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Logistics: I’ll Take “What Is A Dealership?” For $1000 Alex

Lo·gis·tics  ləˈjistiks,lō-/  noun

    1. The detailed coordination of a complex operation involving many people, facilities, or supplies.

We are in the game of logistics. Like it or not car dealerships, at a minimum, are hubs of logistic activities: connections to the factory and engineers, DMS uploads, inventory pushes and pulls, secure financial documents and transactions, lead migration, email and phone connections, server backups, marketing company, sales rep and little league treasure troves…it's dizzying.

Add to that the total of resources: staff, hardware, all the moving parts. And you want to put a 300-pound inflatable on top to make it look like a scene from a Chevy Chase Vacation movie. *burp*

A whole, as they say, is the sum of its parts. However some of those parts are more evident to the people you’re trying to attract: consumers. More important than ever is the media, availability/speed of information and communication we deliver to the public.

So riddle me this Batman: the most important part of your website is the:

 

  1. Template and main pages you reviewed two years ago with your website vendor that you get a PDF “report” from once a month and a visit with once a quarter, when they sell you more stuff.
  2. Inventory being online that you assume is feeding correctly with the automated “cheese” seller notes, not so robust VIN explosion/features and being syndicated to portals you’ve never heard f (although they’re fully disclosed in the document you’ve never read).
  3. SEO you’ve never checked on provided by the website or aftermarket company (that is ABSOLUTELY using spun content)…oh wait. What’s SEO? Yeah.
  4. About us video made a while ago showing some staff you still have employed inside the dealership before the new fascia when up

The answer is none of the above. Just like your dealership it’s the experience. Yes, it has to have what people expect however when’s the last time you met a customer, truly, that knew exactly what to expect. And that is, literally, exactly.

If you’ve not stopped, in a long time, and done a real deep-dive into analytics, feedback from customers and staff, taken more than a gander at your competition (which is everyone), looked and reassessed everything that has your name/brand on it and taken stock of actionable goals and roadmaps, you’re gliding on the rise in sales that’s taken place over the past couple of years now and are, still, not ready for what comes next. Get real about what you’re avoiding.

At the center of everything is a person, with a real need for attention, consideration, information, service, answers and solutions. We are in the logistics business.

Consider this again before you chat with your coworkers about Sunday’s games tomorrow with finite details and stats about passing yards, rushing yards, total years, carries, receptions, turnovers, time of possession, sacks, half sacks, quarter sacks and hurries…and then realize that’s the same level of passion we must exhibit and deliver on for every one of the people that give you the honor of walking through your front door.

 

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

October 6, 2014 by Gary May 0
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
2011 Will Be A Great Year…Even If You Don’t Participate

It's no secret that over the past three years, some pretty forward-thinking information was provided to the automotive industry franchise dealer body. All 24,000 plus of them (not ignoring the independents here, just making a point). Over the coming weeks, all 20,000 of the franchise dealers will get more critically important data. Just like before, it's up to them to participate.

2011 will be a great year. Fewer than last year will make up the bulk of increases in sales, count on it. The most web-versed, socially-minded, communication-skilled and forward-thinking will win. Many of those dealers will win impressively. So the same question bears repeating: why not more? Has the carnage not been great enough? Is there too much money in the coffers still? Or is it that management is still happy sitting on their "duffs" of the bay?

2011 will be a great year. There will be more talent available for dealers to select their next sales, service and parts teams and management from. Efficiency will increase, while hopefully not at the sake of bottom lines. In other words there should be more people working at dealerships unless dealerships ignore the potential increase to their business.

2011 will be a great year. The product lines continue to get better and consumer demand for a wider array of cars (not the same car re-badged) is greater than ever. Floor traffic at the dealers that deserve it will most definitely increase. Savvier dealer marketing and engagement will increase penetration in service departments, expect it. And many dealers will experience true conquest for the very first time because they did it, not the badge.

2011 will be a great year. Technoloy will continue to becon to a larger and larger customer base so those more comfortable with technology will take advantage of that. Chaging interests in Green and alternatives will compel a few more dealers to become as engaged with those movements as their customers. Building dealership brands will become a more heated conversation than building new dealership facilities (no, that won't go away).

So how great of a year will 2011 be for you and your store? Everyone, yes everyone, is betting their bottom dollar — and bottoms — that the numbers will be up. We even believe that will be the case. Remember: it's not what you make, it's what you keep. So if you didn't like what 2010 brought, you may not really be satisfied once 2011 closes it's doors.

2011 will be a great year. Oh by the way, for the ones that will be successful, 2011 has already begun. For those that want to join us, what's stopping you???…

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

December 6, 2010 by Gary May 0