AutoTrader.com Pricing???

[Lightnup (blog)]

Okay, this will be my last post to this thread, because it's embarrassing that it keeps getting bumped to the top because of a malignant cancer like TTT, who truly is not worth the time it takes to reply.

No matter what company it is, whether it's ATC or any of your dealerships whose employees post here, to have an employee who publicly demeans, ridicules and undermines the company's management, products and reputation while gleefully taking a paycheck from them is absolutely disgusting and the perfect example of the term lowlife.

Not every decision made by ATC management has been the right one (clearly evidenced by the hiring of someone like TTT). And I have no problems with Alex or David's recent posts which are based on what did or didn't work for them. But TTT intentionally discouraging potential customers from considering her own company's products is a slap in the face to the people she walks through the front door with every morning and to those of us who are out here sincerely interested in helping our dealers maximize their online results through our solutions.

TTT, you apparently think you know who I am but you have no clue. Instead of giving that any more thought, you should be spending your time updating your resume, lying to your next employer about being a valued, loyal employee. What a joke. Only wish I could be there when you are eventually escorted off company property.

That's it. I'm done. Sorry for this thread being bumped to the top one last time by me. It will not happen again.

 

[TTT]

Lightnup,
I wasn't the one who wrote you up, you might want to send some hostility and anger towards them not me. It's sad you're leaving us, Goodbye.

 

[Not an Autotrader Fan]

I've been reading through some old dealerrefresh articles then came across this one. I noticed most comment strings are in the 8 to 30 range, but this one is at 262 comments - holy crap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I guess this one will make it 263.

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who hates autotrader.

 

[Oscar Vanderkooij]

Autotrader is just like the newspapers were a few years ago. They will keep increasing rates by hitting us with new little tools that are useless. I have tried to sit down with my local same brand dealers to see whether we could all step down to their cheapest package, but some of the other dealers think they are getting more value when paying all this money.

As long as us dealers keep paying and paying their insane fees, they will keep increasing them every year. The only answer at this time would be to create a dealer co-op and join forces to create a replacement of autotrader. Keep in mind that without the dealers autotrader is nothing, because we have the inventory. Take away the inventory and they are cooked.

Just a thought.....maybe we can put some heads together and create a fix to this instead of keep bitching about it...

 

[Former Autotrader Publishing Rep]

As someone that worked for Trader publishing for 8 years, it's interesting to "hear" the dealers side of things and to also get a fly on the wall perspective of how you think and feel about advertising.

Respectfully I must also say that many of the viewpoints sound like "typical" dealer rhetoric. Lying to your rep to make him give you a deal? Yikes...but not only not suprising, here is a little tip. We (meaning any person that sells you anything for your dealership) essentially feel that most of you are incapable of telling the truth. So I guess on that front, we all get what we give.

The concept of "they are raising their prices because they can" is also just slightly off the mark.
The goal is to have fewer people paying more for fewer ads, therefore there is less to contend with and more money per "ad".
Flawed business plan, you bet..but I didn't make up the rules, upper management did.

They are in the process of killing the magazine side, frankly the best value out there. Name another industry that has a publication created JUST FOR THEM...and yet most of you refuse to use it. What are you thinking people?

You get to spend about $20.00 an ad for one week, and the average sell through on the ads is less than 4 weeks. IF you know how to buy and have a sales force that is worth a darn. So at the end of the day you drop $80.00 to make $2k? Let's assume you don't make $2k on a car. Plug in your own numbers the math works. If it doesn't, perhaps a class on buying your product would help. During my time with the magazine side, my average dealer spent about $50k a year to make $300k. Guess what, HE STILL COMPLAINED THAT HE WAS PAYING TOO MUCH!!! You guys kill me.

All this time, when you bought a magazine ad, it went online for free.

Now having said all that....I respect my dealers...well most of them. There are a few that if they were hanging off of a cliff and telling the truth would save them, would plummet to their deaths not being able to muster a true statement.

The world as you know it has changed at ATC. They are now in charge of all the publication entities and and have released a majority of the senior staff.

The only folks left are following the plan. Fewer customers, paying more money for fewer ads.

Back in the day we used to pride ourselves on the ROI. We were the only one's in advertising that could show you a REAL one. Now, I have no idea where market penetration is, but its less than last year by far. So every dime you spend now will be less impactful than previous years. It is what it is.

I want to close with a quick story that makes it hard for you guys. I know there are lots of good honest folks out there, but too often the EGO gets in the way.

My dealer only wanted to run 10 ads a week regardless of the fact he had a 50 car lot. The price break was at 12 cars. It's a rule and as such I couldn't break it. A Manager could, but not a lowly sales rep. So this guy tells me he is going to drop. I ask him haow many cars he sells a month from my ads. He replies 15. So he is spending $26.00 for a two week ad or $390.00 every two weeks. $780.00 a month.
I asked what he was making a car. "$1800.00 per"

So he makes $27k a month on an $800.00 investment and is willing to blow that for $52.00 a week.
He looks at his Dad and back at me and says..."Ok we'll keep running." He hadn't even thought of it.

