Adapt or Die - Executive Summary

In Adapt Or Die, industry insider Kurt Baumberger outlines the current state of auto-

motive retailing and the demise of the ―Brick and Mortar‖ Dealership. The Internet is

destroying Dealer profits and one look at a Dealership's financial statements shows Deal-

ers must change how they "go to market."

Just like computer, book, and electronic retailers over the last few years, automotive

retailers are being forced to quickly transition to online shopping. Customers want a con-

venient, low pressure way to shop and buy a car online coupled with a follow-up online

service relationship. Dealers need a way to meet these Customer demands by utilizing

Behavior Tracking to intelligently guide customers down the sales funnel.

Consumer-centric, insightful, implementation savvy, the author has worked with

Amazon, Dell, Best Buy, and others to build their e-commerce businesses. Now, in this

straightforward and insightful book, Baumberger shares his online retailing wisdom with

the automotive industry.

You'll see why traditional Dealership retail approaches won't work - and what simple,

proven, profitable strategies exist today to get a jump on online solutions that will profita-

bly drive sales in the next decade.

Adapt or Die:

How The Internet Is Destroying Dealer Profits

And What To Do About It

IN THIS SUMMARY, YOU WILL LEARN:

Why ―Brick and Mortar‖ Dealerships must transform into Virtual Dealerships.

How to select a viable ―go to market‖ virtual strategy.

How to build internal support to sustain implementation of your virtual strategy.

Why Behavior Tracking is the ―silver bullet‖ for implementing your virtual strategy.

How to increase profitability through customer demand marketing metrics.

February 2010

by Kurt Baumberger

CONTENTS

Customer Demands

Page 2

Failure To Adapt

Page 3

Success Strategies

Page 4

Strategy Implementation

Page 5

BT: The “Silver Bullet”

Page 6

What To Expect

Page 7

Getting Started

Page 8

Man

agem

ent S

trategy

THE SUMMARY IN BRIEF

Since the first Dealership opened, the focus of the Dealer-

ship was to drive traffic into the showroom. So when the Inter-

net arrived, it seemed logical use the Internet as a new advertis-

ing medium to continue to get customers to ―Come On In.‖

Summary: ADAPT OR DIE

by Kurt Baumberger

2 Strategyview Executive Book Summaries®

The author: Kurt Baumberger is the president of MarketSquare Solutions, an Atlanta based sales technology firm that has worked with Apple,

Coca-Cola, Proctor & Gamble, HP, Dell, Best Buy, Staples, Office Depot and others to drive e-commerce sales while cutting expenses. He speaks

to audiences across the country and has been featured in USA TODAY, Fortune, and MSNBC.com.

Adapt or Die: How The Internet Is Destroying Dealer Profits And What To Do About It by Kurt Baumberger. © 2010 by Kurt Baumberger.

Summarized with permission from the publisher. 225 pages. $19.95. ISBN: 978-0-557-26569-5. www.lulu.com/buy

For additional information on the author, go to http://www.MarketSquareSolutions.com

Part One: Truth Hurts

Internet Profit Destruction

The Internet has radically changed marketing and customer

expectations. There are horror stories and hero stories of com-

panies making the leap to Internet marketing. The good news

is that Dealerships can learn from other industries and avoid a

lot of mistakes. Dealerships are not destined to end up on the

retail dump heap like Circuit City, Linens and Things, Mont-

gomery Ward or K-Mart. But to do so means Dealerships need

to begin thinking like Amazon, Apple, Dell, Lending Tree and

others that are thriving in the E-Commerce world of price wars,

―me too‖ products, and unrelenting customer demands.

So how did these successful companies tackle the Internet?

Look at Apple Computer doubling its revenue growth and prof-

itability through the most difficult worldwide economic reces-

sion since the Great Depression. What does Apple know that

Dealerships don’t? First and foremost, Apple understands

Marketing. That’s Marketing with a capital ―M‖, not a lower

case ―m.‖ The difference is profound.

