The discussion still continues today with dealers nationwide on the effectiveness of marketing through social media.  Dealers are still questioning if social media should actually be in their digital marketing efforts and also wondering if it actually works.  These are great questions that should be asked as we work to build a broad digital marketing strategy.

I haven’t commented much on the somewhat recent news regarding General Motors ceasing their multi-million dollar Facebook display advertising but is a perfect example of marketers not asking the above questions early enough. So what really went wrong for General Motors to make such decision?

After reviewing the Facebook page of General Motors, I must first say that it does have a lot of great content in my opinion.  It has some great videos, pictures and the timeline looks great giving a visual story around their brand.  I see engagement and a well-managed page.  Many of us have come to learn with social media marketing is to keep it conversational for the most part and create engagement.  At some point, an opportunity for conversion needs to take place whether the brand or consumer initiates it.  With that being said, I do not see a spot to sign up for a test drive or a way to get in contact.  The point I am trying to make is that there is no real clear conversion goal from the OEM perspective, which is a complete opposite of their websites.  It doesn’t really matter how much of an investment in advertising, it is very unlikely General Motors would see an impact on their sales without a conversion process to back it up.  I would even venture to say that if General Motors directed certain clicks to another destination outside of Facebook to address my above points, it would still have a very small chance of being successful as Facebook users don’t care to leave the platform once logged in.

I think what General Motors failed to do was to understand how Facebook fits into broader social media campaigns.  It is a very common mistake made many times every day in social marketing efforts.  Social media demands corporate communication, brand building, customer service, customer acquisition and often all of these can get confused.  These different organizational objectives often are run in separate departments, which can make the integration poor.  What General Motors and the rest of us in business need to understand is that the customer doesn’t care about any of these differences.  They perceive a brand as a single entity and expect a cohesive message.

Part of a well developed social media strategy is defining what a customer will be doing when they get to our page and what they expect when they arrive.  Something many of don’t think about is the frame of mind the customer will be in when they get to our page.  We can look at this in terms of awareness.  Traditional marketing works well close to the time of purchase for the most part, search works well when your market is researching vehicles you sell and social works best for all of the above.  The customer may not be thinking about making a purchase but by capturing their information we can lead them in the right direction.  What this means is by the time the customer gets to a search engine they are searching for your brand in particular and not just a category.  It’s about taking the tools we invest our money in and using them to their full capacity.

Just as in any marketing venture, spending the time and money to develop a quality social media strategy is very important.  Think about why you are investing in social media.  What do your visitors expect when they arrive and what do you expect of them? There has to be a point when a customer interest is converted into sales.

How are you making this happen? Are you even asking?

The discussion still continues today with dealers nationwide on the effectiveness of marketing through social media.  Dealers are still questioning if social media should actually be in their digital marketing efforts and also wondering if it actually works.  These are great questions that should be asked as we work to build a broad digital marketing strategy.

I haven’t commented much on the somewhat recent news regarding General Motors ceasing their multi-million dollar Facebook display advertising but is a perfect example of marketers not asking the above questions early enough. So what really went wrong for General Motors to make such decision?

After reviewing the Facebook page of General Motors, I must first say that it does have a lot of great content in my opinion.  It has some great videos, pictures and the timeline looks great giving a visual story around their brand.  I see engagement and a well-managed page.  Many of us have come to learn with social media marketing is to keep it conversational for the most part and create engagement.  At some point, an opportunity for conversion needs to take place whether the brand or consumer initiates it.  With that being said, I do not see a spot to sign up for a test drive or a way to get in contact.  The point I am trying to make is that there is no real clear conversion goal from the OEM perspective, which is a complete opposite of their websites.  It doesn’t really matter how much of an investment in advertising, it is very unlikely General Motors would see an impact on their sales without a conversion process to back it up.  I would even venture to say that if General Motors directed certain clicks to another destination outside of Facebook to address my above points, it would still have a very small chance of being successful as Facebook users don’t care to leave the platform once logged in.

I think what General Motors failed to do was to understand how Facebook fits into broader social media campaigns.  It is a very common mistake made many times every day in social marketing efforts.  Social media demands corporate communication, brand building, customer service, customer acquisition and often all of these can get confused.  These different organizational objectives often are run in separate departments, which can make the integration poor.  What General Motors and the rest of us in business need to understand is that the customer doesn’t care about any of these differences.  They perceive a brand as a single entity and expect a cohesive message.