Please guys, do the right math.

Good luck in the car business....you are going to need it.

 

[Eric Miltsch (blog)]

Autotrader reps, want to add some value? Use this forum to your advantage.

Don't try to re-sell us. Don't try to use your re-tooled sales pitches from your old-school marketing dept.

The people on this forum know the business, know the lingo and simply "get-it."

How can you help us use your platform to improve our business? What can you do to help our dealerships stand out using the tools you have available? What are the little things that can make a difference?

How can you add value rather than simply walking into our stores and saying "Sign here, your rates went up." My rep in NY tries to help with new ideas, suggestions and tries her best to 'sell' new items when needed. [Other regions - not so much...ironically, that's where we spend the most.]

The 'regulars' on this site have provided more than enough constructive, professional feedback & suggestion to keep the product marketing folks at AT busy for a while.
If they don't want to take the time to simply print the discussions here and conduct their own brainstorming sessions, I'd be more than happy to put together a consulting session that would consist of the most direct, on-target feedback - Jeff, Alex, myself, (etc...) would provide all the help needed.

[Sessions start at 100k/day. Your investment would be recovered just by my renewed contracts alone in a couple of months. I'll be sure to stop by to have you sign the paperwork; at the end of the month, as you're trying to sit down for 5 minutes to grab just one bite of your sandwich.]

 

[Former Autotrader Publishing Rep]

After reading through these posts and the last one, I am sure you guys get something, but it's not advertising.

Eric you write "How can you help us use your platform to improve our business? What can you do to help our dealerships stand out using the tools you have available? What are the little things that can make a difference?"

As I respond to this keep in mind, I no longer work for AT.
So this is just my 2 cents. Discount it if you will.

The dealers I dealt with seem to want one comprehensive program that covers all the bases. Unfortunately, it does not exist.

Many dealers think that by building a webpage they have addressed their internet needs. Again, not the case.
Advertising for your dealerships will reflect a mix of many different places because people go to these places to do their research. So AT is one source, newspapers another (though not quite as uesful), TV, Cable, direct mail (which is tough to use well), ETC.
The most powerful tool in your arsenal will be follow up. You need to track your calls and do a much better job of handling your phone ups. One program is who'scalling.com. The downside is you have to publish an 800 number in your ads, but the upside is you get a comprehensive report showing when the calls were made, the call duration, where they called from within the city and so on. Last time I checked it you had acces to 38+ reports to help track where your calls were coming in from.
The other great feature was call recording. To be able to sit back and listen to your sales staff handle calls then train to the needs of your staff is huge.
Using this program you can see immediately where you money is best spent and make weekly changes to enhance these dollars.

At the end of the day NO ONE ad group will bring in a program that handles all the levels perfectly. That why you get the big bucks to run your dealership.

Do an honest review of the different sources you get your ups from. If you get some from AT great, use it as long as the amount paid is less than the amount made. Pretty simple.
Same goes for any source.
A good review of what you actually spend per vehicle for everything is a good idea. Divide staff costs, lights, phones, rent, everyting by the number of cars on your lot and then roll those suckers out every 30 days.
I had dealers that could throw birthdays for cars they had sitting on their lots prior to using me. Pretty scary.

 

[Eric Miltsch (blog)]

To FAPR.

[...After reading through these posts and the last one, I am sure you guys get something, but it's not advertising...]

You're saying this to a group consisting a people who have a website who just ranked best dealer website (Alex), one of the top dealer destination communities (Jeff) and myself (ADUSA online marketing initiatives) and so many others here that do, in fact, "get" the adv/mktg. element of the business. (The list is long...not slighting anyone by not mentioning you...)

While I can appreciate your attempt at bringing the value - share something an early adopter can get excited about. Call recording? Different 800#'s? Good follow up? ...old news.

Dealers need to know about the new products/services that can help them...IE: Google AdPlanner, new developments in Flash (like Jeff's article) Analytics strategies, social media optimization strategies, etc...

 

[Former Autotrader Publishing Rep]

I guess thats my point... when you throw this out "While I can appreciate your attempt at bringing the value - share something an early adopter can get excited about. Call recording? Different 800#'s? Good follow up? ...old news."

I guess my question is are you so busy at looking at the early adopter information that you forget what actually works now?

By the way congratulations on those accomplishments, I meant no disrespect to you or the guys that get it. I just have seen so many that frankly never knew what "it" was. But I digress.

I have been out of the business for nearly 6 months now. I am sure what was, is compeletely different now.

If you guys are doing all of the above mentioned things and maintaining good consistent customer service, then thats great.
In our area, the next dealer I meet that is doing all of that correctly...will be the first.

Maybe I need to move to where more folks get it.

 

[Alex Snyder (blog)]

Former ATP rep: thank you for your comments. You do realize this thread is about Autotrader DOT COM pricing and really has very little to do with what you're typing. Don't get me wrong, it is a good conversation to have, but you're not adding much to either side of this particular argument.

Just out of curiosity, what compelled you to post?