New posts

A dealer experimenting with conversational CTAs like 'Let's Chat' and 'Text Us Now' via Gubagoo sparks a debate on whether active CTAs outperform static ones like 'Get Price' or 'Check Availability.' The consensus is that CTA style matters less than how quickly and effectively staff respond to the leads generated, with managed chat services seen as only marginally better than form fills without a well-trained BDC. A vendor contributor suggests AI-assisted chat tools that capture customer info automatically can reduce the burden on BDC staff while improving conversion.

An in-house automotive photographer earning $12 per vehicle asks whether that rate is fair for manually shooting and uploading 25-30 photos across 9 dealerships, averaging 170 vehicles per week. Industry veterans and vendors weigh in that $12 is significantly below market for manual DSLR work in 2026, with $20 per vehicle cited as a realistic minimum, and $28+ as the historical standard for premium contracted work. Key advice: research what outside contractors charge locally to use as leverage in a raise negotiation, while being aware that AI and stock image technology may reduce demand for new car photography long-term.

A poster identifying himself as a 20-year automotive veteran named Andrew argues that the traditional lead generation model is a broken, expensive scam and that dealerships should pivot to radical transparency by posting real pricing, trade values, inventory availability, and full vehicle history online with no contact-gate required. The emerging consensus among veteran forum members was not agreement but deep skepticism about the poster's credibility and motives, with several questioning whether the posts were AI-generated or part of a veiled sales pitch. The core tension is that while the transparency argument touches on ideas the forum has debated seriously before, the poster's combative, lecturing tone and inability to engage critics substantively derailed any productive discussion, making this thread more useful as a cautionary tale about community dynamics than as a source of actionable strategy.

Rick Buffkin asks whether ELead offers a reporting API to simplify pulling data for sales rep scorecards, citing limitations with scheduled reports that default to month-to-date views. Respondents confirm that ELead's reporting functionality is restrictive and manual-heavy, with one commenter noting that the practical workaround involves using Fortellis APIs and building custom ETL processes to load data into a separate data warehouse—a solution requiring significant technical resources that most dealers cannot easily implement themselves.

TJThompson describes a call management application he built to automatically identify whether incoming dealership calls are sales, service, or other inquiries, and whether they're properly logged in the CRM—addressing the common problem that dealers have poor visibility into actual sales call volume. The core challenge is that traditional call routing systems (press 1 for sales, etc.) are unreliable and sales staff frequently miss logging calls, making it difficult for dealerships to track conversion rates and call metrics accurately. The application appears to analyze incoming calls using origin data and audio recognition to solve this tracking gap without relying on manual staff compliance.