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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
Best Practice Consutling: How And Why Do It? Can’t I Just Watch An Online Video?

Why hire a consultant or contractor? Why pay someone for a little work when I can bring on a new employee for the same or less? Consultants only tell you what you already know but charge you for it! I don't want an idea or process person, I want a do-it person!

Yes, those are common comments (direct or indirect) that reflect some of the frustration that is typically borne out of paying for something that you believe you're getting versus what you actually get. Truth is the greatest benefits a business can ever receive is accurate 'outside' information.

Many people ask what 'best practices' are or why the term is used instead of just 'consulting'. Since there are many ways to interpret how a goal is set, course of action is drawn, possibilities determined and application is completed, it is important to ensure constant collaboration. Fact is, so many aspects can be viewed subjectively. Also consider that anyone can sell or buy what's in a book or what has already been done. More often than not in today's climate, what's necessary are customized or completely unique solutions that must be applied. The partnership between provider and client along with very specific goals are the glue.

The Wikipedia defines best practices as follows:

An idea that asserts that there is a technique,
method, process, activity, incentive or reward that is more effective
at delivering a particular outcome than any other technique, method,
process, etc. The idea is that with proper processes, checks, and
testing, a desired outcome can be delivered with fewer problems and
unforeseen complications. Best practices can also be defined as the
most efficient (least amount of effort) and effective (best results)
way of accomplishing a task, based on repeatable procedures that have
proven themselves over time for large numbers of people.

Despite the need to improve on processes as times change and things evolve, best-practice is considered by some as a business buzzword
used to describe the process of developing and following a standard way
of doing things that multiple organizations can use for management,
policy, and especially software systems.

As the term has become more popular, some organizations have begun
using "best practices" to refer to what are in fact 'rules', causing a linguistic drift in which a new term such as "good ideas" is needed to refer to what would previously have been called "best practices."

Simply put, it describes a concept of being dynamic and staying out front via perpetual process improvement. If the goals for your business include fundamental advancement, engagement, education and awareness, it may just be what you need.

There are some great consultants out there. Take the time to find one that works based on your needs, not theirs. Right now more dealerships than ever need help. Things are changing so rapidly and they won't stop. Get someone from outside your business to help things run better for your business. And listen…you'll thank me later.

Best practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

February 11, 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
CSI: A penny for your thoughts, $10,000 if you say that I suck

What is it about CSI, or through interpretation of what it means, that has had dealers begging for their life and coaching customers? Especially today when someone may be cordial enough to tell the factory that they were completely satisfied in the hand-written survey (when they may not have) only to have another customer completely lambaste you online…

More importantly, why does the focus on CSI happen at the end of the delivery? Because they'll remember? Hardly! Because if you coach them before they leave, they'll help you more? Not likely! Complete satisfaction happens from 'hello'. The foundation for a completely satisfied client is based on the 'completeness' of the experience. Many dealers believe that it still depends on that last smile and wink.

With the proliferation of the automotive Internet and anonymous customers, why in the world would you not want to start at the start? If a waiter took care of you for the last 5 minutes of your visit after ignoring you for the first hour and a half, are you going to leave a 25% tip?

Customer service and complete satisfaction need to take place:

1. when you first meet; regardless if in-person, phone or Internet
2. throughout your communication: set expectations, deliver on them and ask questions!
3. in your walk, drive and delivery: make sure the customer feels taken care of
4. before the customer leaves: check that everything has been handled via review, yes review
5. after they leave: send an email immediately to ensure their satisfaction and give yourself and your dealership the chance to handle any issues before anything becomes a problem

Too often customers feel cornered and pushed to provide a positive review but are actually neutral (or worse) on the whole experience. There is absolutely nothing wrong with checking, asking and making sure the customer is having a great experience throughout their time at the store.

Another thing, stop ignoring the customer when the rear left tire clears the driveway. And I don't mean a newsletter, a fancy Hallmark and/or their special VIP card. Complete satisfaction never ends people.

The best salespeople will typically ask (yes, ask!) their customers something along the lines of "how would you be able to feel that you were completely satisfied?". Not "what will it take…?" There is a difference. If you don't know what it is you need help that this blog typically doesn't cover.

Remember that CSI is someone else's interpretation of your customer's interpretation of your performance and how you interpret satisfying them. Don't spend three minutes on it, spend thirty days on it, every month. Oh, and ask all of your customers to write their reviews of you online (you've never heard that before!).

