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Posts with best practices tag.
Because it’s whatcha whatcha whatcha want!

Let's face it: everything that happens is due to your choices. Your job. Your successes. Your failures. Your knowledge. Your doubt. Your leadership. Your mindset. Your resistance. Nothing defines us more than…us. Performance is an indicator of readiness, focus and opportunity.

So why is it that the more things change, the more people want to stay the same? Dealers want more from less but will still buy things that absolutely make no sense. General managers say that they only want their people to sell but expect the factory to feed them. Salespeople say they want more customers but don't do the activities to back it up.

What is it exactly that you want? What is it that floats your boat? If you want to rise in the morning and achieve mediocrity, you should do it somewhere that people don't expect much. Greater things are expected in our industry and that should not change. Leaders are not born; they're made, built and modeled. If what you want is to excel, be the best at what you do. If you're going to succeed, do what successful people do!

Unfortunately we're in a 'wait and see' world. In one of my other businesses, it's always interesting talking with people about creating income. They're worried about the economy, their job, money, savings, college for kids, investments, etc. Ask someone if they're open to making more money and invariably you'll hear 'yes' immediately. Tell them there is actual work involved and listen to how they're too busy, their pet died a couple months ago, their uncle is coming into town in 14 weeks and other excuses that will not only blow your mind but show the lack of desire or drive!

Know goals…gets results. No goals…gets results. What you want has do be matched by what you'll do to achieve it. Make it your business to believe, visualize, announce and then get your results.

SO…what'cha what'cha what'cha want?

p.s. Sorry! It is 'stolen' but I couldn't avoid that title. Full credit to the Beastie Boys and so appropriate here… In the event that you actually do something new, please comment and let us know how you're getting what you want…and more power to you!

April 15, 2009 by Gary May 0
Cracking The Code: Marketing Presence

What is it about marketing that has dealers so perplexed? It's not the act of marketing your brand, inventory, service panache, amazing staff, luxury facility, location, exclusive offerings and more that matters as much as how you do it and the completeness of your marketing.

It used to be enough to 'silo' advertise: one ad in the newspaper, one direct mail, one newsletter, one TV spot (over and over again…) and the like. The issue was that if the target didn't see/threw out/ignored/didn't fully read, etc your ad, you were done for. Remember: people want to consume content when they want, how they want, where they want, the amount they want and react to it the way they want.

So why are you content with a website and some email blast activities? That's not marketing as much as it is a band-aid. Think of it this way: how complete is your coverage? Would you buy insurance for two tires, a headlight, the drive shaft and tailpipe and not the rest of the car? Why are you partially marketing then?

Not only does your content need to be timely, contextual and relevant, it needs to be able to be seen by anyone, any time and anywhere.  Do you have a mobile site with inventory? Do you text message? Is your website dynamic? Are your eNewsletters actually engaging and do they drive results (traffic and sales)? How is your Facebook and Twitter volume in addition to your other social media efforts?

You wouldn't want to leave the house with one sock missing, half your collar sticking up, two different shoes and a jacket with a hole in the back (although I've seen some salespeople looking like this…) so don't leave your marketing undone or incomplete.

And another thing: you don't have to do everything you hear about. Do what you do well, learn news ways to market and effectively communicate, work with your vendors on new technology and push the envelope consistently. Every dealer tells me the same thing: "I just want to sell cars and not worry about the other stuff!". You have to worry about it and do something as well, but if you market the same way you did six months ago, how are your results going to be any different?

Build a presence that you're proud of and work it…or someone else will work you!

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Power Results

March 18, 2009 by Gary May 0
You Might Drop The Ball, But Don’t Let It Become An Anchor

When you're in sales, management or any position dealing with customers, you're likely to do it: drop the ball. It's part of the continual education process. Even today with unbelievably well-working software, applications, technology and our electronic leashes, it's inevitable that you'll not do what you were supposed to do.

So why do some people drop the ball only occasionally and recover while others seem to live in the mire of their undone tasks? Perspective, ambition and goals as well as an undying commitment to the customer. If you find that you consistently leave the 'little things' undone, get help. It's most likely that you have the ability to, but lack some of the keys to break through to success.

