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Transparency, Marketing and Dashboards (But, But, But It Sells Cars!!!!)

There has been more attention to accountability of dealership marketing recently, which is a good thing, however it’s always been important and something we here at IM@CS have been doing for eight years. Simply put, you need all of your digital reporting to come down to your own review, independent of vendors and their dashboards.

History proves (and vendors demonstrate) that anything will be said to a dealer or general manager in order to sell a service, especially first-in-market, fear or competitive factors. Most dealers are unwilling to be  leaders, choosing rather to follow especially when it comes to technology. And the largest factor is lack of time and commitment. If you are paying for something, you must be able to measure it yourself. Yes, YOU must be able to do that, not simply trust a report.

Google Analytics is the best way to measure everything that touches your website, alongside ancillary technologies including heat maps, third party SEO and SEM software, as well as independent measuring tools. We use a fair amount of software monthly to ensure the work we do is correct, viable and effective.

We continue to see (the majority of) dealers that are having the wool pulled over their eyes because of not drilling down a little in reporting, rather relying on a smattering of PDF reports and sales rep visits with alligator smiles talking about how great their performance is all the way to 20 Group comparisons with mediocre benchmarking.

As a senior-level executive (not your Internet or marketing director), if you can’t open Google Analytics and have a basic conversation about performance, you are losing awareness and accountability on a monthly basis. There is no other place, including the sales board in your dealership, where more relevant data comes in, not even CRM (especially considering how underutilized that software is!).

So whether you take some company’s challenge, education course, class, or simply task yourself to learn directly within Google’s own treasure trove of resources, commit to a few hours a month and get serious about all of your marketing.

Recently we’ve seen:

  • Significant drops in effectiveness of Display Advertising, with mobile being a factor as well as incredibly poor content/call-to-action in the advertising (incorrectly bucketed spends = lower R.O.I., fewer sales)
  • More rogue/bot  traffic coming from target cities that have server farms, including Ashburn, VA, Dallas and Austin, TX, and Rome and New York, NY as well as Boston, MA. (click traffic from areas that don’t make sense = non-human clicks)
  • Seeing poorly managed paid Social Media ads/dark posts and resulting traffic/leads due to a complete lack of understanding how to deploy the ads/content (running ads on Facebook and not generating leads = wrong vendor)
  • Huge increases in incorrectly managed/sourced paid advertising campaigns, lacking all of the proper data, including conversions, tied to meaningless text/ads. Part of the is an increase in dealers finally spending on SEM and the greater problem is more companies (including many OEM-approved vendors) managing ad spends that don’t understand what they’re doing. This does not counting vendors that don’t marge AdWords accounts to dealers’ Analytics accounts

All of this staring dealers in the face with no challenge to the vendors selling the services and marketing. When you receive that monthly PDF in your inbox, don’t file it. Instead, print it out, call the vendor(s) to review and have someone in your office that can independently verify that data until you understand it yourself.

Stop buying from vendors, even reliable ones, who sell you a service off of how many more cars will be sold. You don’t need that! Most dealers can sell 20-50 more cars a month out of their own CRM. Your marketing can’t be segmented or in silos anymore so quit buying that way!

 

Do this before any factors present market issues or downward pressure on sales. With more dealers spending money, there are incremental increases in sales with a lot of companies are simply getting fat and happy, laughing all the way to the bank with you money. Call us to find out quickly and easily what you’re paying for and not receiving.

 

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

December 16, 2015 by Gary May 0
Making A Laughing Stock Out Of Social “Media”

Being involved in helping build awareness via social networks for dealers over the past three plus years, there has been a lot to see. And wonder about. From using APIs, feeds, republishing other content without attribution, ghost writing, "social" content farms, 50 plus network claims and more, it's a real "Wild Wild West" in what can loosely be called social media.

More often than not, the authentic part of brand building and gaining a following of targeted prospects, customers and partners is overshadowed by the "numbers game". Having not participated in the rat race, a few companies have catered to dealers from a more genuine and pervasive angle. In our case, even in working with some of the most reputable dealers in the US and Canada, our focus hasn't changed.

Just like with traditional or measured media, you can always pull an extra customer or two from outside your PMA/AOI because they saw your ad, lost leader, teaser, direct mail from a purchased list and the like. But the effort usually takes a financial investment, as well as a dedicated staff to take a couple hundred extra shopper calls from 50-200+ miles outside your selling market, that exceeds not only the return but takes un-calculated hours of effort. Again, you can likely sell one, two or even three. But at what cost?

