Many dealerships have implemented a BDC in some form into their dealerships.  I have learned that all BDC are NOT created the same which is totally okay.  So regardless of how your BDC is set up do you have a process for the customer to move efficiently and seemlessly from the BDC operator to the sales person?

1.  Are you using your CRM effectively?

I think a CRM is the dealerships most important investment next to inventory.  I am always amazed at how it isn't required to be used or isn't used to its fullest potential.  Ideally any communication or actions taken with a customer are recorded in the CRM.  If this is the case the sales person will be able to get a profile of the customer that is arriving.  Writing a note isn't good enough.  The notes must be detailed with specifics of conversations between the BDC operator and the customer.  A sales person should be able to form a plan on how they will "sell" or approach the customers.  A plan regarding what inventory to show, what finance options to highlight and what their trade is.

2.  Are you ready on the floor?

Given that you have enough information are you ready for the customer to show up.  My recommendation has always been to pull up the car of interest and right next to it pull up another car that they may be interested in.  Perhaps the other car is inventory you need to get rid of or one you can generate more gross on.  Nothing is worse then when a customer comes into the dealership and realizes that no one knew they were coming.  You just gave the customer a reason to think you aren't there for them and you just don't care. 

The most common objection I hear from managers and sales people to doing this is that they only show up 60% of the time.  Well look at it this way, if you are selling 40% of the time and doing this little task can get you to 50% of the time what kind of difference would that make in your sales, not to mention your online reputation.

3. Sales people did you follow up in CRM?

Notes and information in the CRM prior to the appointment are important, but just as important are notes in the CRM after the appointment shows.  The more detailed the better.  If you don't sell the car and you have notes managers will have a better understanding as to why?  Do you need more training?  Did they evaluate trades to high?  Do they have the wrong inventory? Also the manager, you and BDC operator can design a strategy to hopefully still make the sale.

At the end of the day have a process, refine the process and use the process.  Make sure that all departments are communicating.  Measure your success by watching your grosses and close percentages.

I am a big believer of a full scale e-commerce strategy for dealerships.  Customers obviously prefer to shop on line then visit a dealership.  Duh!  But there is a difference between purchasing and shopping. 

The 20+ age group prefers to buy everything on line or so it seems.  So where does a dealership fit in?  How to we provide the convenience they demand, build customer service and loyalty and not lost the part of the population that wants to see what they buy?  Can a dealership have a process and the money to satisfy everyone?

I have seen a lot of stats out there, typically by those selling the online digital retailing.  The fact of the matter is you have to choose what is best for your market, your people and your process. 

The industry is obviously trying to capture this online conversion with tools like Dealer.com's digital retailing and many others.  I think the problems are two fold:  the technology is trying to do to much and the dealerships don't know how to build loyalty/customer experience through this experience.

For the first part the technology I think is to complicated for the end user.  Instead of walking first the industry might be trying to run to fast.  I don't know if we truly understand the customers expectations.  Instead of doing it all online it might be better to revise the technology so that the customer can fill in their information that is used in each department so they aren't repeating it over and over.  Also allow them to upload things like insurance cards, driver's license, proof of income, etc.  Do they really expect the system to be so seamless that they can just sign and drive?  Also why do all the departments have to be covered at once?  Is it necessary for pre-approvals/approvals to happen online when we can't verify anything or get signatures?

Even if the process could be that seamless are stores really ready to handle it?  For dealerships that do digital retailing already is it handled like a deal or a lead?  If it is handled like a lead you are wasting the money on the tool because you don't need it because you don't use it.  If we keep it simple we can execute a process in the stores that is more beneficial for everyone.

When a customer goes online allow them to upload their documentation and information, have the salesperson/BDC set the appointment, have the car pulled up and all their documentation organized and ready.  If the customer wants to figure out a payment or lease this too can be done online, that is pretty easy.  This alone with expedite the process.  It will still allow customers the opportunity to ask questions, take a test drive, etc.  It will also allow for sales people to build rapport.

