DrivingSales Executive Summit 2014 is officially in the books. It was a sold out event once again that enveloped the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas for the better part of three days. Planned was a (digital) star-studded keynote speaker list plus some of the finest breakout speakers, many dealers, for those in attendance. Here's some highlights form the event from IM@CS' perspective:

Day One

Just as last year, there was a Canadian Breakout Session housing some of the top companies from our neighbors to the north along with some powerful presenters including Grant Gooley and Jeremy Wyant. Jay Radke and Brent Wees definitely brought the "eh" for a second time. Rumor is that next year will be bigger and better (and DSES will NOT be during Canadian Thanksgiving!).

After Emcee Charlie Vogelheim’s grandiose welcome of the attendees, DrivingSales' founder Jared Hamilton managed a uniquely powerful opening recognizing a few members of the car dealer community from stage for thie personal triumphs and celebrations. Most poignant was a heartfelt message and standing ovation for Courtney Cox Cole of Hare Chevrolet. Just completing her last round of chemotherapy a few days prior to the opening of DSES, her presence was missed however her spirit was felt.

The first keynote was Florian Zettelmeyer of The Kellogg School of Management hitting hard on data, telling dealership attendees to get smart on analytics. Well, it was more like "become data scientists", however put the message was clear. This year's Best Idea Contest followed and the audience was treated to some unique ways of approaching the "digital sprawl" that's occurring for dealerships (winner was a repeat of last year, Robert Karbaum). Add to that Mr. Vogelheim’s “costume” unveil, a cowboy shirt that was a present from CADA’s Tim Jackson.

Breakouts began and the session IM@CS attended was with Shaun Raines and Tom White Jr. As expected they hit their stride quickly offering specific actions to dealers that want to build a unique brand, market awareness and make customers the center of their world. Word back from other sessions was positive.

The Fireside Chat that followed had good information however it lacked some of the powerful punch from previous events (DSES and Presidents Club) that had the audience leaning forward or nodding/shaking heads in agreement/dischord. Jared guided Cars.com's Mitch Golub and DealerSocket's Jonathan Ord through a bevy of industry-directional questions and statements.

Day one's evening keynote was Brian Solis, who essentially is Altimeter Group's head analyst focusing on disruptive technology. As expected he brought insight, candor and a new perspectives to the majority-dealer audience, bringing up challenges and opportunities that the industry is facing now and in the near term. He touched on customer experience, the mobile audience, disruption occurring now that is effecting vehicle sales (Tesla and Uber were examples). He signed books immediately after as the reception began.

Day Two

Mike Hudson from eMarketer, a nicely-paced review of where the target is moving with consumers in regard to mobile, engagement, disruptive tech and how the sales funnel has move. Like Solis the evening before, he warned dealers and OEMs to stay up with consumer demand for information and provide only value-based experiences.

Breakouts followed and included such speakers as Bobbie Herron and Brian Armstrong in a joint session on utilizing a BDC or not and Jeff Kershner discussing the mobile-based shift for today’s showrooms. Then Jared hosted a fireside chat with two top executives from the newly-formed CDK Global (previously The Cobalt Group). The keynote before lunch featured Adam Justis of Adobe talking about how dealership marketing must be customer-centric and fully integrated, further pushing the “customer experience” drumbeat for the weekend.

After lunch it was Innovation Cup time and this year’s finalists covered a broad range of dealer services. Not all new however all had a updated take on what is essentially consumer engagement via their technology (NewCarIQ ended up with the win).

Then, it was time for speed listening with Jared Hamilton. His keynote this year, “Competing on Customer Experience”, was another blistering wordfest of reality and must-do strategy, followed by a first-of-its-kind video compilation of customer feedback on car buying experiences. The full study isn’t due until next year, however the teaser included a handful of truthful, hard-hitting testimonials that dealers must listen to.

