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Google Plus Pages Allowing Dealers To Do More (Half-Baked)?

With innovation and technology comes missteps and half-hearted attempts to "do it". As more dealers encourage their staff, and many times vendors, to push into new technology, software and social networking, which should be commended, the volume of missteps and simple ignorance increases as well. It's simple: if you don't know how to do something, get assistance. Just winging it in today's market won't pay dividends nor register with the public when it counts.

Google Plus Pages Equals Unknown_SMALL

Google Plus Business Pages launched more than a week ago and searches with typical terms (Toyota, Honda, Ford, etc) on G+ turns up car dealerships using Google Plus profiles as businesses. Not pages, Google Plus profiles as in personal pages. This is absolutely the same lack of common sense and willingness to "ask for directions" that has thousands of retailers on Facebook personal profiles rather than the appropriate business pages.

No different than buying a CRM and not utilizing more than 40% of its capabilities or paying $699 a month for a website without SEO services, multi-million dollar establishments continue to fudge it and then wonder why things "don't work" or "provide revenue or ROI". It seems that the more technology and opportunities avail themselves, the faster car dealers are willing to say "we don't have any more budget", "we're not looking to go after every thing we can possibly buy" and the ever-popular "we already are doing a great job using what we use". So things go 'round like they always do: crap in, crap out.

The jury is in on your decision to half-ass things: you're wrong! The rule is go big or go home.

When sales, service and parts staffs are quick to Google the latest part that a customer brings up, right after they check ESPN highlights on their smart phones, why do things stop before the extra click to search for "setting up google plus business pages" and reading a quick particle or, better yet, watching a two-minute video that explains everything to properly establish their presence. Naw, it's better to wait until it's seemingly too late to make a change and your competition that you "beat" now has a more established foothold in the same technology, website or service. A local dealer, after offers of assistance fro multiple companies, apparently had to wait until their Facebook "friend" page had over 2,000 people on it before asking about making a business page. WHY??????????????????

We continue to be an industry filled with ignorance, denial, shortcuts, Band-Aids and excuses. ALL of the information is available if you're willing to ask the right questions and select the right employee, partner or vendor. Yes, there is a lot of misinformation but it's not impossible to weed through it. Recently, a top-OEM endorsed social media company executive informed an audience at one of the auto industry digital marketing events that deleting spam posts from Facebook pages was not possible but that they "scan and report" such occurrences. Yes, there is incorrect information out in the market from what should be reputable companies so always finding the right ways to do things can be a challenge.

So are the absolutely-essential, need-to-have Google Plus Business Pages allowing dealers (and other businesses) to do more, just in half-baked ways? Yes, sure enough. Just like everything else that is not known, understood, new and not managed. Until it is…..

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

November 19, 2011 by Gary May 0
What Have You Done For You Lately? (Ooh ooh ooh yeah…)

You're back but your bags (and head) may still be packed from your Las Vegas departure. The whirlwind of powerpoints, data, applications, widgets, speakers, vendors and pitches that opened October 12 with Digital Dealer and ran through DrivingSales Executive Summit at Encore, came to a close mid-day last Friday with the departure of over 1,000 from JD Power's Annual OEM and Ad Agency shindig called Internet Roundtable at Red Rock Resort (where more upfront talks than Internet dealings happen, but let's digress).

So your notebook, FlipCam, voice recorder and brain are packed with thoughts, visions, ideas and goals around everything you heard. But the "back to normal" is so gratifying that you may have not done a cotton-picking-thing since switching off the neon and turning on the flourecents. And besides, it was kind of touching to see that 88-day old unit turn 100 now that you're back (ooops!).

So if you're stuck with not knowing where to start, you didn't leave with goals. If you've got three or four places you want to start at, you may not know what your greatest weaknesses or opportunities are. And if you didn't gather enough information on how to get started and the first steps to take from that high-ranking speaker, call them for a freebie. And you may just want to "x" off that session or conference next year because the value didn't get delivered.

So, what have you done for you lately? (Sorry Janet, it's not about you). It's time to crank that Internet machine thing to the next level, right?! Do yourself a favor and start looking everywhere else but automotive and get your bearings. Why? Because there are Facebook pages selling more Snuggies than your website sells in service. There are blogs feeding more contacts to start-up S-E-O, K-E-Y, M-O-U-S-E companies than you get leads from $199-a-month leases. And we have ourselves (and many vendors) to blame.

