The Eureka! Link

[D Ramonte Rawls]

Michael;

As a provider of services to dealers and the overall auto retail industry sector, Cars.com must realize "1 Million Visits to Individual Dealer Sites..." must be improved upon. And, the great news is, in an Information Age it absolutely is possible.

If I know 13 Million cars are forecast to be sold in this year, and Cars.com says to me their product can deliver 1 Million potential car buying consumers per month, then I expect to generate a mean percentage of the 13 Million.

However, this is the pain of Cars.com being owned by a traditional advertising conglomerate. "Active Communicating' is terminology I use when I think of what traditional advertising has evolvled to in 2011, an Information Age. I think, "what if I/we could own 'the conversation' of these 1 Million potential car buying consumers per month?". Inside these conversations are jewels of information that lead to 'the handshake'. I know this is true because I have worked Internet Management and Training inside dealerships on showroom floors and in BDC's since 2003.

So, Michael, if Cars.com is able at the end of 2011 to track that they were responsible for say 10% or 12% of auto retail transactions overall, then the value proposition they offer dealers is one that becomes appreciable and grows in value over time. As Cars.com improves its ability to pull Identifiers from 'the conversation' that begins online and must move into a physical location in order for 'the transaction' to ensue, they will make a more and more efficient product offering for themselves and for their dealer clientele.

I have more on this champion, and would be happy to share...

 

[D Ramonte Rawls]

CONSUMER
A shopper is an independent potential customer of a particular brand or product. 'SHOPPERS ARE NOT LINEAR' is the truest post to this entire Thread, and it takes us along this road. An impulse is necessary to move a shopper from wherever they might be into our 'Transaction'.

Auto retail present is almost out of impulse. The car isn't an impulse most times because 80% of consumers already have studied it well online. Pricing is not even an impulse. AT and Cars must produce a platform for establishing an involuntary inclination prompting to action...

AutoTrader's Chip Perry had the advantage of knowing this 5 or 6 years ago, because I told it to him.

Subscriptions are a poor value proposition in an Information Age. Think about it, what you are paying for in a subscription - simply information. It's free to the consumer to gather all the information a dealer has to offer at traditional OBS's. But, dealers are paying for their access to the info through current AT and Cars subscription-based product models. Why so?

At least a portion of consumers are willing to pay gross profit on a car deal. The approach to traditional advertising takes the portion down percentage-wise because traditional advertising in auto retail for 120 years has conducted a linear conversation (and, let’s remember here the point Joe makes that “SHOPPERS ARE NOT LINEAR”) moving the customer to action primarily on the basis of discount or price driven messaging.

Consumers are not all alike, though. And, this is one of the gigantic pains of traditional advertisers figuring on how to keep their age-old product offerings valuable in an Information Age.

Since consumers are not all alike, ‘the handshake’ which is necessary to deliver a shopper from an online buying service like AT is not always alike, either.

Consumers, hence, are to be driven to the Transaction in any number of ways. As dynamic as consumers are today, it would be impossible to believe any spin on a traditional advertising approach would yield any substantial increase in the percentage transactions a dealer client expects.

A social-based approach to attracting the consumer into the Transaction must be the answer. And, today, the perfect platform for that social-based approach exists.

J. Kershner, consumers/customers, as you well know, are the end client of all OBS’s. All shoppers are not Consumers. And, for 120 years the common denominator in ‘our industry’ (I still can’t help but wonder what exactly Joe Pistell meant by that…) for determining the difference has been the Consultant.

To such point, isn’t easy to see the value of putting the consumer and consultant in ‘the handshake’ mode as soon as possible. Isn’t this what will need to happen anyway, if the shopper is to be converted – whether online, or on premises?

Consumers are social creatures to which we sell our products, and Consultants are the conduit by which we do it in almost every instance.

TRANSACTION
A valuable thing is transpiring online each and every day in an Information Era. Socialization is virtual, now. Because a conversation that once occurred only by phone or physical interactions between prospective consumers/customers is now available online, the sales channel for auto retail has an added dimension.

