I know this is DEALERrefresh.  I get that.  But the guys are nice enough to allow me the floor from time to time and I’m very appreciative.  In my opinion this is the forum where people are open and honest.  Refreshing really.

There are some basic expectations I have after doing this for for a while:

1. No one will believe 100% of what I say
2. People assume I’m always selling

So what does that mean?  It means that the best way for me to be sure I”m taken seriously is to present 3rd party data.

Dealer.com partnered with GfK Automotive and DriverSide to study the impact of social on the purchase process.  If you don’t know GfK, Search “Automotive Purchase Funnel”.  Good chance they come up first because they created this term.  They call nearly every OEM a client, and provide research and training based on the funnel model.  They’re a global research firm specializing in automotive data.  Another way to say it: They go out and actually talk to auto consumers.  Pretty good idea.

So What??

I am a social networker.  Have been for years.  The result is a lot of “gut instincts”.  Relying on gut instincts is many times the same as assuming.  We all know what happens when you assume…

Here are some things that I learned from the study that I think you’ll find valuable too:

Don’t think Social Media is used to research cars?

38% of those interviewed in the study indicated that they would be using social resources to research their next purchase.  What kind of research?  Everything from price to features to finding a dealership.

Be that consumer for a second.  Can you find any of this info on your own facebook page?

The benefits far outweigh the risks

Why would I get a facebook page?  That’s just another place for people to talk trash about me.

Ever heard someone say that?

27% of those surveyed said that they used or will use facebook specifically as part of their purchase process.  Of that 27%, 44% said that they had personally posted a comment about a brand or model on facebook.  And guess what?  82% of the content they posted was positive.  That’s right, people can be nice too.  Lesson:  The benefits far outweigh the risks.

The little things make all the difference

In the group who said they used facebook in their buying process:

• 57% said that seeing an ad or promotion for a brand or vehicle “liked” by a friend or family member would impact their consideration of that brand or vehicle
• 52% said that just seeing someone check in on a location based service (foursquare, Gowalla, facebook places etc..) would impact their consideration.

What does this mean?  It means that we are quickly moving beyond the days when having a facebook page is enough.  Believe it or not, we are in an age where you do have to manage many channels in order to be an effective marketer.

People who are loyal use social media more

Create more loyal customers.  Why?

- Those who are dealer loyal are 14% more likely to use social media as part of their new vehicle ownership experience.

• 70% of folks who are brand loyal use facebook weekly compared to 60% of those who are not brand loyal.
• 49% of those who are dealer loyal indicate they will use social media to research their next vehicle vs. 38% of the overall base.

So.  Want more people out there saying great things about you?  Want to earn more referral business?  Ready to try a new conquest strategy?  Put more money into the post-purchase experience than you do today.  How?

Some dealers have owners’ clubs.  A BMW dealer might have an open invitation for a quarterly 3 series owner get together.  Drivers come to the store for a BBQ, swap stories, learn a bit about their cars, maybe drive the new 3 series… this is the type of stuff that drives social content.  There are a million ideas like these out there, just ask around.

Finally, this one is a heartbreaker

Only 17% of the folks interviewed said they had been asked to “Like” a dealers’ facebook page.  81% of those people followed through.  Tell me again why your fan acquisition strategy costs so much?  Couldn’t your salespeople just ask every buyer?

Ask yourself doessocialmatter.com?  Download the study and find the info that matters most to you.

Does Social Matter? is a post from: Internet sales manager training

Share the wealth!

Share the wealth!

During a recent management retreat, a colleague introduced the group to the Internet’s fastest growing Social Networking site, Pinterest.com. Pinterest (pronounced pin-terest, not pin-interest) has burst onto the Internet with growth rates we haven’t seen since Facebook. Traffic has jumped to almost 11 million visitors in mid-December, nearly 40 times where it was only six months ago. Pinterest is now in the top 7 social networks on the web, with 59% of its users being women ages 25-44.

During the brief demonstration I watched, I initially didn’t understand the mission of the site, or rather, why it would drive consumer eyeballs. I learned that you needed to “apply for admission” which could take weeks, or you could find another Pinterest user and have them invite you. Just like learning about every other social network, you’ll never truly understand it until you immerse yourself (which is what I did). While I was figuring out the value proposition Pinterest offered, I also showed the site to my wife and her sister. Their instant addiction caused me to embark on a journey to find out more about this site, and potentially how it might help my customers (you, the car dealer).

If you visit the site, you will notice that the majority of content relates to food, home decorating, crafts, and child-related ideas. I took a stab at creating a man’s version of the site, including my interests in cool cars, vintage guitars, and outdoor barbecuing. I was pleasantly surprised that when I searched for related “Pins” and “Boards”, I found there were many others with similar interests.

Pinterest is all about pictures, not so much about words. When you find an interesting picture on the web, you “Pin” the picture and it is attached to your profile. You can also have “Boards”, which are subject-related collections of Pins. I have Boards for “Cool Cars”, “Vintage Guitars”, etc. Every time I find a picture of a cool car, I “Pin” the picture and put in on the “Cool Cars” Board. You can also “Re-Pin” someone else’s Pin, which propagates that content across the web. You can also simply “like” someone else’s Pin, which just shows you liked it, but didn’t feel compelled to Re-Pin it.

Since a major component of a dealer’s social marketing strategy should be to build a social network, and join in on the conversations, I would think a progressive dealer would start a profile for their store, and simply “Pin” new or used car photos for special or unique items. You might also “Pin” pictures of cool aftermarket or OEM accessories, perhaps alone or as part of a customer’s vehicle. You should be careful not to be too self-promoting, or you will be unlikely to attract many followers. Instead, only show the very new, or very special, models or products, and simply try to create interest. Creativity attracts interest on the site, by adding unique titles and high-quality photographs; you can increase the traffic to your profile. Be forewarned, Pinterest has rules where they discourage overt self-promotion, and you wouldn’t want to start your experience getting blacklisted.

