I spent quite a bit of time last fall learning about Social Media as a real marketing implement and I was waiting for this to "happen". Love your take. In my mind, we're so far past the SEO/SEM question now that if a dealership hasn't gotten it dialed, it might not really matter. Just my opinion of course.

Rob, this is a great post and brings up a growing concern over content distribution. SEO has become a frenzy of distribution without control. Dealers have been convinced if you "vomit" all over the web it will be great for SEO. The downside is exactly what you're talking about.

Keep your eye on the ball - your website.

Well it seems like this issue may best be addressed by the search engines. Years back when people learned of the white on white trick they enjoyed results for a time by stealing competitive urls and embedding them in their own pages.

Once this was discovered, the search engines hammered these people.

Scraping twitter content and such may or may not justify the effort to do so, but from my chair it appears the only means to this end. Any other ideas out there?

Wasn't the Google Realtime search website put up to test and tweak what realtime search results could and should look like? Though it wasn't clearly stated, Google themselves stated that they finally gave realtime search it's own home. Does that mean that they didn't like it built into their main search rankings? I wonder if they will ever make it known to the average internet searcher that this even exists. I still think that for now, and hopefully for a while, Google's realtime search will stay in it's own home until it's more useful. For now 99% of people just go to Google.com and search.

Hopefully the people trying these schemes don't produce any profitable results and they quit!

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@Rob Ernst See thats insanity and it creates a very hostile environment. Why do you need 25 ford dealers

@Shawn I wouldn't do it I consider the 55 I do now to be a bit too much. So if you came to me and offered me a job at 60-70 hrs a week I'd decline.

@Erika Jones honestly having 2 days off a week sounds appealing and if I was in the area could be a convincing factor to make me come on over. After being in this business for 6 years its no longer about chasing the all mighty dollar (don't get me wrong I enjoy those $20,000 pay checks and still go after them) however I also want a life.

Believe or not, they ARE in Michigan! I've called for dealer trades and they're only open late one night per week (if any)! Some aren't open on Saturdays either. Indiana has a law against a new car dealer selling a car on Sundays. SOME places "get" it. Here in Greater Cincinnati, we have about 25 just FORD dealers....

Mike,

Thanks for the compliments, I really appreciate that.

The fact that you came back and replied to every single comment here certainly speaks highly of your interest to find a real answer to this problem.

Ironically, I believe the answer is much simpler than we expect.

Make everything predictable from the sales experience to the service experience and that will take away any hesitation one may have in doing business with a dealer.

At that point it is simply facilitating the sale and ensuring that needs are met and followed up much like how you did here in this post.

The more we complicate the process with unclear processes and inaccurate estimations the less confidence one has and trust has been comprimised.

However, having a relationship with a customer prior to them coming to the dealer means that trust has been established and I would imagine the deal closes much faster.

Thanks for all your replies. Sorry I haven't commented on them, but I've been busy training a bunch of new hires.

Matt

I'm from the Detroit area, and at one time all our domestic dealership used to be closed on Saturday and Sunday. It really was nice to have every weekend off. But then the imports came in and opened on Saturday, so slowly but surely the domestics followed. I'm sure in order to go back to those days, all the dealerships would have to go into collusion, which you know won't happen. Thanks for the reply.

Arnold

Stress certainly is a problem, especially with manufacturers cutting dealership profits and the economy being what it is. But those that make it are the ones who "run their business like a business" and plan for how they want their business to be 5 and 10 years from when they start.

Ed

You're right about the way we incentivize, compensate, and motivate folks not working. Many Managers I've seen truly do not know how to motivate their staff. They rely on the "self-motivation" concept. But I think we've all learned that in order to have motivation work, and individual has to want make the necessary changes to reach another level of sales. But as Managers, all we can do is keep trying and hope that some of it takes. Thanks for the info on the video.

Wendi

For those of you who don't know Wendi, she is the consummate "Hiring" expert. She has written a book on hiring that has received wide acclaim both inside and outside of our industry. And you're right about hiring the right management to develop their people. Often salespeople are just thrown on the floor to sink or swim. Keep preaching the word Wendi!

Angela

You keep trying to figure things out. It will take a huge effort from everyone in this industry, but first, they'll need to realize there is a real problem here. Keep thinking about it.