Transactions are the result of consultants and consumers shaking hands after, during, or in rare instances prior to a conversation about a specific value proposition. That specific value proposition doesn’t exist at AT or at Cars, right now. In example, even cars listed at these OBS’s at clearly competitive prices are being negotiated to less valuable selling propositions for the dealers. This is dysfunctional!

If individual consumers are looking for the one dynamic that moves them to the Transaction point, then individual value propositions must be offered. We are already doing this in auto retail, and have been doing it just this way for 120 years. ‘The handshake’ is how we have done it. And, in this Information Age, it is still how we will do it.

Transactions, let’s say, can come from any one of a 360 degree dynamic. Conversations are the information gathering processes that determine which one. Consultants are prepared with negotiating, product knowledge, and sales process training to help them do this each and every day – several hours at a time. They have the ‘active communicating’ skill down as it pertains to the auto retail process, because they are doing it more often than anyone else.

Transactions are 50% consultant, 50% consumer, and 100% handshake. If a dealer is waiting until a potential consumer from an OBS is actually on the premises to commence ‘the handshake’, then he is shooting himself in the foot. While AT and Cars have products that are relevant to how we all do our work in Auto Retail Present, that they wont need significant innovation behind their next product offerings beyond the idea of driving shoppers to yet another online space is a farce. If I am a dealer who pays to subscribe to their services, I am asking for a per unit breakdown of my cost against which ROI may be measured. The Transactions are eluding AT and Cars on their current platforms.

It is an easy fix. OBS’s must learn to measure the Transaction. There are about 13 Million new cars forecast to be retailed in 2011. If between AT and Cars there are over 25 Million unique shoppers for cars being generated, then this is an instant deduct in the value of their product offering. It says that a subscription to either means I am spending at least 100% more than what I should for each Transaction they are able to deliver. And, that would be if AT and Cars were responsible for 100% of the 13 Million new cars expected to be delivered in 2011.

The fix is inherent what J.D. Rucker is doing through his Hasai offering over at TK Carsites and I do look forward to working with him. At this point, there is more to share. And, of course, “Appreciation Rules Creation” being my life credo, I would be happy to share more of it with you, Jeff.

 

[TMF]

It seems to me Rawls that somewhere (conveniently) in your math, you failed to figure into your equation the 45 million used vehicles that will be retailed in 2011. Based on your math, you're saying that ATC and Cars.com is worth every penny and dealers need to be on both sites. I'm not following your "instant deduct" theory.

 

[Jeff Kershner]

D Rawls - Champion. What you spike your morning OJ with?

"AT could make a gigantic splash with B.O.B. if they used it as a social media marketing campaign." Huh?

This thread has turned so deep into the abyss, I would say we have lost most readers by now. Even the heads of AT and Cars.com are being scratched.

Sitting down with both AutoTrader and Cars.com over the last several weeks, many of the "danced around" recommendations here are not part currently of their near future core philosophy.

Mr. Rawls, you know I love ya but your comments are starting to come across like an agenda to place your services in front of the dealer and AT/cars.

As I continue to try and comprehend all this with my sunday morning mush brain, I'm starting to turn some additional thoughts... But I think it's for another discussion...I think.

D Rawls, you said "I think, "what if I/we could own 'the conversation' of these 1 Million potential car buying consumers per month?". Inside these conversations are jewels of information that lead to 'the handshake'." Now you're talking..and social is one of the possible staples of this happening conversation. But again this is another post/article.

Let's get back onto this Eureka link.

What can AutoTrader and Cars.com do to take the Eureka link to the next level with-in reason. I'm a fan of BOB. I've seen the shopping stats including the habits of consumers on these sites. This is an added measurement/kpi for justifying spending with AutoTrader. It helps prove ME ammunition when I'm reviewing the numbers with Principles and Managers during my monthly/weekely marketing meetings. I'd love to see Cars.com follow suit on this as well.

 

[D Ramonte Rawls]

Thank You TMF;

At the root of this discussion is what AT and Cars might do to deliver a better ROI.

If there are 45 Million used and 13 Million new autos to be retailed in 2011, then the easy measurement of how successful any product offering from these traditional Online Buying Service companies has been is % of total units retailed.

