DealerRefresh

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

Archives for April 2010

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CARFAX – What Are You Thinking?

Who has seen CARFAX’s NEW Price Calculator?

CarFax has apparently decided to take it upon themselves to determine how their own CarFax history report “should” effect the price of your dealers inventory.

Why even go there?

Stick to your core product CarFax – History Reports NOT Pricing!!

I can see me yanking CarFax off my website real soon.

Is it time to consider AutoCheck??

Carfax vs. AutoCheck

What do you guys & ladies think of this??

We also have a discussion over on the forum about this. Feel free to share your thoughts here and in the forums.

CarFax Car Values and their NEW Price Calculator

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Contact At Once! and Cobalt Partner for Dealer Chat

Contact At Once! and Cobalt Partner to Extend Cobalt’s Digital Marketing Platform with Dealer Chat

Atlanta, GA and Seattle, WA – April 27, 2010 – Contact At Once!, LLC, the leading provider of dealer chat software that moves online lookers into live conversations with car dealerships, announced today a partnership with Cobalt, the leading provider of digital marketing solutions to the retail automotive industry, to offer an integrated version of ContactAtOnce! dealer chat software with Cobalt’s dealer website solutions. Dealers adding ContactAtOnce! to their Cobalt digital marketing platform will be able to support more shoppers natural communications preferences, increasing total sales opportunities generated by their advertising investments. With this partnership Cobalt results reporting will now include chat-based opportunities as it does email leads, phone leads and walk-in intent.

More than three quarters of all shoppers use the Internet before visiting a dealer, leveraging a rapidly expanding portfolio of communications methods and devices. Research confirms that shoppers will engage more with dealers that support the type of communications methods they prefer, increasing total sales opportunities. This solution takes dealer chat technology to a new level by making it easy for dealer sales personnel to use, personalizing it for consumers with real images of dealership staff, and eliminating the need for expensive, less effective external call centers through “presence aware” smart technology that knows when dealership personnel are ready and able to chat.

Dealers have the expectation that their partners should report on the business return from the dealer’s investments in that partner. Unlike the superficial integration that typically exists when chat software is added to dealer websites, ContactAtOnce! is integrated into Cobalt’s digital marketing platform to optimize the conversion of online car shoppers into leads and to consolidate lead measurement and reporting. This allows Cobalt to discuss the total performance of a dealer’s digital marketing effort regardless of consumer contact method.

“ContactAtOnce! chat encourages online shoppers to connect and converse with our dealerships,” said Wayne Ussery, Director of Internet Marketing for the Jim Ellis Auto Dealerships that include Chevrolet, Buick-GMC, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Saab, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Audi and Porsche franchises. “Many of our stores receive 50 or more chat requests each month.” The Jim Ellis Automotive Group ranked #8 in the most recent “Ward’s e-Dealer 100” list of the top performing dealerships as measured by Internet sales.

“We’re thrilled that an industry leader like Cobalt recognized the advanced capabilities of Contact At Once! and chose us as a partner,” said John Hanger, President and CEO. “This is the first partnership of its kind for Cobalt,” said Chris Reed, Cobalt’s Chief Marketing Officer. “This type of partnership provides our customers with the flexibility and choice they desire to optimize the performance of their digital marketing without sacrificing the integrated performance reporting and service delivery they value from Cobalt.”

The integrated ContactatOnce! solution is available immediately. Cobalt customers should contact their Cobalt Sales representative or Contact At Once! to request a presentation. Information on the solution can be found at www.cobalt.com/marketplace.

About Contact At Once!, LLC:
Contact At Once!, LLC is the leading provider of dealer chat software and internet marketing tools for automotive sales, apartment leasing, and other industries where consumers conduct research online before visiting a dealership or office. The ContactAtOnce! service increases the conversion of website visitors into live conversations with sales people by utilizing a suite of technologies such as presence, IM/chat, VoIP telephony, video chat and text messaging, resulting in increased revenue and a better return on marketing expenditures. ContactAtOnce! is the only solution with features specifically for vertical search websites and over 40 such sites, along with thousands of merchant businesses, are using it today. Find out more at www.contactatonce.com.