I can't tell you how many times I have watch a customer with an appointment sit there for 5 minutes to get a sales person, another 5-10 minutes to find the care, then if they want the car waiting for the box to open up.  An online tool won't help dealerships that work with this kind of process.  I think this is what customers complain about and be honest there are to many dealerships doing business this way.

I think the industry is on its way to something but we might be thinking on to grand of a scale!  Let's keep it simple.

Websites are big business for dealers and the vendors that provide them.  I often times am frustrated by the lack of mobility offered with the OEM recommended website providers.  Typically there are a few templates to choose from and those all come with limitations.  That being said I often wonder why we focus on the banner ads that slide across the home page that so many dealers resort to.  

On the one hand they do look nice and offer an opportunity to promoted the monthly specials, however if you look at a heat map the most common place visitors visit are the inventory pages.  In fact one study sites that only up to 5% of visitors actually click on the banner. And the clicks get worse the deeper you go in the slide show. Are the low stats because the specials aren't engaging or do visitors have banneritis?  Probably a combination depending on the dealership.

So why don't we put those front and center instead of our inventory which is the most popular pages to visit?  On a website to increase conversion you want to keep it simple.  Make the information that they are looking for readily available.  Test your website with an A/B test by offering two home pages.  One with banner ads and the other with quick links for the following most popular destinations on a dealership  website.

• Schedule Service
• Today’s Deals
• Lease Specials
• Search New
• Search Used
• Value Your Trade-In
• Get Pre-Approved

If you are running any kind of paid digital advertising like retargeting, PPC, facebook ads, etc.  it would be really interesting to see if bounce rates go down.  Even with these campaigns you can send the visitor to special pages that engage based on the content of the ads.  For example, if you are running a $199 lease on a Chevy make that ad click to a page that shows that vehicle up top right away and then quick links to other lease specials or other vehicles of a similar type or price.

An external link is a hyperlink on a website other than your own but points back to your website.  Many SEO companies believe that external links are important to attain good SEO rankings.  Beingseen360.com does believe that external links are part of the very big SEO equation but once again not at any cost.  Once again it must make sense.

External linking at any cost won’t win you any points with search engines.  They actually may hurt you.  I have worked with SEO companies in the past that will go out and link to different blogs, local radio stations or post event on our facebook pages to link the other way.  It all looks interesting but what good is it really doing.  Don’t do it just to do it.

First understand what search engines are looking for with external links. RELEVANCY AND POPULARITY.

 When doing external links the more relevant the page you are putting your link on the better.  For example, most dealers are on Cars.com or Autotrader, and on your individual vehicle listing pages and dealer profile page there is a link to your website.  This is a strong and relevant external link.  You are on a site for car shopping, what could be more relevant.

Below are some things to think about before doing external links:

1.       Is the site you are linking with a good one that people trust

2.       Is the content on the website you are linking with relevant to yours

3.       The more popular the page you are linking on and the more popular the site the better

Many dealership, particularly large dealer groups, have contracts with vendors.  I would recommend expanding the scope of that contract.  For example, if you have a contract with a radio station or a local online entity that you advertise on include content and social aspects to what you negotiate.  

If we spend at X level we would like 1 blog per quarter to be written about either our industry or our dealership with some reference to us and our website.  You can even see if you can provide the content.  This isn't meant to be a hard sell ad but just a way to establish your dealership with LOCAL relevance and trust.

Another interesting idea would be to get the entity to mention your dealership on their social media pages.  

Remember to include that all content must be approved by you to ensure your dealership is shown in an accurate way.

For years I have hired for BDC's and it get harder and harder.  Even in markets where unemployment is high it seems like the automotive industry just can't attract talent.  Yes there are some diamonds in the rough but I would say out of 20 BDC reps about 7 are reliable and good.  So what's a dealer to do?

