Dealer Solutions Magazine October 2015 by Dealer Solutions Magazine

Database Equity Leads Equity Letters & Email Blasts Service Drive Equity Leads In-House B.D.C. Conquest Marketing Dealership & Departmental Analytics New & Used Inventory Control Live Financial Statement Daily

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EDITOR JOSH FONTAINE

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Tips to Help Make a Successful Automotive Business Scott Distel

Growing Dealership or Growing Industry? Clint Burns

Say Goodbye to Mini Deals Forever without Missing a Deal David Cribbs

#1 Reason Why Great Employees Leave Alan Dickie

Look at Me, Oh wait... You Can’t Matt Koenig

Jumping off the “Brandwagon” David Villa

So, You Want A Raise? Dave Anderson

16 18

The Revolution Has To Start With an Evolution Don O’Neill Top Habits of Extremely Productive Car People Laura Madison

The Art of Engaging Online Sales Ann-Marie Mulcahy

Blame Truecar for Not Closing the Deal Grant Cardone

Did you know... In the beginning of automobiles

there were both air cooled and water cooled engines. As the automobile evolved the water cooled engines prevailed. As one would expect, early automobiles used straight water which has excellent heat transfer characteristics. However, unlike many substances, water undergoes something called “negative thermal expansion” when the temperature falls below 32 degrees (a common occurrence in the winter). In layman’s terms, this simply means it expands when frozen. This spelled disaster for the small confined spaces within an engine. To prevent damage, the automakers and engineers turned to the concept of antifreeze, which was defined as “any chemical additive that is used to lower the

freezing point of another substance”. The earliest automotive antifreeze used was a methyl or wood based alcohol. While this solved the freezing problem, the alcohol accelerated the corrosion of the metal engine components and it had a tendency to evaporate which meant the cooling system could freeze or overheat if it wasn’t constantly topped off. To address both issues, automotive manufactures eventually turned to ethylene glycol. Ironically this substance was invented decades earlier in 1856 by French chemist Charles-Adolphe Wirtz. It was first commercially produced in 1917 primarily in the manufacturing of dynamite. Among its many properties, ethylene glycol was found to easily mix with water, and it not only decreased the freezing point of water but it increased the boiling point as well.

However, it wasn’t until 1926 that it was used in the automotive industry as antifreeze and later saw widespread use in military applications throughout WWII. After the war, it became the dominant chemical antifreeze for the remainder of the 20th century. Moving forward, recent studies have suggested that glycerol (which was briefly used between the alcohol and ethylene glycol) may prove to be a good alternative to ethylene glycol in the near future. This is primarily due to the fact that glycerol isn’t toxic, and advances in production techniques may result in a more affordable product.

Mat Koenig is an Automive Industry Veteran, prolific speaker and the author of multiple books on sales and personal growth. He is the CEO of KonigCo & Buscador de Auto, helping connect dealers with buyers in English and Spanish. For more information on Mat Koenig and his companies visit www.konig.co/mat

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Jumping off the

“Brandwagon” Pt. I

by David Villa

The key is getting this right so that we can begin to separate ourselves and our product from all of the others competing for this edge. We are all drawn to the comfort level that brand recognition provides

Never before has there been such an emphasis on branding than in today’s marketplace. The key is getting this right so that we can begin to separate ourselves and our product from all of the others competing for this edge. We are all drawn to the comfort level that brand recognition provides. And provision will be the underlying message as we move through this chapter. Ask anyone in business and they will certainly tout the importance of branding. As a marketer, you can imagine that I am a true believer in branding; that is, a believer in “true” branding. The way we define branding appears to be shifting. The definition that I have adopted is the act of permanently leaving a mark on something. With the emergence of the technological race and our mobile society where choices are at our fingertips it seems as though there is a movement to define branding as just being seen. Everyone seems to be using technology as his/her source of branding, be it social media, YouTube, podcasting or broadcasting. Again, as a marketer I am your biggest cheerleader when it comes to using these amazing tools to promote your business. However, I would encourage you to never mistake being seen with building a brand. This “look at me” approach may get some attention and may even land some business, but the companies that have truly been able to establish winning brands have done one thing really well. They have distinguished themselves.

