How much do you spend on marketing for 3rd party market places?

[JDHigginbotham]

@jon.berna glad to hear that work is recognized.

Growing that product was a worthy experience. Selling it clean with the right focus and appropriate challenge to status quo made conversations a few months later very fulfilling.

 

[jon.berna]

I bet those meetings were fulfilling. Typically AEs from classified sites were going into a dealerships 90 days post signature expecting a fight and prepared to tap dance a few charts, spin some magic, and spread around the swag and snacks. Instead the dealership is trying to not show how happy they are because they're worried you'll raise the damn price.

 

[JDHigginbotham]

Oh there was plenty of that, too!

Luckily, I was just “the haircut” that would fly in monthly to say “I told you so”.

The local account manager had manage the swag for price increase exchange. Not all heroes wear capes.

I will credit Carfax on holding off the temptation to raise rates on UCL when others did. They had that covered with the Advantage Dealer program.

 

[BillKVMotorCo]

3. As a developer, I am looking for pivots and ideas that go beyond the simple lsiting service that lots of the unknown places do. I'm finishing up the build out the main parts fo the platform that focues on revenue and foot traffic.

One of the things that I think would be beneficial to buyers is little search tips along the way. Guide them. Let them know that they should specify things like trim level and explain what that is, tell them to look for a sunroof and explain that some trim levels have them and others don't, etc. Hell, now that I think of it, require a few filters with an explanation of why and how it benefits them to do so before allowing them to even submit the search. Almost like onboarding them. Now I'm wondering why that doesn't already exist.

 

[BillKVMotorCo]

This is not a fesh take, but just to state it, when you're new, not only do you have to catch up to your contemporaries you have to be better to convince someone to make a change.

Allowing the customer the ability to search by specific history items and really tailoring the site to help them determine vehicle quality was the inflection point.

This is what I'm saying in my previous reply. Actually help them shop. I agree you need to differentiate to get them to engage with a new product. I think guiding them in their search more could be a good USP.

 

[jon.berna]

The reason these sites don't do it more aggressively up front is simple, the users fall off. Each step there's a probability they exit so reducing the steps increases their net conversion. However, faceted searches, by which the customer is looking at granular features, trims, odometer limits etc. convert to leads and sales higher than non faceted. Basically a pretty linear relationship between facet depth and conversion.

This effort, to get people to facet while keeping them from leaving is the whole ball game, and has been the pursuit of all the smartest people working on this problem at these companies for the last 25 years. It would need a really strong up front message that educates them on it an makes it super easy / intuitive.

I think the sites have come a long way actually. They've integrated payments into their sites which has made a big improvement for the customer and if you look you can see how available they are taking the initial make + model+ zip search and letting the customize their search after.

@joe.pistell can chime more, as this is his area of expertise.

 

[BillKVMotorCo]

The reason these sites don't do it more aggressively up front is simple, the users fall off. Each step there's a probability they exit so reducing the steps increases their net conversion. However, faceted searches, by which the customer is looking at granular features, trims, odometer limits etc. convert to leads and sales higher than non faceted. Basically a pretty linear relationship between facet depth and conversion.

This effort, to get people to facet while keeping them from leaving is the whole ball game, and has been the pursuit of all the smartest people working on this problem at these companies for the last 25 years. It would need a really strong up front message that educates them on it an makes it super easy / intuitive.

I think the sites have come a long way actually. They've integrated payments into their sites which has made a big improvement for the customer and if you look you can see how available they are taking the initial make + model+ zip search and letting the customize their search after.

@joe.pistell can chime more, as this is his area of expertise.

I totally get it. And I'm not thinking like every step along the way. Maybe even just two or three and then give the guest the opportunity to continue on their own or with more assistance. I wish I could think of a good example that I've seen from a vendor when onboarding. Maybe the better example is like the short walk-through when someone makes a few small changes to their software and the brief explanation for the user when they first access it again.

 

[jon.berna]

We are already seeing and about to see a massive number of openAI powered "find me the perfect car apps" that scrape sites, ask questions and negotiate with the dealer which removes the browsing online process entirely. So the providers are doing everything they can to ensure the accuracy of the vehicle info and accessibility of it. ~2 years from now the number of searches that are automated versus human could be 1:1

 

[BillKVMotorCo]

We are already seeing and about to see a massive number of openAI powered "find me the perfect car apps" that scrape sites, ask questions and negotiate with the dealer which removes the browsing online process entirely. So the providers are doing everything they can to ensure the accuracy of the vehicle info and accessibility of it. ~2 years from now the number of searches that are automated versus human could be 1:1

Hadn't even thought about that. Interesting. The negotiating part will be interesting; especially with the number of dealers going no haggle. How far out will the AI go trying to negotiate a deal for them. "Great news, human. I found a great buy for you in Brussels."

 

[jon.berna]

Hadn't even thought about that. Interesting.

Think about how shitty it is to buy a car as a civilian. Especially for nerds like me that will make lists in spreadsheets and compare everything. All that goes away. Red-eye late night looking through 300 cars is gone, poof. Just the perfect 4-5 all wrapped up, ready to act on. I don't see how the status quo lasts much longer