I hope that this caught your attention because I do have a secret.  I was reading this week's issue of Automotive News on Monday and there is an article on page 24.  If you don't get it, or your owner or GM hangs onto it for a few weeks and then passes it around, go find it.  It is about Internet Leads.  It basically comes down to how much dealers are not responding effectively to i-leads.

The survey was conducted by Piper of Monterey and shopped 4331 different dealerships and brands.  Here are some of their findings:

• Nearly 1 in 4 queries went unanswered within the first 24 hours.
• Only 16% of the leads submitted received an auto-responder.  I know that there is room for argument whether or not to have one, but I was surprised how low that number was.

Breaking it down by brand, there were some shocking things brought to the surface.  You would think that Toyota/Scion would be great in responding to leads since it is a little more geared towards Gen-Y (particularly on Scion).  They scored second worse with 36% of their dealerships not responding to the leads submitted.  Mini was actually worst in not responding to leads.

The top six brands were Lexus and Infiniti tied for first; Acura, third; Lincoln, Ford, and Honda tied for fourth.

Along with this article, Cobalt just released it's eshopper results from 2011.  The results are very similar.  Here are some of their results and taken from their study:

• 2 out of 10 leads never were responded to.
• 2 out of 3 weren't invited in for a test drive.
• 75% of the leads weren't quoted a price when requested.

These are just a few of their results.  There is a wealth of information out there on this thing that we call the internet on message boards like Driving Sales among others.  Car people are engaged on there and sharing ideas and practices, but the results are showing that so many dealers are missing the mark.

Here is my secret to our success and don't tell anyone.  Answer the leads!!!  It's just that simple.  Yes, response time is important, but more importantly, the quality of the content maybe more important as the Cobalt study revealed.  Now, respond to this post, and go respond to those leads sitting in that "New Bucket" in your CRM.

You can read the Cobalt study here. (Take note what you have to do in order to get a copy of the study.)

I hope that this caught your attention because I do have a secret.  I was reading this week's issue of Automotive News on Monday and there is an article on page 24.  If you don't get it, or your owner or GM hangs onto it for a few weeks and then passes it around, go find it.  It is about Internet Leads.  It basically comes down to how much dealers are not responding effectively to i-leads.

The survey was conducted by Piper of Monterey and shopped 4331 different dealerships and brands.  Here are some of their findings:

• Nearly 1 in 4 queries went unanswered within the first 24 hours.
• Only 16% of the leads submitted received an auto-responder.  I know that there is room for argument whether or not to have one, but I was surprised how low that number was.

Breaking it down by brand, there were some shocking things brought to the surface.  You would think that Toyota/Scion would be great in responding to leads since it is a little more geared towards Gen-Y (particularly on Scion).  They scored second worse with 36% of their dealerships not responding to the leads submitted.  Mini was actually worst in not responding to leads.

The top six brands were Lexus and Infiniti tied for first; Acura, third; Lincoln, Ford, and Honda tied for fourth.

Along with this article, Cobalt just released it's eshopper results from 2011.  The results are very similar.  Here are some of their results and taken from their study:

• 2 out of 10 leads never were responded to.
• 2 out of 3 weren't invited in for a test drive.
• 75% of the leads weren't quoted a price when requested.

These are just a few of their results.  There is a wealth of information out there on this thing that we call the internet on message boards like Driving Sales among others.  Car people are engaged on there and sharing ideas and practices, but the results are showing that so many dealers are missing the mark.

Here is my secret to our success and don't tell anyone.  Answer the leads!!!  It's just that simple.  Yes, response time is important, but more importantly, the quality of the content maybe more important as the Cobalt study revealed.  Now, respond to this post, and go respond to those leads sitting in that "New Bucket" in your CRM.

You can read the Cobalt study here. (Take note what you have to do in order to get a copy of the study.)

I am hearing across the industry from people all over the country that February was an incredible month. We are no different. Not only did we have a great month, the Parts Department had a record month as well. Living in the snow belt, we would expect that to be with a successful Body Shop. This year has been different though since we have had a mild winter. We have only moved cars 2 or 3 times to plow. Body Shop is holding its own, but has a little less business since mother nature decided to get with the global warming this year.