Successful Branders

Building a brand should never be measured by the amount of advertising that you can throw at the marketplace. Brands are built by offering the marketplace something distinguishable. Consider Harley-Davidson, arguably one of the world’s most recognizable brands. What has been so alluring about Harley-Davidson? They compete with world-class motorcycle manufacturers that

statistically are more reliable, less expensive, convenient to purchase, and yet, Harley-Davidson leads the world in sales of motorcycles and merchandise. Their brand is known worldwide and has become an American icon. So, what is it that makes their brand so distinguishable? Harley-Davidson has presented something to the public larger than two wheels and an engine. They made a bigger sale years ago that overshadowed their motorcycles; they sold the dream of freedom, the experience of the open roads on an American machine that stood for much more than a motorcycle was capable of. For those of you who may be looking for a more modern example, please consider Uber- a billion dollar brand that seems to have come out of nowhere. Once again, Uber brings something distinguishable to the marketplace. We no longer have to choose the traditional yellow taxicabs. Uber offers more choices and the convenience of selecting our car and driver right from our mobile phones. The have leveraged new technology to redefine what we have traditionally thought of as taxi services.

The “Brandwagon”

Everyone seems to be jumping on the “brandwagon” and yet most seem only to be attempting to shout the loudest or flail their arms the longest. Maybe it’s because most marketers will tell you that branding is about getting your name and your message in front of customers. How we interpret that is where most of us go astray. It’s time to evaluate our branding strategies. How can we know if we are on the “brandwagon”? Just take a look around because the “brandwagon” is full. In other

words, are you attempting to brand yourself in the usual ways? Are you doing the same things that your competitors are doing to get their name and message out to the marketplace? If so, you’re on the same ride. Look to your left and your right and say “hello” to your competing brand. If you are just looking for a little more business you may be ok, but that is not building a brand, that is simply branding. Branding is more of a fleeting action. Building a brand is a result of creating something larger than your product or service. It’s about dinging the marketplace with something that delivers more than the obvious. Identifying what distinguishes you or your company’s product or service is the place to start. My recommendation here is not to go for what you think you can pull off or what you think will work, but rather what you would have it look like if there were no obstacles, no barriers, and no preset limitations as to how you could affect your industry. In other words, let your imagination be the only limitation. Surrounding yourself with innovative thinkers is also recommended. Those who not only think outside the box, but who dare to throw the box out the window. Forget what you know about the traditional answers and think boldly about how you can innovate an industry. Years ago you would have been labeled a fool if you tried to bottle water and sell it. This year bottled water will out sell soda. There is story after story and brand after brand that we can acknowledge as game changers, the question is are we good students of history?

Step One: Think Benefits

If I had to narrow down in one word why people purchase a particular product or service, that word would be “benefits”. The benefits that the consumer expects to experience are what trigger the decision to purchase. The benefits that the consumer actually experiences after the purchase are what trigger the decisions to purchase again. Understanding that the benefits are what trigger the purchase allows me to not only create as many possible benefits to offer the consumer, but once again, allows me to create more distinguishable benefits. As the owner of a direct mail marketing company, the mission of my company is to connect drivers with dealers. This is what we are known for. We have evolved from just delivering an invitation in the mail to creating a virtual dealership that our clients can use as a second location. Each day we examine our product and what it is providing to our clients. As our competitors react to our evolution by attempting to dissect our product and offer some type of replication in their own product. By the time our competitors can effectively implement a piece of our current program we have already moved on to the next improvement to provide the client with more benefits. This ongoing process is crucial

to our success and embraced by our industry. Obtaining this edge allows us to deliver proposals to the marketplace with the confidence of knowing that our product is not only distinguishable but is the clear choice among our competitors. We have clearly defined our brand as “SMART MAIL”.

Step Two: Define Your Brand

Defining your brand can be challenging and should not be taken lightly. Although it’s not impossible to make adjustments as you grow, you want to have a clear picture of what your brand will represent. Having to reinvent your brand along the way will prove destructive. Once you identify what you or your company ultimately stands for, you can begin to build your brand. Communicating how you see your brand to those around you, especially your employees is top priority. Everyone needs to be drinking the koolaid. By the way, this is the point of exit if you are looking to jump off of the “brandwagon”. The disclaimer is that you will inevitably experience some separation anxiety because you will by design be on the road less traveled (a great sign that you are headed the right direction). This does not mean that we have to reinvent the wheel, in fact, most of us already have a product and or service in place. The key once again is becoming distinguishable by delivering something beyond the obvious. The ability to provide something unique will take you far on this road. Think benefits.

