Based on my experience just outside the Chicago market-

Dealerships in general don't take the time to properly train an ISM/BDC rep on product knowledge or CRM usage, and have little or no internet process in place for an internet/bdc dept to take hold. Why? Because most management/owners have never taken a customer from lead to sale via internet themselves. That is not what made them successful.

For an ISM/BDC to be successful there must a clear, concise process (aka Road to the Sale in the showroom) starting with buy-in from management top to bottom so the dept can be streamlined to handle the constant bombardment of incoming leads and phone calls properly, per dealership protocol.

I still see the classified ads for ISM's as if they were hiring showroom sales reps, with the qualification of computer usage, advertising absurd, "possible" yearly incomes.

Dealerships know where consumers are finding their vehicles, understand the importance of a quality ISM/BDC dept, hear the stories of other dealerships selling 30, 40, 60 a month from the internet dept, but dont have a clue on how to get there.

As others wrote above... This a great day in the automotive market to be inventive! Great story Lao!

Lao,
Spot on and well said. Opportunity knocks on the door of those who are willing to listen.

Pete,
Alex is right. Technology does not replace the people and too often us technologists build something that doesn't mesh with how it's really done. It's our job to listen and be guided by the practitioners so that we not only service or customers to the best of our ability but we learn from the aggregate insight of the front-line.

Worst thing that can happen that way is we have happy customers and an ever-evolving service.

oooo.. well done Lao! 2 thumbs up!~!

Pete,

Maybe I'm optimistic, but I believe the industry isn't as ignorant to the new marketing endeavors as it used to be. There are still many cases to back what you're thinking, but they weaken daily. CRM systems do not replace people - they are another technology to help manage process. Unfortunately, most businesses let their CRM systems dictate the process, and I think this is where you are coming from. It is just a matter of understanding what your CRM is for and tasking the right person to make it happen.....not that so-so guy who will work for less.

Lao -

Absolutely! However, when one window shuts, I think 500 open today! It is such an amazing time to be in the positions we're in - this is the Wild West of Internet/technology.....enjoy every minute of it!

The number of U.S. dealerships dropped from about 45,000 in the late 40's to some 22,000 in 2000.The last 8 years have shown even more change and yet more vehicles are being sold…..

Back in the "Good ole Days" many car sales professionals had perks, salaries and demos. It was a happy feeling then, times were good and people were fat and happy and the living was easy. OEM's splurged and courted the dealers, gave bonuses and gifts, free trips and other "goodies" so everyone could feel good and sell, sell, sell. There were mostly US Brands with a few European Brands that catered to a small niche market.

Then the cursed foreign OEM's moved in and began upsetting the happiness and the car rental agencies decided to crash the party, then the Internet came into a reality that the dealers had to face, more cars being sold how come I am making less and suddenly many people wanted to know hey, "someone moved my cheese"

In free market economies change happens and the professionals that acknowledge and embrace the change are the likely survivors and succeed.

I remember meeting a professional in Japan a couple of years ago at the Tokyo Car Show. I have not seen him for 6-7 years. He had become a "Ronin" or a " Samurai with out a Master"

He was well connected, his "smart world phone/PDA", a laptop with wireless connection and he was active. I was a bit surprised as I always thought he was behind the times with regard to technology and he admitted he was until one day he saw the light.

Years of working in various west coast dealerships he had built up quite a list of clients in his little black data book which he always kept up and current. Many people laughed and joked he should have been a CPA or something. Management did not seem to care that he kept his data book as long as he sold cars.

Eventually this list was quite extensive and one day his high school daughter said Dad let me put this information in an Excel program for you and show you how to work with it. Well he did and the rest was history as he could see the benefits right away.

He left the dealership day-to-day business and became a successful broker. His clients trust and respect his advice. He stays connected with his clients. He sends newsy email updates on his travels and what he and the family are doing. He knows where and who to contact to get the best price for his clients, he knows the rebates and incentive programs that are available. He services his clients, they trust him.

I met this lady from Texas, Dallas area, who went from dealer to dealer and took their cars on consignment; she placed them on ebay and Craig's List. She was selling 6-10 cars a week, a one-person operation.

They say that a window closes and another opens. There have been many changes in the industry over the years and there will be many more to come.

I second the "uh duh" Jeff. AutoUSA doesn't need to have studies conducted (though I applaud the focus on empirical research) to convince dealers that lead quality is an important issue.