Afternoon breakouts ensued, showcasing among others Eric Miltsch of Command Z Marketing on wearable tech, Megan Barto of Ciocca Honda & Hyundai on dealership culture, Mike Martinez of DMEautomtoive on putting mobile as your top strategy, Mario Clementoni of NADA on best practices and Joe Chura of Dealer Inspire on website/lead optimization. Chura gave out some valuable “freebies”, third party tips, software/programs and offers that included one from Google not previously known.

Closing our day two was a second-time speaker that couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time. Rand Fishkin of MOZ (formerly SEOmoz) dove right into what must-use best practices need to be deployed today for SEO to stick. Raising the bar he set two years ago, his presentation dealt with can-do/don’t-do advice and the Q&A addressed misinformation/misconceptions that many dealers hear regularly through auto industry sources.

Day Three

Charlie and Jared started the morning with the winners of the Innovation Cup then immediately into the 4^th Annual Digital Media Debate hosted by Joe Webb of DealerKnows Consulting. A slightly different format than previous years, two retail executives, two consultants and two vendors addressed topics ranging from Adaptive vs Responsive websites to relying on third party leads, conglomerate vendors versus specialized suppliers and one-price stores versus traditional.

The last round of breakouts showcased Christian Salazar of DealerFire on how consumers are finding your website and content, Aaron Wirtz from Subaru of Wichita recapping how the store addressed their potentially damaging PR debacle and turned it into a complete positive (that ended up going viral) and David Kain of Kain Automotive talking about how to make memorable connections with your customers that last.

Closing the 2014 DSES event was Bryan Eisenberg of Eisenberg Holdings. His presentation, bookending Florian’s from Sunday, was an appropriate ending note on the customer experience “Cool-Aid”. Hitting right on topic after topic regarding analytics, measurement, impending trends in consumer shopping and more, Mr. Eisenberg pulled no punches in telling dealers how they need to change their marketing practices to match the consumer path.

Charlie then reintroduced Jared for the shortest closing remarks of the six years DSES has been produced for the industry’s leading dealerships. It was a fitting end to what surely was the most information-filled conference of the year.

Kudos to the DrivingSales team!

Best Practcies: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

DrivingSales Executive Summit 2014 is officially in the books. It was a sold out event once again that enveloped the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas for the better part of three days. Planned was a (digital) star-studded keynote speaker list plus some of the finest breakout speakers, many dealers, for those in attendance. Here's some highlights form the event from IM@CS' perspective:

Day One

Just as last year, there was a Canadian Breakout Session housing some of the top companies from our neighbors to the north along with some powerful presenters including Grant Gooley and Jeremy Wyant. Jay Radke and Brent Wees definitely brought the "eh" for a second time. Rumor is that next year will be bigger and better (and DSES will NOT be during Canadian Thanksgiving!).

After Emcee Charlie Vogelheim’s grandiose welcome of the attendees, DrivingSales' founder Jared Hamilton managed a uniquely powerful opening recognizing a few members of the car dealer community from stage for thie personal triumphs and celebrations. Most poignant was a heartfelt message and standing ovation for Courtney Cox Cole of Hare Chevrolet. Just completing her last round of chemotherapy a few days prior to the opening of DSES, her presence was missed however her spirit was felt.

The first keynote was Florian Zettelmeyer of The Kellogg School of Management hitting hard on data, telling dealership attendees to get smart on analytics. Well, it was more like "become data scientists", however put the message was clear. This year's Best Idea Contest followed and the audience was treated to some unique ways of approaching the "digital sprawl" that's occurring for dealerships (winner was a repeat of last year, Robert Karbaum). Add to that Mr. Vogelheim’s “costume” unveil, a cowboy shirt that was a present from CADA’s Tim Jackson.

Breakouts began and the session IM@CS attended was with Shaun Raines and Tom White Jr. As expected they hit their stride quickly offering specific actions to dealers that want to build a unique brand, market awareness and make customers the center of their world. Word back from other sessions was positive.

The Fireside Chat that followed had good information however it lacked some of the powerful punch from previous events (DSES and Presidents Club) that had the audience leaning forward or nodding/shaking heads in agreement/dischord. Jared guided Cars.com's Mitch Golub and DealerSocket's Jonathan Ord through a bevy of industry-directional questions and statements.

