Talking about intimidation and pressure in the forums the other day, I was reminded of a deal I wrote ‘back in the day.’

I think I was between my 2nd and 3rd year of selling cars, so this would have been 1998ish.  I had “graduated” from the Honda showroom, and moved next door to our Acura showroom. I’ll never forget my first test drive with my first Acura customers:

“What’s the difference between an RL and RL Premium?”

“On a lease?  About $10 bucks a month,” I replied from the back seat.

“Well, if you have to worry about 10 bucks a month, you shouldn’t even be looking at cars.”

Absolute music to my ears; I knew I was home.  I had spent the first 15 months of my career in Honda where customers haggled over 75-cents a month.

Anyway, Acura was a low-volume showroom.  I was replacing one of the two salespeople who manned the fort along with the single manager, Bill.  I learned soooo much from Bill while in Acura, including how to desk my own deals. In time, I would cover the desk for Bill when he was off, my first desk-managing experience.

I was being considered for a promotion to management.  Bill was on vacation, and I was covering the desk. The GSM covered 9 showrooms in our auto-mall -- he was a busy guy -- but he knew I was alone on the desk and made it a point to be available.  

Susan was a beautiful soul, an absolutely wonderful woman. She had been with the dealership forever, at first as a member of our CDC (a sort-of precursor to the eventual BDC -- she called Service customers after their visit), and later, after gathering the courage, Susan ventured into sales.  She also watered the plants in the mall on Sundays. I believe to this day that Susan genuinely loved each and every one of the customers with whom she worked.

This afternoon, Susan was working with a young man named Mike on (if memory serves) an RSX, which was Acura’s sporty little entry car.  I was working the desk when Susan touched-desk, asking for the opening salvo of numbers.

“Can you get an offer, Susan?”

“Mmmm… I dunno.”

Just then, the GSM wandered into the showroom.  “Waddaya got?”

“Susan’s got a fresh one on an RSX -- first up of the day.”  Handing Susan the worksheet where I had just scribbled some numbers, I coached her up a bit, concluding with,  “Whatever you do, don’t let him leave.” The GSM pursed his lips and nodded.

In what seemed to be about 3.5 seconds, Susan was back.

“That was fast.”

“Well, he likes the numbers, but he’s not ready to buy yet.”

“Why?”  It was a simple question, but Susan was new, was still learning how to negotiate, and didn’t have an answer.  It was time for a T.O. I was excited; this (running the desk) was still relatively new to me, I liked helping Susan, and to boot, the boss was here: time to show-off a little.

As I settled into Susan’s cubicle, I became hyper-aware that the GSM had cozied right into a cube next to us, in perfect listening position.  Susan moved into the other adjacent cube, where she too could listen and perhaps learn something. I was surrounded.

“Hi, Mike?”  Extending my hand as I sat to face him, I continued, “I’m the manager on duty, and wanted to take a quick minute to make sure you’re happy with your visit today.”  Quickly sizing him up, he couldn’t have yet been 22.

“Oh yeah it was great!”

“Good, good,” I continued.  “This going to be your first new car?”

“Yeah.”

“Congratulations!  That’s awesome. And you picked a really good one!  Not everyone is able to have their first car be something as cool as this.  You must be excited.”

“Yeah... yeah I am.”  And he was. He was a young guy, got himself a good job, and he wanted something to show for his hard work.

“I see you chose the red.  Nice. You happy with the one you drove?

“Oh yeah, it was great.”

“Happy enough to own it?”

“Ummm.”  Maybe Mike could sense that I was officially moving us beyond the small-talk phase.  Just a little bit more seriously, he replied, “Yeah, I think so.”

“Well that’s great Mike.  Believe it or not, finding that perfect fit for you is often the hardest part of this whole thing.  So this is the right car. How do you like the price?”

Mike’s countenance was quickly turning from “youthful exuberance” to “suddenly sober.”  

“I don’t really know.”

“Ok,” I countered, “that’s a pretty decent discount there, I mean, that’s a fair amount of money, right?”

“Well I guess so.”

It was time; all had been leading up to the simplest of questions:

“Well Mike, you’ve got the right car, and you have a fair price, why not buy now?

And there was Number 1:  Simply, logically, ask for the sale.  No pressure, just ask for the sale.

“I just wasn’t going to buy a car today.”

And there was Number 2: No reason not to buy now.  With the GSM listening to my left, and Susan to my right, I jumped right in.

“Oh sure, I understand, Mike.  Most people don’t realize they can actually buy and be driving the car the same day when they come-in.  When were you planning to buy?”

“I’m not really sure.”

“So it could be now?”

“I hadn’t planned to buy a car today.”

“Why not now?”

“I’m just not ready to buy.”

“I understand Mike.  What do you think you need to be ready?”

A pause.  Some thought.  “I had pictured showing my girlfriend.”

“Is the car for her, Mike?”

“No, no, it’s for me”

“Oh I see.  You just want her opinion then.  Well let me ask you this -- if she were here, what do you think she’d say?”

Mike thought for a moment, cracked a smile, and nodded as he spoke, “She’d love it.”

“Of course she would!”  We both smiled and laughed.

“What I’m hearing is that you have the right car for you -- one your girlfriend will love -- and a fair price.  Why not now?”

“Can I think about it?”

“Of course you can!” I replied, chuckling.  “Mike, we’re not a high-pressure dealership, but it’s my job to make this as easy as I can for you.  May I ask, what is there to think about?”

At this point, Mike’s demeanor had physically changed.  His face turned red and sweat started to form on his brow.  His knee started bouncing as his leg started shaking. He developed a slight tick on his upper right cheek near his eye.  He started staring at the ground, slightly rocking back-and-forth. “I… I jus…. I just wasn’t going to buy a car today. I wasn’t going to buy a car today.”

“Mike, I don’t want this to be hard.  Let me make this easy. This is the right car, right?”

“Yes.  But I wasn’t going to buy today.”

“We agreed this is a fair price.”

“Well, I guess so.”

“Your girlfriend is gonna LOVE it, right.”

“Yeah.  But...”

Mike, in an hour from now, you can be pulling up in front of her place driving this car.  How do you think that will go over?”

Mike stopped twitching, stopped rocking, and paused for a moment.

“An hour?  Really? Tonight?”

“Susan can help you with the credit app right now.”

“But I wasn’t going to buy a car today.”

“Why not?  We’ll make it easy.”

Another pause.  I could see the words -- the surrender -- forming in his brain, sliding down his forehead, between his eyes, over the nose, forming his lips before there was any sound.  “Ok, lets do it.”

OK -- at this point in the story, I’d like to take a “time-out.”

1. For the sake of brevity, I’ve reduced the 10-15 minute conversation with Mike to what you’ve read above.  I’m not sure how many times Mike said “But I wasn’t going to buy a car today,” but, it was in the ‘dozens’ range.
2. I wasn’t normally “that guy.”  I did not routinely press that hard and “turn the screws” on customers like this.  I could… I was taught by the best, and there was really no objection I couldn’t overcome.  But if I really didn’t like you -- if you were a real jerk -- I’d hammer you into submission without mercy. Thankfully, that didn’t happen too often.  I was a “medium” pressure guy -- my favorite line was, “Look, I’m not one of those high-pressure guys, but why not now?” But I would normally let you off the hook if I sensed you were getting really uncomfortable.

OK -- back to the story.

Mike agreed to buy the car.

“Susan,” I call, and she appears, eyes as big as saucers, white as a ghost.  “Can you help Mike with the credit app?”

I shake Mike’s hand and return to the desk.  The GSM follows me in. “Good job, you did well.”

“Thanks,” I replied, semi-pleased with myself.  It was the right car, a fair price. He just needed a little nudge.  At least that’s what I told myself.

Susan returned to the desk with the credit app a few minutes later, still white, still seemingly in-shock.  “I could never do that,” she quipped.  

“Just a close, Susan,” I tried to say nonchalantly.  

3-4 hours later, Mike left with the car, as happy as can be, if not a little worn-out.

I have no idea how many thousands of deals I have desked over my career.  I sometimes wonder why I remember this deal so clearly, even 20+ years later.  Was that it I impressed the boss? Was it that I scared the bejeebers out of Susan?  Was it a hard-fought victory? Probably not…

My most vivid image is that of a young guy sitting in a chair, squirming, sweating, twitching, rocking, knowing that he had run into an immovable force, and had no other choice but to surrender.

Now in his 40’s, I wonder what he thinks of automotive salespeople and the car-buying process?

There is a great response to a post in the forums from MitchFlorida that basically says, ‘not all customers are the same.’

I agree with the basic premise completely, but I’ll take it a little further...

The exact quote is...

“There are two kind of car buyers: those who like to negotiate and deal, and those who don't. The former will rarely go to a one-price store unless he can't find a similar vehicle elsewhere, which is rare.”

Click to expand...

I believe that there are infinitely more than two kinds of car buyers...

