A good deal is a state of mind. It's based on perception. There is no real transparency. Its also perception. And the perception is transparency is much more important that transparency itself. Does anyone really think we are going to divulge our complete cost structure to each consumer, then negotiate the margin? We'll have true transparency about the time Dealers are transparent with their managers and sales people, and not a moment sooner.

The word transparency is often over used, but that is because consumers have more influence and data to support their influence than in any time in auto industry history. The problem is not all data is equal, and using it in context can also be a problem. Research indicates the Gen Y buyer who will soon comprise over 40% of your consumers wants this type of validated experience. With-out this type of showroom experience they, Gen Y, purchases from a dealership willing to be "transparent" There usually is a difference between new and pre-owned gross profit, but both experiences have to be validated in a transparent way. The good news for progressive dealerships is you can become transparent in a lot of different ways and use data that works for your dealership and your consumer. I wouls strongly recommend beginning to look to address Gen Y the are different buyers and the data supports that fact.

David, I couldn't agree more than transparency has to happen between dealers, managers and sales consultants as well. Truth is, dealerships that aren't are not only losing customers to competitors, but employees as well.

Great comments Stuart! I believe that it's not about being the lowest price, but being in the most aggressive sample set and then letting your light shine through a process that builds value and trained & certified sales consultants. Thanks for your thoughts!

Carmax proves over and over that price is not the issue. You don't have to be the cheapest to have customers buy from you, but you do have to have a good online shopping experience. Getting instant gratification on a trade appraisal on your dealer website is very important and I would challenge you to do the research on which values are most realistic and relevant. Start a fresh or rare car a little higher price than a car that is aging and you'll make up the difference in gross.

Well said Carl.

As one of the generation in question, as mentioned above... this could not ring truer to me. Having been burned once (hard) by a very "non-transparent" dealership, I made it a point to never allow it to happen again. My weapon of choice? The internet. Since that first burn, I have made 2 more vehicle purchases. In both instances, I walked into the dealership with a wealth of information on hand, and spoke frequently to the dealerships I shopped with prior to coming in. And while both were adamant about not talking price before I actually walked in the door, I was ready anyways. Thanks in large part to sites like edmunds (which I used both times), I felt I had a decent idea what the cost of the car should be, and thanks to my smartphone, I had no problem forcing the salesmen and dealerships I visited be as transparent as possible with me. At the end of the day? Customers understand that the salesmen and the dealership need to eat too. It's about respect, tact, and honesty. These are the values we of ANY generation hold over slime, smarm, and snark.

Brilliantly put Marc! Thanks for weighing in.

This is a major part of what I am trying to solve with CarWoo!. You're on the money here Ron. Dealers that embrace what you've written are definitely more successful with the online buyer. Thanks for the post.

Thanks Tommy! Guys like you and I are trying to change the world one dealer at a time. :-)

Great read Ron... Does not being transparent make you invisible to customers? No, I think it is actually much worse than that! It makes you very visible and therefore very avoidable! Internet research is used by the consumer to make their life easier by elimination, that is why pre-purchase visits have dropped from 6 to 2 in the last 10 yrs, right? Your pricing point is right on: No price = Too High = Strike that one from the shortlist... The internet is the digital extension of the physical dealership, nothing more, nothing less. The same rules for great consumer experiences are in effect, but they must be observed even more diligently as you seldom get a second chance online. It is far too easy for the consumer to move to the next dealer.

Hey Ryan, I love your comment, "Internet research is used by the consumer to make their life easier by elimination." Bingo! Right on! Nailed it! I'm fairly confident that dealers do not intentionally want to be eliminated from consideration.

