To represent "We can get anything or only show what you have?"

Effective sales practice is to effectively manage consumer expectations. "Come on in, we have it" is a lie if you don't. "We can get anything" is a lie if you can not.

But the world is not so black and white. How about these:

1) Configure what you want.
2) Tell us where you have flexibility
3) We can get just about anything, so we can order what you want from the factory, dealer trade what you want in and here are the closest ones from our inventory to what you specified
4) Oh and here is one with more equipment, one with less equipment and the closest used vehicle we have to it for you to compare your options

Isn't that what you would do in the showroom?

Why would you do less for an Internet consumer? I'll give you a hint: because your dealership's use of the Internet is nothing more than an advertising medium.

Until you adopt a true eCommerce capability where consumers can actually do meaningful shopping on your sites, just stick to whatever your effective Internet advertising practices are.

I make no secret that my company has just such an eCommerce system for a dealer to provide to their consumers. It is also a hybrid approach - confirmed email to get in... so dealer gets more + better leads even if don't buy within system... but that is not the point of this post.

If you are a dealership and the point of your Internet strategy is to get consumers to call or email so they'll come in and buy, then set a true, effective expectation and support it with the "calls to action" on your website.

He (or she) who has the best experience wins with the Internet consumer (which is all of them these days).

Want a 100% web-based DMS that will not disappoint in terms of functionality or cost, go to www.neosynergy.net

Contact Allan Green [email protected] to inquire

Allan built the NeoSynergy DMS as well as the Auto-Mate (now Dimension Data) DMS that has > 90% market share in South Africa.

Cross-franchise consolidation, yes. True web-based architecture, yes. Rich GUI, yes. Lower cost than R&R and ADP and UCS, most definitely. Document scanning and image archiving, native. Vastly improved internal controls vs. legacy systems, most definitely.

An aggressive startup with few equals, yes.

I was one of the founders many, many moons ago. I do still have a minor stock holding (full disclosure) but no ongoing relationship.

Just a thought if you'd like to explore an option you may not have been aware that you had.

Oh... and it is built on world-class technology from Progress Software out of Boston (look them up on the NASDAQ).

We absolutely display our inventory. Perhaps the Toyota buyer is not as savvy as the MB buyer, but my website shows thousands of vehicles as available or in stock. Most customers web up on a vehicle whether it is in stock or not. Perhaps ebcause the average MB buyer wants a "new" new car, and not something with dealer trade miles on it is where the difference is.

But you can think of it this way: For every customer you lose because you don't have THE car, you'll gain another for the one you DO have.

And as we all know, better gross, Customer Satisfaction and Vehicle Delivery Quality on in stock units, right?

"What about the dealers who constantly have to battle with an archaic DMS company that creates "hostile" information environments with more up to date vendors?"

"There are a number of options that are developing in the DMS market and some of them offer the same capability as the “Old Dinosaur ADP”

Arkona is one that is converting 15 to 20 stores a month. Microsoft is in Beta testing in Europe on a DMS Program that I have been told is excellent and very cost effective, 40-60 % cheaper than REYREY and ADP."

Sorry about the rudimentary HTML-like quotes, but I could not figure out a better way to do this without HTML capabilities. Anyway....

Lao,

You're right, there are other solutions. You omitted the second part of what I originally said: "The immediate response is: don't use those archaic DMS companies. The retort to that is: show me something better that can handle accounting, service, F&I, and all the other back-end things the larger DMS companies do."

I don't know much about Arkona, other than what a two of my friends have said about it, and that is not fully positive. They say it integrates worse with the newer technologies (CRM tools, Inventory management tools, etc) because Arkona views those companies as competition....A.K.A. the "hostile" environment.

Unfortunately, Microsoft is still years and years away from having anything worth even speaking of.

Jeff,
Any thoughts on my "Cyber-Share Inventory" idea?

>>>Find MB dealer(s) -out of your area- that have the same inventory frustrations as you do. If you already reciprocate locate requests, why not agree to copy their inventory on your site and make your "variety" look larger and they'll copy yours on theirs!*

"What about the dealers who constantly have to battle with an archaic DMS company that creates "hostile" information environments with more up to date vendors?"