So how did the Parts Department have a great month with wholesale to the Body Shop down? Two words...Accessory Sales. When a customer decides on their new or certified vehicle of choice, the salesperson will get all of the paperwork together for the Business Department and then while waiting, ask the customer how they would like to "personalize their new________." I have no idea what the percentage of customers that decided to purchase accessories, but for the parts department to have a record month while wholesale was down a little, that has something to do with what the sales department contributed.

So what are you doing with your accessory sales?  This will help the dealership in two ways. One, it will increase profit in the parts department. Yes, it is a wholesale to the sales department, but profit is profit. Then the sales department will have additional profit in the accessory sales.

With consumers keeping their vehicles longer (average age of vehicle on the road 11 years), we as salespeople have to take advantage of every profit center possible. So how can you make it successful?

1. Pay the sales team differently. Don't make the accessory sale as a part of the commissionable gross. Pay them the percentage of accessory gross separate from the deal and don't pack the commission.  It goes back to the WIIFM?
2. Have an accessory sale sheet and or accessory catalog for the vehicles to be presented at the time of the sale.  Ask the customer how "would like to personalize your new vehicle" and not "would you like to buy some accessories for your new car?"
3. Be consistent. Offer it on 100% of your customers. Even the ones that beat you down and down, chances are, they are ones to take care of their vehicles and will probably at least buy all weather mats.

Hopefully you will be able to at least add a $100-$200 or more to your per vehicle average, but every little bit helps, right?  How are you presenting accessories if at all?

I am hearing across the industry from people all over the country that February was an incredible month. We are no different. Not only did we have a great month, the Parts Department had a record month as well. Living in the snow belt, we would expect that to be with a successful Body Shop. This year has been different though since we have had a mild winter. We have only moved cars 2 or 3 times to plow. Body Shop is holding its own, but has a little less business since mother nature decided to get with the global warming this year.

So how did the Parts Department have a great month with wholesale to the Body Shop down? Two words...Accessory Sales. When a customer decides on their new or certified vehicle of choice, the salesperson will get all of the paperwork together for the Business Department and then while waiting, ask the customer how they would like to "personalize their new________." I have no idea what the percentage of customers that decided to purchase accessories, but for the parts department to have a record month while wholesale was down a little, that has something to do with what the sales department contributed.

So what are you doing with your accessory sales?  This will help the dealership in two ways. One, it will increase profit in the parts department. Yes, it is a wholesale to the sales department, but profit is profit. Then the sales department will have additional profit in the accessory sales.

With consumers keeping their vehicles longer (average age of vehicle on the road 11 years), we as salespeople have to take advantage of every profit center possible. So how can you make it successful?

1. Pay the sales team differently. Don't make the accessory sale as a part of the commissionable gross. Pay them the percentage of accessory gross separate from the deal and don't pack the commission.  It goes back to the WIIFM?
2. Have an accessory sale sheet and or accessory catalog for the vehicles to be presented at the time of the sale.  Ask the customer how "would like to personalize your new vehicle" and not "would you like to buy some accessories for your new car?"
3. Be consistent. Offer it on 100% of your customers. Even the ones that beat you down and down, chances are, they are ones to take care of their vehicles and will probably at least buy all weather mats.

Hopefully you will be able to at least add a $100-$200 or more to your per vehicle average, but every little bit helps, right?  How are you presenting accessories if at all?

The other day I was at Panera Bread.  As I was sitting there eating my lunch during the busy lunch hour, I watched 8 people walk in the door within 45 minutes, and every single one said something to the effect of being too busy and “let’s go somewhere else.”  This was all within an earshot of employees that were helping clean tables.  Not one word was said to any of those customers as they just turned and walked out.  What if those employees were able to offer them a cookie or a pastry to keep that customer there and have a great lunch?  Would that have been enough to keep that customer in the restaurant?

Most managers have gotten a call or an email in their career where the customer states, “I was on the lot for 5 minutes and wasn’t helped.  I left and bought a car down the street that same day.”  So what is that first impression when we don’t help that customer?

Most dealerships will spend somewhere around $300+ to get a customer in the dealership.  So what are we doing with those customers when they get there?  There has been a lot of discussion about ZMOT over the last few months.  But what about the first moment of truth when the customer gets to the dealership?  Are we making that great first impression when they set foot on the lot to look at a car or make make that call to the dealership that we marketed online?  Are we getting to those customers within a few minutes, or are we letting customers go?  We work so hard and spend so much money to get the customer to the dealership or on the phone, and sometimes we have failed.  Too many times have I listened to phone calls where the customer is describing the vehicle to the salesman and then they are looking it up on the website themselves.  Salesmen need to walk the inventory and know it like the back of their hand.  It is their paycheck.  As far as i am concerned, if the customer knows more about the vehicle they are looking at than the salesperson, the customer hasn't done their job.  So when we fail that customer, or potential customer, what was that customer worth?

