Ed, What you are suggesting costs nothing. Looking at the Avenger SE V6 in the ad, I believe the MSRP on that car is $21,495. You would think that the consumer would have a stronger perceived value if that was listed.
Why aren't today's managers as involved in marketing?
- Thread starter ed.brooks
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I have one GM at one store who listens to me, is interested in things we're doing online.. A few things we've focused on is looking at the conversion rate of our internet leads, something the store has never done in the past. It's a weird way things have been worked or ignored in the past. The dealer principal/owner is involved in everything digital with me, and I go through him for approvals and try to educate him on what needs to be done. I believe that's the best way it should work.. My principal does all of the marketing with me, where talking video ads, newspaper, etc. At another 2 stores the GM is digital and serious about it, eager to grow online so he's always ready to make a move..
It's still tough getting these guys to run in-house online specials, like lease deals or price cuts.. They think one ad for just one car is acceptable with factory ads.. I know they know that without online marketing they will fail, and they are scared of loosing it. As well there is so much ROI to be had online, I've turned $800 once, not monthly into 550+ extra new internet leads this year. They can see the progression...
The biggest problem I face is getting these salespeople to actually sell cars online, I can generate boat loads of leads, but none of them can sell online. Working on a BDC but right now it's just a mess.
It's still tough getting these guys to run in-house online specials, like lease deals or price cuts.. They think one ad for just one car is acceptable with factory ads.. I know they know that without online marketing they will fail, and they are scared of loosing it. As well there is so much ROI to be had online, I've turned $800 once, not monthly into 550+ extra new internet leads this year. They can see the progression...
The biggest problem I face is getting these salespeople to actually sell cars online, I can generate boat loads of leads, but none of them can sell online. Working on a BDC but right now it's just a mess.
- Apr 29, 2011
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Can you elaborate on this part? What do you mean "none of them can sell online"? Getting them in the door?
I'm assuming you mean convert an online customer to an appointment by email or phone, rather than "sell online"
Am I correct?
Kcar, I believe that your issues fall under sales management rather than marketing. It is a good post but you might want to start another thread.
Oh it's beyond that. Getting them to followup, getting them to send out a e-mail. They just make the phone call, leave a voicemail, and don't even e-mail the customer, it's really frustrating and I've been over it a million times even with GM/Owners on my side. We realized our salespeople are never going to do this, they just aren't the right people to handle these leads. I teach and I train them but they don't want to use templates, rarely send the e-mails out, and treat leads like they are one and done.. The whole followup process is a mess. They all want to ignore the internet, and before I arrived they did. I've slowly been changing them, but they aren't moving at the speed I need them to go. So we're gearing towards a BDC team, that I can work with, have been planning this out carefully over the past year, in hiring process.
But yes I mean showroom visits, appointments, etc. They don't log appointments, don't add in customers in the showroom, and they really don't convert much of anything. I'm driving truck loads of leads monthly, but without good salespeople or a BDC to handle them correctly, it's not possible to grow. So this has been my core challenge lately, mostly it's something management is trying to work with but I'm involved in everything with the dealerships. Have been pushing them in this direction for the past 12 months and haven't stopped, so we're headed in the right way..
They close like 20% on the showroom from walk-ins, and they kill it. But online there's just not much of anything going on.
Kcar, You will get what you are willing to tolerate. Until you get this mess cleaned up, there is no point in having a BDC. You will end up with two cluster f@$ks.
In today's market, the 20% closing percentage, for walk-ins, is setting the bar too low. That was weak number before the internet. This goes to the heart of the problem and many stores.
What you are describing is an undisciplined, under-achieving, sales staff. I thought about this over night. It occurred to me that maybe you work for a store that has a poor payplan for salespeople.
Even in a tough economy, you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.
If, on the other hand, you have a good payplan for salespeople, you have a Sales Manager problem.
In today's market, the 20% closing percentage, for walk-ins, is setting the bar too low. That was weak number before the internet. This goes to the heart of the problem and many stores.
What you are describing is an undisciplined, under-achieving, sales staff. I thought about this over night. It occurred to me that maybe you work for a store that has a poor payplan for salespeople.
Even in a tough economy, you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.
If, on the other hand, you have a good payplan for salespeople, you have a Sales Manager problem.
