Dealership Innovation Guide Fall 2010 by DrivingSales, LLC

DEALERSHIP

INNOVATION GUIDE October 2010

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

TEN high-performance DEALERSHIP

CASE STUDIES • AutoNation captures 36,000 Facebook page views • MileOne generates 12,000 extra leads per month • DARCAR Automotive ﬁnds $1.2 mil in ﬁxed ops

T HE WORL D ’ S L A RGE S T AU TO M OTIVE S OC I A L N E T WO R K

ERIC MILTSCH DIGITAL MARKETING WIZARD

of AuctionDirect DISCUSSES the HOTTEST new segment of

SOCIAL MEDIA

The TOP event for

PROGRESSIVE dealers

DRIVINGSALES EXECUTIVE SUMMIT OCTOBER 18-20

VENDOR RATINGS

SEO • CRM • WEBSITES VEHICLE LISTINGS 3rd PARTY LEADS CRM • DMS • ILM DrivingSales.com is a Vendor Rating www.DrivingSales.com

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and Best Practice community for Dealers and Dealership Managers to connect and 1 collaborate on dealership strategies.

DrivingSales DEALERSHIP INNOVATION GUIDE | 2010

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presented with

October 18-20th, 2010 at the Wynn Encore in Las Vegas, NV The DrivingSales Executive Summit

is an exclusive event for the industry's most progressive and innovative dealers. With world renowned speakers, dealer-selected topics and an unmatched quality in education and environment, this collaborative summit is sure to boost your dealershipâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s profits!

World-Renowned Experts

2010 Summit Themes:

Captivating Messages

Social media ROI for dealerships: principles demonstrated by worldrenowned experts. Strategies to boost vehcile gross despite market pressures on price. Fixed Ops and the digital marketplace: how to increase absorption online. What are the hottest industry trends every dealer must follow as we emerge from this recent recession? Follow: DrivingSales.com Facebook.com/drivingsales Twitter.com/drivingsales

Peer Networking

Seating is limited and going fast.

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Welcome to the Semi-Annual edition of the Dealership Innovation Guide. AsWelcome the market rebuilds, we wanted issue to have Innovation a special emphasis to the inaugural issue ofthis the DrivingSales Guide! on actionable strategies dealerships are using to boost profitability today. This edition is filled with: The community is the largest best practice and vendor rating extraordi• DrivingSales.com 10 dealership case studies highlighting how a few dealerships are achieving community in the auto industry. It’s like an online 20 group for the thousands of nary results. dealers and dealership employees where they can connect with strategies, proven • practices, 5 best practice articles by industry with tips and some strategies tohot implement in best and rate their vendors. Thisexperts publication features of the your dealership. topics being discussed on the site as well as our yearly round up of the vendors whose dedication to excellence qualified them DrivingSales Vendor Rating • Vendor Ratings Directory: A listing of for thea current vendor ratings standings from DrivingSales.com, where dealers rate and review their vendors in real time for all to Award. see. If you want to know how vendors really perform, this is the place to learn the from customers.including the Vendor Ratings, were shared by All thetruth content in actual this publication, industry professionals you on For the most innovativelike dealers in DrivingSales.com. the industry, the DrivingSales Executive Summit is fast“Two heads are approaching. This year’s summit will be held at the Encore Wynn Las Vegas, Oct 18-20. always better If you’re not already a member of the community, we invite you to join us. MemThe summit is like a super-sized 20 group, bringing together 200 of the nations top dealerthan one. bership iswith free,world-renowned simply visit drivingsales.com/joinus. operators experts to collaborate on the most progressive profit-building strategies on the market. We invite you to join us, simply visit DrivingSalesExecutiveSummit.We’ve got the We hope this information you so have a more profitable year in 2010! com to register. The event can will help sell out, register quickly.

“Two heads are always better than whole industry one. We’ve got There lots of growththan starting sprout the market. We talking…” wish you continued “Two isheads arepositive always better one. to We’ve gotinthe whole industry talking…” success as your store tackles the future. the whole industry talking...” Jared JaredHamilton Hamilton Founder – DrivingSales.com Founder DrivingSales.com

The DrivingSales.com story: In addition to the Vendor Ratings, DrivingSales.com is similar to other social The DrivingSales.com story: Back in 2003, while attending NADA’s Dealer Candidate Academy, Jared

networks such as Facebook, except rather than focusing on the sharing of Hamilton built a private website so his class could better collaborate and social information, it was built exclusively for dealership professionals to share best practices outside of the classroom. The website, DrivingSales.com, Back in 2003, while attending NADA’s Dealer Candidate In addition to the Vendor Ratings, DrivingSales.com is similar and discuss best practices, tips, and strategies. You will find blogs by was designed Jared to function like a free online 20 group for dealership Academy, Hamilton built a private website so hisshare class to other social networks such as Facebook, but rather than industry experts, videos, and a discussion section where anyone can post a professionals. could better collaborate and share best practices outside the focusing on the sharing of social information, it was built question and get answers from their peers nationwide. You can easily find classroom. The website, DrivingSales.com, was designed to exclusively for dealership professionals to share and discuss best exactly what your dealership needs because all of the content on the site can Over the last 6 years the site has evolved. In June 2008, DrivingSales.com function like a free online 20 group for dealership professionpractices, tips, and strategies. You will find blogs by industry be filtered by an “activity” in a specific “department.” For example, you can opened its doors to the entire automotive community. Dealers who learned als. experts, videos, and a discussion section where anyone can view information to “Grow Sales” in “Used Cars” or “Cut Costs” in “Fixed of it shared it with their managers, who shared it with their peers, and word post a question and get answers from their peers nationwide. Operations.” spread. The community has grown from a small Academy class to one of the

Over the last six years, the site has evolved. In June 2008, You can easily find exatly what your dealership needs because largest sources of unbiased, vendor neutral information in the industry. all of the content on the site can be filtered by an “activity” in DrivingSales.com opened its doors to the entire automotive In September 2009, DrivingSales launched its completely redesigned, DrivingSales now serves tens of thousands of industry professionals with a specific “department”. For example, you can view informacommunity. Dealers who learned of it shared it withproprietary their architecture, built entirely from the ground up to help dealers dealership- focused, proven best practices. tion to “Grow Sales”2009, in DrivingSales “Used Cars” managers, who shared it with their peers, and word spread. stay on top of industry trends. In December was theor only“Cut Costs” in “Fixed Operations.” The community has grown from a small Academy class to one non-OEM to be named one of the notable automotive social-media gambits DrivingSales invented the industry’s first and only Vendor Ratings Platform, ofdesigned the largest sources of unbiased, vendor-neutral information of 2009 by Automotive News. DrivingSales also recently named as one of the to help dealers find and select the best vendor partners -- while inholding the industry. DrivingSales now serves tens of thousands In September 2009, DrivingSales launched its completely rede“Top 10ofcompanies to watch in 2010” by AutoSuccess. vendors accountable to deliver better products for the dealers. The industry professionals with dealership-focused, proven best signed, proprietary architecture, built entirely from the ground Vendor Ratings allows dealership employees to rate and review their vendors practices. up to help dealers stay on top of industry trends. In December anonymously and leave detailed feedback for all the community to see! 2009, DrivingSales was the only non-OEM to be named one DrivingSales invented the industry’s first and only Vendor of the notable automotive social-media gambits of 2009 by Ratings Platform, designed to help dealers find and select the Automotive News. DrivingSales was also recently named as one best vendor partners while holding vendors accountable to of the “Top 10 companies to watch in 2010” by AutoSuccess. deliver better products for the dealers. Vendor Ratings allow dealership employees to rate and review their vendors anonymously and leave detailed feedback for all the community to see!

www.DrivingSales.com

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Why Vendor Ratings Dealership Websites 3rd Party Leads 8 Online 6Classified/Vehicle Listing Services Why Vendor Ratings 7 Dealership Websites 10 Customer Relationship Management System (CRM) Dealership 3rd7Party Leads Websites 10 8 Dealership Management Systems (DMS) 8 3rd Party Leads 8 Online Classifieds/Vehicle Listing Services 11 Internet Lead Management (ILM) 8 Online Classifieds/Vehicle Listing Systems Services (CRM) Customer Relationship Management 12 10 Inventory Pricing 12 10 Search Engine Optimization (SEO) 10 Customer Relationship Management Dealership Management Systems (DMS) Systems (CRM) 13 11 ChatInternet 10 Dealership Management Systems (DMS) Lead Management (ILM)

Vendor Ratings Vendor Ratings Dealer Discussions Dealer Discussions Expert Blogs Expert Blogs “How to” Videos “How to” Videos Strategy Sharing Strategy Sharing Peer Networking Peer Networking

11 Internet Lead Management (ILM) 12 Inventory Pricing 12 Inventory Pricing 12 Search Engine Optimization (SEO) 12 Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

ExpertArticles 14 16 20 21

Location-based Media: The Hottest Segment in Social Media The Path to Profitability: A Call to Action for All Dealers Using Google Map’s Free Listings to Boost Traffic and Phone Calls Growing Your Dealership as the Economy Rebounds

BestPractices BestPractices 14 Narrowing the Great Digital Divide 14Proper Narrowing DigitalDealership Divide Marketing 18 The Modelthe forGreat Advanced CaseStudies The Proper that Model Advancedthe Dealership MarketingMarket 22 Six18 Technologies willforTransform Retail Automotive

22 Six Technologies that Transforms will Transform Automotive Market New Social Media Strategy Dickthe Hannah 24 23 RBM North: How a new Mercedes store started outRetail 85%Honda digital andVelocity achieved stellar results 23 New Social Media Strategy Transforms Dick Hannah Honda 26 Why Management 28 28 MileOne: How they generate an additional 12,000 Internet leads per month 26Building Why Velocity Link Tips Management 31 Toyota Sunnyvale: Superstore builds relationships with web visitors in real time 28 Link Hiring Building 30 Selection, andTips Orientation for your Internet Department 32 AutoNation: How they generated 36,000 page views on Facebook 30your Selection, and Orientation your 34 Why ServiceHiring Department is Costingforyou CarInternet Deals Department 35 Jim McNatt Toyota Honda: Using WordPress and a private sale 34 Whytraffic your is Costing you Car Deals 36 Blogs,Service SocialDepartment Media, Oh My! theyMicrosites, increased 40% 36 Motor Microsites, Blogs,aSocial Media, Oh My! Winning Online 36 39 Germain Co: How synergized BDC increased internet leads 53% 39 Winning OnlineOnline Social Media Marketing: a party not adelivers pinch $1.2 Million in 39 40 DARCARS Automotive: strategy additional fixed ops revenue in 90 days 40 Social Media Marketing: not a pinch 37 Seven Process Points: Your Storea party Must Execute 41 South37 Suburban Mitsubishi: Matching traditional and online Seven Process Points: Your Store Execute 44 ISMyeilded Pay Plans media a 54% growth in traffic; 12%Must growth in sales 44 ISM Pay Plans Internet Departments are service on the website, Decline increases 42 46 BMW Schererville: Interactive 2009 leads 46 by 685% Internet Departments are on the Decline

44 Acton Toyota & Falmouth Toyota: What they did to

double accessory sales and put big bucks to the bottom line DrivingSales.com DrivingSales.com www.DrivingSales.com

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GET CONNECTED GET CONNECTED

DrivingSales.com DrivingSales.com

2009

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VendorRatings Why Vendor Ratings? The DrivingSales Vendor Ratings site is the first formal mechanism for dealers to rate and review their vendors in a comprehensive, real time vendor directory. It empowers dealers by allowing them to learn about all the solutions available and to view actual customer feedback, both good and bad, about how each solution actually performs. The DrivingSales Vendor Ratings system is like a real time Consumer Reports* protecting dealersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; interests and helping them make more informed investments.