Shiny object syndrome. Your choice: make it part of your business, or do like most dealers do with anything besides a warm body walking into the dealership. Isn't it so much easier when you can just throw hundreds to thousands of dollars at it to have it "done" by someone else, software, a new staff person, an existing staff person not doing their current job effectively or outsource it. Welcome to cardealerville, where more often than not (because there are some dealers and stores that simply kick a**), it's easier to just make it by rather than listen, learn, commit, apply, measure, adjust, remeasure, ask questions and do it forever.

Social networks. Facebook. It's a numbers game. Right? Yes, but only to a degree. While there are ways to grow a true, engaged following from email blasts to events, promotions to ads, signage to signature lines, an overnight success is as close to real and authentic as Simon Cowell keepng his opinion to himself or Donald Trump's hair staying in place without adhesive.

If you can add 2,100 fans in 48 hours and 1,100 of them in 11 hours, during the last few days of the month, claiming to do it with two salespeople walking around a (popular) mall armed only with iPads and their charm, there's a brand new Lexus LFA for sale at my house for $3.95 tax included.

Not to say that it can't be done. For Coca Cola. For United Airlines. For Zappos. For Lady Gaga. For a car dealer? Here's a reality check. The average percentage of people that you can stop, in a mall, during their shopping, fully engage, a get to do something you've asked them to do (as in "Like" a Facebook page) which requires about 2-4 minutes per person considering logging in, going to the page, liking it and logging out, is about 20%. If you're great. So, if you've added over 2,000 Likes, you would need over 10,000 people "walking by" you. Asking to Like a car dealership's Facebook page. At month end. Of a Holiday weekend. In a down economy. Need we go on?

Dealers. Heck, any business that reads our posts. This blog has been, is now, and will always be driven by the passon that our company has to education, improvement, information and moving the industry forward. Not hearsay. Not ego. Not reputation. Not prominence. Not sales (unless you're talking about a sales increase for the businesses reading our blog).

With less than 1% of franchise dealership employees getting a digital education at events, less than 5% participating in any level of OEM or third-party endorsed education, the attraction of paying $100 for 1,000 Facebook Likes can be too easy. Using automation and $50 a month to get thousands of Twitter followers can also be the same kind of aphrodisiac. Zero to hero is usually filled with as much satisfaction as a no-calorie candy bar. It may sound great, but selling high-line cars to a growing "Fan" base from South East Asia or South America is……………..well, let's not go there. Some of the OEMs actually read this. Wouldn't want anyone to get in hot water.

So just enjoy the teeming hordes of Likes you Real Ameican Genius of the Facebook Page. You deserve a nice cold one. Shower, that is.

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results.

May 31, 2011 by Gary May 4
Things That Pissed Us Off In 2010 (Yes, They Pissed You Off, Too!)

We know it, you know it, they know it. Almost everyone knows it. Because if everyone knew it we wouldn't have ben put through it. But we were, you were and they were. Disclaimers: These are not in order of importance. Many companies are being called out, not all. This is a singular perspective.

So here it goes:

1. Automotive marketing overall: Sucked, still sucks, will likely continue to suck.
2. Dealership websites: 1995 called and wants its sites back. Give us a break and some new suppliers!
3. OEMs that don't publish new inventory: Get over it. customers leaving your brand are.
4. Automotive trainers that re-branded as web consultants: A new suit can't cover 1982 style.
5. Reputation management companies: Fudge is brown. So is bull%^&*. Fake customers? Envelope stuffers? Hooters girls? Please leave…
6. Motivational speakers that re-branded as automotive trainers: See line 4.
7. Social media companies: Charging dealers $3,000-5,000 plus per month? Larceny is still a crime.
8. DMS companies: Still make clients sign in blood for 15 year old technology, for 15 years? Nice. FAIL.
9. Website company dashboards: No, use this thing called Google Analytics. Quit fudging numbers. Block dealers' and your IPs for starters!
10. Inventory marketing portals: The luster is long gone. Run or acquire some companies for revenue!
11. Sales reps: Stop selling and start helping. Don't know much so you can't help? Sell elsewhere.
12. Ad agencies (Tier 1): Quit the facade. Traditional doesn't sell. Experiential does. Learn to like social. Get help.
13. Ad agencies (Tier 3): Quit lying to yourselves and your clients…You don't get digital. Get help.
14. CRM companies: If you don't do that, say you don't do that. Otherwise add it for free. Pariahs.
15. Website companies using Flash: 2003 called and wants their websites back. It's called HTML or PHP.
16. Facebook Personal Profiles: Businesses, we've been yelling. Set up pages. Not "friend" profiles!!
17, Social media companies: Setting up APIs and RSS feeds from OEMs is not social. It's plagiarizing.
18. Social media companies: Setting up inventory feeds as posts? If that's social, I'm tall, rich and hot.
19. Traditional media/ad networks still selling to dealers "old school". Shame on you (and your bosses).

