DealerRefresh

Obstacles, Observations and Opinions of an Automotive Internet Sales & Marketing Manager

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Internet vs. Floor volume 57

This is a rant.

It pisses me off to still see the sales floor referring to Internet customers and forms from the website as “Internet Department” things.  When you still hear sales agents say “oh, that’s the Internet department” you know we have a problem.

C’mon, people aren’t searching for your store in Alta Vista using a Netscape browser – things have evolved over the last two decades!  Why do we still have this wall between the Internet department and the showroom floor?  You do realize you’re much more on the same team than those jerks across the other wall in the service department.  Those jackasses are literally raising labor rates on you and making sure every car has a fresh set of wipers.  You’d think they’d check the batteries on the front line from time to time.

Inner-departmental things haven’t evolved much over the past 20 years.  It isn’t your fault.  It is your vendors’ fault.

[Read more…]

Latest Hot Topic in Forums

Vehicle Subscriptions Model – Is It Dead?

Alex Snyder President Skroob

First Name:
Alex
Company:
DealerRefresh
Location:
Vermont

[USER=7307]@James A. Ziegler[/USER] has been making an argument that they don’t pencil for a while.  

[USER=9]@kevinfrye[/USER] can probably comment on Ziegler’s statement that Wyler’s Clutch-powered vehicle subscription site has been offline since November of 2018. 

On the last RefreshFriday we learned that Wyler had or was getting out of the subscription service. During that same RefreshFriday, Shaun Kniffin confirmed that Germaine is still doing it.

Is it dead?  Does it have a future?

Here is Ziegler’s most recent article on the topic. 

Join the discussion in the forums. 

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Your Marketing ROI is Not a Zero-Sum Game

It’s a new year, and that means we’re all thinking about how to get the best marketing ROI in 2019. To start, we have to assess- what’s been working and what hasn’t? What stays for another year, and what needs to go?

It’s vital to assess the value of all your marketing efforts. But the assessment itself is difficult. Many people fall into a few different traps:

  1. Using the same metrics for every tool
  2. Measuring outcomes that aren’t aligned with your goals
  3. Getting stuck in an attribution war

Let’s dive into each of these problems and then map out some strategies for precise marketing assessment so you can maximize your marketing spend in 2019.

Using the same metrics for every tool

When you have tools that ostensibly do the same thing, it’s tempting to measure them the same way and think of the outcome as a zero-sum game: for example, all my lead capture tools should be measured by how many leads they capture, and the one that captures the most is the winner. But if you take a closer look, you’ll find that even tools with similar goals have important differences. And that means using the same metrics to assess their value doesn’t always work. [Read more…]

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Please Don’t Leave Me: The Upside To Sales Empowerment

Anyone love their phone company? If you are like me, there is nothing I abhor more than needing to call them. Every time I call, I have to do a bit of meditational breathing and mentally prepare myself for what will inevitably be hours of frustration. Not only will there be excessive hold times involved, but I will also be bounced from department to department, left dealing with several different people and having to repeat my issue over and over again. If I’m not disconnected along the way, it feels like victory. Sound familiar?

Now, compare this to the Apple store experience. I make an appointment online, walk into the store at my designated time and get assigned an Apple Genius who will help me every step of the way. Not only do they stay by my side, but they are empowered to answer questions and even ring me up right there on their iPhone when I am ready to transact.

And so there it is — the world we live in, shifting between these two contrasted experiences. And the more Apple-like the world gets, the more we are unwilling to deal with extended wait times and poor customer service.

What would happen if the phone company empowered their frontline employees to help with all of the situations they may be faced with? Think of the minutes a customer spends on hold before resharing the same story 2, 3, 4+ times; or the minutes employees waste transferring people around and listening to the same stories their colleagues have already heard. Would one person be more efficient? Would customers stop dreading the experience and — dare I say — even find it enjoyable?

This is happening within the automotive retail sector as we speak. Progressive dealers around the country are deploying technology and empowering their sales teams to streamline the entire process.  And while many dealerships refuse to change, most sit somewhere in between — trying to enhance the experience, but without the tools or buy-in to make it stick. [Read more…]

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4 Secrets to Leveraging Technology at your Dealership

For years we’ve been talking about new technology that will allow car buyers to purchase their vehicles online, essentially eliminating the need for sales people and for years this topic has been top of mind.

Sure, we have seen a little uptick in online vehicle purchases but whether this has addressed the main issue or has been an effective solution, is quite debatable. For the millennial, it may be the perfect solution, being that they are “so called” less social and more tech savvy, skipping the dealership is no biggie but Baby Boomers on the other hand, are less tech savvy and crave the face to face interaction.

What about Gen X? They too crave interaction but without the pressure of car sales tactics. [Read more…]

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Stories from the sales floor, with John Quinn : Story #1

For me, 2019 not only marks the start of a new year, but a new career.  Naturally, I’ve found myself wandering down memory lane.

It was April, 1996.

After getting the briefest taste of the politics of coaching, I said “Goodbye” to the university and football, and set-out to find a real job.  Responding to an ad in the paper that read, “Our Average Salesperson Makes $35,000 Per Year!” — which was more money than I could imagine at the time — I found myself interviewing at a large multi-franchise dealership with a seemingly disinterested general manager named Greg.

“Why’d you leave this one?”

