7 Predictions For An Awesome 2013
By Eric Miltsch on Dec 28, 2012
Every year I enjoy putting my neck on the line by trying to look into the future of our wonderful industry and play Carstrodamus to see what lies ahead for us. Some ideas have been spot on: The importance of local search and social content sharing and location based marketing services. Others were a little early: HTML5 and NFC. A couple were either just wrong or haven't happened yet: Path being acquired by Facebook.
The retail car segment has long been plagued with a stagnent culture of progressiveness. We've changed this perception over the past couple of years, brought ourselves up to speed and are no longer afraid of technology and the opportunities it provides our businesses.
So, rather than focus on specific events occurring this year, I'm focusing on concepts I believe will become more important with regards to how we think, connect with customers and employees to improve our business.
Seven Concepts That Will Define The Retail Automotive Business In 2013.
Changing Website Design Standards
The time has come for a new standard in website content design. The familiar template design we've all grown tired of needs to change. Website design standards are changing and we need to adapt to this as well. Where is it written that says car dealership websites must live within a static grid system of non-effective content boxes filled with random content? Look at what's happening with the user interfaces within the sites the average Internet user spends their time. Top visited sites such as Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube and Netflix are moving away from directing the user via standard navigation and letting the user control more of their experience.
Imagine your dealership website as a palette of interactive vehicle images and videos with interactive research and shopping tools augmented with social elements such as ratings and reviews. That's all the consumer wants - plus it would adapt to their mobile devices so much easier. This also opens the door for the next wave of mobile navigation controls as we move from clicks to gestures. This concept rests solely on the industry's website providers to push the envelope of creativity.
Separation of Internet Directors and Marketing Ninjas
This concept of an Internet Director who manages sales staff, sales activities and Internet Marketing needs to stop now. You don't ask your sales people to sell the car and also change the oil every 3000 miles, do you? We'll start to see a massive shift in the delegation of activities and the types of people hired into these roles as dealers become educated and understand their responsibilities.
In my dealership, I focused on one thing: managing our online presence. That's it. Someone else managed the sales activities. We worked together to create solid processes and manage the flow of activity generated from our online presence. The concept works well because it lets talented people work within their interests and passions.
Managing is out. Leadership is in.
Look for an intense focus on leadership in 2013 as deeper concepts of ownership take hold at the dealer principal, executive and corporate levels. Teams will move beyond simply managing activity, they will become experts in mastering concepts within their respective areas of expertise to create a waterfall of knowledge and learning experiences for their entire organization. These experiences will influence the behaviors and actions of the entire staff rather than just one person driving the activity. Process, structure and marketing understanding have paved the way for a new layer of leadership as industry thought leaders become more savvy. Mastering the art of telling your brand's story, retaining customers and employees for life via inspirational experiences, education and embracing the power of your data will transform today's managers into tomorrow's leaders.
Mobile Payments (& Behaviors) Will Shorten Buying Cycles
I'm not concerned so much with the actual solution, rather the actual concept of how our behavior will change as result of this solution. NFC, Square, Paypal apps, Passbook and others will continue to provide more options for consumers to learn a new behavior. And with this behavior will become a shorter buying cycle, pushing us closer to providing better solutions for your customers to connect and purchase - anything from parts, general services and even make down payments. I've said this before: customers don't need new ways of finding things to buy, but they do need more efficient ways of paying for things. This action alone changes the perception of the shopping experience.
We'll also see more contextual actions which integrate functionality from other social networks that help us complete actions based on our activity and those of our friends. Not only will we be alerted of a friend's upcoming birthday or newborn child, we'll also be able to find either products or retailers nearby based on our recent activity and interests. We'll also find relevant feedback and have the ability to purchase and ship within a few simple gestures as this all happens within our various mobile devices.
More specifically, and within my favorite segment, location based services will not only hit a new level of awareness and understanding, but they will also achieve a new height of effectiveness with the introduction of better algorithms which learn and predict our habits, usage and interests - based on our permissions. Hype free, no spam and exactly what we want to see. Central hubs of our activity will exist, making it easier for us to stay connected to the key informational elements of our life - Grokr is a wonderful example of this new effective hub.
Niche Industry Events
The industry has spoken about macro events that happening just for the sake of having an event. Buying products based on sales pitches is out. Broad based integrated solutions based on awareness and education is in. It's time for dealership leaders to understand how the clock works rather than just being able to tell the time. The best example of this is next year's DrivingSales President's Club event headlined by Seth Godin. This will be a key niche event focusing on areas such as leadership, global economic impact, dealership M&A activity, industry regulations, and other retail industry insights which make up your key foundation assets.
Increased Mobile Video Presence and Effectiveness
Mobile video will become more helpful based on a couple of simple factors: Improved network infrastructure creating better connections on 4G and LTE networks and faster, more powerful chipsets within the devices constantly at an arms length away from us. Pictures will become old school, video will become the standard and keep an eye out for more practical uses of augmented reality as well.