Big “M” Marketing defines the strategy that is the heart

of everything an organization does. Marketing defines who

you are, what you do, why you do it, and to whom you do it.

That means the real responsibility for marketing belongs to

everybody in your dealership, particularly the Dealer and his

right hand man, the GM.

So what will big ―M‖ Marketing do?

Create customer demand for your Dealership.

And until that happens, nothing happens.

Dealership Internet Evolution

Dealerships published their inventory on their websites

along with some copy about why the Dealership was the best to

do business with. Eventually, Dealerships added some inven-

tory pictures and hoped that people would wait long enough for

the images to populate before the dial up Internet connection

from America Online broke down.

Fast forward to today, you now know that you can adver-

tise your vehicles with multiple pictures, streaming video, and

more information than customers can possibly handle. And

you’ve proven that you can build advertising awareness of your

Dealership. But can you profitably sell utilizing the Internet?

After all, the sole purpose of Marketing is to get more peo-

ple to buy more of your product, more often, for more money.

That’s the only reason to spend a nickel. If your online Mar-

keting efforts are not delivering customers with their wallets in

their hands to buy your vehicles, don’t do it!

To make matters worse, Dealership advertising, websites,

direct mail have traditionally focused on only one thing—price.

But since the Internet provides price transparency on Dealer-

ship Invoice Prices, customers have no interest in your price

advertising message. Customers want out-the-door prices—or

they won’t come in the door.

That is unless you provide hassle-free transactions where

price is only one component of the buying process. Then, you

are on the road to profitability.

Part One: Truth Hurts

Internet Profit Destruction

Customer Demands

1. Customers expect full E-Commerce capabilities. Dealerships must

deliver eye-popping innovation.

2. Customers seek effortless and instantaneous performance from all

Internet websites. Dealerships must provide a hassle-free sales

transaction process.

3. Customers demand 24/7 service – and raise their standards con-

tinuously. Dealerships must react in real-time.

4. Customers expect to pay no more than invoice for new cars. Deal-

erships must create a more efficient cost structure.

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

1995 2000 2005 2010

Showroom Traffic/Month

Internet Leads/Month


by Kurt Baumberger


Over the last two decades, there has been a radical change

in retailing. First, Big Box chain retailers demolished the small

independent retailers. Then, Internet retailers destroyed the

Big Box players. The retail industry transformed from inde-

pendents to chains to online players in the blink of an eye.

Look at the list of retailers that no longer exist or are fac-

ing bankruptcy: Circuit City, Linens and Things, Borders, Ritz

Camera, Big 10 Tire, Crabtree and Evelyn, Bi-Lo, K-Mart,

Blockbuster. The Internet forced them to lower prices to

compete, but they couldn’t (or wouldn’t) adapt their business

model to adapt.

There were plenty of warning signs. In the late 1990’s,

Dell introduced a new Sales Model that revolutionized the

computer retail experience and virtually wiped out all the inde-

pendent and even some chain retailers like CompUSA. Dell’s

innovation was to automate the entire sales process: Make Se-

lection, Determine Price, Add Accessories and Finance Pur-

chase.

Sound familiar? These are the same basic steps in automo-

tive retailing. Dell commercialized this process and created a

multi-media experience of pop-up explanations, start to finish

workflow, and real-time shopping cart pricing calculations.

Now, customers are comfortable configuring a $1,000 com-

puter or $70,000 server system. Dell made it straight forward,

automated, and user friendly.

By standardizing the buying process, Dell helped to shift

power permanently away from the retailer to the customer.

With the click of a mouse, customers can find what they want,

where they want it, at the price they are willing to pay, and can

select the delivery method they prefer. Now that customers

control the purchasing process, no retailer is ever going to get it

back, including automotive retailers.

Why Walk-In When You Can Click-In?

