Latest activity

Alex Snyder · 2026-03-19T12:59:50-0400

Whoa @DjSec - I think you are misreading Joe. He is trying to help you. Maybe reread what he is saying to you without any malice in his tone.

The rest of us are reading your tone as passionate to the point of insanity or someone who thinks he is being greatly attacked.

I can see how one could take a sentence from Joe as a slight attack, but the overall message certainly is not.

If you can change your tone, it would be great to get into the topics you’re trying to educate us on. As Joe is pointing out, you’re the expert on this.

joe.pistell · 2026-03-19T12:00:13-0400

joe.pistell said:
DJ, all vendors see problems thru the lens of "how my products fix this".

DJ, I am no upset, your reply is stuck in self validation, turn your narrative to helping the community. Example:

DjSec said:
Or better yet prove not being ADA compliant doesn't matter!
Prove people don't get sued!

You own this topic, NO ONE here owns this topic like you do. Create insights to assist dealers to see what needs to be fixed and tips for them to DIY this topic. Turn your narrative to actionable tips and tricks and use this community service to talk about your ADA toolset.

Alex Snyder · 2026-03-19T11:27:43-0400

Thanks for the post, Gregg. We are aware of these things and agree with you. It is the way we have done things for 20 years and have outlasted everything that ever came up.

Although I think the real secret to our success is that DealerRefresh is not a business. We take sponsorship money to keep the lights on.

We are trying something new out. We are allowing a little more promotion. And it this will be a fluid change as we figure out the right balance.

joe.pistell · 2026-03-19T09:17:56-0400

DjSec said:
The fact that there is only one link makes it look more like spam than a real post, a moderator should remove the link and stop all the Parasite SEO!

It will kill the forum!

Dj, I 100% love that post that @douglaskarr compiled and shared. Its very helpful for dealers and vendors.

DjSec said:
How many of these providers actually care about your dealership?

Really? Are you saying that only you care? Beware using virtue signaling as your narrative.

Dj, love your passion, but c'mon dude...
your reply SELLS ADA compliance and SPEED and your reply is selling your business.

To flame @douglaskarr while mounting your white horse is a tad bit self-serving.

DJ, all vendors see problems thru the lens of "how my products fix this". May I suggest that you follow @douglaskarr's lead and post ways that the community can profit from your domain knowledge and experiences.

Alex Snyder · 2026-03-18T18:47:15-0400

DjSec said:
You should set it up so no one can post a link until they have over 100 post ... in my humble opinion

That's a really good idea! @Jeff Kershner check out the brains on Gregg (too bad you aren't a Brad for that Pulp Fiction quite).

We will be figuring this out.

Edit… Jeff already saw this. Duh to me.

joe.pistell · 2026-03-18T17:36:35-0400

DealerInt said:
Dealership analytics are historically terrible at this. We can easily track a lead form submission (a blunt metric), but it is incredibly difficult for most dealers to measure how a specific merchandising strategy impacted the final transaction speed or the retained margin.

If the chasm exists purely because there is a lack of ROI proof, doesn't that mean the next big breakthrough won't actually be a new merchandising tool, but rather the analytics/attribution infrastructure that can actually translate that 'buyer confidence' into hard dollars and cents for the Early Majority?"

I have a mental model that attempts to identify: Does It Sell Cars? (aka D.I.S.C.)

MVP in the cooker. Beta will follow fast.

Alex Snyder · 2026-03-18T14:18:48-0400

He doesn't look spammy anymore because I removed all his links :poke:

ryan.leslie · 2026-03-18T11:42:04-0400

Phytockst said:
without looking spammy.

Oh the irony!

This bot spammed multiple threads with hyperlinks.

Eric Miltsch · Tuesday at 6:36 PM

Greg_Gifford said:
who cares if coop can only be used on a garbage site?

The new sites are an unimigated disaster. They've tanked every available metric for SEO for every dealer we've seen. If the OEM is going to require dealers to switch to a new platform, they need to be sure that SEO is considered. The new platform is horrible for SEO, and the fact that they didn't transfer most of the content from old sites makes things evern worse...

The Oadd sites were DOA on arrival.

Also experienced it firsthand and saw dealers make the fastest possible change back. Those screenshots gave me the shakes, @MattCopley.

Eric Miltsch · Tuesday at 6:20 PM

Alex Snyder said:
Do you know any more about the new owners?

Unfortunately, no - Charlie or Gary probably can though...

Eric Miltsch · Tuesday at 6:19 PM

Jeff Kershner said:
Someone should SNAG that URL!

