As our industry moves (very slowly) toward digital dominance, more companies are chosen each year to assist with certain initiatives driven by the OEMs. As the market fills with mostly fledgling, so-called expert vendors in the major categories (website, SEO, SEM, mobile, reputation management, social media), RFPs and projects are drawn out and the partners are selected. Then, almost like clockwork, the inevitable takes place. The proverbial crap hits the fan and the vendor can't deliver.

If you've paid attention and done a little digging over the past few years, you've watched as the industry has filled with providers that, for the most part, weren't doing what they are now providing for more than a year or two (and sometimes simply weren't even in the space the day before they launched). Many companies have re-branded as digital agencies, marketers, training, search and the like with little more than a presentation deck. And then they walk into the manufacturers headquarters (sometimes on the coattails of a relative or someone they have "pictures" of) for their pitch. Viola, preferred vendor!

Even though relationships dominate despite near incompetence or irrelevance, sometimes it's just that the company/companies that can actually do the work are viewed as too small (staff, revenue, etc.), or they are brought in to pitch simply to hit the right amount of stand up presentations for purchasing. But the litmus test doesn't change: call the vendor, ask a non life-and-death question and see if the first person that's not a receptionist or secretary can answer. If you're talking with a tech support person and they have to ask a manager or someone else, call your OEM rep and give them an earful. Maybe, just maybe, if this happens a few hundred (read: thousand) times, maybe they'll get the message that their preferred provider(s) simply can't do the work.

In working with nearly every brand dealership and nearly all OEMs, their ad agencies and digital vendors over the past twelve plus years, it's scary to witness the process, implementation and support that exists. And the cycle continues due to the incestuous ways in which the programs are executed. The manufacturers want you to believe that real assessments are carried out and that they've done their due diligence. Fact is, that's a pipe dream. Endorsements aren't really want they sound like. And for those people that paid any attention to elections over the past months as well as years, vendor selection is more like how Super Pacs operate or how Wall Street controls their puppets: Follow the money, lunches, perks and relationships and you'll find a substandard product or service get the rubber stamp.

And the pisser is that they keep buying from them, warts and all. Because, among other things, the mentality is still non-digital in marketing. And the people who head the eCommerce and digital divisions are no better at their genre than your local newspaper rep.

So follow the vendor recommendations that are mandatory and voluntary but always keep an ear to the ground and give real feedback to your factory rep (even though the majority of them have no idea what an AdWord extension, heat map or pixel tracking is) and at ad meetings and 20 Groups. Because the majority of what they or you are buying is well under what you deserve, and usually what works.

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

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

As our industry moves (very slowly) toward digital dominance, more companies are chosen each year to assist with certain initiatives driven by the OEMs. As the market fills with mostly fledgling, so-called expert vendors in the major categories (website, SEO, SEM, mobile, reputation management, social media), RFPs and projects are drawn out and the partners are selected. Then, almost like clockwork, the inevitable takes place. The proverbial crap hits the fan and the vendor can't deliver.

If you've paid attention and done a little digging over the past few years, you've watched as the industry has filled with providers that, for the most part, weren't doing what they are now providing for more than a year or two (and sometimes simply weren't even in the space the day before they launched). Many companies have re-branded as digital agencies, marketers, training, search and the like with little more than a presentation deck. And then they walk into the manufacturers headquarters (sometimes on the coattails of a relative or someone they have "pictures" of) for their pitch. Viola, preferred vendor!

Even though relationships dominate despite near incompetence or irrelevance, sometimes it's just that the company/companies that can actually do the work are viewed as too small (staff, revenue, etc.), or they are brought in to pitch simply to hit the right amount of stand up presentations for purchasing. But the litmus test doesn't change: call the vendor, ask a non life-and-death question and see if the first person that's not a receptionist or secretary can answer. If you're talking with a tech support person and they have to ask a manager or someone else, call your OEM rep and give them an earful. Maybe, just maybe, if this happens a few hundred (read: thousand) times, maybe they'll get the message that their preferred provider(s) simply can't do the work.

In working with nearly every brand dealership and nearly all OEMs, their ad agencies and digital vendors over the past twelve plus years, it's scary to witness the process, implementation and support that exists. And the cycle continues due to the incestuous ways in which the programs are executed. The manufacturers want you to believe that real assessments are carried out and that they've done their due diligence. Fact is, that's a pipe dream. Endorsements aren't really want they sound like. And for those people that paid any attention to elections over the past months as well as years, vendor selection is more like how Super Pacs operate or how Wall Street controls their puppets: Follow the money, lunches, perks and relationships and you'll find a substandard product or service get the rubber stamp.

