managing the feeds would be one of the questions I have for the third party vendors. If I release the inventory and update the feed later with more pics and better description will it speed the process up?
For example what is the turn around time of ATC placing a fresh listing compared to updating a existing listing, IS it faster or the same? I have been watching listings and it seems the updates are quicker once the inventory is placed. I could be imagining this....can anyone back me up on this?

As a car buyer, a listing without photos won't get a view from me. I don't know if it has to do with not getting my hopes up, or that I think maybe the car doesn't exist on the lot anymore, but I definitely tend to view ads with REAL photos of the car over listings without photos.

I don't think stock photos necessarily hurt in selling a car, but they don't help me out. I'd rather have a place holder image called "New Arrival" or something similar, and bookmark the page.

From a vendor perspective, managing feeds is the worst implementation of data transfer I have ever encountered. There is NO standardization and so we have to deal with everything from CSV to horribly thought out XML. It hinders the frequency of updates and it lengthens the amount of time to initial roll out.
/rant

Chip-

Our inventory also gets pulled by Homenet out of our DMS. There are MANY times when I get a call on a car that I am not even aware of that is found through a third-party. Thus the value is presented as the prospect is browsing and browsing and my vehicle caught their eye for one reason or another. The pitch rolls forward as while on the call and that is the time to close on the appointment. If photos are still needed, I shoot it after a quick clean up and send the photos directly to the prospect. I call the prospect immediately and do a presentation while they are browsing the photos. When the appointment is set, I get it bumped into service. When the photos are uploaded, so are the comments. This has seemed to be successful with our program.

Our inventory gets pulled by Homenet out of our DMS and then distributed to the various third party sites we use. I like to get the cars out asap even if I don't have pictures yet. We try to get our cars through the shop and on the lot with pictures within 10 days of receiving them because we employ a 60-70 day turn policy. My feeling is that if the car is not listed, it won't get exposure. Since the days a car has to get sold are numbered, we want them out there as quick as possible even if it is without actually pictures initially. At least a customer can see the color, mileage, trim level etc. and maybe call us or email for more info.

My dilemma would be this:
1) Send the inventory as quickly as possible and place a icon such as ”Coming soon”
Benefits of this strategy:

Inventory circulates third party listing sites and makes consumers aware you have this inventory and also confirms that your dealership updates information vs stock images that might project an image of not caring about the www audience. I also know from personal experience that I have sold leads that originated from incomplete listings and I am sure that other folks that visit this board would “tru dat”

2) Wait until service and cleanup has finished their process and take pictures in the best possible condition using the (UCI) Used Car Inspection to validate the personal story of the car.

Benefits of this strategy:

The story of the vehicle can be more precise all while building value using information available from the used car inspection. The pictures will be shot in the best possible conditions and you will maintain a strong, reputable online presence.

My suggestion for “Best Practice” would be to use a combination of 1 and 2 if I could convince others in the dealership chain of command that we would not damage our online reputation and that we could possibly be missing sales by not releasing our inventory as quickly as possible, in a perfect world it would be nice to have inventory ready for pictures and custom comments the day we trade for it. Does anybody know where I can buy real estate in this mythical “Perfect World”?

We automate as much as possible.

- Vehicles booked in DMS using proper status codes (service, in-stock, transit, etc)
- In-stock vehices are feed to CDM
- Only front-line ready vehicles are shot; uploaded same day
- Once loaded to the site, CDM pushes feed to 3rd party channels
- B/C of the # of cars fed out daily, vehicle descriptions are left in tact. No add'l editing is done in the listings as that cuts the feed. (ie: autotrader.com)
- Once sold/booked out of DMS, vehicle pulled from CDM; 3rd party listings follow...

All listings have full descriptions, prices, #'s, etc...

If an online shopper has made it to one of your vehicles, why not make it even easier for them by providing all of the info they set out to find in the first place? Make the first impression as strong as possible...

@Robin
Like the tire pictures! I would ask how you do that but Joe Pistol might yell at me
How much time do you all spend on prepping the pics?

We post every vehicle ASAP when it hits the inventory. We do not use the DMS feed to populate, choosing to manually input the vehicles into our eBizAutos system which then feeds everything else. We find that getting the inventory online quickly and without pictures actually generates a good flow of emails and phone calls. We then monitor the vehicles as they go through the make ready.recon process and photo them right after the detail so the car is as clean as it will ever be.

We recently started using HomeNet to poll from our DMS. I have it set up so that it does not export the vehicles until I upload the photos and have added any after-market or Dealer Installed options (all photos get done the same day the car goes on our lot). I found this to be the best way because it sometimes takes third party vendors more than 24 hours to update an existing vehicle. Also, this way our sales reps are aware of the vehicle and have all the information at thier fingertips.

would also like to hear from some atc and cars reps on this as well!

Jeff...fantastic job man...keep it up.