Vendor Ratings Rules & Safe Guards:

DrivingSales.com maintains and enforces a strict set of rules to ensure dealerships have accurate, honest and up-to-the-moment information. Rules: A. Only dealership employees can post ratings and reviews. Reviewers are verified to ensure they are valid and eligible to leave reviews. B. 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. C. 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 wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;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 A. 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. B. Each review is passed through a variety of technological checkpoints to insure vendors are not gaming the system. Furthermore, DrivingSales staff calls to verify a large percentage of the reviews. Vendor Ranking: 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. We encourage all dealers to rate and review their vendors by visiting www.drivingsales.com/ratings *DrivingSales.com is in no way affiliated with Consumer Reports. 6

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Vendor Rating Awards The DrivingSales Vendor Ratings Awards recognize those solutions with a proven record of success and excellence in serving their dealer clients. There are three award winners in each category, the “Highest Rated” vendor and two “Top Rated” vendors. Actual awards are presented annually.

Rankings Only dealership employees are allowed to rate their vendors on DrivingSales.com and all submitted ratings are verified. The vendors are then scored and ranked using a weighted Bayesian Algorithm (shown below). 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. The Vendor Rating Awards are based solely on the aggregate of all dealer ratings submitted from January 1, 2009 to January 10, 2010.

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

Company

Product

Score

Dealer.com

SmartSites

53.9

82%

Cobalt

Cobalt Websites

49.9

56%

Nexteppe

Websites

17.2

96%

Dealer eProcess

iAuto Web - Dealer Websites

9.8

100%

Dealerskins

Dealer Web Solutions

1.0

68%

TK Carsites

Dealer Websites

4.5

66%

BZ Results

4.5

29%

XI Group

Franchise & Independent Sites

3.9

88%

DealerFire

DealerFire Custom Websites

2.2

100%

izmocars

izmoWeb

1.6

90%

Reynolds and Reynolds

Dealer Websites (WebMakerX 2.0)

1.5

56%

VinSolutions

VinSolutions Dealer Websites

1.2

90%

Dealer HD

Dealer HD Web Site

1.1

100%

www.DrivingSales.com

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Rating

Recommended

DrivingSales DEALERSHIP INNOVATION GUIDE | 2010

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VendorRatings 3rd Party 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

Recommended

Dealix

Dealix New Car Leads

526

87%

AutoUSA

AutoUSA New Car Leads

94.2

85%

Autobytel

Autobytel New Car Leads

73.2

74%

Cars.com

NewLeadsPlus

20.8

79%

Black Book Online Division

Activator

5.3

94%

ZAG

Zag Sales Strategy

1.9

53%

Kelley Blue Book

KBB New Car Leads

0.6

40%

Online Classifieds/Vehicle listings These consumer facing websites allow you to list your inventory to the public who frequent these sites looking for a vehicle to buy. These websites make huge media buys attracting customers to your inventory to increase your walk-in, phone and web leads.

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Company

Product

Score

AutoTrader

AutoTrader.com

305.8

65%

Cars.com

Cars.com Online Advertising

241.6

88%

Dealix

UsedCars.com

33.1

87%

AutoUSA

AutoUSA Inventory Listing Network 22.8

100%

Autobytel

Autobytel Used Cars

8.3

90%

Dealer Bytes - SEGA Systems, LLC SEGA List - Craigslist Distribution

3.4

83%

Dealer Specialties

0.5

100%

www.dealerspecialties.com

Rating

2010 | DrivingSales DEALERSHIP INNOVATION GUIDE

Recommended

www.DrivingSales.com

8/31/10 4:24 PM

You could hire a team of MIT PhD’s to help you find the best “keywords” to generate leads.

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Database/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

Product

Score

OneCommand

OneConnect

5.1

85%

CIMA Systems

Complete Virtual BDC

4.8

100%

Cobalt

Cobalt Owner Marketing

1.3

50%

MyConsumer Connect

NewVehicleConnect

.09

100%

One Command

OneConnect+

.09

100%

One Command

ServiceConnect

.09

100%

eLEAD

Gold Digger

.05

100%

Rating

Recommended

Only dealership employees are allowed to rate their vendors on DrivingSales.com, all submitted ratings are verified. The vendors are then scored and ranked using a weighted Bayesian Algorithm. Sometimes a company with 3 stars will rate above a company with 4 stars if mathematically the first company has a higher probability of success based on the submitted reviews. The Vendor Ratings Awards are based solely on the aggregate of all dealer ratings submitted from January 1, 2009 to January 10, 2010.

www.DrivingSales.com

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

Product

Score

Autobase

Autobase CRM

2,946.8

95%

CAR-Research

CAR-Research XRM

346.2

96%

DealerSocket

DealerSocket CRM

96.0

92%

Parayil & Mann Dealer Services

DealerUps CRM

29.0

93%

Reynolds and Reynolds

Contact Management

22.5

48%

ADP Inc., Dealer Services Group

ADP CRM

14.7

43%

eLEAD CRM

11.3

84%

The Higher Gear

Higher Gear CRM

27.4

36%

VinSolutions

VinSolutions MotoSnap CRM

1.9

100%

Rating

Recommended

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.

DIGMag 8-30-10.indd 10

Company

Product

Score

Reynolds and Reynolds

Reynolds ERA DMS

39.0

51%

ADP Dealer Services

ADP DMS

8.7

38%

DealerTrack

DealerTrack DMS

3.4

58%

Rating

2010 | DrivingSales DEALERSHIP INNOVATION GUIDE

Recommended

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XRM...Exceeding Dealership CRM One Vendor. One Solution. Total Coverage. Bundled CRM and Marketing Solutions Internet lead manager

Showroom control manager

Web Sites

auto trade

Auto desk

Mobile xrm

online Service Scheduler

Daily Data management

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Revenue finder

Social CRM

Marketing center

Smart Response

Desking. Internet Lead Manager. BDC. Daily Work Plans. Showroom Control Manager. Web Sites. Marketing Solutions. Trade Evaluation. Call Center. Telephony Solutions. Service Solutions.

Real-time integration

e-Brochures

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CallTrak

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Internet Lead Management (ILM) These Internet Lead Management solutions are built exclusively to handle the 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

Product

Score

Dealer.com

Control Center 5 (CC5)

4.6

78%

AVV

Web Control

2.8

75%

ADP Inc., Dealer Services Group

ADPâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s i-Lead Control

1.7

85%

ADP Dealer Services

NetTrak Lead Manager

63%

iMagicLab

Internet Lead Management Tool

71%

Rating

Recommended

www.DrivingSales.com

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DrivingSales DEALERSHIP INNOVATION GUIDE | 2010

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VendorRatings Inventory Pricing With the market volatility and transparency increasing online, knowing how to price your inventory is a science proven to increase 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

Recommended

vAuto

vAuto - Pricing & Stocking Tools

11.3

100%

HomeNet, Inc.

Inventory Online (IOL)

0.6

80%

JMsolutions

AAX PriceDriver

0.5

80%

Black Book

Black Book Used Car Guides

100%

DiamondLot

DiamondLot Data Management

100%

DealerTrack

DealerTrack AAX

100%

ADP Inc., Dealer Services Group

ADP’s AutoCheck Express

66%

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.

DIGMag 8-30-10.indd 12

Company

Product

eXteresAuto

eXteresAUTO - SEO

240.5

98%

Pasch Consulting Group

Pasch Consulting Services - SEO

89.3

98%

Dealer.com

ManagedSEO

3.3

90%

Dealer eProcess

Power PageRank

2.0

100%

TK Cars

TK SEO

1.3

100%

Cobalt

PowerSearch

75%

Score

Rating

2010 | DrivingSales DEALERSHIP INNOVATION GUIDE

Recommended

www.DrivingSales.com

8/31/10 4:24 PM

Chat These solutions allow you to meet, greet and converse with all the customers who visit your website to set appointments, create leads and provide better customer service. Company

Product

Score

ContactAtOnce! LLC

ContactAtOnce! IM/Chat

92.6

100%

ActivEngage

Activengage Chat

68.8

100%

Dealer eProcess

PRO - ACTIVE Live Chat

8.0

100%

LiveChatAgent.com

24/7 LiveChat Agent

Rating

Recommended

www.DrivingSales.com

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DrivingSales DEALERSHIP INNOVATION GUIDE | 2010

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Eric Miltsch Internet Director Auction Direct USA

Location-based Media: The Hottest Segment in Social Media by Eric Miltsch Welcome to the world of Location-based Services. • Building new-school forms of loyalty program These applications are changing the way people experirewards (Online & Offline) ence everyday activities like shopping, eating, traveling, Location-based marketing strategies already provide watching a movie or taking a picture. these features, for free. I’ll repeat that so it sinks in: the Location-based service strategies include any application services are free. Now is the time to use it. Didn’t you which have the ability to share an individual’s physical learn your lesson when you waited to launch your blog location, in real-time, with their online social networks. and optimize your website? Users are rewarded with badges, stickers or points - satisfying the need for self-accomplishment. Users can also be rewarded for their activity by companies and brands Is Location Right For My Business? leveraging these services as another element of their As usual, most companies will wait before they particimarketing strategy. Among the most popular locationpate. Forrester Research bluntly stated: “Unless you’re based services are Foursquare, Gowalla and Yelp. Add targeting affluent men between 19 & 35, you don’t Facebook Places to the location buffet as well. belong on Foursquare.” Seems like a prime demoWhy has this become a significant factor for brands to graphic group for both automotive manufacturers and consider? A perfect storm of circumstances is creating a retailers to target. unique set of opportunities: Even if you don’t recognize it, your customer base • Technological & GPS capabilities of our mobile already participates in some form of location-based marketing activity. This segment is positioned nicely handsets is advancing - quicker than ever for explosive growth. 42% of in-store retail sales were • Consumer acceptance & usage of social messages influenced by mobile and Internet research in 2009. - as consumers & influencers This number is expected to grow to 53% by 2014. • A continuous need for brands to create unique Consumers enjoy being able to locate points of interest, shops and services via their mobile phones. Also helpconsumer experiences & lower acquisition costs ing drive consumer acceptance: increased willingness to What if you want to create a hyper-local, targeted share their location in exchange for perks and rewards. campaign? One with the ability to draw attention to And the awareness factor is going to explode with your current promotions and target qualified prospects Facebook’s presence. They have the potential to make within a specific location? Historically, a traditional ad location-based status updates a mainstream concept by agency or a direct mail campaign may be able to help. presenting it to 500 million users. For a hefty fee. Let’s also say you want the agency to • 63% of iPhone owners use location-based services create a few slick features. Features that can really help once a week. your business by: • Improving online interaction • Increasing foot traffic • Creating sticky word of mouth interaction • Enhancing customer segmentation & analytics tracking

DIGMag 8-30-10.indd 14

• 25-34 year olds are already labeled as frequent users of location-based services And yet, companies are reluctant to play within the location segment because of the lack of understanding. The biggest problems are not with the location based services themselves. (Other than maybe their ability to market their own services) Initial perceptions

