The death of the Internet Director

[Alex Snyder]

The time has come to promote the Internet Director into a much larger role


It was announced yesterday that America went into a recession in December of 2007. We have now reached a full year in a down market. By now, all of us in the automotive industry are feeling it on some level. I've heard some people saying they just want to break even and hope things will get back to at least 50% of what it was before 2010. A lot of businesses are trying to save their way into a profit. I've taken Econ 101 and even some 200 level classes, but I'm not an economics expert. I do think the notion of saving your way into a profit is silly. If you down-size, you down-size everything. So the real question is, where should investments be made in this recession? Where can a dealership get the most bang for the buck?

To everyone on Dealer Refresh, there's a very simple answer when it comes to marketing: the Internet.

However, let's take "the Internet" in a different direction. We all know online advertising has further reach than traditional media and costs much less than traditional media as well. However, traditional media is still a very viable marketing tool. Television, radio, and even the newspaper still have a place in the marketing mix. The mix has just shifted.

There are a few hang-ups in dealerships right now when it comes to truly utilizing the new marketing mix:

1. People who do not know how to use a computer are still pulling the major strings - the "HIPPO"
   
2. Internet marketing is too cheap to be taken seriously
   
3. People spend so much time online that it is taken for granted as an advertising source - customers don't mention it like they would a newspaper ad or radio spot
   
4. Online measurements are different than traditional media and so precise that some people cannot comprehend them
   
5. Online marketing changes too often
   
6. Online dealer marketing is also internal - it is a CRM system and it can be IT driven

Some of these points are obvious. Let's look at number 6 for a minute, "Online marketing is also internal - it is a CRM system and it can be IT driven."

Yes, your internal software usage is part of your marketing mix. Before I expand on that, I should say that if you're not using your CRM to direct your sales staff's work days, you're wasting your money on that fancy CRM. Did you ever think you could use your CRM to direct the message your sales staff is delivering? You can, and you should. If you're doing that, sending email blasts, automatic emails, scheduling follow-up calls, printing letters, or doing some sophisticated data mining through your CRM, then it is a marketing tool. What about products like vAuto, Auto Exchange, Manheim, ePencil, HomeNet, or any of the other tools you've probably invested in? Guess what, they're part of your marketing mix too. If one of those systems is a chore to use because your IT department has strangled bandwidth for security or blocked useful websites with Websense then your people are probably not using those products. Guess what, that makes IT part of the marketing mix too.

If you're a large dealership or dealer group, then you probably have a hard time getting all of these elements working together:

Traditional media message + Online advertising displays + Internal software usage to drive the message

Are all of these areas spouting the same message? Are they pushing your clearance sale this month? Are they helping to let the public know you're giving away a free Garmin with every car purchase this Christmas?





If not, here's why...

I'm making a major assumption here, but I assume your dealership has someone (or someones) who decides what the marketing message is going to be this quarter/month/week/day. Then that message is passed to the creative people (ad agency perhaps) who will turn it into a PDF for the newspaper, a recording for the radio, and video for the TV...and maybe even a banner for a website. After the creative is done and scheduled for this weekend it is shown to the sales staff in the Saturday morning meeting...where it is forgotten 5 minutes later in lieu of a Starbucks run and the toughest question of the day: "what's for lunch?"

Maybe you've got someone proactive in the Internet department who decides to turn this message into an email blast. Maybe you've got someone proactive with the CRM who sets up calls for the sales agents to make informing recent customers of the new specials. Maybe...maybe...maybe...

Why wait till Saturday morning to do all of this?

Wouldn't it make more sense to have a central person who understands how all of this stuff works? Someone who can put an internal software campaign together with a television ad? Someone empowered to get through all the red tape with the vendors, General Managers, and IT departments to get that marketing message out. I believe the time has come to promote the Internet Director into a much larger role. And it will need to be the Internet Director because the most crucial part of the whole mix is the technology/online side. This Chief of Marketing needs to know how all these systems work. We need some glue.

 

[Gilbert Chavez]

Professor Snyder, you again are so eloquent in your writing and hitting the nail on the head, the cover off the ball, and assuredly, a home run. It’s time many dealers pull their head out of……..the sand and see what they are doing is wrong. The only way out is online, CRM, etc…..exactly what you have described. Guys like us are kindred spirits when it comes to this stuff because we know if works. I hear these stories of woe every day, from all parts of the country. It is coming from huge metro markets to the little tiny single point stores in the middle of BFE. Sound the trumpets! You want to save your ass and your store? Read the words that Professor Synder has put down and heed the hell out of them. Great job my friend as always.

