In our latest conversation, Brett Hall, VP of Sales and Marketing at EMG, discusses how to succeed on connected TV and streaming.

What are dealers doing to differentiate their brand?

We are seeing, probably for the first time in four years, is a more balanced equilibrium between demand and supply in the space.

Of course, when COVID started, there was a lot of just fear and a lot of marketers pulled back. They weren't sure what was going to happen, or I should say dealers pulled back on their marketing. Then of course, we had the supply chain crunch, thought that was kind of out of the woods and then you have interest rates. There have been a lot of distortions in the market.

What we're observing is dealerships have to be competitive again, and they have to think strategically about moving inventory, basically as they did in pre-COVID. It's no longer the case, they can just have a car, sell it, and at a markup. They have to be better and more strategic.

So we see dealers really leaning into now, and it's a primary benefit of the space we operate within streaming is, that they're being much more strategic with an audience-first strategy. It's not just about put the ad out there and I want to try to have a certain number of channels or apps, that don't exist, we can talk about in a minute within the streaming space. We want to be much more strategic in aligning a creative message with an audience that we can resolve and target within the streaming ecosystem. They're being much more diligent about flighting creative to a certain audience at a certain time and being good about giving us different creative to manage that aligns with the things and the capabilities we can do.

And we're seeing various outcomes from that, whether it's more awareness of the dealership or the brand, more lead generation, more foot traffic, and increases in market share. Now they're really able to spend their dollars very efficiently and get more traction or more bang for their buck with that enhanced top of mind strategy, which again, is going to be an audience first strategy that is accommodated within the streaming ecosystem.

The value of connected TV and streaming.

We are continually surprised by either the lack of awareness or just the lack of inclination to really fully take advantage of the precise targeting options that exist in our space. It sometimes comes as a shock is, you know, we're not just going to be able to target a demographic or use, let's say a particular app or set of inventory, meaning ad inventory to get in front of a certain type of demographic and audience. We really can just go right after the person who's in market for a car right now, by class, by type, by model, et cetera.

And that's what I was saying earlier about really, because now the inventory is starting to stack up because they're starting to feel the pinch. They're really leaning into, they have more pain, they have more pain. And so they're more, they being the larger kind of ecosystem are more interested in leaning into those capabilities and those conversations in a way that we really hadn't seen before.

And so now the, the demand for the capabilities catching up to the actual capability that's existed for some time, but that is a huge, that is the differentiation between streaming and traditional, the targeting and the attribution that comes along with it.

How should a dealer approach advertising on connected TV?

In most cases, what we'll call it the, the demand ecosystem, those that are spending the dollars, whether that's an agency or a dealership or a group or an ad association, the way that they would articulate a strategy, what they want, what they're hoping to achieve largely was rooted in the tactics that you would use in traditional advertising.

So that might sound like this, I'm interested very kind of prototypical, stereotypical example. I'm interested in selling more trucks on my lot. Men generally buy more trucks than women. I need to get in front of men. I need to be on ESPN plus, just as a really simple example.

And what, that's the surprise factor, which is, you know, we actually are flipping it. We're not using the app, the content, the inventory to try to get in front of a certain audience using demographics. We're actually first creating an audience it's, you know, it's an audience for strategy. We are creating an audience of consumers who we believe with a high degree of confidence are in market for the type of car you are selling right now.

And we are going to activate that audience. We're going to target that audience into an array of streaming apps and ecosystems that independent of what we think about that alignment, meaning you're trying to get in front of men, but the Bravo app is streaming the bachelor doesn't matter.

We believe a car shopper, we know a car shopper because of our audience is streaming a certain piece of inventory or content. And we are going to let the data, the audience drive where and how we buy certain streaming inventory.