There are a number of options that are developing in the DMS market and some of them offer the same capability as the “Old Dinosaur ADP”

Arkona is one that is converting 15 to 20 stores a month. Microsoft is in Beta testing in Europe on a DMS Program that I have been told is excellent and very cost effective, 40-60 % cheaper than REYREY and ADP.

These new DMS programs will make it much easier for dealers to evolve into the new millennium without the baggage the old systems bring with them as well as the high cost of setting up and maintaining them.

One of the bright spots is this will allow us to attract new personnel into the business. This will allow for the “old school” dealer managers and personnel to relinquish control and allow new bright / marketing / sales/ and management people to create new processes for management and owners.

How many times have I seen a bright young person come into the business, look at the DMS System and say wow this is still being used?

I think the DMS process will be changing for the better over the next few years and we will have many more opportunities as dealers.

www.breseechevrolet.com/

Great web site and sales tool. The other great tool is the comparison chart with the clients vehicle of choice and the competition. This is a great tool if your lucky to have strong brands.

The service issue is a given, most dealers with strong reputable service process and program will have strong sales of new and pre-owned vehicles. It is all about giving the customer what they are looking for and they having trust in the dealers core values.

Most dealers forget this in the self gratification chase for the sale.

Where do we go from here?

Try Video.
Login to view embedded media View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dN_SkiUwQF8

Login to view embedded media View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSdCIO0I3hQ


Video a killer walk around, then you'll Easily get "boring to read" info across like:

"if you like what you see and would like one a little different, give me a call, with all of my excellent contacts, I'll have it here for you in under 48 hours!"

Easily get "human personality" into the presentation (where text cannot do easily.
Helps cross the "great divide".
Excellent shopper feedback (so far).

It's still a work in progress, hope this helps,
Joe

Where to go from here?

One word..SERVICE Whether your product is a high end import or one of the domestics..the customer wants service. How many times do you have to make money on an Internet new car deal to realize that you did not sell them a vehicle based on price but rather earned their business with VIP service and product knowledge. The average automobile consumer is smarter and more diverse than we(general term) give them credit for. In reference to inventory, the days of 'pretending' to have what the customer wants will fade. So far the majority of the comments I have read sound very 'old school' in reference to having a database of imaginary inventory. Give credit where credit is due. The average Internet consumer will have the ability to determine where vehicles are. It's the dealership that provides the service and convenience that will win the deal. How many appointments have to show up at your dealership without so much as a vehicle ready for them to test drive(and no it doesn't have to be the exact one) or a salesperson who knows how to sell value vs price. The dealerships that provide that VIP service will 'win' in the end. Set up your dealerships to provide unparalleled service and watch the flock follow. My own experience has shown me that the dealer who goes the extra step to make the customer feel that they are in control is the dealer that will beat the 'BIG' dealer that sells purely based on inventory or price. Sell the appointment. The whole goal of Internet Marketing as with all other forms of media is to do one thing..get the customer to visit your dealership. I think that the customers you 'miss' because you did not have a particular vehicle in stock have far less impact on your sales than the ones that you try to convince you have a car in stock that you do not have. Bring them in on the promise that they are important, you will have "A" vehicle available for them to drive and they will have a New/Pre-Owned specialist available to them for their appointment. I can't tell you how many floor ups ask their salesman..Whats the deal with the Internet VIP banner above fresh clean vehicles outside our dealership? I wonder how many of them will change their buying habits on the next vehicle they purchase?

OUTOFTHEBOXIDEA

The CORE of the problem is we're talking about lost shoppers due to a lack of inventory (variety).
Yes or No? --->Yes!

====Out of the Box IDEA====
Cyber-Share Inventory.
Find MB dealer(s) -out of your area- that have the same inventory frustrations as you do. If you already reciprocate locate requests, why not copy their inventory on your site and make your "variety" look larger and they'll copy yours on theirs!*

Viola! 2x the inventory!

Problem: Now you have to craft the "language" on the page to educate the shopper that its not in stock, but is avalible for sale! You already craft language for ARBS (All Ready Been Sold) cars, in this case It's 100% avail. for sale!

Problem: Your web inventory system needs a method to manually add and remove units.