And the pisser is that they keep buying from them, warts and all. Because, among other things, the mentality is still non-digital in marketing. And the people who head the eCommerce and digital divisions are no better at their genre than your local newspaper rep.

So follow the vendor recommendations that are mandatory and voluntary but always keep an ear to the ground and give real feedback to your factory rep (even though the majority of them have no idea what an AdWord extension, heat map or pixel tracking is) and at ad meetings and 20 Groups. Because the majority of what they or you are buying is well under what you deserve, and usually what works.

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

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

From time to time, it’s good to get a strong dose of perspective or reality, depending who is describing reality. It’s easy to see why business owners, and especially car dealers, are so confused when it comes to doing anything, let alone well, in the digital/online space. Diluted solutions that favor data over results and backed more by marketing genius than true muscle are more common than wannabe starlets at Hugh Heffner’s gigs at the mansion.

Our reality comes in doses while checking out new markets, our client’s competitors, vendors’ pitch materials or the information the factory eCommerce rep brings around to dealers, from time to time.

The information age is lacking in one large area for businesses; in correct information! In a day where so called experts are giving misleading or incorrect directions, ad agencies are still F-bombing (oops, errant posts to) client social media accounts, SEO companies are still using offshore link/content farms and studies show, for some reason, that 2009 data still needs to be shared on stage as new, not enough people are calling folks out. No, those companies are still getting hired and you’re still using them!

Reality check is you have to consume large amounts of correct information at breakneck speed today to keep up. Mind you, we’re not talking about leading, just keeping up. And most dealers aren’t doing that.

Sure, everyone knows how to eat an elephant. Right? one bite at a time. But trying to take a sip of the digital waters, for most, has been like drinking from a fire hose or the bottom of a waterfall. A little overbearing! Car dealers…get out of your comfort zone and take a big gulp!!

As you prepare to start 2013, here are a few things to think about and maybe, just maybe, put to action:

• Your website should not be the same as your closest in-brand competitor. This is not a vendor thing; it’s a content thing.
• Your emails should not be the same as any local competitor. This is not a vendor thing; it’s a people thing.
• Your social network content should not be the same as any local competitor. This is not a vendor thing; it’s a smart thing.

In 2013, the manufacturers clearly want their stores to be as uniform as possible: experience, showroom, content, website/mobile, email and more. Fight it tooth and nail.  The majority of endorsed vendors are not there for you, they are there for them.  The norm sucks…so don’t settle for it.

The more consumers expect a unique experience, the more our industry fights it. Why? Because it’s not easy to do things that way; even though more of you are just giving in.

The smallest portion of the budgets in our industry, still, happens to be the digital ones. This is a top-down mentality, starting with the manufacturers. Oh, and don’t let the desire to govern response times and having your wrists slapped over a vehicle image with the wrong lug nuts stop you from having a kick ass digital presence and drive more customers to your front door. Do things right the first time and get wet. Get really, really, really, really wet from the digital hose. It’s the only way to lead.

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results
 

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

From time to time, it’s good to get a strong dose of perspective or reality, depending who is describing reality. It’s easy to see why business owners, and especially car dealers, are so confused when it comes to doing anything, let alone well, in the digital/online space. Diluted solutions that favor data over results and backed more by marketing genius than true muscle are more common than wannabe starlets at Hugh Heffner’s gigs at the mansion.

Our reality comes in doses while checking out new markets, our client’s competitors, vendors’ pitch materials or the information the factory eCommerce rep brings around to dealers, from time to time.

The information age is lacking in one large area for businesses; in correct information! In a day where so called experts are giving misleading or incorrect directions, ad agencies are still F-bombing (oops, errant posts to) client social media accounts, SEO companies are still using offshore link/content farms and studies show, for some reason, that 2009 data still needs to be shared on stage as new, not enough people are calling folks out. No, those companies are still getting hired and you’re still using them!

Reality check is you have to consume large amounts of correct information at breakneck speed today to keep up. Mind you, we’re not talking about leading, just keeping up. And most dealers aren’t doing that.

Sure, everyone knows how to eat an elephant. Right? one bite at a time. But trying to take a sip of the digital waters, for most, has been like drinking from a fire hose or the bottom of a waterfall. A little overbearing! Car dealers…get out of your comfort zone and take a big gulp!!