We still get this question a lot. Why is this app inside of my targeting mix? If I'm trying to go after this type of consumer, right?Maybe I'll mix it up a little bit. Why am I seeing a Bloomberg TV, which typically you would think is more going to attract and engage an affluent high net worth individual? Why is that in my mix when I'm selling an economy sedan? And it's like, well, you know, someone who doesn't, you know, who makes, you know, the median income who, you know, has a, has a good job, but not, you know, some crazy C suite one is really interested in financial news and they watch, they watch Bloomberg. You know, we can't really control that.

What we can control is getting that message with that audience in front of them at the right time.

And so to answer your question, it's hard to say if it's a lack of awareness or it's so rooted that their belief system is so rooted in, in how TV worked before and how targeting worked before. And so it, I think without sometimes they even knowing it just assume, well, that's how it's going to work here. You know, it largely is the same consumer experience.

The huge difference is what's happening behind the scenes because it's connected to the internet. We now can take advantage of all the digital technology and capability that allows us to do targeting, allows us to be audience first.

And so really moving their understanding and really stressing that this isn't ethereal. This is possible. It will create wildly better results and there is immense opportunity and value to be found if you can break away from the old way of doing things or the way that they were done in traditional.

How does a dealer get started?

Well, the short and the simple answer to get started with us in this space is actually pretty simple. We need to know what your dealership is literally just the name and the address. We have every dealership in the country franchise dealership database in our ad system.

We then would need a piece of creative to flight and that's where our agency partners come into play along with giving us other inputs along strategy that's happened in other ecosystems. So there's parity and synergy between them.

And then using the vast amounts of data, both public and that we've curated over the last seven years, we create a tailored strategy for your dealership.

So I'll unpack that a little bit. I'm sitting here in Orange County, California, more specifically Irvine, California. There are two Mercedes dealerships about four and a half miles away from each other. Same PMA, certainly the same state, the same county, practically the same city. They're four and a half miles away, but because we have database and are understanding things like what's your sales footprint, what's the OEM, where and how much do you sell cars outside of kind of a general footprint of your backyard, historical trends, foot traffic, all the media data that we've collected. We're able to prescribe two very different strategies to the same OEM practically in the same city.

It's because they have, like I said, different characteristics of, let's say, how many cars they sell, how far away do people come to their store? The two stores I'm thinking of specifically, one's kind of the Mac daddy that everyone goes to practically if they want a Mercedes. The other one is sort of a little brother. The strategy that both of those stores need to employ is very different.

And so what we try to do is understand where each dealership is today, and then reflect back to them a strategy that will help them move market share, traffic, increase sales, increase web traffic, et cetera, prescribed to who they are and where they are right now, with the anticipation and the hope that we can help improve your overall position in the market.

Transitioning from traditional to connected TV and streaming.

I think a lot of times, brands, dealerships, associations, they sometimes overthink it. They think that because now we're in a connected ecosystem, a streaming ecosystem, that the ad experience is wildly departed or different from what they're doing typically already in traditional.

And so where we kind of help make them comfortable and dip their toe in the water, we typically start by saying whatever ad, whatever video you're using in traditional, let's start with that. Let's start with that because while we're starting with the same creative, which generally is pretty good, like it's been well-produced, it's well-made, it has a good message that's been honed over years, we're keeping that the same, but then what we're changing obviously is what we're doing with that creative.

We're employing an audience-first strategy. We're able to figure out where we should be buying ads based on where people are streaming, who are in that market, how that we can target them using all the different controls that exist and even better, we can report on what happened when they consumed an ad that we put in front of them. What did they do? Did they go to your website? Did they go to your dealership? Did they go to someone else's dealership? Did they buy? Is your market share moving? Is it down? Is it up? All of that because again, at the end of the day, it's connected, it's internet-based, it's internet-enabled, we get the benefits of digital.

So I like to say the consumer experience is largely the same. There's obviously a difference in how you're consuming the content.

You're turning on your smart TV, let's say a Roku. You're hopping into an app, not a channel like Hulu, and you're typically pulling up a video-on-demand library. Sometimes you're watching TV live, but we'll kind of save that for another day.