Alex

These tools you speak of are definitely helpful. But I'll go into dealership that have these tools and ask questions like, "do you keep statistics? And they'll respond yes, we keep statistics on just about everything. Then I'll ask, "what are you doing with them? And they'll respond, "nothing!" Many dealerships don't take to change very easily. But those that realize that the internet and tools is their next step sales and profitability, the better off they'll be.

Scott

I really like your comment. It was professional and well thought out. I tell salespeople all the time that selling skills alone will not take a salesperson from one level to the next. It's all of the things around selling skills that they have to do. Tony Robbins said, "successful people do all the things unsuccessful people don't want to do." Isn't that true! Keep writing Scott, you do it well.

Debra

I think salespeople need two days off in a row also. We work in such a "high rejection" business that the mind and body need to recoup. I'm glad you have a plan that works for you and your dealership.

Joe

I haven't had a chance to watch that video yet, but when I do, I'll give you a special comment.

Shawn

I feel for you Shawn. No one should have to work that many hours and not have a life outside the dealership. I hope you don't burn out. BTW, I only used the 50-60 example because that's what that Manager said. I know there's tons of salespeople and managers who work a lot more than that. Take care of yourself.

Erika

Congratulations on finding a system that works. We had a dealership here in the Detroit market that got rid of all by 5 of their top salespeople, got rid of all but one of their Sales Managers, and got rid of the Finance Manager, invested in computer technology, got everyone Blackberry's so they could answer phone-ups on the lot, gave them all the tools to do their jobs easier and better, and increased sales and profits with over half his staff gone. I like the way you take care of your people. It was a great comment and I hope you keep writing.

Thanks again to all who commented.

We used to struggle with this but now have a plan that works. As of last month, we are closed Sunday and Monday. Ok, my competitors are open but you know what I have attracted the best talent in the valley so my salespeople will outsell them any day. My people come back refreshed and happy because they got some time with thier family that they work so hard for. By the way, this idea came from a salesperson which most other dealerships I know would never ask the employees what they wanted, why not? Not all of the ideas are bad. Has it affected sales? Nope, up 37% on the year and keep climbing. We do a potluck lunch every Saturday and we really enjoy each other as a team. The pay plan is a flat on every car because most of our deals are sub-prime and they take A LOT of work. We give them time off when they need it and don't make them feel bad about it. No one has taken advantage of this either. Our salespeople are happy and we have people from other lots wanting to come on board just to have the freedom to have a life. If you want to say you are going to hire sales professionals then treat them as such and listen to what they say. You don't have to do what they say, but some ideas might just suprise you!

Mike,

The only part about your post I disagree with are the hours..

50-60?

Most people at my dealership work 60-70, and the managers are doing bell/bell (8AM-10PM) 6 days, I had 97 hours last week.

It's a horrible situation to be in, and I am trying to hire the right people so the work load can be distributed.. But for now its: Wake up, go to work, come home, go to sleep -

This is literally my life. My one day off I spend catching up on rest.

This video fits this "work too much" theme

http://www.bobparsons.me/index.php?ci=14967&i...

I think the best solution is a rotation schedule. One week on 40 with two days off in a row and the following week 50-60 with one day off. People need two days off in a row. Another solution is to maximize hours the dealership is open cutting back on hours on days that are slow and expanding on days that tend to be busier. I know at our dealership Tuesday & Thursday evenings we could close earlier without much impact to business at all. This out of the box a little also by having your salespeople actually work their client base more efficiently I know we lose business as Sales does not follow their clients well enough.

Great article.

I believe the solution is to *not* hire any sales professionals at your car dealership.

The whole sales department needs to evolve into the building relationships department so your dealership knows who's coming and when to buy a car.

There is a great book called The Referral Engine that should be required reading for dealerships wanting to understand the most effective way to sell cars. It basically says that when you refer others and build your network people regard you as a valuable resource.

Also, every salesperson should communicate online - have an individual fan page, specialize in a particular model or class of vehicles, or even target a demographic and learn how to communicate with these groups.

Want to sell electric vehicles - post information about them online, pictures, pdfs, brochures, etc. Answer questions, pose questions on forums, etc.

Want to sell high performance vehicles - take some videos at the track with the car, hold real wrench sessions at the dealer, bring in known racers or local engine builders and hold an exclusive event.