Failure To Adapt

Customer Online Behaviors

1. 90+% of car buyers use the Internet as their primary infor-

mation source

2. Three-fourths of car buyers make their initial Dealership

contact through email

3. 60+% of car buyers said that if they received a competitive

price and compelling reason to buy from a Dealership that

they would stop shopping elsewhere

4. 28% of car buyers said that if they received a competitive

price and compelling reason to buy from a Dealership that

they would merely compare price with one other source to

ensure it was “fair and reasonable”

For some strange reason, Dealerships (like many other

businesses) always assume their business is ―different.‖ Deal-

ers often claim customers want a ―relationship‖ or need to

―look you in the eye.‖ But Dealerships ignore the fact that

there is 200+% turnover in the industry. After all, people have

relationships with people, not things.

Think about it. The Dealer is out of the showroom. The

GM is at the desk. The Sales Manager is always busy. So who

exactly is the customer supposed to have a relationship with?

In the pre-Internet days, the name of the game was main-

taining sales control and avoiding customer ―Be Backs.‖ To-

day, Dealerships don’t even know who is shopping online or

what they want or how to meet their needs. Everything is hap-

pening in an Internet ―black hole.‖

Market research shows not only that the buying experience

is radically different today, it also shows customers are willing

to buy from Dealerships at a ―fair and reasonable‖ price.

But the reason Dealerships are not different from other

retailers is because they serve the same customers. And cus-

tomers follow the path of least resistance to acquire what they

want at the lowest possible price with the least hassle.

To prove the point, look no further than how Dealership

showroom walk-in traffic compares to Internet Lead traffic

over time. Customers are clearly following the path of least

resistance and choosing to ―let their fingers do the walking.‖


by Kurt Baumberger


Most Dealerships have never had to discuss or consider

their ―go to market‖ strategy. Their focus was always on peo-

ple and process because they always assumed there would be

showroom traffic. But what happens when there is no show-

room traffic? What happens when the bulk of the customer

buying process shifts to the Internet ―black hole.‖

Fortunately for Dealerships, they don’t have to develop

their ―go to market‖ strategy. Customers have already made

the strategic choice for you. Remember, customers are in con-

trol. Dealerships lost their leverage when customers gained

―perfect information‖ and ―price transparency‖ online. So

Dealerships just have to focus their efforts on executing that

strategy with distinction.

The three basic ―go to market‖ strategies are:

Product Differentiation

Customer Intimacy

Operational Excellence

Product Differentiation

A Dealership delivering value via Customer Intimacy

builds bonds with customers like those between good

neighbors. Customer-intimate Dealerships make a business to

know the people it sells to and the services they need.

A Dealership pursuing a Product Differentiation strategy

needs an inventory of products that push the envelope. Their

manufacturers must concentrate on offering vehicles that ex-

pand performance boundaries or can reasonably claim to be

uniquely designed for unusual experiences.

There are only a few vehicle brands that can credibly exe-

cute a Product Differentiation strategy, including Jeep, Land

Rover, Subaru and Volkswagen.

So what can a Dealership do to create real product differ-

entiation? Authentic experiences.

Requirements:

Make long-term commitment of three (3+) years

Keep content refreshed; at least weekly updates

Involve customers in contributing content

Focus on affiliation; do not sell products or services

Customer-intimate Dealerships don’t advertise or price

promote and don’t try to pursue transactions; they cultivate

relationships. They seek to build ―transferable trust‖ from the

initial transaction to the service department to word of mouth

referrals.

Customer-intimate Dealerships sell ―high-line‖ vehicles,

such as Acura, Bentley, BMW, Cadillac, Jaguar, Lamborghini,

Lexus, Mercedes Benz and Porche.

Successful customer-intimate Dealerships are those that

have become expert at understanding their customers’ needs

and at creating solutions. Customer-intimate Dealerships take

the long view. They recognize that the onus is on them to con-

vert a transaction to a steady client – a lasting asset.

So what can a Dealership do to create real customer inti-

macy? Concierge Services.