Ahhhh the good'ol days of #DSES. I agree @Ryan Everson it was one of the better conferences. Me and @ryan.leslie presented together at a few of them back in the day.

I used to follow Jarred on FB, but I don't get on much anymore.

@Jeff Kershner - That's where we originally met! I always enjoyed DSES. I believe there were 13 of them and spoke at 10 of them. Good times, and I met so many incredible industry people that I'm thankful for and still have relationships with to this day! (@Alex Snyder included!)

csabatka1 · Monday at 9:18 PM

Greg_Gifford said:
@csabatka1 has it 99% right... The only real change that needs to be made is that it's incorrect to do the schema to list departments on the home page. The home page should only be AutoDealer schema... the Service department schema should be on the man Service Department page, and the Parts schema should be on the Parts Department page.

Each GBP needs a unique phone number and unique URL. The primary GBP should link to the home page, the Service GBP to Service, and Parts GBP to parts. It's also incredibly important that the categories on each are unique - the main GBP should only have sales-related categories, the Parts GBP should only have parts categories, and Service GBP should only have service categories.

It's also important to connect with Google support or a vendor that knows what they're doing to get the service/parts GBPs "nested" under the primary profile. If it doesn't show the explicit nesting of departments, Google can sometimes get confused about which is the primary profile

Our homepage is a group organization -> market organization ->autodealer. The site is a 3-dealer child site (city market) as part of Anderson Auto Group organization. We have 2 other market sites as well as a group site.

Organization (Anderson Auto Group)
└── Organization (Anderson of Lincoln)
├── AutoDealer (Ford South)
├── AutoDealer (Mazda)
└── AutoDealer (Ford North)

"@context": "Schema.org - Schema.org",

"@graph": [

{

"@type": "Organization",

"@id": "Anderson Auto Group | New Ford, Mazda, Kia & CDJR Dealers in NE & MO",

"name": "Anderson Auto Group",

"url": "Anderson Auto Group | New Ford, Mazda, Kia & CDJR Dealers in NE & MO",

"logo": {

"@type": "ImageObject",

"@id": "Anderson Auto Group | New Ford, Mazda, Kia & CDJR Dealers in NE & MO",

"url": "https://www.andersonautogroup.com/wp-content/uploads/logo.png"

},

"sameAs": [

"Log into Facebook",

"Instagram",

"Anderson Auto Group"

]

},

{

"@type": "Organization",

"@id": "Anderson Ford & Mazda of Lincoln | New & Used Car Dealership in Lincoln, NE",

"name": "Anderson of Lincoln",

"url": "Anderson Ford & Mazda of Lincoln | New & Used Car Dealership in Lincoln, NE",

"logo": {

"@type": "ImageObject",

"@id": "Anderson Ford & Mazda of Lincoln | New & Used Car Dealership in Lincoln, NE",

"url": "https://www.andersonoflincoln.com/wp-content/uploads/logo.png"

},

"areaServed": {

"@type": "Place",

"name": "Lincoln, NE"

},

"parentOrganization": {

"@id": "Anderson Auto Group | New Ford, Mazda, Kia & CDJR Dealers in NE & MO"

},

"department": [

{

"@type": [

"AutoDealer",

"LocalBusiness"

],

"@id": "Vehicles For Sale in Lincoln, NE | Anderson of Lincoln",

"name": "Anderson Ford South",

"url": "Vehicles For Sale in Lincoln, NE | Anderson of Lincoln",

"parentOrganization": {

"@id": "Anderson Ford & Mazda of Lincoln | New & Used Car Dealership in Lincoln, NE"

},

"areaServed": {

"@type": "Place",

"name": "Lincoln, NE"

},

"brand": {

"@type": "Brand",

"name": "Ford"

},

"address": {

"@type": "PostalAddress",

"streetAddress": "3201 Yankee Hill",

"addressLocality": "Lincoln",

"addressRegion": "NE",

"postalCode": "68516",

"addressCountry": "US"

},

"geo": {

"@type": "GeoCoordinates",

"latitude": 40.726394999999996571204974316060543060302734375,

"longitude": -96.6610639999999960991772240959107875823974609375

},

"image": {

"@type": "ImageObject",

"@id": "Vehicles For Sale in Lincoln, NE | Anderson of Lincoln",

"url": "https://andersonautogroup.s3.us-eas...ersonoflincoln/images/anderson-ford-south.jpg"

},

"telephone": "+14024640661",

"hasMap": "Google Maps",

"sameAs": [

"Google Maps"

