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Tangible ROI in Social Media

I seem to remember checking out a website that you designed. In essence, customers must enter their contact information in order to view inventory. I have been giving a lot of thought to some variation of this type of system. I would allow shoppers to view SRP and VDP information without any type of lead form. However, to get pricing they would have to enter their information. This would be some type of "For the most up to date pricing, vehicle condition reports, and special offers CLICK HERE". I believe that a high number of shoppers that find my vehicles on Cars.com, CarGurus, CUDL, etc., simply open a new tab and search for my website. I believe this because of the fact that 40%+ of my website traffic is either a direct search or a search for some variation of my dealership name. Many of these customers have already seen the vehicle on another site, know what the price was on that site, and want to see if it is cheaper on my website than it is on the 3rd party sites. I don't know if this is a good idea or not. I can see a situation in which I just piss people off, and I can also see a situation in which these could be low funnel shoppers that are ready to make a purchase if someone would just reach out to them and show them the way. Opinions on this would be appreciated.

Good afternoon. I thought I might chime in here cause I'm familiar with your area (I used to work for Cornhusker Toyota & Honda in Grand Island) and I have been by your lot a few times.

I honestly think adding something that requires a user to enter information before they get any type of pricing is a 50 / 50 shot on if they will do anything. If you want to generate leads and get user interaction, why not have prices on there, but have a button for "Get our NEW internet price". This will allow you to catch their info and generate a lead for you, yet you are already showing them a price. Any new price you gave would just be a small discount and please them knowing they are getting a better deal.
 
Good afternoon. I thought I might chime in here cause I'm familiar with your area (I used to work for Cornhusker Toyota & Honda in Grand Island) and I have been by your lot a few times.

I honestly think adding something that requires a user to enter information before they get any type of pricing is a 50 / 50 shot on if they will do anything. If you want to generate leads and get user interaction, why not have prices on there, but have a button for "Get our NEW internet price". This will allow you to catch their info and generate a lead for you, yet you are already showing them a price. Any new price you gave would just be a small discount and please them knowing they are getting a better deal.

Hi Rob

I have given that some thought as well. Does that work well? I have seen several sites that use it. This is how I see this type of thing. I see this as a customer telling me that they like the vehicle but they either don't know if they can afford it, don't know if it is a good deal, or have found it somewhere else. This is a lead that I would really like to be able to communicate with.

Thanks for the advice!
 
The problem that I have with social media is that by monetizing it, you HAVE to pay to play. If I post on Facebook and do not pay to boost the post, Facebook only shows it to a handful of people. Now, of course if I pay, then its displayed to thousands - which then turns it into "what's my ROI...". It is more beneficial for me to post something business related (not a hard-sell though) on a personal page than it is on a business page. A salesman can post a pic of a new model or a happy customer on his page and will get all kinds of interactions...I post the same thing to Facebook as a business and barely make a splash (unless I pay). I love Twitter for the immediate interaction with our customers. I hate Google+ and that's all that needs said about that.

Hate Google+? You know that Google+ reviews are filtered in Google's search engines. Wherein, if your friend has purchased at a dealer their review would populate when searching. Albeit, it would be nice if those who did not have a gmail address could leave reviews. As for FB why not have the customer take the photo on their phone? They tag you and the dealer in the photo. Thus, exposing you. Otherwise, yes you have to pay to boost it.
 
Hate Google+? You know that Google+ reviews are filtered in Google's search engines. Wherein, if your friend has purchased at a dealer their review would populate when searching. Albeit, it would be nice if those who did not have a gmail address could leave reviews. As for FB why not have the customer take the photo on their phone? They tag you and the dealer in the photo. Thus, exposing you. Otherwise, yes you have to pay to boost it.

I hate Google+ as a social media platform. Personally, it is not something that I use. Technically, I have an account, but I couldn't tell you the last time I actually posted to it. Business-wise, yes of course I see the value of a business listing on Google and I do understand the impact of Google reviews. The rest of it for me is just going through the motions just to play nice with Google. As far as Facebook, allow me to clarify. I feel like there are two different aspects of promoting a business page: Interactions (brand-awareness) and Advertising (leads). I have no problem with FB generating revenue with ads. They can be highly targeted and extremely effective. The part I disagree with, is the other side of things. If a customer deliberately chooses to follow our brand(s), why do we still have to pay FB to show them our posts?
 
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I hate Google+ as a social media platform. Personally, it is not something that I use. Technically, I have an account, but I couldn't tell you the last time I actually posted to it. Business-wise, yes of course I see the value of a business listing on Google and I do understand the impact of Google reviews. The rest of it for me is just going through the motions just to play nice with Google. As far as Facebook, allow me to clarify. I feel like there are two different aspects of promoting a business page: Interactions (brand-awareness) and Advertising (leads). I have no problem with FB generating revenue with ads. They can be highly targeted and extremely effective. The part I disagree with, is the other side of things. If a customer deliberately chooses to follow our brand(s), why do we still have to pay FB to show them our posts?

