AutoSuccess September 2011 by AutoSuccess

2011

SEPTEMBER

Automated Virtual Assistant

You’ve Heard About Her... The Perfect Employee, Artificial Intelligence With Genuine Results

Now Meet Her

For a personal introduction call or visit her at

866.476.7748

www.meetava.com 11TH ®

CONFERENCE & EXPOSITION October 5-7, 2011 • Las Vegas, NV

Booth #430

You Are GUARANTEED to Increase Your Bottom Line in 1 Year by $250,000 or More...

or I’ll Pay You $10,000! Hi, my name is Mark Tewart. I may have had the honor of coming into contact with you through my seminars, association meetings, NADA or NIADA conventions, articles in AutoSuccess or other magazines, my old Automotive Satellite Training Network shows or you may have read my best-selling book How To Be A Sales Superstar. Whether you know me or not, you may be wondering what allows me to be able to make such an outrageous claim. The answer is simple: If a client follows my no gimmick, no BS, fool-proof and proven methods, the results are as predictable as the sun coming up every day. That may sound arrogant to some of you, but to me and my select clients it’s just reality. Every year I have many dealers who ask me to work with them to help improve their sales and profits. I reject most of them. I only choose a few each year to work with on such a large scale. There are a few reasons why I carefully hand pick who to work with. The first reason is that it’s easy for you to say you want to improve but most people don’t want to do the things necessary to make it happen. This isn’t some magic-button, pie-in-sky fad. These are real-world and proven methods for massive profit improvements. It takes hard work and lots of commitment.

Mark Tewart, President of Tewart Enterprises, Inc. Author of the Best-Seller ‘How to be a Sales Superstar’

The second reason for me being picky about who I work with on these projects is that frankly I don’t have the time. To create the massive results that you and I are looking for requires a great deal of my time and effort. Because of my time restraints, I refuse to spend time and effort with uncommitted dealers. I only align myself with passionate people committed to winning. The third and final reason for me being selective is my reputation. I can’t write ads like this and make such incredible guarantees unless I can bring the results. My reputation is beyond solid. By the way, the $250,000 bottom line improvement is just an example. I have had some dealers increase their bottom lines by more than $1,000,000. Look at it this way; I don’t take $10,000 guarantees lightly. I put my money where my mouth is.

Call my 24 hour Dealership Success Hotline to receive your “Dealership Success Check List” –

Call Now at 888 612-5884 Ext. 90001 or Go to www.dealershipsuccess.com

***Dealers or General Managers Only*** Sincerly,

Mark Tewart

Info@tewart.com | 888 2 TEWART - (888 283 9278)

P.S. There is one very simple thing most dealers aren’t doing that you can do to unlock an additional 7 figures worth of profit with no extra risk in the next 5 years. I know it sounds too good to be true, but you can see for yourself.

Call my 24/7 Dealership Success Hotline at 888.612.5884 Ext. 90001 or Go to www.dealershipsuccess.com

By ToddSmith

THE #1 SALES-IMPROVEMENT MAGAZINE FOR THE AUTOMOTIVE PROFESSIONAL

AutoSuccess Magazine is published monthly at 2300 Hurstbourne Village Dr, Suite 1200 Louisville, KY 40299; 502.588.3155, fax 502.588.3170. Direct all subscription and customer service inquiries to 877.818.6620 or info@autosuccessonline.com. Subscription rate is $69 per year. AutoSuccess welcomes unsolicited editorials and graphics (not responsible for their return). All submitted editorials and graphics are subject to editing for grammar, content and page length. AutoSuccess provides its contributing writers latitude in expressing advice and solutions; views expressed are not necessarily those of AutoSuccess and by no means reflect any guarantees. AutoSuccess accepts no liability in respect of the content of any third party material appearing in this magazine or in respect of the content of any other magazine to which this magazine may be linked from time to time. Always confer with legal counsel before implementing changes in procedures.© All contents copyrighted by AutoSuccess Magazine, a Division of Systems Marketing, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part is prohibited without express written consent from AutoSuccess. AutoSuccess may occasionally make readers’ names available to other companies whose products and/or services may be of interest; readers may request that names be removed by calling 877.818.6620. Printed in the USA. Postmaster: Send address changes to AutoSuccess Magazine, 2300 Hurstbourne Village Dr, Suite 1200 Louisville, KY 40299.

FranTaylor

little things can make a big difference

leadership solution RandolphS.Lofgren

are your fixed ops employees swimming with sharks?

Susie Horne, Account Manager John Warner, Sales-Improvement Strategist shorne@autosuccessonline.com jwarner@autosuccessonline.com

matching your expertise to your perfect market

24 32

google colorized search engine result pages

“used” vs. “Pre-Owned”

BrianPasch

The Importance of Keyword Research for SEO

ChadPolk

Matching Your Offer With What the Market Wants

TracyMyers

the new art of selling cars

Brian Ankney, Account Manager super6@autosuccessonline.com

marketing solution

Dave Davis, Editor & Creative Strategist ddavis@autosuccessonline.com

when you see the word ‘marketing,’ what’s the first thing that pops into your head?

ScottJoseph

the difference maker – the trade-in MarkTewart

great question(s)!

SeanV.Bradley

what’s up with your write-ups? MarshBuice

Questions to Use in Choosing the Right Marketing Company, Part 2 MarlenaSmith

retain them, or lose them JimKristoff

08 14 SusanGivens

rules of selling GrantCardone

16 20

sales & training solution

a look to the past, present and future BryanAnderson

10 18 22 26 30

Three Dealers Share their Experiences and Results

Thomas Williams, VP & Creative Director design@autosuccessonline.com

2300 Hurstbourne Village Dr, Suite 1200 Louisville, KY 40299 | p 877.818.6620 / f 502.588.3170 | AutoSuccessOnline.com/AutoSuccessPodcast.com | info@autosuccessonline.com

Live Chat Success:

Susan Givens, Publisher sgivens1@autosuccessonline.com

feature solution

“bLinkedSM is the best tool I have seen in 15 years.”

bLinked

Be Smart. Be Informed. bLinkedSM. This is the program that is changing everything. bLinkedSM is a data analytic service that marries your customer database, inventory, and manufacturer incentives to deliver more high-quality leads straight to your showroom floor.

• Attract more customers with offers too good to refuse — offers to upgrade their vehicles for lower monthly payments and no money down.

• Set your own margins to meet and exceed the profit levels you want.

• Convert more service appointments into sales with incredibly accurate information for your sales team and perfectly matched offers for your customers.

With email, direct mail, and microsite marketing included at no extra cost, bLinkedSM is the complete turnkey package poised to give your dealership an unmistakable sales advantage.

Welcome to bLinkedSM — the next generation of direct marketing. Learn more today. Contact J&L Marketing at 800.346.9117 or email: sales@jandlmarketing.com for more information. Bill Cafarella General Manager West County Honda Ellisville, Missouri

www.twitter.com/jandlmarketing www.facebook.com/jandlmarketing www.youtube.com/user/jandlmarketing

SusanGivens

sales & training solution

the new art of selling cars

The Internet has forever changed the way people shop for cars. There is an everincreasing amount of information accessible to customers, and often the sales consultant is no longer the product expert. Customers frequently test sales consultants to see how knowledgeable they are, and are often disappointed. The consumer’s car shopping process has significantly changed with today’s technology, but most sales consultants still use the same decades-old sales approaches. With the increasing complexity of vehicles and technology, that knowledge gap will continue to grow. In order to create a sales advantage, dealerships must evolve to meet the needs of today’s consumer. Time is a precious commodity for them. They’re in a hurry. They want instant information on-the-go. The best way for sales consultants to address these needs is through the use of mobile technology. Mobile tablets are an ideal solution for accessing the growing volume of information that is available today. They allow sales consultants to quickly respond to questions from any location to build the value of the dealership, the vehicle and themselves throughout the customer’s entire car-buying experience. As has been proven time and again, when the perceived value of the vehicle is higher than its price, you have a sale, but more often than not, the art of building value gets lost as sales consultants quickly jump to the deal. With tablets, sales consultants are able to address concerns that many shoppers have about going into a dealership. These concerns include whether the sales consultant knows enough, if they will tell the truth and how long the process is going to take.

autosuccessonline.com

“In order to create a sales advantage, dealerships must evolve to meet the needs of today’s consumer. Time is a precious commodity for them. They’re in a hurry. They want instant information on-the-go. The best way for sales consultants to address these needs is through the use of mobile technology.” For instance, a sales consultant holding a tablet when greeting customers conveys a greater sense of professionalism. The customer’s fascination with tablets can also help the sales consultant to more quickly make a connection and provide information to ease customer fears. Sales consultants build credibility and transparency into the process by providing a “let’s take a look at that together” experience, allowing the sales consultant to spend less time finding answers or asking the manager and more time engaging with the customer. In fact, studies have shown that multimedia helps people comprehend and remember twice the amount of information. Seeing images and videos while listening to the sales consultant improves customer retention and engagement. Truth, transparency and honesty in the sales process are what customers want, and dealers who deliver will win the sale. Dealerships that integrate mobile into the selling process can reignite the magic of the car-buying experience. Mobile applications can lay the foundation for today’s art of selling a car, creating the emotional connection, positive customer experience and vehicle value that has always driven sales success. Toyota Sunnyvale in Sunnyvale, California is currently using a tablet product that integrates mobile applications into their selling process. “The three things that this has brought to our team are: 1) the speed with which they can deliver information to the consumer that is relevant, precise and accurate, 2) mobility that doesn’t limit them to sitting at a sales station, and 3) help for new salespeople to accumulate the product knowledge they’re going to need more quickly,” explained Mike Shum, general manager at Toyota Sunnyvale. “We are committed to helping dealers bring back the excitement and joy of buying a new vehicle and improving the customer experience,” said Jim Hughes, principal of IntellaCar, the mobile application technology that Toyota Sunnyvale uses. “We’ve seen a direct correlation between giving customers a more positive purchase experience and a dealership’s sales growth. Toyota Sunnyvale is able to give sales consultants easily accessible, tailored and compelling information to make the sale and allows them to access information like vehicle features, options, inventory, videos, photos, reviews and so on, right in the palm of their hand, enabling them to sell more cars each month.” Susan Givens is the publisher of AutoSuccess. She can be contacted at 877.818.6620, or by e-mail at sgivens1@autosuccessonline.com.

podcast interviewee

Today’s car shoppers are driven by the information revolution. A study by Polk and AutoTrader.com shows that car shoppers spend an average of 18 hours researching their purchase online. With the increase in smartphones, tablets and other wireless mobile technology, consumers are increasingly doing research even within the dealership.