I don't really have the answer but I have some suggestions.

When talking to BDC employees their main complaints are the following:

• Typically they get paid less.

Most dealerships invest their money in the sales staff.  Well the BDC rep may be your most important sales rep.  The sales person gets paid more than the rep but many times while BDC reps are on the phone, confirming appointments, answering leads the sales rep is watching youtube or shooting the breeze.  BDC reps see this and it isn't good.  

Plus I often wonder, why would the sales rep get paid more.  Are they really grossing on the car?  Aren't grosses going down?  Of course I hope they are, but the reality is that it is tougher to gross now a days.  Most dealers are making their money in the box and the service drive.  So the more units sold the more money you make in the box and the back.  You may want to ask yourself...should I spend more on the appointment setter or the greeter.  All depends on how your dealership is set up of course.

• The hours are horrible

Given the pay many BDC reps can find a job to pay them the same amount with better hours.  So either change the pay or get creative.  Try job sharing!  Hire two part time people and have them share their leads.  They can share the hours and then maybe they won't have to work every night and every weekend.

• The benefits

Many small businesses struggle to offer strong benefits.  Healthcare is so expensive for most dealerships so make up for it in other ways.  Be creative!  Offer better vacation than other businesses in your area.  Host a weekly lunch.  Give bonus days for working on holidays. Pay them for reffering other potential hires. So many things you can do.

• They feel mistreated and not part of the process

Make the BDC employees part of your culture and the dealership.  When you have your monthly sales meetings invite them.  If you have a company announcement be sure to include them.  Inclusion is a big deal to BDC employees.

Dealerships have struggled for a long time trying to hire quality sales reps and BDC employees.  The industry needs to find ways to be more competitive so that they can hire quality people.

Why do you think quality hires have left the automotive industry and how would you suggest we change it?

Television, Radio, Retargeting, Facebook Ads, PPC, SEO, Direct Mail, Reputation Management...so many places to put your marketing dollars how do you choose?  

Car dealers are always being told you have to have this and you have to have that.  The pressure can be overwhelming and sometimes you feel like a teenager at a party where everyone is drinking but you.  The fact is that now  a days media is more fragmented than ever and there are a lot of vendors out there for every media vehicle.

Every dealer and every market is different.  You ultimately have to decide how you are going to measure your marketing plans effectiveness.  However, here are some thoughts...

1. Start with the website

• Your website is the most affordable and best form of sales leads.  Maximize it with the best SEO, the right plugins and the right traffic drivers.

2. Don't leave your database behind

• Many dealers try to put something in place that will market to their database monthly but they don't take the time to make sure it is a targeted message.  Rotate your database communication around and mix it up.  Earning your customers back will pay off big in the long run.  Better gross and cheaper to acquire...BACK!

3. Do something else really well

• Don't get to fragmented.  Find something that you feel works and maximize it to the fullest.  Maybe its TV.  Don't just try to spend a little money in TV so that you can spend a little more in Radio.  Most local dealers don't have the funds to go real deep in a medium to have a big enough voice and then they make it even more difficult by trying to be everywhere.

4. Test

• Test other things.  Set up a test budget, a small one and define your parameters for success.  Then you can be ready to grow your budget with your sales.

I have been working on dealer websites for 15 years and I have been doing dealership marketing and setting up BDCs for 20 years.  It always amazes me how reluctant dealership ownership and/or management is to understand the numbers.  With all the data we have today, now more than ever we don't have to rely on just our gut to make marketing decisions.  My rule of thumb is 80% data and 20% gut because your experience is still very valuable.  I challenge managers and ownership to use the two, your data and your gut to make decisions.

For years I have had vendors pitch me SEO and they show me its working by looking at my Google analytics organic visits, but that really isn't the whole story.  Organic visits sometime are influenced by increase in market activity, manufacturer advertising and your own advertising.  I am not trying to take away from any efforts, but only try to point out the entire picture. 