OM GOSH!!!!!! How can we eat this elephant? One bite at a time? I just left a store which is part of a multi -store group and after having met with their Director of eCommerce I left scratching my head. Scenario-at their "high volume store" where the General Manager Tyrannosaurus Rex, holds higher grosses than most in his group, a strict rule was instituted- RULE- DO NOT PROMOTE PRICE ON VEHICLES ON THE LOT! Reason? When a guest arrives and is given a price by the sales person, IF the price they are quoted is HIGHER than the Internet price AND the guest sticks around, the sales person has to create distractions long enough for one of the sales managers to contact the e Commerce manager to pull the Internet price down before the customer can pull it up on their handheld! They actually have a "process" for such instances (which according to the eCommerce guy takes up 1/2 to 2/3 of his day to pull down prices as sales people dance).....I asked a couple stupid questions as I sat there in awe- 1) "How many times does the customer get to the internet price on their handheld before you can have it pulled?" ANSWER: 1/2 the time.....1/2 of that number is deals lost- the guest leaves unsold - the eCommerce director is mostly a fireman!! 2) "Why don't you just price your inventory using your inventory tool fairly and eliminate all the damage control (along with the poor reputation control) along with time spent explaining, distracting, and or dancing?" ANSWER: "The GM holds high gross and at the end of the day that's what matters." Now if they didn't sell 325+ a month I wouldn't have been as astounded as I was- but at 325 units per month with this type of business practice going on- can you imagine what would happen if they came clean, priced fairly, promoted the value of the store the customer service and service value? Imagine the possibilities if they were transparent to the other 1200 minimum "ups" they say they get in order to sell the 325? I failed to mention their ad budget is off the charts. WOW- I am more determined than ever to get dealers on board with the importance of transparency- or should I say value.....and get them to understand that first and foremost the value is to their stores! It aint gonna be easy but someone has to do it.

Hey Wendy, I won't mention any names, but I think I may have spoken to the GM of that store a few weeks ago. He was very brazen in declaring that they "kicked butt" without worrying about the Internet and their grosses were very high. And if it wasn't the same store, then this Tyrannosaurus Rex (your words) :-) mentality is still active in our industry which I find disheartening at best. You are right on with your assessment. That process of deception has to lead to reputation nightmares with the 50% that walk. People like you and I will keep on preaching the good word and doing our best plugging along trying to change the industry for the better. Thanks for your comments!

Nice article Ron.................I wonder, is a dealer transparent when they post their MSRP online with a button below that says: "get e-price"? To me that means that if you are a Gen X buyer and actually come in to kick tires, you are going to pay more. Kind of a murky area.............which isn't transparent in my opinion. Your word of mouth reputation as a dealer is just as important as transparency. Be consistent for EVERYONE and you will be consistently profitable.

Great points Jeff. You run a tight ship and I like that!

It seems that definition of Transparency is not understood well, transparency is not about selling your inventory at the lowest price, this is your choice to sell at your price and there is no problem with that. Keeping up with competition is also seller choice; even your online reputation is your choice. We all make choices and we need to accept the consequences. Transparency mean to practice business ethic throughout the process of making a deal and customer care, I do strongly believe that in the age of information, businesses that don’t practice it will suffer greatly in long run.

RE: "Transparency mean to practice business ethic throughout the process of making a deal and customer care, I do strongly believe that in the age of information, businesses that don’t practice it will suffer greatly in long run." Actually, transparency in the context of sales has to do with the information both the buyer and seller share. When the bulk of information is known by the dealer, and not the buyer, the dealer has an advantage in the negotiation. Absolute transparency means buyer and seller have the same information, transforming the product into a commodity. This leads to disintermedation. And dealer who thinks that is good for him is a complete fool.

David, there is not such a thing as "Absolute transparency" there is either transparency or not. being transparent doesn't mean that we have to loose money or make little money on a deal, It also doesn't mean that we have to tell the customer how much we are in a vehicle. Transparency simply means that not to give customer falls information. It absolutely does not have anything to do with how much money made on a deal. I have attended few selling and management seminars, and some from well known companies, all they had to offer was how to lie to customer and make them confuse and then sell. We don't need to do that to sell, instead we could work on value selling as well as giving them peace of mind. Selling is about persuading customers with working on value, peace of mind, and future relationship. If there are two dealerships with the same vehicle, different price, I would not necessarily buy from dealer with lower price, I would pay little more and buy from dealership that has good reputation and great customer service.

Actually, there is, and it leads to "efficient markets." Transparency has to do with information. The advantage dealers, or your jeweler, hold is knowing exactly what their costs are. IF you intend to be transparent, and your customer asks you what your bare cost is, you are obligated to tell them. That's why dealers typically aren't completely transparent with their managers or sales people. Relative transparency is something different. We should call it what it really is. The word "Transparency" means different things to different people. But there is only one definition of "disintermediation." Selling isn't about giving the customer what they want, its about making them like what we gi8ve them. One thing I've told new sales people, for decades now, is do NOT judge your customers by yourself.

