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The Difference Is One Letter…And What It Gets You Is Much More

Many times people ask me why IM@CS is not a training company, even though plenty of people call what we do by the "T" word. The response every single person receives, for the last five years – and emphatically – is that people despise being trained. People, more successful ones for sure, love learning. In short, we've never had a staff member at a client that ever deserved such a low pat of the attention span.

Education, however, is what people and businesses that want to succeed tune into. There are plenty of trainers to choke 17,000 new car franchises to death, and then some. There are so very few educators, especially in the digital space. That aren't beholden to vendors they recommend (read: if you take a fee from a client and a commission from a vendor, that's called a conflict of interest). That don't work at a store 40 hours a week (read: that's an employee, not a consultant). That learn from outside the industry (read: recirculating existing data, quotes, white papers and results from others is simply an affront).

Education, for the few that want it, is the only thing that moves our industry forward. "Getting back to the basics" and "blocking and tackling", while called for and part of daily operation especially when things drop through the cracks, is needed. However, you can't increase results from eCommerce, increase your SEO footprint, establish social media signals, improve your email lead response rate or conquest a new market or brand by "doing what has always worked".

This week brought a great opportunity to share what might be considered as more "digitally savvy" dealerships and vendors in a conversation with an industry colleague. He happens to be someone that I respect, having OEM, portal and agency experience including outside automotive. He asked, among other items, what we're most proud of that we were able to do with a now, more-successful client. My response was that he should ask them, not me…

You see, training is something you do everywhere for everybody that "needs it". Education is something that you provide with varying degrees of success, seeing the results later through your clients and only for those that absolutely want or will kill for it.

One thing I've always been passionate about in providing services to different business over the past twenty plus years is watching their growth. By providing turnkey services or an enterprise-wide platform, as needed as those services are, the baseline is so muted. That doesn't get me or the team of people I get to work with up in the morning. What does is making a difference through education and then supporting the education. Anyone call sell or buy a widget. And many will tell you their widget is better or drives better results. Bulls**t. The people using the widget to their best capability win. Remember who people buy cars from? The least educated one, right?

So what's the difference between training and education? Education is one letter longer. And likely the only thing keeping your dealership back from excellence…

 

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

 

August 31, 2012 by Gary May 0
If It Were That Simple, You Wouldn’t Have Done It Yet…

Things are changing. So fast, they’re staying put, at least for the most part. It usually brings a smile to my face when they phrase “We’re doing well. Things could be better, but compared with (fill in competitor) we’re actually doing fine/well“, is muttered for two reasons. First, it’s part of our selection process and second, it’s part of the business’ selection process. “No, we’re not changing” is a great response, even though most can’t get it out of their mouths.

Recently one of our clients called to advise us that they were being pushed be their OEM to do some print advertising, their first in nearly two years. So they advised us that they’ll do it for two months, just to get the heat of their back. That made me think about what business owners and senior management do to simply make their business partners happy, or trying to make competitors worried, or to make a statement as well as a list of other, mostly ego-driven or self-centered, reasons.

Many businesses today are out of touch with their customers even though consumer sentiment and feedback is so readily available today, to the point of nausea. And we don’t ask. Heck, we can’t even get accurate sourcing at the point of sale today as “the fastest way around the system” is what most of those in sales will do because “I just want to sell a (fill in the blank) now”.

Logic tells us if something is easy enough, we should just do it! Logic also tells us most people won’t opt to do things that are deemed difficult so the few that do that harder work reap the greatest benefit. Most things that can increase results relatively quickly, given the proper attention, will absolutely give an unprecedented advantage. Yet most fall short. Well short.

Take, for example, call tracking. Why would you want to use your cell, at your desk, when you can kill two birds with one stone on the business’ land line (unless you have a more advanced CRM that can append a cell call to a customer record)? Convenience is not a reason, that’s called an excuse. Sure, there are reasons to have your land line forwarded to your cell, however it makes sense to get the most out of each contact, being somewhere you can easily take notes and/or check something online and more, simply by making/taking the call at your desk on a tracked phone. (Using this example due to the fact that for most car dealerships this is a huge pain point in accountability and tracking.)