Accurate and complete consumer data must be the lead providers priority. It should be tied into what generated the lead. Authenticity in offering something of value in exchange for said consumer data still needs to be of focus and more widely practiced.

On the flip though, there are many providers out there that will do whatever is necessary to generate a lead for sale. There quality is definitely an issue, but they are quickly identified when you have the right software in place.

All too often dealers do not have the right software. So the question is who's watching the dealers back?

The only way to be sure you are not paying for duplicate leads is to audit and reconcile the monthly statement. When you see a duplicate lead you just do not pay it. The reputable lead providers do not expect you to pay for duplicate leads as long as you are able to verify.

I think most dealers will agree the most quality leads they receive and the leads with the highest conversion to sales success are from the OEM’s.

Now if we can get the OEM's to budget more of their advertising budgets to the web, add more creativity to their promotions and stream line their pricing strategy and finance specials we will all be happier.

The Internet is really where consumers learn more in-depth information so that focusing more of their efforts online will have the greater impact for sales.

Toyota and Lexus as well as a number of other OEM’s are learning this. Both have been shifting money away from cable /TV buys and production of commercials to the Internet as a way to narrowcast even further than is possible through traditional media channels. The nice thing as they are discovering ways to make the process interactive which will be a dynamic addition to the process once it is perfected.

Running a commercial on traditional media costs money every time it is run; on the web the more you run the commercial the more ROI you receive on the investment. 75 to 80 percent of luxury car shoppers use the Internet in the research phase of their shopping process and more and more have made their decision before they come in.

Brian - I got your VM yesterday - give me a call again. I accidentally deleted your number.

WOW! What a information packed couple of days! Just back from Synergy Sessions in New Orleans and I will be posting a recap of all the events in the next few days (excluding the V.I.P. party) because of the non disclosure agreement Great seeing everyone and putting some faces with names. Sean and Jeff were great hosts! I have also heard a rumor about some possible video footage from the V.I.P. event.....stay tuned!

thanks guys! Really looking forward to the trip! Hope to bring back some great ideas and "SYNERGY" that will help take our Dealership to the next level, maybe I will be promoted by Ralph P. from yellow Belt status as I strive to reach for that "Ninja level" in Digital marketing management

Congratulations Brian!

My primary interest is process, process, process. I need to be able to put the right framework in place to build sucessful Internet Departments in our dealerships.

My primary interest is process, process, process. I need to be able to put the right framework in place to build sucessful Internet Departments in our dealerships.

My primary interest is process, process, process. I need to be able to put the right framework in place to build sucessful Internet Departments in our dealerships.

I just want to thank everyone who has posted a comment about the upcoming event. I have also received a fair amount of phone calls from ISMs and BDC managers giving me some great ideas too. I am looking forward to Jeff Kershner picking the winner next week. Good luck to you all. We are going to have and amazing time in New Orleans!

I may have scanned through the responses here too quickly, so forgive me if my suggestion is repetitive. What about a session dealing with benchmarking? In other words, how does the new ISM (or even a seasoned one) know how he/she and his/her department stacks up? What are some relevant metrics (I know it's not conversion, based on today's post!!!) by which to gauge success/progress? This came up in a couple of recent dealership visits, and I had no idea how to answer the questions.

“The Ultimate Workshop”
What would it include? Let’s think about that for a minute, I think the Ultimate Workshop would have to include a process for total dealership wide buy in. I am not talking about convincing the powers that be that we need a budget based on the revenue we generate for the dealership. (We already know that) I am talking about a buy in process from the clean up department to the owner! A buy in process that we can use to make everyone realize that to make it in lean times we need growth and we can’t rely on the business that is generated via our primary market area, we have to take it to the World Wide Web! Just as the big corporations realized in the 80’s that business had become global we have to realize that boundaries such as distance from one dealer to another dealer no longer exist, potential customers can shop hundreds of dealers in minutes without ever leaving the confines of work or home. You say “Brian, we already know that” I would counter with “does everyone from the part time clerks to the owner know your website address?” if not potential business and search engine rankings could be missed. I would invite you to think of a time someone asked you if you had a certain car for sale when you were standing in line at the grocery store after they noticed your dealership logo on your shirt, working in the side of the business that we do, we state that they can visit our dealership 24/7 @ insert url here. What would happen if they asked that same question to the part time cashier? This is just one example of why you would like to have Dealership wide buy in. This buy in process would also include building value and telling a story that spews convenience, ease of use, time savings and of course service with a smile. Wal-Mart built an empire by cutting cost and providing convenience, I would think the same could be accomplished via a strong and focused e commerce strategy that involved the entire Dealership “Team”
This workshop would include information such as the projected 17% increase in online spending in the coming year compared to the red ink that most Brick and Mortar stores will be purchasing in bulk quantities (to keep costs down ) and the unbelievable ease of internet access compared to 5 years ago. Ladies and Gentlemen a revolution is upon us and every single one of us realizes it, now it is time to assemble the troops and make sure that everyone is marching to the beat of the WWW drum!
I envision this for the title “WWW 3.0 All Your Base Are Belong To Us”
Now this is where I ask for the sale: Please pick my idea so my Dealership will have to let me go because I won it and it would be disrespectful for me not to attend plus I would love to meet all you Dealer Refresh folks in person.
Respectfully Brian

