We have analytics that tell us from where our website visitors come, heat maps to show what they did once they got there, retargeting to show them ads after they leave, cookies to show how many times that visitor clicked on a specific car and big data to further confuse the issue. Every day the dealership staff gets caught up in the “Paralysis of the Analysis” and forgets about the main focus of what their purpose of being there is... Selling and servicing cars!!

Let's face it, website analytics that show you received 6,500 visitors to your website last month really means nothing if you can't take that data and use it to translate into more car deals. It’s simply NOT actionable. The metric you should really care about is how many warm bodies that traffic brought to the showroom. Then and only then can you attribute it to the most important metric, how many cars did we sell based on that. How many vehicle detail pages they looked at, how many times your hours were viewed, how many times the specials page was viewed does nothing other than allow a vendor to say, "Look at what we did for you.”

The same applies to several of the other “smoke in the marketplace” fads and their respective metrics and data really don’t correlate to closing deals. Sure, you may be able to tell that a potential customer viewed a specific vehicle 15 times and even tie it to a specific lead but what a dealer needs to know is how to use that data to get the customer in the door to buy a car. The truth is that in the very near future data won’t be available anymore; browsers make it so easy to opt out from tracking now and are even changing over to making it near impossible to opt in.  What’s more is SEM retargeting will soon become a thing of the past.

The most important data points to monitor are easy to quantify in relation to how many cars it will sell.

·         How many quality leads need to be generated to close a deal?

·         How many phone contacts must be made to close a deal?

·         How many qualified showroom visitors are needed to close a deal?

·         How many test drives are needed to close a deal?

And that’s assuming at every touch point you are dealing with prospects that can buy 100% of the time.  Sure I can do a direct mail piece that will fill your showroom with customers, and I would have done my job – as a vendor it wouldn’t be my fault if you didn’t close them. The spoiler is I sent a “$199 per month everyone approved” mailer to the zip code where everyone is in public housing. The harsh reality is that I didn't do anything but waste time and money.

The same goes for all the wiz bang analysis tools that don't deliver car deals.  They deliver nothing more than data which causes a headache trying to determine how it can be used to close more deals.  What needs to be concentrated on is how to capitalize on what really matters and that hasn’t changed in our lifetime. 

Paul Rushing is the Search Marketing Manager for iMagicLab.  He brings over 15 years of automotive experience to iMagicLab and stays ahead of the curve on search marketing and social strategies.

How many search engines have faded into obscurity or completely disappeared?  How many social networks have become Internet wastelands?  Recently we have seen major social sharing sites, that people had built businesses around, drastically change the way they operate!

Social and search are still great ways to generate traffic  but we have to remember that all our efforts in  those mediums can also are subjects to the rules of those that own the respective platforms.  Our use of sites such as Facebook and Google we have to play by their rules and they own what we give them.  As users and advertisers we are nothing more than "Digital Sharecroppers", we are building our business completely dependent on another company. 

These other properties can also decide they don't want us as users anymore especially if we make a mistake and don't play by their rules 100% or they just fade away into obscurity, think Myspace and Digg.  Chances are Facebook and Google will buck the trend and make it for more than a few more years but I also remember when AOL eclipsed CompuServe  when they introduced monthly billing versus hourly, where are either one now?

More and more dealers are spending their time marketing on sites like Facebook, because that is what everyone else is doing, it is the hot buzz and makes them feel what they are doing is cutting edge.  Platforms change fast and entire industries and companies have been built trying to figure out how to get the most from Google both as a search engine and as a paid advertising platform.

We provide the content to make their sites great but they can do with it as they will.  We pay them to drive us traffic or give them our best stuff in hopes it will get noticed.  We are paying a high rent to use assets that we do not control, which may not be here tomorrow. 

The secret is to place the most effort and dollars on assets you control and not on assets you rent.  Invariably dealers are doing this backwards, spending high dollar on "services" to provide traffic when the bases are not covered.