Start Thursday with a goal to add one task from your volume of Notes 'de Las Vegas and start it. Not Friday, not next week. October 28. Haven't secured your Google Places/Maps location? Do that or learn about it. Haven't secured your Foursquare venue? Have 60 domains you registered a bunch of years ago and one is perfect for a blog? Start it and who cares what it says as long as it says something about what your store is passionate about regarding your customers and the products you sell. But what have you done for you lately?

"Good thing I cook or else we'd starve to death…" How appropriate is that today? Automotive retailers must thank their customers for coming in year after year and driving off in new and pre-owned cars with little more than a smile. It was about the badge, the new product, the incentives and the advertisements. Now it's about you. Matter of fact it always was but the industry lucked out for more than a decade. So what have you done for you lately?

Yes there's half-cooked information all over. Yes, there's "experts" who haven fallen into something that, for obvious reasons, they can't quite explain in an hour on stage. Yes, there's going to be more consolidation in the indsutry which means your ____________ company may become part of another company you're not doing (or don't want to do) business with. But what have you done for you lately?

There are many really good, and some extremely good, tools and providers out there to settle for what someone in your Twenty Group has or what your read in an ad or study. Last week it was amazing to watch the Innovation Cup at the DrivingSales Executive Summit. The "let's never settle for me-too" juices were really flowing there. Put easily, if something can't be verified by a neurtal third party, don't necessarily run away, rather gain more information before making a decision. Chances are you're right that it wasn't a good choice in the first place.

Today you have to be prepared to do something for yourself and stick with it. Even though it's so easy to quit and go back to what you knew. It's also more costly than ever. If you invested the time and money to be around that much addictive behavior for a week or two in Las Vegas, everything you brought back deserves to come to life in your store. That is if you can find your notes among the free schwag of flying monkeys, free model cars, light-up bounding balls, mints, pens, flash drives, logo hats, t-shirts, notepads, shopping bags and fliers for products that are pay-for-it-now-cuase-it's-almost-to-market-so-you-can-be-first (wink, wink).

So what have you done for you lately? Come on, we've got to …….uh, wait….come on…..wait for it…..wait for it……you know you want it…..SELL MORE CARS!

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

October 28, 2010 by Gary May 0
DrivingSales Executive Summit…In A Nutshell

 DrivingSales Executive Summit V2.0 hit Encore (Wynn) in Las Vegas last Monday through Wednesday. A few things: attendance doubled last year’s, the start was absolutely electric and the event finished on such a high it left many attendees literally longing for more and feeling like they needed another day. The DSES crew flat out delivered.

Upon walking into the main Encore conference room at 4:00p, it was packed. Charlie Vogelheim emceed once again with his typical style. Jared Hamilton, founder of DrivingSales.com, did a more-than-typically -fast-paced tirade on where the industry is from both his and an opportunity perspective. It was mesmerizing and for more reasons than the picture of the donkey suspended in mid-air. The foundation was set.

Brian Benstock and Sean Wolfington talked about what Paragon Honda and Tier 10 did together to achieve massive results from integrated marketing. Not “let’s do this offline and see if it works on the web” so-called integration but a rarely-executed integration. The cost would strike most dealers, especially Honda dealers, as a shock today but it was a massive undertaking, shaved Paragon’s costs in what would rank as the “wow that’s great” territory and put them solidly on the map as #1. It was impressive.

Then it was time for Scott Monty of Ford (http://www.twitter.com/ScottMonty). As I’ve had the benefit of seeing a good part of the opening of his presentation before, it was crowd watching time. Simply put, Scott had the room wrapped around his finger. It’s amazing to hear about just part of what he, backed by a rare CEO in Alan Mulally, and the social media and marketing teams do at Ford. Day one’s reception at Piero’s was fantastic, the buzz consistent well into the evening.

Day two kicked off with great anticipation and didn’t disappoint. Jeremiah Owyang (http://www.web-strategist.com/blog) piqued the interest of many in the room with volumes of data as well as practical application. Brian Pasch and Erich Miltsch both hit their separate sessions, SEO and location-based services, with great engagement. Eric unveiled his CarZar application (http://www.thecarzar.com) which was definitely the talk over the rest of the conference. Grant Cardone followed with one of his rousing, impassioned pleased from stage about businesses maintaining an “eat or be eaten” mentality.