As you prepare to start 2013, here are a few things to think about and maybe, just maybe, put to action:

• Your website should not be the same as your closest in-brand competitor. This is not a vendor thing; it’s a content thing.
• Your emails should not be the same as any local competitor. This is not a vendor thing; it’s a people thing.
• Your social network content should not be the same as any local competitor. This is not a vendor thing; it’s a smart thing.

In 2013, the manufacturers clearly want their stores to be as uniform as possible: experience, showroom, content, website/mobile, email and more. Fight it tooth and nail.  The majority of endorsed vendors are not there for you, they are there for them.  The norm sucks…so don’t settle for it.

The more consumers expect a unique experience, the more our industry fights it. Why? Because it’s not easy to do things that way; even though more of you are just giving in.

The smallest portion of the budgets in our industry, still, happens to be the digital ones. This is a top-down mentality, starting with the manufacturers. Oh, and don’t let the desire to govern response times and having your wrists slapped over a vehicle image with the wrong lug nuts stop you from having a kick ass digital presence and drive more customers to your front door. Do things right the first time and get wet. Get really, really, really, really wet from the digital hose. It’s the only way to lead.

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results
 

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

Leads. Leads. Leads. Lead? Nope, the customer that should be yours that will buy somewhere else. All the data (little data and it’s more well-known brothers medium data and big data) says the same thing: people that submit leads buy. And buy in a well-defined timeframe. And buy from…….well, it doesn’t matter. Most of the time it’s not you.

So what’s the deal? The deal is this: the more leads that are typically generated deliver fewer customers. Why? Because we can’t change an industry of salespeople, management, training and manuals before it wants to shed its rich history of stuffing customers into cars, only going for the low-hanging fruit and being “busy” which is a crock of bull. Between seemingly insurmountable amounts of information and customers buying, there is a brick wall. Yes, the one you keep hitting your heads against; the one that prevents us from being great and gaining attitudes that push us outside of our comfort zones.

Internet leads are gold. Back in the 1800’s California Gold Rush a lot of people went broke while a fair number made their riches. Fast forward to the last fifteen years and, likely for many of the same reasons, a few are making a killing while most are screaming “bad leads” rather than actually looking at what the heck is happening in their stores.

Between a dealership’s website and third parties, the average store can create enough business to sustain at least one person dedicated to managing “leads” or a floor of great communicators (which everyone says they are) sharing all of the business. The problem lies at the point where a response is sent. For the most part, dealerships respond with crap, period. Invite me into any dealership in the country, I’ll show you mediocre at best responses within the 30 days period prior and many of them.

So what needs to be done to eliminate losing someone at hello? Ready…here’s the rocket science:

• Read the lead, and most of the time the source lead, completely prior to sending a response. Then read it again. Then slow down and read it again.
• The response should include answers to every question or comment provided by the customer and validation for the customer
• The response should include a qualifying and/or a closing question every time. In every email. Every time. No matter what. Every time. And if you can’t think of one, write a couple and stick it to your monitor or keyboard (would you like assistance with anything else? or did you have any other questions right now?)
• Hit send after you’ve read the email thoroughly, ensuring that everything asked by the customer has been addressed, value or benefit has been identified, your complete contact information is included and that no significant amount of time has elapsed since receiving the information/email/response from the customer. Hold it!! Read it again and make sure it is understandable and completely addresses what the customer wants and needs without being a Steinbeck.

The reason that most dealerships don’t receive equitable responses from customers who submit online leads is….we send garbage! If it’s easier and more rewarding to buy a $25 item from Amazon than a $30,000 car from your store, shame on you!

Never send an email or pick up the phone (recorded phone calls demonstrate that we do just as s**tty of a job on the phone as emails) when (1) you don’t know what you are going to say, (2) don’t address the customer’s needs, (3) can’t properly invite them into the dealership and (4) talk/write more than asking questions.

Expectations around online experiences leading to purchase are increasing. So it doesn’t make sense to miss the mark, then defend yourself to your GM or GSM with anything other than “you know what, I don’t deserve to manage your leads”. And by the way, that’s not much of a defense, however at least it’s honest.

Remember that there is no such thing as a bad lead, just a crappy response. Yes, there are bogus leads but you’re old enough and smart enough to sell 20+ cars a month on 100 leads. Yes, you are. Go get ‘em tiger!