Step 3: Examine Your Product

Examining your product and exploiting all of its capabilities will be an essential part of building your brand. You must analyze it on a deeper level and examine it from top to bottom. All products have limitations, but knowing your product can expose its less apparent capabilities. Become an expert on your product and fully understand its capabilities. This will not only affect how you feel about your product and its value, but more importantly, how you present it. The conviction you have for your product is going to transfer to your customer. What that will look like will be determined by the level of conviction that you obtain. Knowing your product will also allow you to provide solutions for potential customers and solutions are benefits. Benefits are what we are looking for in a product. If possible, consider ways to enhance your product so that it becomes more distinguishable. Remember, throw away the box.

Look for part II of “Jumping off the Brandowagon” in next month’s Dealer Solutions Magazine...

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consumers that came from your efforts and our spend did we sell? That’s all that really matters isn’t it? I mean, when was the last time you high fived your GM and said “Hey we were only 28 units short of our factory number this month,”? No need to answer, not even silently in your head.

Conversion Means Sale... as in SOLD Them a Car

I’m a staunch proponent of anything that enhances sales and profitability. I think wearing two different color socks increases salesman performance, consider it policy. I think though, that all too often we accept measurements that fall short of the mark, and frankly don’t hold us in the industry to the highest accountability when it comes to success. I mean vendors and dealers alike. But I’ll start with my group, like it or love it we can manufacture some amazing catch phrases to elude the only question that matters. “Bob you had 1100 consumer engagements through our tool this month,” “We touched 330 consumers on your site,” and one of my favorites “you had over 11,000 impressions this month.” One quick question. How many did we sell? How many of your

So when did we collectively start accepting the horseshoe approach to success measurement? Pretty close, good job Bill. It begs the question, how many people are really searching for the right tools, and not just shiny new tools or objects. I think I know the answer to this one, agree silently by shaking your head…. It was the minute our consumers went from sheep to wolves. One big, scary, educated wolf. Remember the first time your sales person came up to you and asked if you had ever heard of ZAG, or USAA? It was like someone just found your hiding spot, report card day all over again. Well, let’s be blunt about this, the “education” was merely a series of events that allowed the consumer to gather data. Data on your dealership, data on trade value, data on invoice pricing. No pixie dust here. Just plain old technology on the consumer side catching us off guard. DATA SHOULD BE INFORMATION I CAN USE Big Data… what a catch phrase. Let’s be honest, in our industry we have enough trouble getting people trained and effectively utilizing our CRM, yet alone have them breakdown or understand Big Data. I am a firm believer, that data rules the day. Trends, patterns, frequency, it’s all there, and math doesn’t lie. But, if I don’t know that 2+1=3, than all the numbers and data in the world mean nothing. So what am I saying? That data is for us, the technology companies, the vendors, it is OUR job to decipher whatever data we collect into an easy, readable format that tells the dealer a story, and this story should end in a car sale. Let me give you an example I use every time I speak on Data Mining. If I find a customer that my data tells me I can upsell into a new vehicle, and get another RDR with about 1,000.00 in profit, that’s good right? Well, maybe, this is where the data comes in. Did you sell them the car, if yes are they a service customer, if yes what is the service spend value on that consumer under your rooftop? If they purchased multiple vehicles, than what truly is the SSV on that consumer?

The answer is in the data, but you might not have seen it. So if that customer represents $1000.00 in gross profit and an RDR, what if he or she would have represented another $2300.00 in service gross over the next 18 months. Is it still a good transaction? You see this is where the data matters. Telling you, the dealer a story that can easily be interpreted to make a calculated decision. Had you had that data, you probably would pass on the opportunity. Let’s face it, if you wait 18 months to sell the car, and still book that $1000.00 profit for the sale, that’s a $2300.00 swing. Batter up. Combining Data Sets to Tell the Whole Story We rely every day on the data provided to us in leads, CIT reports, vendors, and internals. We use credit data to determine the deal structure, and which bank to send the deal. We use vendor data, and consumer provided data to attempt at selling more units. I want to present you with a use case, and tell me what you think. Customer A jumps on your site, or a third party portal and submits an information request. Now, the data you have at this point, is what vehicle they looked at, vehicle of interest, and any ancillary tracking data your vendor may provide, if at all. Is Customer A 25 or 45? Does Customer A make 25,000 or 250,000.00? Do they own their home or rent? Did they just have a child, maybe just got married/ divorced/retired…you get the picture. Your engagement with Customer A from the data you have is limited to what information you can squeeze out of a customer without offending them or violating their rules of engagement. Now ask yourself this question, what if I had ALL of the data points listed above before I contacted the consumer. What if I knew if all of the information listed above before the first phone call, email, or text. Do you see a road map forming here? You see all of that data is available (albeit from one vendor right now), but it is available. I venture to say that while every client interaction is a courteous, pleasant reach out, imagine the consumer experience if you knew to email them first, text second. What if you knew to hit them on Facebook, first, then a phone call. Or maybe old school just wants that phone call. The engagement based on that consumers unique demographic, gives you the edge to follow THAT consumer’s rules of engagement, and thus not stumble through a first customer interaction.

