Unless you look at your dealer’s marketing budget regularly, you would be surprised as to just how many vendors your dealerships work with! Everything from the CRM, Digital Marketing (websites, lead providers, AdWords), & Traditional Marketing (mailers; TV Ads, Radio, & Mailers), to name a few. All of those vendors’ fees, along with your actual ad spend adds up. So we have to ask ourselves, do we really know what we are spending? Instead of worrying about how much you are spending with each vendor,  focus on what is getting results. Stop hanging onto to a vendor for the sheer fact of “you have known them forever, we cannot cut them.” If they are not generating revenue, they are not doing you any favors. If anything, you are doing them a favor by giving them money every month. 

Here is an example of a monthly Budget and key takeaways.

Monthly Marketing Budget Sample - OEM Franchise - One Store

Looking at the above budget, which is solely an example, and in many cases, dealers spend more than the above per store every month when it comes to marketing expenses. So what should be getting your gears spinning is that if you are averaging $1,250 front-end gross on a new unit (after OEM Kick-Backs, etc.) & $2,000 front-end gross for pre-owned, it will take more than 110 units to simply recoup the costs of the above marketing plan. And that is only paying back the vendors. That, of course, does not include the costs of commissions, dealer packs, operating costs, amongst other expenses. That said, rather than continuing a partnership for the sake of it - take the time to honestly review your current marketing initiatives. 

What to Consider When Reviewing A Vendor Partnership 

It is no secret that in our industry, it is difficult to define lead attribution where there are multiple points in the process when the customer converts - on multiple platforms, whether that is click-to-call, lead-form, etc. That said, most, if not all, CRM’s allow you to check all of the lead sources attributed to the lead. The purpose of doing so is to see how many leads you are getting from each lead source. If you are selling a decent amount of leads and are otherwise recouping the costs, then it obviously makes sense to keep the lead vendor. 

However, if the quality of leads is not there and it is not making you money, then why are you paying them?! It does not make sense. And let’s forget about the age-old argument “if you stop advertising with us, you will not get as many phone calls.” This argument was arguably before dealers could easily create their own tracking lines and easily review the actual results from the campaigns, etc. There is far more transparency when it comes to analytics. 

Less is More. Spend More On What Works! 

Imagine cutting your budget by ¾ and still getting the same results, and even perhaps getting better results. One of the ways you can easily do this is cut a third party lead source vendor, especially ones where you have to pay a flat rate no matter how many or little leads you get, and you have zero control on the targeted audience! And spend that money on AdWords or Display Ads! Ads that your dealer can control not only the audience but the creatives for the Ads! But make no mistake; for the dealers that do not have an in-house marketing team, be sure to review the Ads your marketing company has put together. You would be surprised as to how many dealers who do not take the time to review what their marketing companies are putting out, much less actually taking the time to review the marketing reports. 

Bottom Line: If your dealer is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to increase traffic make sure that the vendors you have partnered with are holding their end of the bargain up. It does no good to hold onto a vendor - spending thousands of dollars - if they are not up to the ask. Much less the fact that their results all less than satisfactory. If you are unsure as to how to analyze or make sense of the reports, there are multiple outlets out there where you can get up to snuff with the new marketing trends. 

How do you manage your vendors? Do you take the time to truly analyze the ROI from each vendor? 
 

One of the things I love most about the Driving Sales Executive summit is the ideas that come from the Best Idea Contest. The idea that hit home with me this year was using the tool monday.com to effectively manage your team's projects. I had been looking for a platform to manage the Business Development and Marketing teams projects - as it is a challenge to manage all of the various projects that are on our plates at any given time.

And while I am not one to discuss vendors on the platform other than in the reviews, this is one worthy of noting. So if there is a means of organizing all of those efforts into a meaningful, and more importantly, a relevant platform, than it can and will save your team time! 

Here are the top ways Monday.com has helped our team! 

No More Long Email Chains 

I love emails, said no one ever. If you're like me, you get several hundred emails a day - both spam and regular correspondence. All of which can - at times - be a bit overwhelming, where you feel like you spend more time answering emails than being on the phone. This was something I knew we needed to address to maximize efficiency. 

Monday.com allows you to add outside users to your boards, which means that instead of a lengthy email chain, you can send push notifications (replies) to a project, which allows you to easily access the board and make any updates necessary. This alone has saved us an incredible amount of time - given that if emails were only going to me, and not the team, they could now respond vs. having to wait. 

