In the olden times (I love that word, “olden”) you could be sure that a customer would share their perspective of your dealership with their 10 closest allies. Today, you must be ready for that same client to share their opinion with ten thousand online entities. The internet has given the public the world’s most powerful megaphone to reach the masses with their messages. Knowing that dissatisfied customers discuss their displeasure with you far more often than a happy customer, it is crucial that your dealership is taking the necessary steps to squash (read: contain) any negative comments before it damages your future business as well as properly leverage the positive feedback.

You must monitor your reputation. Begin by ensuring that you “own” the first two to three pages of each search engine. Simply Google your name and see what links are out there about you. If you have been overtaken by negative reviews (or other dealerships), it is high time you seek out a consultant, SEO company, or expert to help you retain ownership of those pages. Don’t forget to peruse any reviews that are attached to your place of business on Google Maps – and ensure you are marked in the proper location. This is where I believe the good majority of customers will read reviews about you.
Next, do yourself a favor and keep your ear to the ground. Listen for tremors from past customers. Go to Google Alerts and type in your DBA (or any such version of your dealer name) and you will be emailed whenever your name pops up in the online world war of words.

There are several review sites available to your customers (past, present, and future) that you should be privy to.
Edmunds
DealerRater.com
MerchantCircle.com
InsiderPages.com
JudysBook.com
Yelp.com
MyDealerReport.com

(Automotive-wise, DealerRater.com is known throughout the industry as doing it best, but Edmunds/Google still seems to get the most reviews. Just check your Google maps.)

If you’ve completed your research and are disappointed at your findings, whether the reviews are scathing or far too few, you must be proactive. Begin seeking out positive feedback online from customers. This can be done while they are in the showroom before the deal is completed as well as after the sale. Ensure your staff is asking their sold customers for online reviews. At my former dealership, every customer that purchased a vehicle would receive an email shortly after the sale thanking them for their business and asking them for feedback. In the email, I called it what it was. “In the online world, word of mouth reaches not tens, but tens of thousands. You will be receiving a survey in the mail or online from our manufacturer. As this is our report card, we ask that you complete the survey as honestly as possible so we can continue making other customers as happy as we’ve made you. If you are incredibly pleased with the experience you received, please do me a favor and visit http://dealerrater.com or http://edmunds.com and leave a review. I would truly appreciate it and don’t hesitate to call me if you have any questions in the future. (In the later emails, I would urge for the referrals, but this initial email would be to garner reviews – before anything ever goes too wrong with the vehicle.)

This practice should not only take place in sales, but it is critical that your service department and collision center have similar goals. Service department is a key selling point to every dealership and many online researches will look to see how your service is judged before stepping foot on the lot.

After you’ve attracted these glowing remarks, celebrate them. Use this social evidence to your advantage. This can be done as soon as your customers begin shopping you online. If you are inundated with positive reviews, share them on your website as testimonials (or have direct links to the sites where you are celebrated). You can attach these links in your email correspondence with your internet lead prospects as well. Pretty strong value statement to attach a link to a number of testimonials when all of your fellow competitors are sending them “Thanks for your inquiry. We have the Chevy [MODEL] in stock. I look forward to hearing from you.” BLAH. Where is the value? Where is the attempt to build trust?

Once you have the reviews, don’t only pat yourself on the back in front of customers, but make sure to bring it in-house as well. If one particular employee is mentioned in the review, honor them with a mention of that in front of the team during a weekly meeting. Any way to make your employee feel that their good job was noticed, not just by the customer, but by the company, will go a long way toward their enthusiasm for the program.

When negative reviews strike down like fiery lightning bolts from an unhappy god (and they will), you must prepare a process for handling them. First, only have one dedicated person responding to the criticisms. Have it be someone articulate, with a level head, able to understand the customer’s mindset. You must get involved with the negative comment quickly. Do not feel as if you are backed into a corner, but don’t come out guns blazing either. Let the customer know that you will do your best to appease them, thank them for their feedback, and take the conversation off-line to the phone. No use having a battle of words on a post with an angry customer. Ensure that their review and future follow-up phone contact and clarification will definitely be put to use and help you better yourselves for the future. Then, put your money where your mouse is and attempt to fix the problem. If you can solve the dilemma, send them back the link to the review site and ask if they’d be willing to update their post, letting others know that you’ve collectively worked to resolve the issue. If they do this for you, thank them in the same forum for the opportunity to work together then and in the future. Know that you will have unhappy customers leaving negative reviews, but if you work to overcome them (and have that one scathing remark surrounded by positive word of mouth), then you have succeeded.