BryanAnderson

sales & training solution

a look to the past, present and future Driving sales to the next level each month doesn’t have to be as hard as we tend to make it. The right tools, used at the right time, targeting the right customers will help anyone sell more cars. This is true for the veteran and the green pea alike, often as a result of small tweaks rather than any major overhaul in how

things are done. Whatever approach you take this month, be sure to incorporate these tips: The Past — Save-a-Deal Management Fortunately, what has been done in the past leaves us with a second chance. Good thing, since too often prospect opportunities are forgotten, lost or mismanaged by our salespeople. Whether customers are thought to have purchased elsewhere, were unable to get financing or were simply forgotten, it doesn’t mean we give up on them. Any true CRM will provide a strong “save-adeal” mechanism. In the form of a logbook, this feature provides opportunity for a muchneeded second pair of eyes to catch potentially lost business. A quick review by management provides the second chance for saving (and closing) the deal. Spending only a few minutes in this log each day will close more business each and every month. On the contrary, managers who ignore the past ignore real business opportunity today. The Present — Equity Management Another way to boost sales in the next 30 days is to know exactly which customers in your CRM are in a positive equity position right now. Not sure? Then you’re leaving money off the books this month — big money. Using your CRM to aggregate important customer, vehicle and OEM data can offer a daily list of leads simply waiting to close. Incorporate these “equity leads” directly in the CRM, from which you can launch engaging marketing campaigns, and you’ll discover an entirely new level of sales. The Future — Renewal Management Overlooking what might be coming down the pike can limit business as well. On the other hand, knowing when customers will be back in the market is the quickest way to create life-long, loyal customers. Again, it’s no surprise that a strong CRM with a strong renewal process is key. Customized to meet the dealer’s needs, a digital renewal log will manage marketing and personal follow-up for today’s customer and tomorrow’s prospect. If a renewal customer isn’t ready to purchase now, discover when and clarify your pipeline. Either way, do not forfeit the opportunity to resell many of these proven, qualified customers. It comes down to a look at customer data — a look to the past, the present and future. And while most auto dealers have the data somewhere in their stores, a comprehensive CRM is needed to bring it all together and put it at their fingertips. Once in place, this data can be used to better sell today and into the future, ensuring more sales and service revenue from more loyal customers. Bryan Anderson is the founder of Autobase. He can be contacted at 866.667.9659, or by e-mail at banderson@autosuccessonline.com.

autosuccessonline.com

“After looking at several different CRM vendors, we chose eLEAD as our one-source partner and were able to

reduce our number of CRM vendors from 17 to 1 in all 80 dealerships.

eLEAD gives us one CRM solution that seamlessly integrates fixed and variable operations and with over 700 employees, their 24/7 support staff is unbeatable. eLEAD made it simple to choose them as our long-term vendor and we’re thrilled with the return on investment.” - Bob Murray Director of Operational Marketing Asbury Automotive Group

One Price. One Vendor. One Solution. 888 431-6928 I sales@eleadcrm.com www.eleadcrm.com

Live Chat Success: Three Dealers Share their Experiences and Results

Live chat

has forever changed the way consumers expect service to be provided online. Gone are the days of shoppers having to pick up the phone or send an e-mail and wait for a response. With chat, consumers can receive information immediately, and on their own terms. Chat is effective because it begins the relationship on the Website, while allowing shoppers to keep their anonymity if they choose to. In addition, Website visitors receive assistance and information before they are asked for any contact information, so there’s already a level of trust established. It’s like the opposite of cold calls. The shopper is already interested in your dealership — they’re already on your Website. And if they choose to engage in chat, then they are expressing an even greater interest in your dealership. These are key reasons why chat is such a powerful lead and sales generation tool. We recently spoke with three dealers who are achieving great results with live chat. Here’s what they have to say about the benefits of dealership Website chat. Don Ayres Honda Internet Performance and Marketing Director Jim Bell has worked in automotive retail for almost 15 years. He has served in the majority of dealership departments, including lease retention and finance. Since he began in the dealership world he has seen many changes and has actively tried to stay ahead of the learning curve. “When I started in automotive, the dealership didn’t have a CRM. Back then, I don’t even think any of us even knew what a CRM was. Tools and terms that we now use on a daily basis were unheard at that time. SEO, SEM, live chat, social media, etc. were still years away from entering our everyday vocabulary and use.” More than a year ago, the dealership’s Internet consultant recommended that they use live chat on the dealership Website. Bell was skeptical of the benefits of chat, but he was interested in the ROI numbers his consultant gave him. Bell began researching chat providers and started following activEngage’s Todd Smith online. The two began corresponding on Twitter and the dealership deployed the company’s chat solution in November 2010. “We decided to go with a full-service chat solution because we just don’t have the internal resources to manage the chats,” Bell said. “Professionally trained chat reps handle them for us and the transcripts, leads and other shopper information are seamlessly transferred to our CRM. Chat provides another Website call to action and an alternative to phone and e-mail that shoppers increasingly prefer. We find that many Website visitors feel more comfortable with chat and find it less ‘invasive’ than other forms of communication. While our chat reps steer the conversation toward getting shoppers’ contact information, ultimately customers feel like they are in control with chat. They can give as much or as little information as they want in a low-pressure communication channel.” As for the results the dealership receives from chat, Bell now closes more than 20 percent of all chat leads for vehicle sales. In the first half of 2011, the dealership had 226 vehicle sales chats that converted into leads and sold 47 cars from chat leads alone. “I am certain that without chat, many of these site visitors would not have converted into leads or sales,” Bell said. “Some shoppers now have a clear preference for chat communication, and we now find offering the service is a business imperative. I get back 12.5 times my spend on chat, and that’s just on sales. If you add service, it’s closer to 15 times my spend. Of all of our marketing initiatives, chat consistently has one of the highest returns.

“Our chat provider also has fluent Spanish speaking chat reps,” Bell said. “We recently deployed the Spanish language option and we began converting Spanish speaking shoppers right away. We set an appointment on the first day of use and made the first vehicle sale within a couple of days. It’s a really nice option to have and shoppers appreciate it.” Acton Toyota of Littleton eCommerce Manager Justin Brun has worked with the dealership for nearly seven years. The award-winning dealership — including being named DealerRater.com’s “Dealer of the Year” for three years in a row — takes a progressive approach to online marketing and has a dedicated Internet sales team of nine employees. Over all, Acton Toyota averages 25,000 Website visitors, 500 total leads and 85 sales per month through the Internet department. Always on the lookout for new innovations and tools to increase online leads and sales, the dealership began using live chat on their warranty Website in late 2008. With the demonstrated success of chat on the warranty site, Acton Toyota soon deployed live chat throughout the dealership’s Website. “I began researching chat providers in 2008 and read about activEngage in a dealership

publication,” Brun said. “After extensive discussion we decided to use the activConcierge fullservice, managed chat. It is the best option for our dealership and we improved our Website lead generation and sales from the start. The service offers a level of immediacy that online shoppers increasingly demand. And, let’s face it, many people are leery of calling or e-mailing dealerships because they don’t want to give out their contact information until they feel that they can trust the dealership. With live chat, they can move at their own pace, while we build a relationship by helping shoppers get the information they need on their own terms. Because of this, we generate a high number of qualified leads from chat. Customers appreciate the fast and initially anonymous assistance and generally reward us with their contact information. It’s a win-win situation.” As for service, Brun added, “Everybody talks about having a ‘partnership’ between the dealership and the service provider, but in most cases it’s just talk. We really do have a true partnership. There are less-expensive chat services out there, but we find we more than get what we pay for with activEngage’s services. They are constantly innovating and they really listen to any feedback we have and take action when necessary. “Having chat available, in addition to phone and e-mail contact, helps us appeal to every audience in our market,” Brun said. “The chat reps are extremely flexible and responsive. When chats are completed, the transcripts and other lead information go into our CRM with no data re-entry. The benefits of using a managed service for our dealership are tremendous. We offer better customer service on our Website and generate more qualified leads, with no work required from dealership staff members. And because a certain level of trust has already been established through chat, these leads have one of the highest close rates of all sources we use.” Jeff Haze, Internet Sales/Leasing Coordinator for the family-owned Fred Beans Ford Lincoln Mercury Mitsubishi dealerships, became convinced that consumers increasingly prefer to use chat on automotive retail Websites, based on research and changes in online shopping behavior. After Haze examined the available options, activEngage presented at Fred Beans’ corporate headquarters and the dealer group management unanimously decided to deploy the company’s full-service live chat solution. “Our chat service is great for our dealerships,” Haze said. “Highly skilled chat reps manage the conversations for us. They give shoppers a great first impression of the dealerships; they get contact information and set appointments for us. They also keep in constant contact with us to keep up to date on our latest initiatives and to receive any feedback we have about the chat service. With live chat, we generate leads that I know we would have missed without the service. It’s fantastic.” Haze also was impressed with the knowledge and friendliness of the chat reps. “I don’t think most of our shoppers have any idea that the reps aren’t at the dealership,” he said. “The people who manage the chats are not in some random call center. They are highly trained professionals who have an in-depth understanding of automotive retail in general, our dealership specifically and the medium of chat. Honestly, I don’t see how we could manage the chats better than they do. “Since using chat, we have increased lead volume and vehicle, parts and service sales,” Haze said. “Overall, we have had a four percent uptake in general leads, and I’m not surprised. All of our Website visitors are attended to and we can offer the same customer service online that we do in the showroom. A knowledgeable person is always

available to help our shoppers. I read the chat transcripts and the reps do an outstanding job at representing our dealerships and helping our shoppers. We are very pleased with our live chat service.” More and more shoppers choose live chat to communicate with the dealers that they use to purchase and service their vehicles. Just as the early adopters of Websites, e-mail, CRM and SEO enjoyed a decisive advantage, today dealerships using live chat capture more customers and convert more visitors into sales. Live chat provides the customer with a lowrisk way to communicate with the dealership, and it provides the dealership with an easy way to turn anonymous Web traffic into relationships and sales. For more information about the dealers presented, or activEngage, contact the Todd Smith, the founding partner and chief executive office. He can be contacted at 866.409.6755, or by e-mail at tsmith@autosuccessonline.com.

marketing solution

questions to use in choosing the right marketing company

Last month, we started to examine why it can be hard to find a reputable marketing company to help boost your traffic and increase sales. Bascially, if you search Google for “automotive marketing,” there are 171,000,000 listings; that’s a lot of data to wade through. So where to start? Because of placement, there is no guarantee of the type of business you would contact on the Internet. It’s easy to make a “shadetree marketing expert” look like a corporate conglomerate online, so let’s continue our discussion on how to begin the weeding-out process. Last month, we looked at five basic questions to ask a “new to you” marketing company. This month, we’ll finish the list: 1. Is their marketing measured, monitored and tracked? 2. Do they have a Website, and if so, what is their address? 3. Is their e-mail based on their domain name, or is it “xyz@yahoo.com” or “123@gmail. com”? 4. Do they have an office? What is the address? 5. How much do they know about the auto industry? Do they speak your language? None of the questions here are rocket science, but it’s vital information to have. Why? 1. Any marketing company that believes in

their own products will make sure their

PART 2

MarlenaSmith

products are measured, monitored and tracked. They want to prove to you their programs work so you will keep using them. Just the fact alone that they use an 800 number or online tracking means they are confident — and you can be as well. Better still, some allow you to log on to a dashboard and see e-mails and actually listen to the calls. This should be built right into any event or program.