Day one's evening keynote was Brian Solis, who essentially is Altimeter Group's head analyst focusing on disruptive technology. As expected he brought insight, candor and a new perspectives to the majority-dealer audience, bringing up challenges and opportunities that the industry is facing now and in the near term. He touched on customer experience, the mobile audience, disruption occurring now that is effecting vehicle sales (Tesla and Uber were examples). He signed books immediately after as the reception began.

Day Two

Mike Hudson from eMarketer, a nicely-paced review of where the target is moving with consumers in regard to mobile, engagement, disruptive tech and how the sales funnel has move. Like Solis the evening before, he warned dealers and OEMs to stay up with consumer demand for information and provide only value-based experiences.

Breakouts followed and included such speakers as Bobbie Herron and Brian Armstrong in a joint session on utilizing a BDC or not and Jeff Kershner discussing the mobile-based shift for today’s showrooms. Then Jared hosted a fireside chat with two top executives from the newly-formed CDK Global (previously The Cobalt Group). The keynote before lunch featured Adam Justis of Adobe talking about how dealership marketing must be customer-centric and fully integrated, further pushing the “customer experience” drumbeat for the weekend.

After lunch it was Innovation Cup time and this year’s finalists covered a broad range of dealer services. Not all new however all had a updated take on what is essentially consumer engagement via their technology (NewCarIQ ended up with the win).

Then, it was time for speed listening with Jared Hamilton. His keynote this year, “Competing on Customer Experience”, was another blistering wordfest of reality and must-do strategy, followed by a first-of-its-kind video compilation of customer feedback on car buying experiences. The full study isn’t due until next year, however the teaser included a handful of truthful, hard-hitting testimonials that dealers must listen to.

Afternoon breakouts ensued, showcasing among others Eric Miltsch of Command Z Marketing on wearable tech, Megan Barto of Ciocca Honda & Hyundai on dealership culture, Mike Martinez of DMEautomtoive on putting mobile as your top strategy, Mario Clementoni of NADA on best practices and Joe Chura of Dealer Inspire on website/lead optimization. Chura gave out some valuable “freebies”, third party tips, software/programs and offers that included one from Google not previously known.

Closing our day two was a second-time speaker that couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time. Rand Fishkin of MOZ (formerly SEOmoz) dove right into what must-use best practices need to be deployed today for SEO to stick. Raising the bar he set two years ago, his presentation dealt with can-do/don’t-do advice and the Q&A addressed misinformation/misconceptions that many dealers hear regularly through auto industry sources.

Day Three

Charlie and Jared started the morning with the winners of the Innovation Cup then immediately into the 4^th Annual Digital Media Debate hosted by Joe Webb of DealerKnows Consulting. A slightly different format than previous years, two retail executives, two consultants and two vendors addressed topics ranging from Adaptive vs Responsive websites to relying on third party leads, conglomerate vendors versus specialized suppliers and one-price stores versus traditional.

The last round of breakouts showcased Christian Salazar of DealerFire on how consumers are finding your website and content, Aaron Wirtz from Subaru of Wichita recapping how the store addressed their potentially damaging PR debacle and turned it into a complete positive (that ended up going viral) and David Kain of Kain Automotive talking about how to make memorable connections with your customers that last.

Closing the 2014 DSES event was Bryan Eisenberg of Eisenberg Holdings. His presentation, bookending Florian’s from Sunday, was an appropriate ending note on the customer experience “Cool-Aid”. Hitting right on topic after topic regarding analytics, measurement, impending trends in consumer shopping and more, Mr. Eisenberg pulled no punches in telling dealers how they need to change their marketing practices to match the consumer path.

Charlie then reintroduced Jared for the shortest closing remarks of the six years DSES has been produced for the industry’s leading dealerships. It was a fitting end to what surely was the most information-filled conference of the year.

Kudos to the DrivingSales team!

