Which dealer website provider?

[Jason Martin]

Hello,

My dealer principal and I would like to have a new website because the one we have now sucks. This all started when I got a call Tuesday from a DealerOn rep which got me interested in reinventing our website for many reasons. Yesterday my dealer principle said that he wished our site had a little more pizzazz. I thought this was great coincidence and perfect timing.

I work at a small Nissan dealership in a small town with 3 other dealerships and a few independent lots. We currently do not get any leads from our website and I am sure we have very little floor traffic from it as well. In short, it is completely ineffective. I would like for our website to drive traffic to the store as well as generate internet leads and phone ups.

I really like the DealerOn product but when I saw how much it was going to cost I freaked out and said to myself "Oh no, he is not going to like this."

So my question is, how does the cost and performance of DealerOn compare to other services such as Dealer e-Proccess or other services. I am really not aware of what services are out there. I need some help sorting through my options.

Thanks for any advice.

Jason

 

[ddavis]

I would like for our website to drive traffic to the store as well as generate internet leads and phone ups.

The website isn't the problem. What incentive are you giving the customer? All of your new cars are either at MSRP or have Call for Price. You do have prices on your used cars but what is that price relative to the market? What is the perceived value? Customers want to know "Do you have it?" and "What will you sell it for?". That will not change if you get a DealerOn website.

 

[craigh]

I agree with what Doug said.
That said, the pre-owned inventory pages on your current site are poor enough that I would say they could be turning people away before the even get into price comparisons.

I've heard good things about DealerON and DealerFire from dealers who switched from OEM solutions to a custom website.
The important thing to know is what you want from your website, what your customers want from the website and what reporting/information the management is going to want. Make sure your website can provide that, as it will become critical as you start to work on the new site, no matter what provider you use. If you can't track the information, you'll never know what is and isn't working.

 

[Jason Martin]

what is that price relative to the market?

Most of our cars are priced in line with similar vehicles in the market. Some of them are lower than the market and our competition. However, this is a new strategy for us. Our manager is an old school car guy and he tacks $3-$4k or more onto the acquisition cost without looking at the market value. I told him that we needed to change our prices according to our local market and he agreed without hesitation. He might be old school but he is very open to change and realizes the need for change. And for that I am thankful.

What incentive are you giving the customer?

We do not have any incentive other than hoping a fair market price will generate a little action.

What is the perceived value?

There isn't any perceived value.

Customers want to know "Do you have it?" and "What will you sell it for?". That will not change if you get a DealerOn website.

I currently do not have control over our website content in order to answer those questions for the customer, which is one of the many reasons I am looking to another website provider and DealerRefresh for help.

The website isn't the problem.

the pre-owned inventory pages on your current site are poor enough that I would say they could be turning people away before the even get into price comparisons.

Yes, it is. It may not be the problem, but it is a problem.

The important thing to know is what you want from your website, what your customers want from the website and what reporting/information the management is going to want. Make sure your website can provide that, as it will become critical as you start to work on the new site, no matter what provider you use. If you can't track the information, you'll never know what is and isn't working.

This precisely why I am seeking professional help and asking for advice.

 

[craigh]

Hey Jason,

Do you have any analytics on the current site?
I would be curious to see what site traversal is like now if you are not getting any leads from the website.

If you don't have that data, then you'll have to make do with what you do have.
I recommend you have the providers that you talk to do a review of your current website - have them explain where their product improves upon each area. If leads are your goal, they can explain how their system drives customers to those leads.

I would start by looking at your pre-owned inventory. Most sites I've seen analytics for have over 60% of their traffic going directly from landing page to pre-owned inventory. Find a site that you like that has great pre-owned inventory and start to discuss the things you like about it.

 

[Manny Luna]

I agree with Doug, The website you choose has to be managed and marketed the right way.

The number on thing you want is action when you need to make quick changes on the fly!
DealerOn and DealerFire are the best when it comes to customer service my clients tell me!
DealerOn cost more, but they get it and most on the time can make changes you want while your on the phone!

Dealer.com is way to big, 13,000 clients with 7000 employees last I checked. My clients tell me it takes 5 to 7 days to get anything done with them.
TIME is MONEY!

 

[Jason Martin]

craigh,

I greatly appreciate your reply. I currently use Adobe and Google analytics.

The providers I have been talking to have done a great job of explaining not only their product but the elements to a successful dealer website in general. I have also been doing my own research for a while and gathering opinions of a few industry pros. I pretty much know what I am going to do. The initial investment just scared me a little bit, however, the services I am going to cancel will easily pay for the new site.

Pre-owned inventory is the majority of my efforts and sales.

Thank you for the advice.

 

[cmjerry4531]

Back when I was in house I did the same thing you are doing right now. The website I inherited was done by a very small company that had 1 person in their support department, and changes took a while to get done. When I was doing my research the companies I liked the most were:

Autofusion
VinSolutions
DealerPeak
Dealer.com

That was a few years ago, though, and things have changed. After working with a bunch more vendors I'd probably still suggest the four above, but I'd also take a look at:

String Automotive
DealerFire


Honestly though, any of the ones I mentioned above would be better than what you currently have.

 

[craigh]

For someone like you who I would classify as being in the, "I don't know what my site can do for me yet" stage, definitely focus on inventory. Make sure you have great photos, a great way to display those photos, clear and accurate "call to actions" and a way to put the most important information possible online.

I have seen dealer sites even recently where the photos are not sized correctly, the aspects are skewed or they are laid out so horribly that you cannot enlarge them to see what is going on. The sad part is that some of these sites come from large providers.

If you really want to do your research, look into how SEO friendly the sites are.
Ask them for their top few sample sites and run you own seomoz/moz inspections on them and see what you think.

The last major thing to consider is flexibility. I consider Dealer.com the least flexible, because they flat out say, "No" to some requests.
I have seen DealerFire do some cool things, like Inventory search, and they seem to execute well on custom requests for each client.

It really depends on what you want. If you want a no maintenance, cookie-cutter solution then you may want something more like Dealer.com - but if you really want to double down and invest heavily into a product that you can make personal and use to brand the dealership.. you may want to consider a smaller, more personal company.

Just my opinion though - I've been doing this far longer than most and I definitely bow to their superior knowledge on the topic.

 

[emilymoore]

I am a complete DealerOn advocate and feel they are worth every penny. But you have to have your processes in order to get the most out of it...