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Edmunds TMV vs TrueCar - Dealers, wake up!

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#51
Dennis,

Thanks. I fully understand that all marketing isn't for everyone. My true belief after being on all sides of the fence is that this offers great value, especially for dealers who have good processes in place. 

As you know about me Dennis, I'm a big believer that the best way to earn more sales is through follow up and prospecting but sadly most dealers are either to lazy or too ignorant to do both or either well. The best part about that comment is that the only folks it'll offend are the ones that are too lazy or too ignorant to do it.

Technology has made us lazy. Heck, I got asked to speak at an event which I'll leave unnamed, one of the folks on the phone said "what are you going to speak on exactly" and I said: "I'm going to GIVE dealers a 12 month training outline with topics, words and everything they need to grow their sales and profit. This 45 minute session will remind em of why then need it, then show em how to get it, then give the tools they need to get it done." 

The genius response was: "What's that do for you?"
I said: "What's it matter, It'll give me some publicity and I'll worry about me, this industry needs a jump start and if I can help, I'll get what's coming to me down the road."
The response: "I don't see it as a good revenue opportunity for you we need to focus on technology they need to buy for the dealerships...blah blah blah blah..."

We have gone from a: Let's have our people be the best, serve the best, present the best, listen the best, overcome objections the best, follow up the best, prospect the best business model to a "My crm is supposed to do this for me...my lead provider is supposed to do this for me...my advertisers is supposed to do this for me...."weak pathetic entitlement mentality.

In God knows how many years there is something that has never changed:

There is NO TOOL....and there is NO TECHNOLOGY...that will do your entire job for you. If you have salespeople on your sales floor they darn well better be able to serve the consumer better than anyone else or you will lose to someone who can. maybe not today, but tomorrow or the next day. And once you lose 'em to the better guy, they AREN'T coming back.

This Edmunds system is an opportunity, like anything else, to get in front of consumers.

I didn't like 'em when I was a dealer either so I get it but the fact of the matter is this. When I was a dealer I didn't care what I liked, I cared about what the consumer liked and THAT is where I put my stores names and guess what?

We crushed everyone in our DMA in EVERY make. So to me it's simple, cry about what you can't control or take the reigns on what you can :)

And thanks for being a hard ass all the time when I worked for ya, it's paying off well enough lol :)
 
#53
Confessions of a Salesman from Edmunds...

"...every single time I get a dealer/manager on the phone, I hit them with my magic weapon....  'Edmunds is free, pay only for leads you sell'.  And, every time, the phone goes quiet for a moment and then the manager kicks everyone out of his office!   BAM!!!  FISH ON! I got him!!!   The concept is worded to perfection.  It preys on the busy multi-tasking manager and this NO PAY  promise plugs right into their reward system.  I love it!

I set the hook deeper... I walk the manager thru our giant audience stats and paint a picture were managers all over the USA are signing on & loving our FAIR system AND it's scaring the hell out of AutoTrader and Cars.com because of their UNFAIR rates.  Managers everywhere love the idea of dumping AutoTrader and Cars for our FAIR system, and it's only logical, as more & more dealers sign on with Edmunds, AT and Cars will have to adopt our FAIR billing system.

I race past the DMS stuff and I go for the close.

Cha' Ching.  Nuthin' to it. "
 
#55
Jeff,  I love your article and agree wholeheartedly with your main point regarding our data.  What I have been trying to say, and what I don't think you can grasp until you deal with these customers directly, is that buyers do not care about Edmunds the way they care about organizations of which they are a member.  People trust the NRA, the NEA, PenFed, and Consumer Reports to send them to a good place.   You would not believe the zealous loyalty people have to USAA - the lead source where the highest volume of Zag leads come from.  I have two years of lead data at my store which show that when these people show up, they close at nearly 3 times the rate of manufacturer leads that show. 

These customers are similar to manufacturer plan buyers.  If you were to look at USAA members who know about the USAA Buying Program, I would bet you over 3/4 of them buy from a USAA Recommended Dealer.  We're talking about 8 million proud members here who really like and trust their organization.  No comparison between these people and Edmunds.

Sure, there are other avenues of marketing with better potential ROI, but  most small stores lack the resources to leverage that kind of marketing.  It may not be a bad idea to make these avenues the focus of the next few Dealerrefresh articles.  You've got 4,500 dealers on Zag that need to be persuaded to get off of it.
 