What 'cha think?
Joe

*for those who may ask... you don't copy units you already have, just the ones that would round out your presentation!

And... Of course, don't put their name in your presentations, YOU want to sell the unit!

As far as Mitch's comments, I've had several customers lately do exactly what he said. They admitted that I was the only Ford dealer who responded AND gave them a price. Yet they went to the other dealer who was closer to them because it was more convenient. Yes, I'm 11 miles from the west side of Cincinnati but come on, 11 miles????

They also searched all over and couldn't find what they wanted or couldn't work the "tool" provided by Ford to find what they wanted. When I told them I'd be happy to locate it, they didn't respond. After about 10 emails and 5 or 6 phone calls, they say, "Oh, I bought one this weekend at dealer X", or "Will you please stop emailling me? Ten emails are too many, you're too pushy". OF course, the fact that those were sent over 3 or 4 weeks didn't phase them as they didn't bother to check their email OR their spam folder.

>

Yes, I realize I can turn of Shelby GT Leads (which I did with ALL of my providers).

My complaint on that particular car was more about Ford not marketing their cars well but also not building the "RIGHT" cars when they have them either.

This is my take on it: you should post SOMETHING. If you don't post some iteration of your inventory, you're off to a very poor start with your buyer. Almost every single dealer's site stats show the New Inventory page as the #1 searched page... if not #2 or #3 behind Pre-Owned or Specials, which is usually an anomale due to a dealer's advertising focus. Point is, when the average user comes to your website, new inventory is what they're looking for.

Let's try out an analogy. You're in a mall, looking for suits. So you have your choice of several stores, though they're all at opposite sides of the mall. You walk into a store, and they have every size but yours on the rack. Would you bolt out of there? No, you'd ask if they have your size or are getting it in sometime soon. Now if they say they don't have it but will get it in soon, then maybe you leave, and maybe you don't. Depends on how soon you need the suit, and whether you need to try it on, and whether the store employee made enough of an impression that you'd want to give him the business, etc.

But if you walked into that store and they had no suits whatsoever on the racks, I think the most you would muster up is something along the lines of "where the hell are the suits??" before walking down to the other store.

But, in defense of the other side of the argument, I'll refer to the comment from Ryan Gerardi, who I imagine is a "civilian" as far as this matter is concerned...

"but I do know that if I find a vehicle at an MB dealership within a 100 or so miles from where I live, my local MB dealer will have it transferred to his own store for the delivery"

If a consumer understands that this is the case, then there's no need to show inventory online, is there? In fact, the consumer creates more work for himself by rummaging around the net to find the car he wants, only to go to his local dealer for it. Ryan, if you walked into my store and told me that you searched every dealer within a 100 miles to find such-and-such car, and now you want me to get it for you, I would ask you why you spent so much time doing the legwork yourself when you could've just sent in a lead to me and asked me to locate that car for you.

But that's just an argument against Ryan's particular comment. The fact is that most consumers aren't looking in a 100 mile radius, and most consumers aren't as loyal to their local store as Ryan seems to be. Indeed, one of the primary goals of a dealer's Internet presence is to draw from markets other than their own immediate market area, right? So I don't want to hear about Ryan's loyalty to his local store if I'm the second closest dealer to him... I want to hear that he came to my website instead, because it's atop the search engines, and that he sent me a lead that says "do you have any AMG CL's in stock? If not, can you find me a black/charcoal one?".

Rob,

You can turn off certain vehicles with your lead providers. I don't buy GT3, GT, or Turbo leads for my Porsche store. When the Prius was super hot I didn't buy those leads for my Toyota store.

Just call your lead providers and ask them how to work this out.

Oh one other thing. The Shelby Cobra leads are even BETTER when you're PAYING $22 each for them...

I have 2 words...

Shelby Cobra.

I must have received 100 leads on them. Most were goofs screwing around who couldn't even afford a V6 Mustang. A few were collectors but they said, "Oh, I'll NEVER pay MSRP". When I told them that most dealers are charging EACH OTHER $10,000 to $15,000 OVER MSRP if they'd even give the car up they said, "That's Crazy".

Ford wonder's why they have problems making a profit. When they DO make a car everybody wants they decide to only build a few of them. Why should they do this?