So from a consumption standpoint, it's a very similar experience with the added benefit of I get to watch what I want, when I want, but from a marketing, from a targeting perspective, it's a whole new world of opportunity.

Reporting and attribution.

With our history as a company with direct response advertising and just having very outcome-based kind of approach to any marketing ecosystem, including streaming, that was key for us, and we use that old adage, you can't manage what you can't measure.

So we fundamentally approach the space with the premise, we have to be able to understand what is going on and the impact that we're having, good or bad, or neither, on the market that we're putting that message in front of. And so there's been an evolution, no pun intended, in what we've been doing, what we're able to track, and principally that starts with so that we can understand the true value and impact that our marketing is having on behalf of the dealership.

And so very kind of reductively and practically having accurate, truth-seeking attribution, not just producing the biggest number that you can or an inflated one, but really getting a good grasp on what is happening once I put my message out there.

Let's just start with how many homes am I reaching? How many of those homes are taking an action? How many of those homes are taking an action that tells us we're swimming in the right pond, but they're actually not visiting or engaging with the dealership that we're supporting? What's going on here?

And then we can, because again, it's all digital, we can have a very precise understanding of what's happening, what's called a bid stream level without getting too technical, but every single impression delivered on connected TV has data and metadata associated with it. We can take that and really get a fundamental understanding of what's going on and then optimize to it. We can separate the wheat from the chaff as it exists from an audience standpoint, from inventory, this inventory is not working very well, we got to cut it, we got to bid less for it and so on and so forth.

And so we think of attribution as really the foundation that everything else we do is built on. It's how we know if we're doing a good job of getting in front of the right audience. It's how we know if we're doing a good job of not only buying inventory, but at what price is it worth buying because we can extract what kind of value it has. Which devices at which time of the day make the most sense to put a message in front of someone?

All of this is available if you look and have more importantly, a foundational accurate attribution framework and system in place. From there, so really for us, step one, get attributions, choose, seeking and accurate. And then from there we can do a lot.

Step two, or really value number two is, okay, now we have a really clean way of optimizing or we have a really good feedback loop so that we can optimize our campaigns.

Number three, second part of your question, reporting. That attribution now can be turned into customer facing reporting to give them an idea of how it's going. And what I would say is what we're trying to do is a lot of the reporting that we studied when we kind of entered the space, would say it really told the story of what we did, not how did it work.

And we try to get to the bottom of, here's what we did.

Here's how many households we reached. Here's the creative that we did. Here's how many impressions you've got. Here's all the inventory mix you had. This is the audience we targeted. But more importantly, here's what happened when we put that message out there.

What is the difference between connected TV and streaming?

And it's kind of evidence to the immaturity of the market, right?

The terms and the acronyms, and even those are kind of all over the place. And what do you mean? What's the difference here?

So at least I can speak for us. So when we refer to streaming, we are referring to any digital medium, any medium, typically the ones that are traditional, so TV and radio, that streaming is the counterpoint to those in a digital landscape, meaning instead of an airwave or a satellite dish or your cable box delivering your content on TV, the internet is now.

Instead of radio waves delivering a signal to your car radio, the internet is.

And so streaming for us refers to specifically connected TV, which I'll unpack in a minute, and streaming audio as advertising medium. So it's sort of an umbrella term that we use. Now sometimes people interchange streaming TV and connected TV.

I'll kind of get to that in a minute. But we generally refer to it as streaming because it kind of captures a few different mediums, like I said, namely connected TV and streaming audio.

Connected TV, which is really the one that's kind of newer and getting all the press and everyone's talking about. Connected TV, as opposed to OTT, which I'll unpack in a minute, connected TV really fundamentally refers to a device that's connected to the internet where the content that's consumed on that device, shows, movies, sports, however you get your content, that's delivered via the internet instead of, like I said, a cable box, a satellite, or a pair of bunny ears. So really it's just talking about how that device, a TV, is able to get content in front of a consumer.

