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My Online Vehicle Advertising Gorilla Ate My Digital Homework
Silly title, yeah, but here's my point: Is Autotrader's purchase of Vin Solutions the "death knell" for other Website/CRM/Digital/etc. vendors in automotive? Do I need do no more study or market homework for tool selection, and so I just have to call Autotrader to get all my strongest needs satisfied? To the first question, I don't personally think so IF the other vendors focus on improving their products to compete. At least not for a while. To the second question, well, I'd guess that was Autotrader's intent, which I am thankful for, but I am wary to make sure something of this size will stay focused on my and my dealer's needs.
In my career that includes several other non-automotive vertical markets, I've been through a number of tool-market consolidations that moved us away from the "best of breed" mentality--and I can say from personal experience that consolidation can be good, bad, or both for the end user.
In this case, I think the complimentary products of the Autotrader suite, and the vision of cleaning up the data integration and marketing nightmares that happen with multiple vendors already, are definitely very good things for us in the industry and for dealers. The bad thing is that while the inflatable gorilla is (rightly, and yay!) disappearing from the top of our buildings, it is being possibly replaced by a much-heavier Autotrader gorilla that is now strongly inserted in a position to influence the bulk of our used car supply chain, especially for marketing and pricing. Autotrader, HomeNet, vAuto, KBB, CDMData--and now VinSolutions. That's quite a gorilla.
And, as long as that gorilla stays off my roof, I don't see that as a direct threat to business, and I loudly applaud the independence that Autotrader has given and still gives to the purchased products it has added. I hope they always do that.
And that's the possible threat in the future that I do worry about--because I worked many years for, and worked for many more years with, another gorilla called Microsoft. My hope is that Autotrader continues to work to provide tools (by development and purchase) that we can use, and never to provide tools they control us to use. That was the Microsoft mistake, which ultimately involved the Department of Justice (you can see a very minor reference to little ol' me in that mess here).
My hat's off to Autotrader and to Vin Solutions, as this particular marriage makes more sense than just about any other acquisition for several years now in the automotive space. I look forward to some great things from both of them!
Let's all just have an eye out for this new gorilla and make sure he never sits on our dealership building. We can't afford that weight on the roof. And neither, frankly, in my experience can Autotrader.
So, keep watch that new gorilla doesn't ever show up there, and go enjoy the results of this new arrangement for your dealerships. There's a whole lot of good here: Let's use it!
Copyright 2011 All Rights Reserved www.keithshetterly.com
TurnUPtheSales.com
My Online Vehicle Advertising Gorilla Ate My Digital Homework
Silly title, yeah, but here's my point: Is Autotrader's purchase of Vin Solutions the "death knell" for other Website/CRM/Digital/etc. vendors in automotive? Do I need do no more study or market homework for tool selection, and so I just have to call Autotrader to get all my strongest needs satisfied? To the first question, I don't personally think so IF the other vendors focus on improving their products to compete. At least not for a while. To the second question, well, I'd guess that was Autotrader's intent, which I am thankful for, but I am wary to make sure something of this size will stay focused on my and my dealer's needs.
In my career that includes several other non-automotive vertical markets, I've been through a number of tool-market consolidations that moved us away from the "best of breed" mentality--and I can say from personal experience that consolidation can be good, bad, or both for the end user.
In this case, I think the complimentary products of the Autotrader suite, and the vision of cleaning up the data integration and marketing nightmares that happen with multiple vendors already, are definitely very good things for us in the industry and for dealers. The bad thing is that while the inflatable gorilla is (rightly, and yay!) disappearing from the top of our buildings, it is being possibly replaced by a much-heavier Autotrader gorilla that is now strongly inserted in a position to influence the bulk of our used car supply chain, especially for marketing and pricing. Autotrader, HomeNet, vAuto, KBB, CDMData--and now VinSolutions. That's quite a gorilla.
And, as long as that gorilla stays off my roof, I don't see that as a direct threat to business, and I loudly applaud the independence that Autotrader has given and still gives to the purchased products it has added. I hope they always do that.
And that's the possible threat in the future that I do worry about--because I worked many years for, and worked for many more years with, another gorilla called Microsoft. My hope is that Autotrader continues to work to provide tools (by development and purchase) that we can use, and never to provide tools they control us to use. That was the Microsoft mistake, which ultimately involved the Department of Justice (you can see a very minor reference to little ol' me in that mess here).
