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A Week In Vegas Automotive Style (In A Few Paragraphs)

It's the conference time of the year for the automotive biz and this last week didn't disappoint. Having attended both the first-ever DrivingSales Executive Summit and the venerable JD Power Internet Roundtable it was clear, to some degree, as to what the leaders are looking for, discussing and sharing.  My first observation? Not enough dealers were present.

Nobody is trying to hold one group more accountable than the other and while budgets and money are tight, our industry moves at retail not at the supplier, vendor, media or marketing levels. Yes we need to have product that is appealing, ways to communicate effectively about it, means to get people buying the product (hello banks…), staying up with the breakneck speed of technology and keeping the general public excited. All those things aside, it's your good 'ol neighborhood retailer that gets the metal to move.

So, the DSES at the Hard Rock had two days to get the dealers that want to be in front in the best possible position with data, technology, new capabilities and compelling roundtable conversations. For a first-time event, it seemed to have hit its mark. With an agenda that covered current market data, SEO and relevant trends, new technologies and vendor offerings, analytics and social media, what was really impressive was the 'how to' part of the summit. Real conversations with real people answering the tough questions.

Networking is great and does has its immense value (including to this author) but the in-the-trenches, getting your hands dirty stuff is what moves the needle for any business. When someone is interested in doing something, they usually want to know the how, why, when and where. It was refreshing to be a part of the event put together by Charlie Vogelheim and Jared Hamilton.

DSES' range of speakers was atypical and that was a breath of fresh air. Compete's Skip Streets couldn't handle the glaring lights beaming down on him but the content prevailed. It was wonderful to get to hear BlueKai's new approach to media buying and consumer targeting from Dave Armitage. The presentation given by Driverside and R.L. Polk was very different considering it dealt with the back end of the retail business: service. Chris Brogan (New Marketing Labs) and Aaron Strout (Powered) quite frankly gave the road map to the industry without strings: customers, social media, branding, listening, content and value.

Switch gears to an event that I've been participating in since the first one back five plus years ago: JD Power's Internet Roundtable at Red Rock. Well attended by the OEMs, agencies, service providers, portals and dealers. The IRT has changed some over the past few years but it has lacked the 'punch' that it had a couple ago with the breakout roundtable discussions. One undisputed aspect: Everyone's socks were knocked off by Jim Farley's session Thursday morning, period. I've never heard more compliments and conversation after a speaker, ever. And if you haven't taken note of Ford's digital efforts over the past year, maybe you should.

In attending (and participating via Twitter) in a number of other sessions,the content seems to have drifted from subject at times but the speakers knew the craft from the social media, to the leads presentation to the media integration panel. Bar none, the crowd needed to be involved during or, at a minimum, after the sessions. The 'juice' comes from squeezing the *&$%!)#$% out of people and the occasional challenge to their stance.

Where JD Power's event always drives immense dividends for our industry is the lunches, dinners and hallway banter. I've always enjoyed taking part especially considering their influence and reach and, whether or not they are liked and appreciated at any given time, the company's heritage: focus on the customer. Hopefully our industry continues to listen considering consumers control everything today.

The IRT organizing team deserves props for getting social media on the agenda again but it still doesn't get the representation it deserves considering it makes up (along with online marketing and websites) the majority of automotive traffic now and for the future.

What both events need: more dealer participation, more dealer participation and maybe some more dealer participation. The media pays attention to SAAR, manufacturers, balance sheets, production, trends, bailouts and a whole lot of other things that have nothing to do with saving an industry. if you'd like to argue whether the magic number is 11.5M units or 13.1M, that's fine. Just as long as we're helping those that sell the cars in the first place.

The progressive dealers need to be up on stage talking about how they've changed their business and what ways they're moving forward. There may be a day in the near future in where the retailer is just as important as the company paying $20,000+ to speak or that changing up the agenda to showcase an undiscovered nugget is more relevant than some OEM's marketing exec giving the same presentation about their (somewhat) radical approach to marketing for the 20th time. (disclaimer: not talking about Mr. Farley here).

So this latest round of automotive Vegas-ness goes in the record books. Thank you DrivingSales Executive Summit and JD Power Internet Roundtable for having platforms that brought hundreds of thousand of dollars into Sin City. Now the question is: who has the guns to not make it a year until the next time the industry can learn?

Who can drive the education and engagement in the next 90 days without the trip, hotel, expense account and wad of one dollar bills (ooops, did I say that?).

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

What NADA Showed Us And How We Can Learn

Last weekend's NADA show had all of the makings for a great show: vendors, timing, speakers and even terrific weather (for New Orleans in winter). The one thing that was missed: the D in NADA. Without the dealers, it's a relatively expensive industry supplier meeting. As the trade show and the main body of the industry in the US, it's the dealers' best resource for gettin' er' done. I've never walked around unabated.

This is not a blast on the NADA, its leadership or affiliates. Considering that this blog is for best practices, we'd prefer to look at ideas and solutions prior to next year's Orlando get together. More should have been done to get the dealers there that considered it and declined. NADA, its exhibitors, partners and others deserve more for the effort that is put forth every year to provide solutions and resources to a massive industry.