I’ll submit that the number of buyers that actually like to negotiate is relatively small. The number of buyers who feel that they must negotiate is much larger. In days past, consumers thought the only way of ensuring that they got a fair deal was to negotiate. As the automotive market has become increasingly transparent, the need to negotiate to ensure a fair deal has lessened. Has it?

Mitch goes on to talk about “the less savvy and more profitable non-negotiators.” I’d submit that these buyers may not be less savvy, but rather have different priorities than the folks whose primary goal is attaining the lowest price. They may be very happy trading $12 a month for a considerably more comfortable and stress-free buying process. They may view spending $500 more on a vehicle as a decent trade-off for completing the transaction in less than an hour. On the other hand, if a customer’s priority is to ‘win’, they may be happy to spend hours, maybe even days, negotiating the lowest possible price.

Every customer has a different set of priorities; budget, time, perceived fairness (not wanting to be screwed), avoiding confrontation, LOVING confrontation, etc..

I remember when the 1994 Dodge Ram pickup truck came out. Bob Lutz said that he didn’t need to appeal to everyone. He didn’t want to produce the same truck as GM and Ford. Some folks would hate it, and some folks would love it. I think this is the calculation that one-price stores (think CarMax and Carvana) make. Some folks will hate the idea while some folks love the idea. But love and hate are two examples of passion, and passion sells cars.

I think, for most dealers, reducing and limiting negotiation is the most realistic model rather than strictly one price. Advertising an aggressive price to drive traffic, justifying that price with market data, and if they need to negotiate, doing it within a very narrow window. I think this allows dealers to capture the attention of the widest range of potential buyers. As we enter the era of Digital Retailing, this will be a prerequisite for success.

Having a good feel for the priorities and motivations of your potential customers is one thing that differentiates okay marketers from great marketers.

For me, 2019 not only marks the start of a new year, but a new career.  Naturally, I’ve found myself wandering down memory lane.

It was April, 1996.

After getting the briefest taste of the politics of coaching, I said “Goodbye” to the university and football, and set-out to find a real job.  Responding to an ad in the paper that read, “Our Average Salesperson Makes $35,000 Per Year!” -- which was more money than I could imagine at the time -- I found myself interviewing at a large multi-franchise dealership with a seemingly disinterested general manager named Greg.

“Why’d you leave this one?”

Greg was looking at the multiple positions listed on my first attempt at a professional resume.  He pointed to the top listing.

Preening to see to what he was pointing, I replied, “That was a Summer job.”

Emotionless, robotic, Greg moved his finger down one line, “Why’d you leave this one?”

“Look, the point here… I was attempting to show that even though I was a full-time student, I always held a job, often multiple jobs at the same time.  I’m a hard worker.” The mental note was well and forever established: prospective employers do not read resumes like prospective employees write resumes.

Greg shot a sideways look at the other managers gathered in the room.  Was he trying to hide a smirk?

“OK.  I want you to pick anything in this room and try to sell it to me.”

“Ugh,” I thought.  Improv was not exactly my thing…

I spotted a basketball displayed among some other sporting memorabilia on a credenza behind Greg and to the left.  Walking toward the ball, I pointed, “May I?”

Unimpressed, (was he holding back a yawn??) Greg nodded in assent.

I grabbed the ball and moved back to the center of the room.  I had no idea how to sell anything. But I was certainly comfortable with a basketball in my hands.

“Here we have a genuine Spalding basketball, in the popular shape of ‘round.’  When inflated to the proper (squinting to read the small print) 8 psi -- that’s ‘pounds per square inch, in case you didn’t know -- the ball will return to your hand after hitting the floor.  Some call this ‘dribbling.’”

Trying my best (and assuredly failing) to not look and sound stupid, I starting dribbling the ball in front of the assembled managers.  Right hand, switch to the left hand, behind the back returning to the right hand, between the legs back to the left hand.

“This ball is so well balanced, it practically handles itself.”  

Taking the ball in my right hand, I spun the ball and landed it on my tall finger, the ball perfectly balanced as it spun.

“And all this can be YOURS for the low introductory price of $19.95.”  Letting the ball fall, I caught it with both hands and held it out with my best Price Is Right modeling pose and cheesy smile.

I thought I had spied a couple of smiles from some of the managers.   Greg was obviously still unimpressed. “Anybody want him?

The managers turned to look and gesture at each other, mostly shrugs.

“I guess I’ll take him,” one of the managers spoke, more resigned than excited.

And a car salesman was born.  My friends joked that I had found my true calling.

Here’s where, looking back all these years, I now know that I was actually pulled into a pretty good situation: training.

Training started on a Monday.  The plan was to keep the new hires -- turns out there was a large batch of us -- in the conference room learning sales process and dealership procedure through Friday, then report to the floor on Saturday for our first day of actual selling.  This training structure introduced many automotive concepts, including the concept of the 6-day work week, which turns-out would be the norm for many years.

One of the great ironies of my life up to this point was that while for the most part, I didn’t like school, I did, in fact, enjoy learning.  As long as there was some type of practical application, I was eager to learn and experience new things.

Having been an English major in college, sales training was completely new and foreign.

“The four components of a sale?  Sorry, I really don’t know.”

Product.
Here.
Now.
Price.

Something to sell, a place to transact, a time to transact, and of course, the price.  How simple! How practical! Simple concepts always resonate the best -- another life lesson.

The sales process was almost as simple, yet practical.

Meet-n-Greet:  “Hi, I’m John, and you are?”  Extending the right hand…

Qualify: “Are you looking for a vehicle for work or pleasure?  How many miles a year do you drive?”

Selection/Pick: “This unit matches your needs.  Let me show you a few things.”

Hood-and-Trunk/Product Presentation: “These are called ‘crumple zones.’ Engineers actually design how they want the metal to fold in case of a collision…”

Demo: “I’ll drive first and show you a few things.”

Trial Close: “Why don’t you park it over there in the ‘Sold’ line?

Negotiation/Close:  “Why not now?”

Delivery: “Enjoy your new ride, and don’t forget to give me a perfect score on the survey!”

Delivery was the most important.  I didn’t get paid until the car was over the curb.

Practical.  Efficient. Simple.  I took to it like a fish to water and wondered how automotive salespeople got such a bad rap with such an innocuous process.

The week went quickly, and Saturday arrived.  Despite the excellent training, I found myself hiding in my cubicle that first morning, a tad nervous.

The showroom itself was a decent size, about 50 feet by 50 feet, easily fitting 8-10 vehicles.  On each side of the showroom, 6 dark bluish-green cubicles framed the floor. The cubicles were about 6 feet wide by 6 feet deep, and those (kind of ugly) cubicle walls were about 6 feet high.

Each cube was identical: a small hanging shelf/console with a door big enough to hold a few small stacks of brochures over a small desk.  Catacorner was a small round table with a wood-looking laminate and rubber edge, just big enough for a salesperson to seat two customers and review a worksheet.  Most of the time, there were three red chairs, unless a salesperson took a day off, in which case, someone inevitably borrowed a chair. My cubicle was the second-from-the-front, on the right side of the floor after walking through the front door.

“Who’s up?!” bellowed a manager.

I stood-up, met the manager’s eyes, and approached my first customer.  Time to stop hiding, and get on with it.

Welcome back for another 2019 automotive predictions post. It appears 2018's final automotive sales number will come in at approximately 17.2 million vehicles amid a mixed sales environment. The four interest rate increases last year may have slowed progress while the tax reform efforts had a positive impact.

2019 is expected to show approximately 16.7 million vehicles sold. This would be the first time in five years that US sales dipped below the 17 million unit mark. Light vehicle sales continued the year-end downward trend approximately 1.2% lower in 2018 and are expected to fall .6% - 1% in 2019 according to Moody's. Look for the CUV/small and light truck segment to continue its sales momentum this year.

A potential contributor to new 2019 vehicle sales could be rising used car prices. Off-lease vehicles have attracted buyers, but their prices spiked in recent months. Shoppers will continue to look at the cost and value differences in new vs. used vehicles. As this price gap closes, consumers may opt for new vehicles instead.

I noticed a significant improvement in the ways dealers managed their operations last year. Dealers who paid little attention to items such as high-level acquisition and behavior continue to discover the power of the data at their fingertips. Dealers are asking more critical questions and seeing a massive difference between the digital solutions that deliver results and those that don't. This trend shows no sign of slowing, especially with a tighter market on the horizon.

On to the 2019 automotive predictions...

Marketing Automation Will Make Everyone Happier!



This is a continuation of a prediction from last year because of the results it delivers. Marketing automation will significantly impact the efforts towards creating new opportunities, retaining existing customers and reducing marketing costs. These themes will catch the ear of marketers, operators, and especially CFOs as they look to make smarter financial decisions in 2019.