2. In this day and age, a Website seems so obvious. However, there are some people working

from home or out of the back of their cars — seriously. A professional marketing company should have a beautiful, efficient, informative Website. If they are in marketing and don’t have one with full disclosure of owners, products, contact info and more — run.

3. In order to build marketing branding, everyone in business, especially marketing people,

should use an e-mail address based on their domain name for business. It’s professional, stable and appropriate. If they aren’t practicing best policies for their own company, how can you count on them to do that for your company? It is the little things that count because they add up to equal the big things.

4. Again, an office signifies stability. You can use Google Maps to look at the office — make

sure they are not working from home or using a P.O. Box store for their address. If they work from home and not an office, they may not have a business license – which means little or no recourse for you if something goes wrong with your marketing.

5. Speaking our language is a must. If you need ups, they need to know how to deliver a high-

traffic event. If your BDC needs inbound calls — that is important to know — they should also be able to listen to the inbound calls and help you evaluate them for training purposes. Knowing disclaimers, makes, models, “hooks” and giveaway insurance helps them to do their job in providing you traffic without “heat.”

I encourage you to spend the half hour it takes to discuss these questions with any new marketing vendor you may wish to use. It will help you get to know them, their expertise and evaluate their potential ability to deliver traffic and sales to your dealership as promised. It creates the foundation on which their marketing programs can be built. Marlena Smith is the CEO of Automotive Marketing Promotions. She can be contacted at 866.386.5941, or by e-mail at marlenas@autosuccessonline.com.

See You at THE Show! DSES 2011 Bellagio, Las Vegas Oct 9-11, 2011

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SeanV.Bradley

marketing solution

Great Question(s)!

I received a lot of great responses from my article a couple of months ago on getting Internet sales departments to effectively make phone calls. I had some people contact me with skepticism, but after we hung up from our call, they were complete believers. But, I also had some communication with people who were a little confused about the numbers and the strategy. So, this article is going to break things down a little deeper. Let me recap the highlights from that article: • Your Internet sales department is primarily a phone sales department. • You want to have a minimum of 120 phone calls per day per rep. • Do not let your team settle for mediocrity. • Implement the “power hour” exercise ASAP. • The average connection ratio (From phone call attempts to connections) is only 11 to 14 percent. • The key to success is understanding the logic: The more people you attempt to call, the more people you will connect with on the phone; the more connections, the more

appointments; the more appointments, the more confirmations; the more confirmations, the more shows; the more show, the more sales.

Here, however, is the most powerful advice I can give: Every dealership should really think about having professional appointment setters in their dealership. We have clients all over this country and abroad, and it doesn’t matter if they are a small dealership, a large dealership, a dealer group, highline, import, domestic or even an independent dealer. Our most successful clients have professional appointment setters and some even have a full-blown team of appointment setters. One recent example is Gary Mathews of Jackson in Jackson, Tennessee. This is a Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Hyundai dealership that went from 35 units per month to 86 units per month and were on track for 102 for August. In a down economy, they have broken dealership record after record. And they are proud to tell you why: their dedication to their Internet business. One of the main keys to their success is that they have a team of appointment setters, and all they do from open to close in shifts is pound the phones and e-mail (the CRM is programmed with an automated e-mail action plan). Think about it: How much more successful would your dealership be if you had a team of trained appointment setters, and all they did at your dealership was make phone calls all day from open to close in shifts? Remember that you only have an 11 to 14 percent connection ratio on the phones. So, if you only make 50 calls, you will only have five to seven connections. Plus, if you leave this up to your sales team to do, there will be no consistency. How could there be? They have to do follow-ups, product presentations and deliveries; they sometimes chase stips; they have days off, shifts off, personal time, and so on. You need 100 percent consistency on those phones, from open to close. I will give you another example. We have a Honda dealership client in New Jersey that went from 60 units online to more than 200. How did they do this? Well, they had a team of 12 professionally trained appointment setters who made 120 calls per day five days per week for a total of more than 30,000 phone calls in one month. That’s what it takes to sell 200 units online. More than 15,000 phone calls to sell 100 units online. More than 7,500 phone calls to sell 50 units online. The push back I get from dealers is that they don’t trust “BDC reps,” “appointment setters,” etc. The reason why most are not successful is that they have the wrong people in those positions and most don’t have the proper training. At minimum, an automotive Internet sales / phone sales professional should be trained in areas including: • Inbound / outbound phone process • How to qualify a prospect and identify wants, wishes and expectations. • Objections / rebuttals • The power of leaving a great voice mail • Outbound / inbound e-mail protocol • How to execute the dealership’s value package proposition • Science of communication — tone, inflection, etc. • Automotive Internet sales knowledge • Product knowledge These people are truly phone sales professionals. The only difference between them and your showwroom sales professional is that they do not sell the vehicle; they sell the appointment. They should, however, be no less intelligent, skilled and trained. Sean V. Bradley is the founder and CEO of Dealer Synergy, a nationally recognized training and consulting company in the automotive industry. He can be contacted at 866.648.7400, or by e-mail at sbradley@autosuccessonline.com.

autosuccessonline.com

leadership solution

little things can make a big difference

It’s the little things that make you the most money selling cars. • Every sales rep should be mailing out handwritten birthday and holiday cards with their business cards and a magnet in them. If allowed, have your referral amount on the back of your business card. Also, have the referral amount and your picture on the magnet, as well, so people can remember your face.

• Start your morning meetings by training on a topic that your people know well in advance. • Pay the performers by having dice rolls at a dollar a point for doing something good. It is cheaper to pay $50 a day to the people who are doing the right things than to pay for advertising that might not work if your people don’t do the right things when customers arrive. • Always pay the bigger bonuses on improvement, and not for simply doing the job.

• Time off, instead of the money, might be a person’s hot button. Find out what it takes them to make each salesperson happy and have them earn it. • Instead of paying big bonuses all the time, mix it up. Pay half in cash and the other half with prospecting tools. • Give everyone a chance. For example, if Joe sold 12 last month, his qualifier is now 14 to get the bonus. My bonuses used to start at 30 a month. I hated it, but that is what got me to 40 and 50 cars a month. • Want to attract heavy hitters? Send the most-improved sales reps on small trips each month. Run a small ad in the paper congratulating the sales reps and managers who won. Have the winners say in the paper “I want to thank all my customers for helping me win a trip to (wherever they went). After a while, you will have good sales reps contacting you for a job because most dealers don’t do this. This cost the

dealer peanuts compared to what they will get in return. • Have a meeting with the whole dealership the first Monday of every month. Acknowledge people’s birthdays, anniversaries, any newborns and crown the employee of the month. Any employee that has sent the dealership a friend to buy a car gets to spin the wheel of fortune, ranging from $50 to $500. A successful dealer told me once that it is much cheaper to pay your people and keep them happy than to advertise. Have a birthday cake, muffins, orange juice, donuts and so on. At the end of the meeting, the GM or owner should thank everyone for doing a great job. Everyone likes to be recognized and get an “atta boy,” and this will do just that. The cost is less than $100 to do this. It’s the little things that make you big money in the auto industry. For more inexpensive ideas to push the needle at your store and sell more cars without spending more money, e-mail me at the address below. Fran Taylor is the president and CEO of Taylor Techniques. He can be contacted at 866.848.9864, or by e-mail at ftaylor@autosuccessonline.com.

the #1 sales-improvement magazine for the automotive professional

podcast interviewee

FranTaylor

GrantCardone

sales & training solution

rules of selling

Automotive salespeople, you must know the rules to win the sale. You are in one of the most competitive selling environments ever. Add to that a consumer who is terrified to pull the trigger and who spends more time shopping the Web than experiencing the product. It is game time, colleagues, and you have to be prepared like never before. Are you ready? Are you preparing yourself everyday? You can want to be on top of the leader board, but that won’t put you there. You can wish and pray for more traffic and fatter grosses, but they won’t come without you knowing the rules. In this economy, every opportunity has to count — every phone call, lead and walk in. You could easily blow a deal just because you were slow to answer a question, stammered through a response to your customer or you just didn’t respond with the right attitude. Your ability to communicate and mindset are vital, and you must be committed throwing out doubts and operating with discipline. Here are five rules that will simplify the sales process, help you communicate effectively and allow you to win the sale: 1. Always Agree with Your Customer. Agree First, Negotiate Later.

“No problem,” “Yes ma’am, I can help you with that,” “Most people are just looking, at first.” Always, always, always agree with your customer. This is the single most important and the most commonly violated rule in all of selling. People are attracted to products, ideas and people who represent the things they’re in agreement with. This is a universal fact. I agree with everyone first, even when what they are saying is “idiotic.” Disagreeing will only make them insanely idiotic. I will agree with a client and then move them off that product or close them for more money when it is appropriate. People misunderstand this rule by just agreeing. No. Agree, and then get your way. “I agree, it is a lot of money,” doesn’t mean you drop the price. “I agree the payments are high, but you knew you were coming to a BMW store, sir. You always pay extra for quality — sign here.” Agree and then justify, establish reality and close.

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2. Know the Price Myth.

Price is a myth and is only real to the person who believes price is the reason. You can’t put a price tag on something you really love, or something that solves an emergency. When asked about price, provide the information, and then focus on building value or moving the buyer to a product that will better suit them and their budget. The buyer doesn’t need to be handled on price — you do. Do you know the value of your product? What makes it different, better and a great investment? If you don’t know, you will never be able to sell another on it. Value is more important than price. Discounting does not add value or make the product/service a better deal. People will pay more just because they like you. Value is what your customer will pay to feel emotionally satisfied — it’s the smell of new leather, the feel of the softest t-shirt, the look of perfect shoes or the taste of the best vintage. Value is also what solves the buyer’s problems. If he really loves the product, is certain it will solve his problems and actually has confidence in you, he or she will come up with the money to buy your product. 3. Move Up, Don’t Move Down.

Many salespeople make the mistake of offering something for a lower price when faced with price objections. Price is a myth and not a valid issue. You have missed as many deals because you were on too little car as too much. Think back to the last time a customer said they couldn’t afford it and then went down the street and spent more money. They were saying it was too much and you thought they said they couldn’t afford it. What they were saying was, “too much for that product.” When you move the customer down in price, he’s less likely to want this next product if he didn’t want the first one, and might think that you can’t solve his problems. By moving him up rather than down in inventory, you’ll get him thinking in terms of value and you will find out if his original objection is valid or not. 4. Give, Give, Give!

