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Uncle Joe's Make Over Diary

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#262
When you get a killer idea...

Uncle Joe Rule #122:
"Just because it's a good idea, doesn't mean it'll work".


Uncle Joe Rule #34:
If there is demand AND there is money to be made from filling it... SOMEONE is after it right now... look HARD for that someone and observe what they're up to.


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#267
Dealers, Vendors, Everyone!
Stop beating ourselves up!
upload_2015-5-28_6-50-34.png

Every where I look... Car Shoppers LOVE the Dealer Visit.

Evidence:
If the dealer visit is so bad (and the Internet is so good), then, where are all of the shopping carts?

Explainer Video:



Summary:
The dealer visit trumps all internet research and it’s where final decisions are made.

The vendor's challenge as seen by a Design Strategist:
  • Expressed need: "I need the best car I can find for the least amount of money"
  • Implied need: “I can’t find out how to do this all online and I'll make better choices seeing the cars, so, I have to visit the dealer"
  • Latent need: "I need the dealer unless you can create an online experience that is superior to the dealer experience”
 
#268
Here's a strategy chat I've been having with dealers lately...

What do we know today?:
  1. Car Shoppers spend more time on others sites than yours.
  2. Shoppers only visit 1.5 stores prior to purchase.
  3. Your Web site is your new front door.
Your INTERNET goal is to be one of the 1.5 stores they'll visit.

How do we become one of the 1.5?
Understand that we are a ROBO industry (Research Online, Buy Offline). Shoppers use the Internet to prepare for a productive store visit (not to buy a specific car!!)

Ok, let's sell a great store visit!!
Shoppers come in 2 flavors,
  1. They know you (i.e. past customer)
  2. They don't know you.

Let's work on #2, shoppers that don't know you...
If I am a shopper that's never bought from you AND after I've landed on a car that interests me, it would be very helpful that you told me who you are and what the benefits are to buying from your store.

This is the Unique Value Proposition message (aka "why buy from me").

Make it a video. It's best delivered by "the boss" (GM, GSM, DP, etc). This video needs to be delivered with polish and authority. Hire an agency if needed.

Speaking of authority, as your company's investment in it's brand grows, you'll able to fine tune your message by picking a video host that'll deliver rich engagement stats. # of Video plays are important, but, you'll want to see how many people play the video to the end.

Example Split test:
Why buy message (called VIP Perks) delivered by 2 professional females, vs why by message delivered by the owner, Todd Caputo
upload_2015-5-28_8-4-39.png
upload_2015-5-28_8-4-58.png
  • Paid spokesman: 44% viewed to the end (800 plays, 350 finished)
  • Owner Authority: 75% viewed to the end (600 plays, 450 finished)
HTH
Joe

p.s. Your shoppers won't care about your "why buy from me message" until they land on a car... THEN they'll want to know about you and what your promises are. Once you have it, don't make your shoppers click off to a different page, they won't do it! Ask your vendor to insert your why buy message into the lower 1/3 of your VDPs. If its going to take too long, sometimes its easier & faster to place it in the footer.
 
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#269
Joe,

Just looking at your post and this comment: "Car Shoppers LOVE the Dealer Visit."

Totally agree with that.

I wonder if as a dealership we are failing to adapt to how new technologies promote new ways of customer interaction and as business slows down we blame external things for the lack of customers ("they hate coming here").

We are offering our products in a way that customers are no longer used to. Let me explain.

We used to go to electronic stores (a few years back...) and had to ask for a demo, or for them to pull an item out of the box. Same thing with sport products, etc. Look at how things work nowadays; Costco lets you sample food (probably one of the most attractive things of Sunday evening grocery shopping), Apple has every item opened for you to play with, same for Best Buy, sport stores, etc. You don't have to ask for anything, you just interact with the items the way you want, as long as you want, include other people (let your kids play with the iPad, etc).

At the car dealer customers have to come, tell us a story, talk about trade, financing, money, what I like, what I'm looking for. What if I just want to play with the car and fall in love with it?

Customers don't want to tells us their lives or ask for things. They just want to check the product then ask when they are ready.

I always like test drive events: Come to the dealership for coffee, we will have this Sunday all the entire Honda Civic line (not just the most expensive line) pulled out and open plus one of each available for a test drive. A salesperson in each car going around the dealer with customers. Do as many test drives as you can. Let the customers be before and afterwards.
 
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#270
yagoparamo said:
...I wonder if as a dealership we are failing to adapt to how new technologies promote new ways of customer interaction
Click to expand...

Yup, You nailed it Yago.

upload_2015-5-28_13-4-47.png

Why?
upload_2015-5-28_13-9-35.png

As a shopper, I want to pick a store with a non-commissioned specialist and bring all my un-answered questions in with me. I am looking for a place I can trust.

Speaking as a non-commissioned specialist, when my shopper wants to validate our price (aka haggle), it would be nice to have our market pricing lab right off the sales floor, to show the shopper our prices are updated hourly by a scientific process and are fair.
 
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