Oh no. I'm a customer.

[Alex Snyder]

I personally believe it will have to mandated and come from the OEMs forcing them to adapt.

Maybe. Or it will just be a good product dealers want to buy.

 

[jon.berna]

The heart of the topic for me is ignoring dogma and going back to 1st principles. Here is a simple thought experiment on accessories something @Alex Snyder highlighted that really hit me. We are better than this!

Assumptions / 1st principles:

1. People are persuaded by the following three elements: emotion, logic and reputation/character (Aristotle). Each person has their own individual thresholds / balance of these 3 drivers before they are persuaded.
2. The quality or worth of something is determined from the perceived amount of effort that went into producing it (applied effort theory / effort heuristic).

Forget the way you currently communicate your brand or have designed the process to earn/persuade customers.

• How can you establish a logical, emotional and character argument in your process?
  • If each person to be persuaded has a different minimal threshold for each how do you establish an order or prioritization of each? How do you ensure each person feels fulfilled for their unique combination?
• What ways do you provide value to the customer?
  • How can you show the customer the effort behind the value you create?

No go back to what you are persuading people to do and build a process in reverse that accomplishes this. We want people to buy accessories:

• What is the emotional justification behind the purchase of accessories?
  • unique to me = pride, convenience = calmness, safety/reliability = trust
  • This is your copy. I think these 3 emotions are a perfect fit for accessories.

• What are the logical?
  • I can finance this and won't have to pay out of pocket (think buying a computer, only $4 more per month)

• Reputation?
  • Show what it will be like, don't tell me. What did a bunch of people say about X accessory after you added it?

• How can we show the effort behind the procurement and installation of accessories?
  • This is relative so compare what you offer versus the status quo. Explain the lengthy process your team takes carefully installing. Give them the play by play, tell them how long it takes.

Ok, now you are organized but you have to implement this into the customer's experience and create an overall brand for it. This is the how. Typically people start here and that is why it fails. Now you can build the content (not just website either). Other areas of the business have different 1st principles so you need to reduce them to the elemental level for each.

 

[john.quinn]

Inevitably, a simple concept becomes complicated... I believe vendors in this space have a semi-vested interest in adding complication (would there be a need for expertise if everything was simple?? ). Mangers in automotive do as well...

The simplest of concepts: JUST TAKE CARE OF THE CUSTOMER

What should my website do? Take care of the customer.
What should my people do? Take care of the customer.

Leave the past where it is... forget the games. ABSOLUTELY let go of the fallacy of "control." It really is this simple (and it always was!): he/she who treats the customer best, wins.

Do you lose a deal every now and then to the grinder? Of course! Do you grow your business and win in the long run? Duh.

 

[ChuckKnerr]

Alex, great article! You voiced what shoppers want, "Give me the information I need to choose (hopefully, you can give them info so they'll want to choose YOU)." OEM sites are focused on OEM needs and unfortunately, they enforce a level playing field. But the dealership needs to stand out! What you recommend is the way to do that. Incentives, inventory, even the websites are all the same. Here are a couple of dealers who let their customers provide the information shoppers want (from people shoppers trust). https://www.moritzchevrolet.com/ https://www.hondacarsofmckinney.com/

 

[Zhendrix]

Great topic. I’ll play and jump straight the consumer’s experience on your dealership website because the lower the funnel the sexier it sounds.

Your website exists for one reason. To convert. It’s up to you to determine the type, priority, goal and value of each conversion. For example, do you prioritize and value a Facebook “like” from your website the same as a form submission or phone call? It’s up to you to test your conversions. For example, does the video of your dealerships roof and the dumpsters in the back on your homepage do anything for conversion or did you go with that vendor because it “looks awesome” ? If you don’t know, read Chris Goward’s book, “You should test that”

Specifically, for new cars (because I live there) if a consumer lands on your website, on purpose, they have completed a “ready player one like” (the book not the movie) experience and they know ALL the 80’s James Holiday trivia questions. Great news! There’s only 3 questions left for you to help them answer...

1. Do you have it? (Inventory) keeping in mind that “having it” on your website is very different than just “having it” in stock. Example: actual photos on the site. I already saw the stock photo on the commercial, third party sites, the brand site, and my neighbors in person.
2. How much is it? (Price) not the internet price
3. Why should I buy from you? (Convenience)

If your website doesn’t answer those questions you might be bringing the consumer back up higher in the funnel causing them to deflect from your dealership or more importantly for me, the brand... and that’s not sexy.