Best Practcies: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

Lo·gis·tics  ləˈjistiks,lō-/  noun

    1. The detailed coordination of a complex operation involving many people, facilities, or supplies.

We are in the game of logistics. Like it or not car dealerships, at a minimum, are hubs of logistic activities: connections to the factory and engineers, DMS uploads, inventory pushes and pulls, secure financial documents and transactions, lead migration, email and phone connections, server backups, marketing company, sales rep and little league treasure troves...it's dizzying.

Add to that the total of resources: staff, hardware, all the moving parts. And you want to put a 300-pound inflatable on top to make it look like a scene from a Chevy Chase Vacation movie. *burp*

A whole, as they say, is the sum of its parts. However some of those parts are more evident to the people you’re trying to attract: consumers. More important than ever is the media, availability/speed of information and communication we deliver to the public.

So riddle me this Batman: the most important part of your website is the:

1. Template and main pages you reviewed two years ago with your website vendor that you get a PDF “report” from once a month and a visit with once a quarter, when they sell you more stuff.
2. Inventory being online that you assume is feeding correctly with the automated “cheese” seller notes, not so robust VIN explosion/features and being syndicated to portals you’ve never heard f (although they’re fully disclosed in the document you’ve never read).
3. SEO you’ve never checked on provided by the website or aftermarket company (that is ABSOLUTELY using spun content)…oh wait. What’s SEO? Yeah.
4. About us video made a while ago showing some staff you still have employed inside the dealership before the new fascia when up

The answer is none of the above. Just like your dealership it’s the experience. Yes, it has to have what people expect however when’s the last time you met a customer, truly, that knew exactly what to expect. And that is, literally, exactly.

If you’ve not stopped, in a long time, and done a real deep-dive into analytics, feedback from customers and staff, taken more than a gander at your competition (which is everyone), looked and reassessed everything that has your name/brand on it and taken stock of actionable goals and roadmaps, you’re gliding on the rise in sales that’s taken place over the past couple of years now and are, still, not ready for what comes next. Get real about what you’re avoiding.

At the center of everything is a person, with a real need for attention, consideration, information, service, answers and solutions. We are in the logistics business.

Consider this again before you chat with your coworkers about Sunday’s games tomorrow with finite details and stats about passing yards, rushing yards, total years, carries, receptions, turnovers, time of possession, sacks, half sacks, quarter sacks and hurries…and then realize that’s the same level of passion we must exhibit and deliver on for every one of the people that give you the honor of walking through your front door.

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

Lo·gis·tics  ləˈjistiks,lō-/  noun

    1. The detailed coordination of a complex operation involving many people, facilities, or supplies.

We are in the game of logistics. Like it or not car dealerships, at a minimum, are hubs of logistic activities: connections to the factory and engineers, DMS uploads, inventory pushes and pulls, secure financial documents and transactions, lead migration, email and phone connections, server backups, marketing company, sales rep and little league treasure troves...it's dizzying.

Add to that the total of resources: staff, hardware, all the moving parts. And you want to put a 300-pound inflatable on top to make it look like a scene from a Chevy Chase Vacation movie. *burp*

A whole, as they say, is the sum of its parts. However some of those parts are more evident to the people you’re trying to attract: consumers. More important than ever is the media, availability/speed of information and communication we deliver to the public.

So riddle me this Batman: the most important part of your website is the:

1. Template and main pages you reviewed two years ago with your website vendor that you get a PDF “report” from once a month and a visit with once a quarter, when they sell you more stuff.
2. Inventory being online that you assume is feeding correctly with the automated “cheese” seller notes, not so robust VIN explosion/features and being syndicated to portals you’ve never heard f (although they’re fully disclosed in the document you’ve never read).
3. SEO you’ve never checked on provided by the website or aftermarket company (that is ABSOLUTELY using spun content)…oh wait. What’s SEO? Yeah.
4. About us video made a while ago showing some staff you still have employed inside the dealership before the new fascia when up

The answer is none of the above. Just like your dealership it’s the experience. Yes, it has to have what people expect however when’s the last time you met a customer, truly, that knew exactly what to expect. And that is, literally, exactly.