From sales to service, before the sale and long after the sale, your dealership must be engaging the customers and attracting positive feedback. The more people promoting your dealership online the better. Comparing yourself to your competitors through these reviews can be a remarkable closing tool and it is imperative you build up this social evidence in your favor. Online reputation management may not change the public’s perception of our industry, but it can certainly better their opinion of you. We are all self-conscious creatures with a need to know what others think of us. That being said, I was kidding about your breath. It is delightful and minty-fresh. I am sure you would like everyone to know that about you. However, your fly is down. It has been the entire time you were reading this. Wouldn’t you have liked to know?

The challenge of “saving deals” has not been the inability to commoditize those deals needing saving into a software, but it is changing the overall mindset of management. (Granted, having a tech solution to funnel this deal info and print it into reports is exceedingly helpful nowadays). First and foremost, the biggest challenge of saving deals is that management simply has never created the processes necessary to make it a standard way of life within the dealership.

Here are the two most effective ways to save deals that I’ve found while involves just a little effort and time from multiple departments.

1) You must institute daily meetings to ensure that no stone is unturned and no customer is lost without trying twice. Your management staff should collectively review the previous day’s in-store and online opportunities (preferably pulling a detailed report quickly from a CRM module that gathers the data automatically for you) and meet every morning. They should hold daily meetings with F&I to determine necessary actions to finish off any unclosed deals and hold a brief 5-minute one-on-one meeting with each individual sales representative to discuss what can be done to convert lost customers into be-back sales.

2) The second most important step to saving deals is having your Business Development Center be the backstop for your dealership. There are ways technologically to ensure your sales people are making their follow-up calls to past and recent customers, but you have no way of knowing if it was the salesperson that may have prevented the deal closing in the first place. Use your BDC staff to act as a Customer Care Center and let them be a second voice at the dealership for your customers. When you have someone else reaching out to your customers, you are ensuring that no customer is being discarded by a salesperson and you are opening another channel for that customer to discuss a potential deal.

So remember, a dedicated policy of saving deals requires effort from your management, F&I, Sales and BDC teams, but it will all be well-worth it come month’s end.

Joe Webb - Automotive Internet Sales Trainer - DealerKnows Consulting

Bill’s Best Interview hilariously shows a clueless interviewee going through the motions while applying for a job at a car dealership. Funny work place humor / comedy from Joe Webb “the car guy”. Written by Joe Webb of DealerKnows Consulting and Performed by Joe Webb and Tim Jennings.

PR Log (Press Release) – Jan 21, 2010 – Automotive dealers are fighting their way out of the industry’s most economically challenging periods.  With the economy on a slow upturn, dealerships are finding more stability in the market and dedicating themselves to the newest advances in online marketing. 

However, much like the uphill battles facing a myriad of industries, dealers are struggling to compete with those that had instituted internet initiatives in their stores before the nation’s automotive sales plummeted.  Auto industry expert, Joe Webb, President and Founder of DealerKnows Consulting, has created an innovative program to virtually manage the entire Internet sales department’s efforts and implement best practices with the use of web-based softwares, phone tracking solutions, and video chat.  The Virtual Internet Director program ensures that all online advertising campaigns are measured, monitored, and monetized to their fullest.   

“Dealers are getting away from paying the high costs of on-site training.  An automotive consultant will spend a couple of days in the store and drown them in ideas and concepts.  Truth is, it doesn’t always stick.  The teachings of some trainers fades over time.  Dealer employees need long-term guidance, specifically with the Internet departments and business development centers.” 

Joe Webb found success in the automotive industry by personally creating and managing some of the most recognized Internet departments in the car industry.  Webb parlayed his successes on the retail side into a prominent digital marketing consulting firm based out of Chicago, Illinois. 

“I’ve traveled the nation and trained on-site in showrooms.  What I’ve found is that most dealers and their employees need an advocate in their stores daily.  I saw a need to develop a specific training and management program where I can be in these stores virtually…daily.” 

The Virtual Internet Director program as it is being hailed offers car dealers the chance to have a recognized Internet sales expert and consulting leading the team and managing from afar while monitoring up-to-the-minute, real-time online and showroom activities through these CRM (customer relationship management) solutions. 

