In this day an age of cheap talk and little action, I've learned that the best way to handle any vendor pitch is to ask for some references of customers having success with the product or service and then go call them. You'll really know who you're dealing with then.

Now for something off-topic but constructive:

I used a service called PRWeb.com and had some success with it. I issued my first PR on Monday through PRWeb.com and it's already link #8 on Google for my main keyword. I figure 15-20 PRs and I'll have the first two pages of Google results blanketed with positive news for my primary keywords. This also serves as a hedge against negative links creeping up the search results.

I also noticed that a link to our DealerRater.com page has been climbing our search results too. We're just now starting to push that hard.

Plus isn't BZ like 8-12k per month!!! The water cooler talk is a dealership in WI used them and ended up filling suit to get out of a ridiculous 3 yrs "Bally's Gym" type agreement.

Dave
312-601-5614

Thanks Joe - your endorsement is seriously appreciated!

As for BZ, I have to give my good buddy John McAdams props for staffing such an aggressive sales team. Using Compete in this way is very innovative. However, it is a bit of a slimy sales tactic in my opinion. CS mentioned Alexa, and he is right - I don't know which is worse, Alexa or Compete for this kind of thing. I do think Google Page Rank is a viable resource because it is based on an overall relevance. It does not rely on people installing a toolbar or any of the other methods used. It is also a much simpler thing to understand: you're rated somewhere between a 1 or a 10. Customers use Google, and better Google rankings = more hits.

I had a thread a while back that pointed out the "real" movers and shakers in our industry: www.dealerrefresh.com/my_weblog/2007/10/the-winds-of-ch.html Dealers trying to break the cookie cutter mold.

My Examples are:
Auction Direct USA
www.auctiondirectusa.com/ (hi Eric!)

City Auto
www.cityauto.com/

Lithia Motors
www.L2.com/

And now... Checkered Flag
www.CheckeredFlag.com/
By far, the biggest commitment to internally generated content, coupled with a totally new site design optimized around this concept.

Alex's experiment is all about "high quality, LOCAL content placed onto an optimized site leads to traffic, and traffic leads to sales". Talk about replacing the sunday newspaper!! Alex has so much effort into this he could resell his content to the local paper!!! Hmmm....

Maybe we should have our own TOP10?
Joe

"It may be better if vendors don't know the arsenal of information assembled just within this site alone"

yeah, you wouldn't want them to notice the compete.com link on the left sidebar under "WEB Tools"

Like Joe and Eric, I'd be more than happy to know my competitors were signing up with BZ marketing and overpaying for snake oil (what's the going rate on snake oil anyway... did it go up like regular oil?).

However, the difference is that Joe and Eric work for dealerships, and I'm a service provider. So in truth, the idea that a dealer might buy into this BZ pitch rather than my services simply because BZ is more well-known is quite infuriating.

Maybe all of us on DR should have a contest to see who can create the most preposterous marketing promo chart for this industry. Might be fun to see if anyone can top BZ's debacle.

My guess is that these sales guys are just trying to be as creative as possible.

It may be better if vendors don't know the arsenal of information assembled just within this site alone...

Joe put it nicely by describing the DR crowd; there are those that will make the effort to arm themselves with the knowledge to move ahead & those that think the 'Interweb' is a passing fad.

@jl

Someone that does not give a site or a real name does not justify a response, however I will entertain your remarks.

Yes I have had some funny vendor experiences not quite like was described here but none the less pretty much with this same type of ploy.

Many of the vendors use smoke and mirrors like presented here and use tactics that would not survive if the dealers were educated. Maybe I should of said most vendors I have come in contact with. With that being said it is not all..

In the future though USE YOUR REAL NAME and identify your affiliation to the industry before being caustic. If you don't like my views that is fine I don't have a problem with that, just do it as transparent as I give them.

Paul

what gives people at least it wasn't alexa and pagerank promises.

i don't think the furniture store makes it "funny" either. if the urls are the same, chances are both businesses show up for search queries on either one.