You could also search the site for related “Pins” for makes/models that you carry, and “Re- Pin” those items and maybe add a comment with your thoughts. Again, don’t add a comment that could be in any way considered self-promoting but instead add an interesting fact about the benefits of the car’s make/model. You should also begin “following” other Pinners with similar interests, or anyone who starts following you. Like all social media sights, networking is key. Another idea would be to use your knowledge and statistics about the users on the site, and gear some of your boards to them. For example, since the majority of Pinterest users are women, create Boards that appeal to women and direct them back to your profile to increase views of your Boards.

You could create a Board for your local community with pinned pictures of your community involvement, Little League teams you’ve sponsored, and your passion for your surroundings. You could create a Board with pictures of cool home garages, pictures of interesting driving destinations, or even pictures of vehicle interior customizations. Once again, creativity is key on this site.

The goal is to create Boards that reflect the personality and culture of the dealership, and the interests of the owner. As in all social marketing programs, you are trying to personally connect, in many cases one-on-one with other people with similar interests. If they feel a personal connection with you, they may eventually decide to become your customer, since people like doing business with friends.

I’ll admit, it took me a while to get my hands wrapped around this new site, but the growth stats are incredible. Effective Digital Marketing Strategy says to promote your business where people are spending their time online, so Pinterest definitely fits the bill. This site will force you to be a little more creative, and a little more subdued in your approach, but the exposure and payoff in the long run should be worth it. Chances are most dealers will read this article and move on, so your opportunity to be an early entrant could give you a nice head start.

Good luck, and please let me know how I can help!

Should Dealers Have Interest in Pinterest? is a post from: Internet sales manager training

Share the wealth!

Share the wealth!

Well I’m guessing all this publicity is getting us somewhere.

Or is it?

I have very little trust TrueCar and to think they’re going to turn around and now be the good guy? I have little trust after everything that has happened and has been said (caught on video) over the last several months. If TrueCar wants to survive, it’s obvious they need to make some changes but how much of this is fluff?

Side Note: For all the latest on TrueCar – visit our TrueCar Latest Updates in the forum.

A few highlights taken from this latest press release…

• TrueCar implemented a new flat fee-billing model for states like VA that have bird-dogging or brokering laws (they’re really making this into a big deal)
• TrueCar is going on a “listening tour” this includes visits with key dealer groups, dealer associations and manufacturers across the nation.
• TrueCar is responding immediately to any state concerns around advertising laws. (They’ve been getting away with this for a long time)
• They are still claiming they do not sell dealer DMS data and do not use dealer DMS data for any purpose other than matching vehicle sales to customer leads (This is still a hard one to believe)

TrueCar is also announcing several changes to take into account feedback and better serve its dealer partners:

• Effective immediately TrueCar will be enhancing its TrueCar Price Report to enable dealers to more effectively market themselves, by providing consumers and dealers a much more balanced view of the market.
• TrueCar will introduce its first-ever National Dealer Council in the next few weeks. The Council will serve as an important venue for TrueCar to hear dealer feedback – good and bad – on TrueCar’s products, processes and policies.
• TrueCar will enable statistical and other tools to identify dealers with extreme price outliers.  TrueCar recognizes that price outliers may interfere with a sustainable dealer/consumer ecosystem and will work to alleviate these issues and include important qualitative factors in the decision process.
• TrueCar will be making product, policy, and process changes throughout the entire business to enhance dealer confidence in TrueCar.

What do you think? Are these enough changes to for you to have a different opinion about TrueCar?

At this point can you even TRUST TrueCar?

Yes or No – Sound off in the comments!

read the full press release is after the jump.

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jan. 16, 2012 — /PRNewswire/ – TrueCar, Inc., which is devoted to bringing innovation to the car buying process, today announced a nationwide, multi-faceted strategy to tackle regulatory compliance issues and demonstrate its commitment to state regulators, state dealer associations and to better serve its dealer partners.  Among other changes that are taking place nationally, TrueCar implemented a new flat fee-billing model in the Commonwealth of Virginia, which has been OK with flat fee billing since January 2001. This change marks a significant step in TrueCar’s ongoing compliance strategy. TrueCar’s proactive modifications will include introducing a new billing model in certain states, adjusting advertising presented through the TrueCar website, establishing a TrueCar National Dealer Council, and launching a new consumer membership program.

TrueCar announced this initiative as part of a “listening tour” by senior company executives that included visits with key constituents including dealer groups, dealer associations and manufacturers across the nation. “These meetings have been incredibly constructive.  We are in the business of innovation.  As such we have to embrace change as part of what we do,” said Scott Painter, Founder and CEO of TrueCar, Inc. “The feedback we have received, both good and bad, will enable us to better serve our dealer partners, and the industry overall. The changes announced in Virginia are a great signal that collaboration with state regulators can result in a constructive outcome for consumers and dealers.”

Compliance is an essential element of TrueCar’s mission. TrueCar has been engaged in discussions with regulators in several states regarding its fee structure and/or advertising issues.  TrueCar is responding immediately to any state concerns as part of a comprehensive national strategy, with a goal of achieving 100 percent national compliance. In the meantime, TrueCar has voluntarily suspended service in Louisiana, Colorado, Nebraska and Oklahoma in order to make certain changes to improve TrueCar’s service and to protect its dealer partners.  The company expects to have certain changes implemented in January.  “TrueCar’s dealer partners are central to our success and ensuring compliance is the foundation of TrueCar’s strategic commitment to dealers.  We will not put our dealer partners in jeopardy,” said Stewart Easterby, Executive Vice President of TrueCar, Inc.