Note the most effective tactics used to optimize marketing automation solutions. (Optimizing Marketing Automation survey - Ascend2 2018)



Business Owners, Executives, and Marketers said the most significant benefits of Marketing Automation were (–SmartInsights and Getresponse “Email Marketing and Marketing automation Excellence 2018” (2018)

• Saving time (30%)
  
• Lead Generation (22%)
  
• Increase in Revenue (17%)
  
• Customer Retention (11%)
  
• Tracking and Monitoring of marketing campaigns (8%)
  
• Shortened sales cycle (2%)

In 2019 dealers will increase the usage level of marketing automation tools. Dealers must understand the importance of their CRM follow-up, showroom traffic, and management processes that improve results. We will see another leap forward in the technology-based solutions that help dealers achieve the benefits they need - saving time, driving quality leads and increasing revenue.

Always-On Campaigning
Companies will continue to develop advanced frameworks and multichannel campaigns where email is at the heart, facilitated by the shift from customer journeys to total customer experience. Always-on will become the norm – that is, customers, prospects and other stakeholders will be able to join a campaign from email, social or web journeying at their own chosen speed. - (Source: CleverTouch)

Click to expand...

Two years ago I predicted that dealers would shift more of their marketing process from manually-managed processes to automated, intelligent marketing process with tools such as Dealer Teamwork's MPOP™. Yes, it's a learning curve and requires a different management approach. Dealer adoption and growth have been significant in the last two years as dealers see the results.

The most useful metrics for measuring marketing automation performance are Conversion Rate and Revenue Generated, say 58% of best in class Marketing Automation users. – Three Deep & Ascend2 “Marketing Automation Trends for Success” (2016)

Automate everything - 
Be quick. To succeed, brands must deliver experiences that are fast and frictionless. It’s time to invest in mobile experiences as well as a machine learning and automation strategy. Machine learning can help you understand and predict intent in ways that simply aren’t possible manually. It can also help you find missed or unexpected connections between business goals and the habits of your key customer segments. - Think with Google

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I also expect to see the manufacturers change the way they approach their marketing efforts and take advantage of newer, more efficient tech stack solutions. These solutions will improve the way data is shared with dealers while potentially saving hundreds of millions of dollars.

Last-Click Attribution Will Be Put Out to Pasture



This year a more significant percentage of dealers will (finally) have a healthier understanding of what attribution means and how their marketing efforts contribute to their results. Car shoppers don't buy a car after seeing a single touch point. The average consumer can be exposed to thousands of branded messages daily. Not a single TV commercial. Not a single Google ad. Not an individual YouTube video.

The numerous points along the entire shopping journey contribute to the purchase. I didn't get fat from the last donut I ate. It was from the last 67 I ate.

The conversation around attribution and conversion tracking will drastically change this year. Store visit conversions as a KPI will be accessible for more dealers. A limited number of dealers had access to this data within their analytics accounts. Many dealers aren't even aware this data is available. This elusive metric will be a more substantial portion of the conversations demonstrating campaign performance. I also expect this data to make it easier for dealerships to understand the difference in the results and the value their vendor partners deliver.

How can you take advantage of getting access to store visits? Follow these steps provided by Google to prepare your accounts for access to measuring store visit conversions. Store visits are still only available to a limited number of Google advertisers, and more will have access throughout the year.

• Have multiple physical store locations
  
• Receive thousands of ad clicks, and viewable impressions
  
• Have a Google My Business account linked to your Google Ads account
  
• Create each of your store locations in your Google My Business account
  
• Have at least 90% of your linked locations verified in Google My Business
  
• Ensure location extensions are active in your account
  
• Have sufficient store visits data on the backend to attribute to ad click or viewable impressions traffic and pass our user privacy thresholds

Search activity has taught us that organic results add deeper context to their experiences. They're searching for busy times, hidden tips, special offers/coupon codes. Dealers have more channels and touchpoints to reach consumers, but they miss the mark on the content to deliver throughout the journey.

Google's breakdown of search behavior shows how user intent turned market funnels on its head:

• The traditional marketing funnel has changed; consumers narrow and broaden their consideration set in unique and unpredictable moments
  
• Consumers research brands more than ever pre-purchase and competitors are dissected
  
• No two customer journeys are precisely alike, and journeys take multiple shapes within the same category
  
• Detailed-orientated service and product optimization searches continue post-purchase to maximize experiences and understanding - Ex: "how does my adaptive cruise control work?"

Dealers need to ask themselves if the content they're providing has the opportunity to educate and inform shoppers. This touchpoint will be more meaningful and move the shopper through their personalized journey seamlessly.

Expect to see even more advanced solutions via Google Tag Manager (GTM) using Google analytics tracking, event codes, and conversion scripts. Dealers will benefit from GTM tags that help improve content personalization, SEO efforts using schema, tracking video plays, phone calls, form submissions, and so much more. Plus, the reporting will be even easier to understand.

The standard marketing sales funnel advanced to a marketing environment that consists of quickly adapting to the customer's intent. The next stage of this growth is predictive intent; I'll save that prediction for 2020's article when the technology catches up to the current environment. Marketing automation will fuel this movement.

Additional prediction: More dealers will eliminate the excessive amount of low-impact, low-priority links within their website navigation. Too many websites have navigation structures as confusing as a Bongard Problem. Dealers will learn how properly organized navigation structures improve performance. Fewer navigation choices drive users to the pages that matter while also improving SEO efforts.

Digital Retailing Will Continue to Confuse Shoppers and Vendors



Last year I predicted digital retailing usage would be much larger than it turned out. Yes, vendors did a great job of creating new solutions and selling them to dealers. However, I missed the mark on the anticipated increase of shoppers that would use these solutions in their entirety.

Buyers want simplicity. J.D. Powers released a study last year showing car shoppers spend approximately 13 hours shopping online vs. only 3.5 hours shopping at a dealership. Customers, especially younger buyers, would rather handle these activities online rather than in a dealership showroom but the online experiences aren't there yet.

Brian Pasch shared the results of car buyers using digital retailing solutions in one of the more unique conference presentations last year. Shoppers were filmed trying to buy vehicles using various online shopping solutions available to the industry.

Brian's presentation examples showed what's wrong with this new movement. New digital retailing solutions, which involve a transactional mindset, have been injected into a website experience that was informational. Users were easily confused, and unnecessary details muddied the experiences.

Can a case be made for dealership websites to become smaller versions of "listing sites" and the digital retailing solution acts as a stand-alone solution? The current process lends itself as a new lead capture method, not a transactional one. Does the dealership website experience need a complete overhaul? While numerous dealers see success capturing leased with these tools, many are one-price stores. Their experience has already removed some of the friction.

Smart dealers are integrating vehicle delivery along with pick-up/drop-off services for vehicle trade-ins. Various state laws will continue to be a roadblock for successful mass adoption of an entirely online process. The costs associated with returns and additional delivery methods will eat into thin dealer profit margins. Vehicle acquisition costs and inventory pricing management philosophies create obstacles only the best operators will be prepared to manage.

I believe we'll see more progress with digital retailing solutions this year in the used car market - but not for online purchases. I see more dealers adding convenience and experience items such as transfers between store locations, pick-up/delivery, and remote trade-ins.

Additional prediction: Conference presentations in 2019 will (hopefully) be more interactive and entertaining. Mix it up and try a new format to educate the audience. Hat tip to Joe Webb and Brent Wees for delivering what many said was the best interactive breakout session at a conference last year. ("The Results Are In, You Are Not The Father ... Of The Sale")  That is - until they attended my Marketing Jeopardy presentation

Tesla Will Add More Pressure To The Market



Tesla finished the year selling more vehicles than Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Lexus, Infiniti, and Acura. (Source: goodcarbadcar.net) Regardless of your personal opinions of the company or their CEO, Tesla will continue to add pressure on dealers in 2019. 2017 deliveries totaled 103,097; 191,627 were delivered in 2018. (Source: InsiderEvs.com)

Over three million electric vehicles are operating globally this year. That number is up nearly 50% since 2016. The best selling small/mid-size luxury sedan in the US last November was the Tesla Model 3. (nearly 30k vehicles) That number was enough to outsell the Mercedes-Benz, BMW 6 & 7-Series and the Audi A8 - combined.

The Tesla Model 3 has already been reduced by $2000 due to the federal tax incentive dropping to $3,750 vs. $7,500 per vehicle. Tesla deliveries were up 8% in Q4 2018 with over 90,000 vs. Q4 2017's total of 29,870 and that includes the Model S and Model X. In December 2018, 25,250 Model 3 vehicles were delivered - just in the US. Another record and the highest sales number in one month for an electric plug-in vehicle. They only sold 1,060 last December.

Luxury dealers must find a way to differentiate their content and increase their chances of being found online. Content that compares their vehicles against the competition will help dealers earn valuable search engine real estate. Dealers, it's time to graduate to a new level of content marketing that relies heavily on answering specific questions and addressing the topics buyers need to make a decision. A results page with a list of vehicles won't cut it if you are worried about local competitors, including Tesla.