If you’ve not stopped, in a long time, and done a real deep-dive into analytics, feedback from customers and staff, taken more than a gander at your competition (which is everyone), looked and reassessed everything that has your name/brand on it and taken stock of actionable goals and roadmaps, you’re gliding on the rise in sales that’s taken place over the past couple of years now and are, still, not ready for what comes next. Get real about what you’re avoiding.

At the center of everything is a person, with a real need for attention, consideration, information, service, answers and solutions. We are in the logistics business.

Consider this again before you chat with your coworkers about Sunday’s games tomorrow with finite details and stats about passing yards, rushing yards, total years, carries, receptions, turnovers, time of possession, sacks, half sacks, quarter sacks and hurries…and then realize that’s the same level of passion we must exhibit and deliver on for every one of the people that give you the honor of walking through your front door.

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

Have you ever listened to a professional salesperson? No, no, really. Have you ever listened to a professional salesperson? Those skilled in the trade are fantastic about doing one thing extremely well: allowing the customer to understand that it's about them, what's in it for them and how important they are. Those with truly exceptional skill allow people to talk themselves into buying.

So why in the heck have trainers and consultants been ruining it for customers walking into dealerships by knocking some of the following word tracks and customer approaches into salespeople's heads:

"I will do whatever it takes to earn your business"

"I've received your information, I've checked that the car is still here, I've spoken with my manager about the price and I only need to know right now if you have a trade in"

"I need to know what it will take to get you down here right now"

"I will answer all of your questions and I hope to meet you soon"...

In visiting and mystery shopping dealerships all over the country, it is more apparent than ever that salespeople not only like to talk about themselves, they're trained to. The less skilled they are, the more it happens. That's got to be worth everything from the OEM-paid local course, to the $1,500 conference, to the $5,000-10,000 per-day in-house super-duper-trainer with 30 years experience.

Folks, who is everything about? The customer. You will never make it about the customer talking about yourself. Ever! And that is what 3-month newbies to 25+ years veterans do all day long. And if the communication is over the phone or email versus face-to-face, add even more to the irritating factor. Can we all agree that, for the most part, the person that a prospect is talking to is assumed to be their salesperson or at least a sales contact? OK, now that we are passed that, move the focus from you to them...

For the past seven years, the education we bring to dealers and the coaching we bring to sales teams is consistent:

!. Eliminate "I" and change your word tracks to "you"

2. Make everything about the customer, first.

3. Change the delivery to talk about what the customer receives, how it benefits them, when they'll get it, how they'll get it and, absolutely last, who they'll get it from.

Nothing turns people off more than hearing about someone they don't know or care about talking about themselves, what they're doing, what they need, what they can do and can't do, and how much they want to sell a car. #yawn

Changing communication and contact practices will increase contact, appointment and show rates. Oh, and that sell more cars. Period.

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

You can read more IM@CS posts here on DrivingSales or on our blog

Have you ever listened to a professional salesperson? No, no, really. Have you ever listened to a professional salesperson? Those skilled in the trade are fantastic about doing one thing extremely well: allowing the customer to understand that it's about them, what's in it for them and how important they are. Those with truly exceptional skill allow people to talk themselves into buying.

So why in the heck have trainers and consultants been ruining it for customers walking into dealerships by knocking some of the following word tracks and customer approaches into salespeople's heads:

"I will do whatever it takes to earn your business"

"I've received your information, I've checked that the car is still here, I've spoken with my manager about the price and I only need to know right now if you have a trade in"

"I need to know what it will take to get you down here right now"

"I will answer all of your questions and I hope to meet you soon"...

In visiting and mystery shopping dealerships all over the country, it is more apparent than ever that salespeople not only like to talk about themselves, they're trained to. The less skilled they are, the more it happens. That's got to be worth everything from the OEM-paid local course, to the $1,500 conference, to the $5,000-10,000 per-day in-house super-duper-trainer with 30 years experience.

