Latest activity

joe.pistell · Oct 2, 2024

What a time to be alive...
Login to view embedded media AI Experiment Oct 2024. Upload one photo to Runway, then, using text prompts, create 3 different videos ***where the vehicle drives off the set and into the outdoors***.

Simply amazing. Clearly, it needs more time and support to make it better. That being said, what's coming is amazing.

Tallcool1 · Oct 1, 2024

I think I understand what you are saying.

You would do a rate buydown that will cost you $1,000 and you want to get the $1,000 back by selling a warranty.

There is (in my non-legal opinion) a lot of confusion around this. What you have seen in the past about it being illegal is not incorrect. However it is all about how you present the information to the customer.

You can't pencil a Menu and use different interest rates for different levels of product in an effort to understate the amount of monthly cost associated with the product. With no Warranty, you use 10.5%. With Warranty, you use 8.5%, and then tell the customer that the warranty only changes the payment by $7.00 per month. That is a no-no.

You can however put all of the numbers in front of the customer and explain to them what you are doing. This comes with risks which I am sure you understand. You just have to document everything, and get everything signed. It isn't the type of thing you want coming back to bite you.

Oh, and of course you run the risk of the customer taking the lower rate and cancelling the warranty. Then you are out the buy down.

Baron Ringler · Oct 1, 2024

Bill Hoerr said:
Hello Rick,

We ended up going with DriveCentric. Currently in the process of migrating over.

I caught this thread late, but for your sake I'm glad you didn't go with Reynolds. Reynolds adapted a caveat in their dealer contracts from when they merged up with UCS, that they own rights to all dealer data to use as they choose. For UCS, this would manifest when they discovered a store would be migrating to a different DMS, they would basically shut off all access to your own dealer information, making you pay to unlock it. I was a Reynolds installer for three years and the number of times we'd be in a Ford store at 1am, 2am, or later, to not give UCS a heads up on what were doing, was insane. And again, Reynolds adopted that business tactic once they merged with UCS.

Baron Ringler · Oct 1, 2024

Do you have a video demonstration? I'm interested in learning more, if you plan on going it solo or maybe join forces with a company like Carnow. Thoughts?

Baron Ringler · Oct 1, 2024

'm not sure the dynamics of the bank you are using, but the whole thing doesn't make sense. First, once the bank quotes you an approval for s specific deal, they can't change rates arbitrarily. Second, it is illegal in any state I've ever been in to tie the sale of a vehicle to the requirement to purchase an after-market product (warranty, GAP, accessories, etc.). So either you misunderstood what is going on, or you work with a shady bank that indulges in illegal practices, and they need to be dumped.

Baron Ringler · Oct 1, 2024

tb735 said:
Hey guys, just trying to figure something out, our old sales manager who used to be the admin got demoted to sales rep. I looked thru his VIN and he has numerous lead sources that we don't get, I did find 2 of them in my VIN and they both bounced from him. Trying to figure out if he set something up in the system to be prioritized by certain lead sources and if he did how do we find out and change it?

I've used VIN extensively, and it's very easy to direct a single source to one person, all the way down to individual makes or even models, new or used. If that is something he set up for himself before the demotion, I'd be in the GM's mush about it immediately. He's trying to skim off the best leads and sources for himself (I am betting used cars, right?).

Something like that, if allowed to continue, can destroy a dealership, because you will have every other salesperson resentful of specialized treatment if nothing is done to address the issue. I know I'd be fuming.

Baron Ringler · Oct 1, 2024

willandre said:
Interesting physics problem, but can you clarify what you mean by "Service mining" in this case? Presumably you mean "vehicles sales opportunities from open ROs"(?)

Semantics aside, without a dedicated team member, you'll probably have to work the mining into existing technician workflows. Of course, that means looking at spiffs or comp plan changes, and even then you might not get buy in from them.

Correct. I've never found an e-mail marketing campaign to be as effective for yanking customers out of service and putting them into another vehicle. So, an in-person greeting is essential, but I don' have the manpower to sit anyone there full time.

jscole86 · Sep 30, 2024

Yes, you can set certain lead sources to go to certain people, or groups of people. In the setup of the lead management processes, there is an action item to "change sales rep", and it usually is set up to switch if there has been no attempted contact with the customer.

Sounds like he has all the leads routing through him first, and if he doesn't get to it, it goes out to the other sales reps.

Alex Snyder · Sep 30, 2024

I have never known transparency to be illegal.

Alex Snyder · Sep 30, 2024

Can you give us a few more details about this link? What's the survey for? What's your goal? Why should anyone help you?

joe.pistell · Sep 28, 2024

BillKVMotorCo said:
On a late model car, dealers should only be asking for the VIN and miles. Pictures aren't necessary. Neither is the condition.

Brilliant!
Most folks can find the lic plate faster than the VIN.
free licence plate converter - Google Search

joe.pistell · Sep 27, 2024

superveloce said:
AI would also process the image to look for any issues with the car.

...who's gonna look for any issues with the AI?
(if you use AI in a commercial setting, you'll know what I mean)

Alex Snyder · Sep 26, 2024

Man. A.I. Ugh. I didn't want to get into it. I was content sitting on the sideline fearing the Terminator knocking on the door one day.