Ron Well done. I have been preaching this for the past 2 years. customers have been trained to expect to be able to find anything they need in terms of a product so why should car shopping be different. The harder you make it for the consumer to move closer to the sale, they will go to the past of least resistance and find someone who will help them. The days of car dealers being the only ones who hold information are over so providing as much as you can is the best strategy to stay on a consumer's list of potential partners.

I agree 100% Glenn. It is foolish to think that customers in this day and age of information are ill informed. If a dealer is playing games or withholding information, the customer will simply move on to a better dealer. The upside in my opinion is that businesses are finally being forced back toward providing outstanding customer service, which is a skill set that has really disappeared in recent years.

The more information you provide the customer, the more they will trust you. Remember, people buy from people they know, like and trust. Transparency is the key to trust.

If you have not heard of George Akerlof you are not alone. In 1970 Professor Akerlof used the auto industry and a "lemon car" i.e. defective vehicle to show how transparency, equal information for both buyer and seller will create a more efficient market.Transparency will reduce adverse selection for both buyers and sellers. It is worth Googling and reading the articles. If you think about technology and the tools that contain market data, these are all marketed to create efficiency. Because information today is available with-out much consumer effort, Gen Y and other groups as well, demand this transparent approach, and embracing it with a solid process will not necessarily mean less profit. Research supports that it will help ensure more deliveries at reasonable grosses, and more satisfied customers. Wit hall the social media and rating sites the satisfaction with yuor process is very important. Stu Zalud NADA Used Car Guide Co.

RE: "The more information you provide the customer, the more they will trust you. Remember, people buy from people they know, like and trust. Transparency is the key to trust." So Adam, why not just disclose your triple net costs and negotiate the margin. Your customer will appreciate your transparency so much they will pay you the 10% margin you need to break even and provide some ROI, right? My argument is NOT for absolute opaqueness in the negotiation process. My point is that our advantage is to have more information than our buyers. If not, our product becomes a commodity. A blind dog with a note in his mouth can deliver transparency. It takes some skill and understanding to provide salesmanship.

@ Adam - As COO, how "transparent are you with your sales employees, managers and sales people, let alone your customers? Do you disclose all of the dealer trunk money to them? Your store's bottom line?

@ Stu - I know an "efficient market" sounds good. But as a representative of NADA doesn't "disintermediation" have a meaning to you? That's what an "efficient market" leads to. Is that really what you want? Along with increased information which is depressing dealer margins, OEMs are pushing dealers to spend more and more on their fiacilities while the CFPB is moving to take away rate markup. Do the math.

@David - cDemo is based on transparency and efficiency. We offer a vehicle merchandising platform that allows dealers to collect more detailed information about their vehicles including damage and tire tread depth in addition to standard features. As far as transparency with our employees, we use a CRM that shows all user activity to all employees. We encourage our entire team to be transparent about what we do on a daily basis. Our customers have complete access to our back end and can see where all of their inventory is coming from and being sent. We have great relationships with our customers and many of them have my personal cell phone number as well as the cell phone numbers to our management and support team.

@David ~ From a customer perspective, which dealership will they choose when one is open with information and pricing and the other is protecting information for the "advantage" you spoke of?

Transparency is the key to trust? How many people buy jewelry without asking for transparency in the markup? Yet, people still buy jewelery. Same with furniture. The objective is not transparency. The objective is a sale with enough gross profit to support ROI. An "efficient market does NOT provide ANY ROI for the middle man. You guys should really be talking about a balance of transparency and salesmanship because absolute transparency leads to your demise. How many of you think consumers would knowingly pay you a 10% margin on new vehicle? How many have added up all of your costs of sale to see how much you need just to break even? What are the chances your customer would pay you that in a truly transparent business model?