One of the most significant advantages of the notifications is its overall ability to help hold yourself, the team, and vendors accountable. In that, depending on who has last "updated" the account shows on the board. Offering you where the project lies vs. an ongoing email chain with phone calls to follow. 

Upload Documents In One Place 

Ever get the email that says "failed to send" because the attachments were too big?  And you find yourself having to email the vendor graphics in pieces - legit, five or so emails - and it taking too much time? I have! That and having to constantly check your email and see what you had already sent the vendor? All of this is eliminated because now you are easily able to upload documents to the board itself, which means that if you did not get a chance to load the documents/creative content, your team can easily do so! 

Transparency With Management 

While your managers know you are working - it is nice to have a simple, effective way of offering them the volume of projects/tasks you and your teams are working on at any given time! Not to mention, when it comes to writing reviews and or offering raises, you can easily go back and review their scope of work, timeliness, and quality - all within one platform! 

Bottom Line: if you are tired of chasing email chains, using excel docs, or for us - prior to using monday.com - using google docs than give it a try! This will save you the much needed time you already did not have! 

How do you keep your teams organized? 
 

There is nothing more frustrating than not being able to find what you're looking for online - we have all been there. The same applies to our potential customers who are bouncing from site to site, trying to find their vehicle of choice. Where, in many cases, the customer knows more about the car than the dealer does (scary, right?). 

So what can we take away from this dilemma? For starters, we need to make sure that the information we provide online regarding inventory is correct. And while most - if not all - VINS decode automatically, it does not mean that that particular vehicle has those features. And we get it, the car has air conditioning - so why are we posting those "features" first? 

For example, there are many "widgets" or "plugins" offered today - that dealers use on their VDP's - that highlight specific features your vehicle may or may not have. The keyword is "may have." So when the customer is looking online, and the tool decodes the VIN and says that it has "x" feature (mostly pre-owned), and it does not - it causes an unnecessary breakpoint. Not to mention, when/if the customer calls into the Dealership, your team might not even be aware as to whether or not it has that feature or not. In which case, they have to go take photos, ask the manager who is in the middle of a TO, etc. 

To avoid this breakpoint, the used car sales managers must be in the loop with regards to what vehicles are in their inventory. More so, by taking no more than 20 or 30 minutes a day to review their used stock inventory, they can check the "highlighted" features on select units. Starting with non-OEM makes/models first. This way, if you notice that certain features are missing and/or there are listed features that are not applicable, you can easily remove them from the VDP. Remembering, less is more - highlight the "key" or "unique" features, and move onto the next! 

One of the other things your used car sales manager can do is provide the team with an up-to-date inventory list. We use a Google Sheet, so we can edit in real-time, and are not otherwise having to print out a book each morning. For those are unwilling to use the Google Sheet, they can easily print it out. The point is that if you are supplying your team - especially the BDC Agents - with facts/information about your vehicles, it makes it that much easier to work with a potential customer. 

Bottom Line: by providing the correct information on the site - along with your team having the right info - it offers the customer a much better experience. Versus your having to "check the lot," and take photos, and take the time to get with multiple managers, etc. all to answer whether or not it has "x" feature. The customer - on the other end - does not know how the process works, or that we have more than twelve units going through recon so you might not even know where the vehicle is, etc. 

How does your dealer avoid this breakpoint? Do you actively monitor or check your pre-owned inventory regarding its features? When is the last time you spot checked your "features" plugin for those that use one? 
 

One of the hot topics last year that remains an issue on the dealer level is the logging of customers in the showroom. In most cases, the reporting spelled it out - where you would have one or two sales managers with more than a sixty percent closing rate, which seems incredible no? But when it came time to following up with unsold leads, much to our surprise there were multiple leads who said: "ugh, I was in your showroom last night."

This is, of course, was just one of the many examples, but the point is that if we're not logging traffic into the CRM, then how can we increase our business? Some of the other examples were "they were just looking and were not really in the market." or "they had really bad credit. They could not buy a vehicle," which very well could be true; but if we had not run their credit, and or seen if they had a co-signer how do we know if they cannot purchase? And even if after running their credit (going through the sales process), and they are not approved, still log it into the CRM, period. 

