The last 5 years of my career I’ve focused on automotive marketing and I can’t believe that I am about to write about digital “naysayers”. We should be past this... right?

If you are reading this and find yourself checking out drivingsales.com on a regular basis you would agree with the above statement, you would also agree that you still run into the “naysayers” and get just as frustrated as anyone else in your position. How do you deal with this roadblock that comes between your motives and career goals?

Let’s analyze the situation a little bit;

Mr. Grossem is a Dealer Principal/GM and has been for 17 years. Let’s call him Dino. Dino runs a well-known brand dealership in a downtown, central area. You can see the dealership right off the highway and everyone knows about Grossem Motors. In fact they have a massive database and many loyal customers. Over the past 5 years Dino has noticed quite a change in customer behavior. He knows the Internet is a big part of this change but he has had nothing but bad experiences every time he try’s to A) Learn and understand why or B) spends money on a “digital” initiative. He’s sick and tired of all the commotion around silly “programs” like Facebook that his Daughter talks about all the time. Someone, like you, tells him how important it is to “get on the boat!” Dino, in his mind believes that he doesn’t need to get on another boat! His boat is working just fine! Runs like a dream, not one leak. Grossem Motors moves 150 units a month, fixed ops is as steady as ever and every time he try’s spending money on AdWords/SEO/Social Media the ROI makes no sense and he couldn’t care less about learning why, there is way to much to do!  So why would Dino get on your boat when his isn’t sinking…yet?

How do you, explain to Mr. Grossem that it’s time to focus and begin catering to the needs of his customers? The answer is in the question.

FOCUS

Does your dealership have a plan? It sounds so simple yet, contentment and “being comfortable” overrides the idea of a Plan. When a dealership has been around for 20 years, the plan becomes every day business. When a dealer is content with the sales and is comfortable with the trend, the need for a plan goes out the window.

Now, if someone came along to Mr. Grossem & explained the plan, interpreted a solid ROI attached to goals of the plan, maybe Dino would consider such a thing. Here is the problem. Digital Marketing is still new; there are so many “shiny tools” and not a whole lot of proof to back up the integrity of the tool. There are opinions, experts, gurus and an abundance of different directions to go. WHO IS RIGHT? WHO IS WRONG? It’s impossible to say. When something is so new, changes daily, who is in charge? Where is the complaints department?

The automotive vertical has a history of important factors to make the business go round. Managers know what traditional factors they are and they FOCUS on them, day in, day out to meet targets and keep the lights on.  Digital Marketing can have the same focus… if a plan is set out with the elements that make sense to the goals. The elements that cater to today’s Internet shoppers.

CATER TO THE NEEDS OF THE NEW SHOPPER.

Mr. Grossem knows darn well that customer service is one of the most important elements of his success.  Customer service is about CATERING to the needs of your customer in every way possible. So what is the difference if it’s on the Internet or in the Service Drive Thru? That line in itself will help bring “naysayers” on your boat!

This weekend, Sunday, October 12^th at 1:00pm at the beautiful Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, I will be speaking about these exact topics! Diving deep into the elements of a focused plan that will give you the clarity and concentration you need to fulfill a marketing plan, I have seen succeed over and over again.

In the case that you cannot attend, I’m sure Driving Sales will be releasing the presentations on videos shortly after the conference.

If you have not attended Driving Sales Executive Summit, it’s by far (in my opinion) the most forward thinking, innovative conference in the automotive vertical! Hope to see you there!

Lets go back 30 or 40 years when people actually would go from dealer to dealer looking for their brand new car. Imagine… You walk into the dealership, instead of a Sales Person presenting you a REAL, shiny truck, you are presented with a cardboard, cut out, replica! Does this make any sense? NO, either does our new vehicle merchandising strategy most dealer’s use today!

Lets just say 200 people a day visit your dealership website, we present them with CARTOON pictures of the new vehicle? These pictures are the exact same pictures that they can look at on the manufacture website or the dealer down the street, just one click away. Why should anyone go to YOUR website?

Here are 5 reasons we are sucking at merchandising our new vehicles online!

1. No REAL pictures of New Vehicles
2. No custom content/stories on New Vehicles.
3. No CUSTOM walk around videos of New Vehicles.
4. You don’t list proper “ALL IN PRICING” on your new vehicles.
5. You haven’t hired someone to make sure the inventory is perfected online!

(If we don’t improve our strategy soon, search engines and customers will start paying much more attention to the dealerships that are merchandising properly. If that’s you already, CONGRATS!)

