Dealership Innovation Guide - Q3 2011

Quarterly ranking of dealership vendors & best practice guide

DrivingSales.com is a Vendor Rating and Best Practice community for Dealers and Dealership Managers to connect and

collaborate on dealership strategies.

3rd Quarter 2011

Jeff Cryderfrom Lebanon Ford tells us how they Increased Sales 230% by turning the dealership into a Social Business!

Learn about QR Codes

15 Marketing Essentials You MUST Implement

p.28Why Internet Budgets are Bad p.34

Back to Basics: 10 Point SEO Inspection Checklist

p.40

by Matthew O’Such

by Jared Hamilton

by Tracy Myers

2 3 r d Q u a r t e r 2 0 1 1 | DrivingSales DEALERSHIP INNOVATION GUIDE www.DrivingSales.com

These and many more critical topics are addressed in

the new Dealer Pain Points series from NADA

University—all at no charge. Short 2- to 3-minute video

vignettes and a meeting guide provide the foundation

for a productive 30-minute meeting with your

dealership staff.

Straight-to-the-point videos instruct you on what to do

to address the issues and opportunities facing your

dealership. For more training resources, click on the

PDF unique to each pain point for a listing of what is

available and where to find it.

Skills + Accountability = Results

Pain PointsResolve

d!

What “pain” are you feeling — how to grow the

business, reduce expenses, keep up with the social media scene, or

ensure compliance on the many legal and regulatory requirements?

NADA University offers a

broad selection of resources

to support you. visit:

NADAuniversityblog.com for the Dealer Pain Points and 30-Minute Meeting Guide.

NADAuniversity.com to train, track, measure, and monitor

with ease.

NADA U: We build champions!NADAuniversity.com • 800.557.6232

PainPoints_NADAU.indd 1 4/27/11 9:13 AM

3 www.DrivingSales.com DrivingSales DEALERSHIP INNOVATION GUIDE | 3 r d Q u a r t e r 2 0 1 1

Dealership Executives,

2011 is shaping up to be a strong year of record profitability for dealers, as we’re hearing fantastic reports of growth and profit in the industry.

In the last few months, we’ve seen massive changes in the digital marketing space, too: Modifications to Google’s search algorithm again requires us as dealers to adjust our SEO strategy; the elimination of 3rd party reviews on Google Places forces us to re-evaluate how we manage our online reputation; the new analytics tools entering the market are finally helping businesses like ours to quantify ROI. These con-stantly changing rules and strategies, although frustrating at times, continue to provide opportunities to dealers who are paying close attention to the market and will bring the innovators to the top.

There are many dealers in the automotive industry that are taking full advantage of the digital mar-keting space and creating online strategies, which is necessary since 90% of all consumers are online. But what’s scary is that this dealer group that is powering full steam ahead on the web, still only makes up 10% of our industry. For those people looking to bring education and training to their staff, we’ve officially launched the DrivingSales University, in partnership with NADA University. DSU is a fully interactive, online training platform offering the world’s best education for dealership digital marketing strategies. It features over 250 modules that form the DSU curriculum and leading experts in the indus-try as instructors.

For more information, visit DrivingSalesUniverity.com or NADAUniversity.com.

For those dealers who are progressive in the industry and are looking to take their digital business to the next level, we invite you to the DrivingSales Executive Summit on October 9-11 at the Bellagio Las Vegas. The third annual event will bring together the most progressive dealers in the country, along with world-renowned speakers such as New York Times Bestselling author, Gary Vaynerchuk; location-based guru, Aaron Strout; social media expert, Jason Falls; as well customer service champion, Rob Siefker from Zappos.com. The event is focused on pushing the auto industry’s ‘innovation boundaries’ and translating the latest trends and business realities into solid 2012 action plans for every dealership department. As always, the exclusive dealer-driven event has a vendor-neutral policy, meaning there is no vendor influence on presentation selection and we adhere to a strict dealer-to-vendor ratio.

Register quickly at DrivingSalesExecutiveSummit.com. We anticipate a sell-out event, just as we’ve seen in years prior.

I’m excited that the industry is back and that profitability is on the rise, but we certainly don’t want to remain complacent. Let’s continue to look for opportunities in the market and capitalize on the infor-mation out there.

Looking forward to seeing you all at DSES,

Thanks,

Jared HamiltonFounder of the DrivingSales.com dealer community

“Two heads are

always better than

one. We’ve got

the whole industry

talking...”

LETTER FROM THE FOUNDER:

Jared Hamilton,

Founder/CEO of

DrivingSales.com,

welcomes you to the

3rd Quarter issue

of the Dealership

Innovation Guide!

Dig in and enjoy, and

don’t forget to share

your thoughts online

at DrivingSales.com!


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VendorRatings6 Why Vendor Ratings7 Dealership Websites8 3rd Party Leads8 Online Classi�eds/Vehicle Listing Services10 Customer Relationship Management Systems (CRM)10 Dealership Management Systems (DMS)11 Internet Lead Management (ILM)12 Inventory Pricing12 Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

14 Narrowing the Great Digital Divide18 The Proper Model for Advanced Dealership Marketing22 Six Technologies that will Transform the Retail Automotive Market23 New Social Media Strategy Transforms Dick Hannah Honda26 Why Velocity Management28 Link Building Tips30 Selection, Hiring and Orientation for your Internet Department34 Why your Service Department is Costing you Car Deals36 Microsites, Blogs, Social Media, Oh My!39 Winning Online40 Social Media Marketing: a party not a pinch37 Seven Process Points: Your Store Must Execute44 ISM Pay Plans46 Internet Departments are on the Decline

BestPractices

2009

It’s Like a20 GROUP

forTHOUSANDS!

Vendor Ratings

Dealer Discussions

Expert Blogs

“How to” Videos

Strategy Sharing

Peer Networking

GET CONNECTED

DrivingSales.com

DrivingSales.com

VendorRatings

ExpertArticles

6 Why Vendor Ratings?7 New Car Leads8 Websites8 Call Management9 SEM - PPC10 DMS10 Database/Owner Marketing11 Reputation Management11 Search Engine Optimization (SEO)12 CRM12 Inventory Pricing13 ILM13 Chat 14 Used Car Advertising14 Internet Trainers

16 How Becoming a Social Business Increased Sales by 230%21 How Many Customers Do You Lock in Your Showroom at Night?23 Understanding the Basics of The New Media Mix 25 I’m For Sale! Are You a Sole Proprietorship?28 Back to Basics: 10 Point SEO Inspection Checklist32 The iPad’s Influence on Auto Shopping34 Why Internet Budgets are Bad38 WordPress: A Great Tool for Innovation40 15 Marketing Essentials You MUST Implement To Successfully Position Yourself As An Expert In Your Industry And Build Your Local Celebrity Status46 To tool or not to tool, that is the question...

COVER STORY:JEFF CRYDERfrom Lebanon Ford tells us how they INCREASED SALES 230% by turning the dealership into a SOCIAL BUSINESS

LOOK AT WHAT THE DEALERS ARE SAYING:Don’t forget to rate your vendors again. You can now rate every quarter!


Why Vendor Ratings?

The DrivingSales Vendor Ratings site is the first formal mechanism for dealers to rate and review their vendors in a comprehensive, real-time vendor directory. It empowers dealers by allowing them to learn about all the solutions available and to view actual customer feedback, both good and bad, about how each solution actually performs. The DrivingSales Vendor Ratings system is like a real-time Consumer Reports* protecting dealers’ interests and helping them make more informed investments.

Vendor Ratings Rules & SafeguardsDrivingSales.com maintains and enforces a strict set of rules to ensure dealerships have accurate, honest and up-to-the-moment information.

Rules• Only dealership employees can post ratings and reviews. Reviewers are verified to ensure they are valid

and eligible to leave reviews.• Dealership employees can only rate and review the products they have experience using. The ratings are a

chance to hear from actual customers with live experience using the solutions in their stores.• Each reviewer must answer three questions to complete their rating:

1. How many stars does the solution deserve?2. Would you recommend the solution to a friend?3. Why would or wouldn’t you recommend the solution?

• All three components of the review, along with the job title of the reviewer, are posted live to DrivingSales.com for all to reference when selecting new vendors.

Safeguards• DrivingSales.com protects the anonymity of each dealer employee who leaves a rating and review. How-

ever, DrivingSales requires valid name and contact information for each reviewer so that each reviewer can be validated.

• Each review is passed through a variety of technological checkpoints to ensure vendors are not gaming the system. Furthermore, DrivingSales staff calls to verify a large percentage of the reviews.

Vendor RankingIn each product category the vendor solutions are ranked in real-time as each new dealer rating is submitted. The vendor products are ranked based on a weighted Bayesian Algorithm. This is a standard mathematical cal-culation that looks at the number of stars the reviewer gave as well as the statistically valid sample size needed, relative to the competitive set, to create a ranking based on the statistical accuracy of the results. Sometimes a company with 3 stars will rate above a company with 4 stars if mathematically the first company has a higher probability of success based on the submitted reviews.

We encourage all dealers to rate and review their vendors by visiting www.drivingsales.com/ratings

VendorRatings

*DrivingSales.com is in no way affiliated with Consumer Reports.


Dealer Satisfaction Awards

The DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction Awards recognize those solutions with the highest vendor ratings. For each category within the vendor ratings there are three award winners, the “Highest Rated” vendor and two “Top Rated” vendors. These awards reflect products and providers with a proven record of success and excel-lence in serving their dealer clients. The Dealer Satisfaction Award trophies are presented annually.

Rankings

Only dealership employees are allowed to rate their vendors on DrivingSales.com and all submitted ratings are verified. The vendors are then scored and ranked using a weighted Bayesian Algorithm (shown below). Some-times a company with 3 stars will rate above a company with 4 stars if mathematically the first company has a higher probability of success based on the submitted reviews. The Dealer Satisfaction Awards are based solely on the aggregate of all dealer ratings submitted from January 1 to December 31 of any given year.

New Car Leads

These providers collect and aggregate leads from their web properties and from partner sites, then distribute these hot leads to dealers. Currently this category is for both finance and vehicle leads.

Dealix Dealix New Car Leads 271.0 85%

Cars.com NewLeadsPlus 20.6 66%

ZAG Zag Sales Strategy 19.1 71%

AutoUSA AutoUSA New Car Leads 1.38 88%

Autobytel Inc. Autobytel New Car Leads .48 78%

Black Book Online Division Activator .23 90%

Dealercentric Solutions Get Preapproved in Seconds .13 100%

Kelley Blue Book KBB New Car Leads .11 50%

Company Product Score Rating Recommended


VendorRatings

Websites

These full service websites are built to be the main hub of your dealership’s online presence and are central to your dealership’s marketing, branding and customer service. Note: MicroSites and MobileSites are rated in their own categories on DrivingSales.com.

Dealer eProcess Dealer eProcess Dealer Websites 30.3 100%

Dealer.com SmartSites 14.0 82%

Cobalt Cobalt Websites 12.1 67%

Nexteppe Websites 6.83 100%

DealerFire DealerFire Custom Websites 3.91 100%

POTRATZ Custom Auto Websites 2.05 85%

WorldDealer, Inc. Ultra 7.0 Websites 2.00 100%

TK Carsites Dealer Websites 1.35 64%

VinSolutions VinSolutions Dealer Websites 1.08 82%

DealerOn Flex Sites .597 100%

Dealerskins Dealer Web Solutions .596 65%

Reynolds and Reynolds Dealer Websites (WebMakerX 2.0) .437 60%

eBizAutos Dealer Websites .402 70%


Call Management

Solutions that track inbound calls through designated tracking phone numbers so that you can manage your marketing spend and increase ROI.

