KonectAuto — DealerRefresh Vendor Library

Here is the fully sourced brief: --- ## Company Research — KonectAuto --- ### About KonectAuto KonectAuto was founded in 2019. David Troup is the Founder and CEO, with HQ located in Green Bay, Wisconsin. KonectAuto turns dealership inventory into interactive mobile engagement platforms to empower shoppers with vehicle information and convert anonymous dealership visits into known leads to drive vehicle sales. The company has never raised outside funding and has 2–10 employees, with estimated revenue of $1M–$5M. --- ### What They Do KonectAuto captures, quantifies, and converts on-premise car shoppers into car buyers with powerful engagement, sales, and marketing tools for dealerships. Core products and capabilities: - **dealrQR (Standard):** Pre-printed QR code hang tags, waterproof stickers, and window addendum labels for small dealerships; every scan captures a VIN-specific lead including the guest's phone number. - **dealrQR Pro:** Integrates seamlessly with inventory feed, DMS, and CRM platforms, enabling easy deployment and management of QR codes and facilitating follow-up on captured VIN-specific leads. Works automatically across all rooftops, whether a dealer has 2 or 20. - **CarCodez:** Engages customers with vehicle data and pricing, automatically captures critical lead/opportunity data, and injects it into the dealership's CRM. After the guest leaves, CarCodez keeps them apprised of pricing changes on vehicles they looked at and alerts them to new or similar inventory. - **MagicHangtag:** Codes readable from inside the customer's vehicle while driving past inventory on the lot, allowing shoppers to stay in the comfort of their car for a better experience. - **Lead Data Dashboard:** Each lead includes the buyer's name, verified mobile phone number, location, date/time of visit, and the specific VIN of interest; the dashboard tracks visit and lead trends and identifies which vehicles are garnering the most buyer interest. - **Pricing:** Available for both franchise and independent dealerships, with services starting at $99/month. - **Notable Customer:** Summit Automotive is a known active customer using KonectAuto for lead capture and customer cultivation. - **Industry Presence:** David Troup was featured in an interview at NIADA 2023 discussing innovative QR code use on vehicles for traffic and leads. --- ### DealerRefresh Audience Fit KonectAuto's product is squarely aimed at the people who read DealerRefresh daily — GMs, dealer principals, internet directors, and BDC managers. Their core problem: car buyers like to shop in seclusion and feel in control of their buying journey — meaning hundreds of anonymous shoppers visit lots without ever engaging a salesperson. KonectAuto's pitch is converting those walk-arounds into CRM leads. **Why DealerRefresh works for them:** - Even small independent dealerships in medium metros are generating 70–80 leads per month with KonectAuto, closing at 23% — like a traditional "ups" opportunity. This is a tangible ROI story that resonates with the DealerRefresh crowd who scrutinizes process and metrics. - In blue-law states, dealerships have restrictions on engaging guests — yet franchised stores can see 150–220 guests shopping the lot on a closed Sunday. This pain point is highly relatable to franchise GMs who are DealerRefresh core readers. **Recommended DealerRefresh products:** - **Forum Banners** — High fit. Daily visibility to internet directors, BDC managers, and GMs who are exactly the buyers making or recommending vendor decisions for lot-level lead capture tools. Low-friction brand awareness for a category (QR/on-lot engagement) that many dealers haven't yet budgeted for. - **Sponsored Forum Post** — High fit. KonectAuto's concept (converting anonymous lot visitors into VIN-specific CRM leads) needs explanation to earn consideration. A permanent, SEO-indexed post gets the concept in front of dealers doing research — and increasingly surfaces in AI-generated answers when dealers search for lead capture or lot engagement tools. - **Demo / Review Video** — Strong fit. This is a physical, tactile product (hang tags, stickers) with a software layer. Alex & Jeff walking through a live demo — scanning a code, showing the CRM lead populating in real time — would make the value proposition instantly click for skeptical dealers. 5,000+ views among practitioners is meaningful for a $99–$299/month product being sold to thousands of potential dealerships. - **Retargeting Pixel** — Moderate fit. KonectAuto is a lean operation selling to a broad base of dealers nationwide. Retargeting DealerRefresh visitors on Facebook/Instagram is a cost-effective way to stay in front of warm prospects without a large sales team. Given the company's small headcount, this extends reach efficiently. ---