Subscription Billing Model To Be Rolled Out Nationally

Most states have some version of either bird-dogging or brokering laws on the books.  TrueCar is taking a proactive national approach to this business model issue, shifting to a subscription-based billing model in those states where there is potentially an issue. For example, in California the company will be voluntarily and immediately commencing work on implementing its subscription-based model.

Over the long term, TrueCar will continue to work with state regulators in an attempt to identify ways to update existing laws and regulations to take into account innovation made possible by the digital age.  These innovations include the ability to help dealers achieve accurate performance metrics for their marketing spend and 100 percent visibility into their partners’ performance.

Dealer Management System (DMS) Data Practices

TrueCar is committed to maintaining the highest data standards including limiting the collection of information.  TrueCar does not sell dealer DMS data and does not use dealer DMS data for any purpose other than matching vehicle sales to customer leads and monitoring performance to enhance TrueCar’s service to its dealer partners. In addition to only collecting information with dealers’ permission, TrueCar is committed to working with dealers to enhance dealers’ control over access to and use of DMS data, including limiting the fields of data that are received from DMS to those fields necessary to perform the sales matching function.

Changes to Address Advertising Issues

TrueCar will implement important changes to the website to address certain advertising issues. As part of its commitment to its dealer partners, TrueCar will also develop new messages that focus on important dealer attributes, like proximity, selection and service rather than simply price. “Bottom line is we’re out listening and talking to the industry.  What we heard is that dealers feel our ads focused on price and did not tell a positive enough story about our dealer partners. We’ve listened to their concerns and are making adjustments. Qualitative considerations that drive purchase other than price will have greater prominence in future ads.” said Stephen Hansen, President of TrueCar.

National Dealer Council/Dealer Initiatives

TrueCar is also announcing several changes to take into account feedback and better serve its dealer partners:

• Effective immediately TrueCar will be enhancing its TrueCar Price Report to enable dealers to more effectively market themselves, by providing consumers and dealers a much more balanced view of the market.
• TrueCar will introduce its first-ever National Dealer Council in the next few weeks. The Council will serve as an important venue for TrueCar to hear dealer feedback – good and bad – on TrueCar’s products, processes and policies.
• TrueCar will enable statistical and other tools to identify dealers with extreme price outliers.  TrueCar recognizes that price outliers may interfere with a sustainable dealer/consumer ecosystem and will work to alleviate these issues and include important qualitative factors in the decision process.
• TrueCar will be making product, policy, and process changes throughout the entire business to enhance dealer confidence in TrueCar.

Consumer Membership Program 

TrueCar remains committed to innovating to ensure higher lead quality for dealers and enhanced brand protection for OEMs.  Based on OEM feedback, TrueCar will introduce a new consumer membership program, which TrueCar believes will substantially alleviate the concern. With this change, dealer partners can expect even higher quality introductions from TrueCar. In the end, consumers and dealers benefit.

About TrueCar, Inc.

TrueCar, Inc. is an automotive solutions provider focused on changing how cars are sold by providing a significantly better customer experience while helping qualified dealer partners to gain incremental market share and reduce costs.  TrueCar is a visual publisher of new car transaction data.  TrueCar price reports help both dealers and consumers to agree on the parameters of a fair deal by providing an accurate, comprehensive and simple understanding of what others actually paid recently for a similar car both locally and nationally.  TrueCar works with a national network of dealers that provide up-front, no-haggle, competitive pricing to assist some of the nation’s largest and most well respected membership and service organizations to meet the auto buying needs of their members and customers.  Collectively these audiences represent over 1M in-market customers each month.  TrueCar is headquartered in Santa Monica, CA and has offices in San Francisco, CA and Austin, TX.  With 131 percent annual growth since 2006, TrueCar has helped dealers sell over 400,000 vehicles and is developing a suite of products and services centered on radical clarity as a result of comprehensively analyzing market data and information.

Disclaimer

This press release and the information contained herein is for noncommercial use on “as-is, as available” basis and may be used for informational purposes only.  TrueCar makes no representations or warranties, express or implied, with respect to the information contained in this press release and the results of the use of such information, including but not limited to implied warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement.  The information contained in this press release may include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors.  Neither TrueCar nor any of its parents, subsidiaries, affiliates or respective partners, officers, or directors, employees or agents shall be held liable for any damages, whether direct, incidental, indirect, special or consequential, including without limitation lost revenues or lost profits, arising from or in connection with your use or reliance on the information presented in this press release.

Available Topic Expert: For information on the listed expert, click appropriate link.

Scott Painter
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/01/15/4190790/truecar-launches-national-compliance.html#storylink=cpy

TrueCar Launches Pro-Industry Product Changes – Can We Trust This? is a post from: Internet sales manager training

Share the wealth!

Share the wealth!

California lays it out for dealers and TrueCar.

This is one of the more detailed Executive Summaries I have read…

CONCLUSION

In the State of California, TrueCar is viewed as an autobroker and vehicles displayed and offered for sale on TrueCar websites are advertisements to the public and must comply with California law.

According California to it appears that many facets of the TrueCar/Zag broker program fail to comply with California law and such non-compliance could expose both TrueCar and participating new motor vehicle dealers to legal liability and/or license action.

Enjoy…

In response to a large number of inquiries received from California dealer members, we requested outside legal counsel, Manning Leaver, Bruder & Berberich (who also authors the California Auto Dealer Advertising Law Manual), to research the occupational license status of TrueCar, Zag.com, Inc. and affiliates and opine on a variety of DMV licensing and advertising issues associated with the TrueCar program.  Attached (after the jump) please find a copy of an Executive Summary of a Memorandum prepared by outside counsel.