Requirements:

Make long-term commitment of at least three (3) years

Create one-on-one problem/solution messages

Deliver messages from women, not men

Focus on personal assistance

Part Two: Sell More To More For More

Strategy Is Everything

Customer Intimacy

Operational Excellence

Operationally Excellent Dealerships deliver a combination

of quality, price, and ease of purchase. They are not innova-

tors, nor do they cultivate one-to-one relationships with their

customers. They execute extraordinarily well and their value

proposition to customers is low price and hassle-free transac-

tions.

Consequently, these Dealerships are characterized with

processes for end-to-end sales and service transactions that are

optimized to minimize cost and hassle. Operations are stan-

dardized, simplified, and tightly controlled, focusing on inte-

grated, reliable, high-speed transactions that result in high in-

ventory turnover.

To be sure, price remains the focus of Operationally Excel-

lent Dealerships. But they have also come to terms with the

critically important fact that they must strip out cost (people)

from the historically labor-intensive sales process.

The Dealerships best suited to an Operational Excellence

strategy include Chevrolet, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Mazda,

Nissan, Toyota, Volvo.

So how does a Dealership create Operational Excellence?

Operational Excellence requires fundamental restructuring of

people and processes which is the focus of the rest of the book.

In Round 1, the Tiger Team must come to an understand-

ing of where your Dealership currently stands and evaluate its

performance honestly. It is important to tap into the customer

experiences of ―front line‖ Dealership personnel to answer:

What are the value dimensions customers care most about?

For each dimension of value, what percentage of custom-

ers focus on it as their primary or sole decision criterion?

Which competitive Dealerships provide the best value in

each of these value dimensions?

Where does your Dealership stand relative to its competi-

tors along these dimensions?

Where and why does your Dealership fall short?

For example, Dealerships implementing a Operational Ex-

cellence ―go to market‖ strategy may discover that the dimen-

sions of value are hassle-free transactions, wide product avail-

ability, and fair price.


by Kurt Baumberger


The implementation of a ―go to market‖ strategy requires

the leadership of your organization, a Tiger Team. The ideal

Tiger Team should include a coalition of Dealership personnel

and vendor partners with specific roles.

The Dealership personnel should include the GM, Internet

Manager, Finance Manager, and Fixed Operations Manager.

The vendor partners should include the Dealership’s Website

Provider, CRM Provider, DMS Provider, and a Professional

Services Integrator. You are making a fundamental investment

in your future – time to adapt or die. So you must invest the

time and effort to have this transition led by your best and

brightest.

The Tiger Team needs to spend time coming to grips with

the reality of the situation. Do not let them make simple as-

sumptions or take short cuts. The goal in this stage of develop-

ment for the Tiger Team is to establish a common understand-

ing about the current health of the Dealership.

It is crucial that the Tiger Team conduct three rounds of

work:

Round 1: Where Are We Today?

Round 2: How Do We Need To Change?

Round 3: What Needs To Get Done?

Round 1: Where Are We Today?

In Round 2, the Tiger Team shifts from agreeing on what

the Dealership is today to agreeing on how the Dealership

needs to change to achieve its business objectives.

To get started, the Tiger Team should explore the follow-

ing questions for each value dimension discovered in Round 1:

How does each dimension of value affect the Dealership’s

customer expectations?

How do your closest competitive Dealerships achieve

these standards?

How is the operating model of these Dealerships designed

to attain these levels of performance?

The Tiger Team should rate each competitive Dealership

from +5 to -5 against these core value dimensions. The team

should draw on its collective knowledge where your Dealership

has lost business and why the business was lost. This will re-

sult in an accurate, fact-based assessment.

Next, your team will rate your Dealership on the same core

value dimensions. The process may reveal things that you do

not want to face. Painful as it may be, this exercise must take

place before your Dealership can be strategically repositioned

to compete and win.

Part Three: Get It Done

Strategy Implementation

Round 2: How Do We Need To Change?