Selling is the act of giving, not getting; serving, not selling. Instead of being interested in your own commission, focus on what your product really offers the customer and how your client is going to benefit from this experience. If your customer wants one option, give him three or six or even 12 options. Those professionals who care the most are the ones who go the extra mile to find ways to improve the customer’s life. You have to give more than information — give choices, give options, give personal visits, give links to all the Websites that they might check for on their own time. Basically, overwhelm people with so much “give” that they have to surrender to your thrust. And don’t forget to offer personal visits. See my recent blog at http://dealercommunications.com/technology/dont-be-deceived-by-the-technology-drive/. 5. Write Up, and Never Stand Up

You will never close a deal if you don’t write the buyer up and you’ll almost never close a deal if you’re standing up. Always bring a buyer inside for a presentation of your offer. If you don’t get to price, payments, difference, down payments and the like, you ain’t going home with a done deal. Make it easy for your buyer to look at numbers after the demo ride. “Come on inside and let me get your figures and show you how easy it is to do business here.” Sit your client down and show him or her what you can do for them, and substantiate it with facts. Also, make the transition now between selling and closing. Now is the time to press for a close and a decision. Sell on emotion, close on facts and figures and logic. The biggest weakness of salespeople is in negotiating and closing the transaction. If you find yourself not writing buyers, I assure you that it is because you are weak in the close. If you are weak there, then you are weak. The marketplace will not tolerate it today and it’s your responsibility to become strong in the close or it’s going to cost you money and cost you sales. Grant Cardone is an author and the CEO of Cardone Training Technologies, Inc. He can be contacted at 866.865.3175, or by e-mail at gcardone@autosuccessonline.com.

ScottJoseph

marketing solution

when you see the word ‘marketing,’ what’s the first thing that pops into your head? Getting prospects “through the showroom door” to buy just once is advertising. Keeping those customers as ongoing valuable clients, creating new areas of profit, staying a step ahead of the competition can be tricky. It calls for a whole host of skills and planning — that’s “marketing.”

LEADS = $

associated to dset to “every lead is “If you change your min ds. Your first lea se tho you’d waste a cost,” there’s no way ally aware. equ is make sure your staff step, therefore, is to simply not es, uir enq son that a per They too must realize n, but to buy.” for a price or informatio

one in five, your cost equates to $133 per sale.

There are plenty of great advertising ideas that will generate a lot of Internet or showroom traffic. The real question is, “What do you do to capitalize on the leads or enquiries that are generated from your ads?”

If you change your mindset to “every lead is associated to a cost,” there’s no way you’d waste those leads. Your first step, therefore, is to make sure your staff is equally aware. They too must realize that a person enquires, not simply for a price or information, but to buy. They are going to buy somewhere. Your collective task is to make it your dealership.

Enquiries Cost Money — Don’t Let Them Walk

Incidentally, the sales team must never be trapped into pre-judging a person’s motive for enquiring or their buying power.

Because you fork out a small fortune every month to pay for your advertising, you are aware of just how much it really costs to get a person through the door, on the phone or to your Internet site. If you spend $2,000 a month for a specific campaign you receive 75 enquiries. That’s almost $27 per lead. And that’s just a lead. If your team only converts

Follow-up Processes

What processes do you have in place to follow up with each enquiry? You should have one for people who buy and a completely different strategy for people who do not. When someone does not buy, do you rely on your rep or a BDC to follow up by phone or do you have a marketing strategy in place that includes multiple channels, such as e-mail and texting? When someone does buy, what is your plan to create the type of customer experience to keep them coming back? What do you do to create more profit opportunities? Three Powerful Marketing Truths That Go Against Common Expectation

One is the so-called 80/20 rule. It states that 80 percent of your business comes from 20 percent of your client base. And only 20 percent is generated by the other 80 percent. Good to know when you’re deciding where to direct your promotional dollars. Another is the “RFM” rule. In essence, it states that, first, the most “recent” purchaser will be more likely to buy than a non-recent one. This holds true even in the car business. Remember, a large percentage of your customers own more than one vehicle. Sometimes, we think if a customer just bought we should avoid advertising to them about buying another car. The truth is, we should be more aggressive with those buyers (at least the buyers who also own another vehicle). Second, the most “frequent” purchaser is more likely than an infrequent one. Finally, the purchaser of products in a given “monetary” range is most likely to respond to an offer in that same price range. Knowledge of this rule can save a fortune on e-mail and direct mail lists. And a third rule, as stated by American retailer and marketing genius Murray Raphel, is “It is far easier to sell more to the customer you have, than to sell a new customer.” To ignore previous customers is an expensive mistake. You should be prepared to ask recent customers to buy again — yes, even cars. The RFM rule has proven over and over again that the most recent customer is the most likely to buy again. Don’t confuse trade cycles with purchases. After all, nothing depreciates your car faster than the new one you just parked right next to it in the driveway. Scott Joseph is the president of J&L Marketing, Inc. He can be contacted at 888.835.1689, or by e-mail at sjoseph@autosuccessonline.com.

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ng some PA, enjoyi in Easton, a Saturday. ia K b au D n Brown ter… o , owner of use with his daugh Tom Ring lake ho ew n is h ESP at

How could I have known the car business would try to take my life? Maybe you’re a lot like me. Or at least how I used to be. I was working endlessly in the dealership. I had my life’s savings wrapped up in the business, and when “the crash” came it nearly ruined everything. My kids, my wife, my mortgage, my life…it all passed before my eyes as I watched sales get cut in half and profit all but disappear completely. I was frozen in fear for a while, then got moving, when a Google search led me to a couple of guys you may have heard of before – Jimmy Vee & Travis Miller from Rich Dealers. Of course, I’d heard it all before…increase traffic, increase sales, over promise, under deliver. What else is new? Frankly, I didn’t believe there was anything out there I hadn’t already tried. But I didn’t have much to risk, so I gave it a shot. “Prove me wrong, guys,” I said. Reluctantly, I got involved. I gotta say…they were talking about things nobody else was talking about. In fact, they seemed to be telling me the opposite of what most people were telling me I should do. It was anything but “common knowledge” and I was even more skeptical at this point. How could these two guys know something nobody else did? Seemed unlikely. But keep reading… So, back at the dealership, I figured why not try some of what they were suggesting. So, I ran the ad they gave me, I followed their strategy and I made some simple changes to the way we positioned our dealership to the customers. They showed me how to be in command of the actions of potential buyers by speaking to their subconscious mind. My expectations were low. What happened next? Well, I could hardly believe it. It was like someone turned on the lights. It was a complete and rapid reinvention of our business. The energy in the sales department went through the roof. People were excited to come to work again. The phones were ringing, the showroom was busy, leads

It Damn Near Killed Me...

were pouring in. Money was flowing. But how long would it last? I’m happy to report that it’s been nearly three years since I first found these guys. And every year has gotten better. 2009 was a record profit year, until 2010 shattered the record. And we netted more by June 2011 than we had in all of 2010. The only thing I can say is “hold on tight” because it’s the ride of your life. The best part is, not only did they help me increase sales (from about 80 new and used per month to over 250 new and used per month now) but they convinced me to slow down and appreciate life more. I’ve never felt more alive…and my family has never really known me before now. I’ve been able to rebuild cars with my boys and be there when my daughter left for her first date. My wife thinks she married a new man. Jim & Travis call it ESP – Enjoyable, Simple & Prosperous. It’s the ultimate goal of being a Rich Dealer. And it’s real, very real. Since then, my experience has convinced numerous other dealers around the country and in Canada to check out the program. Over the past few years I’ve seen a lot of different people join the program. I’ve seen a small independent dealer from Kentucky (Tony) start taking Saturdays off while grossing $500k per month. I’ve seen a big mid-west Chevy dealer (Courtney) go from 250 cars per month to 400 cars per month by doing what I did. I’ve seen Hyundai dealers, Dodge Chrysler dealers, Kia dealers, and everything in between come in and turn everything around by doing things differently than all the other “gurus” recommend. It’s refreshing. And it’s fun to double your business, take more dough home and spend more time with your family at the same time. How does it work? Jim & Travis say, “Stop selling cars, start selling solutions.” And they’re right! They recognized what so many others have missed: only a tiny part of the population are actively, consciously shopping for a nicer, newer car…while the vast majority

of people are sitting it out because some problem is keeping them from what they really want. But that inner desire among most people has power that overcomes logic. That craving remains, untouched, in the unconscious pleasure center of our brains, where typical advertising messages never reach. Jim & Travis knew that the most powerful part of the human brain was the unconscious “lizard brain.” So they began crafting messages that subtly speak to the subconscious mind and virtually hypnotize customers into buying from you—and loving the experience. They’ve sold more than 2,000,000 cars this way, and as you read this, every two minutes another car is sold. What makes their program so much more effective than other ordinary solutions? First, they write the creative for you. They don’t ask you to come up with the ideas. Every month they develop a fresh, new, winning campaign based on their formula. What a relief! I was so glad not to have to come up with the ideas myself anymore. The other high impact portion of their program is the interaction with their other members. Jim & Travis host a private meeting four times per year. I’ve learned more (and shared more) in those meetings than I have in any other group or seminar I’ve ever attended. Plus, all the members are connected online 24/7 through the Internet. Got a question? Some other member has the answer. And since there’s only one dealer per market area, people are always willing to share their best ideas and secrets. The first step toward becoming a member yourself is the free Market Rater Analysis. A Rich Dealers Advisor will analyze your market to determine how much untapped opportunity exists. Then they’ll answer your questions about the program and explain how you can try it yourself, risk free. To schedule, call 866.852.0145 and ask for Wayne Harris or visit www.MarketRater.com. ®

JimKristoff

sales & training solution

retain them, or lose them

The easiest and least expensive customer to sell to is the one that has already bought from you. The auto industry is working too hard and spending too much money constantly trying to acquire new customers. While acquiring new customers is important, Let’s review some customer retention facts (with statistics directly from NADA, the National dealers already have thousands of customers in Automobile Dealers Association). Ninety percent, and I repeat, 90 percent of the average dealership’s advertising budget is spent attempting to acquire a new or pre-owned vehicle customer, their database who are theirs to keep once they develop the right retention plan. while the remaining 10 percent of the budget is spent in the service and parts departments. Considering that the average dealership spends $384,000 per year on advertising, this means that the average dealership only spends $38,400 per year on retaining its customers. That statistic is disturbing.

as seen on

According to NADA, the average newvehicle customer is keeping their vehicle approximately 40 months before trading it in, and regular service customers are 17 times more likely to buy their next vehicle from their servicing dealership. Read that again: 17 times more likely. Not twice as likely, or five times more likely, but 17 times more likely. Did you also realize that 30 percent of your customers have a friend or family member that will purchase a vehicle within the next year? Wouldn’t you like to have an opportunity to sell a vehicle to those people? Very few dealerships track their marketing and retention efforts. Most cannot tell you with a definitive answer what is working and what is not and, more often then not, they do the same thing year after year. That fits my favorite definition of insanity: “Doing the same thing over and over again and hoping for a different result.” So, what measurement instrument are you using to track customer retention? If you have to stop and think about it, you probably are not tracking it very well. Are your service and parts departments using specific operation codes to track your marketing efforts? You can be specific with these operation codes to help you track what is working and what is not. Are you offering any special incentives to your customers to remain loyal? You don’t need to give away anything to keep your customers loyal; all it requires is a little attention and a little consideration. Isn’t that what we all want? There are countless ways to retain your customers, but you need to manage and measure these ways. No program is good or bad until it is measured. Investing in retention is an investment in the future and cannot be underestimated. So if you haven’t already, I strongly encourage you to take retention seriously. Adopt a program to help you achieve results and measure and track how the program you choose works for you. If not, you’re losing customers, and money, to your competition. Jim Kristoff is a dealer, trainer and speaker. He can be contacted at 866.429.1532, or by e-mail at jkristoff@autosuccessonline.com.

