Dealership Innovation Guide Q4 2013

MOBILE ADVERTISING & GEO-FENCING Jon Scott - Page 14

BOOST CONVERSION RATES Kyle S. Reyes - Page 22

Dealership

INTERVIEW WITH GENERATION Z Ryan Bickert - Page 44

INNOVATION

GUIDE

A DrivingSales Publication • 4th Quarter, 2013

Quar terly Ranking of Dealership Vendors and Best Practices

HIDDEN DMS DATA CHARGES

You could be paying thousands in extra fees to access your own data.

DrivingSales News - Page 28

Visit DrivingSales.com to view nearly 12,000 verified dealer ratings of over 800 vendors in 28 categories.

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Join the Total Customer Retention Revolution with Journey NXT today.

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Dealership

INNOVATION

GUIDE

A DrivingSales Publication

Quar terly Ranking of Dealership Vendors and Best Prac tices

Dealership Executives, As we enter the fourth quarter of the year there are two questions that should be on every dealership executive’s mind:

Meet the Team

1.

2.

Jared Hamilton Founder, DrivingSales Inc. @jaredhamiltonDS

What do I need to execute to finish the year out strong?

What should be in my strategic plan for next year to continue to grow?

Naturally, here are DrivingSales, we are going through much of the same process, while we do what we can to shed light on the operational innovations that have the most promise for dealers.

Tackling what needs to be done today is an issue of commitment; once you are on the tail end of your business plan, it’s really about having the discipline to see it through. We should be asking ourselves, “Are we helping the team every day to focus on the little items that get lots of results?

Is our marketing firing on all cylinders? Are our leads being handled in a quality manner? Are we listening to our phone calls and training on our weaknesses? Are the sales managers holding our team accountable for their weaknesses, training to fill the gaps and celebrating the wins?”

It’s been a good year so far for the industry as a whole, but success can breed complacency. In my mind, the most important thing leaders must focus on in the fourth quarter of a successful year is driving complacency out of our team.

Jeff Pease Art Director jeff.pease@drivingsales.com @jeffpease Mike Jeffs Marketing Coordinator mike.jeffs@drivingsales.com @mikejeffs3

Failure is not the enemy to success. Complacency is. Strong leaders make sure there is no room for complacency in their operations, especially this close to the finish line.

Larry Schlagheck Director of Advertising larry@drivingsales.com @larryschlagheck

When thinking about prepping your business plan for next year, we have put together a strong issue of the Dealership Innovation Guide for you. Inside we cover such topics as: Geo-fencing & Mobile, Training-Investing In Your People, and the latest news in DMS systems. Don’t forget to visit DrivingSales.com regularly to join in on the conversations and catch the industry happenings in real time.

Eric Miltsch Director of Product Strategy eric.miltsch@drivingsales.com @emiltsch

For those of you attending DSES this year, we have the Disney Institute coming and sharing their methods on how to better build brands. We have a former Navy SEAL officer and decorated combat veteran who will be educating us on how SEALs develop their teams. Also, we have Danny Sullivan, who is one of the world’s most prominent search authorities. This last one in particular is so important because just a few days ago Google launched a new search algorithm, the second biggest search update in their history.

2014 will be an exciting year for the auto industry, and we hope you will find the enclosed information a good source in preparing for next year. But first, we have to finish the last quarter of 2013 strong. Drive out complacency and prepare for the next steps in your success!

Bart Wilson Business Development bart.wilson@drivingsales.com @bartrwilson Tommy Bay Director of Marketing tommy.bay@drivingsales.com @tommybay

Thanks for all your support—and best wishes to close out the last quarter of 2013 strong!

Jared Hamilton Founder, DrivingSales, LLC

Dealership Innovation Guide

DrivingSales, LLC • 4th Quarter - 2013 • 3

Thanks to our Sponsors!

NADA UNIVERSITY

®

MAGAZINE CREDITS About This Guide Dealership Innovation Guide is published quarterly by DrivingSales, LLC. To subscribe, visit DealershipInnovationGuide.com. Printed in the United States of America. Copyright © DrivingSales, LLC 2013. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or otherwise reproduced without publisher’s written permission. Dealership Innovation Guide and DrivingSales, LLC assume no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or photographs.

4 • 4th Quarter - 2013 • DrivingSales, LLC

Letters To The Editor Dealership Innovation Guide and DrivingSales, LLC welcome Letters to the Editor. If you have questions about the guide, or would like to make a comment, or voice an opinion about the guide, DrivingSales, LLC, or the industry in general, please feel free to write us.

Please send letters to mike.jeffs@drivingsales.com. Include a telephone number and email address. Letters may be edited for clarity or space.

Because of the high volume of mail we receive, we cannot respond to all letters.

Dealership Innovation Guide

Table of Contents MOBILE ADVERTISING & GEO-FENCING Jon Scott - Page 14

BOOST CONVERSION RATES

INTERVIEW WITH GENERATION Z

Kyle S. Reyes - Page 22

Dealership

Ryan Bickert - Page 44

INNOVATION

GUIDE

A DrivingSales Publication • 4th Quarter, 2013

FEATURES

Quar terly Ranking of Dealership Vendors and Best Practices

HIDDEN DMS DATA CHARGES

14

Jon Scott

You could be paying thousands in extra fees to access your own data.

18

Creative Copy Sells Cars

22

Boost Conversion Rates - Ditch Advertising of the Past

DrivingSales News - Page 28

Visit DrivingSales.com to view more than 8,000 verified dealer ratings of over 800 vendors in 28 categories.

Mobile Advertising & Geo-Fencing - You Can’t Ignore it!

22

HIDDEN DMS DATA CHARGES

Aaron Johnson

Kyle S. Reyes

24

14

The Best Investment your Dealership can Make Richard Rikess

DrivingSales News

32

Don’t Throw the Baby Out with the Bathwater!

Marsh Buice

06 On DrivingSales.com, dealers can rate

36

their vendors. All reviews are verified

John Fuhrman

to be legitimate and posted for you to learn who the best vendors are –

38

Looking for a Competitive Edge?

44

Interview with Generation Z

directly from your peers.

Dealership Innovation Guide

32

Change “I Know” to “I Care”

Mike Jeffs

Ryan Bickert

DrivingSales, LLC • 4th Quarter - 2013 • 5

Over 8,000 unbiased vendor ratings submitted by verified dealers.

CATEGORIES 8

Call Management Chat CRM/Sales Department Dealership Management Systems (DMS)

9

Fixed Ops Solutions Internet Lead Management (ILM)

1 0 Internet Trainers Inventory Pricing Mobile Sites New Car Leads

1 1 Owner Marketing Reputation Management

1 2 Search Engine Optimization (SEO) SEM - PPC Used Car Advertising Websites

6 • 4th Quarter - 2013 • DrivingSales, LLC

Dealership Innovation Guide

Dealership Innovation Guide

DrivingSales, LLC • 4th Quarter - 2013 • 7

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

Company

Product

Score Rating Rec

CAR-Research XRM

Call Tracking / Ad Sourcing Solution

218.43

Century Interactive

Call Tracking from Century Interactive

2.22

ELEAD1ONE

ELEAD Virtual BDC

CallSource CallTracking CallRevu, LLC

CallRevu

292.68

99%

4.61

100%

0.09

96% 100% 100%

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

Company

Product

Score Rating Rec

CarChat24

CarChat24 - 24/7 Fully Staffed Chat

30.29

ActivEngage

ActivEngage Chat

5.61

ContactAtOnce! LLC

Dealer e Process

ContactAtOnce! Chat Connect

Dealer e Process Live Chat

Client~ConneXion Chat~ConneXion

116.17

100%

8.06

100%

0.24

100% 100% 100%

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

Company

Product

Score Rating Rec

CAR-Research XRM

CAR-Research XRM

161.10

ELEAD1ONE

ELEAD CRM

68.64

Dominion Dealer Solutions DealerSocket

VinSolutions

Dominion CRM

DealerSocket CRM

VinSolutions MotoSnap™ CRM

222.66

97%

87.31

95%

0.04

98% 99%

75%

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

Company

Auto/Mate Dealership Systems

Product AMPS

Score Rating Rec 408.93

Quorum Information Technologies XSellerator

68.46

Reynolds and Reynolds

4.18

Dealertrack Technologies

8 • 4th Quarter - 2013 • DrivingSales, LLC

Dealertrack Dealer Managment System

Reynolds ERA DMS

41.27

100% 100%

75%

50%

Dealership Innovation Guide

Fixed Ops Solutions Customer Relationship Management systems for the Fixed Operations.

