Shortcuts; Reviews, SEO, Pricing and more!

[ed.brooks]

I love the desire that dealers have to win. It’s a trait that all car dealers share, and is one of the many reasons I love being in this industry. The entrepreneurial drive and desire to succeed permeates our business.

This desire causes dealers to look for any advantage possible, and causes some dealers to seek out shortcuts. Shortcuts when it comes to marketing their prices. Shortcuts when it comes to SEO. Shortcuts when it comes to reviews. These shortcuts don’t create long-term advantages and in many cases cause real, lasting, disadvantages.

Pricing – Some dealers advertise misleading pricing in an attempt to fool customers into visiting their stores. These dealers are trading their long-term reputations for a short-term boost in traffic. And they have to fight the classified sites, companies like mine, and state Attorneys General that are all aware of these tactic and are constantly watching for them. Shortcuts don’t work.

SEO – It’s long been possible to gain better positioning on the search engines thru aggressive SEO. Google, Bing, and the others, have been working overtime, tweaking their algorithms and penalizing sites that try to game the system. The penalty is often much worse than had the site diligently – and legitimately – worked to worked to improve their ranking. Shortcuts don’t work.

Reviews – Currently some dealers have experienced dramatic drops in their online reviews. Some (not all) of these dealers followed advice designed to generate large numbers of reviews quickly. More cautious advice was out there (Mike Blumenthal on Onsite “Review Stations” and Google), but so were the shortcuts. Again, much like with aggressive SEO, the penalties were worse than the short-term boost the ‘advantages’ brought. Shortcuts don’t work.

The desire to win is great and absolutely necessary for a dealer to be successful. Shortcuts however, rarely bring long-term, lasting success. Being smarter, working harder, and having a solid, modern, long-term strategy are the keys to success, shortcuts are not.

 

[ddavis]

I contend that dealerships that employ "shortcuts" are are just as likely to do much more serious things. Bogus Warranty claims and RDR cards along with fraudulent F&I practices are other ways that dealerships game the system. It is part of the culture in stores that do these things. People are either honest or they are not.

In the face of competition, some feel that they have to cheat. Jick is not a substitute for knowledge, work ethic and talent.

Transparency is a term that is bounced around on DearlerRefresh. In the digital age, it can take on an all new meaning. Through review sites, customers can get an idea of what type of store and people they could be dealing with.

 

[ed.brooks]

I contend that dealerships that employ "shortcuts" are are just as likely to do much more serious things. Bogus Warranty claims and RDR cards along with fraudulent F&I practices are other ways that dealerships game the system. It is part of the culture in stores that do these things. People are either honest or they are not.

In the face of competition, some feel that they have to cheat. Jick is not a substitute for knowledge, work ethic and talent.

Transparency is a term that is bounced around on DearlerRefresh. In the digital age, it can take on an all new meaning. Through review sites, customers can get an idea of what type of store and people they could be dealing with.

Running a 'legit' operation is the only way to go today. Customers have much too much information, they talk too much, and their voices are WAY too loud, thanks to the Internet for anything less - and you can sure sleep easier.

 

[Kelly Wilson]

As a Green Pea I never knew how "under thr rock" we were until I started reaching out to learn more about the job I was thrust into. Thank You DR community - Jeff, Alex, Ed, Doug, JQ, Uncle J......everyone - TY!

I never understood the idea of shortcuts & black hat practices. In 3 months or less you'll be found out and in cyber jail. Honest work makes sense (and dollars). My site ranks better (than my limits would have to think) and I don't have to undo or redo just keep building. Working w/customers I have repeat customers in under 2 years & a good number of referrals. I think it's a great foundation.

WORK in a transparent fashion - you'll sleep better, you'll feel better (others won't hate you)-and in the end you'll have more $$ with the time to enjoy it

 

[kevinfrye]

As a Green Pea I never knew how "under thr rock" we were until I started reaching out to learn more about the job I was thrust into. Thank You DR community - Jeff, Alex, Ed, Doug, JQ, Uncle J......everyone - TY!

I never understood the idea of shortcuts & black hat practices. In 3 months or less you'll be found out and in cyber jail. Honest work makes sense (and dollars). My site ranks better (than my limits would have to think) and I don't have to undo or redo just keep building. Working w/customers I have repeat customers in under 2 years & a good number of referrals. I think it's a great foundation.

WORK in a transparent fashion - you'll sleep better, you'll feel better (others won't hate you)-and in the end you'll have more $$ with the time to enjoy it

Love the statement that you will find yourself in "cyber jail", lol. Keep up the great work Kelly!

 

[ddavis]

Kelly, you're more than welcome.

I visited five stores, yesterday. I have friends in four of them. I really enjoy getting to visit them. The other made me think, damn I'm here and unarmed.

Years ago, there was a Nissan dealer in New Orleans, Al Lambert, Jr.. He had a cartoon blown up and framed behind his desk. The cartoon was of a dealer interviewing a prospective salesman, while reading his resume. The caption said, "you don't have a single felony conviction, how do you expect to sell cars?"

 

[ryan.leslie]

Ed and Doug,

There is something missing from this conversation. What responsibility do Vendors and Consultants have in relation to this post?

I know dealers are often "stuck" with the outcome of their internal and external hiring, and rightly so, but it seems like there is a lesson in all of this for those that supply products and services to the dealer community too. I'm not trying to start Vendor Wars on DealerRefresh, but you both sit on this side of the desk too and I'd appreciate your opinion.

How much of this "shortcutting" is the result of Vendors and Consultants creating "short-term" products and strategies to sell to dealers?

 

[ed.brooks]

Ed and Doug,

There is something missing from this conversation. What responsibility do Vendors and Consultants have in relation to this post?

I know dealers are often "stuck" with the outcome of their internal and external hiring, and rightly so, but it seems like there is a lesson in all of this for those that supply products and services to the dealer community too. I'm not trying to start Vendor Wars on DealerRefresh, but you both sit on this side of the desk too and I'd appreciate your opinion.

How much of this "shortcutting" is the result of Vendors and Consultants creating "short-term" products and strategies to sell to dealers?

I certainly think that some vendors "jumped the gun" a bit on this one (regarding G+ reviews) and gave out some very ill-advised advice to a number of dealers. Those same vendors now expect a pat on the back for finally getting it right 9 months later.

 

[ddavis]

Ed and Doug,

There is something missing from this conversation. What responsibility do Vendors and Consultants have in relation to this post?

I know dealers are often "stuck" with the outcome of their internal and external hiring, and rightly so, but it seems like there is a lesson in all of this for those that supply products and services to the dealer community too. I'm not trying to start Vendor Wars on DealerRefresh, but you both sit on this side of the desk too and I'd appreciate your opinion.

How much of this "shortcutting" is the result of Vendors and Consultants creating "short-term" products and strategies to sell to dealers?

Ryan, People might consider this arrogance, but I feel that I can walk into almost any dealership and help increase their internet business.

I am very protective of my reputation. Being straight forward, there are plenty of people that might not like me but I am sure that you can not find anyone that will question my integrity.

The jicky dealerships aren't going to embrace my way of doing business. It takes work and dedication to do things the right way. To them, work is just a four letter word.

Along with the consulting, I represent a company with several products that I used when I was at a dealership. The whole group started using them. As far as Vendor Wars, I have never used DealerRefresh to solicit business.