Why Are Dealers STILL Not in Social Media?

[Jeff Kershner]

Why aren’t dealers social networking?

That's the title of an article I wrote back in Dec of 2007. I can't believe  I had almost forgot that I written it? It wasn’t until I was digging through my analytics and took notice to a top referring site pointing to the article.

The title of the article was a little deceiving. I didn’t even write about why dealers are NOT in social media …

“There are many reasons why dealers are not social networking and I’m not totally convinced that all dealers need or should be social networking. But rather than writing why dealers shouldn’t be social networking let’s look at a few of the advantages why maybe they should be.”

Instead, I wrote about 5 advantagesto dealers for leveraging social media. Interesting enough, these same 5 advantages still hold true today are have become the backbone of many articles about the dealer industry and social media found on some of the "other" social sites in our industry.

• Branding and Awareness Opportunities
  
• Search Engine Saturation
  
• Build Link Popularity
  
• Build Traffic to your Dealers Website
  
• Interaction with the Public – Online Reputation

Our industry has come a long way since writing that article in 2007 (well maybe not that far). But the question still remains…“Why aren’t dealers social networking?”

Are you even convinced that dealers should even be focusing their efforts in this medium??

It’s still a great question, and one that no one has really talked about. Well...I’ll tell you why most dealers are not OR should not be focusing their effort on social media…

1. Most dealer still can’t answer the phone with professionalism while asking the right questions to get to know the customers’ wants and needs.
   
2. Most dealers lead response time is still over an hour on average AND when we do get a lead, most don’t know how to respond to the customer with relevancy.
   
3. Most quit following up with the customer after 48 hours and then wonder why the customer bought from the other dealer.
   
4. Most dealers still struggles with its “Brand” / its “Message”, a strong Why Buy from Me.
   
5. It’s too much damn work and most DO NOT have “that person” to manage and take ownership of it.
   
6. Dealers still struggle to fully embrace New Marketing and trying to understand today’s consumer.
   
7. Most vehicles comments are still “power windows, power locks and A/C”.
   
8. Most dealers have no email marketing strategy or better yet, have an email capture rate of less than 20% on the showroom floor.
   
9. Heck, most dealers still can't keep their Specials Updated.
   
10. Your Reason Goes Here...

* Most of these dealers are not reading DealerRefresh, that’s another issues in itself (and another post).

The list could go on and on and I bet YOU TOO have a few reasons you could add to the list.

It’s simple..get your 101 on target before you worry about engaging the customer via social media. Social Media, when done right takes real dedication, time, care and finesse. Don't ask "how many cars will it sell me this month" because there's no report that going to truly track it to a direct sale!! Humm..maybe its time for your dealer to become its own "BRAND".

What reason do you think car dealers are still not taking advantage of Social Media??

And heck..maybe you agree and are convinced that not all dealers need or should be in the social media game.

 

[Gerald]

Why indeed. My response is there are several reasons. First, lack of understanding. They not only don't understand the magnitude and reach of social networking, they may not perceive it as a value-added benefit to the store.

If they do understand the reach, they probably do not understand HOW to use it. For example, one dealer I work with called a buddy and told him he has to get a facebook and twitter account for his store. That was it. No advice on how to use it because he thinks simply putting a vehicle on fbook and twitter will yield sales.

Secondly, to your point, there may not be someone to take ownership. And if there is, wouldn't that take time away from selling a vehicle? That is the thought. If someone is not in front of a customer or calling someone on the phone, they are not being productive. Many times I heard the "get out there and prospect" speech, but push came to shove, management would seldom let sales people leave the store to prospect.

Third, and there was a recent post on Mashable about this, more than half the employers block social networking sites, and in many instances, for good reason. This would preclude the opportunity to engage.

Lastly, it is amazing to me to see how much attention is given to fbook, twitter and other user generated content sources, yet those who ARE using social networking are not paying ANY attention to their onine reputations. I would be interested to see if the latter is actually HAMPERING a dealers online efforts, especially with regards to social media.