CallSource CallTracking 3.02 92%

Who’sCalling Who’sCalling 2.81 65%

Callbright Inbound Lead Tracker 1.26 88%

eLEAD eLEAD Call Center .39 100%



Only dealership employees are allowed to rate their vendors on DrivingSales.com, all submitted ratings are verified. The vendors are then scored and ranked using a weighted Bayesian Algorithm. Sometimes a company with 3 stars will rate above a company with 4 stars if mathematically the first company has a higher probability of success based on the submitted reviews. These Vendor Ratings are based solely on the aggregate of all dealer ratings submitted from July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011.

2011

SEM - PPC

These solutions help you determine how to invest and execute a Pay-Per-Click campaign on the major search engines for greatest ROI.

POTRATZ Search and Behavioral for Web 2.44 100%

PCG Digital Marketing PPC Management Service 1.71 100%

Dealer.com TotalControl DOMINATOR 1.01 85%

The Local Search Group Eagle Edge PPC .16 100%

ReachLocal-Automotive Division ReachLocal Digital Marketing .15 77%



VendorRatings

Dealership Management Systems (DMS)

Dealership Management Systems connect all your dealership departments with accounting and maintain your dealership data in one central place. These ratings are for the DMS systems themselves, NOT the solutions that plug into the DMS systems such as a Desking or CRM solution.

Reynolds and Reynolds Reynolds ERA DMS 42.3 57%

ADP Dealer Services ADP DMS 27.3 45%

DealerTrack DealerTrack Dealer Mgt System 3.2 68%

AutoSoft DMS AutoSoft DMS 1.2 85%

Reynolds and Reynolds Reynolds POWER DMS .62 46%

Auto/Mate Dealership Systems AMPS .30 100%


Database / Owner Marketing

These targeted solutions help you mine and segment your customer database, and then market to them success-fully. These solutions can market to your customers through email/direct mail/phone and other means.

J&L Marketing, Inc. Sales Events 121.0 100%

@utoRevenue @utoRevenue 28.5 94%

CIMA Systems Complete Virtual BDC 25.7 100%

Cobalt Cobalt Owner Marketing 5.1 81 %



Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

These companies will help get your website optimized so that it shows up higher in the search engine rankings. These services generally include both on-page and off-page optimization.

eXtéresAuto eXtéresAUTO - SEO 21.4 98%

PCG Digital Marketing PCG Strategic Digital Marketing 13.0 98%

Dealer.com ManagedSEO 1.5 92%

Cobalt PowerSearch .75 81%

TK Carsites TK SEO .65 90%

Dealer eProcess Power PageRank SEO .19 100%



2011

Reputation Management

These products and services help a dealer manage its online reputation. They may assist with review collection, monitoring, resolution and promotion of online reviews.

eXtéresAuto Online Reputation Management 33.6 96%

DealerRater.com Certified Dealer Program 10.7 87%

Time Media Inc. Time Reputaion Mangement .44 100%

PCG Digital Marketing Reputation Management Services .32 100%



eCarList TrueTarget 63.8 100%

vAuto vAuto - Pricing, Appraising Tools 17.2 98%

FirstLook FirstLook - 360º Market Pricing 1.6 100%

DealerTrack DealerTrack AAX 1.3 83%

VinSolutions MotoSnap Market Pricing 1.1 83%

VendorRatings

Autobase Autobase CRM 57.3 94%

VinSolutions VinSolutions MotoSnap CRM 11.6 87%

DealerSocket DealerSocket CRM 10.2 88%

Reynolds and Reynolds Contact Management 8.88 43%

eLead eLead CRM 3.18 77%

CAR-Research CAR-Research XRM 2.09 97%

iMagicLab Dealer CRM 1.14 73%

The Higher Gear Higher Gear CRM 1.05 50%

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Variable Ops: these are CRM systems that track all your walk-in, phone and Internet customers through the complete sales funnel and owner life-cycle. They allow for advanced customer segmentation and marketing and track your sales activities by employee to make your team more effective at attracting customers and managing relationships.


Inventory Pricing

With market volatility and transparency increasing online, knowing how to price your inventory is a science critical to increasing your store’s profitability. These “Inventory Pricing” tools collect various forms of market data to help define the optimum pricing for your inventory to maximize both Gross and Turn.




2011

VinSolutions VinSolutions MotoSnap ILM 2.3 90%

AVV Web Control .56 67%

ADP Dealer Services NetTrak Lead Manager .43 50%

Dealer.com Control Center .37 76%

iMagicLab Internet Lead Management Tool .16 66%

Chat

These solutions allow you to meet, greet and converse with customers who visit your website, as well as set ap-pointments, generate leads and provide better customer service.


ContactAtOnce! LLC ContactAtOnce! IM/Chat 20.6 93%

Activengage Activengage Chat 1.76 97%

CarChat24 CarChat24 - 24/7 Fully Staffed 1.63 92%

Dealer eProcess PRO-ACTIVE Live Chat .53 95%

Client-ConneXion Chat-ConneXion .24 100%

Internet Lead Management (ILM)

These Internet Lead Management solutions are built exclusively to handle incoming Internet leads and manage your Internet sales process. Many full-service CRM systems include Internet Lead Management features, but the ILM systems listed below are stand alone utilities built exclusively for managing Internet Leads.



VendorRatings

Internet Trainers

Consultants and trainers who focus on bringing online success to dealerships belong in this category. General Dealership Consultants, Sales Trainers and Fixed Operations Consultants belong in their own categories.

PCG Digital Marketing Brian Pasch 25.9 100%

eXtéresAuto eXtéresAuto - Dealer Training 1.69 100%

DealerKnows Consulting Joe Webb .89 100%

eDealer Solutions Jennifer Suzuki .33 85%

Dealers Technology Rafi Hamid - Auto Consulting .20 100%


Used Car Advertising

These consumer facing websites allow you to display your inventory to in-market consumers. They make huge media buys to attract customers to your inventory, and to increase your walk-in, phone and web leads.

AutoTrader AutoTrader.com 44.6 72%

Digital Compass Marketing Automotive Advertising Network 10.6 100%

Cars.com Cars.com Online Advertising 8.3 84%

Dealix UsedCars.com 2.6 90%

Dealer Specialties www.dealerspecialties.com .93 78%

Liquid Motors Inc. Inventory Data Distribution .17 100%

Automotive.com Used Car Classifieds .06 60%

AutoUSA AutoUSA Inventory Listing Network .04 100%



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How Becoming a Social Business Increased Sales by 230%

eff Cryder came to Ohio’s Lebanon Ford as a recent graduate from Miami University (OH). Fresh out of college, he was working as an intern to manage the Facebook Page for the dealership. Just over a year later, he’s now the Marketing & Communications Director running a team that coordinates all of the

store’s marketing efforts in-house. But of course, the road there wasn’t all covered in roses.

The Story

As with any dealership, ideas are not quick to implement. Aside from the fact that our industry tends to be slow to transition in general, implementing new strategies, ideas, or marketing efforts tend to be costly and time consuming, and there is way too much money to be lost. So when Jeff butchered the store’s marketing budget and created a new digital budget and brand new marketing strategy, suffice it to say the owner of the store wasn’t quite on board. But despite getting torn apart by his boss, Jeff knew he had the map to the treasure sitting in his hands and so struck up a deal. Jeff was willing to do it all out of his own pocket. The deal was he would do everything social media oriented for the store, recalling telling his boss, “I’ll do everything from me, and I’ll show you that this works, and I’ll show you I know what the hell I’m doing and when that happens, you will give me a media budget and you will allow me more resources and be more open to my ideas.” And that was the agreement Jeff struck with his boss. He had from May to December to prove that his digital strategy would work and that it was the right direction, and if he was successful, his boss would give Jeff more control, more help, and the store would fully embrace what he had set out to do. “It was important to show her that I was willing to sacrifice for the betterment of the dealership because I believed the direction. I knew where we needed to go was the right way.” It took quite a bit of personal

sacrifice, but by December of 2010, it had paid off.

Right now, Lebanon Ford is operating at an unfathomable pace and has been since Jeff began implementing his social strategies. June 2011 is officially on the books as their best month ever. In fact, compared to June 2010, Lebanon Ford increased sales by 230%. 230%!!! Year-to-date, they are pacing a 70% increase over 2010, which was by far their best year. “We are seeing steady growth in all sectors which is fantastic and the sky really is the limit to where we can go with this in terms of our engagement. Our goal is to be the largest Ford dealership in our region. The growth is not spiking, but it’s steady, consistent growth.” Additionally, Jeff got the help that he was promised as well, bringing on Zach Bello, a 2011 graduate from Miami University with a degree in Business Marketing and a focus in Interactive Media Studies. Zach serves as the Digital Communications and Marketing Manager alongside Jeff, both using their trained communications and marketing knowledge to create a dynamic approach to social business.

The Approach

“We really take an approach of we’re marketers, we’re social marketers and we’re using the dealership as a laboratory, as an incubator, to cultivate how to utilize social and transcend social media principles and become a social business.” Jeff doesn’t think about his work solely as a social media strategy – social media is just another part of the business model. He’s working on transitioning the store to a social business and aiming to close the experience gap for customers between the store’s online presence, and their in-store atmosphere.

Jeff saw the need for this approach when Ford Motor Company rolled out with the Fiesta Movement. The Ford Motor Company would interact with their followers online, share with them about the Fiesta Movement, provide great customer service, and

by Lindsey Auguste

Jeff CryderLebanon Ford

Marketing & Communica-tions Director

J


build relationships with their customers. Then, those customers would go down to their local dealership and be unable to get an audience with the Manager or owner, or would inquire about the Fiesta Movement and the store wouldn’t even know what the customer was talking about. Either way, it created a bad experience for the customer and a separation between the Ford image online and the Ford atmosphere in the store. Jeff saw the same type of interaction occurring at the local level. “If we’re doing things online and we’re approachable and interacting, and then they come to the store and that experience isn’t the same, it’s all for naught. We’re marketing outside of our expectations.” By closing that experience gap for the customer – so that whatever is happening online and whatever customers are seeing online is the same experience that they have on the lot in the dealership –everything is maintained, everything is synergized with the same message.

That message is Connect. Engage. Drive. Connect to exceed expectations, engage to grow relationships, and drive to build trust. That was the first step in the social branding which feeds into all the other activities and strategies Jeff and Lebanon Ford incorporate.

The Actions

Connect. Engage Drive. How? They offer 24/7 customer engagement via social media and they are constantly creating conversation, monitoring conversation, or directing conversation. And where there is usually a marketing coordinator within a dealership, Jeff, Zach, and their team are the marketing coordinators, giving them complete control over the messages. Their day is spent on the touch screen or laptop keyboards trying to create new ways to reach out to their customers. Their blog is an essential way they reach out to their customers, as well as their recently launched podcast, providing prospective and current buyers with shopping knowledge. And, with Ford coming out with some sophisticated technology in their vehicles, Jeff also created a MyTech Team. Jeff declares, “They are almost like a Geek Squad or Genius

Bar, for your car,” handling all technology issues with the cars for customers, such as troubleshooting over phone and email, and making house visits to inspect the car itself.

