Maybe we should all take a step back and define what a perfect inventory listing is. I always assumed a basic one (as of today) has price, miles, photos, and some relevant specifications. Jon - you made me realize we might not all be considering the same thing here.

I'm going to go with Jeff on this one. When I close a sale I usually have a 15 minute to 30 minute wait on F&I so I take this time to interview the customer about what brought them to me and why they chose my listing over the other guys. Almost everytime it comes down to I had the information they were looking for in the listing and the three main things they always bring up are price, miles, and the quality and quantity of the pictures.

When it comes to miles and price most customers tell me that if the price isn't listed it means the dealer wants too much money and they also say the same thing about the miles, that they must be really high, why else would a dealer not list them. Based on the feedback I've gotten from customers I think I am better off with a complete listing.

I'm always back and forth with the answer to this one. The customer wants the information so give it to them and get a more qualified lead OR leave some important stuff out, ask them to "contact the dealer for more information" to see if they fill out the more information form or call you. This could give you the opportunity to build the rapport and see if they are considering something else as well.

If I compare it to shopping online for other stuff (smaller ticket items) I usually purchase from the company/site that gives me the most information. Like Newegg; I've been wanting to purchase a new digital camera that took great photos and fit in my pocket, I found exactly what I wanted on Newegg. They offered the MOST information on the camera and way more photos than any other online retailer (plus I know from past purchases that I will have a great experience).

Would/Does this carry over to the car business? I don't know..in the car business we are looking for the lead, the opportunity.

When I was at the Benz dealer I was seriously considering a New GTi and the dealer I contacted was the ONLY dealer that had the actual packages and options listed. I contacted them about the car and the initial experience was great, but that's another subject. So for me..the dealer that had all the information listed got the opportunity to sell me FIRST. Would I have then contacted the other dealers had this dealer NOT contacted me back (and fast)? It's highly possible but they got the first opportunity.

This could also depend what make your selling and the clientele around that vehicle.

I say list the information and find another compelling reason for the customer to want to call or fill out the lead form. I want the FIRST opportunity.

Thanks for your interpretation LB!

Here is a link OneCommand sent me about what they're doing: http://www.onecommand.com/FTC_AmendInfo.html

Alex to put a finer point on your concerns over the newly revised TSR (Telemarketing Sales Rule), here are the points as I interpret them:
1. By 12/1/08 all customers must be given the ability to automatically opt out of any pre-recorded campaign by automated key press or voice mechanism and this must be delivered at the beginning of the message, 16 C.F.R. § 310.4 (b)(I)(v)(B).
a. EX: “This is an automated message from XYZ Dealership, you may opt out of receiving these messages from us at anytime during this call by pressing # or saying OPT OUT”
2. The requirement that an automated call answered by a person connect to a live attendant within two seconds of a completed answer, for least 97 percent of the calls.
3. However purely informational messages do not apply under TSR, and unless an exemption applies messages that incorporate any inducement to purchase goods or services are covered by the TSR.
a. Certain healthcare related messages are exempt: 16 C.F.R. § 310.4 (b)(l)(v)(D) provides that "this paragraph (v) shall not apply to any outbound telephone call that delivers a prerecorded healthcare message made by, or on behalf of, a covered entity or its business associate, as those terms are defined in the HIPAA Privacy Rule, 45 CPR 160.103." Additionally, the Do-Not-Call rules adopted by the FTC and FCC contain exemptions for live calls placed to customers with whom sellers or telemarketers have an "established business relationship" as defined in the rules.
i. The Telemarketing Act, at 15 U.S.C. Section 6106, defines the term "telemarketing" as "a plan, program, or campaign which is conducted to induce purchases of goods or services, or a charitable contribution, donation, or gift of money or any other thing of value, by use of one or more telephones and which involves more than one interstate telephone call."
In recent case In the most recent case, described in a January 29, 2008 FTC Press Release, the FTC entered into a consent decree with Voice-Mail Broadcasting Corporation (VMBC) and its owner, Jesse Crowe, who used automated dialers to "blast" consumers with prerecorded telemarketing pitches. The calls pitched products from debt-consolidation services to mortgage brokerage services and other retail and financial services. When VMBC's telemarketing calls were answered by consumers rather than answering machines or voicemail systems, VMBC either immediately hung up, leaving consumers with "dead air," or played a prerecorded message. Such calls violate the TSR, which limits telemarketers' use of prerecorded messages by requiring that calls answered by a person be connected to a sales representative within two seconds. The FTC's complaint alleged that VMBC, under the direction of its owner, made more than 46 million calls that violated the TSR. The total penalty was $3 million, but all but $180,000 was suspended based on the defendants' financial inability to pay.
Bottom line Alex – the use of automated calls to deliver pure information is good, if you ask for anything that might be even construed as Solicitation of goods or services “even reminding the customer of service and asking for an appointment will place you squarely under the above case law and could be a potential problem”.
Obviously this is not meant as legal advice just my interpretation.

