Joe Webb

About the President and Founder of DealerKnows Consulting

aka “The Guru”

DealerKnows was created by Joe Webb, an Auto Industry Expert in online marketing, e-commerce advertising, and internet initiatives who created and managed one of the car industry’s most successful Internet Departments and Business Development Centers in the nation.  Joe has been bringing online sales success to dealerships across the country through his hands-on consulting efforts and progressive training programs by sharing his endless knowledge of all things internet sales and online inventory management.

Called “the funniest person in the car business”, Joe Webb’s unique and charismatic approach yields him instant buy-in from dealer personnel as well as an ability to utilize creativity and dynamic interaction with internet shoppers and converting them to sales.  His knowledge of eCommerce marketing continues to show dealerships real-world results, but it is his belief that people still sell cars.  With that, Webb encourages dealer staff to instill their own personalities into the buying process to achieve the pinnacle of online sales success.

Joe’s ability to create dynamic e-campaigns for dealerships has allowed him to branch into consulting for dealers as well as on behalf of CRM, Website, and Internet-based automotive vendors.  He also is adept at the training of dealership staff to better handle negotiation with an online-researched consumer.  At his most recent dealership, his department was consistently responsible for over 65% (up to 85%) of the dealership’s total sales and 90% of all appointment traffic. Generating an average of 110 internet sales a month and an additional 65 by the business development center, the e-lead management and online inventory tactics  he has put in place are considered some of the best practices in the nation.

His personal goal, as he consistently writes in Digital Dealer Magazine and preaches at conventions and seminars, is “to better the culture of car sales”. “DealerKnows, LLC in-store consulting and virtual training allows dealers to move into the automotive internet age with understanding. We put successful practices in place so dealers can stop losing sales from the local market and see more profitability and a better return on investment from their online marketing dollars.”

As well as being known for his hilarious car sales videos (with his background in comedy), Joe writes articles, blogs, and has been featured in such publications as

• Digital Dealer Magazine
• Dealer Magazine
• Dealer Marketing Magazine
• DrivingSales.com
• AutomotiveDigitalMarketing.com
• Dealer-Communications.com
• Automotive Digest
• Auto Industry Insights
• Cars.com’s Dealer Advantage
• NADA’s Auto Exec Magazine
• AutoUsa’s e-newsletter

Bill Playford

About the Vice President of DealerKnows Consulting

aka “The Talent”

Bill brings a decidedly different skill set to the Dealer Knows team. While spending the last three years working for Trilogy, Bill played an instrumental role in launching three new retail solutions for the domestic and international market. He adds a depth of knowledge of vendor technology, and its effective implementation at the dealer level. Moreover, he brings the experience of working for one of the most successful privately owned technology companies in the world. 

Having recently served as Director of Retail Operations for Trilogy’s SmartLeads program, Bill brings intimate knowledge of lead acquisition, lead quality, lead scoring, and lead segmentation. In the process of adding nearly 150 dealers and over 350 franchises to beta test Trilogy’s lead scoring and lead prioritization software, Bill helped dealers develop successful ways to efficiently acquire and convert third party leads. His efforts were reflected in OEM and dealer group adoption of the SmartLeads lead purchasing program. 

Prior to joining the SmartLeads team, he spent six years developing “click to buy” initiatives, catering to car buyers who are no longer interested in purchasing vehicles the traditional way. Over the course of eighteen months Bill’s team at Trilogy developed and launched a web buying service for the nation’s largest publicly traded auto-group, as well as the developed of a web specific, OEM backed, buying service for the international market.

Like the rest of the Dealer Knows team, Bill also brings front line experience to the table. Bill spent four years at one of the first Internet dealers in the country. Building on what he learned from the best, Bill was among the first to launch an analytics program to ensure his dealer was delivering the right message to the right customer. His research directly led to the creation of association-specific buying programs, neighborhood level marketing programs, as well as cost saving lead optimization strategies. His pioneering geographic and demographic specific targeting methodology was also noticed by KBB, where he served on its inaugural Dealer Advisory Panel. 