Folks, who is everything about? The customer. You will never make it about the customer talking about yourself. Ever! And that is what 3-month newbies to 25+ years veterans do all day long. And if the communication is over the phone or email versus face-to-face, add even more to the irritating factor. Can we all agree that, for the most part, the person that a prospect is talking to is assumed to be their salesperson or at least a sales contact? OK, now that we are passed that, move the focus from you to them...

For the past seven years, the education we bring to dealers and the coaching we bring to sales teams is consistent:

!. Eliminate "I" and change your word tracks to "you"

2. Make everything about the customer, first.

3. Change the delivery to talk about what the customer receives, how it benefits them, when they'll get it, how they'll get it and, absolutely last, who they'll get it from.

Nothing turns people off more than hearing about someone they don't know or care about talking about themselves, what they're doing, what they need, what they can do and can't do, and how much they want to sell a car. #yawn

Changing communication and contact practices will increase contact, appointment and show rates. Oh, and that sell more cars. Period.

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

You can read more IM@CS posts here on DrivingSales or on our blog

Yes, this is opinion. However don't take it as fable.

It’s the consistent vicious circle in consulting: do it all as long as it’s what is wanted at that moment, backed up by someone else, doesn’t bite back at the factory stance, mostly makes sense and when you can grab the proper attention. And don’t blink because all of that can change with one call or a visit from a nice set of pearly whites with a tan and a low-slung top.

In a dramatically fluid world, all of that is a constant.

Meeting with a dealer the other day, their factory (only) site has issues, their SEO/SEM isn’t close to completely transparent in work, reporting or results, their new CRM isn’t installed properly or completely and their sales team can’t seem to do their job. And the store is doing, what most would consider, fine.

In less than five hours, a solution to every hole that was shot in their operation was provided, a path to resolution (in some cases multiple) was drawn out and improvement benchmarks were communicated. All without spending a dollar more in vendors, leads, software or services. And everything was documented.

Very few of us in the consulting world face this; because most aren’t consultants. Most of them are resellers, reps, paid advocates, commission reapers, factory program overseers, old-school trainers with a new world attack and/or recently departed vendor/dealership staff. Consulting, ladies and gentlemen, is a craft rather than a hobby. True consultants create understanding, buy-in, advocacy and results, in that order. And they listen, a lot.

If your costs just went up north of $10,000 per month and you’ll see your consultant one day per month, you should check the other hand of the person you just signed a contract (warning sign) with and see if their fingers are crossed.

As the industry shifted slowly over the past ten plus years, it created a natural recommendation engine that exists more powerful than ever. Don’t believe me? Contact your OEM, ask for a solution or provider for a problem you have in any category, especially digital, and then ask about results for any one or a group of dealerships. And get that preferably in a report with before and after metrics, costs, process changes and net improvement.

Oh, and you might want to hold on to your four-leaf clover.

In a world where businesses still make decisions by how many “covers” or “articles” someone was been on/in or how many times they’ve heard of a potential partner during a golf outing or 20 Group, industry metrics are moving slower than the speed of solutions. Hellloooo, it should be the other way around.

There are no overnight solutions, silver bullets or cash cows, at least legal and/or ethical. Use tried and true sensibilities: ask for more recommendations than someone offers. Look at more live solutions than you are given, dig deeper before you spend deeper. Oh, and if it sounds too good………

Car dealers, do yourself a huge favor. Get a second opinion on everything as if you’d just received a heartbreaking medical prognosis. In both cases your life depends on it.

Yes, this is opinion. However don't take it as fable.

It’s the consistent vicious circle in consulting: do it all as long as it’s what is wanted at that moment, backed up by someone else, doesn’t bite back at the factory stance, mostly makes sense and when you can grab the proper attention. And don’t blink because all of that can change with one call or a visit from a nice set of pearly whites with a tan and a low-slung top.

In a dramatically fluid world, all of that is a constant.

Meeting with a dealer the other day, their factory (only) site has issues, their SEO/SEM isn’t close to completely transparent in work, reporting or results, their new CRM isn’t installed properly or completely and their sales team can’t seem to do their job. And the store is doing, what most would consider, fine.

