"My flip-flop vendor award goes to Dealer.com. It's almost as if they themselves don't remember that they started building websites with heavy flash (I am glad they've turned this corner though). I'm also amused by Total Control Dominator. If a dealer really wants total control of their SEM efforts they simply need to spend some time learning Google AdWords then Yahoo and MSN. That's total control!..."

Responding to the above post:

Shaun,

Thanks for the award!

I am not sure that Dealer.com has never been heavy in flash website design although we did make several flash splash page designs for dealers that demanded them about 4-6 years ago but in general our designs have always been very search engine strong from the beginning. Our flashier designs represented about 5% of the sites we launched during that time frame. When our company was growing and in need of more business we were willing to do the flash designs every so often since they paid well. The truth is that we simply turn these opportunities down now since we have solid metrics and know that don't convert traffic nearly as well as the solutions we have launched over the past 4 years.

With regards to our TotalControl Search Engine Dominator, there is no way the average dealer could create local automotive search engine ad campaigns in 10 seconds like they can with TotalControl and have 8-10,000 keywords launched for any dept at the dealership. Additionally, the tools inside of TotalControl are above and beyond ad words in that they are all automotive specific and give the dealer unmatched control over creating vehicle specific ads for makes and models in stock in a matter of seconds that are fully tracked down to the call recording (at no charge!) What's even better is that there is optional landing pages that can be deployed for dealers that are not using the fully integrated Dealer.com website solution.

I urge you to contact me so I can give you a full walkthrough of this revolutionary new way to advertise all the dealership profit centers,

you will be truly amazed.

Best regards,

Mark Bonfigli
President, CEO
Dealer.com, Inc

[email protected]

I don't really have an opinion about posting CSI surveys on manufacturers websites... If they did, I don't know how much credibility they would have with the customers anyway???? JD Power doesn 't rate dealers, only manufacturers. I just think that these DealerRater type sites are going to gain in popularity especially given the way that DealerRaters process works for both customers and dealers. They give dealers an opportunity to respond to customer complaints before they are posted in an effort to rectify the situation. It isn't simply a post board for customer puke which these things can turn into.

The one thing that is for sure is that customers are over surveyed to the point of it bordering on harassment.

@ Brian T -

my SEM plan is on auto-pilot right now. That's why I'm surprised to see software solutions out in the market to 'optimize' SEM. I login into Google about every other month. I think buying software to do it is overkill.

It took me about 10 hours to complete my plan. I first brainstormed every possible way someone will enter phrases relating to our business. I came up with a list of 700 phrases and then wrote a specific ad FOR EACH PHRASE. I do exact-match. The title of the ad is the keyword. The ad description is the same for all. Yes - it's alot of work in the beginning - but I haven't had to touch it for years. I'm using the long-tail approach. Out of the 700 phrases, only about 200 of them are used by searchers in a given month. Some keywords are only used once a quarter, but ad those up and you get very cheap clicks. (costing .10) You then use your website metrics to figure your ROI. I've maxed out Google. I was paying $0.58 two years ago, now its $0.71 a click.

I don't bid to be in the top position. My average position is 2.9. A click is a click to me. It's a commodity.

I'm now focused on building my organic clicks with a hybrid 'flash +blog' approach.

Jeff,

Thanks for this post. I was not able to attend NADA this year and this is a very valuable resource to tap. I am building a "E-Commerce" Department from scratch and having to look at vendors with a fresh set of eyes. After being in this arena for so long I got settled with my old "stand by's" that I was comfortable using over the years.
Going through this process has forced me to reassess those "stand by's" and look at a new set of "solutions" in order to sell cars. I think many of us, especially myself, get hypnotized by the "functionality" of some solution and don't always focus on the the end result of putting metal on the road.

After being in both worlds now, I think you and Alex nailed it when you said dealer's are lost. However, I fault vendor's as well, in terms of their lack of follow up and support of the products they sell. My old boss is very cynical about vendors getting their contracts signed and you never see them again. I tended to disagree with him at the time, but as I go into a new environment with existing contracts, I see the how the vendors got their contracts and deserted the dealer. I have heard it said that it takes a "Champion" in a dealership to ensure a certain software is utilized sufficiently and to it's greatest potential. That is very true to a point. It is incumbent upon the vendor to do their due diligence and to go above and beyond to service their client.

