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Homogenization is for Milk (If You Drink That Sort of Thing), Not Dealers

“If digital were that easy, everyone would be doing it” said no automotive OEM executive, ever. But somehow, over the past few years, it seems as though they did. Meaning, for the most part, they don’t do anything digitally and yet…they expect their franchises to through some very forceful measures.

The dealers don’t win. The consumers don’t win. The car companies win. Concessions. That’s all. And not the kind that sell more cars. No, car sales are not up due to websites, erosion of gross or 84 month leases. Car sales are up because of demand, available loans and because, yes, the cars (all of them) are being made better today than ever. Oh, and of course, because your website company says their marketing rocks and they deliver the most low-funnel consumers to your doorstep (yeah, those reports make us puke, too).

Homogenization has never been greater at a time when nearly every smart person in marketing (automotive and non) says to create differentiation in every aspect of your business. Yet your OEM digital representative, who was in sales operations three years ago and brand communications a year ago, comes in and says that you have to/should use website provider A or B (that doesn’t have a fully responsive mobile platform, let alone one site), CRM vendor C2, search marketing partner D5B and consulting company WTF (who’s consultant was born the same year your rep graduated Northwood and worked at a Verizon store last).

If you’re smart and digitally savvy, you’ll run as fast as you can the other way. Why? Because selfishly, every digital know-it-all can do a better job? No. Because, unless you have a well under-performing store that you can plug any brainless automotive digital veteran into, buy more leads and sell more cars, they’re after your data, customers, results and ideas through managed programs. Yes it’s absolutely essential to have every retailer represented well digitally, however if a dealer wants to think that digital is a fad and not put resources into the top consideration generator, let them do so. It’s natural selection in business folks, let ’em sink.

Being made to look like every dealership with the same banners, offers, landing pages, newsletters, paid marketing and social media is a slow, miserable existence. An import dealer shared today that during his recent brand marketing meeting, an OEM digital overlord told him that he should have the ability to turn off all of the factory marketing if he had his own. Unfortunately, his website company (OEM-endorsed) didn’t allow him to and the third-party, in-the-way-of-your-results consulting firm didn’t have an answer on if he could or not. (the OEM guy did take notes and will report back!)

Another dealer chatted with us about not having proper used car data on their OEM-endorsed websites for their group. You think that the car company loses any sleep over used car anything, let alone mis-equipped listings potentially losing thousands of dollars?

It’s time to take your marketing over if you want to. Yes, it’ll take time, money, measurement (you don’t understand now), resources, patience and a die-hard willingness to learn, changing your dealership culture. And it has to start with the dealer and general management. Not for a dashboard or an award, not for a magazine cover shot or being called up at a conference. And quit talking about visits or sessions, that’s so 2008. Nothing cooler than telling your dealer “we had 1,000 people on the lot and in showroom, sat down with 28 and sold 4!”. By the way that’s what your website says.

All of this is because if something doesn’t sell or service a car, or get someone back to your dealership, it’s not worth buying or using. And nobody, not one person, after working with hundreds of dealers, on OEM programs, at 20 Groups, conferences and webinars, producing second-to-none content, social and SEO, can convince us that standardizing marketing and solutions across thousands of retail points across North America can do anything other than paint the industry with a bland brush.

You don’t deserve that and your customers don’t deserve that. Will Rogers once said “If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging”. Unfortunately these OEM digital programs have created a Crab Mentality by literally not letting those that choose to get ahead. Good intentions, poor execution.

You can do much better. We hope. (310) 377-6481 or info at imacsweb.com

 

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

September 16, 2015 by Gary May 2
Misunderstanding the Misunderstood (A Post-NADA Perspective)

Too often, we mix messages. We misconstrue. We miscount. And most often, decisions based off those actions lead to more of the same. There is a lot of “data” out there: actionable, validated, accurate data, and damaging, paralyzing, inaccurate “data”.

 

Last year IM@CS was fortunate to be involved with a Mercedes-Benz project around lead management and one of the talking points (not from us or our partners) showed the average customer in 2013 submitted a lead to 1.3 dealers. Not only has this been invalidated by at least a half-dozen companies, in speaking with the dealers themselves, the empirical data disputed that. The data. “Data” brought in by (maybe) well-intentioned parties however far from accurate, very far for allowing a proper action plan and light years from having the dealers make sense of it.

 

Too often, the OEMs, and admittedly dealers, are lit up by flashy bids, mesmerizing proposals and the all-too-famous “we also have contracts with Competitor A and Competitor B” line or the notorious “we built the space/were first to launch this” verbal flatulence.

