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

It's that time of the year again.... Well, actually not. Let's be completely honest. It's that one day of the year again. The one day where everyone around the automotivesphere expresses their public thanks: letters from the manufacturers' chief/department executives to their staff, dealers/general managers to their staff, vendors to their staff and maybe, just maybe, expressions of thanks between companies and their staff.

What are you thankful for? The fact that 2012, for the most part, is better than 2011? That the last couple years beats the two before that (and who isn't)? Are we all in a state of fiscal thanks or personal thanks? Who went out to the lot to deeply thank the porter who always takes care of the customers, never takes even a penny from a floor board and smiles as he closes the door for a customer about to leave? A gift certificate for a complimentary 10 pound turkey is not the same as a hearty handshake or chest bump and looking them in the eye and saying "thank you".

Were all of your clients welcome at your store or office simply to talk, network and share a story? The website, CRM, mobile or search marketing vendor contact that always makes things right before the 11th hour...did you write a thank you letter or tell their boss in an email?

You all saw that manufacturer's ad that ran this morning thanking their customers for making the choice to buy their product, right?! Yeah, I just called hell and it hadn't frozen over yet...the ads I see still scream about Curesomethingian leather, diamond-encrusted door handles, and de-magnetized drive control. AS a matter of fact, when is the last time an OEM publicly thanked their customers?

Giving thanks should be a warm-inducing, blush-creating, pit-of-your-stomach humbling experience. At a minimum it should happen more than we all hear "sorry", which for most people has lost it's meaning. But "thank you" shouldn't. And rather than "thanks", make it "thank you" because it actually talks about the person in front of you, or on the phone or that receives the email. Make it about someone else.

So take a moment today (and the following days) to heartily thank the people who make a difference in your business, for your customers and in your life. Thanksgiving is a great day if the thank yous that are giving are complete.

OK, now go out and make Black Friday more important and spend all of the money that you're thankful for....

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

The 2012 DrivingSales Executive Summit has closed its doors with an amazing, energetic event to show. Congratulations to the entire (growing) DrivingSales team, you have left a higher bar to be measured against, once again. With nearly 1000 in attendance, primarily dealers, the vibe was strong around leading-edge strategies. And the expectations were high...

Opening in one of the Bellagio's main ballrooms, with the shortest intro of the four-year event by Jared Hamilton, emcee Charlie Vogelheim introduced Dennis Galbraith to talk about "big data" for dealerships, emphasizing the importance of executable data-based strategy, followed by Luke Wroblewski, renowned mobile expert. The information shared by the former Yahoo design guru wowed the crowd. While not industry-specific, the impact of traffic and studies was easily translatable to both OEM and dealership tactics. The big question was, why are we not better around mobile strategies? The opening reception definitely reflected the excitement for the event.

Florian Zettelmeyer opened up day two with a deeper drive into "Big Data" with a focus on national brands. Like Luke's presentation the evening before, the practical application into automotive was significant and it turned quite a few heads. Feedback from dealers was overwhelmingly positive, and interesting. So were some tweets: one suggested a drinking game each time "Big Data" was heard, the other coining "Big Data" as the.....well you'll have to find and read it.

Rand Fishkin was next and the SEO oracle delivered. Talking points included off-site, social signals, long-tail and other critical search components. The feedback from the session was that it was top-notch. The SEOmoz founder gave dealers (and many vendors) information points that area critical to success, especially given lots of "enterprise" information that is typically given to the industry.

One of the marquee events of the DSES was next...the Best Idea competition. It's best to watch the videos on DrivingSales TV since this post can't quite catch the passion that the dealers being to the table. Everything, at the end of the day, is about the dealer and the industry moves as the speed of retail. So go watch! After the first round of breakout sessions, it was back into the main ballroom for the Innovation Cup. This year cDemo came out on top. Next year those in the running are going to watch to polish up their presentation and explanation skills....

Cobalt was next with their presentation that was supposed to hit on research and, wait for it.... Data that the industry could use relevant to websites and traffic. Some of the points were relevant while many points were already part of existing marketing for most of the dealers in attendance. Then, the full-capacity crowd was rewarded with a gem of a presentation from Billy Beane. The Oakland A's General Manager, who doesn't make public speaking a regular practice, talked about how businesses must be smart, agile and customer-centric, plus saving some tongue-in-check monologue about Moneyball. The audience paid full attention to his ideas, quotes and stories.

Tuesday opened with Facebook and Google...and a heavy dose of anticipation. The two biggest subjects on the industry's mind, Google reviews and Facebook advertising, were not covered due to both companies request. Tom White did as good as possible a job without a full quiver of questions to ask, still leaving some important aspects to be covered by both the search and social giants.

