IMO JQ, the future is right here: 

"Reviews need to ride along side the product offering (Like Yelp or TripAdvisor) for the synergy to work."

When we're on TripAdvisor or Yelp... ready to MAKE A DECISION, reviews are a search filter (i.e. hotel near MCO, with 4 stars or higher but <200$). Then,  when the list gets real short, reviews are the tie breaker.  

Our industry never got a "founding player" that could marry products with reviews. 'Trader and Cars have arrived late and have buried the reviews taking it away from the search criteria (i.e. SUV with Nav from dealer with 4stars or higher but under $20k).

I agree with you Joe that today, it's nowhere near the "impact zone" for car dealers -- especially Facebook and some of the review sites.

But I do agree with Alex that the train is a'comming.  Especially when you stop equating "Facebook" with the bulk of the power of "Social."  I think Social is a whole lot more than Facebook.  I really believe Facebook is just today's shiny rock -- something bigger and better will come along in due time and replace it.  But "Social" in the larger context will continue (but probably labeled under a new buzz-word )

Alex, you wrote:

"Tomorrow’s advertising will be more about public relations than what we call marketing.  It will be based on your deeds.  It will be based on your image; your brand, and it will be shaped by your customers.  We’re starting to see the power of consumer reviews.  For car dealers, the power of reviews is still in its infancy.  For restaurants, it is full bore"

Pull Advertising is social media based advertising (i.e. reviews).

IMO, reviews in our space is fragmented and lacks impact not because shoppers aren't interested, it's because our industry never had a yelp or TripAdvisor.com to fill the void.  

Google Reviews are a joke. Reviews need to ride along side the product offering (Like Yelp or TripAdvisor) for the synergy to work.

Did I get it right?

Thoughtful article, Alex.  I can't argue with anything, other than perhaps the impact of Facebook (and I'm wondering where you got that picture of my TV). I like the idea of "Pull."  I think you can build some impactful strategies around the notion of "Pull."

I've been thinking about this quite a bit.  I can't get past the fact that "Social Media" is simply a new buzzword for "Word of Mouth."

And this is the thing:  Word of Mouth has always been THE BIGGEST source of reputation management and advertising influence that exists.  Because you can now measure and track (somewhat) Word of Mouth on Facebook, are businesses that have always paid attention to their reputation and standing in the community -- businesses that "Do It Right" for the right reasons -- impacted by Facebook?  I really don't think so.

Now, here's where I see Social having the impact: the Schlock businesses.  You know what I mean -- the slam-bangers, Tires for Life, the "Sign Here" while their arm is over the contract guys.  The ones that don't care about repeat and referral business.  I can see Social having a "leveling" effect in that it may force an onus on actual customer service once they figure-out that there's no real way to spin the "reports."

When that happens -- and it will be QUITE a while -- the businesses that have always done it right will then be negatively impacted: social will force the next great consumer movement: excellent customer service everywhere. Great for consumers.  But the good ones -- the ones that have always been good -- will lose their edge.

All theoretical and hypothetical, of course -- as you know, I have no experience in reality

Joe - would you mind giving me your definition of pull marketing?

Just to stirr things up, I'll take the other side of the argument.

Take a moment and think if you've seen the TV commercials for Internet Giants:
-Travelocity.
-Orbitz.
-PriceLine
-Kayak.
-Expedia.
-hotels.com
-TD Ameritrade
-Schwab 
-Etrade (the talking baby ads)
-AutoTrader.com
-and on and on

Compare that to the poster child of "Pull Marketing", TripAdvisor.com

Push vs Pull.
Why in the world would Internet ONLY companies embrace old school TV (Push)?  Why have they not abandoned push and gone to the cheaper pull marketing?

PUSH MARKETING is all about sending out a branding message with a goal to influence the use of the Internet.  

PULL MARKETING works best if your business is special and your site can communicate your unique biz model.

