DealerRefresh

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

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I’m making a career change

In fifth grade I scratched my name in a desk and had to buy a new desk for school; it was $93.  My grandfather picked me up every Saturday and I washed cars at our BMW store until that desk was paid off.  My punishment launched a desire to make money and eventually led to a career at my family’s business.  That was in 1989.

Checkered Flag has been unbelievably good to me.  It taught me the value of money, how to work smart/be organized, and showed me the key to success is staying successful.  It will always be a part of my life – it is in my DNA.

I am excited to say that I am going to continue my automotive education at a new learning institution.  I will miss Virginia Beach, my friends, my family, and Checkered Flag (even though we’ll still be very close).  However, the excitement of getting to know a new place, new group of people, and taking a big career turn is going to be a lot of fun!

I am thrilled to say I am taking a job with Dealer.com in Burlington, Vermont!

To the DealerRefresh Community –
If I were staying on the dealer side I would not mention a move on DealerRefresh with a blog article, but since I’m going to the vendor side I thought transparency was best.  I want you all to know that I am not leaving DealerRefresh.  I will not become an advertising platform for Dealer.com either.  You will find me to be the same person I was before this move.  I will be happy to help anyone with their Dealer.com needs as things are brought up on DealerRefresh, but I promise not to solicit you.  I might ask for your advice from time to time though – I may need your help for a reality check on a project or two.

What will I be doing at Dealer.com?
I am going to help them put a dealer’s spin on things….and of course to take over the world!  They are creating a new position that allows me space to be creative and work with a number of different people.  The funny thing is, this isn’t a change at all.  9 years ago, when Checkered Flag asked me to answer some Honda leads, it was a leap of faith too….and the last 9 years have been quite rewarding.  I’m looking forward to doing some of the same things, but on a whole new level!

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Alex’s Dealer.com Headquarters Visit

Visiting Dealer.com HQ is one of my favorite business trips to make.  No, they don’t throw a bunch of “good times” and “perks” out there while you’re visiting (even though they aren’t too far away from some Canadian craziness).  What they have is an amazing atmosphere and energy that is unsurpassed in any other workplace I’ve ever seen heard of.

You’ll find DDC HQ in the heart of Burlington, Vermont.  This town can be considered quaint to people from the city, but once you get to know it, you’ll find a technologically savvy industry mixed with the fun of college life.  Burlington is a young professional’s haven.  And the scenery isn’t terrible!

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Don’t wear a tie, don’t wear slacks, don’t even dress business casual – you’ll feel very out of place.  The dress code matches the one your local gym probably sets and that could be due to the fact that they not only have a gym in the office, but a basketball court, ping pong table, tennis court, and locker room right in the office. [Read more…]

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REVEAL THE POWER of 1st Party Leads – Webinar

Myself and Alex (along with Jennifer Suzuki and David Kain) will be part of the 1st Party Leads webinar hosted by Dealer.com.

Be sure to check back here for the full recording and posting of the webinar.

Until then, be sure to check out the ALL NEW DealerRefresh Dealer Technology Forum for best practices with dealer technology.

DealerRefresh has been around for almost 5 YEARS and there is a ton of information on here. Choose a category on the left or use the search feature in the top right to find HUNDREDS of articles about Internet Marketing and Best Practices.

**Below are transcripts from the from Jeff and Alexs’ presentations**

[Read more…]

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2008 SYNERGY SESSIONS New Orleans – Review by Brian Tucker

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Monday, May 12, 2008, I departed for New Orleans to get my fix of DGI, I canceled the Google alert after Jeff Kershner filled me in, thanks Alex for hours of endless search trying to figure that one out!

This would be my first trip to New Orleans and my first attendance to an event of this magnitude. My endless e-mails to Jeff and Sean V. Bradley begging to go finally paid off in a big way! The W Hotel was a great location for the event, and I really dug the contemporary décor of my room. I had Jeff convinced that Sean reserved me a Penthouse Suite on the top floor. All joking aside, Sean, AutoSuccess Magazine, DealerRefresh and Dealer Synergy went above and beyond putting this together for me. Sean, I will be reporting back to you as I build my library of videos with my new Flip Video Camera and utilize some of the tips you presented on Video Search Engine Optimization (No worries — I will keep the end result in mind).

There was so much info presented at this event — I took close to 20 pages of notes — I will have a hard time recapping everything that I found useful in this post, but as Deverl from Franklin Covey put it, I’ll try to give you a drink of water from a fire hose.

One of the speakers from the first day that I thought brought their “A” game would include the people from Dealer.com, I thought that Dean Evans and Mike DeCecco put together a classy presentation that touched on many thought-provoking topics such as Search Engine Optimization (SEO) defined within the guidelines of Google Webmaster, content organization, used-car brochures and robust sitemaps.

Sean Bradley and his presentation on Video Search Engine Optimization (VSEO) rocked! I’ll touch on one of the most impressive stats he brought to our attention: Online video reached an astronomical number in March, to the tune of 11.5 billion videos viewed in the U.S.! It’s not the next big thing — it’s already a very big thing!

The tricky part is coming up with content that will have the viral effect, such as those Badger commercials we have all come to love. I have some video ideas I have been kicking around and I’m very excited to get them into production — thanks for the tips, Sean!

Ken Potter from CarsDirect had a unique style to his presentation — laid back but very informative. One of the points he made, and I am guilty of it myself, is that we are in an industry of copycats (I sometimes refer to myself as the “The King of Copy and Paste”). I liked his suggestion to include a search bar on your homepage to track what is relevant to your customers. I also liked his suggestion to become a servant to your customers and employees, and finding out why your customers did not buy from you via e-mail was a point well-taken by me — I plan on getting that e-mail together very soon.

I will let Kershner comment on the VIP party at the House of Blues, as someone spiked my tonic water with Grey Goose. I will tell you that the party was off the hook and no expense was spared! The Hummer Limo at our beck and call was a nice touch.

The second day at Synergy Sessions was even more impressive then the first day, with high-energy speakers clearing the fog in my head rather quickly (was it the jet lag or the spiked drinks?).

Howard Polirer from Autotrader.com spoke on bridging the gap with Internet customers and brought up so many relevant topics that I found so useful I could write five pages on his presentation. I will just recommend catching this presentation at the next Synergy Session.

DeVerl Austin from Franklin Covey presented “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” and did a great job breaking down the process using the formula in the book. I have found this very helpful as I read through the book; needless to say DeVerl is a true professional and a great presenter.

Sean Bradley spun his version of the process, implementing a plan for building a rock-solid Internet Department using the core fundamentals found in the Covey book. I am currently building my action plan for my dealership based on the info that Sean presented.

The last presenter that I really got to interact with the second day because of work commitments was Mark Dubis from Carfolks. Mark had a very compelling presentation, spun off some of the recent hiccups we have seen lately with dealers managing their online reputations. I have spent many hours myself on Google trying to make sure we address those stealth posts that can silently damage sales. We as auto industry professionals must realize that customer concerns must be addressed at quantum speeds – not in days or hours. The old adage about disgruntled customers telling 10 people has been magnified to the beat of about 1 million views on the last PR disaster that I followed involving a dealership and one upset customer. Looks like we will all need to step it up on the customer satisfaction side of things and make sure we are in tune with what is being posted about our dealerships.

In closing, I would just like to thank everyone for the knowledge I gained from the two days in New Orleans, and I apologize in advance for not naming everyone that contributed to my successful trip.

Guest Posting by: Brian Tucker
Internet Sales Director for Swope Toyota