For a fraction of the cost of in-store consulting, Joe Webb guarantees to put dealerships on the path to online success by reviewing internet correspondence between dealer employees and prospects, measuring the necessary metrics for online profitability, policing the ratios to make sure no e-lead goes unanswered and all vehicles are properly are advertised, mystery shopping the dealer client and their competitors, listening to recorded calls, holding daily calls and video trainings to the Internet department staff, and training on the best-in-class processes of online inventory management. 

“Dealers’ eyes are opening and realizing that it is a breath of fresh air to know that an Internet Trainer is ensuring the success of the departments without the strain of trial and error.  In this economy, dealers don’t have the luxury to spend too much time learning the best processes.  They need help, but don’t often have the budget for it in store.  DealerKnows’ Virtual Internet Director program solves this need.  Basically, a dealer no longer has to worry about their business development centers…it is my job to keep everything growing for them.” 

Webb’s first order of business was teaming with Vin Solutions, an industry leader in offering full-service customer management and website solution software to dealers.  Webb recently became one of the few Certified Vin Solutions Trainers in the nation and believes the Vin Solutions software is one of the few natural fits for his Virtual Internet Director program. ]]> http://www.dealerknows.com/automotive-trainer-creates-new-way-for-dealerships-to-achieve-online-sales-success/feed 0 http://www.dealerknows.com/your-social-networking-resolution http://www.dealerknows.com/your-social-networking-resolution#comments Mon, 11 Jan 2010 03:47:21 +0000 admin http://www.dealerknows.com/?p=17285 Your Social Networking Resolution: What’s Your Plan or What’s Your Budget?

With the new year upon us, it is time we sit down and determine the ROI of our past (and recent) online marketing initiatives. What has worked for you? What hasn’t? What is your social networking resolution?

Are you going to dedicate your financial resources (ad budget) to the failed or fledgling programs of yesteryear or try your hand at all of the digital marketing tactics you read so much about daily? If it isn’t working, at what point do you cut ties, end your relationship with the old school vendors, and spend time on a more worthy venture such as social media?

If you want to succeed on a social networking landscape, you must first put yourself in your customer’s shoes. You must share their mindset. “What is in it for them?” you have to ask yourself. You need to show a benefit to the consumer for joining you on these networking sites. Stop worrying about what is important to you and start realizing what is important to your audience. This is the greatest obstacle for almost every dealer with a Twitter and Facebook account right now. So few have any idea what the hell to do with them! Remember, your customers are likely on these sites for personal reasons so recognize that it is called SOCIAL networking, not “business” networking.

I’ll tell you – to do it right, you must learn how to educate, engage, and entertain your audience with multiple forms of media and user-generated content to increase customer retention, brand awareness, and positive consumer reviews all while creating interactive, VIP-styled discount/deal/contest programs to elicit referrals, responses, and business. By the way, you can’t be too intrusive, pushy, overwhelming, or generic. Let me tell you… easier said than done. The “doing” takes time, knowledge, dedication, and commitment. More than most dealers are willing to dedicate.

A year ago and a half ago, you could say that social media is still early in its evolution and could have spent time figuring out the best practices on your own. Today, it is too late to experiment. You are losing market share every single time another one of your competitors joins the social site community. You no longer have the luxury to play around and wait to find out the best practices of the medium. If you are behind the social networking times, you have to make a resolution. You’ll need to either rededicate some advertising budget to training – someone who can give you a jump start on the best practices of the platform – or farm out your entire social networking campaigns to a company or group able to control your presence in this online marketplace. Or if you wanted to spend even more money, hire a professional to do it on-site full-time. I don’t know anyone who does the latter, but DealerKnows Consulting based out of Chicago and our Preferred Partners around the nation can assist you with your social media management needs.

So I ask you…what is your Social Networking Resolution? Do you have a plan? If not, you better have a budget.

Joe Webb's Automotive Digest blog - The Importance of Being Earnest

Dealers — be truthful to your Internet customers. There is a dichotomy in the business development centers and Internet departments of our stores. Many are using their Internet departments to flood the floors and do whatever it takes to bring the prospect from lead to appointment by any means necessary. Others are thinking beyond the sale and creating an entirely new customer-centric experience – based in fact, truth, and value.

This is the Internet age
At this point in the evolution of our dealerships, everyone has an individual or team handling their Internet leads. However, some approach internet leads much the same way they’ve been taught to lure in a phone up. Ask questions, overcome objections and set appointments. We’ve all heard our managers say “Get ‘em in. Get ‘em in. Get ‘em in.”