],

"aggregateRating": {

"@type": "AggregateRating",

"ratingValue": 4.70000000000000017763568394002504646778106689453125,

"reviewCount": 2670,

"bestRating": 5,

"worstRating": 1

},

"additionalProperty": [

{

"@type": "PropertyValue",

"name": "AutoTrader rating",

"value": "5.0",

"url": "Autotrader - page unavailable"

},

{

"@type": "PropertyValue",

"name": "CarGurus rating",

"value": "4.2",

"url": "Client Challenge"

},

{

"@type": "PropertyValue",

"name": "CARFAX rating",

"value": "4.6",

"url": "https://www.carfax.com/Reviews-Anderson-Ford-South-Lincoln-NE_5X5QTG4001"

}

]

},

{

"@type": [

"AutoDealer",

"LocalBusiness"

],

"@id": "Vehicles For Sale in Lincoln, NE | Anderson of Lincoln",

"name": "Anderson Mazda of Lincoln",

"url": "https://www.andersonoflincoln.com/dealership/anderson-mazda-lincoln/",

"parentOrganization": {

"@id": "Anderson Ford & Mazda of Lincoln | New & Used Car Dealership in Lincoln, NE"

},

"areaServed": {

"@type": "Place",

"name": "Lincoln, NE"

},

"brand": {

"@type": "Brand",

"name": "Mazda"

},

"address": {

"@type": "PostalAddress",

"streetAddress": "6500 Telluride Drive",

"addressLocality": "Lincoln",

"addressRegion": "NE",

"postalCode": "68521",

"addressCountry": "US"

},

"geo": {

"@type": "GeoCoordinates",

"latitude": 40.87593100000000134741640067659318447113037109375,

"longitude": -96.6843640000000021927917259745299816131591796875

},

"image": {

"@type": "ImageObject",

"@id": "https://www.andersonoflincoln.com/dealership/anderson-mazda-lincoln/#image",

"url": "https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/...flincoln/images/anderson-mazda-of-lincoln.jpg"

},

"telephone": "+14028175203",

"hasMap": "https://www.google.com/maps?cid=1786519836983824864",

"sameAs": [

"https://www.google.com/maps?cid=1786519836983824864"

],

"aggregateRating": {

"@type": "AggregateRating",

"ratingValue": 4.5999999999999996447286321199499070644378662109375,

"reviewCount": 1162,

"bestRating": 5,

"worstRating": 1

},

"additionalProperty": [

{

"@type": "PropertyValue",

"name": "AutoTrader rating",

"value": "4.9"

}

]

},

{

"@type": [

"AutoDealer",

"LocalBusiness"

],

"@id": "https://www.andersonoflincoln.com/dealership/anderson-ford-of-lincoln-north/#dealer",

"name": "Anderson Ford of Lincoln North",

"url": "https://www.andersonoflincoln.com/dealership/anderson-ford-of-lincoln-north/",

"parentOrganization": {

"@id": "Anderson Ford & Mazda of Lincoln | New & Used Car Dealership in Lincoln, NE"

},

"areaServed": {

"@type": "Place",

"name": "Lincoln, NE"

},

"brand": {

"@type": "Brand",

"name": "Ford"

},

"address": {

"@type": "PostalAddress",

"streetAddress": "2500 Wildcat Drive",

"addressLocality": "Lincoln",

"addressRegion": "NE",

"postalCode": "68521",

"addressCountry": "US"

},

"geo": {

"@type": "GeoCoordinates",

"latitude": 40.80060900000000145837475429289042949676513671875,

"longitude": -96.6907283000000035144694265909492969512939453125

},

"image": {

"@type": "ImageObject",

"@id": "https://www.andersonoflincoln.com/dealership/anderson-ford-of-lincoln-north/#image",

"url": "https://andersonautogroup.s3.us-eas...sonoflincoln/images/anderson-ford-lincoln.jpg"

},

"telephone": "+14024589800",

"hasMap": "https://www.google.com/maps?cid=9068666731444040337",

"sameAs": [

"https://www.google.com/maps?cid=9068666731444040337"

],

"aggregateRating": {

"@type": "AggregateRating",

"ratingValue": 4.5,

"reviewCount": 2561,

"bestRating": 5,

"worstRating": 1

},

"additionalProperty": [

{

"@type": "PropertyValue",

"name": "AutoTrader rating",

"value": "4.8",

"url": "https://www.autotrader.com/car-dealers/lincoln-ne/100019440/anderson-ford-lincoln-of-lincoln"

},

{

"@type": "PropertyValue",

"name": "CarGurus rating",

"value": "5.0",

"url": "https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/m-Anderson-Ford-of-Lincoln-North-sp327024"

},

{

"@type": "PropertyValue",

"name": "CARFAX rating",

"value": "4.7",

"url": "https://www.carfax.com/Reviews-Anderson-Ford-of-Lincoln-Lincoln-NE_KHIWKRYOH1"

}

]

}

]

}

]

}</script>

joe.pistell · Monday at 2:41 PM

DealerInt said:
Since the Innovators and Visionaries are already bored with the photo booths... Given your such a vast experience in this space, what do you think they are playing with right now that actually has a real chance of surviving the 30-day reset and crossing the chasm?"

