Aleksandra Banas Blog
Total Posts: 2
JR
cDemo Mobile Solutions
May 5, 2012
Change
The automotive sales environment is not just changing, it has changed and will continue to change. Dealers, website providers, vendors and consultants who help dealers drive sales through traditional sales techniques are quickly realizing that consumers have unprecedented access to information. All sales organizations have to recognize that they must evaluate their ability to keep pace with consumer shifts. The most recent shift that occurred is fuelled by data transparency. Would you agree that If consumers have evolved there is really no sense in hiding or resistant to change yourself?
I see the changes in the online sales environment as an opportunity to shore up a fundamental core competency that will feed this new thirst for information consumers have developed. Merchandising your products properly by producing and publishing thorough, accurate, transparent and engaging asset descriptions is the core competency that our great industry has overlooked in favour of traditional sales techniques. In this new age of online advertising, transactional decisions are nearly complete before the customer even decides to make contact with your store. In order to build trust and confidence in you as their choice of retailer, the information that you display in this space is crucial. The quality of information will actually filter you out if done poorly or funnel customers in if done successfully. My advice to accomplish the latter is to commit to building a process that allows for enough time and attention to be spent on properly merchandising your inventory. 6-8 minutes per vehicle is not enough of an investment to break down the online sales barriers of the "NEW" consumer.
"It's time to change our old habits and catch up to the online customer's expectations of transparent information." says Michael Christensen of Auto Canada, a publicly traded dealership group in Canada.
A core philosophy of cDemo is to enable users of Mobile Inspector to engage in a proven process to collect, manage and distribute information about assets that is easy to do. The goal of the entire platform is to create a community that is built on transparency.
Communicating with online buyers with transparent information, quality photos and a "REAL" video walk around are the core components of a great online purchase experience for both the consumer and the dealer. Informed consumers make decisions sooner than ever in the purchase process and are more likely to feel connected to a well merchandised product. By engaging in a defined merchandising strategy upfront, dealers are able to publish a completely accurate reflection to the retail consumer of not only their product, but themselves as well. Having a goal to establish credibility at the front of the buying cycle will allow consumers to then gain trust in the dealer from the start. Credibility and trust are choices that both parties feel are the ingredients to great deal. Although the merchandising process may seem difficult and time consuming, the net effect is that it makes an online transaction very smooth and comfortable because of the transparency and trust that is built into the merchandising process.
Retailers are constantly battling price and marketing strategies by more tech savvy individuals and companies that understand the online search engine space in more detail. Gone are the days when dealers can be publishing vague details and enticing advertisements that leave room for misinterpretations and fodder for impulse contact as result of the "can't miss this deal" stimulus that traditional advertising was founded on. The new consumer is swayed less and less by endorsements and complicated OAC or qualify to participate type offers. Securing online customers starts with full disclosure upfront, more data, more photos, better videos detailing the item and accurate contact information that creates action.
A major concern has grown amongst the dealer community as of late to who controls the data and information surrounding vehicle sales and customer retention. cDemo is very sensitive to this concern and believes that retailers should be in complete control of their destiny in this area of the business. Sales information and customer information for long term retention purposes are the core components to healthy long term business plans. The information that drives these two pieces of a profitable dealership should be guarded and thoroughly understood as to where this information is being published to and shared with.
In spite of this consumer shift, we all can agree that sales transactions are still occurring. The automobile is just like every other industry out there and it is time to pay attention to the new touch points that the internet has created. I will sympathize to a certain degree with those individuals that are highly-trained professionals in the art of persuasion and sale techniques that feel threatened in this high touch industry. Consumers are empowered by information; their thirst for information is the fundamental trigger of this consumer shift. Gone are the days of relying on a salesperson to inform and persuade consumers. It is increasingly more important for sales professionals to turn their attention to detail and delivery of great information at every touchpoint, followed up with great service. High pressure tactics and misleading-leading strategies are obsolete in the new environment. Even the new generation of buyers factor in more heavily to your success as they now feel entitled to use the power and comfort of clicking away, rather than walking or driving away from your store. I say, Embrace this change, fuel the customer's thirst for transparency and information at every touchpoint and the end result will be more business because of it. Consumer empowerment is here to stay and it starts earlier and ends later than most retailers care to accept. The choice has to be made to execute better than ever before, hopefully you are first. This consumer empowerment does not stop at the end of the sale.
"Sometimes the easy and comfortable route ends up difficult and unsurvivable in the new way of selling...selling online that is." says Allan Chell, President and founder of cDemo and MOBILE INSPECTOR app available on iTunes App Store
Is a merchandising strategy good for all dealers? There will always be dealers that resist or avoid change. To those dealers that choose to excel at this core competency we applaud you for recognizing that capturing and publishing transparent, thorough and accurate details for all description pages is the most important step in your digital marketing strategy.
