Chicken Little created a crisis that was, though real in his mind, totally false. However, it spurred others into frivolous action in a well-known Fairy Tale. In the next few weeks and Months many Dealership personnel will confront the same thing as they interact with Vendors at the Dealership, in on-line forums and at Conferences. 

And thus my friends will begin the Zero Moment of Bullsh**.

We get it every day in our inboxes “we have done a quick study of your website and found several areas you should be concerned with”, “Google 3.4 will make your website invisible unless you ACT NOW”, “Get our Free whitepaper on why you need our service and a free 30 Day trial”… and on and on it goes.

“Create a Crisis Marketing" is not new. Bomb shelter Companies made millions during the red-scare era, and look at the health supplement market! That’s NOT to say there was never a possibility of being attacked as a Country nor that Vitamins aren’t good for you.

However, a good Vendor Partnership should be like a good marriage so maybe follow the same steps:

1. Determine what you are looking for that will complement your current strengths and shore up your weaknesses.
2. Get involved in Communities that foster education and interaction. Don’t frequent bars as a primary hunting ground. I have 4 Sisters and Mom always told them “you’ll never find a Stallion in the Donkey corral”.
3. Long courtships and engagements are good. Love at first sight DOES happen, but it’s RARE and a cooling off period won’t deter it if it’s real.
4. Commit. Totally and completely. It’s a lasting thing and may be rough but even the best relationship can sometimes go through a rocky patch. Communicate often and openly and don’t start looking for the next best thing before you’ve exhausted all channels with your current spouse.

 Don’t wake up next week with a ring on your finger and no idea how it got there.

Bryan Armstrong

@bryancarguy

Chicken Little created a crisis that was, though real in his mind, totally false. However, it spurred others into frivolous action in a well-known Fairy Tale. In the next few weeks and Months many Dealership personnel will confront the same thing as they interact with Vendors at the Dealership, in on-line forums and at Conferences. 

And thus my friends will begin the Zero Moment of Bullsh**.

We get it every day in our inboxes “we have done a quick study of your website and found several areas you should be concerned with”, “Google 3.4 will make your website invisible unless you ACT NOW”, “Get our Free whitepaper on why you need our service and a free 30 Day trial”… and on and on it goes.

“Create a Crisis Marketing" is not new. Bomb shelter Companies made millions during the red-scare era, and look at the health supplement market! That’s NOT to say there was never a possibility of being attacked as a Country nor that Vitamins aren’t good for you.

However, a good Vendor Partnership should be like a good marriage so maybe follow the same steps:

1. Determine what you are looking for that will complement your current strengths and shore up your weaknesses.
2. Get involved in Communities that foster education and interaction. Don’t frequent bars as a primary hunting ground. I have 4 Sisters and Mom always told them “you’ll never find a Stallion in the Donkey corral”.
3. Long courtships and engagements are good. Love at first sight DOES happen, but it’s RARE and a cooling off period won’t deter it if it’s real.
4. Commit. Totally and completely. It’s a lasting thing and may be rough but even the best relationship can sometimes go through a rocky patch. Communicate often and openly and don’t start looking for the next best thing before you’ve exhausted all channels with your current spouse.

 Don’t wake up next week with a ring on your finger and no idea how it got there.

Bryan Armstrong

@bryancarguy

Almost a year ago, I gave a presentation on Digital Marketing and stressed the importance of sites like Foursquare, Yelp and urged all to re-evaluate their push-style Marketing techniques on Facebook. Now, not to toot my own horn (*beep, beep*) you see Siri looking to Yelp for answers, Foursquare becoming ever more relevant and within the next 30 days every Brands FB page will be forced into the new timeline format.