Three sessions of breakouts, then lunch, and three more rounds covered the rest of day two’s learning. The Facebook session (Albrecht AG and Lebanon FLM) was insightful but seemed to lack engagement with the audience and didn’t answer the “tough questions”. Rafi Hamid’s Enterprise Management presentation may have been a little much for some of the attendees. Fact is all could have, somewhat to completely, restructured their dealerships just from his insight.

Then it was time for the Dealer and Vendor Innovation Cup. What a great way for dealers to participate in what may change the industry next! These are some of the most innovative folks around, not hampered by other company’s offerings or what vendors don’t provide. Some of the substance was leading edge, others more common place. But the desire to execute, and what it took to continue to push the envelope, that was the compelling “meat and potatoes”. eCarList (http://www.ecarlist.com) and Marc McGurren from Jerry Durant Toyota won. Congratulations.

The one thing that continues to strike me after attending eight years of automotive conferences is this: why do we not connect the dots at the event rather than making the attendees do so themselves after the events. DrivingSales Executive Summit would have been the right place to have a Q&A session that allowed those that wanted the extra insight to get going when they returned to their dealerships later in the week. Note to promoters: breakouts, lunch sessions and other quick after-session times plus post-event webinars and curriculum are perfect for that and the speakers should be required to do their part.

Tuesday closed with another packed reception but I’d say the buzz was higher. Yes, there was even a Ralph Paglia sighting! Lots of connecting, introductions and big conversations (small chat was non-existent). It was fun to have a number of Canadians in the room as things change north of the border. The industry there is also changing rapidly and not having felt as steep of an economic decline as the US did, many retailers there are waking up to incredible opportunities for their dealerships. After hours, Sean Wolfington and Brian Pasch greeted some forty plus to their own reception which went on for another four hours plus.

Wednesday saw Dan Zarrella (http://danzarrella.com) put many on their ears and some looking inquisitively with a wide-ranging but hard-hitting session of insight all relevant to search, social, engagement, measurement and more. The accountability and opportunities dealers can create just from his time on stage would be more than a year of gains. Joel Ristuccia of Babson College brought incredible amounts of insight to the subject of change management in the industry, Dale Pollak did one of always rousing, but very up-to-date, admonitions about how dealers must change now and Jared Hamilton closed the event with John Holt of Cobalt Group on stage. Admittedly I missed that session while in the adjoining hall on phone calls and no tweets.

In closing, with definite room to grow and improve (and some more microphones around the audience for the Q&A session after each keynote), DrivingSales Exeuctive Summit was spot on in only its second generation. There was enough positive feedback to likely venture a guess as to how much the third edition would grow. And maybe room for…….

Congratulations to Jared and the entire DSES team for an impressive event!

October 24, 2010 by Gary May 1
Don’t Let Social Media Get In The Way Of Your Success With It

We're bringing a petition to DrivingSales Executive Summit, JD Power Internet Roundtable, SEMA and NADA. But you can be first to sign it here and now. The law we're hoping to get passed in the retail automotive industry is "stop calling it social media and start calling it die without it". It's not something you try, experiment with, make efforts toward or the like. At least no more than you do with sales, service, F&I and your P&L. Do more. And stop thinking so much you can't do much.

Sick and tired of consumer communication and engagement, as well as fundamental business improvement, being hawked, pitched and sold by fly-by-night companies (as well as legitimate ones) with getcha-while-you're-looking tactics, it's time to discuss, use and improve platforms no differently than you would want a CRM or website technology used and improved.

Simple question: Do you want to stay in business? Your answer has to be all the way in yes or all of the way out no. There is no in between. Many (not all) companies that have tried to be somewhere in between over the past few years show up today as the many For Lease or Going Out Of Business signs on your daily drive. Don't think for a second that we're saying that had those businesses been in social media that they'd be vibrant and profitable today. Not at all.

