“I am excited to receive this great honor. I accept it on behalf of the Dealer.com team members who help our clients succeed every day,” commented Bonfigli. “Their hard work, dedication and creativity are the driving force behind our industry leadership. From the beginning, we have always had a strong research and development focus to keep our clients two to four years ahead of the competition and this strategy is a significant reason for our success and our clients’ success.”

The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year awards celebrate their 23rd anniversary this year. The program honors entrepreneurs who have demonstrated exceptionality in such areas as innovation, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities.

“We are proud to recognize the achievements of Bonfigli,” said Kristin Keating, Ernst & Young LLP Entrepreneur Of The Year Program Co-Chair for New England. “Winners of the Entrepreneur Of The Year award build leading businesses and contribute significantly to the strength of our region’s economy. Their success helps our area grow stronger.”

As a New England award winner, Bonfigli is now eligible for consideration for the Ernst & Young LLP Entrepreneur Of The Year 2009 national program. Award winners in several national categories, as well as the overall national Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year award winner, will be announced at the annual awards gala in Palm Springs, California on November 14, 2009. The awards are the culminating event of the Ernst & Young Strategic Growth Forum, the nation’s most prestigious gathering of high-growth, market-leading companies.

“Yup, I have my TV commercials on my website.”

Well, that’s a good start, but that’s not really a video strategy.

Plopping video on your website is fine, but I believe you’ll get better results if you plan your attack and measure your results.
Start with an outline for your dealership website and then fill in the blanks.

Every department should benefit from video. Here’s an example of how you might get started.

Equipment:
You can spend a ton of money on video equipment, but I suggest you walk before you run. Go out and buy a flip video camera for about $200. You may also want to buy a cheap banner with your dealership URL on it for interview purposes etc.

Sales:
Inventory Videos – Look for a product that creates high quality automated videos with no effort on your part. Be sure the product you use has real human voices instead of text-to-speech and includes multiple calls to action and is Google friendly. Shop around for the best possible production value for your money. Inventory videos are extremely important.

Customer Testimonials – This is where the banner comes in… Set up your banner in the dealership someplace nice and quiet. Offer your new sales a simple incentive like a free oil change in exchange for a quick testimonial. Have a question ready to ask like “Why did you buy from ABC Motors?” or “What was your experience like here at ABC Motors?” Ask open-ended questions and keep your testimonials short. 30-45 seconds max.

Service:
Introduction - About 40% of automotive related searches are for service, so having a robust service page is important. Have your service manager explain why your service department is so great. Do you have a shuttle service? Do you have a nice waiting room? Loaner Cars? Explain how you can get great service by certified technicians for less than you think.

Customer Testimonials – You know those regular service customers you’re always seeing in the waiting area? Well, now’s your chance to get them on camera talking about why they always come back to your dealership for service.

Parts:
Introduction – Have your parts manager talk about how you have a huge selection of parts and OEM equipment to keep your customers vehicles running like new. You will also want them to mention that they have a strong wholesale business and can deliver to local shops. Get footage of the accessories you carry at the parts department and explain how your parts counter people can help your customers accessorize their vehicle with genuine OEM accessories.

Finance:
Introduction – Explain the role of the F&I office and how they help make sure your customers get the financing they need at very competitive rates. Be sure to mention that you work with many banks and can often times beat credit union rates.
Warranties – Nobody wants to spend a ton of money on repairs, so make sure you explain that extended warranties can be rolled right into your payment and can cover your vehicle for many years to come.
Special Finance – If you’re a dealership that specializes in credit challenged deals, be sure to mention it. Also include testimonials from customers that got financing through you even though they never though they would.

Placement:
It’s important that you have control of your website and the ability to place videos yourself on your site. Some website companies offer this capability so be sure to ask. You can upload videos to youtube, but embedding the videos on your own website as well as on youtube is your best bet.

When you’re putting your homemade videos on your website be sure to mention the content within them in the text on the same page. Also, you’ll be better off if your videos are not on a videos page, but on the pages associated with them on your website.

In closing…. It’s not enough to just put your TV commercials online and say you have a video strategy. The dealerships that get creative and really use video for branding and differentiation opportunities will set themselves apart.

If you have any questions about video implementation strategies for your dealership, feel free to get in touch with me!