For car dealers, Old School Push branding messages can work if you have the business profile to make it work for you.  The vast majority of dealers donot have the "ideal profile" for push marketing.  

To further complicate things, Pull marketing can work for them, but, just like TripAdvisor.com, for pull marketing to work, your website had best deliver a meaningful message to your website visitor.

Add to this, how many car dealers can really make their site so special that it "rings the bell" for the pull visitor?

Have you read google's Zero Moment of Truth?  You are reporting pretty much what their data suggests...  HUGE opportunity for those who get it and a HUGE challenge for those guys still in love with traditional media...  Nice and timely post Alex!

I met a very nice woman from Cobalt/ADP here a couple weeks ago when she visited with our ADP rep (unfortunately, I can't remember her name -- mostly because I really don't know our ADP rep anymore and I can't remember his name to look-up the email).  

But I do remember her message: "This isn't your Father's Cobalt anymore."  I'm reading what Eric said above about more not commenting.  I've read this a few times, and honestly, something just doesn't quite sit right here with me.  But I'm thinking that maybe it's just that old, bad taste in my mouth.
I won't mention her name, but I very much remember the name of the Cobalt rep that was banned from our facility for for trying to get our OEM reps to tell us that we had to use Cobalt websites -- 10+ years ago.

But given the recent interaction with the delightful Jade and (damn, I wish I could find her card!!!) our New Cobalt rep, and after thinking about it for a few days, I'm going to be optimistic, and simply realize that although one deed does not a new company make, perhaps they have manifested a culture shift, and maybe we can expect better things.

They can have the benefit of the doubt... for now.

I agree with Brian about this... similar to what he said during the PCG awards ceremony ... there are automotive companies, and companies in general, that we like to thumb are noses at chalk up as irrelevant.  Then we close our mind to them and disregard them.  It's like the girl in 5th grade that everyone at the cool kids table decided was ugly and by the time she hit high school she was gorgeous but no one could see it because we had already labeled her.  Then she comes back from college, and everyone sees her with new eyes and she's hot and...  

Anyway, congrats to Cobalt... well done and great example!  CRUSH IT. 

Yea, that's simply Awesome. Great example Jeff, thanks for sharing. 

It's a shame that others haven't shared or commented on this...

Impressive Team Cobalt and Yes, this is just one example of the new customer focused energy that I have seen at Cobalt.  Nothing as big as Cobalt changes over night but the captain(s) of the divisional ships seem to be headed on the correct course.   This was a great post to read.

Kudos to Cobalt!

Nice observation Jeff and your "guess" of the "Who was the Gen Y Secret Angel" to ease the pain for the dealership. You are absolutely right on Gary Vaynerchuk's point that the word-of-mouth is happening today online and the context what is created will outlast content.

What a great discussion! The path to photo quality is having a buttoned up process, there seems to be uniform agreement on that. However, there are two additional problems impacting the decision of whether to produce the photos in house or outsource it. 
1. Getting it done right away. This week there were over 1.3 million vehicles on Cars.com. Here was the breakdown:
No photos on 71% of the vehicles listed for 3 days or less
No photos on 42% of the vehicles listed for 4-7 days
No pontos on 28% of the vehicles listed for 8-14 days
No photos on 16% of the vehicles listed for 15 days to one month
No photos on 7% of the vehicles listed for more than one month
(It takes a little math to get these numbers, but the raw data is public information and the process can be repeated at any time using the entire inventory set filtered for dealer listings only.)

As an industry, we are not getting this vital job done fast enough, no less done right. Whether you are waiting on the external rep or someone internally, every day your vehicle waits for photos is flooring expense and depreciation with little hope for a sale. And forget the excuse about cars waiting for detailing or recon. I monitor Finish Line Ford closely, because they are a used-vehicle merchandising machine. The only time I find more than 2% of their inventory without photos is when they receive a fresh batch of vehicles that don't make the feed that day. Less than 2% should be everyone's standard. If the vehicle needs extensive reconditioning then merchandise it with the appropriate notation before reconditioning and make the adjustments after. Get the car up for sale.