I compare it to a dealer selling a new car and throwing the keys at customer and saying, "Good luck", and walking away. We know as car guys we are going to do an excellent demo and follow through with an excellent delivery. Moreover, we will follow up with that customer until they are ready to trade in or trade up.

There are a lot of great car vendors in our industry, however, even they at times have to be pushed to make it happen. Their is a a lot of lip service out there. They talk the talk, but don't walk the walk after the ink is dry.

Jeff,

As a point of clarification... was it the ADP party or Reynolds and Reynolds party you attended Monday night? I'm sure both were yawning festivals (especially Reynolds).

Andrew - what would you think of manufacturers posting CSI surveys on their websites?

I agree with Jeff Bonnell. I think that consumer driven websites like Dealerrater.com will eventually be JD Power killers. If you look at the money that manufacturers and dealers spend on follow up geared towards CSI it is crazy. Everything is geared towards dealers covering their rear ends and the manufacturers saying "gotcha - you aren't getting the job done for us." It is crazy. It should be more of a collaborative effort but it isn't. Customers are getting pounded with surveys and it is creating a lot of ill will. We have great CSI and we are constantly following up on people but the fruits of our labor are really not published anywhere for people to see. We just know based on the number of repeat and referral customers we have. We know the value of great service and the impact it has on our business. The problem the manufacturers have is that not all dealer's care about CSI. Every manufacturer is chasing that JD Power score even though the survey sample that JD Power takes is so small that I don't think it is entirely representative of what is going on at the retail level. We work our tail off to achieve the highest recognition from our manufacturer but most customers don't even know what it means nor do they care. We chase the numbers needed to win these awards because we know if we hit it the rest will fall into place (profitability, retention, etc.). I think the recent article in autonews about the Dealerrater.com type sites is highly indicative of where our industry is going. Look at how many people comment about products and services on sites like amazon.com and cnet.com. I know i don't buy a computer or electronic without reading the customer reviews on cnet.com. The prevalence of this type of content is going to have a huge impact going forward. Whether it will be on our own websites or third parties remains to be seen.

The chief economist for the National Automobile Dealers Association expects a bit of a rebound in the second half of the year. Unfortunately he is basing this projection on what he has learned from the past and the issues we face today are very different.

Oil going to $100.00, 125.00 a barrel…or more, the housing market facing issues that are much different than before, the demographics of the boomers looking to unload, the increasing issues with the local, state and federal employees retiring and looking for their money, the military retirees whose number will be a huge one in the next 8 years. The meltdown in the US sub-prime real-estate market has led to a global loss of 7.7 trillion dollars in stock-market value since October. Hard to refinance now to buy that new $55,000.00 Escalade. It will be an interesting next few years for the industry in the US; maybe this is why there was a poor dealer turn out.

The issues America has been watching develop and watching the leaders sweeping them under the carpet are now becoming a issue to deal with. This is just part of the cause an effects… then look at India and China producing vehicles at half the cost as the US Market. It will take great skills for the smart/wise dealers to use to survive this coming challenge.

If anyone wants a real treat for an auto / dealer show check out the ones in China and in Japan. Both will revitalize those who attend. The use of technology is now beginning to unfold in China and I think we will see even more evidence of this in the next show. I think one of the benefits here is most dealers and industry folks do not have a lot of baggage from the past and are open to new concepts as the whole industry is a new concept to many.

Jeff's observations on ADP's event is classic and an indication of where this dinosaur is heading, thank God when that is over. It always amazes me that when I speak to some who have converted to another DMS system the usually say "boy what a difference". It is also a great observation on BZ Results. It is amazing that the faster the rising star the faster the burnout. With their pricing strategy, the fact their technology was old when ADP purchased them. (Reminds me of the timing of Steve Case's sale of AOL to Time Warner, some say perfect.) With the difficult economic times we are facing in America, the decreased business we (many) in the Auto Industry will face the next few years where can BZ go with their 5-6 K a month solution?

