An ADP and ReyRey Blitz?

[Jeff Kershner]

I’m always searching dealer websites hoping to find something new with all the right elements. What I have found is an increasing number of dealers switching to ADP and ReyRey websites.

I’m really baffled by this. On average I find their homepages to be sloppy, navigation hard to follow, vehicle details and homepages lack call to actions and multi photos (sorry for the slap guys). From what I have heard around the block, they usually produce a below average conversion rate. (Some of their newer sites are an improvement but they are far and few between).

What’s happening here? One site that I visit often, Paul Miller, was a user of BZResults. BZ has used them in their “many” advertisements. I just checked their site only to find ADP has taken over (What happened Sean?). MileOne, another huge dealer group dropped their many providers for ReyRey.

ADP and ReyRey have to be getting aggressive with their sales pitches or throwing their websites in with their CRM software (that sounds more like it). Sorry for the slander guys, but with the power and money at your disposal, you could be at the forefront of dealer website design and technology.

Anyone have an idea or know first person what’s happening here? I’m curious.

Has anyone recently switch to a ReyRey or ADP website?

 

[MARK BONFIGLI]

It is interesting that you are noticing a trend or dealers switching to Rey Rey, ironically we have seen a huge jump in dealers switching from Rey Rey to us! Just last month alone over 50 dealers switched from Rey Rey and Cobalt to Dealer.com! This trend has been consistent over the past year and is increasing as every month passes. As for BZ, I can only state that most dealers have been locked in to long 3-5 year contracts and it has only been just recent that they can finally "get out" and pursue other vendors. We have had over 30 dealers contact us with regard to switching from BZ in the past 60 days alone. Some of these dealers are from large groups that are looking for a much more versatile solution without such a huge monthly price-tag. Additionally one of the big reasons we have seen so much switch-over from these vendors is that we provide an integrated SEM (search engine pay per click) marketing solution called Dominator that drives qualified customers to our dealer client websites. This cutting edge solution is already the talk of the industry as seen in last weeks International Roundtable in Las Vegas. A recent example of a large dealer group moving from Rey Rey is www.darcars.com

I welcome any further questions you might have.

Sincerely,

Mark Bonfigli
President, CEO
Dealer.com, Inc
888.895.2990
[email protected]

 

[ana baena]

You guys have alot of time on your hands. I am always amazed by how below average people sit around and talk about other people rather than just improving themselves. Have a nice time around the water cooler while the winners cross the finish line!

 

[Eric Windsor]

I think the previous two commenters are full of BS. The only REAL solution for a dealership is something either tailor made or easily customizable.

A personal friend of mine programmed the front and back end for Dave Smith Motors in Kellogg Idaho (#1 Dodge Dealer in the World). They do a massive amount of internet sales, perhaps the most in the country. The program is very impressive and it's tailor made for THEIR needs, not the needs of 'most dealers'.

 

[AutoOptimize]

Jeff-
Reynolds is in its second year of their WebMakerX 4
product, and considering the leap in technology made from the Third Coast Media WebMakerX 3.7 platform, this application is running quite well! From an SEO's perspective, WebMakerX is a great choice when looking to drive up your site traffic and increase qualified leads. Dealer.com has come a long way, and so has DealerOn.com. It will be interesting to see how these companies position their products at NADA

Mark-
It's great to hear Dealer.com is expanding their business model to include marketing services. ADP and Reynolds both are information service providers, and are aware that their core lies in building technical solutions. I wouldn't be surprised if either company ended up reselling the services of an established SEM/SEO.

 

[Cookie Cutter Assasin]

I think the major problem is there are too many small auto dealer service companies out there lacking the financial backing to really expand. They might have great design service but lack a usable CRM and vice versa. After a couple of years of trying to bring their technology to the forefront, they seem to abandon their business model and try to mimic a ReyRey or ADP solution.

However, some wise developers, including myself have hooked up and starting planning a robust suite of tools. Alone, we are very innovative, but always lack something. I myself have designed and maintain some of the Highest SEO ranking High Line dealerships, but I couldn't poll an inventory if my life depended on it. I'm sure you can see where the problem lies. After about 6 years of all of us working independently in the industry as CRM, Website Designers and Dealer Employees we have all just recently met and started our planning.

We gathered all the intel on the competition, worked over their tools and revised with major improvements. Mission Accomplished!

All I can really say is big companies will come and go. In the next year, we'll release the most innovative Online Dealers Services, we'll grow, get commercial, forget our roots, laugh to the bank and come to sites like this to see people complain about us. Or, atleast that's the plan.

Just my 2 cents, maybe just a penny.

