Dealer Website Trade-in Tools; is it KBB Leaddriver OR Black Book Online?

[Jake - Higher Turnover]

Umer runs AutoJini (website provider), and I doubt he's trying to talk over anyone's heads, a couple of you just didn't understand the context of his comments. Anyway, I think what Umer is trying to say is that a "generic form" (i.e. a one-page web form asking for trade-in info) across 10 of his client sites is submitted by 1.67% of visitors, while he doesn't see any data on BB or KBB since those leads are dumped directly into his clients' CRM systems. I would agree with where (I think) Umer was going with his comments...I think a generic form could be as effective as the paid appraisal tools. Maybe even more effective. Of course it wouldn't provide customers with instant feedback in terms of value, but look at what Alex pointed out in his experience. Customers know they're gonna get hosed on the trade-in, and if you show them the number up front, 9 times out of 10 they're going to get pissed off and shop around until some other dealer shuffles the numbers and gives them a "better trade-in value".

In terms of branding, KBB has done a pretty good job in the consumer market. Ask any customer where they can find trade-in value and I bet 98% have at least heard of KBB while probably only 10% have heard of BB. If I were a dealer and had to choose between the two, I would go with the one that my customers would recognize. If they don't recognize the source of trade-in data, there's always that questions of "where did they get this number from?"

 

[umer.autojini]

Jack, exactly what I was trying to get at...

 

[Jay Campbell]

Some good commentary here. Alex I would have agreed with you before we went to weekly auction values. Jake, shame on you. Really. This is 2008 my friend. Duping customers is so 1985.

The bottom line for everybody is brand equity and conversion. Both Kbb and BB have recognizable brands in their respective geographies. Kbb is much stronger nationwide due to unique visitation and website relevance.

As many in this industry have argued better than I, you MUST POSITION YOURSELF in front of the MOST CAR BUYERS directly or indirectly in the MOST EFFICIENT WAY possible. If arming the consumer with the most information is the bottom line goal(assuming they'll get it anyways), why not use both tools accordingly?

It gets monotonous listening to Dealers complain about values being wrong or out of wack. It's all subjective-regional and incredibly fluid. There are so many variables leading to disconnect its hard to position blame on the vendor or the dealer.

At the end of the day, neither program is any more than a guide designed to get a person to raise their hand. Why not allow these hand raisers to use both and then best try to facilitate their buying experience?

I mean gentleman, neither program costs more than $300/mo? Isn't this kind of silly looking at it from behind the curtain?

If I was a DP, I'd set both icons up right next to each other on multiple pages on my site encouraging my customers to use both tools as a form of leverage against my sales staff. And in actuality, as data gets better and in real time, what Dealers wouldn't want to follow a model similar? Transparency is the name of the game now folks. We best all recognize.

Happy Holidays!

 

[ian.statler]

If I could, I would have both on a site and allow the consumer to choose which one to use. Of course if I did that I bet most would actually use both during one session and I would have a crap load of dup leads (and issues to deal with)

The Pro for KBB is that everyone knows KBB
The con, everyone knows KBB.

I have used both in the past and have found that I had more initial success with BB.

Here is my thought...if everyone knows KBB, you have a good chance that they have already been there so when they come to your site, you have less of a chance of getting that customer to use your KBB trade tool.

Few people even know about BlackBook. Is it possible that the consumer is curious and wants to know what this "black book" value is? If so, that's a conversion, and another lead.

Get a price quote, contact us, call us, Schedule a test drive etc. are call to actions that might not speak to the customer that answers to "value your trade".

Does "Value your Trade-in?" speak to the customer that would otherwise not have responded to the before mentioned call to actions?

I also feel Alex's pain with having to put out fire, especially here lately I had/have less fires with blackbook though. You really have to train everyone to get on board but that's never an easy task.

 

[John Quinn]

We've had both at various times, and purely as a lead driver/conversion tool, Black Book outperforms KBB significantly. Best guess why? Everyone and their brother has already visited KBB for a trade evaluation -- when they see another trade evaluation tool, it's a no-brainer they'll try it in that ever-optimitstic online trek toward higher trade figures.

 

[Kevin Frye]

We have had great success using Blackbook online as part of our Web 2.0 friendly workflow. Blackbook is one of our top ROI sources. We take the time to educate our consumers about the difference between Bluebook and Blackbook when providing this tool to them, and giving them a trade-in range on their vehicle is providing them some of the key info they are looking for (....can we say "transparent selling"....). Trade-in value is one of the "hot buttons" that we must address with our prospects, and if you do not choose to assist them online, they either find this value on their own (at KBB, where they typically get an unrealistically high number), or they go to another dealer that will give them what they want. If you want to see an example of the Blackbook button (we created an aisle) on one of our sites, you can see it at our Cincinnati Mazda site - http://jeffwylereastgatemazda.com . Remember - this is one more tool in helping your prospect to make the buying decision, and that is where SELLING comes in.

 

[Bob Sherman (blog)]

I have heard of a product called getautoappraise. I believe their website is
www.getautoappraise.com

 

[JIM]

Well any lead source is only as good as the follow up system in place.look at your personel.

Conversion to sales is what is all about.
If you have a CRM track adjust,eliminate if necessary.

Volume is Vanity!!
Gross is sanity!!!

JMHO

 

[Ron Harber]

Umer,
I work for Kelley Blue Book and I sell advertising to automotive dealerships in the Central region of the country. Obviously I feel that my opinion would be bias to the KBB product...so I will simply comment on the a few things: Pricing and what my dealers that have both tools on their site tell me.

Pricing: "**MSRP"
KBB LeadDriver $ 249
Black Book $ 349
**who pays MSRP anymore?

Side by side comparison, My dealers that use both tools (19 of them so far) tell me that they both yield similar results but the LeadDriver component is a bit dealer friendly since KBB has gone to weekly values and enhanced the trade in value pricing from a "good" "fair" "poor" trade-in value to a range value.

At the end of the day I really don't care what we in the industry think works well, we are not the ones using the product, it's really about what brand consumer knows and is familiar with.

Happy Selling folks!

LeadDriver Enhancements: http://www.800bluebook.com/dealer_product_LD.shtml

 

[Brian Cole]

I have been using Black Book Online and have had much success with it. One of the main reasons any tool will be successful is the placement on your website. Both of the tools need to be in a prominent location on your main page. Additionally you need to make sure that you use the capture tools on every page of your site including your New and Pre-Owned inventory and the individual car that is pulled by the customer. I agree with Ron that it really does not mater which tool you use, it is how you use it.