I have seen instances where the customer was never marked in the showroom, and or the CRM was never noted, and the same customer came back into the store twice in three months. They'd go through the entire sales process, again. Had they marked the CRM, and known that the customer was unable to purchase a car for more than six months, it would save everyone a lot of time, no? 

Are You Logging All of Your Customers in the CRM? check it out, and in the meantime, how do you handle logging traffic into the showroom? For those who allow customers to not be logged in to CRM if they are "BAD" what constitutes a bad showroom up that should not be logged into the CRM? 

The word Business Development is ambiguous - what does it even mean, more importantly, what does Business Development mean on the dealer level? The idea that your role is on many levels apart of the dealer's infrastructure. In that, you or your team make and enact on decisions that influence the way business is done, which can have a profound impact on the dealer's bottom line. But let's back up for a moment. Not all dealers - while they use the term business development - actually have their employees or their respective teams develop business. Rather, they are a part of a department that assists the GM, and sales managers in their roles. And in a way acts as a band-aid rather than creating and executing meaningful change. 

It is no secret, really, that BDC Centers were first created to perform tasks that management could not get their teams to perform. The very idea that the foundation for many departments was derived from that is unnerving. Where, instead of shifting the way we approach business as sales consultants and managers, we created new, costly, roles to 'fix' or 'band-aid' the ongoing issues. And in many instances - as profit margins have been thinning; fixed-ops can only absorb so much of the cost as expenses loom - dealers had to cut the BDC departments. This is a multi-faceted conversation, too. The very idea that your BDC team costs you money is everything wrong with how this word has and is used on the dealer level. But for a business development team to be successful, and most importantly, profitable, there has to be a purpose. A purpose that enacts on successfully creating change. Change that builds a solid team in everything from process management, marketing, business development, vendor relationships, budget analysis, and departmental alignment and changes. 

Having been in this role for nearly eight years, there are a few things I have learned that helped push me in the right direction. One that has afforded a solid foundation and growth. 

A Job Is Nothing Without the Right Boss. A Leader is Not Just A Boss, However, and Should Be An Invaluable Mentor. 

One word that comes to mind about a boss versus a leader is micro-managing. In that, if your boss is not decisive or otherwise able to allow their teams to make decisions on the dealer level with regards to everything from marketing campaigns, vendors, business strategies, or team development then it can have a grave impact on your growth and development. Make no mistake, either, in that it is just as much your responsibility to be decisive and clear with both your thoughts and intentions as it is your leaders. 

An example that I will never forget, and has changed the way I look at marketing campaigns today, is how I instructed to execute them. That is sending an email campaign - regardless of the content - to the entire database. The idea was that the more emails we send, the better chance we had in getting a response. And while that is true - in that, you will get multiple people to respond saying "unsubscribe me" - that is clearly not the response you want to receive. Not to mention, as we know - sending campaigns to a targeted list is a much better practice and will help with both response and engagement. Namely, because of being micro-managed and unable to execute a relevant campaign, it got to the point where it made creating new ideas illogical, and unexciting. You cannot learn and grow if your every move - down to the audience the campaign should be sent to  - is micro-managed. Albeit, making mistakes can be costly, but it is more important at the end of the day to focus on the bigger picture, and not simply sending an email to every single email.  

There Is A Stark Difference With Disagreeing With Someone And Having A Chip On Your Shoulder. You Can Own It Without Being Disrespectful. 

If a Vendor offered a fix - much like the cheesy infomercials - it must be right! Anything that could magically fix a problem without us having to execute and or make a change. This is by no means an effective way to lead or manage a team. More so, if you do disagree with a fix have both Merrit and a well thought out purpose in what you have to offer. I once encountered a trainer who had created unresponsive email templates - on PDF's no less - and they deleted all of the templates in the CRM because they wanted to increase in open rate, which has nothing to do with the content, but rather the subject line, audience, and timing of the campaign. BUT, that obviously was not the answer, and I disagreed, which was not taken well. 

Look, this isn't about the frustration of hours and hours of work being deleted as a result of one opinion. Instead, it is about having those conversations without including your team, without knowing the full picture, and taking the word of someone that does not know your dealership. As I have mentioned before, however, make no mistake - own your thoughts, and do not apologize. Even if that means that it puts you at a distance between your boss. As backtracking your perspective and ideas is equally as distracting and unattractive. Understanding that these decisive business decisions might put you on the outs. 

We Fix Problems Before They Become Problems. We Create and Execute Business Strategies that Impact the Bottom Line. 

