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Jul 11, 2007

Rob, again my point is that this isn't an article about where the best leads come from overall, but rather comparing third parties. I don't question that the most cost-effective way to get leads is through search engines... but I really don't see this post as a place for that discussion, especially seeing as you're an SEM vendor yourself. Kinda like going to see a band in concert and telling the crowd "hey, there's a much better band down the street. Oh by the way, I'm in that band." We're all Internet-savvy here... you're not enlightening anyone on this blog when you say search engines get the best ROI.

But at any rate, you neglected to address my main point as devil's advocate: for every good SEM vendor out there, there are 10 horrible, inexperienced, fly-by-night ones... to an old-school dealer with no knowledge of search engines, it just looks like the latest third party get-rich-quick scheme... and lest we forget that there are many other tools/services out there that are just as valuable to the dealer that are just "coming up". Dealers get stuff like this thrown in their faces every day, and it was only 10 years ago that all they thought they had to worry about was what their newspaper ad looked like. It's daunting to say the least, and given that, most dealers are going continue using their trusted third party vendors. Hence, this article.

And the reason I like vendors to train my guys is because those account reps are all people who came up through the auto dealer industry and mastered the system... something few SEM vendors can say.

Jul 11, 2007

I have a few questions from a SEM vendor.

When a potential car buyer accesses the internet to gather information, do they go directly to KBB, Edmunds, etc. or do they go to Google, Yahoo, MSN, or some other search engine first?

If they go to a search engine first, how do they end up on a lead providers website? -What are the lead providers doing to attract that buyer?

If the lead providers are doing paid search marketing, how do they make a profit selling you the lead?

If paid search is working for them to gather leads, would it work for a dealership?

I'm looking at a completed campaign (case study) where a new car dealer spent $5,000 on a paid search campaign. It generated 3,498 visits to the dealer website, and 801 phone calls. If you consider a phone call to the dealership a lead, that comes to $6.24 per lead.
If anybody doesn't believe this, I would gladly send it to you.

Why would someone at a car dealer pay $16-$21 for a $6.24 lead? Is it the lunch, or the round of golf?

OK, sorry about that last question.

The truth is, the highest converting sales leads come from the dealers website, and the least expensive way to get people there is paid search, thats why the lead providers do it.

The providers got their start before the technology was available to geographically target a paid search campaign to a 10, 25, or 50 mile radius from the dealership. Now that its available, it makes good financial sense for the dealership to get those leads at their true source.

As far as Search Engine vendors providing sales training to car dealers, we would rather not tell you how to do your job, anymore than we would want you to tell us how to set up and run a paid search campaign.

Jul 10, 2007

I agree for the most part, but that's not what we're debating in this article. And let's not forget that the #1 reason (far and away) that companies and executives don't participate in SEO/SEM is because they don't understand it. You're not going to transform an industry this stale in just a year or two of proven performance. SE vendors should worry more about educating dealers than landing an account.

And to say companies are wasting their budget on leads is a bit overzealous, considering all the half-wit Search Engine vendors out there trying to grab at a dealer's pockets. Your industry gets a lot of bad PR via schmucks in India calling up dealers trying to say they know what's best for the store. Maybe you should have a chat with your competitors who try to solicit my business, only to find that I know more than they do about SE's. If I'm a dealer and I'm getting those kinds of cold calls, I'll take my trusty lead providers any day of the week.

Plus, last time I checked, there aren't any Search Engine vendors out there providing sales training seminars for my ISMs, guaranteeing me a closing ratio, or taking me out for lunch and a round of golf.

Jul 10, 2007

I have to agree with Rob on this... our best closing leads are the leads from our own website, and we utilize SEM to maximize that asset. We have also ensured that we use a conversion based platform in doing that (otherwise you are just throwing away money - as many others have experienced). When it comes to third party leads, my biggest piece of advice is to ensure that you have a first-class, aggressive process in place in following up on leads, as you are competing against the clock with your competition that has received the same lead. The dealership that "touches" the prospect first is going to win most every time, so if you have an inefficient process with a response time that is several hours or more on average, third party leads will be very ineffective for you. With all that said, if you have a good process in place to handle your third party leads, I would lean towards the lead aggregators for the quality of the lead (which I find to be better than the lead generators). My experience with the quality of many of the leads I receive from the lead generators is that the prospect had their info harvested when clicking on something like "learn the inside secrets of the dealerships" or "how to beat the dealer at his own game", etc.. , and many times when we contact these folks, they feel like they were "tricked" into giving up their information, hence they often do not close as well as the other leads we obtain... Kevin Frye/eCommerce Director/Jeff Wyler Automotive Family

