As you know or if you're not already aware, Edmunds.com is going direct to dealers. They're cutting out the middle man (AutoUSA, Dealix and Autobytel) and coming after our business with a newly hired sales team. Dealers, WE/YOU have a very important choice to make that WILL help determine change (good or bad) to our industry. Keep in mind, Edmunds.com has never been one to treat the dealer fairly. I've been watching this for a while, and it's not rocket science, but follow me... A few years ago, Zag is re-selling leads to dealers per lead basis. Zag changes their subscription model and starts charging dealers on a per sold basis. "So I don't pay unless I sell a car?" - nope. That is music to a dealer's ears! However, in order to determine what to charge you, Zag needs access to your DMS in order to match-up customer sold data (dare they say "transactional data to the dealer") with the leads they've sent you over the last few months. D...

Why aren’t dealers social networking?
That's the title of an article I wrote back in Dec of 2007. I can't believe I had almost forgot that I written it? It wasn’t until I was digging through my analytics and took notice to a top referring site pointing to the article.

The title of the article was a little deceiving. I didn’t even write about why dealers are NOT in social media …
“There are many reasons why dealers are not social networking and I’m not totally convinced that all dealers need or should be social networking. But rather than writing why dealers shouldn’t be social networking let’s look at a few of the advantages why maybe they should be.”
Instead, I wrote about 5 advantages to dealers for leveraging social media. Interesting enough, these same 5 advantages still hold true today are have become the backbone of many articles about the dealer industry and social media.

Branding and Awareness Opportunities
Search Engine Saturation
Build Link Po...

Yes we do.

I'm going to assume that you're like me; you didn't dream of working at a dealership. NASA, the court room, or even the White House were probably more along the lines of what mommy and daddy got you thinking about early on. But here we are pounding pavement and fighting for pennies.

What brought you here?...needed some money for some reason I bet. Did you intend to keep doing this after you got that needed money? NO!!!?? Why the hell are you still here???!!! So basically you're telling me the next best thing hasn't come along yet. How long will it be before you stop looking for the next best thing?


The car dealership is temporary.

This is why we're scum. This is why we can't get CRM right. This is why we can't answer a phone. This is why there is a revolving door on the front of every dealership.

This is not what we wanted to do, and there's something better on the horizon - right?

Well...Maybe not. Maybe you should look at it another way.

So yo...

Are your sales representatives skipping right past that 112 days in stock vehicle like it’s the plague?
05 BMW 335i - days in stock 93
06 Toyota Sequoia - days in stock 123
03 Jaguar X-Type - days in stock 154
07 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer - days in stock 112
Why are these cars sticking around?
I can’t tell you how many times I have seen sales professionals tiptoeing around a vehicle ONLY due to the perception that the vehicle was priced too high or for some reason or another felt as if the vehicle was not worthy of being on the front line.
Where do they come up with these conclusions?
I’ve seen it arise from something as simple as 1 or more potential customers telling the sales representative “you’re asking too much for this car” or “wow, I thought this car would have been equipped better”. Many sales people, after hearing this more than once, actually start to believe it’s true.
The car is just sitting there, it’s not being demonstrated nor test driven and...

Consider who Obama was going up against; a Veteran, a Maverick, the old trusty Ford that has been turning it's wheels for a long time.
To me it resembles the dealer down the road that has been around for over 30 years, sorta doing the same thing over and over. They're not a bad dealer, maybe family owned, their reputation is average to above but their customer base has slowly dwindled. Their marketing and lack of consistency no longer speaks to today's consumer.
America has changed over the last 12 months. For the first time in our History we are about to have our first Black President. A true symbol of shift and adjustment across our land.
We have seen a shift in our business as well. This shift has been taking place for some time now. And of course with the economic status, we have seen a deeper change over the last 8-10 months.
As maybe a lesson for dealers (us); Is there anything we can learn from a Presidential Campaign that will mold into the history books.
1. Have a Clear...