Do we really think the top producing salesperson will drop 20-70% of their sales when pressed to follow a process versus letting them “do it their way” since nobody wants to “rock the boat”? That’s not likely to happen and,  better yet, it’s more likely to provide a boost in production.

More than ever we need to stretch the rubber band if we expect to succeed, not just get along. There are so many simple things that we can get done offering huge benefits in return. They may not always be easy, but they are worth it. The salesperson chatting on the front line may just be able to reach five more people today on the phone. But it won’t happen..

Because if it were really that simple, it just won’t get done. That, ladies and gentlemen, is a big issue.

 

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

June 26, 2012 by Gary May 0
Are You Waiting? Still? Well…..Goodbye!

This is officially the beginning of the end for many. December 27, 2011. There will be a moment over the next couple to handful of years in which you'll reflect back to this post (or others like it) and say "oh crap". Or it may be the longer rendition which usually sounds something like "Why did I allow me to get in my way over and over again? Why did I shut down and refuse to change, giving garbage excuses?"

As time went on from December 27, 2011 Acute Death by Delusional Digital Defiance, we'll call it ADDDD for short, you invested more and more in the comfort zone, allowing vendors to do with you money and brand what they wanted and would essentially squandering opportunities while you were convinced you were actually doing something. Your business was actually disappearing at the same time everything looked the same from your vantage point behind the desk or golf cart steering wheel.

And who could blame you? You read the ads in the trades and took advice from your 20 Group and absorbed the Powerpoint presentations. You wrote the checks. You took the training, however often that someone actually showed up and you attended the conferences. It never dawned on you that everything you relied so heavily on was the white elephant in the room. You took the easy way out instead of asking the tough questions and not believing the hype. Simply put you allowed yourself to fail.

Why did this happen? You didn't take the road less traveled when the paths diverged in the woods. As far as you knew, you believed it wasn't supposed to be about "hard work" anymore: you're senior management or, better yet, a business owner. Add to that the whole "Internet thing" was just too difficult to understand and should be handled by young kids and "people who text a lot and surf the web".

So wind it down now so you don't experience the slow, deliberate march of self-induced death. Ignore the articles from Joe Webb prodding the salespeople that you mistreat (http://bit.ly/rVN66B) and from HubSpot on Harvard Business Review about Google changes (http://bit.ly/ub6iOH) that your website company will not talk about, or some trends to capitalize on (http://bit.ly/rU9VAt) and what's going on with mobile (http://bit.ly/smRSOt) from Search Engine Watch. You've been reading all of these…right?

Nope…"too busy running a business". More like "too ignorant to run a business"

So while you idly wait for the inevitable why don't you ask:

Your website company why:

  1. your pages have the same names and metadata
  2. you don't have model and trim level landing pages
  3. you don't have separate tracking numbers
  4. you don't have original content on your pages (heard of Google Panda?)
  5. you don't have a truly optimized mobile presence
  6. you can't track conversions on Google Analytics or your PPC/SEM
  7. they don't truly offer eCommerce
  8. their proouction team doesn't talk with their marketing team (ie SEO to SEM)
  9. they lack in customer support
  10. they're not up to date on what's happening with Google and social

Your CRM company why:

  1. you can't track email opens, bounces, links, shares, etc.
  2. you can't change headers and footers dynamically
  3. they don't append and integrate for text/mobile delivery
  4. you are still on servers and not on the cloud
  5. they don't offer true mobility
  6. they can't make lead duplication management much easier
  7. data "siloing" still existst (lead based: service/sales/finance)
  8. they're not up to date on what's happening with Google and social

Your social media company why:

  1. they don't actually write content
  2. what they do publish is redundant and automated (ie "Caption this photo" of dogs or cats)
  3. they don't create engagement
  4. they sold you on 20+ "social media sites/platforms" when traffic comes from 4-8 of them
  5. they pitch and don't produce (and not actually active on the networks at all themselves)
  6. they are disconnected from the store
  7. they're not up to date on what's happening with Google and social

Waiting? You've been told your entire life that good things come to those that wait. Well, we're here to set the record straight. Only the leaders thrive. You can wing it today, sure. There will be "those" that still make it with no true effort. However, it is a false existence and leads to ADDDD.