#56
Thanks for chiming in Patrick. And I agree that USAA members are very loyal. I've experienced this for myself. When a USAA customer arrives, they are in the market to buy, I won't argue that. I'm not in any way questioning the quality of the leads.

I'm not knocking USAA or the membership services. My point is, in order for dealers to play on this field, they are to give up private transactional data to Zag that us then then handed to the consumer.

Don't get me wrong, I believe the new car sales model needs adjustment. But if I had a dealer or any business, there is no way I would allow come company to have my private data. it's no ones business what I sell my product for and how much I make on each transaction. That's my business, my data - its that black and white.
 
#58
As a very small part of a fairly large group, I was shocked to learn that there was a DMS polling component to this deal (issue was never discussed at my humble level).  I mean, why would there be?  We're paying for a territory and for leads, right?  After reading through this for a few days, and seeing only one weak explanation as to WHY Edmunds describes this as a value to dealers, my question is still:  WHY?  Are we really that desperate for those leads.. especially these noted higher-funnel leads?  But aside from that....  If I was a dealer, or owner -- and I'm not, please don't misunderstand -- but if I was, I would probably realize that my database is a very, very valuable entity.  (Anybody disagree?).  So if someone comes to me with a deal where I'm going to PAY for a territory and leads, and I'm also going to GIVE them my precious data, at the very least (after I'm done scratching my head at the utter audacity of the proposal), I re-negotiate.  Again, I'm not an owner, but if I go to bat with the notion that MY DATA is more valuable that THEIR LEADS, perhaps I get a favorable outcome.  We have to remember that Edmunds has no magic wand -- there's lots of people on lots of sites, and frankly I've never heard of a consumer doing 100% of their research and shopping on Edmunds.  In other words -- if you're a good dealer, competitive, reasonable marketing mix -- you'll be found.  We're paying them, AND giving them our data... wow.  I don't think that's the type of negotiations that have kept the T3 space "strong."  Edmunds has to be laughing all the way to the bank!
 
#59
Shame on me.  I've signed up for both of these companies at one time or another over the years.  In my haste to get leads and sell cars I just glazed right over the boilerplate.  Needless to say we're done with both.

Reading through these posts has raised a couple thoughts.

1)  Who's auditing these companies to make sure they provide accurate data in the first place?  What's to keep TrueCar or Edmunds from juicing the numbers?
 
While it's a slightly different model, Costco and AAA's new online modules have done the same thing.  Month after month they keep telling us we have to come down on our pricing in order to get the requests, because, "...your competitor down the street is at $1100 back on altima, and you're only at $600 back."  One of these companies we caught with their hand in the cookie jar. 

At some point they'll be competing to see who's site shows the lowest value.  Currently, TrueCar says a 2011 Toyota Prius II Average Paid is $24,993.  Edmunds TMV says $24,480.00.  I don't know what your customers are  saying in your local market, but $500 is a pretty substantial difference.  How long will it take for the newbie on the block to realize they need to take on the big dog, and jockey the pricing accordingly.

2)  Let's follow the logical conclusion of True Car and TMV.  The consumer sees the MSRP, the Invoice and the "TMV".  Let's say today the TMV is $500 over invoice.  How many of your internet customers are going to be good with paying that $500 over?  None, they're going to want to be somewhere under this number.  So 150 of these models are sold in your district this month, and the TMV adjusts.  Now you're $400 over next month.  Before you know it you're $500 under, and only picking up $100 of holdback....and so it goes.
 
If you're really looking for opportunities to sell cars check out companies like AutoRevenue and AutoAlert.  These companies are using our data for us, not against us. 
 
#60
Thanks for adding your comment Chris.

These 2 companies could careless about the dealership. They've said it themselves in so many words.

I'm NOT against our industry changing. I'm not against edmunds and TrueCar (sorta), I am against how they are acquiring our data.
And it kills me that dealers are so clueless. Hence the reason for me writing this.

This is the dealers private data and shouldn't be shared with anyone, especially a company that's posting it for everyone to see and use.

Interesting you say "What's to keep TrueCar or Edmunds from juicing the numbers?". You're right, who's to stop them?
 

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