Wow talk about a once in a lifetime opportunity. Have a blast! Let me know if you plan to join Green Piece.

Sounds like an awesome adventure! Have a safe trip!

Alex- Sounds fantastic and truly amazing- Have a great trip.

BTW, will you be trying to corner the SEO terms for Checkered Flag while you’re down there?

First goal: Be on cover of Digital Dealer
Second goal: Make the first internet auto sale ever on Antarctica

That about sums it up… lol - have a great trip Alex!

Big congrats to Larry!

I met with Larry at the conference... He was a key player for me when we contracted with BlackBook Online (which has been a very good move for us). Looks like Auto Dealer Traffic brought in a great addition to their team! Congrats Larry!

i din't get u.
DUI

The dealer is dialed in, or still using dial-up?

Online Video Advertising will grow but not to meet eMarketer estimates. We all know why--it's a recession and maybe even a depression. No one wants to talk about how that may cut into advertising dollars. Like every industry in the U.S. currently, there needs to be cost saving alternatives for video advertisers. Hot Pluto offers huge discounts while at the same time providing non-intrusive advertising. The Video Business Directory should be considered as a sensible solution for video advertisers--especially the small businesses across the U.S.--the backbone of America. They should have every opportunity to grow and be able to create a competetive advantage. Hot Pluto is working with www.americasbestcompanies.com to provide much needed discounted solutions.

Brett Hill- CEO
www.hotpluto.com

Jeff - seeing that you're pretty acclimated within the new media space with your blog and utilizing Twitter, what were your thoughts on the Social Media panel from the event?

I just watched the video online and was pretty appalled at Tom Peyton being the moderator for that panel. He was clearly ignorant to the space and basically mocked it, not to mention his own company's successful Myspace campaign. I figured there would be someone with more knowledge to moderate such a panel vs. putting it down throughout the entire session. I thought the panel was fantastic though and gave great insight on the space and what benefit you can get from it.

I can't help but think #4 or 5 are the way to go simply because to me, conversion rate means HOW is the website performing? Is it doing its job by converting interested people into leads? By measuring email submissions, you are necessarily eliminating the leads from the phone calls, unless of course you are including those in the count.

By measuring SALES vs web visitors, you are introducing a margin of error based on how good your appointment setting and/or closing skills are. Those are measured separately, so I have measured conversion separately as well.

Mike,

So what standard does your software use to determine a duplicate lead? Does it look at the time period since the last time that prospect submitted a lead? What if the prospect is looking for a sedan in January and buys one from another dealer, then in February he is looking for an SUV, is this a new lead? What if it is 90 days out or 120 days out. What if he does not purchase a car but inquires about a different make.......

etc....

You see my point. I am sure that you thought this thing through like I have, but the biggest problem is that it should be the same for everyone.

I would really like to talk to you about this tough, because I might be spinning my wheels for nothing if your software does it already.

Thanks,

Oscar

There is a tool that accomplishes what you are building already available.

Great topic and I think this definately needs to change. We should make a standard for tracking these things so we can make comparisons and improve.

We are even forgetting about service, parts and bodyshop leads. When you have 10,000 unique visitors ( I only look at the unique visitors) and I get 500 new and used car email leads out of it, 100 new and used phone calls and an additional 300 service requests and 100 parts request. What is my conversion ratio now?

If I want to truly rate my website conversion, I would have to add all up and divide by the unique visitors. This means I have a conversion of 10%, but if I only look at the email leads for sales, my ratio would be only 5%. Of course taking service and parts and employment, etc out of the equation makes your numbers swing bigger month by month.

So I do think you should measure total leads vs unique visitors and possibly break it down by type of leads. All of this makes no difference though, because as long as there is no standard I cannot make comparisons except with my own website.

Same applies for closing ratios. I have developed a spreadsheet that keeps track of closing ratio by consultant, lead source and vehicle model. It also tracks the Cost per Vehicle Sold per Lead Source, AVG Gross per source and consultant etc.

But again, I cannot compare my data with others, because there is no standard in reporting. What is a duplicate lead for example? Everybody has a different opinion.

I am working on an online tool to track internet performance and I should have it ready to go in about a month or 2. I do not know how many of you would be interested in such a thing...

This is the way I see it. Conversion stats are in internal measurement tool. Comparing my conversion rates with another dealer is... supersillious.

There are so many marketing variables that my pea brain has a hard time getting them all under foot.

For purposes of illustration, let's take 2 identical dealer sites (selling the same products) and Dealer1 is priced below the market and Dealer2 is above the market. Yup, Mr. Discounter wins the conversion battle because his shoppers are more likely to "reveal" themselves. Before you pounce on me, I am NOT talking volume of leads, but the conversion ratio.

Ok... Let’s compare 2 other dealers selling the same products at the same prices, but this time, Dealer#1 is Mr. High profile, big dollar media mogul while Dealer #2 is unknown. Dealer#1 wins conversions hands down. (If you can't understand why #1 beats #2, then you need to take off your Mr. Dealer hat and put on your Mr. Shopper hat and go shopping for a while [and don’t come back until you get it!])

We can go on and on and on with all the variables but why bother? It’s easy to see (for those of us who are not imagination challenged).

