Percentage of vehicles that should have photos?

[sweece]

We use Dealer Specialties to handle our inventory photos. I've been trying to keep track of the percentage of vehicles that have photos on our site. It looks like they're averaging about 70-80%. Is this an acceptable amount? Should I be on their case to step it up a bit?

FYI we have about 500 cars in stock so on a good month (for Dealer Specialties) that means that 100 cars are displayed on the site without photos.

 

[ggarvin]

Under normal circumstances, you should be very close to 100% of your saleable inventory being photographed. Some dealers count vehicles in the "get ready" process as inventory before they are ready to be photographed. In those cases, the number would understanably lower. In any case, I understand we just reassigned someone to your lot to make sure we are getting everything photographed and that we are getting there every day.

 

[Greg_Gifford]

100 vehicles without photos = 100 vehicles that will absolutely not be sold off the website or any online property...

 

[ewalraven]

I'm just echoing what everybody else said, but the general rule of thumb is:
New cars - 100% of the vehicles should have at least stock photos
Used cars - 100% of the vehicles should have dealer photos

It just looks bad without any photos on the vehicle. Would you buy a car online without seeing a picture of it? I wouldn't .. I'd click on over to the next dealership that has that same vehicle.

Oh, not sure what inventory provider you use, but usually you can set up a filter to NOT send vehicles out to the website or wherever if they don't have a photo. If you want that ..

 

[Jeff Kershner]

100% would of course be the goal. But let's be realistic here...

Cars need to run through the shop
They sit in detail due to needing some dent repair or scratch work
Sometimes we send our cars out to another shop for warr work
Etc etc..

For myself, with 5 roof tops - in house photos

For used - under 80% is the red flag
For new - under 70% is the red flag (we take 9 photos of our new inventory)

I want our inventory out there online asap. I'd love to and recommend having at least 1 photo on a new used car arrival but the resources are not there at the moment and for some reason getting anyone other than my photo guy to take photos is a battle I no longer care to fight. My managers and sales people "just want to sell cars".

If vehicle equals no photo - prepend commets with "new arrival - call to have personal photos expedited."

I have sold too many cars with no photo but a good description with "call for photos" in the comments section to not recommend this practice.

In order to be above 80%, my dealers need to change their proces for getting cars through the shop and ready for the front line. I point this out all the time while showing them how it has a direct effect on their turn.

The faster you have photos, great comments and to market pricing - the more VDP views = more opportunities (sold cars).

 

[joe.pistell]

Hey! Don't Jump all over the photo team yet. The Dealers Operations may skew the numbers or prevent pics from being taken (quickly).


Examples:

1. Does your REPORT track units that are only 100% ready for retail, or, for example, does it report on units that are "intransit" or "in service"?
2. Is your report "in sync" with your web site? (are all stock#'s on the report on your site??)

Know Your Photo Management Tool.
Sort your report by days in inventory and work the list from the oldest on down to the newest. Find out WHO or WHAT is at fault. Look at the oldest units and find out why the Photo guy hasnt shot it. Is the photo guy un-organized and poorly managed or is the photo guy fighting a poorly run operation (or a combination of both)?

I use to work for a Chevy store that took 45 friggin days to get a used unit to the front line. No one cared! MANAGEMENT APATHY maybe your problem, and is NOT in your job description to fix! hahaha...


SELLING CARS IS A TEAM SPORT.
If you see a performance hole, look at the WHOLE TEAM for the answers.

 

[sweece]

Hey thanks for the feedback everyone! Joe and Jeff -- I believe that our process is having an effect on the photos. Vehicles that are listed in our inventory but are not yet prepped for sale are listed on the site so I understand leaving some room to accommodate this. However, as of yesterday, 20 of our new vehicles were missing photos and we have not received 20 new cars in the past week. If Dealer Specialties comes every day like they're supposed to, this number should be much lower (taking into account the few vehicles that we have in transit that are still listed on the site).

Also, is it normal for companies like DS to take these kind of photos? It's almost as if they don't care about shadows, angles, etc. Should I expect to pay more for QUALITY photos as opposed to quantity from these companies?

 

[joe.pistell]

...is it normal for companies like DS to take these kind of photos? It's almost as if they don't care about shadows, angles, etc. Should I expect to pay more for QUALITY photos as opposed to quantity from these companies?

Sweece,

Vendors are your partners. They help you achieve your goals. If you want killer relations (and killer results) with your vendors, you set YOUR goals and your standards, then you tell your vendors what your goals are. THEN, you MUST roll up your sleeves and help them lift! WHILE your lifting, remind them that they need to fix this so you don't have to lift again!! (they ALWAYS agree and it gets done!!


Here's one way to set your goals and help them lift at the same time.

Produce a list of aged cars that need to be photographed NOW, print the list, grab the keys and phone your vendor and before they arrive and ask that they meet you in your office when they arrive. Show them the OLD units that need pics NOW and show them the keys. Tell them that you've got a problem, you need their help and you'll be doing spot checks often (blame it on your boss if you don't like to be the "bad cop"

NEXT, show them the printouts of unacceptable pics and ask them that they not allow this to happen again (Sun glare, dark shadows, awful back drops, etc). If its an over cast day, they'll have no problems. If it's sunny out, you'll want to stop in and make sure they understand your intent.

You have an autotrader.com account, in the next post, I'll show you how to build that list fast and easy.

 

[Alex Snyder]

Vendors are your partners. They help you achieve your goals. If you want killer relations with your vendors, you set the goals and your standards, get them to understand your goals, then roll up your sleeves and help them lift! WHILE your lifting, remind them that they need to fix this so you don't have to lift again!! (they ALWAYS agree and it gets done!!

That's a fantastic statement Joe :thumbup:

I always found the vendors I worked with (not just paid money to) were the most receptive to any of my needs and feature requests (one hired me). I too had significant issues with the various companies who took our used car photos. After setting the guidelines and goals they would improve. If they repeatedly did not adhere to my guidelines and goals, I fired them. I did the same with my employees. If you simply understand that people need specific and clear direction you'll go places in life.

As for viewing the whole picture: when it came to used car photo percentages we were pretty bad due to our reconditioning process being so rigorous. The trade-off was we rarely got customer complaints on used cars and could proudly stand behind them after the sale. This is one of the reasons why Checkered Flag has such a great reputation with its customers. What means more? Good reputation that retains multiple sales from the same customer-base or timely photos of cars that garner more attention from online visitors? Reputation vs. pizazz might be the argument here. You just have to set your priorities and stick to them (consistency) - another quality of a good leader that also helps with the first point I made.

 

[joe.pistell]

Sweece,

Log into your dealer.autotrader.com, goto the "Vehicles" tab and see below. Choose the oldest date and look for Stock Photos. Work up the age of the list until you get current. Give your vendor a printout of the OLDEST units and let him/her know you (or your boss) will be spot checking it often!

HTH!