Jul 9, 2007

I have a somewhat biased opinion because paid search marketing is what I do. When it comes to auto dealership leads the aggregators close on average 5-7%, manufacturers website leads 10-12%, and leads generated directly by the dealership site 15-20%. A lot of dealerships are beginning to realize its more valuable to market themselves directly because they can sell more for less budget allocation. A locally targeted paid search campaign that promotes all the profit centers is the best return I've come across. However it is very easy to waste budget when done incorrectly. A conversion-based optimization platform generates the highest possible ROI, sending you more of the website traffic that converts and less of the traffic that doesn't.

Jul 9, 2007

Buying leads at their origin versus buying them from one of the big third-parties.

Now that I’m about to bring on my third lead generating vendor, I thought I’d probe the DealerRefresh community for their thoughts on the choice between buying leads at their origin versus buying them from one of the big third-parties. I’m very much on the fence myself, and usually it just comes down to whether or not I think the vendor’s program works for me.

For those of you, who have never bothered to consider the pros and cons of each camp, let me present some ingredients for the debate:

Lead generators have a web site- or network of sites- that reel in consumers via SEO, PPC, and other advertising, and subsequently sell that lead to a dealer.

Lead aggregators buy leads from the premier sources in the industry, like Edmunds and KBB. While most aggregators also generate some “original” leads of their own, purchased leads constitute the majority of their business.

Most generators will sell you their lead exclusively, as opposed to aggregators who are usually going to sell their acquired lead to several dealers. This sounds like a great benefit, until you consider that consumers often submit leads to several sites. So that exclusive customer information you think you have could easily have already gone to your competition a few days ago via a different web site. Think about the brand awareness of consumer sites and you’ll quickly understand how a consumer could go to Edmunds or KBB first to submit their lead, and then decide later on to google “Honda dealers in NY” and end up at one of the other lead generators’ sites. So in theory, if your generated lead isn’t the only lead that customer sent, it’s probably old information to your competition.

Lead costs should hypothetically be lower coming from a generator, because there’s one less middleman to get paid. However, depending on the vendor’s program, you could easily pay more for generated leads than aggregated ones… I pay anywhere from $16 to $21 for my generated leads. There’s really no consistency here, as the primary factor in lead cost is the intensity of the program (i.e. closing ratio guarantees, buyer status updates, 800# tracking, etc). Nevertheless, if you have a fetish for paying the lowest possible price for a customer’s information, a lead generator is the way to go.

Anyone have some experiences to share? While I believe it all depends on the vendor, part of me wants to be able to say that one of these sides of the fence is greener than the other.

Mitch Turck
Internet Director - JelMAC Auto Group

Jul 7, 2007

WOW, what a great article and batch of informative responses. The title didn't intrigue me at all, but the content certainly did.

Is it a must to have a link from the OEM?

Absolutely. Is the Cobalt site crappy? Absolutely. Will it generate leads that you wouldn't have received without the link?

Absolutely.

At least it's not a Ford site.

Alex

You might see all your SEO points disappear from your primary site, only to see your "basic template" Cobalt site start showing in the search results.

This is mostly true, but I don't think it's a bad thing. Say your OEM site is #4 and your primary site is #6. A customer who clicks on the OEM site will either turn into a lead or they'll move on. There's a chance that they'll stop at #5 and leave a lead, but they probably would have done that anyway before they made it to your primary. If they do leave, you get a second chance with your more attractive site at #6.

There is a slight chance that the taste they got at your OEM site will discourage them from clicking on the better site, but again, that is a slight chance.

Ryan

Since the OEM site drives so much traffic, I would advise that you use that web presence for targeting new vehicle buyers that go there, but then set up sister sites elsewhere for other shoppers, including other new vehicle shoppers.

