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Text Us message conversion from Website and VDP?

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#41
Ed Brooks said:
LeadGen is crucial for eCommerce. #AutoMarketing is NOT eCommerce - not yet anyway.
Click to expand...

#AutoMarketing can be defined in a plethora of ways.

Lead generation can be used in a variety of ways, but it relies on the power of a dealer's internal follow-up processes (qualified BDC or sales people).

I never said anything about E-commerce, but it's becoming that way and quickly.

Vroom Raises $95M And Acquires Texas Direct Auto In Its Quest To Bring Car-Buying Online
http://techcrunch.com/2015/12/16/vroom-acquires-texas-direct-auto/

Vroom allows people to buy and sell pre-owned cars from the web, with no-haggle prices, free delivery.
 
#42
@Alexander Lau - No doubt dealerships like Vroom and Carvana are embracing eCommerce. But they are in the distinct minority - TODAY.

Scroll up in this thread and review what Carmax is doing on their VDPs, and you'll see that they are NOT about lead gen. They are about getting people on the lot. And they are selling cars...

D.I.S.C. - "Does It Sell Cars"
 
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#43
Ed Brooks said:
@Alexander Lau - No doubt dealerships like Vroom and Carvana are embracing eCommerce. But they are the distinct minority - TODAY.

Scroll up in this thread and review what Carmax is doing on their VDPs, and you'll see that they are distinctly NOT about lead gen. They are about getting people on the lot. And they are selling cars...

D.I.S.C. - "Does It Sell Cars"
Click to expand...
Are they selling cars? What does that mean exactly? I know a bunch of platform providers that have excellent, user tested VDPs and SRPs that convert well and bring in people to their showroom. I don't what you're exactly referring to there...?

Are you saying, they've adding call to action options that tend to bring in consumers (at a higher rate and if so show me the data) with some form of higher level user experience to their showrooms and just as much as they are converting leads for their (global) BDC?

No offense man, but I'm tired of hearing this DISC stuff, there are many variables that bring in consumers to a dealership and lead to sales. When you say DISC, yes there a plethora of "does it sell cars" services and processes. You can't possibly sit here and tell me what works in one demographic does in all demographics.
 
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#45
Alexander, the following thoughts are not intended to be personal, they are an observation made by a wize ol' man:unclejoe:. It's my hope that these observations may open up a new window of opportunity for you.

Let's look at 2 replies that share a common theme...

#1).
Alexander Lau said:
It's a piece of technology that could easily allow dealerships to make smarter marketing decisions, so yes it could easily help sell more cars....
Click to expand...

#2).
Alexander Lau said:
Are they selling cars? What does that mean exactly? ... No offense man, but I'm tired of hearing this DISC stuff, there are many variables that bring in consumers to a dealership and lead to sales. When you say DISC, yes there a plethora of "does it sell cars" services and processes. You can't possibly sit here and tell me what works in one demographic does in all demographics.
Click to expand...


Alexander,
In #1 you state that an untried idea "could easily help sell more cars". And in #2 you're frustrated with DISC. Your comment "I'm tired of hearing this DISC stuff" revealed where you are on your journey to greatness and it triggered my reply. HTH.

Let's start with your strengths... AN INTENSE FOCUS ON TECHNOLOGY :bow: Linkedin: 5 yrs in the Auto Vendor biz.

Let's look at your weaknesses... AN INTENSE FOCUS ON TECHNOLOGY :hidepc:You've spent your career looking at the car dealer eco system from behind an analytics panel at a remote location.


Again, don't take it personally, this tech-profile is extremely common in our space. This profile lacks "in the dealership" experiences. It's why you (& everyone else) are frustrated trying to visualize DISC. Also, it's why dealers don't understand what technologists are saying. So, studying the dealer eco system would give you insights into the dealer's daily workflow (and the causation for their madness :)

Another reason why DISC is puzzling is the damn car shopper is so fuggin' stealth. This creates 2 powerful realities:
  1. The dealer's showroom-up is but a fraction of the car shopper's journey.
  2. The dealer's showroom-up is the output of the journey..
IOW, the floor up is our shopping cart (this connects to Ed's powerful statement).

Gaining insight into the shopper's journey is revealed in qualitative research. One of the best I've ever seen is Cars.com's ethnographic report. 2 thumbs up!

Summary:
DISC is frustrating because it's an amalgam of everything. Every single element plays a role in contributing to a sale. From a Dealers POV, DISC is focused on things they have control over (price, photos, ads, inventory, etc). Dealers want help prioritizing tasks by DISC rank (e.g. photos before advertising).

