Sean is offering DealerRefresh readers a substantial discount to his Dealer Synergy Internet Director Immersion Program for April.

Internet Sales 20 Group presents the POWERFUL Internet Director Immersion Program as a 3 or 5 Day Workshop!

For: Dealer Principles, General Managers, Internet and BDC Directors
Where: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
When: April 13th – 17th 2009

Over the span of this 3 or 5 day course, attendees will learn:

• Create your new Internet Sales 20 Group Network, go over benchmarks and statistics and learn the secrets of Dealer Synergy’s “4P” strategy.
• Learn how to unleash the true power of today’s most advanced technology to utterly CRUSH your competition, even in a down market.
• Learn how to create the highest ROI on your lead generation and increase your conversions.
• How to become a world-class Internet Director, team leader, coach and mentor.
• Take a field trip to dealerships who have utilized these strategies and seen surreal success.
• Create action plans, get tested and achieve your certification

Sean has not offered any vendor discounts on these events, but for the first time Dealer RefreshReeaders are eligible for $1000 off the standard rate.

Three Day Event is $3000 – $1000 DealerRefresh Discount = $2000
Five Day Event is $4000 – $1000 DealerRefresh Discount = $3000

Be sure to mention DealerRefresh when you call to register for this event. Call 1-888-379-6374 or register online

My favorite is the fact that Sean Incorporates the FranklinCovey- 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Training. He did a great job with his 2008 Synergy Session (you can read Brian Tuckers review here). Good Stuff!

If I know Sean, I’m sure he’s doing it up right so take advantage of his offer, save some money and get some training.

Date: Thursday, April 9, 2009
Time: 12pm to 1 p.m. (Eastern)
Location: Your Computer
Cost: FREE – Register Here

Description: Industry roundtable discussion with:

• Mitch Golub, president, Cars.com
• Art Spinella, president, CNW Marketing
• Paul Taylor, chief economist, NADA

With sales of used cars expected to return to 40 million-plus units in 2009, used-car sales stand out as a bright spot in automotive retail. For consumers concerned about their purse strings and possible job losses, buying a pre-owned car allows them to get the vehicle they need and maintain their peace of mind. This webinar examines the current outlook for the year ahead and outlines the practical steps dealers must take to survive and even thrive in this changing economy.

In this session, you’ll learn how to:

• Fine-tune your advertising strategy and media mix to reach in-market shoppers.
• Capitalize on economic uncertainty and pent-up demand to drive more used-car sales.
• Stock your store with in-demand cars that turn quickly and hold gross.
• Leverage third-party vehicle history reports and factory certification programs to build buyer confidence in your listings.

This Free Webinar registration made its way into my inbox, so I thought I would share it with everyone. If you’re not leveraging PR announcements to help with your dealership website SEO efforts then you could be missing out. Lee Odden is the real deal and just spoke at this years PubCon Search Marketing conference.

Register for this webinar today to learn how you can achieve SEO success.

Topic: Using Your News TO Drive SEO
Speakers: Lee Odden, CEO, TopRank Online Marketing
Date: Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Time: 2:00pm Eastern Time
Cost: FREE
Register: http://tinyurl.com/anbcsu

With more than 70 million people getting their news online every day, your news is about more than just reaching the media.

Your news can be a powerful tool to directly reach the millions of people searching for information online, drive traffic to your website and maximize your online visibility.

News search engines like Yahoo! News and Google News offer a great way to direct targeted traffic to your website and help you generate awareness about a topic or your company.

Join Lee Odden, CEO of TopRank Online Marketing to learn how to make use of tactics such as press release and news content optimization to take advantage of the potential traffic news search can generate.

Ward’s Automotive Spring Training Conference

Ward’s wants to invite you to join them in Tampa, FL, March 15-17 for the second annual Ward’s Automotive Spring Training Conference.

Last year’s conference was a hit, and deemed by participants as one of the premier events of the year.

We know that with all of the uncertainty surrounding the automotive industry, this is a tough time to be thinking about a conference.

But we also know, dealers will be selling cars in the future.

And Ward’s wants to help you get — not only your fair share — but your unfair share of the market.

That means this is one conference you can’t afford to miss.

In addition to exciting keynote speakers, they have designed informative workshops with the newest marketing strategies for dealers and general managers.

Most of this information is stuff your agencies don’t even know yet.

Create the 21st century marketing department by showing you how to weave the power of the Web throughout all of your advertising efforts.

So make sure you’re in a position to hit a home run in 2009.

Visit us at www.wardsauto.com/springtraining to register.

See you in Tampa!