1422
JR
cDemo Mobile Solutions
May 5, 2012
Change
The automotive sales environment is not just changing, it has changed and will continue to change. Dealers, website providers, vendors and consultants who help dealers drive sales through traditional sales techniques are quickly realizing that consumers have unprecedented access to information. All sales organizations have to recognize that they must evaluate their ability to keep pace with consumer shifts. The most recent shift that occurred is fuelled by data transparency. Would you agree that If consumers have evolved there is really no sense in hiding or resistant to change yourself?
I see the changes in the online sales environment as an opportunity to shore up a fundamental core competency that will feed this new thirst for information consumers have developed. Merchandising your products properly by producing and publishing thorough, accurate, transparent and engaging asset descriptions is the core competency that our great industry has overlooked in favour of traditional sales techniques. In this new age of online advertising, transactional decisions are nearly complete before the customer even decides to make contact with your store. In order to build trust and confidence in you as their choice of retailer, the information that you display in this space is crucial. The quality of information will actually filter you out if done poorly or funnel customers in if done successfully. My advice to accomplish the latter is to commit to building a process that allows for enough time and attention to be spent on properly merchandising your inventory. 6-8 minutes per vehicle is not enough of an investment to break down the online sales barriers of the "NEW" consumer.
"It's time to change our old habits and catch up to the online customer's expectations of transparent information." says Michael Christensen of Auto Canada, a publicly traded dealership group in Canada.
A core philosophy of cDemo is to enable users of Mobile Inspector to engage in a proven process to collect, manage and distribute information about assets that is easy to do. The goal of the entire platform is to create a community that is built on transparency.
Communicating with online buyers with transparent information, quality photos and a "REAL" video walk around are the core components of a great online purchase experience for both the consumer and the dealer. Informed consumers make decisions sooner than ever in the purchase process and are more likely to feel connected to a well merchandised product. By engaging in a defined merchandising strategy upfront, dealers are able to publish a completely accurate reflection to the retail consumer of not only their product, but themselves as well. Having a goal to establish credibility at the front of the buying cycle will allow consumers to then gain trust in the dealer from the start. Credibility and trust are choices that both parties feel are the ingredients to great deal. Although the merchandising process may seem difficult and time consuming, the net effect is that it makes an online transaction very smooth and comfortable because of the transparency and trust that is built into the merchandising process.
Retailers are constantly battling price and marketing strategies by more tech savvy individuals and companies that understand the online search engine space in more detail. Gone are the days when dealers can be publishing vague details and enticing advertisements that leave room for misinterpretations and fodder for impulse contact as result of the "can't miss this deal" stimulus that traditional advertising was founded on. The new consumer is swayed less and less by endorsements and complicated OAC or qualify to participate type offers. Securing online customers starts with full disclosure upfront, more data, more photos, better videos detailing the item and accurate contact information that creates action.
A major concern has grown amongst the dealer community as of late to who controls the data and information surrounding vehicle sales and customer retention. cDemo is very sensitive to this concern and believes that retailers should be in complete control of their destiny in this area of the business. Sales information and customer information for long term retention purposes are the core components to healthy long term business plans. The information that drives these two pieces of a profitable dealership should be guarded and thoroughly understood as to where this information is being published to and shared with.
In spite of this consumer shift, we all can agree that sales transactions are still occurring. The automobile is just like every other industry out there and it is time to pay attention to the new touch points that the internet has created. I will sympathize to a certain degree with those individuals that are highly-trained professionals in the art of persuasion and sale techniques that feel threatened in this high touch industry. Consumers are empowered by information; their thirst for information is the fundamental trigger of this consumer shift. Gone are the days of relying on a salesperson to inform and persuade consumers. It is increasingly more important for sales professionals to turn their attention to detail and delivery of great information at every touchpoint, followed up with great service. High pressure tactics and misleading-leading strategies are obsolete in the new environment. Even the new generation of buyers factor in more heavily to your success as they now feel entitled to use the power and comfort of clicking away, rather than walking or driving away from your store. I say, Embrace this change, fuel the customer's thirst for transparency and information at every touchpoint and the end result will be more business because of it. Consumer empowerment is here to stay and it starts earlier and ends later than most retailers care to accept. The choice has to be made to execute better than ever before, hopefully you are first. This consumer empowerment does not stop at the end of the sale.
"Sometimes the easy and comfortable route ends up difficult and unsurvivable in the new way of selling...selling online that is." says Allan Chell, President and founder of cDemo and MOBILE INSPECTOR app available on iTunes App Store
Is a merchandising strategy good for all dealers? There will always be dealers that resist or avoid change. To those dealers that choose to excel at this core competency we applaud you for recognizing that capturing and publishing transparent, thorough and accurate details for all description pages is the most important step in your digital marketing strategy.
1422
No Comments
JR
cDemo Mobile Solutions
Apr 4, 2012
How Merchandising Strategy Drives Online Sales
The automotive industry is engulfed with numerous advertising outlets that can be utilized to drive customers into the dealership. Everything from billboard signs, TV commercials, newspaper ads, radio spots, third party websites and most recently social media platforms scream for their attention. A deeper look will uncover that car deals are lost when a merchandising strategy is overlooked.