One specific campaign that they’ve implemented to increase engagement with their customers in their community is the “Drive One a Week” campaign. In essence, Jeff and his team identify people of influence in the market area, build a relationship with them, and when the time is right, pitch them the idea of driving any Ford vehicle of their choice for a week. “We tell them to take whatever vehicle they want and do what they do best. Talk about it. Blog about it. Share about it.” The success that has accompanied this campaign is multi-fold. Not just from promoting the brand and product, but building their network. They’ve essentially built a network around their market area of people of influence, all having a common thread between each other: Lebanon Ford.

The Learning Curve

The incredible advances that Jeff and his team have made in the dealership are striking and have made a profound impact on how social media can be used in the automotive world. But much like getting the whole process started, the road to success wasn’t easy. Something that Jeff cautions against in creating a social appearance is implementing before strategizing. It’s important to get started in the social world, but going in and typing away on a Facebook page is not the most effective way to do it. Jeff made this mistake when he first got started and was forced to take a step back and reevaluate what he wanted to accomplish. “We needed to accomplish reaching our customer base and making those touch points with our current customers, and social offered a way to doing that, by using Facebook as a social tool for maintaining customer interaction, interaction they want to be a part of because they opted into.”

The learning curve quickened when Jeff and his team

If we’re doing things online and we’re approach-able and interacting, and then they come to the store and that experience isn’t the same, it’s all for naught. We’re marketing outside of our expectations.


Once per year, at the start of the fourth quarter, the nation’s most progressive dealers gather with world leaders in social media, search marketing, business strategy and more, to collaborate and begin creating their dealership’s business plans for the following year.

DSES prepares the attendees to attack each year with an aggressive strategy and a strong edge on their competition. Each year, these dealers push the limits of success and pro�tability.

If you are looking to truly dominate your market with innovative social media, search and other online strategies, register now. Seats are limited and the event will sell out, as it has in years past.

Leave Your Competition Behind.

Progressive Dealers. Advanced Strategies. Big Pro�ts.

October 9-11th, 2011Bellagio, Las Vegas

“DSES is by far the most progressive event in the automotive industry. It keeps my store ahead of the competition and my team growing. Every cutting edge dealership executive team should attend to get their strategy honed in for maximum success.”

Andrew DiFeoManaging Partner

Hyundai of St. Augustine

The DrivingSales Executive Summit is powered by DrivingSales.com, the world's largest automotive social network.

October 9-11th, 2011Bellagio, Las Vegas

Seating is limited and will go fast.DrivingSalesExecutiveSummit.com

DrivingSalesExecutiveSummit

presented with

REGISTER NOW!

As a subscriber of the Dealership Innovation Guide, we have arranged for you to receive a $100.00 discount o� of the lowest published registration fee (while supplies last).

Register now using code DIG11 to save.

Quarterly ranking of dealership vendors & best practice guide


Gary Vaynerchuk

Aaron Strout

Jason Falls

Rob Siefker

Google

Paul Potratz

JD Rucker Kevin Root

Jared Hamilton

Owner - WineLibraryTVHow this best selling author

Tech CEO Panel

DSES KEYNOTES

DSES SPONSORS

AGENDAOCTOBER 9, 2011 3:00pm - Keynote :: Jared Hamilton 3:45pm - Keynote :: Paul Potratz 4:30pm - Keynote :: JD Rucker 5:00pm - Keynote :: Jason Falls 6:00pm - TK Carsites wine reception

OCTOBER 10, 2011 7:30am - Continental Breakfast 8:00am - Keynote :: Kevin Root 8:55am - Keynote :: Aaron Strout 9:30am - Best Idea Contest 10:45am - Breakout Sessions 1 - Mark McGurren Internet process / Closing rates - Tracy Myers Dealership branding - Cory Mosley Managing people

11:40am - Breakout Sessions 2 - Je� Cryder Social Media - Brian Pasch Search marketing

12:30pm - Lunch Break 1:30pm - Breakout Sessions 3 - Eric Miltsch Website optimization - Dan Moore Web productivity - Ben Anderson Mobile strategy - Roundtable Discussions 2:20pm - Breakout Sessions 4 - Shaun Raines Strategic management - Dennis Galbraith Analytics - Roundtable Discussions 3:15pm - Innovation Cup 4:15pm - Keynote :: Gary Vaynerchuk 5:00pm - Vaynerchuk Book Signing 5:30pm - Networking Reception

OCTOBER 11, 2011 8:15am - Continental Breakfast 9:00am - Keynote :: Google 9:45am - Keynote :: Rob Siefker 10:30am - Technology CEO Panel 11:30am - Award Ceremony 12:00pm - Event Concludes

took his family’s retail business from $4 mil to over $60 mil per year using social media.

Head of Location-based Marketing - WCG

Build e�ective location-based campaigns with social media and mobile e�orts to create a uni�ed approach to marketing.

Tae Kim & Jonika HoomesAutomotive consumer insights

from the world’s leading search engine, including SEM trends and Google Places, a hub for local buyers.

SocialMediaExplorer.comPro�t Is Not A Dirty Word On

The Social Web. Jason will talk about how to make social media work for your business.

Owner - PotratzPaul will de�ne what 2012’s

advanced marketing strategy for progressive dealers will look like.

New Media Director - TK Carsites

The convergence of social signals into search algorithms and other monumental trends.

CPO - Dealer.comKevin will release a

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CEO - DrivingSalesHow dealers should be thinking

about and managing the most important piece of their online strategy: their website.

In�uential Technology CEOsThe industry’s most in�uential

CEOs will share their vision of 2012 and take direct questions from the dealer audience.

Director of Customer Loyalty -Zappos.com

How Zappos built one of the worlds best customer service business in online retailing.

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began to see the social media tools as platforms instead of destinations. “One of the things we learned really quickly is that Facebook, Twitter, [insert tool here] is 5% of everything we do and that what really matters is the strategy. It’s more about what we’ve developed behind the scenes and how we utilize those tools to synergize our strategy.” Seeing the tools more as platforms to help

facilitate their business strategy was the fast track to accomplishing their goals.

And then there’s the other part of the deal Jeff struck with his boss over a year ago. Not just the personnel support and resource support, but the full embracing of everything that Jeff was bringing to the table. That has been instrumental in capitalizing on the social business model that Jeff has developed and in creating the social business that they’re seeking to be defined by. The strategy is engrained in everything Lebanon Ford does. Anytime there is a new campaign or promotion, there is a social aspect to it, in addition to dealership and traditional marketing aspects. “In order to make Facebook efficient, we needed to synergize all of our social media messages. In order to make social media effective, we needed to synergize all of our digital properties. In order to make our digital properties

effective, we needed to synergize our traditional, physical, and dealership experiences.” Integrating the digital efforts all across the store has even resulted in a restructuring of the Internet department and appointing liaisons between every other department and Jeff’s team, truly keeping them on track to become a social business.

The Small Cog or the Chessboard

It’s undeniable that Jeff Cryder has brought profit-building strategies to Lebanon Ford and a clear path to helping it become a social business in its own right. His talents far exceed his reputation and I dare say he’s only scratched the surface. So how did he end up in the car business? Sure he completed his internship in one, but after numerous offers at various marketing agencies, he’s still here:

“I fell ass-backwards into [this industry]. I was supposed to run the Facebook page for Lebanon Ford and then decided to stay here. I thought to myself ‘Do you want to be a small cog in the machine or do you want to be the chessboard and implement your ideas?’ There’s massive opportunity for someone just getting into an industry and seeing the opportunity to make a name for themselves and to have a hand in changing the industry. A

lot of industries are farther ahead in social and the auto industry is stagnant in a weird way.” But it’s those slow transitions that create the opportunity – create the opportunity for people to make a name for themselves, to have a hand in changing the persona of buying a car, to cultivate and implement ideas. Of course, stumbles will happen along the way, they’re inevitable, but turning those failures into successes and building upon them betters the company, the individual, and the customer experience. Jeff or Zach wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. “For him and I in terms of personal growth and professional growth, there’s not a better situation out there at all. At All.”

We’re glad Jeff decided take the plunge into the automotive arena and cultivate a social car business. It challenges all of us to close our own customer experience gap and explore the possibilities of social media. Thanks, Jeff, for your contributions to the auto world. We like you on our team.

To discuss this article and to view comments by others, please visit

DrivingSales.com/innovation___________________________

Jeff Cryder is the Digital Communications & Marketing

Director at Lebanon Ford. He’s a recent graduate of Miami University (OH) with a Bachelor of Arts in Mass

Communications with a minor in Political Science. He’s @cryderja on

Twitter and yes, fully realizes it’s a difficult handle to verbally decipher

(Think deutsche, cryder-ja! ). You can also find him on Facebook, Linkedin and Foursquare. His many interests

include but are not limited to: politics, sports, gaming, traveling and of

course the ever-changing automotive industry.

“One of the things we learned really quickly is that Facebook, Twitter, [insert tool here] is 5% of everything we do and that what really matters is the strategy.”


his is a question that I enjoy asking dealer contacts around the country when I hear there is not a process in place or a process isn’t followed consistently to respond to customers on the other end of the telephone or the Internet. Believe it or

not, as many of us are running full speed with our BDC departments and have been for years, there are still dealers around the country that either do not have such a department or have a half-functioning one. For those dealers that fall into the latter of the two categories, it is time to step back, take a deep breath, and get a plan together to maximize on the opportunities that are there just as a customer standing in the showroom. I have a strong passion for BDC department operations as many of you already know and my goal is to get dealers to read, get the ball rolling for their store, and achieve immediate results. To many, this article may seem elementary but every dealer isn’t running at the same pace. My goal is to get more dealers in the race. It is incremental business that is being missed. Complacency has no home in automotive retail and nobody wants to be left behind. The good news is that it isn’t too late.

I am a firm believer that the customers standing in the showroom and the customers sitting at home on their computer or calling the dealership on their telephone are no different from one another. Yet I still see or hear about it happening everyday that the customer at home gets pushed to the back burner until actual showroom floor traffic dies down or maybe not even responded to at all. Why does this happen? Is it lack of phone training or poor follow-up skills? Or is it that old school mentality of unless the customer is standing in front of you they aren’t a serious buyer? It is probably a little bit of all of the above. The truth is that almost all customers that eventually walk into the showroom have already been on the Internet researching, comparing and gathering all of the necessary information that they require until comfortable enough to call or pay the dealership a visit. By putting a BDC department

in place and managing it right, a dealership will significantly increase appointments which will lead to increased showroom traffic. So why not “up” the customer before they arrive and greatly increase the chances of closing the sale? The excitement and energy put forth with the customer on the lot should be just the same with the customer online or by telephone.

Now that it has been established that there isn’t any difference between the customer at home and the customer standing in the showroom, it is time to have the desire to focus more attention on the BDC department in the dealership and commit to it. Going through the motions and responding to leads only one time with a price quote will not do a bit of good. If I were in the market for a product and every company I contacted sent me a price quote when I inquired in general, I would keep shopping until I eventually got the lowest price and all others would never hear from me again. The goal is to sell the appointment and not the vehicle. It is very hard to build value in something over email. If the customer does not provide a phone number and requests information, a call to action to the telephone should be clear, asking the customer to call the dealership so the information requested can be discussed in detail.

Proper phone training is needed in order to

Chris CostnerSouthern Volkswagen at

GreenbrierBusiness Development

DirectorHow Many Customers Do You Lock in Your Showroom at Night?

by Chris Costner

T“Customers standing in the showroom and the custom-ers sitting at home on their computer are no different from one another.”


consistently sell the appointment and have the customer actually show up. Just as there is a process and steps to the sale with the showroom customer, there should be a process and steps to the appointment once the customer is on the phone. There are many call guides available to help pace the customer and keep control of the phone call also in which selling the value of the dealership can be included. Please remember they are guides and should be followed, but do not remove personality from the equation. When on the phone, never stop smiling. Customers can hear that smile over the telephone and it makes for a better phone call experience for both parties, hands down. Phone skills are the most important and dealers should be sure to have the right staff in this position.