GET TO THE POINT My point is this. Times have been changing in our industry for some time. But the speed at which it is moving is exponential. There is no time for catch up. Consumers EXPECT you to know how to engage them, on their terms, and provide the data they need to make not only an informed decision, but to give them a reason to do business with you. So if the data exists, let’s use it, and use it correctly. I’m ending this not with a pitch, but a promise. We have always strived to become the leading data provider in the credit space. Lord knows I blow that horn every chance I can. I am proud of my company, and what we have achieved for this industry. But more important than that, I challenge you at this Digital Dealer to come and see the future of what data holds in this industry. Come to every booth (mine also of course), but find that solution that helps you make sense of the data. Math never lies, money always spends, and I promise you winners find a way. Safe travels to Vegas, and go find that data. Contact Credit Miner via Twitter @CreditMiner or Don O’Neill by email at don@dealersolutions.info

To p Habits of E x t re m e l y P ro d u c t i v e Car People... Laura Madison

roductive is not a word commonly used to describe the behavior of the average car salesman. Drive up to nearly any dealership in the country to witness a gaggle of car salespeople idly standing on point waiting for the next customer. This all too common behavior stands in stark contrast to the few strong, productive salespeople who have formed fierce habits that contribute to their success. Here are a few of these top salespeople’s key habits:

They work on attitude

Zig Ziglar famously said, “Your business is never really good or bad ‘out there.’ Your business is either good or bad right between your own two ears.” The best salespeople understand that their attitude sets the tone for their interactions, their sales, and ultimately, their month. These salespeople will dedicate attention every day to maintaining a good, positive attitude.

They follow the money

The most productive salespeople are driven to engage in activity that will sell them more vehicles. They act with intention. These salespeople are using social media not to pass time but with return and sales in mind. They are networking with qualified buyers and following up with their sold base to constantly be mining for repeat and referral business. Their action is always motivated by the ultimate end-game: to sell more vehicles.

They walk their inventory

They never stop learning

They Prepare

Behind every successful car salesperson you will find a bounty of good, productive habits that contribute to their success. All salespeople can take a page from the top salespeople’s playbook and work on these habits every day to sell more vehicles and enjoy more success in the automotive sales profession.

It sounds simple, but productive car people do small things that contribute to their larger success. Walking inventory including recent trade-ins, vehicles waiting to pass through the shop for inspection and detail for reconditioning, help them catalog their inventory, allowing them to produce the perfect switch vehicle for a customer when needed. This simple habit allows the most productive salespeople know their inventory, before it is ever uploaded to the website and before about their coworkers ever realize what’s in stock. Michael Nekava, a MecedesBenz salesman located in Bayside, NY featured as a recent Auto Dealer Monthly’s Salesperson of the Year, puts this best:

“I think preparation is everything, which a lot of people neglect. You have to have everything printed out and highlighted for the ‘sign here’ [buyers]; the numbers are already run. That’s just the paperwork, but you have to be four steps ahead of your client and know what they want, what their rebuttals are, what their expectations are, what they’re not going to like, what backup plans you have with delivery and so on. You’re always trying to mastermind each deal…You have to be ready.”

Finally, the top, most productive, car salespeople never stop wanting to grow and get better. They invest in themselves by training and engaging in on-going personal development. These salespeople never experience the ‘expertise syndrome’ that can influence otherwise good salespeople to become lazy and sloppy. They choose to constantly learn in effort to become stronger.

Contact Laura via Twitter @Lauradrives or via email Laura@dealersolutions.info

The Art of

Engaging Online Sales Ann-Marie Mulcahy

Narrow down your target audience

Promote content using different channels

For your marketing effort to have great impact, you should clearly define your target market. The first step is to profile your buyer persona. Once you have identified your prospects, tailor your current marketing campaigns to better address the needs of such prospects. Contrary to what others believe, targeting a smaller but specific audience can yield more beneficial results for your company.