Hello to everyone, and especially to Jeff. Lot's of insights in these posts and it's nice to see dedicated professionals pursuing so many answers. I'm afraid I had to miss this year's show - busy replacing (and filling in for) a key employee whom I had to show the door, oh and busy building 3 (three!) pinewood derby cars this year.

I had several confidants who made the trip and had asked them to keep their eyes peeled. but they too returned with "nothing too new" reports.

I don't know much about Dealerflow, but they seem to be tickling at an area that could be poised for huge revision - the comprehensive DMS completely reborn with modern messaging and employee focused operation - merge that with Arkona and take on the world.

BZ dropped the rolling billboards - Good. Maybe that's a telltale we could all find uplifting. That organization has done the largest financial disservice I have ever... ah stop me here.

I would like to float a little prediction. the next big thing - perhaps... for dealerships...a system for developing UGC that allows a dealership's website to demonstrate with credibility - "how we get our customers to tell our potential customers that the experience was a good one when they did business with us."

Like joe says, "My market is the 98% that went somewhere else.
"

The next big thing will solve the puzzle of getting customers to talk to potential customers over the Internet platform. Imagine dealerator.com not as a bitch zone, but as a cheerleading section.

- Jeff

@Jeff:
Any luck on the V-Auto interview?

@ Wayne:
How long does it take to track and tweek your pay to click to hit the .58 Mark? Could the time be better utilized perfecting the Autotrader process? Just some thoughts, I have been intrigued by pay per click, just curious of the R.O.I. money wise and time wise?

Show was slower this time around than in previous years... both in terms of dealer attendance and vendor mega-marketing campaigns. It was the first time in years that I didn't almost get hit by one of thost massive BZResults Billboards-on-Wheels.

More Hispanic talent? I've been in the business a while and agree. Does anyone have a suggestion for a Hispanic Marketing speaker on Automotive? I'm looking for someone for a San Diego May 6 Hispanic Marketing seminar as the keynote/speaker. Please let me know. [email protected]

Was there a DealerRefresh.com Meetup 2008? How did that go?

I read all the posts and wanted to comment on a few:

Alex - my wish is that we as an industry get together to establish communication standards for websites to talk to CRMs. The benefit of doing so would be to leverage real-time web activity. i.e. major buying signals all over the place. Easier said then done, but I'm using the Law of Attraction here. You have to put it out there.

Joe - I think your best website providers will be small shops of 1 - 3 people who approach the task like a fine art and fine science.

Shaun - You are correct, SEM is easy to learn, and doing so does give the ISM complete control. One issue I have with SEM providers is that they pad their numbers too much. A year ago, I sat in a presentation where they offered x amount a clicks for $1.50 a piece. The rep did not like it when threw down on the table a spreadsheet showing that I'm getting them for $0.58 cents a click.

The next big thing will be Mobile Marketing IMO. GPS and the phone is merging right now. Garmin just came out with a phone. Position-based marketing will be amazing. Until then, it'll just be new features on what we already have.

Why are dealers singing a different tune about eBay Local Market this year? I haven't read anything unfavorable about until this.

Interesting little teaser there, Mr. Edward Brown!!! You certainly piqued my interest...at least enough to do a quick search for some more information.

Since you are reluctant to spill the beans here on DealerRefresh, I will take it upon myself:

The Dealerflow solution is targeted at the nation’s 21,000 new car and light truck dealerships. Addressing some of the industry’s most problematic areas, Dealerflow says it will help dealers reduce turnover, increase worker and team productivity and better manage multiple dealership locations. Dealerflow says these improvements will translate into enhanced customer satisfaction, higher profitability and a more loyal workforce. “Dealerflow will fundamentally change the way dealer companies are managed,” said Brown. “We see it becoming the lifeblood of getting things done at well-run dealerships.”