Part of a well developed social media strategy is defining what a customer will be doing when they get to our page and what they expect when they arrive.  Something many of don’t think about is the frame of mind the customer will be in when they get to our page.  We can look at this in terms of awareness.  Traditional marketing works well close to the time of purchase for the most part, search works well when your market is researching vehicles you sell and social works best for all of the above.  The customer may not be thinking about making a purchase but by capturing their information we can lead them in the right direction.  What this means is by the time the customer gets to a search engine they are searching for your brand in particular and not just a category.  It’s about taking the tools we invest our money in and using them to their full capacity.

Just as in any marketing venture, spending the time and money to develop a quality social media strategy is very important.  Think about why you are investing in social media.  What do your visitors expect when they arrive and what do you expect of them? There has to be a point when a customer interest is converted into sales.

How are you making this happen? Are you even asking?

Let’s face it, we have a huge “feel good” mindset problem in our industry today and are failing to address the core issues that keep many of us from being truly authentic to our clients and ourselves.  It’s the last day of the month once again and many will be closing out another huge month while others will justify, once again, why they fell short.  It’s more than missing monthly goals.  It’s also about the clients who have given us the opportunity and we missed their “goal.”  Now don’t get me wrong, we won’t close every opportunity we face, but how many sales are we missing because of something we had control over?  I am speaking dealership wide, not just the sales department.

Those who have this “feel good” mindset, and believe me, everyone reading has experienced it at one point in time or another should recognize it within themselves and work to be better.  I would like to say this could be overcome by just waking up one morning with a 100% positive attitude and going about our daily activities in a good mood.  Sadly that isn’t the case but it is a great start in taking action to become better at what we do.  It’s time now to dig deep within and identify what mistakes we are making the put us in this position.

The “feel good” mindset does not only hurt us as individuals, it hurts the dealerships we work for along with our current and potential clients which is where I want to add more focus.  Having a genuine interest to be of service is something the “feel good” mindset can and will overtake. 

In my opinion, I feel that many of us have forgotten how important an authentic relationship is with our clients.  I know many of you are reading this thinking that you really do value your clients and your clients love you.  I can appreciate everyone’s attempts to defend their commitment to customer service and how much value you place on the customer experience as a whole but I think it may be somewhat over optimistic.  Even those of you who are giving your clients the time and commitment needed; I am not convinced of the sincerity and authenticity put forth in the process.  We are becoming too mechanical.  Anyone else agree?

Again, we are here to learn as an industry and get better as an industry so if my opinions and honesty strike a nerve, I don’t care.

For most of us in the industry, the client is someone who arrives into the showroom, gets the presentation on the vehicle selected, eventually agrees on figures and makes the purchase.  Many clients leave happy while others will have complaints on how we should have done something better and that’s the point when some in our industry shut down to the client and begin to question themselves, “why I am even here?” I find it very sad that the human beings we set out to serve often become the reason we begin to resent our chosen profession.  Once this happens it is very hard to be in any other mindset other than the “feel good” mindset where all of the daily activities are geared toward false accomplishment.  The good news is that we can turn this mindset around with both time and honesty.

Our relationships with our clients require both time and honesty.  Bottom line.  No exceptions.  Thinking about that, I don’t know of any type of relationship that doesn’t.  Do you?  Our clients want us to listen to their stories, feel their emotions and take the time to really get to know them.  That is what is important to them. 

What I am getting at is that it is time we treat our current and future clients like real people.  Giving them our real emotions and our honest feelings.  Don’t laugh because it doesn’t happen near enough.

So how do we remove the “feel good” mindset from our memory bank?  I would first suggest beginning the process by being truly honest, genuine and passionate about your profession, also in how you conduct business.  Then, stop hiding behind the dealership waiting on business to come to you.  Start engaging your clients, current and future, in everything you do.  Get out in the social web platforms, create dialogue and spend time with those who will make or break your business.  They are there waiting for you.  I assure you once you show your authentic self, you just may have a client for life.  Try it, you’ll see and I know you can do it.

Here is to a strong May 2012 closeout friends.  Thank you for reading.