Date: Tuesday, March 10th, 2009
Time: 1 p.m. (Eastern)
Location: Your Computer
Cost: FREE – Register Here

Join us on March 10th for a Free Webinar

Join DealersEdge and Brian Pasch of Pasch Consulting Group for a FREE webinar March 10th.

Spend 90 minutes with Brian on March 10th and you will learn

• How simple changes in your SEO strategies can make a huge difference.
• How being clever with your Google Maps title can help you jump ahead of your competition.
• How to use Facebook as a productive marketing platform.
• How to use Social Tagging to turn your website into a viral marketing machine.
• How to buy ads on Facebook that will drive local results.
• How social network alternatives can help you create a “controllable” social network for your dealership.
• How to use Craigslist, Google Base and VAST as dealership selling tools and how to automate your inventory into these sites with GBFeeder.com.
• Why Blogging works for auto dealers and tips on how to start your own blog.
• How to use news releases to drive traffic to your website and as an SEO strategy.
• The checklist for creating a viral marketing action plan for your dealership.

Registration Info:
This Webinar is a Free service brought to you by DealersEdge and The Pasch Consulting Group.  Your only cost will be for the phone call to connect to the audio portion of the program.  Presentation slides will be presented via the Internet, using the GoToWebinar platform.

Registration is Limited -  Connections to this event are limited to 300.  That might sound like a lot, but our most recent free Webinar far exceeded that number and tested the limits of the GoToWebinar phone circuits.  So please, if you plan to attend, register as early as possible.

Space is Limited – So Register Now

Date: Friday, January 9th, 2008
Time: 12pm to 1 p.m. (Eastern)
Location: Your Computer
Cost: FREE – Register Here

In responding to the current economic slowdown, you can either give up or get down to business. Choose to jumpstart your 2009 sales with timely tips from the experts at Cars.com who will share their top internet sales techniques to help you weather tough times and position yourself to thrive in the recovery. We’ll examine the critical components of your online advertising and internet sales processes that help you connect with in-market shoppers and work with them to win the sale.

In this session, we’ll discuss the:

• Stock your store with the in-demand vehicles that car buyers want in today’s market.
• Merchandise your listings and promote your store to stand apart from your competitors.
• Communicate with in-market shoppers to build credibility and establish rapport.
• Stick with buyers until they buy.
• Leverage internet advertising, including specials, to keep your inventory moving.

Increase Your Dealerships Traffic Without Increasing Your Advertising Spend

AIADA and CarFax Presents is hosting a FREE Webinar:

Date and time: Tuesday, December 16, 2008 12:00 pm Eastern Standard Time

Panelist(s) Info: Jay Luna

Process Improvement Manager, CARFAX

Duration: 30 minutes

Description: This FREE 30 minute webinar will examine the best practices that leading dealers are using to get more return on their advertising investment. Jay Luna, Process Improvement Manager with CARFAX, will be bringing real life tips that you can introduce into your already successful process to get more from your advertising and used car operations.

• What is your vehicle history process?
• Are you ensuring that your online listings have the information your customers want?
• Learn some great new ways that you can increase your exposure without increasing your advertising spend

UPDATE: Listen to the recorded webinare – Increase Your Traffic Without Increasing Your Advertising Spend

How does Cars.com really stack up against the competition after 10 years of business?

What makes Cars.com different?

How are dealers measuring the effectiveness of their advertising sources? (Is it still emotional, or are they allowing the numbers to speak?)

Does lead scoring have a place in the showroom, or is it a better fit for the larger entities?

Will consumer comments and reputation management for dealers move the needle AND will Cars.com jump into this arena?

When and will online video advertising find a home in the dealer universe?

Is it time that your dealer employs an in-house SEO expert/manager?

These were just SOME of the questions we discussed at this year’s Cars.com Online Automotive Leadership Summit.

I wasn’t sure how to format this post. Do I keep the topic and conversation all about Cars.com, or do I write about the actual discussions that took place? The truth is, talking about Cars.com would make up for a short post since there was little discussion about them and more about the car business.

Why would Cars.com spend the time and money to hear a bunch of Dealer Internet Consultants talk about the car business?

Because they’re crazy or crazy smart? Having 11 well-known Dealer Internet Consultants in one room for 2 days brings to the surface a lot of great information.

So who was there?

David Kain from Kain Automotive, Cory Mosley from Mosley Automotive, Thomas O’Connor from Precision Training, Todd Smith from activEngage, Jennifer Suzuki from eDealer Solutions, Paul Webb from Street Smart Training, Michael Tyman from Professional Success, Les Abrams from NADA, John Shumaker from The Cure Consulting Services, Bill Philips from Automotive Internet Management, Shaun Raines from Dealer Advisor AND myself; representing DealerRefresh and the Internet Manager for MileOne.

