Imagine for a moment that you are sitting at your desk reviewing an average report on an average day. A heavy bass line starts pumping through your intercom. You look up to see a masked person hop on the hood of a car and start gyrating, head-bobbing and shaking uncontrollably in the middle of your showroom floor. As the initial shock wears off the music drops, and out of nowhere you see your entire organization joining in on the gyration! Random acts of crazy are going on all over the floor! It isn’t just the extroverts in your BDC either… Janet, your “tenured” title clerk that is too shy and reserved to say hello in the morning is doing a combination handstand/pelvic thrust against the wall, and only God and Rusty know what in the world Rusty your crankiest Technician is doing over there in the corner with that air tool… Wait, is that the Carfox? What on earth just happened?

Congrats! You’ve just survived the latest and greatest Internet Meme known as the Harlem Shake. Confused? Point your browser over to Youtube and search “Harlem Shake.” You will be more confused in just a minute, but at least you’ll begin to know WHY you are confused… ;) (Here is a great example of The Harlem Shake from the good folks at Fontana Nissan. AWESOME!) As interesting and fun as this new internet meme is I think we’d all agree that it isn’t a good model for managing the internal and external influences on your business, right? Would you be surprised to hear that there may be some striking similarities?

Some of the “Latest and Greatest” products and services and “New ways to think about old topics” are essentially the equivalent of a Harlem Shake Meme. Watch enough of the videos and you’ll see a consistent pattern in what appears to be total chaos. The character that starts the meme is always supremely confident, they’re certain that despite the craziness if they persist others will join them. Their confidence is persuasive! When it comes to business and marketing we must remember that it is very possible to be completely confident, and yet completely wrong!

NEW is NOT Bad! I’m not trying to convince you to put all your ad spend back in the Newspaper or become comfortable with the status quo. We are experiencing rapid technological changes and it is wise to keep a close eye on the wave of innovation. New tools and new strategies are constantly developed, but they almost invariably build on marketing or consumer behavior that is already well established. Take online reviews for example, they are quite simply a modern iteration of traditional Word of Mouth, already known the world over as a highly efficient and effective marketing tool. There isn’t anything new about an online review per se, except that it is consumed online.

LAST THOUGHT: Confidence isn’t the same as Competence! Expect a Vendor or consultant to be confident in their recommendations, but challenge them to produce credible evidence. We are all occasionally guilty of favoring our own thoughts and experiences more than we should in our decision making process.  A wise marketer must check the facts, ask for references, and above all QUESTION the confidence of those vying for their attention. It is also crucial to remove our own prejudice too which is often very hard to do. The best marketing decisions come through analysis of quality data, not instinct, personal experience, or confidence in an expected but unproven outcome.

I hope this lighthearted entry encourages you to resist the temptation of the marketing equivalent of the Harlem Shake. When the tune ends and the room goes silent, you may find yourself virtually dressed like the Cowboy from the Village People spinning in a circle with a large purple gorilla. ;)

Cheers and Happy Selling!

Imagine for a moment that you are sitting at your desk reviewing an average report on an average day. A heavy bass line starts pumping through your intercom. You look up to see a masked person hop on the hood of a car and start gyrating, head-bobbing and shaking uncontrollably in the middle of your showroom floor. As the initial shock wears off the music drops, and out of nowhere you see your entire organization joining in on the gyration! Random acts of crazy are going on all over the floor! It isn’t just the extroverts in your BDC either… Janet, your “tenured” title clerk that is too shy and reserved to say hello in the morning is doing a combination handstand/pelvic thrust against the wall, and only God and Rusty know what in the world Rusty your crankiest Technician is doing over there in the corner with that air tool… Wait, is that the Carfox? What on earth just happened?

Congrats! You’ve just survived the latest and greatest Internet Meme known as the Harlem Shake. Confused? Point your browser over to Youtube and search “Harlem Shake.” You will be more confused in just a minute, but at least you’ll begin to know WHY you are confused… ;) (Here is a great example of The Harlem Shake from the good folks at Fontana Nissan. AWESOME!) As interesting and fun as this new internet meme is I think we’d all agree that it isn’t a good model for managing the internal and external influences on your business, right? Would you be surprised to hear that there may be some striking similarities?

