Cargurus, Please tell me how this benefits your customer (aka... The Dealer)????

[ryan.gerardi]

@Jeremy Sacco it's good to see someone up here from CG. The forum isn't limited to dealers. In fact, most people here on the forums are not dealers. Nothing will get resolved here, but at least you can see the opinions and perspectives of a few people.

The Deal Rating feature is certainly a cause for concern. It's a subjective value that can please some dealers some of the time, but it won't please all dealers all the time. It's good to see it explained in the FAQ. Ultimately though, what is its real purpose?

 

[Tallcool1]

@Jeremy Sacco it's good to see someone up here from CG. The forum isn't limited to dealers. In fact, most people here on the forums are not dealers. Nothing will get resolved here, but at least you can see the opinions and perspectives of a few people.

The Deal Rating feature is certainly a cause for concern. It's a subjective value that can please some dealers some of the time, but it won't please all dealers all the time. It's good to see it explained in the FAQ. Ultimately though, what is its real purpose?

@Jeremy Sacco , I will echo Ryan here, and ask simply. What is the purpose of the vehicle price rating (Good Deal, Fair Deal, Great Deal) as well as the "suggested price" data on CarGurus? You guys have a great product. You don't need that data to have a great product. That is a feature that quite frankly just pisses your customers off. In addition, it is information that can really lead the car shopper astray.

I am really hoping that you don't tell me the reason is "transparency".

 

[Rick Buffkin]

Can someone please tell me what is considered a "connection"??? Also, wasn't it mentioned that after so many "connections", a vehicle will be removed from the SRP's. Just curious!

 

[Ryan Everson]

Can someone please tell me what is considered a "connection"??? Also, wasn't it mentioned that after so many "connections", a vehicle will be removed from the SRP's. Just curious!

I would assume the below items are considered connections. And that's the first time I'm hearing about that but it might make sense to prevent dealers from keeping phantom vehicles listed.

 

[Rick Buffkin]

Thanks @reverson. I can't remember the exact thread but I do recall reading a post someone made that one of their vehicles was removed from the SRP's that was still in stock. It was a Ford Mustang I believe. It was a unique rare edition and the dealer was getting a bunch of inquiries about it. The inquiries slowed to a small drip and when the dealer checked their listings on CG, the listing had been removed. He reached out to support and basically was told the vehicle had received the max amount of connections and was removed from the SRP's. It was like a total of 30 connections or something like that was the limit. I'll try and find the thread

 

[ryan.gerardi]

Google works the same way. If it keeps showing listings that don't interest people, then people will stop using Google.

This is a good example of where metrics and analytics can become a distraction to what's important. Ultimately you have to see how a site like CG is helping you move metal. You can't really count on the provider's metrics and reporting for those answers. You need to have objective an empirical information.

Are you familiar with Experian's Automotive Sales Attribution Study?

 

[joe.pistell]

ENGAGEMENT SELLS 3x MORE CARS THAN LEADS.

Dear #LeadSluts,
I've been pounding the table here in the forums sharing in-store evidence for a decade: ENGAGEMENT SELLS 3x MORE CARS THAN LEADS. Scientifically confirming this, Ryan G's post above points you to "Experian's Automotive Sales Attribution Study" and @jon.berna's Qweb predictive analytics tool (Driven-Data) is rooted in scoring repeat visitors.

#LeadSluts obsession with leads have created their own problems... CarGurus simply is selling crack to a crackwhores

Dealers,
we (as an industry) need to check into the Betty Ford clinic and request the lead-detox program. You'll discover your highest KPIs are to create a shopping experience that fosters a repeat visit. You're new KPI, "repeat visitor percentage' makes you look at your website in a totally new light. Wile your at the clinic, you'll discover that the majority of leads are a product of a poor website experience. Your new KPI for leads is not volume or leads, it's quality of leads.


HOW DOES THIS ENGAGEMENT STUFF CONNECT TO CARGURUS?

​

• The system by which CarGurus (CG) scores and pays itself is how they'll build & optimize the platform.
  • IOW, if CG values leads highly, the CG UI team will be working on ways to increase lead gen.

@reverson completes the observation by revealing the connections that CG is aimed at optimizing:

I would assume the below items are considered connections...

Leads, Leads and more leads... exaclty what #leadsluts want and CG delivers. Leads have value, but not as much value as engagement. CG's engagement hook is the pricing transparency tool.


It's lead gen hook are options info that is damn near impossible to find* (i.e. leads are often a product of a poor shopping UX).

SUMMARY: If CG put as much effort as Cars.com has into shopper engagement, then, CG lead counts would drop, but its dominance of the marketplace would increase.


p.s. *CG's vehicle comment area is where the options are to be found. Dealers automatic content generators SUCK SUCK SUCK. #LeadSluts really need to work to make their comment generator put out information that informs and assists shoppers.
p.p.s. "overlooking what creates engagement" is directly related to why Digital Retailing has gone nowhere fast.

 

[Rick Buffkin]

Ok guys. I spoke with Tech Support. Once a car gets 30 leads on it, the vehicle will be removed from Carguru's standard search. Whats a lead? Phone, Email or text. I'm told this doesn't include any clicks. If a person saved the vehicle, they can still see it. Also, if the visitor searches your specific dealerships inventory, it will show there as well. Just not in standard search.

My concern is this.
1. There isn't any notification alert in place to let the dealer know that their listing has been removed from the SRP's because it received too many leads.
2. There isn't anywhere in the dashboard to easily identify the vehicles thats been removed either.
3. Whats to stop me from spamming the crap out of my competitors vehicles on Cargurus so that I can get their vehicles removed from the SRP's and they wouldn't even know it until they looked in the Carguru's dashboard!!

Thoughts...

 

[Alex Snyder]

3. Whats to stop me from spamming the crap out of my competitors vehicles on Cargurus so that I can get their vehicles removed from the SRP's and they wouldn't even know it until they looked in the Carguru's dashboard!!

I like it

Who wants to build some bots?

 

[joe.pistell]

I don't understand the logic to remove a listing that's got a lot of activity on it.