Lately I've had the pleasure of reading articles in ADM and Selling Iron (Brain Food) that deal with the "if we had done this, we wouldn't have had to do that" mentality. And they're totally right! Car dealerships are notorious when it comes to taking care of customers. So why not go the extra mile and make sure that you've followed up, called, delivered, asked, surveyed, invited, confirmed, qualified and more?

Many salespeople I talk to or witness after they've dropped the ball have the same issues:

1. Lack of ownership (ie. blame someone else at the dealership or the customer!)
2. Didn't set a reminder or some other tool to support accomplishing the task
3. Didn't adequately pass off the task to another responsible party (when needed)
4. Didn't ensure that the customer was completely taken care of/satisfied
5. Didn't care (which is just plain pitiful so go sell flowers or oranges on the street corner PLEASE)

If you make a commitment to handle something, do it. It doesn't matter if it's part of the sales process (which has its own ramifications), or simply sending the spare key to the customer after it was dropped in the showroom. In today's environment, it's more important than ever to dot your i's and cross your t's. The stuff that would be swept under the rug just a couple years ago will have you looking for a new job now.

We're all likely to make mistakes. Do everything you can to avoid those mistakes but following a process and following up. If you can't handle something simply don't make the comitment that you will. The difference in learning from salesmanship mistakes and not repeating them versus dropping the ball repeatedly and refusing to improve is dramatic. It's also what's separating many dealerships today.

Don't be an anchor, pick up the ball and run Forrest, run!

Best practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

March 10, 2009 by Gary May 0
How Are Your Numbers? It Is A Numbers Game Alright So Change Things!

Anyone with a background in sales has heard, read and/or said the following: "it's a numbers game". And it's amazingly true no matter what your industry or product. The best in any field contact, communicate and retain better based on the fact that they've got to get to more people. So what is your excuse?

Let's face it, sales are not only down (some estimates last week put February's number at well under 700,000 units) but they're expected to be so for quite a while. If you're 'expecting' a turn-around in the next year or two (many are) and you're waiting…you're dead. Einstein was credited with saying "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result". Do you fall into that description? If so, there are a few categories you can slide into going forward:

1D: If you view things one dimensionally, keep talking to people. Only talk to more people. Again, it's a numbers game. Let's say your "nut" is $6,000 per month. How can you do that if traffic is down 50%? You've got to stretch your mind and get out there and talk with more people. Heck, you may have to actually give your business card out at lunch, dinner, baseball games and chamber of commerce meetings.

2D: You are used to doing more but two dimensional people just do more of the same type of activities. You've built a referral network on top of your walk-ins and repeats but it's just not delivering. Start doing new activities including taking copious notes about your clients and get your database to start working for you.

3D: Yes, you are among the people that make things happen: showroom, network, database, online, social media, email, text messaging and even, yes, live chat. While you have the greatest opportunity, don't get complacent. Since you have more people to contact from, it should be the easiest for you to move ahead!

If you don't like your numbers, do something about it. And don't do the same thing you did last time. Really do something new, creative, different, innovative. Your greatest obstacle is not your inventory or customers or location or facility…it's you. Suggest things, move things, try things, change things.

Your challenge is to work the numbers. Don't stop short under any circumstance. Plan your work and work your plan. Make sure the numbers make sense which means one thing: there's more of them.

Best practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

March 1, 2009 by Gary May 0
What Are You Doing About What Your Competition Is Not?

Everyone's worried about their bottom line, revenues, expenses, marketing,future and what's going to happen next. Worrying so much they have forgotten how to think forward and act intuitively. Better yet, they're not even paying attention to what is not being done by competitors (in and out-of-brand) that can easily be capitalized on.

Two years we were talking about 'an edge'. Now most every dealership is talking about falling off of it. Nothing has changed…nothing! Now, you may have to be more selective and conscience. But you have to market, you have to connect, you must communicate and you absolutely need to build.