I've always been a big fan of having all of the inventory everywhere that a customer's eyes can see.

umer

Kevin, we have few GM dealers and none have bothered purchasing this link... it is so tiny on that page... why do it... plus you get the link to your site from the regional OEM sites...

Why do it? It's not terribly expensive and it provides leads. Take down a billboard, cut back on radio, take a smaller size newspaper ad, or better yet, just invest more into the internet marketing. The ROI on that link will be better than most conventional marketing spends.

Shi

The growth of the "Blog Phenomena" is another example.

Agreed, but carefully. There will be more and more companies out there selling blogs to dealers. Some will be ultra cheap, filled with RSS and stale content. Others will be higher, and may be good, but still overpriced.

Before dealers jump on and pay companies for a blog, they should look into the ease in creating a blog, the maintenance, and the potential costs.

They may find that the receptionist or a salesperson can put it together and maintain it for cheap.

Brian

Personally I like the plain vanilla dealership websites. I am on dealer websites every day so get to see the spectrum.

You're on dealer websites every day. Two years ago, I would say that most consumers would have agreed. Today, I believe they want it to be functional and easy to navigate first, but they also want it to be attractive. The tremendous increase in high-speed connections has made the more simple sites, while appealing to some, still convert less. That's an opinion. I have no data to back it up other than watching a single dealer website go through the simple-to-attractive transition in March of this year. The numbers were dramatically different.

Tom

For me, the value of having the link on the OEM listing comes from driving more potential customers to our site earlier in their research.

That's a great, great point. People at the top of the funnel might get sucked down unexpectedly. Even if they don't, the branding and subtle subliminal name infusion is still a benefit.

Joe
That's terrible. I hate hearing when GMs don't understand that money wisely spent on internet marketing never fails. Yes, wisely is the keyword here, but still, I think having two sites, especially if you keep the main site at the high PR url, is a good way to spend.

PR 5 is rare, but not unique. I actually have a PR4 dealer that Future PageRank Predictor says will be PR6. It's never right, but one can only hope.

Have your GM call Jeff.

umer.autojini · Jul 6, 2007

Question... can the URL from OEM site be tagged... i.e can you define a custom URL and tag for Google Analytics...

Jul 5, 2007

Independent Webmaster Guru Gets the Ax.

My pet project: http://www.breseechevrolet.com got the ax last week, to be replaced by Cobalt. New General Manger finds the value of the Cobalt/GM connection to be more important than current results:

Google PageRank = 5 (The highest Dealer PR site in the nation?!)
Top 3 Google SERP (Search Engine Results Page) for long tail requests like:

used chevy avalanche upstate ny
GM EQUINOX NEW YORK
used chevy silverado 2500hd in buffalo ny
Top 1,2,3 Google result for 98% of the COMPETITORS within 100 miles!

More Tangible Examples:
==> 30% of all site traffic was from Search Engine Connections.
==In last 24 months, 18% of all sales were to buyers greater than 45 minutes away (little eBay participation).
==F&I Post Sale Survey Says: 40-45% of all sales were visitors to http://www.breseechevrolet.com
==Constant deluge of "your site is very nice..."
from customers and Industry players.

It's a single point store in a rather small market, but we're #1 in Sales with NO NEWPAPER SPENDING.

Maybe it's time to move into MicroSites....
Shaking head in Syracuse,
Joe
p.s. Webmaster Brains for sale or lease!!
p.p.s. Google is the NEW yellow pages. To improve the message, we have callbright.com phone numbers on ALL of our Internet Properties. Phone traffic from http://www.breseechevrolet.com out numbers AutoTrader AND Cars.com by > 100:1. Calls for Svc. dept. are > 10% of site phone calls (very nice).