Dealerflow’s product is being designed to model both single store dealerships or multi-dealership groups. The software will include multiple forms of communication, including instant messaging, mobile text messaging and email. In addition, the software will include its own content management system. “Each department will have their own blog,” he says. “The way that we’re doing syndication of posts is such that you can go to any point in the organization and indicate which groups the post is for.” It will also include applications for human resources administration.

Well, maybe that doesn't exactly spill the beans!!! Apparently Mr. Brown is a little skittish when it comes to describing his concept.

You can read more by clicking my name or this link :

Nice review Jeff and I'm still sorry we didn't get to meet up in San Fran. I have to agree with you that the convention layout in San Francisco is less than ideal.

Alex is correct in stating that many vendors are as lost as the dealers they're trying to do business with. After sacrificing nearly 8 years of my life to Reynolds and Reynolds I of course had to go by their booth to see if anyone I know still works there. I did see many old friends but, everyone seemed lethargic, uninspired or generally deflated. I don't know how their web division is going to survive. They're losing clients in big numbers at a rapid pace and there's nothing new to their product. I attended Ralph Paglia's ADM reception and he told me that ADP is eating Reynolds lunch on the DMS side as well.

My flip-flop vendor award goes to Dealer.com. It's almost as if they themselves don't remember that they started building websites with heavy flash (I am glad they've turned this corner though). I'm also amused by Total Control Dominator. If a dealer really wants total control of their SEM efforts they simply need to spend some time learning Google AdWords then Yahoo and MSN. That's total control!

NADA 2008 left me wondering what the next big thing is going to be. Right now it's more of the same or variations of what already exists.

All the best,

Shaun

Andrew Wright - I feel your frustration. I was at NADA for the single purpose of exploring the various offerings. You've influenced my next posting on Dealer Refresh: The 2008 CRM Wish List - where we can all list what we want.

I am also from a multi-store, single-BDC dealer group on the East Coast. My needs may vary from yours a little, but I'd be more than happy to talk to you off of Dealer Refresh. My email address is axsnyder [at] checkeredflag [dot] [com].

If anyone else wants to help me with the wishlist, please shoot me an email.

Jeff -

Great 30-second rewind...wish I could have made it.

Thumbs up to the Hispanic awareness, vAuto & seeking out quality web development professionals.

(Post more pics!)

@Joe: no, you my friend are not an idiot. Agree completely that you should be able to expect more from the website vendors. Been in your shoes before doing IT at a dealership and finally couldn't take it anymore... started my own software company. But not to solve the website problem...

Jeff, nice post. I love SF too, but agree it's not the best venue for NADA. Having to hoof it all the way to Bill Graham Civic Auditorium for the keynotes is a bit much. Although Jay Leno made it worth the hike!

Also agree that once again there was not much new. It was my sixth straight NADA. CRM, inventory control, ancient DMSs on terminal-emulating PCs. Hmm.

Next year at New Orleans, however, there will be something new... something that could be the next big thing. It will help dealers manage what some believe is their most important asset... their people. Can't say more than that for a few months yet, but keep an eye out for DealerFlow.

Keep up the good work, Jeff. Love your blog.

Jeff:

I love the site. Good recap of NADA. I didn't go and I never have been. Frankly, NADA seems to have to turned into a big technology expo which can all be discovered and explored on the net. San Fran may be a nice city but it is a long way to go for us East Coasters. Whenever I go to manufacturer meetings it is always nice when they have them in Chicago (good central location and a great town).

vAuto is pretty awesome. We have been using it for about six months and have seen an incremental improvement.

The one thing I have yet to find that you have eluded to in other posts that may have justified a trip to this years show is a good CRM (including ILM) system. There just doesn't seem to be an easy to use all in one package that can operate efficiently. By that I mean integrate with my DMS without creating a bunch of duplicate names, redundant, concurrent processes, etc. I also need enterprise level functionality. I have four franchises in three locations with three store numbers in R&R, yet I have a centralized BDC that handles all electronic communications. I am working with R&R to consolidate my name file. However there just doesn't seem to be anything remotely close to "seemless" integration. Even R&R's ERA doesn't seemlessly integrate with Contact Management. The Daily Work Plan scheduling process is really complicated. Bells and whistles are nice. Plain looking systems are fine too. I just want a system that my less than tech savy associates can use effectively and easily. In addition, we want to implement an automated plan for continuous communication that is based on logical, easy to put together client collections. In a nutshell, I want a system that can "seemlessly' execute our processes. There always seems to be obstacles in the way. We need a system that we can easily tailor to do exactly what we want. If anyone saw anything good with regard to CRM's, please let me know.