Connected TV, OTT, which again, this is where it's like, oh my gosh, OTT, CTV, what are we talking about here, OTT is really long form content that could be delivered on a TV, but also, you know, it could be delivered to your phone, a tablet, a desktop. We like to talk about connected TV because of the value that it has as a device, as a living room experience on the performance of a campaign, I'll get to that in a second. And so again, connected TV refers to a device that then is able to get content via the internet.

Typically the experience here is I have Roku that's connected to my TV, I jump into it, I see Netflix as an app that I open up and I start streaming Stranger Things, or whatever your show is of choice.

Streaming audio is fairly similar. It's the counterpoint to traditional radio, think Spotify, Pandora, streaming music, podcasting, which is just becoming, you know, ever-present news. Any audio content that you consume, typically on a mobile device or a home device like an Amazon Alexa, is streaming audio. In both these cases, they both are ad-supported, or there's at least an ad-supported constituency within that ecosystem, and that's where we come in.

So we're able to put an ad, you know, in flight to an ad-supported ecosystem like Paramount Plus or Netflix or Disney Plus, which, you know, we can unpack a little bit later. Now, all of these streamers who formerly did not have an ad offering, they do.

And so now there's just this ever-abundance of kind of ad availability that is just opening up so many possibilities for marketers, including dealerships.

What is ad spoofing?

.So you know, taking a step back, once in any industry, you know, I don't care what you're talking about, once it gets to a certain size and threshold, is when the scammers start taking notice. So you have a tiny little industry that, you know, isn't really worth anyone's time, fraud and spoofing and all this other stuff, it doesn't really apply.

For years, your, you know, Apple computer was really not susceptible to bugs or to malware or to other malicious hacker activity, because it just wasn't a very big piece of the market share of computers. That's different now, that's changed because there's so many more Apple computers out there.

So once something becomes big enough, that's when the fraudsters and the spoofers come into play. And so now connected TV and streaming is, I'll try to keep my words, now that connected TV specifically is roughly, we'll call it a $25 billion a year industry. There's a lot of fraudsters who have woken up to, hey, I can go do my thing and fraud unwitting consumers or customers into, you know, my game.

App spoofing is simply a scammer presenting a app as something other than it is. They are presenting that whatever they're selling is Netflix when it's not.

And there's a few different ways you can do this. It's actually not terribly difficult to do if you know what you're doing.

And so now that the industry has gotten so big, it is increasingly becoming a trend to be aware of.

It's one of many different types of inventory issues, whether you want to squarely call it fraud or just non-performance that you want to be aware of.

And so going back to attribution and why it matters, if you have a systematic infrastructure set up that you are tracking the outcomes that your ads are producing, whether it's just outright fraud or just inventory that just isn't producing because people just aren't watching, whatever the reason may be, we would just simply stop buying.

And this is why really a huge takeaway I would say for anyone operating in space, this one or anything else is don't just be reliant on, oh, it says Netflix, good to go. Hey, I'm getting the report that says it's Netflix. Independent if it says Netflix or not, or whatever the inventory might be, independent of what the audience might say, how is it working? Like what are the outcomes it's producing?

And if it's having subpar outcomes based on what you're able to track with your attribution stack, there's a problem.

Whether or not it's app spoofing or something else.

Where are connected TV and streaming heading?

So at an industry level, independent of automotive, and then I'll kind of tie it into automotive, at just a pure streaming level, it's a very exciting time.

I mentioned earlier, every single major streamer now has an ad tier. They are now really actively engaged within this experience. It's interesting, if you look at the history of traditional TV, it started with an ad supported ecosystem first, and certainly with the networks, NBC, ABC, CBS, ad supported. That's how it was funded and subsidized. And then we'll call it in the late 70s, 80s, 90s, you had premium subscription based, the HBOs of the world, right?