The Executive Summary identifies a number of problems with the TrueCar model that could expose participating dealers to legal and/or licensing liability. Dealers that participate in the TrueCar  program, or other similar programs, should individually review such programs with your own legal counsel for legal compliance.

California on TrueCars and Possible Legal Liability is a post from: Internet sales manager training

Share the wealth!

Share the wealth!

I know I’m a little late with this post (as I am each year) but it’s still early enough to wish everyone a Happy New Year while also highlighting the best of DealerRefresh from 2011. Just as we did for 2010, and 2009 and…

2011 has been one eventful year for not only DealerRefresh but the industry as a whole. For me personally 2011 has been a year of change with accepting a position with HookLogic / AutoHook (a technology and service that I’ve help to mold and build out over the last 3 years) while also having the opportunity to continue to consult and work with the Younger Auto Group.

Here are the best DealerRefresh articles and threads from 2011, based on engagement, comments and what we thought were straight up worth including in this Best Of DealerRefresh 2011 Post.

Lets get started with here on the Blog…

5 Reasons to Forget About Your SEO – Terrence Gordon drills into 5 top-level reasons to get your brain on the right track about Search Engine Marketing (SEM) – the umbrella of SEO and PPC.

You got a STD? (Social Trusting Disease) – Joe expresses his dis-taste of Social Media but more importantly the lackadaisical leadership that is so unprepared for the “Bright Light of Social Media”.

Are you a Finger Pointer? – If you’ve been in management, or have had to keep multiple vendors connected, then you have probably felt this same frustration.

How to buy a CRM Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 – Part 5 – If you missed this awesome series from Alex, do yourself a big and take a moment to read all 5 parts of this series of articles every dealership needs to read.

Call Tracking Facts Every Dealership Should Know – Stephen over at Century Interactive shares some insights on Call Tracking while stirring the pot on having a tracking number on your Google Places page.

Smart Phones Will Be Their Weapon of Choice! – Erin Touponse explores Micro-technology in the guise of Smart phones and what it means to our sales process and sales people in general.

Exclusive Interview with Cars.com on Dealer Ratings and Reviews – Cars.com announces their new dealer review and ratings feature. Dealer reviews alongside your dealers inventory – talk about ZMOT. Look for a catch up post in 2012.

The Eureka! Link – Is there a moment in Classified Shopping that splits the casual car shopper from the highly motivated shopper?  “Uncle Joe”and his  marketing instincts are telling him yes.

The Bruce event starring Larry Bruce #AutoMarketing – Oh, that’s right we played a not so nice Aprils Fools joke on Larry Bruce. Almost forgot about that.

Are Your Employees “Coin Operated”? – I decided to go on a small rant over the lack of leadership and how many dealer management would rather throw money and spiffs around, thinking it’s the only way to motivate their people.

The Test Drive Conundrum – Has It Changed? -  Has the DEMO Drive changed? Joe Webb explores.

De-Stressing the Dealership Environment – Our own John Quinn suggests 3 simple way to help de-stress the dealership environment.

The 4 Words That Make Sales Managers Sound Stupid- There are four words that are said by Sales Managers around the nation…When was the last time you heard or potentially said these four words.

Edmunds TMV vs TrueCar – Dealers, wake up! – The article that started it all. I connected the dots and exposed TrueCar and Edmunds for their perpetual contracts for accessing and using a dealers own transactional data for consumer consumption. It’s been crazy ever since…

Why You Should WANT Gen Y Workers in your Dealership – The Coddled. Entitled. The “what’s-in-it-for-me?” generation receives some love as Jade Makana explorers why dealers might want to embrace this generation.

From Bad To Great! – Jerry Thibeau shares a story of how one dealership went from bad to great on the telephone in just 6 months.

What is your product? – A product is a “thing produced by labor or effort.”  A “thing” isn’t always something physically tangible. What is the product of your dealership?

Is Your Dealership Chat Used or Abused?  – Do you really know what your dealership website chat is doing for you? Joe explorers the 5 common classes chats fall into.

1 Reason Why Your Email Collection is OVERRATED – Who cares how many email addresses your dealership collects. Once you have them, what are you going to do with them?

TrueCar Scam on Dealerships – Transparency For ALL? – The TrueCar debacle really heats up and it’s only just begun.

Middle Management is Killing your Sales – Joe Webb offers another fantastic article.  What is middle management doing at your dealership to kill sales?

2011 important industry purchases

DealerTrack acquires eCarList

AutoTrader.com Buys VINSolutions- after purchasing Homenet Auto – vAuto and KBB (Kelly Blue Book)

moving on to the forum …

First off – we did a huge upgrade to the forum this year. Really tighten up the theme and user experience and took both the forum and blog mobile. You can now stay up to date while taking DealerRefresh on the go.

Don’t expect us to stop there, we have several upgrades on the way!

As Always:  In a forum, a thread never really “dies”. If you run across a relevant thread to information on what you are looking for, pay little attention to when the last post/comment was made and post your response or question. This will revive the thread and bump it back into active status. We see many older threads go untouched for a few months, only to be rediscovered and revived.

The forums moves fast with over 80 comments a day on average. Here is what you may have missed this year…

Dealers flooding review sites with fake user reviews – The community sounds off with their opinion on dealers obtaining fake positive reviews.

Mike Blumenthal on Onsite “Review Stations” and Google - Ed shares an article from Mike Blumenthal (uncontested expert of experts on Google Places) around the pros and cons of having review stations set up at the dealership. GREAT Conversation.