The day started out with Mitch Golub, president of Cars.com, briefing us on where Cars.com has been and where they are going. He talked about the principles and the driving culture behind Cars.com.

• Principle 1: The consumer is KING

• Principle 2: Advertisers are our Partners

Nothing seems more important to Mitch than having great people working with him, having a dedication to fun and enjoying what you do at your job. It doesn’t take but a few moments of meeting and hearing Mitch speak to know that he is a leader, a leader of his tribe. I sincerely mean that.

Alright, enough of the sappy shit. What did we get to see from Cars.com? What tricks are they pulling out of their hat in the near future?

• A New Home Page

• Mobile Websites product for dealers

• The allowance of dealer ratings by the consumer

• New Chat program for dealers to engage with consumers

Some Stats:

• Cars.com has grown 55% since 2006
• Leads to dealers are up 44%
• Average leads to dealers are up 14%
• Saturdays are the busiest day for Cars.com’s mobile website
• Did you know: Cars.com has an average of 20,000 dealers while their closest competition estimates at being at an average of 21,000?

Something that I have always found interesting about Cars.com is the fact that they realize their actual Cars.com website cannot be everything to everyone. They have completely immersed themselves into the social side by owning and managing sites like pickuptrucks.com, motherproof.com and several other online car enthusiasts’ forums. Getting to understand the consumer through these mediums, I think, gives Cars.com a nice advantage.

Enough about Cars.com, the exciting part of this trip was the fact that you had 11 well-known dealer consultants (not including myself) in one room with open discussions on several topics. Twelve pavement pounders that are in and out of dealers getting to work the front line while helping dealers become better with their Internet marketing efforts and sales processes.

One discussion that hit home with most was how dealers are measuring (or need to measure) the effectiveness of their ad sources. It’s still amazing how so many dealers are not tracking, not measuring or even keeping records and statistics on what is working. They continue to make a judgment call to cancel an advertising source based on “gut instinct” (could these be some of the same dealers that are closing their doors next few months).

What dealers should be tracking to determine the effectiveness of their ad source:

1. Closing Ratio
2. Cost Per Sale
3. ROI

Yes, there are others but they all eventually play into these 3 measurements.

Of course, online merchandising 101 is always a discussion. The same stuff that most readers of DealerRefresh have heard and have talked about a million times over; how do you properly merchandise your inventory online? Many times we take what we do on a daily basis for granted (especially when you’re in a major metropolitan area where you have more dealers dialed in than not) but the truth is, most dealers are still severely missing the mark on properly merchandising their inventory online.

If you merchandise your inventory like every vehicle is the only one of its kind, you’ll produce more leads. But how good are these leads? Is this customer ready to buy, and what are the chances that he/she will buy this vehicle? The topic of Lead Scoring seems to surface everywhere I go now. The opinions I find are split right down the middle. You’re either on board with it or against it. I think if you’re against it, it’s because you don’t understand it and you’re not looking at the large picture. I made the statement, “Chances are no one will be saying the words ‘lead scoring’ with-in the next 2 years.” The new term used will be “microtargeting” but of course will encompass lead scoring.

Dealer Videos and more Video

Where is video going and will it change the online landscape for car dealers? We already see Google giving video greater relevancy in the search results, but great video content is where the problem lays for dealers. How can dealers afford and obtain the resources for quality engaging online video? Yes, you have the sales people walking around a used car talking about the feature benefits but what comes after that? And will amateur footage always be cool? The truth is, many dealers are still not aware of this medium or are struggling with it. I don’t think we spent enough time on this subject. That might had been the same time Cory went on some tangent about something on something else. LOL. Sorry, Cory.

Dealer Rating websites and consumer ratings – another hot topic!

Consumers have been rating hotels and restaurants online for years now. Trip Advisor anyone? But all of a sudden we are seeing more and more consumers jumping online and sharing their experiences they are having at your dealer.

Will Cars.com step into this arena? The discussions were leading to an answer of YES. We were all a little taken back by this, knowing that this would not be an easy task and could cause a few dealers to bail out. I think it’s a HUGE move and one that could ultimately benefit Cars.com in a profound way IF handled correctly. I suggested starting with an Opt In for dealers that wanted to participate. Back to Principle 1: The consumer is KING.

Another question that was raised by Dan Perry (SEO manager for Cars.com): Is it time that your dealer employs an in-house SEO expert/manager? I don’t want to get too deep into this because Dan has since written an article for DealerRefresh to discuss this.