Pre-recorded robo-marketing calls...the spaghetti factory. Throw as much on the wall as you can and see what sticks. In my opinion, the more you throw, the harder it is to get it to stick. I'm in agreement when it comes to this kind of stuff. First, if I get a call where a live person doesn't have the time to pick up the phone and call me themselves, I have no interest period. Second, if I get more than one of these calls from the same company, I don't care if you're giving away a free Prius at Checkered Flag I'm not going to listen, and harassing me will cause me to buy a product/service anywhere else, even if it's more expensive. If someone is going to do telemarketing, appointment setting, or whatever, there is no substitution for a professional person who is able to set the proper tone.

These sort of automated calls are nothing short of laziness and put quantity over quality. Every phone sales job I've ever had has stressed quantity. I used to love the fact that I outperformed the dial-monkeys making 100 calls a day with my 20 calls a day, and I think 20 calls a day by a decent rep can still outsell some automated dial-monkey program making 1000 calls a day.

The only exception in my opinion would be service reminders like Alex noted.

Totally agree with Alex on this one. Worst possible experience is to get a pre-recorded message I have neither the time nor inclination to listen to. 'Sides, more dealers should be thinking inbound vs. outbound marketing anyway.

I agree with James, I usually get my best infomation from networking with other attendees. I don't know how many times I have saved time and money with the connections I have made at these conferences over the years. I know one vendor contact I made got me out of a contract that had been misrepresented and saved my store $8,000, I definitely don't consider that a waste of time.

RE: "Seriously, I think both are a waste of time."

At least 50% of the value of attending conferences is derived from the other attendees. A discussion with another attendee about what the presenter just said can justify the time spent on the enitre conference.

Seriously, I think both are a waste of time. You can get all the info they present there online. There is really nothing new that they present. For newbies it is a great session. For the experienced it is a junket to get out of the store for a few days.

I'll be missing both of these too. I will make the Digital Dealer conference in the beginning of 2009 though.

Here's my really POOR excuse....

I'll be in Antarctica with National Geographic for a photography excursion. While you all are toasty and drunk, I'll be wet and cold....but having the time of my life!

I can't make either event. I need help from anyone that goes to DD.

VSEO is real and I want more feedback.
I have run 5 pilot experiments with VSEO and I am here to tell ya'll that GOOG's looking for Video content (at least for this week .

Heres my $0.02 after my VSEO experiments.
Pushed a handfull of videos to 30 free video sites, loaded 'em up with keywords and stood back.

UPSIDE:
3-4 & 5 top 10 SERPs from Long Tail keywords in under 48 hours.

DOWNSIDE:
Talk about Search SPAM, what a useless mess! There is little or no commerce potenial from my experiments. All it would be good for is jamming SERPs if you dealership has a bad reputation.