 

[Bill_Playford]

Well put, as always. I totally agree it is time for "the ownership" to embrace ecommerce, and accept that it is hear to stay. Customers are speaking every single day, and no one at the top is listening. An owner needs someone to be in charge, and make the crucial decisions that are necessary to get the job done. An owner needs someone not to ask, and just do.

However, I think some of the hard working folks in the trenches need to look in the mirror, as well. ISMs know their customers, and what it takes to get the job done. They don't need the "four-square" to make it happen. Why do they let someone who knows little to nothing about what they do tell them what they can and can't do? They need to stand up for themselves! Fire up Excel, and create a spreadsheet that shows why it makes financial sense to create such a position. Show the ownership that by fully utilizing the existing systems that the dealership could save, or dare I say, make more money. Speak to the ownership in their terms! The worst that can happen is that one gains the respect of those who sign the checks.

 

[Stew Pedasso]

Alex what a great post for 90% of the readership to get a promotion, or get fired

You're right on tho. Obviously to any ISM in any given dealership, they know where the dealership strengths will transform into sales.

The dealership website will be the ONLY medium in the future needed. Maybe 10-15 years away, but let's face it, eventually people will be buying cars from a dealership website without meeting anyone. Interactive online sales/shopping applications are already here, and will only continue to be more accepted and adopted by dealerships. Not to mention service, body shop, and parts being absorbed online too in some capacity.

The dealership ISM today will become the GM of the near future.

 

[Alex Snyder (blog)]

Thanks Gilbert - my long lost brother from another mother.

Bill - most ISM's are of a different breed than their bosses. They're much more open to the customer's needs and wants. The problem isn't in that portion though. The problem is that most dealership personnel are 30 day visionaries. I can't say that I'm not guilty of this myself, but when we get too wrapped up in the now we forget to strategize for the future. Not gluing the Internet department to the marketing department is a single example of that short-sight.

Stew - yes, this does speak well to most of Dealer Refresh. However, I'm not sure a lot of folks can handle what I'm proposing. I'm not even sure I can. I just know that marketing messages need to be congruent and there is a lot more to it than just the regular mediums we think of around the term "advertising".

Selling is the passing of emotions. It is purely relationship based and does not have anything to do with product knowledge or demonstration skills....but those help. I don't think it is possible to have car sales without that human-to-human relationship. I do believe the dealership website is just as important as the brick and mortar that make your showroom and should be treated as such. But I don't believe it will ever replace the brick and mortar.

 

[mikedececco]

Alex:

I couldn't agree with you more... If only the Internet Manager wasn't perceived as a "throw-away" position in so many operations!

Believe it or not, we have seen many dealerships ditch their internet management to cut "extra costs" which is absolutely INSANE! Meanwhile they have a dinosaur or "hippo" as you put it running the desk and unfortunately in many cases the marketing efforts of the dealership.

With the revenue generating power and marketing reach that the internet department can have on all departments within the store, cutting these resources is simply a knee-jerk reaction to what many dealerships unfortunately don't understand as well as they should...

Move more money and dealership resources to trackable media like the internet and see your profits soar and your understanding of your competitive landscape grow!

Alex, as always... you inspire

 

[Mike Keesee]

Has anyone ever used FOCUS INC?

 

[Alex Snyder (blog)]

Cliff Banks touched on this same subject not that long ago: http://wardsdealer.com/internetmarketing/columns/ideas_becoming_modern_dealer/

 

[Pete]

It is unfortunate that it has come to this at the dealership level to recognize the importance of the ISM.

I will go one further, in the Chicagoland area I know of several ISM's that got fired in about that less than 18 month cycle.

A few just could not do the job but most because of being too smart.

Say it for what it is. Most GM's will park your butt on to the curb when feeling threatened to losing their job.

I started in the business in 1986 and have been out of the retail end for a few years now and can most certainly can tell you that the mindset of most "old school" GM's is that to increase sales its a numbers game. Bad math I say. 15 salespeople x10 cars per month= 150 cars or that the business is about managing/controlling sales people and working deals to closing.

Wrong Mr or Ms GM IT'S ABOUT MANAGING BUSINESS PROCESSES that leads to SALES!

Isn't that what an ISM does folks?

 

[Jeff Kershner]

@Pete "most “old school” GM’s is that to increase sales its a numbers game. Bad math I say. 15 salespeople x10 cars per month= 150 cars" OMG I hate that. I have seen go many GM's try to use this formula and it get's me fired up.