If you have no idea what has been happening in Iran, it is probably because you’ve been living under Iraq a rock.  I’m going to try to stay out of the politics behind it, but Iran is the “religious democracy” with an Ayatollah as the head of government and an elected president who serves as the “faceman”.  The recent Presidential election ended up in conspiracy as many of the citizens did not believe the outcome (who, why, what are irrelevant for the purpose of this article).  As a result Iranians poured into the streets in protest of the election results.  During the protests, violence broke out and the Iranian government banned foreign news reporters from the country.

Without adequate reporting how is the world keeping up with everything that is happening in Iran?  How are Iranian citizens rallying people to their cause?  Social media!

Twitter, YouTube, blogs, and facebook have been the main forms of reporting and the coverage has been much better than any major broadcasting network could ever fathom.  Of course the quality of the media might be a little off, but the number of stories, conveyed emotions, and believability more than make up for cell phone pictures and hand-held video footage.

Ladies and gentlemen, whether you care about what happens in Iran or not, this event is going to go down in history as a major change in the way people communicate and how much power a single voice can have.

I have read stories by newspaper journalists stating that the state of accurate information is going to decline along with the decline of the newspaper.  I have also heard people say that things like Watergate will never be exposed again because the professional journalist will not be around to snoop things out.  These could be true; only time will tell.  However, there is a trend of information sources moving to social media that has now been exposed by the conflicts in Iran.

Like you, I am getting tired of reading all the stuff about social media.  I am not going to tell you this is a must and you’re going to go out of business if you don’t use it.  I just wanted to point out a major event in our lifetime and maybe give you a little something extra to think about.

An Important Video Message from AutoTrader.com

Alan Smith, Sr. Vice President of Dealer Sales, and Chip Perry, CEO

This video will open in another browser/tab

Alan Smith and Chip Perry talk about the challenging times and some of the changes that are taking place at AutoTrader.com. This is a good message, I recommend watching it in it’s entirety. If you have an opinion, lets keep them positive and/or professional.

Even though the Cash for Clunkers Legislation has not passed yet, there is a lot of potential business already circulating around this program.  If you’re the first on the scene, you can seriously rule your market for anyone trying to find more information about the bill.

First:  Build your site and prepare your staff
“This bill is not official”, and those should be the first words out of your mouth, followed by a big BUT.  “But, when the bill is passed we want to be the dealership that earns your business.  Let me tell you a bit about the bill as it currently sits - have you visited the Cash for Clunkers page on our website (Checkered Flag’s Cash for Clunkers page)?  We are a participating Cash for Clunkers dealership, and ready to help you with the program when it does launch.  Basically, the program covers vehicles over X years old with a combined MPG of less than XX…”  you get the idea.

Kbb.com adds new Classified Inventory Listings for Dealers

Ahhh, another classified inventory listing website for dealers. As if all the other sites are not enough, we now have another option/site to list our dealers inventory on. Just what we need, right!

Starting July 2009, Kbb.com is launching their new inventory listings program. Dealers will be able to sign up to list their New and Used car inventory in KBB.com (Kelly Blue Book).

What ever happened to the Kbb.com and AutoTrader.com Strategic Partnership?

That sure was short lived. It’ll be interesting to see how this play out.

Below is a C/P from Kelly Blue Book about their new service.

Guest Posting by Chris Reed

NYC Google Automotive Summit 2009

Google has been holding a series of briefings for OEMs and agencies across the country. The NY program has some great speakers from inside and outside the industry. As you might expect, a primary topic was “when will this pain end?”.

John Casesa, the auto analyst and an advisor to the Auto Task Force, had some great historic analysis identifying that a lot of the intensity of the current slump is the result of several years of “unnaturally” high demand that was propped up by easy money and incentives. In terms of what got the domestics into their current fix, Casesa took the long view and said the root cause dates from the 1930’s when the National Labor Relations Act and State Franchise Laws were passed in reaction to predatory OEM practices. Unfortunately, these laws shifted the power dynamic in the opposite direction and created a structural rigidity that, over time, lead to bloated labor costs, inflexible rules and excess capacity in the franchise network as market shares declined. This, in turn, led to less product innovation and excess debt as import competition squeezed margins and volume.

