As a dealership manager it can be difficult to get participation and buy-in from your team. During my many years as a general manager, I found that one of the simplest and most effective ways to get a team to work towards a common goal is through accountability. Accountability (when managed lightly) can create consistency, successful habits and pride in performance. I say managed lightly because accountability reporting in front of the whole team is like putting individuals in the spot light for all to see.

Part One: For Long Term Success - E-Mail Address Capture Accountability

Collecting customer e-mails is a basic foundation of marketing. Earning trust and communicating your brand may be the single most important rule for future marketing efforts, but also for the most basic of uses - communication. Don’t limit your e-mail capture efforts to the sales department. Your dealership will see many more customers filtering through service than sales, so ensure that e-mail acquisition happens at every customer touchpoint. That being said, despite best efforts, every manager will find contact records in their CRM, or discover sold vehicles that have been RDR’d with questionable e-mail addresses. Typically there are a few reasons why this occurs: your staff isn’t asking for an email address, they don’t want heat from management so they enter a fake email address, or the customer doesn’t want to give it.

It is true that some people are hesitant to give out their personal e-mail addresses for fear of being spammed by the dealership. The key to reducing that fear and increasing customer compliance is simple: Give the customer a reason to share it. For example, in service, we would tell our customers something along the line of, “Out of respect for your time, we e-mail you quotes for service work and pertinent coupons, a digital copy of your service record, receipts for completed service work, as well as important - and relevant information. Keep all this info in a folder titled ‘2014 Acura,’ and when you go to sell it….bam! More money and happier buyers.”

And for sales, something along the line off, “Most of our customers appreciate a digital brochure – may I email you one?” Simply email them the link. Or, “I think we have more like this one arriving soon, what’s your email address? I will email you the pics, price and details.”

As for asking for the email address, I’ve found that if you educate your staff why email address collection is so important, buy-in becomes easier. I used to simply go through all the campaign examples for service and sales that happened on their behalf automatically, but, ONLY if email addresses were provided. I suggest you put the campaign examples, along with a clear explanation as to “why” email collection is so important, in your New Employee Welcome Packet, so everyone views it, every time.

You can’t stop there, however. Reinforce the importance of this through ongoing accountability. One of the ways I have found to be very successful is the use of accountability reports. These provide the information needed to gauge both individual and overall dealership compliance. I would share the results with staff in weekly meetings. When someone achieved a high percentage e-mail address collection, the staff as a whole gave them applause. If, however, someone had a particularly low score, the staff would give them a baby “Boo” (one quick boo). The positive reinforcement in your weekly or daily meetings should be enough. In the event that you have consistent underperformance by an individual, a private word with executive management will typically fix the problem. I found that keeping the results in front of the staff and leveraging peer pressure was extremely effective. In fact, our dealership was in the top half of one percent in the nation for e-mail capture rate in both service and sales.

Here is an example of the email collection spreadsheet/report we show “every week” and we also email it out but only ‘after” we have shown it in front of everyone at our weekly meetings for both service and sales.

The data from this report is very simple to obtain through your CRM’s reporting functionality, and is well worth the little time it will take to gather the data.

By overcoming non-compliance through education, accountability, positive reinforcement and just a little peer pressure, it can be much easier to gain buy-in from your staff and excel at e-mail capture. However, it all starts at the top. Managers must be willing to make a commitment to consistent tracking, reporting and sharing of that information with their staff.

I believe that when there is a cop in the rearview mirror, we all drive a little better.

As a dealership manager it can be difficult to get participation and buy-in from your team. During my many years as a general manager, I found that one of the simplest and most effective ways to get a team to work towards a common goal is through accountability. Accountability (when managed lightly) can create consistency, successful habits and pride in performance. I say managed lightly because accountability reporting in front of the whole team is like putting individuals in the spot light for all to see.