No ads, you pay a price, whatever that is per month.

Streaming kind of started with the inverse of traditional TV. It actually mostly started with a subscription based model, we'll call it the premium model. Pay 15 bucks a month for your Netflix account, no ads, stream whatever you want whenever you want.

What's happening now is subscription fatigue. Consumers, including my household, we're just sick of paying for all these individual apps and other content providers, because it's adding up. And so now they've all been forced to have an ad tier, even despite the ones who said they never would, namely Netflix. They're now introducing ad tiers and the adoption rate on those is, I would say, much more and happening much faster than I think anyone predicted because of that fatigue. And so now, the big ones in the last year, Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, those are kind of your big three. They all now have ad tiers.

Not only that, they are now making it very clear, this is a big part of our business. This just isn't sort of this thing that we're doing on the side that generates incremental income or revenue for the business. This is a big part of the offering. And so what I would say now is it is really ushering in kind of that last kind of, I would say, the early adopters have already kind of been in the mix with connected TV advertising. And now I think it's really gonna push that mainstream adoption because now the big brands that people know are starting to come into the space.

And so what I would characterize right now and probably for the next few years, this is the golden age of streaming.This is like Facebook ads circa 2010. They just came online. There's this huge supply of inventory because everyone's on Facebook and getting accounts in the droves, but there's not many marketers there.

The balance of demand and supply from a marketing standpoint and streaming is somewhat imbalanced. There's a lot more supply right now. And what I think is gonna happen the next few years, that demand is gonna catch up. So right now it's just this golden opportunity for the ecosystem, for any marketer that wants to jump in and get involved in connected TV advertising.

What I think is gonna happen specific to automotive is, you kind of keyed into it, 2018, 19, those were the first real murmurings of OTT or CTV or whatever acronym you wanna use. And then what happened? COVID happened in 2020 and all the distortions we've talked about.

And so what's interesting is, as streaming was starting to get momentum and growing, the automotive industry was sort of in this unique time period where in some cases dealerships thought and rightly so, and didn't really spend that much on marketing at all. Why would I? I don't have many cars and the cars I do have, I'm selling for 15, 10, 20% above sticker. I don't really need to commit to an advertising mix. And so when they did, either because they were being strategic and really wanted to understand a new medium, or because they had some co-op money, whatever it was, and they did commit to streaming, my experience has been, our experience has been, the scrutiny over its performance, what it's doing for the bottom line of a dealership really wasn't there because it didn't need to be. It was, you know, the party was rocking.

That obviously has come to an end in the last six months. And so what we're now seeing is there is, rightly so, more scrutiny being applied to streaming and what it's doing for a dealership in a way that we have not seen really since COVID began because of all the dynamics of supply and, you know, everything else.

And so what I think is going to come is the, we'll call it the automotive community is going to start asking and is starting to ask tougher questions and really going to force our industry, streaming for the automotive industry, to really get serious, which I'd like to say we've already been, about demonstrating the value the space is having.

So those are kind of the two big things that we haven't seen and that will, I think, continue to progress into the future.

Summer has always been a crucial season for car dealerships. The momentum generated by promotions and new inventory turns up the heat, but with the evolving market landscape, historical sales patterns are no longer accurate. After years of industry disruptions and fluctuating economic conditions, it's time to revamp your summer sales strategies.

In this insightful webinar, Suzanne Reimer, Chief Marketing Officer at Lotlinx, shares proven strategies to help you navigate the unique challenges of this summer. From managing new inventory growth and adapting to consumer preferences to dealing with inflation and high interest rates, this webinar provides you with the tools you need to succeed.

Key Takeaways from this Webinar

- Top Market Factors Impacting Summer Sales: Gain insights into the primary market factors that will influence your summer car sales. General managers and inventory managers will benefit from understanding these critical aspects to enhance their sales strategies.