When that customer comes on the lot, be enthusiastic.  Are you going to sell the sizzle or the steak?  I have too many times seen a salesman walking the lot with his/her hands in their pockets and head down.  There is just no enthusiasm some times.  It goes back to the basics of selling yourself, the dealership, and then the product.  They need to know their inventory and where it is and show the customer what they are looking for in their wants and needs interview.  This will make them stand out from the guy on the lot a few blocks away.  So what are you doing to make yourself stand out from the rest of the crowd?

The other day I was at Panera Bread.  As I was sitting there eating my lunch during the busy lunch hour, I watched 8 people walk in the door within 45 minutes, and every single one said something to the effect of being too busy and “let’s go somewhere else.”  This was all within an earshot of employees that were helping clean tables.  Not one word was said to any of those customers as they just turned and walked out.  What if those employees were able to offer them a cookie or a pastry to keep that customer there and have a great lunch?  Would that have been enough to keep that customer in the restaurant?

Most managers have gotten a call or an email in their career where the customer states, “I was on the lot for 5 minutes and wasn’t helped.  I left and bought a car down the street that same day.”  So what is that first impression when we don’t help that customer?

Most dealerships will spend somewhere around $300+ to get a customer in the dealership.  So what are we doing with those customers when they get there?  There has been a lot of discussion about ZMOT over the last few months.  But what about the first moment of truth when the customer gets to the dealership?  Are we making that great first impression when they set foot on the lot to look at a car or make make that call to the dealership that we marketed online?  Are we getting to those customers within a few minutes, or are we letting customers go?  We work so hard and spend so much money to get the customer to the dealership or on the phone, and sometimes we have failed.  Too many times have I listened to phone calls where the customer is describing the vehicle to the salesman and then they are looking it up on the website themselves.  Salesmen need to walk the inventory and know it like the back of their hand.  It is their paycheck.  As far as i am concerned, if the customer knows more about the vehicle they are looking at than the salesperson, the customer hasn't done their job.  So when we fail that customer, or potential customer, what was that customer worth?

When that customer comes on the lot, be enthusiastic.  Are you going to sell the sizzle or the steak?  I have too many times seen a salesman walking the lot with his/her hands in their pockets and head down.  There is just no enthusiasm some times.  It goes back to the basics of selling yourself, the dealership, and then the product.  They need to know their inventory and where it is and show the customer what they are looking for in their wants and needs interview.  This will make them stand out from the guy on the lot a few blocks away.  So what are you doing to make yourself stand out from the rest of the crowd?

So how is your 2011 ending up for you?  Did you get to where you want to be in sales objectives?  Did you hit your goals for the different internet sales teams, sales departments, or the BDC?

Over the last several months, I have heard from several dealerships from around the country that their internet leads seem to be down.  Sales seem to be up, but not the leads.  I have heard some dealers being somewhere around 10, 20, and upwards of 30% down from where they are "normally" are with their leads.  Yes, leads may be down, but is your floor traffic down?

As you are looking at your 2012 advertising budgets, this is something to consider.  I was doing a little research within our back end tools that we have available to us from cars.com and Autotrader.  I came across a report that was intriguing to say the least.  It is the "Sold Inventory Report."  Some of this may connect the dots with your sales.  Here is what I found within our report.   Of the last 64 sales, only 7 had done a 'used car e-mail quote, 16 viewed a map to the dealership,   20 clicked through to the dealership website, and 5 printed details on our vehicles.  Can we credit all of these sales to cars.com?  Probably not, but it definitely connects some of the dots and may be a result of the 'walk-in traffic' that you may be seeing in your dealership.

So this will bring me to the Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT).  Yes, there has been a lot of rumblings going on different forums in the last week, but I will say that without having full descriptions, multiple photos (minimum of 18 on every vehicle), and reviews, you may not be seeing these types of results.  If you are doing all of the right things with all of the above, hopefully you are seeing results similar to this.

