Is paying for an award false advertising?

[Jerry Thibeau]

Phone Ninjas was given a Spotlight Award as one of the 5 best products at NADA by PCG. I did not pay to enter a contest for this award nor did I bribe Brian in any way.

Why did Brian/PCG give Phone Ninjas this award? Because we have a Great Product! Brian also is a huge advocate for Phone Ninjas promoting us to his clients. Why does Brian do this you might ask? When PCG generates more leads for a dealership it's all for nothing if they suck at the first moment of truth.

One of my beliefs is that I will not take a referral from any vendor, if offered I decline. If I recommend a product to a dealer it's because I believe in that product. I have been offered plenty and I turn them done every time. I respect people with the same principal and Brian Pasch is one of those people. I offered him a referral fee early on and he declined to accept, so in my book that speaks volumes about Brian.

Why does a company like PCG charge to be in the Spotlight Awards? Perhaps because they have cost associated with hosting the event. There is a dinner, there is the award itself, and the time it takes to to put the event on. This stuff cost money, so I can't fault Brian for charging an entry fee. He's not getting wealthy from the entry fees. He is promoting his own company in the process and he's entitled to do that. PCG is helping companies showcase their products while forging bonds that are good for business. This is a savvy business practice in my opinion. Read the 48 Laws of Power and you'll better understand the reasoning behind all of this.

This thread has taken a turn in the wrong direction so I felt the need to make the above statement.

 

[Brian Pasch]

Mike & Sweece

The annual AWA awards which are given to companies in the auto industry are not pay to play awards.

Every year we review products and services regardless of whether they register their products for our review committee. Every year companies that did not opt in for a demonstration session have won. In fact each year companies have won that have never spoken to me before. So anyone's "theory" that the AWA awards are pay to play are unfounded.

Mike, DealerTrend was an AWA award winner year one, and I am sure you can recall that the award was given to you without even knowing your company in advance. That goes the same for DealerFire, ClickMotive, and other companies over the years that were recognized not based on any money or prejudice.

The award review process is time consuming and costly. The awards are not money makers for PCG when you consider the time and resources that go into the quantitative and qualitative analysis.

There are two levels of paid registration today, and once again, 80% of the products reviewed are not registered (paid).
The reason for this registration process is to allow companies to fully document and demonstrate their technology. We normally pick information off vendor websites and search for their technology online, but as you might guess over 50% of vendor websites have outdated case studies, client examples, and product information.

The paid registration came about because companies were critical in year one of the awards that we randomly picked examples of their website technology when many factors can impact specific dealer website performance.

For example, vendors may have multiple generations of website technology in place and they want the review committee to know their latest products and services. Since there is much time and effort placed in these high level demonstrations, with multiple employees involved, there is a charge for a two hour full product review.

The difference between the AWA and other awards are significant. The award committee are technical and business professionals that are reviewing a product with no emotional or financial stake at play.

The DrivingSales Awards are excellent resources for dealers, because they are voted by dealers who use the product and have a stake in its success. These dealer votes have no peer comparison or quantitive testing. DS awards are completely fan based and if you have witnessed the voting process, you start to ask why certain companies have 50 votes come in on the last week of December out of the blue. That happens because the vendors coach their customers to vote for the award to game placement .

I'm not saying that the dealer votes are not real, but they are coached and strategized. The dealer voice is important, but with any system, they have their weaknesses.

Every award given to people will be doubted for its integrity. There is an application fee for the Inc 500/5000 awards each year. Does that make them "pay to play" when someone has to review pages and pages of company financials and call references?

All I can say is that the AWA are not pay to play and anyone who has been part of the process or knows me personally will have a hard time looking me in the eye and saying it is otherwise.

Brian Pasch, CEO
PCG Consulting
Proud Founder of the Automotive Website Awards (AWA)

 

[Brian Pasch]

Mike, I responded to your question in a much longer answer below, but if you have come to feel that the AWA awards and the original ASMA awards are tainted, it's odd that you would feature them on your home page.

Mike, you know that the purpose behind the awards have always been to find great products and connect them with dealers. You know the time and energy that does into the review process, the 160 page book, and hosting an awards dinner.

The quantitative information in the 160 page AWA book has become an industry guide and reference. Again, the book is not a money maker and takes weeks to compile and complete.

The awards process is not a money centric program for PCG. Actually the companies that have been recognized are rewarded with new business and profits, not PCG.

In the end, these awards are great for dealers and the vendors. Casting a negative tone about my passion and hard work to keep these awards meaningful is disappointing.

Brian

 

[MikeFitzpatrick]

@Jerry

Could also be called an entry fee I guess. Perhaps the award company can explain the charge/fee.

You're going to have to be more specific on this one, let's not beat around the bush.