In less than five hours, a solution to every hole that was shot in their operation was provided, a path to resolution (in some cases multiple) was drawn out and improvement benchmarks were communicated. All without spending a dollar more in vendors, leads, software or services. And everything was documented.

Very few of us in the consulting world face this; because most aren’t consultants. Most of them are resellers, reps, paid advocates, commission reapers, factory program overseers, old-school trainers with a new world attack and/or recently departed vendor/dealership staff. Consulting, ladies and gentlemen, is a craft rather than a hobby. True consultants create understanding, buy-in, advocacy and results, in that order. And they listen, a lot.

If your costs just went up north of $10,000 per month and you’ll see your consultant one day per month, you should check the other hand of the person you just signed a contract (warning sign) with and see if their fingers are crossed.

As the industry shifted slowly over the past ten plus years, it created a natural recommendation engine that exists more powerful than ever. Don’t believe me? Contact your OEM, ask for a solution or provider for a problem you have in any category, especially digital, and then ask about results for any one or a group of dealerships. And get that preferably in a report with before and after metrics, costs, process changes and net improvement.

Oh, and you might want to hold on to your four-leaf clover.

In a world where businesses still make decisions by how many “covers” or “articles” someone was been on/in or how many times they’ve heard of a potential partner during a golf outing or 20 Group, industry metrics are moving slower than the speed of solutions. Hellloooo, it should be the other way around.

There are no overnight solutions, silver bullets or cash cows, at least legal and/or ethical. Use tried and true sensibilities: ask for more recommendations than someone offers. Look at more live solutions than you are given, dig deeper before you spend deeper. Oh, and if it sounds too good………

Car dealers, do yourself a huge favor. Get a second opinion on everything as if you’d just received a heartbreaking medical prognosis. In both cases your life depends on it.

Yes, it is getting more and more difficult for business owners to make decisions today that will positively impact their business, especially in the arena of digital marketing. You might say “bull hooey” and protest that it has become easier. And you’d be half fright…

Nothing is more frustrating to a business owner that not understanding something that should otherwise be “easy” to do so. That’s where misguided trust and blind recommendations become so darn appealing. Attend a 20 Group and you just might be amazed as to how eloquent an otherwise inept presenter can be.

We live in a world of regurgitated content, many times so prolific that anyone can claim it to be theirs. Car dealers and executive management, typically, know what has been and possibly what is happening now.  They’re still overwhelmingly blind to what is going to happen, even though it’s in front of their eyes. And smartphones.

However, the chasm that exists does so simply because the dots aren’t connecting. In other words, they “get” that they need to market in a new channel, or completely store prospective and customer data in CRM, or spend time understanding new reports. While there is no excuse, none whatsoever including “time”, to not do any or all of that, there is at least bandwidth to consider.

As much as it easy to blame the OEM for (many) programs of epically disastrous proportion, it is up to the dealer to make sure their house is in order.

The struggle that has presented itself over the past 3-4 years, and it’s gaining momentum by the way, isn’t whether to do more, invest more, hire more or attend more, it is truly around letting go of operations to those that they have in power and get immersed the way they did when they started selling, or working in the service drive, or washing cars for their owner-parent while memorizing the specifications to 95% of the cars each year. More than ever you must have a desire to consume, learn, test and challenge yourself. And, ahem, everyone around you.

Recently, especially if you get caught up in rumor, there has been more and more reports of OEM digital, education and training programs being under scrutiny. Enter in shock and awe. Well, at least for everyone but those unfortunate few of us who called into question the very under-budgeted, under-staffed, under-educated, under-facilitated, under-read, under-thought-through contracts. While the programs disserve the OEMs, dealers (at least progressive and knowledgeable ones) are pretty much disgusted. And no, the programs are not responsible for selling more than a negligible increase in amount of cars. Period.

