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Advice on entering this field?

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T

Tony T

Lot Lizard
Oct 6, 2009
8
0
First Name
Thomas
#1
I'm looking to enter the internet operations/sales field at a local dealership. I interviewed for the position of Internet Sales Administrator on the 1st of October after sending in a resume on the 24th of September. The job description in the ad was rather simple... So simple anyone that's even a little tech savvy could perform the functions required.

We got into conversation and I spewed some numbers off and confirmed I was savvy enough to perform the duties and then some. Then something happened I didn't expect... The manager told me straight up that they were a salesperson and they wanted someone to take over operations because they weren't a techie and the time they spent as manager was cutting into their sales. Then they proceeded to ask about my general IT knowledge. I am now waiting on an interview with the owner.

After doing some more research their presence online is nill. To take over operations would more or less be building from the ground up.

I don't have a background in the auto industry.
I do know a fair amount of SEO.
I do know general online marketing.
I do know how to code... some.
I do know PC repair which from the conversation definitely pleased them.
I do know Windows inside and out and some Linux.

I found this these forums on the 23rd of September and they've been daily reading ever since. As of right now this forum has more respect from me than any forum I've ever posted to. MAD RESPECT!

Some advice I need:
Is their better places to get free stats on a third party site than compete and alexa?

What are some of the softwares I should research that the dealership might use internally?

How do you tell the owner that the big flashy 'Skins site they have up right now has absolutely no SEO value or even a practical value and they need to dump this vendor and start over in an interview?

And any general advice is appreciated of course.

Email me if you like: [email protected]

That was long winded enough... Thank You.
 
#2
Tony, thanks for the mad respect but most of all thanks for becoming part of the community.

You have a lot of questions here...

Is their better places to get free stats on a third party site than compete and alexa? - These are the 3 that I use and off hand I'm not aware of any other/better. But someone else might chime in with some options.


What are some of the softwares I should research that the dealership might use internally?
1. CRM/ILM 2. Inventory tool - that's to start off. There are many mentions of all the different tools here in the DR forms and the blog.

How do you tell the owner that the big flashy 'Skins site they have up right now has absolutely no SEO value or even a practical value and they need to dump this vendor and start over in an interview?
I wouldn't even go there yet. Keep it simple by saying there are a few things we can do to increase visitors to the website which in return yield more opportunities to sell more cars.

And any general advice is appreciated of course.
Keep reading and participating here on DealerRefresh. :)

1 piece of advise Tony. When you interview with the GM, be sure he is bought in and has some belief in what Internet marketing can do to lift his sales.

Also find out if they are looking for an Internet Marketing manager or a glorified sales person that knows how to type and know how to surf the web. The later is what most are looking for... and that's OK, just be ready to sell some cars!
 
#4
Thanks for joining Tony :hello:

Glad to hear you've found some value in DealerRefresh, and I hope you will continue to find that for a long time in your new endeavor.

You're actually one lucky man right now. You get to build a department from the ground up. You get to put your DNA into this one. I, often times, think about what I'd do if I had the opportunity to start over.

I'm going to make a few assumptions with the rest of what I'm going to say that are based off your original post....

I have seen a lot of people come into the sales side of the car business from other industries that aren't like this. The car business is a rough place, and you need to make sure you've got a) the skin and b) the balls to handle it. From what you're saying about the Sales Manager you're pseudo-replacing, you're walking into one "traditional" dealership. Keep in mind that sales people are professionals who size people up, chew them up, and spit them out. The best Sales People are called owners, and then all those guys in between. I don't say this to scare you - I want you to be prepared for the day when things get tough.....it will come.

Fortunately for you these guys are probably going to leave you alone for the most part. They don't understand what they want out of your job, you, or Internet marketing in general. They're going to act like they know what they're talking about, so you're going to have to tread carefully when calling them out.

I wanted to get that out of the way early and make sure you've thought about a game plan for handling these guys. That will be a very big part of your job. But, if you can handle that part this job will be extremely rewarding!

Jeff has definitely answered your questions, but I think he was trying to say Compete, Alexa, and xxxx - I don't know the third. I check Compete every now and again, but I prefer to do "site" searches on Google and "Link" searches on Yahoo for comparing like businesses/websites. I pay more attention to those when gauging my competitors. Just be sure to search with and without "www.".

Keep any questions you have coming!
 
#5
Hello Tony,

I would also recommend to shop the potential competition. All the way from submitting an inquiry, evaluating response time, autoresponders and walking in to the dealerships.. I would do all of this before meeting with the GM. If you walk in with " I have shopped your competition" , would be appreciated by any GM/ Owner. You'll have more knowledge about the business as well.

Dan O' in Baltimore
 
#7
Tony,

Go shopping for a new and used car(s).l Its simple. Think like a shopper, pick a car and go shopping! Keep your eyes wide open and take notes on your experiences. This is business, we combat with our competition, it's your army against theirs.

The better the shopping experience, the stronger your competition. Shop YOUR STORE. If your store is near the bottom... beware of unfair expectations.The store has many problems unrelated to your job description.

It's all about the job description.
 
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#8
Hey Joe,
I live in a rural area and there's only two major new car dealers in the area. I did what you said and shopped the other dealership yesterday. Turns out the other dealership is looking for a new sales person preferably with no experience. So since the first dealership hasn't started the second round of interviews and it's a week since the first round I put in an application. I'll interview for that this morning.

This brings me to wonder what happens to brand loyalty... I'm a Chevy man and the salesperson position is for a Ford dealer. I know you suck it up and do what you have to do. This is just the first time I've ever contemplated having anything to do with Ford. Uggh...

This thread seems to be turning into my diary... HA!

Preciate All Of Ya'lls!
 
#9
Tony T said:
This brings me to wonder what happens to brand loyalty... I'm a Chevy man and the salesperson position is for a Ford dealer. I know you suck it up and do what you have to do. This is just the first time I've ever contemplated having anything to do with Ford. Uggh...
Click to expand...

Greetings from one Dealerrefresh n00b to another! When I started in the car biz I was a big GM fan as well. Ended up at a Ford dealership too. I quickly fell in love witrh the product and I think you will too. Ford is really up to some cool things. Since it's also a domestic product, there won't be too much culture shock. IMHO, Ford and GM customers are very similar. You should fit in right in.
 
#10
Not to mention, ford is in a better financial position corporately. I cut my sales teeth at a young age in the industry, becoming a GSM by 23, and just now looking to get back into an ISM position or 3rd part rep at 40. I've learned more from this board in the last 24 hours, than I have in a week of research elsewhere.

While I have the SEO down pretty well, from the research I've done, I've not seen a lot of dealers using twitter, FB,etc., for their service department. Is there a reason for this, that I''m not aware of? It seems like a no brainer to keep your name in front of the customer much more frequently, and legitimately without it seeming like spam. I know I used to troll the service department like mad on slow days, looking for that person servicing their 3 yr or older car.

I'm sure I'll have a lot more questions as I go along. Keep up the good work.

Chris
 
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