My hat's off to Autotrader and to Vin Solutions, as this particular marriage makes more sense than just about any other acquisition for several years now in the automotive space. I look forward to some great things from both of them!
Let's all just have an eye out for this new gorilla and make sure he never sits on our dealership building. We can't afford that weight on the roof. And neither, frankly, in my experience can Autotrader.
So, keep watch that new gorilla doesn't ever show up there, and go enjoy the results of this new arrangement for your dealerships. There's a whole lot of good here: Let's use it!
Copyright 2011 All Rights Reserved www.keithshetterly.com
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The Good Ol’ Boy Network (GOBN) Limits Dealer Success
The Good Ol’ Boy Network (GOBN) of the car business limits us in how we apply experienced and/or capable people, how we run our dealership’s business, and in how we approach women in this business for everything from ownership, to manager spots, to sales positions. And, by doing all that, limits our success. And our profitability. Let me tell you my own experience with the car business GOBN, and then I’ll address the point I’m making on limits.
I came to the car business in my 40’s (I’m now 52) with experience ranging from owning my own business, to Fortune 100 Consulting, to several years at Microsoft. I entered the sales floor, as perhaps many do, because I had a financial issue—I had a cash flow problem with my business, and so I was making an effort to offset that slowdown.
I was privileged to work with several great salespeople who were happy with me until I started selling #1 consistently. Eventually, they came back to liking me, but what really happened next was inevitable: I knew so much about sales and marketing, and the dealership group’s attention to marketing and the Internet was severely lagging. They couldn’t run a marketing program in any coordinated fashion to save their lives. I tried to help, but I ran right smack into the GOBN: I couldn’t possibly understand the car business! And the people they had running all the marketing and Internet were just fine. Really. They knew them all very well, how could it be otherwise??
And so I sold lots of cars and left when my cash was right again. The main store’s GM called me very shortly after that, though, and he said “I get it even if other’s don’t. I need your help in a BDC with phones and Internet, can you come back and help me?” And so I did. And a shout-out to my old GM, Mike, by the way: Thanks very much for that!
He and I worked together and took the BDC—even back then—to running 40% of the dealer’s vehicle retail business. I eventually moved on to an eCommerce position at a large group, and for me the rest is history as they say—I’m now an independent consultant (www.keithshetterly.com), but I still have all that experience, both outside and inside the car business. Plus I qualify now for some entry into that GOBN. Who knew?
Though that’s still not true with everyone who considers me, because I’m not twenty years in this business making all the same mistakes they are making (if not direct business mistakes, then business-limiting mistakes because they are still GOBN-oriented).
So, what are a few of the most common GOBN limits? First, that experience outside the car business isn’t any strong help to a dealership; second, that running the dealership AS a business, instead of by GOBN “relationship decisions", is not possible nor profitable; and, third, that women are never, ever part of the GOBN.
Yeah. I said it. Women are limited by the GOBN in the car business. Still. I’ll write more on that in a minute.
I already covered the GOBN’s reaction to experienced and capable people when I wrote about my own entry into the car business. What I see for GOBN for relationships that hold back their business success is perhaps best given in questions: Who knows a GM who buys a random direct mail piece because his buddy at another dealership “killed it” and sold “fifty cars” from it last month? Or has seen the management clearing-out that happens with some GM regime changes? Or still sees print advertising spend over digital because the GM has a long-standing relationship with the local newspaper? And so on. Exactly.
And back to women, then, to wrap up, and I’ll ask some more questions: How many women GMs and managers are there? Would a successful woman ever get online as a dealership Marketing Director and write on an automotive professional blog site (using both their personal name and their dealer’s name) in angry posts, some containing profanity (see the thread here, be warned)? Would even my actions there be done differently? Why do lots of capable women leave the sales floor? Why do the ones who stay do so well and yet cause such jealousy?
GOBN, that’s why. For all of that and more.
We need experienced, capable people with new ideas; we need to run our dealerships as a business, not as clubs; and we need more women in sales, management, and ownership.
And we lag on all these because of the limit of the GOBN, both in business practice and in attitude. Removing that limit will do more for long-term dealership success than any new efforts on Internet, Social Media, Reputation Management, etc. ever will alone—simply because those are all really most successful when change for business success is really embraced.
And the car-business GOBN hates change. Have you noticed? So did the dinosaurs, perhaps, and they are now encased in rock. Don’t be a GOBN fossil and miss modern success and profit.
Change.