Here's a little secret about what 80-90% of dealerships in your market are not doing (or doing effectively at all):

  • Online marketing: SEO, SEM (paid search/PPC, banner ads, etc)
    • Google Analytics (please!)
  • Customer Relationship Management: email, events, incentives
  • Social networking: Facebook, Twitter, Plaxo, etc for increase engagement
    • And drives first two bullets!
  • Reputation management: DealerRater, CarFolks, MyDealerReport, Yelp, etc
    • And drives first three bullets!
  • Capitalize on resources for education
    • Automotive Digest, Digital Dealer, AutomotiveDigitalMarketing, Driving Sales
  • Capitalize on resources for training
    • Consultants, brand events, networking (chamber, local businesses, etc)

More often than not, 10% or less of the 'things that must get done' are and even when they do get done, they're not maintained. Some of the MOST fundamental activities are just not being done and for what?

  • The road to hell is paved with good intention
  • The road to debt is paved with discounts
  • The reason that 90% of people fail is the inability to deal with people
  • Nobody ever earned a dollar without spending one

These are the times when (as a good friend of mine in the industry put it) you can get a larger piece of a smaller pie or you can save yourself to death. Most everything listed here can be done for free to hundred of dollars per month.

One of IM@CS' clients has reduced their marketing expense by nearly 85%, increased their brand exposure, delivered more cars in the past month than they did over the past six, is driving over 25% more web traffic and nearly doubling their own website leads over the past three quarters. They're doing all of the above.

It's completely up to you. So what are you doing about what your competition is not? Someone has to wake up first and get going. It might as well be you!

Best practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

February 19, 2009 by Gary May 0
OK, It’s Time To Get It…Follow Up Is The Key!

It doesn't matter who you are, what you sell or where you sell. Further, it doesn't matter if you're actively selling or making sales happen away from the front lines. There are a number of things that make business tick:

  1. Passion about what you're doing and/or representing
  2. Solid fundamentals; especially process
  3. Understanding and belief in your business' mission and/or goals

Some still count on their manufacturer's brand or their 'book of business' to bring in customers.  If you can still enjoy that luxury today, count yourself as extremely fortunate. For most businesses, that's not the case. But, it's not as difficult as many make it.

A few things are paramount and undeniable:

  1. People want to know what's in it for them
  2. People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care
  3. People want to understand value, advantage or benefit

Simply put, consumers want a reason to connect. The number one active failure is follow up, bar none. When you tell someone that you'll call them back in 30 minutes, keep your word. When you say that a customer will be taken care of, it's your job to ensure that (and be careful because their understanding of what that means may be dramatically different than yours!). If a person understands that something will be replaced, delivered or set aside, do it!

More and more, I find that follow up is atrocious. You'd figure with fewer sales, dramatically less people visiting businesses and more time to do the proper things, we'd be getting it right. It comes down to driving effective results, which comes from setting expectations and delivering! If you don't have good follow up you're dead. And not just an alert in your CRM…really do it!

Many time, follow up is the job of a customer service department or a BDC. No matter what, whoever handles follow up represents the whole company. I've heard it many times that a salesperson will excuse a customer's opinion or experience because "customer service did the follow up, not me". News flash: you're deaf, dumb and blind if you believe that.

Yes, first impressions are lasting ones. But the last impressions may be all for many consumers today and that could severely impact your business. If you don't leverage software or other technology, have reminders and build a plan (and cushion) into your day every day, you are in for a rude awakening.

Think about these things:

  • Time effectiveness = results / time
  • The principal of stewardship is taking responsibility over what you have
  • Success is the progressive realization of a worthwhile dream or goal
  • Change is made when you:
    1. Decide to make business happen
    2. Make a commitment to follow up
    3. Put action into decision and commitment

Make follow up a critical part of your business plan and do it right. It's not someone else's responsibility, it's yours. Or else it's someone else's business! And have a purpose to succeed.

No purpose –> No goals        Know purpose –> Know goals

Best practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

February 15, 2009 by Gary May 0
What Do You Think It Will Take To Change? Hello?

Sometimes it helps being a cynic and a pessimist, or at least devil's advocate but at the end of the day you're either your own worst enemy or best ding-dang advocate.  It is always beneficial to see things with a different perspective but critically important to maintain your identity and job jump in the pool for the sake of it, no matter how fun the party.

Recently I've read two good articles. One by Joe Webb (President of Dealer Knows) in Digital Dealer Magazine. The other a blog post by Matt Watson (VIN Solutions) on AutomotiveDigitalMarketing.com. Both deal with perception versus reality, pitch versus practice and simply understanding what you have and need before you're had.  Two common carriers of bias at the dealership level: a rep and an excited, overzealous  employee. Both are doing their job but if you to change anything you've got to address everything.