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BrianPasch

marketing solution

google colorized search engine result pages Have you thought about how much color has been added to Google’s search result pages? It’s as if Google took a cue from a Broadway musical and created their own version of Joseph’s Technicolor Dream Coat. The colorization of Search Engine Results Pages (SERP) comes from customer reviews, Google +1 buttons and color thumbnail photos of people in your network. Dealers must prioritize implementing processes to collect in-store customer reviews — a topic that has been covered in recent articles in AutoSuccess. Dealers who have a proactive reputation management process in place also get an additional benefit — yellow stars next to their Google Places listing. Yellow is a color that draws the eye as you can see in Section 2 of the example SERP page. The Amazon effect has clearly trained consumers to click first on the “products” and now companies that have the highest ratings. This is an untapped opportunity for most car dealers. Check and see how many yellow stars you have compared to other dealers in your market. My suggestion is that all dealers should have at least 100 reviews on Google Places to be competitive. Thumbnails Will Influence Click Through Rate

Yellow stars, however, are not the only things that are catching the eye of the consumer.

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Google is now including photo thumbnails of people who click on the “+1 Button” on a Website page who are connected in your network. These thumbnails are very important and they stand out in Regions 3 and 4. Do you agree that if you saw three of your friends’ photos under a search listing, it would increase the likelihood of you clicking on the listing? The addition of photo thumbnails adds color and relevance to people from their network of friends. The colorization and personalization of SERP pages can be leveraged to increase click behavior of online shoppers. One of the easiest ways to leverage this new feature is to ask all your employees to create a personal Google account and then to “+1” your key Website pages. By having them click on the “+1 Button” next to your Website assets, you expand the network of influence because each employee is likely connected to a few hundred local consumers. Do you have a Technicolor search engine optimization strategy in place? If you have not updated your search engine marketing strategy to include the colorization provided by reviews and the Google +1 button, you need to get busy. Brian Pasch, is CEO of PCG Digital Marketing and the founder of the Automotive Internship Program. He can be contacted at 866.849.1560, or by e-mail at bpasch@autosuccessonline.com.

RandolphS.Lofgren

leadership solution

are your fixed ops employees swimming with sharks? Are your fixed operations employees trained properly to meet and exceed your requirements and the high standards of the manufacturer? It’s fair to say that every fixed operations employee out there has been trained to meet the requirements and goals that are required for them to perform their job.

incoming calls and making status calls? How well is this important job being done at your dealership? Is an incoming service call a “hot potato?” Are service receptionists just transferring callers to the drive while not knowing if there is a consultant available to answer the incoming calls? Does your receptionist have word tracks

to follow regarding the correct way to answer incoming calls for scheduling appointments or to assist a customer with questions? Many appointments are lost due to incorrect ways of handling incoming calls. How many phone calls come into your service department per day? Keep in mind that poor service can amount to a loss of 10 percent of potential customers per day. That is devastating to any business. Randolph S. Lofgren is president of Bottomline Consulting Firm. He can be contacted at 866.427.2961, or by e-mail at rlofgren@autosuccessonline.com.

Think back to when a new employee started at your dealership. Were they just thrown out on the drive or at a desk with little training, if any? Before they hit the drive or started any communication with your customers, did anyone explain manufacturer or company policies or requirements to them? How about standard issues, such as warranty policies, coverage or the understanding of bulletins and recalls? How about the customer with a simple flat tire? Do your consultants know the procedures or the tire manufacturer’s policies on roadside assistance for a flat tire? Do they have to run around to the parts department looking for answers? Do they go to the service manager or call the manufacturer themselves? There are numerous skills for service consultants to master to be able to meet and beat the standards that are presented to each and every consultant out there. I once had a general manager put together a test he made up from the manufacturer’s P&P manual. These were not hard questions — just ones everyone should have known the answers to. The questions covered items such as how to handle issues related to corrosion warranty, bumper-to-bumper warranty, peeling on trim, clear coat on alloy rims, etc. The test asked how these issues were to be resolved, as well as testing their knowledge on manufacture’s warranty coverage within warranty time frames (year and mileage). The number of wrong answers was surprising. Even our service, parts and body shop managers missed some of the answers. This shows that a lot of fixed ops employees don’t know the policy and procedures they are required to know of their manufacture warranties or procedures. It is important to determine if they have been trained correctly. Manufacturers are now being stricter on following their policy and procedures. Failure or misinformation can result in chargebacks and loss of customer confidence. This is your frontline — it’s well worth having the best training possible for your staff, and service managers don’t always have the time to train new or existing service consultants.  Here are some things to consider in the service drive: How’s their meet and greet on the drive? Are they trained for the walk around? Is the MPI being filled out at the walk around? How about phone skills? Are consultants answering the #1 sales-improvement magazine for the automotive professional

MarshBuice

sales & training solution

what’s up with your write-ups?

The Why:

Most salespeople do not know why they write up a customer; they think it is only a power kick from management. In order to make a write-up work, you must know the why so you can effectively learn the how. Think of the write-up as the throttle of a sale; if a customer is ready to buy, the speed can be adjusted to move the progress of the sale along. Conversely, if the customer is not ready to buy, the speed can be slowed in an effort to address and overcome a customer’s objections.

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The How:

Want to know the secret to getting more customers inside and written up? The better you are outside, the easier it is inside. When you know what you are selling — I mean you eat, sleep, and breathe your product — you can then concentrate less on the facts and stats and begin to focus more on becoming a real person to your customer. Remember, many customers are not saying “no;” they are saying “know.” They don’t know enough about you, your product or your dealership. Most customers are resistive to coming inside because you have not done an effective job in qualifying and landing them on the right vehicle, and they simply don’t trust you. Think of the transition from the demo to the write-up as a first date. It’s awkward when you first pick your date up, but if you are sending out the right vibes, listening and getting to know them, the kiss goodnight is not an awkward moment — it just punctuates a great evening. The framework of an effective sale is much the same way — awkward at first, but with the right mixture of listening and effective communication, you’ll be kissing a 60-day tag in no time. Too many times, we try awkwardly to kiss our customers goodnight after a terrible, rushed presentation. Our customers opt to shake our hand and leave, instead of coming inside for a “night cap.” If you find your month at an impasse, chunk your areas of improvement into bit-sized, 20-minute daily goals and begin working on them. Work each week on your weaknesses until you have mastered them. The more comfortable you are with your skills and techniques, the more you can focus on becoming you instead of your job title. Effective selling requires an outside in focus, emphasizing on doing the right things outside in order to become prosperous inside. The Results:

Two of the biggest misconceptions to be successful in the car business are having the “gift of gab” and being an ace closer. While it is important to be personable and effective at communicating the advantages of your product, you do not have to know 112 different closing tracts in order to make a sale. Selling is all about leverage; he who has the most leverage makes the sale — albeit the customer selling you on why they need to leave or you selling them on why they should stay. The speed of the sale depends on the concerns of your customers. Your Broadway-like presentation may have blown the doors off of the dealership, but your customer may still be hesitant in committing to buy. A write-up allows you to slow the speed of the sale down in order to address their concerns. Some customers may need reassuring in their purchasing decision, while others may need to hear more information as to why your product has a distinct advantage over your competitors’. Virtually every car company makes a good product; the write-up is the platform in which you make yourself unequal to your competition. It is up to you to differentiate yourself. When you are able to control the speed of the sale and mix it with your expert knowledge, effective communication and listening skills, and add a dash of your personality, you will produce more effective write-ups that will convert to more sales. There is no “magic pill” in making more sales; if there were I would have OD’d on them years ago. Instead it takes the flexibility in making necessary adjustments in controlling the sale, disciplining yourself to stick with your fundamentals — one of which is the write-up — and vowing to stay committed to your plan even when things are not going well. When you commit to a plan, everything else will change accordingly — the first of which is your bank account. I will see you next time on the black top. Marsh Buice is the sales manager of Mark Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep. He can be contacted at 866.535.5006, or by e-mail at mbuice@autosuccessonline.com.

podcast interviewee

Minute details can make major differences when it comes to having a successful sales career. It’s not the mountains that break your sales career; it’s the molehills — the tiny fundamentals you have let slide throughout your career. One such technique is the writeup; every dealership has an eight- to 10-step “Road to the Sale” program that literally walks a salesperson through the entire sale. When a salesperson’s career gets off track, he tends to lay blame on external situations, such as the curse of the bad credit gods or poor inventory selection. In other words, salespeople blame anything other than themselves and their eroding fundamentals. The car business is 10 percent physical and 90 percent mental; it takes little exertion physically, but a tremendous amount of mental energy. This month, I’d like to address the significance of a write-up. First, though, let’s address what a write-up is not. A write-up is not writing a customer’s name on a scrap piece of paper on the hood of their car just before they burn off. A proper write-up is bringing a customer inside, seating them at a desk, and professionally asking them to buy a car. Shockingly, many salespeople have not because they ask not; they spend hours with a customer and never write them up and ask for their business. Before we move forward, remember, a write-up is not scribbling down a customer’s nickname and walking into your manager’s office saying, “Hey boss, I got this guy….” (No, he’s got you.) Let’s talk about the why, the how, and the result of an effective write-up.