IMO, It won't take the GOOG engineers long to plug this hole. Because of this, I dropped further VSEO experiments until a better model comes along. (I also want to avoid the risk of being black-listed at all costs).

If anyone at DD has a thrilling review of VSEO, I'd like a review.

thnx,
Joe
aka: Sleepless in Syracuse.

I chose BOTH! How did I do that? Well... DD starts on Monday the 6th and JD Power starts on the 7th, so I'll be at DD until the afternoon on the 7th when I fly out to Vegas! Thanks for including me as a highlight at DD Jeff. My session on video will be in the morning on the 7th. If you'd like to learn about VSEO and how and why you should be using video don't miss it.

I went with the JD Power conference based on the opinion of two people I feel are industry leaders(Kershner and Paglia). I have been to four previous DD conferences. The first two I attended I was still pretty green and got a lot of terrific information from them, but by the third and fourth I found I wasn't having the same experience, my capabilites and knowledge had grown quite a bit over those two years and most of that was due to the DD conference. I had talked to several people at the last DD conference that had attended multiple ones like myself and they felt the same way.

I think the DD conference is great for a newbie and is a great conference to gather information at if you aren't tied in to all the blogs and networking sites in our end of the business. I guess I will find out if Jeff really knows what he is talking about in October, but since he has attended both I think I made the best choice for myself by going to Vegas.

Oh by the way Jeff, I tried booking at that hotel you suggested, I think it was the Chicken Ranch, but they were kind of expensive and out of the way, they were giving me a ridiclulous price of $4,000 just for an eight hour stay and they didn't even have any resturant choices, I decided to book in town it was a lot cheaper

Jeff, I'd agree in principal for the same reasons. What JDPA did do to bring more value to dealers is, albeit not to the same degree, IRT is addressing some of the 101 aspects and has confirmed three breakaway sessions on Tuesday at 1:00p. Internet fundamentals, Marketing to Women (AskPatty.com) and Online Service/Portal (TimeHighway and RepairPal.com) were added to speak to dealers still trying to deal with what do to online, how to build their Internet departments, engage customers and look for ways to add value to the mix.

JDPA has also indicated that they're open to adding (limited) more sessions if the feedback is positive while not taking away from the overall theme of the event. As you know, historically the IRT has been very linear where DD has been multi-track with plenty of value.

The agenda was updated on the Internet Roundtable website.

awww...the robots are holding hands.
In all seriousness I see speakers at both events that I think would be worthwhile. It's a shame you have to pick one or the other.

I'd recommend Cuneo's SpotOn for display and SEM. We've got the capability to do more efficient media buys, retargeting, behavioral, and CPL purchases within automotive. From a SEM perspective we've got a ton of industry expertise to ensure you're targeting the right areas, words, and optimizing based off performance as well as setting up some key dashboards for you to review for the best understanding on the results you're getting and how we improve over time.

Dealer.com and Performics both have an excellent service as well. ReachLocal is perfect for dealer's that want to get started, but should be reconsidered when dealer's are ready for the next step, and ready to be dominant.

Hey Kevin thanks for the response. There doesn't seem to by a large number of SEM companies that get strong positive "unsolicited" testimonials from their customers.
Thanks for the input.

Alex, we use Clickmotive for website hosting and ppc. They use a landing page strategy and we have seen a very strong conversion rate with this approach. More important, we get strong customer service from Clickmotive in managing our campaigns on a weekly and daily basis (not just once a month when they want money for the next month.... many ppc vendors take your money, set up the campaign, and don't look at it again until the following month...).

Can anyone give their insight on doing SEM with a provider that creates landing pages vs a provider that sends traffic directly to your website. I only have experience with a provider that sends traffic directly to my website. The argument is if you don't send them to your website than you are missing out on "branding" your dealership. However, If you use landing pages your conversion ratio will be higher and you can track more effectively tying it in with your CRM tool.
Also, has anyone heard of AutoONe Media. What do you all think?