About Cobalt
Cobalt is North America’s leading provider of digital marketing solutions to the automotive industry. For more than fifteen years, Cobalt’s mission has been to help automobile dealers and manufacturers increase their retailing effectiveness and profitability through cutting-edge digital marketing platforms, solutions and advertising. Cobalt currently provides marketing services to nearly half of the automotive dealerships in the United States as well as automotive dealers in Canada and Mexico. Cobalt’s digital marketing services are endorsed by two-thirds of the world’s major automotive manufacturers.

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“Hassle-Free” Car-Buying Experience Is Most Important

DealerRater Reveals “Hassle-Free” Car-Buying Experience Most Important in Latest Poll

Waltham, MA (April 26, 2010) – DealerRater, the nation’s premier car dealer review Web site, surveyed a sample of 5,530 reviewers on which of six factors ranked highest in their car purchase decision. The poll choices included hassle-free shopping, low price, prompt attention, location of dealer, service promise and dealer reputation. Respondents were also given the choice to select “other” and share a factor of their own not included in our list.

“Nearly half of the respondents made it clear that both a relaxed car-buying experience and working with a dealer with a stellar reputation are tops on their wish lists,” noted Chip Grueter, president of DealerRater. “These top two criteria fit perfectly into the overall mission of DealerRater, which is to provide an efficient point of entry for customers through free classified vehicle leads and give dealers tools to effectively manage their online reputation.”

Based on the poll results, the most important factor to consumers in their car-buying decision is a “hassle-free” shopping experience, a response given by 30% of the poll respondents. Dealerships who can effectively streamline the car purchase process, apply just the right amount of pressure while allowing customers to feel that they are in control, and provide a seamless path from start to finish are clearly advantaged and in demand.

The next most popular factor, according to nearly 20% of the poll respondents, was dealer reputation. DealerRater allows customers to post their reviews of car dealerships to its website, effectively helping to inform other users who are reading the reviews as part of a purchase decision. DealerRater provides tools for dealers to manage their reputation through its Certified Dealer program. Reputation management has become one of the most critical components of effective online marketing, and the poll results clearly reinforce this.

Low prices (15% of respondents), prompt attention (10% of respondents), service promise (6% of respondents), and dealer location (3% of respondents) rounded out the poll responses that offered a specific factor. Approximately 16% of those surveyed, however, chose the “Other” option and specifically mentioned one or more factors that weren’t named in the poll. “Honesty and integrity at every step of the buying process” was the response of one such respondent, a sentiment echoed by a number of others. Another noted that “the knowledgeable and expertise of the sales staff is very important.”

About DealerRater
DealerRater was founded in 2002 as the first car dealer review Web site worldwide. DealerRater is committed to providing a central collection point for informative reviews. The site currently features more than 24,000 US and International car dealers and more than 100,000 user reviews. DealerRater provides the opportunity for users to search for car dealerships, read current reviews, write their own review, and find car deals – all for free. Car dealers are rated on the criteria of customer service, quality of work, friendliness, price and overall experience. DealerRater users also have the option to recommend the dealer to other users and provide a descriptive review. Web site users and car dealerships may post free auto classified ads. DealerRater visitors may request vehicle quotes and Certified Dealers receive free vehicle leads.

About Chip Grueter
Chip Grueter is the president of DealerRater. Mr. Grueter founded the company in 2002 as a way for Web site users to share their sales and service experiences at automotive dealerships with other Web site users. Mr. Grueter holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Boston College. Mr. Grueter’s favorite dealership customer service perk is free vehicle loaners.

For DealerRater information or to interview Chip Grueter, please contact Michelle Oldershaw at 800.266.9455 or visit www.DealerRater.com.

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Client~ConneXion – New DealerRefresh Ad Sponsor

DealerRefresh welcomes new sponsor – Client~ConneXion

Client~ConneXion knows how important web traffic is to your dealership website. They also know it’s even more important to “Stop the Shop” to those same website visitors. That’s the philosophy that they’ve built their business on.

Their Live Web Chat Application truly “UPs”every Web Visitor!

It’s like having a greeter on your website just waiting to help the next customer. And the customers appreciate the immediate attention and service.