2. Photos and videos may be enough for new cars but not used. Every used vehicle needs a vehicle condition report. Making that level of transparency available online enhances preference for the vehicle and preference for your store. You wouldn't consider a wholesale vehicle listed online without a condition report. Consumers are no less skeptical and no more forgiving about having their time wasted.

The new standard is a process that anyone can follow to produce the right photos, videos and a condition report. If only one person can do it, internal or external, there are going to be days when it does not happen. Speed and quality are both dependent upon simplicity of process. 

Most stores do not have the volume Finish Line Ford does, making it hard to scale a proprietary process. However, dealers in Canada have been solving this problem for over two years with cDemo's Mobile Inspector app on the iPhone. It was recently released in the U.S. and quickly won the AWA award for Best Mobile Application and was a finalist for the DrivingSales Innovation Cup. The process is built into the app. I had my whole family testing it in the driveway this week. My wife, brother, and daughter-in-law could all complete the entire process with no prior training. I think I can train my 8-year old granddaughter to do it with additional explanations about drivetrains, tires, and how to get the hood open. We'll see.

Process, process, process. It is less about who than how. As Jeff pointed out, the who is going to change on you. Make the process simple enough and uniform enough, with one common device, to nullify the question of who should do it.

Ahhhhh..... a specialist!  Thank you soooo much for the reply!  The "lurkers" on this blog make it what it is: the BEST automotive resource on the net!  My company will review each word you said in an effort to improve our processes, I can assure you!  

Unfortunately, the one thing I've found in-common with all specialists is that you all think what you do is THE Most Important thing.  I've yet to find a "global" specialist that can take "ALL" into consideration beyond GM or Owner level thinking.  

Can you spell ROI?

The subject matter was photo taking.  Are we perfect or did we claim to be? No.  Do I wish our Used guys did a better job with the check marks on the options boxes? Yes.  Is there a line between paying a "specialist" and doing the job in-house well enough?  Duh.  Care to discuss market leadership?

I remember a very high ranking officer in our company asking a local photography agency to take a look at our photos and our product and to make a recommendation.  Hahahhaha.... I love the guy and am a friend to the family, but WHOA!  

You have to be [redacted] if you think you need to professionally photograph your inventory.   This is (almost) 2012: the clients want to see simple validation when they arrive on the lot: "This is what I saw."  

Period.

But I digress - I appreciate your effort and expertise here, but I caution you about your $288K comment.  You obviously have no dealership experience, and hence no grounds to claim anything other than photoshop awards.

I reviewed your website per your request and the photos look alright.  I noticed that you got the front wheels steered towards the camera to show the tire tread?  I would steer the rims towards the camera to show the rims off.  You have some photos with the rims turned and some without.  Some first photos are off-center and some are at higher levels pointing down at the vehicle.  If the same person was taking the photos, this wouldn't happen.  The interior photos need some close ups to highlight the "goodies".  Why only 20+ photos of each car?  I take between 27 and 40 photos for some dealers and it's not difficult to script out what photos to take.  All and all you do a good job.  I don't see any night photos, cutoff bumpers or roofs, you remove paper mats and any other distracts before photo'ing the vehicles.  Research indicates that a first photo of a vehicle should point at the area where you want the customer to click, so maybe you should consider switching the first photo to the passenger side three-quarter photo.  When photo'ing the dash, turn the car to accessory to illuminate the dash (example:  Sienna TS0341). Just some ideas.

Also and just as important as Photos, is the Vehicle Option List.  DIY is more than just the photos.  I reviewed several of your vehicles and I was able to discover many mistakes in the vehicle option area.  It seems as though you allow a VIN decoder to populate your options with no human oversight.  HUGE MISTAKE!