But to sit and wait, guess and judge, delay and save or flat out refuse social media as part of your business strategy every day is the fastest path to demise today. Period. Remember that no one aspect of your business is a silver bullet. At the same time remember you can save yourself to death no differently than you can spend yourself to death. You're not "in" Twitter and Facebook. You're (hopefully) in business using a database/contact management system, a series of processes to sell, track and report, and a solid foundation of online media to showcase your business.

Saying "I'll try Facebook for 6 months and see if it works" is the same exact thing as saying "I'll try selling our services for 6 months and see if it works" or "I'll maintain my storefront for 6 months and see how that goes". If you want to see how things go, get committed or get out. If you truly aren't prepared for success in your own business, do it for someone else and leave the tools that professionals use to…a professional.

Blogs, Wikis, Display advertising/SEM, Review sites/reputation management, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Foursquare, Google Places and more are tools to be a more effective, yes effective, business. Not a trend-setter, not a groupie, not one of the cool places to hang or any other way of minimizing your way to profit. Can your business survive without being on Facebook? Chances are yes if at least for a short time. Can you survive without the fundamentals that have social media thriving and being "buzz" in mainstream media? Not for one New York minute, to steal a great song title from Don Henley.

So please don't let social media get in the way of your success with it, knowing you'll not experience success without it. Even if you don't set up that Twitter page you've been hemming and hawing about for a year… Oh, and one more thing. If you're a car dealership, don't pay $4,000 plus a month for social media services. That is unless you're getting a cut of the profit.

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

October 17, 2010 by Gary May 1
Digital Dealer 9…In A Nutshell

So we're in what many call the automotive industry's event olympics, digital dunking chair, online opinion onslaught, guruexpertvendorspeakerconsultantpitchyouintosubmissionsession and more (is that a word or an insult?!?!). Anyway, last week's Digital Dealer was one heck of a kickoff with around 750 dealers in attendance.

Over the three days, we heard both the good and bad, awesome and ugly and got to share time with the companies in what was easily the largest expo at any of the series of Digital Dealer events. With an opening panel that seemed to be more about defending third party lead providers and attacking other ways to drive traffic, it may have put an interesting asterisk on the event: One of the calls-to-action that is consistent of Digital Dealer conferences (as well as growing) is the ability for dealers to create more eyeballs, consideration, conversion and sales themselves without paying large sums to the marketing companies.

The rest of day one seemed to bring an overwhelming good vibe with some frustration but nothing more than past Digital Dealers. The evening was filled with various receptions, dinners, parties and (required?) gambling. Walking around The Mirage, you could see a kalaiedascope of dealers, OEMs, vendors, consultants and service providers roaming, playing and chatting. Ralph Paglia's ADM reception was well attended again (Ralph, two words for you and ADP: larger suite. Two more: air conditioning). The first day can be marked as a success.

Day two flew out of the gates and we had hop between meetings and sessions. Overall strong buzz, especially around lunch. However there seemed to be more dissention in the ranks when it came to enjoying the speakers. Obvious or not, blatent or passive, it's hard to control speakers. One session we heard about from a lot of people seemed to end up being an over-the-top pitch along with aggressive words toward competition. There's no place for that. The popular speakers seemed to reign more supreme at DD9 which represented a good amount of feedback. One that stood out for us was Kevin Frye's. He had a classy presentation and style that seems to be more prevelant in dealer sessions. Add the trust from the crowd and it's a recipe for success.

IM@CS hosted our second #imacswebpoker tournament and ended up hosting 22 players. We'd like to thank AutoData, AutoFusion, Cargigi, GetAutoAppraise and PCG Digital Marketing for their involvement. AutoFusion presented with Reno Toyota with a complete complimentary package of website, mobile site and Facebook inventory app. Thanks to the other dealers in attendance and congratulations to Dennis Colome of AutoByTel for taking the top prize and trophy. The evening was long but distinguished.

Day three is always a short one and we attended a session and a half. Didn't get a chance to talk with a lot of dealers as they went to the peer session as we headed to the airport. The morning started off with what appeared to be a full breakfast and expo which is a great sign, considering some left Wednesday night. Jumping between sessions from Brian Pasch and Ralph Paglia, both were packed in an apparent tip-of-the-hat to their reputations for delivering the right data and engagement. Dealers tackled their last-minute vendor meetings and some started making plans for next April's Digital Dealer 10 in Orlando.

