The DealerRefresh 2007 year end review.

[Jeff Kershner]

It’s time for the DealerRefresh “Best of 2007” posts. This is a round-up of the year’s best-received posts along with some of my personal favorites.

So, if you missed anything from 2007, here’s a second shot at it.

• Are you missing internet leads from your dealer website? - be careful that our leads are not “evaporating”

• Nada 2007 Review– My personal review of NADA 2007

• 5 Steps to better customer service! - Why is it so hard to come by good customer service in the automotive vendor industry?

• While I requested quote from your dealer website, I also sent it to... - This one got some attention.

• Have you been "Flogged" ?? – This can suck when it happens!

• Do videos really help sell cars?– Do you really need videos of your inventory?

• I met my future BDC agent - She is pretty young, but a sponge for learning.

• Is your SEM vendor acting in your best interest?- some of you have really just wasted a lot of money

• Speculation on the future – somewhat frightening - Can you see what a mess all of this could put all of us in?

• Are the "Phonebook to Web" services worth anything? - SuperPages.com - YellowPages.com - Yellowbook.com - what is their worth?
  
• Should dealers be blogging? - 5 reasons why dealers do not blog.

• Are our manufacturers worse than we are? - Why are other manufacturers so far behind?

• High traffic with low conversions? Is this a franchise-related problem? – Watching  Internet traffic patterns shift.

• AutoUSA - Something isn't kosher! – Was AutoUSA sending me duplicate leads?

• Are you skipping steps? – It’s easy to forget about the basics.

• What’s Wrong With Video?– Using video help build transparency.

And of course lets not forget to include the DealerRefresh comment record breaking..

• AutoTrader.com Pricing??? Post with over 120 comments and still counting. 

It was exciting going back and reviewing all the posts and comments for 2007. There were quite a few more then what I had thought. The number of people participating continues to grow, though I know there are still a lot of readers out there reading but not commenting. So for 2008 I encourage you to participate.

THANKS TO EVERYONE for reading DealerRefresh and for their participation in 2007. We have a great community here and some of the best talent in the industry participating. It’s truly exciting and I can’t wait to see what 2008 brings us.

Jeff Kershner

 

[Ryan Gerardi]

Happy New Year to you bro and to everyone really that has become a regular part of DR. It has been a thrill to watch this blog grow in popularity the way it has.

Congratulations too for bringing into this world another glorious child.

 

[Alex Snyder (blog)]

It has definitely been fun participating on Dealer Refresh! I've made some great friends off DR in 2007, and hope to expand on that further this year. I have a feeling this site is going to grow a lot more in 2008 as this part of the industry is more and more recognized.

Thanks Jeff!

 

[Lao Shi]

Blogging is a two way street and to be successful you want to create conversation. If you talk at your readers in a broadcast mode you aren’t likely to create much of a conversation.

You should have a central idea and stick with it. If you are writing a blog post about the latest and greatest in the auto industry don’t talk about baking cake or the latest clothing craze.

Ask the readers for their thoughts.

You have a much better chance for success when your business model makes what's good for the users match what's good for the business. Our products/services are best sellers not because we're better sales people or markerters (a meritocracy), but because they are labors of love and the product/service is better than the competition.

Giving, giving, giving freely, openly without expecting anything in return. Open communication of thought and ideas. When you create this, it’s like planting seeds in fertile soil. Time, sunshine and watering, that seed will product a crop of ideas and concepts that will florish.

If people in the industry followed Dr. Deming's Phylosphy the industry would be in a much better place.

Loading…

www.deming.org

Thank you Jeff for creating this blog/forum and maintaining the high standards.

 

[Who is Paul Rushing]

Happy New Year - 2008

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Well nothing to really say but wishing you and yours a very Happy New Year. Not going to bore you with a list of resolutions or stuff like that. My goals for 0...