Round 3: What Needs To Get Done?

In Round 3, the Tiger Team should list all of your ―touch

points‖ – places where your Dealership interacts with your

customers. You’ll be amazed at how many there are and how

each one either adds or subtracts to what you want to be in cus-

tomer’s minds.

The Tiger Team should report back with thoughtful an-

swers to the following questions:

What are all of the customer ―touch points‖?

How does the new strategy change each touch point?

What resources are needed to implement the change?

How will these changes increase revenue and profitability?

What critical factors will make this solution successful?

How will the Dealership make the transition to this new

strategy over the next 30, 60, 90 days?

This is where a Professional Services Integrator really

makes a difference. They can provide a set of store operating

processes that are easy to implement and sustain.


by Kurt Baumberger


Now that you have identified your customer touch points,

it is time to deliver them through your primary sales channel,

the Internet. You’ll recall that over 90% of customers use the

Internet before they interact with a Dealership. Now, you need

to create a 24/7 sales solution that automates and micro-

manages that last golden mile using a “Virtual Showroom”

that gives customers the access and freedom they want.

Fortunately for the automotive industry, ―Brick and Mor-

tar‖ retailers have already created a clear blueprint of what is

necessary to build a Virtual Showroom designed to meet the

needs of the Internet customer. Even better, instead of trying to

build your own Virtual Showroom, you can easily add a web-

based SaaS (Software as a Service) system to your current

CRM and DMS to provide a comprehensive solution. These

SaaS solutions provide a flexible, low cost way to get into the

game quickly.

But the most important advantage to Dealerships creating

their Virtual Showrooms today is the recent development of

Behavior Tracking. Behavior Tracking is the process of iden-

tifying individual customers on the Internet and tracking their

behaviors so you can understand their specific ―needs and

wants‖ based on their online activity. Behavior Tracking trans-

forms the Internet from a ―black hole‖ to a sales process where

customers move themselves down the sales funnel without the

Dealership lifting a finger.

There are three critical components to all retail virtual

stores. First, content is king. Second, process is critical. Third,

the buying process must be automated.

Content: Let’s start with content. Your website needs to

do more than list your inventory. It needs to be surrounded

with information about each piece of inventory much the same

way that Amazon provides pictures, video, specifications,

manufacturer editorial, and 3rd party editorial reviews.

Process: While any website can be loaded full of content,

without a clear buying process, these websites are nothing

more than ―brochure-ware.‖ These types of websites employ a

―Search and Destroy‖ approach that forces customers to shop

in a random process.

The key to success is the ease of use and natural naviga-

tion that the website provides for the customer. Customers are

accustomed to an online shopping process that flows in a step-

wise fashion, yet is flexible enough to allow customers to

change their minds, skip ahead, or start over. Virtual Show-

rooms must have a built-in navigation process:

1. Vehicle Availability - Do you have the car I want?

2. Vehicle Specifications - Does it have the features I want?

3. Vehicle Price - What’s your best price?

4. Vehicle Accessories - What can I add and for what cost?

5. F&I -What about warranties or other options?

6. Trade-In - How much is my old car worth?

7. Financing - Can I get approved for a loan?

8. Appointment - When can I come in?

Yet, most Dealership websites today simply declare,

―Here’s what we’ve got. Good luck.‖ There is no navigation

process to guide customers where you want them to go.

Automation: The final piece of the puzzle is to automate

each step in the buying process. What you are doing through

this automation is allowing customers to move themselves

down the sales funnel.

Once implemented correctly, your Virtual Showroom

transforms a nameless ―Unique Visitor‖ on your Dealership

website to a known Internet Lead. And with Behavior Track-

ing your Dealership will be completely armed with information

about an individual customer’s ―needs and wants‖ to drive ap-

pointments and close deals.

Implementing these critical components will immediately

reduce operating expenses while improving sales effectiveness.