Overall, Digital Dealer 9 was a success for the majority of dealers and others in attendance. In our opinion, Mike Roscoe and his staff still have items to address to make it an ongoing success, some they commit they're already working toward but still have to focus harder on.

Next week there's DrivingSales Executive Summit and JD Power Internet Roundtable so we'll report from Las Vegas again…

October 16, 2010 by Gary May 0
The More Things Stay The Same, The More They Stay The Same

We're considering making a big alarm clock. No, a BIG %^&*#$@ alarm clock. That way instead of waking up 10-100 dealers at a time, we can wake up 10,000. And folks, we all should know how big that clock has to be. 14 years of the automotive Internet, over 6 years for most OEM website programs and CRMs, over 3 years of SEO chatter, social media, landing pages, microsites, email marketing and nearly 2 years of mobile, geo-location, widgets and integration. What do we have to show for it? The alarm clock is not big enough.

Two percent leadership and a bunch of blank stares. The season of automotive industry digital marketing events is upon us. It's time to move the needle. Even before massive fees, niclkle-and-diming- new widget this and new fandagled that. And it's not "back to basics" or "blocking and tackling". If you want to stick to blocking, the customers are going to be walking. The alarm clock is not big enough.

Many folks talk about how the people that have been moving the industry's training and messaging programs are right there in the comfort zone, what they like, the heart of the 20 Group, the flame to the cigar so-to-speak. Many dealers around the country are still FourSquaring and we're not talking about the social media game. Many dealers don't have photos up on inventory for a week or two (or longer) after receiving the units. Many dealers don't know the first thing about where, what, how and why there are reviews on the web (or, in some cases, all over it) about the poor experiences at their dealership. The alarm clock is not big enough.

We're talking about dealers having to buy leads since their own inventory doesn't display correctly, generating their own leads. We're talking about the leads that are received not being handled right nearly 70% of the time. We're talking about dealers struggling with finding the right people to handle the leads right, yet hiring the wrong people in the first place. The alarm clock is not big enough.

Consider the volume of content that is available to every dealership with an Internet connection*. Consider the wealth of knowledge that exists at the other end of the phone at nearly any time. Consider the amount of information available in one day with the right person. Consider how much consumers, us, are changing the rules. The alarm clock is not big enough.

*Blocking computers from accessing most of the web? Does the industry emply adults? The alarm clock is not anywhere close to big enough for people with that much control. My fricking gosh, lighten up.

Think about how much less the franchise matters today and how much more the dealer brand matters. Think about how your HTML website* won't load on a cell phone nicely but your United, Delta and American boarding passes do. Think about how much more you want your customers to spend at your store but they don't even open your emails (because hopefully you're actually looking at that). The alarm clock is not big enough.

*And the fact that your website company is using Flash-laden pages, can't deploy a PHP-coded application and won't be able to resize and deploy a widget or give real analytics? No alarm clock can wake that up.

Really, the more things stay the same, the more they stay the same. It's not that we believe there are people intentionally not doing what they should to move the industry forward or that they can't do it. No. It's that whatever has been done has honestly moved the ball forward about a yard but it's 4th down and 28 yards to go. This round of events in Las Vegas needs to get as much fire about them as profits because of them.

Not the same data. Not the same repackaged presentation. Not even the same presenter. Not the same expectation. Not the same end game. Not the same focus. Not the same anything. We all know dealers that are afraid today. Isn't fear supposed to promote change?

Here's a challenge: Every speaker. Every presenter. Every vendor. Follow up your sessions with a call or onlne meeting within two weeks of the event for everyone that wants it. And promote it. For Free. Answer every question. Refer other companies if you don't offer something that's being asked for. Give something away at your session. Really give it away. No strings attached.

Maybe it's a start. Maybe it's about time. Maybe it's about the dealer. Maybe it's about selling and servicing cars. What do you think?

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

October 6, 2010 by Gary May 0
The Disappointment Your Customers Experience Comes From Within

Let's face it, we're all consumers. Even the highest-paid CEOs in the world have to do it: shop and buy. They will engage a brand, a retailer, a transaction with one expectation in mind: satisfaction. Whether a $4 latte or a $4,000,000 property, there is a process we go through to self-determine the investment of time, research and transaction as well as intended outcome. So if your only measurement is analytics or items sold, you're sorely missing a huge part of what is needed.