Now here’s the conundrum….we can’t throw another conference at them. We can’t throw another “digital marketing”, or “social media”, or  “digital consulting”, or “new age training“ company at them either (you can here the shotguns loading now). And you’ll not be able to convince them that the person visiting them with zero hands-on experience in anything he/she is talking about will make a difference. Unfortunately they might have to let that person visit to make the factory happy. Ugh.

Dealers and OEMs should be able to (stop everything they’re doing and) reevaluate the broken CSI, allocation and reward programs that current exist. Then, as one example, build new models that actually reward dealers who perform exceptionally for their sales and service customers, not exclusive to volume, according to only those customers (versus third party companies), transparent, benchmarked scoring (imaging that!) and overall investment (including but not limited to the facility).

Yes, customers expect more. And that’s not going to stop, ever. And yes, more cars are selling; same with large new-technology televisions, tablets and dinner reservations. When the “easy” sales stop again, fewer dealers will be ready for reality. At least the reality they’re living on and sold by people who shouldn’t be selling them…

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

You can read more IM@CS posts here on DrivingSales or on our blog

Yes, it is getting more and more difficult for business owners to make decisions today that will positively impact their business, especially in the arena of digital marketing. You might say “bull hooey” and protest that it has become easier. And you’d be half fright…

Nothing is more frustrating to a business owner that not understanding something that should otherwise be “easy” to do so. That’s where misguided trust and blind recommendations become so darn appealing. Attend a 20 Group and you just might be amazed as to how eloquent an otherwise inept presenter can be.

We live in a world of regurgitated content, many times so prolific that anyone can claim it to be theirs. Car dealers and executive management, typically, know what has been and possibly what is happening now.  They’re still overwhelmingly blind to what is going to happen, even though it’s in front of their eyes. And smartphones.

However, the chasm that exists does so simply because the dots aren’t connecting. In other words, they “get” that they need to market in a new channel, or completely store prospective and customer data in CRM, or spend time understanding new reports. While there is no excuse, none whatsoever including “time”, to not do any or all of that, there is at least bandwidth to consider.

As much as it easy to blame the OEM for (many) programs of epically disastrous proportion, it is up to the dealer to make sure their house is in order.

The struggle that has presented itself over the past 3-4 years, and it’s gaining momentum by the way, isn’t whether to do more, invest more, hire more or attend more, it is truly around letting go of operations to those that they have in power and get immersed the way they did when they started selling, or working in the service drive, or washing cars for their owner-parent while memorizing the specifications to 95% of the cars each year. More than ever you must have a desire to consume, learn, test and challenge yourself. And, ahem, everyone around you.

Recently, especially if you get caught up in rumor, there has been more and more reports of OEM digital, education and training programs being under scrutiny. Enter in shock and awe. Well, at least for everyone but those unfortunate few of us who called into question the very under-budgeted, under-staffed, under-educated, under-facilitated, under-read, under-thought-through contracts. While the programs disserve the OEMs, dealers (at least progressive and knowledgeable ones) are pretty much disgusted. And no, the programs are not responsible for selling more than a negligible increase in amount of cars. Period.

Now here’s the conundrum….we can’t throw another conference at them. We can’t throw another “digital marketing”, or “social media”, or  “digital consulting”, or “new age training“ company at them either (you can here the shotguns loading now). And you’ll not be able to convince them that the person visiting them with zero hands-on experience in anything he/she is talking about will make a difference. Unfortunately they might have to let that person visit to make the factory happy. Ugh.

Dealers and OEMs should be able to (stop everything they’re doing and) reevaluate the broken CSI, allocation and reward programs that current exist. Then, as one example, build new models that actually reward dealers who perform exceptionally for their sales and service customers, not exclusive to volume, according to only those customers (versus third party companies), transparent, benchmarked scoring (imaging that!) and overall investment (including but not limited to the facility).

Yes, customers expect more. And that’s not going to stop, ever. And yes, more cars are selling; same with large new-technology televisions, tablets and dinner reservations. When the “easy” sales stop again, fewer dealers will be ready for reality. At least the reality they’re living on and sold by people who shouldn’t be selling them…

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

You can read more IM@CS posts here on DrivingSales or on our blog