sales & training solution

the difference maker – the trade-in

Think of how much selling vehicles has changed in the last several years. Now think of what is being taught in most dealerships regarding the road to the sale. Considering the education and interaction that occurs before the customer ever gets to the dealership, most sales training is outdated. One key difference maker can be the customer’s trade-in. I am not referring to the trade value in monetary terms, but in informational and relational terms. Let’s examine a few facts. The majority of purchases involve trade-ins. People spend the majority of their lives in three areas: home, work and vehicle. Therefore, the customer’s current vehicle is a comfort zone. Most salespeople tend to completely ignore the customers trade-in comfort zone. They get the trade-in appraised but rarely, if ever, go to the trade-in with their customers. Imagine the following scenario: A customer walks in, and after you greet them you begin to communicate by asking a few questions. After you create some initial rapport, you tell them that, before picking out their new vehicle, you would like to walk over to their current vehicle for just a minute for a couple of reasons. First of all, you would like to get all the information and a complete written description of the vehicle so that later, when the management is verifying the market value, they will have all the information necessary, and that will save the customer a bunch of T-I-M-E. Secondly, as you are going over the vehicle, you would like to ask them a few questions about what they like and don’t like about the current vehicle and what they would like to change. “Usually, Mr. Customer,” you can say, “as we are doing this, I come up with a few ideas to save you some M-ON-E-Y. Fair enough?” As a salesperson, you are now moving in the opposite direction of other salespeople, which is always a good thing. You must differentiate not only yourself but your process and your value. There is not a better place to ask questions, spend time and create a comfortable rapport building

autosuccessonline.com

buying environment. The trade-in will give you tremendous clues about the customers buying patterns, communication styles, behavior types and what the overriding HFG – Hope for Gain that the customer is seeking. The information and relationship gained from this step in the process will allow you to potentially create apples-to-oranges selling opportunities. You will have significantly improved your potential to elevate three things in your favor – Money, Me and Machine. If you are presenting other opportunities such as used vs. new, lease vs. buy, cash back for trade equity, and so on, you will be creating opportunities that others have not presented in a way that adds to your value and elevates you and what you do and offer. When all things are equal, money is the final decision maker. Your job is to add so much value to everything that the money is lowered in the pendulum of the decision process. The trade-in provides opportunities that cannot be found elsewhere. The trade-in and the neglect of the trade-in by other salespeople can be the difference maker for you and the customer. Mark Tewart is the president of Tewart Enterprises, and the author of the bestseller, How To Be A Sales Superstar. He can be contacted at 866.429.6844,or by e-mail at mtewart@autosuccessonline.com.

podcast interviewee

MarkTewart

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TracyMyers

marketing solution

matching your expertise to your perfect market Matching Your Offer With What The Market Wants

For the past two months, I’ve been sharing the process I’ve developed to become the “Go-To” expert in your highly profitable marketplace. Let’s review: 1. Understand yourself and your offer. 2. Understand your market and what they want.

If you have a strong passion for your market, this will show through to your customers, and you will be more motivated to do what needs to be done.

So, now you have taken time to understand what makes you special and to define exactly what the market is looking for. The next step is to match these together to ensure you present your strengths in a way that meets the needs of your market.

A Real World Example

The benefit you are offering must outweigh the cost to them — whether financial, time or any other factor. If they want the benefit but won’t pay the cost, for instance, you won’t build the business you are hoping for. Here’s an example: Would you pay $1,000 to attend a seminar that taught you how to make $1,000? Probably not — unless it offered significant other benefits — because you are investing time as well as money. Would you pay $1,000 to attend a seminar teaching you how to earn $100,000? Possibly — provided you had confidence that it would deliver and it was something that appealed to you.

If necessary, use this process as a chance to reinvent yourself — to do something a little bit different with your life. It may involve more work for a while, but the results will justify it both in your business and your personal happiness. When I was in sixth grade, a lightbulb went off in my head while I was at a school dance. The math teacher was playing DJ, and it was horrible. Everyone was threatening to walk out and not come to the next dance. The problem was the dance was a major school fundraiser — they were charging $5 per student admission plus taking pictures and making money off them, too. I came up with a business plan and presented it to the principal saying I would DJ the next school dance — all they had to do was raise the ticket price from $5 to $7 and give the extra $2 to me. Tickets for 200 students at $2 each made me $400 — plus I charged $1 for each “request” that I played and made an extra $50. The dance was such a success that the principal practically begged me to DJ the rest of the dances, and the feedback was so huge that even more students came to the next dance, which meant even more money for me. And here’s the best part: I had become such a celebrity in school that a lot of the girls wanted their pictures taken with me instead of their dates. By the time I was in high school, I would DJ a couple of times a month for schools, reunions, Christmas parties — anyone that would pay me. I was, however, using my home stereo equipment. So I drew up a business plan for my dad and asked to borrow $1,500 so I could buy some “real” commercial mobile DJ equipment. He agreed and even drove me to the audio store to help me negotiate the price on the equipment. On the way home, he even stopped and ordered me some business cards.

When we got back home, he drew up a promissory note and even charged me interest — one of the best lessons he ever taught me. Building a successful business is as simple as Chargeback • Full Set-Up &they Training • Guaranteed Compliance that. You needGuarantee to give people something Get your FREE copy of the“15 Keys to Once I had my “real” equipment, I started booking more gigs and charging more money. I want at a price they see as value-for-money. Boosting Sales Volume & Profitability.” quickly moved on from the high school dance scene because of the lack of money involved. I tohigh school, I made more an E-mail No obligation. had moved on to colleges and wedding receptions. InSend my senior year of Of course, the actual return doesn’t have to Put “KEYS” in the subject info@gamarketing.com. than $15,000 as a self-employed part-time DJ. be monetary. Often, people are looking for another type of benefit but they have to feel the line and we’ll send it right out! (866) 460-0539 If a teenager with no experience could do that, think what you as an adult can do if you put your return justifies the investment. www.gamarketing.com The Staffed Event Leader Since 1995. Accountability. Reputation. mind, your energy andResults. your enthusiasm behind it. In order to give your “expert brand” the greatest chance of success, you should ideally be offering a service that not only meets their needs but where you also have some strong Tracy Myers, C.M.D. is a noted small business marketing and branding solutions specialist, connection either through specific experience best-selling author, speaker, car dealership owner and entrepreneur. He can be contacted at 866.860.0029, or by e-mail at tmyers@autosuccessonline.com. or a particular passion.

Get your FREE copy of the“15 Keys to Thanks to great dealers with exceptional Boosting Sales Volume & Profitability.” reputations, 2011 has been a record-breaking No obligation. E-mail to year for us and our clients. Never have our info@gamarketing.com. Put dealers enjoyed higher gross profit per event “KEYS” in the subject line and or more units sold per event. Thank you! we’ll send it right out! Accountability. Reputation. Results. Since 1995. (866) 460-0539. gamarketing.com

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TD Auto Finance

Chrysler Financial and TD Bank Group have joined forces to become TD Auto Finance.

Introducing TD Auto Finance TD Auto Finance is a North American, top-5 bank-owned auto finance company that combines more than 45 years of automotive financing expertise from Chrysler Financial with the financial stability of TD Bank Group. All of which means we understand your business and are committed to helping it grow, today, and into the future.

Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re ready for your business. Call TD Auto Finance today at 1-800-200-1513 or visit us online at www.tdafdealer.com.

Part of the TD Bank Group, a Aaa-rated bank ranked as one of the safest banks in North America.

TD Auto Finance LLC, is a subsidiary of TD Bank, N.A. TD Bank Group is a trade name for The Toronto-Dominion Bank. Used with permission. For detailed credit ratings for The Toronto-Dominion Bank and TD Bank, N.A. visit http://www.td.com/investor/credit.jsp. Credit Ratings are not recommendations to purchase, sell, or hold a financial obligation inasmuch as they do not comment on market price or suitability for a particular investor. Ratings are subject to revision or withdrawal at any time by the rating organization.

ChadPolk

marketing solution

“used” vs. “pre-owned” The Importance of Keyword Research for SEO As I’ve mentioned several times in recent articles, local search optimization is vital to your dealership’s continued success online. Your competitors have Websites too, and they’re exporting to the same sites, and they’re posting on eBay and Craigslist — so search engine optimization is “the next big thing” that will give you a competitive advantage. While most providers offer SEO services, many dealers choose to go the do-it-yourself route. They rely mostly on the built-in optimized features of their Website platform, and have limited knowledge about SEO strategy. Keyword research is one of the most important pieces of the search engine optimization puzzle, and it’s the part that most do-ityourselfers leave out. If you want to rank high in Google searches, you need to understand how people search and tailor your site content to match those search patterns. The best example I can give is “used” vs. “pre-owned.” In our industry, both franchise and independent dealers prefer to say that they sell “pre-owned” cars since it’s a general consensus that “pre-owned” carries a more positive connotation than “used.” Many dealers even go to great lengths to make sure that the word “used” doesn’t appear anywhere on their dealer Website. Positive phrases equal “warm fuzzies” from potential customers, right? So, what’s the problem? The big problem with this strategy is that when the general public searches for a vehicle,

they don’t type in “pre-owned car” – they type in “used car.” In fact, according to Google’s keyword research tool, which provides an average number of monthly searches on a global and local level, there are more than one million global searches a month for “used cars” – but only 12,100 searches for “pre-owned cars.” Have I got your attention now? If you look at a local level, at searches only in the United States, there are 673,000 searches every month for “used cars,” but only 8,100 searches for “preowned cars.” That’s 83 to 1 in favor of “used cars.”So, while you might have the warm fuzzies because of the keywords you’re using on your site, you’re missing out on a massive amount of potential traffic by excluding the term that people are typing in to try to find you. Think of it this way: Google’s goal is to serve up the most relevant results for each search that a user conducts on their site. If you’re in Denver and you want to show up for “used cars Denver,” you have to be sure that you’ve got the phrase “used cars” on your Website. When we explain this to our clients, they usually reply that “Google should be smart enough to know that ‘pre-owned’ means ‘used.’” Actually, it’s not that Google isn’t smart enough – it’s that Google is too smart. Remember, Google is trying to provide the most relevant results, and it’s going to be literal. If someone is searching for “used cars,” Google will show them sites that are relevant to “used cars.” In closing, if you’re managing your own SEO, start with a solid foundation and conduct a thorough keyword research. Use Google’s Keyword Tool (under the “Reporting and Tools” tab in adwords.google.com) to see how many searches there are every month for the terms and phrases you’re using on your site. Choosing the right keywords will lead to more visitors, more leads, and ultimately more sales for your dealership. Chad Polk is the CEO of AutoRevo. He can be contacted at 866.873.0031, or by e-mail at cpolk@autosuccessonline.com.

W W W. D I G I TA L M A R K E T I N G S T R AT E G I E S . O R G

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Do you want to be a part of one of the fastest growing software companies in the retail automotive market? vAuto’s pricing, appraisal, stocking and merchandising tools are an evolutionary step forward for used car departments. If you have strong retail automotive and/or technology solution provider experience in the dealership industry, then we want you to be part of our tremendous growth. Send resumes to: vautocareers@autosuccessonline.com. Learn more at www.vAuto.com.