Greg was looking at the multiple positions listed on my first attempt at a professional resume.  He pointed to the top listing. [Read more…]

Latest Hot Topic in Forums

Microphone Suggestion for Video Replies

ChrisR Getting Refreshed

First Name:
Christian
Company:
Findlay Auto Group
Location:
Prescott, AZ

Hello All,

In trying to personalize lead responses more, we have started working personalized video responses in for lead submitters.

One of the problems we are running into is timing. If a rep is trying to record a video, the microphone that is built into the web cam picks up *all* sound in the room. Especially difficult, as it is a small room, with two rather boisterous agents in there.

Trying to figure out the best (affordable) microphone option that will isolate the agent doing the recordings voice, while not picking up the agents in adjacent spots?

I haven’t had to shop for mics in a while, and am not sure what specs to look at. Figure a uni directional would be better than omni, open to suggestions, or input for options to consider.

Click here to comment and join the discussion

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NADA Deal Sheet: Offers, Deals, Discounts, Promotions at the 2019 NADA Conference

Some dealers go to NADA and never step into the Expo. Some have a shopping list. Others want to see their current vendor and get the latest product releases.

Whatever your plans are, the deals this year cannot go unnoticed. Exhibitors are going all out to grab a dealer’s attention. Many have prepared months in advance for this event and some see this as their Black Friday.

Every year there is a theme depending on what is happening in the marketplace. Remember when the Internet first launched as a viable medium to reach car shoppers? The hall was loaded with lead generation companies. I will never forget Stone Age. Their booth looked like a movie set from Meet The Flintstones.

This year’s theme is still digital but with a big dollop of AI. It’s a more matured, focused, data-intrinsic category today. They parse the data, provide deep analytics and “speak”  one to one to an ever-treasured, interminably-elusive in-market shopper. I am going to check out one vendor that says they can take anonymous traffic on your website and actualize it to a real person. GDPR? Not here in the USA!

Video is finally getting the show it deserves. There are many solutions to choose from and many vendors are trying really hard not to make it complicated. Get with this program. Consumers love it.

New revenue streams, like ride-sharing and subscriptions, are low-key at the show. If I were a dealer I would check them out. This will be big. OEM’s are massive on the subject. You can be your own Uber with money you never had on your balance sheet before. Shhh!

[Read more…]

Latest Hot Topic in Forums

Debate: Are customers still intimidated at the Dealership?

john.quinn Sr. Refresher

First Name:
John
Company:
DealerRefresh

As vendors and owners, I think much of our decision-making is based on the belief that customers, when engaging with the dealership, are intimidated by the dealership. Let’s all simply agree that intimidation is another word/form/symptom of FEAR.

Of course, in the Old Days, there was no debate: APB Selling was all about exploiting the fact that “poor, wary, unsuspecting” customers had to come to the dealership to get some information about the car they just saw on TV, or in a magazine, or in the neighbor’s driveway. APB was all about getting to a simple question: “Why Not Now?”

So yeah… if you stopped over at the dealership to see the color options or engine options or (God Forbid!) grab a brochure, you had better be prepared to fend-off a salesperson!

“I’M JUST LOOKING!”

And if you were one out of 20 who were there to actually buy the car, you really had NO IDEA what to expect as far as a discount — as close as you could come to a Fair Price Estimate were stories about your neighbor’s friend’s uncle bragging about his price…

Today? What’s to fear?

I know the colors… if I want to see them in-person I’m already pretty far along the decision-path.

Brochure? What’s that???

Engine combination? Horsepower? (How many electric watts in a horse, anyway??).

Price? Geez Louise… I have 10 estimated prices in 10 minutes… I know it’s somewhere around here…

C’mon — customers know more than salespeople these days by an order of magnitude — there can be no logical argument that “knowledge” or the lack thereof is means of fear or intimidation.

So, is “Fear” really still a motivator? Of what is there to be afraid?  Are vendors and owners still holding-on to the assumption as a familiar convenience?

What does it mean if customers are not afraid or intimidated?

Shout-out over in the dealer forums!!

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2019 Automotive Predictions

Welcome back for another 2019 automotive predictions post. It appears 2018’s final automotive sales number will come in at approximately 17.2 million vehicles amid a mixed sales environment. The four interest rate increases last year may have slowed progress while the tax reform efforts had a positive impact.

2019 is expected to show approximately 16.7 million vehicles sold. This would be the first time in five years that US sales dipped below the 17 million unit mark. Light vehicle sales continued the year-end downward trend approximately 1.2% lower in 2018 and are expected to fall .6% – 1% in 2019 according to Moody’s. Look for the CUV/small and light truck segment to continue its sales momentum this year.

A potential contributor to new 2019 vehicle sales could be rising used car prices. Off-lease vehicles have attracted buyers, but their prices spiked in recent months. Shoppers will continue to look at the cost and value differences in new vs. used vehicles. As this price gap closes, consumers may opt for new vehicles instead.

I noticed a significant improvement in the ways dealers managed their operations last year. Dealers who paid little attention to items such as high-level acquisition and behavior continue to discover the power of the data at their fingertips. Dealers are asking more critical questions and seeing a massive difference between the digital solutions that deliver results and those that don’t. This trend shows no sign of slowing, especially with a tighter market on the horizon.

On to the 2019 automotive predictions… [Read more…]