You may use other parallel channels to market your content. YouTube can be tapped to narrate stories relevant to your content. Instagram is another creative way to distribute your content. You can also consider publishing in various web communities to gain more exposure for your content. LinkedIn Today, for example, gives influencers a chance to post helpful content. You

Provide valuable content to your predefined audience. It is only through valuable content that you can stand out from the Internet’s clutter. Don’t be another blogger, podcaster or marketer who bombards the Internet with vague, unemotional content. Your audience wants material that they can relate with. The best way to determine what your audience yearns for is to look at the questions they’re asking. You can visit other blogs and check the comments section to find out your readers’ struggles. Websites like Quora, Yahoo! Answers, and Facebook Questions can be used for this purpose. 20

can similarly delve into offline channels specifically print publications because not everyone can immediately access online-based content. For publications to accept your proposals, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important to make your pitch sound captivating yet credible.

Build an E-mail List

Bonus: Engage your subscribers! Write e-mails like you are talking with your peers. Offering deals, coupons, and other fun stuff works like a charm too. People do not like to spend much time in their inboxes so make it a habit to keep your e-mails short yet snappy.

One asset your business can have is an extensive e-mail list. However, despite having this list, you still have to practice utmost responsibility in sending e-mails because consumers these days have grown more cautious towards unwanted communication. Your e-mail can be easily junked if it appears suspicious. You can employ various ways when building an e-mail list. Your website should have e-mail sign up boxes that are visible. These sign-up boxes must give a succinct description of what consumers can get if they sign up. Another easy way of acquiring contacts is to give incentives such as discount coupons and promo codes when people register to your e-commerce site.

About the author

Blame TRUECAR for Not Closing the Deal Your customer knows what they want. You have it in stock. The buyer has third party validation from TRUECar of what is considered a good price and you are below that figure. Yet the customer still doesn’t close? Who you going to blame now, TRUECar? The customer? The bank? The competition? Now, I’m sure the sales person and manager have their pat excuses, most of which blame the customer, but the bottom line is, you missed a done deal. The truth is, your store didn’t close the deal because of something your sales people, managers and finance department either did or did not do. Quit blaming things that are out of your control. Just because you have a sales team does not mean they know how to close. In fact most of your people never even ask for the close and most of your managers never even meet a customer until it’s too late. Just because your business card says “Sales Person” or “Sales Manager”, it does not automatically qualify you to get the job done. Just because a sales person or manager has been in the automobile business for 30 years, it does not mean they know how to close today’s buyer. Closing is an art and it’s a skill that is more important today than ever.

Here are just a few major mistakes made by experienced sales people and sales organizations in the automotive industry:

1) ALL TALK NO WRITE UP. We recently did a mystery shop for one of the major manufacturers. The result was 72% of the dealerships talked to the customer and failed to ever present a written proposal to the customer. The demo ratio was higher than the write ratio. One of the major mistakes being made today is talking too much and not writing up enough. 2) SALES CYCLE IS TOO LONG. You are taking too long to transact with the buyer. Buyers are spending eleven hours researching online before they purchase. Time is now costing you business and profits. The average customer is now 57% of the way through the sales process before ever contacting a dealership. The longer the customer spends in your store the less they will pay you and the less likely they will buy from you. 3) NO CHOICES. Just because the buyer “supposedly” knows exactly what they want does not mean they can or will buy it. Offering other choices will make the buyer more certain about what they must buy. During the selection and again at the close your sales person should offer the buyer inventory options.Contrary to old thinking, options do NOT confuse the customer they give the customer enough things to say no to so that they can say yes to the right thing and buy.

Some 65% of all shoppers are on the wrong vehicle when shopping on the Internet and then some 40% are still on the wrong vehicle in finance. We have dealerships doubling their lease rates by simply showing the customer a lease payment. Offer alternative vehicles, terms, payments, financing options, and down payments and be willing to do so over the phone, with Internet request and when at the dealership. You aren’t closing deals and it has nothing to do with the customer! Here are a few more reasons: 1. You are NOT trained on closing deals you are trained to sell. 2. Your managers don’t introduce themselves until its too late. 3. You never write the customer up although that is the only way to close a sale. 4. You don’t offer choices while 60% of your buyers are on the wrong vehicle. 5. You refuse to push for the deal instead you offer a lower price. 6. You lack financial motivation to push yourself and then wonder why you don’t make enough money. 7. You don’t follow up soon enough. 8. You don’t follow up often enough. 9. You quit following up after 2 calls. You want to close more sales? Quit blaming TRUECar, the customer, the competition down the street and Millennials. Your people need training, motivation and if you own the place or manage the place you owe it to your people to train them. I know sales people and managers at car dealerships that make sales people at Amazon look strong. Learn how to close like a pro. If you are an individual sales person and want to improve your closing skills join me at SecretsToClosingTheSale.