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Melloy Nissan Sets Record Month, Increases Sales 310% and Moves into Top 20 Nationally for Nissan Melloy Nissan in Albuquerque, NM, set a record in July with its best sales month ever since Bob Melloy opened the doors to his Nissan dealership in 1964.

attract, sell, service and retain more customers and positively affect all their profit centers: new, used, finance, service and parts for less cost.

Outselling everyone in their district by more than twice the units in July, Melloy is up over 310 percent in sales, and has written more than 1,400 ROs for the same period in 2010 by applying a new sales and service strategy that is proving to

Like many dealers, Melloy Nissan faced the ongoing challenges of how to grow their dealership amidst uncertain market conditions, manufacturer inventory issues, and strong local competition, but their decision in late 2010 to

develop and implement a new marketing strategy for 2011 has had a significant impact on how their year is playing out. Melloy started by taking a close look at their local market that included a comprehensive five-year historical analysis of its sales and service transactions to determine customer trends. Those findings were then compared to leading third-party and industry data to

Success Story establish consumer patterns within the local market. The results enabled Melloy to identify vehicle owners with the greatest probability of buying or servicing with their dealership. The research also pinpointed same-brand owners who had never visited Melloy Nissan, as well as, off-brand owners with a historical pattern of crossing over to Nissan. “Rather than spend advertising dollars to talk to everyone in our region, we can now identify ready Nissan buyers and target them consistently every month for less money,” says Roy Benson, a 37-year veteran of the automotive industry and Gen-

eral Manager at Melloy Nissan. “We have seen a noticeable difference in consumer response rates and our sales are up anywhere from 82 percent to over 400 percent every single month since implementing this strategy in January,” adds Benson.

customer who regularly services with Melloy would receive an offer for $34.95 oil and filter change, but a customer who does not regularly service would receive an oil and filter change offer for $19.95 to persuade them to come back for service.

Melloy has been able to shift away from the more expensive traditional mass media, like television and radio, while directing that money toward strategies that generate the best response using consistent targeted communications with custom messaging that reflects the service status of the customer’s vehicle. A

“We’ve seen a 22 percent increase in total units serviced and our service department has written 1,465 more ROs year to date over 2010,” says Benson. “This is a very effective program.” “Once a sale is made, Melloy does a phenomenal job of staying in

In a Nutshell Melloy Nissan Sets Record Month, Increases Sales 310% and Moves into Top 20 Nationally for Nissan Conduct in-depth market research to determine their perfect primary marketing area and identify in-market • consumers with the greatest statistical probability of purchasing or servicing with their store. Consistently speak to in-market same-brand prospects, and consumers who drive off-brands with a historical • trend of crossing over to Nissan. Implement a targeted marketing strategy using www.TeamVelocityMarketing.com to implement direct mail and • email campaigns that contain custom sales and service messaging relevant to a vehicle’s service status with the dealership. Use in-store merchandising to create a cohesive look and feel for each monthly campaign and tie-together all • promotions. Educate all sales staff on monthly campaigns and promotions; knowledgeable sales staff instill condence with • consumers. Successfully attract, sell, service and retain more customers for less cost while positively promoting all their prot • centers: new, used, nance, service and parts.

Success Story

Promotional Materials

Success Story constant communication with their customers throughout the 60-month lifecycle of their vehicle,” says Budd Blackburn, owner of www.TeamVelocityMarketing.com, the targeted marketing company Melloy Nissan uses. “They use welcome messaging for recent purchasers, maintenance reminders for customers with vehicles that are not yet in-equity but are eligible for scheduled maintenance, as well as, ongoing mail and email communications to customers whose vehicles are in an equity position,” explains Blackburn. Combining sales and service messaging also alleviates over-couponing the customer and ultimately saves the dealership money.

paign mailer or email, they immediately recognize there is a special event taking place at Melloy Nissan and they just happen to be in the right place at the right time to take advantage of the special promotion.

They use a cohesive marketing strategy that includes targeted direct mail and email with custom messaging that reflects the service status of the customer’s vehicle and in-store merchandising to tie everything together.

An important part of Melloy’s strategy is to make sure that their entire sales team is knowledgeable about every campaign, every month. Taking the time to review all the details, offers and promotions with the sales team helps instill confidence among customers. Additionally, they monitor their inbound calls to make sure that every customer is handled properly.

Melloy Nissan also promotes unique ad campaigns like the New Start Program where they reach out to credit-challenged consumers by offering a special ‘New Start Program’. They work closely with local banking institutions and lenders to help consumers who may not have Tier-1credit have the chance to buy a new car that’s affordable.

On average, most dealers pay approximately $150 to generate one lead. Melloy ensures that their marketing and advertising efforts turn into results by using toll-free 800 numbers on all their mail and email campaigns to monitor and track in-bound calls to ensure that every customer is handled with the utmost in customer care, courtesy and professional service; helping them to improve appointment ratios, and ultimately turning those appointments into sales.

No matter which campaign they run, Melloy Nissan now ties everything together with in-store point of sale merchandising that highlights their monthly campaigns. If a customer happens to visit the store without having received a cam-

Melloy is consistent in the households they target and they strive to reach their customers early every month, before their competition. They focus on core models and use combined messaging that always delivers a sales and service message.

New Start Program

o say that SanTan Automotive Group has transformed the concept of a “dealership in the desert” is the understatement of the century. One morning, Ken Ellegard woke up to the sound of success, and it only took him one month to get there — from scratch. How did he do it? Simple: He set up his trail and he blazed it. He took every high-end technology known to man and available in his industry, customized each tool to work for them, built a state-of-the-art eco-friendly dealership, hired the right people with the right intention and the right goals in mind, and he did it. Years of experience taught him what the formula was, and it was the right time to execute. A major part of Ken’s recipe for success is partnering only with the best firms for digital marketing, CRM, desking, ILM, DMS, online chat, value and re-marketing, SEO/SEM, phone tracking and more. He admits that building his physical location in the desert was his first crucial decision on the road to success. A close second was no doubt ensuring that his virtual dealership was just as on-the-money as his physical store is. As a result, Ken has continued to tower over his competition, grow his business beyond the bounds set before him by other far more established dealers in his market and explode his dealership with growth because he has implemented the right formula for success. Naturally, AutoSuccess wanted nothing more than to know what Ken’s formula is, so we sat down with him and his son, John (the new car manager of the dealership) to hear their story. AutoSuccess: Ken, describe what LEED is, and what it entails. Ken Ellegard: LEED is a certification process, and there are different levels – basic LEED,

and then Silver, Gold and Platinum. To get Platinum, we would have had to put solar panels on the roof, which would have been $1.4 million for that alone. We’re in the process of certification right now. We know we’ll get LEED certified, and we’re 90 percent sure we’ll get Silver certification; we’re hoping to get Gold.

AS: Why was this important to you when designing the new dealership? KE: I think it’s the right thing to do to be as environmentally friendly as you can. I’m not

The LEED Certified Store, SanTan Volkswagon in Gilbert, Arizona

necessarily a global warming freak, but I think there’s something going on in our environment that we need to start addressing. Secondly, I thought our customers would appreciate it. John Ellegard: I think with the way diesel and mileage are

today, something like LEED technology really fits in with what Volkswagon is trying to do. A lot of the VW customers are eco-conscious, and they would appreciate the fact that we spent a lot of time and effort to make a smaller footprint on the environment.

KE: We are the first VW dealership in America to do this, which astounded me. VW was actually kind of difficult about it. They have certain items they want in their dealerships that don’t match up with LEED requirements. The flooring we had to have was made of polyurethane. They wanted me to buy blocks from Pennsylvania, but you get LEED points for buying building materials within a 500mile radius, so you don’t have the transportation issues. I won that one, but lost the flooring argument. I said that what they need to do is have a list of alternative materials for dealerships that want to do LEED. If it’s more expensive, the dealer’s going to have to decide if they want to spend the extra to make it happen. VW loves the facility now. AS: It must have been difficult to decide to spend more money in the construction phase in an uncertain economy. KE: If someone wants to do LEED, it’s more money, but not that much more. It’s not

prohibitive to get LEED, and we use less power, less water and transportation costs were lower. You do have to hire a LEED architect, but in the long run, it’s going to save money. JE: We plan on being here long term; we’re not thinking short term. At first, we delayed construction a little while waiting for the economy to turn around; it really hasn’t yet, but we’re doing very, very well, and that’s a function of the building. People compare this facility to other facilities in town, and they’re just blown away — they get a different feel in here. It’s tough to quantify, but people have been in here and mentioned it; they’d seen articles and there’s some awareness. We have material sitting out for people to read while they’re waiting to let them know what we’ve done. AS: What part does technology play in the dealership’s path to the sale? JE: Technology is vital. I remember when CRMs were new, and I believed the technology

would be great. This was the days when people wrote leads on little pieces of paper and would lose them. Once it’s in the CRM, it’s there. When we first started using CRM, one of the guys from our Honda store said that “You’ve got more electronic BS in here than I’ve ever seen,” but now he couldn’t live without it. We’ve got pricing tools, for instance, that tell me that this model of car has the lowest mileage of any car like it in the area and is priced better to sell. That lets me know I can stand by that price, even if I’m making a couple of thousand on it. Far from hurting the industry, technology has helped us be more profitable by far. There’s no one piece of technology that’s all important — it’s how it all integrates together as a whole for the process you want to create for your staff and your customers. You really need it all. Different things appeal to different customers. Some might want to use the live chat, and some really don’t. Some want to use the phone, and some don’t. You need options for the customer to communicate with the dealership; whatever makes them most comfortable. KE: The Internet has changed everything. A customer can find out how much a car is worth, they can find out how much their trade-in is worth. They can call their bank or credit union and find out what their interest rate will be. You can’t fool the consumer, and it’s insulting to the consumer to try. The Internet really was a good thing. It’s lowered our marketing cost, and