Way back when…
In the digital age, however, we cannot simply stand by the policies of the past and get them into the dealership at any cost. Too many old pros relied on shadowing the truth to reach their end goal of selling a car and they’ve passed this belief onto our internet teams. With the over-researched shoppers of today, these overused practices of yesteryear are a detriment. Yet, mystery shop your competition and you will still see them mislead and misrepresent the truth to achieve their goal of setting an appointment online.

Do what’s right.
Follow in the footsteps of those dealers that are upfront about pricing and inventory. Unfortunately, I’ve seen dealers still doing the “destination bump” to their internet customers as recently as a few weeks ago. I knew a dealer didn’t have a vehicle in-stock yet still tell me they did. These poor practices continue to negatively affect the entire reputation of our industry. So for your sake, tell the truth to your internet shoppers. Not only are they far too researched to fall for the deceit, but your reputation and trust is destroyed when they catch you in a lie. It damages the way we are all viewed in the industry.

Be upfront in the information you provide your customers and you will see a growth in your sales and CSI. It pays to be earnest.

A car sales manager interviews a potential employee using only closed ended questions – with hilarious results. Written by Joe Webb and Performed by Joe Webb and Dave Hudson of D Hudson Productions in Chicago, The Not Good Interview details the importance of knowing how auto dealers should interview and what questions (open ended and closed ended) to use to find the right candidate. Also known as the “Jez” video.

Why?  Just as the customer has been trained to research and negotiate from the comforts of their own home, the sales associates have been trained to disregard the email and get them on the phone.  Now, let me state that I agree with the trainings of some other consultants that there is a proven importance to getting a customer on the phone.  However, I disagree with their beliefs that a call to an internet customer comes before an email.  That is an antiquated and dangerous philosophy to be teaching people on the floor during these times.  I also believe that a 1-miute auto-responder confirming the receipt of the lead is not a worthy enough email to warrant a call.  A call to a customer without their permission and without warning is often unwanted and automatically eliminates you from consideration.  You are unwilling to take their desires into account when contacting them, they figure, so how are they to trust you in the future?

When do you reach out to them and how do you do so without upsetting today’s temperamental customers?  You must begin by sending a detailed, personalized email with information (and pricing) regarding their exact vehicle requested as well as some alternative options.  In this personalized, customer-focused email answering all of their questions, you must also state that “I understand you are looking for this information quickly.  If I do not hear from you shortly, I will be calling you to confirm you have received this email.”  Ten minutes after this lengthy email is sent, you have earned the right to pick up the phone and call.  However, the phone call has to be under a guise other than “Hey…got your email.  When do ya wanna come in so I can sell you this here car?”  Now, I put a twang in that call because that is what I commonly receive while mystery shopping.  Priceless.  Instead, here is a best practice that I taught my staff at my dealership.  The call must be presented as “Hello Mrs./Mr. Customer, my name is (you) and I am with ABC motors.  I don’t mean to bother you, but I simply wanted to ensure that you have received the email I sent, answering all of your questions that you inquired about.  “Emphasize the last “you” so they realize that they brought this call on themselves and that you are doing them a favor.  Continue with “With all of the spam filters out there today, I needed to make sure it landed in your inbox.  I’d hate to think that you didn’t get all of your questions answered just because of a mail system.”  Whether they have checked or not, once they have acknowledged and understand your unselfish purpose for calling, you can say, “While I have you on the phone, can I ask if you’ve already had the opportunity to test drive this vehicle?”  Then follow your normal script/phone structure.

Your initial email has provided them all of the information that they’ve requested.  At that point, you have essentially done everything that they have asked of you and more.  You gave them a warning shot that alerted them of an impending call.  Now, if you receive an email immediately back stating – no call – or anything similar (even if you receive follow up questions), I believe you should continue to use that medium.  Email may be their security blanket.  Taking that away from them makes you the enemy.  Respect their wishes and continue with that medium of communication.

Reaching out to them in the same method in which they contacted you shows your customers respect.  We’ve all heard a customer say “if I wanted to talk to someone in person, I would have just called myself.”  It’s difficult to talk yourself out of that one.  I’ve tried and, more often than not, any potential relationship is shot at that point.  So don’t put yourself in that position.  Use the customer’s chosen method of communication and only call when you have given them fair warning.  Otherwise, you are liable to come off sounding as a telemarketer, or worse, the dreaded car salesperson they were trying to sidestep.

Opening a dialogue on the phone with the customer will forever remain imperative.  What is equally important?  Knowing the time to call.

To learn how to make the most of your business development center, visit http://www.dealerknows.com/contact