Sean,

I'd like to see a workshop on email marketing and how dealers are effectively using email to market to their sales and service customers.

I have yet to find a tool, CRM or otherwise, that seamlessly integrates email marketing into the current customer database. At least, there are no tools in the automotive industry that I have found that can track open rates, unsubscribes, delivery rates, click throughs, AND fully manage your permission based marketing AND also integrate with CRM and DMS. I would love to hear what everyone else is doing with this. Right now, I have several different software programs - CRM to manage customers, email marketing tools to track open rates, subscribes and clickthroughs, and HTML editors to create the emails.

Strategies for increasing email open rates, sending valuable content that increases conversion and the "whitelisting" debate - i.e. vendors guaranteeing they are "whitelisted" with the ISPs.

I also am always interested in the SEO and SEM discussion and the debate between doing it yourself on adwords and hiring a consultant to buy the keywords and manage your account for you. And is it worth the cost to build landing pages and microsites than to just send Google CPC ads right to your own website or homepage.

Also, what about the future of marketing- designing our websites and emails on mobile platform for iphones and blackberries? Anyone currently doing this?

Trying to see if my schedule will allow me to attend. The topics offered seem to be exactly what is needed in our industry. Since there seems to be a wave of popularity for video and it's uses, would the sessions be taped and available via podcast or youtube?

As the "unofficial" Internet Sales Director of my store (one of several hats), I wish to extend thanks to Jeff for maintaining this site. The information gained has been very useful and I enjoy visiting.

Link Robertson

Sean -

Any of the books Jeff has on this site would be nice give-aways - or just a Barnes & Noble Gift card to pick out your fav.

Chad's list rocks too; I'm always interested in hearing/sharing best practices - I've hit just about every item on his list as well...always tweaking & looking for improvement.

Hearing just one new item that could spark an entire new wave of activity is worth it for me...

Location of these events is everything and New Orleans is a great. Other locations that I have seen good turn-out are: Las Vegas (everyone wants to go to Vegas and airfare is cheap), Dallas (central location for all and good night life), Miami (beach and parties, what more could you want).

Here are some other emerging topics in the auto industry:
- Trends with internet marketing in auto industry

- Emerging technologies in marketing and selling online

- Define online marketing

- What is a conversion?

- What is a landing page? What is targeted content?

- What is PPC? Should I do Google, Yahoo, MSN, or all?

- Do you have a press kit? What can a press kit do for me? Free publicity.

- Does your dealership or dealership group have a non-profit foundation?

- eBay Motors, more than just an auction site. What is eBay Motors Local Market? How can I get eBay Motors to work? Why do I need an eBay Store?

- How much is presentation worth? (pictures, descriptions, layouts, etc)

- Define web properties and what they mean to my dealership

- What is social media marketing?

- What does a blog have to do with my dealership?

- Why is a YouTube channel good for my dealership?

- What are social networks for car buyers (carfolks.com, DealerRater.com, AskPatty, MyDealerReport)?

- Why do online press releases?

- Co-branded press releases with vendors and/or partners

- Why do I need lots of dealership photos online (flickr, snapfish, ofoto)?

- Social Networking sites (Facebook, MySpace, female specific websites)

- Community Portals (frisco-online.com, 360 corridor)

-Standardizing email footers across the dealership

- Standardizing voicemail greetings across the dealership

- Old School vs. New School – Defining the lifecycle for a successful internet department

- Shaping the future of car shopping: completing a car transaction online

- Comparison pricing and comparison shopping

Thanks everyone for giving us your suggestions. We have already created an outline but are adding to it. Every time we get awesome ideas like from you all.

