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Well The Old car Biz is Alive and Well

Ralph Ebersole

Rust & Dust
Jan 25, 2012
25
30
Awards
1
First Name
Ralph
Since I can't find a position in the vendor world, I decided to go back to my roots and sell cars. Dealerships in my area (Chicago North Suburbs) are stuck in the 80's. Maybe 70's. They want experienced salespeople, which is fine. I love the biz.

Started yesterday..Was given a desk, and log-in to email and CRM. Training: Take the CRM tutorial; Drive some cars. Have to ask how to use the phone. Store gets about 3-4 Internet leads a day from corporate BDC. Had to ask for access to the key board.

With all that's happening out there, it sure seems that this is still the norm in the industry. Digital retailing? "What's that?" Subscription service? "duh."

Quite interesting.
 
Nice work Ralph. If I were you, I'd start to examine which digital marketing strategies and tactics to take. Albeit non-automotive, I've used the following framework within auto retail with success.

Introducing RACE: a practical framework to improve your digital marketing
https://www.smartinsights.com/digit...-framework-to-improve-your-digital-marketing/

race-digital-strategy-funnel-infographic1.jpg

RACE-digital-marketing-planning-framework-600x1097.png
 
Dear Diary,

Today I asked if I should email consumers through the CRM tool or the email the organization set up for me. I was told the email portal. I'm using the CRM.

I asked to get into the OEM's site to take product courses. I was told to go to the Service Manager, who set it up. I logged in and it didn't work.

More exciting stuff tomorrow.
 
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Ralph! Let's connect again soon, it's been far too long. Many years ago you were happy to turn a prospecting phone call you made to my dealership into a quasi training session. I will forever remember our chats and the contacts you introduced me to. My desire to learn the digital side of this business took flight due to these calls. Thank you! PM your number and where you are at - lunch is on me!
 
Great stuff! Definitely keep it coming!

This is the reality most people on the vendor side don't see and don't understand - especially the vendor CEOs and product teams. However, this is the case in most stores today... stores that are profitable and who survived the recession. It takes a few days sitting side-by-side with salespeople or managers to fully understand that segment of the dealer world that still operates like it's 2003...
 
Dear Diary,

Well today has been exciting, so far. The cars are nice. I've been driving them. I looked up the horsepower and other technical things online. When I asked 3 other salespeople if they would show me a few things under the hood, they said "we never open the hood>we have a hard enough time with the interior."

When I asked the UC Manager how to access his inventory online, I was told I need to walk it and get to know it. So I asked for a printed copy off vAuto to walk the lot with, which I received. Lot's of cars on it. More than we have. :cool:

More tomorrow.:hello:
 
Great stuff! Definitely keep it coming!

This is the reality most people on the vendor side don't see and don't understand - especially the vendor CEOs and product teams. However, this is the case in most stores today... stores that are profitable and who survived the recession. It takes a few days sitting side-by-side with salespeople or managers to fully understand that segment of the dealer world that still operates like it's 2003...

Thanks Steve. My guess is this segment is far bigger than we think, and probably outweighs the folks who past and blog where. I'm a part of a couple of Facebook salesperson groups and there's a whole bunch of folks out there that arena the 90's. 2003 is a stretch.
 
Thanks Steve. My guess is this segment is far bigger than we think, and probably outweighs the folks who past and blog where. I'm a part of a couple of Facebook salesperson groups and there's a whole bunch of folks out there that arena the 90's. 2003 is a stretch.

There are ~16,000 franchised dealerships and ~22,000 independent dealerships. If the average employee count for each dealership is 25, then there are roughly 1,000,000 dealership employees in the United States. How many spend time trying to better themselves?