 

Another case in point: Last year General Motors rolled out an initiative for BDC build-out for it’s nearly 4,000 franchises. Good intentions, a little late on the “action bandwagon” (we spoke with GM about his in 2008 and 2009) aimed at mitigating the massive amount of lost sales due to lackluster lead response and follow up (read: all OEMs fall in to this bracket and have subsequently gone at solutions the wrong way). Enter two vendors for those dealers. Yes, two. Two vendors for build out and support of thousands of dealers’ BDCs. Then, the co-op curse, leading most dealers, due to “cost”, to not hire companies that can scale better, are more experienced (in real life, not on paper).

 

It’s time to stop misunderstanding the misunderstood! Who are the misunderstood? The agile, more up-to-date, active, often smaller guys and gals who prove themselves daily, weekly and monthly.  The misunderstood are the companies with great services, not great advertising and magazine cover shots. The misunderstood are the ones who deliver faithfully without contracts or gouging (why would a dealer ever sign a contract for services that must be measured?).

 

There is a prominent Internet/Marketing Director from the Midwest who, a couple months ago, posted on their Facebook page that their group was firing their existing trainer, and looking for a more progressive company that didn’t have an OEM contract. Why? Why? Why? Simply put, the services provided, as do most of the OEMs and the companies they endorse, couldn’t deliver for today’s market regardless of that company’s data!

 

The misunderstood are so titled due to the lack of willingness of dealers to get way from comfortable and, simply put, sell and service more cars. Its not your word tracks, it’s not your phone call scoring. It’s not your trainer that has to repeat him/herself each and every month and bring in nearly-duplicate reports. IF you don’t understand how something works, stops paying for someone to do it. Understand it.. Even if you find a partner to leverage, you’d better understand it.

 

The industry, by and large, still can’t respond to a lead effectively, completely and with a reason to buy in under a day.  We’re starting the 21st year of the Automotive Internet. You don’t need to know ode, you absolutely must understand why having a responsive website is a must. You don’t need to know how Facebook changes their algorithms, you absolutely must understand targeting das and dark posts. You don’t need to how Google leverages directories and local citations to leverage local search, you absolutely must understand how and where to update your information, links and phone numbers.

 

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

 

February 1, 2015 by Gary May 0
Natural Unselection (It Takes Time…)

Yes, it is getting more and more difficult for business owners to make decisions today that will positively impact their business, especially in the arena of digital marketing. You might say “bull hooey” and protest that it has become easier. And you’d be half fright…

Nothing is more frustrating to a business owner that not understanding something that should otherwise be “easy” to do so. That’s where misguided trust and blind recommendations become so darn appealing. Attend a 20 Group and you just might be amazed as to how eloquent an otherwise inept presenter can be.

We live in a world of regurgitated content, many times so prolific that anyone can claim it to be theirs. Car dealers and executive management, typically, know what has been and possibly what is happening now.  They’re still overwhelmingly blind to what is going to happen, even though it’s in front of their eyes. And smartphones.

However, the chasm that exists does so simply because the dots aren’t connecting. In other words, they “get” that they need to market in a new channel, or completely store prospective and customer data in CRM, or spend time understanding new reports. While there is no excuse, none whatsoever including “time”, to not do any or all of that, there is at least bandwidth to consider.

As much as it easy to blame the OEM for (many) programs of epically disastrous proportion, it is up to the dealer to make sure their house is in order.

The struggle that has presented itself over the past 3-4 years, and it’s gaining momentum by the way, isn’t whether to do more, invest more, hire more or attend more, it is truly around letting go of operations to those that they have in power and get immersed the way they did when they started selling, or working in the service drive, or washing cars for their owner-parent while memorizing the specifications to 95% of the cars each year. More than ever you must have a desire to consume, learn, test and challenge yourself. And, ahem, everyone around you.

Recently, especially if you get caught up in rumor, there has been more and more reports of OEM digital, education and training programs being under scrutiny. Enter in shock and awe. Well, at least for everyone but those unfortunate few of us who called into question the very under-budgeted, under-staffed, under-educated, under-facilitated, under-read, under-thought-through contracts. While the programs disserve the OEMs, dealers (at least progressive and knowledgeable ones) are pretty much disgusted. And no, the programs are not responsible for selling more than a negligible increase in amount of cars. Period.