What are they good for??
I say conversion stats give you great info when compared to itself (i.e. looking back over time). For an intellectual exercise, you were to compare to another dealer, I say only the most basic of measurements could be used to loosely compare one dealer to another.

There. I said it. I now return you to your thread.
Joe

This is an interesting topic. Many of our clients look at form submissions. However, it is very important to look at phone calls as well and even more important to separate sales calls from "other" calls such as service calls.

We like to divide all 'contacts' via phone or email into the unique visitors to the site. This unfortunately does not take into account how many people walk in to the dealership which is a good conversion and one of the most desirable.

Some providers of websites and search marketing services consider some items as "conversions" that I would personally not consider a conversion. For example, a visit to a credit app is not a conversion. Filling out an app IS a conversion however. Taking credit for a web event such as visiting a page is misleading to a dealer.

Showing how many people clicked the print button on your pages is also exciting on paper, but does it mean that they filled out a form, made a phone call, or walked in? Not in my book.

We recommend a separate sales and service number on every page of a dealers website for this reason alone. Track it all and may the best sources win.

-Michael

Hi,

I'm not sure about the US, but here in the UK the dealers tend to demand more than just leads to visits ratio. What dealers are really after is how many SALES and revenue (aftersales etc.) has come from the website. We need to track more than just email enquiries, but also telephone calls (with trackable numbers) and footfall. Once all of these sources have been tracked they need to be linked or synched with the DMS to determine if the lead resulted in a sale or not. Then and only then can you determine the effectiveness of your website.

Email leads alone can vary in quality so 10 good leads are better than 100 poor leads. The end result is what matters.

There are other factors, such as brand awareness etc. that needs to be taken into account. One user may not buy today, but could buy in the future or even tell a friend who then buys. This type of source is hard to capture, but not impossible.

If you require more info in this area, then let me know: www.stevetaylor.me.uk

thanks

Steve
Automotive Technology Consultant

I measure it by number of forms submitted by number of visits. This seems to measure the effectiveness of the site. Then taking it one step further I measure number of sales by number of leads, to figure out closing ratio. Couple other measurements too.

Brock -
Great Comment! Asking those necessary questions during the time you are presenting your product will absolutely help the transition be so much easier when they walk in to the Finance Managers office.

Finance Managers also need to make a living and to sell their product just as the Internet Manager / Sales Staff needs to make their money by selling their product.

I have seen customers throw their hands up and walk right out of the finance managers office. They were not prepared, no questions were asked, they were hit between the eyes. Reason? The necessary steps were not taken by the sales rep.

Why throw your customers in the office with a guy / girl that they don't even know? It is scary for them. Reassure them and during the presentation of your product, introduce your customers to the finance manager if he is walking across the show room along with the intro to the GM, GSM. SM and much more. Even the other Sales Staff!

I have done that many of times and you will be surprised of the results!

Just my 2 sense!

I would have to agree and disagree with Tom and Kevin on the issue of forty % finance related purchase issues. According to the article, it seems that the buyers could afford the vehicle. This leads me to believe that there may be a "disconnect" when the customer is approached by the Finance Manager becauase they can probably finance or lease as well. Personally, I have noticed that when the Finnce Manager approaches the customer after numbers have been agreed upon the customer seems to "clam up" because they see that person as the one who takes their money. I have started to ask leading finance/lease questions during the demo. to allow the Finance Manager a smoother transition from the close of the deal to the intro. of finance/lease options. Upon agreeing to figures with the customer I am sure to inform. the Finance Manager of any information that may help him/her with making some type of connection and build a rapport. You, as a Salesperson has spent up to an hour building rapport and sharing stories. Having been on BOTH sides of sales and finance, I took a few minutes to talk with the Salesperson in private to gather info. thus giving an impression to the customer of someone there to help them make an educated decision with the next step in the purchase/lease process. If 40% reject a vehicle but have the means to buy then one could only assume that they also have the means (credit score, money, DESIRE) to purchase or lease. Keep in mind that Finance Managers have a VERY difficult job. They go in after the close - the point at which the customer has, in their mind, already made the purchase. When they (the customer) is "hit" with dizzing rates, residuals, money factors, etc., the situation coould quickly become adversarial. My suggestion: 1) HELP your Finance Manager by asking the proper questions (target payment?, ever considered a lease? how many miles do you drive per yr.? have you had any siginificant warranty repair costs with your current vehicle?) These questions build validity for the Finance Manager when he/she asks them later because they have had time to think on them. 2) PREPARE the Finance Manager by pointing out who the "decision maker" is and what common bonds they may be able to establish in a short amount of time. 3) ALLOW the Finance Manager adequate time to make a full presentation on all of the products he/she has to offer. If a customer says "I'm in a hurry", the let them know that so they can make a more concise decision on what to present and when. Depending on your pay plan, your Finance Manager can be a huge asset to every deal. If you think about it, we can do so much better than just "weather the storm". If we have clear communication and determenation to help each other we will be the storm! Remember, if you have proper control and can slow down the customer then everyone can at least have an opportunity to make money. All we need is an OPPORTUNITY!!!

I agree with Tom. In addition to that, with credit tightening up in this market, and with so many of our buyers with special finance needs, I am preparing my team to "weather the upcoming storm" with this slowing market... Many of our buyers who want to buy cars are not going to be able to get the loans to get them, or certainly not as easy as before...