Company CIMA Systems

Product

CIMA Car Care Service Menus

Score Rating Rec 918.24

ELEAD1ONE AutoPilot

769.90

CAR-Research XRM

4.1

CIMA Systems

CIMA CarView

DealerSocket

DealerSocket Service

Service Drive Control Manager

369.48

100% 99% 100%

100%

100%

1.49

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

Company

Dominion Dealer Solutions

ELEAD1ONE

Product Dominion ILM

ELEAD ILM

Score Rating Rec 120.95

100%

Internet Lead Manager

11.05

HookLogic - AutoHook

Lead to Show 2.0

0.01

DealerSocket

DealerSocket ILM

100%

76.81

CAR-Research XRM

98%

100%

0.32

100%

A Show Is Where

The Rubber Meets The Road of Contact At Once! customers* credited chat with bringing more online shoppers into their dealerships.

autodealerchat.com/2013survey

Make tracks to download the 2013 Dealership Survey report and discover other digital marketing trends. *Results based on responses from more than 1,000 survey participants.

Dealership Innovation Guide

DrivingSales, LLC • 4th Quarter - 2013 • 9

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

Company

Product

Score Rating Rec

PCG Digital Marketing

Brian Pasch

225.13

eXtéresAUTO

eXtéresEDU - Dealer Training

18.25

KPA

Phone Ninjas

DealerKnows Consulting

DealerWebinars.com 363.88

100%

Phone Ninjas

100%

Joe Webb

100%

47.49

100%

100%

13.61

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

Company

Product

Score Rating Rec

VinSolutions

MotoSnap™ Market Pricing Analysis

1.38

vAuto

DealerTrack Technologies

Pricing & Merchandising Tools

TrueTarget™

331.80

100%

0.95

100%

100%

Mobile Sites These websites are built specifically for mobile browsers to cater to customers surfing the web from mobile devices.

Company

Product

Score Rating Rec

DealerOn

DealerOn Mobile Sites

1.58

Dealer e Process

DealerFire

Dealer e Process Mobile Websites

DealerFire Mobile Websites

130.50

100%

1.58

100%

100%

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

Company

Product

Score Rating Rec

Autobytel Inc.

Autobytel New Car Leads

7.78

92%

OnlineBKManager.com

Bankruptcy Lists

0.42

67%

Dealix

AutoTrader

TrueCar

Dealix New Car Leads New Car Advertising

TrueCar New Car Leads

187.37 0.48

0.15

97%

67% 100%

*Category scores are computed per category and are not comparable across the board.

For questions about Vendor Ratings, please email to bart.wilson@drivingsales.com 10 • 4th Quarter - 2013 • DrivingSales, LLC

Dealership Innovation Guide

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

Company J&L Marketing

Product bLinked

Score Rating Rec 124.93

100%

23.87

100%

ELEAD1ONE GoldDigger

62.23

OneCommand OneCommand

6.86

CIMA Systems

Complete Virtual BDC

CAR-Research XRM

Owner Marketing

5.12

100% 100% 100%

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

Company

Product

Score Rating Rec

eXtéresAuto

Online Reputation Management

86.38

DealerRater.com

DealerRater Certified Dealer Program

239.09

98% 100%

Slipstream Creative

Reputation Management

14.83

Dominion Dealer Solutions

Dominion Prime

1.52

Cobalt

Dealership Innovation Guide

Reputation Management

1.52

100% 100% 100% DrivingSales, LLC • 4th Quarter - 2013 • 11

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

Company

Product

Score Rating Rec

POTRATZ

Search and Behavioral for Website

54.82

PCG Digital Marketing

PPC Management Service

24.35

Local Search Group

Dealer e Process

Dynamic Web Solutions

Search Engine Advertising

Dealer e Process Digital Marketing Pay Per Click Advertising

459.87

100%

50.47

100%

1.93

100% 100% 100%

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

Company

Product

Score Rating Rec

PCG Digital Marketing

SEO & Strategic Internet Marketing

29.90

Dealer Apex

Organix SEO

1.16

eXtéresAUTO

Dealer e Process

Dynamic Web Solutions

eXtéresAUTO - SEO

Power PageRank SEO

Search Engine Optimization

192.29

95%

2.97

100%

0.73

100% 100% 100%

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

Company

Product

Score Rating Rec

Dealix UsedCars.com 134.61 98% PureCars

PureCars SmartComments

90.91

100%

5.20

100%

PureCars

PureCars Value Report

80.78

Cars.com

Cars.com Online Advertising

2.83

GetAuto.com

Advertising & Leads Program

100% 83%

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

Company

Product

Score Rating Rec

Dealer eProcess

Dealer eProcess Dealer Website

127.98

DealerFire

DealerFire Custom Websites

5.60

Dominion Dealer Solutions

DealerOn

POTRATZ

12 • 4th Quarter - 2013 • DrivingSales, LLC

Dominion Websites

DealerOn - Flex Sites

Custom Auto Websites

155.28

98%

47.97

96%

0.84

100% 100% 100%

Dealership Innovation Guide

How Vendor Ratings Work

Vendor Ranking

The DrivingSales Vendor Ratings site is the first formal mechanism for dealers to rate and review their vendors in a comprehensive, real-time vendor directory. It empowers dealers by allowing them to learn about all the solutions available and to view actual customer feedback, both good and bad, about how each solution actually performs.

In each product category the vendor solutions are ranked in real-time as each new dealer rating is submitted. The vendor products are ranked based on a weighted Bayesian Algorithm.

This is a standard mathematical calculation that looks at the number of stars the reviewer gave as well as the statistically valid sample size needed, relative to the competitive set, to create a ranking based on the statistical accuracy of the results. Sometimes a company with 3 stars will rate above a company with 4 stars if mathematically the first company has a higher probability of success based on the submitted reviews.

Rules • •

•

•

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

Dealership employees can only rate and review the products they have experience using. The ratings are a chance to hear from actual customers with live experience using the solutions in their stores.

Each reviewer must answer three questions to complete their rating: 1. How many stars does the solution deserve?

2. Would you recommend the solution to a friend?

3. Why would or wouldn’t you recommend the solution?

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

Safeguards •

•

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

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

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

We encourage all dealers to rate and review their vendors by visiting DrivingSales.com/Ratings

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

Learn more at DealerSatisfactionAwards.com

Rankings Only dealership employees are allowed to rate their vendors on DrivingSales.com and all submitted ratings are verified.

The vendors are then scored and ranked using a weighted Bayesian Algorithm (shown below). Sometimes a company with 3 stars will rate above a company with 4 stars if mathematically the first company has a higher probability of success based on the submitted reviews.

w = (m*v 2 )*r+(v 2 *m)*c

The Vendor Ratings in this issue are based on the aggregate of all dealer ratings submitted from October 1, 2012 to September 30, 2013. *Category scores are computed per category and are not comparable across the board.

For questions about Vendor Ratings, please contact bart.wilson@drivingsales.com

View detailed vendor reviews written by verified dealers at DrivingSales.com/Ratings

Dealership Innovation Guide

DrivingSales, LLC • 4th Quarter - 2013 • 13

Mobile Advertising & Geo-Fencing – You can’t ignore it!

I

love technology. Not for what it is, but for what it can do! Dealers are great marketers, but in the everchanging digital world it is increasingly difficult to stay ahead of the curve.

Our customers are doing their research before coming to the store, so we need to do ours. Because of the availability of information on the Internet you could be seeing less floor traffic, but more informed buyers. In 2006, a typical customer would visit an average of five stores to research their next purchase, in 2011 buyers would visit less than two.

14 • 4th Quarter - 2013 • DrivingSales, LLC

If they come to your store, in many cases, they are yours to lose. A salesperson not understanding this can get in the way of the sale. There are salespeople who skip steps to the sale, have little product knowledge, assume everyone is going to buy, have a great personality and sells a ton of cars. This person is proof many customers have already mentally bought the car before they get to the dealership. He focuses on the relationship and trying to make it easy for the customer to buy.

How things have changed! Words that have become commonplace these days did not exist 10 years ago or were associated with other products.

“Don’t forget your tablet” would mean something completely different to you in the year 2000 than it does today.

Talking to an Apple or Blackberry might have meant a visit from the “Men in white coats”. Bluetooth in 1990 would have been an unfortunate dental issue, although, I was lucky enough to visit Panasonic’s factory in Osaka, Japan in 1989 and witnessed a “living room” Dealership Innovation Guide

completely controlled by Bluetooth remotely via mobile phones to a level we still haven’t seen brought to market.

Adapt and Modify – humans have always been good at this!

So, where are we now? We are finding ways to harness these powerful products to communicate our brands to our potential customers. Social Media has taken off at the cost of face-to-face interaction and we are now seeing mobile Internet visits rapidly rising when we look at our Google Analytics reports.

A recent, must read, study by IDC , sponsored by Facebook, of iPhone and Android Smartphone users, has some very compelling data that we as dealers should understand in order to take our business to the next level. When is a phone not just a phone? – when it’s a Pocket-able Personal Computer! *Over half of the US population is a smartphone user checking their phones on average every 7 minutes. This is rapidly rising. 84% of them communicate by text, message or social yet only 16% by phone call. 70% are on Facebook and 61% used it every day. (*Source IDC Study) Estimates on Mobile Ad spend projections in 2013 is around $3.2 Billion. Mobile access is likely to surpass fixed Internet access by 2014. Time to get on board people!

So how do we Harness this Potential?