- Top 5 Strategies for Moving Inventory: Discover the most effective strategies to move your inventory quickly and efficiently. New and used car managers, as well as marketing directors, will find these tips invaluable for boosting sales.

- Free Inventory Analytics Tool: Access a complimentary tool designed to help you analyze and optimize your inventory management. This tool is essential for inventory managers and marketing managers who want to make data-driven decisions for their dealerships.

- VIN-Specific Strategies: Learn VIN-specific strategies tailored to maximize your summer car sales. General managers and new car managers will benefit from these detailed approaches to handling inventory more effectively.

Proactive Inventory Management: Understand the importance of proactive inventory management using data intelligence. This takeaway is crucial for all attendees, especially those in inventory and marketing roles, to maintain a competitive edge in the market.

Introduction to Service Manager Scorecards

In this insightful episode of the Driving Sales Defining Leadership Podcast, we delve into the essential process of creating effective parts and service manager scorecards. Hosts Bart Wilson and J.D. Mixon are joined by special guest Craig Wilson, who brings his extensive experience and expert insights to the discussion. Learn why service manager scorecards are crucial for managing your service departments, discover the key performance indicators (KPIs) you should track, and get practical tips to enhance your department’s efficiency and accountability.

Understanding Parts Manager Scorecards

Craig also shares valuable strategies for developing parts manager scorecards that can significantly impact your dealership’s performance. Discover the essential metrics for parts managers, understand the importance of proactive parts management, and learn how aligning service and parts goals can drive overall success. This episode is packed with actionable advice that will help you create scorecards that improve performance and drive results.

Key Takeaways: 

• Importance of scorecards for parts and service managers
• Key performance indicators (KPIs) to track for enhanced performance
• Practical tips for aligning service and parts department goals
• Strategies for proactive parts management
• Understanding the impact of effective labor rate and other metrics 

Chapter List: 

• 0:00 Introduction and episode overview
• 1:02 Welcome and introductions
• 2:15 Importance of scorecards in service and parts departments
• 4:10 Key performance indicators for parts managers
• 6:45 Aligning service and parts goals
• 8:20 Practical tips for creating effective scorecards
• 11:35 Strategies for proactive parts management
• 13:50 Understanding effective labor rate and other crucial metrics
• 16:00 The role of customer satisfaction index (CSI) in scorecards
• 18:25 Tips for tracking technician productivity and efficiency
• 21:10 Conclusion and final thoughts

Boost Summer Car Sales with Smart Strategies: Join Our Free Webinar!

As the summer heats up, car dealerships are gearing up for one of the most crucial sales periods of the year. However, with changing market dynamics and evolving consumer behaviors, traditional sales strategies may no longer be enough. That’s why we’re excited to invite you to our upcoming free webinar, “Boost Summer Car Sales with Smart Strategies,” on July 18, 2024, at 1 PM EST.

Why This Webinar is a Must-Attend Event

Hosted by DrivingSales and featuring Suzanne Reimer, Chief Marketing Officer at Lotlinx, this webinar is designed to equip dealership professionals with the insights and strategies needed to excel in the current market. Suzanne brings over 20 years of experience in digital transformation and marketing strategy, making her an invaluable resource for anyone looking to enhance their sales approach.

What You’ll Learn

During this informative session, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities presented by the summer sales season. Here are some key topics we’ll cover:

• New Inventory Growth: Discover how to manage the influx of new inventory while handling carryover from previous seasons. Learn innovative strategies to stay ahead in a changing supply chain landscape.
• Consumer Preferences: Understand why consumers are keeping their cars longer and preferring older models over new ones. This shift in behavior is crucial for adapting your sales strategies.
• Economic Pressures: Learn how inflation and high interest rates are impacting new vehicle demand and how you can adjust your pricing and financing options to attract budget-conscious buyers.
• Shifting Sales Strategies: Adapt to an uneven market with flexible, data-driven sales techniques that cater to diverse customer needs and keep you competitive.
• Challenged EV Market: Navigate the complexities of the electric vehicle market, from supply chain disruptions to consumer skepticism, and gain a significant advantage in this emerging segment.

