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A Blue/Black Dress. A White/Gold Dress. A Car Sold? Whatever…

Expose your business. Better yet, expose yourself!!

 

It’s not about who bares it all. No, the game is about who gets the exposure at the right time. And most of the time, we perform poorly.

 

Marketers have been talking for decades about exposure, impressions, brand recall and market share. And while nobody (at least here) needs to be convinced that exposure should be primarily online, we’ve once again been shown that the conversation shouldn’t be about advertising.  Yes folks, exposure leads to conversation. All kinds of exposure… 😉

 

So what does the color of a dress have to do with car sales? Both a whole lot, and absolutely nothing. Within a short while of the “dress” explosion last week, automotive b-to-b social media was abuzz with puns,  memes and conversations.  Some of those actually made it to the retail channel. No OEM or retailer had an “Oreo” moment due to what color a dress was. And it was all an experiment anyway.

 

Marketers are being shown up, at an alarming rate, by the media of individuals. And we are still concerned with the “right” newspaper ad for the weekend? Millions of people joined an online conversation about screen resolution and perception, yet nobody sold a car from it.

 

And there could have been some massive fun, too. “Buy a new (fill in car brand) and receive a (fill in department store) gift certificate toward any color dress you want” could have shown up on websites, email blasts and social media within minutes. No, it was all about the weekend ad, which gorilla looks good on the roof, or what new incentives will be, or pouring over month-end reports, instead of selling more cars through created connections.

 

What’s more disarming than making someone laugh? What’s more unexpected than having someone think they just had the least “automotive” experience they’ve ever had?

 

Exactly how to make a popular culture phenomenon part of your marketing is not the point here, realizing that you have the opportunity to capitalize on more of these types of occurrences is.  Ad agencies and media companies aren’t the ones who do this on the fly. We are.

 

Salespeople (and managers) are so focused on the “script”, the “road to the sale”, the “processes” and the such, we take so much of the human element out of making car buying fun.. 2009 was the first time we had a client sell a car specifically (and nearly solely) through social media. Stop thinking about what to say and simply start the conversation. Even if you don’t have a dress on…

Start With The End In Mind, But Mind What You Start

One of the beauties of working with those businesses that want to move forward is just that: the move forward. One of the drawbacks is the distractions that can stop clients in their tracks. Even the most excited dealer, on any given day, may end up with a list of fire drills that can stop a freight train. Downhill. When you start your move in the digital direction, it must be a complete commitment.

More and more principals and senior management at the dealer level are getting their hands, minds and ambitions set around their online presence, brand reach, consumer interaction and spending real time in understanding what is out there. By educating dealers rather than just taking over the whole ball of wax, change is visible. By involving them rather than avoiding them, cooperation is established. By partnering, accountability becomes easier.

Even with the greatest level of engagement, however, retail is still retail and some habits die hard. Dealers can't ignore their fixed operations for a day. Management can't (and won't) turn a blind eye to the sales floor for 24 hours. Not even the parts manager gets a day without a general manager visit. So how can you afford to go a week or two, if not longer, without chatting up what's happening online and not just leads.

Two areas that might need more work are setting expectations and goal setting. Too often relatively major aspects of online operation are glazed over that can easily be addressed by keeping both vendor and client accountable to updates, the calendar and results.

These days you hear about more dealer service providers being tasked by their dealerships, companies providing more amenable terms, dealers sharing more information with their 20 groups and huge attendance at events around Internet and social media efforts. Great! What is happening to hold the dealer responsible? The web and everything associated with it is so fluid today that it almost makes more sense to have a meeting about what's happening and how to adjust and direct once or twice a week compared to having another sales meeting. Folks, if you have the right staff, it's about bringing the people in…salespeople know what they're doing and not doing especially when they hear it from the desk consistently.

Set expectations, draw out what steps must be done to excel. We must start with the end in mind AND be completely committed to it. Advisers, consultants, webinars and conferences are what you start and maintain with. In other words those are tools, just like 3 by 5 cars, tickler files, walkarounds, and CRM software. They are the conduits to results you want: the sale. They don't sell cars but you can't exist without them.

If you have committed to put your emphasis online, no matter what phase of the process you're in, stick with it. This isn't toe-in-the-water. This is died-in-the-wool. You can't get anywhere without having both the keys and a destination. You can't take off without the right equipment and a flight plan (yeah you pilots of the auto industry, you know who you are). And you can't win online without being part of it, staying in it and knowing what you want out of it.

Best practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

Branding, Communication and Process For Dummies (AKA All Of Us) In Time For NADA

If education, reinforcement, results and transparency are the benchmarks of success why are we all not more successful than we are right now? More often than not, in our beloved industry, what has been around for a long time is considered as accepted or the norm and what is new is rejected with rare exception. At the end of the day we're branders and communicators entirely and inextricably linked to the success or failure of process. Well, we need a wake up call.

Recently there has been a barrage of articles on everything from social media must do's for car dealers to self-indulgent bantering among dealership consultants, from incessantly republishing authoritative sources to fill pages and drive traffic to kicking dead horses and old ghosts. And who are we kidding? The whole industry has to wake up to new ways of doing business, engaging consumers that control content, delivering more value than flash to dealerships, learning more than preaching and finally…wait for it…stop talking about what you don't understand.

So what's the difference between ignoring technology because management says "you can sell without it", the Barracuda firewall encasing your dealership is controlled by a corporate yes man who thinks that every 10 minutes on Facebook is one unit lost and your so-called vendors swear they're "all over it" and getting passed by like a 911 GT3 in 6th gear? Not much unless you truly desire to be in business and profitable over the next 24 months.

Every piece of real data out there shows the same thing: brand, communication and process control your path. Not advertising. Not high-pressure salesmanship. Not displacing your cranium under the warm sand. Brand is shared. Communication is shared. Process doesn't need to be shared but without it you won't remember where the brand and communication go (even if you've got really good hair, a tan and bling to win over GMs and dealer principals with).

So, when's the last time you went through your website (and saw keyword stuffing and out-of-date optimization)? Checked out your templates (and saw that they didn't have links in your signature block)? Really customized your 'newsletter' (that is the same as everyone else's)? Checked, double-checked and then triple-checked your third-party lead sources (unless you have no issue with them showing 80 leads and 315 phone calls when you're positive that the real number is half that)? Do you truly know what your site analytics show? How are those inbound links working for you? And your press releases? When was the last blog post you did?

Today I overheard a salesperson getting educated at a dealership. Rather than say trained, we'll go with that. He was asked not to say "welcome to (name of dealership), my name is (his name), how can I help you?". It was explained that by putting the showroom guest in the position of being 'helped' that they will feel put off or less empowered and it was better to offer assistance by saying "how can I assist you?".

Let's not kid ourselves any more. Many in automotive retail need HELP and those that ask will get it from the best sources the industry has to offer, as long as they're willing to go with the new. As you check out all that has to be offered in Orlando this weekend, where is your help going to come from?

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results