Six out of ten customers will not tell you they’re coming to the dealership.
Just one out of ten people who visit your website will bother to fill out the lead form.

Call it the reality of today’s online world: eCommerce and social media have trained consumers to hold onto their personal information, and to value the importance of connecting to people -- online. In this environment, forcing a customer to “go first” by filling out a lead form can harm your chance at the sale. In fact, according to Mike Burgiss, Cox Automotive’s Digital Retailing expert, not creating an online retailing experience can lead to some of the top frustrations that car buyers have, a topic he discussed at today’s “Maintain Control of Your Retail Online” Workshop. Indeed, Burgiss went into detail about those frustrations, and also how solve them, by building a consumer-friendly process that keeps you in the driver’s seat. The workshop spurred serious discussion around several key questions:  

Almost all buyers are doing research on the website before they walk in the door. So how do you win the deal online, so you can win the deal in-store? Tip: Selling cars is a relationship business – it’s what we call Connection Commerce. Yet today there’s a trust gap between customer and salesperson. Winning the deal online begins when you close that trust gap with an authentic online experience.

Why is the VDP page so important when it comes to creating an authentic environment? Tip: VDPs are at the crux of virtually every sale, yet – at this all-important juncture in the process – we ask the consumer to provide their personal information first. By flipping the script and “going first,” dealerships can create, online, an environment of trust and credibility that carries into the showroom.  

What does it mean to “work the deal” and not the lead? Tip: The reality of today’s automotive retail environment is that customers are visiting fewer dealerships. Yet everyone is shopping on your website – specifically on those VDP pages. Today, that’s where the relationship should begin. That’s the best place to put your online retailing process to work, and start the deal.

Burgiss is scheduled to hold one more workshop at NADA 2016 that goes into detail about Digital Retailing best practices. Entitled Maintain Control of Your Retail Online, the session begins on Sunday at 10:30 am. 

Change is now the rule when it comes to the world of retailing cars. It has been since 2008-09, when the Great Recession and its terrible consequences created an Automotive Depression never before seen: too few buyers, too many cars for sale, sitting on lots, not moving, not selling, just collecting rust. I recall flying into Detroit during the worst of those years and seeing row after row of unsaleable new cars parked on airport lots. Just parked.

The entire industry was parked.

Today, we’re well back from that dark place – and then some. The year’s sales are on a torrid pace; dealerships are renovating and automakers are expanding model lines. Still, as a partial result of those years, change seems now to be in constant overdrive. No matter what side of the business you’re in, we all sort of look over our shoulder a bit at what that might mean, and to get a glimpse of what might be coming.

This time, that change is centered on the very way cars are sold. From progressive retail ideas and methods to the Tesla “revolution,” the way dealerships approach consumers will one day be different than it is today. Heck, it’s evolving now.  There is no longer room for the three-hour sale.  

Instead, consider that the sale of a car could be enabled by the practical use of digital tools, and finished by an amazing showroom experience supported by digital connections and data knowledge. Just think: those two key components -- digital and showroom -- working together to create a personalized and efficient purchase experience. Is it pie in the sky? Maybe. But many people are probably already doing it. A customer visits a dealer website, configures their car, saves it – and takes care of financing approvals and pricing via a combination of texting, chat and digital tools. Then they set an appointment, test drive their car and take delivery with a splendid showroom experience that creates a local and solid relationship, a connection that’s paid off in service calls and future business.

It’s an evolution. Not a revolution.

And it seems that we’re headed down a path that takes us somewhere like that. After all, hundreds of current studies suggest that people are spending more time researching online and less time visiting dealerships. And if that’s so – if consumers, armed with smart phones and tablets, are able to winnow down that dealership decision to “1.34232”, then the digital experience is the driving force from top to bottom.

Is it treated that way at your dealership?

I think a dealership website is the most important sales and marketing tool of all because it combines two great assets: people and cars. As such (and proven by strong close-to-sale ratios compared to third party and automaker sites) they should execute at a level of refinement consumers expect from major retailers. I think that dealership teams should be well-versed in digital best practices and consumer behavior. And that there ought to be a person at a dealership who knows how to create the kind of content that properly represents the cars, the brand, the people and the role the store has carved out in the community. Not to mention the values that help define how business is done.