Key Takeaways

By the end of this webinar, you’ll walk away with actionable strategies and tools to boost your summer car sales. Our key takeaways include:

• Top Market Factors Impacting Summer Sales: Gain insights into the primary market factors influencing your sales and learn how to leverage them to your advantage.
• Top 5 Strategies for Moving Inventory: Discover effective strategies to move your inventory quickly and efficiently, tailored to the needs of general managers, new and used car managers, and marketing directors.
• Free Inventory Analytics Tool: Access a complimentary tool designed to help you analyze and optimize your inventory management, essential for making data-driven decisions.
• VIN-Specific Strategies: Learn detailed, VIN-specific strategies that will help general managers and new car managers handle their inventory more effectively.
• Proactive Inventory Management: Understand the importance of proactive inventory management using data intelligence to maintain a competitive edge in the market.

Who Should Attend?

• General Managers
• New and Used Car Managers
• Inventory Managers
• Marketing Directors
• Marketing Managers

Register Today

Don’t miss this opportunity to elevate your summer car sales with proven strategies from industry experts. Join us on July 18, 2024, at 1 PM EST for this invaluable session.

Ready to take your summer car sales to the next level? Sign up now to participate in this essential webinar!

Have questions or need more information? Request more information today!

 In this episode, “Remote Work in Dealerships: Insights from Mike Donovan,” hosts Bart Wilson and J.D. Mixon are joined by Mike Donovan, CEO and co-founder of Search Engines MD. Mike shares his extensive experience managing a remote workforce and how it can benefit dealership operations.

Throughout the discussion, Mike highlights the importance of work-life balance, effective communication, and fostering a supportive team environment. He explains how remote work isn't just for tech companies but can also apply to dealerships with multiple locations. Learn how to implement successful remote work strategies, maintain team cohesion, and ensure productivity across your dealership's workforce.

Join us to gain valuable insights, practical tips, and expert advice on adapting to the evolving workplace landscape. Whether you're looking to enhance employee engagement, improve operational efficiency, or explore new management strategies, this episode is your go-to resource for dealership excellence.

We sit down with John Traver, CEO of Traver Companies. John brings over 30 years of experience in the automotive industry to share actionable strategies that can help your dealership improve sales effectiveness and customer retention. Whether you're a dealership owner, manager, or sales professional, this episode is packed with valuable insights to drive your success.

Key Insights from this Episode:

• Effective Sales Techniques for Dealerships: Learn proven methods to enhance your sales processes and close more deals.
• Boosting Showroom Traffic: Discover innovative strategies to attract more customers to your showroom and keep them engaged.
• Enhancing Customer Retention: Understand the best practices for retaining customers and building long-term relationships.
• Innovative Approaches to Automotive Business Development: Explore new ideas and techniques to stay ahead in the competitive automotive market.

John Traver's expertise provides a comprehensive guide to tackling the common challenges faced by car dealerships. By implementing his strategies, you can transform your dealership's performance and achieve greater success. Don't miss out on these invaluable tips and insights!

Welcome to another insightful episode of DrivingSales Defining Leadership, where Bart Wilson and J.D. Mixon explore how car dealer employee certifications can elevate your dealership’s performance. In this episode, they discuss the critical role of certifications in fostering employee engagement, retention, and overall dealership success. Employee certifications are not just a formality but a strategic tool that can transform your dealership operations, making them more efficient and aligned with your business goals

Chapters with Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction to Certifications

10:15 The Need for Customized Training

20:30 Building a Certification Program

30:45 Assessing Competency and Performance

40:00 Continuous Improvement and Scaling

50:15 Q&A and Listener Insights

Joined by Craig Wilson, Customer Success Manager at DrivingSales, the discussion centers on the metrics and best practices that make BDC managers pivotal to dealership success.