Not only do they automatically greet every visitor, they also hand you a crystal ball into your customer’s shop. By delivering the Behavioral Analytics to every visitor, Client~ConneXion dealers are able Co-Navigate with their customers, and are tuned in to where they came from and what they are shopping for before ever speaking to them. Their Onsite Accountability Training program assists both Sales and Service staff to stay in front of their customers. The Live Web Chat Application allows your dealership the ability to assist your customers live, when the iron is hot.

Client~ConneXion also offers the SFE Procurement Program, an After-Hours Lead Response Solution geared to the GM dealers OneSource leads Standards for Excellence program.

About Client~ConneXion

Client~ConneXion is a software solution firm based out of Dallas, TX that specializes in providing a Live Web Chat Application that pro-actively engages and “UP’s” every web visitor for auto dealers throughout the country. Client~ConneXion Founder, Timothy Michael, feels that “consumers expect instant attention and by accommodating their need for a quick response, it typically stops the shop and we’re happy to provide that solution through the SFE Procurement Program or via the Live Web Chat. Instant contact and response is what we’ve built our business on.”

For more information visit www.ClientConneXion.com

Please Note: Our sponsors are important to us, and we hope to advertise products and services that we feel would be relevant to the community, however sponsors are not “endorsements” of dealerrefresh. As with any purchase, always do your research and comparisons. Find out if Advertising on DealerRefresh.com works for your company.

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Are you underpaid? Need a raise?

We’re trying to gauge what the average Internet Sales Manager or Director is making across the country.  Answer the poll on the DealerRefresh forums:  http://forum.dealerrefresh.com/f40/pay-internet-sales-manager-director-903.html

Poll results as of April 28th at 3:33 PM EST.

This could be your opportunity to show your boss that you’re under-valued.  Regardless of where you fall in the current poll, the more people who answer it the more accurate the numbers become.

Thank you for taking the time!

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Kevin Frye’s Annual Digital Dealer Conference Review

Isn’t she ‘tweet? It’s that time again – the semi-annual Digital Dealer conference, and of course the infamous review care of DealerRefresh. Jeff Kershner was unable to attend, I think he was attending the Cannes Film Festival or receiving the Nobel Prize for Automotive Excellence or something, so that leaves the flunkies like myself and Alex Jefferson with The Proctor Dealerships to pick up the slack…

So what kind of healthy food do automotive professionals eat? For the first official meeting of the “Automotive Industry Knights of the Round Table”, we chose to meet at the Rosen Shingle resort, which coincidentally was also the location for the 8th Digital Dealer Conference held in Orlando, Florida. Ok, so the table was not round, and most of these guys are not Knights, or even someone I might want to even run into at night, but great fun was had by all as we gathered together to share what is working well for each of us in this rapid-paced market, as well as looking for new ideas for where things are going.

Is it legal to give away alcohol? [Read more…]

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Social Media Etiquette for Vendors

I just got back from Digital Dealer 8 and almost every presentation was on Social Media.  Many vendors were preaching why dealers should be doing something in Social Media, but there weren’t many telling their clients how to do it right.  That’s mostly because many of these vendors don’t understand how Social Media truly works themselves.

Social Media is a platform where many people can communicate equally.  It is really that simple of a definition.  It is not just facebook, or twitter.  Those sites have a lot of eyeballs, but the ones that really last forever and are more relevant are the blogs and forums – especially for our vendors.  Blogs and forums index with search engines, and if your company is talked about on one of these blogs or forums (like DealerRefresh) those conversations are going to show up when a potential client searches for your name.  I’m not tooting the DealerRefresh horn, or DrivingSales’, or ADM’s, or even David Kain’s platform; I’m just going to stress that these kind of places can make or break you.  And this is going to become a bigger factor with time.

Here are some easy rules to live by:

[Read more…]

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Perfecting Your Lead Mix – Dealix Webinar

Dealix is hosting a free webinar this upcoming Monday (April 26th)..

