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bpulseadmin · Nov 28, 2009

DealerRefresh Welcomes a new sponsor – ClickMotive

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Please Note: Our sponsors are important to us, and we hope to advertise products and services that we feel would be relevant to the community, however sponsors are not "endorsements" of dealerrefresh. As with any purchase, always do your research and comparisons. Find out if Advertising on DealerRefresh.com works for your company.

Nov 29, 2009

@Chip

We receive data from every DMS and inventory company and we send data to hundreds of online classifieds.... You could argue that the standard should be STAR and almost no one uses it. But since everyone already has it all setup and it works, no one wants to change it either.

STAR – Standards for Technology in Automotive Retail

www.starstandard.org

Chip Grueter · Nov 29, 2009

What I like about the web service is that it would have a request and a response, email of course lacks the response which I think is a big deficit. Maybe neither is a perfect solution, but the number of leads by email that don't make it into a CRM from our system is unknown at this point as we have no way to track it once it's emailed off to the provider. If we don't know, that means the dealer doesn't know, and the lead is never known to exist.

I will say I'm very happy that most providers accept the ADF spec. More standardization now means a much better future in terms of technology growth. Now if we could just standardize inventory feeds!

Nov 29, 2009

@Chip Email isn't perfect but neither is using web services. The good thing about email is it has built in mechanisms for failure, queuing, and resending. A simple web service doesn't have those mechanisms. So it would have to be more robust, which most OEMs have created for their lead delivery systems across web services.

The biggest problem with web services would be standardization. There are somewhere around 30-40 CRM providers and hundreds of companies that send leads to those CRMs.

Special finance leads should be required to send over web services. A lot of special finance lead providers send SSNs in emails in the ADF XML leads.... which is really bad. They should definitely be sent via secure web service.

Nov 29, 2009

Good stuff, having your leads go into a duplicate database sometimes can get confusing, however it is probably the only way to monitor lost leads. But remember email leads are increasing at a slow pace nationwide, so concentrate on your phone leads. Develop a system that allows easy entry on a consistent basis of all incoming phone calls. Get those into your CRM/ILM and follow up. Use tracking numbers and double check if all calls are being handled correctly, capitalize on missed opportunities and if they are entered into your database.

Chip Grueter · Nov 28, 2009

Along these lines, and with the inconsistency of email - I've always wondered by CRM providers don't provide an API to load in leads directly from lead providers. Most have adopted the ADF spec, but none that we've come across offer a way to send leads server side.

Great tip for the controllable email address to forward to the lead provider. As we deal with this weekly, it would be great for more dealers to adopt this best practice.

Chip-

Nov 28, 2009

This is a great tip. Dealers should be able to funnel all of their leads this way except for manufacturer leads since those are not usually sent via email.

The only concern is making sure the email forward doesn't slow down getting the leads to your CRM. You don't want to adversely impact your response times.

I have seen instances before with email delivery issues between the dealer and their CRM related to email delays from SPAM prevention. So you may want to ask your CRM provider to white list the IP addresses of your email servers if you are having any delays in the delivery of the email leads.

Gerald · Nov 28, 2009

Great reminder of best-practices. I have done the same thing with each store I have taken over. The challenge, is knowing which companies you are SUPPOSED to be getting leads from. A disjointed store/process allows for a number of holes to appear where lead providers can slip if you're not paying attention.

Alex Snyder · Nov 28, 2009

Many of the conversations we get on the DealerRefresh forums are about dealership CRM choices and practices. With all the different conversations cycling around this topic, I have to assume that many dealers are changing or signing up with a new CRM company. I'm very glad to see the industry taking this extremely important technology more seriously, but I wonder if we might overlook some things during a change.

When changing CRM or ILM companies, you have to change your Internet lead address. It is a seriously major pain in the ass if you have a lot of lead providers (OEM's, third-party, freebies, classified sites, your own site, etc.). If you've made a change, did you forget a lead provider? Did you remember to inform CarFax, Vast, Google Base, or one of those other sites that you don't pay directly for leads?