I hope by now that the dealers reading this are pumped up and

feel the excitement they will create when going full force with the BDC department. It is a full-time job and should be staffed as such. It’s time to stay focused, do a virtual walk-through of your website and make sure all inventory has pictures with the most up-to-date information. We are in July and nobody is interested in the sale that went on during the second week of June. The website should be monitored daily.

Finally, be prompt in getting the information back to the customer and answering their questions. One thing I dislike is someone ignoring a question I asked in the beginning. The more times a customer has to ask the same question, the less likely they will ever step foot into the showroom. One of the biggest complaints from customers is that of not getting a response at all from the dealership they inquired with.

That is the same thing as going home at night and locking a customer in the showroom.

The BDC train is now boarding.

Real Dealers. Real ROI.

RBM of Atlanta-North

gets 11:1 ROI with

eXtéresAUTO.

Bethany Johnson, Internet Manager, and Randy Powell, General Manager

Thanks to eXtéresAUTO, RBM of Atlanta-North (Mercedes-Benz) receives nearly 2/3 of its total business directly from search engines and online reviews. As GM Randy Powell says, "eXtéres is the most cost-efficient marketing we can do."

Find out how your dealership stacks up at Google and customer review websites. Call (888) 593-3139 or visit www.exteresauto.com/DS for a custom analysis.

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eXterres-Real-Dealer-Ad-final.pdf 7/20/11 5:14:19 PM



Chris Costner is the Business Development Director for one of the

largest Volkswagen dealerships in the United States. He began selling cars

over 11 years ago and has excelled in each position he has held. Chris has

always obsessed with automobiles and is truly an automotive

enthusiast. He is passionate about the automotive industry, in particular

how it pertains to American culture, the economy and self-expression.


he automotive industry has gone through a tremendous amount of fundamental changes over the past decade. Between manufacturing, distribution, and retailing, almost no part of the business has remained the same as it was ten years

ago. While this necessary change brings a wealth of new opportunity, it also presents some new challenges.

One of the greatest challenges is understanding that accessibility to information has largely increased. Previously, it was only the seller who had the majority of the information, but now the pendulum has swung to where the consumer has the same, if not more, information in today’s market. This market has greatly impacted the retail automotive industry and significantly compressed the gross profit margins of new and used vehicle transactions. But if gross profits per transaction are down, how can there still be so many successful dealerships staying in business?

Successful dealerships of today and the future must be run more efficiently than the dealership of the past. While attending the NADA Dealer Academy, the one concept that stuck with me the most was that you must “control the controllable.” In this article, I will focus on one particular controllable, advertising expense, and discuss not only why the dealership should shift the majority of their ad spend to digital media, but also how to maximize their return on investment.

Out with the old, in with the new

Before the Internet existed, there were only a handful of options when it came time to plan your advertising. The components of most media mixes consisted of mainly TV, radio, print, direct mail, the Yellow Pages, and outdoor advertising. The Internet has brought an overwhelming amount of choices when it comes to where you can spend your ad dollar: SEO, SEM, classified listing sites,

third party leads, display advertising, social media, mobile, video…you get the picture.

It is critical to understand that Digital Media is a much more cost effective way to spend your ad dollar versus “traditional” media. Here’s why :

• You will reach many more qualified, engaged consumers by being on the Internet where they are actively researching vehicles versus just opening up the mail, watching their favorite TV show, or sitting in traffic during their daily commute.

• There is enough Tier 1 and 2 advertising that will generate awareness of the brand/product within traditional media channels. That awareness simply drives people to the Internet to do more research on the product. In fact, even when a Tier 3 competitor advertises in your market, that’s a benefit! Your competition is simply creating more awareness of the brand for you.

• The advertising you do on the Internet has a high level of accountability. Through careful planning and measurement, you will know within a short period of time how effective or ineffective your digital advertising is, and you can make adjustments on the fly.

• Regardless of the state of the economy or the price of gas, there are always people researching cars on the Internet. Wouldn’t you want to be in front of those people 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, versus just hoping you got lucky with your latest direct mail piece, full page newspaper ad, or TV commercial?

The benefits and efficiency of digital advertising are undeniable, but with so many choices on how to utilize it, it can be quite a task deciding where to spend your money in order to maximize your return on investment in the Digital World.

Understanding the Basics of The New Media Mix

Andrew DifeoHyundai of St. Augustine

General Manager

by Andrew DiFeo

T


Fundamentals of the New Media Mix

The strongest Internet Marketing Strategy starts with a focus on the fundamentals. It’s my opinion (especially for big-ticket items like automobiles) that the number one result of any form of advertising is that it simply drives people to the Internet to do more research on that product or service. And because search engines play such a big role (if not the biggest) in the research process, it is important to have a solid strategy in Search. The first priority in your search strategy is Search Engine Optimization

and protecting your brand name on the all-important “Page One” of the search engine results. There are many businesses, such as your competitors, third party lead providers, and sometimes even your manufacturer, that want to be on page one of the organic search results page when someone types in your dealership name. A coordinated strategy of microsites, press releases, social media, blogs, video, and optimizing your main site can help push the competition off page one.

Following SEO, there are a few more fundamentals to focus on:

Search Engine Marketing – Once a strong SEO strategy is in place, turn to SEM/Pay-Per-Click marketing to capture first party leads as well as conquest consumers researching other makes and models. But

beware: While SEM can be one of the most cost effective ways to generate first party leads, you can easily overspend in this arena. SEM is not a “set it and forget it” way of advertising, so if you don’t have the time to manage it on a daily basis, looking to a vendor to partner with on your SEM strategy might be an optimal solution.

Online Classified Listing Sites – The Internet gives the consumer the power of choice in a very time efficient manner. Instead of going from lot to lot or dealership website to website to find the perfect vehicle, millions of consumers

are visiting sites like Autotrader.com and Cars.com to assist them in their research. These sites provide a very cost effective way of displaying your inventory to consumers that might be located 50 or 100 miles away from your dealership who would be difficult to reach in a cost effective manner using traditional media.

Display advertising – I look at display advertising as the new TV commercial. Don’t focus so much on the click-throughs: Display is all about putting the right impression in front of the right consumer the right number of times. Your most effective spend in display is on automotive related sites versus general interest sites. Your display advertising will benefit you through all stages of the shopping funnel, as you will stay on top of mind while the

consumer researches the brand, model, and dealer with whom they wish to do business.

Third party leads, mobile sites, and videos can also play a role in your Internet media mix, but focusing on the fundamentals first will give you the best return on your investment. And while you can shift some of your ad dollars to that “shiny new object” you hear one dealer had success with on the Internet, I highly recommend you start with the basics.

Tying it all together

Just spending the ad dollars on the Internet won’t guarantee success. We found our results improved dramatically when we focused on vehicle merchandising, upfront and transparent pricing, and most importantly, online reputation. A strong online reputation will add credibility to all your advertising – both online and offline – and will help create trust with the consumer. Your sales process also plays a large factor in whether or not a customer chooses you, so be sure your sales force and management are prepared to work with the new, highly informed consumer of 2011!



Andrew DiFeo is General Manager of Hyundai of St. Augustine. He

has over 10 years of both retail and wholesale automotive experience.

Before entering the retail automotive industry, Andrew worked at Toyota

Motor Sales, USA, holding several field manager positions in sales, parts, and

service. Andrew has completed both the NADA Dealer Academy and the

NADA Executive Education Program.

“A strong online reputation will add credibility to all your advertising – both online and offline.”


rowing up, my dad used to say that he only worked ½ days. Of course that was 7am to 7pm, 7 days a week it seemed like. Such was the mantra of a small business owner. Everywhere we went I heard him say (indirectly)

“I’m for sale.” He was a master marketer promoting his services to all he knew before social media (heck before the Internet). Everyone I knew bought their used cars from him.

Today in order to drive sales, it’s important to answer the question “Are you your own brand and are you for sale?” Yes, you probably work for someone else that has an OEM brand, but are people buying from you because of you? Many of us need a paradigm shift. Whether or not your name is on the front door, success in retail automotive sales requires you conduct yourself as a sole proprietorship. This means that your competition is not just the brand across the street or the store in the next city, but the salesperson that sits next to you in those Monday morning sales meetings. Yes, your store will drive traffic, but it’s not just for you and while you may be friendly with your coworkers, your family gets zero when they sell a car and you don’t. Assuredly in today’s marketplace we cannot rely on just floor traffic to be successful. So shift your thinking: View yourself as your own business.

What is in front of us is the opportunity to run a business within a business and without the expense of the being the business owner. What a great opportunity we have in today’s market to build our brand without needing to invest large sums of capital. Think of the advantages you have of being your own business within a business. Do you pay rent, utilities or insurance? What does it cost you each day to keep that entire inventory? With minimal risk, we are truly presented with a unique opportunity to be successful.

While my dad used to boast that he only worked ½ days, I think he was wrong. He actually worked

24/7. As a small business owner, there are no days off. If you want to succeed to the next level you need to be available when your competition isn’t. The guy next to you is going to check out when their shift is done, but not you! Some will say that this is too much and that you need time away. Those who say that are not sole proprietors, they haven’t shifted their thinking. Life is easier and you have more energy when you are productive rather than watching 10 hours pass in a day doing nothing! This is meant for us to see a different way that can change our busyness into business!

Think of today as day 1 of your company. What are you going to do to promote yourself? Here are a few suggestions. Sure it’s going to cost you some money, but with all business’ you have to advertise and market your goods or services. While the list is far from exhaustive, if you start here you will be on your way to running a company within a company.

1. Do you have a business only cell phone? Probably the most impactful step you can take in running your new business is getting a separate and dedicated line. When that phone rings you will know its business! And it’s on 24/7!

2. Have an elevator speech prepared. In the past you told people who you worked for when asked, “What do you do for a living.” Today, you’re going to tell them about your new company! So instead of saying “I work at ABC Motors” you now tell them something like “I assist new and used car buyers in getting the best value on their next purchase. Most of my clients come from family and friends. Might there be something I can currently assist you with?”

3. Do you have business cards with your picture on it? People remember a face much easier than they do a name. As a business within a business, your image is your brand logo! Oh, and it has your new business number, too!

I’m For Sale! Are You a Sole Proprietorship?

Daniel BoismierThe Suburban Collection,

Internet Director

by Dan Boismier

G


4. Do you have notepad paper with your information on it instead of the glass company’s? Don’t have your business advertise for someone else! These are inexpensive and great to both use and handout. You know you are always looking for a piece of paper to write on!

5. Do you have your own personal marketing page that you use to promote yourself as a subject matter expert, showcasing your skills and satisfied customers? These are available via Ning and other

sites for minimal costs. You can get a unique URL such as your name or “city/brand” if available and begin using it. This page can be linked with social media, have RSS feeds of customer reviews and feature YOU blogging -- talking about what is important to your clients.

6. Are you asking for Facebook / Twitter referrals? Remember when we used to ask for customers to write down the names and phone numbers of 5 people who might need a car in the next 6 months? Well now you can ask that customer to write your contact info down along with a quick message on their social network so it gets broadcasted to possibly

hundreds of people.