Jul 5, 2007

Many thanks to all for our responses! Alex and Ryan - thanks for your advice regarding SEO issues, and making sure to take this into considideration. Mitch - I agree on your advice regarding measuring results, my reason in making this post was hoping that someone has already done this and could share their experience. Lao-Shi - I agree that the info on 3rd party sites is often very similar to the OEM sites. However, because of branding and ownership of the product line, the OEM is going to get more traffic, and will inherently have more credibility with their information as the direct manufacturer of the product. Umer - great insight regarding what you do with your GM locations, thanks. Brian - BINGO! You espoused exactly what I need, and what I am looking for. Has anyone been in this same position and measured the results of having this live link to see if it was worthwhile??? And finally, Tom - do you have a Cobalt website with GM to get the live link? Many thanks to all, Kevin Frye/eCommerce Director/Jeff Wyler Automotive Family

BDCmanager · Jul 4, 2007

For me, the value of having the link on the OEM listing comes from driving more potential customers to our site earlier in their research.
As I get leads in from GM, most have never been on our site. We spend allot of time and effort taking pictures of our new inventory as well as pre-owned. Enhancing the customers experience on our site. The information is we provide is robust and the lead generated from our site as opposed to GM's is more solid.

http://www.fivestarchevy.com

bhoecht · Jul 4, 2007

Kevin,

While the considerations over SEO, page rankings, etc. are all important, to me the most important question remains unanswered:

Does anyone have experience of how much more they made by having the GM/Cobalt site link vs. not having it?

If don't have that info, how about the following say for 3 months:

1) # leads dealership received from GM/OEM site
2) # delivered vehicles from those leads
3) Total front & back end gross on those sales
4) Cost of Cobalt site

In the above, duplicate leads + subsequent sales are attribued to the first source from which they are received.

Is the answer positive or negative?

It needs to be positive since other overhead factors need to be covered (sales compensation, CRM, BDC, etc.).

And not to be unfair to the GM/Cobalt structure, this should be done to all Internet efforts as any unprofitable efforts could be from things that could be fixed + have nothing to do with the Cobalt website.

I speak to Internet Managers all day long on such things. Here are some benchmarks:

1) Prospect : Sales ratio = 15-20%.... that's right for your own website leads & those from your OEM, the benchmark should be on par with what you are doing in the showroom. 3rd party leads will be 1/2 of that.

2) Front and back end grosses... Equal to your showroom grosses. Period. It's your process + talk tracks if you are not getting this. No difference for 3rd party leads.

Personally I like the plain vanilla dealership websites. I am on dealer websites every day so get to see the spectrum. Here's why I like them:

A dealer's website exists to make it convenient for a consumer to find, buy + communicate with you. And as a dealer, I only want you to find + communicate with me so you will buy from me.

So as a dealer, the goal of my website + what I do on the Internet is to get consumers to BUY service, parts & vehciles. The main problem I tend to see with sites that do more than what I call plain vanilla (research, inventory, about us, contact us) is the following:

1) Inquiring is NOT buying.
2) The sales psychology of websites designed to get the consumer to inquire is wrong / ineffective. For example, here's VIN decoder info on this new vehicle + its MSRP + maybe its price. Call or email. That would be ineffective in the showroom, why is that the implemented strategy on the Internet?
3) The above actually encourages those consumers willing to cough up their info this early to treat you like a commodity. Where is the bonding + rapport? Where is the sizzle to the new vehicle purchase?
4) And I don't mean add a bunch of gimmicks to the site, although those can be useful if they get the consumer communicating - what's my trade worth, live chat, etc.

But I digress... If your website is designed to get people to inquire so you can sell them an appointment + get them in to the showroom, then plain vanilla is just fine. Get the cheapest good one you can find (I actually like Cobalt's base package if that is the objective).

Shameless plug: If you want to add a member's only section with an eCommerce capability (verify email address to get in, but then get complete consumer facing desking + F+I experience, accurate prices, interest, rebates, etc.), again plain vanilla will do so the calls to action (BUY) don't get lost in the noise + navigation. Or at least that is what I recommend.

Best of Luck Kevin, and congratulations on asking the right questions.

Jul 4, 2007

Statistics and data can be skewed depending on who is conducting the study, new or pre owned vehicles, companys with an agenda, magazines that have a huge ad budget from a source that needs to have their image/product/service buffered and promoted.

Media giants that own large groups of diverse businesses like an ADP and others, businesses that need to be marketed. There are many scenarios; Madison Ave. has played this game for how many years?

One thing that rings true is when Mr. Toyota comes in on a date and time stamp and then comes in on our site and then comes in on a KBB and then surfaces again on another 3rd party site so on and so on we will not pay for the duplicates, we will only pay for the first lead.