By Keith Shetterly, keithshetterly@gmail.com
Copyright 2011 All Rights Reserved www.keithshetterly.com
www.twitter.com/keithshetterly
www.youtube.com/keithshetterly
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TurnUPtheSales.com
The Good Ol’ Boy Network (GOBN) Limits Dealer Success
The Good Ol’ Boy Network (GOBN) of the car business limits us in how we apply experienced and/or capable people, how we run our dealership’s business, and in how we approach women in this business for everything from ownership, to manager spots, to sales positions. And, by doing all that, limits our success. And our profitability. Let me tell you my own experience with the car business GOBN, and then I’ll address the point I’m making on limits.
I came to the car business in my 40’s (I’m now 52) with experience ranging from owning my own business, to Fortune 100 Consulting, to several years at Microsoft. I entered the sales floor, as perhaps many do, because I had a financial issue—I had a cash flow problem with my business, and so I was making an effort to offset that slowdown.
I was privileged to work with several great salespeople who were happy with me until I started selling #1 consistently. Eventually, they came back to liking me, but what really happened next was inevitable: I knew so much about sales and marketing, and the dealership group’s attention to marketing and the Internet was severely lagging. They couldn’t run a marketing program in any coordinated fashion to save their lives. I tried to help, but I ran right smack into the GOBN: I couldn’t possibly understand the car business! And the people they had running all the marketing and Internet were just fine. Really. They knew them all very well, how could it be otherwise??
And so I sold lots of cars and left when my cash was right again. The main store’s GM called me very shortly after that, though, and he said “I get it even if other’s don’t. I need your help in a BDC with phones and Internet, can you come back and help me?” And so I did. And a shout-out to my old GM, Mike, by the way: Thanks very much for that!
He and I worked together and took the BDC—even back then—to running 40% of the dealer’s vehicle retail business. I eventually moved on to an eCommerce position at a large group, and for me the rest is history as they say—I’m now an independent consultant (www.keithshetterly.com), but I still have all that experience, both outside and inside the car business. Plus I qualify now for some entry into that GOBN. Who knew?
Though that’s still not true with everyone who considers me, because I’m not twenty years in this business making all the same mistakes they are making (if not direct business mistakes, then business-limiting mistakes because they are still GOBN-oriented).
So, what are a few of the most common GOBN limits? First, that experience outside the car business isn’t any strong help to a dealership; second, that running the dealership AS a business, instead of by GOBN “relationship decisions", is not possible nor profitable; and, third, that women are never, ever part of the GOBN.
Yeah. I said it. Women are limited by the GOBN in the car business. Still. I’ll write more on that in a minute.
I already covered the GOBN’s reaction to experienced and capable people when I wrote about my own entry into the car business. What I see for GOBN for relationships that hold back their business success is perhaps best given in questions: Who knows a GM who buys a random direct mail piece because his buddy at another dealership “killed it” and sold “fifty cars” from it last month? Or has seen the management clearing-out that happens with some GM regime changes? Or still sees print advertising spend over digital because the GM has a long-standing relationship with the local newspaper? And so on. Exactly.
And back to women, then, to wrap up, and I’ll ask some more questions: How many women GMs and managers are there? Would a successful woman ever get online as a dealership Marketing Director and write on an automotive professional blog site (using both their personal name and their dealer’s name) in angry posts, some containing profanity (see the thread here, be warned)? Would even my actions there be done differently? Why do lots of capable women leave the sales floor? Why do the ones who stay do so well and yet cause such jealousy?
GOBN, that’s why. For all of that and more.
We need experienced, capable people with new ideas; we need to run our dealerships as a business, not as clubs; and we need more women in sales, management, and ownership.
And we lag on all these because of the limit of the GOBN, both in business practice and in attitude. Removing that limit will do more for long-term dealership success than any new efforts on Internet, Social Media, Reputation Management, etc. ever will alone—simply because those are all really most successful when change for business success is really embraced.
And the car-business GOBN hates change. Have you noticed? So did the dinosaurs, perhaps, and they are now encased in rock. Don’t be a GOBN fossil and miss modern success and profit.
Change.
By Keith Shetterly, keithshetterly@gmail.com
Copyright 2011 All Rights Reserved www.keithshetterly.com
www.twitter.com/keithshetterly
www.youtube.com/keithshetterly
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TurnUPtheSales.com
Shetterly's Three Laws of... Women Buyers
1) Hire some women! Women buyers will, on average, prefer to buy a vehicle from another woman when they can--and women salespeople are awesome. By the way, women salespeople will do a great job with male buyers, too.