A few reasons why dealership’s won’t merchandise new vehicles online properly:

• Resources: Spending money to hire a merchandiser is not in the budget.
• Buy In: Management doesn’t believe merchandising will make any difference to leads, appointments or sales.
• Old School Thinking: We’ve never done this, why do we need to now?
• Knowledge: Let's merchandise our new vehicles properly, I wish we knew how!

Why is it we have no problem hiring a “lot jockey” to impress 10 people a day in the physical showroom, but 200 people visiting the website a day and we can’t hire an online merchandiser? Is it just me or is this a disconnect?

When new vehicle merchandising is executed properly with REAL pictures, custom stories and videos of your entire new vehicle inventory, you will experience the following:

• Longer time on site.
• Lead increase (300% in some cases!!!)
• Huge improvements is search engine ranking.
• Trust, Transparency, Value

Oh right, one last thing. Google considers these “cartoon new vehicle pictures” duplicate content. This will KILL your search rankings over time… Another reason we need to change our new vehicle inventory strategy!

Are you merchandising your new vehicles? It would be great if you could share your experience?

Advanced Technology is Effecting Shopping Behaviour...

As technology advances so does the buying behavior of shoppers across all retail segments, especially automotive. We all know buying a car is the second largest purchase made in our lives, an important one. Customers are on the search for comfort, their favorite color and most of all a good deal. Technology has changed how the in-market shopper finds the information they require to make a smart purchase decision. GM’s and Sales Management today are mindful of the fact they need an engaging website with some Google advertising and a social media strategy. Wait! What about the most important part? SELLING the vehicle! That shopper that spent 11 hours on line before filling out a form on your website, did they come into the store for an appointment? If the dealership is not converting at 25% or higher, from incoming lead to over the curb and burning rubber, we should all be re-eveluating our strategy. Instead of blaming the “type” of lead and chalking up iLead’s as BAD leads, maybe we should look at the big picture? Let’s dig in to what might be a hefty misconception.

Marketing is not upstairs it’s downstairs! 

 Let’s analyze the situation; a lead comes in from an in-market, automotive shopper that has been online for an average of 11 hours. Every click equipped the shopper some tid-bid of information, all adding up to the perfect buying decision. The customer, excited and ready to buy, submits their information into a slick box on your website. Wamo - a brick wall. 15 minutes goes by, 30 minutes goes by… in some cases, hours go by with no answer from the sales team. FAIL. The reason I can speak so confidently to this is because I have mystery shopped literally hundreds of dealerships (I suggest you do this as well) and this seems to be the common outcome. Hold on, it gets worse. The dealerships that do reply within minutes are an “automatic response”.  As a customer, we can understand this “auto” response after business hours, but 3:00pm in the afternoon, when we know the store is open? Come on…

Instant Gratification...

Here are the facts. The customer wants instant gratification. The “technology shopper” expects and craves information right away. Everything else they do on the web is at their fingertips, why would it be any different connecting with a dealership through a call to action on the website? 

We fall behind due to the technology world shifting quicker than the business can adapt. We have figured out how to get people to the website, how are we converting them into customers? At 10% conversion we have work to do.

Sales teams are made up of industry vets, who have large client bases and can close a deal with their eyes closed. These skill sets have nothing to do with writing a great email or responding to an iLead.  You can’t fire the (Sales Vet) dinosaur makes no sense when they are top of sales. Are the dealerships hands tied?

What About The Follow Up?

Follow-up is another concern. Leads are rolling in across all facets. Google AdWords are bringing in phone calls and form fills. Banner ads funneling traffic to the site, more leads roll in. Your upstairs marketing is going well! Those Las Vegas conferences paid off! What is going on downstairs? Why is the conversion rate on leads to sales so low?

The first  GM “UREKA” moment and common fix to this problem is, “Lets get a CRM!”. The GM believes that the dealership will do a one-eighty on a dime and expect that all leads will be logged, all phone calls will get noted, the receptionist will log the walk ins. Not a bad idea!

The reality is, this does not happen over night. Some cases (Dinosaur Staff) it won’t happen at all. (Sorry, not trying to be rude be I'm not the only one who has agreed that this is a MAJOR issue.)

Put yourself in the shoes of a sales vet or Dinosaur. You have been selling cars for 20 - 30 years. It was only 10 years ago that you had a pen, paper and a handshake that sealed the entire deal. Now you are going to ask that same individual who has had a routine for 20 years to change it? Guess what? You’ve discouraged the vet/dinosaur and he starts to roar! Time passes and the all the baby dinosaurs get rallied up going against your pretty little CRM. This is not an easy feat. Look how Jurassic Park ended…

I have come to the conclusion that if you want a well oiled machine that responds to the technology shoppers properly, in a respectable amount of time (2 minutes). Follows up with valuable, professional, engaging information. Logs the interaction with a complete set of notes… It’s time to bite the bullet. Create a Business Development Centre! (BDC) I can hear you as I write this piece “That’s crazy expensive, takes up a ton of time and resources. Our little dealership could never have a BDC” I believe you are mistaken and I would like to explain. Just as mentioned at the beginning of this piece, the in-market buyer has changed their shopping behavior. We need to adapt.