Contact Grant Cardone via Twitter @GrantCardone or via email at grant@dealersolutions.info

Tips to help you make a successful automotive business Scott Distel email: scott@dealersolutions.info twitter: @CapitalDealer1

Amongst all revenue-generating businesses, automotive business has always been on top numbers of the list. The demand for automobiles has seen more ups than downs due to varying reasons. In turn, this has given actual tough times to the auto-manufacturers, automotive dealers and business persons in sustaining the demands as well as the continuing competition in the auto-market. The growth in automotive industry is nevertheless quite surprising and has compelled the businessmen to find novel ways to gain success or lead the competition. Let’s see ways that tell: “How to become successful in Automotive Industry?”

Know your target markets well:

The most significant factor that works above all other factors is, to understand the car-demands in the market, status-quo of buying customers and the economy of the target markets. Whether you are an automotive manufacturer or an automotive dealer, there is a need to frame a futuristic plan for launching the automobile in that target market.

Organize Automotive Market research:

Next, there is a need to outsource a research team that has the capability and wisdom to achieve research objectives. The important factors in automotive market research include identifying the clients and their diverse background, note down their logistic considerations, client’s technical requirements for intrinsic automotive testing, SWOT analysis of automotive process & procedures, outlining the automotive budget and its scope etc.

Devise an effective Action Plan:

Once the research is done and you understand your target markets, there is a need to formulate a worthy action plan. It involves a unique marketing plan which should reflect your USP and attract customerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attention.

Creative Marketing offers

-Door-to-door delivery & quick pick-up: The automotive dealers can attract their customerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attention by offering them door-to-door delivery of big/ luxury cars as a complimentary feature of the deal. -Highlighting exchange policy: It is better to highlight the exchange policy for new vehicles if you as a dealer are providing it or if the auto-manufacturer is providing it. It calls for special attention from the customers. -Other creative offers: Introduce unique but feasible offers for the customers like price matching, free first 3 vehicle services for new cars, rigorous inspection etc. to bring business for the dealership.

form to enhance the business growth of automotive dealers and makers. China has acknowledged this channel as the most effective way of gaining success in automobile industry. -E-mails and websites: Send business-centric e-mails to the customers which should enlighten the customers about the key promotional offers of your dealership. Optimize SEO for your website featuring all the special offers on the front page and thereby, augment your search engine ranking. -Focus on Customer satisfaction: Customer is satisfied by best deals, complimentary offers and prompt services. It is one of the primary automotive success factors. -Periodical evaluation and customer interaction: Finally, there is a need for continuous monitoring and constant customer communication on changing automotive deals as well as offers in order to become successful in automotive-industry.

Use latest marketing channels:

-Automotive Social Media Marketing: LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest etc. can play a fruitful role in promoting the automotive business on internet through advertisements or videos. This mighty marketing tool can help in generating leads and in attracting customerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attraction towards the dealer as well as your attractive offers. -Automotive Digital Marketing: Digitization evolved digital marketing. With the growth in digital marketing, automotive industry has utilized this plat-

About the Author:

Scott Distel, Inbound Marketing Consultant based out of Washington USA. I am a digital marketing professional as well as an SEO enthusiast and a blogger. I love helping companies to go digital and spread their brands far and wide. My first encounter with SEO and Digital Marketing was when I was studying the basics of Marketing. I then worked for a few years in the automotive industry. I am currently working with the Capital Dealer Solutions which is leading provider of digital marketing products and services for the automotive industry.

t is no accident that companies involved in the same industry tend to move in synchronized motion. Companies in the same industry are forever engaged in competing for market share, but is there a difference between increasing market share and simply growing with in a booming industry? I think so. In terms of sheer volume, auto experts are forecasting around 16 million cars sold annually in 2015 an increase of 3 million from 2008. It is no coincidence that as the Automotive Industry has been experiencing growth, annual sales reaching pre-recession levels, dealerships around the country are doing very well. Due to the booming Automotive industry, businesses likely have an above average rate of earnings for an extended period of time, probably years. Sound familiar? It should, because it’s what your dealership has likely been experiencing for the past few years.

customers differently, more effectively? Have you adjusted your process to speed up the sale? Have your managers been more involved? These are the things that drive dealerships to not only experience disproportionate success, but maintain success when industry growth slows down. I challenge you to think about your level of success, and remember that consistently great success doesn’t just happen. It is the result of a purposeful, driven culture that adapts quickly and never settles. Good habits are developed in hard times, but bad habits are often developed in good times, so let’s not take these good times for granted. There is always more market share to capture, so go after it with purpose!

