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…]

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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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The 10 Best Auto Dealer Sales Blogs for 2019

The automotive sales business is highly competitive. Today, you need more than superior merchandise, enticing pricing, superior warranties and financing, a great location, and winning personality to find success. You need to subscribe to auto dealer sales blogs to stay informed and ahead of the game. Why? In 2019, more consumers will search for their perfect vehicle online before they step on your lot. If your sales team knows how to appeal to technologically-savvy buyers, you’ll achieve your sales goals and move inventory.

What Makes a Great Car Dealership Sales Blog

When you start searching for reliable and educational car dealership sales blogs, choose those that post regularly. Red flags include blogs that haven’t published fresh content in over one month or sporadically do so. This may be a warning sign that a particular blog isn’t written by industry thought-leaders.

You also want to seek out car dealership sales blogs that give tips for in-person and online sales. Blog posts should be relevant—recommending best practices and modern software that can streamline the car-buying experience and offer sales automation to free you up to sell more vehicles. Great blogs should also report on relevant industry statistics and case studies that can help you do your job better and earn more sales.

Of course, you can also use this list. We’ve already vetted the following 10 car sales blogs for you to read and learn from in 2019.

  1. DealerRefresh

DealerRefresh offers the perfect blend of marketing industry experts, advertising tips and strategy, and online sales tactics that work. Read this blog and you’ll find resources to help you improve search engine optimization and target your audience with effective ads. There are also plenty of articles about new software, tools, and applications that professionals like you need. One of this blog’s best features is its online forum. If you have an unanswered question after reading an article, you can find a direct answer in one of the forums.

 

  1. Car Sales Professional

The Car Sales Professional Blog offers resources for every type of car sales professional. There are articles for rookies as well as seasoned professionals who want to sell online more effectively. This blog’s articles cover in-person sales tactics, online sales, and how to cold call internet leads for the best results. The clean, simple layout isn’t as flashy as some other blogs on our list. However, it’s easy to find fresh, helpful information no matter what type of dealership you service. This blog fully lives up to its promise of “Moving Metal and Making Money”.

 

  1. AutoRaptor

With a catchy name and the tagline, “All that’s sales worthy”, you can expect a lot from Auto Raptor’s blog. It doesn’t disappoint. Auto Raptor not only focuses on sales tactics and industry statistics but also important topics like dealership security and readying your business for tax time. In the world of car dealership sales blogs, Auto Raptor is suited more for managers, sales leads, and dealership owners who want to have an active hand in how their business runs. The blog offers information that will help you train your sales force—including how to know which training programs are worth their time and your money.

[Read more…]

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The Importance of a Dealership’s Google My Business

There are many touchpoints in a car shopper’s journey. Few are as important as Google My Business (GMB). GMB listings show up in direct searches, and they collect highly influential information, including:

Dealership Name Reviews Q&A Engagement Options
Dealership Citations

(Address, Hours of Operation, and Phone Number)

A typical listing provides a lot of information, but how important is that info to car shoppers?

BrightLocal conducted a study that connected consumer trust with accurate directory information (also known as citations). The study found: [Read more…]

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Champions Seek Opportunities

Champions Seek Opportunities

Change happens – why not embrace it?

Earlier this year I had the opportunity to listen to Melissa Stockwell when she spoke to the entire Cars.com sales team. She’s a patriot, a soldier, an athlete, a mother, and a great speaker. She is also the first American woman ever to lose a limb in active combat. Her story is inspiring, yes; but more than that, it is instructive. You see, most motivational and inspirational speakers fade quickly from memory; a day or a week later the inspiration has ‘worn off.’ On the other hand, when you learn a lesson, you can go back and put that lesson into action over and over again. Melissa’s lesson is one that stuck with me.

Change happens. Melissa’s change happened in an instant. She was leading a convoy in Baghdad when a roadside bomb exploded. She lost her left leg. Her situation had changed. Her future had changed. Her life had changed.

But what she did next is amazing. Before she even left Walter Reed Army Medical Center, she had the dream of participating in the Paralympic Games three years later as a swimmer. In April of 2008, Melissa became the first Iraqi War Veteran to qualify for the Paralympics. She was chosen to carry the United States flag in the ceremonies. She looked for and embraced her new opportunities.

She continued to seek new opportunities; she embraced Paratriathlon and has gone on to become a three-time World Champion in the sport. When Paratriathlon became Paralympic sport, she returned to the Paralympics, winning a bronze medal in Rio.

The situation is changing for car dealers too – subscription services, digital retailing, self-driving cars, car sharing, etc. Change happens – the big question is how do you react to change? You can pretend the change isn’t happening. You can long for the past. Or you can look for the opportunities that exist in the midst of every change.

I have faced major change a few times in my life. I can’t say I have always dealt with it with as much grace as Melissa. But after hearing her speak, I know I will always be looking for opportunity in the face of change.

 

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CarGurus Overstating Search Results (SRP’s)

Recently, I shared a new metric that CarGurus now includes in their dealer reporting. This new metric is called “SRP Impressions”, and at the time I posted, CarGurus was showing this new metric in addition to their normal SRP metric.

A week or so later, I along with many other dealers received an email from CarGurus explaining what this new SRP Impressions metric was, and how it will eventually replace their current SRP metric. What was most shocking to me was their explanation surrounding the old vs. new SRP metric…

[Read more…]

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Digitizing Your Sales Process: The Path To Omni-Channel Retail Success

As a small child, I remember traversing the halls of the local Sears with my father who always acted like a little kid in the candy store when buying new tools. In my bright-eyed view, Sears was the place to go back then. They had the best selection and the best customer service for all of our home improvement needs. I remember how proud my dad was of his latest purchase, and how nice it was of the friendly cashier to hand me a lollipop.

Fast forward to today, and Sears has filed for bankruptcy, joining the graveyard of big box brands who have gone out of business, and the sad truth is that no one is terribly surprised.

So, what happened? [Read more…]

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Online Reviews Made Easy: 5 Steps to Build Your Google Review Link

It is a well-known fact that your online reviews are your first foot-in-the-door with a new customer. It is also widely known that it is essential to respond to ALL reviews – be they negative or positive – but the struggle with online reviews is keeping them up!

Your dealership may be one of the lucky ones. You may have a dedicated staff member that daily monitors your online reviews, but if your dealership is one of the many that do not, I’d like to show you a great way to continue to build consistent online reviews, by creating your Google Review Link.

As technology progresses, consumers collectively have become more and more reliant on what is “easy.” How many times has a company directly asked you to review them online, and you think to yourself, “I’ll get to it when I get to it.”? Most likely that has happened more than you can count, but think of the times when a company has directly sent you a link that you just click on to review them. I know that as a consumer myself, I am 100 times more likely to click on that link and post a review of my experience if the source to do so is sent directly to me.

Setting up a Google Review link for your dealership is easy, and it only takes 5 steps to get started.

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