Look for major improvements in mobile workflow solutions for all dealership departments, even better customer facing solutions, and especially new expanded solutions within your social media efforts with regards to real-time story telling. This all ties into shortening buying cycles, improving digital footprints and creating more effective social signals to help drive your local mobile search results.
Strong Focus on Professional Experiences and Personal Brands
As company leaders, Internet directors and marketing ninjas continue to be defined by their areas of expertise, so will the awareness of how important their individual brand is to the dealership's customers, staff and the industry. This is how the next wave of excellence and talent will be discovered within our industry.
Tools like the DrivingSales dScore will help drive awareness around individual activity and relevant experience. Branding platforms such as About.me will continue to define your personal brands and provide greater context for our abilities and affiliations within the industry.
I've seen it happen with dealership all-stars, whether they expand their roles within their dealerships or move on to the vendor side, people such as Tracy Myers, Dan Boismier, Andrew DiFeo, Rob Fontano, Andy Warner, Marc McGurren and most recently with Eric Giroux and Chris Costner.
On the vendor side, industry pros like Shaun Raines (Dealership education), Dennis Galbraith (Data), George Nenni (Pinterest), Hunter Swift (CRM), Paul Potratz (Retargeting) Brian Pasch (SEO) and JD Rucker (Social strategy) have all claimed their stake as experts within the industry, while also becoming recognizable personal brands that deliver endless value to their respective companies. What will your area of expertise be in 2013?
Here's to a wonderful and prosperous New Year in 2013. Keep on connecting, leading and learning and make the most of every single day!
Connect with me here on the new DrivingSales: Eric Miltsch
Comments
Vision with the passion.......you did not leave anything on the table!
The dealerships that are nimble will adapt to the rapidly changing needs of the consumer, their purchasing behavior and emerging digital innovation in 2013. Those that follow strict adherence to process, structure and organization win continue to blaze the path, those that don't will be pushed further back in the caves.
The consumers are accessing all the information they need to make an intelligent buying decision, the only disconnection is that financing options are currently unavailable at the point of engagement. They can find all makes, models and pricing for any manufacturer, but why allow a consumer to migrate elsewhere to research numerous finance options. We have complete transparency of vehicle cost, used vehicle values, financing should be no different. Making it convenient for the consumer to execute the financial transaction will enhance the buying experience and bring increased efficiencies to the dealership.
The company that figures out how to blend available financing options, and fundable credit approval at the front end of the shopping/buying funnel tied to a consumers chosen vehicle of choice will bring positive disruptive change to the industry......for both dealers and consumers.
See you at NADA and the Presidents Club!
Dec 28, 2012
Excellent thought Allan - financing is surely poised for the next disruption!
Dec 28, 2012
Great article and thank you for the mention, Eric. I really like where you are going with website design standards. I think one of the reasons that customers are using 18+ online/offline sources during their car shopping is automotive websites (OEM, Dealer, and Third Party) are not providing all the information the customer is looking for in one place. It will be a great competitive advantage to the business that can innovate in this space. Looking forward to seeing you at the President's Club in April!
Dec 29, 2012
Great thoughts Eric. I certainly like that video will overtake pictures and certainly agree. I am implementing video with my clients on the vendor side just as I did while in a dealership. B2B or B2C, it is still a human being on the other end. Thanks for sharing. See you at NADA?
Dec 30, 2012
Thanks Chris - smart move w/the videos, the people you;re trying to connect with have just as much, if not better chances, of seeing your videos on their phone than their desktops.
And yes, we'll be at NADA! See you there...
Dec 30, 2012
Very high-level approach Eric, well done and thanks for the mention. This also seemed to speak around the idea of owners and high level dealer executives embracing digital media and fully immersing in the technology. I know of no other way they can truly "get it" and be in a position to make the best digital investment decisions. Your analogy was great, "It's time for dealership leaders to understand how the clock works rather than just being able to tell the time." I might add, they also need to be in a postion to predict what the timepiece of the future might look like.
Dec 31, 2012
Thanks Eric. Honored to be included in such a respected list!
Dec 31, 2012
Did YOU say Personal Branding? Woo-Hoo! Yes, differentiating yourself and your business is key to experiencing success in the coming years. Many naysayers believe that creating a personal brand is a "self-centered" approach to business and is ego driven. This myth is false. Personal branding is not "image management" ~ in other words, creating a personal brand is not about being a celebrity. It is about being authentic in how you act, in what you say, and in the way YOU show up in the search engines. People buy from people they know, like and trust. But before you rush out and start building profiles online, you must know yourself, in order to grow yourself. Once you have a clear understanding of your own unique promise of value (aka; a business value proposition), you can consistently and constantly market yourself to an audience that can and will relate to YOU. The most effective platforms to show up online are those that optimize a users profile, such as; LinkedIn, About.Me, DrivingSales.com, and the latest edition http://www.vizify.com/renee-stuart ~ Thanks for the predictions Eric. If people considered applying just a few of these predictions, their 2013 will be dripping in awesome sauce.
Dec 31, 2012
Great Post Eric.
January 1st
"CARstrodamus?" Nice one, Eric. Haha -
January 3rd
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