2010 | DrivingSales DEALERSHIP INNOVATION GUIDE

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of platforms such as Foursquare, Gowalla and Facebook may lead decision makers to believe these are simply game platforms for geeks.

wouldn’t be shocked if Amazon swal- entire networks or single users will lowed GetGlue - seems like a perfect help participants control noise levels. match. I’ll be watching that closely. Facebook will raise the mass acceptance I know what you’re thinking. Where’s and create a general brand awareness Few people actually understand the automotive location app? Keep within the location segment. The the full scope of these applications; your eye on CarZar - the first social Foursquares and Gowallas of the they’re missing the opportunity to automotive app. with location-based world have the ability to become the create a profitable element within functionality. This application was boutique solutions - each creating created to change the way people something with their various depths their marketing share pictures of of status updates and rewards. strategy. The platcars with their Search-style location services and Location based services and forms themselves friends and net- augmented reality browsers will create have already provmobile technology makes it works. Instead of greater breadth of user experiences. en to be a success easy to reach consumers by: posting a picture Search application solutions catching among the early of a cool car on the earliest adopters eyes are Goby adopter crowd. • Creating multi-visit Flickr, Twitpic and Center’d while Layar and The next level of incentives or Facebook and AcrossAir are among the augmented success now falls sharing the link reality standouts. Current location • Delivering relevant on the creative via email or twit- apps let users interact once the marketing types coupons ter - pictures are activity has already been chosen; the to develop winshared with your next generation of apps may help • Displaying local ads to ning strategies. networks to cre- users choose their activity based on people visiting nearby Wait until the ate instant inter- their specific interests. Who knows, real benefits and businesses action. Images besides longitude and latitude, value of checking can be comment- altitude may become an option as • Sharing real-time product in are realized by ed on, liked and well. information such as the brands and tagged. Locationthe individuals reviews and ratings based check-ins consumer experiare an option Social media was born out of our ences will really as well. Sharing desire to share something. Sharing change then. images unlocks badges and creates the what’s important will never change. Within the past few months, the potential for consumer rewards while How we share the important stuff location-based services segment has creating several new marketing solu- will change. experienced another significant shift. tions for car enthusiasts, private sellSpecific activity updates combined ers, car dealerships and manufacturers. with location-based check-ins now pack a punch even more valuable to marketers and more engaging for What To Expect Next? users. Location-based services will improve Eric Miltsch is the IT/Internet Director New applications targeting food fans how users share their personalized for Auction Direct USA Used Vehicle increase business Superstores; recently awarded as the (Foodies) such as FoodSpotting and activities, intelligence and provide companies 2010 #1 Independent Retailer of FiddMe let users share images of an easier method of rewarding their meals while including location the Year. Disclosure: Eric advises specific check-ins. TV and movie consumer loyalty. Participation will DrivingSales.com on various online fans have embraced Miso and Philo be controlled by automatic GPS strategies and is also a co-creator of to share their guilty pleasures. Want triggers, linked to pre-selected social CarZar, along with Jared Hamilton. to share more of your activities? networks, eliminating the need for What about what you’re listening manual check-ins. Privacy and spam to, reading, thinking about or even will be key topics, however improved attending? GetGlue helps you share disclosure and education will lessen To view comments by others and discuss those activities with your friends the confusion. Greater usability and this article please visit DrivingSales.com/ while rewarding your participation. I control with regards to silencing innovation www.DrivingSales.com

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Dale Pollak Chairman, Founder vAuto

The Path to Profitability: A Call to Action for All Dealers by Dale Pollak Recently, I received a note from a successful Velocity dealer stating in part that they’ve experienced difficulty with appraisals of late. Part of it being that they are stretching so far to make new car deals they’re often putting too much into a trade. His desk managers are really finding a larger disconnect between auction values and what other similar cars with respect to miles and trim are selling for on the internet.

markets include mercantile and commodity exchanges, markets where everyone has access to relevant information with lightening speed. In these markets there are certainly winners and losers, but to be sure, the profit margins are razor thin.

So who are the winners in these most highly efficient razor thin margin markets? They are the companies that possess two essential charWhat follows is my response acteristics. The first characterwhich I believe is relevant and “The bottom line is that istic is the company’s ability to constitutes fair notice for the perceive the price at which their broader industry. the reality of the ever products will sell at any given moment and their willingness to There is no question that the more efficient retail autooffer the products at that price pain being experienced with point without delay. The price respect to appraising vehicles motive market is lower at which the product will transfor acquisition and the amount act at the given moment is called that’s necessary to be paid at margins.” “the equilibrium price”. Sellers auction isn’t justified when you that either can’t see or are not consider the retail market. I’ve willing to immediately move to been speaking incessantly over the equilibrium price fail the first critical test of survivthe past year about the rapid increase in wholesale values ability in the efficient market. without a corresponding retail price increase. The effect is a highly compressed margin environment. There are The second essential characteristic of efficient market identifiable reasons for this compression; however that’s winners is a highly cost efficient operation. Since the another discussion, and it will not likely change in the profit margin at the equilibrium price is razor thin, future. In other words, this is the reality of the current less efficient operations can not survive for long at that and future retail automotive environment. pricing level. If and when too many companies meet the equilibrium price, the equilibrium price will drop Although the industry is struggling to accept this mar- and thereby systematically weed out those sellers with gin compression, it’s clear that it is the reality of all marginally less operational efficiency. In such circumefficient markets. Specifically, this reality begins with stances, only the most efficient operations have the abilthe recognition that profit margins will be much smaller ity to hang in there, endure the pain and temporarily than they were in the previously inefficient market. survive at the almost non-existent and sometimes even This new reality sets up two important questions. First, negative prevailing margins. Under such circumstances will there be a race to the bottom where no one makes sellers of less efficiency will exit the market in favor of any money? Second, if not, who are the winners and more profitable opportunities which could mean soy losers in such an environment? beans instead of corn, compacts rather than SUVs, or With respect to the first question, the answer is no, maybe storage facilities instead of dealerships. there will not be a race to the bottom where no one The good news is that as the less efficient operations makes any money, in fact some will make plenty. The exit in favor of better opportunities, the equilibrium support for this position can be found by examining price will then begin to rise. The profits of the most some of the most efficient markets in the world. Such 16

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Classic Chevrolet used inventory turn 133% increase 14 6 Before vAuto

After vAuto

How did the nation’s #1 Chevy dealership get even bigger?

We brought the power of the vAuto franchise to our used car operation. — Hagen Durant, General Manager Classic Chevrolet Grapevine,Texas

Beyond the leading-edge technology. Beyond the exclusive features. Beyond the data-driven insight. For a select set of dealers nationwide, vAuto has become much more. It has become all the power and the privilege of a franchise — refocused on used car operations. License to proprietary software proven to drive profitability. Access to the Velocity Management™ playbook and coaches. Entrance to a community of like-minded, highly successful dealers. Contact with customers predisposed to buying from you. It’s “the franchise”— reinvented for today’s used car market. vAuto is The Franchise 2.0.

Get a live demo today. Visit www.vAuto.com/nextfranchise or call 888-365-1032. www.DrivingSales.com

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highly efficient operations will soar as a result of their extraordinary efficiency. Once the profits for the most efficient operations climb to a high enough level, the other less efficient competitors will return to this sector searching for a share of the profits. At this point, the cycle repeats itself over and over. The bottom line is that the reality of the ever more efficient retail automotive market is lower margins. There will, however certainly be winners and losers. The winners will possess the two essential characteristics of being able to move immediately to the equilibrium price and hang in there until the less efficient are flushed out by the inefficiencies of their operations. This new paradigm for the retail automotive industry poses challenges at multiple levels. First and foremost is the industry’s culture of pursuing fat margins in favor of moving directly to the equilibrium price. This cultural resistance is presently allowing velocity dealers to significantly improve their market share. Another significant challenge, however, is the restructuring of their businesses to create more efficient operations. Only some of

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this restructuring can be achieved through conventional cost cutting and expense control. Fixed expenses such as land and facility costs are prime examples of those that can not be easily or quickly reduced. Because the greatest cost efficiencies, and to be sure the hardest ones to achieve, lie in the dealership’s organizational structure and processes, it is now time to take inventory of all the necessary tasks and to eliminate all non-essential ones. This effort requires hard choices to be made between the nice-to-have and the must-have. Manufacturer and consumer expectations make these choices extremely difficult but no less necessary. It is simply not possible for a business of extraordinarily low margins to be all things to all people. Moreover, the remaining tasks must be reengineered to achieve effectiveness with lower cost. This too will require tough choices involving employees and relationships with outside entities.

ment that are learning and executing the principles of velocity management, there are many others that have simply adopted the practice of equilibrium pricing. The consequence for such dealers that are willing to price at or near equilibrium without attaining greater operational efficiency has not yet been realized. Without question, over time this group of dealers will experience results that will cause them to retreat from the market by either reverting to non-equilibrium pricing or pursuing other more attractive investment opportunities. In the meantime, the entire industry is experiencing the pressure of a market place in transition. Long term survival and profitability will depend on dedication to and a clear understanding of market efficiency and velocity management principles.

To view comments by others and discuss

The present moment in the industry this article please visit DrivingSales.com/ is one between from where we came innovation and where we are headed. Although there is a growing trend of dealers characterized by the velocity move-

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Brian Pasch SEO Genius AAN

Using Google Maps’ Free Listings to Boost Traffic and Phone Calls by Brian Pasch Increase Calls and Traffic For Free Using Google Maps Google Maps can be very frustrating for car dealers. This free advertising product gets even more frustrating in competitive markets, like Phoenix, Arizona. If you search Google for “Arizona Honda Dealers” and click on the Maps tab, you get a list of dealers. If you own a Honda dealership in Arizona and you are not showing up in the first few listings, you can get frustrated. How does Tempe Honda (B) get top organic billing of all authorized Honda dealers in Arizona? The answer may never be known, because Google keeps that information secretive. But there is a growing body of evidence that supports theories why some business listings are shown more often than others. Many car dealers have asked how they can increase the display frequency of their Google Maps listing. Keep in mind that the “physical address” of your business is a dominant factor by which consumer search results are matched with your listings. Ill-advised businesses have attempted to influence Google Maps listings by creating listings with fake addresses. Google is cracking down on this practice but not soon enough for Honda dealers in Arizona. In the example on the right, you can see a false listing (Listing A) that created a listing called “Honda Dealers” with a bogus address as “Metro Area.” Google has not yet removed this listing which is pushing real Honda dealers off the top positions.

Google Maps listing to be shown above those that have no external references. As a result, you should only use one tracking phone number for all public business Google Maps scams are on the rise. Report to Google directories, yellow pages, review websites, professional any false listings that do not represent a physical address. associations, and OEM registrations. Also keep an eye out for duplicate listings that may be clerical errors or old listings from dealerships that have When a new Google Maps listing is created, Google closed. most likely will confirm if the submitted “business name and address” can be found on other paid or free website directories. If the submitted address is not listed in trusted business directories, your maps listing may not Establishing Your Map Credibility be considered valid. From my testing with Google Maps, I have concluded that having a consistent name, address and phone num- Automotive professionals should recognize that Google bers across all business directory websites can assist your Maps is most likely one of car dealers’ top five sources 20

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for calls and direct traffic from sites that are free. With that in mind, it would be appropriate for a dealership to prioritize the synchronization and cleanup of all their public business listings. Recommended Directories To get started with creating external directory listings for your business, I have listed the most valuable sites for your consideration. Start with the first suggestion and work your way down the list: Major Search Directories • Yahoo Local • Bing Local Listing Center • www.DMOZ.org Popular Review Sites • www.Yelp.com

• www.DealerRater.com • www.cardealercheck.com • www.Judysbook.com • www.InsiderPages.com Popular 3rd Party Directories • www.MerchantCircle.com

There are many websites in which you can register your business name, address, phone number and domain name. If your primary contact information can be validated on dozens of authoritative websites, your Google Maps listing will have a higher likelihood of being presented more frequently.

