It seems like they try to act as if the dealerships need them more then ever. I know more ex-Autotrader reps that switched to cars.com and are happier. They are as bad to the dealer as they are to their employees. Autotrader needs to step up their game because with so many resources out there, we do not need them at all. We can pay less and get more with other companies. EBay and craigslist do great for dealers.
-
This thread is just the tip of the iceberg.The people ahead of the curve aren't Googling for answers — they're already in here, having the conversations you haven't found yet. DealerRefresh is free.Get the full picture →
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
Have you been blitzed by team ATC yet?
- Thread starter Alex Snyder
- Start date
Stan your experiences are not every dealers. If you are this upset about how Autotrader.com is treating you why haven't you asked to speak to a manager? Oh...PS, we have reps that came to us crom Cars.com that have said the exact same thing. As an employee I have never been treated wrong. I always think the one's who are treated "bad" are probably not good at their job anyway and are on some kind of warning. Are you an owner?
O
Obi 1
Guest
The skinny on blitzes...
Top 10 list of things you need to know:
1- They pick the best ACs in the country. Never local to you.
2- They juice them up on that famous ATC Kool Aid
3- They throw cash at them (some make $3,000 to $4000 a day, I'm talking $100 bills)
4- They can discount products up to 80%, makes you wonder how inflated that price is !!!
5- Once they sell you , you will never see them again
6- Your local sales rep gets nothing for the transaction (His service will be bad)
7- They sell you a product you don't need or that doesn't work for you.
8- They receive a list of dealers to target, they know nothing about your store or your needs.
9- This is advertising's equivalent of a flea market or a wholesale auction.
10- They hand you spotlights like candy, some dealers get 100 or more per purchase !!!
Top 10 list of things you need to know:
1- They pick the best ACs in the country. Never local to you.
2- They juice them up on that famous ATC Kool Aid
3- They throw cash at them (some make $3,000 to $4000 a day, I'm talking $100 bills)
4- They can discount products up to 80%, makes you wonder how inflated that price is !!!
5- Once they sell you , you will never see them again
6- Your local sales rep gets nothing for the transaction (His service will be bad)
7- They sell you a product you don't need or that doesn't work for you.
8- They receive a list of dealers to target, they know nothing about your store or your needs.
9- This is advertising's equivalent of a flea market or a wholesale auction.
10- They hand you spotlights like candy, some dealers get 100 or more per purchase !!!
D
Darth V
Guest
I've heard they've finally done away with the national blitz teams. I guess they realized it was actually costing them more in the long run with the cancellation rates after 3 mos than the temporary revenue fix they were using them for. If they had any common sense they would just allow the local reps to discount the products the way the blitz teams have in the past and actually see better retention, but I wouldn't hold my breath on any common sense decisions like this coming from ATC.
Darth FYI we do discount in local markets. They only "blitz" the big cities and no they aren't doing it anymore simply because the company is at its maturing point. There is more common sense out there than you think. Ob1 3-4k a day isn't accurate. It's more like 1k-2k a week and that's toward the the top producer.
O
Obi 1
Guest
SellmoreCars, the problem with ATC is that the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing!!!
Sure, not all ACs make big bucks during the blitzes but a lot of them do.
Some DMs and RSMs, hell even RMs brag about their "pet AC's" making the $5,000 a week or the $8,000 cash blitz commission.
Dealers, don't feel bad about these ATC reps, most of them make more money than you !!!
CANCEL CANCEL CANCEL
Sure, not all ACs make big bucks during the blitzes but a lot of them do.
Some DMs and RSMs, hell even RMs brag about their "pet AC's" making the $5,000 a week or the $8,000 cash blitz commission.
Dealers, don't feel bad about these ATC reps, most of them make more money than you !!!
CANCEL CANCEL CANCEL
Obi 1 I would know better than you what goes on, I work there. I love how some dealers think they know so much. It's so comical. Oh and what is an RM? So what if ATC reps "make more"? So do your TV reps, Newspaper Reps, radio reps even Cars.com gets paid the same way. So do you CANCEL CANCEL CANCEL all of those? Just because you aren't making any money must be because you aren't good in sales.
A
ATC85%GrossMargin
Guest
Sellmore needs to talk with some of the unfortunate AC's sent out on some hurried regional blitz's where they were lucky to scrap up $500 in a week, hell, they submitted more in expenses than they made in a week. "Picks" what a cash poor joke, the company earned thousands and the regional blitz AC gets thrown a nickel. National blitz team members were being thrown $5,000 just to show up. Regional blitz's were more like a sentence than an opportunity. In this economy they better start "Prayer Blitz's" in order to stave off cancellations and cut backs.