Electric Vehicle Performance Will Improve



This may take longer than just this year. However, the trend has started. Lithium-ion battery energy is improving at such a frenetic pace. Continental, a major automotive parts supplier, predicted the internal combustion engine could cease to be built by German manufacturers by 2023.

Electric vehicles will continue to get cheaper to build, improve overall quality and drivetrains will improve. One of the best examples is Audi's newest flagship EV - the E-tron SUV. This new vehicle is enticing potential owners with the equivalent of " free gas." Buy an E-tron, and you'll get 1,000 kilowatts of free charging courtesy of Electrify America's network. That's about 10 free charges or a few months of free fill-ups.

I've never been an EV fan, but you've got every ounce of my attention if the rumored Rivian R1T pickup truck ever makes it to production. This beast is slated to whip you to 60 mph in 3 seconds, produce 750 hp and have a 400+ mile driving range. Catch me if you can, Stapleton!

EV marketing will grow stronger in 2019. Content marketing will need to be precise, relevant and optimized for each marketing channel. Tesla is expected to beat the US luxury brands next year; luxury dealers must prepare for this new level of competition. The IEA predicts electric vehicles growing with "rapid market penetration" in states with zero emissions plans, relatively low taxes on fuels. The current administration's desire to change vehicle emissions standards could have a short-term impact on growth as well. (Source: CNBC)

Dealers need to respond with relevant content marketing campaigns that solve the EV shopper's needs. Make it easy for shoppers to discover the relevant information needed to make a decision - within search engines and your website.

Smart Speakers Will Impact Local SEO Efforts

The US hit another milestone in 2018. 41% of consumers now have a voice-activated speaker. That's 21.5% higher than 2017's ownership, with Amazon's Alexa and Google's Home Devices as the top two devices.

How is this significant? The installation and revenue activities have finally reached Amazon's predicted "Critical Mass Platform" status. There are now 100 million Alexa devices installed. Revenue from these speakers is expected to reach $19 billion by 2021. And that's only 5% of Amazon's total revenue.  Google's Home devices, by comparison, are expected to reach just over $8 billion by 2021.

What do people want their smart speakers to deliver from brands?



Why is this important for dealers? The behavior continues to shift from just voice to voice+interactive displays that also include a visual element. Dealers need to pay attention to their local SEO and organic results more than ever as smart-speaker/smart-screen behavior continues its rapid user acceptance ascent.

Two-thirds of people who use digital voice assistants, such as Amazon Echo or Google Home, use their smartphones less often. (CNBC, 2018) (Source: Hubspot)

Last year's article mentioned how important Position Zero as the ultimate organic achievement. Voice results unlock new opportunities for engagement and conversion. Voice shoppers will often choose the first result. We trust Amazon. We trust the device we purchased from Amazon. So, why wouldn't we trust the results it gave us?

Amazon's efforts are working. They've managed to change the way we get news, time, and weather updates via these speakers. They also made the device setup extremely easy. This isn't like the old VCR with the flashing clock. (For younger readers, ask your parents what that means.)

Voice Search Optimization will become a factor behind many of the content creation and improvement efforts. Customers now have more choices to purchase consumer product goods, similar to how we experienced a multitude of options in the social media segment a couple of years ago. The smart speaker will continue to shift from searching to interacting. Approximately 21% of smart speaker owners have completed a transaction. (Source: Pivot)

Automotive marketers need to quickly understand three essential factors for their content and how they will fit into their marketing processes.

• Answer the consumer's question (How do you expect engagement and conversions when your content isn't helpful?)
  
• Have the proper format for page one results (Position Zero is impossible to reach without being on page one)
  
• Strong local results (Smart speakers deliver local results. Own this element)

Try searching for an oil change in your area. Your ZIP Code and the quality of ratings help power the results. My Alexa speaker gave me four different Valvoline Instant Oil change locations and no dealers. The 4th result is 26 minutes away from me. Why are local searches so important? Local searches lead 50% of mobile users to visit stores within one day. (Google, 2018) (Source: Hubspot)

Another opportunity I predict is the advertising opportunities within the content consumed via smart speakers. The number one smart speaker activity is listening to music and podcasts. OEMs, large dealer groups or even used car supercenters may consider these viable targeted advertising channels.

Amazon's advertising ecosystem will become a land grab. Amazon is already exploring promotional opportunities with consumer products goods. This is always a leading indicator of future retail marketing solutions. Amazon is exploring ways to advertise contextually within Alexa skills. Imagine asking a question about your new Jeep Wrangler pickup truck and getting brand specific promotional offers tied to the answer provided.

Service Conquest Campaigns Will Crush Competition



I anticipate an increase in service conquest campaigns. Smart marketers will explore alternatives during a possible decline in new vehicle sales this year. Owners of vehicles beyond their OEM warranty coverage are ripe for acquiring new dealership service relationships and cultivating them into sales relationships.

Dealers should consider focusing ad budgets on their top service and parts activities to attract new customers. Building the relationship using low-cost service campaigns can create results that are up to 20 times more cost-effective than standard sales conquest campaigns. (Source: Wards Automotive, Sept. 18)

Creating a relevant service campaign featuring service coupons and parts specials is no different than managing your vehicle marketing efforts, it just costs less. Many dealers ignore this opportunity altogether due to either a lack of marketing resources or the technology to execute these campaigns effectively and efficiently.

Mentally Promoting Extreme Working Hours Will Run Its Course



This prediction takes the form of a rant on a topic that drives me crazy Everyone, including me, was enthralled with the early darlings of social media and the endless flurry of self-promotional messages.

Yes, I'm talking about the performative messages espoused a'la the Vaynerchucks and Cardones of the world. And no, I'm not taking anything away from or knocking the massive successes achieved by Gary or Grant. Their personas can't be replicated. They are the result of decades of arduous work, and they rose to the top. I'm referring to those who flout their excessive levels of hustling and grinding. We shall now refer to this as grustling.

“This idea that unless you are suffering, grinding, working every hour of every day, you’re not working hard enough … this is one of the most toxic, dangerous things in tech right now,” -  Alexis Ohanian

Click to expand...

We get it; you worked hard today, and you want to validate those efforts. Find your voice and share it with a specific audience who will benefit from your content. Remember, your content will be successful when it matches the intent of others - not just yours. Want to be successful? Focus on that one thing without having a side-hustle.

True experts know there is so much more to learn.

Expand your exposure to other influencers beyond our industry. Check out this excellent list of top social media/marketing influencers to follow. Notice the quality of their messages and their lack of grustling; my personal favorite for years, Ann Handley.

Of course, you'll need a predetermined level of devotion towards your craft or skill, but it does not need to be a mechanism that destroys the quality of your life or negatively impacts your relationships with family and friends.

Your efforts, hard work, and eventual success will be noticed by everyone around you and by how you carry yourself.

2019 Automotive Predictions from the Community

Sean Stapleton - CEO & Co-founder, Dealer Teamwork

I predict Tier 2 spending models will see the start of the most considerable transformation the industry has ever experienced. Tier 1 will power the redistribution of funds differently to improve the branding messages while also creating a more cost-effective solution with the technology now available. Dealers will benefit from this change by having more control and access to better technology.

The emphasis on accountability and relationships will increase to new levels in 2019 as well. The theme will be Trust. Dealers need to build trust with their customer by delivering exceptional experiences that start online and continue well after the sale. Dealers also need to trust their vendor partner to help achieve those customer goals.

Glenn Pasch - CEO/Partner, PCG Digital

Two words that come to mind for 2019 are Education and Efficiency. Continuing education should be on every list for the coming year. New products are coming on the market, all claiming to help sell cars.

As everyone focuses on the concept of Digital Retailing, these products will be coming at dealers in record numbers. So learning about them and most importantly, determining if your team can use them. Don’t just buy products and throw them into your store. Make sure you understand what they do and where they fit into the process.

Secondly, efficiency is the focus for our clients. Making sure Adwords campaigns are set up to maximize spend and generate sales opportunities.

Too often, as PCG audits dealer’s accounts, we find lazy campaign set up where one keyword is taking a large portion of the ad spend so other queries are not getting funded. Or the targeting is sloppily set up, wasting dealer’s spends. There are many vendors all claiming they have the best tech for this, but still, it needs someone watching to maximize spend. Dealers need to ask the right questions on what their Adwords vendors are doing with their budgets.

That is why I think Facebook is a more efficient place to advertise. I believe. We will see an increase in Facebook ad budgets for dealers, at the expense of Google spend. I see dealers shifting budget because targeting efficiency is fantastic and the cost is still an excellent value for dealers.

Katie Donovan - CEO, Home Local Services - A Digital Teamwork Company

We are at the edge of the tsunami of voice search. Marketing efforts will need to include new voice search optimization tactics. Over 60% of devices connected to the internet do not have screens and the other almost 40% will move to 50% voice search.