7. Are you on Facebook or Twitter each day building top of mind awareness? That new phone you have should be enabling you to use apps on which you can instantly interact with customers. The good news is that in today’s rich social media environment, our ability to create a brand with minimal investment has never been greater. Social networking is nothing new, it’s simply having a for sale sign on your smile every time you meet someone. Social media

is new, and has given each of us the ability to exponentially broadcast our smile.

8. Are you promoting yourself on free sites like Craigslist? Yes, you can post specials almost every day and drive traffic to that new cell phone!

9. Are you asking your family to help you sell? We give our friends a $50 bird dog every time they send us a deal but what do we do with our family? What about setting a goal each month for them? If they help find 3 deals then the reward is…..? Your spouse and your kids should be listening and promoting your services. They will enjoy in your success!

10. Do all the shirts you wear say “ABC Motors” so that people say “oh do you work at…?” This is a conversation starter. Now you work for yourself, so when people say this, you then reply “Yes, I assist new and used car buyers in getting the best value on their next purchase. Most of my clients come from family and friends. Might there be something I can currently assist you with?”

Mix this with passion, a strong consultative selling, and personal customer relationship management, and your work will be rewarding and fun! If you have to spend ½ a day working, you probably want to make the most of it! Go start your company today!



Daniel Boismier is the Internet Director at The Suburban Collection,

a top 20 automotive group. He is an experienced automotive professional with an in-depth

experience and understanding of Automotive Retail, Digital Marketing

and Social Media. For more background information you can

view his public profile at http://www.linkedin.com/in/dboismier.

“What a great opportunity we have in today’s market to build our brand without needing to invest large sums of capital.”


1solution

to master the market

When Andrew Walser took over the family business from his father, Jack, he knew he had some big shoes to fill. Walser Automotive Group had a history of success that went back decades. Andrew started using vAuto’s Live Market suite of tools at his 13 dealerships in 2008, and their sales and used gross profit continue to exceed expectations.

“vAuto is part of the Walser Way of doing business.

Our customers appreciate our haggle-free pricing,

and it kept us in business these past few years when

other dealerships closed around us. I can’t imagine

selling cars without vAuto.”

With vAuto, Andrew has mastered his market. Visit vAuto.com/aw or call 877-828-8617 to learn how.

73percent increase in

used car gross profit2011 year to date

34percent increase in

used car sales2009 to 2010

18used inventory retail returns

2010

Andrew Walser, PresidentWalser Automotive Group Bloomington, Minnesota

11-MW-0247_ad_MasterYourMarket_Walser_forDrivingSales.indd 1 7/12/11 10:30 AM


ith the recent changes to the Google formula and other search engines quietly adopting similar habits, it’s a good time to run a 10 Point SEO Inspection Checklist on your own internet marketing procedures at

your dealership. If you’re hitting all of these points, you’ll be able to set aside worries, and know that your team is doing at least the most basic of SEO work.

Where to Start – Revisit the Basics

1. Research & Direction

Not knowing what your target audience is searching for, and the keyword phrases that are most typed into a search, can lead you down the wrong road.

The question to ask: What are our major and minor keyword targets?

Use free tools like Google Adwords Keyword Tool and Google Insights to determine what people are searching for, and if it is worth your team’s time and effort to target such a keyword. Using the keyword tool, test any keyword phrase you can think of – it’s free information that will shape your goals.

2. Benchmark Your Starting Point

Comparing month to month traffic is not always the best indicator of a successful SEO campaign. Seasonality affects many dealerships and unfortunately in this case, numbers can lie.

The question to ask: How are we measuring our success?

For the most part, traffic increases should occur at a gradual pace a few weeks and months into the start of an SEO campaign, provided the number of people searching for any given keyword you show up for doesn’t drop off. Benchmark the number of unique

visitors to a website during the month. If possible, compare it to year over year statistics, not just month to month. 3. Analyze Past Performance & Spend

Know the amount of time, money and energy your company’s previous attempts have spent on Pay Per Click (PPC) in order to evaluate your future performance in SEO. Don’t just throw more money in the budget without making educated changes, find out where your PPC spend went before and understand what the results were.

The question to ask: What is our conversion rate on our Pay Per Click campaign for our major keywords?

Find the words that are converting best, or you are paying the most for, and try to show up for those keywords organically. Conversion rate is a goal for any campaign, but why am I talking about PPC when this is an SEO checklist? The importance is their relationship to one another by looking at your Internet Marketing campaigns as a blended function. If you cannot achieve a goal with organic search results, one may have to rely on PPC. Once you are receiving a sufficient amount of traffic from multiple listings in page one’s organic SEO listings, then you can start testing your PPC budget, and by testing, I mean reducing. Gradually. Gauge the effect it has on your numbers and find the right blend of SEO and PPC.

4. Use the Search Engine’s Knowledge about Your Site

Google, Bing & Yahoo have made it easier in the last couple of years to understand what it is that they know about your website with Webmaster Tools. Another one of those free services that is the door to better performing SEO.

The question to ask: What do the statistics on Google Webmaster Tools say about our site?

Back to Basics: 10 Point SEO In-spection Checklist

Matthew O’SuchPCG Digital Marketing

Senior SEO Strategist

by Matthew O’Such

W


Some important factors to understand from Webmaster Tools include inbound links, keyword density, sitemap registration, missing links, and your website server speed. These are all factors that search engines take into account when calculating your value on the internet and where to place your listings. Know them. Correct issues Google reports to you, tell them where your XML Sitemap is located, fix broken links and if your server is too slow, upgrade.

5. Enhancing Community Relationships for Links

If you’re part of the community that surrounds the dealership, you know which organizations your company sponsors or donates its time to. Ask for a link back to the dealership, it’s a valuable ranking factor!

The question to ask: How many links do we have pointing back to the dealership?

Look to increase this number as time goes on. Find new resources in both your local and regional community. If you’re donating time and resources to a local charity, they usually do not have an issue with listing you as a sponsor of their events, and linking back to your website. Make sure these links are of good quality, not just “Bob’s Superstore” but a description of the dealership, with the important keywords being the clickable text like “Chicago used car dealer”. Other resources include local bloggers on a variety of topics, little leagues, question and answer forums, religious communities, and local car enthusiast sites.

6. Update your Title & Description Tags with Google Rules in Mind

Don’t just blindly start hacking apart the content, page titles and descriptions on your website, approach them from an educated analysis, taking into account the target keywords and how much room you can fill.

The question to ask: What does a “site:” search on our website say about us as a company?

Go to Google and type in “site:yourwebsite.com” and

see what it knows about your site. Your title tags and description tags are what populate the actual search results when your website shows up in a search. Is there a good call to action to click thru to your website? They’re also an important ranking factor, and without the right words in a Title Tag, you might as well not be listed in the results at all. Use Google’s Webmaster Guidelines to help you with their standards.

7. Keyword Specific Domain Names are Highly Valuable

One of the major ranking factors for search engine optimization is the keyword in the domain name (website name). Find out a list of domains your company owns and be sure there is a system in place to manage them. Then start researching new domains for the creation of blogs or microsites.

The question to ask: What domain names can we buy, or do we already own, which can be utilized for SEO?

A common mistake for newcomers to SEO is the myth that having many domains which are parked and redirected to the live website name, actually add SEO value. Unfortunately, this isn’t true; parked domains don’t offer extra value when redirected. However, this doesn’t mean you couldn’t put up a microsite or blog or your inventory of specials on a site that points back to your own domain from within the content.

Note: Always check with your compliance department before starting any new ventures in website creation; you don’t want your hard work to be pulled down after they get a look at it and tell you you’re doing something against compliance.

8. Monthly Content Writing, News, Blogs & Link Building

An important grouping of tasks which can be summed up into one concept: Expanding Your On-Site Content. It’s another of the major ranking factors for SEO, creating deeper, relevant content on your main website

“Start testing your PPC budget, and by testing, I mean reducing. Gradually. Gauge the effect it has on your numbers and find the right blend of SEO and PPC.”


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about the topics and keywords you are targeting.

The question to ask: What are we doing every month to expand our content and inbound links?

It’s the reason why blogs, review sites, forums and Q&A sites are so popular, user created content. They expand on their own, sometimes with a mind of their own and add value to themselves; user created content is why search engines rank these types of sites higher. But when you don’t have a forum for discussion on your site, the next best thing is a news and blogging section. Rewrite press releases and blog posts from existing OEM content, post on free press release websites with link back to your own site. Answer posts on local community and Q&A forums about cars, parts, or repairs. Provide links back to your website using keywords as the clickable (“anchor”) text.

9. Business Listings Effecting Google Places Results

Don’t forget to focus on your Google Places account (formerly Maps) for optimization. The same concepts of link popularity and depth of keywords applies to a Places listing except in place of links, you need to be in multiple listing directories, with matching information.The question to ask: What is our

score on Getlisted.org and how can we improve it?

GetListed.org is a free service which helps you determine if you’re in the top business listing portals, and if

that information matches across the listings. Consolidate all of your listing logins and passwords to a worksheet so you can easily manage updates. All category information, descriptions, phone numbers, addresses, even the way the company name appears, are valuable ranking factors. Be sure to include keyword phrases whenever possible in your write ups.

Don’t forget that Reviews are just as important as ranking. If you show up with less reviews than competitors, or a 3 out of 5 star rating, it’s just as bad as not showing up at all. Work all the resources for your Internet Reputation Management (IRM), not just one. Be sure to include Google Places, Yahoo Local, Judysbook, AngiesList, DealerRater, InsiderPages, CitySearch and many more.

10. Set Aside Time to be Successful

One of the most common pitfalls for failing SEO at car dealership is not having a dedicated staff member to handle this task as 75-80% of their work.

The question to ask: What amount of time per month are we dedicating to each brand for SEO?

From our estimates, an individual doing internet marketing and search engine optimization at a car dealership should be free to spend approximately 25-30 hours a month on their responsibilities to accomplish the most basic SEO goals. Consider Used Cars a brand and a half itself; you’re competing against many more locations than a branded dealership does.

I hope this checklist is helpful to those looking to be successful in Internet marketing, and keep in mind, the items above are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to a complete immersion in digital marketing. You’ll want to look at SEO, PPC, IRM, Mobile & Social Media, to name a few of the major topics that make up your entire internet marketing strategy.

“One of the most common pitfalls for failing SEO at car dealership is not having a dedicated staff member to handle this task.”



Matthew is a fanatic of Search Engine Optimization techniques, having

spent the last 12 years specializing in internet marketing and website

development. When he’s not fixing meta tags and training dealerships on better SEO practices, he’s doing

research and development on the latest Google releases and updates from their webmasters blog and testing white-hat

strategies. Matthew is the Senior SEO Strategist at PCG Digital Marketing in

central New Jersey.


The iPad’s Influence on Auto Shopping

Dennis GalbraithRevenue Guru

President, Founder

by Dennis Galbraith

he iPad may be described as the third wave of transformation caused by computer devices. It impacts how decision makers communicate with each other before contacting the store, how they shop within the store, and how they narrow

their consideration set of vehicles and stores online. Lastly, the iPad is likely to impact how shoppers make their initial contact with stores. While many of the findings in my research leading up to this article are as applicable for other tablets as they are for iPads, the latter is the dominant device and is expected to retain market share of over 50% for at least the next three years.

Internet access through PCs was the first major change. Although this brought fantastic access to information, PCs are not mobile and generally associated with a one-person desk. This left the user with printing screen shots as the only option for portability. While decision makers and influencers could move files back and forth, the opportunity to view files together in person was limited and often uncomfortable. This kept influencers, decision makers, and co-decision makers from seeing each other’s facial expressions and body language as they reacted to shopping information.