Part One: For Long Term Success - E-Mail Address Capture Accountability

Collecting customer e-mails is a basic foundation of marketing. Earning trust and communicating your brand may be the single most important rule for future marketing efforts, but also for the most basic of uses - communication. Don’t limit your e-mail capture efforts to the sales department. Your dealership will see many more customers filtering through service than sales, so ensure that e-mail acquisition happens at every customer touchpoint. That being said, despite best efforts, every manager will find contact records in their CRM, or discover sold vehicles that have been RDR’d with questionable e-mail addresses. Typically there are a few reasons why this occurs: your staff isn’t asking for an email address, they don’t want heat from management so they enter a fake email address, or the customer doesn’t want to give it.

It is true that some people are hesitant to give out their personal e-mail addresses for fear of being spammed by the dealership. The key to reducing that fear and increasing customer compliance is simple: Give the customer a reason to share it. For example, in service, we would tell our customers something along the line of, “Out of respect for your time, we e-mail you quotes for service work and pertinent coupons, a digital copy of your service record, receipts for completed service work, as well as important - and relevant information. Keep all this info in a folder titled ‘2014 Acura,’ and when you go to sell it….bam! More money and happier buyers.”

And for sales, something along the line off, “Most of our customers appreciate a digital brochure – may I email you one?” Simply email them the link. Or, “I think we have more like this one arriving soon, what’s your email address? I will email you the pics, price and details.”

As for asking for the email address, I’ve found that if you educate your staff why email address collection is so important, buy-in becomes easier. I used to simply go through all the campaign examples for service and sales that happened on their behalf automatically, but, ONLY if email addresses were provided. I suggest you put the campaign examples, along with a clear explanation as to “why” email collection is so important, in your New Employee Welcome Packet, so everyone views it, every time.

You can’t stop there, however. Reinforce the importance of this through ongoing accountability. One of the ways I have found to be very successful is the use of accountability reports. These provide the information needed to gauge both individual and overall dealership compliance. I would share the results with staff in weekly meetings. When someone achieved a high percentage e-mail address collection, the staff as a whole gave them applause. If, however, someone had a particularly low score, the staff would give them a baby “Boo” (one quick boo). The positive reinforcement in your weekly or daily meetings should be enough. In the event that you have consistent underperformance by an individual, a private word with executive management will typically fix the problem. I found that keeping the results in front of the staff and leveraging peer pressure was extremely effective. In fact, our dealership was in the top half of one percent in the nation for e-mail capture rate in both service and sales.

Here is an example of the email collection spreadsheet/report we show “every week” and we also email it out but only ‘after” we have shown it in front of everyone at our weekly meetings for both service and sales.

The data from this report is very simple to obtain through your CRM’s reporting functionality, and is well worth the little time it will take to gather the data.

By overcoming non-compliance through education, accountability, positive reinforcement and just a little peer pressure, it can be much easier to gain buy-in from your staff and excel at e-mail capture. However, it all starts at the top. Managers must be willing to make a commitment to consistent tracking, reporting and sharing of that information with their staff.

I believe that when there is a cop in the rearview mirror, we all drive a little better.

An aspiring actress was planning a cross country move from New York to California to pursue her acting career and wanted to work as an Uber driver between auditions. This, of course, necessitated a reliable vehicle - something that she did not need in New York. She had heard of an online used car buying platform, Beepi, but wasn’t exactly sure if she should trust such a big purchase for a vehicle sight unseen. However, their 10 day/1,000 mile guarantee established enough trust for her to proceed. When she found a 2012 Toyota Corolla with 12,400 miles on the odometer and within her budget, she was interested. She went to her local Toyota dealer that had a similar vehicle in stock, took a test drive and left without giving the sales staff an opportunity to make a sale. A visit back to Beepi’s website and a few clicks and her vehicle was on it’s way to her door. This story, recently told by the Los Angeles Times, is becoming a more frequent one as start-ups attempt to transform the car buying process into one that’s more convenient and consumer friendly. And they have some big money betting that their business models will take off.