Art Angielski, Dealer principal of Sherwood Park Toyota says “Advertising and merchandising are not the same, but when both are done right they work together to sell more cars.”
Properly merchandising cars is the first step in modern online automobile sales and drives the overall digital strategy of any dealership. The overlooked core competency in the automotive industry today is the commitment to a solid online merchandising strategy. Merchandising is what solidifies a dealerships ability to motivate a consumer to want to make a purchase prior to dealing with a salesperson. The new online customer expects all the details and disclosures to be present online. If done properly by providing the granular details about a vehicle, dealerships create a feeling of trust and transparency.
A merchandising strategy for the online marketplace should include the following:
- A dedicated in-house employee that is responsible for merchandising all the vehicles. They should be physically fit, knowledgeable and detail oriented. An underperforming sales person is not the right choice. A dedicated employee that takes responsibility for the online inventory health of a dealership can dramatically affect the bottom line of a store. cDemo’s Merchandising scorecard outlines the measurements that managers can use to drive “ONLINE INVENTORY HEALTH"
- A Merchandising strategy should include the incorporation and capture of 35+ actual photos, producing real video (not stitched photos with a funky voice over), disclosures as relates to condition, verified all equipment and options. Today’s online consumer is looking for the best value so I would recommend to always include your best price. The same can be said for wear and tear disclosures, the scratches and dings do not magically disappear when the customer arrives so why not be upfront with them on the Internet.
- GO MOBILE! Mobile Smartphones are no longer handicapped by poor quality cameras. The new standard of a quality device is 8 Megapixels for photos and HD (1080p) for video recording. Having the ability to connect to backend systems via a smartphone is a major time saving advantage; vehicles can be merchandised and uploaded within minutes of arrival or even right after they have been purchased at the auction.
Creating transparency and trust will move customers closer to your business when it comes to selling and advertising online. The benefits that all dealerships that commit to a well organized merchandising strategy include more leads, more appointments set, higher close rates and faster turns on their inventory.
In Dennis Galbraith’s most recent book “ONLINE VEHICLE MERCHANDISING” he states, “Online automotive merchandising is the process of producing sales content. It must sell effectively and be produced in a timely and efficient manner”. His book was written to provide managers with the understanding and strategic thinking necessary to oversee a successful merchandising operation. I highly recommend you take the time to read this book.
3140
No Comments
JR
cDemo Mobile Solutions
Apr 4, 2012
How Merchandising Strategy Drives Online Sales
The automotive industry is engulfed with numerous advertising outlets that can be utilized to drive customers into the dealership. Everything from billboard signs, TV commercials, newspaper ads, radio spots, third party websites and most recently social media platforms scream for their attention. A deeper look will uncover that car deals are lost when a merchandising strategy is overlooked.
Art Angielski, Dealer principal of Sherwood Park Toyota says “Advertising and merchandising are not the same, but when both are done right they work together to sell more cars.”
Properly merchandising cars is the first step in modern online automobile sales and drives the overall digital strategy of any dealership. The overlooked core competency in the automotive industry today is the commitment to a solid online merchandising strategy. Merchandising is what solidifies a dealerships ability to motivate a consumer to want to make a purchase prior to dealing with a salesperson. The new online customer expects all the details and disclosures to be present online. If done properly by providing the granular details about a vehicle, dealerships create a feeling of trust and transparency.
A merchandising strategy for the online marketplace should include the following:
- A dedicated in-house employee that is responsible for merchandising all the vehicles. They should be physically fit, knowledgeable and detail oriented. An underperforming sales person is not the right choice. A dedicated employee that takes responsibility for the online inventory health of a dealership can dramatically affect the bottom line of a store. cDemo’s Merchandising scorecard outlines the measurements that managers can use to drive “ONLINE INVENTORY HEALTH"
- A Merchandising strategy should include the incorporation and capture of 35+ actual photos, producing real video (not stitched photos with a funky voice over), disclosures as relates to condition, verified all equipment and options. Today’s online consumer is looking for the best value so I would recommend to always include your best price. The same can be said for wear and tear disclosures, the scratches and dings do not magically disappear when the customer arrives so why not be upfront with them on the Internet.
- GO MOBILE! Mobile Smartphones are no longer handicapped by poor quality cameras. The new standard of a quality device is 8 Megapixels for photos and HD (1080p) for video recording. Having the ability to connect to backend systems via a smartphone is a major time saving advantage; vehicles can be merchandised and uploaded within minutes of arrival or even right after they have been purchased at the auction.
Creating transparency and trust will move customers closer to your business when it comes to selling and advertising online. The benefits that all dealerships that commit to a well organized merchandising strategy include more leads, more appointments set, higher close rates and faster turns on their inventory.
In Dennis Galbraith’s most recent book “ONLINE VEHICLE MERCHANDISING” he states, “Online automotive merchandising is the process of producing sales content. It must sell effectively and be produced in a timely and efficient manner”. His book was written to provide managers with the understanding and strategic thinking necessary to oversee a successful merchandising operation. I highly recommend you take the time to read this book.
3140
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