the right follow-up process ..is a coupon really necessary or are you just giving up front end gross?

I have shared my different views below;

1. Conversion – different people answer to different call the actions. Where one shopper might be triggered to “Get a quote” another shopper might be more interested to “Schedule a test drive”. The right call to actions, the better your website conversion. “Click here for a “Savings Coupon” is another call to action that could cause interest and convert that shopper into a lead.

2. Tracking - Since many dealers have separate Internet sales departments or an individual internet salesperson, we know too well that argument between the sales floor and the Internet sales department to claim the customer. If the customer has that coupon…well, 1 point for the Internet sales department and Internet Marketing.

How much persuasion can a sales coupon really have? If a shopper is on your website and does not find what they want, is it possible they could be persuaded by a coupon to give up their name, number and email? Would you give your personal information for a coupon for something you’re not interested in?

If a customer sees what they want and you have already converted the customer into a lead, then they stumble across the coupon, have you just handed over some gross that maybe you otherwise would not have had to do?

Please share;

How do you feel about sales coupons?

Are you presently using a coupon on your dealership website?

If so, how successful have you been with it, what’s your closing ratio?

Please comment and share your thoughts.

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