In most cases the lead to the dealer site will be directed to the dealer from the OEM site. If the dealers are not diligent in watching the tracking and business source they can be paying for leads 2-3-4 times which adds up in annual costs.

The beauty of ecommerce and Internet Marketing is the source can be tracked, tracked as never before. We have not even scratched the surface of what is possible in this area. Just look at what the candidates in the American Political process are doing and you can see the potential for innovation. Every election year we are seeing innovation develop and new ways to use the technology.

The growth of the "Blog Phenomena" is another example. This is an area of tremendous opportunity that the political campaigns are spending more of their ad budgets on because they are able to track right to the moment a contributor comes on board and how much that person contributes thereafter. If this is not possible they would not be increasing their spending in this area.

We will also see the more intelligent OEMs take this to the next level as Toyota is doing for example. The Internet gives the OEM an opportunity to research & study the clients and market their products with greater efficiency. I believe some of the OEMs will continue drifting towards a more centralized model in sales and distribution over the next few years.

As successful as Toyota is the company is not resting on their "Laurels". They are consistently striving to be better and more efficient and the Internet is one of the tools they will use to achieve this goal.

Jul 3, 2007

Hmm... I don't think the page rank of GM will even pass to your OEM site. Google, Yahoo, MSN have no index of the dealer locater pages... if doing for SEO benefit then there is none. quick way to check if OEM passes any link love... link:www.OEMSiteDomain.com in any SE...

Most OEM dealer sites are exactly the same across dealerships... do a quick google search for fairway ford... all same... and only the home page indexed... so they have already been penalized.

Lao, I think the lead numbers that you are referring to are bit outdated... as numbers form AIADA june 2006 show number of leads from website to be higher then OEM site. 144 OEM 162 Website... (may be I'm reading that chart wrong). http://www.aiadalists.org/

Kevin, we have few GM dealers and none have bothered purchasing this link... it is so tiny on that page... why do it... plus you get the link to your site from the regional OEM sites...

Jul 3, 2007

It has been stated a number of times in studies on automotive ecommerce; the origin of most leads are from the OEM Sites. People have a tendency to go there first and drill down through the other sites in their research.

However how much different is most of the information on new vehicles from the OEM site and the third party sites? Not much

The more efficient OEM Sites are done very well and have a wealth of information.

I laugh at the debate that some dealers have on placing their new inventory on line while you can go to some OEM sites and place your zip code in and see what is in the delivery pipeline to the dealership before the dealer knows.

GM has mandated the Cobalt scheme as well as working with One Source, LMT beginning 3rd quarter 2006. You can have your leads forwarded however you still pay for the system and if you forward the leads you will pay twice. If you do not use the Cobalt Web Solution you will not have the link from the dealer site which will cost you business if your competitor has the Cobalt Solution.

We may see the same thing with Ford Group when LSI and Salespoint complete their union 4th quarter this year.

One solution, maybe SalesForce.com this maybe modified to adapt as a tool with a little finesse and tweaking. They also have formed an alliance with Google and created Google Groups. There is a special on Sales Force now ($600.00 per year) which normally runs about a $1000.00 a year and if they see an opportunity with an Industry in need such as the Auto Industry they might be very aggressive in assisting.

This could be a boon to the smaller Boutique Dealers that have more flexibility to be creative.

Jul 3, 2007

Like many things in life, it all depends.

As far as SEO, it's really not an issue unless you make a concerted effort to cause problems, i.e. posting the same exact 500-word PR article on both sites.

To me, a bigger issue is the capability of that OEM-approved site. I worked for an OEM who promoted what was probably the most worthless site in all of the industry, and everything we wanted to do on that site warranted charges by tech support. I measured the cost of the site plus the support fees, and divided by the clicks it brought me from the OEM (clicks, not leads), and cost-per-click came out to roughly $11. You couldn't spend that much on an AdWords PPC campaign if you tried.

I've worked with many OEMs but never GM, and even then, the way the Internet works for GM on the coasts is very different from the way it works in the rest of America.

I've seen OEMs that drive next to nothing to my site, and I've seen OEMs that are responsible for 60% of my total site's traffic. My advice is trial and error. And measurement.