The Silver Bullet: Behavior Tracking Virtual Showroom Critical Components

Behavior Tracking Sales Alerts

1. Alerts tell your Dealership that a specific customer (name,

phone number, email) is looking a vehicle online (year,

make, model) in real-time.

2. Alerts summarize all behavior for a given customer regard-

less of when they began their buying process.

3. Alerts can suggest how to follow up based on an individual

customer’s behaviors.

4. Alerts can be aggregated overnight to deliver daily “follow

up” tasks for every salesperson or Manager.

5. Alerts can show which sales lead sources deliver “hot” Inter-

net Leads based on how leads behave.

6. Alerts allow Managers to oversee how Internet Leads move

through your Virtual Showroom just like they monitor your

“Brick and Mortar” Showroom from the desk.

Dealership Net Profit Contribution


by Kurt Baumberger


After you’ve built a process driven Virtual Showroom, the

Dealership should turn to milk the ―cash cow‖ of the business,

Fixed Operations. Once more, Behavior Tracking is the silver

bullet when building a Virtual Service Department and here’s

where the power of Social Media can help.

Social Media is designed to be highly accessible and scal-

able. It’s a way for you to transform your Fixed Operations

service message monologue (one to many) into a viral social

message that can be shared among friends and family (many to

many).

Imagine opening up a new communication channel with

your customer base on their mobile phone. Now imagine your

service department promotions going ―viral.‖ That’s the power

of Social Media—let customers do the work for you.

Unfortunately, there is a lot of ―noise‖ about creating a

Facebook page or a Twitter connection. But these forms of

Social Media don’t advance customers down the sales funnel.

However, a smart phone Service Department application com-

bines a specific offer with a way to immediately respond.

Am I suggesting firing all your new vehicle salespeople?

Well, before you reject this idea as shear lunacy, let me tell you

about a couple of Dealerships that have done just that.

They started by putting in place a Business Development

Center (BDC) that hired only women between 40-50 years old

and paid them $15/hour without the traditional bonus for ―Set

Appointments.‖ These women were trained on the different

products sold at the Dealership.

Then, young women between 21-29 were hired as Dealer-

ship “Ambassadors.” These Ambassadors greet customers as

they walk into the Dealership where customers are surrounded

by signs that say, ―Putting FUN back into buying a car!‖ The

signs explain that no one is on commission and promises to

make your visit the best experience you’ve ever had.

The Ambassador takes the customer through a checklist of

activities. Once completed, the Ambassador asks if the cus-

tomer would like to purchase the vehicle. If the answer is yes

or maybe, then the customer is escorted to a Finance Manager

with a guarantee that the deal will be done within 30 minutes.

Virtual Fixed Operations

Do You Have The Right People?

Over the last four years the economics of every Dealership

has drastically changed. New car profits have plunged into

negative territory and new car sales are now a loss leader.

Seemingly overnight, the two profit levers of the business

became Pre-Owned vehicle sales and Fixed Operations. We’ve

already discussed the necessity to build a ―Virtual Showroom‖

and ―Virtual Service Department‖ to meet the demands of to-

day’s customers and strip out costs along the way. So now the

question is whether you have the right people to affordably sell

new vehicles where you make little or no profit?

What’s Been Gained?

The Dealerships smart enough to ―fire all of their salespeo-

ple‖ have gained a tremendous amount even during difficult

economic times. Here’s a partial list of what they’ve gained in

a short period of time:

Increase sales 5% vs. industry decline 20-40%

Average $1,500-2,500 gross profit on new vehicle sales

Reduce operating expenses 30%

Reduce advertising expenses 30%

Reallocate 50% of advertising expenses to online

Limit turnover to 15% for full-time employees

There are a host of gains that are more difficult to quantify.

These Dealerships report a much higher level of enthusiasm

and teamwork. The GM’s uniformly report a palpable sense of

pride of ownership within the Dealership and more affection

between customers and the Dealership.

Making such a radical change is probably not something

most Dealerships feel comfortable embracing. But there is a

middle ground.

