Does Your Dealer Block Social Media?

[joe.webb]

Great question, Jeff.  we do have a few of our dealers following this specific piece of advice, but....

(and here comes a topic for another blog post) we don't actively measure/track engagements on the social media sites because, at this point, it is relatively futile.  To think that there are dealers that may be cross-checking their sold customers across the board inside their FB fan page lets me know they are grasping at straws.  In these cases, the Internet Director might be looking for proof to allow them to spend more time on the platform.  Someone doesn't friend you and purchase from you the next day. 

We prefer dealers to utilize soc med for more of a customer retention piece than customer acquisition.  Too many companies are telling dealers otherwise.  Even opening up these multiple channels through your employees by allowing them access given their participation, while a noteworthy action for branding (and buy-in), isn't going to change the fact that salespeople don't know how to answer a call properly or respond to an Internet lead responsibly.

 

[Jim Bell (blog)]

I am sad to say that we do have all od the social sites blocked on the desktops at work. That doesn't mean that the guys aren't doing it. They are accessing it through their iTouches and phones. It is something that we do have to consider since social is such a hot topic. I don't think that the guys will be on the playing farmville or anything like that so I think that we would be safe.

 

[Jeff Kershner]

Jim, I agree and see the same at my Dealerships. Truth is, not many would are that fluent on facebook anyways. They migjt check it from time to time but not enough to be a true time suck. And the ones that are - train them to leverage it for additional exposure. Maybe sell a few more cars?

Jeff Kershner
Founder | DealerRefresh

[email protected]

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[Edward_Shaffer]

The factors I am not seeing discussed here are:

1)  The bandwidth drain that YouTube and Fb would have on our already thinly stretched pipe...

2)  The potentially damaging effect on the dealership as a brand if too closely connected to its employees in a social setting...

Thoughts?

Ed Shaffer

 

[Alex Snyder (blog)]

Ed - I want to jump on your first question because you're right, it hasn't been touched yet.  And I hope my perspective can shed some light on why you asked this question in the first place.

I have a lot of experience with dealership bandwidth issues from my time with Checkered Flag.  Checkered Flag is located in an area with fantastic options for getting more bandwidth.  And Checkered Flag was not afraid to put more money into satisfying their employees' technological needs.  However, now that I am on the vendor side of the fence I am looking back and asking the question:  why did we even have bandwidth issues in the first place?

I believe that Checkered Flag evolved their IT needs the same way many dealerships have:  from a security standpoint that was based on the needs of an accounting department.  Because there is a lot of paranoia around security (over a huge number of things), and justifiably so in a few cases, systems are strained by bottlenecks.  Lots of firewalls, lots of switches, lots of whatevers have all done their part to strain the flow.  And increasing the size of the bandwidth pipe really doesn't make a noticeable difference when there are hardware bottlenecks.

On the other side of the fence that I now sit on, IT's first responsibility is usability of the network.  It is about making the bandwidth available for employees to do their jobs fist, then patching-up any holes that could be exploited.  

So, that is a long way of saying that I have been exposed to two types of IT perspectives:  1 with security as the priority and 1 with usability as the priority.  These different priorities make for some massive differences!  

With so many technological advances happening so often, and so many changing bandwidth needs, it is probably time every company decide which priority makes the most sense today.

 

[Alex Snyder (blog)]

Ed - I just wanted to say thanks for the inspiration:  IT, oh how I love thee – DealerRefresh

 

[Alex Snyder (blog)]

Ed - I just wanted to say thanks for the inspiration:  IT, oh how I love thee – DealerRefresh

 

[Carguy1]

My dealer, Larry Van Tuyl, thinks Facebook, social media, and even the internet are all just fads that will soon go away. They still think there are millions of people with good credit that think the web is too dangerous to "surf". They believe Americans want to be abused and conned just like we've always done it. We've been told that repeat and referral business is nothing more than a figment of a bunch of "do gooder's imagination. Consequently, after we get through with a prospect we're pretty sure we'll never see them again, unless it's in a courtroom. I sure do hope Mr. Van Tuyl is right.

 

[automotiveseo (blog)]

Jeff, thanks for pointing me to this post. I just shared my experience with a dealer group that had blocked social media access and after I showed how their staff could monetize social media engagement, the light bulb went on in the dealer principal's head.

I wanted to offer DealerRefresh readers who may be interested in participating in a webinar on this topic, to send me an email to: [email protected] . If enough people reply, I will setup a webinar in March and share my presentation that open some eyes on why the chains should come off social media access.

 

[tjyoung]

Being from a large dealer group you get the 'porn surfers who will literally surf porn with their customers standing just on other side of the screen', the 'youtube sales reps who watch golf all day long', and of course the facebook "look at me, aren't my pics and my life pretty and wonderful... please tell me that"
 
Social media is a passive endeavour for those who are flaked out on the couch/in bed and don't wish to be marketed to. They are just catching up with friends and  gossip. Thats about it. The rest are '1 person companies' holed up in their basement claiming to be social gurus and trying desperately to get us all to believe the world is coming to an end if you don't get on the bandwagon.
 
Show me a dealer or two knocking them dead in social media, selling cars and loving it.
 
Good luck