Let’s face it, we have a huge “feel good” mindset problem in our industry today and are failing to address the core issues that keep many of us from being truly authentic to our clients and ourselves.  It’s the last day of the month once again and many will be closing out another huge month while others will justify, once again, why they fell short.  It’s more than missing monthly goals.  It’s also about the clients who have given us the opportunity and we missed their “goal.”  Now don’t get me wrong, we won’t close every opportunity we face, but how many sales are we missing because of something we had control over?  I am speaking dealership wide, not just the sales department.

Those who have this “feel good” mindset, and believe me, everyone reading has experienced it at one point in time or another should recognize it within themselves and work to be better.  I would like to say this could be overcome by just waking up one morning with a 100% positive attitude and going about our daily activities in a good mood.  Sadly that isn’t the case but it is a great start in taking action to become better at what we do.  It’s time now to dig deep within and identify what mistakes we are making the put us in this position.

The “feel good” mindset does not only hurt us as individuals, it hurts the dealerships we work for along with our current and potential clients which is where I want to add more focus.  Having a genuine interest to be of service is something the “feel good” mindset can and will overtake. 

In my opinion, I feel that many of us have forgotten how important an authentic relationship is with our clients.  I know many of you are reading this thinking that you really do value your clients and your clients love you.  I can appreciate everyone’s attempts to defend their commitment to customer service and how much value you place on the customer experience as a whole but I think it may be somewhat over optimistic.  Even those of you who are giving your clients the time and commitment needed; I am not convinced of the sincerity and authenticity put forth in the process.  We are becoming too mechanical.  Anyone else agree?

Again, we are here to learn as an industry and get better as an industry so if my opinions and honesty strike a nerve, I don’t care.

For most of us in the industry, the client is someone who arrives into the showroom, gets the presentation on the vehicle selected, eventually agrees on figures and makes the purchase.  Many clients leave happy while others will have complaints on how we should have done something better and that’s the point when some in our industry shut down to the client and begin to question themselves, “why I am even here?” I find it very sad that the human beings we set out to serve often become the reason we begin to resent our chosen profession.  Once this happens it is very hard to be in any other mindset other than the “feel good” mindset where all of the daily activities are geared toward false accomplishment.  The good news is that we can turn this mindset around with both time and honesty.

Our relationships with our clients require both time and honesty.  Bottom line.  No exceptions.  Thinking about that, I don’t know of any type of relationship that doesn’t.  Do you?  Our clients want us to listen to their stories, feel their emotions and take the time to really get to know them.  That is what is important to them. 

What I am getting at is that it is time we treat our current and future clients like real people.  Giving them our real emotions and our honest feelings.  Don’t laugh because it doesn’t happen near enough.

So how do we remove the “feel good” mindset from our memory bank?  I would first suggest beginning the process by being truly honest, genuine and passionate about your profession, also in how you conduct business.  Then, stop hiding behind the dealership waiting on business to come to you.  Start engaging your clients, current and future, in everything you do.  Get out in the social web platforms, create dialogue and spend time with those who will make or break your business.  They are there waiting for you.  I assure you once you show your authentic self, you just may have a client for life.  Try it, you’ll see and I know you can do it.

Here is to a strong May 2012 closeout friends.  Thank you for reading.

I wanted to drop in and share a perspective of mine regarding our brands and who really owns them now that we are nearing the midway point of 2012.  We have all seen a huge increase nationwide in the number of dealerships and OEM’s participating in social media and this certainly excites me as I see it as a risk to not be involved.  While many dealerships and OEM’s are now taking social media very seriously, what does this actually mean for the brand strategy as a whole?  Are the dealers more in control of the brand or is it in the hands of the OEM?

Well guess what, it is your customers who are in control of your brand now more than they ever have been. Brand strategy, historically speaking, has always asserted to some degree that a brand is something that is cared for by the dealerships and owned, at least on an emotional level, by the customer. Now for many dealerships, thinking in these terms was more of a “mind exercise” than reality. The issue is by not putting the customers needs first, and allowing them to own the brand, a corporate culture can develop that doesn’t ever realize the full potential of the brand as a whole.  After all, aren’t we here to service our current and future clients?