The grim reaper is coming and his sickle has your business' name on it. Are you waiting? Still? Well…..Goodbye!

Thanks to @HarryHaber and @BryanCarGuy for a little insight on the list of dealer pain points… you're great friends and car guys!

 

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

December 27, 2011 by Gary May 1
The Dealership Environment: Inspired By Everything, Motivated By Nothing

Face it: You’re whipped. Which way is up? Which way is down? Is flat the new growth? Is the shiny object the new thing keeping you from the golf course of from your sales course? Fact: the dealership environment is as fragile and unsteady as it’s ever been. Yet there are more opportunities than ever.

Look around for a little while at any dealership and on the surface it looks functionally no different than it did just a few years ago. Dig a little bit and everything changes. But you already know this. You’re obviously more progressive or being informed by someone who is because you won’t find the sports score ticker or a reality show recap here. It’s all business. But is it new business?

With more advice than ever, including a massive dose of simply republished (or regurgitated) articles and data, and more tools than ever, including predominantly recreated, re-skinned and relicensed  products, it easy to get inspired by everything while ultimately motivated by nothing. So how do you stop the regression and inevitable redirection?

Have a plan. Plan your work. Work your plan.

More than ever, and especially with the speed of all things “new”, it is critical to write everything down, have a plan (including accountability for yourself), build support and see things through. Anything less is simply “blocking and tackling”, which is crap. Is this advice sage? Not at all!

In order to succeed you’re likely doing a number of the things listed above anyway. But are you doing it for everything, every day and do you have a plan of action? Can you get uncomfortable long enough to become perpetually motivated? Can you create the buy-in needed for at least a year? Two?

With the level of community support available, on DrivingSales for example, it’s easier than ever to get the motivation necessary. Remember, the platforms are for sharing and doing. DrivingSales and the other networks are some of the most underused resources! They are not supposed to be selling platforms. Simply reading and not sharing is akin to watching an accident unfold in front of you and not helping. Considering most dealerships are not the most positive environments around why, aside from the ego and time excuses, would you not go to where you can participate, learn, ask and excel?

While there are some great people sharing and answering questions, the purpose of the forums is to engage. The challenge ahead of us is not the economy (national or fuel) or the products. Our collective Achilles heel is not process or response times or the OEMs enforcing programs they don’t understand. Our greatest faults are relaxing, waiting for things to automatically happen for us and not participating. Not asking more questions and letting go of our egos. Not taking more responsibility for our staffs, interactions and brands. Being in the store but not being aware or active. Like most dealers in social media, we might be inspired but by not listening, involving and really trying, we are limiting our success. All of us.

1,000 people at the largest events for dealers, vendors and the OEMs? If those in attendance were just dealer staff, that would represent only 0.0005% of the retail industry. 50 people involved in a community with 50,000+ that touch the content? That’s a slightly better 0.001% involvement.

How can we motivate an industry? It’s not a CRM. It’s not going to happen with a DMS. And it’s surely not going to be spurred by a dealership website (have you actually looked at yours? Really?!) We must be motivated by what can move or change things for the better. We must be motivated by those things that last longer than 30 days. We must be motivated by how much more we can do. We must be motivated and then validate those that did the motivating, then motivate others.

Our industry does have more leaders than are presently obvious. It’s just not obvious. Not for now.

Businesses, already challenged, are going to be challenged more in the foreseeable future. Do you want to go into that future armed with only a pea shooter? Why not an arsenal? Why not a team? We are better than that. An industry that represents the largest part of our (shrinking) GDP deserves to be better, not lethargic!

Take the challenge and get a plan together with solid fundamentals and a road map. Let your inspiration without action turn into something greater.  What would happen if 2,000 people were active on communities? What if 3,000 showed up at the best events? We don’t know.

Best practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

 

August 9, 2011 by Gary May 0
Parting Shots, Starting Shots. They’re Not Too Different. So Get Real!

Chances are you've been on one of the many sides of this lately: Just moments ago I sent a Facebook message to a dealer, responding to my initial message after receiving a "friend" request from them on Facebook. The message in the middle, the one from them, essentially asked me to show them any Facebook language indicating that setting up a personal page for a business was a violation of their terms of use. That was in addition to their indicating that, after reading into it, a business page might be a "good option as they are more tailored to businesses".