Since the explosion of the Amazons and Zappos’ of the world, customers have forced retailers to transform the shopping experience. Nobody can argue that Amazon continues to revolutionize and grow by doing the one thing that makes it successful – offering a more convenient platform for people to buy from. Amazon did not get to where it is today by making it difficult for people to do business with them, they did it by making it easier, faster and more convenient. It wasn’t that long ago that if you wanted to purchase a book, you had to trudge down to the local bookstore and hope they had it in stock. Now, in some markets, Amazon will deliver it to your door within an hour… along with your groceries, the latest movies and just about anything else you could want. And consumers love it.

Just about every automotive vendor’s service or product is designed at the core to do one simple thing - make someone’s life easier. Whether that’s the widget on your website that allows customers to get their own trade-in value;  a chat service that enables customers to communicate with you instantly without picking up the phone; or the many technologies that make dealerships more efficient, these tools all seek to create a better and easier buying experience for consumers. However, for many consumers, that’s not enough. They want an easy button.

I doubt many would argue with me when I say that the consumer perception of the process for buying a car is poor. Certainly those experiences vary from dealer to dealer. But the basic steps of our in-dealership processes remain the same - find needs/wants, test drive, proposal, finance, delivery. It’s only the execution of these processes that perhaps differ dealership to dealership. In the Beepi story, the car shopper did visit a dealership, but only to test drive a vehicle similar to the one she’d already seen on the Internet. That was all she needed to make the buying decision. The website took care of the rest. Imagine if she had been able to accomplish the same thing on the dealer’s website and only had to come in to test drive the vehicle. That’s exactly what she did. The only difference being that she purchased from Beepi instead of the dealer.

Many dealers are paying close attention to such start-ups. Used car sales start-up Vroom has closed investment rounds with capital from investors that include John Elway and former AutoNation CEO Steve Berrard. While another site, Carvana, is backed by auto retailer DriveTime, a company with over $1 billion in revenue that specializes in selling and financing used vehicles to consumers with challenged credit.

At some point, a tipping point will be reached for start-to-finish online car buying transactions. These start-ups prove that there is consumer demand for this type of buying experience and the technology is already available to do it.

I strongly believe it is time to embrace the trend and take steps to provide your customers with an easy button -- then perhaps you’ll find that they choose you rather than your online - and very real - virtual competition.

An aspiring actress was planning a cross country move from New York to California to pursue her acting career and wanted to work as an Uber driver between auditions. This, of course, necessitated a reliable vehicle - something that she did not need in New York. She had heard of an online used car buying platform, Beepi, but wasn’t exactly sure if she should trust such a big purchase for a vehicle sight unseen. However, their 10 day/1,000 mile guarantee established enough trust for her to proceed. When she found a 2012 Toyota Corolla with 12,400 miles on the odometer and within her budget, she was interested. She went to her local Toyota dealer that had a similar vehicle in stock, took a test drive and left without giving the sales staff an opportunity to make a sale. A visit back to Beepi’s website and a few clicks and her vehicle was on it’s way to her door. This story, recently told by the Los Angeles Times, is becoming a more frequent one as start-ups attempt to transform the car buying process into one that’s more convenient and consumer friendly. And they have some big money betting that their business models will take off.

Since the explosion of the Amazons and Zappos’ of the world, customers have forced retailers to transform the shopping experience. Nobody can argue that Amazon continues to revolutionize and grow by doing the one thing that makes it successful – offering a more convenient platform for people to buy from. Amazon did not get to where it is today by making it difficult for people to do business with them, they did it by making it easier, faster and more convenient. It wasn’t that long ago that if you wanted to purchase a book, you had to trudge down to the local bookstore and hope they had it in stock. Now, in some markets, Amazon will deliver it to your door within an hour… along with your groceries, the latest movies and just about anything else you could want. And consumers love it.

