An Internet shopper is caught off-guard when he attempts to push for additional discounts after agreeing to an Internet price with the car dealership’s Internet Manager. This comedic video shows what would happen if Dateline NBC’s Chris Hanson shows up and puts a halt to the customer’s efforts.
Starring:
Joe Webb
Arnold Tijerina
Bill Playford
David Hudson
Written by Joe Webb
Directed by David Hudson
I mystery shop dealers every week and it still amazes me how many emails and auto-responders are sent directly to my junk mail. I just returned from speaking at a NADA 20 group where 5 of the 20 dealers’ emails were caught in SPAM. Last month, when Jared Hamilton, Brian Pasch, and I spoke to an NCM 20 group together, of the 35+ emails I received back from the attending dealers over the course of 5 days prior to the event, 8 of them went to SPAM. That is almost 25%. What are you doing to combat this?
There are several things you can do to avoid getting lost in a prospect’s junk mail. Here are just a few ways to put your best font forward.
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When all else fails, just go to Spam-Checker.com and plug in your email templates individually. Considering my company, DealerKnows Consulting helps all of our dealers create and customize email templates, it is imperative for us to recognize that the most elementary task we must perform is getting back in touch with a customer who submitted a lead. These are just some of the tactics we monitor during our Virtual Dealer Training to ensure there is a proper lead management plan in place.
I hope this helps you take a close look at what you are sending out from your store. Make sure to put your automotive email templates under a microscope and ferret out the spam triggers. The customer already submitted the lead. Why not make sure you are getting back to them professionally? Don’t throw away opportunities. It is imperative to put your best font forward.
In my time, I’ve come across many great eCommerce minds working in dealerships across the country. A few are recognized for their gift and contribution. A good majority are unappreciated and overlooked. The rest, no matter how dedicated, work in dealerships with limited resources and management that might seem stuck in the last century. More than likely, if you are reading this, you fall into one of the latter categories.
My advice to you? Stick with it. You are not alone. All experts were once where you are today. Often you feel like, no matter how much you want to grow your knowledge or your store’s online presence, it will go unnoticed. In some cases, you may even have your hands tied from improving your dealership’s online profitability. I repeat myself. Stick with it.
Keep reading the blogs/forums/magazines/e-newsletters. If you must, pay your own way to a conference or seminar. Employ the strategies that you feel will be most effective, even if you haven’t been given the green light. (I’m not trying to get you in trouble, but you and I both know that your boss at the top doesn’t have the know-how to monitor your activity in the CRM so your results will be the only indicator that something is different. If you’re right, you win.)
Stick-to-it-ivness is an art. A fine art. It is the Mona Lisa of resilience. In this industry, as brain damage is thrust upon you and more work is laid in your lap than necessary, staying determined to improve yourself and your store is a tall order. We know how easy it would be to follow the orders from the top… phone it in, essentially. It would be easy to follow their antiquated orders on how to connect with internet customers. You could continue to hit mediocre metrics and be safe. The people in power and not “in-the-know” will let you do (what you know is) the wrong things. You can listen to their old-school demands, turn in an average performance and make them think you are doing your job.
Don’t. Fight the urge. Stick to growing. Stick to improving. Stick to experimenting. Stick to enhancing everything you do and then learning more.
It may put you in the sights of management, which can be an uncomfortable place to be, but if you are as passionate about this automotive Internet landscape as the rest of us, you’ll only end up happier by following the path to improvement. No matter if “the man” has got you down, I urge you to master the fine art of stick-to-it-ivness. It will define you.
If you have your own practices, whether they are generational or age-related, regional in nature, or gender-specific, please add them. I thought this would be a fun, entertaining, and comical way to remind us the many ways cars shape and affect our lives – away from just the sales and service of them.
Do: Park your vehicle’s passenger side closest to the front door if possible when arriving at your date’s home.
Don’t: Park your vehicle out of sight from the home. When walking back to the vehicle, it makes them feel as if you are leading them to certain doom.
Do: Walk up to the date’s home to meet them.
Don’t: Lay on the horn repeatedly until your date hurries out of the home.
Do: Open up the passenger door for your date.
Don’t: Stand back 10 feet and watch as they get in the car by themselves, all the while creepily biting your bottom lip.
Do: Walk around the back of the vehicle to the driver’s door after closing your date’s door.
Don’t: Walk around the front of the car so your date can hear you mentally psyching yourself up for the night. (Pointing at your own face “Don’t screw this up! Don’t screw it up, you stupid S.O.B.”
Addendum: In days before power locks, it was only proper for the date to lean across and unlock the driver’s door for them.
Do: Have your radio turned off when you start the vehicle. If you know your date’s music genre of choice, a low volume radio station (not a CD – looks planned) can be turned on.
Don’t: Have speakers blasting hardcore gangsta rap, raucous heavy metal, or boy band music. It will either turn off your date or frighten the crap out of their parents still inside the home when they hear you blaring Eazy E’s song Hit the Hooker.
Do: Ask if the date is comfortable and adjust the air/heat to their liking.
Don’t: Demand that YOU put on their seatbelt for them and make animal noises as you drag the belt across them.
Do: Drive at a reasonable rate of speed and obey traffic signals.