Social media is forcing dealerships and OEM’s to rethink the “customers own the brand” philosophy and in a very quick way.  From this point forward I am going to use the term “brand” to include both the dealers and OEM’s.  In the social web we as the brand can direct, participate and engage with our current and future clients.  Now here is the kicker, so can they.  We can find out in a very easy way what people are saying about our brand and become part of the conversation and so can our customers.  Neither side has the upper hand.  It is a level playing field. Our advantage should come down to resources and strategy. If we have those well planned then you can mange the difference between success and failure.

Thinking about our brand’s personality traits is vitally important in today’s market. A brand is more than a logo. Every “touch point” or “moment of truth” our customers interact with will shape his or her view on our brand whether it is in person or in the social web.  On the social media platforms, our current and future clients interact with our brand in much the same way they do as their friends.  Would you agree? They treat it as a person and if our brand has not developed a personality with virtual emotions, then they will assign emotions and personality to our brand and chances are it will not be the ones we want.

Do you recall any past experiences that you can describe as an example to this?  It happens on a daily basis I assure you.  Maybe you called your Internet provider because of a billing or technical issue and found the person on the other line to be rude.  We have all been there and many of us were thinking in the back of our minds, “I really don’t care for this company.”  Then we look for data to back up our point of view, because we don’t like to be wrong. At this point, the emotions have been assigned and convincing us that they are incorrect will not be easy.

This same process happens at all the touch points of our brand, would you agree? The difference with the social web is that we now are able see the reaction and for those of you engaged, the good news is that you can do something about it. Only then your current and future clients will look for the evidence to prove that point of view.

So now I leave you with the mindset of taking the time to build a brand strategy that incorporates interaction in the social web.  Define your personality and make sure your team understands it with the ability to express it both in person and in the social web.  It isn’t going to happen overnight but if you want to elevate your brand and social strategy to the next level, this is a great focus to do so.  Once you get it right, the rewards will come.

I am sure many of you are just as busy as I am with daily business and I feel this post will find all of you doing big things.  Thanks for reading and keep making it happen.

I wanted to drop in and share a perspective of mine regarding our brands and who really owns them now that we are nearing the midway point of 2012.  We have all seen a huge increase nationwide in the number of dealerships and OEM’s participating in social media and this certainly excites me as I see it as a risk to not be involved.  While many dealerships and OEM’s are now taking social media very seriously, what does this actually mean for the brand strategy as a whole?  Are the dealers more in control of the brand or is it in the hands of the OEM?

Well guess what, it is your customers who are in control of your brand now more than they ever have been. Brand strategy, historically speaking, has always asserted to some degree that a brand is something that is cared for by the dealerships and owned, at least on an emotional level, by the customer. Now for many dealerships, thinking in these terms was more of a “mind exercise” than reality. The issue is by not putting the customers needs first, and allowing them to own the brand, a corporate culture can develop that doesn’t ever realize the full potential of the brand as a whole.  After all, aren’t we here to service our current and future clients?

Social media is forcing dealerships and OEM’s to rethink the “customers own the brand” philosophy and in a very quick way.  From this point forward I am going to use the term “brand” to include both the dealers and OEM’s.  In the social web we as the brand can direct, participate and engage with our current and future clients.  Now here is the kicker, so can they.  We can find out in a very easy way what people are saying about our brand and become part of the conversation and so can our customers.  Neither side has the upper hand.  It is a level playing field. Our advantage should come down to resources and strategy. If we have those well planned then you can mange the difference between success and failure.

Thinking about our brand’s personality traits is vitally important in today’s market. A brand is more than a logo. Every “touch point” or “moment of truth” our customers interact with will shape his or her view on our brand whether it is in person or in the social web.  On the social media platforms, our current and future clients interact with our brand in much the same way they do as their friends.  Would you agree? They treat it as a person and if our brand has not developed a personality with virtual emotions, then they will assign emotions and personality to our brand and chances are it will not be the ones we want.

Do you recall any past experiences that you can describe as an example to this?  It happens on a daily basis I assure you.  Maybe you called your Internet provider because of a billing or technical issue and found the person on the other line to be rude.  We have all been there and many of us were thinking in the back of our minds, “I really don’t care for this company.”  Then we look for data to back up our point of view, because we don’t like to be wrong. At this point, the emotions have been assigned and convincing us that they are incorrect will not be easy.

This same process happens at all the touch points of our brand, would you agree? The difference with the social web is that we now are able see the reaction and for those of you engaged, the good news is that you can do something about it. Only then your current and future clients will look for the evidence to prove that point of view.