Dealers, you're not in the clear either:

1. Hiring any service, including social, as a "pay for it and leave it" service? No such thing. Period!
2. Hiring any company because you "liked the rep when they were at ________ before". Failure…
3. Not taking the time to get educated on new aspects of your business? Hand the keys back to the OEM
4. "Trying" new things?! Sample spoons are for ice cream. Business is for big boys and girls. Just Do It!
5. Cutting your nose to spite your face? Chances are you're too lean. Hire the right people, not resumes.
6. Leaving everything up to the factory (especially some luxury brands). Wake up! It's your business!
7. Believing the you can turn your store's reputation over to an outside company?!?! I've got a bridge…
8. Not flinching on a new $4,000+ service to a company you're already cutting a $15k check to? Dumb.
9. Spending $3,000 on a 3-day conference 3+ times when you can get a month for that?! And get more!!!
10. Spending any money on your business and not taking ownership of the new spend. Why, why, why?
11. Paying any amount of ad money to traditional media and it's not integrated and tracked?! Foolish.

New-age definitions when you don't understand the spend:

CPM: Can't Provide Much
CRM: Can't Remember Much
ILM: Incredibly Lousy Marketing
CSI: Coached Senseless Investment
SSI: Serving Senseless Initiatives
I/O: Incredibly overpriced
OEM: Overlord, Empire, Master
PDI: Petty detailed injustices
Social: Someone outside control incompetently and loosely
IMS: Inventory Means Something
DMS: Decades-old Money-draining (or Mediocre-Moduled) Systems

We could go down the path a long way but here's the simple version of the message: quit doing things old ways, with old thought processes, with old beliefs, with old defenses, with old intentions, with old management. If you want to run a dealership the old way, get stuck in 1964, 1974, 1984, 1994 or 2004. If you want to thrive in this and the coming markets, wake up to the reality that business will not be the same. Even if we sell 17 million new cars again, it'll never be the same.

Some may be able to, by all appearances, just skim along on the surface, mesmerized by everything going on around them and still put up the numbers. For most of the businessmen and businesswomen in the retail part of our industry, it's a deep dive kind of time. Your success depends on you and how you build your business's presence, results, growth and more. Less than 5% of your colleagues are engaged, firing on all cylinders and moving forward in today's market.

There are a lot of things that pissed us off in 2010. And we may never do a post like this again. But somebody needed to do it. This might motivate some, light a fire in others and have some in stitches. No matter what, it's time for moving some more metal. There's not too many ways to do that today.

Are you pissed off enough to do something? We've been helping those that want to do something for the past three years and three months. Are you next?

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

December 7, 2010 by Gary May 7
Floor Traffic Down? Invite Them In! (Including 5 Ideas That Work If You Do)

Reading a number of great posts recently (while trying to ignore the blatant self-promotion via a popularity contest glorified by a number of industry members last week), all focused on getting dealers to make the shift to digital or social media, it hit me once again what we're all trying to do: get people in the door.

While a number of dealers (maybe 5% in the country) are seeing growth many are seeing flat or declining numbers. Others are experiencing unit lifts while dealing with large drop in gross or back end. And everyone is dealing with selling fewer vehicles in the past 18 months than in the previous 4-6 years.

So in this online world, what aside from actually selling a vehicle to a customer or servicing their car drives traffic? One thing that can be looked at, especially in a world of smaller budgets, staffs and sales is events. With rare exception over the past two years, the factories (and therefore the dealers) have spent less and less on driving valuable traffic via new-owner events, clinics, ride-and-drives, sponsorships, meet-and-greets and the like. While the quantity of tire kickers may be down, real purchase intention is down significantly less (we'll leave the statistics and "pent up demand" gibberish talk to others).

Fewer and fewer dealers are doing what it takes to being people in: WIIFM. Yes, the most popular radio station in the world. What's In It For Me! More and more consumers are out there, looking for answers on how to program their seat memory, sync their bluetooth, update their navigation system, find out the difference in maintaining their car at the dealership versus aftermarket besides price and a whole lot more. So…they're left with going to a discussion group/blog/forum/portal, relying on word of mouth or not knowing at all. And you believe you 'had them at hello' when you sold the car.