As most of you know, we launched the DealerRefresh Technology Support & Best Practices Forums (yes, we know that is a mouthful, call it the “DR Forums” for short) this last Wednesday and it was nothing less of exciting. Phone calls out the whazoo from friends, long time supporters to even several vendors already asking us to remove threads and comments. HA!

We have positioned DR Forums as a unique spot for dealers to get some help with all these technologies we’re struggling with and a good place to discover new products (almost a 24/7 NADA without all the badgering). It didn’t take long to get some great discussions going on…

If you’ve been thinking about switching CRM companies, or have been curious about what other dealers think of other CRM/ILM solutions, check out the >> Which CRM are you using? << thread.

Been thinking about doing video walkarounds or getting into the nitty gritty of VideoSEO? Take a look at the >> Taking videos of your vehicles << thread.

Live Chat on Dealership Websites is getting ready to become common practice - why aren’t you doing it? But before you sign a contract on that Live Chat tool, check out the >> Low Cost Live Chat Software << thread - which isn’t just about Low Cost solutions. If there are any vendors paying attention - this thread has quickly become a blueprint for building a live chat tool!

If you haven’t already check out the DR Forums, slide on over there and sign-up.

Don’t forget about Digital Dealer Conference this week. I’m sort of bummed about  not being there this time around but I just couldn’t work it into the schedule.

By the way…WHO will be tweeting from Digital Dealer and what will the hashtag be? #ddconference or #digitaldealer?

I did post “Digital Dealer 6 Conference - Are you going?” with some recommendations on which sessions to attend. After I wrote that, there was another session added to the agenda that I wanted to be sure to mention and would highly recommend attending.

Avoid Internet FAIL with a SUPER Strategy
Dealer websites originated in the mid-late 1990’s and were designed as digital, interactive billboards. Consumers expect better in 2009, yet seldom get it from car dealers.  Call and email is not what today’s consumer wants. Come to this session if you want to learn practical, proven, profitable ideas that dealers are successfully using today to break away from low gross, high effort, low engagement Internet failure.

My buddies “Rock Star” Shaun Raines (CEO of DealerAdvisor) and Brian Hoecht (founder of Ai-Dealer) will be putting on this session Tuesday 11:15. Be sure to check it out!

Paul Rushing wrote a must read article over on driving sales - State of the Click - Banner Ads

Ward’s e-Dealer 100 Snafu. Ward’s e-Dealer 100 ranking was tallied with some incorrect data. As a result, they have published a new corrected list of the 2009 Ward’s e-Dealer 100.

Check out this VIDEO - How to use Twitter for linkbuilding. Somewhat interesting.

A Four-Door Porsche? Porsche introduces the four-door Panamera at this year’s Shanghai Motor Show. Somehow I’m on their press release distribution list and they sent me a link to download some Panamera video footage. I LOVE Porsche!

Ohhh before I forget, I just posted a question over in the DR Forums that hit my inbox yesterday.

“I’m asking about Autobytel the lead source provider and wondering how it works for dealerships. Have any of you had experience with them and are you happy?”

Anyone using Autobytel with success anymore? Post your comments in the forum.

That’s it for this week! Hopefully we can get back on board with the weekly refresh (we’ve heard that before).

DealerRefresh introduces it’s ALL NEW DealerRefresh Dealer Technology Forums.

What CRM do we you use?
Who offers the best desking solution?
How do you optimize your Inventory Management software?

These are the type of questions that make their way into our inbox daily at DealerRefresh.

So, as a response; Alex and I have been hard at work on something a little different, something we think is missing in our industry. This will no doubt provide dealers and industry software and service vendors an avenue to truly connect with one another.

Introducing the ALL NEW DealerRefresh Technology Forum.

The DealerRefresh forum is for discussing the different technologies we all use at the dealership – a way to talk about best practices, learn about other products, and find solutions to problems we may be having. On top of all that, what it mostly gives you is a VOICE. DealerRefresh has pretty much just been Alex and me, and we have been wanting to give anyone the ability to participate on a LARGER LEVEL. This is that venue to get it done and have a voice of your own.

I think you’ll be impressed with all the hard work we have put into the forum. We already have several threads and posts/comments in several of the different forums for you to read and comment on. These forums include:

• CRM, ILM, and Desking Support & Best Practices
• Inventory Software Support & Best Practices
• Dealer Website Support & Best Practices
• Service Scheduling, Online Parts/Accessories Solutions

So TODAY April 15th, announces the OPENING! So jump in, sign up and be a part of the DealerRefresh Technology Forum community and continue driving sales.