Just about every automotive vendor’s service or product is designed at the core to do one simple thing - make someone’s life easier. Whether that’s the widget on your website that allows customers to get their own trade-in value;  a chat service that enables customers to communicate with you instantly without picking up the phone; or the many technologies that make dealerships more efficient, these tools all seek to create a better and easier buying experience for consumers. However, for many consumers, that’s not enough. They want an easy button.

I doubt many would argue with me when I say that the consumer perception of the process for buying a car is poor. Certainly those experiences vary from dealer to dealer. But the basic steps of our in-dealership processes remain the same - find needs/wants, test drive, proposal, finance, delivery. It’s only the execution of these processes that perhaps differ dealership to dealership. In the Beepi story, the car shopper did visit a dealership, but only to test drive a vehicle similar to the one she’d already seen on the Internet. That was all she needed to make the buying decision. The website took care of the rest. Imagine if she had been able to accomplish the same thing on the dealer’s website and only had to come in to test drive the vehicle. That’s exactly what she did. The only difference being that she purchased from Beepi instead of the dealer.

Many dealers are paying close attention to such start-ups. Used car sales start-up Vroom has closed investment rounds with capital from investors that include John Elway and former AutoNation CEO Steve Berrard. While another site, Carvana, is backed by auto retailer DriveTime, a company with over $1 billion in revenue that specializes in selling and financing used vehicles to consumers with challenged credit.

At some point, a tipping point will be reached for start-to-finish online car buying transactions. These start-ups prove that there is consumer demand for this type of buying experience and the technology is already available to do it.

I strongly believe it is time to embrace the trend and take steps to provide your customers with an easy button -- then perhaps you’ll find that they choose you rather than your online - and very real - virtual competition.

An article published on Wards Auto shared some interesting views from a recent session at the Automotive Customer Centricity Summit. The article stated that John Finkel, director-client experience and training for Nissan’s luxury unit, Infiniti, does not believe that a 1-hour car deal is good for customers. In fact, he feels that customers don’t even want it. He stated on a panel at the summit that 3.1 hours was the “peak efficiency rate” and Infiniti’s desired transaction time. Infiniti stores currently average an aggregated 4.6 hours. Another dealer panelist indicated that his dealership’s goal was between 2 or 3 hours, with 1 hour being “an impossible dream.” The panel claimed that the trend towards faster transaction times is spurred by Millennials, but that it is a bad idea. The panel even went so far as to compare a “dealership hurrying shoppers is like a restaurant rushing patrons” and that “neither group of consumers likes that.” 
 

Studies have shown that consumers do not like the time it currently takes to purchase a vehicle. Nor do they like the process involved. In the panel session, Finkel claimed that “customers want salespeople spending time with them.” I’m not too sure about that. I cannot think of many times when I had to usher a customer out of the building because they were enjoying spending time with their salespeople.  In fact, in many cases, customers rush salespeople through the delivery process simply to leave faster. The reality is that every customer is different. Are there customers who want to spend time at the dealership kicking tires, test driving cars and negotiating price? Sure. But most consumers simply don’t have time to do that. They want a quick and efficient buying process. Consumers love to buy new cars… they just don’t like to buy them. That sounds like an oxymoron, but when you think about it, it really isn’t.

It’s been shown time and again that, in most cases, consumers tend to distrust the dealer. A lot of this distrust is perhaps because the sales process we have had for decades hasn’t evolved with the times. Consumers are making buying decisions online which they wish to quickly execute. Amazon has made the buying process so easy that now you can order a “dash” button for your washing machine and order detergent simply by pushing this button… no need to even go online anymore. I believe the evidence is there that consumers DO want a faster, friendlier and more transparent car buying processes. Poor customer experience, lack of transparency and long transaction times are consist complaints on every customer survey and study that is published.