Smart phones brought welcomed mobility to

the shopper. It is now common for shoppers to confidently enter stores with full market transparency in their pocket or purse. Unfortunately, the size of mobile phones makes them neither ideal for navigation or sharing. Shoppers often wait until the sales person has stepped away or turned aside to fumble for competing vehicle or dealership information.

The iPad allows users to show sales agents the alternative vehicles in their competitive set. The easy navigation limits the risk of embarrassment associated with fumbling around a site in front of others. This open sharing of information is a blessing to sales agents, giving them an opportunity to point

out the differences in features, mileage, previous ownership, and other benefits beyond price. Indeed AutoNation has begun putting iPads in the hands of some sales agents, helping the shopper get the right vehicle and welcoming the opportunity to demonstrate their value relative to the alternatives.

With large, touch-screen navigation and no keyboard in the way, the iPad is designed to be the ideal sharing device. Users are often seen holding the device up for others or folding the cover into a presentation stand. This works as comfortably in the showroom as it does at the local coffee shop. That’s important, because the ideal is for the showroom

T

“I conducted mystery shops with the iPad in hand. Few sales agents knew what to make of the fact that I was looking at vehicles and window stickers with the device in hand.”


conversation environment to mimic the environment where co-decision maker or influencer-to-decision maker conversations took place.

As part of my research on the iPad, I conducted mystery shops with the iPad in hand. Few sales agents knew what to make of the fact that I was looking at vehicles and window stickers with the device in hand. Despite my casual attire, I was occasionally assumed to be a vendor. Even after we sat down, it was rare that I was asked what I had liked about the vehicle online or if I had even seen it online. There often seemed to be a fear about the device, as though it would empower the shopper beyond the sales agent’s control. The simple fact is that the shopper is already empowered, and once the sales agent knows what the shopper has been thinking about it, will be much easier to sell them the vehicle.

The 2009 J.D. Power & Associates Web Site Performance Study showed that many shoppers actually expand their vehicle consideration sets as they shop online. The iPad is Internet enabled, but most websites are a bit difficult to navigate on a touch screen relative to applications designed for the device. This is why iPad users generally prefer applications to websites when there is a choice. Applications designed for the iPhone and iPad together appear on the iPad as very large iPhone apps that do little to take advantage of the larger screen. This is why iPad users generally prefer apps designed exclusively for the iPad.

CarZen was the first iPad exclusive app for auto shopping and has a new version coming out this summer that will include millions

of vehicles in inventory. Other listing providers undoubtedly have iPad applications in their development plans. One leading service has personally assured me of this. For dealers, having inventory exposed on these applications will likely become as essential as having inventory exposed on websites.

Currently, shoppers migrate from shopping online to their initial store contact in four ways: phone, email, chat, and driving into the store unannounced. As documented in a wide range of studies, most shoppers never contact the store prior to coming in. This may change as more shoppers and stores adopt video chat. This richer form of communication offers fantastic selling advantages. Combining video chat with the portability of the iPad gives sales agents a chance to perform a live video walk-around for the customer. While the goal of most stores working with customers by phone, email, and chat is to obtain the appointment, video chat is the appointment or will be for some shoppers.

2010 marked the first year PC sales declined, a fact largely attributed to the iPad. But the iPad is not only capturing market share; it is skimming the cream of the market off the top. On average, the iPad shopper is far more affluent and style conscious than the average consumer. In fact, most Americans will never buy a new car in their lives, and the demographics of iPad shoppers and new-car buyers line up far better than is the case with television, radio, print, and online shoppers using websites. In short, the millions of consumers adopting the iPad each month represents a much larger slice of the new-car buying public than it does the public at large.

The key takeaways for dealers:

1. The iPad shopper is an ideal target for the sale of new cars and late-model used cars

2. Make sure your inventory is exposed and properly merchandised in iPad apps designed for auto shopping

3. Online vehicle merchandising is more important than ever with co-decision makers shopping together online

4. Make sure floor sales agents know how to handle the iPad shoppers

5. Be prepared to adopt video chat and accept that in some cases the video chat is the appointment



Dennis Galbraith is the author of Sales Integration. Through his company, Revenue Guru, Dennis delivers consulting, training, and

analytical services to dealers and their vendors. Previously, Dennis ran the automotive internet division of J.D.

Power and Associates and was V.P. of Advertising Products and Training for

Cars.com. He earned an MBA from University of Southern California and

taught marketing for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and NADA

Academy.


Why Internet Budgets are Bad

Jared HamiltonCEO, Founder

DrivingSales.com

by Jared Hamilton

oo many dealers are limiting their success online and hampering profitability because they have Internet budgets. Having an “Internet budget” is the result of a short sighted marketing approach that helped dealers move into the digital

realm, but today, it disconnects the dealership and costs the dealer potential synergies that could otherwise be exploited for positive growth. If you are still operating with an “Internet budget,” it’s time to throw it out and move on to bigger and better things.

How the mess got started:

Internet budgets came about to help us manage the shift from 100% traditional budgets to incorporating Internet marketing into the mix. We were able to benchmark against peers and against our prior performance, and develop a goal to shoot for. As an example, one may have said, “Tom from the 20 group is successful with 10% of his budget in the Internet. I’ll invest 10% of my total budget online too, see how it goes, and if things go well next year we will increase to a 15% Internet budget.” It was a way to track shifts into the digital landscape as more consumers went online, and it worked for what it did.

This approach made sense when dealers were just dipping their toes in the water and exploring the potential of the web. As you may remember, there was a time when the industry wasn’t even sure where the Internet would go. Ten to 15 years ago, few realized how ubiquitous the Internet would become (frankly, many today still do not even realize how ubiquitous it is). Now, we are not investing in an unknown landscape and thus we do not need to segment out “Internet marketing” from “dealership marketing.”

Today, because approximately 90% of consumers

are using the Internet to help them shop for a vehicle, it’s not a niche market. I’m not suggesting that automatically 90% of your budget should be online. That would be a dumb move, especially because you could make the same argument for TV and radio (that 90% of your customers watch TV and listen to the radio). I am, however, suggesting that you should not be putting your toe in the water at this point; Internet marketing should be as important a part of your strategy as anything else.

When determining mix, the percent that you invest in each marketing medium should not match the medium’s penetration into the consumer market. Rather, the percent you invest in each medium should directly correlate to that particular medium’s ability to deliver the most cost effective results for the goal you have laid out.

The goals of marketing:

Most marketing, for simplicity’s sake, can be organized into two general goals: high funnel goals, or awareness marketing; and low funnel goals, or transactional marketing. Both are important, but because they are achieving different things with each, they need to be tracked using different metrics. Also, keep in mind, the results of awareness marketing are much harder to track than results

T“If you are still operating with an “Internet bud-get,” it’s time to throw it out and move on to big-ger and better things.”

35 www.DrivingSales.com DrivingSales DEALERSHIP INNOVATION GUIDE | 3 r d Q u a r t e r 2 0 1 1Get more tips like this from the world’s largest automotive social network: DrivingSales.com

Google Places

Google+

Whats New: 3rd Party Reviews removed which means Yelp, DealerRaterand all other third-party review sites are removed from your Google Places Page.

A New Social Media tool Take Facebook and Twitter, smash them together with a few other improvements and you get Google+

Circles: on Google+ you pick who you want in your “circle” - this gives you the ablity to share information with only the people you want.

The Plus 1 button: Already prevalent across the Web, the Plus 1 button allows you to like or share pages, articles, people (or nearly anything) with your Google+ account or with specific Google+ Circles.

offers

is changing the way you can work to be more productive Are you keeping up?

Google OffersRecently, Google rolled out their Group Coupon Program which is similar to Groupon and Facebook Deals (Facebook is dropping this service now).

Google Offers allows multiple buyers to join together to save on a product by using their group buying power.

Dealers have struggled to make this concept work with Groupon. Will the struggle be the same with Google Offers?

Reviews on Google Places require a Gmail account. With 550,000 Android phones being activated daily, each requiring a Gmail account, there are a lot more people with the opportunity to rate your page.

Google is making reviews easier and easier for the consumer to rate and review companies.Stay ahead of your competitors and encourage reviews on your Google Places.


from transactional marketing, but that does not mean it is less (or more) important. Answering what the most important type of marketing is for a store is a highly individualized question based on what will give your store the best ROI today and in the future.

Each dealer should ask what they need the most, not seek an answer through some blanket statement made by some independent third party.

Awareness marketing, designed to strengthen your brand and keep your brand proposition top of mind, is best done through TV, Radio, Social Media, and display advertising. Through these media, you can keep the reminders “top of mind” of what your brand stands for.

Transactional marketing is best done through SEO, PPC, direct mail, 3rd Party Leads, Inventory Classified

Sites, and other mostly digital marketing. These media create the best conversion paths for customers and are highly trackable so you can do a great deal of optimization to ensure you are serving customers what they want and need this late in the buying process.

Understand your goals, understand your mix:

Determining what your dealership’s marketing needs are at any moment will determine where you should invest, what creative you should be using, and what metrics will determine success. Each dealership will have a unique recipe to create the success that they need; however, if you have an “Internet budget” you are working off a predetermined benchmark that will confuse what goal you are really trying to achieve.

For example, let’s assume you are doing transactional marketing and using a successful keyword + landing page strategy that is yielding a cost per sale of $275 per vehicle sold. This is good, but since you are currently spending 12% of your total budget online, your spending is capped. You had decided upfront to have an “Internet budget” of 10% of the total, so

already you are over budget by 20% and must look to cut something out to get back on track to your 10% Internet budget.

Now let’s continue our assumptions, and say that the traditional media transactional marketing is yielding a cost per sale of $525. Does it still make sense to cut your Internet budget back so you can put the money to work in a less effective marketing medium? Absolutely not, but unfortunately, that is what most dealerships do so they can stay on track with their “Internet budget.”

Don’t create unnecessary silos:

Another reasons dealerships have “Internet budgets” is because they usually have a GSM or GM who oversees the total marketing for the store and they hand off a portion of their budget to an ISM or ISD who handles the Internet marketing. It’s easiest to tell the ISM

you can have X dollars per month or X% of the total budget, and hold them accountable for the ROI on the budget they are given.

The problem with this approach is that you create unnecessary silos of operations inside the dealership. For example, most ISMs are not interested in a keyword strategy to drive calls to the parts department, regardless of how profitable it would be. ISMs are paid to sell cars and they are not going to focus on selling parts. Your Parts Manager isn’t going to focus on the Internet because that’s not his thing, and your GM who handles your marketing still thinks service mailers are the most effective form of Fixed Ops marketing. Creating silos inside your dealership (rather than having one person or team that works together to oversee marketing for the whole dealership) costs you money in lost profits no matter how you look at it.

The solution is to take a holistic approach to your dealership marketing, and to invest in the media that are the most profitable for your store’s goals today while not sacrificing long term success.

“ To think traditional marketing is bad is also a very short-sided view into how the market operates. Rather, it’s important to have a balanced approach...”


Let me make it a point to say that traditional media IS NOT bad, like many “web experts” want you to believe. To think traditional marketing is bad is also a very short-sided view into how the market operates. Rather, it’s important to have a balanced approach, as a result of a comprehensive strategy, and that will include both traditional and digital in a custom blend that will allow you to achieve the goals most needed by your store.

It would be far more valuable if you could define what your marketing goals are and how you are investing to achieve those goals rather than be able to define what percent of your budget is digital.