We hope to see you in the Forum!

Read the Official Press Release
Automotive Internet Sales Forums Help Dealers Discover New Opportunities

According to Nielsen, more time is spent on Social Networking sites than is spent reading or sending emails. In their latest study, this equates to one out of every six minutes of the average web user’s time is spent on sites like FaceBook, MySpace, or Twitter…or Dealer Refresh (and other blogging sites). Social Networking is growing at twice the pace of other major online activities such as using a search engine, researching a car purchase, or just sending an email.

To put social media into the simplest of definitions, think of it as a place where people can converse with other people on the Internet.

Take a look at Nielsen’s survey. Of note is page 7 where they address the problems in advertising within a “conversation”.

It will take time to work out the magic formula for successfully advertising in social networks.  The diversity and personalised nature of the environment means standard ad models - such as contextual search and standard unit sizes - won’t cut it. Different approaches across ad units and ad inventory will have to be tried, involving a trial and error mindset.

As advertisers, do we join the conversation or interrupt it?

Is it time for dealers to have an ERM and could synergy between your employees reduces turnover?

NADA 2009 was of course not what most had hoped. Dealer attendance was down and it was obvious that many vendors scaled back (their booths and the parties made that apparent). At times I thought a tumbleweed was going to roll by my ankles as I was walking the floor (OK, maybe it wasn’t that bad).

I wish I had additional time to visit more booths and get introduced to more products. But time seemed limited this year, so I wasn’t able to make the most of it like I usually do, hence the lack of my NADA 2009 review post (you can always read last years NADA 2008 review or even my NADA 2007 review if you like).

However, there was one product that really stuck out this year, AND no I wasn’t trying to calculate the ROI of a booth model. I guess booth models were cut out this year due to the economy and wilting budgets .

So what was this one product that stuck out?

It was Edward Brown and his teams Dealerflow ERM (Employee Relation Management) software for car dealers.

There’s an interesting story behind this. Ed contacted me a little over 2 years ago and introduced himself via email through DealerRefresh. I committed to meeting with him at NADA in 2007 to take a look at what he had going on. I admit, at first I was like “not another CRM…and a huge “GOOD LUCK with that!“. But once Ed showed me what he wanted to bring to the dealer industry, my abrupt judgment quickly turned the other way. This was SOMETHING DIFFERENT and Ed quickly gained my full attention.

Two years later, Dealerflow is LIVE and Edward and his team are pumped about bringing car dealers the very first Employee Relations Management software. This is cutting edge for our industry and as far as I’m concerned only the beginning of something huge!!

I asked Ed if he would answer a few questions for DealerRefresh readers and explain in more detail on what Dealerflow is all about. Of course he said YES!

Jeff - What exactly is Dealerflow?

Edward - Dealerflow is an ERM — an Employee Relationship Management system for car dealers. Sort of like your CRM is for customer facing interactions, Dealerflow is for communicating and collaborating internally. It includes Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs, instant messaging, text messaging, photo directories and calendars. Many issues you communicate today in meetings or face-to-face or over the phone can be communicated and discussed online through Dealerflow more effectively — not to mention issues that aren’t communicated at all, but could be or should be. The best thing about it is the way it elegantly integrates so many useful tools into one seamless application. We made simplicity a primary design goal, and people love that about it.

Jeff - How is it different from what’s already out there?

Edward - Most dealer software focuses on two of the primary data elements: customers or cars. Dealerflow is the first comprehensive software to focus on the third primary element: employees. Other softwares tend to be point solutions, where each application serves a rather narrow purpose. Dealerflow, on the other hand, is intended for broad use. I would compare it to your telephone in the sense that you could use your telephone to discuss any topic. So it is with Dealerflow — think of it as a general internal communication and collaboration platform. In combination with this, Dealerflow has a fully-featured employee management piece.

Jeff - So would you call Dealerflow an HR solution?

