The mad scramble to do the crawl, walk and maybe run is still in full force. Yes, more are shifting toward digital but 2012 is nearing half way through and we're likely still under 20% of budgets going to true online and integrated strategy across 17,000+ franchise dealerships. We're talking the talk, ladies and gentlemen, but we're not walking the walk... As a matter of fact, you might just say that the "Leg Up" everyone is looking for is only one jump away. But while you're looking at (and impressed with) your knee moving up, you miss the view of the real goal is a good leap away. And at the same time, our indsutry is being bombarded with new vendors, software and services along with the current ones continually trying to reinvent themselves. And for what? What moves results? Sustained efforts. On top of solid education. Supported by execution. Surrounded by measurement. Without the entire package, not just the slick sale pitch that got you to...

  More often than not, businesses are left to turning part (or all) of their operation over to vendors and partners with the reasoning that they're not able to "do everything". In automotive retail the de facto excuse you hear usually has something to do with how selling cars is what gets done and nothing else matters. Well, it's 2012 and everything has to do with selling cars. News flash: It always has been so. More likely than not, as we're upon the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) season, hundreds if not thousands of dealers will leave with contracts signed, or nearly signed, convinced that simply punting their responsibilities over the wall is the best way to get 'er done. Fact is nothing is further from the truth. Dealers must grasp a much more realistic perspective of controlling their business through action, education and accountability or they will absolutely have it taken over. And nobody is saying that's a b...

  This is officially the beginning of the end for many. December 27, 2011. There will be a moment over the next couple to handful of years in which you'll reflect back to this post (or others like it) and say "oh crap". Or it may be the longer rendition which usually sounds something like "Why did I allow me to get in my way over and over again? Why did I shut down and refuse to change, giving garbage excuses?" As time went on from December 27, 2011 Acute Death by Delusional Digital Defiance, we'll call it ADDDD for short, you invested more and more in the comfort zone, allowing vendors to do with you money and brand what they wanted and would essentially squandering opportunities while you were convinced you were actually doing something. Your business was actually disappearing at the same time everything looked the same from your vantage point behind the desk or golf cart steering wheel. And who could blame you? You read the ads in the ...

  The constant challenge in the auto industry is for retailers to implement strategies, execute on their plans, follow process, create awareness, promote accountability and stop making excuses for doing anything less. There will always be a party to throw a finger at, many times deservedly so. That, however, does not take the greater point of responsibility away from an operator of a business and thebusiness's staff. There are always opportunities to learn, grow, adjust and review. There will always be new opportunities to add capabilities, add products, add services, add partners and add resources. You need the first group before the second, always. Products and services, good and bad, make any industry go 'round. Companies tend to follow the herd, good and bad. It's why 20 Groups, marketing associations and other collections of automotive retailers are so attractive to companies selling their services and the reps who speak. People will buy...

Dealerships typically collect a great deal of personal information from their website visitors through contact forms, online credit applications, etc. What many businesses don’t realize is how vitally important it is to properly handle any Personally Identifiable Information (PII) collected from consumers through their sites. So what’s the big deal about privacy policies? Our website provider takes care of that, right? Not necessarily. In researching dealer websites recently, we looked at a random sample of privacy policies on 12 dealer sites from around the country. What we found was…interesting: 2 dealers had no privacy policy link on their sites (both were in states where it’s required by law) 1 dealer had only the website provider’s privacy policy published on its site (won’t do the dealer much good if there’s a legal claim against them) 2 dealers had only the manufacturers’ policies published on their sites (same ...

  With innovation and technology comes missteps and half-hearted attempts to "do it". As more dealers encourage their staff, and many times vendors, to push into new technology, software and social networking, which should be commended, the volume of missteps and simple ignorance increases as well. It's simple: if you don't know how to do something, get assistance. Just winging it in today's market won't pay dividends nor register with the public when it counts. Google Plus Business Pages launched more than a week ago and searches with typical terms (Toyota, Honda, Ford, etc) on G+ turns up car dealerships using Google Plus profiles as businesses. Not pages, Google Plus profiles as in personal pages. This is absolutely the same lack of common sense and willingness to "ask for directions" that has thousands of retailers on Facebook personal profiles rather than the appropriate business pages. No different than buying a CRM and not ...