Jul 3, 2007

While there is validity in the idea of negating SEO efforts with sites mirroring the same content, this could obviously be overcome by not making the mistake of having the same content on both or all your sites. There is a benefit to having multiple sites but, as Alex suggests, make sure their content is unique. Actually, more importantly than the content being unique across each site is making sure it is not exactly the same. You can convey similar content and the same message (relevancy) without displaying redundant or recycled information.

Since the OEM site drives so much traffic, I would advise that you use that web presence for targeting new vehicle buyers that go there, but then set up sister sites elsewhere for other shoppers, including other new vehicle shoppers. Check out the AutoBurst program designed to give dealers the ultimate SEO experience of owning their local markets with guaranteed top organic search listings.

web2carz · Jul 2, 2007

Kevin,
From SEO (Search Engine Optimization) perspective it is never a good idea to have two site with similar content. You just don't know how Google and other Search Engines will respond. You might see all you SEO points disappear from you primary site, only to see your "basic template" Cobalt site start showing in the search results.
I looked at GM site and it has a Google Page Rank of 8 out of 10. This means that a link from GM site is very valuable from SEO perspective and as a result Google just might give your "Cobalt" site a higher rank than your existing site. (Not sure if this is the desired effect you are looking for.)
I guess one thing you can do is put a link from the "Cobalt" site to your primary site to help and balance things out.
One thing to keep in mind is that SEO advice and opinions are like you (know what). Everyone has one and no one knows exactly how things will play out. If you stand to get a good amount to traffic from GM it could prove to be a worth while thing.

Jul 2, 2007

Is a direct link from the Manufacturers Website a must-have?

As a large dealer family with multiple franchises (including GM brands), we have a non-Cobalt website, which means that when prospects hit our GM brand websites, our dealership location is listed, but without a live link to our website.

I certainly understand the value of having a live link to our website at the OEM level, however, we have to balance this value against having another website vendor that can better meet our needs.

My question is this; Is having a direct link at the OEM level for GM brands a must-have?

Is it worth the price of paying for a basic template website with Cobalt just to get that live link and have that additional site complement our primary site? For those of you that have a Cobalt website and get this live link with GM, have you measured the traffic clicking through from GM to your website? I would appreciate any input, many thanks!

Kevin Frye
eCommerce Director - Jeff Wyler Automotive Family

daybreak · May 13, 2009

LOL. Reynolds and ADP will always be restricted in what functionality they can provide. They are using 19 century technology to tackle 21 century problems. Dealers are so busy with putting out fires everyday that they will never make the decision to switch over to another system. Most of the auto dealer business is short sighted. What have you done for me lately? Sales and Service revenues are counted daily and monthly and management's mood swings are dependent on the two. There us has to be an external factor pushing for a sudden change. It seems that dealers or for that matter anyone working for them want to do the least amount of work for the most amount of money and the result is that the auto dealers are perhaps the most inefficient sector of our economy. The auto industry is going through major changes. They will never sell 17 million cars a year again and cars are becoming more reliable. I predict Reynolds goes out of business and ADP switches over to ORacle or SQL. The limitation my friends is all in the databases.

Jul 3, 2007

Lao, I do not wish to have a posting argument with you over Microsoft. We (my dealership) are partners with them as well, and we believe Microsoft has a long way to go before they're ready to offer something as stable as ADP or Reynolds & Reynolds on the DMS side. They do have some other tools that look more promising, but at the end of the day it is going to boil down to DMS.

As far as the other portion of this topic goes, you're absolutely right. One should not be afraid of change. However, one can always be critical of the prospect.

A bit of good news:

I heard Toyota is going to make the list of CRM/ILM's very long. Their intentions are not to limit dealer selection, but to protect dealers from some of the smaller companies who can really disrupt business. As usual Toyota is thinking ahead, but Toyota was never my concern. I'm worried about some of the other manufacturers who might not have such a long list.

Jul 2, 2007

I have spoken with Microsoft a number of times over the past year on their solution and I am a Microsoft Partner. They are not that far away. They will be in Beta shortly, maybe by 2nd quarter 08 in test markets.

There is a Chinese phrase roughly translated: If we always do what we have always done we will always get what we have always got.