Edward - It’s sort of a light-weight HR solution, but it also has the collaboration (announcements, blogboards, file upload, web links, calendars) and messaging pieces (instant messaging, text messaging, InMail). There’s enough HR functionality to make life much easier for whoever handles HR at the dealership. That’s the beauty of Dealerflow — the HR admin can keep the system up to date with current employees and their jobs, departments, etc. and then the system just works. Employees can update their own information such as name, address, phone numbers, emergency contact, etc. and can optionally share background information on themselves. Photo directories are a mainstay of the app, and kind of resemble a high school year book. Birthdays and anniversaries of hire appear automatically on the calendar. Seniority terms are readily available and users can quickly sort people by newest or longest seniority. Dealerflow helps tie departments together and makes it easy to learn something about people you work with, and find something in common with them that you may have never know otherwise.

Jeff - Why did you start Dealerflow?

Edward - I worked several years in a large dealership as an IT manager. While there, I noticed that available software targeted specific areas like inventory control or lead management, and that was good and necessary. But there was limited technology for internal workers to communicate electronically. The interesting realization was that inside the walls of a dealership it’s not too different from the large corporations I had worked for earlier: just a bunch of people working together trying to get a job done, but without the tools that corporate America had. So I decided to build something that would bring the power of the latest collaboration technology in a simple presentation, at the right price, and customized to suit dealer companies.

Jeff - What is your hottest feature?

Edward - Text messaging probably. That along with instant messaging. It took us a long time and a lot of determination with some of the top IM developers in the world, but we created the sweetest mashup of text messaging and instant messaging. The solution is entirely web-based with no need to install anything — just run Dealerflow out of your web browser and everything just works. You can chat with anyone in your organization from either a computer or a cell phone, and you can switch easily between the two as you come and go from your desk. All messages are logged, so you can share stock numbers, prices, names, VINs, whatever with the confidence that you can pull them up later. Any user can opt-in their cell phone and use Dealerflow’s texting features without revealing their cell number. Another hot feature is statuses (think business version of Twitter for inside dealerships). Statuses answer questions like “who’s here” or “where’s Joe right now.” You can set your status from a computer or cell phone. For example, a salesperson might head out on a demo drive and text “AWAY on a dd”. Statuses can be used in a many different ways. Every status update is date and time stamped in a permanent log, so you can use them to track any kind of activity.

Jeff - Does Dealerflow support dealer groups?

Edward - Absolutely. Unlike most software in the market that has no consideration of multi-location or considered it as an afterthought, Dealerflow was designed from inception for dealer groups. We support any number of regional levels. A key feature is what we call syndication, which is just a fancy word that means to post information at an upper level and have it flow downward into the dealerships. For example, you could post a new blogboard (internal blog) topic titled “EOY Physical Inventory” into the parts department at the highest dealer group level and it would flow down to the parts departments of all dealerships in the organization. Any commentary would result in a dialogue across all parts departments. This mechanism provides a way to post items once and have them appear everywhere you want, while allowing workers in dealerships to easily see information pertinent to them without having to hunt for it. This same mechanism works for any content type, such as announcements, file uploads, web links, etc. Dealerflow enables groups to centralize operations by providing communication tools to tie the centralize op back to the dealerships it supports. Workers can also use the photo directories to see who does their job at other stores and then share ideas and best practices with them.

Jeff - How does it save or make dealers money?

Edward - Using Dealerflow, Dealers can operate with fewer people because they are more efficient. They can consolidate operations. They can run leaner in HR. They can super-charge employees with better mentoring, better direction, and better followup. They can cut out layers of human-based, manual communication. Each percentage point of workforce reduction pays about a 300% ROI on the solution. In addition, Dealerflow helps reduce unwanted turnover. Most dealerships turnover about 40% annually. When you consider the costs of recruiting and training a replacement, lost business, disruption to operations, benefit admin, unemployment, legal risks and so on, $10,000 per turnover instance is a minimum figure. Dealerflow reduces turnover by helping to build an engaging culture. It makes it easy to keep people informed and allows them to give their own input. With Dealerflow it’s easy to give people a quick online thank you or pat on the back. It enables everyone to know each other better and put faces with names. New people can come up to speed rapidly on the organization. When the dealer or GM knows people by name — even new people and people at other locations — that makes a bigger difference than you’ll ever know. This all works to retain people, driving down the turnover rate and all that cash pouring out the door. Dealerflow increases sales by providing an entirely new, non-verbal communication channel in instant messaging and text messaging. This provides people with new options to take advantage of opportunities in real-time.  Whether it’s a salesperson to sales manager or cross department, Dealerflow gives people new tools to close more business.  Finally, for companies running Microsoft Exchange, Sharepoint or similar systems, there may be the opportunity to discontinue those systems, saving on software, hardware and IT administration costs.