Now here’s the conundrum….we can’t throw another conference at them. We can’t throw another “digital marketing”, or “social media”, or  “digital consulting”, or “new age training“ company at them either (you can here the shotguns loading now). And you’ll not be able to convince them that the person visiting them with zero hands-on experience in anything he/she is talking about will make a difference. Unfortunately they might have to let that person visit to make the factory happy. Ugh.

Dealers and OEMs should be able to (stop everything they’re doing and) reevaluate the broken CSI, allocation and reward programs that current exist. Then, as one example, build new models that actually reward dealers who perform exceptionally for their sales and service customers, not exclusive to volume, according to only those customers (versus third party companies), transparent, benchmarked scoring (imaging that!) and overall investment (including but not limited to the facility).

Yes, customers expect more. And that’s not going to stop, ever. And yes, more cars are selling; same with large new-technology televisions, tablets and dinner reservations. When the “easy” sales stop again, fewer dealers will be ready for reality. At least the reality they’re living on and sold by people who shouldn’t be selling them…

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

August 8, 2014 by Gary May 0
The Key To Everything? Customer Service (STILL!)

Customer service. The term is thrown out like freebies,
party invites, pitches and proposals at NADA. Customer support? Customer
satisfaction? Customer focused? What do your vendors call it? Does that come
after reviewing how many days or weeks they’re allowed after you open a ticket
for something that should be a 1-2 hour operation? Customer service should be
about the…wait for it, CUSTOMER!

What we call customer service has morphed over the years, likely more based on
scale, capacity, programming and software than the requirement to actually take
care of the customer. Very few businesses, still today, put the customer first
however their marketing screams service.

And not following any of the “blueprint” norms really comes
through. Does your website, SEO, SEM, mobile, call tracking and chat companies
really show an amazing zest for paying attention to you? And back you up? And
surprise you from time to time?

Recently my experiences with a couple airlines showcased, in
more detail, what happens to really separate customer service from promises of
service and marketing. With the changes that Delta Airlines has applied to its
SkyMiles program to qualify for 2014 status, the reduction of benefits for my
level (Silver Elite) of status including the amount of complimentary bags you
can check in (now one, so “bag” is more appropriate) and, seemingly, the
ongoing increase in SkyMiles it takes to book an award ticket, coupled with the
number of flights I’ve taken on Alaska (claiming Delta SkyMiles) over the past
couple years with great on-board experience the decision to switch programs
happened last month.

While I’m no social media superstar or influencer, Delta has
followed me on Twitter for quite a while and has, for the most part, responded
to my tweets and mentions whenever they happen. My tweets talking about my
switch to Alaska Airlines resulted in no mentions from Delta’s online teams
(including @Delta and @DeltaAssist) to keep me loyal, however Alaska Airlines
(@AlaskaAir) followed immediately and has mentioned back as well as sent direct
messages. And that is on top of the significantly better experience when flying
them.

On my last flight, Alaska’s ticket counter staff was fantastic,
accommodating my bag without question (my previous flight they accommodated
two, one more than Delta and I didn’t have MVP status on Alaska!). My bag,
which was checked in 32 minutes before the flight made it and the gate agent
addressed every customer when boarding by their first name. Class acts for sure
and to top it off, the counter agent matched my Delta status on Alaska
effective immediately; One person, empowered to make that happen, however the impression
and experience did so much more. With a smile on her face making me smile and
thinking about how to make our customers’ experience even better.

So what does this make you think about? Your investment, or
lack of, in customer service? Whether you have a satisfaction agent or not?

Many companies wrap themselves in customer service; however
when was the last time they paid you a visit entirely based on anything but a report,
pitch, upsell or because they were asked to?

 

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results


February 18, 2013 by Gary May 0
DrivingSales Executive Summit: Learning Over Listening

One of the things we're most passionate about is education. Above anything else, education moves businesses forward. You can sell them all day long, and most vendors would given the chance, but until education (and support) is part of the equation there is no momentum.

The DrivingSales Executive Summit has set itself apart from other conferences since its inception in 2009 and continues to do so today. This year's lineup of keynotes is incredibly impressive and the team at DrivingSales has set the bar higher once again. However the magic is in the breakouts, along with the innovation sessions, where dealership staff in attendance get to break out their notebooks, tablets and other note-taking technology and build executable strategies.

Last year's DSES delivered some of the most creative and independent means for dealers to lead their markets with digital marketing strategies. One of those sessions was Gary Sanders of Stevinson Lexus of Lakewood (Denver, CO) talking about what he and his dealership did to better set the stage for customers looking at their inventory online and to direct how conversations and conversions would take place.