The real question is not whether it is underhanded or good salesmanship, but if Dealer A's traffic would even increase using a BZ site.

Gotta agree with JL on this one. I doubt that there are any vendors whose business plan is to provide arrogance and idiocy to their customers rather than good service and value. That doesn't mean there aren't arrogant and idiotic people out there. Working for a vendor, I've run into a fair amount of them in dealership General Manager positions, but I don't paint all car dealers in that vein. That would be like promoting the old stereotype that car dealers are all slick rip-off artists out to bamboozle their customers and we know that's not true.

Sometimes, it's just an individual rep trying to generate business by doing something that management would stop or correct immediately if they knew about it. IMHO, that's probably the case with this apples-oranges compete.com comparison.

@ Paul Rushing,

"Arrogance and idiocy seem to go hand in hand from most vendors in this niche."

I'm just going to go out on a limb and guess that you were dropped by a vendor as a small child Nearly everything you post is tantamount to hate speech. I don't get it.

Couldn't agree with Joe more that this is the top 1% of the industry, but that industry includes the vendors. Can't speak for everybody, but I'm here to learn from the best so that I can provide the best.

Gitomer says in sales the successful are the servants. This may be a surprise to you, but the top 1% of vendors here care far less about "taking your money" than they do about serving your interests and learning how to help make you more successful. Seems a little trite to label those efforts as arrogant and idiotic.

Some how, I find some joy in seeing "old school" car dealers (aka: Ivory Tower Franchise Squatters) getting fleeced.

IMO, the BZ juggernaut story is a marketing and execution classic and belongs in College marketing courses.

Our DR audience is the upper 1% of our industry and I'll ask you all... "What makes us DR'ers different?" A COMPLETE COMMITMENT TO THE FUTURE OF OUR INDUSTRY... and that IS the Internet.

Darwin's Laws are still in force, the slow get eaten.
Go DR!
Joe

As much as I hate to defend a competitor like BZ -- it isn't completely their fault. The lack of knowledge starts at the top from most manufacturers and filters its way down to the Internet Managers. Vendors do what they can to paint themselves and their products in a positive light. That's sales.

This was an amateur attempt to do so, but I can understand why they would try. Still, you're right, it's definitely sad. We know that many vendors compare apples to oranges. It's fun to see a vendor comparing cars to couches.

Arrogance and idiocy seem to go hand in hand from most vendors in this niche. One day, one day the open source crowd will will level it to the point where this is just a comical reflection.....

And Ralph;

Consider yourself an exception to the ADP criticism for mis-handling BZ. That is, of course, unless you have been brainwashed by the old garde already, too.

From what I have witnessed, it takes massive effort to convince the classic pessimists to admit they are no instant Internet gurus.

So, I wish you all the best. Do at ADP what you did at Courtesy Chevrolet, Ralphy, and you get unanimous Internet King props!

We all know BZ is liable to do anything under the leadership of ADP.

Though I am not well enough qualified to identify this as under-handed, I can tell you succinctly that GM eSummit material is an atrocity. If BZ is getting its guidance from the same stale hierarchy of consultants and professionals as GM, then I assure you it is Cockamanie Bllustih!!!

I'll call you to inform you first-hand of the fools GM made of themselves. I really don't understand the arrogance. They let the same old garde that damned the Internet in 2001, plan and implement the eSummits. WOW!!!

Maybe this BZ sales approach comes from the same old garde. HA...

Great timing! I am upto my armpits in projects and this NAILS one of them!

Big time saver JK!

Thnx!

Really good advice! Thanks, great read.

I work for a towing company in the Philly area. We service the whole Northeast. For more info check us out at www.bentowing.com

Great read - These are best practices that can make a difference immediately.

I couldn't agree more. I train based on the same philosophy and it works everywhere I go. I have went to this format after trying fancy signatures, graphics, links; you name it!
I literally follow this step by step but added a few minor things that made a major difference for me. Results may vary.