Then one of the most highly anticipated sessions in the industry in 2012: Jared Hamilton hosted TrueCar's Scott Painter for a one-on-one Q&A. Whether Jared took it easy or was tough on who represented the industry's pariah about a year ago or not is of opinion, there were some great questions and responses with some in the crowd wondering what position TrueCar will play into 2013.

Jim Dance followed with a leadership focused presentation that should immediately impact dealership operation. Rich in examples and strategy, Jim did have a post-lunch audience (always tough) that revealed many taking notes. Packed afternoon breakouts brought the event to the evening's joint keynote with JD Power's Automotive Marketing Roundtable. Mini's marketing head Tom Salkowsky talked about their passionate customers and gave chimerical and video examples of just how dedicated Mini owners are.

Then, Scott Straten of "Unmarketing" fame stepped on stage and gave the packed ballroom plenty to laugh, cry and think about. Between chanting "stop it" in regard to mediocre marketing and technology use to bits of "Awesome", his words danced throughout the mix of dealers, OEMs, agencies, media and portals packed i for the following conference. Sick as a dog, Straten simply engaged the audience with the same style and techniques he begged attendees to use.

Amazing event. What will the DSES team due to make 2013 shine? We only have 12 months to find out...

Special announcements: Jared Hamilton introduced industry veteran Kevin Root as President/COO of DrivingSales and revealed that in April 2013, the DrivingSales Automotive Presidents Club featuring Seth Godin. For dealers who want to attend the New York event, go to www.drivingsalespresidentsclub.com

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

Stop what you're doing. Right now! Look back, quickly. Look back for a while. No, not over your shoulder silly. If you've been at least somewhat involved in the digital realm over the past 3-6 years, take a hard look back. What have you done? Where did your advice come from? How much time have you lost? How much momentum have you gained? How many wins have you had? And how many losses?

Everything changes, we know that. We also know that one man's garbage is another man's treasure. So in your looking back, what have you really learned? This is a little beacon asking you to close the door (or if you're in a cube or BDC or somewhere without a door, pretend to) and think about who, what and to where you were following. This is not a call to go back to basics, which is garbage, however it's a call to think. For yourself.

Too often we go with those that have been penned as the thought leaders, gurus, experts, published authorities, subject matter experts, pros, top of their gamers and the like. So that begs a question: what has been constant in your digital presence for the last three years? Four? Five?

Chances are, not much.

Fact is a lot of people, namely business owners and executive management, are scratching their heads over the past months asking themselves "why did we go down the (fill in initiative here) road?". Is SEO alive or dead? Does social media work or not? Did the new close work or deter customers? Was mobile marketing right or wrong? Great questions. Think about it this way: did your last tent event sell lots of cars? But....that's not digital, right? A tent event or massive offsite lot sale is not, true. Neither should your thinking.

All those things promote traffic, sales, new customers, conquest, retention and more. Of course they do...you can ALWAYS sell. Digital strategies are no different than picking up a good book. They're cause to make you think. Not copy! Short term gains never win over long term thinking. And to think you need to know or be on the path to knowing better.

Sometimes it's funny how operators operate. There's a lot to be said about how dealers are afraid. They're afraid to spend or try new things or go off into unchartered territory. Not to defend them, the truth is they're bombarded. And by everyone that has something to sell from $.02 pens to $20M facilities. And the shiny new thingamabob fits squarely somewhere in between.

So in your reflection, look as specifically as possible at what was done over your foray into the digital world, and what was not done. You see a lot of people are selling new mousetraps and reworking the old ones. Yes, for the most part they work better. You can only be a judge, just like with a book or white paper or study at a conference, after the fact. And quite a few have benefitted over the past years due to their desire and ability to win in the digital realm and congrats to those who have.

Just a heads up that you're trying to catch a cheetah, not a mouse. A cheetah can still run at over 60 miles per hour with a mousetrap clipped onto its paw. That is until it gets smashed to smithereens and the cheetah goes on as if nothing ever happened. There are so few mice in the digital realm today and most have mousetrap detectors.

There are some big things coming. Here is a heads up that the next big thing is not in hardware, software, advertising, marketing, mobile apps, CRM, retargeting or templates. You'll have to think about it. For those that do get it the remainder of 2012 and 2013, as well as going forward, will be easier.

If this was a hard one to understand, keep reading and coming back. And thank you.