Bill Playford - Partner, DealerKnows

Rising interest rates will do away with interest-free financing, meaning the last bastion of affordable payments on new vehicles will go the way of Ford sedans for the average person. Credit unions will start to challenge the captives with lower interest rates, making financing a critical part of 2019. This creates a gap for creative leasing options, including those on CPO vehicles. This also creates a gap for FinTech companies to gather the necessary runway to create a real challenge for traditional lending. Did I mention that fewer cars will be sold?

As dealerships have made themselves the serfs of OEMs, fewer cars sold means the Hail Mary passes for reimbursement will prove themselves to be financially disastrous. As more dealerships lose money to miss their targets, less cash gets pumped into the vendor ecosystem. Those vendors who have grown used to the unjustifiably high-profit margins will soon find themselves trying to move land, air, and sea to become a certified co-opted vendor. Those who don’t will be gobbled up by one of the bigs in a fire sale, or find themselves piled on the stack of carcasses of those who came before them get that evidence book ready and get those references paid prepared. Atonement waits for no one.

For those dealerships that have spent the last two years intelligently reigning in their marketing spend, this year will be the payoff. Less dragnet marketing means the likelihood of the right message landing on the right eyes and ears will yield more efficient results. Those consumers, who are forced to spend more, will be much pickier regarding what they want. We will also finally get to hear the voice of merchandising as it will no longer have to scream over the noise. Advertising is only sunk-cost until it yields repeat business.

As we transition to a buyer’s market from a seller’s market, human capital will become even more valuable. Every department will have to mold itself into a customer satisfaction center, meaning just having a warm body in the chair is no longer adequate. Since most dealerships haven’t figured out how to clone commission hungry baby boomers, accommodating millennials will be the cure to continuous turnover. As self-serving as it sounds, training is crucial as the current employees are probably the best ones. Moreover, this also means investing in leadership, not merely management. Being the best salesperson and regurgitating book-knowledge isn’t going to be enough. Seasoned professionals from outside of retail will be preferable. Sure they’ll want a salary, but they’re 30% less expensive than someone who came up in a car dealership.

All of the sudden a salaried workforce makes a lot more sense. We were blessed with an artificially good market. Let’s be thankful for it. Now, let’s get ready for how things used to be. It’s time to earn it.

Dan Moore - President, Vistadash

My automotive marketing prediction for 2019 is we will see a change in advertising investments! With more actionable metrics in digital marketing, it will become more apparent to Dealers on how to better spend with Google and Facebook.

The growing numbers of Digital Agency's and shinning new software tools are driving up the cost per engagement and lack of transparency in where the dollars are going. Dealers are not getting a clear picture of what sales and service campaigns are generating true bottom line results, which led to an increase of blind spending to drive traffic, not ROI

Thank you for reading. Keep learning, become the best version of yourself and continue helping those around you as well. I hope 2019 is a happy, healthy, and successful year for everyone!

For more of Eric's yearly predictions check out his previous posts:
2018 Automotive Marketing Predictions – DealerRefresh

5 Automotive Marketing Predictions For 2017 – DealerRefresh

4 Predictions in 2016 for Car Dealerships – DealerRefresh

4 Predictions That Will Affect Car Dealer Performance in 2015 – DealerRefresh

6 Predictions That Will Impact Automotive Retailing in 2014 – DealerRefresh

Champions Seek Opportunities

Change happens – why not embrace it?

Earlier this year I had the opportunity to listen to Melissa Stockwell when she spoke to the entire Cars.com sales team. She’s a patriot, a soldier, an athlete, a mother, and a great speaker. She is also the first American woman ever to lose a limb in active combat. Her story is inspiring, yes; but more than that, it is instructive. You see, most motivational and inspirational speakers fade quickly from memory; a day or a week later the inspiration has ‘worn off.’ On the other hand, when you learn a lesson, you can go back and put that lesson into action over and over again. Melissa’s lesson is one that stuck with me.

Change happens. Melissa’s change happened in an instant. She was leading a convoy in Baghdad when a roadside bomb exploded. She lost her left leg. Her situation had changed. Her future had changed. Her life had changed.

But what she did next is amazing. Before she even left Walter Reed Army Medical Center, she had the dream of participating in the Paralympic Games three years later as a swimmer. In April of 2008, Melissa became the first Iraqi War Veteran to qualify for the Paralympics. She was chosen to carry the United States flag in the ceremonies. She looked for and embraced her new opportunities.

She continued to seek new opportunities; she embraced Paratriathlon and has gone on to become a three-time World Champion in the sport. When Paratriathlon became Paralympic sport, she returned to the Paralympics, winning a bronze medal in Rio.

The situation is changing for car dealers too – subscription services, digital retailing, self-driving cars, car sharing, etc. Change happens – the big question is how do you react to change? You can pretend the change isn’t happening. You can long for the past. Or you can look for the opportunities that exist in the midst of every change.

I have faced major change a few times in my life. I can’t say I have always dealt with it with as much grace as Melissa. But after hearing her speak, I know I will always be looking for opportunity in the face of change.

 

 

Google is constantly improving their various platforms in order to improve the user experience and recently Google Ads (formally known as Google AdWords) was the next to receive a mini-makeover. If you have ever worked in Google Ads, you know that taking all of the various steps within the platform to make sure that your business or your client's business is gaining the best bang for their buck with their Pay-per-Click campaigns can be slightly tedious.  Google recognized this fact and has now simplified this process.

From the moment you select "+ New Campaign" Google is requiring you as the user to take a moment and plan - what is the intention in this PPC campaign? Is there specific inventory that you need to move? Are you trying to drive traffic to your website? Are you looking to generate more leads for your sales department?

All of these questions are asked and answered at the start of creating a new campaign. Below are three simple steps to get your business' PPC campaign headed in the right direction.

STEP ONE: Select the intention of your campaign.



What do you need to accomplish with these marketing dollars? More often than not in the automotive industry, we are looking to drive sales, generate leads, and potentially engage new traffic (i.e. brand awareness) to our websites.

STEP TWO: Specify the ad that is going to work best for your campaign and generate the optimum results.



When promoting your inventory online display, shopping, and video ads are going to be your best bet! Maybe you are a Subaru dealer and want to showcase the interior of the 2019 Ascent? Video ads can be specifically targeted to shoppers in the market for your brand with specific keywords and can build excitement for the shopper to take a closer look.

Not to get too far down the rabbit hole, but you can also exclude certain keywords so that your PPC dollars are going directly to your target audience and not being poured down the drain, but that is for another blog post on another day.

STEP THREE: Select a sub-type.

A savvy online marketer is going to select the "Standard display campaign" option in order to have more customization options, but if you are fairly new to PPC you may opt into the "Smart display campaign" option to see what traffic and leads are generated by letting Google take the wheel.

The most important thing to remember is that there isn't a one-size-fits-all option when it comes to pay-per-click campaigns.  Anyone who is telling you that - well, they probably don't know how PPC truly works.  To create a successful PPC campaign that doesn't drain your marketing budget requires detailed research and hands-on monitoring.  If you are setting it and forgetting it, you are most likely losing money.  The key is to make these tools work for your business with intentional well-thought-out campaigns so that you can focus on the most important thing - sales.

Recently, I shared a new metric that CarGurus now includes in their dealer reporting. This new metric is called “SRP Impressions”, and at the time I posted, CarGurus was showing this new metric in addition to their normal SRP metric.

A week or so later, I along with many other dealers received an email from CarGurus explaining what this new SRP Impressions metric was, and how it will eventually replace their current SRP metric. What was most shocking to me was their explanation surrounding the old vs. new SRP metric...

CarGurus defined their previous SRP metric as, “…the number of times that you had inventory match a shopper's search.” They then defined the new SRP Impressions metric as, “…how often your vehicle's load and display as search results.”

So, it sounds like the old metric was measuring any time a dealer had a vehicle that may have been searched on, but not necessarily seen by a consumer. The new metric means the consumer actually viewed the vehicle on an SRP listing. I suspect most of us in the auto industry assumed an SRP meant that your vehicle actually appeared in the listing, right? I then wondered how the other “Big 3” Third-Party Classifieds (TPS) sites are measuring SRPs, since a common definition is critical for many of my success metrics I report on for dealers.

Here is what I found:

Autotrader.com defines the SRP as, “…the number of times your vehicles appeared in shopper searches…”. Sounds good, that is what we all would have assumed.

Cars.com defines the SRP as, “…the total number of times your inventory was exposed to consumers on Search Results Pages (SRPs).” Also sounds good, what we all likely assumed.

So…it sounds like CarGurus is now reporting in the same way that Autotrader and Cars.com were already reporting. CarGurus indicates that “…until January 2019, you will see both metrics reported on your dashboard, and that you may see a higher or lower SRP metric due to the new calculation.” So far, for the dozens of dealers I track CarGurus stats for, none of them are seeing higher SRP metrics, and all of them are seeing lower SRP metrics. The new SRP Impressions metrics are between 18-58% of the old SRPs, which means CarGurus was overstating their SRPs for these and many other dealers.



