Don't fall for this junk!

[Wayne Anderson]

Mitch,

So then who are we to listen to more?

a) the vendor
b) the vendor's customers

Based on my trench experience, I'll listen to both, but I'm mostly interested in results, not hype. So how does a vendor show results before a contract is signed? I'm not going to buy on promises alone. I guess I'll have to talk to the vendor's customers.

I understand why you bring up your reasons to be 'wary' of another dealer's testimonial. But to discount them entirely seems extreme. I'm sure there is a balance.

Wouldn't the experienced Internet folk in our industry see through the dealer hype anyway?

 

[Joe Pistell]

Mitch,
You're wacked.

Joe
(I re-wrote this post 3 times to get it just right!)

 

[Chris K]

I think these 3rd party website/lead tool companies are outrageously priced and there are to me we keep getting sold stuff we don't really need like all the back end tools and fluff.

A great website costs not much to build, any College student can build the most robust flash site and one designed for SEO is no more than $500 - you now own the website.

Web hosting with unlimited traffic is about $20 a month. Month to month.

For me it all comes down to what you do with the leads you get. The fanciest website, name your price is all fine and dandy, but consistent follow up, week in, week out for several months is what works for me.

I just get the leads Nissan gives me, use the phone, use constant contact for $19.95 a month - and I close 15% to 20%.

 

[Chris K]

One more thing that I find makes me stand out from my competition: I actually quote a price within the first 2 or 3 emails - whether I talk to them or not. That's why we are #1 in our entire zone.

 

[Wayne Anderson]

Chris K wrote:

"any College student can build the most robust flash site and one designed for SEO is no more than $500 - you now own the website."

I think this statement is a stretch. You'll get what you pay for, I promise...

Website technologies have become more robust, thus enabling the development of more complex applications. This only means websites will become more functional, thus raising the bar on the shopping experience.

Do you think your college student will want to slave away 50 - 100 hrs building a website that'll compete in tomorrows market for only $500. That's 10 - 5 bucks an hour.

 

[Todd Mathews]

With all due respect Chris, Wayne is completely right. Today’s technology is far more complex than yesterday's simple website pages. For example, we are about to release the industries first “online negotiation engine”. A system that will actually allow a desk manager or internet manager and the prospect to negotiate the deal totally online. Your college student wouldn't have clue how to build this type of system.

PS: Chris, just think if you had a robust website with a 19% close ratio, dude you would be rich with the leads it would produce for you.

 

[Eric Miltsch (blog)]

Todd -

Most of today's platforms (C#, Java, PHP, and a Python) aren't about to go away. Newer technology may run more efficient - but will take a while to be considered mainstream for the 'late-adopter' automotive client. (Ajax, Ruby, Squeak, Lisp)

FYI...RE: different shopping model sites, www.fididel.com is already out there and backed w/strong names and $$$. More will follow - soon.

In my opinion, I'd love to have the ability to add a 19yr. old developer to my team. The right kid will be at the epicenter of the IT pulse - plus I can pay him in Taco Bell coupons and he'll be in heaven. (JK - I don't actually pay my interns in food coupons.)

While many of the talented regulars within DR may be considered competitors of mine, I still feel a responsibility to help the dealer community be cognizant of the what's happening out there... (especially after seeing that BZ post)

Hasn't that been Jeff's purpose w/his blog all along?

 

[Chris K]

There is no need to pay a company $500- $1000 a month to host a website. Todays websites are fairly simple when you get down to it. I built my first auto dealer website in 1996! All new inventory and used inventory is pulled nightly into the system and populates the websites. Easy! Simple web forms allow you to get the customers to inquire. Text on the site and the images make a call to ACTION! You don't sell cars online unless you have a very aggressive follow up plan. Websites don't sell cars people - humans do! And it's called follow up. I will disagree with you, because I have been doing this stuff for over 10 years.

 

[Mitch]

Thanks Joe, I try.

There's definitely a medium ground between what Chris is saying and what most of the industry is used to. Chris, I don't think you're taking into account the fact that you're obviously a part of your own website expense... for many dealers, $1000/mo allows them to call up the vendor when there's a problem or they want something done. For a $20/mo hosting solution, it's the site owner who's doing the work. So think about how much you get paid (or if you're not in this situation, think about how much an Internet geek would get paid to be on-staff for this kind of thing), and tack that onto the $20/mo for hosting.

On the other hand, unless you've got unlimited support that allows you to make tons of changes every month, paying more than a few hundred dollars for hosting is just pure profit. So while I wouldn't ever go the route of letting some kid design my site and simply hand it over to me to host myself, I wouldn't do the opposite and flush cash down the toilet to a vendor like BZ for a four-figure hosting solution.

 

[Alex Snyder (blog)]

< hello>Geek here< /hello>

I don't only work as an eCommerce Director for a dealer group, I also play one for other organizations online < /end cheesy take on infomercial intro>

Building a good website using all the dynamics: CSS, JAVA, Flash, Silverlight, HTML, and of course a well thought-out Web 2.0 package is tough! I charge a lot more than $1,000 for setup and definitely not $20 a month for hosting. A cheap hosting solution such as GoDaddy or DreamHost's lower packages is typically limited by bandwidth usage. How much would it suck to have your URL advertised all over the place and then not have a site because you were too cheap to pay for a proper hosting solution? Granted, you'll have a site, but what happens if you add a video or two and you exceed your bandwidth limit for that month?

Sure, you can put your inventory on a hosting solution like HomeNet, iMagicLab, or Auction123.....Sure, you can host your video on YouTube or Veoh......Sure, you can pay someone like me to keep things up......BUT what happens if I get hit by a bus? What happens when Google starts putting ads in your video or links to your competitors' videos? There are so many things to consider above and beyond the costs, and when you start considering those things the costs for a Dealer.com, Rey-Rey, or even BZ site become pretty small.

Yeah, there may be some things you want done custom with your automotive site host that you can't get done. There may be some costs your dealer doesn't want to add. Find a different way to get it done - the Internet is limitless in capability! You're only as capable as your imagination. This is truly the first time dealers have had to ability to get things done no matter how big the wallet - we're only limited to our vision.