While not exactly a new technology, one of the most interesting evolving mobile advertising tools is network based “Geo-Fencing”. This is microtargetable, hyper-local, content relevant, granular digital advertising that is based upon pushing banner ads or messages to mobile users as they enter the targeted location. Envision drawing a boundary around a geographic area of focus, where all mobile Internet users accessing the web within that area would receive your ads. This area can be as small or as large as you choose.

tablets. What about your Sales Floor? Do you see customers checking their phones during negotiation – I am sure you do!

Are you Predator or Prey?

First thing to do is protect your own “turf” and Geo-Fence your own dealership(s). Basically you create a virtual Geographic “Fence” around your dealership that will get triggered when your customer enters your ”zone” and surfs the web. Fees are based upon digital impressions you purchase over a time period, usually a monthly contract. Keeping close tabs on the available impressions in your “zone” and maintaining your contracted purchase at that level will allow you to own your zone.

Geo-Fence Providers partner with major websites by purchasing ad space.

Specific or generic market websites can be added to the mix so for a dealership, you could add Autotrader, Cars.com, your own website, your OEM’s website, etc., When your customer goes to any of these sites, a banner ad can appear to them. For example: “Thank you for visiting ABC Motors today – Receive 10% discount on your next Oil Change if booked now!” This can direct them to the Service Advisor, a landing page with an online appointment booking program.

Re-enforce their good decision to visit you. Reward them for their loyalty.

You can do the same for your sales dept. customers with a compelling offer to buy. “Free Detail on your Birthday if you buy a New Honda today” or “We

Need to buy Your Car! – Ask for the Sales Manager to get an immediate appraisal” You get the drift…

So I know where your mind is going…

Your thinking, if I can do this for my dealership, why not do the same to my competitors… Bingo! Now you are thinking like a Predator!

Yes, you can create specific content and Geo-Fence your competitors.

Create ads that run when a customer goes online in the Toyota dealership across town for instance and direct them to a landing page showing the benefits of each of your models over their models. Do this for all of your non-like brand competitors and a reason to buy from your dealership for your like brand competitors.

Like it or not, you have to do something to protect the customers you have worked so hard to get or get aggressive and create great content to drive new “in market” customers away from your competitor and into your store. Be Interesting. Be Creative. Be Considerate.

Be Relevant. If you are going to persuade potential customers to change direction, you need to have a compelling message.

Offer some form of incentive. Give them a reason to come! Make sure you make it worth their while…

As with all advertising, it is only as good as the relevancy of the content it delivers. Customers are more likely to respond to messages or ads that are: 1. Tailored to their personal Interests

You walk into your service waiting area and what do you see.? Yes, laptops are diminishing and now most customers are immersed in their smartphones or Dealership Innovation Guide

DrivingSales, LLC • 4th Quarter - 2013 • 15

2. Specific to their location 3. Relevant to what they were doing 4. Specific to the time they are sent 5. Attention grabbing phrasing There are two types of Geo-Fencing – app based and network based. If you have an app already, you can use the app based push marketing, however, the app has to be running on the phone. Whereas network based GeoFencing can feed banner ads onto most websites based upon location they are being accessed from. So your best bet for the widest audience reach is with a network based ad campaign.

Who Provides GeoFencing Services?

•

Local newspaper’s digital advertising depts.

•

Advertising agencies that specialize in Digital Buys,

•

Online Digital Vendors – Maponics, Placecast, Urban AirShip

•

Google just announced 3 location services APIs for developers to create Geo Fencing apps

What Should I Geo-Fence?

Any location or event that attracts large amounts of people who could be interested in buying or servicing a car. When looking at special events be sure you are buying impressions for 16 • 4th Quarter - 2013 • DrivingSales, LLC

the weekend or the time the event runs for. For example, you don’t want to Geo-Fence the Football stadium when events are not taking place.

Here are temporary Geo-Fencing examples to consider: •

Car Shows

•

Sports Stadiums

•

Fringe Industries

•

Home Improvement Shows

•

Local Large Businesses

•

Medical Facilities

•

Govt. Offices

•

Convention Centers

•

Business Districts

•

Competitors

•

Auto Malls

•

Auto Parts Stores

•

Sponsored events

•

Charity locations your dealership supports

But remember, you create an ad budget and impressions are typically sold in bulks of a thousand, so it’s important to target where you think your next customer might be. This is granular level micro-targeting… think about where your customers are and where they are not!

Make sure the landing page you send them to is a mobile optimized page and the content is compelling.

If you are reaching them through their mobile device, you want to ensure their user experience loads quickly and is easy to navigate. Bad advertising results in poor interaction, whether it is traditional or digital…

*Eye-opening stats reveal the extent of our smartphone dependency.

Here are some numbers from the report, which Facebook sponsored: 49 percent of the entire U.S. population uses a smartphone (2012 figures), according to previous research from IDC. By 2017, the percent of smartphone users is expected to reach 68 percent.

132 minutes is the average amount of time each day that smartphone users spend communicating and using social media on their phones.

Over the weekend, Friday through Sunday, that number increases to 163 minutes. Monday through Thursday, it drops to 87 minutes.

70 percent of smartphone users check Facebook on their phones; 61 percent check it every day. The average number of times respondents check Facebook on their phones is 14.

50 percent of smartphone users check Facebook at the movies.

Dealership Innovation Guide

Four out of five smartphone users check their phones within the first 15 minutes of waking up.

Among them, 80 percent say it’s the first thing they do in the morning.

The 10 most popular apps on smartphones are:

79 percent of smartphone users have their phone on or near them for all but two hours of their waking day—63 percent keep it with them for all but one hour. One-fourth couldn’t recall a time of the day when their phone wasn’t in the same room as them.

3. Facebook

1. Email 2. Web browsing

When asked which activity on a smartphone makes them feel most “connected,” 49 percent said text messaging, 43 percent indicating talking on the phone, 40 percent said messaging on Facebook.

61 percent said their smartphones keep them connected to their friends. Nearly the same, 60 percent say it connects them to their spouse/significant other.

7.4 is the average number of social/ communication apps that smartphone users have on their phones.

4. Maps/directions 5. Games 6. General search 7. Share/post photos 8. Read news, sports 9. Local search 10. Watch TV/video Sources: *Michael Sebastian of PRDaily.com — Smartphone eye-opening stats. www.maponics.com

About The Author:

Jon Scott, Born & raised in Coventry, England and is the eCommerce Manager at Underriner Motors in Billings, Montana. He is Chairman of the NADA INT2 Internet 20 Group and has been involved in eCommerce since 1997 in Mobile Phone, Ski industries and Motorcycle and Car Dealerships. Jon was Purchasing director and co founder of Talkland in 1987, the first retail mobile phone chain in the UK with Swedish Entrepreneur Lars Frisell. Talkland was one of Europe’s fastest growing businesses taking just 18 months to grow from inception to 600 staff. Talkland was sold the General D’Eau in France (French Water Authority) who expanded throughout Europe before selling to Vodafone. Contact: jon.scott@bresnan.net, 406 647-2474.

www.urbanairship.com www.placecast.net

Make your voice heard.

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

www.drivingsales.com/ratings

Dealership Innovation Guide

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Creative C o py Sells Cars 18 • 4th Quarter - 2013 • DrivingSales, LLC

Dealership Innovation Guide

D

id you ever wonder what the restaurant menu business spends each year on making ingredients sound great? In 2009, 4.6 billion dollars were spent making ingredients sound appetizing. During this economic downturn, the menu’s looked better and better while they marketed heavier and heavier to healthy meals and children. Was it a different pitch or did the ingredients get special?

•

Take this thought and look at the best walk around person in your dealership – this person knows product inside and out, and caters to the high points for the buyer with the understanding that you speak to a sports car buyer different than a 3500 Dually buyer. They speak different to the first time buyer with the economy machine to the luxury buyer that expects it all and generally pays the premium for it. The sales guy that wears the buyer out on a long presentation doesn’t always sell the car.

The one that short cuts the presentation struggles with closing ratios as well.

•

Online it’s equally important, if not more so. Buyers judge you by so many things today and all you want is to get the consumer interaction. The Internet is so powerful that you can find the same car in the same color with like miles, like price, and like equipment in about any driving distance. So, if your buyer is looking at the same color car with similar everything can you be assured you will get the call, the drop in, the sale? With bad vehicle comments or sellers notes where do you land in the following scenario?

•

First, start with relevant data to SEO your content. Imagine a “pre-tagline” that identifies your dealership and then roll into the year, make, model, trim, and factory color. Follow this with relevant drivetrain information that you craft in a way the consumer can understand. Car Jargon means little to a buyer – Up, F&I, Turn, TO, Broom, GMO, Log… Next, develop emotional vocabulary that makes the buyer feel the perfect vehicle is here and now.

Just like your walk around, create a bond that satisfies the initial information, then take the buyer inside the vehicle. Let them sit down, look around, take in the beauty of the material, let them see the technology, let them feel the leather and admire the trim.

Wrap up with the safety aspect of your vehicle to let the buyer know this is an incredible choice for themselves or the family – offer safety examples and end with a strong call to action. We worked with a study group and developed our own tagline that ties into several aspects that trial closes, allows for print count, and discusses ownership.