Taking videos of your vehicles – An ongoing thread around best practices and examples of taking videos of you inventory.

ZMOT is the Stupidest, Most Brilliant Idea Ever! – Lots of buzz around this simple acronym but it’s one that even the old school GM can spell.

What Defines A Successful Automotive Social Media Strategy – Over 21 pages of DealerRefresher’s chiming in on what they believe defines a social media strategy. Amazing thread.

TrueCar using Zag Dealer Data to Create Value? – Dealers sound off around the TrueCar the buzz and the fact they are using data that Zag pulls from dealers’.

QR Codes – In or Out? – WOW – here’s a thread that will not die! Will this thread go down in history as we all look back and either laugh at QR or will some of us non believers eat our own words? Only time will tell.

Autotrader vs Cars.com Value comparison – This is a fairly new thread but one that’s already grabbing the attention of the community. Even Cars.com has been gracious to join in on the conversation.

Cradle to Grave ISM Pay Plans? – The argument that will never end…. Cradle to Grave or BDC/Appointment Setter.

I’m going to stop the list right here because I swear I could go on with another 20+ threads.

The community we have here on DealerRefresh is second to none. We have a lot of personalty and many our members are never afraid to speak up and call it as they see it. It’s what helps make our community so special.

So a HUGE thanks for all our active community members in 2011.

Also, THANKS to our 2011 sponsors. Their participation and contributions help keep DealerRefresh moving forward with up-keep and new technologies.

I want to of course personally thank Alex, Joe and John. You guys are truly the greatest and if DealerRefresh was end today – the friendships I’ve made have been the most rewarding and more than what I could have ever asked for. Ok, enough of the sappy shit.

Onwards to a great 2012!!

If I missed something, sound off in the comments..

The Best of DealerRefresh 2011 is a post from: Internet sales manager training

Share the wealth!

Share the wealth!

It doesn’t seem like TrueCar is going to have such a Merry Christmas this year.

Since Jeff wrote about TrueCar and some of their tatics back in June – Edmunds TMV vs TrueCar – Dealers, wake up! , others are helping to bring this situation to the fore front. It’s great to see our industry come together and express our concerns and opinions around this TrueCar debacle. I can’t recall another time where dealers and industry goo-roos have reached and leverage so many channels of online news and social to not only express their opinions but also help amplify the message.

The automotive industry has been energized and polarized surrounding the TrueCar business model.  Since dealers are for and against the model, it is very important to follow the legal implications of the TrueCar process.

As promised, I told you that various State regulators and Dealer Associations were drafting letters to their constituents and members warning of potential legal concerns.

The Colorado Department of Revenue issued this letter on December 15, 2011 and I expect more similar letters to follow.   The TrueCar discussion is now moving into a legal discussion with dealers facing potential fines for participating on a model that regulators may deem as violating State laws.

Take a peek at this letter and share your thoughts.  I’ll have a few more letters to share in the coming weeks as they are drafted and published.

For a larger version of the letter view it on the Colorado Government site.

Addition by Jeff Kershner…

Another TrueCar UPDATE: Group 1, the nation’s fourth-largest auto retailer, last week ordered all participating stores to cut ties with TrueCar.com – Click here to read the article. I had heard about this last friday and sent out a tweet that received several responses (follow @dealerrefresh on twitter). This apparently was brought to light during a meeting with their local Honda Representatives.

Colorado Department of Revenue Cites TrueCar Advertising Violations is a post from: Internet sales manager training

Share the wealth!

Share the wealth!

Rate Your Vendors On DrivingSales and WIN MacBook Air! is a post from: Internet sales manager training

Share the wealth!

Share the wealth!

What’s going over there at Dominion Dealer Solutions?

So many solutions under one umbrella…

• @utoRevenue (email marketing and online service scheduler – I’m a big fan of this service, personally)
• AVV Web Control (one of  our industries robust ILM services)
• Autobase CRM (been around forever)
• Dealerskins and XIGroup (merged earlier this year)
• Prime Response (reputation management software)
• DataOne Software (VIN and Automarket Data)
• SelectQu (DMS data extraction)
• CrossSell (vehicle sales data and reporting)
• Dealer Specialties (window sticker, photo service and inventory management)
• GetAuto.com (3rd party inventory listing site like Cars.com and AutoTrader)

…that’s a long list of product offerings to dealers. What I find in my conversations and travels, is that many dealers are not aware that Dominion is the owner of all these services. As you review the services, it starts to mirror some of the other big players out there…

For several years now they have been under a non-compete with AutoTrader.com with some of their services like GetAuto.com. These non-competes are now coming to an end.

What’s the future holding for Dominion Dealer Solutions??

The press release is after the jump..

December 13, 2011 – Dominion Dealer Solutions, an industry leader in automotive technology and services and a division of Dominion Enterprises, announced today the reorganization and unification of its businesses and products. These changes, as reported by Robert Berndt, president of Dominion Dealer Solutions, reflect the company’s objective to deliver a single and complete set of solutions for customer, inventory and marketing technology to their automotive dealer customers.

Promoted throughout 2011 as Dominion CRM, Inventory and Websites, the individual businesses of Dominion Dealer Solutions have aligned their products and services to more quickly meet dealer needs. Dealerskins and XIGroup merged early in 2011 to provide higher quality custom websites for auto dealers. @utoRevenue, AVV Web Control and Autobase combined under the Autobase brand in early summer 2011 as a unified CRM and marketing services provider. Dealer Specialties has provided inventory data, analytics and reports to dealers for over 20 years and is collaborating more closely with Cross-Sell market research in the new Dominion Inventory division. In addition to these business transitions, the leadership of Dominion Dealer Solutions has been realigned in order to provide higher quality products and services to both dealer and OEM customers.