Stephen Covey once spoke about how digital devices were just tools, and should never become masters of our time. In that spirit, it’s the same for automotive retail: digital tools help create a positive experience for consumers, who in turn buy cars and come back for service. Those dealerships that use those tools to create one experience, blending the power of digital tools with a friendly and engaging local showroom experience, why, they will create a winning combination and may one day become leaders of the change in front of us today. Those innovators are not slaves to digital currency. They are the masters of it.

The change that’s coming is going to happen, one way or another. And probably sooner than we think. The only question is whether or not we’re ready to move forward, or oxidize while parked.

Change is now the rule when it comes to the world of retailing cars. It has been since 2008-09, when the Great Recession and its terrible consequences created an Automotive Depression never before seen: too few buyers, too many cars for sale, sitting on lots, not moving, not selling, just collecting rust. I recall flying into Detroit during the worst of those years and seeing row after row of unsaleable new cars parked on airport lots. Just parked.

The entire industry was parked.

Today, we’re well back from that dark place – and then some. The year’s sales are on a torrid pace; dealerships are renovating and automakers are expanding model lines. Still, as a partial result of those years, change seems now to be in constant overdrive. No matter what side of the business you’re in, we all sort of look over our shoulder a bit at what that might mean, and to get a glimpse of what might be coming.

This time, that change is centered on the very way cars are sold. From progressive retail ideas and methods to the Tesla “revolution,” the way dealerships approach consumers will one day be different than it is today. Heck, it’s evolving now.  There is no longer room for the three-hour sale.  

Instead, consider that the sale of a car could be enabled by the practical use of digital tools, and finished by an amazing showroom experience supported by digital connections and data knowledge. Just think: those two key components -- digital and showroom -- working together to create a personalized and efficient purchase experience. Is it pie in the sky? Maybe. But many people are probably already doing it. A customer visits a dealer website, configures their car, saves it – and takes care of financing approvals and pricing via a combination of texting, chat and digital tools. Then they set an appointment, test drive their car and take delivery with a splendid showroom experience that creates a local and solid relationship, a connection that’s paid off in service calls and future business.

It’s an evolution. Not a revolution.

And it seems that we’re headed down a path that takes us somewhere like that. After all, hundreds of current studies suggest that people are spending more time researching online and less time visiting dealerships. And if that’s so – if consumers, armed with smart phones and tablets, are able to winnow down that dealership decision to “1.34232”, then the digital experience is the driving force from top to bottom.

Is it treated that way at your dealership?

I think a dealership website is the most important sales and marketing tool of all because it combines two great assets: people and cars. As such (and proven by strong close-to-sale ratios compared to third party and automaker sites) they should execute at a level of refinement consumers expect from major retailers. I think that dealership teams should be well-versed in digital best practices and consumer behavior. And that there ought to be a person at a dealership who knows how to create the kind of content that properly represents the cars, the brand, the people and the role the store has carved out in the community. Not to mention the values that help define how business is done.

Stephen Covey once spoke about how digital devices were just tools, and should never become masters of our time. In that spirit, it’s the same for automotive retail: digital tools help create a positive experience for consumers, who in turn buy cars and come back for service. Those dealerships that use those tools to create one experience, blending the power of digital tools with a friendly and engaging local showroom experience, why, they will create a winning combination and may one day become leaders of the change in front of us today. Those innovators are not slaves to digital currency. They are the masters of it.

The change that’s coming is going to happen, one way or another. And probably sooner than we think. The only question is whether or not we’re ready to move forward, or oxidize while parked.

Say this for J.D. Power: They know the digital space, and few organizations have the credibility to report on the digital trends that impact the likes of Ford, GM, Toyota and others. They boast strong analysts who know brand-level automotive marketing and digital topics, and can communicate their findings in a concise and compelling way.

Take their most recent study, the J.D. Power 2014 U.S. Automotive Media and Marketing Report. The organization claims that it “provides a comprehensive strategic perspective on the factors that influence new-vehicle purchases, as well as attitudinal, lifestyle, recreational and media consumption behaviors.”  That pretty much means – I think – that it reports on what most influences car buyers to sign on the line. This year’s study includes digital media habits, from search to display, social and more.  To read the summary for yourself (do so), click here.  The study is based on a nationwide survey of 31,200 principal drivers of purchased or leased new vehicles between November 2012 and October 2013.

From my perspective, it’s a mishmash of obvious findings, such as this little diamond….

Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Twitter (listed in alphabetical order) are among the top five social media sites most often visited by new-vehicle drivers.