As an added bit of information: Only about 28% of customers are fast trackable from credit perspective. Everyone else might need a little help from the dealer to gain financing. Then there are trade in issues. Buying a car isn't like ordering a laptop from Dell. Everyone is NOT an ace negotiator. If you have a problem with some people paying a higher profit than others you are in the wrong business. If a dealer needs to average $3K per transaction, and one customer gets a $2K deal, the next one needs to furnish $4K to maintain the average. Those who want to make sure everyone pays the same margin will probably suffer the same fate as those who tried that previously. Anyone recall the failed Ford Collection experiment, where Ford tried to retail cars based on what consumers told them they wanted in focus groups? Maryann Keller tells the story of a Silicon Valley startup that bought cars at fleet price, then offered them to the public at an even lower price to see if consumer could be satisfied. They couldn't. The fact is, during a negotiation, if neither party gets their feathers ruffles, someone left money on the table.

2 Thoughts: #1: In my market your statistics regarding credit worthiness are way off. #2: I don't recall anyone saying in this post that being transparent equaled being One Price.

My stats on credit worthiness come from Experian. They are national numbers. Before the Great Recession consumers with credit scores over 700 numbered about 32%. Now, one has to be a 720 to have any chance of being fast trackable IF DTI is below 50%. RE: One Price - One Price is/was a way to attempt to communicate to the consumer that the "best price" is freely disclosed. What is YOUR definition of transparent? Better yet, what is the average consumer's definition of transparent? In surveys, consumers say they don't want to pay a higher profit than anyone else. In surveys, they say they just want the "best price" so they can buy. They don't understand that there is no such thing as a "best price." The Ford Collection attempted to sell new vehicles the way consumers said they wanted to buy them. Dealers on the fringe of the Ford Collection markets were the ones who benefited. The Ford Collection experiment cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Dealers are free to be as transparent as they want. Consumers are free to shop until they find a sales process that suits them. Dealers are free to give away gross profit in an attempt to molify consumers and earn their trust. Dealers are free to pay vendors to bring them leads by demonizing dealers as a whole and creating the perception that X dealer is "different." And any dealer who thinks absolute transparency suits his/her purpose is free to disclose their triple net costs and disclose their actual margin. I think it would be nice to give up on this idiotic word. It has so many definitions and perceptions attached to it that it has no common meaning, rendering it worse than useless.

I think Franklin D Roosevelt sums it up pretty well. "There are as many opinions as there are experts."

@ Ron - Some dealerships are more artful than others when it comes to negotiation. If a consumer is not happy with one dealership's process, they are free to move on. If you want to assume all consumers are knowledgeable, start giving away gross profit immediately to earn their trust. Then try to pay your overhead with transparency. This business is still about gross profit. And a good deal is still based on perception. If transparency was the key to auto retailing success, there would still be a Ford Collection.

Let's agree to disagree on this one. I ran a One Price store for many years and our #1 position in the marketplace and our bottom line told me that it was successful for us.

@ Adam - RE: " As far as transparency with our employees, we use a CRM that shows all user activity to all employees. We encourage our entire team to be transparent about what we do on a daily basis. Our customers have complete access to our back end and can see where all of their inventory is coming from and being sent." If you had true transparency with your employees, they would know YOUR salary, the Dealer's salary, and your monthly P&L. What you have is relative transparency designed to provide the perception of complete transparency.

@ Adam - It isn't clear to me if you are COO of a dealership group, or of a vendor. Either way, absolute transparency still leads to an "efficient market" which is NOT good for "middle men." Once you have commoditized a product there is no need for middle men. Once the product is commoditized there is not gross profit to sustain them. I hope your business model isn't based on providing transparency to dealer customers, and in the doing, trending them in the direction of becoming obsolete. The discussion should be about relative and/or appropriate transparency. This business is still about perception and gross profit.

@David - I work for cDemo Mobile Solutions, as indicated on my Driving Sales profile page. We allow dealers to merchandise their vehicles in a very efficient and transparent way (by using a mobile app to collect all the details of their inventory including damage, photos, and real video) . I believe the original intent of Ron's article and the point I was trying to get across was that the more information you provide the customer up front, the better. If you try to hide things online (like price) or not answer a customer's questions, you frustrate the customer an increase the chances that they will go elsewhere to do business. Prior to my joining cDemo I was the Internet Director for a 3 store automotive group and did my best to ensure that our inventory was merchandised properly with real video walk-arounds and damage disclosed so that customers who were shopping online knew what they were looking at and didn't have any surprises when they walked into our stores. I did my best to knock down the walls that customers had built after having bad experiences at dealerships who jerked them around in the past. In the end, most people just want to feel like they got a good deal and have a good experience. I think most of the members of this community are committed to providing their customers a good experience and a good value on the vehicles they sell. We all want and need to make a profit. I don't think anyone who is part of this community wants to see dealers become obsolete.