I’ll leave you with a few stats that most of us are or should be aware of:

• In 2008 $749M was spent in search alone in the automotive sector.
• By 2012 search spend is projected to be at $1.9B.
• Search is estimated to account for 56% of auto online ad spending by 2012.
• 23% of dealers are planning to adopt paid search in the next 12 months.
• 14% of dealers plan to adopt banner ads.
• 35% of dealers plan to adopt online video ads.

There were many other topics that we discussed but these are a few that stuck out and wanted write about. Plus this post/review is getting way too long.

Cars.com took great care of me during my stay in Chicago. The Hotel was top notch, the dinner at here and here were fantastic (the conversations at the dinner were even better). As usual, the hospitality from the whole Cars.com crew was the best. I don’t know where they find such nice people.

A HUGE THANKS for everyone at Cars.com for putting on this small and interment workshop. A special thanks to Ralph Ebersole for inviting me to be a part of this event.

Gerald Hand has written this past waaayyyyy back right after the last Digital Dealer Conference. I was in the middle of transitioning over to the new site and his post fell through the cracks. Gerald, I know we have spoken a many times since then but thank you for your patience. I told you would would get it up for you!

This is Mr. Gerald Hand’s review of the 5th Digital Dealer Conference.

-Jeff

————————————————————

Well, it’s over. Another successful Digital Dealer Conference, the 5th one, which was held at the beautiful Gaylor Texan in Grapevine, Texas. Attendance was good, and the agenda, as usual, was chock full of talent. If I have one complaint, it is there were too many sessions going on at any given time because it was hard to choose which ones to attend at the risk of missing something critical in another presentation. Oh well, c’est la vie!

I attended sessions within the Internet Sales Track, choosing topics on UGC/SMS and newer technologies as well as some on the fundamentals of the business- how we got to where we are today. Here are some of my observations on what I saw and heard:

The keynote address with Cory Mosely was short and sweet, but alas, the people needing to hear it weren’t there! How so? You know, the people who still think Internet is overrated? It is more of a pain the in the you know what than a valid source of business. I know, I know, some people will never get it, but they would if they pull their heads out of the sand, oh, I digresss.

At any rate, Cory popped them right in the nose, lamenting how they have ignored a key segment of business by addressing the old school style and philosophies. He lauded the early adopters of technology, using the iPhone owners in the audience as an example. Take away message: “Don’t be afraid to be first! Get out there, do it, make it happen!”

Absolutely!

#206 Make your SEO, SEM, Web 2.0 VSEO and All online marketing efforts matter! Tim James

Tim did a good job of covering the different venues and how they play together (or not) depending on the situation. Topical, I was again looking for a little more substance, but based on the number of questions asked, the audience definitely received it well and go a lot out of it. Tim’s core was around the Reach, Frequency and Emotion as the 3 keys to an Inet customer.

Reach- getting your presence in front of more customers, getting you more exposure and more leads. The website is a media source, enrich it with video, content, etc. By putting the information there for the customer, you start building trust early on. Ensure OEM info is on your website for continuity and continued growth of trust. Provide virtual test drives, build a car, actual inventory, etc. And BRAND your website- get it out there in front of as many people as you can.

Frequency- get your vehicles up as quickly as possible. How many people search for a specific vehicle in your area? 100/day? 1000/day? It varies by auto, but if your car is not up for 3 days, well, do the math with how many potential customers you just lost on the ONE car!

Emotion- Make them WANT the car. Most people aren’t doing a description which makes customer HAVE to have YOUR car. And make it specific to the buyer. A van buyer is probably not terribly concerned about handling and horsepower any more than a Corvette buyer is concerned about cargo or seating capacity. Nearly everyone has 6-9 standard photos. Go a step further. Take 3, 6, 12, 15 more. Show what is unique about your car, even if it is damaged! Don’t hide anything. Build that trust.

When displaying your vehicles on inventory, make sure there are options (others like it) on the page as well. Notification when one comes in that fits my criteria- email me!

#213 Social Networking and Blogging, Ralph Paglia

Date: Friday, November 14, 2008
Time: 12pm to 1 p.m. (Eastern)
Location: Your Computer
Cost: FREE – Register Here

With internet advertising, you generate traffic in one or more of four ways: email inquiries, telephone calls, clicks to your store’s website and walk-in visitors. An innovative new study by Cars.com uncovers the significant percentage of shoppers who will view your listings online and then visit your store for the information they need without first calling or sending an email. Are your ads generating business for your store — or your nearest online competitors?

In this session, we’ll discuss the:

• Websites and online features that car buyers use before visiting your store.
• Ingredients of internet ads that drive walk-in traffic.
• New rules of engaging car buyers online.