Simply put, businesses innovating trumps those who simply copy and in today's market it is essential to win. It all starts with the ideas and strategies. As simple as this sounds, most sessions I've attended at the breath of events around the industry center around "you need to be doing this" rather than "this is how you do this".

Come to the DrivingSales Executive Summit in three weeks with an open mind, it will change your business. Yes, you'll be able to learn more than simply listening…

 

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

You can participate (read: actually participate) in the DSES session that Joe Webb and I share on Tuesday, October 23 at 3:55-4:40p Click here for the DSES agenda 
Remember to use code IMACS12 when regsitering for DSES

September 30, 2012 by Gary May 0
Gary May Participates in Automotive Digest Executive Discussion Round Table

Chuck Parker of Automotive Information Network (Automotive Digest) invited Gary May of IM@CS to join a "state of the indsutry" chat along with Allan Cooper of Cooper Media Group and Charlie Vogelheim of ResponseLogix on January 20, 2012 in Los Angeles. This is the first of a series of roundtables that Automotive Digest in planning on having with industry executives.

We appreicate the opportunity to join the discussion and thank Chuck and AIN for the inclusion!

Automotive Digest Executive Discussion Round Table from Automotive Digest on Vimeo.

February 16, 2012 by Gary May 0
NADA Time: Start Operating Your Business As Yours Or Someone Else Will

More often than not, businesses are left to turning part (or all) of their operation over to vendors and partners with the reasoning that they're not able to "do everything". In automotive retail the de facto excuse you hear usually has something to do with how selling cars is what gets done and nothing else matters. Well, it's 2012 and everything has to do with selling cars.

News flash: It always has been so.

More likely than not, as we're upon the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) season, hundreds if not thousands of dealers will leave with contracts signed, or nearly signed, convinced that simply punting their responsibilities over the wall is the best way to get 'er done. Fact is nothing is further from the truth.

Dealers must grasp a much more realistic perspective of controlling their business through action, education and accountability or they will absolutely have it taken over. And nobody is saying that's a bad thing, in the event that a business has no desire to be "in" business. While a $6M dealership may not scale, invest, market or operate like a Fortune 100 business, but there is not a single reason why it can't approach and plan business in the same way or using the similar methodology.

A few things to keep in mind as we go into the NADA conference this coming weekend.

  1. Assess your dealership's needs and gain consensus from your employees on what to return from the conference with
  2. Plan 90% of your schedule via expo and workshop schedules, focusing on must-have meetings
  3. Schedule meetings with critical existing and vendors and check out their competition
  4. Talk to as many dealers as you can outside of your 20 Group, in the booths you visit, about what they're doing and not doing with the vendors you're visiting as well as haven't considered
  5. Look at vendor and supplier reviews on Google, forums including DrivingSales and other reliable sources
  6. Ensure the viability of vendor/product deployment in your store prior to signing any agreement
  7. Talk with existing/new vendors after the conference again, prior to accepting any new agreement

 

While the above steps are no guarantee against "being had", it should at least put some steps between a mediocre quick decision and a thought out beneficial one.

Areas that seem to be gaining traction and popularity that don't make sense include:

  • Reputation management: services that promise hundreds, if not thousands, of well-deserved gleaming reviews from consumers that just haven't provided them to you. Garbage! Consumers see through it faster, better and more than Google does. Start expecting your staff to obtain reviews when selling or servicing products and ensure a process is in place. Some staff members don't want to do that? Let them go or simply hand over the keys because you're not leading a dealership…
  • Social media: services that promise hundreds, if not thousands, of fans simply because you're a car dealership, with "caption this" or "tell us what you think" on nearly every other post sprinkled with inventory or incentive specials don't say "great place to buy" in the least. If a great Facebook, Twitter or blog presence means 2,000 likes, followers or readers and not more than 3-4 comments, shares, retweets or +1's, you're likely being had. Nobody wants to go to a dealership Facebook page to play Asteroids or Bejeweled 2 and write a title for a photo showing two dogs dressed up as superheros chasing each other, let alone find a tab that doesn't work (for months).
  • CRM: services that say their great, train your staff for $5,000-10,000 a day, put in standard templates and tell you to look at reports to create accountability need to start traveling with the Dodo bird. At the same time employees not using CRM for any reason need to pack their neon-green Hulk baggage and leave town as well. Get real, negotiate agreements, expect your account person to visit regularly, get all of management to use the tools and then expect everyone else to in the dealership. If utilization of CRM is under 75% in your dealership, get your vendor to start acting like a partner and put sales and service staff on the bubble. It's not a choice, it's a reality check.