• www.SuperPages.com • www.BrownBook.net • www.Switchboard.com • www.InfoUsa.com • www.BOTW.com The investment in time to synchronize your business listings will be rewarded, so do not delay in prioritizing this task. If you know it will not get done by your staff, take action to hire a consultant or a service that will do this work for you.

Brian Pasch is the CEO and founder of PCG Digital Marketing which specializes in digital marketing strategies for car dealers. Brian is an active writer on the DrivingSales.com community and will be a speaker at the 2010 DrivingSales Executive Summit.

Do you know where your marketing Dollars are going? Without a provider that meets your needs with measurable solutions, you may feel like your shredding your budget. With Dominion Dealer Solutions, you’ll find a partner that the automotive industry relies on. From websites to inventory management, crm tools to data, lead generation, service scheduling and lead management, it’s an accountable solution that delivers results.

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Jared Hamilton CEO, Founder DrivingSales.com

Growing Your Dealership as the Economy Rebounds by Jared Hamilton Leading a dealership through a recession is nothing new to the veterans in the industry. Because the economy is cyclical, every so many years the market contracts and dealers have to manage the scaling back of their business to meet the realities of new market conditions. Fortunately recessions don’t last forever, so the market always rebounds, and as it does dealers reinvest and grow.

skills, especially online communication and social networking, are essentials for everyone, not just your Internet manager. You do also need more Internet sales people than you had previously. There is no difference between the retail and Internet customer, thus everyone on your team should be capable of handling an “Internet” customer. Hire those with the skills to handle Internet business.

We are currently seeing signs of positive growth in many dealerships signaling the time to reinvest and grow is upon is. However, rebuilding from this recession will be different than any other and its not just because this was one of the worst downturns on record.

2. New job roles: The new media markets have created the need for whole new positions inside dealerships. Search and Social Media is all about content. Do you have a content writer on staff? You should. Who is the brand voice for your dealership that manages your social media activity? Many stores are wrongly trying to outsource all of their social media. This is not good unless you believe you should outsource your relations with your customer. Hire or promote someone in your organization to be your voice online. These are just two of maybe a half dozen different positions I see cropping up at progressive stores that are proving to make a big difference.

Typically, if you are cutting expenses to match market conditions you focus on variable expenses, as they tend to be the most manageable. When you reduce costs you start by cutting those items that are the least important to the store first and cutting the more important items later, only if necessary. Then, when it’s time to rebuild, you would normally reinvest in the exact opposite order that you cut, meaning you would add back the most important items first and the least important items last. Eventually you would have built the store back to the investment/expense structure you had before the recession.

3. Marketing: Don’t just jump into the same spends with traditional media because it’s what you were doing before the recession. Traditional media is not bad; in fact it can be very effective. But today, traditional media is in the supporting role, and is best used to support your That process will not work today. online efforts. Two or three years ago this was reversed Dealers must rebuild from this downturn differently and traditional media was the leading media opportunity. because while we were hunkering down, fighting the Online marketing yields a cost-per-sale much less than storm, the media world dramatically changed. The mar- traditional media so be sure to buy as many $200 deals kets that we used to connect with our customers are now before you go buy the $700 deals from TV and radio. Play very different places. If you try to rebuild back to where in today’s reality, don’t live in the past. you were before, you would be optimized for a market The bottom line is that the economy is rebuilding and that largely is different and you will hit an expansive pla- there are huge opportunities for the progressive dealers teau of diminishing profits and loss in market share. right now. Look at things through a slightly different lens Consumer behavior changed over the last few years and and you will see huge areas to do things slightly differently new media outlets such as search and social media are now and achieve for immediate growth. the predominant media sources for consumers. The new markets require that you shift your focus to different areas as if you want to dominate in the years ahead. Here are a few tips to focus on: 1. Employee Skills: As you hire more people consider new skills that are critical in today’s world. Computer 22

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RBM North: How a new Mercedes store started out 85% digital and achieved stellar results by Beth McGoarty

Bethany Johnson Internet Manager RBM of Atlanta - North

Randy Powell CEO RBM of Atlanta - North

RBM North’s Challenge: How’s this for bone chilling? You’re a brand-new Mercedes dealership, whose gorgeous brick-and-mortar doors open the exact month the financial markets collapse (Oct. 2007), the long recession digs in, and auto sales begin their dizzying 30%-plus declines. That’s the story of RBM North of Alpharetta, GA, the newest store of a family-owned Mercedes dealership group that has been operating in Atlanta for 45 years. Their story began exactly as the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression dug its heels in, and their grandopening balloons were set against the backdrop of bank bailouts and a bursting housing bubble. And not only was RBM North by far the youngest Mercedes dealership in a metro market with four well-established Mercedes players, it was a ‘destination’ store situated in a near-rural exurb on the rim of ever-expanding Atlanta - with limited, natural physical traffic and visibility. While their location touched on affluent zip codes, Internet Manager, Bethany Johnson, likes to joke: “many of our ‘drive-bys’ are cows.” A nightmare? It didn’t turn out that way. In fact, RBM North has been extraordinarily successful, and has now staked out 10% more market share than any of their far more established, larger regional competitors. The key to their success: while most dealerships have slowly migrated to digital strategies, under the leadership of GM Randy Powell, RBM North embraced a nearly-100% digital marketing plan from ‘hello.’ Specifically, Powell knew that given the overwhelming consumer realities, his remote destination location, and the fact that they were an entirely unknown entity in a brutally competitive market, he had to focus intensely and cost-efficiently on being ‘found’ online. And the core pillars of their ‘online visibility’ campaign, while they have evolved significantly, have always been to establish: 1) powerful, first-page search engine visibility 2) rich, robust used inventory listings/reach across the Web 3) Adding a new focus on Reputation Management/positive review site visibility in early 2009. 24

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While RBM North’s situation may seem unique, their case study shines a wider light on what an integrated, and near-100% focus on SEO and Reputation Management can accomplish for a dealership. As Powell put it, “Being an unknown entity was a huge challenge, but in many ways it proved an advantage: we were totally unencumbered by old ways of thinking, legacy marketing strategies and processes. We flew out of the gate with an 85%-digital-dedicated plan, attacking first our search and inventory presence, and then the review sites. And we’re pulling exponentially more customers not only from the Atlanta region - but across the South, and even the nation, every month.” This case study touches on the dealership’s early strategies, but has a special focus on the results of their evolved SEO, review site and inventory campaigns, tracked from Feb. ’09 through Jul. 2010. Forging A New ‘Triple-Pillar’ Strategy: RBM North’s GM, Randy Powell, has 34 years experience in the car business, and currently serves on MBUSA’s Regional Dealer Advisory Board. Unlike many GMs, Randy comes from the Fixed Ops side, moving from service technician, to Service Director, into Operations Management and heading up the parent store’s BDC Department, before ultimately being named GM at RBM North. Powell explains that his decision to forge a new ‘triplepillar’ strategy, making organic search; a rich, visual inventory presence; and the review sites the bedrock of his marketing plan, came not so much from his expertise as ‘a car guy,’ but from being a regular consumer and keenly observing what the vast majority of regular consumers actually did – and sought - when they were buying anything. For Powell, the rise of the Internet changed everything, ushering in a new era where the person who could ask the best questions, query the best,

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With this much visibility, your competitors will drool

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was suddenly the most informed. Powell emphasizes that each of these three ‘backbones’ must be in place: “Putting up a million cars but having a bad online customer service reputation, or having a great reputation and only a handful of vehicle listings, doesn’t work. It all has to be integrated, and search engines are the portal.”

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Bethany Johnson, Internet Manager at RBM North further notes that, with so much endless buzz around the next, newest technology solutions, it’s easier than ever for dealers to get distracted before they have the fundamentals of a high-ROI strategy in place. “Our dealership is always evolving: there’s room for online chat, we have a Facebook and Twitter presence, and we’re really preparing for mobile, and location-based inventory search to be big,” said Johnson. “But with so many flavor-of-the month industry discussions, SEO can seem ‘so 2008,’ even Reputation Management so ‘last month,’ and getting your inventory strategy right, downright passé. But getting the core strategies – the ones that have the very highest impact on the very largest number of consumers – right, is key.” I) The Quest for First-Page Search Placement: From PPC, to SEO, to Innovative SEO Back in late 2007 Randy Powell had a brand new URL that desperately needed to be ‘found’ (and fast), but, as he put it, “we were, by nature, appearing on the 400th page at Google.” He hired a company to do SEO to boost

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his organic placement, but initially “bought” his way onto the first page by spending on PPC. “I had to let the world know we were here, and I spent on PPC and direct mail,” said Powell. “I knew I was buying shortterm visibility, when I wanted the sustained visibility only really good SEO could provide.”

to cut/refine his PPC spend by at least 50% across the last year-plus, saving him a lot of money. That ‘spend refinement’ is reflected in the dramatic decline in the Powell never wavered in his belief dealership’s costthat SEO should form the backbone per-click: falling of his digital business. Determined from $38 in early to make it work, he selected eXtére- ‘08, to $4 in early sAUTO in early ‘09, to try a more 2010. innovative, customized campaign that cast a much wider ‘optimization’ • RBM North’s first-page placenet across ten cities around Atlanta. ment rates have more than Given the state of new vehicle sales, doubled: from 32% in Feb. the new plan also heavily optimized ’09, to 75%-plus over the last new search profit centers like used ten months. and service, reaching far out-of-state • Their three biggest competitors for pre-owned inventory and wholerange from 4% to roughly 35% sale parts. first-page search placement.

5 star rating, but had just a handful of reviews, so the few negative posts really stood out. Powell notes: “You’re always going to get a few negative reviews, especially on the service side. Our philosophy is don’t let negativity prevail, surround it with love – even a dealer with a 1-star rating today should take hope, with a review-generating process you’ll blanket the negatives with positives.”

• SEO is directly responsible for 600 sales, service and parts calls/leads/inquiries a month Bethany Johnson reports that by and 44% of the dealership’s March ‘09, this newly targeted and RBM North’s System: unique website traffic. expanded SEO campaign had made • GM set the tone: everyone in a “huge, dramatic difference for new the store knew this campaign and used sales, service and parts. We II) Focus on Customer Reviews/ was serious have since dominated the first-pages Online Reputation: across our metro region for these • Hit on the right sales/service searches, and we’ve seen a huge kick By 2009, both Powell and Johnson team incentives: replace CSI in our out-of state wholesale parts realized the extraordinary impact survey bonuses with rewards and pre-owned sales business.” And online reviews were having on every for positive reviews Powell notes that it’s allowed him breed of purchase, whether a $30 • Constantly track reviews, so toaster or a $50,000 car. you can verbally respond to Johnson: “We constantly any unhappy customer immemonitor our first-page diately and try to resolve. visibility, so we knew our reviews were the first • Hit on the right review-gaththing our potential cusering process for your clientele tomers saw, right on top ‘mindset’. Since their customat Google Local and all ers tend to be busy professionacross the first pages.” als, they are not overly aggressive. For each positive CSI Before RBM North began survey, the simply follow-up, a systematic Online politely requesting a review Reputation Management New SEO Results:

campaign (in March ’09), they already had a very positive 4.5 out of

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• Use email templates customized for both sales/service, with links to many review sites,

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making it very easy for a customer to post

still have managed to corner 10% more market share.