And then we found a partner who could utilize the engagement data we generate to tune what the AI said to customers.

First month, only 8% of customers responded to the AI. Started tuning. Second month, 20%. Tuned some more. By the third month we were seeing over 1/3rd of leads conversing with the AI. And we tuned further. Now it is consistently over 40% with some of our dealers seeing half their FRIKINtech-generated leads chatting with the AI.

Yes, it is handling our leads better than humans were.

And it is converting leads to appointments! That's the whole point - right??!!

I've learned AI lead handling isn't as strong when you just tune it for a lead source because you only know a vehicle of interest (thinking of an Autotrader lead as an example). It is way more effective when the AI can touch on all the vehicles seen, the trade, and even some of the numbers the customer saw. It can approach the customer with something more personal and relevant to get them responding and then dive into specific questions that help qualify the lead further. And finally it can ask for the appointment - every time.

So, if you've tried an AI and thought it is okay, but not setting your world on fire, this is why. The generic AI you throw at every lead doesn't have enough data to get a customer excited. It is essentially a fancy autoresponse. The ones that can work directly with a lead generating technology are going to perform many times better.

Alex Snyder · Sep 26, 2024

Ryan Everson said:
And last I heard, DealerOn was hoping to get acquired by someone

Makes sense. They connected with private money (Automotive News link) in January of 2020… really lucky timing! However, the acquisition money for their size seems tight at the moment. You break a certain revenue and there are only a small handful of players who can buy you. That decreases the multiple.

Chris Cachor · Sep 26, 2024

Alex Snyder said:
I wonder how much money Ansira lost on Sincro? Had to have been a good deal for DealerOn.

I remember looking at the deal closer and I believe Ansira paid $10M. However, they assumed all overhead, which I think was pretty substantial. Ansira was actually less headcount than Sincro at the time which I was surprised by. What is quite crazy is this was all right when US went into lockdowns when the sale was announced. I think it was early April and uncertainty was insane.

Alex Snyder · Sep 26, 2024

I wonder how much money Ansira lost on Sincro? Had to have been a good deal for DealerOn.

Chris Cachor · Sep 26, 2024

Didn't see this coming

DealerOn Acquires Sincro from Ansira

/PRNewswire/ -- DealerOn, a leading provider of websites and sales and marketing enablement technology for automotive dealerships, today announced that it has...

www.prnewswire.com

DrewAment · Sep 25, 2024

I have looked at probably 6 different stores that sell parts online (setup, process, pricing, costs, manpower). Its a race to the bottom for price, as what else can you really offer? Anyone can google a part, or part number, and generally will go with the lowest price. MAYBE the business who can get it there the fastest if not much difference in net cost to them as a customer.

I have only seen one dealer that "makes money", selling 6 figures a month in parts online. But they do it through high volume, and minimal profit == in order to get the next "level" of parts rebates from the OEM. Go figure. Average ticket is just over $200. Now think of the manpower needed, shipping, etc etc etc - to run that volume. It is not a endeavor for the faint of heart, nor dealers that don't have a long term vision and - in the beginning - deep pockets.

Some interesting side data .....

And what are the people buying? Top 10 parts bought online in last 90 days

Now compare that to the top 10 items viewed:

Lastly - top 10 items added to cart.

Tallcool1 · Sep 25, 2024

@BillKVMotorCo , I am watching last weeks Refresh Friday, and pulled up your website to check out the photos.

They look really good, some that have clouds in the background are just SO GOOD!!

Like This One

How are you "dulling" the lighting in these photos? They look as if they have all been taken on an overcast or cloudy day, but it is clearly blue skies and not shade.

Thanks

Alex Snyder · Sep 25, 2024

joe.pistell said:
Epi, add value to your tread. Stop selling, start sharing best practices.

@EpiCar you're breaking our forum rules about soliciting without continued sponsorship.

George Nenni · Sep 24, 2024

Ryan Everson said:
One of our stores recently signed up for XVIN, I'll let you be the judge of whether the traffic is quality or not:

0 leads

0 click to calls

90% of XVIN traffic did not interact with the VDP photo carousel whatsoever

Yes, both the display and email component suffer from low quality. Especially the email campaigns. If you use Behavior Flow explorations, you'll see the traffic drops to the footer of the page and clicks Privacy Policy and Staff pages also, which of course could be additional bot signatures.

Tallcool1 · Sep 23, 2024

I guess I am not certain what you mean. I believe many dealerships do sell parts online.

Subaru Crosstrek Radio

Equinox License Plate Bracket

Ford F-150 Differential

Camry Splash Guards

I just randomly googled some things.

Are you talking about something different?

joe.pistell · Sep 23, 2024

'Right Click > Save As' = Selling Cars Faster
- YouTube
Matthew Haiken's Prestige Volvo didnt have any auction buys, Reymore.com did

p.s. get your web vendor to add new arrivals into the menu

Our Newest Arrivals

www.reymore.com

(your returning visitors will like this)

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FRIKINtech A.I. lead handling works best when specifically tuned

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