We will share with you two great styles of comments from the practical format to the detailed elite: 1. Ford F150 XLT Supercab 4X4 – we sold it new and have all the service records. We ran this through our shop and gave it a thorough inspection. Besides fresh fluids we replaced a pan gasket and front brakes. In addition, we rotated and balanced the tires, checked the AC and gave this one owner Ford a clean bill of health. Stop in for a test drive and review the service records. See ya soon!

Here is an example of a Mercedes that invokes positive emotional ownership: 2. When this hand-built AMG SL63 Roadster fires up, the tone has symphonic proportions. This beautiful Palladium Silver Metallic Supercar possesses one of the most powerful naturally aspirated V8’s in production. Our 6.3 liter generates massive output of 518hp from its 32 valve configuration that is matched to a multi-clutch 7 speed automatic transmission. This combination can paddle-shift in under 100 milliseconds shooting this roadster to 60mph in a little over 4 seconds.

Top speed is near 180 miles per hour, but please obey the speed

A husband and wife choose three “like vehicles” – they look at each other and one says, “Lets choose this one. It sounds better!” Do you ever buy the worse sounding thing on the lunch menu?

Are you the one that sounds better?

Creative Copy Sells Cars Writing great copy is easy. Here are a few pointers to help your store.

Dealership Innovation Guide

DrivingSales, LLC • 4th Quarter - 2013 • 19

limits as local law enforcement has smaller engines and faster radios. This AMG has a controlled efficiency mode that conserves fuel and is Eco friendly. Under all this power sits an incredible suspension system that is race inspired. After 45 years gathering trophies, AMG has it figured out and makes this Roadster seem flat in all aspects of driving. Reviewers place this SL63 Roaster at the head of the class not only as a work of art, but a fire breathing sport coupe that doubles as a roadster. Some call it a racecar wrapped in luxury while others only dream about owning this magnificent Mercedes. This AMG will capture onlooker’s attention and make you smile a little more, but it’s not just about power and prestige... Mercedes leads the world in innovative safety features that fill this machine. It’s time to own our SL63 Roadster by AMG where the engine is handcrafted by a master technician with race proven

components. This is evident with the signed metal plaque bearing his signature. As an owner you will join the elite group that understands performance art work like this.

Print this page and call us Now...

We Know You Will Enjoy Your Test Drive Towards Ownership!

Every dealer has their own way of doing a walking around. Most owners focus on showmanship and securing the commitment while they leave the details to the sales rep that gets the spoon. All the statistics show more and more buyers are touching online before walking in the door so ask yourself, “Does my online store mimic the same powerful look and feel of my brick and mortar?” If a customer was looking at a show floor car and your sales rep stood there and said nothing, what consumer interaction would you witness? Flip side, if your customer is getting wowed and is taking ownership on the floor, you are proud. Which one closes better with more gross? Now is the time to deliver

vehicle descriptions online that have the same kind of selling power that your best sales person’s walk around does to improve your sales numbers and make this year best sales year yet.

About The Author:

Aaron Johnson is the Founder of Dealer Assist Now and manages over 25 writers from all walks of life. He has a deep passion for providing jobs for gifted writers and helping dealers deliver a consistent marketing message across all platforms. He resides in a small lake community in Nebraska and plays the “what is it” game with his family every time he is on the road – Earn Points by Identifying the Year Make Model of oncoming traffic – Want to play? You can reach him at aaron@dealerassistnow.com.

"We have been partnered with ELEAD1ONE since 2003. At that time, we looked at four different CRM companies and what set ELEAD1ONE apart was their clean software, in-country call center and unmatched client support. The ELEAD Virtual BDC is spectacular and very flexible to any custom call campaign! ELEAD1ONE provides us with high-level executive trainers and performance teams, all with automotive retail experience that really understand our business. ELEAD1ONE started in one store over ten years ago, and now they are in all 13 locations.

Their family-type atmosphere is rare, and something we really appreciate!"

Phil Leone, Managing Partner Premier Automotive Group

The 2011, 2012 and 2013 Dealers’ Choice Diamond Award Winner for CRM Category as awarded by Auto Dealer Monthly

2013 Auto Remarketing Magazine Power 250 List

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© Data Software Services, L.L.C. 2013

866. 989.8077 | sales@eleadcrm.com | www.elead-crm.com Dealership Innovation Guide

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boost conversion rates Ditch

Advertising of the Past

billboards been for your dealership?

“They’re great for branding,” said one owner. “People see the billboard and it makes them remember our name.” That same owner doesn’t even use a cell phone. Enough said.

W

hat if I told you there was a form of advertising that has the potential to blow away traditional marketing and even the digital marketing you’re currently doing? Do me a favor. Wipe that drool off your mouth before you continue reading. While you do that…I’m going to chat about “traditional” marketing for a minute.

At a recent 20 Group meeting, I heard someone refer to display ads as the “billboards” of today. They argued that people are constantly “driving by” websites, thereby generating impressions through visual impact. Very true. But how effective have traditional 22 • 4th Quarter - 2013 • DrivingSales, LLC

Here’s the problem – I’m not from the generation of buying because of billboards. And I’d argue most current car buyers, though they may be “from” that generation, no longer care about most billboards. As a matter of fact, it takes one heck of a message on a billboard to make me look twice. In Hartford, Connecticut last year there was a billboard advertising a popular bar in the area. The billboard read, “Free Beer.” At the bottom of the billboard, it said, “Must present THIS coupon.” Clever. Very clever. But, I didn’t go there to buy beer. I figured Bud Light would cost eight bucks thanks to their expensive advertising overhead. So in an ironic twist, I’d have to declare this an advertising fail.

Now let’s get into digital advertising a little and talk about those “billboards”.

We see the numbers come in and get excited, don’t we? “Holy cow – 1.2 million impressions last month! We’re crushing it!” But…are you? How many of those people clicked through to your website and ultimately purchased a vehicle? I’ll give you this – it’s a heck of a lot easier to track impressions and conversion rates with display advertising. And remarketing and behavioral targeting are absolutely more effective than just your typical display ads on the websites of traditional media outlets (newspaper, radio, TV).

Retargeting But what if you could take that same budget and invest it in a form of digital advertising that could quadruple your conversion rates? I know, I know. Now I’m talking dirty. The concept I’m talking about goes beyond pay-per-click. It’s a mobile campaign on steroids. You may have heard of geo-fencing before. Same idea. Let me break it down Braveheart Dealership Innovation Guide

style. Build a castle. Put guys with arrows on top. Aim, fire, and nail ‘em.

The idea behind location-based bidding is you increase or decrease your bids in an enhanced campaign, so that you have greater control over when and where the ad is shown. You can set bid-adjustments for different times, days, or locations.

You shoot for the cities or geographic locations of your choosing, or you can use location extension targeting to go after customers near your business.

Let me break this down in slightly less techie terms.

A guy is driving through Connecticut with his wife and kids in the car. His wife is streaming “Livin’ La Vida Loca” from Pandora on her iPhone while the kids are rocking out in the back.

Simultaneously, she’s Googling: Mazda 3 for sale. Dad happens to be driving to a festival near the dealership. The closer he drives to the dealership… the higher the amount you’re willing to spend on ad placement. The result?

When they’re near you, they’re clicking on you. Worried this is going to blow Dealership Innovation Guide

your budget? It’s absolutely not – the enhanced campaigns live in the realm of the budget you set so you won’t go over.

Let’s take a look at an example Google provides on how this works: Let’s say you set a $1 Max CPC ad group bid. You decide to add a +20% adjustment for California, and -50% adjustment for Saturdays.

Your resulting bid for a search that occurs in California on a Saturday will be $0.60. Here’s the math: •

Starting bid: $1

•

California adjustment: $1 x (+20%) = $1.20

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Saturday adjustment: $1.20 x (-50%) = $0.60

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Resulting bid for searches in California on Saturday: $0.60

It’s time we all stopped thinking about digital advertising as something we should do down the road…and start respecting it for the showcase that it is today. You wouldn’t keep messy cars on your showroom floor, unorganized

vehicles on your lot or wrong hang-tag prices on the rear-view mirror, right?

Why would we pay any less attention to our “digital showroom” that attracts 50, 100 or 500 times as many customers?

Build a fence. Guard your turf.

Grow your business.

About The Author:

Kyle S. Reyes is the Director of Marketing, Advertising and Public Relations for Carter Chevrolet and Mazda of Manchester. He’s only worked in the industry for a little over a year.

Prior to coming to Carter, Kyle operated his own marketing company —The Silent Partner Marketing. He was a Producer of News and Special Projects in broadcast journalism for nine years.

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The Best Investment your Dealership can Make!

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Dealership Innovation Guide

I

try to visit three to five dealerships per week, and almost every time I hold a meeting with sales consultants, I hear the same thing…

“I‘ve been selling cars for 10 years!”

My response is usually, “That’s great, and how did last month go?” Usually I get, “Well, it was kind of an off month.