So now I leave you with the mindset of taking the time to build a brand strategy that incorporates interaction in the social web.  Define your personality and make sure your team understands it with the ability to express it both in person and in the social web.  It isn’t going to happen overnight but if you want to elevate your brand and social strategy to the next level, this is a great focus to do so.  Once you get it right, the rewards will come.

I am sure many of you are just as busy as I am with daily business and I feel this post will find all of you doing big things.  Thanks for reading and keep making it happen.

Mentoring is something that I haven’t thought to write about until recently and after a few discussions with others, have come to understand that this is something our industry needs more of.  Mentoring from either an organizational standpoint or individual standpoint can be very powerful for learning and growth for someone you take an interest in thus increasing the probability for positive outcomes in their career path.

Many of you reading can recall someone who, at some point in your career, has had a significant influence on you and may have shaped or determined your course bringing you to where you are today.  I certainly can say there have been a few individuals I have come to know over the past twelve years that have encouraged me to do well or help me overcome something I wasn’t totally grasping. 

Recently, however, I can certainly say I consider myself having a mentor that I can trust to give me honest responses and opinions on anything I care to discuss and encourages me to try something new or different that I may have trouble taking that first step in doing.  Do you have anyone like that in your life or are you that type of person to someone else? Do you know how powerful it can be on someone? I am here to say that these experiences, if you haven’t experienced it from either side, are very beneficial and rewarding to both individuals involved.

Now, I am here to ask, if mentoring has so many positive aspects to it, why do we not see it happen more in our industry? Is it because we are taught to be competitive from day one in the business? Yes, you may be the superstar your entire career, but at what point do we decide to “refill” the pipeline to continue the success of our dealership or industry? It needs to happen at some point. Anyone else agree?

Here are a few questions I would like to ask from both an individual and organizational standpoint and encourage your responses.  I understand and appreciate the benefit of having a mentor and look to get others thinking alike:

• How can we help make mentoring an emphasis in our dealerships?
• How can a successful mentoring program be facilitated by the dealership itself?
• How do we select good mentors?
• How can we better prepare mentors and protégés to be successful?

I believe mentoring serves the needs of both mentors and protégés in different ways and will thrive better when left to flexible terms rather than being process driven or mandated if such program exists within the dealership.  Let the relationship cultivate on its own, giving it the room to breath and allowing the time for the information transferred to process.  I certainly experience the benefit first hand and hope to see mentoring grow in our industry as it is in important in the development of our employees and can have a significant influence on the course of their careers.

Mentoring, when the right conditions are present, can be one of the most powerful mechanisms in propelling a career forward. 

Now I want to ask, is there someone you have thought about taking under your wing to help ensure their success? Did you act on it?

Mentoring is something that I haven’t thought to write about until recently and after a few discussions with others, have come to understand that this is something our industry needs more of.  Mentoring from either an organizational standpoint or individual standpoint can be very powerful for learning and growth for someone you take an interest in thus increasing the probability for positive outcomes in their career path.

Many of you reading can recall someone who, at some point in your career, has had a significant influence on you and may have shaped or determined your course bringing you to where you are today.  I certainly can say there have been a few individuals I have come to know over the past twelve years that have encouraged me to do well or help me overcome something I wasn’t totally grasping. 

Recently, however, I can certainly say I consider myself having a mentor that I can trust to give me honest responses and opinions on anything I care to discuss and encourages me to try something new or different that I may have trouble taking that first step in doing.  Do you have anyone like that in your life or are you that type of person to someone else? Do you know how powerful it can be on someone? I am here to say that these experiences, if you haven’t experienced it from either side, are very beneficial and rewarding to both individuals involved.

Now, I am here to ask, if mentoring has so many positive aspects to it, why do we not see it happen more in our industry? Is it because we are taught to be competitive from day one in the business? Yes, you may be the superstar your entire career, but at what point do we decide to “refill” the pipeline to continue the success of our dealership or industry? It needs to happen at some point. Anyone else agree?

Here are a few questions I would like to ask from both an individual and organizational standpoint and encourage your responses.  I understand and appreciate the benefit of having a mentor and look to get others thinking alike:

• How can we help make mentoring an emphasis in our dealerships?
• How can a successful mentoring program be facilitated by the dealership itself?
• How do we select good mentors?
• How can we better prepare mentors and protégés to be successful?