1st, limit the focus to merchandising only. Sooo many ppl know what it is when they see it, few know how to identify it or define it.

Next, the innovators commit to experiments based on their understanding of the marketplace, they KNOW there is no data to support experimenting in new areas, they commit time and $$ to it because it's logical to them. Innovators intuitively understand Dr Clayton Christensen's "Jobs To Be Done" (JTBD) modeling. The 'see' shoppers trying to accomplish tasks that fuel confidence to make a decision.

ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE CHASM... are the early majority, they're interested in new ideas but they need to see results (SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!). The chasm exists only if there is no proof of performance (i.e. no ROI).

joe.pistell · Monday at 12:54 PM

DealerInt said:
Curious on your take: Do you think dealers are leaning so hard into these photo booths/AI tools because they're being sold on 'operational efficiency' and cost-cutting, or do they genuinely believe this sterile look is what modern buyers want?"

Dealers are masters of getting sh*t done. They are the Sargent that leads their men to take that hill. They dont need or want a generals view of the battle field because their mission is so difficult to accomplish (they reset back to zero every 30 days).

They are franchise operators, they look to their peers to see what's working (or not).

The 'crossing the chasm' chart (by G. Moore) is the perfect model to see the car dealer universe.

SUMMARY:
THe innovator and early adoptor dealers enjoy innovating while their competitors are up to their armpits in trying to take the hill. As time passes, the 'early majority' dealers see what the early adoptiors are doing anf copy them. Then the late majority jump in.

Photo booths are in the late majority stage.
The Innovators are hanging with the Dealer Refresh crazies to see and talk about what's coming next.

joe.pistell · Monday at 8:04 AM

DealerInt said:
I’ll offer a contrarian view here: Don't chase the studio look.

Beat ya.

joe.pistell said:
This is how car shoppers see photo booth photos.

Alex Snyder · Saturday at 6:16 PM

Curious what you didn't like in the ones you tried.

Brad Burlingham · Friday at 3:36 PM

Does anyone here have a vendor they like for acquiring vehicles with no obligation to buy? we have tried a few vendors, but havent found one that specializes in this.

Dan Sayer · Friday at 1:52 PM

csabatka1 said:
This is the biggest miss that all dealerships, SEO companies, and website vendors have with this, the Schema to tie it all together.

Don't give away all the secret sauce @csabatka1 !

Alex Snyder · Friday at 11:38 AM

A freebie from us: From Negative Equity to Lifelong Loyalty - VehicleLyfe

It is a guide to keeping customers who are locked in their cars loyal to your dealership. Another way to phrase it is:

Nearly 30% of your database is underwater, and the average amount is over $7,200! How do you be the one who retains them for service and future purchases?

ryan.leslie · Friday at 11:17 AM

joe.pistell · Friday at 9:01 AM

DR Exclusive Invite:
I need a few dealers to beta test this new VDP Audit Machine we're building.

Our team will audit the 20 OLDEST VDPs in your inventory at no charge. What I want in return is your time to discuss what we found and your honest feedback.

With a 5% VDP error rate we 'should' find only 1 of the 20 VDPs with a major error. Its likely that we'll find a 4-6 of the VDPs missing 1 or more missing medium valued features (i.e. "locking console storage")

Send me an email at [email protected], I'll get back to you.

joe.pistell · Friday at 8:45 AM

Below is a sample of the VDP audit.

Take a look at the "MODEL COMPLEXITY" bar chart.

To the uneducated shopper, they are unaware that 2022 F250's are built in 6 different trims AND there are 34 unique styles. The MSRPs start at $40,000 and go up to $90,000.

TAKEAWAY:
If you have a stuffed up ride and if you DONT merchandising the shit out of it, then only your smartest shoppers will know that that VIN is loaded. ADVANTAGE: SHOPPER.

A great day is when our VDP Audit can't find anything wrong.
p.s. Missing Key Features in Yellow are "non-standard" features (i.e. optionally installed features)

Latest activity

Latest activity

Filter