So no new owner clinics. No barbecues. No comparison drives. No meet the staff days. No fundraisers (let alone getting a link from the event website to your website with all of the traffic they're receiving. What's that? What's a link? What does that do?). Boy, that will work! Then tell yourself that the drop in floor traffic is fine since 70-90% of the same-brand stores in your PMA are also down rather than kicking ass. Forget about building a brand, or answering the questions that many customers won't ask you over the phone, or stopping that brand new owner from driving into (fill-in-the-blank)-Lube, let alone even retaining the customers you have and that WANT to come back for a good reason or two.

No. Maybe this whole thing is wrong. The factory is supposed to do and promote events. The factory is supposed to drive floor traffic. The factory is supposed to give you all of the handraisers in the area. The factory has to do all of the advertising so you can copy the ad and put it on your (mediocre) website. The factory is supposed to give you all of the pitter-patter of footsteps so you can just kick back, put your feet up (or in the golf cart), make money and retire in 20 years.

DING, DING, DING. Wake Up!!! (that was your floor traffic meter just hitting zero)

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

August 2, 2010 by Gary May 1
Let’s Talk Next Spring (A Very Direct Monologue)

(Note: As a practice, IM@CS has not written in the first person. We
try to not call people out or make examples of them directly. This is a
slight departure from the past two years of blog writing for dealers. We
hope you enjoy it or are at least compelled to comment on this aspect
as well)

After talking with Internet sales staff and leaving
messages for management over the past months, I visited a prominent
LA-area import dealer recently to see about getting a few minutes with
the manager responsible for their web and eCommerce presence. After
finally having the courtesy to recognize that someone was trying to talk
with him (understanding two things very well: one you're busy and two
you likely have a lot of people calling on you and trying to sell you),
he gave me 45 seconds.

In that time, he was able to share that
the "departments are going through changes so it's not the right time
and we'll be able to put our eCommerce and Internet efforts on the
schedule next Spring". Not only is this one of the best qualifiers, it
is also a great indicator of how removed from reality most dealers
really are. This is not a judgement, we'll leave that to the customers,
staff and factory. But as a litmus test, that's just bad. Flat out bad.

Let's say you ignore every automotive publication. Let's say you never
attend a "digital" event in the industry. Let's assume you're not in a
20 group. Just for kicks, let's say you never talk with your staff.
Considering it's 2010, if you have spent any time on the Internet,
bought an airplane ticket, hotel room, checked a sports score or weather
conditions, how can you allow yourself to be ignorant of what ALL
consumers do?

By next Spring, your competition will be
significantly ahead of you. And maybe by my or another consultant or
vendor's doing. Maybe even intentionally. When you send that kind of
signal out, it's hard not to either try to convince you (unless the
manager was intentionally being dismissive) or leave the store and run
to the next closest store. I say this because it's being done. Every
day.

While I can't speak for others that may walk into the
store I'm referring to, I can guarantee you that if I take the time to
engage you, your website, templates, social media (if it exists), phone
skills and other aspects of your operation has been assessed. Don't even
think for a second that mine is a traditional "pitch", again
understanding that everyone that walks in with a briefcase is likely
trying to get money from you in exchange for services.

Just
know that sometime, really soon, your traffic will go somewhere else..
And with what your using for website and more, it won't even cause a
drop of sweat to fall.

With all the best intentions,

Gary May
IM@CS

July 28, 2010 by Gary May 0
Focus Daniel-san, Focus!

Focus. We all need it. Sometimes we loose it. Hopefully we get it back. Focus is what, along with goals and direction, on the path to success. Simply put we're in the business of selling products and services, backing them up, and maintaining relationships with those that bought the products or services.

Broken focus is what allows us to view the products and services that we buy as those that will sell what our customers will buy. Yup…long sentence. What does it mean? It means simply stop thinking that websites, CRM, widgets, gadgets, software/SAAS and all of the other stuff (including social media) sells cars and then makes people service them at your business. People buy from people.

Don't get me wrong, we're all about more efficiencies and lower costs through all the items above. But if you think for a second that you can forget about an up, any kind of up, you're dead wrong. Companies continue at a break-neck pace to promote their "two cars pays for our service"and "with our leads you'll sell 8.7 more cars more month".

People sell cars, people sell cars, people sell cars. The 'best' lead, scored by some company that doesn't sell cars, sold to you by a company spending millions to promote themselves with your money, with the most gross ever not followed up on is a floating, polished  t**d. At the same time, the 'worst' perceived lead from your overpriced third parties, let alone your own website (if your cars actually showed up on Google from your own website which most don't), is closed in a 5 minute call or three emails because the person was dealt with quickly, honestly and had all of their questions answered.

Focus on setting appointments. Appointments that are confirmed. That then show up. That then are handled right. That then are closed right. Because they nearly all come from your website or some displayed listing. Focus on what drives people to your store…you and your co-workers.