Developing business - or a pipeline - is not easy. Especially when you are trying to develop business in the confines of what we know. Namely, in the last eight years, I have learned that it is essential to think outside of the box. And while that can and is in most cases an overused cliche phrase, it is a phrase that has both meaning and merit. Wherein, if we are continuing to only do what we know vs. taking a chance and being 'different' then how can we not just develop ourselves, but more importantly build business? One of the best ways to approach a new idea or thought is to understand the purpose. And sure, we get it. The goal of an Ad Campaign is to what? Increase sales. But when you look at a 'campaign' simply as a 'campaign,' we limit our ability to think of ways to change the structure of the campaign. In that, if we have done the same campaign types over, and over again, we cannot expect to get better results. To combat this mode of thought, I would spend time using the Google Ad's Experiments, and while I did not always add a lot of money to those campaigns until I knew it was going to be a success, most of them worked. 

Bottom Line: you cannot think of your role as a limited, one-dimensional role - you have to not just create and execute campaigns, you have to ensure that everyone involved in the campaigns and the 'conversions' that derive from them is executed on. In that, once you have made a decision or executed a campaign, your work is not done. Your team - including sales managers - cannot do their part if you do not give them the information they need. And it does no good to increase your leads if your dealer cannot manage them. And simply cutting the budget due to their underperformance is not the answer, either. Instead, there are times where you have to have frank conversations with your GM or Sales Managers to ensure they, too, understand the campaigns and the purpose of them. In doing so, it can and will help your dealership execute on those opportunities. 

It is one thing to have a clearly defined job description, and another to actually execute that role. Namely, what is that role, and how does it work within your dealership? How does it work with the roles that are already part of your dealer's infrastructure? Namely, before you hire someone there has to be a clear purpose to what the role is - rather than it having been created as a band-aid to ineffectively fix an ongoing issue that no position or person can necessarily fix. That said, here are two things to consider when hiring someone for a BDC Position for your dealership. 

Avoid Fixating On Only Interviewing People With Dealer Experience. Working With Someone Who Wants To Learn Can Be Far More Valuable. 

It can be easy to gravitate towards a candidate who has had dealer experience forgoing candidates who do not. However, before you move them to the side, be sure to give them a chance. A chance that could lead to their joining your team. Experience is valuable, sure - but only if that experience can effectively translate to your current setting. In that, each dealership is unique to its own. So just because they have experience having had that ‘title,’ it does not mean that it will work for your dealership. More so, going back to the notion that each dealer is unique to its own, the title might be the same, but I can assure you that the positions are not. Better yet, did you take the time to ask the candidates why they left the other dealership? Do they like the job and what it entails? Or have they closed themselves into a ‘box’ only doing what they know, and not what they can learn? 

On the surface, sure, it might seem both senseless and superficial to entertain the above thoughts. However, its thoughts along those lines that can help you hire the right person not just for the job, but for the dealership. In my experience, I have found that it is best to hire a team of talent that is unique, a team who has skills you do not have. Skills that might seem contrary to the dealership's vision, but that can translate into executing new and evolved concepts on how to approach the ever-evolving world of ‘business development.’ That is certainly easier said than done as it might just be easier to hire the candidate who worked at a dealership. Instead of having this frame of mind, take a risk, take a chance, and do not limit your parameters of what makes a good candidate based on their previous experiences. 

Just Because They Have Dealer Experience Does Not By Any Means Offer That They Are A Good Fit For Your Dealership. 

There were many times that I was told to hire someone - against my better judgment - simply because they had worked for a dealer. The idea that because of their dealer experience that they would be a perfect fit. But that just isn’t the case. Not to mention, even if the potential candidate does have a lot of experience - relevant to the position or not - if they do not fit into the dealer's culture, and or share the same vision or goals as the team it can and will cause unnecessary chaos. 

This is not to offer that you ought not to hire a disrupter. What this is offering, though, is that when you do they still have to collectively fit into the bigger picture. One of the best examples of this was an employee I was forced to hire because the GM liked that they had phone experience, which sounded great. However, during the interview process, it was unnerving that the candidate interrupted questions, didn’t answer them, wasn’t professional, and was self-interested. And given that this role - especially in BDC - is about offering an experience that is in alignment with the potential buyers' demands it is imperative that you can adapt your skills in the moment. Ensuring that you capture not just the customer's interest, but that you engage with them in a relevant, meaningful way. 