Rich Crawford, formerly vice president in charge of CRM and direct marketing, is now vice president of product management for Dominion Dealer Solutions. Rich has been working in the automotive industry since joining Dominion in 2004, initially in a business development/acquisition role, then as the force behind Dominion’s CRM strategy. The leadership of Rich’s team consists of automotive veterans: Bryan Anderson, Brice Englert, Ed Braunbeck, Sean Conley and Alan Andreu, who together have built the largest single CRM business in the automotive industry. According to Berndt, “This new organization empowers Dominion’s expertise as first-movers in inventory, digital marketing and sales solutions. In 2012, our seamless product suite will be the smartest choice to drive automotive business results.”

George Nenni, formerly vice president of Dominion Dealer Services, has taken on the role of vice president of operations for Dominion Dealer Solutions. George will be in charge of implementation, training, call centers and customer support for Dominion Dealer Solutions. George began his work in the automotive industry with Dealer Specialties in 1993. He has been instrumental in the creation of the Dominion Dealer Solutions brand. His history in the automotive industry, combined with his keen eye for understanding customer needs, will be a significant asset in this new role. George was a panelist at AutoRemarketing’s CPO conference last month, and contributes a monthly column to Dealer Communication’s magazine. George added, “This organizational alignment supports our technology integration. By bringing together the best operational talent within our company, we will be able to more effectively onboard, train and support our customers.”

Adam Dennis, most recently a consultant for Dominion Dealer Solutions, has joined the company as vice president of product development. Previously, Adam was the owner and general manager of XIGroup, which Dominion Dealer Solutions purchased from him in 2005. Using both U.S. and foreign resources, Adam is responsible for delivering products quickly and efficiently, integrating usability standards throughout the development process, and oversee the technology development department of Dominion Dealer Solutions. As Dominion Dealer Solutions seeks to deliver not only strong products independently, but also as a single solution, Adam’s team will work to ensure that adequate resources and development work are well coordinated with excellent project management for both dealers and OEMs.

Bill Leek, formerly vice president of sales for Autobase, is now the vice president of sales for Dominion Dealer Solutions. Bill oversees a newly unified sales team, including nationwide field representatives for both the CRM and Digital Marketing divisions of Dominion Dealer Solutions. Bill Leek has more than 22 years of experience in the automotive industry. Fourteen of those years were spent in the dealership retail setting in various sales and sales management positions. He has extensive automotive industry knowledge and a deep understanding of today’s current technologies. This combination enables Bill to identify appropriate solutions for dealers to maximize their sales and performance results. His prior experience in management and sales in the automotive CRM & DMS industry includes ADP and Newgen Results.

”With the advent of 2012, Dominion Dealer Solutions is moving forward stronger and faster than ever,” noted Robert Berndt, president of Dominion Dealer Solutions. “This is an exciting time for employees, dealers and OEMs to be involved with us. 2011 has been a year marked by continuing introductions of innovations such as our reputation management and equity products. Solutions scheduled for delivery in 2012 will make it our largest innovation year yet. Our new organizational structure allows us to deliver excellent products to our customers more quickly. ”

About Dominion Dealer Solutions
Dominion Dealer Solutions helps car dealers attract, retain, and service customers for life. Dominion Dealer Solutions’ marketing performance system includes: lead generation, mobile apps, reputation management solutions, web-based customer relationship and lead management tools; custom digital marketing tools including websites, SEO, SEM, digital advertising, specialized data aggregation; and inventory management analytics including market reports. Every OEM and more than 60 percent of auto dealers nationwide utilize Dominion Dealer Solutions’ technologies to solve their marketing challenges.

Dominion Dealer Solutions is a division of Dominion Enterprises, a leading marketing services and publishing company serving the automotive, recreational and commercial vehicle, real estate, apartment rental, employment, parenting, travel, and daily deals industries. The company’s businesses provide a comprehensive suite of technology-based marketing solutions including Internet advertising, lead generation, CRM, website design and hosting, and data management services. The company has more than 60 market-leading websites reaching more than 20.9 million unique visitors monthly, and more than 280 magazines with a weekly circulation of 2.4 million. Headquartered in Norfolk, Va., the company has 3,300 employees in more than 186 offices in the United States, Canada, England and Italy.

Dominion Dealer Solutions Announces Realignment – What’s Going On? is a post from: Internet sales manager training

Share the wealth!

Share the wealth!

When was the last time you used a phone book to find ANYTHING?

Do you even know where your phone book is?  I don’t!

The Internet is the most important entrance to your dealership. If your phone rings 100 times a week, the internet was involved in 95 of them.

For a moment, take off your car guy hat, go to Google and go car shopping. Are you visible?  Look at your competitors, are they visible?  Every one of your competitors is gunning for that same spot on page one and competition is fierce. How do you win in this game?  Back in the News Print and Yellow Pages days, all you had to do is spend more to get more.

You need brain power to beat your competitors! Having your 2^nd cousin do it for you may have worked in 2007, but not anymore, those simple days are gone.

Today, we get to chat with Dev Basu, president of Powered by Search, 1 of only 4 global agencies chosen to participate in the prestigious SEOMoz Search Engine Ranking Factors and David Mihm Local Search Ranking Factors study.

http://www.seomoz.org/article/search-ranking-factors

http://www.davidmihm.com/local-search-ranking-factors.shtml

http://www.poweredbysearch.com/

Dev is one of the most brilliant minds in search in North America.  When Dev is not helping our members in the DealerRefresh forums he is working with automotive tier 2 and tier 3 clients including GM, Honda, Chevrolet, KIA, Nissan, Mazda, Suzuki, and Lincoln delivering unparalleled results via Organic SEO, Local SEO, and Online Reputation Management services.