Wow. What happened last week was amazing. Nearly every session at this year's DrivingSales Executive Summit (DSES) rang the bell. From the opening comments on Sunday to the closing minutes Tuesday, nearly everything seemed to gel with a couple standing ovations to boot. This, ladies and gentlemen, is engagement, learning and a focus on the dealer at its best. Day one featured returning emcee Charlie Vogelheim introducing DrivingSales' own Jared Hamilton followed Paul Potratz, JD Rucker and Jason Falls as the opening keynotes. Having outside-the-industry, topic-rich speakers has been a hallmark since the opening of the DrivingSales Executive Summit in 2009 and this year simply added to the validity of such influencers. Day two started with a social media study by Dealer.com's Kevin Root and Matt Murray, then featured Aaron Strout on location-based marketing which presented some still very-new ideas to the crowd of over 400 attendees*. Four sessions of breakouts followe...

Confernce season! You're about to experience record-setting attendance, more technology than will choke a horse, speaker after speaker, keynote after keynote and talk about how 2012 should be your year to embrace it all. Oh, and the budgets! Take here, put there and add everywhere that starts with digital. Whew, welcome to the conference season. This is the time of the year that makes the chasm between doers and don't doers greater, creates the delta between those who practice and those who pretend and allows those who want, a battle cry. But it's no guarantee of success. Recently IM@CS experienced its fifth pre-term cancellation in the past four plus years. What happened? One person leaving. One really good, very focused, and awake individual...but still one person. It was an experience that you might call two steps forward, 20 years back. There is no focus on the web there now. Remember that staying on top of everything that's changing and relevant takes time, a...

IM@CS Brings The Fourth Round Of The Poker Tournament To DrivingSales Executive Summit in Las Vegas FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Los Angeles, CA and Las Vegas, NV  October 4, 2011 --Interactive Marketing And Consulting Services (IM@CS) is pleased to announce the fourth edition of IMACSWEB Poker (#imacswebpoker) coming to Las Vegas at the opening of the DrivingSales Executive Summit (#DSES). The latest installment of the automotive industry poker tournament will take place on Sunday, October 9 at The Mirage Hotel and Casino, just up Las Vegas Boulevard from the DSES event which runs October 9-11 at Bellagio Resort. Invited guests will participate in a twist of competitive spirit amongst car dealerships and leading industry providers and professionals around 9:00p in a private poker room. Last April's winner in Orlando at the Automotive Marketing Boot Camp was Brian Pasch of PCG Digital Marketing, followed by Mitch Gallant of Capital Ford in Regina, Saskatchewan. The new round ...

We all come to proverbial "forks in the road" when it comes to performance, to delivering, to being reliable, to following up and ultimately to understanding what it takes to be better. There are mainly two types of being in business, away from the actual retail transaction if you look at things in very simple terms. Partnership and vendorship. They are both a state of being. Partnership is one thing: a cooperation. Vending is one thing: a delivery mechanism. Over time all businesses play roles in one or both, likely both. While no person or no entity is perfect, it is in our best interest to actually perform to the best of our ability. It is also in our best interest to acknowledge what is done and undone. In a world where it is standard business to over-promise and under-deliver, when marketing trumps products and services, and reps and salespeople are most concerned with commissions or kickbacks, it is rare for someone to raise their hands and accept responsibility. ...

The last four years have been a blur. Everything has been. From search to social. From template to script. From inbound to outbound. From high line to in line. From DMS to CRM. There have been times where the greatest part of building has simply been the lack of tearing down. It’s been work, even a pain, and it’s all been worth it. The clients, the information, the partnerships, the alliances, the events, the suppliers, the sources, the reading, the sharing, the confusion, the mistakes, the opportunities, the defeats, the victories. One thing doesn’t stand out more than the other except the constant movement. Each day, all one thousand four hundred sixty of them, has started with an enthusiasm, a passion, a dream, a goal, a commitment, a push, a joy. Yes, we've been eating the elephant a bite at a bite. One of the most gratifying parts is the tasty pieces. One of the most humbling parts is realizing what you’re doing while you’re in the moment. O...

(Cue the Madonna music) “You know that we are living in a digital world and I’m an automotive digital nerd...” Can you see it now? The musical hit of the automotive digital conference season! Or possibly one more thing that keeps a dealer from making the commitment he or she needs to make that will actually do something great for their business. Whether acknowledged or not, most of us in the automotive digital realm must have some kind of recessive gene or a predisposition for suffering. But are we the ones making it better or worse? Remember that what drives someone to change is either opportunity or fear. Fight or flight. Survival or death. Being as how we can’t make decisions for others, let alone many times for ourselves, a small percentage of the industry are lining up on a regular basis, strapping our brass cojones on and taking the plunge. 2011 has been an amazing voyage so far and the last four months appear to be no different. If anything, we may ...