I agree with everything you said here, I haven't posted to Google+ in I don't know how long. I love almost everything else they do, I use a lot of their apps because they work great, and using them with Drive(the cloud) and can access my stuff anywhere(googles remote desktop app is awesome if you haven't tried it). Google+ I totally ignore, I wish it was better.

It has alway upset me on FB that without paying you can't get the reach you can get on a personal page. Their targeted ads are great if you're not doing some you should start now. I attached a screenshot of our better performing ads on Facebook.
 

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I have finally come to the conclusion that ANY type of CRM is going to be better than no CRM. I have it narrowed down to a couple, and am going to focus on utilization rather than features.

this ties directly to:

My current system of logging customers is horrible. We do have a customer log, but there is nothing in that log or process that would give me the slightest bit of confidence to use the data for decision making. This is of course one of the reasons that I am committing to a CRM. I realize that having a CRM means nothing if we do not use it correctly and make a 100% effort to get data into it. All leads from all sources will automatically flow into the CRM, but that doesn't cover actual floor traffic. This will take significant effort. The percentage of phone ups that do not get logged is high. I can't tell you the number, but it is high!

Clint,
Your focus on utilization over features is SMART! Along that line, I think CRM is mis-named. It should be something like "People Hub". Why? CRM won't do sh*t unless you have it's users (reps & managers) happy they have it.

Today, most Decision makers see CRM as a productivity tool. The users of CRM (Sales and managers) see CRM as a P.I.A. You'll never get any ROI from CRM if the reps & managers have to fight to make it work.

In my travels, CRM made people problems worse. I committed mountains of time and money and the reps fought me and lied to me every step of the way, because no one sees the value of CRM (except you). If you can't get the entire team on board BEFORE you launch this, be prepared for frustration and failure.

Idea: have your team to do a demo of your top 2 choices. Get their feedback and get the petty whining out of the way early.

HTH
Joe
 
I sign up all of my customers, so I have the opportunity to do an "exit interview" while handling financing. I talk with customers a great deal regarding how they found the store or the car. I don't know if this is right or wrong, but if a customer tells me they have been on CarGurus, cars.com, and my website, I will give credit to both 3rd party sites. I know that our inventory is on both, so if the customer gives even a hint of doubt I just record both lead sources. Some customers know beyond any doubt how they found us, but most seem to be a little unsure.

Excellent!
You gotta try the survey-at-delivery http://forum.dealerrefresh.com/threads/survey-at-delivery-a-road-map-to-your-store.3751/

It's an easy idea that'll save you time and you'll get great data. It totally changed the way I looked at the car shopping world.

HTH
Joe
 
I have been giving a lot of thought to some variation of this type of system. I would allow shoppers to view SRP and VDP information without any type of lead form. However, to get pricing they would have to enter their information. This would be some type of "For the most up to date pricing, vehicle condition reports, and special offers CLICK HERE". I believe that a high number of shoppers that find my vehicles on Cars.com, CarGurus, CUDL, etc., simply open a new tab and search for my website. I believe this because of the fact that 40%+ of my website traffic is either a direct search or a search for some variation of my dealership name. Many of these customers have already seen the vehicle on another site, know what the price was on that site, and want to see if it is cheaper on my website than it is on the 3rd party sites. I don't know if this is a good idea or not. I can see a situation in which I just piss people off, and I can also see a situation in which these could be low funnel shoppers that are ready to make a purchase if someone would just reach out to them and show them the way. Opinions on this would be appreciated.


Beware unintended consequences. If you add RESISTANCE or COMPLICATION to shopping workflow, it's not what your shoppers want. You'll silently kill shoppers that "don't know you" (see below).

I see a winning idea in your thoughts.... "If you can't beat 'em. join 'em!" Let's see where this goes...

  • Shoppers 'that don't know you' and come to your site from 3rd party sites would LOVE to see an special low price found exclusively on your site. Juice up the CTA by putting an expiration date on it (2-3 days out).

Next, there are only 2 kinds of shoppers.
  1. Those that know you
  2. Those that don't know you

Shoppers 'that don't know you' is your biggest challenge and has your highest reward.
Shoppers 'that don't know you' and come to your site need to see and hear your why-buy-from-me message. One idea is a video from the top dog at your store. Undecided shoppers want to hear how hard you work at being the best and what your after-sale promises are.

NOTE: IMO, Shopper's won't care about your why-buy message until they land on a car. Don't put in on the home page, they'll ignore it. Place it on your footer, or, on the bottom 1/3 of your VDP (bring your reviews physically close to this video)

HTH
Joe
 
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