Ditch the “Internet budget” and

work towards something better:Rather than benchmark what percent you are investing in Internet Marketing, understand the unique goals for your store, create a custom holistic marketing recipe that you believe will help you achieve your goals, and track the metrics associated with the investments that make up your investment recipe. Some stores may be 80% online and 20% traditional with others at the inverse. The ultimate question is, “Are you achieving your goals as inexpensively as possible to generate the most ROI?”

Plain and simple: Marketing is marketing regardless of weather it is part of your traditional or Internet budget. Stop creating unnecessary silos that costs your store lost profits and enforces

on your team needless budget restrictions and start marketing holistically, based off of what drives ROI for your dealerships goals.

___________________________

Jared Hamilton, founder and CEO of DrivingSales.com, is often

described as one part dealer operator and one part tech geek.

He has over 10 years of dealership management experience in

addition to his award winning entrepreneurial record. Jared is a

highly acclaimed international speaker educating audiences

across the globe about capitalizing on the Internet’s opportunities

and how to invest and implement technology solutions inside

businesses.

DrivingSalesVendor Ratings

Make your voice heard.www.drivingsales.com/ratings

DrivingSales Vendor Ratings is the only place for dealers to rate andreview their vendors. The market is listening and your opinion matters.


David DavisC.T.O.

DealerTrend

mpowered People

As human beings, we have the innate desire to grow and explore. We are hard-wired to reach further than those before us; to invent new tools to make life easier, better.

The melding of cultures and individuals that flooded into the new world is what made the United States a world power: people who wanted change and were willing to go outside their personal and physical boundaries to get it. Americans have learned to innovate by merging ideas, experience, passion, and individual creativity.

Over the last few years, I have seen how the WordPress website software tool brings out the explorer in those who use it. Programmers, local business owners, Internet marketers, SEO consultants, and, of course, dealership personnel. Once hooked, a user becomes the proverbial ‘kid in a candy store’: the excitement they exhibit at having the power to explore the boundaries of the Internet, and finally do what they want with their website or blog, is addictive.

Collective Innovation with Open Source

Software is made of source code, and without the code, the software is ‘closed’. When a system is ‘closed’, input is limited by those who control it. Open source software allows its users to control its destiny directly.

Open source is a big part of what makes WordPress special. While big companies compete to create their latest-greatest proprietary features (that they decide on and own), open source projects, like WordPress, are created by the community, building only what their users (you) need.

Do you want a missing feature? Found a glitch, or even just something annoying on your website? You have the ability to change it: you are not trapped!

“Open source is a development method for software that harnesses the power of distributed peer review and transparency of process. The promise of open source is better quality, higher reliability, more flexibility, lower cost, and an end to predatory vendor lock-in.” http://www.opensource.org/

The open source revolution that has been building momentum for years now is the “new world” online.

In the case of WordPress, there are hundreds of programmers from around the world who contribute to the progress of the WordPress

core. Thousands more create extensions in the form of plugins and themes. They get together online and in-person to share ideas, get feedback, and grow.

Is the collective self-organizing to make a better product that we can all use to

enhance our way of life?

Express your Personal Style

WordPress is a blank canvas, letting you create whatever you want. With thousands of themes and plugins available and more coming every day, you don’t have to hire a programmer to create a unique experience

for your users.

Start with a theme, infuse your brand or message, add some plugins and widgets, and you are on your way. If you want something more custom, WordPress is so popular that most marketing companies have a developer available on staff. Unless you live in a very rural area, you will have several

Mike FitzpatrickC.O.O.

DealerTrend

WordPress: A great tool forinnovationby Mike Fitzpatrick and David Davis

E


web development companies or SEO companies in your city that can build you a personalized site or blog to your specifications – a site or blog that you own.

Ability to Test & React

One of the initial promises of the Internet was the ability to measure your marketing efforts

like never before. Although this has always been true, the reality was that even though you could measure the current state of a site, it was too difficult to make needed adjustments. Now, with WordPress, you can make changes on the fly when they make the most impact.

WordPress also has several plugins for measuring the analytics of your site, including WordPress’ own Stats plugin. With real-time feedback, it is easy to market, measure and optimize, bringing out the full conversion potential of the Internet.

You can even Implement an A/B testing model and make changes with a scientific approach so you can continually improve your outcome.

Who is Using WordPress?

Politicians use WordPress to communicate with their constituents. CNN and other news organizations use it to deliver the latest stories. Businesses large and small are using it to sell products. Charities use it for fundraising and awareness. Bloggers around the world are communicating important ideas on just about every subject.

Sharing important ideas

WordPress is a tool that anybody can start using today. It is the ultimate innovation tool for online marketing. Just about every idea or concept that you have can be tackled with free plugins or themes.

The Internet continues to evolve and we keep asking ourselves the question, “what can I do better?” WordPress will have the first response, providing the ability for the non-programmer to go in and create an original site, test the results, and make adjustments. Staying Ahead of the curve Mobile Marketing

Mobile marketing has quickly become an important piece that can’t be ignored. Do a quick search for mobile plugins within WordPress and you will get almost 400 results. As mobile marketing

campaigns with 2D codes (like QR codes) become the norm, WordPress will once again deliver.

Social Marketing

With roots as a blogging platform, WordPress is inherently social. There are plugins for RSS, Twitter, Facebook, Google Buzz, Google Plus, and every other social site available. As of this writing, there are already over 100 Google Plus plugins. Use it the way you want

You can use WordPress for a blog, a micro-site, a website or just about anything you want. Even if you decide to use it just to play, you will learn more about the Internet from this one tool than you thought possible.

“While big companies compete to create their latest-greatest proprietary features, open source projects, like WordPress, are created by the community, building only what their users need.”



Mike Fitzpatrick is the C.O.O. at DealerTrend Inc. With 18 years

of automotive experience, Mike understands the needs of car dealers

in the digital age. After seeing dealerships struggle with online

marketing, Mike set out to create solutions that puts the power back

into the dealers hands. An expert in SEO, Analytics, WordPress and general

website marketing and usability Mike is passionate to about evolving

automotive online marketing.

David Davis has worked as a professional Software Developer since

2000. He has been an avid computer user and programmer since 1982. He

regularly attends local computer-interest groups and enjoys using open-

source software to develop scalable web applications.


n my upcoming book, YOU Are The Brand Stupid!, I’ll teach you how to get noticed, gain instant credibility, make millions and dominate your competition by building your expert brand. I’ve chosen 15 of the most powerful tips from that book (EXCLUSIVE

to DrivingSales and the Dealership Innovation Guide) to share with you.

Ask for Feedback

In order to successfully position yourself as an Industry Expert and build a successful business around it, you need to seek constant feedback from your customers and others with an interest in your business.

While you should also do this through normal feedback and special research, a great way of getting more detailed feedback is to gather together a group of friends, family, and business associates whose opinions and judgment you value.

Every quarter, gather about a dozen of these people together in a room and ask them to critique every aspect of your business. This will give you very valuable and specific feedback in exchange for the price of a nice lunch.

You need to go into this with an open mind and don’t be too thin-skinned. Don’t take their comments personally. You want the truth and their constructive feedback so that you can make the improvements needed to move your business forward.

You’ll find that people who are less closely involved in the business than you will spot problems—and opportunities—that you might miss.

If you have a great set of advisors, you can even ask their permission to publish their names on your stationary and on your Web site as your advisory

board. This can give your business extra credibility.

Another way of getting valuable feedback is making it easy for your customers to complain about your business. Of course, nobody likes complaints, but they are one of the best ways of helping you to improve what you are doing.

It’s often worth taking the time to call people up or send them a card or a survey checking that everything was fine or asking, “How are we doing?”If there are any problems with your product or service, it’s better to find out about them now—rather than wait until you have hundreds of unhappy customers or even bigger problems.

Business Cards—Make Them Memorable and Give Them to Everyone

Ordinary business cards are dull and boring and are often stacked in a pile and never referred to again. They may even be thrown away immediately.

Yet, business cards can be a powerful marketing opportunity. You can easily turn your business card into a mini-brochure that promotes your business.

A great business card will have:• A picture of you or your product• A special offer• A call to action

If you need to include a map or other more detailed information, you can use the back of the card.A good business card will get kept and will be working for you when you are not there.

Don’t just keep your cards in your pocket. Give them to everyone—and give supplies to others to hand out. Give several cards to business associates who might be able to promote your business. And include your card in all mail you send out—yes,

15 Marketing Essentials You MUST Implement To Successfully Position Yourself As An Expert In Your Industry And Build Your Local Celebrity Statusby Tracy Myers

Tracy MyersFrank Myers Auto Maxx

Dealer Principle

I


even in bills!Sometimes it’s a good idea to have variations of your business card for different people, such as:• Potential customers• Professional contacts• Vendors• Referrals

If business cards work well for you, they can work just as well for virtually everybody in your business.

Many people such as counter staff and drivers have contact with customers and potential customers. They’re important enough for this tiny investment, and they’ll be proud to leave your card with customers and prospects. They’ll hand your cards over to a wide range of people, and you’ll get your name in many more places.

Consistency and Commitment

No matter how great your message is, the chances are that people aren’t going to remember it if you only tell them once. So you’ve got to keep repeating it over and over again. That means you won’t get maximum results by just sending one letter or e-mail.

If you are sending e-mails, you need to create a sequence

so that you are constantly reminding people of who you are and how you can help them. You want to be there in front of them when they need what you are offering.

With direct mail and postcards, you need to be committed to sending them regularly to the same people. Your message needs to be consistent so that it sticks in the mind, but you need to find different ways of expressing it so that you reinforce it and maintain interest.

When advertising, it’s rarely a good idea to just advertise once. You need a consistent presence. It’s often best to advertise where you can afford to do it regularly—a small ad consistently appearing in the same place in a newspaper or magazine is likely to bring you better results than one big hit.

Give Customers What They Want

The best way to get plenty of customers is to give them exactly what they want. In order to do that, you need to have a very clear idea of who you are selling to and how you can meet their needs.

You need to start by defining very clearly the kind of person who is most likely to want or need your product or service. Then you need to establish some good reasons

"In all the years I've attended NADA 20 Groups, I've yet to come home without an idea that was

worth the cost of attendance."— Jeff Brindley, Roush Honda — Westerville, OH

Internet Manager 20 Groups

NADA 20 Group programs offer a variety of meeting formats to fit your needs, and the new online composite is make-specific, matching up precisely to your manufacturer's financial statement. We work with you to identify a group that supports your business goals to ensure a non-competitive grouping by volume, geogra-phy, travel preferences, and budget.

NADA offers a broad selection of resources to support you, visit:

NADA20group.org If you would like to join one of these

elite groups of dealers; or call 1.800.557.6232, Option #4

NADAunversity.com to train,track, measure, and monitor

with ease.

NEW! Sign up Early!

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why should they want to buy it.

When you know who you are selling to—and why they would want what you offer—you can target your offer and your message to precisely the right customer base.

Both of these are important because even if you have a good product, if you fail to identify the correct motivation to buy, you won’t maximize your potential. For example, one pharmaceutical company dropped an unsuccessful cold medicine because they couldn’t solve the problem of the drowsiness it caused. Then somebody decide to market it as a bedtime cold medicine. They called it NyQuil, and it became the largest-selling cold medicine in its market.

So not only must you have a great product, but you also need to make sure it’s positioned correctly.

A great way of finding out more about what your customers want is to pay attention to questions new customers ask you. If they ask you lots of questions about service, exchanges, and return policies, for example, they may be telling you about unpleasant experiences with a previous company. Arm your employees with details of key phrases and messages to look out for so that they can give a proper response. That will help you let these customers know you will solve the problem with no hassles.