It could most definitely be "called" an entry fee, and I have no doubt that there are costs associated with research, printing, ceremonies etc. But if the award is for the "best" SEO platform and I am told: "We will review your sites if you pay or not, BUT by paying you get to tell us which sites to review". Especially when this comes from an SEO company that knows that SEO is about 30% platform and 70% authority (backlinks, content, etc.). So really it isn't about an SEO'd platform at all, but about having an active client, or one that is currently paying for additional SEO work.

Driving Sales has a really good vendor rating section. Some day I hope to see Jeff do the same.

I agree that the rating systems are a good way to help dealers, but once again they can be very flawed. First of all the vendors with deeper pockets and more dealer clients based on OEM relationships will have the ability to "ask" for more reviews. Just like the car dealer client, vendor clients (the dealer) don't go looking to post good reviews, they need to be asked and prompted to do so.




@JQuinn

Sounding a little naive to me... What isn't Pay for Play???

Not naive, just a little dose of reality. I totally get that it's not the system it is how it is manipulated. Just like guns don't kill, people do.






In the end I don't fault the vendors. Just like salespeople will work the pay plan, vendors will work the system to get ahead in the way that suites them. Like Yago says "Let them play the song they like to dance to.", but I can choose to go with what feels right for me.


Our entire team has discussed this and other similar issues. We have come to the conclusion that we will build the best product that we can, and take care of our customers the best that we can. If what we offer isn't a fit for a dealer because we don't have a specific feature or we haven't won an award from the guru of the day then that's just the way it is. And that feels right to us, hopefully it can be profitable .

 

[MikeFitzpatrick]

Brian, you must have gone straight to the site and and got that screen shot . We pulled it down soon after I posted this question. As well as YouTube videos etc. Going with my gut on this one.

The awards process is not a money centric program for PCG. Actually the companies that have been recognized are rewarded with new business and profits, not PCG.

Brian, I totally respect the fact that you have built a profitable business in the auto industry over the years as it is a difficult thing to do, but to say that anything that you do isn't money centric I have a hard time buying. Every post that you do, every response, every webinar, every seminar has an end it mind. I think that even your most loyal followers would have a hard time arguing that.

In the end, these awards are great for dealers and the vendors. Casting a negative tone about my passion and hard work to keep these awards meaningful is disappointing.

I am not the only one in this industry that has an uneasy feeling about the way that awards (not just yours) are done. Maybe this is an opportunity to rethink them to hopefully come up with a better way.

 

[CarGuy2011]

I've noticed several things within the last couple of years, Vendors are paying for "Enhanced Listings" on Driving Sales' website and receiving all the "goodies" that come along with that payment to Driving Sales, but what about when it comes time to hand out awards, will Driving Sales give special attention to the vendors who pay for the "Enhanced Listings" to continue to receive the money? Maybe?

Also what about those individuals that do training seminars with big companies about their products and I'm only guessing, receive compensation for their involvement and then have to decide which companies receive awards? There might be a conflict of interest in that situation. How can you award companies that you have received compensation from? I think that's buying an award or at least buying special consideration.

This is an interesting discussion and deserves a lot more attention because it's almost like how government works. Buy a vote or buy an award? Will vendors need to hire lobbyists to get special awards and good honors?

Do you remember when you could buy a better BBB score with just a few dollars?

 

[joe.pistell]

....I am not the only one in this industry that has an uneasy feeling about the way that awards (not just yours) are done. Maybe this is an opportunity to rethink them to hopefully come up with a better way.

Mike,

Beware this casting yourself in the light that looks like your suffering from "sour grapes".

You're a business man, costs for this giant effort are best left to the vendors, avoid playing the victim card at all costs. If you see areas of un-fair advantage then propose a solution with your gripes so you may take the high ground.

 

[joe.pistell]

BBB has clearly created a system that rewards cash for higher scores

 

[CarGuy2011]

BBB has clearly created a system that rewards cash for higher scores

You gotta love when Hamas is a BBB accredited company!!!

 

[MikeFitzpatrick]

@Joe

Beware this casting yourself in the light that looks like your suffering from "sour grapes".

You're a business man, costs for this giant effort are best left to the vendors, avoid playing the victim card at all costs. If you see areas of un-fair advantage then propose a solution with your gripes so you may take the high ground.

My intent is not to be the victim. If you look at my history of blogging/commenting you will see that isn’t my thing at all. I like solving problems and coming up with the high road solutions. I’ll admit I got a little fired up from the phone call mentioned above, but have chilled out since.


In this case I don’t have an answer (although wheels are spinning), especially after seeing how even the BBB is “tainted”.


My main point wasn’t to call out Brian or anyone for that matter, but the process itself to see what everyone thinks of it. In doing so I am hoping we can have a good constructive discussion that can generate a positive solution. I have found that if I am uncomfortable with something, inevitably I am not the only one and a good discussion will at the very least flush out something.