The pennies you get for people's positive thoughts will add to thousands of dollars over time…and you might just save your dealership $10,000 at a time.

Best practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

January 31, 2009 by Gary May 0
Taking The Fear Out Of Online…One _______ At A Time

Even though you've already heard it: If you want to succeed in business today, it has to take place online. For us in the auto industry, that's truly more the case than not. But the fact is it's not harder than it looks or sounds if you have the right assistance.

Maybe it used to be much easier, in some sense, years ago when you'd place an ad insertion, sit down on Saturday, Sunday or whatever day of the week your ad would display, grab your coffee, flip the right page open and smile. "There's my ad" and "oh, so much better than their ad!" (looking at a competitors ad). You could touch it, feel it, see it and gloat over it. Somewhere before the newspapers started failing rapidly, you were paying A LOT for advertising there and in other media that is not capturing an effective audience today…in the least.

Now here comes the Internet, offering the ability to reduce budgets by 30, 50, 60 and even 75% percent and get a more effective (yes, more effective) reach and ROI, let alone transparency and accountability. You can hear the dealers backing away from their monitors right now. How (and why) can you have faith in something with no true ability to be tracked, where circulation and impression rates mean practically nothing, then look at the web and say it's not for you?

We are not talking about the "I don't get it" excuse. Let that flimsy fallacy go the way of the Dodo Bird. This is the simple message: In most markets $2,000-$4,000 monthly of well-placed spend after 60-90 days will replace what $15,000-$25,000 plus used to drive. Absorb that…call your website or SEO/SEM company and start, today. And stay in it for at least 90 days before you make any judgment. This is not a 'run and gun ad' world. This is a 'stick with it' world.

So it doesn't matter if it's one ad, one car, one store, one promo, one incentive, one anything. The only way to take fear out of something is to do it. Stop making excuses: you're astute, successful, experienced and capitalistic, even though somewhere along the line fear replaced confidence and the Internet replaced the 'Sunday Times'. Oh, you might even end up building a brand…imagine that!

And by the way, if your website company can't handle it and/or you don't have an SEO specilist, head to NADA in a couple weeks and to Digital Dealer in April and get one (see you at both events!)

Best practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

January 15, 2009 by Gary May 0
One Thing At A Time Online…All At Once

When it comes to the 'new age' of Internet existence for your business, it is important that you appear as good as possible when people find you online. When it comes to reputation, shoppers want to know what your customers say rather than what you say. They want to have transparency in inventory, see the actual cars and features. Online visitors want to know what you'll do for them, to understand how you work, dealership history, who makes up the team, what specials they can get and so much more.

So hop to it…get your blog entries published, inventory fixed, Twitter your specials, text your new inventory, moderate the discussion for your local enthusiast group's site, shoot videos of your CPO vehicles and stream them on your site and push them onto YouTube, get all of your clients to write online testimonials and refresh your website's content monthly and SEO every quarter (if not monthly). Done! Oops…not yet…sell 50 cars a month via the web while you're at it.

Stop the press! We've only be gathering email addresses regularly for a year? We haven't gotten our customers' cell phone numbers and carriers to message them? Nobody has been putting the most valuable client information in the CRM? How do 50% of our leads fall through the cracks, how do you truly track them? And why does the factory blind shop us 10 times a month? Hold on…how do you ask a customer to write an online recommendation? Where do I even send them?

OK, that may be a little tongue and cheek but it's not too far off for many dealers today. So how do you start from zero and get up to 75 immediately on the information superhighway? The best recommendation I can provide here is…act like a customer! What do your customers talk about more and ask from you daily? Consider that one of, if not the greatest influence on consumers is search.

Fact is that you have no choice but to trust more people with your dealership than ever before: vendors, customers and employees. Things are changing at breakneck speed with technology, social media and engagement. One bad customer experience written online may not ruin you overnight but it will affect people's opinion and become pervasive if not offset by more positive assertions.

Make it a goal in January to spread the online responsibilities among all of your front-end staff. Get your people comfortable with your online existence and build your brand, reach and reputation. Become a truly trusted brand with the best advocates out there. Your option is having someone else beat you to it.

It starts with one thing at a time, just do it all at once.