Jeff - How is the software offered and how do dealers use it?

Edward - Dealerflow is a hosted, pay-as-you-go service that is supported on Windows PCs (Internet Explorer and Firefox) and Apple Macs (Firefox and Safari). Users can access it from work, home, or wherever they have an internet connection. Extensive use of the system can be made via text messaging using a cell phone.

Jeff - What’s in the future? How do you plan to enhance the solution?

Edward - On deck are vacation scheduling and Outlook integration. We think it would be really powerful to allow users to request vacation, let managers approve or disapprove it, display days-off on shared calendars, and track people’s remaining vacation time. We’re committed to an easy process that syncs calendars between Dealerflow and Microsoft Outlook or Apple Mail. By early next year, we plan to release an HR module and a website interface module. Dealerflow has a solid foundation with the ability to be very flexible. We want to leave all options open while staying sharply focused on the core ERM. By its nature Dealerflow is an all-employees-participating application, so it will be interesting to see where customers want us to take it in the future.

Jeff - Edward, thanks so much for your time while introducing us to DealerFlow. I think it’s an extraordinary product and something many dealers could benefit from.

Like I mentioned above, I have been following Ed and Dealerflow for over 2 years now. I’m more excited about this product than ever. One thing that I have realized (especially now working for a larger dealer group) that there is nothing more important than having synergy between EVERYONE. Everyone from fixed opts, variable opts to the corporate office (if you have one) to the IT and HR department. We all benefit from being on the same page and keeping the lines of communication open.

“Dealerflow allows dealer employees to synergize with absolute ease”. - Jeff Kershner

There you go Ed. A quote for ya..not sure if it’s worth anything but feel free to use it!!

I have asked Ed to keep a close eye on this thread and to answer any questions.

How do you see Dealerflow fitting into the daily operations at your dealership?

Questions anyone??

Dealer Profile Alex Snyder, Ecommerce Director, Checkered Flag Motorcar Corp.

At Checkered Flag Motorcar Corp., ecommerce director Alex Snyder has something of a, well, checkered past. He began working for the southern Virginia dealer group in the fifth grade after his grandfather, the owner, learned he’d scratched his name on a desk. “I think it was $93,” Snyder says. “He used to pick me up every Saturday morning, and I’d go into our BMW store and wash cars on Saturdays until I paid that desk off. I enjoyed making money and kind of stuck with different oddball jobs around the dealership. Eventually I worked through the fixed operations side to sales.”

Snyder joined the dealership on a full-time basis in 1999, after taking some time off for college, selling Isuzus and Hyundais. He took on his current role in 2004, overseeing day-to-day marketing and defining the group’s online advertising and sales processes. “I kind of feel like the utility guy on the baseball team,” he says.

In addition to his day job, Snyder frequently contributes to the popular DealerRefresh.com automotive retail blog. Jeff Kershner launched the site to discuss the tactics and technology he and his internet sales colleagues use to generate business.

Beyond the income opportunities, Snyder says he enjoys automotive retail for the variety. “It’s never the same day. It keeps you on your toes, and it’s always about upping your performance. If you’re good at it, there’s a lot of reward and I enjoy that.”

DealerADvantage recently spoke with Snyder to learn more about Checkered Flag’s internet initiatives and how those strategies are helping to drive sales. The southern Virginia dealer group operates 10 stores representing 11 brands and records monthly sales of approximately 1,000 to 1,200 vehicles.

DealerADvantage: How does online advertising fit into your media mix?

Snyder: It’s a huge part. All the media works toward branding Checkered Flag.com in different ways to get people to visit it. We’ve gone a different route where, instead of delivering sales messages in our media, especially television, we use the traditional ad to push people online. We tell them if they want the deal, it’s on Checkered Flag.com.

DealerADvantage: You said that your online spend is currently between one-fourth and one-third of your advertising budget. In five years, do you think it’ll be half of your budget?

Snyder: Very possibly. In our marketplace, our local newspaper is still a very effective marketing tool, even though it is so much more expensive and losing its punch. We are currently making a shift toward more television, and those commercials always have a portion about Checkered Flag.com. To answer your question a little better, it is really hard to make online spending half of the ad budget when the traditional advertisements cost so much more. Sure, we could spend/waste tons of cash on less effective internet campaigns, but what is the point in that? Even with online costing less than traditional we still re-evaluate everything every quarter. If something over that three-month period has not maintained a particular closing ratio or percentage of sales, it’s cut. It doesn’t matter if we’re just pulling dollars off the money tree or if we’re in the worst recession of all time. If it isn’t performing, it goes away.