When you put some of the third party sources, specifically classified listings, under the microscope, something that you may want to consider is the cost per VDP and not so much heavily on the cost per lead and sale.  Try and get that cost as low as possible.  I know that I am always shooting for less than a dollar per VDP.  These third parties are generating floor traffic whether you know it or not.  We all hear time and time again that Autotrader and Cars.com are your new newspaper ads and I really do think that they are.  My philosophy that leads are on the decline as dealers are having to be more transparent and get on the internet with their photos, descriptions, carfaxes/autochecks, and pricing policies.  If you aren't watching what the market is doing on a particular vehicle and shooting from the hip, you just may see that vehicle start to age on you.  If you aren't using a tool like vAuto or VIN's product, you may want to make sure that you are doing your research.  This will only help you in keeping your VDPs at the maximum viewing capability and getting the most out of your online marketing with those third party sources.

What are your thoughts on the lead volumes?

So how is your 2011 ending up for you?  Did you get to where you want to be in sales objectives?  Did you hit your goals for the different internet sales teams, sales departments, or the BDC?

Over the last several months, I have heard from several dealerships from around the country that their internet leads seem to be down.  Sales seem to be up, but not the leads.  I have heard some dealers being somewhere around 10, 20, and upwards of 30% down from where they are "normally" are with their leads.  Yes, leads may be down, but is your floor traffic down?

As you are looking at your 2012 advertising budgets, this is something to consider.  I was doing a little research within our back end tools that we have available to us from cars.com and Autotrader.  I came across a report that was intriguing to say the least.  It is the "Sold Inventory Report."  Some of this may connect the dots with your sales.  Here is what I found within our report.   Of the last 64 sales, only 7 had done a 'used car e-mail quote, 16 viewed a map to the dealership,   20 clicked through to the dealership website, and 5 printed details on our vehicles.  Can we credit all of these sales to cars.com?  Probably not, but it definitely connects some of the dots and may be a result of the 'walk-in traffic' that you may be seeing in your dealership.

So this will bring me to the Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT).  Yes, there has been a lot of rumblings going on different forums in the last week, but I will say that without having full descriptions, multiple photos (minimum of 18 on every vehicle), and reviews, you may not be seeing these types of results.  If you are doing all of the right things with all of the above, hopefully you are seeing results similar to this.

When you put some of the third party sources, specifically classified listings, under the microscope, something that you may want to consider is the cost per VDP and not so much heavily on the cost per lead and sale.  Try and get that cost as low as possible.  I know that I am always shooting for less than a dollar per VDP.  These third parties are generating floor traffic whether you know it or not.  We all hear time and time again that Autotrader and Cars.com are your new newspaper ads and I really do think that they are.  My philosophy that leads are on the decline as dealers are having to be more transparent and get on the internet with their photos, descriptions, carfaxes/autochecks, and pricing policies.  If you aren't watching what the market is doing on a particular vehicle and shooting from the hip, you just may see that vehicle start to age on you.  If you aren't using a tool like vAuto or VIN's product, you may want to make sure that you are doing your research.  This will only help you in keeping your VDPs at the maximum viewing capability and getting the most out of your online marketing with those third party sources.

What are your thoughts on the lead volumes?

Dale Pollak has made a lot of ripples in the automotive industry over the last few years with vAuto.  He just announced today Provision (the new stocking feature with vAuto) is going to cause not just a ripple, but a tsunami in stocking your inventory to perform at the dealership’s maximum potential.  Last year, vAuto was acquired by Autotrader, which no one really knew why.  Well, today, we know.  He is taking the stocking feature of vAuto to the next level which no one can touch with using data from Autotrader.

I was fortunate to see Provision at a 20 group meeting 2 months ago just to get a taste of what was to come.  After the meeting, we contacted Dale to see if there was a way to get on the Beta version of the new stocking tool which he with some hesitation and parameters set forth, he said yes.  We have been able to play in the Beta version for about the last month or so and I will say that it is going to take stocking to the next level for used car inventories.