 

[Alex Snyder (blog)]

Gerald - did you get a schedule of the next few DealerRefresh articles? There are a few in the can about a lot of what you just said.

The big point you have is something we aren't planning to write, but I'd love to....maybe I will now. It would be an address to the IT Directors and the people who pull their strings about dropping their paranoia of social media. In today's business environment the IT department's policies can hamper business, and I believe some reorganization is needed in that area.

 

[Steven Moore]

Jeff,

You hit all the key points. I have recently worked with a small dealer group on just getting their understanding of what the future will look like in the near term with the Gen y buyers, and the future impact it will have on the sales methodologies that will be needed.

Your last statement that the dealer needs to be his own brand really hits home for me ( I agree), how do you truly make your dealership not the same as the customer base is doing everything to make it a commodity- If you asked all the GM's at the dealer level if they have a written mission statement that is written anywhere besides the employee handbook and is talked about weekly in some format what % do you think will be doing it. (when was it updated last, with employee, customer, vendor involvement?)

From a business ecosystem there are some flaws that make it a short term quick sale 100% commission..if they leave you never get them back mentality that will make it very tough to look long term- why did it take so long for them to adopt real e-commerce compared to other industries? Social Business Design is the way it really needs to be looked at- not Social Media because with that term you just get the "oh a new channel or tools" not a ah-ha moment of wow I can listen to my customer, I can engage with them, and can get them to help me change my way of doing business that aligns more with the way they want to do it. These communications technologies will be changing our society the same way that Mr.Ford did at the start of the industrial revolution- it will be that big. The dealers will all get there over time it just going to be the forward thinking ones that can really make the biggest moves...

 

[Steven Moore]

@Gerald your last point is a big one. How many dealers even read their online reviews or know where and how to find them. Also how to engage with a customer in the social realm is different, do you know his /her social graph, best avenue to approach, plan in place to resolve. It is different than the telephone for sure.

I think making a dashboard for the key folks to be able to hear and see what is happening with their online conversation would be the best way for them to start.

@alex just had a big conversation about this blocking thing- "with my i-phone and my own laptop. I don't need the companies stinking computer to do what I need to do? (GenY comment and thought in survey) Also the next gen will not be interested in working in that environment. Social media policy needs to be put in place so that everyone know the rules and what it would take to be fired over it. IBM has one of the best out there, and it will work for any business because the size doesn't matter because being social is a 1-1 game if done right. Look forward to reading future posts.

 

[Joe Pistell]

I'm on the record on this topic, "The Emperor has no clothes" http://forum.dealerrefresh.com/f44/emporer-has-no-clothes-243.html

My 2cents...
Working Social Media is simply working an audience. Have you "worked" your web site's audience to its maximum potential?

FACT #1).
99% of your BUYERS visited your site prior to purchase (that's powerful!)

FACT #2).
99% of your sites visitors... DON'T BUY FROM YOU.

Want Proof? Read our forum thread, "Where did they all go?" http://forum.dealerrefresh.com/f43/web-visitors-vs-sales-survey-218.html

YOUR TIME IS NOT INFINITE.
We're talking ROI of your time! Why work Social Media when there are so many marketing and merchandising opportunities on our web sites!

Do the math, improve your visitor to sales ratio by one tenth of one percent, now that's ROI that gets me juiced!

 

[Alex Snyder (blog)]

Steven - do you have a link to IBM's policy?

 

[Andrew DiFeo]

I'm in Joe's camp. Before you can maximize your opportunities on your own website, I wouldn't put a lot of resources behind Social Media...just yet a least.

 

[Joe Pistell]

OTOH, If I am a sales rep, I am all over Social Media because it's an extension of yourself. It leverages your personal connections (and travels with you where ever you go .

Social Media = Self Media.

 

[Joe Pistell]

hahaa... A new criteria for hiring a sales rep is how many FB followers they'll bring!

Or... "we can't fire him, he's got all those FB connections"