I delivered eight.” I try not to delve any further, because I’m not ready to hurt anybody’s feelings… at least not yet. I save that for the managers.

We can argue back and forth over what digital channel is the best online investment. But the best way to invest in your online efforts isn’t even online! The best investment you can make is to train your management team in the ways of the Web. Training is the Dealer Principle and General Manager’s responsibility; they need to make sure their managers know how to train the sales staff. You can bring in consultant after consultant and pay them $2,500 a day, but the only constants (usually) are your managers.

Part of a manager’s job is to lead, console, and motivate the sales staff. If your manager doesn’t know how to conduct a proper meet and greet with the modern car shopper, they need training! If your manager can’t demonstrate how to handle a phone call and leave a fantastic voice mail, train them! And if your entire management team doesn’t understand how to follow up with Internet opportunities for a minimum of 30 days, guess what—they need training!

The Modern Meet & Greet In today’s digital world, the meet and greet has to change! Most dealerships understand (and recent studies have found) that 94 percent of car shoppers start their shopping experience online and have visited at least ten websites to research the purchase of their new vehicle. The old questions, “How did you hear about us?” or “What brought you in today?” are no longer as relevant. The better question that I see savvy dealers asking is, “Have you had the opportunity to visit automotive sites on the Internet? If so, which ones did you find most useful?”

Dealership Innovation Guide

Once you start gathering answers to these questions, you can start to formulate your own needs analysis. If the prospect says, “I went to KBB.com,” you can bet they received FMV on the vehicle they’re researching and probably have a good idea what their vehicle is worth. If they went to TrueCar.com, you can wager they received a really good price on the vehicle they’re researching.

This is where training is crucial.

Obviously the line of questioning must run deeper than what I detailed above. The best preparation for the meet and greet is to role play these conversations to make everybody comfortable—especially managers!

On to the Phones We Go!

on set appointments is 60 percent and the close rate of the appointments that show up is 50 percent. I disagree.

If your store is getting a 50 percent appointment set rate, GREAT JOB! If you don’t know, don’t complain.

Most dealerships have no idea what the real amount of phone ups are per month and don’t track the appointment set rate, show rate, or close rate. When I ask about phone process, about 90 percent of the dealerships I speak with say, “our receptionist announces, ‘Available sales call on line 1, available sales line 1’.”

So I ask, “If a sales consultant takes 60 phone ups this month and sells no cars, what’s going to happen to him next month?”

Most managers say, “I would fire him!”

I say, “Nope, because you can’t fire him if you don’t know that it’s happening.”

We need a lot of training and more importantly, accountability. If you take anything out of this, please move your dealership to a certified phone team. A certified phone team is derived from pure metrics.

No emotion; just percentages.

Online Opportunities To me, this is the most important area of training. More phone calls are mismanaged than anything else at the dealership. Most stores have more phone ups than they know what to do with and do not do a very good job of tracking results, unless they have a BDC. In fact, a recent JD Power & Associates Phone Up Analysis conducted in conjunction with Dealix revealed that 72 percent of phone customers are not even invited to visit the dealership during the call.

We all know the goal of the staff member on the line with a phone up should be to get a name, number and appointment—not necessarily in that order. If you do a great job, the name and number will come.

If you talk to high-priced trainers they’ll tell you that a good appointment set rate is 75 percent. A good show rate

The obvious areas where we see dealers wanting the most help on are Internet opportunities. Today, there are a plethora of Internet trainers. Get help! The two major process areas that I see that separate the highperforming Internet departments vs. the mediocre ones are: 1. Commitment to long-term follow up 2. The quality of the message You have to have a process that sticks with the prospect for a minimum of 30 days of high intensity, quality follow-up! Then you can just keep marketing to them until they give. A recent manufacturer study found that the average close rate on Internet opportunities hovers around 7 percent.

High-performing stores close at 12.5 percent or higher! If you’re not closing your own Internet leads at 12 percent or higher, you don’t need more DrivingSales, LLC • 4th Quarter - 2013 • 25

dealership, make sure you are holding everybody accountable for converting those opportunities into sales. I’m not trying to train anybody right now. That takes a lot of work. But the dealerships around the country that close the highest percentage of opportunities have the best processes AND the best training! Invest in your dealership.

About The Author:

opportunities—you need to be better with the opportunities you already have.

Having a defined Internet process and surrounding this process with really good people is the easiest answer. After that, it’s all about training. Ultimately, your process will only be as good as your store’s commitment to training.

The Prospect’s Perspective The industry has seen a decline in email traffic. One reason is dealerships are getting better about making phone calls. But we can’t forget

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to look at the experience from the consumer’s point of view.

Say a consumer submits four to five leads to different dealerships and provides a phone number on top of an email address. How abused is that poor prospect going to be over the next five days? 5-10 phone calls? On top of 7-20 emails? How would you feel if you were on the other end of that barrage? Hence the reason the consumer is getting smarter about just calling the dealership instead of emailing—and again, the reason you need to get better on the phones!

Investing in your employees is the best use of funds! Quit throwing around money to advertising that may or may not be working. I’ve used this quote before, but here it goes again: “It’s a very expensive proposition to send traffic to poorly trained employees.”

If you‘re going to spend your hard earned ad dollars to drive traffic to your

Richard Rikess, Performance Improvement Consultant (PIC) for The Cobalt Group has been in the automotive industry for over 20 years. His career has spanned all facets of the auto industry. He has worked in management, sales, marketing and eCommerce. He is certified in Advanced Instructional Techniques from Langevin Learning Services. Richard joined The Cobalt Group as a PIC in 2003.

Richard started his post collegiate career in 1987 with Automatic Data Processing (ADP).

He covered major dealer groups for ADP in the Southwest of the US. He worked with his brother Mark Rikess who is the CEO of The Rikess Group as a consultant, Richard concentrated mostly on eCommerce process training during this period of his career.

Prior to joining Cobalt, Richard was on the ground floor of a startup CRM organization and helped position that company as an industry leader. Many of Cobalt’s current CRM best practice processes originated from his experience with this company.

Richard comes from an automotive family.

His father owned one of the largest Chevrolet franchises in Minnesota, Southview Chevrolet.

Richard worked at the dealership until he graduated from Northwood University.

Richard held several positions within the dealership while he was growing up.

Dealership Innovation Guide

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BREAKING NEWS The

DATA TAX Dealers don’t know

they are

PAYING!

A DrivingSales News Story

B

ehind dealership DMS systems, there is a big fight taking place worth hundreds of millions of dollars that few dealers know about, despite its potential to take huge profits from the bottom line.

few know they are paying, let alone how much they are paying. Because it’s an unknown, it is currently near impossible to manage, and such a tax has large effects on dealership profits and technology innovation.

The fight is over dealership DMS data, but it’s not about who owns the information, or even who can access it on the dealer’s behalf; the industry has already hashed those topics out.

The elephant in the room is how much money third parties must pay to access the DMS data on behalf of a dealership, and how those charges are hidden as they are passed on down to the dealers.

It’s as if there is a massive “data tax” being paid by most dealerships that

This data tax is created due to the agreements between the DMS providers and the other third-party technologies that must connect to the DMS, such as CRM systems. The possibility that such a tax can exists is thanks to the language contained in the dealerships’ agreements with their DMS providers, and it’s important to note that each DMS provider practices different policy when it comes to controlling access to their dealers’ data—and the

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variance is wide. Some DMS providers are very dealer-friendly in their datasharing practices while others are playing a heavy hand that threatens to levy a big toll on our industry.

How Dealership DMS Data Sharing Works Dealership DMS agreements spell out which party owns the data and there is generally little dispute: the data belongs to the dealer. This makes sense; after all, it’s the dealership’s customers, inventory, and transactional data that the dealership is putting into the DMS system for organization.

Dealership Innovation Guide

Dealership Innovation Guide

DrivingSales, LLC • 4th Quarter - 2013 • 29

writing programs that pull data from the DMS systems and pass it to the third-party systems; sometimes this is referred to as DMS polling. Historically, they have been by far the cheapest option for CRM companies and others to use to get the information they need from the DMS. There are many companies who fill the Integration Partner role such as Authenticom, Superior Integrated Solutions, Inc. (SIS), Ryan Tech (who recently sold its DMS polling business to Authenticom), Digital Motor Works, Inc. (or DMI), and others.

Our sources tell us that companies, such as CRM providers, generally pay a small fee to partner with these Integration Companies. Then, as each dealer is connected, there is an upfront setup fee of a couple hundred dollars and an ongoing monthly fee that ranges from approximately $10 - $100 per connection. The monthly fee will range based how often the data needs to be shared and exactly what data is passed along between the DMS and the third party.

However, while the DMS agreements make clear who owns the data, some agreements leave the door wide open for the DMS provider to charge an open-ended amount to any third party that wants to access the information on behalf of the dealer.

to access the DMS data, the higher their license fees will be to the dealers.

When a third-party software provider, like a CRM system, determines their pricing model, they have to factor in how much they will need to pay to access their dealers’ data from the DMS system provider. The more they have to spend

DMS Connection Through Integration Partners

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To access the DMS systems, the third-party companies have two main options: they can work with an Integration Partner, or go directly to the DMS provider.