HTH
Joe


p.s. Think I'm off the mark? Imagine you were building software solutions for Hospitals. Your high-level KPI is patient mortality rate. How 'complete' would your solution be if all your experiences and ideas came from data generated outside the hospital? IMO, this "vendor profile divide" is one reason why our industry is always lagging other industries.

p.p.s. Be on the watchout for large dealer groups that close this divide by bringing technology teams under their roofs.
 
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#46
JoePistell said:
Alexander, the following thoughts are not intended to be personal, they are an observation made by a wize ol' man:unclejoe:. It's my hope that these observations may open up a new window of opportunity for you.

Let's look at 2 replies that share a common theme...

#1).

#2).​


Alexander,
In #1 you state that an untried idea "could easily help sell more cars". And in #2 you're frustrated with DISC. Your comment "I'm tired of hearing this DISC stuff" revealed where you are on your journey to greatness and it triggered my reply. HTH.

Let's start with your strengths... AN INTENSE FOCUS ON TECHNOLOGY :bow: Linkedin: 5 yrs in the Auto Vendor biz.

Let's look at your weaknesses... AN INTENSE FOCUS ON TECHNOLOGY :hidepc:You've spent your career looking at the car dealer eco system from behind an analytics panel at a remote location.


Again, don't take it personally, this tech-profile is extremely common in our space. This profile lacks "in the dealership" experiences. It's why you (& everyone else) are frustrated trying to visualize DISC. Also, it's why dealers don't understand what technologists are saying. So, studying the dealer eco system would give you insights into the dealer's daily workflow (and the causation for their madness :)

Another reason why DISC is puzzling is the damn car shopper is so fuggin' stealth. This creates 2 powerful realities:
  1. The dealer's showroom-up is but a fraction of the car shopper's journey.
  2. The dealer's showroom-up is the output of the journey..
IOW, the floor up is our shopping cart (this connects to Ed's powerful statement).

Gaining insight into the shopper's journey is revealed in qualitative research. One of the best I've ever seen is Cars.com's ethnographic report. 2 thumbs up!

Summary:
DISC is frustrating because it's an amalgam of everything. Every single element plays a role in contributing to a sale. From a Dealers POV, DISC is focused on things they have control over (price, photos, ads, inventory, etc). Dealers want help prioritizing tasks by DISC rank (e.g. photos before advertising).

HTH
Joe


p.s. Think I'm off the mark? Imagine you were building software solutions for Hospitals. Your high-level KPI is patient mortality rate. How 'complete' would your solution be if all your experiences and ideas came from data generated outside the hospital? IMO, this "vendor profile divide" is one reason why our industry is always lagging other industries.

p.p.s. Be on the watchout for large dealer groups that close this divide by bringing technology teams under their roofs.
Click to expand...
@JoePistell I wouldn't take it personally, but you've made some massive assumptions (what? LinkedIn profile view) about me. If you care to know, my experience doesn't just come from outside the dealership level. I've worked on-site at a (super) dealer with 20 rooftops. At the agency level, I've created ROI and accountability models for a sh*t ton of rooftops (uncovering massive holes in their digital marketing strategy), most of which require(d) on-site visits and communication (undocumented on LinkedIn profile).

I would agree with your assessment on the problems with DISC (amalgamation), but you're overstating the obvious with ups as a key metric.

As you well know, there are a plethora of fantastic lead generation and data provision services out there, but if a rooftop's sale process is weak (there are plenty) those services can be rendered useless. I can't tell you how many dealers I've run into that sit on a ton of qualified leads (defined by quality score measurements) that fail to close properly or say things like ""we have too many leads now and can't follow up on them properly." When you guys indiscriminately jot, "Does it Sell Cars - DISC" I say "it depends on many factors." How strong is a top's ability to close on quality leads? Do they even have a BDC? Do they have talented and proven sales people on the floor (regardless of what brought in the up)? Do they focus on women buyers? etc., etc.

You guys haven't become those same jaded guys who in the mid-1990's said, "the Internet will never sell cars, ha ha, that is just stupid -- it's location, word of mouth, newspapers, TV and radio that will ONLY sell cars!", have you?

"Be on the watchout for large dealer groups that close this divide by bringing technology teams under their roofs." Indeed, look at groups like http://www.berkshirehathawayautomotive.com (with their purchase of Van Tuyl) and you'll see much of that and done internally for the most part.
 
#50
Alexander Lau said:
I don't dispute that, I am referring to what helps them do it. What makes their interfaces so great?
Click to expand...
The results suggest that chasing 'leads' and 'conversion' is a non-productive waste of space.

As @Jeff Kershner has been quoted as saying, "Sure, car shoppers who submit online sales leads are worthy. But their numbers are few...
"Only 3% to 7% of shoppers fill out and submit websites’ form leads, he says at the annual Driving Sales Executive Summit here.
“It’s not that they aren’t important, but we’re so fixated on that 3%, we can forget the 97% who come to the dealership in other ways.”
 
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