Actually, there is, and it leads to "efficient markets." Transparency has to do with information. The advantage dealers, or your jeweler, hold is knowing exactly what their costs are. IF you intend to be transparent, and your customer asks you what your bare cost is, you are obligated to tell them. That's why dealers typically aren't completely transparent with their managers or sales people. Relative transparency is something different. We should call it what it really is. The word "Transparency" means different things to different people. But there is only one definition of "disintermediation." Selling isn't about giving the customer what they want, its about making them like what we gi8ve them. One thing I've told new sales people, for decades now, is do NOT judge your customers by yourself.

"Selling isn't about giving the customer what they want, it's about making them like what we give them." I couldn't possibly disagree with you more on that comment! I wonder if that would work as an ad slogan. "At ABC Motors we won't give you what you want, but we'll make you like what we give you." Welcome back to 1973. As a consumer, if a business doesn't give me what I want, they don't get what they want........my money.

Of course it wouldn't work as an ad slogan, but that doesn't change the facts of life. Why would the basic principle of sales even be considered as an "Ad Slogan?" Where id that come from? ANYONE can sell in a negotiating environment if they give consumers everything they want. Consumers don't want to pay middle man profit. They have no understanding of our cost structure, and don't care. The human nature of the car deal hasn't changed in decades. Nor have the basic principles of negotiation.

@David I enjoy a respectful and lively debate and you certainly have provided that. Thank you. I suppose we will have to agree to disagree on this one, but I will say this as a summation. I believe that Gen X, Y, and Millennials will not buy a car from a dealership that doesn't give them what they want in a buying experience. They won't go through the old games because they don't have to. There are enough dealerships today that have adapted to today's buyers. When the Boomers begin to diminish, dealers who are still resisting the "new normal" will have to adapt or will see massive decreases in sales and market share.

Ron, I believe that Gen X etcs. won't pay gross profit if they get everything they want. All of them don't have credit scores that even merit "fast tracking." Many are still paying off school debt, haven't bought their first home, and are a threat to move back in with their parents. They might find $500 open credit on a credit card to order something from Dell or Amazon, but it isn't yet time to turn our business on its head for them. Here are the facts. Increased transparency leads to an efficient market, which leads to disintermediation. That's elimination of the middle man. That's the car salesperson and car dealer. Look up disintermediation. Increased transparency compresses margins. As margins are being compressed by increased transparency, margins are also being compressed by the CFPB putting downward margin pressure on rate markup in F&I. At the same time, the OEMs are coercing dealers into higher overhead costs through facility renovation. Do the math.

What we need is appropriate transparency, basic salesmanship, and gross profit. Only consumers want absolute transparency. They also want to cut out the middle man. The way they answer survey questions and the way the behave in the real market aren't the same.

You make a really good point here. I like it a ton.

Great article! Thank you for sharing.

My pleasure Roger. I'm glad you liked it.

Ah yes, the pity party. Managing many Sales professionals over 32 years in the automotive industry, these gatherings are cancerous. Over the years, I have put the "Gung Ho' of the month award. My idea stems from the book, Gung Ho? By Ken Blanchard/Kevin Bowles and that I have a strong belief in its message. I rolled this out in a few phases. Phase #1, I purchased 5 of these easy read books. I then asked my whole team (Sale-Service-Parts-Office) to read the book and give me their thoughts. In turn, I would reward them with a bonus tchotchke. (You choose the bonus). Phase #2, I introduced the “First Friday” awards meetings, where I bought lunch for the whole store and introduced the “Gung Ho” of the month recipient. The department heads would vote and pick one person, who went out of their way, to do something special. This could range from, helping a customer over and above to picking up trash on the lot, which typically would lay there for weeks before the wind blew it into the parking lot next door. Phase #3, during these meetings, we would announce the winner and present the winner with a $200 gift card and an award they could take home, but must bring back the next day so it could be prominently hung on a wall in the facility. I would also hand out a $50 runner up award. It was amazing what this did to my facility. I had sales people reporting to me, what they did over and above in efforts. Office personnel, who looked to price shop common use items to reduce overhead and lot attendants who would finish cleaning the inventory and weed around my office windows to get attention. It had such a positive effect on reducing negativity and stopping those pity parties while building a “Total Team” effort. Phase #4, anyone who made a mistake or did something negative would be consulted in private using two managers (HR preferred) and myself in the conversation. Never, and I mean never allow reprimand in front of their peers. Randall at rwelsh@cimasystems.NET