How to "find $$$ for the resources for a Business Development Centre:

1. Review the books – If you don’t know what it is, get rid of it! If it’s not traceable back to some kind of return, say goodbye. It’s amazing how we can get caught up in so many “things”. Scrape the budget with a fine toothcomb and if it’s no good, drop it! This is your chance to grow your business with a BDC!  SAVINGS $10,000/month
2. Newspaper - Stop spending on full-page ads in expensive papers. For that matter stop spending money on any size ad in any paper. This is not a “smart” way to spend. Let the manufactures take care of the top-of-mind awareness advertising in the newspaper. SAVINGS $5,000/month
3. Conquest – Spending money on postal code advertising doesn’t work and is a waist of money. When was the last time you read junk mail? Many dealerships have no problem spending $5,000 – $10,000 a month on a flyer with a silly contest attached to it. Forget that, you’ve got customers right under your nose waiting to be catered to in your database! Think of your brand new, shiny BDC as your conquest campaign! SAVINGS $8,000/month

With only 3 different ways to save money, you could possibly have $276,000 a year to support the lead driving, appointment setting, customer helping BDC department! 

We need to begin to look at our dealerships differently. It’s time to shake our heads and look at how customers are behaving and then cater to them properly. That means our marketing tactics and more importantly, the structure of our sales floor.

As shopping behavior changes day by day and grows with technology that is provided, we have to shift our business and adapt our entire way of thinking. We are creatures of habit and it’s to easy to get caught up in the same old ways. Let’s shake things up a bit and agree it’s time to take your business to a whole other level. We know what customers want, it’s important we provide it. That means big changes. Call it a risk; I say a calculated one.

Ive been very frank throughout this piece. Please if your dealership has a process and you have won the battle of strong, processed follow up. Lets hear from you! 

I execute digital and traditional marketing initiatives for 30 dealerships. It’s my job to roll out campaigns that improve sales results and most importantly, SAVE the dealership money. In order to do that, I need to be very selective in my actions.

A part of my marketing mix and "eco-system" is working with customer data. This is a sacred piece of the dealership. In my opinion, customer data is the most important asset of a dealership other than the Sales Staff and obviously the product. That being said when it’s time to engage with previous buyers, execution is crucial.

Most of us have all worked with 3^rd party, private event companies.

The regular process is as follows:

• Call the company.
• The company rolls out the event for you.
• You wait for the leads.

EASY, except one thing… it’s expensive! As an entrepreneurial-minded person, I’ve always wanted to put these events on in house. If you are like me and have tried… it’s NOT EASY! By the time you have the creative layout/(graphics) and letter completed, the OEM incentive has come and gone.

Recently I came across a system that allows for me to upload an “in market” data segment; literally press a few buttons and WHAMO! 7 days later the Sales Team is booking appointments. (Check out the Infographic below)

ONE PROBLEM…

Once you receive leads from in market buyers, how do we trust our Sales Staff to take control and book the appointment? Sales professionals are paid on “Walk in traffic”, not an email that comes in with a name and phone number. What tends to happen is the lead doesn’t get nurtured the way it needs to be, so we hire an outside source to make the calls. Will there ever be a time when we can take care of the entire process front to back without outsourcing? I believe so. Here is what we need:

1. Technology that can get the letter, creative and mail posted quickly and effectively! (See Below)
2. Sales Managers that are LEADERS. Manage a team with an appointment-based culture to optimize lead-to-appointment conversion.
3. Sales Staff that can make effective outbound calls and emails.
4. Sales Staff that can nurture a warm lead into a hot lead through engagement over a period of time.

So, I am reaching out here. Anyone have insight on how to generate a stronger follow up process with a sales team? Ensuring lead nurture and follow up?

The Digital Ecosystem 

Over the last 5 years I have concentrated on a mix of essential dealership initiatives. Over time, dropping specific aspects and re-evaluating, finally I came up with a cycle I like to call the “Digital Eco System”. 

The Digital Eco System if deployed correctly, with a focused, aggressive plan should make up for the loss of walk in traffic we are all missing these days. It wouldn't be a suprise to see a 30% increase in retail sales growth! 