I have a suggestion that will make this change only take 5 minutes and open up many more opportunities for your leads:

Make 1 email address that is [email protected] and have all your lead providers send to that address.

Do the same for your other profit centers: [email protected], [email protected], etc. Then you control where things forward to off those addresses. If you ever make another CRM or ILM change, then you're just changing the forwarding address instead of having to contact all your lead providers.

Some other benefits of controlling your lead delivery address:

1. You can have backup systems in place
I have all of our leads sent to each member of our BDC, the ILM tool available in our website's backend, and to our CRM. If the CRM is lagging on showing the lead, the BDC knows about it immediately. If something crashes with our CRM, we can still respond to leads through the ILM in our website's backend. And I can quickly check to see that all leads are always coming into the CRM. After being on numerous different CRM & ILM products, I've learned that lead forwarding for backup purposes is absolutely crucial.

2. Lead Analytics
If you ever hire a company to grade or build reports around your leads, you can just add that company to your email distribution rules without having to have your CRM or ILM company set it all up. This is more of a convenience.

3. Reporting Systems
If you're like me, you can't always trust the CRM reports because your staff is working in the CRM; tainting the data. Let's face it, you're never going to get an entire staff of sales people to understand why they should enter data and update data appropriately in the CRM. Because there is a human "taint" to the data, I have to use an outside system to get accurate reporting on certain things. Again, this is just another way to quickly and easily control where your leads are going. Your reporting system can also work as your backup communication product. In our case, we use an ILM.

4. Never losing Leads again!
If you always use the same email address for where your leads are going, you never have to worry about whether you're missing leads (unless the lead provider just isn't sending - that's a separate issue). This is especially good when you do a lot of free trials or submit your company for various endeavors.

Each CRM/ILM is a little different and none are perfect. When you control your lead routing, then you have the peace of mind to know you can catch issues quickly and not miss any business. Just remember to use your new lead routing address forever, and get it to ALL your lead sources.

<< Example of Checkered Flag's Lead-routing setup

I know of quite a few dealerships who already practice this, but if you don't feel free to ask any questions and I'll do my best to answer them.

How is your dealership setup for Lead Routing?

Nov 28, 2009

Hope you had a great thanksgiving buddy. turkey looks amazing.

Brian Tucker · Nov 27, 2009

I am still trying to figure out why he has flowers in his food? I never knew a Daisy could be a dish - must be a Maryland thing

Nov 27, 2009

You nailed it Joe! The real reason why Jeff started this article - he wanted to show-off his turkey dinner.

Nov 27, 2009

Has anyone ever been to Jeff's FB and noticed how many times he takes pics of his meal? He gets so happy when it's served he just has to take a pic of it!

Apr 27, 2010

Printing this out and handing it out! To everyone. A very good article. The leadership for our dealership especially need a message like this as a reminder!

rapidchevrolet.com · Dec 3, 2009

That is a very good article. (I loved the "about the author")

We are slowly changing management styles from this type of leader.

The authoritative leader: seldom lets others make decisions, feels he/she is the most qualified and experienced, considers his/her views to be most valid, lacks confidence in others abilities, critical of differing opinions, rarely gives recognition, is easily offended, uses others for his/her benefit, action oriented, highly comtetitive

The biggest weakness of this style is the failure to recognize the skills and abilities within other people. They are often denied opportunities to use or exhibit their skills in decision-making venues.

Yet, the greatest strength of this style is to produce action when it is needed.

To this style of Leadership:

The participative leader: team member ideas or equal with the leader, everyone’s input is considered, leader is team facilitator, leader is coach/player, frequently accepts teams ideas over own, focus is on stimulating creativity, creates culture of innovation.

We all work under some sort of the first style of leadership. But we can run our departments the second way and show everyone the strenght of this system.

Nov 28, 2009

Great observation! The opening to the funnel is no longer at the front door, it's in the buyers home or office.

We recently took the plunge from dedicated 4 salesperson, 3 coordinator Internet Dept. to a 6 coordinator response and follow up system.