A common mistake that most bloggers do is that they tend to become too preachy and too technical. Let the blog be the forum to allow ideas and concepts flourish from the readers and to let the true picture emerge.

My number one reason, at least for professional blogs I read, is to learn new ideas and concepts. It is great when bloggers seem to find stuff you never thought of or who have thought provoking ideas and ways of thinking.

The reason I visit DR is because I know I'll sometimes learn something new, learning has to be there.

Jeff does not alienate the readers. He does not make them feel like he is the great guru and the readers are his disciples. He involves his readers as much as possible in the blog discussion. He invites their opinions and suggestions, and keeps an option for them to voice their problems as well. This makes the blog more interesting. I like bloggers who try to encourage community by allowing comments and who also take the time to respond sometimes in a hotly debating manner. There are times when special interest groups or people dominate the forum however Jeff seems to monitor this well.

Some blogs exist to entertain, others to educate, others to advocate, with out the top down information flow and the paid advertisers who mask promoting their products and services in magazines and news media. We sometimes see where there are “special interests” motives behind some of the comments however the truth usually comes out in the debate and it is plain to see for most.

Thank you Jeff for creating a blog involving such an industry as ours that really needs to have forums like this to bring the change needed to allow it to improve and be succesful.

Great work Jeff!
Joe I have been hearing about that new site, can't wait to check it out!

Happy Birthday DR! Jeff has got to be a proud parent - thanks for keeping up the hard work.

I am a new member and I must say that over that last few months I have acquired more usable knowledge from this one site, than I did in a year on all the other sites out there COMBINED!
Jeff you are the man.
Awesome job.

Alex Jefferson/Direct Marketing Manager/eCommerce Director/Proctor Automotive Group

Congrats to JK and ALSO to our growing community!

Welcome aboard newbies! And remember, there are no dumb questions... er... unless, it comes from Brian T in Etown! We all know he's wacked! hahahaha.

Congrats again JK!
Joe

Dealer Refresh is in the top 3 sites I review every morning! Always great info, and I still use this site as a resource (by going through the archives) when I am completing my due diligence on new vendors and new ideas. Many thanks to Jeff, Alex, and ALL who participate here, as this site is great because of everyone that contributes. Cheers! Kevin Frye/eCommerce Director/Jeff Wyler Automotive Family

Jeff -

Congratulations on your efforts; you've created a much-needed haven for those in the business who are looking to "get it."

Don't change a thing...except maybe more pics of the woman at the trade show booths.

Great work.

Eric

DR has come along way in 3 years. I can't remember when I first found the site but it has to be at least 2 years ago when I was looking for a book by Edward Colemen. Been a regular ever since. Great content. Great dialogue. Great site! Congrats Jeff!

Jeff,

Awesome site! I found your site a few days ago and am really impressed at the amount of useful information that you have compiled. I just wish I had found it sooner!

Keep up the awesome work!
Tommy Justice

Good job Jeff. I remember those early days when you would post to the sounds of crickets - only getting 1 or 2 comments. You deserve to feel a sense of pride.

Jeff, congrats on 3 years!

Do not lower the new car inventory price on the site. Special pricing is for internet customers only. If a customer does not submit a lead, they are not an internet customer. To avoid the problems of having a high gross customer go home and see the car for less money simply do not advertise it on the site. There are many other tools that you can use to get the customer in the door. Start by generating a lead and giving them what they want before trying to get what you need. This is the only real solution.

Acura does not allow us to list prices below MSRP on any advertising platform, which includes our website and get this, email blasts. In addition, we cannot even offer $500 accessory credit, since this will decrease the MSRP by set $500 according to Acura. No freebies or add-ons unless you add the additional cost of the freebies to the MSRP of the vehicle.

So we have a coupon on our website (pop-up and under) that says:
"Internet Savings Certificate". It is a big converter on our website as it converts more customers then any other form. Last month for example half of our leads (new and used cars - not looking at service/parts etc) came from this coupon. We also sell a lot of cars of it.

The great thing about this pop-up is that it is essentially an iframe and not a true pop-up, so having your pop-up blocker turned on will not stop it from showing. Check out my website for ideas.

Now back to Special Internet Pricing. I think you should never give someone what they want without giving you what you want - you want their contact info! When you have that, you have to give the customer what they want. They want a price, give them a price, because if you do not, they will not be happy. Acura rates our Internet response based on the information we put in our first two emails:
- do we cross sell
- do give a price
- do we mention special offers
- do we brand our dealer
- do we sell the product (awards etc)
- response time

I would tell your GM that you gotta give the customer what they want when they inquire. Now I do not worry about a showroom customer shopping the same day to see whether he can get it cheaper on the internet, because if you have a good crm, your price quote does not go out automatically if it is a customer that has already been in. In addition, if you do not give them what they want, your competitor down the street will give them that Special Internet Price.....and guess what? You just lost a sale!