* Make sure the template comes from the sales/service person they had rapport with

The power of SEO/the website(s) in driving business stands out starkly, and when combined with reviewsite-generated business, it constitutes three-quarters of their Net-generated business, and 63% of total store business.

* Set up dedicated online pages for each salesperson to showcase their reviews, convert customers, etc. * Include reviews in all email signatures ‘story’ through numerous photos and engaging text. To control the look of their images, they converted a service Johnson notes that within a few bay into a dedicated photo studio, months, the campaign had a major and they write detailed comments on impact on walk-in traffic, but also every single vehicle. phone and email inquiries. And RBM North’s case keenly illustrates So, while the dealership doesn’t work that it’s not just a dealership’s overall with new-vehicle lead providers, they positive rating, but the high volume devote the majority of their digital of reviews, across many sites that budget to 3rd-party, used-lead proignited the business generation dif- viders/inventory site marketing. ference. * Give great customer service in the first place

III) Inventory Listings – Robust, with Wide Reach: The third ‘pillar’ for RBM North is having the richest, most robust inventory listings – with the widest reach/optimization across the Web. Randy Powell explains that the situation on the used side for a Mercedes dealer is unique. If there’s a level playing field on the new side, on the used side the car is the big ‘story,’ and that ‘story’ matters more than location. “Because each used Mercedes we have is unique, I can cast a national net. Say a person in LA is looking for a 2008 CLK convertible, and a local dealer has a red one with 20,000 miles, but I have a black and tan one with 8,000. It’s supply-and-demand, and if I create powerful visibility for the right cars, and post them the right way, I’ll get that sale.”

Summary:

Results: * 60% of overall business is used, 40% new * 70% of pre-owned business is not only out of their AOI, it’s out-of-state * While average dealer saw used sales drop 3% last year, RBM North drove 31% growth Analyzing ROI/Results:

And SEO/Website/Reputation Management’s cost-efficiencies/ROI really jumps out: while it drives 74% of their total online business it represents only 15.5% of their digital spend – or a 5:1 ROI. While 3rd-party inventory sites represent a much larger 72% of the digital spend, they deliver 20% of total Internet-generated business. So, taken together, these ‘three pillars’ generate 94% of their online business and 80% of total store business.

RBM North’s innovative, three-pillar digital strategy was 100%-designed with people and consumer behavior in mind: firmly built around what car shoppers are actually doing (searching online) and what they seek most: the right dealership (with a positive online reputation) and the right car (rich, widespread inventory postings). Randy Powell sums up: “This integrated strategy is simply the highestimpact, most cost-efficient, highestROI marketing we can do. There were so many ridiculous odds stacked against us, but we’re thriving. And how many stores that started at the beginning of a recession can say that.”

RBM North has never experienced that ‘happy time before the recession,’ and as a new store, the traditional ‘before-and-after’ business success measurements can prove irrelevant. How is their 85%-digital marketing strategy working? Amazingly well. While the average Mercedes dealership experienced 15.3% new-sales declines in ’09, RBM North fell only 6%, and their incredible 31% gains on the used side have been detailed. To view comments by others and discuss RBM North’s inventory listings With the leanest marketing budget this article please visit DrivingSales.com/ are designed to create an emotional among their local competitors, they innovation connection to the cars, to tell that www.DrivingSales.com

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David Metter CMO Mile One

MileOne: How they generate an additional 12,000 Internet leads per month by Michael Page When David Metter decided a few years back to take his online advertising to the next level, he borrowed a page from the real estate playbook. The chief marketing officer for MileOne Automotive, a large East Coast dealer group, realized the video realtors were adding to their listings could similarly boost his dealers’ engagement with in-market shoppers and their competitive edge. “Consumers can look at photos, but if there’s a differentiator with video and a walk-around that tells them more about the vehicle, I think there’s a higher likelihood of them coming in to look at that car -- especially over one that does not have it,” Metter said. “Video gives you a better perspective on the car than just a flat photo; it’s more like a three-dimensional experience. Car buyers feel like they’re getting a true demonstration of the car instead of just a couple of photos of the vehicle sitting on the lot.” MileOne began using video in late 2006 with the launch of its YouTube channel. The videos were primarily designed to support SEO initiatives but today range from why-buy-here testimonials to new make/ model introductions and event marketing, as well as new-/used-car inventory and service specials. Managers immediately embraced the new initiative, Metter said, even though it meant additional work.

Internet shoppers have grown by a full percentage point. “For a dealer group the size of MileOne, moving from 8 percent to 9 percent conversion means an additional 10,000 to 12,000 leads per month. There are dealers and dealer groups that would do just about anything for an incremental jump like that.” • Boosts visibility. With Cars.com, Metter said, views of MileOne used-car videos climbed dramatically from a year ago. Visitors to the site watch more than 7,000 videos each month, up from approximately 900 in September 2009. • Fuels time on site. The average visitor to a MileOne website now spends an additional 75 seconds researching a vehicle purchase. Video Demand Increases

With an estimated 90 percent of Americans now researching their next purchase online, MileOne’s performance is not unique. The 2009 Google/Compete Auto Video Study found that online viewership of automotive video multiplied six times since 2007 -- with ready-to-buy shoppers 14 times more likely to watch these clips than general Internet surfers. Top-rated content ranged from information about the car being “They know video’s going to reflect on them in a posi- considered (75 percent) to specifications (68 percent) tive way,” Metter said. “They’ve got the latest and great- and how it drives (52 percent). The most popular desest information about their vehicles, and it’s just going tinations included third-party shopping sites (60 perto make their new- and used-car offerings that much cent), manufacturer sites (59 percent), dealer sites (52 better. It was such a no-brainer decision.” percent) and YouTube (52 percent). Video Performance Accelerates for MileOne Today, MileOne records approximately 100,000 unique video views each month across its online channels -including its websites, third-party listings and social media networks. For MileOne, Metter said, video: • Drives conversion. Since adding video to the MileOne toolkit, Metter said, inquiries from 28

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Perhaps most compelling, after watching these videos, shoppers take action: • 61 percent visit a dealership • 55 percent visit a manufacturer website • 55 percent search dealer inventory • 52 percent visit a dealer website

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• 52 percent build and price a car with an online configurator • 50 percent visit an automotive research site “It’s not because people don’t have anything better to do,” Metter said. “Video keeps them on the site longer, it keeps them more interested. And it puts us in a position where we’re going to win over a competitor.” Video Process Drives Results MileOne uses both full-motion video and inventory-level video that simulates full motion by combining several still pictures and animating them with pan-and-zoom techniques. These automated videos can be inexpensively and quickly produced but deliver customized, professional results with integrated human voiceover narrations, informational graphics and text overlays. MileOne currently uses stitched video with its used-car listings and plans to add the capability for its new cars later this year. Metter offered these tips for success: • Great stitched video begins with high-quality pictures. MileOne works with an inhouse team to take 28 to 50 pictures of each used vehicle -- the first several of which are used to create the stitched videos. These initial pictures focus on the car’s key exterior and interior angles and highlight the most marketable features. The idea is to allow shoppers to take a virtual test drive and give them a sense of being in the driver’s seat. • Keep the shopper’s attention. Metter recommends that video demonstrations be limited to

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roughly 30 seconds in length. “Anything longer, and you’re not going to get people to watch all the way through. When you’re describing a vehicle, it’s got to be short and sweet.”

“I think it’s going to be mobile video,” Metter said. “We’re working now, very diligently, on how to be able to have our video show up on all of our mobile sites and how that’s going to be fully integrated.”

• Build your brand. While the car is the star of the clip, Metter emphasizes the importance of including a marketing message for the dealership. All MileOne videos open with an introductory segment on why to buy from the dealer group and close with a map and directions to the store where the car is located.

MileOne Automotive was formed in 1997, Maryland-based MileOne Automotive (mileonecorporate.com) operates more than 60 stores, representing 27 brands, and nine collision centers in Maryland, North Carolina, While some Internet managers devel- Pennsylvania and Virginia. The dealer op full-motion video for all of their group offers a new- and used-car invenlistings, Metter does not believe the tory of upward of 15,000 vehicles. tactic is viable long term. “As much as I would like to think that’s going to happen, you’d have to be very To view comments by others and discuss diligent to go out and continuously this article please visit DrivingSales.com/ shoot your new inventory.” Instead, innovation he said, Internet managers are better advised to let automated tools do the heavy lifting and focus their time on merchandising, sales follow-up and preparing for the next phase of video marketing.

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Adam Simms President and GM Toyota Sunnyvale

Toyota Sunnyvale: Superstore builds relationships with web visitors in real time by Alexi Venneri Toyota Sunnyvale has been named one of the top increased appointments and sales, with chat now being internet dealerships in the nation for many years and the starting point for 70% of all closed sales. And has used a proven lead follow the chat tool is “smart”, dropup system with much success. ping down on the wevbsite only But the team is never satisfied when staff members are ready “About 70% of our sucand is always looking for ways to chat…even alerting them they can improve their already respond through their cell cessful lead-to-closed- to exceptional response times and phones. closing ratios. sales now start with a Toyota Sunnyvale’s chat softThat was why two years ago ware takes advantage of innochat conversation. Our they looked at chat solutions vative technologies like presas an enhancement to their ence-aware visual cues that turn customers love it and so anonymous website visitors into existing sales process and a year later added chat to their service potential buyers by grabbing do we.” appointment setting process as their attention and providing well. The positive results were a simple, non-threatening and almost immediate for two reaconvenient way to connect withsons: our dealership at the exact moment interest is highest. 1. Prospects browsing from their work computer now had a discreet way to contact the dealership to get questions answered and to set appointments. 2. Prospects that may have hesitated to call or submit an online lead felt more comfortable due to the initial anonymity that chat affords. Toyota Sunnyvale selected a “smart chat” solution that gave them the internal control to respond to chat conversations themselves. The tool also allowed the dealership to customize how it works so it enhanced their existing successful sales process rather than changing it. Outsourcing chat to a call center was not an option as they believe in personal attention to each lead and customer. By answering the conversations directly, the team can build a rapport and are immediately helpful. Potential customers see that the dealership staff members are very responsive, providing immediate answers to their questions. Toyota Sunnyvale has turned their chat tool into a powerful marketing advantage as it helped to personalize their website, encouraging more online “lookers” to engage in chat conversations. This has resulted in www.DrivingSales.com

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Toyota Sunnyvale customized their chat tool to include actual photos of their sales team. This made their customers immediately connect with the staff, the lifeblood of the dealership while building a rapport and helping to ensure more appointments show as the customers have more of a connect with the sales team after seeing

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AutoNation: How they generated 36,000 page views on Facebook by Liz Presson Social media is the dissemination of information through social interaction. The emphasis being on social, and not media. In a world where the line between offline and online is often blurred, social networks are the main hub for online social interaction.

media, efforts have often followed the same traditional routes of mass media channels like TV, radio or press. Social media is anything but traditional, as is the social media generation.

