Posts Tagged ‘vendor’

Vendor Scorecard

Wednesday, April 27th, 2011

With advancements changing in the online marketplace daily, vendors must realize their products must change as well…just as quickly.  Dealers won’t wait around forever as their vendor clients continue to sit on their hands.  So here is my challenge to every vendor:

I want a Vendor Scorecard.  I believe vendors should create a scoring system that allows all of their dealers to see, review, and vote on what advancements their teams should put into action.  Not support issues (though a Vendor Scorecard could be beneficial for this as well), but an idea exchange where people on the ground can tell the people in the high rises what their system NEEDS to be able to do.  It could be a small password-protected community within your software that allows ALL dealers to post their product enhancement requests so that ALL other dealer clients can see.  Make it available to your own loyal public.  Each product enhancement request should be time-dated and stamped so we know just how long it takes the vendor to react.  Not respond… react.  Fix.  Change.  Develop.

Then, take it to the next step, and allow every dealer client to VOTE on which product enhancements they most desire to see active sooner rather than later.  You will create your own weighted scale as to which improvements to focus on completing.  If you so desire, consider giving those few dealers that utilize your system to its fullest, are your oldest clients, or represent you in the online communities a heavier VOTE than others.

The automotive resource site, DrivingSales, has taken one step by bringing Vendor Ratings into the forefront and asking the automotive retail professionals that peruse this site to vote on who and why they recommend the companies they’ve chosen.  This has been a good way to help vendors gain exposure and allow dealer personnel to give feedback to their peers.  When a vendor’s reputation is questioned on these sites, it is amazing how quickly they respond.  They either scurry to cover up the negativity or do their due diligence to correct it before it damages their business.

The end goal here is to let your own community of clients that USE your product to IMPROVE your product.  I think there is a progressive way to do this without risking a vendor’s reputation.

If you are a vendor reading this, please don’t hate me for saying it, but your product/solution/sites CAN improve.  Not “will”, but “can”.  You can enhance your offerings to dealers if you just listen closely to your current clients.  As someone who helps dealers maximize their current providers’ solutions, I see far too many no-brainer enhancements that still are not being implemented.  When I request a change from a vendor or give them (free) advice on how to better their offerings, I hear the same responses constantly.  “We are working on it.”  “I’ll pass it along.”  “That is scheduled to be in our next release of enhancements 6 months from now.”  What else do I hear?  “I don’t understand.”  THAT is the problem.  You aren’t using the product the same way an Internet Sales Manager or Sales Manager uses it so you have your blinders up to the real needs of your software.

Dealers are asking themselves daily:  “Where the heck do all of my product requests go?”  “How many times do I have to suggest an improvement for it to go overlooked?”  “When will this feature become available or active?”  “Is anyone listening to what I want?”

I see no better way to get a vendor’s attention than making product enhancement requests a centerpiece to their customer service initiatives.  Customers will finally be able to track their relationship with the vendors and hold them accountable if need be.  Make them time-stamped suggestions with enough of your constituents voting for it and there will be no way a dealer can have a deaf ear.  It is time more vendors listen to their clients first instead of listening to their own random ideas.

As I said, this is a CHALLENGE.  The first vendor who decides to make the direction of their technology a democracy by creating a similar Vendor Scorecard available for all of their dealers wins my approval and another blog post dedicated to their innovative ways.  Fair enough?

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Are Your Emails Being Tivo’d?

Friday, May 7th, 2010

I bought a Tivo the very first month they were introduced in the market. I wanted to be a pioneer before an early adopter. I paid the $300+ one-time fee that was available to be granddaddied into the service for life. Shortly thereafter, they began charging a monthly subscription fee for those jumping on the bandwagon late – so I felt on top of the world for several years (until I switched over the a regular DVR). I haven’t watched commercials since. Never. I will pause a show, find something to do, and return just to fast forward it. I hate advertisements. Now stick with me here as I connect this, as per usual, in my stream of consciousness way.

Dealers ask me to mystery shop them frequently and give them my assessment of their email templates. Over time, I’ve found that dealers are pushing to be more progressive, more professional, in the emails they are sending out to customers.

In the past, emails were sent in plain text, easily read, the occasional spelling error mixed in. Then we began including banners of the dealerships for branding and pictures of the Internet Sales Managers thrown in for good measure. Today, templates have involved into flashy, overdesigned advertisements.

I understand why dealers have paid vendors for these jazzy versions of email responses. They want to appear to be as sophisticated to their consumers as possible and they’re looking for some conformity for all of their templates.

Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but I believe these glittery, some say garish, email template advertisements being sent out (being paid for) are getting your customers to fast forward, to Tivo, past your emails. I check email much the way everyone else does, and when I see a bright, shiny picture to review – or worse, click to “show images” – I click past. There is very little value to me in an email that appears to be nothing more than a template advertisement. It is just like a commercial in need of skipping.
There are some consumers out there, I could imagine, that prefer these snazzy, ostentatious emails, but to most who take the time to submit an inquiry, they want a proper, personal email back. They don’t want something that looks as if it is an automated, showy response that is all glitz, no guts.

This is the same reason why some CRMs allow dealers to decide if they want their emails to be sent in html or plain text format. The same reason other CRMs let the dealers decide if they want to include the “opt-out” message or not to their automated templates.

Don’t get me wrong. I actively train to send dynamic video messages, include fun, personal pictures in the emails, and well-created e-Brochures. However, I also request that there are a variety of templates being sent. Specifically, in the initial emails sent, it is important they get through spam filters which is why a plain text email works best. It also seems that a customer would be more willing to read something being sent from a person than a computer system. (And I won’t even delve into the content being sent – which is just as important.)

So put yourself in your customers’ shoes. Sit in their living room and flip open the laptop. Mystery shop yourself and determine if your emails are coming across as emails or getting fast-forwarded like commercials. Do the templates look like the normal spam emails you receive and automatically delete? If so, change the design of what you’re emailing. Don’t let your prospects Tivo past the value propositions you are sending.

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Posted in Blog, Lead Management/Follow-up Process | No Comments »



Your Social Networking Resolution

Sunday, January 10th, 2010

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.

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Posted in Blog, Social Media/Reputation Management | No Comments »