10 years ago when my band was only a few months away from going on tour, we needed a way to get the word out. As an independent artist I quickly realized nobody cared about our original tunes. When people are at the bar they want to hear "Sweet Emotion" and "More Than A Feeling". 

I decided I had to make people care if we wanted any success at all. I started a chat forum and began posting lyrics. Then, I shared the links on other music related forums in the cities we were touring. Before we knew it, we had people asking questions and posting comments. This forum was basically a way for us to get noticed through engaging content. The tour was successful for many reasons and the forum definitely helped.

I can closely relate this to auto marketing today. We all know digital has interrupted the path to purchase, why isn't creating web content a priority for our dealership? Just like popping hoods, updating POP and covering the showroom in balloons, creating content for the web needs to be in the daily work flow of our business (Sales Consultants, Service Advisiors, General Managers). It should be ingrained into our culture, for this basic reason:

 Content = Web Visits = Leads = Appointments = Sales

If you are interested in learning more about how I am integrating #TheShift into 6 dealerships every day, I will be expanding on this topic at #DSES in October. 

Rock On :)

I have been using DrivingSales.com as fuel to interact, engage and learn from key industry leaders for quite some time now. 

As Driving Sales Executive Summit approaches I get extremely excited because every year I get to reunite with the community members and thought leaders that I learn from on a constant basis. 

Last year, for the first time, Canadians met on Day 1 of DSES. The speakers and topics were forward thinking and relevant. One of the best parts was knowing that I wasn't the only one at the event that said EH' at the end of my sentences. The event is built by Canadians for Canadians… In Vegas! How awesome is that!? You network with people that use similar vendors, share national laws and have challenges that are brought on by living in igloos… 

This year the Canadian breakout is back and will be bigger then last year. The line up is stacked with a great mix of dealer centric topics and speakers. I don't want to tell you everything about it because you can learn all about it RIGHT HERE.

I will leave you with this; If this is your first time coming to DSES and you are Canadian, or do business in Canada, missing this event would be like... not putting maple syrup on your pancakes! 

So get off your moose, get a sitter for your pet beaver and give up Tim Hortons for a few days. Come on down to #DSES and join us at the Canadian breakout. 

See you there eh! 

Register Here

Find Out About Speakers Here

As I sit here looking out the window at the cottage in Bancroft, Canada, I remember how great it was having my father teach me to fish on Graphite lake. The warmth exchanged while a father teaches his son, is something that not only lasts forever, but is very difficult to replace. Digital has managed to interrupt, and in many cases replace human interaction. We are sacrificing emotion for digital convenience.

If I'm a teenager today, I search "How To Fish For Bass" on YouTube and in seconds, conveniently, I have a detailed tutorial at my fingertips. No need for Dad to teach me. This is one example of how digital is creating change in the way we live.

For many people, change produces fear. Even if this particular change may create a convenient lifestyle (YouTube Tutorials). Fear manages to get in the way and create a roadblock.

These roadblocks can slow down the productivity of new technology and leading edge trends within your business. My goal as the Director of Marketing for 6 dealerships is to overcome these roadblocks and create a digital culture.

If you are interested in learning more about creating a digital culture and eliminating the fear, ill be speaking about this and more at Driving Sales Executive Summit. #TheShift

If you still have not registered for this upcoming confrence I can save you some money. Use this coupon code: GOOLEY13

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Have You Ever Felt This Way?

Driving Sales Executive Summit is a confrence where all the heavy hitters across North America gather for a home run of a learning experience. #DSES #THESHIFT

Looking for some input here from the greats in the Driving Sales community. (That's everyone)

Recently, we developed new web properties for each dealership in our group through Dealer.com. 

I am debating a situation regarding "Call To Actions" and can't seem to decide on what is best. Let me explain... 

On our vehicle detail pages we provide 10 call to actions! From "Request More Info" to "Take A Test Drive" to "Email a Friend". Dealer.com along with a study from Cobalt suggests that the more CTA'S the more opportunities to convert a customer and the more choices the customer has. This creates different choices for different shopper personalities. 

