I took this photo on the way to work the other morning..what some dealers are doing to get their piece of the Cash for Clunkers pie. I have to admit, it caught my eye. What have you seen? – Jeff

If you’re experiencing some good results with the C.A.R.S. Program you’re probably excited to have a bunch of cash floating in limbo and a back-lot full of junk!  If you’re like us, you’re probably still hitting refresh on the CARS-Dealer-Marketing site for a store or two.  Does that make you nervous?

Dealix conducts a nationwide survey tracking the activity dealers are seeing from Cash for Clunkers.

Guest Posting by Kevin Hunt

Earlier this week, Dealix conducted a nationwide survey to learn more about what activity dealers are seeing from Cash for Clunkers. Hundreds of dealers responded, and even though the rules about how the program will be administered won’t be issued until tomorrow (Friday, July 24), three out of ten dealers report having made a sale involving a “Cash for Clunkers” voucher.

Despite this early success, dealers expressed to us confusion and frustration over the lack of clarity provided so far around the program. In fact, almost 90% of dealers responding to the Dealix survey said consumers had either low or moderate awareness of the program, and two thirds (66%) said information given to dealers up until this point is “insufficient.”

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!

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?