Does this mean ignore social and search?  Not at all.  They are still excellent mediums and should be part of the marketing mix.  However they are expendable and may be gone tomorrow.  Spending  money there before taking care of the most important assets first is a band aid on a wound that will never heal, it's just a temporary solution.

In this digital age there are three things that dealers must capitalize on for the longevity of their business.  Assets need to be created that they CONTROL.  Everything else is to prop these assets up.

1. A well designed website that you control with GREAT content.  - If you have a great website with great content then people will share it with others in places they aggregate.  That could be on Facebook, Twitter or even on Myspace if they still visit it.  Once your website has great content and other s are sharing it the search engines will notice too.
2. A list of past and potential customers that want to hear from us.  - Past customers and new leads should be the greatest sources of traffic to your website and other offers.  If you do a great job communicating with those that have done business with you and those that have raised their hand wanting to do business with you then your job as a marketer is done.  The money is in the list if you treat it well.
3. A sterling reputation in the community and online.  - Really happy and satisfied customers are going to shout from the rooftops if you give them an awesome experience.  You may have to nudge them to share it with others but if done properly this will make a huge impact.  They will do it in the venue that best represents them. 

If you take care of the home bases first you do not need social or search as your primary source of traffic.  Dialing in those three areas first are the difference in renting and owning.  You should never build your business online to rely exclusively on a venue you do not control.   If you build your own traffic sources you will prosper even if Google and Facebook pull the plug tomorrow.  Search and social will prop your online endeavors up, they will accentuate your efforts.  Just don't  let  your fate be in the hands of a platform that may be gone tomorrow.  Take care of home and home will take care of you!!

If you have not read the masterpiece The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People by Steven Covey  you owe it to yourself to do so.  The principles that are uncovered in it can also be directly tied to effective CRM use and adaptation inside of your dealership. 

Habit 1: Be Proactive

Take the initiative by realizing that your decisions will determine how effective your CRM use will be.  The biggest decision to make is to use it and to use it consistently.

Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind

Every action you take with any contact in your database should have the end goal in mind.  Think what is the reason for this contact and how can I best leverage my efforts.

Habit 3: Put First Things First

Execute your daily plan based on importance rather than urgency.  Evaluate your efforts to make sure they propel you towards your goals.

Habit 4: Think Win-Win

Customers that you reach out to on a daily basis want to feel like they win too.  make every contact a win-win situation even if you have to deliver bad news.

Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood

Listen emphatically which compels them to listen with an open mind to being influenced by you.   The best sales people in the world rarely talk.  Remember we have two ears and one mouth.

Habit 6: Synergize

Understand how each workflow and touch point relates to the last one or the next one.  Make sure your process is in tune.

Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw

Always train and look for ways to improve your process to increase productivity.

Through meaningful and consistent CRM use you will achieve the "Upward Spiral" which will cause you to consistently learn, commit, do.

Paul Rushing is the Search Marketing Manager for iMagicLab.  He brings over 15 years of automotive experience to iMagicLab and stays ahead of the curve on search marketing and social strategies.

 

Which came first the chicken or the egg would probably be a better title for this post.  The real question would be can the right people work inside of the right processes?  A glaring example of this is the 2003-2004 Los Angeles Lakers roster that was a sure bet to win it all with names like Gary Payton, Karl Malone to join the already amazing Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal. The team went 56-26 in the regular season and made it all the way to the finals which they lost 4 games to 1. I think it would be hard to argue that those talents weren't the right people, but I promise you they weren't working the right game plan or process to be successful.

It's easier to make the right process than it is to find the right people.  A well defined process can turn a mediocre salesperson into a rock star as long as the process is properly managed, by the right people.  The key to any successful process, is it must be managed properly and adhered to consistently.  Without those two major pieces, the best laid process will never achieve the goals it was created to reach.