Ah yes, the pity party. Managing many Sales professionals over 32 years in the automotive industry, these gatherings are cancerous. Over the years, I have put the "Gung Ho' of the month award. My idea stems from the book, Gung Ho? By Ken Blanchard/Kevin Bowles and that I have a strong belief in its message. I rolled this out in a few phases. Phase #1, I purchased 5 of these easy read books. I then asked my whole team (Sale-Service-Parts-Office) to read the book and give me their thoughts. In turn, I would reward them with a bonus tchotchke. (You choose the bonus). Phase #2, I introduced the “First Friday” awards meetings, where I bought lunch for the whole store and introduced the “Gung Ho” of the month recipient. The department heads would vote and pick one person, who went out of their way, to do something special. This could range from, helping a customer over and above to picking up trash on the lot, which typically would lay there for weeks before the wind blew it into the parking lot next door. Phase #3, during these meetings, we would announce the winner and present the winner with a $200 gift card and an award they could take home, but must bring back the next day so it could be prominently hung on a wall in the facility. I would also hand out a $50 runner up award. It was amazing what this did to my facility. I had sales people reporting to me, what they did over and above in efforts. Office personnel, who looked to price shop common use items to reduce overhead and lot attendants who would finish cleaning the inventory and weed around my office windows to get attention. It had such a positive effect on reducing negativity and stopping those pity parties while building a “Total Team” effort. Phase #4, anyone who made a mistake or did something negative would be consulted in private using two managers (HR preferred) and myself in the conversation. Never, and I mean never allow reprimand in front of their peers. rwelsh@cimasystems.NET

Fantastic comments Randall. Kudos!

Great article! Thank you for sharing.

My pleasure Roger. I'm glad you liked it.

Ah yes, the pity party. Managing many Sales professionals over 32 years in the automotive industry, these gatherings are cancerous. Over the years, I have put the "Gung Ho' of the month award. My idea stems from the book, Gung Ho? By Ken Blanchard/Kevin Bowles and that I have a strong belief in its message. I rolled this out in a few phases. Phase #1, I purchased 5 of these easy read books. I then asked my whole team (Sale-Service-Parts-Office) to read the book and give me their thoughts. In turn, I would reward them with a bonus tchotchke. (You choose the bonus). Phase #2, I introduced the “First Friday” awards meetings, where I bought lunch for the whole store and introduced the “Gung Ho” of the month recipient. The department heads would vote and pick one person, who went out of their way, to do something special. This could range from, helping a customer over and above to picking up trash on the lot, which typically would lay there for weeks before the wind blew it into the parking lot next door. Phase #3, during these meetings, we would announce the winner and present the winner with a $200 gift card and an award they could take home, but must bring back the next day so it could be prominently hung on a wall in the facility. I would also hand out a $50 runner up award. It was amazing what this did to my facility. I had sales people reporting to me, what they did over and above in efforts. Office personnel, who looked to price shop common use items to reduce overhead and lot attendants who would finish cleaning the inventory and weed around my office windows to get attention. It had such a positive effect on reducing negativity and stopping those pity parties while building a “Total Team” effort. Phase #4, anyone who made a mistake or did something negative would be consulted in private using two managers (HR preferred) and myself in the conversation. Never, and I mean never allow reprimand in front of their peers. Randall at rwelsh@cimasystems.NET