Now, to be clear, this is not meant to question everyone’s hard work and accomplishments over the past few years. There are plenty of dealers who have been moving with the times, growing with the changing demands of their customers to create a massive, DISPROPORTIONATE amount of business. These are the dealers that are not just hitting “good” numbers, their numbers are great, Why? Because they are working to grow their market share and achieving numbers better than the year before, not just riding the wave of industry. This article is for those who have been experiencing “good” numbers. Let me put it this way, in a growing industry as fast as this one if your dealership doesn’t experience at least the same percentage of growth as the industry itself, then you’re BELOW AVERAGE. In fact, if the industry weren’t growing it would be fair to say that your numbers would be completely stagnant. Even if your numbers are better than last year, or last month, ask yourself if you can really take credit. Have you really been handling your

Clint Burns is the CEO/Chariman of theNextUp. For specific questions contact him via twitter @theNextUp or by email at clint@dealersolutions.info

Say Goodbye to mini deals forever, without Missing a Deal

David Cribbs @deskingdeals

T he first sale that I ever made was a mini deal. Luckily, the second sale on the very same day was the biggest of

my career and yet, I was arguably just as excited about both deals. Ok, yes it was my first day selling and it wasn’t long before I began to feel the sting of the notorious mini deal. At the time a mini deal paid $50, make it a split deal and reduce that to $25, add in the fact that it was a referral and there was a bird dog paid and you can drop it to $12.50 minus taxes. Oh yeah, did I mention that it was a locate, and that the salesperson had to go pick it up two hours away from the dealership? I decided long ago, NO MORE MINIS! But how do we take that stance and not miss deals? We can do this by “selling in the red zone”. As we all know, in this business our success is measured by a calendar month. My entire career has been about cramming as many deals as possible into a calendar month and all driven by the dealer’s pay plan. It didn’t take long to figure out that I was getting paid more per deal the closer I got to the end of the month but inevitably the board gets erased and we go back to the starting line. Take a look at your sales board and allow your eyes to move to the far right. This is where you find the red zone. The place where the real dollars start to show their faces in the form of fast starts/finishes, unit, retroactive, and salesperson of the month bonuses. Just like on the field, the red zone is the place that provides me with the biggest opportunity to score and is my answer to saying goodbye to the mini deal. And just like on the field I want to spend as much time in the red zone as possible. There are two opponents that challenge our arrival to the red zone, the first is the clock (remember that calendar month?) and the second is lack of deals. That’s right, it takes units to get into the red zone and the faster we get there with them the more time we will have to score big. This means we

have to be obsessed with getting deals and there is no time to waste. So, yeah I’m going to take any and every deal possible, never missing a deal even if it means a mini, split, locate with a bird dog fee taken out. Why, because I know I’m taking that mini deal with me to the red zone where I get to exchange it for a bigger commission like a free upgrade from an economy to a luxury car at the rental agency. By the way, there are many other benefits of taking every deal. One particular mini deal comes to mind. Her name was Betty. Betty was a professionally conditioned Spartan Ninja Warrior shopper that worked me over like Floyd Mayweather. After what seemed like a hundred visits to the store she finally stopped threatening to purchase and actually pulled the trigger. Of course, it was Betty’s new car that would come to have a trunk leak and every time it rained I would see Betty. Eventually, the problem was fixed and a few months went by and here comes Betty. Every time Betty came her close friend always accompanied her. To my surprise Betty wasn’t back with a problem, she was back to help her friend buy a car. I wasn’t sure I could do this all over again but Betty proceeded to tell me that her friend couldn’t afford a new car like she had so we would have to look at a pre-owned car. Two hours later I had delivered another career high commission that originated from my marathon mini deal with Betty. But, I can’t lie because I also took Betty’s deal into the red zone with me and said goodbye to that mini too.

