Hello everybody in the Driving Sales ecosystem!

It's been a pretty crazy year.  I have been a stranger to the automotive blogosphere for too long now.  I'm making my return today.  ;)

I have a lot on my mind and am anxious to discuss the do's and don't's of everything I've seen and heard this year. "OH BOY"!

But first, I want to dive back in with this quick "How To Guide" making sure your inventory is standing out from the crowd!

Feel free to comment or critique.

1)Effective Pricing -Ensure each vehicle is positioned to sell utilizing “best technologies” like v-Auto, American Auto Exchange or First Look

2)Distribution-Ensure your inventory is indexed across all major search engines via free pathways and through paid listings on the biggest 3rd party sites like Autotrader.com, Kbb.com, and Cars.com

3)Merchandising –Ensure these 5 practices are met for every listing

Multiple and Uniform photos -You must offer a well defined photo process showing organize...

Hello Everybody!
It's been a while since I blogged for this site.  I've been busy trying to remain "economically viable' and with "other blogs" and side projects.  It's good to be back.  
I want to invite all of you attending the Digital Dealer Conference in Sin City to the Kbb.com booth. Please come by and shake my hand or introduce yourself if you don't know me.   I want to personally thank everybody who visits this site and of course reads these blogs!  ;)
I figured I'd throw out a couple of bullet point musings before the show.  Just free thinking and letting it flow.

GM and Chrysler need to go BK already!  Seriously.  This is now ridiculous.  Re-structure and get out of the news.  Your'e dragging everybody down with you.  
The Car Business needs to adapt and realize we are a "Savings Based Economy" now and the 15-17Million Retail Mindset is gone for at least the next 5 years.
Advert...

Hi Everybody!  
I wanted to get this short and concise blog out before the weekend to inform the car acquiring universe before making a major purchase decision.  Effective as soon as the New Economic Stimulus Plan is passed will be a new ammendment authored by Senator Barbara Milkulski of Maryland known as the 
Auto Assistance Ownership Amendment 
mikulski.senate.gov/record.cfm
It will make interest payments on car loans and state sales or excise car tax-deductible for new cars purchased between November 12, 2008 and December 31, 2009.  There are two caveats: The vehicle must cost less than $49,500 and the car buyer must earn less than $250,000.

You have to love her quote from the floor of the senate:  
“Mr. President, our economy is in shambles. People are losing their jobs, their life savings, and their homes. There is much work to do and no time to waste. We’ve already done a bailout. We’ve helped the sharks and we’...

Now that NADA is over and the likely struggle of 2009 fresh on our minds,  I ask some very simple questions relative to understanding your web site.  
If you or your GM/GSM can't answer any/all of these questions immediately, it's time to reflect and seriously consider re-educating yourself about your marketing practices.
Here they are:
"Do You"

Know how many UNIQUE VISITORS you get to your website every month?  Daily, Weekly?
Know where they are coming from?
Know which is the best and worst source?
Know how many of these "UNIQUES" fill out a lead form?
Have an "OPT IN" lead form on your front page?  for Service?  for Parts?
Have "Landing Pages" or "Microsites" for every Interactive Vendor?  
Have separate and relevant URL's for all of your Digital Ad Campaigns?
Measure and analyze your "Click Stream Data"?
Know how many "Uniques" it take...

Sitting here on Sunday Night contemplating my promise to contribute a "Blog a Week" and thinking about missing NADA for the first time in many years, I wanted to hammer out a very simple message to my  friends in the Dealer Community.
If your website isn't MOBILE FRIENDLY, you are absolutely destroying your ability to handle "DIGITAL UPS".  And right now in this depressed/recessed car market, almost every up you have is "DIGITAL".  
The number of people using iPhones-Blackberry Storms, Google G1's, Palms and Nokia smart phones is unreal. All of these folk surf around to various places during  the day right from the comfort of their mobile device.  In the car, walking thru the mall, sitting at the salon, working out at the gym, the mobile web has never been more ubiquitous. It's estimated 40 Million people are surfing the Mobile web in the US daily.
And how can you as a Dealer not allow them to access your site at the same time? ...

Sadly, I won't be attending NADA this year due to fiscal restraint at Kbb.  This will be the first time in 5 years,  I won't have sore feet from standing flat footed at our booth for what alway seemed like a week.  And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't going to miss that feeling.  ;)  I'm sure there will be many more companies doing the same and I wanted to get a quick blog off before those who were attending left for the airport.
If you are lucky enough to attend this year's meetings, don't take one minute for granted.  Walk around each booth and shake hands with everybody you can.  Realize how special our industry is, in arguably its bleakest time.  Recognize the talent and dilligence of the people you see and embrace the time together.  Hand out business cards and email addresses like it's your last NADA.  It just might be.
Try and learn something about every company who has a booth.  Whether you are a Dealer or a Vendor, learn ...