“Perfecting the Lead Mix: the Key to Growing Sales in Your Dealership”

Registration:
Topic: Dealix Presents: “Perfecting the Lead Mix: the Key to Growing Sales in Your Dealership ” Webinar
Date: Monday, April 26, 2010
Time: 11:00 am, PST
Register Here

Event Description:

Dealix presents “Perfecting the Lead Mix: the Key to Growing Sales in Your Dealership” webinar.

During this session, a panel of automotive experts will discuss the value of consumer leads from three key sources – dealer websites, OEM websites, and independent Internet sites – and the role each plays in creating sales and growing market share for dealerships.

Over the course of an hour, the panel will examine:

  • Value each lead type delivers to your dealership and what constitutes the ‘right’ mix
  • How to measure performance and ROI for each lead source
  • Lead handling tactics and best practices for optimal results
  • And much more!

The session will be moderated by Kevin Hunt, Vice President of Sales at Dealix and will feature the following panelists:

David Kain, President of Kain Automotive, will focus on leads from OEM sites.
Brian Pasch, Owner of Pasch Consulting, will argue the merits of leads from the Dealer Sites.
Anna Zornosa, General Manager of Dealix – a Division of Cobalt – will advocate the contribution of leads from independent sites.

Don’t miss out.

Date: Monday, April 26, 2010
Time: 11:00 am, PST
Register Here

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The iPad article – why the hell not?

We’re jumping on the iPad bandwagon at DealerRefresh.  Why?  Well….why the hell not?  Why does a dog….anyway.  We’re on it, so now we’re going to have an article on it.  So there!

Jeff and I are still waiting on our 3G iPads to show up, but I’m too much of a geek to wait.  I picked up a WiFi one to tie me over.

Now that the early adopters have had theirs for a few days I’m reading a few things that are “de-ethered”.  The first one is from one of our friends at HomeNet:  Arnold Tijerina’s iPad review.  Brian Pasch’s iPad video explains his opinion on how the right apps will make sales more personal with the iPad.  And Joe Pistell is asking if the iPad is a gamechanger on the DealerRefresh forums.

Here’s my take:

[Read more…]

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Contact At Once! Announces First Online Automotive Chat Training Courses

ATLANTA, GA – April 14, 2010 – Contact At Once! LLC, provider of the most widely deployed automotive chat tools that help dealers move online car shoppers into live conversations, today announced the immediate availability of interactive online training courses for users of the ContactAtOnce! chat solution. The six course curriculum was developed to help dealership staff improve their chat techniques which in turn helps them convert more prospects into sales.

“Dealership personnel have hectic, interrupt-driven schedules that often don’t allow time for classroom or even webinar-type training sessions,” said Marc Hayes, co-founder and EVP at Contact At Once!. “With these self-service, easy-to-use, online interactive automotive chat training courses our dealers may now learn new ways to convert prospects, from their location of choice, on their own schedule and at their own pace.”

The online automotive chat training includes six courses with integrated testing. In addition to being conveniently available on-demand, the courses are interactive and were designed and developed by Contact At Once!, in partnership with online learning experts from RevenueGuru.com.

“Contact At Once! is demonstrating leadership by providing auto dealers more than just software and actually helping with the training, support and integration they need to increase sales and profits through the effective use of chat,” said Dennis Galbraith, founder of RevenueGuru.com.

A sample training course entitled “Chat Basics” is publicly available for anyone to learn more about the importance of using chat as part of the sales process. The full set of training courses, including the test module, is immediately available to all 30,000+ registered users of the ContactAtOnce! chat service through the ContactAtOnce! Portal, all for no additional charge.

About Automotive Chat Tools Provider Contact At Once!, LLC:
Contact At Once!, LLC is the leading provider of automotive chat solutions and internet marketing tools for automotive sales, apartment leasing, and other industries where consumers conduct research online before visiting a dealership or office. The ContactAtOnce! service typically moves at least 25% more website visitors into live conversations with sales people by utilizing a suite of technologies such as presence, IM/chat, VoIP telephony, video chat and text messaging, resulting in increased revenue and a better return on marketing expenditures. ContactAtOnce! is the only solution with features specifically for vertical search websites and over 40 such sites, along with thousands of merchant businesses, are using it today. Find out more at www.contactatonce.com.