Hope that makes more sense, champion...

 

[D Ramonte Rawls]

Thank You J. Kershner;

Superstar champion and president...

Indeed, you tap into the wealth of the dialogue I create.

"what if AT and/or Cars could own 'the conversation' of these 1 Million potential car buying consumers per month...".

Social is the ONLY way to go with a product like B.O.B. AT has linear visits to there website based upon their humongous marketing spend, and it still is only producing a menial conversion ratio. Hence our discussion.

At social networks across the web there are potential auto buyers who are willing to become our customers. All the relevance AT and Cars offers to consultants (sales people who sell cars, Top Performers) and consumer in auto retail spaces can be optimized and leveraged into a product to capture these potential auto buyers who are willing to become our customers.

If AT took B.O.B. and made it a link sharing, plug-in, or widget device that social networkers could ad to their pages as "doors" to either AutoTrader.com and/or Cars.com, then what we have is a connection to these communities of warm referrals. And, C. Perry took a failed swoop at this in 2005 when he proposed the added value proposition of 'building your dealership online at AutoTrader.com' to dealers subscribing to basic AT product offerings. However, his failure was rooted in the idea that the dealership is the conductor or manager of the transaction with the consumer. AT has millions of visitors to its site, now and is responsible for an unmentionable % of total units retailed.

A prospect exists in the majority of geographically-based auto retail market places to leverage the referral as a means of incentivizing consumers for adding B.O.B. to their social networking pages.

If there are 13 Million new cars and 45 Million used (thank you TMF) retailed in 2011, then AT and Cars can't lose by approaching B.O.B. as a transaction-based revenue model. And, by adding revenue-sharing to the mix, AT and/or Cars puts the entire auto retail universe to work for them.

Just think, if AT and/or Cars goes into dealerships (which are still in shrinkage mode, by the way) in January or February 2012 able to tout that they have the most lively auto retail TRANSACTION production portal in the universe, then what will the complaint be about ROI? If AT and Cars own 50% of total units retailed when all is said and done, then they grow in value. Then, their service offerings to dealers grow in value. Then, we all grow in value. That's appreciation, my champion.

Got more, Jeff...

 

[D Ramonte Rawls]

Alright Champions;

A prosperity meeting I have commitments to attend will curtail my ability to comment for now (surely, some of you are saying, "Thank God!").

I say to you, this.

All that we are doing right here on DealerRefresh.com is a zeitgeist. It represents the commerce of an Information Age. We are socializing, practicing "Active Communicating".

To J. Kershner, I would be remiss if I did not offer commendation for all the effort, perseverance, and vision it has taken for you to make DealerRefresh.com such a valuable destination for the commerce and socialization of Auto Retail Future (and past) to be exchanged. Thank you, All-Star, you are appreciated!

Let's keep up the good work innovating 'our industry' (Joe, just what do you mean by that - exclusion or inclusion).

Your able professional,

D. Rawls

 

[lightnup]

I have a headache.

 

[joe.pistell]

Jeff K,

The BOB is an example of optimizing a page to produce a new result.

Adding a gateway page off the BOB link is simply a lead generating tool that focuses specifically on that link and that link alone. IMO, the circus barker is the content that goes on that gateway page. If the Circus barker is delivering the WRONG MESSAGE it's a fail.

 

[joe.pistell]

D Rawls,

I am very pissed at your selfish behavior. You have completely ruined my project here. This is a very complex concept and I consider it important to our industry.

Your replies are totally WACKED OUT and you've totally FUCKED and the threads that follow this topic.

I can't wait to personally meet you and do to you what you've done to me.

When I meet you I will interrupt whom ever you are speaking to and start screaming to takeover your conversation and turn the attention to me.

You behavior is ANTI-SOCIAL. What makes you worse, you are a self centered person that has no idea how selfish you are.

There are a lot of people that agree with me, the smartest thing you will do here and now is to NOT REPLY and STOP TALKING, START READING AND LEARN SOMETHING or YOU WILL BE BANNED HERE.

You have been warned.