Cars.com Followup Emails With Other Dealers Inventory

[Kelly Wilson]

So I sent a lead from Cars.com on my own inventory. I received a list of competitor's cars in under an hour. I also got a list on day 2, 5, 7 - day 10 asked for a review. ---At least they all went to the Spam folder ---

 

[jscole86]

So I sent a lead from Cars.com on my own inventory. I received a list of competitor's cars in under an hour. I also got a list on day 2, 5, 7 - day 10 asked for a review. ---At least they all went to the Spam folder ---

I did the same thing, but I also did it on TrueCar as well as cars.com, So I have gotten double the follow up, both from cars.com. They asked me for a review too, But it wasn't a review link directed specifically at our dealership. I'm definitely not a fan of this follow up, because I feel like cars.com has solid branding that if the shopper wants to continue looking, they will naturally go back to cars.com.

 

[Jeff Kershner]

So I sent a lead from Cars.com on my own inventory. I received a list of competitor's cars in under an hour. I also got a list on day 2, 5, 7 - day 10 asked for a review. ---At least they all went to the Spam folder ---

Kelly, I too had these emails hit my gmail spam/bulk folder.

Possible the increased send rate has proven to be too much to keep their emails servers in check.

I did the same thing, but I also did it on TrueCar as well as cars.com, So I have gotten double the follow up, both from cars.com. They asked me for a review too, But it wasn't a review link directed specifically at our dealership. I'm definitely not a fan of this follow up, because I feel like cars.com has solid branding that if the shopper wants to continue looking, they will naturally go back to cars.com.

No matter how solid your brand, one can't rely on that alone. Consistent email marketing is a MUST for a company like Cars.com. It has a direct positive impact on recurring traffic, and conversion. It also helps drive the performance of their display remarketing program. A win for all dealers on Cars.com.

 

[jscole86]

No matter how solid your brand, one can't rely on that alone. Consistent email marketing is a MUST for a company like Cars.com. It has a direct positive impact on recurring traffic, and conversion. It also helps drive the performance of their display remarketing program. A win for all dealers on Cars.com.

It made it through my Spam filter. I understand how email marketing is important, but it also adds to the barrage of emails that the customer receives. Like I said, I sent 2 leads , 1 through cars and 1 through truecar and received double the follow up - 4 emails in 10 days per lead. I do wonder what the click thru rate is for these? Since you saw the emails, how do you think the emails could be improved from the dealer perspective? I feel like they should at least insert the vehicle they were originally interested in (from our dealership) at the top, with the alternatives below it.

 

[Casey Longest]

Since you saw the emails, how do you think the emails could be improved from the dealer perspective? I feel like they should at least insert the vehicle they were originally interested in (from our dealership) at the top, with the alternatives below it.

I agree! There should be a reference to the original vehicle of interest or dealer of interest! I think the follow up emails should also include alternatives in my inventory as well. I did a mystery lead on 2 types of vehicles which I have multiples in stock and never once was my inventory shown in follow up.

 

[Bill Simmons]

Bill, thanks for your question. I believe Casey at your dealership posted a similar question last week on this thread. Since that time, our first round of testing of the email campaign came to a conclusion and now we’ve made tweaks based on insights and feedback. The next phase of our test will include some revisions to the
campaign, including building in more time for the dealer follow-up process, highlighting the original vehicle at the top of follow-up emails and highlighting additional inventory from that dealer. These revisions will continue to provide consumers the relevancy they want in addition to providing our dealer customers stronger benefits and value too. <o:p></o:p>
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As I mentioned to Casey, our goal is to help shoppers move closer to purchase, and before instituting the campaign, 58% of email lead senders were already returning to the site after submitting a lead. What that means is consumers require additional information, and our goal is to provide that while empowering our dealer customers to influence the process.<o:p></o:p>
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We’re always looking to strike that perfect balance where it’s a win-win for both consumers and dealers alike, which is why we’re testing these campaigns first on a smaller scale before we decide how they fit into our overall consumer acquisition plans. Thanks for taking the time to provide feedback.
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Linda, thanks for the response. I certainly see your point that Cars.com has 2 different sets of customers. The consumer that uses your website is a customer and the the dealers that are paying money to be on your sight are your customers as well. That is the hard part that I am having a hard time wrapping my head around. Without the inventory feeds from your paying customers, the consumer side of your customer base would be greatly diminished if it existed at all. It is my feeling that the paying customer, your dealers, deserve a little bit more of a courtesy than that. Not to mention we found this out on our own and were never advised from anyone at your company that Cars was going to test pilot a program of this nature. Am I missing something here? I'm hoping some other dealers will chime in and let me know if I am wrong in my thinking.