I am always amazed that website traffic isn't looked at from a third party standpoint.  Someone that has no skin in the game and just gives you the facts.  What is more amazing is that there are vendors or services out there to look at this and they aren't utilized.  Some dealers are paying anywhere from $2000 to $7000 per month on their SEO efforts.  Wouldn't you like to know if you are getting results and if you have to spend that much.  That's right you may not have to spend that much.

Some of the most popular resources to check you SEO listings are Moz, Brightedge and Beingseen360.com.  There are a lot of free ones too but they don't give you all the information you really need.  All offer a monthly service that will check your keyword listings so that you can accurately create a strategy.  These services can vary in price so make sure you find the one right for you.  I always recommend testing your SEO every quarter and at a minimum every 6 months.

Obviously, beingseen360.com is my favorite.  Although I don't work for them, I have used their reports for years.  It allowed me to hold my current vendors accountable and over time lower my SEO expense.  You always need SEO but if you are killing the competition and reach a plateau you may find an opportunity to pull back a bit.  The best is I would use this report and give it to my vendors so they understood how they were being held accountable.  It made us more efficient and produced better results. 

My favorite stat is when I started doing this we were able to increase web visits from 2500 to 10,000 visits per month in two years with no other spend than SEO.  Oh and became the #1 dealer is our area.

Adding relevant content just isn't enough.  As I have written many times SEO is so much more.  Interlinking is another part of the SEO equation. Interlinking, internal links or hyperlinks are used to connect one page or post from your website to another.  By linking your new content with established content  you are creating a better hierarchy of pages for search engines and end users.

Hopefully your SEO company is providing your website with strategic and relevant content.  A next good step would be interlinking.  This is how your web "house" gets built.  Imagine a bunch of 2x4's as you build a house and how they all connect.  Your new page you just posted must connect too.  The page must be relevant to other pages on the site and your SEO company should establish those relationships through intersite linking.  The linking shows Google and other search engine when they walk into your front door, in other words your home page, where to go next. 

Although the home page carries the most weight we recommend when you post your new content take this opportunity to build other pages weight and relevance.  It all works together so if the pages you add hold up the home page you want them as strong as possible.  Plus if you have your social media, 3rd parties and all your other links set up correctly your home page is probably getting enough linking to the home page.  Avoid linking to pages within your current navigation like your inventory listings, contact us page, service for these same reasons. 

Build your content with strategy and your linking strategy should and will follow.  The big take away here is to have  purpose and relevance to your linking.  Those search engine spiders are pretty smart and every year they get smarter.  There needs to be a strong relationship between pages to make a link from one page worth enough to link to another.

Don't over link and don't under link.  Wow, there is a lot of room in between that.  Remember that when you are building a page your probably have links established without even doing anything.  Links in the header and the footer.   The number of links added to a page really depends on how many words your SEO company is writing.  Review the recommendations your SEO company has. 

By creating a path for Google spiders it makes their job easier and since spiders don't like to work hard they will reward you with better SEO rankings.

To review:

• Write relevant content
• Link new pages to established pages that are relevant or have a relationship to each other
• Establish how many times to link within a page
• Make sure the company is doing it

Private message me if you want my team to check out your interlinking on your SEO pages.

I was watching TV last night and I saw a commercial for LISTINGALLCARS.com.  Another 3rd party lead provider is entering the market.  Seriously how many more to do we need.  Autotrader, Cars.com, Carguru, KelleyBlueBook, CarSoup, True Car, CarFax and now another one.  

As dealers we are told and taught that we can't live without them.  The reality of it is they need us as much as we need them.  Without are millions of dollars of inventory they wouldn't have a product and without their searchers we wouldn't be able to sell cars.  So although I am not totally anti 3rd party lead provider I often wonder that given the model why doesn't it ever feel like more of a partnership?  Why do I feel like I am working for them every time I write the check?

