AutoTrader.com Pricing???

[Joe Pistell]

"Do you realize that their new pay plan is based on procuring new business almost exclusively? They get nothing for RETAINING that business, but yet get penalized heavily if we cancel"

This is the EXACT pay plan used by Verizon Yellow pages (I sold YP for 2 ugly years).

This pay plan is built for driving numbers into a spread sheet and transfering risk (loss) down to the rep. It is the reason why turnover at AT is so great.

I have lived this pay plan and I can speak with confidence as There is no better way to destruct long term BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS with your clients than to implement this anxiety ridden plan.

Lastly, if you're managing the Yellow Pages, you can get away with this pay plan, the YP market is so un-dynamic.

Joe

 

[Mary]

Tranferring risk to the Rep is the best way to put it. It appears they are in the midst of a hiring frenzy. The turnover after the holidays will be enormous. I've been with them three years and have had enough.

 

[shopper]

Yourprofessor, your post is spot on! Why do so many dealers' websites treat inventory like a red headed stepchild? Dealers need to look at inventory listings like shoppers. And...dealers need to know that shoppers are finding them via Google. "xxx dealer (location) online inventory" will get your customer to your site, but what happens when they get there?

If I went to a store and all the inventory was in boxes, labelled "sweater" or "shoes", with identical little pictures (Stock photos) on them, and to know what color the items were, or if they were made of wool or leather I had to talk to a salesperson, I'd be out of that store in a NY minute. Yet many, many dealer inventories are like that. "ONLINE INVENTORY!! Yes we have a 2008 xxx, contact us to find out what color it is, what trans its got, what options are on it, list price...." I'm an unhappy shopper at that point.

The reason people research on the internet is THAT THEY AREN'T READY TO TALK TO ANYONE YET--THEY ARE "JUST LOOKING", at least in the beginning.Why do dealers bother with online inventory if they won't provide depth of information?

Frankly, Auto Trader has the same problem--wildly inconsistent levels of info provided. Try searching them for something with manual trans, for example. Half the time you'll get listings where the dealer didn't bother to list anything except standard equipment on their vehicles.

Shopping behavior is not just hunting, it's gathering...INFORMATION

 

[esietsma]

Can we please discuss how hilarious the graphic on this post is? Alex, where in the world did you find it - it is PERFECT! That might be the meanest thing said about ATC on the post! A picture is worth a thousand words!

 

[Alex Snyder (blog)]

Erica - you crack me up!

 

[Your Professor]

It's a shame that far too many dealerships are more concerned with finding sales and service opportunities through 3rd party sources when they have a website that their customers can't find online. AND...when their customer's do find them online, they are forced to listen to cheesy jingles or Charlie and Chocolate Factory mini people talk about how great the dealership 'experience' is.

Goto Amazon.com, eBay.com, Google.com, BestBuy.com, Walmart.com, etc. and see what the biggest and brightest players online are doing. Try to emulate their Internet presences vs. trying to build a Walt Disney like experience on your website.

Here's a secret...consumers have better things to do than visit your website to listen your jingles and TV commercials!! They won't come back daily to 'check you out'. The WWW has far too many options for your dealership to become the online version of WallyWorld.

Step back for a moment and take your Internet advertising offline...

Do you spend a majority of your offline ad budget on off-site sales?

THAT IS WHAT YOU ARE DOING WHEN YOUR BUDGET IS GOING TO 3RD PARTY PROVIDERS!!!

Invest in yourself before you spend your money elsewhere. If your virtual dealership isn't the best it can be, why would you concentrate ANY effort on online portals?

 

[esietsma]

I love Walt Disney World and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! Perhaps if I was a "Professor," I would have more refined tastes. However, our mini Charlie and the Chocolate Factory person (for future reference, they are called Oompa Loompas in the book) upped our lead and service conversion 3 times...go figure.

 

[Patrick (blog)]

Mike Teavee was the kid from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory that used the chocolate television room to shrink himself down to about 2 inches...perfect for a website!!

The poor Oompa Loompas had their work cut out for them when they had to stretch him back to regular size.

WHOA!! When did the AutoTrader.com post turn into a 'land of pure imagination'??

I stand corrected. If your lead and service conversion ratios have increased 300% because of your Oompa Loompa, maybe every website should all get a friendly little guy to play with!!

 

[esietsma]

Ahhh, I thought it was weird that you couldn't recall the name of oompa loompas. Ok, so Mike Teavee was a good reference...our Rovion Lady is very much like a Mike Teavee, minus the fact she is female and an adult. And it is not that anyone "plays" with her (that would be creepy and weird and I would not want to know about it), she tells them what to do. It is interesting - when you give people instructions, more often than not, they tend to follow them! Maybe not accurately, but they can get the basics!

 

[CARS 3.0]

Three things with Autotrader.com

1. They aren't thru raising your rates yet, wait a couple months, more to come!

2. Watch your billing carefully, they are infamous for really historic billing screw ups that can take months to rectify, credit promises not paid, proration discounts never applied, etc.

3. Wait until 4 days left in the month to sign a deal then hold out and keep holding until they concede.