Personally, I think that a 1 hour deal is possible for used. But, due to the new car delivery, 1.5 hours should be the goal.  The bottom line is that everyone has different ways they want to do things and it is important to offer experiences for each type of buyer. If a customer wants to come in, spend hours at the dealership chatting it up with the salesperson, as Finkel suggests, then great. But if they don’t have time to spend all day at the dealership, and would rather complete the process online, and just arrive at the dealership to take delivery - why wouldn’t you offer them that option? Why not provide an “Easy Button” for the consumer?

The point is that It isn't necessarily that the customer wants to spend less time at the dealership- they don't want to be 'hurried'- they just don't want the time to be spent haggling, feeling frustrated and stressed.  They want an easy and fun buying process. Allowing the customer to do the hard part from home means that however much time THEY choose to spend at the dealership is up to them.  My guess is that they won't be exhausted by the time they get delivery and they will have a much better time of it- maybe spend more time touring the service department and on delivery- leaving much more satisfied and happy...more likely to remain loyal --  Just a theory at this point.

Today’s consumer is busy. They don’t have time to spend the whole day at a dealership. They’re also tired of the traditional vehicle sales process. Enabling consumers to buy a car in their pajamas, online, from the luxury of their own home, on their terms, from start to finish, is where our industry is headed. In the end, all that matters is that they purchase a vehicle and are happy with their experience. After that, everything else will take care of itself. 

An article published on Wards Auto shared some interesting views from a recent session at the Automotive Customer Centricity Summit. The article stated that John Finkel, director-client experience and training for Nissan’s luxury unit, Infiniti, does not believe that a 1-hour car deal is good for customers. In fact, he feels that customers don’t even want it. He stated on a panel at the summit that 3.1 hours was the “peak efficiency rate” and Infiniti’s desired transaction time. Infiniti stores currently average an aggregated 4.6 hours. Another dealer panelist indicated that his dealership’s goal was between 2 or 3 hours, with 1 hour being “an impossible dream.” The panel claimed that the trend towards faster transaction times is spurred by Millennials, but that it is a bad idea. The panel even went so far as to compare a “dealership hurrying shoppers is like a restaurant rushing patrons” and that “neither group of consumers likes that.” 
 

Studies have shown that consumers do not like the time it currently takes to purchase a vehicle. Nor do they like the process involved. In the panel session, Finkel claimed that “customers want salespeople spending time with them.” I’m not too sure about that. I cannot think of many times when I had to usher a customer out of the building because they were enjoying spending time with their salespeople.  In fact, in many cases, customers rush salespeople through the delivery process simply to leave faster. The reality is that every customer is different. Are there customers who want to spend time at the dealership kicking tires, test driving cars and negotiating price? Sure. But most consumers simply don’t have time to do that. They want a quick and efficient buying process. Consumers love to buy new cars… they just don’t like to buy them. That sounds like an oxymoron, but when you think about it, it really isn’t.

It’s been shown time and again that, in most cases, consumers tend to distrust the dealer. A lot of this distrust is perhaps because the sales process we have had for decades hasn’t evolved with the times. Consumers are making buying decisions online which they wish to quickly execute. Amazon has made the buying process so easy that now you can order a “dash” button for your washing machine and order detergent simply by pushing this button… no need to even go online anymore. I believe the evidence is there that consumers DO want a faster, friendlier and more transparent car buying processes. Poor customer experience, lack of transparency and long transaction times are consist complaints on every customer survey and study that is published.

Personally, I think that a 1 hour deal is possible for used. But, due to the new car delivery, 1.5 hours should be the goal.  The bottom line is that everyone has different ways they want to do things and it is important to offer experiences for each type of buyer. If a customer wants to come in, spend hours at the dealership chatting it up with the salesperson, as Finkel suggests, then great. But if they don’t have time to spend all day at the dealership, and would rather complete the process online, and just arrive at the dealership to take delivery - why wouldn’t you offer them that option? Why not provide an “Easy Button” for the consumer?