Episode Highlights:

1. Introduction to BDC Manager Scorecards: Bart, J.D., and Craig begin by emphasizing the importance of the BDC manager role, highlighting its dual focus on sales and service teams. The conversation sets the stage for understanding how scorecards can track performance and drive improvements.
2. Historical Context and Evolution of BDCs: The hosts discuss the evolution of BDCs, noting their inception when technology allowed for more precise tracking of sales and service activities. This historical perspective underscores the relevance of BDCs in today's data-driven dealership environment.
3. Metrics and Quotas for BDC Managers: The core of the episode delves into specific metrics that BDC managers should focus on. This includes effort-based and performance-based quotas, such as the number of appointments set, show percentages, and CRM task completion rates. The discussion highlights the importance of balancing various metrics to avoid overwhelming managers with too many targets.
4. The Role of AI in BDC Operations: A significant portion of the episode explores the impact of artificial intelligence on BDC workflows. The hosts agree that AI should enhance, not replace, the capabilities of BDC agents, particularly in managing repetitive tasks and improving customer interactions.
5. Effort vs. Performance-Based Quotas: The conversation navigates through the distinctions between effort-based quotas (like call volumes) and performance-based quotas (like sales outcomes). The hosts advocate for a balanced approach that recognizes both types of efforts in driving success.
6. Practical Tips for BDC Managers: Practical advice is offered on how to structure scorecards effectively. This includes tips on setting realistic quotas, conducting periodic reviews, and ensuring that the scorecards remain relevant and actionable for BDC managers.
7. The Importance of Customer Engagement: The episode underscores the critical role of customer engagement in the success of BDC operations. The hosts share strategies for BDC managers to foster positive customer relationships and improve overall dealership performance.
8. Case Studies and Real-World Examples: To illustrate the concepts discussed, real-world examples and case studies are presented. These anecdotes provide concrete evidence of how well-structured scorecards can lead to significant improvements in dealership performance.
9. Future Trends in BDC Management: Looking ahead, the hosts speculate on future trends in BDC management, including the increasing integration of advanced technologies and the continuous evolution of customer expectations in the automotive industry.
10. Conclusion and Call to Action: The episode wraps up with a call to action for listeners to implement the discussed strategies in their own dealerships. The hosts invite feedback and questions from the audience, emphasizing the importance of continuous learning and adaptation in the ever-changing automotive landscape.

Discover the top car inventory management strategies for 2024 in this insightful interview with Chris Wyndham of LeadVenture (https://www.leadventure.com/). Learn how to navigate high inventory costs and leverage digital tools to optimize your dealership's performance. We’ll cover key principles to enhance your digital storefront, improve customer engagement, and manage costs effectively.

Key Topics:

• Effective car inventory management tips
• Impact of interest rates on car sales
• Leveraging digital marketing for car dealerships
• Maximizing exposure with high-quality photos and videos
• Utilizing AI for SEO-friendly vehicle descriptions

Join us as we explore innovative tactics to thrive in today’s competitive market. Whether you're dealing with aged inventory or looking to improve your online presence, these strategies will help you stay ahead. Subscribe for more expert tips on car sales and dealership management!



In this episode of the DrivingSales Defining Leadership Podcast, host Bart Wilson sits down with Steve Roessler, Chief Evangelist Officer at DriveCentric, to explore the evolving landscape of leadership in automotive dealerships. Steve shares his expert insights on how effective dealership management strategies and innovative CRM solutions are transforming the automotive industry. 

Listeners will gain valuable knowledge on:

• The role of technology in enhancing dealership operations
• Best practices for human capital management
• How to implement successful CRM systems
• Leadership tips to drive team performance and customer satisfaction

Whether you're a department manager, owner, or general manager, this episode provides actionable advice to help you stay ahead in the competitive automotive market. Tune in to learn from one of the industry's leading voices!