In my previous position as the Digital Marketing Manager with a different dealer we had only one clear cut call to action "Request A Sale Price". Our traffic to conversion ratio was between 3% & 4%.

I'm a Steve Jobs follower, I agree with simplicity and focused marketing. I like ONE clear cut call to action… but I also understand that people need options.

The difficult way to figure this out is to pay for some custom work through dealer.com and design a page with one CTA and do a split test against the 10 call to actions using GA.

I was hoping for an easier way… Maybe folks here at DS can provide some insight? Please…

As a Marketing Director for 6 dealerships I speak with a good amount of sales consultants on a daily basis. The common story is "There is not enough floor traffic, I haven't seen anyone in days" this is a very true story and it's due to the change in consumer behaviour in todays market place.

At a management level we develop leads online through our website. Dividing those leads up in a way that everyone sees fair can be a challenge. So the other story I hear quite regularly is "I don't get any Internet Leads"

Here is how you as a Sales Consultant can begin generating leads for yourself tomorrow;

1. Go to www.blogger.com
2. Set up an account. (Its FREE and takes a few min)
3. Blog about every single vehicle on your lot. (No experience needed, its like a word document)
4. Put a picture of you and your phone number at the bottom of each blog.
5. Wait for the phone to ring.

I know, Ive made it sound like chewing a piece of gum. It's not THAT easy and there is a lot more that goes into it. However, if you start to learn CONTENT MARKETING and apply your learning to the blog you created, it will all work out. Rome wasn't built in a day so take your time and don't get discouraged.

I can tell you one thing, it's better then waiting for the "Up bus"....

I recently had the best customer service I have ever experienced at an Iberostar resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica. 

While sipping on a red stripe (Jamaican Beer) I said to myself there is something to be learned here.

1. Employee Satisfaction

It kept running through my head "these people are so happy", the guy raking stones and cigarette butts off the beach was just as happy as the pool side, entertainment staff. How does a business create such a culture that consistently produces hard working, happy people across the board? It's not just a pay cheque, the guy who is raking isn't making much in Jamaica from what I was told..

2. Engagement

I know... "engagement" is just another over used term in the marketing space, however, i've never been so pleased with how people interacted with me at this resort. From the maid to the bartender, if you made eye contact you got a smile and a hello...every time! Where do you get that? Not at Target or McDonalds…That's a hard policy to put in place. How do you monitor every consumer - employee interaction? I don't think you can..

3. Accountability

So I did my research. I wanted to get to the bottom of how the Iberostar was so successful in these areas. My conclusion and findings were this:

Staff were rated, bonused, hired and fired based on surveys. As a customers, we were not forced to fill these surveys out. We were asked very nicely by the staff, only if they had built enough trust to ask us. I filled 2 out. 

4. The Takeaway

At our dealerships, OEM's put their own survey's in place. Do you have an internal survey?

I think that the way to make a survey like this successful is make it optional for the customer. Most of all, base the bonus structure on these surveys. Sales staff don't always get pumped about a spiff. Im sure they would think twice if it was a matter of another 5 to 10 points on the deal.

Heck make it their entire salary…(Ok that might be over exaggerating..but you get my drift)

If a customer won't take 5 min to fill out a survey maybe the employee didn't deserve it. What does that say? 

Recently I just signed on to an Auto Group as the Director Of Marketing. As I begin mapping out the structure - process and marketing initiatives for my upcoming year, I have realized very quickly 6 out of 6 dealerships have a common situation.

Hundreds of unique web visits/per day and only one VERY BUSY Director Of Marketing!

0 - 5 physical showroom visits/per day and 10 sales consultants with NOTHING TO DO...

I am very excited to take on the task of developing structure and process within the dealership to withstand the changing behavior of shoppers today. Being excited does not mean it will be easy.

Does anyone have insight as to how they tackled this transition?