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LOL....very funny guys...

 

I have found a few dealers in my time that AutoTrader.com was not a positive ROI. If you can back up the cost with sales/gross - if not, cancel - why would you continue paying for something that does not give a return.

 

I do want to make one more point. Have you REALLY tracked your traffic? Not just phone calls and emails, I mean walk-ins too. Training your salespeople to properly source a customer, along with correctly putting it in the CRM, should be a requirement with EVERY contact.

 

The only reason I ask - I consulted for a dealer recently who thought AutoTrader.com was not working, and based just off the 'leads" and calls I would have agreed, however their VDP's were WAY high (meaning allot of people were looking at their cars). We spent the next 30 days doing soft exit interviews with all sold customers (as they were sitting in FI, short 1 page survey, 5 questions) - we found that they had actually sold 6 more cars then the CRM stated. All because the salespeople were not properly sourcing and/or inputting.

 

Also, review your packages that you are signed up for. Moved a dealer from used car premium to used car featured plus, along with a new car package. Used cars performed about the same (proving that premium wasn't worth it for his market). New cars brought in more customers and requests. Spent same money (not more) and received better results! All by just "moving the money around".

 

--Drew