We should always be willing to look at something new.

Jul 2, 2007

Microsoft is continuously brought up, but Microsoft is years (10-15 years) away from coming on the scene. They are so far away, they aren't even worth mentioning.

Lao - have you ever heard of the Blue Oval? Aside from it being Ford's logo it was also a reinvention scheme they employed. The idea behind the Blue Oval was to cut the dealer out of the picture. Ford owned and operated a few dealerships, thus selling directly to the customer. Ford failed in this attempt because they interpreted the customers wrong and had trouble competing with other dealers. I was not in the sales department when it happened, but that is what I have been told about it in a nutshell.

I am not against our manufacturers, but I am a bit weary of their forceful involvement in a world they do not fully understand. They have hit it right a few times doing this type of thing in the past, but I still remain skeptical. It is all rumor at this point.

To answer your last question Lao, I'd love to see OEM's monitor CRM's. I have to throw some stings on that statement though. I'd love to see OEM's monitor CRM's if:

1. Offered bonuses based on good results (example: travel incentives for GM's when their store completes all one on ones for a quarter)
2. Dealership's Internet department has an eight minute response time, so they get more leads
3. Activities are punished and rewarded

The entire CRM/ILM monitoring would need to be a give/take scenario with the underlying goal being to push more metal over the curb. I'd love that! If it is a way to turn dealerships into chain-organizations, then I'm not on board.

Jul 1, 2007

I am not sure this new trend is such a bad idea. To have the sales processes become more centralized maybe be a good trend at least one to look at for the near term.

So many dealers are doing so many different processes that are unnoticed because they are low on the radar screen. The big groups dominate the attention and the sales process usually with "Cookie Cutter" approaches that center on big discounts, slash and burn sales, any vehicle $77.00, we will not be under sold. They just want to move lots of metal.

Employing new processes with new technology may bring to the surface new ideas that the "Boutique Dealers" are using and that are working in their locales. If the OEM's see what works and is profitable the smart ones will embrace them.

Maybe Microsoft's new solution will bring tools to the game that will offer alternatives to the "archaic" DMS system ADP offers. We will not know unless we are willing to try.

It certainly cannot hurt to try, as we cannot argue with the success of Toyota and Honda's strategists. We are also witnessing the arrival of the Korean brands and models as well as the Chinese Brands that are on the Horizon. We will be in a much different game in the next few years, as each of these new arrivals will bring new strategies to the game. These are strategies that are unique and will be more aggressive and formidable than the Japanese model.

The OEMs and dealers that are in link and know what the local consumer is looking for will have an edge in this game. As we learned from our tournament with the Japanese challenge they knew and know more about what American consumers want than the American OEMs. How did they learn this?? by research and listening to the consumer. The Korean and Chinese OEM's will do the same

Many of the American businesses will be in denial about this and complain that the competition had unfair advantages??? (Some can rationalize anything). However lets face the facts Toyota and Honda are doing well, making vehicle the consumers like well and they are profitable.

I say lets bring the new DMS solutions to the game after all ADP is a dinosaur and no longer the best solution. Reynolds maybe a slight improvement but we need tools for today not yesterdays with a little "bondo" and "Earl's $29.99" I'll paint any car paint job.

GM is already moving in this direction with "One Source", Ford has been drifting in this direction for a few years whether it is part of a plan or just a trend they are not aware of.

This new system will allow the smart, consumer savvy, OEMs to learn more about what the consumers want and think about their products and streamline the process in sales and delivering the inventory to the customer. They will be able to monitor the consumers leads and comments, what they are looking for and are interested in. The smart OEM's will learn and listen and profit as will the dealers.

So rather then dread the change/evolution let's embrace it.

What do we have to lose?

Jun 29, 2007

Good post Alex. I apologize, my response was definitely more ILM biased, and I see your point. For those of us who are on the leading edge with our sales process, I think your final line brings the most concern! Depending on which OEM I am working with (and I will not name which), some are pushing sound sales processes that I would support, while others have "softer" (is that pc? - lol) sales processes that I am not comfortable in fully working with. Keep up the great insight Alex! Kevin Frye/eCommerce Director/Jeff Wyler Automotive Family

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