Integration companies are like middlemen for dealership DMS data.

These companies are in the business of

It’s important to note that most dealerships have many tools that connect to their DMS. When you think of all the tools that dealerships use today such as CRM, Inventory Pricing, Reputation Management, Websites, Equity Mining, Desking etc., it’s easy to see that the number of connections each dealership has widely varies, but could feasibly be three to 10 connections or more, depending on how many various tools the dealership has purchased.

Each of these independent connections would usually be assessed another fee.

If the Integration Partner connection fee averaged $75 per month, the cost to access the dealership’s data with 3-10 connections is relatively modest, to the tune of $225 -$750 per month.

DMS Connection Directly To The DMS Provider The second option for a third party to connect to a DMS is to go directly through the DMS provider.

According to sources at various thirdparty companies, the DMS providers have a wide variety of data sharing Dealership Innovation Guide

policies; some are very low cost while others have extremely large fees.

for renewal and that this is appearing to mount pressure on the market.

DrivingSales obtained court documents from a lawsuit between Reynolds and SIS.* In those documents, SIS alleges that Reynolds charges vendors up to $50,000 upfront, plus an additional setup fee of $500 per store and another $300 - $500 in monthly fees per connection. If these allegations are true, Reynolds integration is dramatically more expensive than those through an Integration Partner.

Unless the DMS provider is adding substantial value so that the dealer would be willing to pay a higher price for the third-party services, it’s easy to imagine what big increases in data costs will do to innovation in the industry.

If a dealership has three connections into their DMS data through an Integrated Partner, the estimated typical data costs would be $225 per month, but would cost $900-$1,500 through Reynolds. If the dealership had ten connections, the data-sharing fees would be about $750 with the Integration Partner but could range from as much as $3,000-$5,000 per month with Reynolds using the figures illustrated in the suit mentioned above. Dealers are not told of these agreements, likely, because those vendors that pay to connect to the DMS have confidentiality agreements not to disclose the price paid to access their data. The fees would typically be passed down to the store inside the cost of doing business with the third-party vendor.

In the defense of Reynolds, and any other DMS providers who may be more expensive than the Integration Partners, sources tell us Integration Partners don’t have full access to the DMS codebase so their connections sometimes have limited performance and reliability.

Also, the DMS providers would suggest there are security risks in using a third party that are eliminated by going directly through the DMS provider.

Pressure On The Data Agreements Is Mounting Sources have also indicated that in many cases, Reynolds will no longer work with third-party Integration Companies, potentially causing more third-party vendors to come directly to them and pay the higher integration costs. Also, we hear that Reynolds is negotiating to substantially raise their integration prices further as their agreements with vendors come up Dealership Innovation Guide

For example, imagine a vendor who charges $400 per month for a reputation management product who is now forced to integrate directly with Reynolds to get the client dealership DMS data. If the vendor has to pay $500 to access the data from Reynolds, but is in longterm agreements with their dealers, it’s possible the business would be unsustainable. The vendor would either have to sustain losses until they can raise prices, or exit the business of serving Reynolds customers. Either option is bad for a dealer; the dealer would be paying more for a product with no additional value, or they would lose a trusted partner and there is less competition in the industry, reducing innovation.

Data Sharing’s Impact On The Industry If data integration prices continue to rise, and additional value added does increase along with the price to access the information, the industry could suffer over the long run. As the data integration prices rise, the industry as a whole has three options, and they are all bad for dealers.

As data access costs rise, third-party vendors who pay to access the DMS will either absorb the costs, which is unlikely and in some cases potentially impossible, or they will pass them along to the dealer in the form of higher retail prices. This leaves the dealer to cover the higher costs by pulling profits from their bottom line.

In the second option, the third-party vendors would cut overhead costs to absorb the increased data fees by reducing R&D, or cutting support, as examples. These cost-cutting measures would ultimately reduce the quality of the products and diminish the support that the dealers receive.

Option three would be for the vendors to realize their businesses are no longer sustainable with the higher data costs so they exit the market. This would reduce competition and thus reduce innovation potentially creating inferior products going forward and dealers would end up with fewer products and services to choose from.

Further Questions Dealers need to know about the process and costs their partners go through to access their data on their behalf. By thinking that because the language in their DMS contract spells out that they own the data is enough, leaves the industry venerable to higher data costs and can have an adverse impact on innovation.

The costs to access a dealer’s data can have a huge impact on the retail automotive industry. Shedding light on the current dealer data-sharing model, however, brings up many questions left unanswered. We have already reached out and to all companies mentioned in this article to give them a chance to comment. As we continue to cover the topic, we welcome any additional information or comments for those involved to help enlighten dealers on this often hidden market.

We encourage dealers to ask questions of their providers and seek to understand this marketplace and its impact on their stores. We intend to continue to report on this topic to help dealers understand its implications.

We invite you to follow the coverage at DrivingSalesNews.com.

* The Reynolds & Reynolds Company v.

Superior Integrated Solutions, Inc. Case No: 1:12-cv-00848. United States District Court.

Southern District of Ohio. Western Division.

DrivingSales, LLC • 4th Quarter - 2013 • 31

Don’t Throw the Baby Out with the Bathwater N

o one likes to wash clothes, take a bath (don’t laugh some people don’t), or pay bills, but we would all agree it’s a necessity in life. Although we may not enjoy the act, we enjoy the benefits it has to offer. We love the smell of putting on a fresh t-shirt in the morning; we feel reenergized after washing off the funk of a hard-fought day and enjoy the ability to walk in and buy goods just using our good name, but when it comes to investing (a.k.a. training) in our people, we are guilty of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Each and every day we bathe in the murky waters of rejection and pay the high price of missed recitals, games, plays, and dinners with our families all in an effort

32 • 4th Quarter - 2013 • DrivingSales, LLC

Dealership Innovation Guide

to put a day, month, and year together.

While turnover is a necessity of business, we don’t have to throw the inundations of the day’s business out with our most valuable assets—our people. Often we are so blinded with putting together a day, that our people are overlooked; orphaned on the blacktop, they are left to fend for themselves, trying to provide for their families all the while braving the shark invested waters of rejection. Mentally beaten, battered, and depleted of any self-confidence, they walk away from a profession that lured them in with promises of Up to’s and As much as. Imagine the amount of untapped talent that has forever walked away from our profession.

techniques such as how to properly set each month’s goals. Show them how to determine the number of Ups that are needed to reach their desired outcome, (i.e. 8 sales/20% closing ratio = 40 ups/23 working days = 1.7 per day) (Note: what new salespeople lack in skills must be made up in numbers), manage and track each day’s progress (i.e. tweak the minor adjustments of the day’s efforts to prevent the major shortfalls of having a bad month), how to actively prospect (vs. waiting for the Up Bus), ask for referrals, as well as how to develop themselves per-fessionally (Continuous personal and professional development). Great salespeople aren’t born—they’re developed.

Experts agree that the first three years of a child’s life are the most critical.

Similarly, in the sales profession, the first 90 days are critical to the survival of your sales babies. Interestingly enough, it’s never too late for the prodigal son or daughter to come back home; as you begin to climb the Everest mountain of training those new to sales, veterans of past training classes will look on with curiosity and come back home—reengaged in a profession they once loved.

Brainpower: Initially, a child’s brain is twice as active as an adult’s. Between the ages of nine and 10, their brains begin to slow down. As their career begins to mature, don’t let your people’s brains slow down. Unfortunately, there are many brain dead salespeople occupying showroom floors today because they are no longer challenged.

Professional athletes don’t sharpen their skills by scrimmaging against the local Pop Warner league—instead they push themselves to new levels because they compete against two worthy opponents: themselves and the next man “up.” It is your job as a leader to provoke, push, and prod your sales athletes to not only surpass last month’s goals, but also create an air of

Some sales managers are good at desking deals, some have the ability to motivate, others are proficient at policies and procedures, while the rest are good at teaching techniques and strategies., but But, it takes a village to raise a child and every manager should play his or her part in investing in the future of your people.

positive paranoia. Apple and Microsoft don’t succeed on yesterday’s inventions; instead, they are constantly aware that if they are not continuously pushing to levels of new invention innovation, they will quickly become yesterday’s headlines. In a similar fashion, you as a leader have to foster an environment of creativity. No longer is it permissible to just pass the OEM’s standardized tests (didn’t work too well in the education system either) and label your team as “certified;” instead you must foretell the future and become adaptive to the rapidly changing landscape that is readily confronting your sales staff.

Use it or lose it: By the age of three, a child has 1000 trillion cells; because it is more than the child will ever need, the brain begins to prune the cells that are not being used or stimulated. Early experiences determine the health, education, and economic participation for the rest of a child’s life. As a leader, you must set the expectations, then prune the results. If you were to put a patch over a child’s eye, by the age of six he will forever lose his vision in that eye due to a lack of stimulation— however if an adult’s eye is patched, the lost vision is only temporary.