Happy New  Year to everybody at Driving Sales and to all the people in the Automotive community.  It's been a truly rough ride in 2008 and 2009 looks to be an even tougher road ahead..
While there is plenty to look back on from 2008, I'd like to paint a virtual road map where our industry is likely headed in a vastly altered landscape.  So much has transpired in the last 4 months, it's very difficult to quantify what the net results will look like by the end of 2009.  
Here is my attempt to predict the future.  Wish me luck.  I promise to be around at year end to keep score.

The Domestics are going to be held accountable by the Fed Government in almost every practice. With the right oversight and quality control, their forced modernization will actually benefit the industry and hopefully level the playing field on the labor side of the equation.
One of the "Big Three" will be no more.  I'll l...

If your dealership hasn't figured out what to do in the weakest car market in decades, look no further than your internal process to maximize the power of the interweb's reach.
The lastest JD Power data indicates that 75% of consumers begin their research online.  This is up 5% points over last year.  If 3/4's of your potential shoppers are online, why isn't the same percentage of your "reduced external marketing dollars" being used to capture this audience?  Here is a "simple solution" to put into action.  
Advertise online with the big Indpendent sites(Edmunds-Kbb-Autotrader-Cars.com). Optimize your website so it's prominently and positively featured on the search engines(Impact Auto Media).  Make sure its easy to navigate-engaging -measurable and MOBILE FRIENDLY.  Ensure there are multiple photos of every car in your inventory-new and used.  Make sure you export your inventory to the various free classified sites and ensure th...

Whewwww....what a week in the global capital markets?   It was the single greatest week of equity losses in the history of the stock exchanges.  With our political leaders indecisive and the issues seemingly snowballing, we need to prepare for a protracted economic slowdown.
What are you doing to insulate yourself and grow your business in lean times?  When the economy dips and consumers move into a state of fear, brand loyalties are heavily scrutinized and the purchase funnel extended.  Car shoppers spend much longer time online evaluating their purchases.  They are hunting.   
While most Dealers are minimizing their ad spend, you should be looking for marketing opportunities.  Most of your competition is in hiding. The landscape is not as crowded. You'll never have a higher probability of getting noticed. You should be in the "dollars per eyeball" game.   Where can you target the most in-market shoppers in the cheapes...

Have you typed your Dealership's name into any of the major search engines recently?  I would suggest you do so, if only to find out what you see on the first page.  Be prepared for what you'll find, as much of it will be to your chagrin.  :)
Consumer Generated Content (CGC) is dominating the web these days. People go online to write about everything they see and do.  The restaurants they dine in, the gyms they use, the bars they visit.  All of the social networking sites are rife with reviews, photos and comments about the people and places in their day to day lives.  Why would your dealership be any different?    
Imagine the power and influence  your staff wields in every single day to day customer interaction?  From your desk manager, to your F&I, to your parts counterperson and even your receptionists, their performance is being evaluated on a grand stage.  How do you control what they say and do every day?
No amount of...

Every morning we wake up-shower-dress-fix our hair(if we have any) and hopefully get a protein based breakfast light on carbs.  ;)  We abide by a schedule. 
 
This daily regimen is ultimately about doing the little things.  You can’t be great without nailing the little things.  Without a solid "daily regimen" and consistency of achieving it, we are doomed to be inconsistent.  Inconsistency is the father of failure.
 
As a cardog, your thinning wallet may be attributable to inconsistent marketing.  You’re bigger than the economy right?  Now matter ‘how bad it gets’ you must still advertise…. You must go on by investing in the places where you customers are most likely to find you:  ONLINE.
 
Do you have a solid “Digital Regimen” that carries you through the day?

Are you Geo-targeting your store on all the Local Auto Portals with relevant...

You’re about to lose the bricks.  It’s not about Clicks.  It’s about pushing Iron through fiber.
 
Today’s consumer doesn’t care about your website.  They don’t care about your sweet flash intro, your nifty online credit app, or even your ‘next-generation’ inventory page.
 
They only know Google.  When they’re confused, they visit KBB.com, if frustrated, they visit Edmunds.com, and when hammered over the head by saggy saturated  OEM advertising and glitzy superbowl ads…. They visit AutoTrader.com or Cars.com and visit the possibilities.  One day, they might end up on your lot.  How do you part the sea and provide a clear path with all this overlap?  Oops, that was a question for 2005.
 
Face it, this is 2008.  Your neighbors are going out of business.  Your buddies are leaving the trade.  You shake your head as you leave it to the Green Peas….....

Selling anything today is difficult.   There is so much competition in the marketplace and it comes from every corner of the globe.   How do you set yourself apart from your competitors?
It’s not going to be due to your superior product or superior product knowledge.   In today’s fast paced digital world, the people who respond quickly and efficiently will close the deal and out perform their competitors 9 times out of 10.
 
So how does one become a “First Responder”?   To start,  you have to be able to use all of the latest technologies to your advantage.  Email, Instant messaging and automated voice mail companies like Youmail.com or Phone Fusion are great ways to be able to control your first contact.  But the simplest and most effective tool at your disposal is a PDA.   If you aren’t using a Blackberry-iPhone-Palm or Windows Mobile device, you are at a serious disadvantage.
 ...