Now would be a great time to look at the photos (which dominate the timeline format) that you’ve posted since you began Facebook. Will it be a conglomeration of puppy photos and best caption contests? Will it be a successive progression of Inventory you don’t even have? Worse yet, will it end up that your “friends and fans” see the inane plethora of your weekly ad claiming one sale after another? How effective will the next ad be when everyone can scroll back and see that it’s the “same old same old” that you’ve re-hashed again and again? I believe the term I used was “it will look like Sesame Street threw up”.

So here’s my two-cents now: Use the next 30 days to clean that rubbish heap you thought was buried. It will look like you have big holes in your presence, but fill them with events such as New-hire announcements, Birthdays, Anniversaries; Fund-Raising and Community events…the possibilities are only limited by your imagination. It’s what I’ll be doing too.

Also, start integrating your Social Media the right way. Use it for conversation and feedback and integrate it into your Traditional advertising efforts. Don’t put “LIKE US ON FACEBOOK AT WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/DEALERNAME” instead try “join the conversation” or “Get Involved” by texting: like VWSouthtowne to 32665

Go ahead…I’ll wait… :)

Bryan Armstrong

@bryancarguy

Almost a year ago, I gave a presentation on Digital Marketing and stressed the importance of sites like Foursquare, Yelp and urged all to re-evaluate their push-style Marketing techniques on Facebook. Now, not to toot my own horn (*beep, beep*) you see Siri looking to Yelp for answers, Foursquare becoming ever more relevant and within the next 30 days every Brands FB page will be forced into the new timeline format.

Now would be a great time to look at the photos (which dominate the timeline format) that you’ve posted since you began Facebook. Will it be a conglomeration of puppy photos and best caption contests? Will it be a successive progression of Inventory you don’t even have? Worse yet, will it end up that your “friends and fans” see the inane plethora of your weekly ad claiming one sale after another? How effective will the next ad be when everyone can scroll back and see that it’s the “same old same old” that you’ve re-hashed again and again? I believe the term I used was “it will look like Sesame Street threw up”.

So here’s my two-cents now: Use the next 30 days to clean that rubbish heap you thought was buried. It will look like you have big holes in your presence, but fill them with events such as New-hire announcements, Birthdays, Anniversaries; Fund-Raising and Community events…the possibilities are only limited by your imagination. It’s what I’ll be doing too.

Also, start integrating your Social Media the right way. Use it for conversation and feedback and integrate it into your Traditional advertising efforts. Don’t put “LIKE US ON FACEBOOK AT WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/DEALERNAME” instead try “join the conversation” or “Get Involved” by texting: like VWSouthtowne to 32665

Go ahead…I’ll wait… :)

Bryan Armstrong

@bryancarguy

As I monitor all inbound and outbound communication of Dealerships watching for signs of impending C.S.I. issues, new or missed sales and retention opportunities and, I am simply amazed at the amount of time, effort, energy and money that is expended by the Sales dept. to remedy issues. By contrast, Service rarely has these problems, but when they do, it’s from the same root cause. That’s right, the “C” word… Communication… or shall I say the lack thereof.

Recently I listened to a customer whose car had been in the shop for 2 days longer than anticipated, the wrong parts had shown up and it was going to be even longer as one needed component was back ordered. When asked about her experience she proclaimed “Your Service guy is a God!” (Keep in mind this was not a warranty issue, she was not in a loaner car and she was footing the bill herself). This response was so far away from what I had expected that I had to inquire further. Her explanation: “Look, I’m not happy about everything but I understand things happen and he has called everyday to offer shuttle service if I need it and keep me updated. Plus he always returns my calls! As long as he is there, I’ll never go anywhere else.”

No CRM or process can force it; this is a man who’s building for himself a career and a following.

By contrast, I’ve seen customers who were so happy with their experience that they sent in referrals who also bought cars. The salesman failed to follow-up on the $100 referral program check he had pitched to them at delivery. Even though the matter was eventually resolved to their satisfaction, the message from their salesperson had been received loud and clear.

Even if the news is unpleasant a swift delivery with a clear message will alleviate most hassles. “no there is no second set of keys” trumps “I don’t think there are but I’ll look and if they show up I’ll call” every time.