It really doesn't matter being the fact that there are no more blitzes anyway. My point is that there are a lot of dealers on this blog (mostly no one with any kind of authority so it really doesn't matter)who really blame us for a great product. Their problem is they get paid off emails which is not what we are about and never have been. If you really look at what we provide, you can't argue the fact that we (as in online in general) are way cheaper than traditional media, but since IM's don't understand the big picture when it comes to traditional advertising the only thing they can speak to is online. You can't pay the same cost for the targeted reach that ATC and Cars.com has. Newspaper for a 1 day ad full color is 7k on their busiest ad day which is typically Saturday. Radio during drive time for a 15 sec spot is $800. TV broadcast late news is $1500 but hold on, you got bonused during the political year lucky you with a spot between 2 negative ad campaigns.....awesome. NONE of this is targeted but thanks for showing us your pretty face on TV. It still didn't make want to buy a car. Between us and Cars.com we are the used car sites for the following:
KBB
Edmunds
NADA Guides
Yahoo Autos
MSN Autos
Univision (for the hispanic folks)
Askpatty (for the female folks)
I think that is enough (that's not all of them) so please do me the favor and hold the Newspaper, TV and Radio reps (oh I forgot those reps only deal with dealer principles not IM's) just as accountable. Cars.com and ATC are targeted advertising for car shoppers. It's valuable. Thankfully our dealers know that in my area because we educate them the right way (we aren't getting cancellations outside of store closings). We have open door policies with every OWNER of our groups and we go above and beyond to be a partner for their business. They DO NOT hold us accountable for their sales because we don't sell cars for anyone, we provide a targeted audience and that is all we do. If I depended on some sales guy's closing ratio I would be out of a job (80/20 rule). If a dealer told me I had to depend on their sales staff to close a deal, then we don't sign them up. If you want to do something different in 2009 realize people don't "shop" online, they "research" online. If you ask the right questions and know where we and Cars.com feed to you would fully understand what we are about. These conversations are much easier for us with OWNERS which is why we make the difference. If you think our company is losing money ask your traditional media reps how they are right now.
KBB
Edmunds
NADA Guides
Yahoo Autos
MSN Autos
Univision (for the hispanic folks)
Askpatty (for the female folks)
I think that is enough (that's not all of them) so please do me the favor and hold the Newspaper, TV and Radio reps (oh I forgot those reps only deal with dealer principles not IM's) just as accountable. Cars.com and ATC are targeted advertising for car shoppers. It's valuable. Thankfully our dealers know that in my area because we educate them the right way (we aren't getting cancellations outside of store closings). We have open door policies with every OWNER of our groups and we go above and beyond to be a partner for their business. They DO NOT hold us accountable for their sales because we don't sell cars for anyone, we provide a targeted audience and that is all we do. If I depended on some sales guy's closing ratio I would be out of a job (80/20 rule). If a dealer told me I had to depend on their sales staff to close a deal, then we don't sign them up. If you want to do something different in 2009 realize people don't "shop" online, they "research" online. If you ask the right questions and know where we and Cars.com feed to you would fully understand what we are about. These conversations are much easier for us with OWNERS which is why we make the difference. If you think our company is losing money ask your traditional media reps how they are right now.
O
OFH
Guest
sellmorecars,
This is your boss, git back to werk dammit.
Your sales are in the toilet and it's all your fault. How many times do I have to tell you about this DealerReefer blog stuff? These Reefer's are to be considered a hostile group and all you do is preach to them out of our sales manual.
Sellmorecars, you can't make any money sitting on your a** typing. Git out there and make us some sales.
And remember...
When your dealers whine, refer to your AT sales manual that I wrote back in 01 and don't deviate from it. I'd also appreciate it of you'd not put my awesome word-tracks on this no good communist Reefer blog. These are my powerful marketing tracks and we don't want those evil bastards at Cars.com getting a hold of these custom ideas of mine.
Oh, BTW, you don't have to tell me, I know the word-tracks are out dated. Yea, I know 99% of newspapers are worse off financially than our car dealers already are. Yes, I heard that even the NY Times is about to file for bankruptcy. We just need a new spin to make our nit-wit dealers see the light.
I need help creating a spin, but I can't find it. I’ve read where studies show Newspaper ad rates are so over priced that they need to mark down ad rates 80% to make them viable. WE DONT WANT THAT TO HAPPEN. You see, we base our AT pricing model and establish our AT value on newsprints bloated rate card. I just don’t what to do! Newsprint is a FAILED BUSINESS MODEL that we use as a corner stone to justify our value.
I need a new spin on this, write me if you get one...
Your favorite myopic manager,
OFH
(Old, Fat and Happy)
This is your boss, git back to werk dammit.
Your sales are in the toilet and it's all your fault. How many times do I have to tell you about this DealerReefer blog stuff? These Reefer's are to be considered a hostile group and all you do is preach to them out of our sales manual.
Sellmorecars, you can't make any money sitting on your a** typing. Git out there and make us some sales.
And remember...
When your dealers whine, refer to your AT sales manual that I wrote back in 01 and don't deviate from it. I'd also appreciate it of you'd not put my awesome word-tracks on this no good communist Reefer blog. These are my powerful marketing tracks and we don't want those evil bastards at Cars.com getting a hold of these custom ideas of mine.
Oh, BTW, you don't have to tell me, I know the word-tracks are out dated. Yea, I know 99% of newspapers are worse off financially than our car dealers already are. Yes, I heard that even the NY Times is about to file for bankruptcy. We just need a new spin to make our nit-wit dealers see the light.
I need help creating a spin, but I can't find it. I’ve read where studies show Newspaper ad rates are so over priced that they need to mark down ad rates 80% to make them viable. WE DONT WANT THAT TO HAPPEN. You see, we base our AT pricing model and establish our AT value on newsprints bloated rate card. I just don’t what to do! Newsprint is a FAILED BUSINESS MODEL that we use as a corner stone to justify our value.
I need a new spin on this, write me if you get one...
Your favorite myopic manager,
OFH
(Old, Fat and Happy)
Latest posts
-
-
-
Inventory Pages Are Often Underutilized- Latest: Ryan Everson
-