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

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

Leads. Leads. Leads. Lead? Nope, the customer that should be yours that will buy somewhere else. All the data (little data and it’s more well-known brothers medium data and big data) says the same thing: people that submit leads buy. And buy in a well-defined timeframe. And buy from…….well, it doesn’t matter. Most of the time it’s not you.

So what’s the deal? The deal is this: the more leads that are typically generated deliver fewer customers. Why? Because we can’t change an industry of salespeople, management, training and manuals before it wants to shed its rich history of stuffing customers into cars, only going for the low-hanging fruit and being “busy” which is a crock of bull. Between seemingly insurmountable amounts of information and customers buying, there is a brick wall. Yes, the one you keep hitting your heads against; the one that prevents us from being great and gaining attitudes that push us outside of our comfort zones.

Internet leads are gold. Back in the 1800’s California Gold Rush a lot of people went broke while a fair number made their riches. Fast forward to the last fifteen years and, likely for many of the same reasons, a few are making a killing while most are screaming “bad leads” rather than actually looking at what the heck is happening in their stores.

Between a dealership’s website and third parties, the average store can create enough business to sustain at least one person dedicated to managing “leads” or a floor of great communicators (which everyone says they are) sharing all of the business. The problem lies at the point where a response is sent. For the most part, dealerships respond with crap, period. Invite me into any dealership in the country, I’ll show you mediocre at best responses within the 30 days period prior and many of them.

So what needs to be done to eliminate losing someone at hello? Ready…here’s the rocket science:

• Read the lead, and most of the time the source lead, completely prior to sending a response. Then read it again. Then slow down and read it again.
• The response should include answers to every question or comment provided by the customer and validation for the customer
• The response should include a qualifying and/or a closing question every time. In every email. Every time. No matter what. Every time. And if you can’t think of one, write a couple and stick it to your monitor or keyboard (would you like assistance with anything else? or did you have any other questions right now?)
• Hit send after you’ve read the email thoroughly, ensuring that everything asked by the customer has been addressed, value or benefit has been identified, your complete contact information is included and that no significant amount of time has elapsed since receiving the information/email/response from the customer. Hold it!! Read it again and make sure it is understandable and completely addresses what the customer wants and needs without being a Steinbeck.

The reason that most dealerships don’t receive equitable responses from customers who submit online leads is….we send garbage! If it’s easier and more rewarding to buy a $25 item from Amazon than a $30,000 car from your store, shame on you!

Never send an email or pick up the phone (recorded phone calls demonstrate that we do just as s**tty of a job on the phone as emails) when (1) you don’t know what you are going to say, (2) don’t address the customer’s needs, (3) can’t properly invite them into the dealership and (4) talk/write more than asking questions.

Expectations around online experiences leading to purchase are increasing. So it doesn’t make sense to miss the mark, then defend yourself to your GM or GSM with anything other than “you know what, I don’t deserve to manage your leads”. And by the way, that’s not much of a defense, however at least it’s honest.

Remember that there is no such thing as a bad lead, just a crappy response. Yes, there are bogus leads but you’re old enough and smart enough to sell 20+ cars a month on 100 leads. Yes, you are. Go get ‘em tiger!

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

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

The more things change, the more they stay the same. There are no shortcuts... Car dealers, when it comes to websites, SEO, reputation management, SEM and social media stop simply buying services blind or going co-op “approved” to save a buck. Stop buying enterprise solutions because it's one check or everything comes on a "proprietary dashboard" and start getting effective results with accountability. Start being your own dealership online rather than being like all of the rest. The same is what enterprise solutions get you. It doesn't work.

Some quick examples: Redundant SEO doesn't stand out and as a matter of fact it’s penalized today by Google and Bing. Copied press releases don't get clicked, read or acted upon. Facebook posts (even though, yes, Google and Bing don't crawl them) that are identical to every one of your competitors don't gain reach or go viral. And PPC ads that aren’t set up properly and don't have unique content don't convert.

It is time to drop the vendors that are endorsed by your brand/OEM that 450, 700 or 1,600 other stores are on; and time to invest properly, get involved with what YOU put online under your name and get real about understanding and results. And for business sake, reputation management and social media are not things you just turn over and don’t watch and discuss, period. Paying vendors to get reviews and paying someone to put up pictures of goldfish in adjacent bowls starting at each other with "caption this" was not acceptable in 2009, let alone 2012. And even if you're not up to speed with what Google or Yelp are doing (and you need to be), don’t pay for reviews from someone that’s not a salesperson, service writer or other employee. Your reputation is your responsibility, not a vendor’s for a couple thousand dollars a month.