Here is a quick update...

I have just added a speaker named Danny Alkassmi. Danny has a company called RBI (www.rbipro.com). What is amazing for me about Danny Alkassmi is that he was the very first Internet training class I ever attended. He had a program called I-Net and was on tour for AutoByTel almost 9 years ago. Anyway, Danny and I have stayed in touch over the years and we recently got together and decided it would be a great opportunity to work together. Danny is going to bridge the Internet conversation with the Showroom. Not only is Danny an expert in Internet sales but he is also and expert for showroom, GSM, GM and Dealer Principal training. (Among other amazing accomplishments is a former Dealer Principal). Danny is going to be speaking on Showroom sales... After you get your Internet prospect into the showroom etc...

My goal is to have a really diverse program. We have some of the traditional experts from the major companies but I am proud to say there are some truly first ever presenters in an event like this such as:

* Franklin Covey
* Danny Alkassmi (RBI Pro)
* Royal Administration

** We will have a dealer panel with some of the top Online dealers in the US...As well as Jeff Kershner

I hope you all have had a wonderful holiday and thank you again for your suggestions, please keep them coming!

One last thing... If we were to give away prizes there, what would you all like?

Here is where we are at so far:

* Autographed copy of the 7 habits of highly effective people by Dr. Stephen Covey!
* Video Flip Cameras
* IPod Touches

What else would be fun or cool or useful?

I look forward to hearing your ideas-

I normally just read here, but a friend of mine emailed me a link today to a site that he thought i should share with everybody i know.

i'm not as worried about it as he is, but i can see how the internet is continuing to change the way we all sell cars.

the site is www.dealerdrop.com - i personally think the more people who see my dealerships name, the better off i am. he disagrees. i'm just concerned about inaccurate info

quick thought:
CRM vendors should make a screen recording video showing us how to quickly execute a task. Customer Stories

Quick Examples:
--Add a new rep
--Remove a rep
--Add a new manager
--Import a new reps client list
--Give an employee authority to "see" other employees info (i.e. assist FI mngr)
--Create then Track a campaign
and on and on and on...

A message board would work best, video at the top, a string of comments would follow. What a great feedback mechanism for CRM vendors!

Add to that a place where users can request a "task video" from the CRM Vendor. If the vendor does not support the group, then give the group the tools to do it themselves (and hopefully a leader will step in!)

If I was shopping for a CRM, I would use this community platform to do research.

If I am a CRM vendor that has many weaknesses (they all do) and I have no intention of spending $$$ to improve it, I HATE VISIBILITY & I HATE THIS IDEA.

dare to dream...
Joe

I wrote a whole piece on the 20group idea and lost it in a PCcrash. It's like Richards but has a focus. I don't have much time so I write this real quick.

CRM, the tool from Hell.
Everyone is frustrated with CRM and each CRM platform has its own issues. Speaking personally, I am a R&R user and I know that I am using only 60% of the tool. The rest of it lies around in dark places that I can't find after hours and hours of looking.

A Solution?
Well... We all know it ain't coming from the vendors!
Use DS to form CRM 20 groups. Groups are created by CRM vendor use and then into non-competing areas. The whole "healing" process lives or dies on a good and clear discussions guidelines so that the discussion has focus.

DS could inform each CRM vendor to put their best instructor/support person on a plane and have them waiting in the lobby incase the group needs help. Any intelligent CRM sales manager would also see the leverage to offer "aid and assistance" to frustrated users of competing platforms. Take that one step further, CRM vendors should pay the host to "set up shop" and pitch their wares.

As a followup, DS could provide a website for each team. Social items like names, photos, backgrounds would be the teams front page. The web platform would have a meeting calander, blog and link them into the CRM vendor group that they belong to. CRM vendors would profit from the "focus group" data stream. The web platform should support webx Meetings and the CRM vendors should gladly sponsor that expense (or their competitor will). CRM vendors best customer service reps should participate to keep the dialogue going.

Topics:
--Day to Day use
--Is your Daily Work Plan filled with junk?
--Understanding the admin side (aka contact schedules from hell)
--Create a campaign quickly (aka Data Farming)
--Reporting
--Pimp my CRM emails and letters.
etc...

DS profits because they stay center stage trying to create a solution to an industry wide problem via social networking. It's almost web 2.0.

Hope this helps,
Joe