I believe mentoring serves the needs of both mentors and protégés in different ways and will thrive better when left to flexible terms rather than being process driven or mandated if such program exists within the dealership.  Let the relationship cultivate on its own, giving it the room to breath and allowing the time for the information transferred to process.  I certainly experience the benefit first hand and hope to see mentoring grow in our industry as it is in important in the development of our employees and can have a significant influence on the course of their careers.

Mentoring, when the right conditions are present, can be one of the most powerful mechanisms in propelling a career forward. 

Now I want to ask, is there someone you have thought about taking under your wing to help ensure their success? Did you act on it?

BDC / Internet operations are near and dear to my heart and I wanted to post this article I wrote for the DrivingSales Dealership Innovation Guide 3rd Quarter 2011 [ http://goo.gl/Lxu8t ] for those who may have missed it:

"How many customers do you lock in your showroom at night?"

This is a question that I enjoy asking dealer contacts around the country when I hear there is not a process in place or a process isn’t followed consistently to respond to customers on the other end of the telephone or the internet.  Believe it or not, as many of us are running full speed with our BDC departments and have been for years, there are still dealers around the country that either do not have such a department or have a half-functioning one.  For those dealers that fall into the latter two categories, it is time to step back, take a deep breath, and get a plan together to maximize on the opportunities that are there just as a customer standing in the showroom.  I have a strong passion for BDC department operations as many of you already know and my goal is to get dealers to read, get the ball rolling for their store and achieve immediate results.  To many, this article may seem elementary but every dealer isn’t running at the same pace.  My goal is to get more dealers in the race.  It is incremental business that is being missed.  Complacency has no home in automotive retail and nobody wants to be left behind.  The good news is that it isn’t too late.

I am a firm believer that the customer standing in the showroom and the customer sitting at home on their computer or calling the dealership on their telephone is no different from one another.  Yet I still see or hear about it happening everyday that the customer at home gets pushed to the back burner until actual showroom floor traffic dies down or maybe not even responded to at all.  Why does this happen? Is it lack of phone training or poor follow up skills? Or is it that old school mentality of unless the customer is standing in front of you they aren’t a serious buyer?  It is probably a little bit of all of the above.  The truth is that almost all customers that eventually walk into the showroom have already been on the Internet researching, comparing and gathering all of the necessary information that they require until comfortable enough to call or pay the dealership a visit.  By putting a BDC department in place and managed right, a dealership will significantly increase appointments which will lead to increased showroom traffic.  So why not “up” the customer before they arrive and increase the chances greatly of closing the sale?  The excitement and energy put forth with the customer on the lot should be just the same with the customer online or by telephone.

Now that it has been established that there isn’t any difference between the customer at home and the customer standing in the showroom, it is now time to have the desire to focus more attention on the BDC department in the dealership and commit to it.  Going through the motions and responding to leads only one time with a price quote will not do a bit of good.  If I were in the market for a product and every company I contacted sent me a price quote when I inquired in general, I would keep shopping until I eventually got the lowest price and all others would never hear from me again.  The goal is to sell the appointment and not the vehicle.  It is very hard to build value in something over email. If the customer does not provide a phone number and requests information, a call to action to the telephone should be clear asking the customer to call the dealership so the information requested can be discussed in detail. 

Proper phone training is needed in order to consistently sell the appointment and have the customer actually show up.  Just as there is a process and steps to the sale with the showroom customer, there should be a process and steps to the appointment once the customer is on the phone.  There are many call guides available to help pace the customer and keep control of the phone call also in which selling the value of the dealership can be included.  Please remember they are guides and should be followed but do not remove personality from the equation.  When on the phone, never stop smiling.  Customers can hear that smile over the telephone and it makes for a better phone call experience for both parties hands down.  Phone skills are the most important and dealers should be sure to have the right staff in this position.

I am sure by now dealers reading are pumped up and feel the excitement they will create when going full force with the BDC department.  It is a full time job and should be staffed as such.  It’s time to stay focused, do a virtual walk-thru of your website and make sure all inventory has pictures with the most up to date information.  We are in July and nobody is interested in the sale that went on during the second week of June.  The website should be monitored daily.

