Industry Events

Cars.com Webinar: Tips from the Ward’s e-Dealer 100

Jeff Kershner
Posted onApr 12, 2007 at 5:27 PM
Updated onUpdated on Oct 23, 2008 at 11:59 AM

Cars.com is hosting a Free Webinar tomorrow at 11AM centeral time, April 13, 2007. That’s 12pm (noon) for us East Coast ISM’s.

Cliff Banks will be hosting this Cars.com webinare and the topic will be "Tips from the Ward’s e-Dealer 100 and The Secrets of Their Success".

It’s supposed to be about an hour long and the descriptions reads:

"In April, Ward’s Dealer Business publishes its seventh annual e-Dealer 100—a nationwide ranking of dealers with the highest internet sales. Join Cars.com for a special DealerADvantage LIVE in which Cliff Banks, Ward’s editorial director, will moderate a panel of the top dealers from this year’s e-Dealer 100. Tune in to hear these leaders discuss how they use the Web to drive traffic to their stores and sell more cars. Among the issues we’ll discuss:

  • What online tactics do the top e-Dealers employ for sales success?
  • How do the most successful dealers improve close rates?
  • How do these dealers track and measure internet-generated sales?

I like Cliff’s editorial pieces in Wards Dealer Magazine so I thought this might be a decent webinare to share with everyone.

Here is the link to register.

Once you register, you’ll get an email with the rest of the detials.


UPDATE: If you attended the Cars.com Webinar, please share your thought here.

Jeff Kershner
Founder of DealerRefresh - 20+ Years of dealership Sales, Management, Training, Marketing and Leadership.
J
I was involved with the e dealer webinar and really enjoyed the other feed back from the Internet Directors that had hosted it. I learned alot and was able to relate to their success in the Internet Sales departments. The internet sales in the dealerships have evolved largely around the United States and is absolutely going to get larger & larger as time comes along.

Thank you

Jennifer Schrader
Internet Sales Director
Williams Honda of Traverse City
www.williamshonda.tc


K
I attended as well... it got off to a rough start technically, but once things were rolling, it was very useful. I found it of interest that many of the top eCommerce dealers were switching from providing pricing immediately to internet requests, to taking a more traditional approach of asking questions first, then working to a price from there after some interaction with the prospect... The fundamentals still work well! Kevin Frye/eCommerce Director - Jeff Wyler Automotive Family
J
Yes, the webinar did in deed get off to a slow start. It was funny to hear a manager in the background working deals and putting numbers on appraisals during the the interview.

Overall it was a decent webinar and something I think they should do more often. However, I would limit it to just 1 to 2 speakers and then allow more time for questions from the listeners. I had a few questions myself that never got answered.

2 parts of conversation that I found interesting;

1. The topic of price quotes. It was interesting to hear that the 3 Internet sales managers being interviewed have rethought their process for sending price quotes. Apparently they were “that dealer” in the area that would whore out the price quotes via email (I too have one of those dealers in my area). After turning their market into a price quote haven, they eventually realized that you could make money using online marketing and that it makes no sense to email price quotes when it’s unnecessary. I sounded to me like one of the dealers single handedly turned his market into a price quote arena.

2. The managers seemed to agree that there was no need for anymore then 9-10 photos of a car. I’m not here to agree or disagree. We take 20+ photos of our pre-owned cars and couldn’t imagine taking any less then 15. But then I’m in the high-end luxury market, but then again, should that matter?

3. Mike Lavezzi from Pacific Honda said that he witnessed a DECREASE in conversion when they added vehicle videos to their website. I was hoping to ask him to elaborate more on his opinion on why this happened. That was one of the questions that I had that went unanswered.

I’d like to see some interviews with managers from smaller dealers. It seems to me that the magazines and online publications are always interviewing the larger Honda and Toyota dealers. Not to knock the Internet sales managers for a Honda or Toyota dealer, but you have to admit..your dealing with some of the most internet using consumers, throw up a website, follow-up with phone calls and your guaranteed some sales.

J
Yes it was funny with him doing deals in the back ground but that shows great potential! Never pass up a deal. When they mentioned about losing more on the videos they were providing, I suggested to them about the Digital brochures that I provide to my customers and they are very easy, resourceful and answers many questions. It is a very quick overview of the vehicle itself. I also wanted to know what kind of video's were they providing to them?
J