Communicate often, clearly and through the channel the customer is comfortable with. The payoff is huge.

What fail-safe's are in place at your Dealership? How often do you monitor or cross-check to measure that your expectation is being met? Pro-active will beat reactive every time!

Bryan Armstrong

@bryancarguy  

As I monitor all inbound and outbound communication of Dealerships watching for signs of impending C.S.I. issues, new or missed sales and retention opportunities and, I am simply amazed at the amount of time, effort, energy and money that is expended by the Sales dept. to remedy issues. By contrast, Service rarely has these problems, but when they do, it’s from the same root cause. That’s right, the “C” word… Communication… or shall I say the lack thereof.

Recently I listened to a customer whose car had been in the shop for 2 days longer than anticipated, the wrong parts had shown up and it was going to be even longer as one needed component was back ordered. When asked about her experience she proclaimed “Your Service guy is a God!” (Keep in mind this was not a warranty issue, she was not in a loaner car and she was footing the bill herself). This response was so far away from what I had expected that I had to inquire further. Her explanation: “Look, I’m not happy about everything but I understand things happen and he has called everyday to offer shuttle service if I need it and keep me updated. Plus he always returns my calls! As long as he is there, I’ll never go anywhere else.”

No CRM or process can force it; this is a man who’s building for himself a career and a following.

By contrast, I’ve seen customers who were so happy with their experience that they sent in referrals who also bought cars. The salesman failed to follow-up on the $100 referral program check he had pitched to them at delivery. Even though the matter was eventually resolved to their satisfaction, the message from their salesperson had been received loud and clear.

Even if the news is unpleasant a swift delivery with a clear message will alleviate most hassles. “no there is no second set of keys” trumps “I don’t think there are but I’ll look and if they show up I’ll call” every time.

Communicate often, clearly and through the channel the customer is comfortable with. The payoff is huge.

What fail-safe's are in place at your Dealership? How often do you monitor or cross-check to measure that your expectation is being met? Pro-active will beat reactive every time!

Bryan Armstrong

@bryancarguy  

Last month I was honored to be named one of the 5 finalists at Driving Sales Executive Summit in the most innovative Dealer competition. Many of you may know that the idea I presented was for a new review platform called the Power Pen now being marketed by Punchline Advertising. I was honored to be named the 3^rd place winner, but I feel that the focus was placed on the product rather than the concept I was trying to convey.

Finding a small local company that was providing a similar service to the medical profession and working with them to, in essence, create a new market segment product that better fit our needs was the true innovation idea. The product is secondary. We as Dealers have neither the time nor the funds to create every solution we may need and so we rely on existing companies to achieve the results. The Power Pen is an amazing new tool that allows Dealers to gather verified reviews from customers in the store and have them posted to an independent site which ultimately takes up more key controllable real estate in the search results for a Dealers name.

While this is great in and of itself, what is truly amazing is the way it came about. As a Dealer Manager I struggle to find the best vendor products that will enable me to secure key results. This goal is often times contrary to those Vendors internal revenue-generating structure. For example, while DealerRater, AutoTrader, Cars.com are all  good Vendors, I’m unhappy that unless I sign for the top most package I will still have my Competitors encroaching on my SERP’s by means of banner ads and other potential brand leaks.

Rather than be put between a rock and a hard place, what if we all continued to look outside the Automotive vertical for solutions, contact those companies and share with them the insights needed to achieve a viable product that is within our own control? To take it a step further, we then share the information and results and collectively benefit from one another’s efforts. The end result is that we could control our own digital foot print to a greater degree and become even more independent.

Quit being a digital share cropper, leasing your own land and giving your hard-earned profits to the very people you’ve paid to enhance your impact, then turn around and monetize your name and hard fought results. It’s a slower process initially but at the end of the day, you can be the master of your own domain rather than being reliant on a 3^rd party and subject to their whims of change. 