Face it: You’re whipped. Which way is up? Which way is down? Is flat the new growth? Is the shiny object the new thing keeping you from the golf course of from your sales course? Fact: the dealership environment is as fragile and unsteady as it’s ever been. Yet there are more opportunities than ever. Look around for a little while at any dealership and on the surface it looks functionally no different than it did just a few years ago. Dig a little bit and everything changes. But you already know this. You’re obviously more progressive or being informed by someone who is because you won’t find the sports score ticker or a reality show recap here. It’s all business. But is it new business? With more advice than ever, including a massive dose of simply republished (or regurgitated) articles and data, and more tools than ever, including predominantly recreated, re-skinned and relicensed  products, it easy to get inspired by everything while ultimate...

One of the things that I love about IM@CS is the fluid nature of what we do. In consulting to different businesses (and thankfully contributing to different industries), we are involved in different aspects of attracting, engaging and retaining customers. One thing that is more than evident is the necessity to be more than single-track minded. And frankly, that is being screamed for in Automotive. So as businesses skew, some forced, more into mainstream consumerism there is a natural shift to social engagement both online and offline. For some, CRM is a well-used tool. email has its proper place, social networking traction is gaining, true sourcing is an every-day activity, analytics are a way of life and e-Newsletters are not static. In fewer cases, reputation management and new technology like QR codes have started to garner true, distinguishing results. Enter the reward game. Handfuls of dealers have gone into using dealership-exclusive offers within their marketing similar to...

In response to continuing business growth, the ongoing focus on customer service and breakneck pace of technology implementation, IM@CS is pleased to announce the arrival of Mr. Radogna FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Torrance, California, United States of America (Free-Press-Release.com) July 13, 2011 -- Interactive Marketing and Consulting Services (IM@CS), a Los Angeles-based automotive consulting company, has announced the addition of Jim Radogna to their consulting team. Mr. Radogna brings many years of experience that will allow IM@CS' business management consulting to continue to lead the industry in eCommerce, process management, marketing and social media practices.   "I am excited to announce that Jim Radogna has joined the team at IM@CS and anticipate great things for our clients and the company," stated Gary May, President and Founder. "Jim is one of those individuals that not only brings a wealth of experience and insight, his participation with dea...

Being involved in helping build awareness via social networks for dealers over the past three plus years, there has been a lot to see. And wonder about. From using APIs, feeds, republishing other content without attribution, ghost writing, "social" content farms, 50 plus network claims and more, it's a real "Wild Wild West" in what can loosely be called social media. More often than not, the authentic part of brand building and gaining a following of targeted prospects, customers and partners is overshadowed by the "numbers game". Having not participated in the rat race, a few companies have catered to dealers from a more genuine and pervasive angle. In our case, even in working with some of the most reputable dealers in the US and Canada, our focus hasn't changed. Just like with traditional or measured media, you can always pull an extra customer or two from outside your PMA/AOI because they saw your ad, lost leader, teaser, direct mail from...

Everyone, even the most committed and successful visionary, may take a shortcut from time to time. It's in our DNA. It's hard to resist. It's a recipe for disaster. It's one of the status quos of automotive retail and it'll undoubtedly be the death of more dealers. So why is it that we live in a world where increasing the cost of goods sold for the sake of selling is acceptable? Markets overwhelmingly determine prces and sales, and those that proactively and interactively work to grow the market will win. And retention is nearly completely determined by the retailer. If you listen to most vendor pitches, increasing your operational cost is the only way to increase your business. Look at the trends at too many dealers over the past year, as sales have increased and you'll see old patterns and habits back once again. - Look at the opportunities that are being missed. If you are a GM or GSM and are not reviewing your store's Internet-based performances at...

Things are getting better. Right? You hear it everywhere. Even amidst the issues that are having a significant impact on our industry (the switch from economic downturns to Mother Nature's havoc), there's bright talk and a focus on building. Ha! A perfect time for silver bullets... Yeah, we've heard there's no such thing. But that can't stop the preachers from preaching and the sellers from selling. So last time we went off on "blocking and tackling", now it's "the new black" that we'll pick on. So, what ocurred to you first? Was it the pitch telling you how many leads you'll get in your zip code (postal code for our friends in the Great Defrosting North)? Or is it the dozens to hundreds of websites you'll get from the latest social media and reputation management offering? Or is it the CRM that sells cars for you? Purchases are earned by the business. Reputations are managed by the business. Retention is managed by the bu...

