Join vAuto for a Webinar on November 19

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/444183314

The reality of today’s market is that vehicles need to be priced right in order to drive traffic.  This means that you can not negotiate as much, or in some cases, at all.   Dale Pollak, a leading used car expert and best selling author, will present 4 practical strategies that will enable documentation to replace negotiation.  Using these easy techniques, dealerships can expect their profits to rise without sacrificing volume.

Title:       Documentation Replaces Negotiation: 4 Easy and Effective Strategies to Improving Gross Profit Presented by Dale Pollak

Date:      Friday, November 19, 2010

Time:      11:00AM – 12:00 PM CDT

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

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The Used Car Business IS the Internet Business

San Diego Monday and Tuesday was a great location for the Auto Remarketing CPO Forum, The Certified Conference. I was fortunate enough to be invited to be on a panel of Dealers speaking on Inventory Management and being as this was a one room conference I got to see everyone’s presentations…so here’s my unofficial review of what you missed if you weren’t there.

First to present was Arianne Walker from J.D. Power Automotive Remarketing who had lots of great information on the customer awareness as well as motivators to purchase a Certified Pre Owned Vehicle. A couple stats I found interesting were almost 80% of CPO buyers set out to purchase a CPO vehicle and 42% of people found the exact car they purchased online. On a customer service note, not explaining all fees and charges created the biggest drop in satisfaction.

Next up was the panel I was on which included Howard Hakes from Hitchcock Automotive Group, Kevin Nachbar from McCarthy Auto Group and myself. The discussion was inventory management and quickly became how technology has taken over as the driver of used vehicle management. Each of us is on different inventory management software but agree it’s what you do with the information not the information that breeds success. Digital advertising was the choice of marketing with 14-25 pictures as the norm. It’s going to be an interesting ride as supply tightens even further in the next 18 months, get ready to have to inflate your game!

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

This webinar examines the strategies successful GMs develop and the tactics they implement to build an Internet culture, take online sales to the next level and boost profitability.

In this session, the panel will discuss:

• How forward-looking dealers/operators and general managers lead the charge, taking greater day-to-day oversight of their online operations to ensure that processes are consistently implemented and that customers receive quality care.

Be sure to support our friend Andrew and jump on the webinar! I promise you will walk away with some valuable information, and if I know DiFeo you’ll be entertained at the same time.

There’s nothing better than hearing a General Manager speak to the level that Andrew does on internet marketing and  sales/service process. Sorry Patrick, I’d throw you some kind words as well but we have never met, but hope to.

Will you be attending?

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We all know the saying “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” and that is true for some things. This article isn’t one of them.

In order to make the list of October 2010 Vegas Rumors (combination of things heard at the Digital Dealer, DrivingSales Executive Summit, and JD Power Automotive Internet Roundtable conferences)  Jeff and Alex had to hear the same thing two or more times. We admit that this is all strictly hearsay, but it sure is entertaining none-the-less!

Much of this was written during the conferences.

Here we go…

Purchases:

DealerTrack was the talk of the JD Power Automotive Internet Roundtable as they didn’t even show up. Could it have been that they don’t like this particular conference?  Could it be that they just can’t handle Vegas?  Nooooo. It sounds like they were busy making some purchases.

Alex heard on numerous occasions that DealerTrack bought KBB and ClickMotive. Again, probably hearsay, but he heard it a few times.  And we’re definitely thinking hearsay because…

At the same time we’ve both been hearing Autotrader.com was buying KBB, so we are going to wait for the press release on this rumor.

UPDATE: We did just hear that Autotrader.com acquired Kelley Blue Book officicially.

Speaking of Autotrader.com a few people said the 3 year old rumor that they’re buying HomeNet is closer to reality. Buuuuut we’ve been hearing this one for a long time.

ADP has been in need of a more modern CRM and the rumor-mill says they bought DealerSocket.  If that’s true, it is fantastic news for ADP!  A few DealerRefresh friends who are close to top executives at DealerSocket say this isn’t true. Again, we will be waiting for the press release.

With tax changes coming in 2011 we certainly won’t be surprised to hear more in the purchase territory before the end of the year.

Plain Craziness:

First off, we have to ask the question how so many Digital Dealer attendees got spam email from DealerElite.net asking people to sign-up?  There were some pretty hefty names thrown around in that email too.

Pictured:  Dean Wormer, Jared Hamilton, Joe Webb, Alex Snyder (standing in for Jeff), Gary May, Brian Pasch

Unfortunately one man gets to own this entire section. It is really sad we heard so much around this individual because his conference was actually the best one he’s done yet. And again, neither Alex or Jeff were present for any of this – these are just things we heard.

So let’s start off by saying that we heard “the wise asses at DealerRefresh are on probation and I don’t need them to promote my conference anymore.”  So Mike Roscoe, we dedicate this section to you.

Our “piece of $h1t” buddy Jared Hamilton is completely banned from Digital Dealer conferences. This is the same guy who received the Lloyd Richardson award from Mike in 2008 for being the biggest giver in our space. Way to pay him back!  By the way Mike, where is Lloyd?  We miss him.

Speaking of banishment, another good man, Gary May, caught the wrath of Mike in an email that ended his participation in the conference. Alex got to see it and said it really shows someone’s true colors. The email was in regards to an IM@CS blog post from the Saturday after DD9 recommending that there is still room to improve the Digital Dealer conference for dealers.  Maybe Gary will make that email public one day.

And in the spirit of how things should be presented to the public, we heard any non-Dealer Magazine media was not fully welcome to the event.  Automotive News and Automotive Digest are two who we heard were snubbed.

Then we get to the ultimatums. When it is all about the benjamins, competition gets fierce. Many players like getting a paycheck, but also have a lot of passion for the industry too. However one individual seems to think that some of the players should dump everything to only participate in Digital Dealer. If rumors are true that both Brian Pasch and Joe Webb were told if they wanted to continue participating in Digital Dealer they had to give-up speaking at the DrivingSales Executive Summit or events that would support or build the DrivingSales brand, then that is just a travesty.

What happens when you take all the roller coasters out of the theme park?

We just want to say that this is the rumor-mill. Always fun!

P.S.  What is the over/under on when we start getting phone calls about this article?

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This year’s J.D. Power Automotive Internet Roundtable event will be held at the Red Rock Resort from October 20-22nd.  View the agenda.

I have heard there are over 900 registered attendees who range from OEM’s to larger dealer groups.  The JD Power Roundtable is one of my favorite events because it is mostly made-up of panels:  1 person moderating 3 to 5 panelists.  This kind of environment pushes people off their intended responses, occasionally, which leads to more spontaneous answers – the kind you like to hear.

JD Power’s event is also not 101 so it isn’t for everyone.  It is assumed that each attendee has a good understanding of the topics being discussed.  On top of it not being 101 it is also geared for big spenders:  OEM’s, Ad Agencies, Vendors and Large dealer groups.  Can a single-point or small dealer group get something out of this JD Power event?  Absolutely!  They just need to keep in mind that the usual perspective is a bit higher-up in the consumer’s purchase funnel where it takes big money to advertise.  But there are some great stories that can be taken and implemented at any level, and there are few opportunities to network with so many people from this level of the industry.

My Agenda

This will be my first J.D. Power event as a vendor, so I’m assuming I will get called into some meetings here and there.  On top of that there are some meetings on my calendar already…..what I’m trying to say is if you don’t catch me attending one of these panels I’m saying I want to attend, don’t hold it against me.

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