What will be the impact of this change?

Dealers will likely now also see lower SRPs going forward, but at least these will be real-SRPs. Another change will be in key metrics and ratios. One of my favorite metrics to measure for dealers is the VDP-to-SRP ratio, which helps a dealer see how often they “win the click” from the SRP to the VDP. For most of the TPCs, that ratio lives in the 1-2% range. Carfax has always been the exception to that rule with the one of the biggest VDP-to-SRP ratios, around 5-6%. However, with this change I predict CarGurus will now jump to the top spot for this ratio.

Calculating the change for the dealers I sampled, their CarGurus VDP-to-SRP ratio will likely jump from a low of 1% to as high as 7%. Why do some sites have a higher ratio than others? There are many potential explanations, including what information is (or is not) included on the SRP, compelling thumbnail photos, competitive pricing, or even how down-funnel the shopper may be.

It is a well-known fact that your online reviews are your first foot-in-the-door with a new customer. It is also widely known that it is essential to respond to ALL reviews - be they negative or positive - but the struggle with online reviews is keeping them up!

Your dealership may be one of the lucky ones. You may have a dedicated staff member that daily monitors your online reviews, but if your dealership is one of the many that do not, I'd like to show you a great way to continue to build consistent online reviews, by creating your Google Review Link.

As technology progresses, consumers collectively have become more and more reliant on what is "easy." How many times has a company directly asked you to review them online, and you think to yourself, "I'll get to it when I get to it."? Most likely that has happened more than you can count, but think of the times when a company has directly sent you a link that you just click on to review them. I know that as a consumer myself, I am 100 times more likely to click on that link and post a review of my experience if the source to do so is sent directly to me.

Setting up a Google Review link for your dealership is easy, and it only takes 5 steps to get started.

Step One - Head to Google Maps Place Id.



Step Two - Search for your dealership's name.

In the text block on the map, you will enter your dealership's name, and your exact location should populate.



Step Three. - Copy the ID

Copy the ID directly under your dealership's name and paste it into the BOLD section of the URL - https://search.google.com/local/writereview?placeid=<place_id>

Step Four - Save this code in a safe place on your desktop or phone.

There is nothing worse than making an effort to create a new tool and then lose it. Paste the completed code on your desktop so that you know exactly where to find it when you need it.



Step Five - Follow up for reviews

Use the link to send as a follow up to customers who have recently made a purchase. Not only have you provided a new customer with a new car, but you have made it extremely easy for them to rate and review your dealership at the click of a mouse.

Old Men Reunion at Digital Dealer 25. Barry Brodsky, Amir Ammirrezvani, David Metter and Shaun Raines

“What’s that you say sonny?”

Digital Dealer 25, which means hmmm, how many years?

It must be a lot since my first Digital Dealer (3...) as I got off to a brilliant start when I arrived in sunny Las Vegas to pick up my badge at registration.

“Mr. Frye, we cannot find you anywhere in our system…”.

Guess who forgot to register for DD25? 

YOURS TRULY! Was this my first senior moment?

Thankfully I saw Melissa Green nearby and begged forgiveness as if I didn’t get that elusive badge, there would be a room full of folks waiting for a presenter the following morning – and that person would be me. Thank you Melissa!

Maybe I should start a DD conference for seniors, it could start at 6 am, end by 3 so that everyone could make the early bird dinner, and be in bed by 8. We could host the conference in Branson, Missouri - what do you think? Brilliant!



Digital Dealer 25 - back at The Mirage in Las Vegas

It is hard to believe that this has been the 25th Digital Dealer, and DD25 delivered as the best yet. Remember those long registration lines? Now it only takes as long as you need to scan your registration and pick up the badge.

Keynote speakers? First time I have seen the exhibit hall packed for each one.

Breakout sessions? Selection cut down to focus on quality content and more folks attending each one. Let’s get this review rolling…



Would you like some Ribbit with your Ribeye?

Monday Funday

C’mon, you should know that Julie and I celebrate our anniversary each year by arriving a day early to enjoy the fabulous entertainment, food, and world class service that Vegas offers, and maybe even a spa day. After my badge fiasco and wrapping up registration, the Jeff Wyler folks celebrated their team dinner with Tom Mangino and Les Abrams with Cox Automotive at the Lakeside restaurant at the Wynn. I must say this is the first time I have been serenaded by a huge singing frog during my dinner - and ribbit - we had a great time and laughs with the lakeside show and first class dinner. Always a great way to kick off the conference.



Talking about Wyler FastLane and auto subscription at DD25

Subscribe and Drive is alive in Cincinnati.

After launching the first ever auto subscription service in Cincinnati, Wyler FastLane, we have been barraged with questions about our experience with this revolutionary mobility solution. I started off the first day with my presentation on auto subscription where I focused on the consumer - isn’t that what we should always focus on?

I shared multiple video testimonials from our highly satisfied customers, as well as a Facebook live that we had just shot the previous day when we had David Wyler surprised one of our  customers when he personally delivered a Corvette for one of our Wyler Prime subscribers. The most important thing I can share about auto subscription is that we are creating highly satisfied customers by providing them with an affordable, flexible mobility solution combined with world class service.



Frank Lopes and Eliana Raggio continue as great moderators at DD25, and always love to see Candace Crane #respect

LOTS of questions at the end of my session, and I was encouraged that dealers are looking at this seriously. Do I believe that auto subscription will have a majority position in meeting the transportation needs of folks in the future? No, but I believe it will be an important part of meeting some of those needs. Further, there are a handful of dealers that are leading the way testing this, as well as many of the OEMs. All of us share a common goal, can we find a profitable and scalable model that works for dealers while creating a more consumer-facing experience for our customers. This is a high-risk business, and I am proud to be part of an auto family that puts customers first not only now, but in the future.

Time to meet, greet and eat! Always great to head over to the exhibit hall and meet with our current partners, great friends in the industry, and possible partners for the future.

I was thrilled to see…



Super proud of Eliana Raggio and her new position at Digital Air Strike

Who is this... Webinar Goddess? Navy Veteran? Moderator extraordinaire?

That would be Eliana Raggio who is now the new Director of Industry Relations with Digital Air Strike.  Eliana is one of the best connected folks I know in automotive, as well as a strong woman that I deeply respect. Folks - if you are looking to improve yourself with continuing education, there is no better than Eliana for leading an online webinar. Stay tuned as Eliana will be starting her next series with Digital Air Strike hosting.



Great good - and healthy choices. Yes, it is possible at a conference (and loved that wedge salad)

Arrrr, give me some hardtack and rum!

Actually - best food ever. I am not kidding. Let’s face it, conference food can often be mediocre at best, which is understandable when you are trying to feed LOTS of folks. However, all meals were really good – and with healthy options. Well done.



So many great folks here, aren't the best discussions made with family over a good meal? #AutoFam

Zuckerberg Schnuckerberg, it’s all about the DATA.

Big changes in privacy this year which is making data a higher priority for dealers. Think of it this way folks. Dealers will have to lean more on great data partners to ensure they can best target in-market shoppers, especially for folks outside of your direct customer database. Sure, you can still upload your customers to create look-alike audiences and targeting lists, but this is becoming more time-consuming and difficult to do with more stringent privacy requirements. With that said, my first session to attend was "The Big Data Ecosystem Revolution".



Alex Jefferson, Chris Hill, Glen Dakan, April Rain, and Hunter Swift, whew, did I miss anyone?

Go Ahead – hate me for using the words “Big Data.”

Brent Towne, Director of Cox Automotive Analytics Product, gave a great presentation sharing how dealers can leverage data to best target in-market customers for their respective brand, but more important, to then match these customers back to actual sales. He reviewed all of the latest advanced great technology available to us, and while we are slowly starting to see solutions that can show us direct results for our marketing efforts, there is one large missing link in my humble opinion.



Don't get stuck in a hotel room in Vegas - explore the Valley of Fire

As Ric Flair would say, this is Real Time, wooo!

Ok, maybe Ric said “hard time,” but I am still disappointed to see the lack of real time data solutions available to dealers today. Would someone please tell me why?

I know that many of you have been following our 4 year journey building our log cabin home, and during that time there have been countless times that my wife has been at home researching eg. "new sinks", and within minutes I am getting ads at work on my phone and laptop for not just the sinks she was looking at, but for other sinks in the market. How?

Big brother is watching you.

I hope that each of you realize that the big data warehouses know who we are, and who is in our household, what devices we use (smartphones, desktop, iPads, laptops, etc.) and what we are doing online. That same data is available to savvy marketers who want to buy the data when you are searching for what they are selling, so that they can then target all of the devices in your household with highly relevant marketing.

Is big data important to dealers? Is real time data even MORE important to dealers?