Beyond being able to offer the potential customer a positive experience, the employee has to get along with the team in place. If you hire someone who's good, but cannot get along with a team - as they do not have the ability to listen - you are in so many ways knowingly and willingly creating a negative environment. Or in a better sense, an ‘eggshell’ effect where it hinders productivity and momentum that was once in place. I could go on about the tell tales of the actions on behalf of this employee, but the main point and purpose of this anecdote are that the employee went on to dismantle the already, delicate, morale to the point where more than fifty percent of the team quit. If you are otherwise unable to remove this breakpoint, which creates the tension and chaos, this disillusioned employee can wind up costing your dealer thousands of dollars. 

Bottom Line: Hiring a candidate let alone building the right team is not easy. There is much more than what meets the eye when executing your plan. But if there is one thing to take away from this is, it would be to rid yourself of the preconceived notions that dealership experience is the end all be all. Where it might be of value to take a risk and hire the candidate that does not have the dealership experience, but is interested in learning and developing into a fluctuating role. Lastly, be decisive - if you have an employee who is disengaged, causes chaos, or is otherwise unable to fit within the team for reasons that cannot be changed, be direct and remove the chaos. In doing so, you can more effectively manage the team in place. 

How do you approach the hiring process? What is one thing you have learned from hiring and building a team? 

The role of the BDC has evolved considerably over the last five to six years. Where dealers built BDC teams only to dismantle them to then going back and reinstating them. Through the evolution of "the BDC," however, it has been quite common to add on additional tasks to the department. Whether that is managing the website, marketing, vendor management, and training, to name a few. So before you add additional responsibilities to their plate, make sure it will not impact their appointments, which is arguably their primary focus, no? Not to mention if their pay plan is solely focused on shown and sold appointments it can not only cause turn-over but places more emphasis on working a pay plan than working with the customer and offering them the experience they expect. All while they are juggling the many other additional tasks. 

Do the Responsibilities Match the Pay Plan? If Not, This Could Spell Trouble for Your Dealership. 

If your BDC Agent is expected to make one hundred phone calls, answer chats, in-bound calls, manage the sales consultants long-term follow-up, manage the CRM, marketing, and anything else that comes their way, it is challenging to sustain the results. And while there are arguments of "it's their job" -- less is more, no? That said, the pay plan has to reflect their actual responsibilities. If their pay plans are solely based on set, shown, and sold appointments, then we cannot get frustrated if their focus becomes singular, and the other various tasks go by the wayside - all of which affects incoming calls and leads. And sure, we could say that well in order for them to get more appointments the website has to be correct, chats have to be answered, marketing has to be done, the training has to be done - that is all very true. But that does not mean that it should - by any means - all fall under their roles and responsibilities if that is not what they are getting paid on. This is not an easy conversation, either. However, the fact of the matter is that the role has evolved, yet the pay plan seems to be relatively similar. In that, it remains focused on set, shown & sold appointments. 

For those with a BDC Manager, in most cases, the roles mentioned above are on their plate. But make no mistake, they often have to delegate tasks and responsibilities to their staff as it is often not possible to keep up with everything. All that to say, the importance of reviewing their responsibilities is not to make excuses, but rather to ensure that their pay plans are reflective of what they are doing. Otherwise, it can not just lead to their burning out, but worse - they wind up leaving, which means you have to either dismantle the BDC or hire another manager. I have seen first hand what happens when a BDC Manager quits. Yes, the dealer moves on, but it can and will cause chaos. On the flip side, if a BDC Agent quits, their responsibilities are then placed onto the BDC Manager. So not only do they have to do everything else - as mentioned above - now they have to make one hundred plus phone calls a day, too. It just doesn't make sense. 

What Does the Pay Plan of A BDC Manager Look Like? 

If your BDC Manager manages more than appointments, then their pay plan needs to reflect that. While salaries are often a taboo word in the auto industry, it can help keep their focus on all facets of the business not just on an end result, which is affected by all the above. If you do choose to pay them solely on set, show, or sold appointments than you should delegate their tasks or make sure you have the staff to take care of the other responsibilities. As I can assure you, if their pay plan is solely on set, show, and sold vehicles, that is what their focus is on. And while the efforts above impact that - I get that - it is exceedingly difficult to manage everything at once. 