Mike DeCecco
Dir., Industry Relations
Dealer.com
miked@dealer.com

Google possesses 70% of the market share, which means your SEM strategies must utilize the great advantage Google can offer your SEM, as well as your dealership. More importantly, you need to ask your vendor questions about their pay-per-click programs such as:

* Do I have to commit to a long-term contract?
* How much do I have to spend per month?
* Do I have control over that spend?
* Can I divide my spend throughout different departments such as new and used car sales, service, parts, finance, specials etc.?
* What kind of flexibility do I have to move my spend up and down?

The answer is that you should have control over your spend. Spend is in real time, so your dealership should be able to have total control, whether that’s hour by hour, or minute by minute. You should also be able to track your results, as in phone calls and email submissions, so you can see the leads generated for every dollar you spend. Your dealership should be aware of the profitability and effectiveness of your SEM strategies.

The other feature that is beneficial to your SEM strategy is the ability to have ads written automatically, based on inventory. Every vehicle that comes into stock should produce an automatic ad that goes on Google. This feature is vital, because it connects you, the seller, to potential buyers. Your conversion rate increases, as does your closing rate, because you have the exact vehicle in stock for which the customer is looking, all in real time.

If there’s one thing to remember about SEM, it’s that your dealership should not have to compromise control over spend in order to receive the benefits and features, and in turn leads and sales, that SEM can bring to your online marketing strategies.

Best of luck!

With all the talk in the space today about what solid customer service really means I thought I would post some thoughts…

At the end of the day, regardless of what industry we’re in, we’re all essentially in the customer service business. So the bottom line is that if we’re not taking care of our customers in the most attentive way possible, a competitor will be more than happy to do it. The Internet marketing game is no different. As you consider entering into a relationship with a provider, you’re going to hear a lot of promises, particularly when it comes to customer service. And unless you’re careful, you’re going to learn a really hard lesson about the difference between full service and lip service.

Profit from experience.
In any business, particularly one as dynamic as Internet marketing, it pays to work with someone who understands what’s happening today and who knows enough to make an educated guess as to what will happen tomorrow. So it stands to reason that the best customer service reps are the ones who understand your business as well, if not better, than you do. Even those who don’t have firsthand knowledge, if they at least know where to go to gain that knowledge they can be of tremendous value to your dealership.

Hold the phone.
When you have a problem, or even a question, who would you rather have answering the phone when you call — someone at an overseas call center or an account manager who works with you on a day-to-day basis and thoroughly understands every facet of your business? Customer service is only effective if the person on the other end of the phone has the knowledge to service the customer. It sounds obvious, but if it’s so obvious why do so many marketing providers outsource their call centers? The answer is that it can be a lot more profitable for the provider. But when you absolutely need help and want to hear a familiar voice on the other end of the line, it doesn’t work for you.

Look for the proactive ingredient.
It’s great to have a customer service rep who specializes in solving problems. But wouldn’t it be better to work with someone with the skills to put out fires before they started burning out of control? That’s exactly what a proactive account rep can do for you. It’s not about predicting the future, it’s about being prepared for it. And no one’s better prepared than someone who understands industry trends and is always watching out for how they may impact you. It’s always a lot easier, and a lot cheaper, to head off problems rather than solve them.

Playing the numbers game.
Think of a pie. If you have six friends over for dinner and want to cut a slice for each, everyone’s going to get a pretty good sized piece. Now imagine that same sized pie with 20 dinner guests. Those slices aren’t going to be nearly as generous. The same rules apply to your account rep’s time. If he or she is servicing 10 accounts, it stands to reason that you’re going to get about 10% of their attention. Now double the number of their accounts, and your share of their attention is reduced to 5%. With that math in mind, it’s at least worth asking your account rep how many accounts he or she will be servicing before you sign anything.

It all comes down to Google.
In an industry dominated by search engines, your account reps have to know the ins and outs of that business. And these days, that means they’d better be Google trained and Google certified. You might hear vague promises about how that doesn’t matter so much or how there are ways around it, but there’s one truth in the search engine business: Google rules. And until that changes, and there’s no reason to believe it will any time in the near future, having the training and certification necessary to run your ad words program and to help you with search engine marketing and optimization is an absolute necessity.