Don’t: Drive recklessly and be overcome with road rage by cursing other drivers with sayings such as “I hope your BMW strikes a median and your family is engulfed in a ball of flames!” or “This funeral procession is the bane of my existence. Who do they think they are?! It’s not like the person in the hearse is in a hurry.”
Do: Make casual conversation.
Don’t: Talk about your car like it is a person. “She’s got an Orion subwoofer in the back. I give her bathes thrice weekly.”
And don’t speak about lascivious areas of your car – “Check out how big that back seat is.” “Hey, you ever see the inside of a trunk before?”
Do: Consider taking your date to a drive-in. They are still magical places.
Don’t: Drive to a completely deserted part of town and educate your date “This is where my uncle used to bring me when I was young. He should be getting out soon.” (then shiver).
Do: Wait until your date enters their home before you drive off. Make sure they get in safe. You don’t want them stuck outside. (If walking them to the front door is not necessary).
Don’t: Slam the door shut behind them and peel off dangerously down the road while screaming “Back to the motel room so I can get my drink on!”
These are just a few vehicle tips on how to handle yourself when on a date. I’m well past the age (or need) of dating so I’d like to hear from those others who are willing to share similar advice, as well as from those young single folk out there who have more up-to-date experiences.
Video excerpt of general session during sixth Digital Dealer conference in Las Vegas. Presented by Joe Webb, Kim Clouse, and Gilbert A Chavez at the Mirage Hotel and Casino for spring conference.
General session given by myself (Joe Webb), Gilbert Chavez, and Kim Clouse titled “Please, God…What Does It Take to Sell a Car?”. Filmed at the Mirage Hotel and Casino for spring conference – Digital Dealer Conference 6.
Here is the opening to our general session at the recent 2009 Digital Dealer Conference general session at the Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Well-received and we thank you for that.
With so many vendors available to your dealership, it becomes difficult separating the worthy from the not-so-worthy.What vendor is right for you during these trying times is one of the more difficult questions to ask. Some dealerships are even creating Vendor Relations Manager positions just to have one person dedicated to fielding endless calls, sitting through sales pitches and managing the plethora of companies pounding on your dealer door.Someone must determine what, actually, is worth your time?
For those of you who know me or have read my columns, you know that in my articles I share my own experiences, opinions, musings and struggles.What I write is never meant to be an indictment on any one individual or service, just my own perspective.(With a preface like this to an article, I know many of you are saying “Uh-oh…who is he going to tick off?”That’s not the case.)I just want people to remain focused on their own interests and not let the interests of others affect their own judgment.This is near an impossible feat in the world of vehicle sales, but I’ll type on.
Many of us are attending NADA in New Orleans this month. We’ve visited the recent Digital Dealer Conferences and walked through the vast exhibit halls.The NADA Convention, much like the DD conference, is filled to the brim with worthy programs, services, and products trying to earn your business.All of these vendors can add one new dimension, for the most part, to your sales or fixed ops needs.However, I ask again, what is worth your time?
At my previous dealer, I fielded the incoming calls from all new sales vendors looking to promote their wares.I’d sit through countless presentations of their services and create my own analyses that I’d share with the owner and general management.Over the past few years, the amount of internet-focused programs seems to have tripled, as have the calls and showroom visits from their representatives.With the internet-based programs, though, many seem to be targeting such a small segment of your business that, while the service may yield more sales, the overall impact is minimal.
When I would meet with a vendor representative, I would always ask how many sales they would expect us to generate from adding their service.On several occasions, the reps’ answers to this question were “Even if you sell three cars, the program pays for itself.”I despise this answer.I believe every vendor’s program is, at the very least, valuable enough to sell three cars.Selling three more cars, though, is not a dealer’s goal.Three more cars sold in this economic climate will not make or break a dealer.Dealerships should focus on forming partnerships with vendors that will sell them thirty (not three) additional vehicles.I equate those representatives whose intent is to sell in their product for the promise of three sales to new-age snake oil salesmen. (Pardon the gender-specific title).
There are programs out there that can help your dealership move 30 or more vehicles a month.
These types of online services can play a significant role in your store’s survival.The other online vendors offer amazing tools that will help you shift your dealership’s culture online as well, but likely wouldn’t have the same influence on sales as the others.Let’s face it.Dealers are cutting back their spending.Even the dealerships leading the game know they cannot be involved with every opportunity.We must evaluate what vendors we will succeed with and are whether we are willing to back the vendors we choose with our own optimal effort.(It is a two-way street).As a dealer, you must work for your vendor as much as they work for you.As a vendor, you must ensure your product is capable of delivering great successes consistently for clients.If your product, program, or service is hit or miss in its success rate, it may be time to go back to the drawing board and develop an initiative that all dealers covet.Easier said than done, I’m sure, but belief in your product is not always enough.
So when walking through the exhibit halls at the NADA Convention (or any other conference for that matter), keep in mind that your goal should be to find a vendor willing to help you grow your business by leaps and bounds – not baby steps.Don’t be marveled by the miracle medicine being pitched.Be pragmatic.While online initiatives remain the way to go in today’s marketplace, realize they don’t all cure what ails you.