Website: Looking for perfection here!

• Mobile strategy is a must! Adaptive/Responsive
• Content game plan. Be the EXPERT! People are begging for good information.
• All the basics… Good-looking “Staff Page”, updated specials, simple layout, etc. There is a ton of info about “Perfecting Your Website” all over the web.
• Even more important is the next point…

Merchandising: The sun, water and earth of the ecosystem!

• This IS your website, the reason you are in business…Wait… are those stock photos? Would you put cardboard cut outs of your new cars in the showroom? ‘Nuff said!
• 30 – 45 pictures, 200-word story, walk around video…
• It is ESSENTIAL that your VDP is better than your competitor if you want a chance!

SEM: Search Engine Marketing. All facets.

• Facebook Advertising! It’s great. Get on board.
• AdWords – Dynamically pulled from your DMS
• Search, Display, Retargeting, Pre Roll.
• This is the lowest hanging fruit. It’s not cheap but it works and is imperative for a healthy Eco System.

Reputation Management: Advocates will drive business to your front door!

• Dealer Rater, Yelp, Google Reviews, Facebook Reviews, the list goes on!
• Pick a few and dive in…HARD. This needs a process, and some TLC.
• People judge your entire brand by your reviews.

CRM/Lead Management: Forget everything else if you don’t get this down first.

• 90 – 120 day follow up.
• Dedicated/devoted E-Lead reps (Or Sales Staff that care…)
• Video follow up.
• VDP – PDF Brochure

Budget/Calendar: Stay on track and optimize the budget to SAVE money and deliver better results!

• Detailed budget
• Media Calendar
• Follow closely

These 6 ecosystem elements are key components I believe are important to deliver a full circle, digitally concentrated plan. Execute with focus and don’t leave any ingredients out! 

What components do you think im missing? Anything you wouldn't have in your ecosystem?

In only 60 days I have experienced the answer, the key, the missing link in so many places of business. I have learned that you cannot run a business without this. I have determined that this well-known fact is highly underrated, carelessly labelled and not practiced PROPERLY enough of the time. Leadership.

For the past two months I have been honoured to be working very closely to a man that has been a VP and CEO of the 2 biggest retail chains in Canada. With over 30 years of customer service retail experience, Mr. Paul Walters is now diving head first into the best darn business in the entire world. Car Sales :D *ding* 

We often hear how different automotive is to any other retail environment. Paul has made it very obvious that it's not, he says “if you apply some simple concepts the ball will roll” just as it did when he brought Sears Canada from 3.9B to 6.7B in under 5 years in a flat market.

I don't like writing novels when I blog and I’m sure you don't care to read them, so I will keep this brief and give you the 5 most memorable things I have learned from Mr. Walters in the first 60 days of working together... Of course, regarding the #1 most important aspect in any business: LEADERSHIP!

1. "First we need to get everyone in the boat, then everyone has to paddle in the right direction. Getting everyone in the boat is sometimes the hardest part, but after that, the rest is easy" 

The next 4 points will depict the ways Paul managed to get everyone in the boat in 30 Days.

2. "Communicate deep into the organization. The more people know, the better their decisions" 

Paul manages to get his message across to every employee in the company. No hiding anything. Everyone has an accountable number that they own. Together the team works to reach their number, every day, every week, every month. If the leader were to hide numbers or dealership on goings, how could you hold anyone accountable? 

3. "Nothing else can substitute for a few, well chosen, well timed sincere words of praise. They are absolutely free.....and worth a fortune".

Recognition builds confidence and self-esteem. Paul recognizes the cleaners, lot workers through to the GSM's. He takes the time, and it works!

4. "Trust the judgement of your people... They know what to do..."

That’s all. Or why are they working there? My opinion...

5. "Enthusiasm and passion will overcome almost every one of your short comings. The only way to do GREAT work is to love what you do!"

We all have to come to work every day... why not make it fun? Paul takes away any road blocks and allows his employees to run free. Just make sure it's profitable :) That's what I call fun.

If you are a leader I would love to hear what you do to provide LEADERSHIP to your team? We could all learn from it. The world needs more leaders like Paul! 

Most would say I’m asking a ridiculous question. Hear me out, either I am loosing my marbles or I may be on to something.

Recent changes in Google's algorithms (Hummingbird) revolve around semantics and conversational search. Google has quickly become more than just a search engine. We now are being provided answers and rich content on the search page. This provides a much quicker, seamless tool for people looking for answers. We need to seriously consider this change and adapt. Will websites be obsolete? Let me explain...