Some of the “Latest and Greatest” products and services and “New ways to think about old topics” are essentially the equivalent of a Harlem Shake Meme. Watch enough of the videos and you’ll see a consistent pattern in what appears to be total chaos. The character that starts the meme is always supremely confident, they’re certain that despite the craziness if they persist others will join them. Their confidence is persuasive! When it comes to business and marketing we must remember that it is very possible to be completely confident, and yet completely wrong!

NEW is NOT Bad! I’m not trying to convince you to put all your ad spend back in the Newspaper or become comfortable with the status quo. We are experiencing rapid technological changes and it is wise to keep a close eye on the wave of innovation. New tools and new strategies are constantly developed, but they almost invariably build on marketing or consumer behavior that is already well established. Take online reviews for example, they are quite simply a modern iteration of traditional Word of Mouth, already known the world over as a highly efficient and effective marketing tool. There isn’t anything new about an online review per se, except that it is consumed online.

LAST THOUGHT: Confidence isn’t the same as Competence! Expect a Vendor or consultant to be confident in their recommendations, but challenge them to produce credible evidence. We are all occasionally guilty of favoring our own thoughts and experiences more than we should in our decision making process.  A wise marketer must check the facts, ask for references, and above all QUESTION the confidence of those vying for their attention. It is also crucial to remove our own prejudice too which is often very hard to do. The best marketing decisions come through analysis of quality data, not instinct, personal experience, or confidence in an expected but unproven outcome.

I hope this lighthearted entry encourages you to resist the temptation of the marketing equivalent of the Harlem Shake. When the tune ends and the room goes silent, you may find yourself virtually dressed like the Cowboy from the Village People spinning in a circle with a large purple gorilla. ;)

Cheers and Happy Selling!

A very good friend sent me an article from the LA Times that ran this week that frankly made my skin crawl. I can't wait to see what the DrivingSales Community has to say about this one...

Meet Brad Newman.

By his own admission, Brad is "kind of a big deal." He's a self-described serial entrepreneur and the inventor of the first Facebook, although his version didn't catch on quite as well as Zuckerberg's. He now spends his time marketing Dental practices, but it is that black card in his hand that will likely make you want to make him visit one if he ever steps foot in your dealership. ;)

This is Brad's latest creation, the REVIEWERCARD. You see Brad feels that by waiving around his $100 REVIEWERCARD in your dealership he is putting you on warning that by giving him exemplary service, moving his RO to the front of the stack to save him time and heck, even cutting your prices to save him money is a fair exchange for a good review. Failure to do these things will most certainly get you a very negative review. Brad is careful not to say it in those terms, but it is certainly implied.

Not just everybody has the gall to be a card-toting member of the "I'm kind of a big deal" club like Brad, but I know that this customer often darkens the door of your dealership. I'll hold my comments and advice until the community has had a chance to weigh in. What do you think?

What do you do when faced with a Blackmailin' Brad? How do you handle a customer that makes it very obvious that they are willing to use their consumer voice in an attempt to "negotiate" with you? 

Here is a link to the article as published.

A very good friend sent me an article from the LA Times that ran this week that frankly made my skin crawl. I can't wait to see what the DrivingSales Community has to say about this one...

Meet Brad Newman.

By his own admission, Brad is "kind of a big deal." He's a self-described serial entrepreneur and the inventor of the first Facebook, although his version didn't catch on quite as well as Zuckerberg's. He now spends his time marketing Dental practices, but it is that black card in his hand that will likely make you want to make him visit one if he ever steps foot in your dealership. ;)

This is Brad's latest creation, the REVIEWERCARD. You see Brad feels that by waiving around his $100 REVIEWERCARD in your dealership he is putting you on warning that by giving him exemplary service, moving his RO to the front of the stack to save him time and heck, even cutting your prices to save him money is a fair exchange for a good review. Failure to do these things will most certainly get you a very negative review. Brad is careful not to say it in those terms, but it is certainly implied.

Not just everybody has the gall to be a card-toting member of the "I'm kind of a big deal" club like Brad, but I know that this customer often darkens the door of your dealership. I'll hold my comments and advice until the community has had a chance to weigh in. What do you think?

What do you do when faced with a Blackmailin' Brad? How do you handle a customer that makes it very obvious that they are willing to use their consumer voice in an attempt to "negotiate" with you? 

Here is a link to the article as published.