DealerADvantage: When you make that determination, what are you considering?

Snyder: I’m looking at a closing ratio for the most part. That is especially the case with a third-party lead. Other things I look at, like SEM spending and website performance, the decision is based on our own trends. If there’s a dip, and it’s a significant dip, it might go away. There could also be something else on the horizon that looks like it will have a better return, then that venture that isn’t performing as well may turn into the next venture. We have been fortunate to be in a position to experiment. It keeps us and our vendors on their toes.

DealerADvantage: How do you manage internet sales with your internet department sales agents?

Snyder: They’re the first line of communication. Some of them have the option of being able to handle a deal cradle to grave, meaning they can do the whole thing. For others, it may be dependent on what they worked out with their general manager. In those cases they may be working to just get appointments; where they bring the customer in and hand them off to a sales manager or sales agent. Then it is the traditional sales floor to consumer approach. The internet sales agent can then continue to work the internet leads and phone calls without hurting their response time. This has been the most effective way of handling things. I hope to put all of our agents into a centralized BDC again because I’m 100 percent convinced there is no better way to handle internet leads and phone calls than through a completely dedicated BDC operation.

DealerADvantage: What is your process to manage a lead from the time you receive it until you sell the car?

Snyder: It varies by store, product and person. Everybody has their own character. Every store has its own personality. You look at our Toyota store, for example, where we have 12 competitors. We have to be very aggressive and very fast. Anything more than a 15-minute response time is death as far as we’re concerned. That first day we have the internet manager responding with a phone call, two emails and an automatic email from the CRM. And then the second day, another two emails and a phone call. It’s just hammer, hammer, hammer. There are so many leads coming in, you’ve got to bang through them quickly. Once the internet sales agent is through all those initial leads, then it’s time to start concentrating on some of the older ones. Our CRM system serves these up to him, so he isn’t saying, “Oh, I’ve got to check on who’s 45-days old today.”

We have a very robust CRM tool that affords us the ability to simply watch a screen all day to see if the internet sales agent is getting the job done. With one click, we can read all the inbound and outbound emails to make sure the message is correct; one glance will tell us whether the calls are being made. I actually spend more time watching the sales managers to see if they’re at least paying attention to what is happening with the internet leads. They’re involvement is crucial.

DealerADvantage: How long do you maintain that active follow-up? At what point do you hand prospects off to the quarterly newsletter?

Snyder: Well, again, it depends on the store. We have some customers who are hunters and other people who are farmers. The more expensive the car, the more farmers you have. The less expensive the car, the more hunters you have. So with the luxury brands, we typically go out to about half a year. With the volume brands, the less expensive ones we typically go out a little more than three months. However, this is all changing now. With consumers holding off on their purchases, it almost seems like we need to add another three to six months to each follow-up process.

DealerADvantage: Are the same tactics working with prospects, or are you just being more persistent in staying in contact with them?

Snyder: Well, it’s a totally different ball game right now. It’s a different customer. It’s still an emotional purchase to buy a vehicle, but it’s not as emotional as it used to be. Sales agents are geared to play on emotions, and right now the customer is much more logical than usual. There are so many people who want to buy a car right now, but they’re holding off due to uncertainty and the fact that the car we sold them a year or two ago is still running well. The ones who do have that older car that’s dying or have just been in an accident – or who knows what – who might have stepped up to the 5-Series BMW just because times are good and they can do it, they’re taking a step back and maybe looking at the Toyota Camry. They’re being more rational in their purchasing decision; while it’s still a lot about who you like and trust, the money is a much larger factor than it’s ever been before.

DealerADvantage: In this economy, do you have the sense that the leads you’re getting are serious, ready-to-buy shoppers?

Snyder: When I first started selling cars, I had a used-car manager who used to always yell, “This ain’t no bus stop” when a customer was not being approached by a sales agent. The funny part was that there was a bus stop in front of that store, and quite a few people would wonder on the lot while waiting for the bus, but that’s beside the point. I learned a valuable lesson from those “This ain’t no bus stop” shouts, and that was that everyone is serious. I don’t buy into lead scoring or those FICO-scoring services that try to rate every lead. Somebody does not contact a dealership unless they are seriously thinking about buying a car. We should work with everyone and get them into our showrooms – and that is especially the case in this economy.