Folks, for better or worse it's 2011. Being in business is not about turning the open sign to "open". Being in business means you are serious about it. That every part of your business is on the radar. That being as how nearly everything that you do away from the dealership is digital you should be doing it at your dealership. You can't be serious about it being half-assed.

If you communicate with your Internet leads 50% of the time in your ILM/CRM and 50% of the time in Outlook, you WILL get 50% of the results, not 100%.

If you make a serious effort to contact leads, customers, be-backs and more 50% of the time and spend 50% of the time shooting the s&*t at the water cooler, the point, the desk, the lot and on the web, you WILL get 50% of the results, not 100%.

If you do a relatively good job at scheduling appointments 50% of the time, great job 50% of the time, you WILL get 50% of the results, not 100%.

And if you pay attention to half of the new, relevant, digital information available to you and pay attention to half of the old school, down and dirty, blocking and tackling, back to basics, you WILL get 50% of the results, not 100%. If you are lucky….

You see, as we close one year and start another what you do, and not what you talk about doing, will dictate what you get. This is not rocket science. Stop ignoring what is right in front of you… What we're hoping for is that you get the message. And there's no cost or strings attached! Ignore the messengers all you want. Don't ignore the message here!!!!! Heck, there are plenty in our industry getting (and paying for) a much larger audience and covers of magazines just to tell you what you should be well past.

Yes, it is our job to do the job right the first time. Especially if you have the information and resources! Dealers making sure the coffee and pastry service is just right while ignoring their sales process? Nothing in the world is more akin to stepping over a dollar to pick up a dime. Yes, the customer feel good is important. But calls filled with a bunch of ahs, ers and ums with a bunch of I's to boot or sending someone an email blast 120 days after they bought with a payment $50 less per month for the same car will never take the place of a great donut and a latte.

And it will never take the place of having the best new-owner orientation in the city or even the state or region. Oh yeah, those went away when things got tough and have now been replaced by $5,000 a day "trainers" and $4,000 a month social media services. Man, someone has your number and they've been sharing it!

Our parting shots for 2010 are absolutely no different at all from the starting ones for 2011. A number of dead-on predictions for the last year were ignored by at least 95% of the industry. Will an increase in sales for the majority of dealers in 2010, and hopefully again in 2011, have people ignoring really solid insight and strategies again? Let's hope not.

Aside from the factory banging on you to punch cars so they can reach new sales levels (or try to save their year), January 1 is not the start of a new month or new year. It's the next day after December 31, when you'll likely be doing the same exact thing you were doing on June 16.

So get real…

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

December 29, 2010 by Gary May 0
Things That Pissed Us Off In 2010 (Yes, They Pissed You Off, Too!)

We know it, you know it, they know it. Almost everyone knows it. Because if everyone knew it we wouldn't have ben put through it. But we were, you were and they were. Disclaimers: These are not in order of importance. Many companies are being called out, not all. This is a singular perspective.

So here it goes:

1. Automotive marketing overall: Sucked, still sucks, will likely continue to suck.
2. Dealership websites: 1995 called and wants its sites back. Give us a break and some new suppliers!
3. OEMs that don't publish new inventory: Get over it. customers leaving your brand are.
4. Automotive trainers that re-branded as web consultants: A new suit can't cover 1982 style.
5. Reputation management companies: Fudge is brown. So is bull%^&*. Fake customers? Envelope stuffers? Hooters girls? Please leave…
6. Motivational speakers that re-branded as automotive trainers: See line 4.
7. Social media companies: Charging dealers $3,000-5,000 plus per month? Larceny is still a crime.
8. DMS companies: Still make clients sign in blood for 15 year old technology, for 15 years? Nice. FAIL.
9. Website company dashboards: No, use this thing called Google Analytics. Quit fudging numbers. Block dealers' and your IPs for starters!
10. Inventory marketing portals: The luster is long gone. Run or acquire some companies for revenue!
11. Sales reps: Stop selling and start helping. Don't know much so you can't help? Sell elsewhere.
12. Ad agencies (Tier 1): Quit the facade. Traditional doesn't sell. Experiential does. Learn to like social. Get help.
13. Ad agencies (Tier 3): Quit lying to yourselves and your clients…You don't get digital. Get help.
14. CRM companies: If you don't do that, say you don't do that. Otherwise add it for free. Pariahs.
15. Website companies using Flash: 2003 called and wants their websites back. It's called HTML or PHP.
16. Facebook Personal Profiles: Businesses, we've been yelling. Set up pages. Not "friend" profiles!!
17, Social media companies: Setting up APIs and RSS feeds from OEMs is not social. It's plagiarizing.
18. Social media companies: Setting up inventory feeds as posts? If that's social, I'm tall, rich and hot.
19. Traditional media/ad networks still selling to dealers "old school". Shame on you (and your bosses).