Having been consistently ranked as a TopSEOs Best in Local Search company with press coverage in traditional media such as The Globe and Mail (Canada), CTV News, and ITBusiness Canada as well as SEO industry publications ranging from SEOmoz to SEOBook, combined with frequent speaking on the topics of SEO, Local Search, and Social Media at conferences such as Search Engine Strategies and Search Marketing Expo, Powered by Search is considered to be a thought leader in the Local Search space.

Dev has always been a straight shooter and I wanted to take a moment and interview him. Let’s get started..

Joe - Dev, you have quite a pedigree!  If a Dealer commits to finding a person (or an agency) that can help them conquer Google and Yahoo, (I can see that you’d want a specialist, but,) where does a dealer start? 

Dev - I firmly believe it is important for my clients to understand at least the basics– people should know what they are paying for. Here’s an article where I discuss 15 Questions You Should Be Asking Your SEO Agency

http://www.seoptimise.com/blog/2009/01/fifteen-things-to-ask-your-seo-agency.html

Joe - Automotive Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is very competitive and Car dealers are heavily dependent on Local results. 

From a dealer/manager’s perspective, let’s ask direct business questions like, “Why I should care?”, “Will it sell more cars?”, “Is this complex?”, “Compare DIY vs Pro”, If I go Pro, will I see ROI?”   And “will I beat my competitors?”

Let’s hit these one at a time:

1. Why I should care?

Dev - Local customers prefer dealing with local businesses, and auto dealers are no exception. Google and other search engines are the local search of this day and age, having replaced print publications and the Yellow Pages. The bottom line is this: If your dealership cannot be found on major search engines for a local search such as “honda dealer tampa”, you’re effectively invisible.

50% of new vehicle buyers and 58% of used vehicle buyers said the web was the most influential information source in their purchase decision (PolkView, Feb 2011).

“Search engines are commonly used, with Google cited as a primary mechanism for getting car buyers to the dealership website from which they purchased their vehicle. About half of buyers who visited a dealer website arrived at that site via search,” (http://bit.ly/pB9L8T)

2. Will it sell more cars?

Dev - There is a very strong correlation between obtaining incremental search traffic to your dealership website and the number of contacts and subsequent sales that happen as a result of this traffic. While this can be measured succinctly using web analytics and call tracking platforms, much of the intuitiveness behind this is in the ‘consumer intent’ of the search term.

The more specific the query being searched, the higher the chances of you as a dealer getting a highly qualified prospect. The type of search can separate a window-shopper from a buyer, and here are a few examples that illustrate this:

Informational:

• 2012 honda civic
• 2011 honda civic vs 2011 mazda 3
• 2011 honda civic review

Buying queries:

• 2011 honda civic michigan city
• best price for 2011 honda civic in michigan city
• honda civic dealers in michigan city

3. Is this complex?

Dev - Local search optimization can be incredibly complex to execute, measure, maintain, and iterate, but at its core it relies on 3 things (google specific)

1. Having a properly optimized Google places listing.
2. Having consistent dealer Name, Address, and Phone # information throughout the web (3rd party sites, micro-sites, blogs, yellow pages publishers, directories, etc).
3. Having many of these references to your business N.A.P (name, address, phone number) throughout the web. The number of reviews your dealership has both on Google places and elsewhere on the web (edmunds, dealerrater, insider pages) is important. We wrote about the 20 most important places to obtain these references (known as citations in the Local SEO industry) at http://www.poweredbysearch.com/local-seo-citation-sources-us/

Joe – DIY vs a Pro?

1.  If I DIY, can you sell me a road map or a manual?

Dev - Though this is not specific to dealers, I wrote a 5 part guide to a Local SEO road-map over at Web Marketing Today and at Business.com

http://www.business.com/guides/learning-local-seo-and-local-search-optimization-48309/

http://www.wilsonweb.com/local/basu-local-seo-intro.htm

 2.   We’re busy selling cars, if I DIY, how long does it take?   Is this something a receptionist can execute (or mess up?)

Dev - A well-executed local seo strategy can take anywhere between 1-2 months to get setup, and then may take a bank of hours every month to continue to market and promote. Note that I did not say ‘maintain’. You can maintain a website’s hosting or code, but Local SEO is squarely a sub-set of internet marketing.

If you DIY, take the time to assign your dealership’s marketing manager or web marketing manager to all your Local SEO activities. Your receptionist will in all likelihood not understand the nuances of local search optimization. Poorly done local SEO can be very detrimental to your business, and even so-called ‘qualified’ professional in the SEM, Yellow Pages, and Call Tracking industries frequently get it wrong.

3.  If I go pro…   Is this expensive?

Dev - The SEO industry is not regulated and pricing can range wildly from $49 per month to $5000 or more month. How’s a dealer to separate the snake oil from the professionals who know the industry best?  Look for the following:

1. The best in the industry are in high-demand and do very little outbound marketing. Good SEO companies are not likely to cold call you repeatedly.
2. Is the agency or consultant transparent about what they will be doing to optimize and promote your site?  If they offer a black box approach to marketing, then run for the hills.
3. Do they have previous case studies to showcase results with other clients?  Ask for references and ask tough questions.

Pricing models can range from the traditional hourly model, to performance and value based pricing. Powered by Search prices campaigns based on keyword competition and attaches a monthly retainer to our managed campaigns.

5.  Is there ROI?

Dev - Simply saying ‘yes’ would be an understatement. Next to email marketing, there’s no better medium to generate high ROI results. Most of our clients receive an ROI between 500$ – 2500% in their first six months of working with us.