Whether direct (one-on-one coaching) or indirect (sales meetings), stimulate the vision of your new recruits so when they encounter the temporary blindness of negative thoughts, actions,

Connect the dots: Babies are born with 100 billion cells, but not all of them are connected. In the first three years, these cells begin to form connections.

Your people come in with a network of unconnected cells. Use their traits of lofty ambitions, outgoing personalities, and mental toughness to begin to connect the sales cells together. The best thing about new salespeople is their stupidity—they have no preconceived notions or formed opinions of how to sell. Like a baby, they are walking in with a clean canvas in which you as a leader have the responsibility to create your future masterpieces. Connect their sales (cells) together by using Dealership Innovation Guide

DrivingSales, LLC • 4th Quarter - 2013 • 33

and setbacks, in a later season, their vision will soon become restored.

See Skip Go: Early on, an eight-monthold can see and be directed toward specific objects; by the age of three he has a vocabulary of 900 words. Due to a lack of knowledge, your sales babies will do exactly as they aremo directed, but as they “mature” in the growing weeks, they will begin to use negative enforced words. When they first hit the blacktop, the world was their looking glass. With no preformed prejudices or cynicism, they set out to sell the world, but as the rejections and negativity mounted, the glass soon became a mirror. They begin to mirror negative behaviors and reinforce those beliefs with a limited vocabulary of doubt and skepticism. Don’t let the speech of your people fall by the wayside; the Bible says that life and death come from the power of the tongue. What you allow your people to speak can bring life or death to their sales career.

Too often as managers we profess to

34 • 4th Quarter - 2013 • DrivingSales, LLC

our salespeople to stay positive, yet when they bring a deal to the desk we vaporize their hopes by making fun of their customer’s expected payments, credit situation or equity status. It is your duty and obligation as a leader to stay positive and give your sales consultant’s customers options. If your people fought for over an hour in the sweltering sun to land and influence a customer to buy today, the least you can do as a leader is give them their options.

Statistics reveal that over one million children die each year from injuries that could have been prevented. The most common deaths are from accidental drownings and traffic injuries. While death is one of life’s certainties, it doesn’t have to be now, in your back yard, with your people. As the strains of life try to pull them under and as life and circumstances collide with one another, the greatest commission in life you could ever earn is by saving the lives of those who follow you. Put all of your resources in your most valuable assets—your

future is in the gardens of your people.

Throw out the water— keep the baby.

I’ll see you next time on the blacktop.

About The Author:

Marsh Buice has 15 years of automotive retail experience and is the General Sales Manager for Mark Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram in Lake Charles, LA. With a front line perspective, he writes about personal and professional issues automotive professionals encounter everyday.

He is dedicated to bring more professionalism and credibility to the industry he loves.

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W

hen you think about all that goes in to creating a professional in the auto industry, what comes to mind?

Usually things like, training, dedication, persistence, confidence and motivation jump out at you. All of these are important and valuable components essential for any professional, but they can’t be effective without the one element that ties it all together.

You have to care. Smarter people than I have always said, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

Coming from a trainer who has a responsibility to provide the knowledge to new people entering the auto sales profession, this may sound a bit strange.

But, it really makes perfect sense. Our “experienced people” in dealerships today are knowledgeable by training, but do they care? The answer is in the numbers and their attitude. Those consistently scoring high sales with great CSI aren’t doing it with pure knowledge.

Their real value to the dealer is they care about their job, so they continue to train. More importantly, they value their customers, so they continue to CARE! Most of the time.

Recently, I was conducting a recruiting campaign in N.J. Many applicants contact us through our website or via email. Our program goes like this: We interview Monday and Tuesday and then train Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I get an email on Monday from a “Pro” with many years of experience. However, he requested an interview, but wanted a special one on Thursday. I replied that we will be training on that day, but I would be happy to speak with him on Monday or Tuesday. (If an experienced sales person is interviewed, we usually let the dealer hire them at no cost.)

His email response blew me away.

It went something like this: “Let me tell you something! I have over 20 years retail experience. Instead of parading a bunch of new people in front of the dealer, why not give him someone with experience!”

Personally, I always have had a problem with anyone who starts a conversation 36 • 4th Quarter - 2013 • DrivingSales, LLC

Dealership Innovation Guide

Change “I KNOW” to “I CARE” with, “Let me tell you something…”

It just gets me going. This guy was no different. After 34 years in this crazy game, I have learned the louder someone has to shout about their ability, the smaller the talent actually is. But, it’s not my store. I represent the dealer and as such, it is my obligation to present this to him and let him decide.

I shared this with the dealer and he agreed that that type of attitude probably wouldn’t fit in his store, however, if they were willing to come in on Monday or Tuesday, he would be happy to sit and talk with him and give him the benefit of the doubt. So, per my client’s instruction, I emailed him back and told him the dealer would love to speak with him, but it would have to be during the times set on Monday and Tuesday.

The response came back in bold letters, “You get me that dealers name and email address and I’ll contact him myself. You obviously have no clue about hiring!”

I shared this with the dealer and his answer is really what inspired this article.

He said, “I can’t hire someone who doesn’t care about my dealership, my customers, and even my hiring practice.

That type of person can become a cancer on a sales floor and I’ve invested too much to go through that here. Why would I hire one “experienced” person Dealership Innovation Guide

and drive away the rest of my staff and probably some customers as well?”

The funny thing is, if that person had simply come down and interviewed on Monday or Tuesday, he would find there was a real opportunity at this dealership. The future expansion plan means more opportunities and management possibilities. But, since the prime objective was to push everyone around because he has 20 years of auto experience and dealers should accommodate him, I imagine he does a lot of traveling between jobs.

On occasion, I do get to interview sales people with dealership experience. Many of them could really contribute to overall production. One thing I do to test them is to see where they are regarding any type of training. Those who are closed to any kind of training usually thump there chest exclaiming, “What could YOU teach ME?” The true professional wants to know, “What can I learn?” Similar words, but the meanings are worlds apart.

Most quality trainers invest time, money and effort into constantly learning better ways to train, present and even sometimes how to act during training. They pride themselves in staying on top of what is working best in the industry today. Why?

people reach their maximum potential.

A real trainer is about one thing–leaving your dealership in better shape than it was before they got there. What would your store be like if your entire team felt that way about training for success?

Time and time again, I have found that those who care about where they work have a strong desire to see success for themselves and the dealership. They care about how they represent the dealer.

They care about how their customers are treated. And, they care enough to always want to be on top of the latest techniques for doing a better job.

Dealers should always be looking for the best training and information available in today’s competitive market. But, as long as they focus on having people who care about every aspect of their job and the customers they serve, staying on top of your market will remain simple because caring people always want to know what is best for their employer and their customer.

It’s never too late to begin instilling the right training and attitude on your team. Once they understand they are the ones who benefit from it, they will come to appreciate and even look forward to the next session when it’s available. When that happens, you’re on your way to the top.

About The Author:

John Fuhrman has been training for 17 years. In that time he has published 10 books on sales, leadership and management. He has also trained over 15,000 sales professionals.

Today he specializes in helping struggling dealerships turn around their operations by bringing in the best practices and programs that work. You can reach him at dealerresourcegroup@gmail.com.

So they can bring you the best information in a way that helps your DrivingSales, LLC • 4th Quarter - 2013 • 37

Looking for a Competitive Edge?

38 • 4th Quarter - 2013 • DrivingSales, LLC

Dealership Innovation Guide

I

t’s no secret selling cars is more complex and competitive than ever before. It was not too long ago when you could have a big weekend sale, buy a few radio and newspaper ads, blow up balloons and see great results. Thanks to the Internet, buyers are savvier, have access to more information and will go further to find the right vehicle at the right price.

Yep, to add salt to the wound, today you’re competing with a lot more than just a handful of local stores.

Dealership Innovation Guide

DrivingSales, LLC • 4th Quarter - 2013 • 39

“

Why does one of the biggest industries have some of the poorest training programs?

”

Digital marketing and lead to sale process strategies are constantly evolving. In order for a store to compete and thrive, it must employ a sound strategy executed by qualified professionals. These qualified professionals don’t just have on the job training, but also participate in ongoing training and professional education to stay ahead of the curve.

Which begs the question, “Why does one of the biggest industries have some of

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the poorest training programs?” Options designed specifically for automotive professionals are limited and difficult to find. Weekly training meetings are not enough for stores to stay up-to-date let alone teach new digital marketing and dealership process practices. Ongoing training and coaching needs to be built into your store’s daily process and become part of your dealership’s DNA. There is no question time and capital need to be taken into consideration.

Few stores see the value in pulling someone off the sales floor to train the new person and invest money in an employee who might resign or possibly be let go within 90 days. Ongoing daily training can be a tough sell for your top sales people. But the stores who adopt sound training practices and invest in their people for the long-term will win.

Unfortunately, too few dealerships take the short-term approach.

Allow me to display a common occurrence in our industry. A dealership posts for a new Sales

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Dealership Innovation Guide

Consultant and after a few weeks of interviews the General Sales Manager narrows his search down to two individuals—Person A & Person B.

with Person A to avoid spending the additional investment on the training.