Last month I was honored to be named one of the 5 finalists at Driving Sales Executive Summit in the most innovative Dealer competition. Many of you may know that the idea I presented was for a new review platform called the Power Pen now being marketed by Punchline Advertising. I was honored to be named the 3^rd place winner, but I feel that the focus was placed on the product rather than the concept I was trying to convey.

Finding a small local company that was providing a similar service to the medical profession and working with them to, in essence, create a new market segment product that better fit our needs was the true innovation idea. The product is secondary. We as Dealers have neither the time nor the funds to create every solution we may need and so we rely on existing companies to achieve the results. The Power Pen is an amazing new tool that allows Dealers to gather verified reviews from customers in the store and have them posted to an independent site which ultimately takes up more key controllable real estate in the search results for a Dealers name.

While this is great in and of itself, what is truly amazing is the way it came about. As a Dealer Manager I struggle to find the best vendor products that will enable me to secure key results. This goal is often times contrary to those Vendors internal revenue-generating structure. For example, while DealerRater, AutoTrader, Cars.com are all  good Vendors, I’m unhappy that unless I sign for the top most package I will still have my Competitors encroaching on my SERP’s by means of banner ads and other potential brand leaks.

Rather than be put between a rock and a hard place, what if we all continued to look outside the Automotive vertical for solutions, contact those companies and share with them the insights needed to achieve a viable product that is within our own control? To take it a step further, we then share the information and results and collectively benefit from one another’s efforts. The end result is that we could control our own digital foot print to a greater degree and become even more independent.

Quit being a digital share cropper, leasing your own land and giving your hard-earned profits to the very people you’ve paid to enhance your impact, then turn around and monetize your name and hard fought results. It’s a slower process initially but at the end of the day, you can be the master of your own domain rather than being reliant on a 3^rd party and subject to their whims of change. 

I would be hard pressed to describe the events of the day, but if I don’t take a moment now, this feeling of absolute euphoria I feel may escape me as tomorrow prepare to travel and return to the day to day operations of my Store.

You see, for the last two days I have been rubbing elbows and interacting with the most brilliant and innovative minds from a variety of Industries and I am literally “in the ether” (You know, that state of enamor that we all try to elicit from our clientele? )

As I listen to impassioned people sharing ideas on Culture shifts, Marketing trends and truly connecting with customers in ways heretofore undreamed of in the Automotive Vertical, I have hope: Hope for a better Culture, better Sales and more importantly, of erasing the stigma that so many of even our BEST customers have long held of an Industry I love.

It didn’t matter if ideas conflicted; all were presented, cases stated and the audience left to make their own determination. There was no “pitching” of Products or Services and Dealers and Vendors alike were discussing ideas based on their MERIT alone. Strategies were shared and opinions ran strong and passionate and I remembered again of why I love what I do.

The real time twitter feed became an open forum wherein audience participation abounded and Speakers were commented on and rated by their peers IN REAL TIME. Vendors that are at odds and fierce competitors “on the street” sat at the same table and discussed strengths and weaknesses of their Platforms IN FRONT OF DEALERS!!! We hear the term “crowd-sourcing” bantered about, but with the live feed, twitter and input from different camps I have now seen it in action and come away with a clearer picture of what I hope to aspire to and a knowledge that I am not alone in that dream.

A few years ago, some friends of mine, Joe Webb and Bill Playford of DealerKnows, stated to me in a personal conversation, that they wanted to be “The Justice League” of the Dealer world when it came to Vendor Solutions/Consultants. DrivingSales has for these three days created an army of evangelists that will take the things learned and relationships built and enabled the seeds of such a vision to be spread far and wide.

I know I will be looking back through the #DSES hash tag on Twitter and watching these sessions as they become available on DrivingSales TV to further clarify and define the course in the weeks and year to come until the next one.