Pre-owned vehicle sales remain a key lever of the Dealership

business model. Specifically, there is more profit to be made

on pre-owned vehicles so there is more room for sales commis-

sions to be paid. And selling pre-owned vehicles requires more

sales skills since there is inherently even less trust between


by Kurt Baumberger


buyer and seller. Customers want to know about the vehicle’s

history, what’s been done to improve its performance, what’s

covered under the manufacturer’s warranty, what’s covered

under the Dealership’s warranty, and more. While many of

these processes can be automated online, pre-owned customers

are more willing to work with a salesperson to address their

issues and specific concerns.

The writing is clearly written on the wall for the traditional

―Brick and Mortar‖ Dealership. You need to take the plunge

and build a strategically sound Internet infrastructure sooner

rather than later. It is time to Adapt Or Die.

Don’t let your Dealership’s epitaph be listed as:

We should have tried something different.

We should have asked for help.

We lost our courage to change.

Ask for help from Professional Service Integrators who are

―cars guys‖ and know the business inside and out. After all,

failure is not an option.

Dealerships measure all kinds of things. A lot of Dealer-

ship measurements are great – number of appointments, num-

ber of appointment shows, and number of units sold. And

some Dealerships drill down further and measure traffic, deals

lost to bad credit, and the number of ―Be Backs.‖ These efforts

are absolutely critical because all that matters at the end of the

day is driving profitable sales.

And that’s where the conundrum lies. When I visit Deal-

erships, they can tell me how many units they’ve sold and how

much money they are losing or making. But they can’t tell me

how they got customers to show up and buy.

Measure Customer Demand

Part Four: Measure, Refine, Repeat

Key Business Indicators

So how does a Dealership measure customer demand? Do

you know how many unique visitors visit your website each

month? Do you know your conversion rate from your website

to Internet lead? Do you know your Internet Lead conversion

rate to sales for the leads originating from your website?

All of these questions are measurements of demand for

your Dealership and your products. All of your marketing ef-

forts should be specifically designed and executed to drive de-

mand. And you spend tens of thousands of dollars every

month. Do you know what you get for that investment?

And do you know how many customers visit your website

for Fixed Operations? Do you know your conversion rate from

your website to Service Appointments? Do you know your

gross profit on Service Appointments originating from your

website?

And if you don’t know these things, then how can you

make intelligent business decisions about where to allocate

resources? How do you know where to increase automation to

strip out costs? How do you determine if your people (your

highest variable cost) are focusing on the activities that will

maximize your Return On Investment (R.O.I.)?

Getting Started

Demand Metric Industry Benchmark

Best In Class Dealerships

Website Unique Visitors 3,000 5,000

% Unique Visitor Converted to Internet Lead

3-4% 8-12%

# Website Internet Leads 90-120 400-600

% Internet Lead Appointments

30% 75%

# of Internet Lead Appointments

27-36 300-450

% Internet Lead Appointment Shows

50-67% 75%

# Internet Lead Appointment Shows

14-24 225-337

% Internet Lead Appt. Shows Sales Conversion

50-67% 75%

# Internet Leads Sold 7-16 168-253

% Internet Lead Sales Conversion Rate

8-13% 42%

# Internet Leads Blown Thru 83-104 232-347

% Internet Lead Blow Thru Rate

92-87% 58%

Integrator Contact Info Experience

Kurt Baumberger

MarketSquare Solutions [email protected]

Apple, Amazon, Coca-Cola, Dell, Ford, GM, Honda

Tom Fee Verity Partners

[email protected]

Booz & Co. Consulting Retail & .Com Consultant

Steve Stauning

Kain-Stauning

[email protected]

Reynolds and Reynolds Asbury E-Commerce

David Kain Kain-Stauning

[email protected]

Dealer Principal Founder, Ford Direct.com

mailto:[email protected]



Documents

Adapt or Die - Executive Summary