However, most dealerships are terrible at CRM and full funnel conversion tracking. There is a disconnect between the attributed marketing channel that attracted a lead, the cost of that lead, and the final conversion (sale) value. Agencies like ourselves try to bride part of that gap by implementing proper online conversion tracking, call tracking, and CRM integration for larger clients, but to date I have not seen dealers execute an end to end ROI tracking strategy that breaks down by a specific marketing channel.

Joe – Selling cars is a competitive field, if I hire a PRO (like yourself) 

1. Will I get better results than I am seeing now?

Dev – Yes. Setting expectations is paramount, because SEO is not an over-night recipe to higher revenues. That said, the average local business (including all our dealer clients) see tangible and positive results within 90 to 180 days of starting to work with us. This time span differs from agency to agency, but the industry standard is usually within the first 6-9 months unless you’re trying to rank for something extremely competitive or generic.

2.  Will I out rank my competitor(s)

Dev – Modern SEO’s tend to focus less on achieving rankings and more on attracting qualified traffic. For example, let’s say a 1000 people are looking for ‘honda dealer nyc’. While a good SEO company or consultant can certainly help you outrank your competition, they will also investigate permutations and combinations of this keyword to create ‘key-phrase’ rankings that attract more overall traffic. For example:

• honda dealers nyc
• honder dealer new york
• honda dealers in new york
• most reliable honda dealer in new york
• new york honda dealer … and so on.

The idea is to mine your web analytics to see your highest converting keywords and if those are not ranking #1, to make that happen.

Joe – Dev, In your opinion, looking at the Dealer’s internet battle front now, here are the battle fronts I see:

• PPC
• Social Media
• Local SEO
• Organic SEO

 From your vantage point, please rank them in your team’s ability to generate ROI

Dev – Local SEO – We package this as part of Organic SEO month to month full service retainers because of the blended algorithm being more heavily skewed to organic ranking factors. Local SEO has the HIGHEST ROI ( starting at 500% average for our clients, and as high as 3500%)

Organic SEO – We do this as a standalone w/o Places optimization or citation building involved but don’t advise this package in markets where mixed results are displayed. Organic SERPs are the bread and butter of Search but have less ROI than blended local or map only results because they stand out less. The ROI on long tail searches are obviously higher.

PPC – We charge a base rate of $500/month for PPC accounts which scales up based on the complexity and number of hours involved. When we do both PPC and SEO we help clients ramp up on PPC in the beginning and scale down as their SEO grows stronger. Then, the PPC is restricted to a few head terms that have decent conversion rates, and it larges focuses on long tail traffic to ensure the highest conversion rate at the lowest cost per conversion.

Social Media – We only provide consulting and channel setup and optimization. Eg: Setting up Facebook Fan Pages, Branded Twitter Channels, Listening Programs, Scheduled posts, connecting inventory updates to post to all your social networks, auto-response programs to people that mention your brand or mention specific keywords in their tweets etc.

To summarize the order of ROI -> Local SEO, Organic SEO, PPC, Social Media. This is specific to qualified lead gen and not to other elements such as branding. One thing that PROVES all of this is Google’s new multi channel attribution reports. In almost all of our clients we see SEO as a whole being responsible for the lion’s share of the conversions.

Joe – Let’s end with some insight into how you came to become a Search Marketing authority and what you like to do “off the clock”.

Dev – I fell into the world of search marketing quite by accident while working for Microsoft as a channel marketer. Our resellers were complaining that they couldn’t find a reseller portal site on microsoft.com even if they used the company’s search engine at the time, msn.ca. This piqued my interest and the rest is history. In the last 5 years I’ve worked in the search marketing industry as a consultant, in-house, agency side, and now as an agency founder at Powered by Search. I live in Toronto, Ontario and have clients throughout North America, many of whom are Tier 2 and Tier 3 automotive clients.

Powered by Search is best known for its industry leading expertise in local search optimization and search engine optimization. We’re frequently speak at search marketing conferences like SES and SMX, and have been quoted in the press by the likes of online publications like SEOMoz, SEOBook, Search Engine Land, and offline newspapers and news channels such as the Globe and Mail and CTV News.

When I’m not working, I like spending time with my girlfriend, family and friends, watch movies and tinker around with my iPhone. I’m also an avid food buff, and I love trying food from different parts of the world.

– Thanks for your time Dev, it’s been  a real pleasure.

It’s 10 o’clock. Do you know where your phone book is? is a post from: Internet sales manager training

Share the wealth!

Share the wealth!

Since writing Edmunds TMV vs TrueCar – Dealers, wake up! several months ago, it hasn’t taken much time for the BUZZ to build. The industry and dealers are starting to see exactly what is happening and how WE DEALERS have been feeding the beast for years by allowing services like Zag and TrueCar the freedom to obtain our transactional data.

I’ve encouraged dealers to audit their DMS export fields every 6 months.

I urged dealers to NOT allow these companies to have your transactional data.

I brought to light that fact that some of these services are asking dealers to sign a Perpetual Contract

Over in the forums we have asked if TrueCar is using Zag Dealer Data to Create Value? – 4 pages of comments
My original post asking dealers to Wake Up because it’s not only Zag/TrueCat that wants your data – 70+ comments
Jeremy Alicandri’s Death of a salesman? Or dot-com bust: TrueCar.com

Our good friend Jerry has a few words to say (after his TrueCar has his original video removed) …

Then we have Brad Kargui’s video…

TrueCar Jesse Toprak speaking on Transparency and Haggle Free Selling

The list goes on… (if you can add the the list, please do so in the comments)

Who’s going to win the race to the bottom?

TrueCar Scam on Dealerships – Transparency For ALL? is a post from: Internet sales manager training

Share the wealth!

Share the wealth!