I make all my templates and e-mail responses personal. I know you have heard that before, but I am "conversing" with them, rather than writing to them. I want to create dialogue and build rapport. I think some make the mistake of only doing that on the phone.

Secondly, I give them more than they asked for. Simple as that; everytime.

Lastly, my closing and call to action are simply by confirmation.

So, I will try to play this out using the AIUA formula and what I mentioned above.

E-mailer:

Hey I saw that 2004 Honda Accord online, stock #p5353 is it still available? What is the best deal you can do?

Tim

Response:

Hi Tim,

Great news, we do have that 2004 Honda Accord in stock! Actually, we just got another one in as well, if this isn't exactly what you are looking for.

Now when you say "best deal", are you looking for best payment deal or best "out the door" deal? Either way, I would need to know if you have a trade, money down and credit situation to determine the best rate.

I will follow up with you via phone shortly to make sure you received this e-mail and discuss some options.

Regards,

Me.

Hopefully this will work for you, but either way, DEFINITELY use the AIUA!

Good post - sales 101 but I frequently revisit the basics as over time it's easy to stray. One thing I would add to the "interest" section though. Customers (no matter if you're B2B or B2C) need benefits in addition to the features. Sure, you can give a few vehicles to them, but you'll have more success if you pair that with corresponding benefits. The WIIFM statement if you will (what's in it for me):

Example A: Mr. Shopper, here is information on the vehicle you requested, and here are two more vehicles that you might be interested in as well which also get great gas mileage.

Example B: Mr. Shopper, here is information on the vehicle you requested, and here are two more vehicles that you might be interested in as well. As I'm sure you're aware, Vehicles 2 and 3 have the best mpg ratings in their class, so over the course of a year you'll actually save money over Vehicle 1.

Gregg wrote:

"C'mon, 3 clicks before you get to see a car for sale? Huh?"

As Alex put it, you are entitled to your opinion. Many of us were taught that each click through results in a higher potential click off probability. I have preached that many times myself and had documented proof to back it up.

That said, in my opinion, Alex's site is innovative. Our goal should be to make sure that unique and repeat visitors spend some time on our sites. In fact, I would venture a guess that his site has one of the higher time spent per session than most of us.

By using blogs and customer profiles he is not only making for good reading, but also creating a relationship with buyers and non-buyers a like. It is personal, refreshing and doesn't scream I WANT TO SELL YOU A VEHICLE!

Instead, it caters to what most Internet shoppers want; information. Instead of going to 4-5 different sources, they can get it all from one.

Screw the click through theory. Nice work and a well deserved award!

Gregg,

I assume you're talking about Checkered Flag.com, so....

Everybody has their own personality, and that is reflected in their site. I'm not sure you looked very closely at our site. If you did, then you certainly missed the specials that are smack-dab in your face as soon as you hit the homepage. You probably also missed the ability to do a quick search (happens to be next to that slideshow of specials you missed) that will take you straight into the inventory. You might have also missed those navigation tabs at the top that will at least get you into new, used, or less expensive vehicles. You may have also noticed with the brands we carry, we're dealing with a wide range of customers and personality types.

Half our traffic is for a car purchase and the other half is for Fixed Operations. Why should I alienate 50% of our customers to show them nothing but inventory on our homepage? And speaking of a site like that, how about yours? You've definitely got inventory up there, but there is so much it takes forever to load (I'm not saying ours is a speed-demon either) - in fact, I never could get your site to completely load on my first 4 refreshes. What if I wanted to know more about your dealerships? What if I wanted to service my car, buy parts, or get back to your homepage.....hold-on a second. I'm completely wrong - I just looked at your site again. You do have links to the other parts of your store. Your navigation bar loads after all your inventory shows up. It only took 3.47 minutes for it to appear (according to my Firefox load timer). Okay, I apologize - you do have things there. Next time, I'll wait a few minutes for the whole site to load before I bring my car in for service - not a problem! I'm sure it loads faster once things are cached.

If you wish to continue your criticism, my next response will relate to site traffic and other things of that nature.