Ah yes, the pity party. Managing many Sales professionals over 32 years in the automotive industry, these gatherings are cancerous. Over the years, I have put the "Gung Ho' of the month award. My idea stems from the book, Gung Ho? By Ken Blanchard/Kevin Bowles and that I have a strong belief in its message. I rolled this out in a few phases. Phase #1, I purchased 5 of these easy read books. I then asked my whole team (Sale-Service-Parts-Office) to read the book and give me their thoughts. In turn, I would reward them with a bonus tchotchke. (You choose the bonus). Phase #2, I introduced the “First Friday” awards meetings, where I bought lunch for the whole store and introduced the “Gung Ho” of the month recipient. The department heads would vote and pick one person, who went out of their way, to do something special. This could range from, helping a customer over and above to picking up trash on the lot, which typically would lay there for weeks before the wind blew it into the parking lot next door. Phase #3, during these meetings, we would announce the winner and present the winner with a $200 gift card and an award they could take home, but must bring back the next day so it could be prominently hung on a wall in the facility. I would also hand out a $50 runner up award. It was amazing what this did to my facility. I had sales people reporting to me, what they did over and above in efforts. Office personnel, who looked to price shop common use items to reduce overhead and lot attendants who would finish cleaning the inventory and weed around my office windows to get attention. It had such a positive effect on reducing negativity and stopping those pity parties while building a “Total Team” effort. Phase #4, anyone who made a mistake or did something negative would be consulted in private using two managers (HR preferred) and myself in the conversation. Never, and I mean never allow reprimand in front of their peers. rwelsh@cimasystems.NET

Fantastic comments Randall. Kudos!

Thanks for sharing Ron. Same results, different day for many dealers.

What a coincidence! My e-Business Manager and I were just talking about the same thing with our internet team yesterday............the cream rises to the top. Thanks Ron. Jeff Richmond GSM Valley Importrs

Good stuff, Ron. I recently presented similar findings at the DMSC in Orlando, after ranking thousands of Internet responses. Suffice it to say, we might have well saved ourselves time and looked at a much smaller sample size to show that dealers need help improving their interaction with customers.

Great info Ron. We have found very similar results during our consultations and work with dealers. Many times it is because dealers don't know. When they tell us they have their lead process down, they are shocked when we present information to the contrary. Especially when their departments don't call a lead we submit. Dealers have to allow some of the great trainers out there to hold up the mirror so dealers can sell more cars.

Definitely food for thought. One question: was the ~11 hour average just business hours, or within a 24 hour window?

Great question Amy. In preparing the findings from the sample I pulled it was business hours only which means the results were actually worse than reported. So glad to see responses to this post from Glenn Pasch, Joe Webb, and Shaun Raines who are all experts that I admire tremendously. And Jeff, good for you for having those discussions! Keep up the good work!

Here is some food for thought... What is your process for monitoring response times and quality of response. While third party (outside eye looking in) advice is great and always welcome we as Managers should be monitoring these issues daily. Though we may never perfect the process of Internet Sales, there is no reason why we should not try! Thank you Ron for your insight!!

Anyone know of a company that I can hire at a reasonable price to secret shop my digital team weekly/monthly? We have thousands of email addresses to secret shop our competitors every month for the last 10 years but I - and I bet they would appriciate some accountability reporting on my team. Funny, while I was typing this, I contacted my accountability manager and discussed doing this in-house and creating a "Digital Report card" that would grade every lead response in detail and followup including copies of every response and phone call/text attempt for 30 days. Answered my own question :) Love this forum.

Hey Joe, Shoot me an email and I'll share the "Quality Lead Response Report Card" that we have. Good to see you on the forum and I hope we'll see you at DSES.