Absolutely knowing that attendance would be down, a stronger message could have been sent including promotion of the event in the past couple months. Lowering ticket prices, getting airlines, hotels and other necessary partners involved to chip in with big discounts would have been instrumental in getting more people out. On the surface, those are the 'easy' things: better promotion, better attendance, better planning leading to better results. OK, enough said on that, I went.

This year is done and over, we can't change it. Keeping in mind existing factors and the expected continued drop in sales, how can we drive going forward and build for NADA '10? If the industry is down this year, will less than 10% of the automotive retailers be represented next year? How many people will think "I didn't go in '09 and I don't think it hurt me, maybe I'll skip the next one!"

Maybe a couple things need to change. Having attended the major shows and events over the past eight years, it's clear that change is needed to be more effective. Here are a few thoughts:

1. Setting expectations for what dealers will be able to get out of every session, event, speaker and meeting.
2. Promote each event individually in the lead up to the show via email and other marketing.
3. Hold speakers and contributors accountable for the content of their sessions and change them every year. People don't want to hear the same folks talking every year.
4. Follow up. Maybe NADA should follow up with every attendee each year with their staff of consultants and make sure the value from the show is delivered.
5. Come with the expectation to learn first, network second, see everyone you should third and then maybe shift to how many drinks it takes to forget the taxi ride back to the wrong hotel. No, it shouldn't be number one or two no matter how much fun you can have.

Many of this industry's best and brightest companies were on display for about 80% fewer dealers this year. The busiest booths I witnessed were all associated with the web, web-based and/or services that are made for the Internet. In order for all of us to build the business right now, we have to be focused on customers, best practices, smart spending, brand building and right-sizing.

If we act now to make NADA 2010 better for everyone, we'll have a tremendous show. One other way we might be better served is to cross promote events (no matter how insane that sounds in a hyper-competitive environment). Digital Dealer, JD Power Automotive Roundtables, Ward's Spring Training, Synergy Sessions and more can further benefit by helping the community in addition to getting more dealers to attend through lowering fees and providing more value. Just an idea…

If you were at NADA:

1. What were your perspectives?
2. What do you see happening to push business forward?
3. Who were the most exciting companies in your opinion? (without blatant self-promotion)
4. What do you think was missed that must be addressed in a proactive manner going forward?

Learn from the past to better look forward and plan. It is in our complete interest to create a healthier place to both work and thrive from the inside. It must start with helping dealers sell more cars.

Best practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

Week at IM@CS: Chats With The Industry

If you ever get the chance to go to SEMA, do.  Mind boggling is one way to describe this arena of excess which causes you to ask "what downturn in the economy?".  Now there were fewer exhibitors and one or two less 'Blinged Out' rides, but the aftermarket world is more than healthy without question.

VW: Amid their hyped-up CC and soon-to-come magna-blogged Scirocco, their booth was definitely one to see of the OEMs in attendance. They seem to be in-line with consumer trends and have their ears locked on to communities, so it will be interesting to see how they fare over the next year or so.

Subaru: One of only two brands that are 'up' year over-year in 2008 (read: anything that's not down 20% is doing really well, and they are actually up in unit sales), they continue to hangout with the tuner-set and aftermarket gurus. This year's show was no different. They are looking to enter the social networking/viral marketing area for their Rally following and so we threw our hat in the ring.

Lexus:
IS-F here, IS-F there, custom IS-F's everywhere.  Not to mention that you could hop in one on the dyno and get it up to…well, let's just say enough over 100MPH that the Nevada Highway Patrol would have a heck of a time catching you.  As always, Lexus did classy and the IS-F mods were very impressive.

Chevrolet: Skip the rest of the cars and go to the back row: Camaro-ville. A nice heads-up to what should be the full-blown production cars and looking good. Of course SEMA had the expected rounds of tricked-out 'Vette's (including the first new ZR1 IM@CS has seen in person) but the nostalgia heads were talking about the RS and SS and they looked good.

Now back to your regularly scheduled program:

bridgeSpeak: The folks at one of our favorite technology secrets headed up by Jon Poploskie continue to do a great job at making process work at dealerships. Their latest telephony and integrated (CRM/DMS) solutions are impressive, especially when it comes to providing a better customer experience. While IM@CS has been pleased with their outbound phone/reminder system in the past, these updates are relevant and cost saving. Check them out at http://www.bridgespeak.com

ActivEngage: The leader in live chat announced the launch of multiple language translation for live chat on
auto dealership websites. Now dealers can engage website visitors in
their preferred language, without having to employ multi-lingual staff
members. The new technology offers dealers a huge competitive advantage
through increased personalization for their website visitors’
communication preferences, which all happens real-time. This is what best-practices is about.  http://www.activengage.com

We'll try to keep these updates weekly and ultimately have an area where you can get in touch with the vendors.

Best practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results