While results typically flow bottom up, change is managed top down. Changing your online results will not come from some videos on YouTube and some 'vSEO' on your website. Update all of your touch-points, become contextually relevant and timely, make sure your brand connects and apply process consistently. Changing how your employees act will not come from a new company policy solely either.

SEO and SEM are hot topics…and should be managed in tandem with your website and CRM. Having a bunch of disparate systems and efforts out there is like fishing with two poles…3,000 miles apart from each other. It just doesn't make sense!

Search engine optimization is an ongoing task with great opportunity, not a "got it with my website two years ago" item. When was the last time you looked closely at your analytics or, better yet, looked at your site with an overlay so you can see real numbers and statistics against what you think your consumers see. That's always an interesting meeting with my clients.

Change is never done. If you don't continue to change because you need to, because your competition is or because you can and make the right changes…you lose. The change everyone has been talking about for months is cutting everything and everywhere with very little regard. You see, that's not a change from troubled times in the past, especially for dealers and OEMs.

Our greatest changes are still in front of us. Are you ready? And what do you think it will take to change? Think about it and do it.

Best practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

February 9, 2009 by Gary May 0
Waiting For The Opportunity That Already Passed? Try To Process That!

No knock to hear. No call to answer. No door to open. No question to respond to. The customer was never yours. It happens more than not and it's aggravating as hell to deal with…if you do at all. Today you have two choices:

1. Wait for the next 'up' and work in the same manner as before
2. Create, extend and perpetuate a brand and destination where people want to interact with you

The result will be massively different but the actions required are not so disparate. What are you providing clients with that they'll remember you by? Are you qualifying and inviting before you try to sell (yes, that includes the appointment). It's been estimated over the past few years that nearly three quarters of vehicle buyers online have ended up buying from a store other than the first contacted, sometimes the third or fourth.

No matter what it is you actually do, stay relevant. Which models are people looking at most on your site? Which specials have the most hits? Which emails you send aren't getting opened? When is the last time you tailored your home page to traffic trends?' What are you doing to create opportunities?

IM@CS spends a lot of time on process and branding. Without process, the best online marketing, CRM, emails, websites and more will not deliver the results you want. By the same token, all process and lousy brand, marketing and reach won't win you fans either.

Some day soon, you'll have to get out of comfortable and get with now. Leave what worked behind and start creating what's next. Use what happened yesterday to do it better tomorrow. You can't process (or make a process for) something that is not identified, understood and actionable. Remember the definition of insanity: doing the same things over and over again and expecting a different result.

What is it going to take to change perspectives from loss to gain? From hiding to opportunity? And from losing to winning? Just turning off the television won't do it. Those who are doing everything possible to not only brand and promote but connect with consumers will win, period.  It's a mindset and will take work.

Make sure the next chance is the one that didn't get away. People are begging for reasons to trust rather than fear. Guess what, you only have to worry about your customers! I'm not talking about the fact that Edmunds, KBB, Cars and Trader traffic is up 20%+. Do what it takes to attract every opportunity and capitalize on it "in your neck of the woods" as Al Rocker would say.

Stop waiting. Start acting. Start creating. Start adjusting, Start relating, Start understanding. Start executing. Start right now. I can guarantee you you'll get more opportunities. Remember that it's a numbers game and you have to start to win.

Best practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

February 5, 2009 by Gary May 0
Week At IM@CS: Chats With The Industry

We typically address vendors here for best practices and today will be a little different. When trying to tackle social media, especially as a support for specific marketing online, it is important to be equipped. Some of the most frequent questions heard relate to getting started and how to be effective.

1. Where?
    Twitter, Facebook, Plaxo, LinkedIn, CarFolks, Google, Yelp, DealerRater, MyDealerReport for starters

2. Why?
    People go there, trust them, read them, listen to them more than they do with you, period.

3. How?
    Register, watch others, prepare and create a plan. Don't just set up a Facebook page and leave it. Support it with content, staff and purpose. There are now tools to measure your impact, for example on Twitter:
http://www.webanalyticsdemystified.com/twitter
http://twitter.grader.com/

4. When?
    Now, or as soon as you decide that your brand awareness and people connecting with you are important.

5. Remember
    Nothing, not even the best process, is a silver bullet. If you're planning on inviting more people to come to you, give them a reason. Not a price, not a car, not a showroom, not espresso. Give them a reason that the rest of the 'things' absolutely support.