The biggest change in the stocking tool is the stocking grade.  The stocking grade is a report card based on several factors that the developers at vAuto thought was important.  It is based on:

1. Demand: the number of people in your area that are searching for this car (taken from Autotrader).
2. Interest:  the average conversion rate from SRP to VDP for this vehicle in your area (taken from Autotrader).
3. Volume: the number of units sold in your area recently.
4. Day Supply:  measures the current available supply of similarly configured vehicles and the rate at which such vehicles have been sold over the last 45 days.
5. Profitability: difference between the average auction prices of this car to the average list price of the car after adding in a fixed reconditioning/transportation fee.
6. Availability: the number of units available in auctions now.
7. Experience: measures of the success of your recent sales of this Make/Model.

vAuto will also recommend which vehicles that you should look at buying for your inventory.  It will give you 10 different models in the different categories that you need to focus on based on how you want to have your inventory set up.  It will also let you know where those vehicles are going to be on the auction block.  You have the opportunity to look at the condition reports, condition grade, and place a proxy bid all within vAuto.

Another part of the new sourcing tool is that you can see within the auctions how many cars are running on the recommendations and how many matching vehicles will be running at those auctions.  This will particularly come in handy when planning your auction schedules and whether or not it’s worth going or not.  If you have a good amount of matching recommendations and vehicles running, then go or set up your proxy bids.  If those numbers are low, it maybe not worth the time going to those auctions.

This is just the tip of the iceberg of what Dale has up his sleeve with the new stocking tool.  There will be more to come which I will leave to vAuto to announce when it comes.  For current vAuto dealers subscribing to the stocking tool, the cost is a low cost of $0/month!  Dale’s thinking on this is that he wants to have the premier product out there without gouging dealers.  It is all part of product enhancements to stay ahead of his competitors.

For dealers that are already on vAuto, there will be training webinars for the next 60 days starting Monday, November 14.  Training will be at 8 Central time on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and 4 Central time on Wednesdays and Fridays.  Contact your Performance Manager to get the details or you can click here to schedule your online training webinar. 

Dale Pollak has made a lot of ripples in the automotive industry over the last few years with vAuto.  He just announced today Provision (the new stocking feature with vAuto) is going to cause not just a ripple, but a tsunami in stocking your inventory to perform at the dealership’s maximum potential.  Last year, vAuto was acquired by Autotrader, which no one really knew why.  Well, today, we know.  He is taking the stocking feature of vAuto to the next level which no one can touch with using data from Autotrader.

I was fortunate to see Provision at a 20 group meeting 2 months ago just to get a taste of what was to come.  After the meeting, we contacted Dale to see if there was a way to get on the Beta version of the new stocking tool which he with some hesitation and parameters set forth, he said yes.  We have been able to play in the Beta version for about the last month or so and I will say that it is going to take stocking to the next level for used car inventories.

The biggest change in the stocking tool is the stocking grade.  The stocking grade is a report card based on several factors that the developers at vAuto thought was important.  It is based on:

1. Demand: the number of people in your area that are searching for this car (taken from Autotrader).
2. Interest:  the average conversion rate from SRP to VDP for this vehicle in your area (taken from Autotrader).
3. Volume: the number of units sold in your area recently.
4. Day Supply:  measures the current available supply of similarly configured vehicles and the rate at which such vehicles have been sold over the last 45 days.
5. Profitability: difference between the average auction prices of this car to the average list price of the car after adding in a fixed reconditioning/transportation fee.
6. Availability: the number of units available in auctions now.
7. Experience: measures of the success of your recent sales of this Make/Model.

vAuto will also recommend which vehicles that you should look at buying for your inventory.  It will give you 10 different models in the different categories that you need to focus on based on how you want to have your inventory set up.  It will also let you know where those vehicles are going to be on the auction block.  You have the opportunity to look at the condition reports, condition grade, and place a proxy bid all within vAuto.

Another part of the new sourcing tool is that you can see within the auctions how many cars are running on the recommendations and how many matching vehicles will be running at those auctions.  This will particularly come in handy when planning your auction schedules and whether or not it’s worth going or not.  If you have a good amount of matching recommendations and vehicles running, then go or set up your proxy bids.  If those numbers are low, it maybe not worth the time going to those auctions.

This is just the tip of the iceberg of what Dale has up his sleeve with the new stocking tool.  There will be more to come which I will leave to vAuto to announce when it comes.  For current vAuto dealers subscribing to the stocking tool, the cost is a low cost of $0/month!  Dale’s thinking on this is that he wants to have the premier product out there without gouging dealers.  It is all part of product enhancements to stay ahead of his competitors.

For dealers that are already on vAuto, there will be training webinars for the next 60 days starting Monday, November 14.  Training will be at 8 Central time on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and 4 Central time on Wednesdays and Fridays.  Contact your Performance Manager to get the details or you can click here to schedule your online training webinar.