Thank you Jared and your hard working Team at DrivingSales.com for continuing to push the bar and set a higher standard for learning and interacting at Automotive Conferences. It may be altruistic and naïve, but I hope to be able to carry this passion with me to sustain me till next year’s Event.

I will be implementing take-a-ways from here and giving feedback in this Community and would encourage all those in attendance now, observing from afar or directed to this post by some well-intentioned friend to do the same and make plans now to attend next year’s event. This is not an Automotive Conference in the Traditional definition of the word as much as it is a trek to the Holy Grail. Come and renew, rejuvenate, be enlightened and re-define our role in the Business world. If you don’t, in the words of Gary Vaynerchuck you’ll be “going out of business within 15 years, and if 15 years is all you need, then fine”.

Personally, I too want to leave behind a legacy and know that I left an imprint of good upon the world through selling cars. After all, being a "car guy" (or gal) is, in my estimation, an opportunity to serve others and thereby better myself.

Bryan Armstrong

@bryancarguy

I would be hard pressed to describe the events of the day, but if I don’t take a moment now, this feeling of absolute euphoria I feel may escape me as tomorrow prepare to travel and return to the day to day operations of my Store.

You see, for the last two days I have been rubbing elbows and interacting with the most brilliant and innovative minds from a variety of Industries and I am literally “in the ether” (You know, that state of enamor that we all try to elicit from our clientele? )

As I listen to impassioned people sharing ideas on Culture shifts, Marketing trends and truly connecting with customers in ways heretofore undreamed of in the Automotive Vertical, I have hope: Hope for a better Culture, better Sales and more importantly, of erasing the stigma that so many of even our BEST customers have long held of an Industry I love.

It didn’t matter if ideas conflicted; all were presented, cases stated and the audience left to make their own determination. There was no “pitching” of Products or Services and Dealers and Vendors alike were discussing ideas based on their MERIT alone. Strategies were shared and opinions ran strong and passionate and I remembered again of why I love what I do.

The real time twitter feed became an open forum wherein audience participation abounded and Speakers were commented on and rated by their peers IN REAL TIME. Vendors that are at odds and fierce competitors “on the street” sat at the same table and discussed strengths and weaknesses of their Platforms IN FRONT OF DEALERS!!! We hear the term “crowd-sourcing” bantered about, but with the live feed, twitter and input from different camps I have now seen it in action and come away with a clearer picture of what I hope to aspire to and a knowledge that I am not alone in that dream.

A few years ago, some friends of mine, Joe Webb and Bill Playford of DealerKnows, stated to me in a personal conversation, that they wanted to be “The Justice League” of the Dealer world when it came to Vendor Solutions/Consultants. DrivingSales has for these three days created an army of evangelists that will take the things learned and relationships built and enabled the seeds of such a vision to be spread far and wide.

I know I will be looking back through the #DSES hash tag on Twitter and watching these sessions as they become available on DrivingSales TV to further clarify and define the course in the weeks and year to come until the next one.

Thank you Jared and your hard working Team at DrivingSales.com for continuing to push the bar and set a higher standard for learning and interacting at Automotive Conferences. It may be altruistic and naïve, but I hope to be able to carry this passion with me to sustain me till next year’s Event.

I will be implementing take-a-ways from here and giving feedback in this Community and would encourage all those in attendance now, observing from afar or directed to this post by some well-intentioned friend to do the same and make plans now to attend next year’s event. This is not an Automotive Conference in the Traditional definition of the word as much as it is a trek to the Holy Grail. Come and renew, rejuvenate, be enlightened and re-define our role in the Business world. If you don’t, in the words of Gary Vaynerchuck you’ll be “going out of business within 15 years, and if 15 years is all you need, then fine”.

Personally, I too want to leave behind a legacy and know that I left an imprint of good upon the world through selling cars. After all, being a "car guy" (or gal) is, in my estimation, an opportunity to serve others and thereby better myself.

Bryan Armstrong

@bryancarguy