Absolutely! I would like to see some great real time data solutions available to dealers in 2019.



Fun with Julio Gonzalez and Sean Stapleton in exhibit hall

Time for a bowl of chicken google soup.

Next up was "Google's Top 5 Strategies to Drive More Value with Digital" with longtime friend Julio Gonzalez. Guess what folks, it’s time to move away from focusing on just generating leads, and focusing on your business objective.

If there are 24 touchpoints in the car buying journey, and 19 of those are digital, shouldn’t you have a digital first strategy? Understanding that, shouldn’t smart dealers work to fully understand and leverage the digital buying behavior of consumers?



Proud to have Jeff Weinkam and Jenny Harris with the Wyler eCommerce team join me at DD25

We have an auto epidemic.

I call it the “all or nothing mentality” that many folks have in the automotive industry. Why do I bring this up? The reality of today’s consumer is that they do NOT like the long amount of time it takes in the showroom to buy a car. They want to complete as much of the car buying process online as they can so as to minimize their valuable time in the showroom.

What is our solution? Digital Retailing solutions for automotive.



Is this review "fake news" since Trump has made an appearance?

I am disappointed to see how cynical dealers are about online digital retailing. The all or nothing mentality asks this question “how many cars have you sold this month 100% online”. The answer is ZERO - in our state it is illegal, you have to get a wet signature, etc. Cranky dealers then state “well, digital retailing does not work.”

It does work. It is working. Wake up! This is a forward thinking solution.

Dealers that are integrating digital retailing solutions today are thinking about tomorrow. You can raise engagement with your consumers while building value, and help minimize the delivery time, even if it is not fully online. Do I believe the day is coming when folks can completely buy a car online? Absolutely. We have to take this one step at a time. Meanwhile, why do you suppose there are so many digital retailing solutions in exhibit hall?



Keynote presentations were well attended throughout DD25

Am I a 52 year old virgin?

No, but I am a 52 year old who went to see someone from Virgin share their keynote presentation "The Art and Science of Wow" - which was packed. Simply put - Virgin focuses on creating delight for their customers, and Alex Hunter shared how we could do the same as dealers.

Why am I excited about auto subscription? Because I have not seen anything like it that creates delight with our customers. Did you remember my challenge is to always ask yourself "Does this make us more consumer-facing?" when making decisions moving forward?



Owen Moon, Chris and Julie Branum - FixedOpsDigital.com team

Fixed Ops is not about getting your pets neutered.

Great to see Owen Moon, who has co-founded FixedOpsDigital.com. I will readily confess that I focus on sales at Digital Dealer. Am I really being that smart considering how important fixed ops profitability is to the dealership? Especially during a slowing market?

FixedOpsDigital.com is looking to take dealership websites beyond just focusing on "schedule service" or "share with a friend" with their conversion tools. I strongly encourage you to take a look at how they can help improve your fixed ops efforts.



Love Beatles Love while at the Mirage, so much fun with Julie and Ceren Isildak

Love Love Love

Ask me “what is your favorite show in Las Vegas?” and I will tell you Beatles Love Cirque du Soleil. I have seen it 4 times. Make that 5 times as I joined Ceren Isildak with Cloud One to see Beatles Love, and we loved it again. Didn’t realize that they had changed the show while using the same soundtrack, and it is still the BEST show in Vegas.



Alex appears to be babysitting the crew at this unnamed party

Pssst, I know where they are having a party at Cher’s house, with fountains spewing Pappy Van Winkle bourbon and mermaids swimming in the pool, wanna come?

Let’s just say that a lot of folks attended a party just like that - and still had a great time. I am not gonna share names, but it was kinda funny to see dealers bite on some of the same marketing ploys we use each day to get folks to our showroom...



So happy to see Katie Richter with Cuneo Advertising, with Julie Frye and Brandi Booker

Throw the ball, catch the ball, hit the ball, it’s that simple.

Yes, back to the basics, and let me tell you the Google User guidelines continue to evolve. I am approaching 20 years with online experience and yes, I return to review this again and again. And I saw one thing that should certainly catch your attention. Google has followed a consistent pattern where they hint about upcoming changes multiple times, and then eventually you finally see them implemented.

Ladies and gentlemen, if you have a poor online reputation, we are starting to see evidence of Google suppressing your dealership in the search results. NOT unique to automotive, we are talking businesses across all types of industries. Google does not want to rank sites with reputation problems. If we won’t clean up our behavior, Google intends to help drive that behavior.

Great job to Dr. Marie Haynes with Marie Haynes Consulting and her presentation "Google's Quality Raters Guidelines."



Barbi Brand and Greg Gifford with DealerOn, and Kerry Kolde with Social Dealer

Fonzie, please don't jump the shark!

Multiple great ideas shared at the DD25 Tech Tank Competition panel where I was privileged to hear/judge some innovative solutions. The winner was great.

Let’s say you have a time sensitive special that you need to get a video created for ASAP. However, you don’t have time or a lot of money to book a studio, get the piece produced, and ready for online display. Waymark allows you to modify pre-built video templates and create your video message in minutes. Great idea for dealers (and heads-up, make sure to run through OEM compliance where relevant.)



Part of the reason I visited the LetGo folks at DD25 - they were at their booth early in the day (hint)

Oh no, Let’s go, let’s go crazy.

How about LetGo? Am I just some country bumpkin that is not very familiar with Letgo? I understand that Letgo users perform hundreds of millions of searches per month, and a large percentage of cars listed on their site bring in a message, call or text within the first 7 days. Looks like they have a strong presence on the coasts and major metropolitan areas, maybe I need to test this one out. Have any of you tested this and have some insight you can share with the rest of us?



Love these 2, together 5 minutes and we are all laughing. Two of our best, Heather MacKinnon and Ryan Leslie

Brrr, it’s colder than a Sales Manager's heart when you ask to leave early.

Ok, a fireside chat does sound a bit crazy in the Vegas desert but I enjoyed a panel moderated by Paul “Buffalo Bill” Caldwell sharing how we can best leverage data (see that pattern I am displaying?) with "Capture Consumer Attention." Why don’t dealers look at customers who bought last MONTH vs. last year? And create the real-time like audiences we are seeking? Reaching true in-market buyers today and driving consumer action is becoming more challenging without a great data partner.



Pete Petersen with Dealers United leads a packed session on setting up a Facebook/Instagram strategy for your dealership

"I want to say one word to you - plastics. Plastics is the future."

Who knows what movie that was from? I want to say one word to you - MOBILITY. Mobility is key. Mobility was the next keynote. Listen folks, nobody is saying that personal car ownership won’t continue to be the solution for the majority of folks in the future. In fact, most studies show there will be more cars in the future, but how they are utilized is key, and providing alternative mobility solutions that best meet our consumers' needs is the key to future success.

If you look at ride sharing, car sharing, auto subscription, what do all of these 3 have in common? FLEET. Fleet is the future folks.

What is the most important concern for fleet customers?  SERVICE. Successful dealers will position themselves to be ready to provide the best fleet service solutions.



Great food, live entertainment, and some quality time with my friend Alex Jefferson

Riddle me this - Rose. Rabbit. Lie.

Another great dinner - this time at the Cosmopolitan at Rose. Rabbit. Lie. care of the great folks at FlowFound. Watch out for Flowfound, they are growing rapidly and we are proud to call them partner. Virtual reality, augmented reality, these are FAST moving technologies and FlowFound should call themselves FastFound as they are pushing the edges leading in these areas. I am glad they didn't take us out for fast food though. And still haven't figured out the riddle.



Why don't I see Bill Playford more? Joining Subi Ghosh and bringing great smiles

Are you amped up for Thursday?

After 5 cups of coffee I was amped! If you look at shopper behavior on your websites, did you realize that 70 – 78% of them are shopping from a mobile device? AMP (accelerated mobile page) technology allows you to setup a mobile friendly page that loads rapidly and gets your shopper to what they are looking for with minimal content (think 8x less data on the page). AJ Herold lead his presentation "How to use Google Accelerated Mobile Pages to Optimize your Website for Search" to include details of how to code AMP pages yourself for your individual websites. If Google is lifting AMP pages in the search results, why aren’t we seeing more AMP pages in automotive websites?



April Rain bringing life to the party with Julie

Calling all website providers! Would you please provide more AMP content on our sites?

Listen, I understand. Your paying customers (dealers) like the fireworks and pizzazz of flashy, data intensive webpages, but we can do better. If you have 11 website templates that do just that, why not have one additional AMP focused template that dealers who know better can choose? And for those of you coding in your own AMP pages on your current website platform, don’t forget to add it to your sitemap.



Team Wyler at Valley of Fire, with Jenny Harris and Jeff Weinkam

Finishing on fire.

It was so good last time, that I brought the rest of our Wyler team to the Valley of Fire this time. What a great way to end the conference with some challenging, yet beautiful hiking in the Valley of Fire. Also a great way to get tired before the red-eye flight returning home to Cincinnati.