Great info Joe! I would love to speak with you if you had a few moments of your time. Not trying to sell you anything but to show you a few things.

Let me know!

We've out grown our in-house site and we went to san fran looking for a custom web site.

I've got 30,000 uniques a month that are my "captive audience". Of that number, 1-2% buy from us. My market is the 98% that went somewhere else.

I'll summarize my findings.

Don't ask for a CMS (Content Management System) to keep your site fresh. "Fresh? What do you mean fresh?" Would you run the same ad in the newspaper ad every week and just swap out the cars? Is this PRESIDENTS DAY? Do we sell a sh*t load of iron today? I’ve got 1,000 uniques a day. Do we want to create a sense that today is a special day to buy that car (on your d*mn day off?) Does our site look different? No! Hello CSS web design people! Is anyone awake out there?

Don't ask for email harvesting ideas if they haven't already thought of it. You can get all the custom features you need as long as it sits in one of their templates. Oh, and if any of your custom features make sense (and they don't offer it) we must realize that we can't have it because they know better because they run all these tests and we all are so... LOST!

I was amazed at how "rigid" these web providers are. Every single dealer wants to "accessorize" their site; a few (intellectual leaders) want a custom site. The current solution is to fit the dealers into their platform, rather than engineer a platform that lets the dealer walk his way up the upgrade ladder. Someone shoot me, am I an idiot?

Dealer.com has this Vermont aura around it and I was convinced that they had it all figured out. I expected a flexible platform that would accommodate dealers of all intellects. To my amazement, Dealer.com was the most rigid (or should I say "least flexible") of my 1st tier picks. The rep saw my custom check list and broomed us! It was a nice broom! hahaha...

In all sincerity, before I entered the San Fran arena, BZ is the company that I cared for the least, one week later; they're still working hard to engineer in all of our ideas. Kudos’ to the BZ team for at least trying.

There are others that I won't name.. Nope, I have to mention eBizautos.com. This is a lesson in how to kill business.

eBiz is rippin up the SERPs and I would have enjoyed the chance to talk to the team roaming the floor (they had no booth). I don't need a booth, just a cup of joe, a laptop and 60 minutes with an intelligent soul is all that's needed. I called eBiz's office and spoke to a not so friendly phone rep (name withheld) and she couldn't understand why I needed to speak to someone in person. After 30+ minutes of giving lip service to my ideas, I could tell I was loosing her and I re-asked to get in touch with one of the reps at San Fran. and have them call me. No call. Too bad. Next.

I haven't included all of my experiences, just the ones that p***ed me off. Gotta love the net!

Joe

Ryan

Who in the world is lightnup in the first place?

Jeff

That is what I heard, the Nada in San Fran was not a good location compared to the others in the past! I heard there were more Vendors than dealers out there. The turn out was not very HOT!

I like what you mentioned "I overheard several discussions where dealers are searching for quality SEO vendors. Does this mean dealers are catching on to the snake oil SEO vendors in the past and are now fed up with it?" It is true the dealers out there are starting to learn the logics of SEO! I am not bashing any competition out there as being a vendor myself, but at TK Carsites we educate the Dealers on what SEO is all about and we stand for what we do.

The hispanic marketeers! This is huge! But remember to check into them fully first. There are so many different dialects of spanish throughout the United States that you got to make sure they are targeting that certain area for their dialect may be different. LA spanish to Miami Spanish community and so on can have a difference in the spanish dialects. If switching your site to be a spanish site and not knowing, the spanish community in your area would not understand it. Just a little heads up.

But again, thanks for the great info on the NADA~ Sounds like you had a lot of Fun!

Good God I'm sick of Lightnup.