This younger generation knows all of the advertising As with any medium, there is a point where businesses tricks. They have an ability to tune out advertising to a and marketers will attempt to harness the medium to degree not seen in prior generations. spread product or brand awareness, but with social

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What’s a company to do to reach these customers? Those detached from the future, the less forward thinking of corporate executives assume social media is a passing fad that won’t bring the same return as their tried and true advertising mediums. Then there are the innovators in the industry that know this just isn’t true. People like Gary Marcotte, Senior VP of eCommerce for AutoNation, who have accurately gauged the importance of a social media strategy at the dealer level. Marcotte’s social media philosophy is to connect, entertain, inform, share ideas, and show everyone that AutoNation is the kind of company they can trust. If people can trust them, they will do business with them. “Gary Marcotte is for automotive marketing, what Steve Jobs is to technology,” said Adam Boalt, President of GOSO. GOSO, an automotive social media management company, has been working with AutoNation to create social media promotions that embody AutoNation’s philoso- AutoNation’s next campaign was a little bigger and a phy of building trust and being the un-dealer. little bolder. To celebrate the upcoming release of the Promotions have included an extension of Ford’ Fiesta Nissan LEAF, the first mass-produced electric car with Movement. 36 AutoNation Facebook pages were zero emissions, AutoNation decided to go one step furequipped with a custom tab for which all of the Fiesta ther and plant a tree for everyone that visited and liked Movement team feeds were piped into, making it easy for their Facebook page. All new and existing fans were given AutoNation fans to check in on their local team or just to the option of four locations around the world in which they could plant their tree: Haiti, Brazil, India or The see what was happening in their hometown. Philippines. AutoNation committed to planting up to 50,000 trees. AutoNation’s next task was finding a way to reward current and future customers, while simultaneously showing them that they were AutoNation. So Mosaic was created. The campaign was simple. Over the course of 30 days, give 300 gift cards from a multitude of national retail outlets, none of which were automotive related, to people that visited the Mosaic URL. Visitors to Mosaic would log in through either their Facebook or Twitter accounts. Then a timer would count down to zero and the first person to click the GET IT button would win the gift card for that giveaway. After that their photo would appear on the page as part of a winner’s photo mosaic of the AutoNation logo. This happened ten times a day for thirty days. AutoNation then personally called each winner to confirm their address, and to talk with them about their car buying experiences. After conversations with each of the 300 winners, AutoNation discovered a lot about the

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buyer’s perceptions in relation to Mosaic was met with trepidation at buying a car and first. What’s what they could the ROI of an do to improve “Gary Marcotte is for endeavor like the experience. this? The burning question is, how will any of this drive sales?

automotive market-

ing, what Steve Jobs is to technology,”

Unlike traditional marketing, social media isn’t about measuring of ROI. It’s about building trust and interacting with customers.

Although the goal was to build trust said Adam Boalt, and relationships, the future President of GOSO. sales potential is very much there. Between Facebook wall posts and conversa- Mosaic was a huge success because tions with winners, dozens openly AutoNation had personal conversaid the next time they bought it a sations with 300 potential cuscar it would be from AutoNation. tomers. They discovered who they were. One winner had said they One winner said, “I’m impressed were going to use their gift card with AutoNation. I feel like they’ve on a date night with her boyfriend. created a community through So AutoNation wrote in the card, engagement and I plan to buy my “Enjoy your date night!” next car from them in the next year or two.” Conversations like those have limitless possibilities for future sales Another said they had planned on because when the buying cycle buying a car at one of AutoNation’s comes back around, customers will competitors, but after the per- remember AutoNation for going sonal touches from the campaign the extra mile to connect with they were going to check out them. AutoNation instead. From the inception of Mosaic on June 21st to the end on July To view comments by others and 20th, there were over 36,000 discuss this article please visit Drivingpage views. AutoNation Facebook Sales.com/innovation likes increased by 44.7%, with an increase of 76.1% in Facebook interactions as compared to the previous month.

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TJ Houghton Corporate Director DealerTrend

Jim McNatt Toyota/Honda: Using WordPress and a private sale, they increased traffic by 40% by TJ Houghton Jim McNatt Toyota Honda is an experienced email marketer. They had been successfully communicating with their email database of over 20,000 subscribers for several years. However, like many dealers, they were looking for a way to jumpstart consumer engagement and take the customer interactions to a new level.

get specific customers and send them a unique offer. In order for the customer to see what the special offer was, they had to use a given password that gave to access to the special pages build just for this private sale. Once inside the private sale pages, there was a welcome video â&#x20AC;&#x153;Private Saleâ&#x20AC;? Visits for Both Toyota & Honda Stores Combined 1000

The auto group had recently made an innovative change 900 to their website, moving from a standard dealership site 800 700 to a site built on the Wordpress platform. Wordpress 597 600 is an open source website/blog platform that is used to 500 power over 25 million sites around the web. Because it 400 is open source, it has a rich developer base and a mas300 sive library of plugins to easily extend the functionality 162 46 39 22 200 of the site. The platform is now being supported by 100 0 some of the most innovative web companies in the auto Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 industry and the Jim McNatt Auto group saw their traffic jump 40% the first month they switched to the platform. and special deals just for those with the password. Wordpress, at its core, is a blog platform which makes Because of the exclusive nature of the offer and curiosadding, editing and getting custom content indexed by ity of being given a password, the average amount of Google as simple as can be. One of the features stan- time each user spent on site was up, the bounce rate dard in Wordpress is that pages with unique content was down and during the event, traffic to the site was can be password protected. The marketing team at Jim up approximately 266%. McNatt saw this as an opportunity to try a something different. In the future the Jim Mcnatt Toyota Honda is going to try similar sales with the fixed operations as well as Rather than send a general email, with general links to the vehicle sales departments. Because the Wordpress general public pages, they used their CRM tool to tar- platform makes creating custom sites so easy (creating a page in Wordpress is about the same degree of difficulty as writing a word document) and they can be password protected at the click of a button, these private web sales become easy to execute as long as your dealership is maintaining accurate email lists to communicate with your customers.

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Germain Motor Co:

Shaun Kniffin Director of Internet Sales & eBusiness Development Germain Motor, Co.

How a synergized BDC increased Internet leads 53% by Bryan Anderson The Challenge

thousands of calls, keeping them from their other daily responsibilities,” states Kniffin. With this decentralThe Director of Internet Sales at Germain Motor ized strategy, little control existed over the quantity Company, Shaun Kniffin, knew that in order to increase and quality of calls made on behalf of Germain Motor business, conduct targeted customer campaigns, and Company as a whole. “Some people are great in the improve visibility, they needed to make a change – per- showroom and service drive, in front of customers,” haps even to their corporate strategy and structure. This explains Kniffin, “but it takes an altogether different would include the evolution of skill set to excel on the phone. call management into a fullymade sense that we move matured Business Development “Without a centralization Itto just a centralized BDC to better Center (BDC) for the eight the message we were givstore group. To do this, he of data and process control ing our customers.” needed to find a way to track management, we weren’t Kniffin went to work hiring the and manage numerous benchmarks using telephony, CRM, right talent for the new BDC, able to track and compare which was set up at across from ILM, and marketing – all while having one, centralized tool to Germain’s corporate offices. He ourselves to industry hired five representatives to focus manage day-to-day operations. Reason being, “Five years ago solely on sales-related calls and benchmarks.” Germain had as many as four five more to focus on serviceCRM tools”, states Kniffin. related calls. To best equip the “The Internet process was fracBDC reps in each area of expertured because the CRM and ILM tools were not on a tise, Germain began investing in long-term employee common platform.” education. Kniffin points out, “BDC representatives go through rigorous, ongoing phone training to better Furthermore, all of their customer data was scattered, hone their effectiveness, providing consistent results.” or worse, duplicated across multiple databases. This caused a breakdown in store-to-store communication as Centralizing the entire BDC operation would improve well as a total lack of visibility. Kniffin further remarks, the quality of messaging, minimize confusion, and “Without a centralization of data and process manage- maximize control. “The BDC is a complement to our ment, we weren’t able to track and compare ourselves to sales force,” reports Kniffin, “by creating balance and a industry benchmarks.” Organizational processes were competitive advantage in our sales and service departbroken, work was being duplicated, time was being ments.” By centralizing the location, management is wasted, and employee frustration was growing. Things now done from a corporate level, instead of store-toneeded to change. store. This has given Corporate a better establishment of truly manageable benchmarks. Better Structure Kniffin began with a fresh look at how business was being done at Germain. The salespeople, in addition to their responsibilities in the showroom, were responsible for all inbound and outbound calls at each of their respective stores. The service department was no different. “At one point our advisors were taking 36

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Better Solution Now that the BDC was centralized, the need for centralizing data was more apparent than ever before. Kniffin found the answer in a fully-integrated CRM, BDC, and ILM solution that unified all sales and marketing efforts for all stores. It would provide the capabilities to orga-

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The Industry’s Largest Best Practice Community. Vendor Ratings • Networking • Blogs Discussion • Video • Strategy • Docs GET CONNECTED Join thousands of your peers. It’s Free. nize and track all activity in a single database, delivering total visibility to the new BDC and to every department across each rooftop. Aided by simple but effective reporting, management could now ensure processes would be followed with every lead, every prospect, and every customer. It would provide insight to all customer communication, behavior, and satisfaction. “Bringing all this together with a BDC allowed us to use the true advantages of CRM by allowing all associates to see and use the same information,” says Kniffin.

productivity. When a showroom or service appointment is scheduled by a BDC rep, Germain salespeople already know the vehicle(s) of interest, trade-in possibilities, identifiable purchasing habits, and a full profile on all service history. Kniffin couldn’t be happier with the ongoing, even recent, results. His 10 BDC reps have scheduled over 2,500 service and sales appointments in the month of June alone. Together, these represent a 15% increase over May, which reported 2,100 total appointments – a 26% jump over April.

And as far as employee buy-in, “Because the BDC uses this single, Germain saw the benefits almost simple product to drive all sales, immediately. Due to the unified service, and call center processes, our strategy of CRM, BDC, and ILM, the staff more quickly acclimate themBDC rep and the salesperson could selves to streamlined processes, now view customer data simultaneously – that we have one product to use – bringing significant improvement to instead of four,” Kniffin explains. process, communication, and overall Real Results

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In fact, Kniffin’s BDC representatives have used the CRM to catalog more than 110,000 customer emails – a remarkable achievement and not one without purpose. With this valuable asset, Kniffin leverages his CRM provider for personal management of targeted, multi-channel, permission-based, marketing campaigns. Driving significant business to each store, this effort has resulted in nearly 1,300 vehicles purchased solely through campaigns alone in the first six months of 2010. The BDC’s involvement with campaign management is paying dividends. “By creating a controlled environment with our BDC, we have improved inbound and outbound call quality and quantity, average lead response times, and overall follow-up quality,” concludes Kniffin. On a related note, the group has seen up to a 90% increase in traffic generated by email campaigns over

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“Ultimately, I think the biggest advantage we have is that our ILM and BDC tools completely integrate ... at a level which other competitive CRM tools can’t deliver.” Shaun Kniffin, Director of Internet Sales Germain Motor Company

888.396.5911

12 months; while the number of email responses for the entire organization jumped to 67% in a mere six month period. By synergizing his BDC effort with the managed marketing services through his CRM partner, Kniffin quickly saw improved performance and results, growing awareness of the entire Germain brand. In one year, web traffic increased by an average of nearly 30%, with the largest increase of 58% at Cadillac of Dublin. Not surprisingly, the dealerships enjoyed a surge in Internet leads. In fact, Internet leads across all brands increased by an average of 53%. Kniffin shares, “18% to 40% growth in our Internet business over the last few years is due to the assistance of a BDC rep using the right tools to strengthen our Sales and Internet processes. Our Internet customers stay better connected in 38

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www.autobase.net

www.facebook.com/autobase

“...our staff more quickly acclimate themselves to strealined process, now that we have one product to use - instead of four.”

www.twitter.com/autobasecrm

can now focus solely on working prospects and closing deals.”