I’d rather deal with an educated consumer. Many consumers, especially younger consumers, don’t want to negotiate. They’re not good at it and we have to adjust. Older people, though, tend to brag about the deal they made and want to negotiate; you have to recognize how the consumer wants to buy the car. People should be empowered — it’s their money they’re spending. You want them to go away happy, and not upset about the process or the length of time it took. AS: How does this differ from when you first started in the industry, Ken? KE: Quite frankly, it’s been fairly easy to make a lot of money

through the boom times. Now you have to start embracing new ideas. Still, there are dealers who have done well through the years and think they’ll be just fine. Any change is difficult, and we’re talking about radical changes now. Back in the old days, dealers would write down a ridiculously high price, give a high payment, low-ball the trade in, and then sit back and let the customer tell them what’s important to them. Any time you’ve got all the information and the other person across the table has none, you’re going to win — every time. It’s an awful way to do business, but everyone was doing it. If the customer didn’t like it and left, they’d go to the guy down the street and the same thing would happen — because it made money. That’s the old way of doing it, but I guarantee a lot of dealerships still do it that way. That was a huge change when that didn’t work anymore. AS: Describe your process when dealing with Internet leads, now that your Internet Department is up and running. JE: With Internet leads, we try to respond with an e-mail in

under 15 minutes. In the first steps, it’s all hand-done with no automation. We send them information about our dealership, and we back that up with price quotes for three vehicles with options on those, and then that’s followed up by a phone call from the manager to make sure they got the e-mail and to answer any questions. After that, the lead gets handed off to a salesperson. We try to give leads to people who are better in the area of interest — we have certain people who are better dealing with used cars, for instance, so they get most of those leads — but we try to even it out as much as possible. AS: What about your follow up process? JE: After the sale, they get a call from us the next day, then

in three days to make sure everything is good and then in two weeks. The CRM takes over for the most part then: They get automated e-mails, triggered service messages and so on. AS: Your dealership has embraced online negotiation. How has that worked for you? JE: Online negotiation is great for us. As of this morning, our

closing rate this month is 38.57 percent. The customers love

CRM ILM Desk Tool Mobile CRM Inventory Digital Marketing System

Website Mobile Website Online Negotiation Reputation Mgt. Re-Marketing/Re-Targeting

SEO Online Chat Marketing/ Appraisal Tool SEM Phone Recording System

Online Service Appointment Scheduler

This is the best all-round system in the market today. Unbelievable support and installation — best I have ever seen preformed and maintained. I am convinced they truly care. It offers everything we needed, and worked with all our key vendors. Their “XLRM” bundle made the choice easy. Provides everything we need to be able to offer a 1st class experience for all of our online shoppers. My favorite part is Cyber Sonar. It tells us everything a shopper has done prior to, and during their Website experience. This is game changing software! The push into ADP works like a charm! No issues, and leases send to ADP perfectly. It allows us to send many different proposals to our customers based on their personal needs and wants. Allows our employees to complete tasks, respond to e-mails and add customers right from their smart phone. Works directly with our CRM, Website and vAuto, making updates and changes easier than ever before!

It connects to our DMS and provides pin-point targeted programs for us to use. We monitor all of our active campaigns progress right through our CRM. This saves us a lots of time and money. It really helps us increase ROI, and easily retain our customers.

We love our soft, custom, not-over-the-top Website. It gives our online guests fast, easy paths to go directly wherever they need as quickly as possible. Clean, simple and easy, the DealerPeak system tracks and shows us how many of our visitors come to us from a mobile phone. That number keeps getting bigger and bigger. This system got me because its functionality speaks to the way I do business — with transparency and using a win-win platform for both the customer and the dealer. Knoodle is our social media management company. They help us identify customers who are interested in purchasing a vehicle, but also informs us when we have an unhappy customer. This gives us the ability to proactively reach out to a client and do what it takes to make them completely satisfied. We currently use their standard package. With our Website being so new we already dominate so many listings. They allow us to add and manage our organic content ourselves to give us as much depth as we desire. This tool is great — they making contacting and speaking to the dealer easy and effective, and they also supply us get information about the chatter’s interests. This system has changed the used car business forever. The tools provide all kinds of information to assist you in marking, appraisals, purchasing and re-marketing of all pre-owned vehicles. We also just started using vAuto’s Real Deal marketplace on the Website, and our customers find a tremendous amount of value in it. These guys did a great job when we first started. They sent a lot of traffic to our site cheaper than any other means ever could allow. Service is great, and they provide us great information on how to stay effective. By far the most efficient phone system we have ever used; not only does it record all calls — including our agents’ mobile devices — the system tracks and records into text a voice note from the agent. It requires no expensive hardware, and we are able to manage our phone traffic better than ever! Provides a clean, simple way for our service customers to schedule their service appointments. I love the built-in service menu that helps us up-sell our customers hassle free!

“We’re going to be the No. 1 VW store, but not right away. We’re in the middle of the pack right now, and we’ve only been open 100 days, and we have no previous customers.” it and engage in it. They come in and it’s a done deal. Once a customer comes in after online negotiation, we deliver 100 percent; it’s done. And people are honest with describing their tradein; they’re doing this because they don’t want to play the game. KE: The demographics of our customers demand that we do things quickly. People don’t want to spend four, five or six hours on Saturday buying a car. That’s why online negotiation is great. We haven’t been here (at the VW dealership) long enough to get a baseline, but at our Honda store, it’s great. And online chat is big, too. We try to get as much paperwork done online before they even come into the dealership. We want them to understand the car and their options.

Our sales process generally takes about two hours, especially when people use the online negotiation process. The salespeople like it because it gets them back on the floor. In some dealerships, the process can take four or five hours. If that were the case, your best salesperson would start the process at 9 a.m., and be be tied up until 2 p.m. Our good people can now sell two or three cars a day using this process. AS: What is your vision for your dealership? What would you like to see it become? KE: We’re going to be the No. 1 VW store, but not right away. We’re in the middle of the pack

right now, and we’ve only been open 100 days, and we have no previous customers. I own a Honda dealership in the same market, and I’d say 60 to 70 percent of our customers at the Honda store are previous customers. Here, right now, it’s almost a conquest sale for every sale we make. We’re assigning salespeople to talk to customers in the service drive, and that’s a valuable thing. I had 27,000 customers in the Honda store’s service drive last year, so when I do an e-mail blast, I get a great response. We don’t have that at the VW store yet, but we’re building it now. JE: I really think that we can make this the No. 1 store in our region of the country. I’d

consistently like to be in the 100s (100 new car deals and 100 used car deals a month) — that would put us in the top 10 dealerships in the country. I want to get 100 by the end of the year. We’re in the 70s right now, and we’ve just started and are just getting our processes in place. VW is still new to us right now. I was in Toyota for 15 years, and the process was pretty dialed in. VW is completely different; the product is different, the customers are different, the financing is different…. We’re learning that now and getting our processes in place where we are now making incremental gains, month by month. We’ve got people trained now so we can really start using Internet leads and increase the lead count, and hopefully that’ll translate to more car deals.

AS: What do you love about the automotive sales industry? What would you change about it? KE: You get addicted to the action and the people. When you’re selling a lot of things, there’s

a lot of adrenaline to it. When you finish a great month, there’s a great feeling there. And there’s great people. I don’t know what I’d change about it, because I can’t change it; you can only change yourself. The consumer is the one who changes us. When the car business wasn’t so consumer friendly, it wasn’t just the dealer but the manufacturer who turned their back on the consumer. The manufacturer has a lot of say with us, and they could have been more proactive. Our Honda store has won the President’s award, the most prestigious award from Honda, eight times, which is the most of any store in the Southwest. We have an employee whose only job is to make sure we’re at the right scores for the right reasons. We strive to be the best we can be. JE: I love that every day is different; every customer is different. There’s no monotony to it. I started washing cars when I was 12 or 13 in my dad’s dealership, and I love this business. The thing I would change, if I could, would be that dealers wouldn’t lie to people. Some dealers quote one price to get the customer in the door, and then say “Oh, I forgot that it’s an automatic” or “We thought your credit was a 720, and it’s actually a 718.” Games like that hurt everyone, and we refuse to do it. The customer will get a quote from another dealership and want us to match it, when it wasn’t a real number in the first place. We try to educate the customers. If everyone would stick to invoice or close to invoice, it would be a lot better. AS: What would you say the greatest strength is in your dealerships? KE: It’s always people. You don’t always make the right decision, but you have to try. You

evaluate people. You interview them. Get them to buy into the way we want to do business. Most of the time it works; sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes you have three or four really good people, but they don’t gel together. If that’s the case, you have to make tough decisions. We bring in a consultant to train people on various things when we see we have a deficiency in an area. Our Honda store has been open 18 years, and we’ve got four salespeople who have been there all 18, we have five or six mechanics who have been there the full 18, and our business manager has been there the entire time. AS: Where does the service department enter into your retention strategies? JE: I’m a big believer in service. All our people are 100 percent VW certified master

technicians. The service department is going to see the customer far more than the sales department. They come back every few months with check-ups, oil changes, and what not. It’s as important, if not more so, than our sales department because customers see the service department so regularly. They might buy a car every three or four years, but they’re in the service department much more regularly. We’re not afraid to show anything in our service department. Customers can come back and look — it’s finished like any other part of the building. Service is critical to keeping our customers; if they don’t get good service, they’re not going to be repeat customers. The experience they have there is critical for our dealership. AS: Let’s talk about marketing strategies. Where do you put most of the effort? JE: For our marketing, we do a couple of mailers a month and we do lots of Internet

advertising — you can quantify it and management and see if it’s working.

Our Website is a big part of our marketing. I’m in love with it, because everything you’d want is just a click or two away, and everything fits into your monitor. I used to think that you’d want people to spend tons of time there, but people just want to get to the information they’re looking for, and go along with their life. KE: Social networking is a big element of our marketing strategy, but I don’t know what comes after social networking, because there’s so much good and so much bad that can come from it. I almost see a fragmenting of our customers. The youth of America live their life on

social networks. They talk about what they do everyday online, so it’s a powerful way to reach them. We have a company, Knoodle, that monitors social networking for us, both from a standpoint of people who are interested in automobiles, and if someone has said something negative about us. If you can turn someone around instantly who’s said something negative, it’s better than 10 full-page ads in the newspaper. You have to be there, but I don’t know where it goes from there. You have to keep experimenting. We’re out of newspaper and radio. We’ve been out of newspaper for about four years, and we used to spend 2.5 million a year in newspaper. We’re using Google; we have ReachLocal who do Internet campaigns and SEM for us;we do PR stuff to gain a positive image in the community. These things are slower than you’d wish. The old part of me when we opened this dealership wanted to run $150,000 campaigns in newspaper, radio, TV … but I know that won’t work anymore. The consumer doesn’t respond to that anymore. If you’re not the lowest price in the newspaper, people won’t respond, and if you are the lowest price, you’re probably lying. That’s the old-school car ways that leave a bad taste in people’s mouths. AS: Any final thoughts you’d like to leave us with? KE: The car business is a wonderful, dynamic,

changing business to be in. I wish we could get more females involved, and I think we will because we can alter hours and work around schedules much better now. I recently talked to a guy we hired who plays in a band, and that’s really important to him. He said that he couldn’t take the job if he had to work Saturday nights, and I thought, “Well, that’s no big deal.” Before, though, trust me; the iron hand of the sales manager would have to come down and said “No, these are the hours; we can’t do something for you and no one else.” We’re changing. We’re trying to be a better place to work and make money. We know how important families are to people and we try to make schedules where they can spend time with them. That’s important. For more information about Ken or John Ellegard, visit SanTanVW.com. For more information about Dealer Peak Elite, contact the CSO, Robert Revere. He can be contacted at 866.407.1965, or by e-mail at rrevere@dealerpeakelite.com.