Best practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

January 8, 2009 by Gary May 0
Res Firma Mitescere Nescit…And How To Keep It Up

If you've seen the movie, you know the line. It's not earth shattering, but it was more than a decent movie. American Flyers came out in post-LA Olympic 1985 and starred Kevin Costner (very pre-Waterworld), David Grant (as his younger brother), Jennifer Grey (Dirty Dancing), Rae Dawn Chong (yes, Tommy Chong's daughter), Alexandra Paul (Baywatch), John Amos, Robert Townsend (plenty of star power there) and an otherwise strong cast.

When the brothers walk into the sports institute, the character played by John Amos (who heads the facility) reads the slogan hanging up above the various people working out "Res Firma Mitascre Nescit". David asks him what it means and he loudly proclaims "Once you've got it up…keep it up!" and then proceeds to yell at the contingent of sweating people "Right?!!" to which they all reply "Right!!".

While the movie has nothing to do with car sales, it has everything do to with perspective, attitude and belief. In regularly spending time with dealers, it amazes me how many salespeople don't keep a sharp mind and eye, let alone know the fundamentals of process and success. Sometimes I'll randomly select a salesperson and ask about their goal setting. Invariably we'll sit down and the first real question they're typically asked is "how much do you want to make?". Once they (sheepishly) reply, the very next question is "how many sales does that take you and how many leads to you usually need to work to get there?". You can guess the answer 99% of the time.

Successful people always find a way to keep it up. Sure, down times happen and you might even catch a leader in a true slump. I've been in weekly sales meetings where the store is down and the top unit (and usually gross) performer is upset with their sales performance even though they are still in the lead. Like clockwork, a person with significantly less to talk about will pipe up, usually with "I'll take those sales any day".

See, the thing is that goal setters hold themselves more responsible than any sales or general manager ever will. They have an idea of what they need to do in February come January 28. They don't need to be pushed into reality on February 21 when they're on the bubble at 3-5 units. Most of them will also have daily goals and tasks that they make sure are complete before they leave as well as writing down the next day's activities.

If you're in a sales tailspin or simply finish 2 or 3 units down from where you want regularly, there are a few things that you can do that will likely get you, well…up!

  1. Work your leads as if they'll close within 72 hours (create action and excitement)
  2. Regularly and effectively touch base with your clients (yes, on top of the 'stuff' the store sends)
  3. Set, adjust and maintain daily, weekly and monthly goals (copy management for accountability)
  4. Track everything you do. It's a pain…do it (don't resort to memory, even if you're 25)
  5. Educate and refresh yourself on products and services (do your own walkarounds if you need)
  6. Eliminate habits and poor performance activities, period (listen to motivational CDs or read)

A few of my contacts have even gone as far as paying for software and/or services out of their own pocket since the dealership won't pay for them, but they know that having them is one of their keys to success. Not letting anything stop you from reaching your goals is what successful people do every day!

Remember that when you're not learning, you're dying. Don't let your thunder be stolen by circumstance, a boss, a coworker, a client or the media. Make sure you can easily identify what you expect to happen every month and take the steps to ensure you're on the cause side of the equation. Oh, and once you've got it up…KEEP IT UP!

Best practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

January 6, 2009 by Gary May 0
Week At IM@CS: Chats With The Industry

There are some great companies out there and this section of our blog is intended to both look at best practices and provide a more level playing field for those that don't have the marketing dollars or field representation. Sometimes, it's just that the vendor is newer to the space and should get a helping hand.

Both of the companies listed here are neither new or very small, but they do have those qualities. Both are headed by experienced leaders and provide a great service.

1Micro: Integration means different things to different people. Doing a great job with prospects before, during and after their dealership experience requires skill, knowledge and a solid level of integration. 1Micro provides an impressive system at any level, including key systems and CRM. Back at the Digital Dealer conference in April '08 I had the chance to get a thorough introduction by Kris Terp and I've been impressed since. Check them out at http://www.1micro.com

Jazel: Websites are websites until they have strong SEO, are dynamic and allow dealers with different skill levels to admin them. So Steve Hastert and his team at Jazel provide more than just a website, which is what more and more dealers need today. They also have an ad agency background so they know how to drive traffic, create eye-candy and also keep things simple if you prefer that. Oh, they do lead management as well, so you may even be able to simplify things if you like http://www.jazelauto.com

We'll try to keep these updates weekly and ultimately have an area where you can get in touch with the vendors.

Best practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

January 3, 2009 by Gary May 0