This has spread the "Internet Department" Culture to the desk managers that up until then didn't understand a lot about our web presence.

The desk managers are now the point of contact through confirming appointments and greeting the appointments at the door with the ability to have an intelligent conversation about what the customer wants and needs. It hasn't been easy, but we are making progress every day.

I love having total control over the incoming phone calls and the ability to t.o. a call before it hits the wall.

Nov 23, 2009

good article, the tools are definitley there but it can be difficult to get the online managers use the tools efficiently. if you have an internet department, you need internet savy team that are excite about new tools, and not overwhelmed with every new tool that is introduced to them.

Nov 23, 2009

Good info Stan. We are looking to shift our staffing towards the evenings for phone calls and live chats, and the morning folks for handling the email leads when they come in. We have lots of folks that want to talk/email/chat in the evenings (8-11 pm) after they have finished work, had dinner, put the kids to bed, etc...

Nov 21, 2009

Kevin,

Reading your post made me think. I agree with you. There is no reason to staff your store heavy on saturday unless you consistently have huge traffic in the store. In my internet department, I keep two coordinators (plus me) on saturday and 2 on sunday. My heaviest days are monday and friday. We make the most appointments and get the most calls coming in. We have to constantly look at trends and what is going on in our business. We have to change with the trend.

Nov 21, 2009

John,

Great article which discusses common sense. This is still something people are not realizing. I believe that maybe in 10 years everyone will be on the same page. I have to say that the "about the author" part is incredibly creative and very funny. Good stuff. Keep it up.

Stan

Nov 20, 2009

John,
Definitely my vote for best "about the author" Just sent this to our internet team, very good article.

Nov 20, 2009

Well said... the pattern shift I am seeing is that folks are now shopping online during work hours (on their boss' dime... sorry) and after communicating via email or phone with the dealers they have narrowed their choices down to, they then make an appointment that fits their busy schedule (typically in the evening). Meanwhile, we make all of our phone calls before 5 pm (when our prospects give us their home phone numbers because they don't want to get called at work and get in trouble with the boss, so we rarely reach them) and we staff our dealerships heaviest on Saturday during the day. Are we changing our schedules and approaches to accommodate our customers? (and I loved the about the author as well, lol)

Nov 20, 2009

Very funny and hit the nail on the head. Great article John!

Nov 20, 2009

Best "about the author" I've ever seen on DealerRefresh - ha ha!

Great article John. This will definitely make the rounds with our managers.

bpulseadmin · Nov 18, 2009

IRVINE, Calif. — Kelley Blue Book is adding a Certified Pre-Owned Value to its Web site next month to educate consumers about the benefits and value of CPO programs.

Basically, KBB calculates a specific model's CPO value by adding an appropriate certified premium to the vehicle's Blue Book Suggested Retail Value.

KBB processes recent certified vehicle transactions through a statistical model and analyzes discrete CPO program costs to calculate specific vehicles' CPO premiums.

"Publishing the Kelley Blue Book CPO Values will help promote manufacturer based certified programs as well as the value and peace of mind it affords consumers," shared Paul Johnson, president and chief executive officer of KBB.

"Kbb.com will also have comparisons of various OEM programs which will help educate the consumer and showcase the benefits of each OEM program," Johnson added.

Essentially, the KBB Certified Pre-Owned Value is a suggested retail price that is reflective of dealers' asking prices for CPO units, considers the dealers' profits, advertising costs, sales commission, any other business costs and any value association with the CPO program.

"Dealers have welcomed this new value as a way to help educate the consumer about the benefits and value of buying a CPO car," Johnson continued. "By making this information available it potentially makes the sale of a CPO car easier because a third-party independent source like Kelley Blue Book can verify the program details and the vehicle's value for a consumer even before visiting a dealership."

The KBB CPO Value will be next to the existing used-vehicle values within the Used-Car pricing path on Kbb.com in early December. There will also be a Blue Book Certified Pre-Owned Value "hub" page.

And sometime in 2010, KBB is planning on integrating its CPO Value into many of its industry products and services, officials shared.

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