Happy Birthday and Thank You

Personal contact with your customers makes all the difference. Mailing them greeting cards on special occasions like their birthdays shows that you relate to them as individuals rather than just one of a crowd. If you don’t already have information about

DrivingSalesTV streams breaking industry news, dealership trends, and ‘the story behind the story,’ as well as broadcast interviews with the experts, executives, and innovators who help drive the auto industry forward.

DrivingSalesTV’s broadcast calendar includes live streams from industry events; special reports from dealerships around the country; focused segments on every dealer-ship department; special ‘innovation’ reports on emerging solutions, as well as regular webcasts and programs broadcast from

DrivingSales’ Utah-based TV studios. DSTV integrates social media content into its format, is interactive and vendor-neutral.

DrivingSalesTV combines two powerful media platforms – video and social media – with powerful profit-building information. With DSTV, dealers can easily keep tabs on their industry, see best practices in action, and have a more personal view into peer success stories, in a format that is lively, interesting, interactive – even, at times, provocative – but always with a focus on business innovation and improvement.

Web TV covering allthings car-dealer related.


their birthday, send them a survey or offer that requests that information.

Inside the birthday card, you should include a coupon or special offer. Tell them it’s a great opportunity to give themselves a gift.

Other holidays and special occasions also present opportunities for targeted mailings.

There is no better reason for sending someone a card or a gift than the chance to say “Thank You.” Whether you are thanking them for their business or for a referral or for their help, people appreciate the fact that you took the time to do so. And it means they will be more likely to support you again.

People who refer business to you deserve a special thank you. You can do that in a range of ways, from a personalized thank-you card or phone call to flowers, dinner, a prize draw, or, in some circumstances, even a commission.

Don’t forget that you shouldn’t only thank your customers and people who bring you business. There are many others who contribute to your business success, so thank your reliable suppliers with a letter and give them increased orders.

Everybody appreciates a thank you. Although it’s worth doing for its own sake, it will help your business.

Impress with Testimonials

People are more likely to respond to your advertising message if they hear it supported by others rather than coming just from you. That’s why one of the most powerful marketing techniques you can use is testimonials from previous customers.

A testimonial is simply a short message from people

who have previously used your product or service, and they share how their lives are better for it.

Most people who are satisfied customers will be happy to give you a testimonial. However, people are busy and sometimes don’t know what to say. So it can sometimes help if you offer to write something for them, and then get them to approve or adapt it.

Great testimonials address the concerns and questions that people have in their minds. When they see that someone else has got a good result, it helps break down resistance.

Kids

There may be times when you have a one-off project where you need some temporary help. Maybe you want to deliver an in-house mailing or need help moving the business. Instead of hiring part-time workers from a temp agency, check with the local high school or university. Chances are you’ll be able to find responsible young people who can help you out, perhaps in exchange for a donation to a school project. The cost to you may even be tax deductible but check with your accountant.

Sponsoring local kids’ sports teams is also a great way to promote your business and support the local community. The parents of the kids on the team may well be potential—or existing—customers. If the team is doing well, it’s great for your business to be associated with them.

Look Outside Your Industry

Many of us get so absorbed with our own markets—and the businesses we are competing against—that we judge our performance only against them. But the truth is your customers are comparing your product or

“Often, we hold the growth of our businesses back by making as-sumptions about our customers and what they will buy. This can lead to us missing out on opportunities—and even losing customers.”


service against their experience in other industries too. So make sure you look beyond your own immediate competitors and search for best practice in all fields.

There are some things that are specific to your market, but many aspects of customer service apply across a wide range of sectors. So, whether you are comparing billing systems or sales ideas, look beyond your current experience in search of improvements.

Make No Assumptions

Often, we hold the growth of our businesses back by making assumptions about our customers and what they will buy. This can lead to us missing out on opportunities—and even losing customers.

There are several things you should never assume about the customer:• They can’t afford it• They won’t buy it• They don’t understand the product• They won’t buy more than one• They won’t price your competitor• They won’t like you

Making any of these assumptions could be fatal for your business.However, assuming any of the opposite is just as bad. Therefore, never assume anything—always make an effort to check. Sometimes all you need to do is ask.

News

When you make your marketing topical, it will attract more attention and interest. So you should always be looking for opportunities to tie your message in with anything going on in the news and with current events.

If you have an opinion or valuable information about something going on in the news, issue a press release to seek publicity.

If you tie in your marketing campaigns around major events like the Olympics or the World Series, people

will take more interest.

Often, being able to associate yourself with people that are in the news helps you create greater credibility because it seems less like advertising.

Another way of taking advantage of people’s interest in the news is by making your advertising look like a news story—complete with headlines and columns—rather than an ad.

In a newspaper, they will probably require the word “advertisement” to be added at the top of your ad, but if you immediately grab their attention, people will quickly forget they are reading an ad.You can also get these news stories printed up as “tear sheets” and mail them to people.

Offer Information—Two-Step Marketing

The chances of you making a contact with someone and having them buy right away are pretty slim. Sure, it can happen—but it’s much more likely that you’ll need to find a way to stay in touch with them so that they can get to know you better. If you keep in touch, they are more likely to remember you when they are ready to buy.

However, they are not likely to buy from you if you keep on trying to sell all the time. Therefore, you need to start out by offering them some valuable free information in exchange for their contact details—that could either be their e-mail or the full mailing address.

The free information you offer will depend on your business, but it could be a:• Fact sheet• Report or white paper• Video or audio• Regular newsletter

Once you’ve captured their details, you need to keep in touch regularly, continuing to deliver valuable information that helps establish your expertise and build the relationship. You need to mail regularly and often—whether it’s once a day, once a week, or a couple

“Arm your employees with details of key phrases and messages to look out for so that they can give a proper response.”


of times a month. It depends on your message and your market. People will forget who you are if you only mail them every couple of months.

Telephone

With the growing power of the Internet and so many people getting overloaded with e-mail, some of the traditional methods of communication have actually become more powerful.

The good old telephone can actually work wonders for your business. If you have a new product or marketing idea, why not call a few people up and ask them what they think before you invest too much time and money in developing it.

When you have something to sell, get on the phone—respecting the “do not call” rules, of course. You’ll find the response and effectiveness of phone calls could be ten times better than the same number of pieces of mail. And the big advantage is that the feedback you get is faster, better, and more detailed.

View Your Audience as Individuals

When you are communicating with people in your audience—whether they are customers or prospects—think of them as individuals. When you write to a sea of thousands of anonymous people, your message comes over as very impersonal. You’ll get much better results from your ads, brochures, and e-mails when you imagine that you are writing to one individual.

Picture an existing customer or a friend or family member, and then write as if you were having

a relaxed conversation with that person. You’ll find the message comes over more effectively and the results are much better.

Winners

In any area of life, when you want to achieve great results, it’s a good idea to look for people who are already achieving what you want, and then learn from them. So, when you want to improve your marketing, look for companies that you admire and identify what it is about them and their marketing strategies that seem particularly effective.

You don’t need to copy them, and no one business has all the answers. Learn from as many as you can, adapt that information to suit your needs, and then continue to improve on them.

You should always be building a “swipe” file - samples of ads, mailing packs, and brochures that you like. You can refer to them when you are looking for ideas or inspiration. Don’t copy them exactly, but note whatever you feel makes them effective and think about how that could be applied to your own needs.

YOU—the Local Celebrity & Industry Expert

The big key to the success of establishing yourself as a Local Celebrity and Industry Expert is - of course - YOU. So you need to be undertaking a range of activities that build your position and that of your business as expert in your field.

One great way to do this is running seminars. These:• Establish your company as

an expert on the subject• Help cement relationships

with customers and prospects

• Increase awareness of your company

Another powerful way of building your brand is writing expert articles—or even a regular column—for local magazines and newspapers.

These days, a popular way of establishing your expert status is by writing a blog focused on a topic that has broad appeal among your clients and prospect base. A big advantage of blogs is that they act as a channel of two-way communication, and you should encourage people to give you feedback and comments. This helps make you aware of what people think and establishes valuable relationships.



Tracy Myers is a car dealership owner, best-selling author, speaker and

entrepreneur. He recently celebrated the opening of his newest business,

The Celebrity Academy in Charlotte, NC. Tracy’s own dealership, Frank

Myers Auto Maxx, was recently recognized as the Number One Small

Businesses in NC by Business Leader Magazine, one of the top three

dealerships to work for in the country by The Dealer Business Journal,

and one of the Top 22 Independent Automotive Retailers in the United

States by Auto Dealer Monthly Magazine.


here has been a lot of buzz about content syndication over the past year. There seems to be this intense desire that plagues both dealers and the vendors that provide services to them, in an attempt to automate some of the most

important aspects of dealer marketing today.

Automotive SEO and Social Media will continue to evolve and become the two most important aspects of a dealer’s marketing strategy, and yet because most dealer personnel do not understand the workings of either, we stick our heads in the sand and ask, “Can’t you just make the work happen automatically?”The disconnect is so huge and the failure of vendors to find a common ground to help educate dealers has lead to the vendors themselves (who should really know better) to accommodate dealers’ requests to dumb down and ultimately dilute their own marketing via tools and content syndication.

It isn’t just the “short-cutter” who is guilty of this practice either. The very best vendors in the marketplace are leading the charge of bad practice. So why are they doing this? Because we as dealers will not listen to the facts and many are unwilling to pay for the cost of service to do it right.

“And there is no such thing as a no sale call. A sale is made on every call you make. Either you sell the client some stock or he sells you a reason he can’t buy. Either way a sale is made, the only question is who is going to close: You or him? Now be relentless, that’s it, I’m done.” That quote from the movie “Boiler Room” is precisely why this has happened. We closed our vendors. We convinced them to do us a disservice because we are relentless.

Why should you believe me? What makes me the expert? The information is out there. All one needs to do is to look outside the automotive industry to see that this is absolutely correct. JC Penney and Overstock.com know all too well what happens

when you try to take short cuts. How does this play into Social Media? In an interview with Bing and Google, SearchEngineLand’s Danny Sullivan was told the following:

1. We do look at how many people you follow and how many follow you.

2. We do compute and use author quality.3. The article goes on to explain how they are both

looking for cues that are common to accounts managed by automated systems.

The moral of the story: Short cuts are short-term. You may not necessarily need to hire your own in house SEO team (although I have found that to be valuable), and GMs don’t necessarily need to go to school to learn SEO. But the time has long since passed that we need to understand its importance in the future of our business and understand that taking a short cut is not the solution.

Do you let your sales people skip demo drives? Do they skip needs assessments? Do they skip building rapport? Maybe we should automate that process and let customers order cars online and have them shipped to their door. Or perhaps we just need to follow the road to the sale and stop trying to take short cuts.

To tool or not to tool, that is the question...

Timothy MartellWikimotive

President, Founder

by Timothy Martell

T

To discuss this article and to view comments by others, please visit DrivingSales.com/innovation

___________________________

Timothy Martell is a 20 year veteran of the automotive industry. Best known for his success at Marlboro Nissan,

Timothy turned a failing 1 man internet department into a 150+/car per month store all out of a 1 car showroom

in rural Marlboro MA. Timothy is one of the few digital professionals to successfully monetize social media within

the automotive dealership leveraging the store’s nearly 100,000 Facebook Fans and 100,000 twitter followers.

This success has led Timothy to form Wikimotive, a digital marketing company serving the automotive industry.


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Dealership Innovation Guide - Q3 2011