Dealers, you're not in the clear either:

1. Hiring any service, including social, as a "pay for it and leave it" service? No such thing. Period!
2. Hiring any company because you "liked the rep when they were at ________ before". Failure…
3. Not taking the time to get educated on new aspects of your business? Hand the keys back to the OEM
4. "Trying" new things?! Sample spoons are for ice cream. Business is for big boys and girls. Just Do It!
5. Cutting your nose to spite your face? Chances are you're too lean. Hire the right people, not resumes.
6. Leaving everything up to the factory (especially some luxury brands). Wake up! It's your business!
7. Believing the you can turn your store's reputation over to an outside company?!?! I've got a bridge…
8. Not flinching on a new $4,000+ service to a company you're already cutting a $15k check to? Dumb.
9. Spending $3,000 on a 3-day conference 3+ times when you can get a month for that?! And get more!!!
10. Spending any money on your business and not taking ownership of the new spend. Why, why, why?
11. Paying any amount of ad money to traditional media and it's not integrated and tracked?! Foolish.

New-age definitions when you don't understand the spend:

CPM: Can't Provide Much
CRM: Can't Remember Much
ILM: Incredibly Lousy Marketing
CSI: Coached Senseless Investment
SSI: Serving Senseless Initiatives
I/O: Incredibly overpriced
OEM: Overlord, Empire, Master
PDI: Petty detailed injustices
Social: Someone outside control incompetently and loosely
IMS: Inventory Means Something
DMS: Decades-old Money-draining (or Mediocre-Moduled) Systems

We could go down the path a long way but here's the simple version of the message: quit doing things old ways, with old thought processes, with old beliefs, with old defenses, with old intentions, with old management. If you want to run a dealership the old way, get stuck in 1964, 1974, 1984, 1994 or 2004. If you want to thrive in this and the coming markets, wake up to the reality that business will not be the same. Even if we sell 17 million new cars again, it'll never be the same.

Some may be able to, by all appearances, just skim along on the surface, mesmerized by everything going on around them and still put up the numbers. For most of the businessmen and businesswomen in the retail part of our industry, it's a deep dive kind of time. Your success depends on you and how you build your business's presence, results, growth and more. Less than 5% of your colleagues are engaged, firing on all cylinders and moving forward in today's market.

There are a lot of things that pissed us off in 2010. And we may never do a post like this again. But somebody needed to do it. This might motivate some, light a fire in others and have some in stitches. No matter what, it's time for moving some more metal. There's not too many ways to do that today.

Are you pissed off enough to do something? We've been helping those that want to do something for the past three years and three months. Are you next?

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

December 7, 2010 by Gary May 7
2011 Will Be A Great Year…Even If You Don’t Participate

It's no secret that over the past three years, some pretty forward-thinking information was provided to the automotive industry franchise dealer body. All 24,000 plus of them (not ignoring the independents here, just making a point). Over the coming weeks, all 20,000 of the franchise dealers will get more critically important data. Just like before, it's up to them to participate.

2011 will be a great year. Fewer than last year will make up the bulk of increases in sales, count on it. The most web-versed, socially-minded, communication-skilled and forward-thinking will win. Many of those dealers will win impressively. So the same question bears repeating: why not more? Has the carnage not been great enough? Is there too much money in the coffers still? Or is it that management is still happy sitting on their "duffs" of the bay?

2011 will be a great year. There will be more talent available for dealers to select their next sales, service and parts teams and management from. Efficiency will increase, while hopefully not at the sake of bottom lines. In other words there should be more people working at dealerships unless dealerships ignore the potential increase to their business.