DealerADvantage: What do you wish you knew when you started your current role?

Snyder: I got into my current role in 2004, but I was actually handling some things on CheckeredFlag.com as far back as 2001. I wish I knew more about the dynamics of search engines back then. Even though they weren’t utilized nearly as much it would have been nice to have picked up some extra URLs or embedded our own URL in a few places for indexing today. There are a lot of positioning things I could have set up then that would have paid off a lot better today.

DealerADvantage: What are you doing with social media?

Snyder: We have a blog; that’s a huge and essential part of our website, and we push those postings to Twitter. I’ve got a few employees who are doing some various things on other places like Facebook, MySpace and what-not. Personally, my favorite focus has been the car enthusiast forums. There are so many social media outlets that it is difficult to keep up with everything. It isn’t as if you can just setup a page and leave it alone – you have to stay with it. I just try to stick to the things I like.

DealerADvantage: So you’ve been leveraging your personal brand to drive car enthusiasts to your site?

Snyder: Actually, when they come off the forums, it’s not usually to the site. It’s straight to a phone call or a personal message on the forums that turns into an email or a phone call straight to the person they’ve been talking to on the forums. Checkered Flag.com usually gets bypassed on those occasions unless we tell that person to check a car out there.

DealerADvantage: How do you manage profitability with your internet customers?

Snyder: It’s really left in the hands of the sales floor, and I think we’re going to need to change that strategy. I think that we used to be very good at building a lot of rapport over the phone, through email and just doing a better job than the other guys in that area. I think that the game has changed. I think it’s changed in the past three months to be more of “I’ll buy from the devil if the price is right.” It’s happening a lot more, so we’re trying to re-strategize, right this second, to handle that kind of customer.

DealerADvantage: What are you doing with online reputation management?

Snyder: Watching it like a hawk. I’ve got a few different things set up that monitor various items on a daily basis. We respond based on where the review is. If it’s on a forum or a blog, then we sign up to go in and speak the truth and say we’re sorry – whether we’re wrong or right. The hardest thing in life to manage is another person’s perception. Perception drives everything when it comes to humans and how we interact. If somebody has a particular perception of you, it’s really hard to change that. Sometimes you’ve got to come in and just admit defeat and move on. I think other people look at you as a better person if you do that. “Sorry” is always a good start.

DealerADvantage: What are some of the trends you’re seeing in online automotive?

Snyder: Video’s obviously popping up big time, and I think it’s going to be taken more seriously very soon. It will become a bigger part of the ad budget and start finding a marriage with television commercials too. I see a combination of televisions and computers in our households in the not-too-distant future that will really provide some new marketing opportunities. I think there will also be more marriages between video and dealership technology tools as well.

I think CRM will stop being looked at as an automatic calendar for sales agents and more of a marketing tool. I also think – at least I’m hoping – that somebody will come out with some sort of DMS technology that will really marry all these things together and bring all the departments into one basket. We all need every department of the dealership to pass the same congruent message to the consumer – we are one company; not competing departments.

DealerADvantage: With that idea in mind are you making greater use of your customer database to drive business in the current slowdown?

Snyder: The biggest push is follow-up and more follow-up. Without the same number of people walking in the door, our sales agents are doing a much better job with follow-up and mining the database. Those things that just used to get lip service are now reality, and I’m loving that. We are doing things to push our CRM vendor to build better tools, and it has done a fairly decent job of responding so far. I just hope it keeps pushing as hard as we are. I guess I can say that same thing for all the vendors we are still partnered with.

To get back to your question: We are hesitant to get crazy with email blasts that push unbelievable deals. Because the media has done such a great job of spreading the message that the auto business is in desperate distress – remind me to thank them for that again – we are doing all we can to battle that perception. Things aren’t what they were, but if you start showing distress to the public, they’ll think you’re distressed for years to come. I’m watching a few other dealerships that are doing some things that add to that distressed perception, and I think it is wrong. It is a very difficult perception to shake. We live in a month-to-month business, but now is the time we have to be thinking harder about the future. Now is the time for strategic positioning.

Original article was published over on Cars.com DealerADvantage