Let's face it, we still live in a marketing-based world. And nearly all of it still screaming for attention, sales, mass following, validation, acceptance and more while typically ignoring what matters most. Yes, it's morphed and transitioned and (partially) gone to the place called online but it is created and delivered in the same way it nearly always has. And for automotive, in both B-to-B and B-to-C arenas, the deliverables suck (we'll try to not use any more technical terms in this post). It's not that the market, the public, the customers, the industry or even the actual providers don't expect any different, it's just that it's what's done. Is it that when you stop screaming "we're #1" it allows another company to scream the same thing, making it true? In the experience garnered by partnering with dealers all over North America, the most dissatisfaction expressed comes from dealing with companies screaming about top results whil...

So it's been eight weeks since the last post. It feels like an eternity. But it's likely been longer since the companies and people your business depends on have done something for you either. Was that the point of my hiatus? Not quite. It's been incredibly busy here as our client list as well as staff have grown. It has, however, been a great experiment to get requests to start posting again and watch the analytics. But not to worry, everyone else has had your back. Tricked ya! Well, maybe not... So anyway, how has 2011 started for you? Chances are things are not much different unless the recent NADA and Digital Marketing Strategies Conferences are now on your "I've attended them" list. For the thousands of dealers at NADA in San Francisco, there was a significant buzz that has been absent for the past few years. For the fifty plus dealers at DMSC in Napa, the feedback has been tremendous and the workshop leaders are preparing...wait for it...for FOLLOW U...

Chances are you've been on one of the many sides of this lately: Just moments ago I sent a Facebook message to a dealer, responding to my initial message after receiving a "friend" request from them on Facebook. The message in the middle, the one from them, essentially asked me to show them any Facebook language indicating that setting up a personal page for a business was a violation of their terms of use. That was in addition to their indicating that, after reading into it, a business page might be a "good option as they are more tailored to businesses". Folks, for better or worse it's 2011. Being in business is not about turning the open sign to "open". Being in business means you are serious about it. That every part of your business is on the radar. That being as how nearly everything that you do away from the dealership is digital you should be doing it at your dealership. You can't be serious about it being half-assed. If you com...

It's the end of the year and the heart of the holiday season, right in between being thankful for everything we have and swearing off more than half of it (mostly weight) for the coming year. It's the time of the year when a few minutes on the automotive networks and news sites gets the mind going. It's also right after last week's (first ever) rant.... So in spelling, it's i before e except after c. Makes sense. Well, it makes no more sense than if it had never been that way and we simply didn't make the rule. No different than putting I before we, especially for the D's. The I's are the loud talkers, advertisers and general blow hards. We...in case people forgot, are the industry. And alas, the D's. The D's are the dealers. Those are the ones that move the industry. In the event that those that believe the real deals are: the ones doing all of the talking, the media, the OEMs and the old boys club...you're dead wrong. Not that more ...

You heard about them. You read about them. You phoned them. You had them in. You listened to them. You took the pitch. You signed the deal. And now, with services starting, either everything is the same as it was before......or the lights are on and it's kind of "ohh my my". (Twilight Zone music in the background) You thought it would be different. You thought you knew what everything meant. You made that final turn...welcome, to real life after the pitch. So what happened? Everything seemed fine. Well, what did you expect from adding the services? Did you write down your goals? Were resources already set aside to handle the new vendor? Was their customer service department part of the initial pitch at all? You know, the people that you'll call with questions and issues? Did you get an "out" clause or are you roped in tighter that a M3's engine in the space under the hood of a MX-5? Did you ever think "what happens if they don't do what ...

We know it, you know it, they know it. Almost everyone knows it. Because if everyone knew it we wouldn't have ben put through it. But we were, you were and they were. Disclaimers: These are not in order of importance. Many companies are being called out, not all. This is a singular perspective. So here it goes: 1. Automotive marketing overall: Sucked, still sucks, will likely continue to suck. 2. Dealership websites: 1995 called and wants its sites back. Give us a break and some new suppliers! 3. OEMs that don't publish new inventory: Get over it. customers leaving your brand are. 4. Automotive trainers that re-branded as web consultants: A new suit can't cover 1982 style. 5. Reputation management companies: Fudge is brown. So is bull%^&*. Fake customers? Envelope stuffers? Hooters girls? Please leave... 6. Motivational speakers that re-branded as automotive trainers: See line 4. 7. Social media companies: Charging dealers $3,000-5,000 plus per month? Larc...