2011 will be a great year. The product lines continue to get better and consumer demand for a wider array of cars (not the same car re-badged) is greater than ever. Floor traffic at the dealers that deserve it will most definitely increase. Savvier dealer marketing and engagement will increase penetration in service departments, expect it. And many dealers will experience true conquest for the very first time because they did it, not the badge.

2011 will be a great year. Technoloy will continue to becon to a larger and larger customer base so those more comfortable with technology will take advantage of that. Chaging interests in Green and alternatives will compel a few more dealers to become as engaged with those movements as their customers. Building dealership brands will become a more heated conversation than building new dealership facilities (no, that won't go away).

So how great of a year will 2011 be for you and your store? Everyone, yes everyone, is betting their bottom dollar — and bottoms — that the numbers will be up. We even believe that will be the case. Remember: it's not what you make, it's what you keep. So if you didn't like what 2010 brought, you may not really be satisfied once 2011 closes it's doors.

2011 will be a great year. Oh by the way, for the ones that will be successful, 2011 has already begun. For those that want to join us, what's stopping you???…

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

December 6, 2010 by Gary May 0
When The River Runs Dry…Pave It!

Retrench! Dig in! Block and tackle! Just wait! Awww bullshit…. More and more today it seems that the chasm between the "doers" and those choosing "planned obsolescence" is growing. You hear a lot of good stories out in the field about who's doing what and which dealers are killing it. Then the numbers come in. Reality check.

So why is it that there are dealers growing market share (the minority) while there are those than seem to want to accept and participate in a challenged market (majority)? With everything facing dealers today, and it's a bleepstorm, it seems that the path of least resistance is the one leading the wrong way. Resources, blogs, data, events/conferences, outside assistance and more, are readily available. And to the point that they're so underused, they're essentially abused.

Have you hit the end of your rope? Down-sized to the point that your store is no-sized? Pushed the factory guy back on allocation to the point that they're giving you 365-day terms just to take cars? Listening to your 20 Group buddies' stories of success and smiling while shrinking in the back of the room? OK, so stop it. If the river is dry…why not pave it? Heck, make it a raceway!

There are no silver bullets but there are a number of effective shortcuts, that get you to where you want to be. No matter what your newspaper sales rep or the online inventory advertising company reps tell you, that's not where the customers are. Sure, they go there after they end up feeling like they can't get a straight deal, attention and common courtesy starting with your website or showroom. Sorry….

Yep, the proverbial question: how do I pave the dry river?

Lead responses: effective, in the shortest possible time. with validation, options and the most engagement that drive the strongest replies, appointments, profit anad retention.

Events: inexpensive, regular, value-based, informative, community-engaging, need-supporting, fund-raising, cooperative and non-self-serving.

Social media: Compelling, revealing, engaging, fun, relevant, contextual, intuitive, brand-building and even a bit giveaway-ish for the "what's in it for me?".

You see the river can be paved fastest when it's filled by things that consumers are looking for. What doesn't pave the rider, or fill your showroom, or get the phone ringing is what's been used for the longest time: lost leaders, false advertising, packing (especially recently), full-page ads, large traditional media spends, bait-and-switch and everything else that you know is despised by consumers (and us really).

Here's a wake up call: no matter how much the river fills with water soon (if you're waiting) or how nicely you can pave it, do things differently. "Old guard" stuff, as nostalgic as it is, is about as good for the auto industry as tainted meat is for McDonald's, faulty engines for Boeing and corrupt processors for Dell. So stop accepting, if not endorsing, it.

Paving the dry river bed takes strategy, commitment, insight and foresight, transparency and a willingness to change the size, shape and location of the sandbox. What do you have to lose? Not as much as you have to gain!!!!

Pave it like you own it….