The point is that It isn't necessarily that the customer wants to spend less time at the dealership- they don't want to be 'hurried'- they just don't want the time to be spent haggling, feeling frustrated and stressed.  They want an easy and fun buying process. Allowing the customer to do the hard part from home means that however much time THEY choose to spend at the dealership is up to them.  My guess is that they won't be exhausted by the time they get delivery and they will have a much better time of it- maybe spend more time touring the service department and on delivery- leaving much more satisfied and happy...more likely to remain loyal --  Just a theory at this point.

Today’s consumer is busy. They don’t have time to spend the whole day at a dealership. They’re also tired of the traditional vehicle sales process. Enabling consumers to buy a car in their pajamas, online, from the luxury of their own home, on their terms, from start to finish, is where our industry is headed. In the end, all that matters is that they purchase a vehicle and are happy with their experience. After that, everything else will take care of itself. 

How can it be possible that I would leave a job I LOVE after 25 years?

The fact is that I have always liked to be ahead of the curve and today’s customers are rewarding evolving dealerships that offer true Online Deal Creation with real perfect payment – where all that is left is the test drive. Don’t believe this can be done? Well, I am convinced that it can – and the results prove it. In fact, after 35 years, I have decided to leave the world of automotive retail to join my wife, Kim Orr, and her team, to build our automotive industry marketing/branding company, DealerSuccess, into a tech heavyweight. Kim and her team spent the last year launching CloudEngage.

For the last 25 years I have worked at Dick Hannah Dealerships, most of the time as a GM for the Honda store. While working as GM, I also served on the creative team with DealerPeak to totally re-create and re-brand their Online Deal Creation tool for my Honda store. I fell in love with the product and decided to leave automotive retail so as to further develop this tool (now Virtual Deal) for use in auto dealerships. I now work with my team at DealerSuccess to offer consulting and other revolutionary products that are meaningful to both dealerships and consumers.

At Dick Hannah, my team and I spent a great amount of time and energy researching technologies that we felt had the potential of helping our dealerships gain market share. Through implementation, accountability and analysis of results, we determined whether a product was worthy and, if it was, we improved our processes. We never stopped looking. By combining this process with an open-mind, a willingness to take risks and, by paying attention to consumer trends, together we built Dick Hannah Dealerships into one of the largest in the Northwest.

Over the years, I’ve seen our industry transform. If you’ve been around awhile, my guess is you know what I’m talking about. Technological advances have taken us from no websites, to rich, content-filled ones that allow consumers to virtually stroll through our inventory from home in their pajamas. Consumers don’t have to back their car up to the phone to get an appraisal on their vehicle any longer – they can do it through our websites, all on their own, without our help.

I’ve travelled the country sharing my findings with other dealers, attempting to help them become more successful. My speaking engagements have changed over time. As new trends and technologies became more prominent in our industry, my presentations have included topics such as transparency, online reviews and new technologies. I have seen, as I’m sure you have too, that the retail processes we’ve all employed over many years is increasingly moving online. Piece by piece. Bit by bit.

Consumers are now used to shopping from their home or office for just about everything you can imagine – including cars. Amazon didn’t become the behemoth it was because it made the buying process more difficult. They did it because they made it so simple. Then they made it fast. Today’s consumer is busy. They don’t have time to spend the whole day at a dealership. They’re also tired of the traditional vehicle sales process. Enabling consumers to buy a car in their pajamas, from start to finish, is where our industry is headed.

Is this possible? And, if so, will dealers embrace it? Or will some allow fear to creep in and prevent them from evolving? I get it. I’ve been there. I know all of the questions. Will I lose profit on the front-end or the back-end? Can I really work an entire deal online? Can a deal really be finalized – payment perfect – online so that all that remains is the test drive? How does this benefit my dealership?

Here’s the deal: I’m so convinced that online deal creation is a game-changer; our industries next evolution; that I have resigned as a general manager at one of the greatest dealer groups in this nation.