You have a Monte Carlo SS with a Power Sunroof, which I can see from the photos, but it's not mentioned in the vehicle options.  What if I was an online shopper looking for a Monte Carlo SS in your area, but I only wanted a Monte with a Sunroof and when I searched for a Monte Carlo I used the very handy KeyWord Search that is available on many of the major vehicle locating websites; such as Cars.com and AutoTrader.com, your Monte Carlo would not display in the results.  So a lost opportunity and maybe a lost sale?

Here's more examples:

2008 Buick Enclave - T28329B - it has a Power Sunroof, DVD Entertainment System, Bose Audio System and not listed in your option list.  Another lost opportunity?

BMW 3series - L11271A - this one is hard to see and call, but I think I can make out the power folding mirror button on the door and see the buttons for the universal garage door opener on the bottom of the rearview mirror so this car might have the Premium Pkg which includes Leather, Universal garage door opener, BMW Assist, Bluetooth, power lumbar, memeory seats, power folding mirrors, auto-dimming mirror and more.  Also, it looks as if this car has heated seats.  A close up photo of the dash controls would help.  You listed it as having Premium Synthetic Seats.  Another lost opportunity?

CTS - P15604 - missing Power Sunroof

STS - P15126A - Missing Power Sunroof and you have listed "Navigation from Telematics" which seems to indicate injunction with On*Star, but your car has the full screen DVD based navigation system

Finally, I found the Escalade with an adjusted vehicle option list.  You added 22" rims, DVD, and Power Sunroof.  Based on what I see, you are using HomeNet for your inventory management tool, correct?  I can help you with this because I use HomeNet too, but mine has been altered to give me the best outcome when dealing with vehicle options.

Remember this important factor:  Everything rolls downhill from your Inventory Management Company.  For example: your vehicle comments don't include references to these options on these vehicles listed above because you didn't include them in the description, so your vehicles comments are not "optimized".  Your vehicle videos don't mention these options during the video, another lost opportunity to sell that vehicle based on it's unique options.  Lastly, as mentioned above, the KeyWord Search on Cars.com and AutoTrader.com.  The list continues.

Data Collection and Photo Collection is an specialized field.  Sending just "anyone" out to do the "job" won't get you the results you need.  I've heard stories about sending receptionist out to photo cars or salespeople or porters or just anyone available.  How much does your website cost per month? How much does an AutoTrader.com contract cost per month?  How much does a Cars.com contract cost per month?  How much does a live voice video cost per month?  That's a lot of money depending on the photo taker and data collector, why trust it to just anyone?  This "job" is the most important job in the dealership!  And you're going to trust that this is done right by sending just anyone out to the lot to collect some photos and some data?

Some dealers can do DIY right, but most do it wrong or very wrong.  And the dealers who say they do it best and give lectures on how to save money by doing it themselves, do it the worst.   The header says put $288K on the bottom line, but for must dealers it might cost them $288K.

You know it's funny you say that, because when we first developed the process, I was doing it a lot myself.  I'm not exactly a schmuck -- I was careful and meticulous and paid attention to the details.  

My pictures sucked.  

The secret?  I was too tall.  It was all about the angles.  Result?  Shorter people take our photos (and I'm not joking).

But hey -- money where my mouth is: Pre-Owned Cars for Sale | MotorWorld | MileOne Autogroup

These are all shot by a team of entry-level employees.  Like I said, feedback has been positive, but in the spirit of kaisan, we're always looking to improve.  

Do these suck?

We do everything in-house except the descriptions -- we outsource the narrative writing and pay a per-car expense.  Photos are handled by a "team" of photographers who work for our BDC.  Someone calls off sick, no problem.  Someone quits, no problem.  The BDC staff likes it (at least they like it when it's warm) because it helps break-up the monotony of sitting in-front of the screen all day.  We drew-up a simple process diagram to ensure we are consistent with our efforts across all of our photographers.  Feedback has been positive on the efforts as well as the finished product.  Really, even companies that don't have a BDC can accomplish the same -- I mean, c'mon, snapping pictures is not rocket science.  Reception staff, lot porters, etc. can be trained to snap a few good pictures.  