Give The Sales Professional A Purpose

Create a senior sales professional level and only give this position to one person per dealership. This position would be considered to have "Congressional Medal of Honor" type status. This person is someone who has researched every name in the dealership CRM and determined which customers have blogs, on Twitter, and could potentially influence their audience.

This senior sales professional should only be required to keep 10 relationships with influencers because these influencers have audiences, they could be radio show hosts, or big local bloggers, etc. The main role of this position would be to network, and introduce, refer, interview or be interviewed, etc.

When anyone comes in to the dealership from their network its by appointment, and because they were invited there is a specific agenda which includes meeting the heads of each department, before even looking at the cars. Then when its time to look at the cars they're all presented in a row, each model from base to loaded and they can walk from one to the next.

Now, what happens when other people browsing the dealership? They are curious, and want to know why this person is getting the red carpet treatment. And the response, "these are people active in social media - bloggers - influencers so to speak" and they want to give them a remarkable experience.

They get to join us in our suite at a baseball or hockey game, they can come to all our premier events and annual parties.

Word will quickly get out and soon this dealership will become the dealer of choice for local bloggers and influencers.

When this person who's been exposed to this leaves the dealership, they'll have something very visual to take with them. Perhaps they have a blog and decide not only will they buy a car but they'll want to refer others.

Mike - fantastic article!

It is definitely one of those "tell me something I don't know" things, but it is also nice to see it in writing. And you did a great job on writing it.

We are going to have to change. Either we will have to adapt the one-price approach and accept a regular merchant's employment model (Best Buy, Sears, etc) or start putting more emphasis into our current model.

The Internet is fueling accountability through online reviews, social media chatter, and simple individual empowerment. Our vendors are supplying tools, like CRM, that help us to understand where we are falling short. I believe that these things are going to significantly change the current model for better or worse.

Thanks again Mike!

Mike,

I love it. I struggle with the same questions everyday. I am in a dealership and have struggled with this for years. I am so happy to see that you are addressing it. It will take a complete overhaul of the automotive business to make this happen. Great start!

Mike Mike Mike! Dead on-

Problem is that until we stop looking for the pixie dust in pay plans, benefit packages, hours and perks and look and are prepared to get honest with ourselves we will keep doing what we have been doing- (the insanity saying applies here)

The solution is to make sure that we hire, place and hold accountable MANAGEMENT in a dealership- and not just accountability on the $$$$ but accountability from management to make sure that they are truly managing and developing their people.

When was the last time you were in a store where they had such a process in place? 1 out of 10 has been my experience.

People primarily do not leave jobs because of pay, hours and benefits- people leave jobs because of PEOPLE- THEIR SUPERVISORS AND MANAGERS...we attract what we attract less than desirable applicants because we have defined ourselves as an industry that will hire just about anyone- therefore just about anyone applies. They are then treated like the "anyone" they believe themselves to be and the "anyone" we will hire. Vicious nasty cycle. Treatment of people ( and the poor way in which we have done it) is what has made our stores in most cases a dreaded experience for buyers and unfortunately a less than desirable place to work for professional qualified employees.

Body Rule For Hiring:

If you hire "anybody" and treat them like a "nobody" it affects "everybody"!

Until we take a look at this and make the necessary changes from the top on down we will be struggling with this

Nice to see you here Mike!

I watch/listen to at least one TED talk(TED.com)a day. There’s an article in this month’s Fast Company about TED that you can check out online http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/148/how-ted-b.... Their website is subtitled, “Riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world”. The goal is an 18 minute presentation. Some go a little longer and some are shorter. They tend to take up my lunch break.

There was a great talk on the science of motivation from career analyst Dan Pink. I’m re-listening to it in the background as I type.

The point is, the way we incentivize, compensate, and motivate folks in the car business has been proven NOT to work. Scientifically proven not to work.

The examples Mr. Pink gives don’t correlate all that well with the car business. If you watch the video you’ll find that where there is a clear cut process, rewards work fairly well. Anytime you’re asking for thought, for things like developing new processes, our traditional reward system doesn’t work nearly as well.

I don’t pretend to know the answer and I’m not sure if the answer can be found in Mr. Pink’s video. I do know that it gives tremendous food for thought.

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/dan_pink_on_mot...