To get back on track,I have all of my inventory online and its polled from Reynolds and Reynolds so give or take a few days after its sold, its gone.

I hate the phone calls that go like this:
Customer: Do you still have this Diesel Excursion in stock?
Me: No I'm sorry we sold that a last night. Are you only looking for an Excursion?
Customer: Yes, I'm only looking for an Excursion
Me: The "Dancing now begins" to try and flip them to something that I DO have.

That's why I try to keep mine as up to date as possible.

My new car inventory is also up to date but our website is very slow, and sorely lacking in convenience so I get few leads from it anyway.

IMHO the BEST leads are from Ford where the customer HAS found a vehicle in your inventory, the next best are from a Ford configurator where the customer tells you what they want fairly specifically.

But honestly, its all in reaching the customer to start the dialogue so any lead beats no lead. IMHO (yet again) having your inventory relatively correct is the way to start the dialogue off on the right foot.

If all your new vehicles are online, there's a chance your customer might not see the vehicle they are looking for. If none of your new vehicles are online, it's 100% assured your customer won't see the vehicle they are looking for.

But "locking" your already delivered inventory so that it still shows as available when, in fact, it is not? Why does our industry continue to do these things that perpetuate our already well-deserved crappy reputation?

Don't even get me started on the dubious practice of showing a low price, then putting "with $4,000 cash or trade" in the tiny print. Why not just list the price as zero and put "with M.S.R.P. in cash or trade?"

What about the dealers who constantly have to battle with an archaic DMS company that creates "hostile" information environments with more up to date vendors? I think most dealers find themselves in these situations, and may opt to have a virtual inventory over all the mistakes these "hostile environments" create.

The immediate response is: don't use those archaic DMS companies. The retort to that is: show me something better that can handle accounting, service, F&I, and all the other back-end things the larger DMS companies do. Do you manually input every single used car into an up-to-date inventory control piece? What if you have over 2000 vehicles in stock? Do you pay an outside vendor $30 a car to get this done?

I'm getting way off on a tangent. We show our actual inventory, and I have no plans to change that. Of course, we're one of the big dogs in our market so we have more inventory than most of our competitors. However, I have certainly struggled virtual inventory debate for a long time. I think the answer depends on too many factors to make it Black or White.

I understand there are two different philosophies on displaying inventory. Some dealers feel it is crucial to display actual inventory, showing the customer every thing they have on the lot.

Others prefer not to show the actual inventory as they feel there is a tendency to lose customers that are looking for a specific vehicle that is not in their inventory.

Most people do not fully understand the metrics of Internet / ecommerce business. Folks, it is a numbers game. The demographics of the consumer buyer is what it is all about.

The dealer who is here to do business is not there to play games they are here to sell cars and if you do not show the client what you have they will not buy.

The dealer that is driven to have the client come in to show them something they do not want will invest the time to find out the client really did want the White Honda Accord with a moon roof and left. The main issue is the old school dealers/managers who are only concerned with “Git them in the store” and then we will roll around in the parking lot and brow beat them into a purchase.

We had one manager who advocated what Jeff states, inflate your inventory and “git them in” We had one lady last week that called and asked if we had a particular Tahoe in stock and the desk manager told her yes and to come down right away. She did and it was not in stock, she is also an attorney and married to an attorney. This has turned into a fun deal.

The fact remains that most consumers will go to the OEM website first and then is directed to the local sites; this group is as high as 90%. They will see what the dealer has in inventory when the go to the OEM site anyway.

Some tough love for my bretheren...

#1). For every dealer that does not post its inventory, it moves hundreds of shoppers to one that does. The windfall goes to the dealer that embraces the risk!

#2). Lost sales cut 2 ways.
Grab a map, draw a circle that is 4 hours wide around your store(s). You've Identified your Internet Marketplace. So, lets leverage this opportunity. let's take your inventory off line & Burn the map! Not logical.

#3). The Car shopping experience takes weeks & months to complete. The internet is the ONLY medium that the consumer uses throughought the entire cycle. Why would you abandon this?

#4). Net' Shoppers reward transparency.
Transparency breeds trust.
Trust builds relationships.
Relationships are the cornerstone of all businesses.