It's no secret that over the past three years, some pretty forward-thinking information was provided to the automotive industry franchise dealer body. All 24,000 plus of them (not ignoring the independents here, just making a point). Over the coming weeks, all 20,000 of the franchise dealers will get more critically important data. Just like before, it's up to them to participate. 2011 will be a great year. Fewer than last year will make up the bulk of increases in sales, count on it. The most web-versed, socially-minded, communication-skilled and forward-thinking will win. Many of those dealers will win impressively. So the same question bears repeating: why not more? Has the carnage not been great enough? Is there too much money in the coffers still? Or is it that management is still happy sitting on their "duffs" of the bay? 2011 will be a great year. There will be more talent available for dealers to select their next sales, service and parts teams and man...

Well if you didn't look, 2010 is nearly to a close. Last time you thought about it mid-year, it looked like 2010 would be clear sailing. Well, now it's cram time and you must be thanking the incentive and promotion gods (because they're on bid-time, even for the companies that usually don't). So while the factory may have your store punching cars in a couple weeks and you may be planning that getaway you've deserved for a while, what are you going to do to surpass your numbers and go for broke? Will this be the time that you get serious about database management and using your CRM? Will it be when you take reputation management seriously and invite (yes, actually invite) your customers to participate in building your brand? Or is it simply time to get serious about following up with real intent on every lead? Success over the last five weeks of the year will be partially based on history. All of it. Were you the type that waited until the night before finals...

Don't read too much into the title, it's not a slam on your (fill in the blank) vendor, although many deserve to be taken to task. This is about what they have to deal with. If you've been under a rock this year or simply have not been paying attention, Google changed significantly three times. Your vendors have had to change at least that many, even though they pitch that they're changing all the time. So, what does this mean for the shiny object mentality? It's not changed. In fact, it may only get better. In other words, as things get a little more dicey in the online space in regard to results, there will be a larger "sorting out" of who really is prepared from a resource perspective to roll with what could be considered large changes in the way search and results are structured. And when a sales rep is not up to speed and things that happened a week prior, let alone a couple months, it's time to sharpen the pencil and make sure that door that...

Retrench! Dig in! Block and tackle! Just wait! Awww bullshit.... More and more today it seems that the chasm between the "doers" and those choosing "planned obsolescence" is growing. You hear a lot of good stories out in the field about who's doing what and which dealers are killing it. Then the numbers come in. Reality check. So why is it that there are dealers growing market share (the minority) while there are those than seem to want to accept and participate in a challenged market (majority)? With everything facing dealers today, and it's a bleepstorm, it seems that the path of least resistance is the one leading the wrong way. Resources, blogs, data, events/conferences, outside assistance and more, are readily available. And to the point that they're so underused, they're essentially abused. Have you hit the end of your rope? Down-sized to the point that your store is no-sized? Pushed the factory guy back on allocation to the point that ...

Overstated? Maybe....but likely not. What are we doing? If we go by the numbers, and they're estimated but well known, we've got the second largest employer in the Untied States behind our back. The automotive industry is massive, even if you don't consider the associated businesses it keeps thriving. So, let's say we have a few million directly employed in the car biz (which is likely conservative) and had less than 3,000 in Las Vegas recently for the most important events that actually can move the needle. Pitiful. This week's SEMA show will kill that in attendance. And within the first hour. What are we doing? So add the OEM eCommerce summits, conferences and events (which represent vendors more typically than push owners and general managers into the uncomfortable zone) and you've got at best a few thousand more that are around the discussions of online marketing, online customers, online retention and online success. Ignore it at your own willful d...

You're back but your bags (and head) may still be packed from your Las Vegas departure. The whirlwind of powerpoints, data, applications, widgets, speakers, vendors and pitches that opened October 12 with Digital Dealer and ran through DrivingSales Executive Summit at Encore, came to a close mid-day last Friday with the departure of over 1,000 from JD Power's Annual OEM and Ad Agency shindig called Internet Roundtable at Red Rock Resort (where more upfront talks than Internet dealings happen, but let's digress). So your notebook, FlipCam, voice recorder and brain are packed with thoughts, visions, ideas and goals around everything you heard. But the "back to normal" is so gratifying that you may have not done a cotton-picking-thing since switching off the neon and turning on the flourecents. And besides, it was kind of touching to see that 88-day old unit turn 100 now that you're back (ooops!). So if you're stuck with not knowing where to start, yo...