On a less favorable note, too - a pay plan that offers you 'x' amount of dollars per shown or sold appointment based on volume sounds great. But given that - in most cases - that the BDC Manager has no say in the budget, itself and if you cut the budget it makes it that much more difficult to chase the pay plan. And no, this is not to say that instead, you pay them solely a salary, but the bottom line is that the pay plan has to make sense. Here is an example of a BDC Manager pay plan. 

This is based on an OEM Franchise that sells at least 45-50 new units, and 60-70 used vehicles per month. If you sell more/less, you can adjust the below rates. 

Weekly Salary: $1,000 / Monthly Salary $4,000

Bonus Plan: 

35 sold units / $750 

50 sold units / $1,250 

75 sold units / 1,750 

Annual Bonus $5 per sold unit (in this example, let's say it was 75 per month for a total of 900 units at $5 per unit): $4,500

Total Annual Pay Based on 75 units sold per month: $73,500 

At first glance, sure - you might be laughing, but the fact of the matter is that if your BDC Manager is managing the website, CRM, Marketing, Vendors Relationships, Vendor Integrations, Training, and a BDC Team to name a few even $73,500 is on the lighter side of the pay scale. By having a stronger salaried rate, too, it keeps their focus on what is most important - that is increasing leads that turn into shown and sold appointments through the efforts of their BDC Agents, and teams respectively. 

Another aspect of the pay plan is to remove the "bonus" for a shown appointment as a shown appointment is only deemed great if it sells, which is largely out of the BDC Managers hands. In that, while there are many arguments about 'fake appointments,' which is a topic/discussion for another article - this pay plan is designed to keep your BDC Manager focused on what's most important. In doing so, not only can it lead to retaining them, but it also enables them to implement new initiatives all while they are building their teams. 

Bottom Line: there is no one perfect pay plan. Each dealership has its own bottom line and market to work after. That said, the pay plan cannot be a canned plan from one of the "major trainer" players whose plan does not by any means take into account what the BDC Manager is and or does on the dealer level. Where in most cases, their pay plans are used as a means of offering a "band-aid" solution in that - "hey look, if you get 'x' leads, they get paid 'x' amount," which again, sounds great. But is only 'great' if a) the lead volume is consistent, and b) if their roles and responsibilities are solely limited to managing the BDC and not other facets of the business. Lastly, look - this is not a tell-all drama about underpaid BDC Managers, either. It's a conversation to be had. One that can and will impact your dealer's bottom line as your Business Development Manager and exec team are strategizing what is best for your dealership with regards to everything from digital marketing, CRM Management, Vendor Manager, and training to name a few. 

How do you pay your BDC Managers? Have you found an alternative pay plan that works for you? 

We have a knack for creating new words - words that evolve into bonafide buzz-words,  positions, or conversations that often remain on autoloop. One buzz-word that has seemingly disappeared, though, is still a widely known position on the dealer level is an "Internet Manager." 

So What Is An Internet Manager Exactly? 

One might imagine that back when the digital sector took off that anything that had to do with the "Internet" morphed into this position called the "Internet Manager." A position that - to this day - does not quite make much sense. In that, what does "managing the internet" even mean? Really? When in conversation, the "Internet Manager" might refer to the person(s) who manage the Internet Leads. At which point, s/he might simply answer the lead and hand it off to a sales consultant. Or in some instances, s/he might complete the sale from start to finish. 

How Does That Even Work When More Than Ninety Percent Of Today's Customers Shop Online Before Going Into A Dealership? 

This is a great question given that we know more than ninety percent of today's buyers shop online before going into the dealership, how exactly do we differentiate these customers? And more importantly, is it even necessary or beneficial to separate the customers? Whereby doing the above, can in many ways create unnecessary breakpoints in your dealer's omnichannel plan of action. Think about it, if the customer shops online without inquiring to then come into the dealership and is forced down a rabbit hole, it can and will create massive "breakpoints." Breakpoints that could have otherwise been avoided. 

The breakpoints - while on the surface might not be noticeable - occur daily. One of the most significant examples of this is when it comes to pricing. For instance, if your "Internet Manager" is not working with the customer as they did not inquire online, and they wind up working  with a "sales consultant" who believes that they have not been online and tries to sell it at sticker vs. the Internet price it can and will most certainly cause a breakpoint, which can leave the customer frustrated. 