Your OEM-certified vendors don’t understand social media and for most brand headquarters, the people making the decision don’t know much more when they sign the purchase orders or endorsements. Most eCommerce heads had stints in other areas of their brand operations and have no experience or understanding.  It’s time you knew that because you are trusting your largest traffic generator, which most dealers flinch at spending $1,000-1,500 a month for…let alone more appropriate, higher costs, to a decision someone made based on a relationship, a pitch and/or promises of non-dealer-centric benefits.

Take ownership and yes, you can and must do and be responsible for every single thing that has your name on it: advertising, fliers, sell sheets, hang tags, pictures, video, templates and online marketing...all the way down to your business cards. If you aren’t on your way, or at least starting, down your digital comprehension and betterment it is only a matter of time before you are absolutely, positively passed up.

You will hear this from very few people and places because it flies in the face of convention. And it disagrees with what you hear in ads and presentations. And it is an about face from what nearly all of the OEMs want and believe. And because it’s hard to beat the 800 pound gorilla (vendors); the gorilla that has no idea what any part of the funnel in their traffic report is, how to properly maintain website optimization, how to set up a legitimate Facebook or Google Plus page and just can’t get its hands around how to actually answer a lead.

Welcome to being back in business for yourself and with the right frame of mind. Yes, that means the herd you leave just may be heading the wrong way…

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Resutls

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

The more things change, the more they stay the same. There are no shortcuts... Car dealers, when it comes to websites, SEO, reputation management, SEM and social media stop simply buying services blind or going co-op “approved” to save a buck. Stop buying enterprise solutions because it's one check or everything comes on a "proprietary dashboard" and start getting effective results with accountability. Start being your own dealership online rather than being like all of the rest. The same is what enterprise solutions get you. It doesn't work.

Some quick examples: Redundant SEO doesn't stand out and as a matter of fact it’s penalized today by Google and Bing. Copied press releases don't get clicked, read or acted upon. Facebook posts (even though, yes, Google and Bing don't crawl them) that are identical to every one of your competitors don't gain reach or go viral. And PPC ads that aren’t set up properly and don't have unique content don't convert.

It is time to drop the vendors that are endorsed by your brand/OEM that 450, 700 or 1,600 other stores are on; and time to invest properly, get involved with what YOU put online under your name and get real about understanding and results. And for business sake, reputation management and social media are not things you just turn over and don’t watch and discuss, period. Paying vendors to get reviews and paying someone to put up pictures of goldfish in adjacent bowls starting at each other with "caption this" was not acceptable in 2009, let alone 2012. And even if you're not up to speed with what Google or Yelp are doing (and you need to be), don’t pay for reviews from someone that’s not a salesperson, service writer or other employee. Your reputation is your responsibility, not a vendor’s for a couple thousand dollars a month.

Your OEM-certified vendors don’t understand social media and for most brand headquarters, the people making the decision don’t know much more when they sign the purchase orders or endorsements. Most eCommerce heads had stints in other areas of their brand operations and have no experience or understanding.  It’s time you knew that because you are trusting your largest traffic generator, which most dealers flinch at spending $1,000-1,500 a month for…let alone more appropriate, higher costs, to a decision someone made based on a relationship, a pitch and/or promises of non-dealer-centric benefits.

Take ownership and yes, you can and must do and be responsible for every single thing that has your name on it: advertising, fliers, sell sheets, hang tags, pictures, video, templates and online marketing...all the way down to your business cards. If you aren’t on your way, or at least starting, down your digital comprehension and betterment it is only a matter of time before you are absolutely, positively passed up.

You will hear this from very few people and places because it flies in the face of convention. And it disagrees with what you hear in ads and presentations. And it is an about face from what nearly all of the OEMs want and believe. And because it’s hard to beat the 800 pound gorilla (vendors); the gorilla that has no idea what any part of the funnel in their traffic report is, how to properly maintain website optimization, how to set up a legitimate Facebook or Google Plus page and just can’t get its hands around how to actually answer a lead.

Welcome to being back in business for yourself and with the right frame of mind. Yes, that means the herd you leave just may be heading the wrong way…

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Resutls

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