Joe - If you have an accountability manager, you're way ahead of the curve. I LOVE it. We offer a couple of services for our clients and others called TaskTeacher and PriceMatrix. PriceMatrix does the detailed mystery shopping of your same brand competitors on a monthly-bi-monthly basis so you know their pricing, response time, online pricing, strategies, rebates using, etc. This way dealers can stay competitive. However, with TaskTeacher, we do much of what you'll be doing with your accountability manager. I PREFER that dealers do this in-house, but it must be done. We monitor how thoroughly their lead handlers/ISMs follow-up long-term with their Internet opportunities. We measure timing, effort, content, responses, and more. Every bit of criteria we hold them accountable for is weighted statistically to arrive at a "grade". Our team and software then writes detailed notes describing any discrepancies, as well as words of encouragement. It then automatically shoots those "grades" and coaching comments back to the ISM, Internet Director, Sales Managers and more. As you embark down this path, a tip that we ended up including into our software...make sure that you keep a historic database so you can notate trends to how they are improving and what specific short-comings each individual has. It takes managing and training to another level. (We call ours "progress reports"). Great job incorporating that into your daily routine. We've learned that it is only when someone realizes they're being constantly monitored (and receiving corresponding grades) that they start following the process well.

looking for a good lead provider can anyone help. MM

Better Car People is great at helping with this over 1500 dealerships to date

Thanks for sharing Ron. Same results, different day for many dealers.

What a coincidence! My e-Business Manager and I were just talking about the same thing with our internet team yesterday............the cream rises to the top. Thanks Ron. Jeff Richmond GSM Valley Importrs

Good stuff, Ron. I recently presented similar findings at the DMSC in Orlando, after ranking thousands of Internet responses. Suffice it to say, we might have well saved ourselves time and looked at a much smaller sample size to show that dealers need help improving their interaction with customers.

Great info Ron. We have found very similar results during our consultations and work with dealers. Many times it is because dealers don't know. When they tell us they have their lead process down, they are shocked when we present information to the contrary. Especially when their departments don't call a lead we submit. Dealers have to allow some of the great trainers out there to hold up the mirror so dealers can sell more cars.

Definitely food for thought. One question: was the ~11 hour average just business hours, or within a 24 hour window?

Great question Amy. In preparing the findings from the sample I pulled it was business hours only which means the results were actually worse than reported. So glad to see responses to this post from Glenn Pasch, Joe Webb, and Shaun Raines who are all experts that I admire tremendously. And Jeff, good for you for having those discussions! Keep up the good work!

Here is some food for thought... What is your process for monitoring response times and quality of response. While third party (outside eye looking in) advice is great and always welcome we as Managers should be monitoring these issues daily. Though we may never perfect the process of Internet Sales, there is no reason why we should not try! Thank you Ron for your insight!!

Anyone know of a company that I can hire at a reasonable price to secret shop my digital team weekly/monthly? We have thousands of email addresses to secret shop our competitors every month for the last 10 years but I - and I bet they would appriciate some accountability reporting on my team. Funny, while I was typing this, I contacted my accountability manager and discussed doing this in-house and creating a "Digital Report card" that would grade every lead response in detail and followup including copies of every response and phone call/text attempt for 30 days. Answered my own question :) Love this forum.

Hey Joe, Shoot me an email and I'll share the "Quality Lead Response Report Card" that we have. Good to see you on the forum and I hope we'll see you at DSES.

Joe - If you have an accountability manager, you're way ahead of the curve. I LOVE it. We offer a couple of services for our clients and others called TaskTeacher and PriceMatrix. PriceMatrix does the detailed mystery shopping of your same brand competitors on a monthly-bi-monthly basis so you know their pricing, response time, online pricing, strategies, rebates using, etc. This way dealers can stay competitive. However, with TaskTeacher, we do much of what you'll be doing with your accountability manager. I PREFER that dealers do this in-house, but it must be done. We monitor how thoroughly their lead handlers/ISMs follow-up long-term with their Internet opportunities. We measure timing, effort, content, responses, and more. Every bit of criteria we hold them accountable for is weighted statistically to arrive at a "grade". Our team and software then writes detailed notes describing any discrepancies, as well as words of encouragement. It then automatically shoots those "grades" and coaching comments back to the ISM, Internet Director, Sales Managers and more. As you embark down this path, a tip that we ended up including into our software...make sure that you keep a historic database so you can notate trends to how they are improving and what specific short-comings each individual has. It takes managing and training to another level. (We call ours "progress reports"). Great job incorporating that into your daily routine. We've learned that it is only when someone realizes they're being constantly monitored (and receiving corresponding grades) that they start following the process well.

looking for a good lead provider can anyone help. MM

Better Car People is great at helping with this over 1500 dealerships to date