So while we might believe that it is harmless to not disclose "Internet Pricing" to a customer who we do not know if they have been online - we unknowingly caused a breakpoint in our omnichannel experience. Where the customer does not think that they have to blatantly let the sales consultant know they had already seen the vehicle online for a lower price. It is assumed in many instances that the price offered online is the price of the vehicle. For example, imagine if you were shopping online for an item, but did not call the store. As you did not feel that it was necessary to call the store to confirm pricing because it was, well, online! Now imagine you get to the store only to find out that the price of the item you searched was now $1,200 more than what you expected! Wouldn't that be frustrating? Sure it would. Well, it is just as frustrating for your customer whose experience has now gone off the tracks. 

So Why Do We Even Use the Name "Internet Manager"? 

That, too, is a great question. When you think about it, what does managing the "Internet" even mean? If anything, it is a customer service position whose goal should be to answer the customer's questions and get them to come into the store. Knowing that getting the customer to show up to the dealership is half the battle! Albeit, there are sales managers - to this day - that think the job is "easy" with the mindset that all they have to do is sit behind a desk and get people to come into the dealership. Where the "hard part" is for the sales consultants as they actually have to do the job and close the customer. Sure, it is no easy task to close the customer. But that is another topic for another article. Yet time and time again, the sales managers (and sales consultants) will simply blame the "quality" of the lead as the reason they did not close the deal. 

The real crux of the conversation is that no, there is no such thing as an "Internet Manager." There are sales managers, sales consultants, and BDC centers for those that have them. The dealers who have "Internet Departments" with sales consultants who only handle Internet Leads are missing the point, and in turn, losing sales as they are unknowingly creating breakpoints in their customer's omnichannel experience. As multiple customers shop online - without inquiring online who "show-up" at the dealership. This can and will cause numerous issues on the dealer level. More importantly, with this model - it creates unnecessary tension - i.e., if only specific people can work with "Internet" customers, but are otherwise assisting a customer at the time they show up (and are the only ones allowed to assist them) they are willingly allowing the customer to become disenchanted as they wait to purchase a vehicle potentially. 

If your dealership is caught up with having to have an "Internet Department" then it is highly recommended that they pass the appointment off to their sales managers. At which point, the sales manager can assign the customer to an available sales consultant. In doing so, you ensure that the customer is taken care of! Not to mention, if the "Internet Manager" is caught up with customers for three to four hours at a time with customers they are not making near enough customer contacts to bring in new business! This just gives them yet another reason to not make customer contacts. I mean, it can be a struggle to get them to call just twenty people a day! 

Do you have an Internet Manager/Department? If so, what challenges do you face trying to make this work? 

Is there a lot of thought that goes into deciding which call to actions to offer on the VDP’s? Or is it a constant free for all, or worse an afterthought? The idea that more is better, where dealers easily have more than five or six different ways for the customer to inquire about a vehicle. Having multiple options for the customer to choose from sounds like a great idea. However, having too many choices can make it confusing for the customer. Not to mention, when you do get the inquiry via the CRM, more often than not, the BDC Agent or Sales Consultant is not aware of where the lead came from. All of which can create an unnecessary breakpoint. Here are some to consider when choosing which call to action to display on your website. 

The Forms Are Not Labeled in the CRM. You Have No Idea What Form the Customer Completed. This Causes Break Points. 

Think about it for a minute.  If the customer completed a form for the sales price (whatever that means for your dealership as each dealership has its own interpretation as to what the sale price is), but the lead in the CRM says general inquiry, what do you think happens? The BDC Agent or Sales Consultant will reach out to the customer asking them if they want to come in for a test drive. To which the customer might ask, “I wanted the sales price.” You might not think this happens, BUT it does. And when it happens, it can and will cause frustration on the customer's end, where the customer was expecting an answer to what seems to be a simple question, really. 

One of the ways to resolve this issue is by contacting the vendor that manages your website. You can have them label the various forms on the website: 

Dealer Website (Parent Label) 
VDP Price Inquiry (Child Label)  

Dealer Website (Parent Label)
Test Drive Coupon 

By labeling the leads with the correct form name, it can have a positive impact for many reasons. One of the most important reasons to do this is to ensure that your team knows where the lead came from! And while we should always offer the same level of customer service - the way we both approach and provide the customer service varies on the situation at hand. Imagine knowing that the customer inquired on the “test drive” coupon. So that when you called them you can start the conversation by first thanking them, but secondly confirming their test drive. At which point, you can confirm if vehicle options are flexible and or whether or not they have a trade. 