Some tight fits while hiking at Valley of Fire

Overall thoughts?

Digital Dealer 25 was a great success. I am incredibly impressed with the high caliber of dealers who are attending. We have younger folks that have a significant grasp of the importance of digital to automotive, and they are leading the way into the future. I believe the changes we are going to see in the next 5-10 years will be even more significant than what we saw with the introduction of the Internet to automotive, and I am encouraged by the next generation of dealership folks leading the way.



Until next time from the Wyler team #WylerWay

Do you know what is unique to our job?

If you are the eCommerce Director, Digital Marketing manager, you name it, for your dealership, the scope of our job is changing every 6 months. Those who take continuing education seriously while growing with our market will succeed in the future. Whether you attend Digital Dealer or any of the other great conferences available in our industry, I commend you for the invaluable investment you are making in yourself and your dealership.

Until then - sell more cars, sell more service, and do it while becoming more consumer-facing!

One of the universal truths I’ve found in auditing the digital advertising budget for dealers is that they overspend in many areas (third-party classifieds, paid search) and underspend in paid social media (Facebook).

There are many reasons dealers underspend in social...It could be that they’ve had agencies take a cookie-cutter approach with poor results. It may also be that the dealership doesn’t understand or buy into the idea that Facebook can drive shoppers to sales or service.  It is around this latter point that the education process begins. I help the store to understand the way the platform works, and show them success metrics other dealers have experienced.

But what do you do if the General Manager or decision-maker at the dealership doesn’t have a Facebook account, has never used the platform, and can’t begin to understand what a newsfeed or Facebook retargeting ad is?

Unfortunately, I find this to be a problem at a surprising number of stores.

I usually discover this when explaining to the dealer what a successful paid Facebook advertising campaign looks like. The general manager begins to give me a blank stare.  I finally get to the bottom line question, “Do you have a Facebook account yourself?.”

The answer is no, and here is where the challenge really begins.

The agency is asking the general manager to approve spending thousands of dollars on paid advertising campaigns on a platform they know nothing about and don’t use. Of course, this same problem doesn’t exist with pay-per-click search, retargeting campaigns, or email blasts since if the GM uses the internet at all, they have experienced these products. However, there are many working adults who either don’t like social media or feel they don’t have time for it. The table below shows that depending on the age and sex of a dealership general manager, 22% to 35% of them are not current users of Facebook (even less on Instagram). I would argue that without direct experience in the social media platform, the general managers are putting themselves in a position of weakness in decision-making around these paid campaigns.



So, as an owner or a reflective general manager, what should they do?

For the dealer principal, I feel they need to require their decision-making-managers to set up their own Facebook account and get comfortable with it. For the GM, they need to recognize that they must use and be familiar with the platform, or they are doing their store a disservice. That doesn’t mean they need to create a massive circle of friends, or create any of their own posts, or feel that they’re giving up some of their privacy. A GM can certainly create a profile with the minimum required information, little or no photos or private information, but at least they have an account so they can begin to see how the platform works.  The GM can experience ads in the newsfeed, retargeting ads, etc.  Within a very short period of time, they’ll grow to be a better decision maker on these campaigns, as they will have direct experience on how the messaging reverberates.

I would also recommend the GM should find their competitors and “like” the competitors’ pages.  This way they can start seeing their competitors’ ads and get an idea of the messaging and approach. GMs should also periodically visit the actual competitor pages and observe both the posts and comments, observing the way the competitors engage with visitors and the “personality” of the page.

The bottom line is, if a dealership manager doesn’t understand or use a media platform, then how can they effectively make advertising buys on that platform. Without the required understanding, the manager is forced to simply trust the vendors recommendations and success metrics. As with all things technology, if you don’t understand it, you must immerse until you do. General Managers at dealerships need to use the internet, own a smartphone, and yes…set up and use a Facebook account so that they understand the platform, lingo, and methods for delivering paid advertising to shoppers.

Have you ever learned a new word, then for some strange reason you feel like you see and hear it everywhere?

It’s not just you. It’s actually called frequency illusion, or the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon. It’s another trick your mind plays on you (sucker), to pull you away from rational thought. It’s also the wrong ROI you keep reading about.

ROI = (Gain from Investment – Cost of Investment) ÷ Cost of Investment

It’s a financial evaluation strategy that helps determine the best way to make money, relative to other investment strategies. In other words, it helps an investor decide the best way to get the most out of their money when the only goal is to make money.

Let’s take off our thinking caps, and be normal people. When we make a financial investment, the return on that investment comes after the passing of time. Your checking account returns very little interest because that money is available to you always. Your 401K allows you to retire because it takes decades to safely accrue the interest to do so. In very simplistic terms, you are being compensated for someone else (like a bank or a fund) using your money. The longer you let someone use your money, the more you make. The riskier the use, the higher the compensation. What’s this have to do with selling cars? Not a damn thing.

What’s being presented as ROI is not really ROI at all. The ROI from the frequency illusion is almost always ROMI, or Return on Marketing Investment. It can nerdily be expressed as:

ROMI = (Gain from X Marketing Activity – Cost of X Marketing Activity) ÷ Cost of X Marketing Activity

It’s a marketing evaluation strategy that can be used to evaluate and compare marketing strategies. However, it is a very slippery slope for most organizations. Quantifying the added value has to be extremely well defined. For most car dealerships it’s evaluated on a calendar month basis, which flatly ignores any additional value that’s realized after that month is over. There’s a great article in Forbes that goes into better depth on how ROMI can be very misleading if you’d like to read more about it. If you are constantly focusing on ROMI you are really missing the point about what you are investing in.

Your investment is in the total value of the customer.

After analyzing more than 400,000 transactions over the past couple months, it’s very clear to me that dealerships are making abysmal investment decisions. One dealership lost a combined average (front and back) of $471.13 on 347 new cars sold in just one zip code. One zip code. We’ll tack on a very conservative $300 cost per vehicle sold, and now we’re pushing an $800 loser on every copy. Did I mention this zip code is a 30-minute drive away, where the freeway passes a same-brand competitor who will easily siphon off the warranty and maintenance work? This illustrates two things. First, OEMs widely subsidize franchised dealerships with incentives (to the tune of 93%, according to the NADA) which artificially props them up. Second, dealerships are pacified by tertiary metrics that falsely indicate a payoff.

Now that you are “woke,” let me present a better philosophy around ROI. Like the textbook definition of ROI, consider your customers like you would consider your investment portfolio. Clearly define and understand what customers are actually investment worthy. Consider the short-term dividends, as well as the total long-term payoff. Strategically, it’s worth giving a little money on a discount or trade when you understand that you will make it back in the long run. For most of the workforce, money is automatically deducted for retirement funds every month. The same can be said for those customers who have a high propensity to repeat and refer customers to you, as well as those who are loyal with their service business. There is a very high payoff that simply cannot be ignored. As part of my initial research, it isn’t uncommon to see the best performing zip code generate as much as twice the revenue as the next best performing zip code. That is how powerful loyalty is to the bottom line. On the flip side of that, I see stores losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in just sales revenue in areas that are hours away from the dealership, in some cases other states, never to see or hear from that customer again. In academic terms that’s called sunk cost. In regular people terms, that’s called throwing away money. I hope you are pissed off.

After weeks of analyzing the results of dozens of dealerships, representing different brands, population centers, and regions, I know I sure am. When we have whole companies dedicated to shining the spotlight on marketing attribution, we’re led to basically ignore microeconomics, manufacturer incentives, inventory mix, the massive resource investment in Internet and sales operations, and the overall customer experience. Those spotlights cast a very, very, long shadow upon the variables that actually generate and sustain income. This is sort’ve like investing money in a company logo long before you have the revenue to support it. This is also like buying as many leads as you can from providers that guarantee the lowest price, optimizing your advertising based on loss-leaders and specials, all while lining the pockets of others in the process. You are sinking money into customers that will never return because they are only loyal to getting the best deal, even if it means the dealership loses money. That’s a suicidal investment.

Do you really want to future-proof your business?

Take the 90% attention that’s dedicated to finding a new trick, technology, lead provider, talking head, or shortcut, and dedicate it to understanding and serving your loyal customers. You have customers right now that like your dealership just the way it is. In fact, some pay more to buy there. Identify those people. Cultivate those relationships. Invest in those customers. They’re not searching Google or a listing site. They’re in your database. They’re sitting in your service waiting room right now. They will pay you back.

So the next time you see ROI, realize your brain is playing tricks on you. It might be frequency illusion, or somebody using a finance term to justify why their product is incrementally better than a different one. It’s a trick, nonetheless. However, if you honestly want to make an investment, put your money into something that’s going to safely generate you wealth over time. Stop looking for ways to justify spending money outside your market and start spending it within. Identify your core customers and make them your nest egg. Worry about ROMI when the rest of your investments are paying off.