The Customer Journey matters – Lately, I’ve had some fun with the folks who don’t seem to place much credibility in the importance of the ‘Customer Journey’. They seem to concentrate on the last the click – the lead (when there is one). Not that the lead (when there is one) doesn’t matter, because it surely does. But leads are just a small part of a much bigger picture. I agree with the folks on his side of the argument, that the folks handling leads and calls need to pay attention to the task at hand, but I’d submit to them, gaining a little insight into what happens before the last click may be very beneficial. The big picture needs to be paid attention to by the Dealer Principal, the General Manager, and the Marketing Manager. We are well past the point in time when we should believe that the analysis of the Consumer Journey and caring about sales and profits are mutually exclusive ideas.
The Customer Journey matters – Lately, I’ve had some fun with the folks who don’t seem to place much credibility in the importance of the ‘Customer Journey’. They seem to concentrate on the last the click – the lead (when there is one). Not that the lead (when there is one) doesn’t matter, because it surely does. But leads are just a small part of a much bigger picture. I agree with the folks on his side of the argument, that the folks handling leads and calls need to pay attention to the task at hand, but I’d submit to them, gaining a little insight into what happens before the last click may be very beneficial. The big picture needs to be paid attention to by the Dealer Principal, the General Manager, and the Marketing Manager. We are well past the point in time when we should believe that the analysis of the Consumer Journey and caring about sales and profits are mutually exclusive ideas.
Best PracticesDealership Communication ToolsDealership Marketing

We are being beaten by socks. SOCKS!

I was reading a great article about attribution on MarketingLand.com when it struck me, “Why are we so far behind other segments?” We are being beaten by socks. SOCKS! Socks and cars are as different as can be Socks are what’s called a low-involvement purchase; limited thought goes into the purchase and there’s very little …

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Best PracticesDealership Communication ToolsDealership MarketingDealership Operations & Processes

Between 30 Seconds and 2 Minutes – Makes ALL the Difference

Car shoppers prefer videos between 30 seconds and 2 minutes. Recording and sending personalized walkaround videos to potential customers is a new strategy for many dealerships, therefore best practices have only recently emerged. As a result, dealers and their sales consultants often struggle with incorporating video into the sales process while also improving video engagement to conversion performance. And as you know once one starts …

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Millennials, Cereal, and The Billion Dollar Implications on the Auto Industry
Millennials, Cereal, and The Billion Dollar Implications on the Auto Industry
Dealership Communication ToolsDealership MarketingDealership Operations & ProcessesIndustry News & Trends

Millennials, Cereal, and The Billion Dollar Implications on the Auto Industry

Nearly 40 percent of millennials don’t eat cereal because it’s too much work to clean up. That was the claim of the article that caught my eye earlier this week. The article was based on a study done by The New York Times. Stunned, I asked the token millennial on our team if he eats cereal. …

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Best PracticesDealership Communication ToolsDealership MarketingDealership Operations & Processes

Mystery Shops: What You Don’t Know Could Be Dangerous!

I’ve often heard top process people say something like “The first step to process improvement is understanding what needs to be improved.” Knowing, they say, is half the battle. We mystery shop hundreds of dealers each year and like to think we learn something new with each shop. Certainly, the shop reports can be eye-opening …

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3 Free Effective Communication Tools
3 Free Effective Communication Tools
Best PracticesDealership Communication ToolsDealership Marketing

3 Free Effective Communication Tools That Will Increase Your Response Rate

Digital is an expectation, not an enhancement or an addition. Our culture has come to expect a digital experience in the smallest of our daily routines. Fast Food has become automated (the kiosk can’t forget I said no pickles), I can take a picture and deposit my check, (or just use Apple Pay and PayPal) …

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The Dealership 411
The Dealership 411
Best PracticesDealership Communication ToolsDealership Operations & Processes

The First Call Should Be the ONLY Call

One of the greatest challenges for dealers trying to master the internet is getting over their own preconceived notions about what internet sales entail. As I’ve been writing throughout this this 7-part series, internet sales are not hard; they’re not mysterious and they’re certainly not anything to overthink. My hope has been to detail in …

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Dealership BDC Email Templates
Dealership BDC Email Templates
Best PracticesDealership Communication ToolsDealership Operations & Processes

Email Templates can be Personal AND Automated

Internet sales are easy! There, I said it (or rather, wrote it.) Let me be clear: internet sales are about as black and white as anything we do in the car business – they really are. The problem is we tend to overcomplicate things we don’t understand; and traditional automotive sales managers have (for the …

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Dealership Communication ToolsDealership Marketing

Engage, Inform, and Delight Millennials with Personalized Video Emails

Don’t think Millennials are a big enough customer segment to worry about? Think again. According to a recent DrivingSales study, Millennials are now accounting for 27% of new car sales. “The buying power of this younger market represents a significant growing opportunity for dealerships, the report states. Who Are Millennials? Why Do They Matter? According …

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automotive auto-response greyhound dog
automotive auto-response greyhound dog
Best PracticesDealership Communication ToolsDealership Operations & Processes

Yes, You Should Always Use an Auto-Response

No offense to anyone reading this series: but far too many people in our industry tend to overthink everything related to internet sales and digital marketing. Perhaps it’s because so much of this is new or perhaps it’s because change is happening so quickly that it’s hard to keep up with the actual “best” practices …

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