A Camera, a Process and $288K to the Bottom Line

[JQ]

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.

 

[Dennis Galbraith]

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.