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Resutls

November 5, 2010 by Gary May 2
Let’s Talk Next Spring (A Very Direct Monologue)

(Note: As a practice, IM@CS has not written in the first person. We
try to not call people out or make examples of them directly. This is a
slight departure from the past two years of blog writing for dealers. We
hope you enjoy it or are at least compelled to comment on this aspect
as well)

After talking with Internet sales staff and leaving
messages for management over the past months, I visited a prominent
LA-area import dealer recently to see about getting a few minutes with
the manager responsible for their web and eCommerce presence. After
finally having the courtesy to recognize that someone was trying to talk
with him (understanding two things very well: one you're busy and two
you likely have a lot of people calling on you and trying to sell you),
he gave me 45 seconds.

In that time, he was able to share that
the "departments are going through changes so it's not the right time
and we'll be able to put our eCommerce and Internet efforts on the
schedule next Spring". Not only is this one of the best qualifiers, it
is also a great indicator of how removed from reality most dealers
really are. This is not a judgement, we'll leave that to the customers,
staff and factory. But as a litmus test, that's just bad. Flat out bad.

Let's say you ignore every automotive publication. Let's say you never
attend a "digital" event in the industry. Let's assume you're not in a
20 group. Just for kicks, let's say you never talk with your staff.
Considering it's 2010, if you have spent any time on the Internet,
bought an airplane ticket, hotel room, checked a sports score or weather
conditions, how can you allow yourself to be ignorant of what ALL
consumers do?

By next Spring, your competition will be
significantly ahead of you. And maybe by my or another consultant or
vendor's doing. Maybe even intentionally. When you send that kind of
signal out, it's hard not to either try to convince you (unless the
manager was intentionally being dismissive) or leave the store and run
to the next closest store. I say this because it's being done. Every
day.

While I can't speak for others that may walk into the
store I'm referring to, I can guarantee you that if I take the time to
engage you, your website, templates, social media (if it exists), phone
skills and other aspects of your operation has been assessed. Don't even
think for a second that mine is a traditional "pitch", again
understanding that everyone that walks in with a briefcase is likely
trying to get money from you in exchange for services.

Just
know that sometime, really soon, your traffic will go somewhere else..
And with what your using for website and more, it won't even cause a
drop of sweat to fall.

With all the best intentions,

Gary May
IM@CS

July 28, 2010 by Gary May 0
Trying To Move Your Business Forward Alone? You’ll Get Tired…And More Lonely!

There you were, grand opening day. Glistening bright showroom, gleaming inventory, balloons, refreshments and customers. Fast forward however many years and maybe a few of those items have faded. But the one thing that can't go away: customers! More businesses are waking up to the fact that it's about the customer and some even realize more specifically that it's what they can and will do for your business.

Whether you're involved with social media or not, crowd sourcing (and all its forms and descriptions) is one of the best and most efficient ways to move your business. There is no question that your business must move from the inside but it moves more quickly if your second greatest asset (yes, your greatest asset still is your people) helps from the outside. It may be the greatest step in avoiding greater amounts of failure than necessary (read: failure is necessary, just not to much).

Now if you believe that means you need to have a ground-moving meetup or tweetup, stop there. If you have plans to crush your competition with a Facebook page or more Twitter followers because someone says you're great, put away your soap box now. What you simply need is your customers to help move your business forward with direct interaction. You know, real conversation! Have you collected an opt-in email database? Have you surveyed random sales and service customers within one hour of their visit using free online services? Ask and you'll be told.

That being said, if your engagement online is mature and you get compelling responses, all the better. Remember that your customers having a say in your business is not an "in a silo" activity. Your greatest opportunities are in the great areas of volume and you should likely reward your most helpful clients as well (in legal ways).

Businesses must move forward to keep up with their customers today. Keep the conversation to your management team, and you'll likely keep your results as they are today. The suggestions from a 47 year-old mother of two or a 22 year-old fresh-out-of-college-with-a-first-job kid are likely more in-line with what will make you successful. Go on, do it…surprise yourself!

Or you can be like too many businesses today that are getting hammered in reviews, CSI rankings, word-of-mouth and other media only to decide how to move forward alone. When you try to do that alone, you'll get tired…and more lonely! Ever heard of the customer that got into a great conversation with the GSM or GM, came back for another chat during their first service, ended up working for the dealership and is not only killing it now, they've brought everyone with them?

Oh yeah, that would never happen to you! You're not looking outside for help anyway….

Best Practices: Professional Insight, Powerful Results

March 23, 2010 by Gary May 0