“Ultimately, I think the biggest advantage we have is that our ILM and BDC tools completely integrated with our CRM at a level which other competitive CRM tools can’t deliver,” states Kniffin. With the right tools and best practices in place, everyone is working together to provide the ideal customer experience – a highly organized, controlled, and the ultimate goal for Shaun Kniffin quantifiable manner.” and the entire dealership family at “Orientation to process, people skills, Germain Motor Company. and Internet sales is a serious concoction for outstanding growth, but every person in the dealership, from the dealer principal down, must be To view comments by others and discuss involved and committed.” And that’s this article please visit DrivingSales.com/ just what Germain has achieved. innovation With the BDC now well-equipped and focused on appointment setting and customer loyalty, the salespeople

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Tammy Darvish Owner and VP DARCARS

DARCARS Automotive: Online strategy delivers over $1.2 million in additional fixed ops revenue in 90 days by Tammy Darvish Q&A with DrivingSales’ Founder and CEO, Jared Hamilton

dealerships and local mechanics, they’re also going to see consumer reviews of those service providers.

Tammy Darvish, owner and vice president of DARCARS Automotive Group, discusses DARCARS’ strategy for addressing today’s key dealership challenges and DARCARS’ results from implementing their new strategy. Jared Hamilton (JH): Great to talk with you today, Tammy. DARCARS is known for being an innovative dealer group. Let’s discuss how you’ve overcome some of the biggest challenges that dealers are facing today.

Providing high quality service is essential, but the game doesn’t end there. You need to remind your customers of this fact – that your service is the best and that your quality is ongoing. We see a direct correlation between a strong service department and strong car sales, so we knew we wanted to improve upon the service maryou do when keting equation of our business.

“What do you get something that isn’t relevant or personally important to you? Hit the delete button.”

Tammy Darvish (TD): Because of the obstacles the whole industry has faced with sales overall, DARCARS, along with virtually every other dealership in the country, has turned to fixed operations to drive revenue. But this has created another challenge – heightened competition for service business, not just from other dealerships, but also local mechanics and national light repair chains. Consumers buying fewer cars coupled with increased competition for service business have been the key drivers for a new service marketing strategy at our stores.

JH: Let’s talk about the strategy you implemented.

TD: To begin, we knew what was working well for us already. We’ve always been metrics driven, so we had insight into our core strengths. We knew we were already providing a great showroom experience and a great online experience. Our websites, provided by Dealer.com, were performing well. So, we asked - how do we expand upon our strengths, and what new things can we do to build on those strengths? We knew we had to evolve to keep pace with consumers’ use of new media, as well as embrace new technologies that increase efficiencies.

Our website provider partnered with a company that focuses on making car ownership easier and more efficient for consumers. Our customers automatically JH: I’ve seen this with competition for service business. got their own Online Garage, located on our site, The consumer perception is that after the car is out and they received targeted, personal service messages, of warranty, it’s cheaper to go the local mechanic for monthly newsletters, alerts, etc. via email. service. It’s something we’ve always been aware of, but that perception is really impacting dealerships today. We wanted our customers to have a great experience on our DARCARS sites. Many OEMs provide customer accounts, or garages, on their sites, but we can provide TD: And now, consumer perception is being amplified a stronger, long term relationship with our customers in exponentially online. Someone doing a Google search our own environment. We have the most vested interest for local auto service is not only going to see a list of in that customer’s experience.

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Plus, this package helped us to grow our customer email list to nearly 70,000 email addresses in the first few months. This is significant – to be able to continuously communicate with that many customers on an ongoing basis. JH: What kind of email communications are you sending? TD: You’re touching on a key point here. Today, we are all bombarded with email messages all day, every day. What do you do when you get something that isn’t relevant or personally important to you? Hit the delete button. Service is about building an ongoing, better relationship with your customer, and your communications need to reflect that. Messages need to be

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engaging and relevant. For example, new to our service departments. This optimized with service incentives, came to another $200,000 in revbased on that customer’s driving enue in the first ninety days. habits, mileage, service history, etc. JH: Many dealers are now finally JH: How can you tell the strategy is tracking the marketing metrics that working for your stores? give them insight into what’s working for car sales. It’s refreshing to see that level of detail being impleTD: We saw positive results very fast mented to measure the effectiveness in key areas. We had a jump by near- of a service marketing program. ly 3,000 transactions from customers who had not been in the dealership in the past six months. And we had a TD: It’s been very rewarding to see jump by over 800 transactions from positive results from trying a new customers whom we had not seen service marketing strategy. It’s like in over a year. Together, this added seeing a bright light at the end of the up to nearly $1,000,000 in found tunnel. revenue in the first three months of the program. We could also see email campaign results, clickthroughs, etc. In addition, we got new cars into To view comments by others and discuss this article please visit DrivingSales.com/ the service lanes – either second cars innovation for existing customers orcustomers

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Jim Revell Owner / Operator South Suburban Mitsubishi

South Suburban Mitsubishi: Matching traditional and online media yeilded a 54% growth in traffic and a 12% growth in sales by Erin O’Connor Dealership and Competition South Suburban Mitsubishi rapidly established itself as one of the top ten Mitsubishi retailers in the nation. The dealership, located on South Governors Highway in Monee, IL (population approximately 5,000) employs 14 and carries roughly 70 new vehicles on the lot. South Suburban Mitsubishi’s closest competitor is located in the Chicago metro area serving a population of 145,000. Given the rural community in which South Suburban Mitsubishi is located, compared to their competitor, the dealership made its mission to expand their target market and pull customers from a larger radius. Marketing Plan – Previous Efforts

a new integrated product campaign strategy. Search Engine Marketing (SEM), additional Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tactics, and dealer managed live chat were added immediately, and they transitioned to a new website utilizing tools such as online financing applications, optimized website copy, search by payment, and on site video reviews, to attain their goal of expanding the customer base.

Measuring the effectiveness of the new integrated strategy South Suburban Mitsubishi’s website had 1,200 weekly website visits and a The implementation of the new total of 4,743 visits for the month marketing strategy began with the in June 2010. Of the 4,743 visits, launch of the redesigned website on reported traffic sources were 29.6% November 20, 2009. Exercising the organic and 36.03% SEM search integrated strategy South Suburban product. An increase in vehicle sales Mitsubishi ran a media plan with to 84 vehicles per month was also traditional media: print advertising, reported by the dealership. radio, and television and web-based media, branding the same message In summary, the on and offline conacross all forms. Utilizing a consis- certed marketing effort with specific tent message across all media and targeted regions increased traffic pairing it with a strong, optimized, 53.8% on a monthly basis and the and easy-to-navigate web platform, radius of customers has expanded South Suburban Mitsubishi ben- with the help of the extended reach efited with increased website traffic, on their SEM campaign. additional business and local and national recognition. Resources:

Prior to November of 2009, South Suburban Mitsubishi’s marketing and advertising strategies consisted of radio, newspaper advertising, and an in-house website. Their marketing plan also incorporated Google Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC), as well as 3rd party websites such as Results Autotrader.com and Cars.com. Although South Suburban Mitsubishi’s previous marketing efforts advertised a common theme, they were not fully optimized for the regions they were targeting. New Tactics In November of 2009, South Suburban Mitsubishi implemented www.DrivingSales.com

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Prior to the optimizing of their marketing for specific local markets, and tying the messaging across all channels together, South Suburban pulled in roughly 650 website visits per week and 2,552 visits per month translating into approximately 75 vehicles per month sold.

http://www.city-data.com/city/MoneeIllinois.html

Tying togther the traditional media, and the digital media has proven to provide additional lift due to the consistency in message. Many dealerships still run their digital marketing under the direction of an internet sales manager with little or no tie in to the overall traditional marketing plan, this is less effective as shown by the numbers at South Suburban Mitsubishi.

http://www.city-data.com/city/DownersGrove-Illinois.html http://www.city-data.com/city/NapervilleIllinois.html

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Howard Dwan Service Manager BMW Schererville

BMW Schererville: Interactive service website increases leads by 685% by Dave Page BMW Schererville was looking for ways to increase ser- options. All the navigation keeps the user within vice RO revenue. They realized that the largest percent- the service department’s real estate. In addition to age of dealership expense absorption comes from fixed the dedicated focus to fixed operations, they added operations but the fixed operations gets the smallest a Virtual Service Consultant. This dynamic hostpercentage of real estate on the ess greets the visitors and walks dealership website. To increase them through the simple process the service revenue, they decided “Many high-performing of selecting which service is best to look for ways to boost their for them and then scheduling parts and service departments’ dealers are realizing that the appointment. presence online and increase the the user experience was conversion of the visitors that one website is simply not After optimized, it was time to they were attracting. increase the traffic to the serviceenough...” Like many dealerships, their scheduling site. Rather than service department marketed stick with the traditional marthrough direct mail, email blasts keting that they had been doing and regular coupons. Each of these mediums was used in the past, they decided to get into PPC search marketto drive people to the service lane and the dealership ing. They targeted specific keywords in their market so web site where there was an option for the customers ads were shown to visitors looking for BMW services to schedule their appointment online. However the in their market. As a result of this additional marketonline scheduling simply consisted of a standard lead ing approach, they were able to pinpoint the customers capture form that was not engaging enough and didn’t and expand their reach, increasing site visitors by over yield a good conversion. 300%. The first step in boosting their service revenue was to create a better converting website. Rather than edit their current site, they realized the power in creating a separate dedicated site exclusively for their service department. Many high-performing dealers are realizing that one website is simply not enough and developing a series of highly targeted websites to surround your main web property is an excellent way to extend your dealership in a cost-effective way. Likewise BMW Schereville realized they needed a whole side dedicated to their service department and launched bmw24service.com. This is a fully interactive, highly targeted website dedicated solely to the purpose of converting online visitors to service appointments. Because the whole site is dedicated to parts and service, it only attracts one type of visitor and offers one concentrated focus: setting service appointments.

The result of this dedicated service-scheduling site with a Virtual Service Consultant and the power of PPC marketing has been two fold. Not only did traffic dramatically increase, so did the conversion rate. Appointments from the site increased 685%, phone calls from the site increased 501%, the dealership doubled their online RO count and booked over $18,000 in additional revenue in the first month of the site being live. BMW Schereville has proven extreme ROI by the power of a dedicated site and search marketing for service scheduling to increase fixed ops revenue.