#5). Your words speak of rewarding an "impatient" customer. What you're really speaking about is the consumers lack of loyalty. Customers not loyal? Short sighted, judgemental, What?? Can't be! Tell me it aint so!

#6). Are you better than your competitors?
Find a way to communicate it!

Keep the faith!
Joe
p.s. atta boy's to Jeff K. for his Digital Dealer Cover Story!

Dealership size should not matter.

Every consumer is different but I prefer to have the ability to do my own searching and then contact my local dealer to deliver the car I want to buy. Some consumers prefer not to do their own searching and so their local dealer would have to handle that for them. And some consumers prefer not to associate with the dealer at all which in that case if you don't have new vehicles online then you are cutting yourself out of that consumer market.

Given these 3 scenarios, it is in the dealer's best interest to have the vehicles online. I think what is important is for the OEM to design a sales model that is in the best interest of the customer, which is to have new vehicles displayed online, but also in a way that works for the dealer. OEMs and dealers not putting all their inventory online are looking after their own interests, not the customers.

I don't know how all franchises work, but I do know that if I find a vehicle at an MB dealership within a 100 or so miles from where I live, my local MB dealer will have it transferred to his own store for the delivery. Point being, if the dealers work together to provide what the customers want then the fact that the desired vehicle is not on the lot closest to me is irrelevant. No matter how small the dealership is.

The buyer looks for a certain new car at the local dealership lot, does not see it, goes home and looks online, and finds it elsewhere - instant gratification! The internet has made inventory access incredibly open to today's consumer, and while each dealer might want to be the primary source of new car inventory in their region, impatient shoppers are going online to see who actually has the car they want in stock. It is just part of the reality of today's more educated (and impatient) consumer. While the politics of dealerships might not like this, I believe the dealerships that understand and adjust to best meet today's consumers' needs will lead into the future.

Kevin Frye/eCommerce Director
Wyler Automotive Family

I had never personally seen the merit in posting new car inventory--I always thought along the lines of Jeff's "any dealer can get any vehicle" comment.

In retrospect, I think Jeff brings up a great point about instant gratification. I do not, however, agree with the choice to "lock" sold inventory to prevent it from being deleted. In fact, our system also allows inventory locks, but the feature was primarily designed because often the ISM has no control over bad data in their DMS which might cause a vehicle to errantly be deleted each day.

As much as my bias should perhaps be, I am still not sure I agree with advising dealers to post new car inventory (although many of our dealers do just that).

I think my largest concern with this is that if you try to satiate the consumers desire for instant gratification, you may not be able to truly convince them "we can get anything you need". It almost seems to me that this should be an either / or approach and simply taking the stance that you can get anything anytime may work better.

I also think that by and large the manufacturer sites do a great job of helping the customer determine what they desire which simply means its important to build a relationship / atmosphere conducive to the customer feeling comfortable with your dealership.

I fear that if you are showing inventory and DONT have exactly what they want it may be more of a risk than if you simply opt to build a relationship saying you can get any vehicle. But I do waiver even as i type this. Hmm. I guess that makes this a very good topic of debate! I look forward to reading others' opinions.
--

Andrew Salamone

Last year when I had the good fortune of buying a Mercedes (Shouts out to Peter B), I felt completely pigeon-holed into an old school marketing scheme that stems from what you bring up here.

I won't get in to it here in a comment, but the whole experience was very revealing to the new vehicle marketing strategy of Mercedes-Benz. As a customer I felt, as you put it, ungratified. Especially when the sales rep stated that if I had the ability to search for what I wanted then he would be out of a job.

This would not be the case. Posting new vehicle inventory on the Web is important and it does not need to threaten the sales reps' job security. The search tool that MB dealers have (is it NetStar or something?) is extremely powerful and I think if the data contained in there was made available to consumers then it could change the face of buying new cars in a very positive way. Customers would be empowered and the sales process would just need to be modified in a way where the reps are still important because when it comes down to it, human beings are still important in the buying/selling process.

I'm a big Live365 fan. If you use FireFox, the station you select will play as a playlist (can you say winamp?) instead of using their browser window player.

About trackbacks...I noticed that you fixed the links, but I still couldn't ping a post of yours. Are you receiving trackbacks since you fixed the URLs?