There will be a lot of fanfare, parties, speakers pitching and snow jobs at booths. However, it's in everyone's best interest to see through the smoke and put the rose-colored glasses down. Our entire world is digital, mobile and fast. It's time for 17,000+ franchises (and who knows how many independents) to get so as well. Leave the hook, line and sinker at home, ignore the playmates for as long as you can and get real with your business.

There is a boatload of opportunity for those that want it in 2012 and NADA happens to be a great place to kick it all off or continue down the progressive road if you've already started. It's also where tons of dealers get sucked in by nothing more than marketing and get nothing for their hard-earned cash except for an open liability door.

So go with purpose to NADA. Come back and operate your business properly. Or someone else will take it from you. All of it.

 

Best practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results


January 29, 2012 by Gary May 0
Wow… New Auto Industry Pain Point!! Um… This Is Not A New Issue!

The constant challenge in the auto industry is for retailers to implement strategies, execute on their plans, follow process, create awareness, promote accountability and stop making excuses for doing anything less. There will always be a party to throw a finger at, many times deservedly so. That, however, does not take the greater point of responsibility away from an operator of a business and the business's staff.

There are always opportunities to learn, grow, adjust and review. There will always be new opportunities to add capabilities, add products, add services, add partners and add resources. You need the first group before the second, always.

Products and services, good and bad, make any industry go 'round. Companies tend to follow the herd, good and bad. It's why 20 Groups, marketing associations and other collections of automotive retailers are so attractive to companies selling their services and the reps who speak. People will buy blind without the first grain of sense…"My golf buddy uses that website company", or "my 20 Group chairman recommends the third party lead company we just signed", or "It was hard to make up my mind on which new CRM company to call so I looked at the ads in the back of Automotive News/the NADA directory/fill in the blank source" and other oft-heard stories are nothing close to strategies and typically are doomed to fail.

Car dealers need to start looking at track records, company histories and more before even considering where their hard-earned money goes. The majority of dealership spends are not very different today then fifteen years ago. Yes, some are doing thing very differently, it's just not the majority or even close to parity. Stop and ask yourself "do I really need to buy this service or product?" and then ask others than are AND are not for at least some benchmarks and common sense. And start realizing that companies incapable of answering the tough questions before you sign are almost always less equipped to do so after you sign. Which is harder: losing money due to an improper commitment or not making enough from not executing well with the right one? Either way…. this is not a new issue!

The ongoing rants and discord due to one service provider are well warranted, regardless of which position you take (or none at all). At the same time, they are absolutely no surprise at all. If anyone had done their homework, they'd realize that what is being asserted should not be a jaw-dropper to anyone. People just followed the bounding ball/shiny object without question… this is not a new issue!

Sometimes we're fortunate to be in the right place at the right time. Another ongoing issue in our industry (while not as hot as the one just mentioned), as well as every other industry, is what's happening to search – predominantly Google – around content propagation/redundant content, link building and more related to site quality and ranking. Back in 2006 the company that employed me was warned by Google to stop syndicating their content all over the web as it was lowering quality scores and other factors that would affect their traffic and revenue. Fast forward to today and website and SEO companies are struggling with issues under Google's Panda initiative? Who thought that it was a good idea to have 100 blogs all over the country with the same exact content, let alone 700 auto-related websites with the same car reviews? And what to think of website companies that give 40 pages in your site the same name and/or metadata, let alone missing metadata??? The reasons to not go with these strategies are over six years old…this is not a new issue!

If more businesses (dealers) would be willing to listen more, learn more, challenge more and measure more, we'd all be a lot better. And dang it so would our websites. Stop following the heard, start paying attention and making sense even if it hurts a little or you're not in the "product of the week" club. So much $10 garbage gets purchased by $10,000,000 businesses every day it's amazing, but…. this is not a new issue!

 

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results


p.s. I just checked the market value of this post and you're not paying enough!!!!!