There is only one question a dealership needs to answer. How important is photography (and online merchandising) to a dealership’s success today?

@glen garvin - Published study or not, you would be hard pressed to convince me that outsourcing a core competency required to be a successful retailer today is good for the dealership OR the bottom line.

Dealerships must embrace and own their online initiatives. This is simply not going away. Photography, price, options, and descriptions are the emotional triggers that drive connectivity with your customer.

Glen, although I can appreciate cynicism (we all know this industry has the potential to breed it), we have zero vested interest in whether or not a dealership takes their own photos.  The study was based solely on photography - not software. 

And yes, it's not a "scientific study" (nor does it claim to be), but the sample set was picked at random and we felt 20 franchise dealers (10 vs 10) was a substantial enough set.  I can assure you a larger set would perpetuate our findings.  

The numbers are simply overwhelming in favor of dealers taking their own photos.  Take away the $288k, and our data still supports faster time to market and lower days in stock - all which I'm sure you will agree affect the bottom line.  

Isn't it also frivolous to lump Twitter and Photography responsibilities in with each other.  A dealership will still sell cars online without a Twitter account...

Your points above seem based solely on your opinion, so if you (who represents a lot service company which arguably could be considered to actually have a dog in the fight) can provide data on the contrary it would be interesting to compare notes.

Terrance brings up lots of great points. Thanks Terrance…studies be that cool kid’s candy I likes. (Ebonics was intended) Sir Garvin brings out some definite questions that surfaced in my mind…which need to be brought to light before moving towards any conclusions.

For me takeaways from books like “Financial Shenanigans: How to Detect Accounting Gimmicks & Fraud in Financial Reports”, being a previous car dealer son, having a degree in Economics, & being a dealer consultant since 1994 load my subconscious full of mind blocks from “$288K to the bottom line” hypnotizing statements.

So while adding 288K to the bottom line is awesome possum to the nostalgic conscious mind, the realistic subconscious may invariably question the validity especially after history such as the 1929 stock market crash, Enron, Bernie Madoff aka someone said he “made off” with lots of peoples money, & interesting reports like this from PBS’s FrontLine “Black Money” Login to view embedded media View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8RhxK5VPDw


(In a playfully respectful voice) Terrance you brought the Yang and we brought the Yin so lay out that data that resides in your den.

Interesting study and not exactly a new one.  As when it was first published, I'll challenge the study and while interesting in premise it is flawed on several levels:

1) The people creating the study have a vested interest in the outcome and therefore are biased in the way the experiment is conducted and carried out
2) There are too many variables to isolate to call this a "fair test" as definied by the scientific community
3) Sample size is too small
4) Results, dealers and data were not published

Frankly, this is just marketing and unsubstantiated statistics.  

That being said, I don't have a dog in the fight.  Our company provides both an in-house tool for the DIY set and a full-service offering.  

In my personal opinion, I would tell you that I wouldn't jump to any conclusions based on this "study".  It is truly a dealer-by-dealer decision, if a dealer has the best processes down at the dealership eventually you'll reach the point where this is a consideration.  That point comes somewhere between making you sure you are handling your leads, mystery shopping for improvement areas and following up your customers AND social media.  I wouldn't attempt to take on things like Twitter or photography until you've got the most important processes at your store completely handled.  

If you are up to it, there are many comparable tools and management systems available to you as the dealer and there are also companies that will service your dealership on an every day basis, so there are options that aren't necessarily represented in this study.  Again, I represent a company that can serve you with whatever decision you make... 

Sorry to put a dissenting view on here but I'm a cynic at heart and when I read something that looks more like a marketing ploy than a scientific study but claimed as the latter, I gotta say something... finally.  

Dealers are spending thousand's of dollars to bring buyers at their website and chat helps them to convert into sales.
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