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Social Media Success Video 
Recent events in the Online Automotive Social Networking space have brought on great changes of thought, ended careers and even induced me to change the direction of my automotive career forever, it is doubtful that I will ever seek employment in a dealership setting again.
There has been a cottage industry developed in the car business where dealers and their sales people are being held under scrutiny by their customers. The dealers are even encouraged to seek these reviews out from their customers. While I may not agree with some of the marketing tactics being used by these organizations (No M.L I don’t mean you), they still provide value to people searching out dealers.
Here at drivingsales.com dealers will be allowed to review vendor practices and interact with the community and the vendors in a level forum. That is the power of networks such as this. It give everyone the opportunity to engage each other in an online setting.
You will never get everyone to agree on certain aspects of online marketing. As an example from my experience as an affiliate marketer I believe that traffic is everything while as a dealership Internet Sales Manager my main concern was conversion. It was probably due to my payplan at the time, but at the end of the day I still believe that Traffic is Supreme, because it helps build your branding message while at the same time it does produce conversions. You cannot zero in conversion ratios until you have built the traffic. That is Internet Marketing 101.
What we publish on the world wide web is being scrutinized very closely, mostly by people who do not participate. Many times things that we say or do online causes people to react inappropriately. Keeping the conversation tied to their back room networks and not addressing our criticisms head on, while at the same time they make ever effort to sensationalize things that are published that empower approval of their product or use our content to market theirs, without giving credit to the source. I have experienced all of these phenomenons personally.
What is sad is people will try to use their influence to strike down what we have to say about their products and services using back door techniques instead of openly engaging you. Some even resort to threatening to sue you (personal experience) or try to have people removed from their positions (Ralph’s Experience). Extreme Examples!! I am aware of many other incidents that people have received pressure based on what they have said about products. Even people who have no affiliation with competitors. At the end of the day it is our collective voice that will influence the industry as a whole even if it is rumblings of disagreements and gnashing of teeth that eventually brings about fair play and open communication channels, that is the power of networking.
What is great about the country we live in we have laws in place that allow us to give our opinion on anything we want. It is called the 1st Amendment. One of the best pieces of advice I can give before you publish something online that may go against the grain, think of the consequences and how it may impact you.
Does that mean if you feel like you are adding value to the discussion or creating one should you hold back? Absolutely not. I only encourage you to remain transparent and to speak your mind while at the same time don’t put anything in the public domain that may affect you at a level at which you cannot tolerate. Also if you would not say it in front of your mother don’t say it where someone else’s mother may see it too.
My views and opinions expressed here are my own and not those of the staff, management or ownership of drivingsales.com unless they specifically endorse them. I don’t mind them seeing them, that is the spirit of blogging transparency and engagement.
Tags: blogging, engagement, Networking
Paul brings up an important issue that I believe will continue to grow in significance, and in the number of people it impcts… I get to speak with a lot of Internet Sales Professionals and BDC Managers in dealerships throughout the country. They have a lot of questions and most of these questions are shared by their peers in other stores. In the past, where i would either review printed materials or download files from a USB drive, today i now bring these automotive professionals to various sites, usually relevant to their brand, where they can get access to email template suggestions, process maps, reports, spreadsheets, advice and so on… All of which is very valuable to these users and which is why I believe this type of online sharing of best practices, strategies and tactics will continue to grow in our industry… However, there are a lot fo risks that come with the free flowing exchange of ideas and techniques… Sometimes, various ideas posted are offered up for the wrong reasons, for example, to sell something of questionable value to dealers… Other times, the ideas or tactics posted are just plain counter-productive or can actually hurt a dealership’s sales. But, then there is another category… When professionals like you, the person reading this, post an opinion, comment, or information that gets read by those who mean to do you harm, or simply misconstrue your contribution. Paul and I have had some fairly wide open debates with each other online, and that is both healthy and promotes the development of all involved, including people reading it… But, when unscrupulous individuals try to use a professional’s comments, usually taken out of context, to accomplish negative or hurtful objectives, then that is when we experience the negative implications and risks around exercising freedom of speech. And, there are those of you who say “well, if you work for a company, then you must restrain from making statements that could be seen as reflecting your company’s position or policy…”. To which I would reply that is a fair statement, EXCEPT when the person posting it clearly states that he or she is expressing a personal opinion. Let me go on record right now that NOTHING I write, post, publish or enter into the online world of automotive blogging reflects what my employer’s policies or opinions are… Maybe they do, maybe they don’t… But what i write is from the heart and mind of Ralph Paglia and not a press release from my employer!!! Anyways, let’s think about what we want to say before writing it to a bloog or online community, and let’s choose our words in such a way that we each would be OK if our employer, our co-workers or our clients were to read it… because i can attest from personal experience that they probably will, and it will be that single sentence or poorly chosen word that is then used to hurt you! For those interested in reading some additional comments and thoughts about this subject, I invite you to take a look at the relevant forums at http://www.AutomotiveDigitalMarketing.com such as:
http://www.automotivedigitalmarketing.com/forum/topic/show?id=1970539%3ATopic%3A43297
Well said to both Paul and Ralph.
Spirited debates are good. Personal attacks are bad. I agree that we should not post comments and opinions in haste simply because we are upset or otherwise predisposed to strike at another’s opinion. Having said that, I think that events that have occured over the last several weeks have taught me that there is a time to stand up for what is right - regardless of what others may or may not think of it.
I feel fortunate to have met and had conversations with many of you and learn something new every time. This is an absolutely amazing collection of brainpower. I think we are all in this for the same thing; namely the gaining of valuable experience, knowledge and friendships. In short, this is one hell of a group of people - and one hell of a group to cross.
To respond to Paul’s challenge directly - I am one hundred percent in the game!
As always, just my two cents, for whatever they are worth.
Very positive comments; together we have the ability to raise the bar even higher with regards to quality and professionalism.