If you got this, see you at the DrivingSales Executive Summit October 21-23 at Bellagio in Las Vegas...and please keep reading. We'd love to hear from you, you're our kind of business.

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

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

To better assist dealers attending the 2012 edition of the DrivingSales Executive Summit (DSES) automotive conference both at the event as well as afterward, Joe Webb (DealerKnows Consulting) and Gary May (Interactive Marketing and Consulting Services) have teamed up to create a new session at the top-ranked event October 21-23 taking place at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

On Tuesday, October 23 Webb and May will conduct a breakout session at 3:55p for the indsutry's most progressive dealers allowing them to best utilize both the new strategies learned at DSES as well as those not capitalized on presently at their dealerships. The forty-five minute session, just before the closing shared keynote by Scott Straten (Unmarketing) for DSES and the J.D. Power Automotive Marketing Roundtable (AMR), focuses on execution, deployment and accountability around digital marketing strategies.

"We want to do something completely different. We want to have them open both their minds and laptops or tablets to get the ball rolling before they get back to their stores. This new breakout will set a precedent and deliver a greater value to DrivingSales Executive Summit participants. And yes, there will be comedy", said Joe Webb in response to having the new format chosen for the 2012 DSES.

"Joe Webb and I share perspectives, operational approaches and a constant drive for accountability that will benefit the dealers. We wanted to offer a change in the way that attendees typically leave the conferences and then first start to formulate their plan(s) by having the foundation for execution happen at the event. We're excited to move the needle for those that are ready at DSES", stated Gary May upon selection by the conference's dealer advisory board.

For dealers not yet registered for the leaing digital automotive conference, the can visithttp://www.dses.com and use discount code IMACS12. The discounted book of rooms at Bellagio Hotel and Casino are sold out and the event is expected to reach 750 attendee capacity prior to the October 21 opening.

**DSES UPDATE**

Salt Lake City, UT (PRWEB) October 02, 2012

DrivingSales today announced that Scott Painter, Chairman and CEO of TrueCar, Inc., will take center stage for a one-on-one interview with DrivingSales CEO Jared Hamilton at the 4th annual DrivingSales Executive Summit(DSES). The DSES, which is the most authoritative profit-building event for innovative dealers, is the only auto conference Painter appears at this fall, and he joins an exciting keynote line-up that includes Billy Beane of ‘Moneyball’ fame, SEO ‘superstar’ Rand Fishkin, mobile experience expert Luke Wroblewski, renowned leadership trainer Jim Dance, prominent Northwestern University marketing professor Florian Zettelmeyer and an exclusive presentation from Facebook and Google.

Painter’s interview with Hamilton takes place on the main stage of the DrivingSales Executive Summit at the Bellagio Las Vegas on Monday, October 22nd at 2:00 pm PT. The question and answer session will cover Painter’s role with, and contributions to, TrueCar, including where the company has been, where it's going and what Painter sees in the future for the auto industry. Painter will also take questions submitted prior to the event by the DrivingSales community.

“We are excited that Scott is joining us for the summit, his efforts have truly aimed to push the boundaries of our industry. All Scott’s auto-related businesses in some way have melded technology, data and car-selling – a theme that we are zeroing in on at this year’s summit,” said Hamilton. “We look forward to a provocative, stimulating and illuminating session with Scott, one that will be of great interest not only to our dealer attendees and community, but also to the industry at large.”

One of the things we're most passionate about is education. Above anything else, education moves businesses forward. You can sell them all day long, and most vendors would given the chance, but until education (and support) is part of the equation there is no momentum.

The DrivingSales Executive Summit has set itself apart from other conferences since its inception in 2009 and continues to do so today. This year's lineup of keynotes is incredibly impressive and the team at DrivingSales has set the bar higher once again. However the magic is in the breakouts, along with the innovation sessions, where dealership staff in attendance get to break out their notebooks, tablets and other note-taking technology and build executable strategies.

Last year's DSES delivered some of the most creative and independent means for dealers to lead their markets with digital marketing strategies. One of those sessions was Gary Sanders of Stevinson Lexus of Lakewood (Denver, CO) talking about what he and his dealership did to better set the stage for customers looking at their inventory online and to direct how conversations and conversions would take place.

Simply put, businesses innovating trumps those who simply copy and in today's market it is essential to win. It all starts with the ideas and strategies. As simple as this sounds, most sessions I've attended at the breath of events around the industry center around "you need to be doing this" rather than "this is how you do this".

Come to the DrivingSales Executive Summit in three weeks with an open mind, it will change your business. Yes, you'll be able to learn more than simply listening...

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results