It's amazing the amount of dealers spending $20,000 per month or more to sell a few more cars (plus salesperson's commission, managers' cut, overhead and all the rest) because they're convinced that without buying what they're selling, they'll be crushed. Yesterday a meeting at a store revealed that, while the staff was asking for more leads, one of their marketing sources had about 20 plus leads that weren't touched. At all. Yeah, it was from service marketing. So I guess people that service don't also buy?!?!?! Focus…

Your website is there to get appointments. Everything online and in marketing outside of your website is intended to drive traffic to your website. To get appointments. Everything else you use to drive impressions and retention is supposed to eventually drive people to your website. Please don't fool yourself. Look at your analtyics. Yours. Google's. Not your website company's 'unique' statistics.

Please focus. Dealers (And everyone in business that is trying to grasp online), it's time to stop. And focus. We're trying to invite people to buy cars and maintenance and parts and accessories. As an industry we say that but it's not how we buy services. We buy because our buddy did, our competitor did, all of our 20 group says to and so on.

It's down to focus. Remember that Daniel-san could block, sweep and jump AFTER he focused on painting and all the other chores that Mr. Miyagi gave him. No distractions. Complete focus.

So focus Daniel-san, focus.

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

May 13, 2010 by Gary May 0
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

March 4, 2010 by Gary May 0
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

February 10, 2010 by Gary May 0
Take The Walls Down On Both Sides

Two items that we talk a lot around but typically don't address directly are the 'blocking and tackling' in the retail business. One stops people from the inside, the other from the outside. The first limits a broader brand experience while the second keeps customers away. Slowly eliminate both and you'll win.

Dealership firewalls, website blocking, limiting controls and other less-than-trusting measures remove timely access and ability to become involved in what is the greatest area of traffic generation today. Add to that the understanding of what is happening in the market during the time in each person's day that it matters most. Whether posting to Facebook, sending test leads to competitors, scanning forums and reputation sites (likely for what Google alerts notified the store of), or seeing a competitor's site updates and overall becoming involved in the essential aspects of branding and reach, being online is essential.

No, just block everything. Enter the typical excuses for limiting adult access to the web at dealerships: time waste, inappropriate content, non-work activities and more. Wow, great thing that your IT director has that closed down!! Whew, and you thought smoking on the point, chatting incessantly on cell phones, water cooler banter about the dealership's 'less-than-perfects' and simply hanging out for the next up was a time suck. Boy the Internet did change everything.

So all of that other stuff is now ok and some barely negligible photo of a little known celebrity topless on some remote beach in Europe is wrong? It may be but the technology that allows a complete blackout of surfing the web in what can be extremely productive time can also be set up to allow the right use. Have someone violating your store's TOU? Then fire them for the same reason that you would for violating other company policies. Ok, enough about that dealership mistake that is completely circumvented by someone's web-enabled device.

The second issue is blocking the other stuff that your store also needs: customers. If you've not woken up to 2010 (or 2009, or even 2008 and before for that matter) and realized that people are judging you before ever deciding to step foot in your showroom you've got to take the blinders off. The days of hiding aspects of your operation, be it front-end or back-end, and surprising customers when they do decide to come in will kill you.

Dealerships that don't decide it's time for transparency are not only kidding themselves, they're also hurting the next store that dissatisfied customer is going to head to. It doesn't matter if it's tackling the next 'up' because it's your turn, stuffing someone that doesn't understand that you could have actually saved them money, stranding someone in the showroom because the used car manager can't find their keys or a litany of other lies and excuses, mistreat customers and you will have fewer of them. And they will let everyone else know online.

There is an abundance of complete disclosure on the web related to everything automotive. So why pretend it's 1994 at a dealership? Because that's what a GM knows or a GSM pushes? Sorry, that has no place in business and deserves to be eliminated completely from our industry's retail locations. The archaic practices that still exist need to replaced by true business excellence. Customers will build a wall so fast around your dealership it'll make your head spin.

So if these are your challenges for 2010, put new plans and goals into action. The walls inside and outside your store will bring your business to a halt. Removing them and getting everyone involved in building your business is the best course you can start the new year with.

Simply put in the words of John Mellencamp in "Tumblin' Down":

Saw my picture in the paper
Read the news around my face
And now some people don't want to treat me the same…
When the walls come tumblin' down

You don't control your reputation, the factory, area pricing or everything else than happens around you, especially on the web and you'll never again control customers. What you do control is your brand, actions and messages. You can influence your customers and that, my friends, is powerful.

Take down the walls…

Best practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

January 2, 2010 by Gary May 1