I commute an hour everyday to different cities across eastern Ontario. This time of year, in Canada, Mother Nature can bring some nasty weather (freezing rain, blizzards, etc). I like to know what I might be getting myself into the night before. So before I hit the sac, I research the weather. In this case it was "Belleville Weather". Usually, my next step is to click the link to the weather network and check out the forecast for tomorrow. This time my results were different. Google gave me the answer, right on page one! No need to go to a website! No need to click. All I did was ask… THANKS GOOGLE! Jeez you’re helpful these days….but wait!

1. The big blue arrow is the information I was looking for. Right on the search page! Powered by a website but obviously presented by Google!

2. The red box that I highlighted for you is the site I would usually click on. 

What does this mean? Things are changing, once again. For me it's a wake up call, proving how important quality content generation is to our business. Not only do we need to provide valuable content that is helpful to the searcher, we need to structure it around conversational search and have it marked up properly (semantics) to meet the requirements of Google's algorithm changes. Will websites disappear? Nah... Not right away...however, the way we structure them will be VERY different if you ask me.

I truly believe we need to stop thinking so much about how we can manipulate our SEO efforts so the algorithm favors our content. We should start thinking how we can provide valuable answers to our customer’s questions. Google will take care of the rest.

People seem to have an opinion on how "it could be better."  Nobody talks about "how we could change it, to make it better."

Negativity is such an easy way to dismiss yourself.  People seem to use negativity as a safety net. If they are unaware, lazy or can't be bothered, being negative and claiming that, "it doesn't work" is an easy way to be removed from the problem.

Often,  people talk about the negative aspects of work, for reasons I mentioned above. "My printer never works," "There is never any paper towel in the washroom," "The store is dead," "We never do any advertising," "we should hire more admin staff," "I never get any ups," "I'm having a horrible month, the weather has been horrible!" These complainers could be compared to a thermometer. A thermometer will give you a reading of how hot or how cold it is. A thermometer won't correct the climate for comfortable living.

Leaders embrace change, find gaps, look for problems and then fix them. Leaders are thermostats. When it's too hot, a thermostat will sense the condition is wrong, change the mechanics in the system and correct the temperature. What a great analogy! (I didn't come up with it)

I love comparing this analogy to automotive. Marketing is changing at lightning speeds, showroom traffic is at all time lows and the business all around has shifted immensely. The shift creates fear and negativity. A dealership full of thermometers that have a lot to say with not a whole lot of solutions. It's never been easier to market your self and develop a "following".  Digital is allowing us to share, create and engage in so many ways that thermostats have the tools right in front of them to start generating more business for themselves than ever before. It's time to share!

I say each sales consultant starts with a simple blog using a FREE site like tumbler.com, blogger.com or wordpress.com and get sharing and engaging. People will gravitate towards the professional automotive knowledge we have locked up. We don't have to write a book anymore and get a publisher, or spend hundreds a week on a billboard or park bench. The tools are there, right in front of us. It just takes the right people. Thermostats not thermometers...

This post was inspired by a chapter in Seth Godin's book - "Tribes: We Need You To Lead Us" This is a fantastic book. Highly recommend it.

Can you believe that DSES is next week!? This will be my 4th Driving Sales event, I cannot express how pumped I am to dig in and learn from some of the greatest thought leaders in our industry! 

This year, I am honored to share my thoughts, challenges and success around creating a digital culture. Being chosen to speak at DSES 2013 is a highlight in my career and I would love you to join me at 3:45pm on Monday, October 14th in the Cezanne 1 breakout room. 

Check out the video below to learn more:

"The secret to change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old but building the new" - Socrates 

Change is happening at lightning speeds. Human behaviour is changing, business is changing, more importantly the path to purchase is changing.

I quickly realized that a shift is happening right in front of me. Consumers have changed their path to purchase behaviours very quickly. As a Director of Marketing for 6 dealerships, it's my job to fill gaps. My simple realization was that we were generating more traffic, leads and appointments through the web then any other medium. (duh! right?)

Here is the problem; we had one very busy, over worked, stressed out  "Internet Guy" and 10 sales consultants with nothing to do! I knew that if we didn't change, if we didn't SHIFT... our sales people would soon have skinny children!

At Driving Sales Executive Summit 2013 I will be discussing the challenging topic of "Creating a Digital Culture Within Your Dealership". This is no easy task and that's why I am so passionate about it. The presentation is made up of the success and challenges I am facing today!

Join me at 3:45pm on October 14th in Las Vegas at the beautiful Bellagio Hotel and Casino to hear more about "The Shift". See Schedule Here

If you havent had a chance to register for DSES, learn more here.