Go to the majority of automotive websites, mobile sites, social media and advertising. Ask the average consumer, let alone highly-compensated executive, and you are likely to get an answer you don't like. Why is that? For the most part, we've been buying solutions while being complacent in our happy place: doing what we know and not changing that one bit.

The first layer of measurement was the showroom floor and service drive. Sentiment was shared, while not always freely, in a controlled environment where the impact was mitigated to the most part. That gauge has moved, for the most part, into the most transparent of places: the Internet.

And that is a double-dose of pain. So how do we change what is commonly referred to as one of the least-desired activities (going to a car dealership) that is connected with one of the most accessible of engagements (going to the web)? For starters, do it yourself. Go through your website. As a consumer. Hard as it may be, do it. Take off the dealer hat and pretend you actually need to find something you want. Easily. Quickly. The same way you'd buy an airline ticket on www.yourfavoriteairlinewebsite.com.

Then visit your website on your mobile device. If you are one of more than half the car dealerships in the country, you'll likely see a thumb-sized version of your full website. Disappointed yet? Now hop over to your Blog, if you have one of the best places to build your brand and capture eyeballs online. Because based on your website response, you likely don't offer the image, message, layout and experience you'd like yourself.

Have Facebook and Twitter pages? If not, don't necessarily jump in but if you do, look. What are you saying? Are you just displaying inventory, a feed of random content from somewhere else? Is it representative of what you do your store? Is it, like your CRM, automated? Or is it genuine?

And what about reputation management? While some have embraced it for more than a year or two, the neccessary processes and engagement still don't exist for the most part. And don't get disappointed yourself when you don't have a strategy and are ticked off with what gets displayed online.

Some dealers are starting the next generation of their dealership with consumer engagement. And guess what?! That's perfect. What better input than the people dropping thousands of dollars at your business? Customer advisory boards. Meet the dealership events. Club meets and other non-transactional ways to engage and ask your customers.

The disappointment your customers experience comes from within. And if you don't have a plan to assess, measure, change and improve consistently, the numbers that matter most will go in the least desireable direction.

If you are one of the dealers heading to Las Vegas for Digital Dealer, DrivingSales Executive Summit and JD Power Internet Roundtable, take advantage of the wealth of knowledge. But don't do it simply to compare and buy yourself. Stop. Sit down with other dealers, consultants and outsiders. Take a deep look at what consumers see. Ask the tough questions. Then engage the reps and vendors.

Start delivering online what you say you do in your brick and mortar existence. It's your greatest opportunity.

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

October 3, 2010 by Gary May 0
Getting Ready For Digital Dealer And DrivingSales Executive Summit? Here’s Some Tips

Tickets? Check. Hotel? Check. Registration? Check. FlipCam? Check. SmartPhone? Check. A plan to make what you take back with you work? Ummmm. Not checked!

Digital Dealer 9, DrivingSales Excecutive Summit and JD Power Internet Roundtable are right around the corner. Have you mapped out your sessions? Have you made a commitment to have executable items upon your return? Some alerady have planned for success.

So, here some ideas to get ready before you head to Las Vegas in a couple weeks. It might make the investment worth it!


 

October 1, 2010 by Gary May 0
On Your Mark, Get Set, Think, Plan, Then Go! And Then Review.

You hear it all the time: "this isn't rocket science", "a monkey can do this" and "you're kidding me, that's easier than chewing gum".  Yet process seems to be as rare as a walk-up customer these days when it comes to the Internet side of the business. Not necessarily the sales process, although there are still many that struggle with that, but the part that deals with planning, accountability, results and reviewing.

Based on the non-scientific data at the recent round of automotive industry events, many are surprised that the majority of leads from dealer (and OEM) websites still are not responded to well, timely, with engagement or even at all.  Most people from the consulting and coaching side of the business are not surprised.  While there is definitely more attention and dollars flowing toward the online part of retail, more opportunities are slipping away as software and solutions are expected to run the business.

CRMs, as great as some are today, websites, as well as they take visitors 'through the process',even social media, as poorly as most dealerships handle it, are not stand-alone solutions that take your store from zero to hero.  Your customers won't rank your vendors, they'll rank you.