Finally, be prompt in getting the information back to the customer and answer their questions.  One thing I dislike is someone ignoring a question I asked in the beginning.  The more times a customer has to ask the same question, the less likely they will ever step foot into the showroom.  One of the biggest complaints from customers is not getting a response at all from the dealership they inquired with.  That is the same thing as going home at night and locking a customer in the showroom.   

What current processes do you have in place that are working well? 

BDC / Internet operations are near and dear to my heart and I wanted to post this article I wrote for the DrivingSales Dealership Innovation Guide 3rd Quarter 2011 [ http://goo.gl/Lxu8t ] for those who may have missed it:

"How many customers do you lock in your showroom at night?"

This is a question that I enjoy asking dealer contacts around the country when I hear there is not a process in place or a process isn’t followed consistently to respond to customers on the other end of the telephone or the internet.  Believe it or not, as many of us are running full speed with our BDC departments and have been for years, there are still dealers around the country that either do not have such a department or have a half-functioning one.  For those dealers that fall into the latter two categories, it is time to step back, take a deep breath, and get a plan together to maximize on the opportunities that are there just as a customer standing in the showroom.  I have a strong passion for BDC department operations as many of you already know and my goal is to get dealers to read, get the ball rolling for their store and achieve immediate results.  To many, this article may seem elementary but every dealer isn’t running at the same pace.  My goal is to get more dealers in the race.  It is incremental business that is being missed.  Complacency has no home in automotive retail and nobody wants to be left behind.  The good news is that it isn’t too late.

I am a firm believer that the customer standing in the showroom and the customer sitting at home on their computer or calling the dealership on their telephone is no different from one another.  Yet I still see or hear about it happening everyday that the customer at home gets pushed to the back burner until actual showroom floor traffic dies down or maybe not even responded to at all.  Why does this happen? Is it lack of phone training or poor follow up skills? Or is it that old school mentality of unless the customer is standing in front of you they aren’t a serious buyer?  It is probably a little bit of all of the above.  The truth is that almost all customers that eventually walk into the showroom have already been on the Internet researching, comparing and gathering all of the necessary information that they require until comfortable enough to call or pay the dealership a visit.  By putting a BDC department in place and managed right, a dealership will significantly increase appointments which will lead to increased showroom traffic.  So why not “up” the customer before they arrive and increase the chances greatly of closing the sale?  The excitement and energy put forth with the customer on the lot should be just the same with the customer online or by telephone.

Now that it has been established that there isn’t any difference between the customer at home and the customer standing in the showroom, it is now time to have the desire to focus more attention on the BDC department in the dealership and commit to it.  Going through the motions and responding to leads only one time with a price quote will not do a bit of good.  If I were in the market for a product and every company I contacted sent me a price quote when I inquired in general, I would keep shopping until I eventually got the lowest price and all others would never hear from me again.  The goal is to sell the appointment and not the vehicle.  It is very hard to build value in something over email. If the customer does not provide a phone number and requests information, a call to action to the telephone should be clear asking the customer to call the dealership so the information requested can be discussed in detail. 

Proper phone training is needed in order to consistently sell the appointment and have the customer actually show up.  Just as there is a process and steps to the sale with the showroom customer, there should be a process and steps to the appointment once the customer is on the phone.  There are many call guides available to help pace the customer and keep control of the phone call also in which selling the value of the dealership can be included.  Please remember they are guides and should be followed but do not remove personality from the equation.  When on the phone, never stop smiling.  Customers can hear that smile over the telephone and it makes for a better phone call experience for both parties hands down.  Phone skills are the most important and dealers should be sure to have the right staff in this position.

I am sure by now dealers reading are pumped up and feel the excitement they will create when going full force with the BDC department.  It is a full time job and should be staffed as such.  It’s time to stay focused, do a virtual walk-thru of your website and make sure all inventory has pictures with the most up to date information.  We are in July and nobody is interested in the sale that went on during the second week of June.  The website should be monitored daily.

Finally, be prompt in getting the information back to the customer and answer their questions.  One thing I dislike is someone ignoring a question I asked in the beginning.  The more times a customer has to ask the same question, the less likely they will ever step foot into the showroom.  One of the biggest complaints from customers is not getting a response at all from the dealership they inquired with.  That is the same thing as going home at night and locking a customer in the showroom.   

What current processes do you have in place that are working well?