Person A has 15 years of automotive experience, been on hundreds of testdrives and has great product knowledge.

He is a solid performer and knows his way around a sales floor. Now, Person A is not spectacular, but the GSM is comfortable he can start with little training and even less supervision. It is likely Person A will have a few great months and likely stay above average during their employment, but probably will never be a rock star. Person B has less automotive sales experience and is lacking a bit in product knowledge.

However, Person B is dynamic, smart and a quick learner. Through the interviewing process, it is clear Person B has a track record of performing at a high-level and is hungry and unafraid to try new things.

If groomed right, he/she could be a stellar performer with a bright future at the dealership and has a lot of potential.

Working for short-term goals alone doesn’t prepare you to excel in the future, especially where training is concerned. Training should not be a deterrent from hiring a high-caliber professional who has the potential to have a huge impact on your operation and the bottom line. Countless industries outside of ours have proven this out.

The GSM begins to measure the time it will take to train Person B, even though it is very likely they will excel and could even be groomed for a future leadership position. Suddenly, the impact of training the new guy is evaluated and how that will affect sales numbers over the next three months. Ultimately, the GSM decides to take the easy route and go

Dealership Innovation Guide

Sound familiar?

Given that the automotive industry is the biggest retail market in the country, it’s time to reevaluate our training culture. Maybe the way to approach this is the way other industries have— by providing structured training and certification programs and ongoing education resources. Industries that have an accreditation or certification standards raises the quality and professionalism of the industry.

Realtors, Hair Stylists, Accountants… the list goes on. Why should the auto industry be any different?

Digital marketing is now a professional practice. It’s estimated in the next five years 10,000 new Digital Marketing Manager positions will be available at dealerships. If we’re smart, we’ll establish digital marketing accreditation and high-level training from experts— both inside and outside of the auto industry. Digital marketing is obviously

needed, but there is a need behind the need here. The Internet and consumer behavior change almost daily. It’s critical your digital marketing is handled by someone who has the right training and has accessible tools to receive on-going education as trends change.

So what is your dealership doing to be progressive and how are your people staying ahead of the curve? How do you know you’re prepared? The market is too competitive for training to be an afterthought. High-quality, regular training will allow your store to gain the competitive edge. And the next time a candidate walks in the door, think about hiring for long-term potential verses simply hiring the person who has a little more experience.

About The Author:

Mike Jeffs is the Marketing Coordinator for DrivingSales, assisting the marketing team in planning and executing campaigns as well as managing content for DrivingSales publications. Mike has a BA in Communications Studies from Brigham Young University with six years of Marketing, Event Management and Recruiting experience while working for State Farm Insurance Company and Ancestry.com.

DrivingSales, LLC • 4th Quarter - 2013 • 43

INTER

Z

with Generation How can a dealership build their brand with Generation Z in mind?

Firstly, realize that the world is changing and no business is exempt, youth are making world-altering decisions with clicks. The power of the Internet is undeniable, however, it is knowing how to use it effectively not just throwing content and money at it. The real question is how to get them to click and transact with you. The key to marketing to an online community, especially youth, is making ads that everyone enjoys seeing. This can be extremely difficult to accomplish if you don’t understand the process of doing so. Online users need to see your dealership as supporting their online interests, not hindering them.

What are the current myths behind dealer’s marketing strategies towards teens?

There are several, but two really stand out. First, the belief that because

44 • 4th Quarter - 2013 • DrivingSales, LLC

dealer’s ads and content are on the Internet the content is seen is broken, even when many dealers think they are paying for excellent virtual real estate.

In fact some of the most expensive forms of advertising online are the least effective. The most prominent example is YouTube, with its one billion unique users many would assume an unavoidable pre-video ad on the site is brilliant. There are several problems with this approach, specifically your ad may only be shown a handful of times to a handful of people and can be very difficult to monitor. Moreover like early generations discovered the off button for radio ads so did my generation for Internet ads. Just one of these companies is called AdBlock and is guaranteed to block any intrusive ads for free; this company’s brief pitch is as follows “The most popular Chrome extension, with over 15 million users!

Blocks ads all over the web.” Second, using other mediums of advertising is equally or more effective for attracting young adults. The Internet is a teen’s habitat; it comes in many forms that can be used to allure them to a product.

Dealership Innovation Guide

VIEW

Ads outside of the online universe have proven themselves effective but not specifically for youth, again I’ll tackle the most predominant examples.

Television and radio and the most used mediums for advertising, not counting the Internet, use of these mediums share some of the same problems as ineffectively using the Internet. Success is difficult to monitor, blocking ads is as easy as a push of a button, and most importantly teens use the Internet to stream both T.V. and music making these mediums rather obsolete for advertising.

What viable tactics can be used to capture Gen Zers attention and lead to future traffic to dealerships?

Focusing all marketing resources for the younger age bracket on the Internet will result in the highest returns. The internet is not only confusing to older generations, even those most involved in it are amazed at what it presents, and what gains popularity. With that in mind it becomes apparent that it’s not going to be easy. However, I will outline some clear steps that will begin to show results. First, if you don’t have one, create a seamless website. This website needs to be able to bring a buyer so close to owning their car they feel like all

45 • 4th Quarter - 2013 • DrivingSales, LLC

they are missing is the keys. Teens are increasingly distancing themselves from being sold a car from humans, if your dealership doesn’t offer this preference they are moving on. Second, begin backing your usual marketing claims online, if you claim to have the highest satisfaction rate—you must prove it by having all your satisfied customers giving you reviews across the web especially on Google Reviews. Third, consider your budget and begin searching for unique ways to promote your dealership in noninvasive ways online. To accomplish this it is necessary to research Internet trends and otherwise where people spend their time, the easiest way to do so is watching promoted YouTube videos. Here are some unique ideas very few to no companies are taking advantage of: YouTube, although nearly every company now has a channel very few are popular. This is because they only supply content strictly about their own company. If dealers begin experimenting making humorous, and genuinely entertaining videos with only brief self-promotion aspects more users will be attracted to the videos, channel, and thereby dealer.

Another company similar to Youtube, Vine, allows for only six-second videos, drive a truck off a cliff and you’re viral in seconds. If you are doubting your own video making abilities support an up-and-coming Internet sensation and have them quickly mention your dealership. Using these tactics make viewers attracted to your product as you support their interests rather than deterred because you invade them with ads. Online ads essentially need to be invisible to the user, implanting a positive message about your product.

What is the correlation between social media and teen consumer behavior?

Although social media can play a large part in a teen’s consumer behavior it should not be viewed as the primary method of attracting the age bracket.

This is because advertisements put on social media are subject to the same easy blocks as YouTube and other Internet giants. With that in mind, I consider the best way to increase sales via social media is to build your dealership a presence on every popular and relevant site possible. Create interesting and interactive pages on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, and so on that attract users using the tactics mentioned earlier relating to YouTube.

Post frequent and stable content, primarily interesting videos that often have nearly nothing to do with actually buying a car, but always have that undertone. Take advantage of news by sparking debates on your page with open ended questions, post memes including your dealership’s name, host contests and giveaways, but always remind the users you’ve attracted to your page who you are and why you are superior to your competition.

How might a Gen Zer view trust and transparency different than other generations?

People in my generation have seen the old bartering and overpriced undercoating ways and are through with it. V ery few teens are interested in having to argue to get a fair price, Dealership Innovation Guide

they just expect it. Online people can window shop for hours until they know they have found the best product and only when absolutely necessary, like when buying a car, go to a store to pick it up.

Most marketing decisions are made by dealers who are 2-3 generations older than you. How can they bridge that gap?

The unfortunate truth for older generations is that many of their marketing tactics will never work again, but accepting this and moving on will quickly close the gap between their and my generation. Dealers not only need to stay on top of Internet trends to participate and gain popularity, but also need to look for cars that are attracting gen Z’s attention.

Gen Z is no different from the earlier generations in that they all want to have the freedom of driving, and a nice car to do it in. The issue comes with the price tag on those cool new 2013s that the majority of teens just can’t afford, especially with gas and insurance added. To mitigate this problem dealers should take cars they can sell for cheap and do small cost effective transformations to get them looking more ideal for a gen Z buyer. A few decals and a new set of headlights can completely change the look of a car… that way dealers are happy having sold another one and gen Z is happy being seen in it.

If you had one piece of advice for a dealership what would it be?

Accept the changes the world and gen Z present you with, if not you may be left behind.

About The Author:

Ryan Bickert is a grade 12 student who resides in Calgary, Alberta, and has been competitively public speaking for three years. Being young and well spoken allows Ryan to be well received by all audiences while providing in-depth and intelligent content in all of his speeches. Ryan has won countless awards for his speaking abilities through Alberta’s Debate and Speech Association as well as reaching regional and provincial levels of competition multiple times. Ryan also won the Calgary Stampede Invitational Speech & Debate Competition and was presented with a large scholarship as a prize. Ryan is interested in pursuing a career in computer science after post-secondary school, but currently fills his time with a heavy academic course load, sports, and playing guitar.

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