PAYMENT. I think it comes back to the way the pay is done.  When the market is down I pay the same.  When SRPS go down I am told it isn't them its me and my inventory quality.  When I have manager turn over or fewer staff I can't make any adjustments.  Whenever a decline in business occurs people all across an organization feel the financial hit, but not third parties.

There is no doubt that sometimes a dealerships failures with third party listings are their own but if I don't have any inventory would I write the check?  So if I know the market is down, particularly in the winter months, or if I have staff turn over why am I still writing the same check?  Wouldn't it be nice if I can make the dollars make sense for whatever obstacle my dealership is trying to overcome?

ANALYSIS. As more and more companies have tried to conquer the third party listing business model I often wonder why the increase in competition hasn't driven change in some companies pay to play model or at least the costs down.  

I think it may be dealers inability to truly analyze the numbers.  When working for a dealer I analyze the following:

• Cost/SRP
• Cost/VDP
• Cost/Lead
• Cost/Conversion (I define as call, visit, chat)
• Cost/Sale (harder to get to)

I keep it simple and the ones that are to high will tell me that they drive showroom traffic.  That is when the SRP and VDP cost comes in handy.  

So even if one is way higher than the other why don't we leave until costs are more inline?  Fear and lack of understanding.  I have never met a vendor I can't live without is my new favorite saying because it is true.  It is true if you have your marketing house in order.  SEO, SEM, Display, Retargeting and traditional advertising!  If you have this organized and well funded you will be able to be more flexible with who you keep and who you lose without sacrificing business.

ACCOUNTABILITY. The last thing that amazes me in our industry is that to my knowledge there is no 3rd party entity monitoring the numbers. In television we look at Neilsen ratings, in radio it is Arbitron, but for sites like Cars.com, Autotrader, KBB, etc. they give us their numbers with no auditing process.  Remembering when customers could only get the numbers on a car from a dealership before the internet...think about it...remember the grosses?  Imagine what could be going on here.  If there is an auditing company please let me know.

Third party listings, with maybe the exception of True Car in some states, have no skin in our game.  When we lose they win.  When we win they win.  Dealerships aren't set up that way so why should there be such little flexibility with third party listings?

This entry will ruffle a lot of feathers but it is not to state that third party listing are bad or wrong for your marketing plans.  It is to challenge us to look for better ways to partner and a more practical way of doing business.

How often do you mystery shop your own store?  How often do you mystery shop your competition? We all know that the manufacturer mystery shops us however do we shop ourselves?  

I personally hate when the manufacturer mystery shops me.  A mystery shop is more about assessing the individual that actually receives the lead not the process.  It is valuable but I hate that they make assumptions on our process from one employees one moment in time.  I mean we all have bad days.  We also all have those employees that just don't follow the process.  The shops aren't wrong but they also aren't right.  

Furthermore, I sometimes find the manufacturer assessments to be out of date.  What works statistically for many stores doesn't necessarily work for mine or my people.  I am a big believer in there is more than one way to skin a cat.

Given this I like to assess my BDC/Internet Salespeople using a hybrid approach.  I like to use it all as guides but not the bible.  I typically mystery shop my department three times in a month.  I submit inquiries from different sources so that I get a good idea on how they handle each source.  I also submit on both new and used cars.  I then created a scorecard on what I was looking for.  The basics were:

1. What was lead response time?

2. Did you answer the questions?

3. Did you upsell - provide other options?

4. Did you ask a question to create engagement?

5. Did you provide your information and the dealerships?

6. Did you proofread it?

7. Did you follow up based on our process/workflow?

I then also took the manufacturer assessments and included it to go with my own so that I could get a good view of what they wanted and what we felt would work.  

By doing multiple mystery shops I am not just being the judge and jury on one instance.  Instead I am getting a better view point on multiple reps and multiple leads.

I also do this same process with competition but I check the pricing vs. ours as well!

Does anyone have a formal process they use?