 

December 8, 2011 by Gary May 2
Tricked Ya! Been Here The Whole Time…

So it's been eight weeks since the last post. It feels like an eternity. But it's likely been longer since the companies and people your business depends on have done something for you either. Was that the point of my hiatus? Not quite. It's been incredibly busy here as our client list as well as staff have grown. It has, however, been a great experiment to get requests to start posting again and watch the analytics. But not to worry, everyone else has had your back. Tricked ya! Well, maybe not…

So anyway, how has 2011 started for you? Chances are things are not much different unless the recent NADA and Digital Marketing Strategies Conferences are now on your "I've attended them" list. For the thousands of dealers at NADA in San Francisco, there was a significant buzz that has been absent for the past few years. For the fifty plus dealers at DMSC in Napa, the feedback has been tremendous and the workshop leaders are preparing…wait for it…for FOLLOW UP webinars with the dealers. That will be a first, and something I've been asking event promoters to do for four years (even recommending it to four event heads in the past eight months). Tricked ya! Nope, that's never been done before…

So change has been in the air and it seems that some of it is actually sticking. The dealers that have been ignoring the screaming and yelling have realized that this can be their year by achieving chunks of change consistently. Yeah, you can still hear "it's still about blocking and tackling!" and "it's back to basics for us!", but it's been the most refreshing eight weeks to get calls, emails, tweets and Facebook messages asking for change. Even from some otherwise typically content business owners and managers. Tricked ya! Well gosh, comfortable is not so much anymore…

So, more impotrant that what our small band of ambassadors think…what has been happening for you, your teams, your store, your community? What have you already achieved this year that you want to share? And what will you do to move our community forward? The dealers MUST participate in greater numbers than ever (even though that's not hard to achieve at all) to assist each other. So get your thoughts written down here…and make it count!

Tricked ya! Dealers don't really share on the forums and blogs… Well I hope you do…

 

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

February 26, 2011 by Gary May 0
Parting Shots, Starting Shots. They’re Not Too Different. So Get Real!

Chances are you've been on one of the many sides of this lately: Just moments ago I sent a Facebook message to a dealer, responding to my initial message after receiving a "friend" request from them on Facebook. The message in the middle, the one from them, essentially asked me to show them any Facebook language indicating that setting up a personal page for a business was a violation of their terms of use. That was in addition to their indicating that, after reading into it, a business page might be a "good option as they are more tailored to businesses".

Folks, for better or worse it's 2011. Being in business is not about turning the open sign to "open". Being in business means you are serious about it. That every part of your business is on the radar. That being as how nearly everything that you do away from the dealership is digital you should be doing it at your dealership. You can't be serious about it being half-assed.

If you communicate with your Internet leads 50% of the time in your ILM/CRM and 50% of the time in Outlook, you WILL get 50% of the results, not 100%.

If you make a serious effort to contact leads, customers, be-backs and more 50% of the time and spend 50% of the time shooting the s&*t at the water cooler, the point, the desk, the lot and on the web, you WILL get 50% of the results, not 100%.

If you do a relatively good job at scheduling appointments 50% of the time, great job 50% of the time, you WILL get 50% of the results, not 100%.

And if you pay attention to half of the new, relevant, digital information available to you and pay attention to half of the old school, down and dirty, blocking and tackling, back to basics, you WILL get 50% of the results, not 100%. If you are lucky….

You see, as we close one year and start another what you do, and not what you talk about doing, will dictate what you get. This is not rocket science. Stop ignoring what is right in front of you… What we're hoping for is that you get the message. And there's no cost or strings attached! Ignore the messengers all you want. Don't ignore the message here!!!!! Heck, there are plenty in our industry getting (and paying for) a much larger audience and covers of magazines just to tell you what you should be well past.

Yes, it is our job to do the job right the first time. Especially if you have the information and resources! Dealers making sure the coffee and pastry service is just right while ignoring their sales process? Nothing in the world is more akin to stepping over a dollar to pick up a dime. Yes, the customer feel good is important. But calls filled with a bunch of ahs, ers and ums with a bunch of I's to boot or sending someone an email blast 120 days after they bought with a payment $50 less per month for the same car will never take the place of a great donut and a latte.

And it will never take the place of having the best new-owner orientation in the city or even the state or region. Oh yeah, those went away when things got tough and have now been replaced by $5,000 a day "trainers" and $4,000 a month social media services. Man, someone has your number and they've been sharing it!

Our parting shots for 2010 are absolutely no different at all from the starting ones for 2011. A number of dead-on predictions for the last year were ignored by at least 95% of the industry. Will an increase in sales for the majority of dealers in 2010, and hopefully again in 2011, have people ignoring really solid insight and strategies again? Let's hope not.

Aside from the factory banging on you to punch cars so they can reach new sales levels (or try to save their year), January 1 is not the start of a new month or new year. It's the next day after December 31, when you'll likely be doing the same exact thing you were doing on June 16.

So get real…

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

December 29, 2010 by Gary May 0