Planning, visualization, tracking and accountability (yes, to someone else that can call 'bullshit') are all tools of the sales trade.  Not printing your queue every day or starting off with a priority list when you first sit down?  You will not experience success at the level you should.  Fact is your database, no matter how clean, can't sell cars.  It may be a goldmine, but it's covered up until you have a work plan that actually takes prospects and changes them into completely satisfied clients.

While it may seem that the top producrs always have things 'go their way', it's due to working smart, prioritization (that doesn't mean you chose which customers to respond to effectively), visualizing positive results ahead of time (not just saying 'yup, this one's mine and they're taking chromes! and window etching') and being consistent in what you do.

The 'best' location, dynamic website with strong SEO, a bulletproof CRM, well-written templates, intriguing videos and a mission statement that is generations-old with a mediocre staff to back it up will be out-gunned by a competitor with less-than-perfect technology but an eager, process-oriented, customer-connecting, motivated and excited group of individuals working as a team.

Not to take anything away from some great companies in our business, including many that IM@CS recommends, but we must remember that we're in the people business and the badge on the sheet metal is not more important than the person buying it, nor is the voucher more more important than the techniques to achieve it.  Think about that the next time you skip asking the next guest how you can improve their experience , what would excceed their expectations or simply how they see things happening to earn their recommendation.  Yes, asking and truly listening are on the path to perfection!

Ready, shoot, aim does work…as long as you understand how to improve every time and have had the chance to review where you are at and why.  Go get 'em tiger!

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

November 12, 2009 by Gary May 0
A Season Of Events: Will It Be Boom Or Bust?

We're on the cusp again: in the next 90 days we're looking at events including DrivingSales Executive Summit, JD Power Internet Roundtable, Dealer summit, Synergy Sessions, Digital Dealer, Auto Training Events and more.  The more dealers that we hear from, the more we hear the same thing: "show me the beef!!".  What's the message?  Drive value for the industry, especially the dealers, or don't bother inviting me to the same old thing!

Today, more than ever, it's a "what have you done for me lately" world in retail.  Dealers need information, partners, cooperation, support and solid direction.  By the same token, dealers need to get off their duffs and start really using all of their tools.  Not buy more and do the same thing.  Dealerships that move forward will do so because they understand their market, their brand and their opportunities.  Not because a piece of software or the factory will just feed them customers all day long.

Our industry is filled with some great providers, vendors, consultants and leaders.  It's hard to know that when, for the most part, the same ones are featured redundantly wherever you look.  It is everyone's responsibility to ensure that, once you drop your two grand to spend a few days away from the dealership, a true learning and sharing experience is had.  Each session should be compelling for everyone attending and it should lead to change.

Here's a concept: event follow up.  If there's a session on social media and 250 people are in the room, everyone should have a follow up about 10 days later with a brief questionnaire, offer of assistance and a general "to keep on track" message.  Headed up a panel on mobile marketing?  Where's the text message thanking people in attendance a week after the event with a unique offer with a reminder of best practices?

And here's the hook: the speakers and promoter will do it for no additional fee.  Sorry overpaid (oops, nicely paid) folks, it's time to give back.  Without the dealers in business, it's hard to collect the "non-negotiable" $150-200 per hour.  Ready for another noble concept: the more customers we keep in business, the more customers we'll have.

SImply having a 'next event in the series' because you said you would is no justification for actually having one.  No doubt we all love to network, gallivant about with industry friends and colleagues over pricey dinners and drinks, hit some balls around on a course you don't get to do so normally and plenty of other arguments for the break from reality.

What changes dealership operations over a 60- to 90-day period is really what at stake.  Pushing the needle forward is an absolute necessity right now.  Speakers, vendors and organizers setting the bar, delivering on expectations and then making sure dealers can execute is the only realistic invitation to an industry starved for sales and results.

So will we be looking at one of these nicely-promoted events truly being a conduit for change or only a way from some folks to take home a profit (again) and some 'at a boy's?  The way that we've done things is not the road forward.  That's not the sole responsibility of the event promoters, but it would sure be nice if someone changed the channel…heck, how about changed a lot of minds…

A season of events: let's make sure that people take back more than photos…

Best practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

August 14, 2009 by Gary May 0