I also would like to point out, based on the email that we received with the other dealers cars listed, that it could be confusing to the customer. We submitted our test lead on a low mileage 2010 Toyota Camry. The results that were offered in your followup email contained 2009 through 2011 models, included high mileage vehicles, and were all located almost 2 hours from our zip-code. A better screen shot than the original one I posted is below. How does Cars know if these are clean title vehicles? No accidents reported? Salvage history etc? I could not get the VIN number to the very first car listed, from your site or the dealers, to pull a history report, but it is such a low ball offer that I would love to see a CarFax or AutoCheck. A 2011 Camry with that mileage is currently selling for more than that listed price at the auction.

Other dealers wish to offer feedback?

 

[Kelly Wilson]

That is the hard part that I am having a hard time wrapping my head around. Without the inventory feeds from your paying customers, the consumer side of your customer base would be greatly diminished if it existed at all. It is my feeling that the paying customer, your dealers, deserve a little bit more of a courtesy than that. Not to mention we found this out on our own and were never advised from anyone at your company that Cars was going to test pilot a program of this nature. Am I missing something here?

I agree 100% Bill. I feel like this program was executed the the dark of night. Telling dealers what customers are going to receive from the lead provider would help a dealer tailor their responses and prepare the customer for what is to come. This program feels very 2006 to me...random, distant and far from dialed in. I agree that these emails would need to have more of a nod to the dealer where the customer originated. In addition, from the customer's perspective, more information on the car (even a few icons) autocheck score/Carfax 1owner, CPOV, VIN and distance would help compare - with the original at the top. I can see how having a great pricing strategy could help conquest other dealers on this program - but has anyone seen a change in their Cars based traffic?

It seems most people at Cars still do not know about the program - definitely not my local rep. After calling the support team this is the response I received:

Thank you for contacting Cars.com Dealer Support. Per our conversation, I've spoke with my manager about consumer emails being sent out. Unfortunately, per marketing this process will remain for all consumers. I do apologize for the inconvenience in regards to this matter. As you are aware, Cars.com is a consumer driven site which provides relevant information that drives them to the ultimate goal of purchase.

The intent of the emails will increase our relevancy and frequency of interaction; which is how we grow our audience. This program represents just one more way we drive that active, engaged traffic to our dealer listings. This offers your customers an increased opportunity to gain relevant exposure to an in-market car shopper, even if they didn’t receive the initial lead.

When you have a moment, please feel free to contact your sales rep directly to discuss more ways of increasing the leads for your location. Please let us know if you need anything else.

If the program was rolled out at dealers without an active internet department, I'm pretty sure it would have taken a lot longer to become an issue. However, I can understand that it may have also yielded lesser results.

Has anyone seriously considered leaving Cars over this?

 

[paulray]

I just sent a test lead and if it proves true our management group is in agreement we will shut down all contracts with them. I advise any other dealer using them to do the same. If we do not, it will simply encourage them to try and get away with more and more. I think we should send a clear message that these actions will affect their bottom line. We are the paying customer, the customer who keeps their business running. We are the customer that they keep coming back to asking for more and more handouts. I can easily apply the budget to other programs that will be just as effective perhaps more so. Even if we are dark on Cars.com and it takes them a few months to make the necessary changes I don't see that hitting our bottom line in any significant way..do you?

 

[Bill Simmons]

Here are a couple of quick updates from my end. Linda Bartman from cars.com who commented earlier in the thread has reached out to me to discuss. We are currently swapping voice-mails and keep missing each other. I will share with the group the results of the conversation once we finally chat. I really appreciate her making the effort to get in contact with me to discuss.

Paul, keep us posted to the response email and time-frame on when you receive it. I understand from another dealer that in his area he was told the followup email from Cars.com would not go out until after the 3rd day that the consumer submitted the lead. Then there are others that will follow on a schedule afterwards.

Kelly & Paul, yes cancelling is something that I have considered. I'm not ready to do that yet until I have all of the information from them about the program. They are a good lead provider for my dealership, not in volume, but quality, and for my used car dealership it is priced right. So I will wait until Linda and I have had a talk before I consider that.

Thanks everyone who has offered input.

 

[yagoparamo]

Not that this is the right thing but in Cars.com defense a business has to be set up the way is convenient for customers, otherwise they just stop coming and using the website.

I don't know if showing "other market alternatives" in the emails is good or not but it would be great is Cars.com will share here why they are doing this.

Is simply a way to claim more VDP views or is there a valid reason? Does this create more interactions with the customers?