…mixed with good insights and interesting indicators. For example, the idea that content apps are fueling consumption habits and that a healthy percentage of people now think nothing of watching a show on a mobile device means that people really are using mobile technology for all things. Olden time media like “newspapers,” “television” shows and “magazines” are now gaining critical mass via mobile devices, because – here it comes – PEOPLE DON’T CARE ABOUT THE DEVICE THEY USE. They care about the content and the convenience of the delivery, just as long as the device presents said content in an acceptable way. It’s proof positive that we should be thinking of digital as a device agnostic playground, if not already.  The study found that a majority of those surveyed (57 percent) used their smartphone to access the Internet.

It’s a shame that this little nugget was sort of washed over in the summary, because it seems more notable to me than the ultimate finding, which was…

Don’t switch your radio/TV/OOH budget to digital. Spend more.

Do this because people are consuming media of all types in a multitude of ways, i.e. not discriminating in their usage patterns for research, purchase or entertainment…marketers should make sure they hit all the important spots. It seems that the trend supports that: eMarketer projects that the automotive industry will spend around $7 billion on digital advertising in 2015.

That’s a pile of cash, and much of it is probably earmarked to fluffy attempts at raising “brand awareness.” Given that, perhaps the hidden lesson from the study is this: Digital is not a niche. It’s as mainstream as Main St., from search to social – and that the real meat and potatoes part of digital is happening, as they say, molo. That’s the tip from the hat of J.D. Power: The most powerful suggestion may be that digital media spending at the local, retail level should expand. That’s where it’s at: local and in person, on the site and on the lot, tethered together that take the transaction from dealership desk to the front seat of a new or used car.  The emerging power of digital marketing is not the power of a brand’s suggestion, but the power of powerful content, targeted and delivered at the right time – to the right device.

Say this for J.D. Power: They know the digital space, and few organizations have the credibility to report on the digital trends that impact the likes of Ford, GM, Toyota and others. They boast strong analysts who know brand-level automotive marketing and digital topics, and can communicate their findings in a concise and compelling way.

Take their most recent study, the J.D. Power 2014 U.S. Automotive Media and Marketing Report. The organization claims that it “provides a comprehensive strategic perspective on the factors that influence new-vehicle purchases, as well as attitudinal, lifestyle, recreational and media consumption behaviors.”  That pretty much means – I think – that it reports on what most influences car buyers to sign on the line. This year’s study includes digital media habits, from search to display, social and more.  To read the summary for yourself (do so), click here.  The study is based on a nationwide survey of 31,200 principal drivers of purchased or leased new vehicles between November 2012 and October 2013.

From my perspective, it’s a mishmash of obvious findings, such as this little diamond….

Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Twitter (listed in alphabetical order) are among the top five social media sites most often visited by new-vehicle drivers.

…mixed with good insights and interesting indicators. For example, the idea that content apps are fueling consumption habits and that a healthy percentage of people now think nothing of watching a show on a mobile device means that people really are using mobile technology for all things. Olden time media like “newspapers,” “television” shows and “magazines” are now gaining critical mass via mobile devices, because – here it comes – PEOPLE DON’T CARE ABOUT THE DEVICE THEY USE. They care about the content and the convenience of the delivery, just as long as the device presents said content in an acceptable way. It’s proof positive that we should be thinking of digital as a device agnostic playground, if not already.  The study found that a majority of those surveyed (57 percent) used their smartphone to access the Internet.

It’s a shame that this little nugget was sort of washed over in the summary, because it seems more notable to me than the ultimate finding, which was…

Don’t switch your radio/TV/OOH budget to digital. Spend more.

Do this because people are consuming media of all types in a multitude of ways, i.e. not discriminating in their usage patterns for research, purchase or entertainment…marketers should make sure they hit all the important spots. It seems that the trend supports that: eMarketer projects that the automotive industry will spend around $7 billion on digital advertising in 2015.

That’s a pile of cash, and much of it is probably earmarked to fluffy attempts at raising “brand awareness.” Given that, perhaps the hidden lesson from the study is this: Digital is not a niche. It’s as mainstream as Main St., from search to social – and that the real meat and potatoes part of digital is happening, as they say, molo. That’s the tip from the hat of J.D. Power: The most powerful suggestion may be that digital media spending at the local, retail level should expand. That’s where it’s at: local and in person, on the site and on the lot, tethered together that take the transaction from dealership desk to the front seat of a new or used car.  The emerging power of digital marketing is not the power of a brand’s suggestion, but the power of powerful content, targeted and delivered at the right time – to the right device.