Last edited:
- Dec 2, 2009
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I've actually been talking a lot lately about how management today in many cases never matriculated through any type of formal Internet or "Digital" training. Combine that fact with the fact that 'familiarity breeds comfort,' and I think you have a very simple formula explaining why we so often see what we see in many dealerships today.
Take Ed's example of the braintrust locked in discussion about the weekend print ads. No one rang a bell or sounded an alarm or knocked on the door and said, "Hey, the internet arrived today: learn it, live it, love it." The funny thing is, through all of this "Internuttery" these guys are still selling cars. It's completely natural that Dealers and Managers are going to stick with what they know; even if it's not so hot, they are still comfortable with it, they understand how it works, it still "feels" good and right.
And who can blame them? They did the same thing for 50 years, and then then "Marketing" does a complete 180-degree turn! The speed and ferocity with which the market forces have and continue to striate is almost unbelievable, isn't it? A Sales Manager is supposed to keep-up with this while selling cars? Even the 1-percenters have and are struggling with sooooo much change so fast.
Make no mistake, there is a generation just coming on-line where the realities of the current and future marketplace is understood and accepted. These future automotive leaders will soon be coming into their own. It's just going to take time: its own time.
The internet affected marketing like gunpowder affected the bow-and-arrow. Armies are gonna line-up and fire every last arrow in their quiver, but there is an inevitableness about the whole thing. Until the next big thing
Take Ed's example of the braintrust locked in discussion about the weekend print ads. No one rang a bell or sounded an alarm or knocked on the door and said, "Hey, the internet arrived today: learn it, live it, love it." The funny thing is, through all of this "Internuttery" these guys are still selling cars. It's completely natural that Dealers and Managers are going to stick with what they know; even if it's not so hot, they are still comfortable with it, they understand how it works, it still "feels" good and right.
And who can blame them? They did the same thing for 50 years, and then then "Marketing" does a complete 180-degree turn! The speed and ferocity with which the market forces have and continue to striate is almost unbelievable, isn't it? A Sales Manager is supposed to keep-up with this while selling cars? Even the 1-percenters have and are struggling with sooooo much change so fast.
Make no mistake, there is a generation just coming on-line where the realities of the current and future marketplace is understood and accepted. These future automotive leaders will soon be coming into their own. It's just going to take time: its own time.
The internet affected marketing like gunpowder affected the bow-and-arrow. Armies are gonna line-up and fire every last arrow in their quiver, but there is an inevitableness about the whole thing. Until the next big thing
John, It's a serious threat. Any dealership with a decent internet department, should be realizing the majority of their sales from the internet. Most of the floor traffic will be influenced by it. Why would any GM want to hold on to a relic that won't try to understand it, refuses to embrace it and benefit from it?
I believe that this one of the best threads that I have seen started on DealerRefresh in some time. It is telling that it hasn't received that much attention.
It may be 'natural' to stick with what you know, but I'll contend it's not a formula for success. The Internet, in many ways, has changed the rules of the game. It only makes sense to learn the new rules. Those that do will win. Those that don't, well, you know...I've actually been talking a lot lately about how management today in many cases never matriculated through any type of formal Internet or "Digital" training. Combine that fact with the fact that 'familiarity breeds comfort,' and I think you have a very simple formula explaining why we so often see what we see in many dealerships today.
Take Ed's example of the braintrust locked in discussion about the weekend print ads. No one rang a bell or sounded an alarm or knocked on the door and said, "Hey, the internet arrived today: learn it, live it, love it." The funny thing is, through all of this "Internuttery" these guys are still selling cars. It's completely natural that Dealers and Managers are going to stick with what they know; even if it's not so hot, they are still comfortable with it, they understand how it works, it still "feels" good and right.
And who can blame them? They did the same thing for 50 years, and then then "Marketing" does a complete 180-degree turn! The speed and ferocity with which the market forces have and continue to striate is almost unbelievable, isn't it? A Sales Manager is supposed to keep-up with this while selling cars? Even the 1-percenters have and are struggling with sooooo much change so fast.
Make no mistake, there is a generation just coming on-line where the realities of the current and future marketplace is understood and accepted. These future automotive leaders will soon be coming into their own. It's just going to take time: its own time.
The internet affected marketing like gunpowder affected the bow-and-arrow. Armies are gonna line-up and fire every last arrow in their quiver, but there is an inevitableness about the whole thing. Until the next big thing