In this example, not only did you notice that the purpose of the customer's inquiry, but more importantly, you effectively can mold their experience based on what they inquired on. All of which can and will offer the prospective customer a positive experience that is consistent with what they experienced before receiving your phone call, email, or text. On the flip side, imagine if you did not know if they wanted to test drive the vehicle, and your time was spent focusing on “asking for the appointment” when that is already something the customer wanted. And while we might not think that the customer is not paying attention - they are! I mean, especially if they had to filter through all of the loud noise on the website, having gone through more than six or seven different options before contacting the dealership. 

And sure, not all examples are the above.  The point in discussing this is that in order to offer the customer a good experience, we have to resolve any potential breakpoints. One of the most significant breakpoints to overcome is not knowing what the customer is asking, which can make for a really frustrating experience. This is also a relatively simple fix, no? It starts with first making yourself an internal list of the various lead labels. At which point, once you have confirmed the changes with the web provider, and the CRM (making sure they receive the lead correctly, which is most often ADF format), you need to make sure your team is aware of the changes! This will help ensure that when they do answer the leads that they take the time to read where the lead came from! 

Have you taken the time to review the lead labels? If so, has this had a positive impact on your store? 
 

It is no secret that we love our reports everything from Google Analytics, Vendor Reports, VDP Reports, and CRM Reports, to name a few. While the reports themselves are in many cases great - it is what we do with the reports that actually matters. One of the key things to review when it comes to the aged inventory is your VDP views. The idea that if you are getting the views and clicks, but not the leads, then you need to make a change. Here is one thing you can do to move old aged units from your dealership's inventory!

All Clicks No Action. Think Outside the Box. 

If you have a vehicle that has received well over three hundred clicks/views but has not moved it does not mean it is necessarily the price as other factors can contribute to there not being any conversion on the specific vehicle. Some of the things that can influence the VDP conversion are anything from photos, vehicle description, and days to market metrics, to name a few. 

So if you notice that while the days to market is high, but that other units are selling, then it is time to think outside the box. There is a lot of conversation surrounding videos, yet so few dealers act on it. And this is not a stitch photo video, either -  cause when is the last time you enjoyed listening to music while going through a slide show with features that are not even on the vehicle popping up? Keep in mind, this is a video that highlights the unit making yours stand out from the competition. Most inventory management tools even offer you the ability to upload the videos to the VDP, too! 

Better Yet. Promote the Video Post on Facebook!

Facebook is a great platform to promote a post. Not only can you select the demographics for the post, but more importantly, you are getting in front of the right audience. Not to mention, it can help clear out the white noise - i.e., your vehicle being buried down on page three because of the third parties platform's algorithms. Think about it, sure you can take new photos. And yeah, you can gut the pricing - however, protecting your dealer's profit margin is essential. So Instead of slashing the price take a minute, and $125 - $200 bucks and promote the vehicle in a video post! 

Here Are Some of the Key Elements to Consider For Your Video

Hashtags: make sure to make them relevant and while less is more, be sure to include enough to make yours stand out. 

Video: Keep the video short, and concise making sure to point out the prominent features. Other words, what would make you want to click for more information? Or more importantly, what would make you want to call the dealership!? 

Tracking Lines: In most cases, it is relatively easy to create a tracking line or even use a previously provisioned line from an older campaign. In doing so, you can easily track any results from the campaign. 

Include Your Sales Team: while I have been vocal about being careful in branding the employees - making sure it is mutually beneficial for the dealership - this is an excellent way for you to capture an in the market audience by using one of the sales consultants in the video. One of the best ways to select the right sales consultant for the campaign is to go by their reviews! For those who have championed Dealer Rater, your prospective customers can easily see just how many positive reviews s/he has received. To include the reviews, you can easily add a snippet in the video with their photo, avg rating, and perhaps their last review of a customer who had a great experience.

Lastly, and most importantly, have fun with it! Sometimes it is easier said than done to go out and create a video. Just remember to create an experience that a potential customer would want to embark on. All of which can help your dealership move the old aged inventory or better yet, give exposure to sell other potential customers! 

When is the last time you created and promoted a video post on Facebook for an aged unit? If you have, did you see results from it?