Autotrader.com Annual Sales Meeting 2009 - Another Side of AutoTrader?

[Trader Hokie]

Joe--
Lay off of David Metter. He didn't drink too much of the Kool-Aid. If you're familiar at all with the Mile One Group, you'd know they are one of the largest and most successful dealer groups on the east coast, with or without AutoTrader.com. There was a time when the a large portion of his group wasn't even on ATC in my market, so it's not like he's in deep with them. He's giving his opinion in an open forum, and I think it's in bad taste for people to attack him, JUST BECAUSE he likes ATC and you don't. If dealers could get off their high horse, embrace the Internet, and realize ATC is worth the spend, there wouldn't be an issue here. I've seen dealers spend SO much more on newspaper, radio and TV it's HORRIBLE. With no ROI. And for those who used to work for ATC and are attacking them? Well, yes, they had steep goals, sometimes almost unattainable, but you're in SALES. If you can't hack it, get out. If they put you out, you failed to do what they asked you to do. Plain and simple. ATC is not the big bad wolf. And no, I don't even work for a Trader related company anymore. I just kept the name A) because I've used it a lot before when I was working there, and B) because I'm proud of my time with the company, it helped accelerate me into the salesperson I am today.

Dealers...former employees... PLEASE, stop the name calling, the finger pointing, and the drama. Move on. AutoTrader.com--What they do DOES work.

Peace.

 

[Joe Diaz]

Soon, when it's too late, you'll see what I'm talking about. I'll let all of you find out for yourselves. For years, no one at the SEC wanted to listen to Harry Markopolis when he warned them about Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme. David Metter was "encouraged" to post here.

 

[MiketheATCguy]

Wow; as a new ATC Ad consultant; all this pent up venom really surprised me. I've been with ATC since June 08. Prior to that it was five years with the Big daily Newspaper selling auto dealers; where we raised rates 7% every year.I had at least three dealers spending close to $1 million per year with me. I could see and hear the changing advertising environment; where these dealers were all headed towards the internet. In fact; it was some of my larger dealers that suggested I should try and get a job with ATC; as they found it gave them the best bang for their buck. As a competitive vendor I thought that ATC and cars.com were ridiculously cheap; as my average account spent $40k per month with me at the newspaper.

Before that I sold the top Adults 25-54 radio station in Silicon Valley to auto dealers. That too wasn't perfect; as often my dealers would get several of their prime time spots bumped off the air for higher rate spots; even though the dealer had an annual contract.
The average spend here was $15,000 per month.

I think the pricing of ATC or any rate increases are not really the issue. The issue is that you weren't getting enough service for your investment. I can assure you that ATC is working to correct that. All the sales people now receive about 50% of their commisions based on service metrics. If you haven't done the things to make the dealer successful; you don't get paid.

I would have to say; of all the media I have worked for ATC is the most customer focused and it shows in the dealer retention. So; please forgive us for any mistakes we've made. We are working to get better.

 

[John B (blog)]

As a former AT employee, it is not surprising that you did not get the service you needed after the sale at AT. It was never the focus of management.

AT's business model is flawed and is not customer(dealer)centered. I realized this early in my stint there and it sickened me. Look at the Tiered Structure of the site. (Premium, Featured, Standard.) It is all about squeezing more out of the dealers. The "new car" suite is absolutely ludicrous.

Yes, print (especially) is slowly dying (look at the reported bankruptcies in the Newspaper industry). Okay. Just because you have spent $40K a month on print in the past doesn't mean you have to spend that much forever. Your margins are shrinking and so should your entire ad spend to compensate. The internet the current solution to this problem.

In early 2007, AT took away the bonus paid on the rep's book of business. Reps at AT are paid to sell new contracts. And penalized 100% if you cancel. This is why you really see your rep until cancellation time.

AT seems to be trying to change the course of their corporate culture, but this is a big ship to turn around.

Unfortunately, at AT there are a lot of people in place in management that have always used weekly quotas and fear tactics (getting "written up") to motivate the sales people. Many people under this kind of pressure from their company do not have the strength to think about anyone but themselves. You, the Dealer customers have been on the short end of that deal for a LONG time.

 

[John B (blog)]

... meant to say above "This is why you really DON'T see your AT rep until cancellation time"...

 

[MiketheATCguy]

As to the selling of positioning on ATC. All media does it. Radio and Television charge more for prime time spots. The newspaper gives the back or front page of the section to the biggest contract. Google and Yahoo charge more to be listed first. It's like Reale estate; it's all about location; location; location.

 

[Joe Diaz]

At the end of the day, there's a paradigm shift of the strategic staircase; to reverse wrongsiding the demographic by leveraging talents and display and inspire unyielding integrity thru living the values and a reduction in workforce.
Strategic intiatives focus on the next level drill-down to granularity, cascading down new information to staff and feeding it back to our stakeholders, who must come to the party or be left out. And also in addition, to aggregate bandwidth at the close of play by actioning ROI, since we'd better not let the grass grow too long on this one unless we've captured the low-hanging fruit. By capturing and employing 360-degree thinking we are still optimistic things will feed through the sales and delivery pipeline, in order to
pre-prepare and utilise forward planning and ensure the balance sheet by sprinkling our magic throughout the enterprise. We need a holistic, cradle-to-grave approach and, as product evangelists, loop back to our clients
and touch base, and exchange idea-showers offline. From the get-go, we must... we shall... let us now... go forward together in this space.

 

[Joe Diaz]

meant to say above “...in order to
pre-prepare IN ADVANCE and utilise forward planning… ”

 

[John B (blog)]

Mike,

Your comparison to newspaper placement is exactly the problem with AT. AT is an internet site trying structure itself like a newspaper.

Dealers and Consumers are not served by the tiered structure and Pricing on the Autotrader site... only Autotrader.

AT has convinced dealers that there truly is value to being in the top spot. The problem is that ANYONE can be in the top spot. As time goes on, the value is even more degraded as more and more dealers in particular market take the bait.

In these lean times, dealers all over are starting to realize this and cutting their AT spend to the "Featured" position on the site. AT's lack of high trafficked partner sites is degrading their impact on the dealer's bottom line. The latest push on the New Car side is showing their desperation to retain income.

Your newspaper analogy is flawed. What you fail to realize, is that there is ONLY ONE front and back of a newspaper for advertising purposes. There is no such limitation on a Website.

I am not saying do not advertise on Autotrader. I am suggesting that the "Emperor" has a lot less Clothes on than he used to!

 

[MiketheATCguy]

John B
The bottom line is why is there a Premium section? Because dealers asked for it. How many times do you think a dealer has said; or asked for his cars to be on top? If you were talking radio or television; it's how can I get my spots in prime time? Newspaper; how can I get the front cover; back cover; right hand page? The answer is always the same; you pay a premium for it. That's just business! The market drives the price.

As to the fact that there is a limited number of front or back pages in newspaper; limited prime time spots in electronic media; well ATC limits the number of Premium partners in any specific make. A GM partnership won't be sold to unlimited GM dealers in a market. There are only a few partnerships available per make in each DMA.