The right processes can create the right people and the right people can turn their work ethic into the right process.  So it is definitely chicken or egg, however a killer process that is never adhered to is a futile proposition.  I have been in nearly 400 stores over the years and have aided dealers in creating some can't miss, killer processes but the ones that actually take off and have tremendous success with those processes are the ones that properly manage it and manage it consistently.

Employees will sometimes try to "wait out" management when it comes to the roll out of new processes.  They count on management not being consistent with it and hope the new process dies on the vine so they can get back to doing things like they always have.  When this happens time and time again people will start to always second guess anything new, it starts a vicious cycle. 

The right people have their internal processes set up so they are always successful .  Also they do not have problems adapting to new things if it helps them become more successful.  That is where the rubber meets the highway.  The right people, even the non superstars, are the ones that adapt to embrace things that help them do their job better.

Manage it properly + Be consistent = EXCELLENCE.

Jay Barr is the National Director of Training for iMagicLab.  Jay brings an exciting, energetic and unconventional, but highly effective, training style to dealerships nationwide. His unique style presents thought-provoking and stimulating topics in a very focused and entertaining manner. He guarantees that when he comes to your store, you will learn the software and processes that will make your dealership successful -and you'll enjoy every minute of it.

​Having traveled all over the country working with dealers on implementing CRM software I keep seeing the same mistakes over and over again.  In a nut shell the failure of CRM at the dealership level boils down to three recurring themes.

1.  Dealership Employees Do Not Use the Software

Sales people do not use the software and sales management does not enforce the proper use of it.  This usually boils down to fear more than anything else.  Sales management does not like the oversight that CRM gives executive management.  They are scared of the accountability. The other main reason is the resistance of using technology.  Many people worry that the technology will somehow replace them and completely automate the process of selling a car. 

2. Users Strictly Follow the Script

The process is place for things to happen 1-2-3 but that strips out the human element completely.  People follow the concrete plan to a tee to make sure they are meeting accountability issues (see above)  then they become Belligerent Users.  "I did my part based on what the tool said to do and I am not selling any more cars it does not work."

"Mr. Jones it has been two days since you were in you ready to buy?"

The user knows the customer is going on a two week cruise and does not stop the follow up process None of those cop outs work but they happen because the human element is completely removed to strictly follow the "program" in place.

3. Users Create their Own Roadblocks

"I don't type fast enough to fill in the blanks when I am on the phone with a customer!"

"I put everything in and it did not save."

"This is a waste of time all it does is let them spy on us."

"I hate this software I keep forgetting my password."

Ad nauseam.... The truth is if you can't type fast enough go old school and write it down then enter it in the software, hit the big ass save button really hard if you really entered the information and if you create the password and forget it how is that really the software's fault?

How can we prevent these errors?

As a CRM software vendor we try to get buy in from the top down to have successful CRM deployment. We use the following techniques to make it easier for the users and to keep people engaged on the process.

1.  Illustrate how easy it is to use the software.  This is easy to do if you do not have a clunky interface and train the end users.

2.  Show how the proper use will allow the users to sell more cars.  Deals wont fall through the cracks and the automated processes do work if the users give the proper input, but the system cant think for the users.  The software is only as good as the end user.  It takes people.  Most errors are between the chair and the keyboard!!

3.  Treat it like a personal assistant.  CRM software is an Interactive Personal Calendar.  It reminds you of what you are supposed to be doing and when to do it.  You should have processes set up for walk ins, phone ups, Internet customers, lead providers, classified sites and manufacturer leads.  Launching CRM initiatives with those that have never used it reminds me of the days when navigation was first being put in cars and users said it was to complicated and rather use a map to find places they have never been.  Using a map was dangerous and took longer than punching in an address but people still resisted.

Please share with us your tips on making better use of your CRM software and tips on improving performance.

 Chris Vitale is Vice President of Sales at iMagicLab.  He has over 15 years of in dealership experience and is quick to call it like he sees it.  If you want a no holds barred look into ​effective CRM deployment and use subscribe to our blog here at DrivingSales and follow Chris @thecrmgod on Twitter.