(844) 415-1052 29

REASON WHY GREAT EMPLOYEES LEAVE

One of the biggest misconceptions is that good people leave organizations for monetary reasons. While this may seem logical, I have come to find that this is simply not the case. One of the aspects of my business is to identify & provide talent to the automotive dealerships of Ontario. In doing so I have come to know a great number of amazing dealerships & ownership groups. I have also come to know an even greater number of incredibly talented people with excellent track records. I am frequently contacted by talented sales people & managers who are performing in their respective dealerships to confidentially discuss their desire to change stores.

WHY?

I used to think, “you’re doing great and making an income that is in line with the top 5% of our industry” It didn’t make sense to me at first due to my misconception that money was the be all end all when it came to happiness. I soon discovered a consistency in the reason these professionals desired change, do you know what it was?

ENVIRONMENT!

The successful dealerships & ownership groups in our industry have talent that will not leave them because they have created phenomenal working environments for their teams. Why are these environments so great? Here are a few reasons:

Team members are made to feel important & appreciated! Our business is like a Rubik’s Cube sometimes and requires a lot of split decision making, problem solving and management all while being responsible for millions of dollars on a daily basis. This is quite the load to bear however manageable when the dealership respects & appreciates a “job well done” Nobody is perfect and in these environments there is much more focus on the 85% of the job done right and less focus on the 15% of mistakes we will learn from.

Successful environments understand that a “pat on the back” goes much further than a dollar! When a member of your team closes that deal that nobody thought was going to close and it took 3hrs to do so, the comment is, “way to go! nobody would have dug their heels that deep on that customer, great work, the coffee is on me!” Not, “You gave the car away” Giving a your team the acknowledgement they deserve is sometimes far more important to them than a dollar. Great organizations get involved with their teams and their personal goals to motivate one another! Look we all know what the dealership’s goal is to make money and be profitable. No employee will ever perform at their peak if their sole motivation is to make money for their dealership. The successful organizations I work with are involved in the lives and the goal setting of their teams! Think about it, you have a salesperson named “Bob” - is Bob going to perform better with you telling him each day “we need to hit 200 cars this month” or “Hey Bob, when are you taking me fishing on that new boat you’re going to buy with your bonus when we hit 200 cars this month?” You see, encouraging Bob each day to reach his goal of buying the boat with his bonus will directly achieve the dealer’s goal of being profit able and everybody wins! Successful organizations treat their environments like a garden that is well taken care of and constantly maintained while organizations with high turnover of staff tend to operate more like a brothel and nobody wants to work at a brothel.

Make it a Great Day!

website: www.AlanDickie.com employment: http://www.alandickie.com/employee-development/ twitter: @AlanDickieACE facebook: www.facebook.com/AlanDickie

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DAVID VILLA, PRESIDENT/CEO, IPD MAIL OCTOBER 5-7 2015

PARIS HOTEL & CASINO I LAS VEGAS, NV

Don’t Miss David Villa at the 19th Digital Dealer Conference & Exposition David Villa is the founder and CEO of IPD, an automotive marketing firm that services franchised dealerships across the United States. He has 20 years of national sales and executive management experience that he brings to his company. In his session, 4 x 100 Sales Training, sales is simple, yet it can be the most challenging thing you do, if you aren’t doing it right. In this session, learn David’s essential four step process that is proven to work for you by helping you increase sales. Take an in-depth look at all four steps and learn effective ways to implement each one to ensure success. Join the country’s most progressive dealerships in Las Vegas, NV and learn from top industry experts sharing proven models of dealership success.

Who Should Attend? Dealer Principals Internet Sales Managers General Managers General Sales Managers Marketing Directors e-Commerce Directors BDC Managers Social Media Managers CRM Managers Pre-Owned Managers F&I Managers Fixed Operations Managers

DIGITALDEALERCONFERENCE.COM THIS THREE-DAY CONFERENCE and

exposition will showcase actionable, game-changing strategies for every department in your dealership with the industry’s most progressive speakers and content.

FIND OUT WHY 85 of the top 100

Dealerships Groups in the U.S. have chosen this conference to learn how to better use the Internet and technology to sell and service more vehicles, more profitably.

Why Attend?

Choose from 100+ cutting-edge sessions to gain the knowledge and inspiration you need to map out an actionable growth strategy. Connect with peers from around the country and solve issues together at the Peer Networking Roundtables. Demo the latest products and services from over 100 top, technology-focused providers at the Digital Dealer Exhibit Hall.

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