Thinking of dropping Dealer.com

[MullerToyota]

That really does suck and trust me working with Cobalt I know how you feel.

I am just curious though... if you sent them the clear PNG I posted would they not replace the JPG that is there now?

I never sent them the clear PNG. It was actually a snippet of code from the chat company and it linked to a GIF file.

I did specifically told them that if the background wasn't transparent that I could provide them with a transparent PNG or GIF if they couldn't do it.

 

[davidmoon]

I'm all about function over design, but not being able to tweak and make changes to your preference in realtime, regardless of what value the opinion carries, is insanity. The agency "always knows best" mentality of not handing over that control is so dated and no longer fits in the Web technology industry. The successful forward thinkers that I see on DealerRefresh have overcome these obstacles by piecing it together themselves. A major game changer is near total control and a flexible platform from top to bottom.

I find it funny that people in the car business hate stereotypes, but they stereotype themselves from within the industry.

 

[Bruce Novicky]

I'm all about function over design, but not being able to tweak and make changes to your preference in realtime, regardless of what value the opinion carries, is insanity. The agency "always knows best" mentality of not handing over that control is so dated and no longer fits in the Web technology industry. The successful forward thinkers that I see on DealerRefresh have overcome these obstacles by piecing it together themselves. A major game changer is near total control and a flexible platform from top to bottom.

I find it funny that people in the car business hate stereotypes, but they stereotype themselves from within the industry.

If this was the case everyone would pay for a homebrew DMS as well...

Also from an employer perspective... I do not want my entire site built by one person who may or may not work for me in 5 years... with dealer.com I can plug and play employees...

These companies... dealer.com/cobalt etc provide a very functional but restricted product... but it is refined and does allow personnel flexibility.

 

[Chris Cachor]

David, while I agree having near total control of the site from top to bottom is vital, I don't agree that it's for everyone and that often times the agency does know better/best. It really depends on the type of client you're dealing with.

If I'm marketing my product to tech savvy internet managers who are familiar with graphics and website development then I think giving full control top to bottom is important. I take a step back and allow them to manage the site. However, if a dealer is to purchase managed website services, I definitely don't want someone making changes to the header graphics, phone numbers, etc. because this can really cause me some trouble when I get fired over calls not tracked correctly the past 2 months!

That being said, some of the best features and practices I've seen online yet is from CarMax. They do a tremendous job with search, speed, ease of use, and integration. It's really well done. I think some of the dealer website vendors could steal a page or two from their books

 

[tomwhitejr]

Clay,

Sorry for the seriously tardy reply to your question. We spend a minimum of $5000 per month every month. Some months its more e.g., we ran a Cash for Clunkers promotion in the fourth quarter of 2010 and had many microsites to build to capture the leads from our other media spends. The $5000 includes the cost of the developers we have on retainer as well as any outsourcing we do. We do outsource a lot of copywriting and graphic design simply because its much cheaper than hiring individuals with those skills full time.

Make sense?

 

[tomwhitejr]

Clay,

With regards to the inventory feed/display you are worried about, there is NO WAY you will be able to design this yourself. I would recommend someone like eBizAutos to handle the inventory function and simply place their display into an iframe on your site. There are many other companies that can do this for you, but eBiz does a great job for us.

 

[Alex Snyder]

That being said, some of the best features and practices I've seen online yet is from CarMax. They do a tremendous job with search, speed, ease of use, and integration. It's really well done. I think some of the dealer website vendors could steal a page or two from their books

Agreed. They do a killer job for their brand and practices. I wonder....how many people and how much money do they put into their website?

 

[JoeMescher]

Hi Jarrett,

I'm a digital marketing director with Dealer.com. Please email me directly at joe.mescher [at] dealer.com so I can help.

Thanks,
Joe Mescher

 

[JoeMescher]

Clay,

Please give me a call or email me directly at joe.mescher [at] dealer.com so we can speak about some of the functions you'd like to achieve. Like we discussed previously, there are lots of added capabilities associated with our V9 SmartSites, especially with respect to customizations and multiple templates for individual pages. Happy to help.

Thanks,
Joe Mescher
Digital Marketing Director, Dealer.com

 

[terrencegordon]

Clay,

I would recommend someone like eBizAutos to handle the inventory function and simply place their display into an iframe on your site. There are many other companies that can do this for you, but eBiz does a great job for us.

iFrames are SEO poison. And a band-aid to what should be an integrated website solution. However, if you must attach a 3rd party inventory display to your own website, I recommend doing so via a subdomain instead.