Through my research, studying live dealerships, and with actual implementation of Virtual Deal on the Dick Hannah Honda website, I am 100 percent convinced that this technology produces spectacular results -- I have never seen a conversion tool dominate like Virtual Deal.

I am thrilled to be able to join the team of DealerSuccess full-time as CEO-Spokesperson and will dedicate myself to sharing Virtual Deal across the nation. 

How can it be possible that I would leave a job I LOVE after 25 years?

The fact is that I have always liked to be ahead of the curve and today’s customers are rewarding evolving dealerships that offer true Online Deal Creation with real perfect payment – where all that is left is the test drive. Don’t believe this can be done? Well, I am convinced that it can – and the results prove it. In fact, after 35 years, I have decided to leave the world of automotive retail to join my wife, Kim Orr, and her team, to build our automotive industry marketing/branding company, DealerSuccess, into a tech heavyweight. Kim and her team spent the last year launching CloudEngage.

For the last 25 years I have worked at Dick Hannah Dealerships, most of the time as a GM for the Honda store. While working as GM, I also served on the creative team with DealerPeak to totally re-create and re-brand their Online Deal Creation tool for my Honda store. I fell in love with the product and decided to leave automotive retail so as to further develop this tool (now Virtual Deal) for use in auto dealerships. I now work with my team at DealerSuccess to offer consulting and other revolutionary products that are meaningful to both dealerships and consumers.

At Dick Hannah, my team and I spent a great amount of time and energy researching technologies that we felt had the potential of helping our dealerships gain market share. Through implementation, accountability and analysis of results, we determined whether a product was worthy and, if it was, we improved our processes. We never stopped looking. By combining this process with an open-mind, a willingness to take risks and, by paying attention to consumer trends, together we built Dick Hannah Dealerships into one of the largest in the Northwest.

Over the years, I’ve seen our industry transform. If you’ve been around awhile, my guess is you know what I’m talking about. Technological advances have taken us from no websites, to rich, content-filled ones that allow consumers to virtually stroll through our inventory from home in their pajamas. Consumers don’t have to back their car up to the phone to get an appraisal on their vehicle any longer – they can do it through our websites, all on their own, without our help.

I’ve travelled the country sharing my findings with other dealers, attempting to help them become more successful. My speaking engagements have changed over time. As new trends and technologies became more prominent in our industry, my presentations have included topics such as transparency, online reviews and new technologies. I have seen, as I’m sure you have too, that the retail processes we’ve all employed over many years is increasingly moving online. Piece by piece. Bit by bit.

Consumers are now used to shopping from their home or office for just about everything you can imagine – including cars. Amazon didn’t become the behemoth it was because it made the buying process more difficult. They did it because they made it so simple. Then they made it fast. Today’s consumer is busy. They don’t have time to spend the whole day at a dealership. They’re also tired of the traditional vehicle sales process. Enabling consumers to buy a car in their pajamas, from start to finish, is where our industry is headed.

Is this possible? And, if so, will dealers embrace it? Or will some allow fear to creep in and prevent them from evolving? I get it. I’ve been there. I know all of the questions. Will I lose profit on the front-end or the back-end? Can I really work an entire deal online? Can a deal really be finalized – payment perfect – online so that all that remains is the test drive? How does this benefit my dealership?

Here’s the deal: I’m so convinced that online deal creation is a game-changer; our industries next evolution; that I have resigned as a general manager at one of the greatest dealer groups in this nation.

Through my research, studying live dealerships, and with actual implementation of Virtual Deal on the Dick Hannah Honda website, I am 100 percent convinced that this technology produces spectacular results -- I have never seen a conversion tool dominate like Virtual Deal.

I am thrilled to be able to join the team of DealerSuccess full-time as CEO-Spokesperson and will dedicate myself to sharing Virtual Deal across the nation.