Nothing can build or kill your business like reputation. What are you doing to ensure that the good outweighs the bad, no matter how accurate? Almost every resource listed above is free, but worth money. You've been spending $3,000-$50,000 per month to get one, two, three customers at a time (at a ridiculously low ROI). Why not spend $0-$3,000 a month using those tools to make sure every customer has a reason to use you, can find you, can read what others say about you and stay connected with you, something they never did with your $20,000 ad that used to run every Saturday.

Stay in front, it's more important than ever today. Stay relevant, your future depends on it. Stay tuned, that way your customers can.

Best practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

February 2, 2009 by Gary May 0
What NADA Showed Us And How We Can Learn

Last weekend's NADA show had all of the makings for a great show: vendors, timing, speakers and even terrific weather (for New Orleans in winter). The one thing that was missed: the D in NADA. Without the dealers, it's a relatively expensive industry supplier meeting. As the trade show and the main body of the industry in the US, it's the dealers' best resource for gettin' er' done. I've never walked around unabated.

This is not a blast on the NADA, its leadership or affiliates. Considering that this blog is for best practices, we'd prefer to look at ideas and solutions prior to next year's Orlando get together. More should have been done to get the dealers there that considered it and declined. NADA, its exhibitors, partners and others deserve more for the effort that is put forth every year to provide solutions and resources to a massive industry.

Absolutely knowing that attendance would be down, a stronger message could have been sent including promotion of the event in the past couple months. Lowering ticket prices, getting airlines, hotels and other necessary partners involved to chip in with big discounts would have been instrumental in getting more people out. On the surface, those are the 'easy' things: better promotion, better attendance, better planning leading to better results. OK, enough said on that, I went.

This year is done and over, we can't change it. Keeping in mind existing factors and the expected continued drop in sales, how can we drive going forward and build for NADA '10? If the industry is down this year, will less than 10% of the automotive retailers be represented next year? How many people will think "I didn't go in '09 and I don't think it hurt me, maybe I'll skip the next one!"

Maybe a couple things need to change. Having attended the major shows and events over the past eight years, it's clear that change is needed to be more effective. Here are a few thoughts:

1. Setting expectations for what dealers will be able to get out of every session, event, speaker and meeting.
2. Promote each event individually in the lead up to the show via email and other marketing.
3. Hold speakers and contributors accountable for the content of their sessions and change them every year. People don't want to hear the same folks talking every year.
4. Follow up. Maybe NADA should follow up with every attendee each year with their staff of consultants and make sure the value from the show is delivered.
5. Come with the expectation to learn first, network second, see everyone you should third and then maybe shift to how many drinks it takes to forget the taxi ride back to the wrong hotel. No, it shouldn't be number one or two no matter how much fun you can have.

Many of this industry's best and brightest companies were on display for about 80% fewer dealers this year. The busiest booths I witnessed were all associated with the web, web-based and/or services that are made for the Internet. In order for all of us to build the business right now, we have to be focused on customers, best practices, smart spending, brand building and right-sizing.

If we act now to make NADA 2010 better for everyone, we'll have a tremendous show. One other way we might be better served is to cross promote events (no matter how insane that sounds in a hyper-competitive environment). Digital Dealer, JD Power Automotive Roundtables, Ward's Spring Training, Synergy Sessions and more can further benefit by helping the community in addition to getting more dealers to attend through lowering fees and providing more value. Just an idea…

If you were at NADA:

1. What were your perspectives?
2. What do you see happening to push business forward?
3. Who were the most exciting companies in your opinion? (without blatant self-promotion)
4. What do you think was missed that must be addressed in a proactive manner going forward?

Learn from the past to better look forward and plan. It is in our complete interest to create a healthier place to both work and thrive from the inside. It must start with helping dealers sell more cars.

Best practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

January 28, 2009 by Gary May 1