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When visitors arrive they first notice easy-to-click-on, up-to-date service coupons and suggested maintenance

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person and result in an appointment first in “present percentage” or the Toyota Sunnyvale: Superstore builds relationships with web visi- being scheduled. Full lead data is col- time the staff were online and ready lected and integrated into the CRM. to engage in chat conversations. tors in real time by Alexi Venneri (Continued from page 31)

their picture and having an online conversation with them. The chat system connects the dealership to multiple websites, not just their own dealership website. Websites such as Cars.com, where prospective customers are shopping, also feature the same chat solution giving prospects a consistent experience and giving the dealership staff a single solution that is easy for them to learn and use. It is also completely integrated into their CRM system and includes additional robust dashboard reporting. Online chat conversations are generally short and efficient for the sales

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The chat solution reporting has also given Toyota Sunnyvale a distinct advantage. Managers can see how their staff is performing in terms of responses and conversions, but also how they compare to the industry averages. This information is then used to train staff and identify areas of opportunity to convert more prospects to sales.

Toyota Sunnyvale has 26 agents active on the chat system and 72.4% of the time, measured on a 24x7 basis, someone from the dealership is displaying “presence and availability” to respond to a new prospect. Potential customers on their website or the Cars.com website see chat icons with the actual staff person’s photo that is available to chat. Customers get nearly immediate response when they Comparison reports can be gener- engage in chat, leading to greater ated to show how Toyota Sunnyvale satisfaction with the dealership right stacks up against hundreds (even from the start. thousands) of other dealerships that use the same chat solution. In a single month, they have received more than a thousand sales chat requests, mak- To view comments by others and discuss ing their dealership the highest vol- this article please visit DrivingSales.com/ ume in terms of chat requests in the innovation country. The dealership also ranked

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Acton Toyota and Falmouth Toyota: What they did to double accessory sales and put big bucks to the bottom line by Mike Martinez Two Dealerships Crack the Elusive ‘Accessories Code’ To the Tune of Tens of Thousands in Sales Each Month

This case study will detail the core, shared components of their strategies and the shared best practices responsible for each dealer’s phenomenal, eye-opening results.

Breakthrough In-Store Sales Process - Revolving Around Accessories Visualization, Virtual Inventory and the Right Timing - Driving an Average of 200% Increases in Accessories Revenue, or an Incremental $50,000 a Month Accessories: A Huge Opportunity Dealers Have Been Unable to Leverage Summary/The Issue: Both Acton Toyota of Littleton and Falmouth Toyota of Massachusetts are very successful dealerships, always looking for smart ways to drive new revenue, and new profit centers to tackle. (Acton ranks #17 in the Ward’s e-Dealer 100 list, and is the #1 Prius and #2 Toyota Certified Used Retailer in the metro Boston area, while Falmouth is one of the premier dealerships in the Cape Cod area.)

First, let’s consider a few cold, hard facts about the booming accessories market, and how the opportunities – and lost dealer opportunities – are only intensifying: • Auto accessories are a $32 billion annual market • New-vehicle sales have plummeted 62.5% over the last decade, while the accessories market has seen explosive 37% growth over the same period. • 92% of consumers are willing to buy auto accessories and over 60% would spend more than $1,000.

Both dealers knew that vehicle accessories sales over the last decade had exploded, and that the vast majority of • 70% of new-car buyers personalize their vehicle their new-vehicle buyers were spending $1,000-plus, within 30 days of purchase. but that independent chains and mail order/websites • Accessories represent an average $1 million/year were the ones cleaning up – not them. Both Acton and dealership opportunity not being captured. Falmouth were so determined to grab a fairer share of the market that they had been trying to sell accessories • Dealerships account for a paltry 10-17% of total for years, but the process was not working as well as accessory sales. they had hoped: the inventory-carrying, set-up and display costs were too high – they weren’t engaging/ converting their customers (with an inefficient process Acton and Falmouth Toyota’s Four-Point Solution: and limited product choices) – and the parts and service department fulfillment was unsatisfactory. Falmouth So, how have Acton and Falmouth Toyota managed to crack the elusive ‘accessories conundrum,’ and seize was only generating $9,000/month in revenue! (on average) an extra $600,000 a year in sales that Then, in the last year, both dealerships embraced a revo- most dealers leave languishing on the showroom floor? lutionary new accessories strategy that near-immediate- While individual dealership processes vary slightly, ly had an astounding impact on their business: driving their shared successes are overwhelmingly attributable $50,000 a month in incremental, monthly revenue for to both dealerships implementing FOUR crucial strateActon, and $36,000 for Falmouth, and that consis- gies/processes/tools: tently converts 1 in 2 customers to making accessories 1. The Right Timing… purchases (up from just 1 in 10 before). 2. Customer Visualization/Personalization Tools

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3. 100% Virtual Inventory System You sell products that you would think would 4. Systems Integrating All not sell and to customers Accessories Work Flow/ you would normally think Fulfillment – from Sales, to wouldn’t end up purchasF&I, to Parts and Service ing products.” Departments I. Rich Visualization Personalization:

II) The Right Timing: In many ways “timing” is always on a dealership’s side with accessories, because psychologically, consumers are far more prone to spend at that exciting “sweet spot” moment of purchase. And independent surveys show that consumers would actually rather buy accessories in-dealership, than in the aftermarket. And as Wandless of Acton puts it: “because the financing can often be rolled into the new-vehicle financing, it makes it easier on the budget.”

Knowing that trying to sell a customer something they can’t actually see/imagine is a deeply un-engaging, ineffective proposition, both Acton and Falmouth Toyota adopted an online tool that allowed their customers to configure their exact vehicle with thousands of accessories – on the fly. Both dealerships report that salespeople find it very easy to offer customers an actually fun, interactive online tool that allows them to richly visualize a customized, ‘dream’ version of their car and that, subse- Both dealerships report that it’s critiquently, 100% of sales staff presents cal to adopt a process that shows the accessories consistently. consumer how easily accessories can be added into their overall vehicle While there are a number of online financing package, and that instantly accessories configurators available, pre-calculates that lower monthly both dealerships use izmocars’ Add- payment for them – as well as proon-Auto (AOA) tool, and suggest viding the accessories’ upfront price. adopting one that configures vehicles Acton reports that by using this down to year, make, model, trim, menu-based financing model, “they interior and exterior color, etc. – can work $3,000 to $4,000 in acceswhile providing a menu-based for- sories sales into one customer.” mat making it easy for customers to choose between immediate and And other aspects of accessories’ monthly payments. And both deal- “timing” are key: both dealerships erships stress that because interior have found that the very best (and accessories (like DVD players, nav- highest-converting) window to presigation, dash kits, etc.) are huge ent accessories (by, ideally, letting profit-drivers, to make sure the tool the customer digitally configure their features interior configuration capa- new vehicle), is the wait time just bilities. after the deal has been negotiated and they’re waiting for the F&I contracts. Both dealerships report that simply adding the visualization/configuration component has had direct, dramatic impact on likelihood to buy. III) Eliminate Physical Inventory – As Shawnee Wandless, Accessories Go 100% Virtual: Manager of Acton put it: “The online Dealerships used to have two configurator provides a really easy, (unprofitable) choices: carry cumengaging way for all dealer staff to bersome, expensive, and, by nature, present accessories to customers. extremely limited physical inventory, www.DrivingSales.com

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or contract with 3rd-party resellers/ installers. But as both Acton and Falmouth Toyota will attest, new 100%-Web-based inventory systems mean no more expensive accessories set-up costs, kiosks or showrooms – making it very easy for dealerships like Acton and Falmouth to finally succeed at accessories sales. Providers like izmocars’ AOA, DealerTrack or GM’s Insignia all provide dealers with access to tens of thousands of accessories from large, updated OEM and aftermarket vendor databases. This provides unprecedented consumer choice at the dealership (that they used to be only able to get elsewhere). And because these systems instantly provide all the necessary information on accessories consumers have purchased (including SKU numbers), it’s made the parts departments very efficient in fulfilling the orders and selecting accessories. And it’s only new Web-based systems (with visualization/configuration tools) that have made it possible to establish accessories in the Sales department, when it’s been confined to Fixed Ops. “Accessories sales have been oddly ‘stuck’ in the Fixed Ops department,” noted Matt Murphy, General Manager of Falmouth Toyota. “Which makes little sense when you consider when they’re most likely to be bought: at the time of vehicle purchase. The AOA system has power-

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any department (from sales to service) can see comments in the system and say with confidence exactly when installation will be ready.

fully expanded the accessories opportunity throughout the store.” IV) Relentlessly Integrate Workflow/ All Departments:

When systems are fully coordinated, getting buyin from each department is easy, because with this new process, sales, parts and service departments are all driving incremental business. And, as Wandless of Acton notes, “the best part of the system is it doesn’t affect the price of the car or F &I sales.” Salespeople like to sell, it’s money in their pocket, and they don’t have to be hassled again. And for the first time ever, Fixed Ops benefits from front-end selling: the front-end is working on behalf of the back-end, channeling highgross parts and installation business their way as part of the new car sale. And accessories installation directly after the vehicle purchase makes it far more likely the customer will set their first service appointment at the dealership and become a repeat service customer. A big deal, considering dealership service traffic volumes are expected to decline 20% between 2009 and 2013, resulting in a 25% decrease in dealership service dollars.

Both Acton and Falmouth caution that a key reason dealerships have failed so spectacularly with accessories is they haven’t put in place cohesive, comprehensive processes and systems to ensure that the accessories sales, financing, parts ordering and installation process is seamlessly coordinated across all departments of the dealership - from front- to back-end. As Matt Murphy of Falmouth Toyota notes: “All your accessories efforts will quickly crash and burn if any player in the chain has a bad experience – whether it’s the customer, the sales department, management, parts, finance, or the service department.” “This new process really spreads the Putting in place such a system can wealth, so it creates storewide buyensure the accessories purchase in,” noted Matt Murphy of Falmouth doesn’t kink the financing (the cus- Toyota. “At our dealership, we see tomer only had $3,000 to spend about 40% of profits go to parts, without exceeding their credit limit, 20% to service and 40% to sales.” but bought $5,000) – that the parts manager can easily fulfill the order (and with online ordering there can be millions of pricing variables, so they need precise info down to SKU number) – and that the as-sold pricing of the accessory includes the proper installation hours and pricing to protect the service department. And when that customer calls about when their hood cover will be ready, 46

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$100,000 monthly – a gain of 100% • Average accessories revenueper-vehicle: $445 • 1 in 2 new-vehicle buyers now purchasing accessories Falmouth Toyota: • Accessories Revenue Gains: From $9,000 to $45,000 in incremental business monthly – a gain of 400% • Average accessories revenueper-vehicle: $395 • 1 in 2 new-vehicle buyers now purchasing accessories Summary: Dealers have been so discouraged by the obstacles accessories sales have presented in the past, that even though they are an absurdly logical fulfiller/provider for car buyers and owners, it’s as if this $32 billion opportunity can’t be properly visualized or digested. But the results dealers like Acton Toyota of Littleton and Falmouth are clocking - empowered by new, online tools and consistent, logical processes - reveal this could be a very profitable new Accessories Era for Dealerships…and getting into the game is simpler than ever. Matt Murphy of Falmouth summed it up: “This new process has been an absolute breakthrough for us and has quickly made accessories one of our highest-margin profit center(s).”

Fully-Tracked Dealership Results: Four simple processes/tools…but consider the jaw-dropping impact on To view comments by others and discuss both Acton and Falmouth Toyota’s this article please visit DrivingSales.com/ bottom line: innovation Acton Toyota: • Accessories Revenue Gains: From less than $50,000 to over

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