Selling cars is a team sport. Make your vendors join your team.

[joe.pistell]

So simple...

• Buyers and sellers have a job to do.
• A sale happens when both parties reach the final agreement (i.e. all questions satisfied)
• Every vendor's KPI should be aimed at assisting the dealer sell more cars
• Every vendor should know where their product fits into the 'the scope of work to be done'.
• Every vendor should want to partner with the dealer and their other vendors to look for new ways to sell more cars.

Dealers.
Vendors obsess over lead volumes because you tell them to.

Selling cars is a team sport. Make your vendors join your team.
For 2024, consider creating a Vendor Manifesto where you demand that your vendor stop obsessing solely on lead gen volume and take on the responsibility of owning their tool's role in helping you sell more cars.

Ask your vendors:

• Move beyond traditional roles and metrics like lead generation
• Encourage integrated approach to selling cars
• Foster collaborative environment for shared responsibility in driving sales
• Innovate processes for mutual success
• Enhance partnership effectiveness

We all complain on how little the car shopping experience has changed. Task your vendors to join your team and ask them to demonstrate how their product helps both parties reach the final agreement.

 

[BillKVMotorCo]

So simple...

• Buyers and sellers have a job to do.
• A sale happens when both parties reach the final agreement (i.e. all questions satisfied)
• Every vendor's KPI should be aimed at assisting the dealer sell more cars
• Every vendor should know where their product fits into the 'the scope of work to be done'.
• Every vendor should want to partner with the dealer and their other vendors to look for new ways to sell more cars.

Dealers.
Vendors obsess over lead volumes because you tell them to.

Selling cars is a team sport. Make your vendors join your team.
For 2024, consider creating a Vendor Manifesto where you demand that your vendor stop obsessing solely on lead gen volume and take on the responsibility of owning their tool's role in helping you sell more cars.

Ask your vendors:

• Move beyond traditional roles and metrics like lead generation
• Encourage integrated approach to selling cars
• Foster collaborative environment for shared responsibility in driving sales
• Innovate processes for mutual success
• Enhance partnership effectiveness

We all complain on how little the car shopping experience has changed. Task your vendors to join your team and ask them to demonstrate how their product helps both parties reach the final agreement.

I agree with this 100%. The problem I've found falls under the category of the innovator's dilemma. Most of these guys are now too big to be nimble enough to be adaptable to a dealer who thinks this way. It also falls under the pareto principle and that vendors think they are better off tailoring to the 80% instead of the 20%. Who could blame them really? I can understand that challenge. To be clear, I am completing agreeing with you. Just stating the (probably obvious) challenge.

 

[jon.berna]

Innovation is happening it's just not getting to the surface or the attention it deserves. This past couple weeks I've seen some really amazing stuff that hasn't broken through the noise of the current ecosystem, which doesn't reward innovation anyways.

All size of companies can innovate and are. The alignment you're referring to Joe is at focus of my attention. I met with one of my early lvlup users and a local rockstar independent dealers on Thursday. He was going over this exact idea on how to document the scope/expectations and establishing both parties responsibilities. His vision for this was so obviously right.

So your post here feels so timely

 

[BillKVMotorCo]

Innovation is happening it's just not getting to the surface or the attention it deserves. This past couple weeks I've seen some really amazing stuff that hasn't broken through the noise of the current ecosystem, which doesn't reward innovation anyways.

Part of what we run into is that it is too easy to find the big players and settle. Takes a little more work to find the innovator's. We just have to stop settling for the former and start doing the latter. We have to be willing to admit that it's on us, too.

A personal story: after finally giving up on Gubagoo chat, I have gone through 4 chat vendors now. When I went looking for a replacement, I went straight to my OEM and started experimenting with their providers. I didn't do my own search outside of demoing their vendors. That's on me.

 

[joe.pistell]

Most Dealers & Vendors have this mental model of car shopping:​

Progressive dealers & vendors see the Internet this way:​

Dealers,
How BIG is your INVISIBLE Internet audience? Its simple math:

A) Of your total sales, how many of your BUYERS were on your website prior to purchase? *
--20%?
--40%?
--60%?
--80%?
--90%?
--95%?
B) Of your total sales, How many sales were from Internet leads
--20%?
--40%?
--60%?
--80%?
--90%?
--95%?

A - B = the size of your INVISIBLE Internet audience.​

Example: December
Total Sales: 100
A) Buyers on your site prior to purchase: 87*
B) Sales from Leads: 45 (incl' phone)
-->INVISIBLE Internet buyer audience: 42

Visualize this INVISIBLE audience.
They choose to arrive unannounced. All shoppers have a job to do. Look for vendors with tools and systems to help your shopper become smarter, more informed, more confident, more trusting in you and your team. BONUS: This helpful website your making improves the closing rate of your website leads ("win-win").

Create a simple survey at delivery*, it changes everything!


p.s. Vendors, help your dealers* see how big their invisible internet audience is.
*At delivery, create a simple one page survey.
**or, you're located a long distance from a major market (i.e. your buyers travel to get to your inventory)

 

[Will G.]

I am a vendor and I approve this message 100%. As far as merchandising/online presentation, real magic happens when vendors treat the dealers like it's their own business, and dealers need to demand the same quality the vendor promised in the beginning when they signed on.

Dealers:
- Browse your immediate competition in the area, how does your online presentation look vs. theirs?
- Unless you are beating everybody else with prices, how are you attracting customers to your dealer?
- Worst thing you can tell your photo vendor, "we just want photos". They love hearing this because they bill by the unit and can quickly rush through your inventory, bill you, and go to their next account, your competition.
- If your photo guy is in-house or a vendor. Sit with them, browse your competition and look for ways to improve your online presentation. I rarely see dealers doing this.

 

[joe.pistell]

Visualize this INVISIBLE audience.

Hahaha.

Lead gen, Lead gen, Lead gen.
DR post from 2015!
Why is Video so difficult?

 

[BillKVMotorCo]

Hahaha.
View attachment 8468
Lead gen, Lead gen, Lead gen.
DR post from 2015!
Why is Video so difficult?

We are going to be experimenting with a new site that has AI built in to answer questions. We are going to put the chat box (or text box, more accurately) right next to it. It will be interesting to see if the quantity of our chats stays the same or if people will be comfortable using the AI. My long-term hope is to get rid of the chat box. My goal has always been to prioritize the customer's access to information over leads.

 

[Carsten]

I use mobile to browser sites a lot and that *^*&^* chat box covers up a lot of options that I want to use.
So, I provide lots of colorful language in it.
IF it covers up too much of the experience, I just go to another site to shop.

I wonder how many shoppers actually use a chat box.
Are there stats on this to change my opinion on them?

 

[BillKVMotorCo]

I use mobile to browser sites a lot and that *^*&^* chat box covers up a lot of options that I want to use.
So, I provide lots of colorful language in it.
IF it covers up too much of the experience, I just go to another site to shop.

I wonder how many shoppers actually use a chat box.
Are there stats on this to change my opinion on them?

We have pretty good luck with ours. Gets used quite a bit. Ours is set to only pop up once. X out of it and it stays closed. Just one "Hey, I'm here pop up." It is too damn big. though. It's the only one of 5 we've used in the last year or so that actually functions right with managed chat, so it is what it is. Will be going away with our new site. I think customers expect to be able to chat now. For every customer that says they will leave a site because of it I'm guessing there are some that don't like that they can't chat.