Bill is extremely passionate about automotive ecommerce. He seeks to share his sales, marketing, and product development skills to help dealers sell more cars, and add customers for life.

 

Wendell Dossett

Virtual Internet Director

aka “The Professor”

“Having an extensive background as an educator and technology expert, I am always interested in acquiring advanced knowledge and using new technology.”  As a training applications engineer in the Computer machine tool industry for 9 years, Wendell traveled throughout North America and taught in the largest corporations. He came into the automotive field 15 years ago and progressed from Salesman to manager in most areas of the dealership. Following Wendell’s interest in technology, he spent the last 10 years honing his skills in the Internet sales department of a large metro Import dealership. “Success in relationship-based sales has always been a passion of mine and developing outstanding departments and dealerships is now my mission. Concerning internet sales today I believe that even though the money makes it possible to obtain the needed applications, more than ever it is the people that make it happen.”

Experience and Accomplishments:

• Featured speaker April 2009 Digital Dealer Conference, Las Vegas
• Founder Dossett Automotive
• 3 time Gold Sales Society Toyota
• 12 time Toyota Sales Society
• 15 years dealership sales and management experience
• 3 years dealership F&I Management
• 9 years Training manager Gomiya Osaka Japan

Frank Davis

DealerKnows Consulting Preferred Partner and Founder of Tulsa Website and SEO Services

aka “The Fortune Teller”

Frank Davis has over ten years experience marketing and selling vehicles through the internet medium with an emphasis on website management/development and SEO. With a thought process geared towards marketing and name branding, he has been recognized with many awards over the years as well as numerous for top salesman as well as 2nd in Internet sales for Sonic Automotive 2005. As an expert in budget management, Mr. Davis has shown dealers 10 times their return on investment with his eCommerce solutions.

His complete understanding of internet marketing coupled with his mastery of search engine optimization and website design has made him the go-to guru for dealers interested in generating more leads and higher showroom traffic.  He has the unique ability to create website visitors and then convert more than 10% of those visitors to workable leads. (In the automotive world of websites, the average conversion ratio is 1.75% to 2.25%.)

Frank’s focus and goal is to bring automotive websites to their full potential and he routinely trains dealers on how to achieve internet sales success. This expertise allows him to lower PPC expenditures, maximize their investments, and see true results with his SEO secret sauce.  “In regard to search engine superiority, I have the belief that you shouldn’t pay for what you should get for free.  As someone who has dedicated their life to bringing dealerships ‘website significance’, I relish the opportunity to put my methods to work and yield consistent, low-cost/high-return results.”

Gilbert A. Chavez

Automotive Digital Marketing Professional

aka “The Muscle”

A former U.S. Army Infantry Officer, Company Commander, Paratrooper, Mr. Chavez has served as the Chief Operating Officer for the Krumland Auto Group, as the General Manager of the Burt Automotive Network, and most recently as the E-Marketing Director for the Phil Long Dealerships, the largest privately owned dealer group in Colorado. “My job is to surround dealers with amazing technology and with the brightest and most forward thinking car salespeople I can find.” I have worked in every sales role that a car dealer has and have been exceedingly successful at every level.”

Gilbert has acted as adviser to America Online’s, Digital City Denver, Dealix Corporation, and many other distinguished organizations.

One of the original automotive internet pioneers Gilbert A. Chavez grew up in the automotive industry. Mr. Chavez has been recognized as one of the leading experts in retailing automobiles. He is a true innovator and renowned for his success in team building. Gilbert, once called “the Vince Lombardi of car guys”, and Joe have been training dealership staff on eCommerce tactics and internet sales strategies with amazing success.

Professional Associations:

• FordDirect.com Dealer Advisory Board
• Cars.com Dealer Advisory Board
• Toyota.com Dealer Steering Committee
• Cobalt Dealer Advisory Board
• Founding Executive Board Member: Association of Automotive Internet Sales Professionals (AAISP)