2) Smile and understand their power. Lots of women are on their own and earning money these days, and, when in families, women statistically make most of the car-purchasing decisions, anyway--so, if you can pleasantly help women smartly enjoy their vehicle purchase, you will get some of your best sales. And referrals.
3) Sell with polite confidence. Women don't want to buy vehicles from mean or weak people, male or female, which means--no matter your own gender--you'll lose the sale if you are condescending or disrespectful. Or just don't know your product.
**To help be sure I wasn't a total Neanderthal about this, I vetted some of these ideas with Dr. Elizabeth Archuleta, whom I would like to thank. Regardless, though, I take full responsibility for the idea and content of this article.
Copyright 2011 All Rights Reserved
www.keithshetterly.com
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TurnUPtheSales.com
Shetterly's Three Laws of... Women Buyers
1) Hire some women! Women buyers will, on average, prefer to buy a vehicle from another woman when they can--and women salespeople are awesome. By the way, women salespeople will do a great job with male buyers, too.
2) Smile and understand their power. Lots of women are on their own and earning money these days, and, when in families, women statistically make most of the car-purchasing decisions, anyway--so, if you can pleasantly help women smartly enjoy their vehicle purchase, you will get some of your best sales. And referrals.
3) Sell with polite confidence. Women don't want to buy vehicles from mean or weak people, male or female, which means--no matter your own gender--you'll lose the sale if you are condescending or disrespectful. Or just don't know your product.
**To help be sure I wasn't a total Neanderthal about this, I vetted some of these ideas with Dr. Elizabeth Archuleta, whom I would like to thank. Regardless, though, I take full responsibility for the idea and content of this article.
Copyright 2011 All Rights Reserved
www.keithshetterly.com
No Comments
TurnUPtheSales.com
Shetterly's Three Laws of... Excellence
1) Mediocrity is a habit; excellence is a choice.
2) The ability of a competitor does not govern your excellence: Competition for excellence begins and ends within yourself.
3) Excellence is not a measure of effort--it is a measure of results.
(from the dealership series Shetterly's Three Laws of...)
Copyright 2011 All Rights Reserved
www.keithshetterly.com
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TurnUPtheSales.com
Shetterly's Three Laws of... Excellence
1) Mediocrity is a habit; excellence is a choice.
2) The ability of a competitor does not govern your excellence: Competition for excellence begins and ends within yourself.
3) Excellence is not a measure of effort--it is a measure of results.
(from the dealership series Shetterly's Three Laws of...)
Copyright 2011 All Rights Reserved
www.keithshetterly.com
No Comments
TurnUPtheSales.com
Shetterly's Three Laws of... Social Media
1) Be social: Wherever two or more of your customers are gathered, so should your dealership be there also (to paraphrase), and that applies to social media. And, if you're not there personally yourself, too, get on Facebook NOW--having a business page and not being on Facebook yourself is like buying a newspaper ad when you can't read.
2) Start smart social: Launch your social media business pages, etc. with a plan, or don't do it at all. If you can't monitor it, don't have it; if you can't add interesting content on a good schedule, don't start it.
3) Keep it social: Your Mom wouldn't care to see your inventory stapled to her walls--at her house OR on her Facebook news feed--so don't think your customers will like that on Facebook, either. They'd all like, however, to hear about your customer's new truck that trailered their boat to a great lake trip. Act otherwise and your page will be ignored by your customers--and you won't even know it.
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TurnUPtheSales.com
Shetterly's Three Laws of... Social Media
1) Be social: Wherever two or more of your customers are gathered, so should your dealership be there also (to paraphrase), and that applies to social media. And, if you're not there personally yourself, too, get on Facebook NOW--having a business page and not being on Facebook yourself is like buying a newspaper ad when you can't read.
2) Start smart social: Launch your social media business pages, etc. with a plan, or don't do it at all. If you can't monitor it, don't have it; if you can't add interesting content on a good schedule, don't start it.
3) Keep it social: Your Mom wouldn't care to see your inventory stapled to her walls--at her house OR on her Facebook news feed--so don't think your customers will like that on Facebook, either. They'd all like, however, to hear about your customer's new truck that trailered their boat to a great lake trip. Act otherwise and your page will be ignored by your customers--and you won't even know it.
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