 

[Steve Coad]

Jeff,

I know why dealers are going to Reynolds and ADP in droves. In a word; searchability. When you try to search the flashy websites on Google or Yahoo you get mediocre results. These search engines have gone to organic relevance for the search criteria and flash technology is invisible to these search engines, the only two that really matter. Reynolds and ADP are building their sites to attract spidermaze searches which drives more leads. It does not look as nice but gets many more leads. BZ is left in the dust compared to ADP and Reynolds when it comes to search results. These two companies will almost always dominate the search results and they have the advantage of seamless integration with the DMS of the company they were designed by.

These companies do not throw these products in, they charge a premium for the sites. If you are on ADP or Reynolds and using another website provider you're missing not only the integration (these two bitter rivals also integrate with each others systems very well) but the best search engine performance available.

 

[John Zarlino]

Do you do any API key code programs?

John Zarlino
614-759-3390 WK #
614-204-2009 CELL #

 

[Adam Edwards]

I would not use an ADP site or ReyRey... by the way wasn't BZresults just acquired by ADP. That could be a really ugly combination.
Being locked into a BZresults contract, I agree wholeheartedly with the negative comments posted here concerning BZ. I have zero faith in the abilities of the BZ's support team, and BuzzTrak is the worst thing I ILM I have ever used. After 4+ years of WebControl and ADP/ReyRey working with a BZresults signed Dealer Group has been a true headache for over a year personally. I had to develop my own reporting program, and bounce in and out of 4 databases to get an educated guess of where we are... Boy do I miss the Daily Operation Control report and Internet Walk-in report from AVV Webcontrol. I would have left for greener pastures by now if I wouldn't be afraid that ownership would actually resign the BZ contract at the end of the term.
BZ's support team recently approached me with a website revision...Wow 2.0! This does nothing to change the way the site is viewed by the search engines, and the site is still the same hard to navigate flash based eye candy they already offer. They will not allow me to add 3rd party tools to the site to better my traffic conversion ratio. Instead they offered a distraction of the promise of a better backend, and a scrolling ticker on the home page of the websites. Well, the backend revision still isn't as good as Dealerskins was over 3 years ago, and a scrolling ticker is so 1999. I feel badly for dealers who get trapped in the BZ program and it makes Internet Sales Pro's have to work harder to convince dealers the web is the only way to go.

I recommend using a DealerOn website, iCarMagic, Jumpstart Automotive or Dealer.com Dominator for SEM and a tight follow up process for success and maximum return on investment.

 

[Richard R. Pancoast]

In your search of dealership web solutions & hoping to find something new with all the right elements, perhaps you may want to look at a company called Red OnX Software (www.redonx.com). Red OnX has all those elements you say need to be in a dealership website, and we also understand completely how to develop a search engine friendly site for dealerships so that they are getting the most out of their investment. We have found that many providers of web sites and web solutions for automotive dealerships today are designed by companies providing applications to dealers that aren't intended for the web and the buying public (such as DMS applications). Many of these companies don't always know how to maximize the power of the web and thus the dealers loose out.

I agree with you, in that I too have noticed that increasing number of dealers are switching to ADP and ReyRey websites. This could be in part to a few things, namely the major blitz by both companies who are definately getting aggressive with their sales pitches. I know of a few occassions where I have heard that ReyRey Sales Reps have told the prospective dealership that the only solution that will work with their DMS is one from Reynolds. That however is not the case. Additionally as has been previously noted in other comments on your site, Reynolds also uses their Compliance sales pitch to the dealership and if they do not use their system they will not be compliant, which scares the dealerships in to signing with them.

The bottom line to me and the secret to success for an Auto Dealerships is not just having a nice looking website (especially one with the over-use of flash or java), but having a web solution that is effective in turning visitors into qualified leads, with a system that will drive traffic to your site and make it easy for you to convert that traffic and those leads into satisfied buying customers. Red OnX Software ( as well as several others besides Reynolds & Reynolds & ADP) will give you all that and more.
I too agree that in looking at a lot of Reynolds sites, that they are sloppy, difficult to navigate and hard to follow, their vehicle details and homepages lack call to actions and multi photos.

One of the biggest things that these companies have failed to realize in developing sites was pointed out in a recent Gartner Group study, which stated that "50% of web sales are lost because visitors cannot easily find content, products or services they’re looking for on websites". This is especially true for Automotive Dealership sites. A Red OnX Solution, offers dealers a wide range of “call to action” Lead Generation Marketing tools that focus in on what the various types of visitors to your site are looking for. I am also sure too, that there are several other solutions that do to.

The bottom line for a dealership today is that in order for them to be successful selling via the internet, they don't need a website in a box, they need a holistic solution that covers everything from search engines, lead capture, follow up, website, tracking, monitoring, processes and accountability. Additionally, that solution needs to flexible, easy to use, be able to grow with their business and grow with the market and be affordable. That kind of solution, unfortunately I don't see a dealer getting with Reynolds & Reynolds or ADP.

Richard R. Pancoast
Red OnX Software (www.redonx.com)
Vice-President of Sales & Marketing
888-332-6875 (Voice & Fax)
562-209-5534 (Cell)