digital dealer magazine - april 2010

JOSHUAFICHTER

Director of OperationsSam Pack’s Five Star Ford

page 18

April 2010

AAISP Notes:Automotive Retail and Technology – Recipe for Richespage 8

Internet Sales:Selling Cars in the Post-Control Worldpage 10

It’s a Performance – Make Sure Everyone Knows Their Roles page 14

Technology Trends:Five Tips for Prepping Staff for System Change page 25

DD 2 April 2010 DigitalDealer-magazine.com

ABLE OF CONTENTSTAPRIL 2010

PRESIDENT AND CEOMICHAEL ROSCOE

VICE PRESIDENT AND EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

CLIFF [email protected]

248-351-2620

PUBLISHERGREG NOONAN

[email protected]

CONTENT COORDINATORMARIA BURKEL

[email protected]

ART DIRECTORJOE BIRCH

PRODUCTION MANAGERELIZABETH BIRCH

PRINT PRODUCTIONNICK THOMAS

COVER DESIGNJOE BIRCH

COVER PHOTOSRANDY ANDERSON

CIRCULATION SUBSCRIPTIONRICH JARRETT314-432-7511

[email protected]

NATIONAL ADVERTISING [email protected]

607-264-3359

Dealer magazine makes every attempt to ensure the accuracy of all published works. However it cannot be held responsible for opinions expressed or facts supplied herein. Nothing may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved. The publisher encourages you to submit sug-gestions. Submitted materials become the property of Horizon Communications, Inc. and will not be returned. Send material for publication to 330 Franklin Rd., Suite 135A, PMB 386, Brentwood, TN 37027. The editor re-serves the right to edit material; submission of material constitutes permission to edit and publish that mate-rial. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is presented with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional service. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. From a Declaration of Principles jointly adopted by a Commit-tee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers.

A PUBLICATION OF

! " # # $ % & ! ' ( & " % )

FEATURES Digital Dealer Cover Story 18 Joshua Fichter Director of Operations Sam Pack’s Five Star Ford

Digital Dealer Vendor Profile 22 Dominion Dealer Solutions

COLUMNS AAISP Notes 8 Automotive Retail and Technology – Recipe for Riches Cliff Banks

Internet Sales 10 Selling Cars in the Post-Control World

Tom Mohr

12 Take Video Off the ‘To Do’ List Rob Lange

14 It’s a Performance – Make Sure Everyone Knows Their Roles Joe Webb 16 Driving Better Closing Results Phil Sura

Technology Trends 25 Five Tips for Prepping Staff for System Change Sandi Jerome

DEPARTMENTS 4 Digital Dealer E-mail 6 News

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333456748976

BZ Results, an ADP, Inc. Company, 2000 Nooseneck Hill Road, Coventry, Rhode Island 02816 ©2010 ADP, Inc. – Dealer Services Group / BZ Results and the BZ Results logo are registered trademarks of ADP, Inc.

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IGITAL DEALER MAILD

Hi Chuck Barker,When I saw the heading of your article in

the December issue of Digital Dealer maga-zine, “What Type of Manager are You?”, I had to write you. I am in a peculiar situation, and I wanted to ask your advice as it relates to your article.

Your article was right on point! It’s been better lately, but my GSM often cuts the salespeople down, often tells them that we don’t need them, that we could replace them right away. I have tried several times to tell him that if he treats them that way, it will transfer to the customer.

Recently the management staff had a meet-ing with the dealer, and he feels the same way ironically as your article illustrates. We should pump them (salespeople) up, make them feel we are here to catch them if they fall. I also want to be able to explain why our new car deals are down. They are down partly because times are tough and the salespeople don’t want to work for 100.00 mini deals. But, mostly it’s because when you tear down the salespeople daily, you can’t expect them to be motivated and pumped up to take the next customer.

I would like to ask you: Do you know of a way that I can get my GSM to understand what I am saying to him? How do I go about this without him thinking I am being conde-scending? Any input you have is welcomed.

Name withheld by request

Dear Reader,Sometimes these tough spots we find ourselves

in find a way to work themselves out; so be as tolerant as you can given the situation. You be the leader that shows how to do it right by respecting your team, supporting them and continuing to encourage them. Act with positive ‘role model’ like behavior with everyone you come in contact with. Manage the way you would a. want to be managed and b. the way other managers should manage.

The actions of your GSM can catch on with other managers who then find themselves treat-ing their people the same way. So stay resilient to your professional cause.

Let’s have a look at your question for me:“Do you know of a way that I can get my

GSM to understand what I am saying to him, is exactly what you talk about in your article?

How do I go about it, without him thinking I am being condescending?”

In view of the fact that your dealer has shown positive inclination toward his people, he would be your best ally in your quest to get things improved. I would begin by printing my article and any others supporting this solid leadership behavior and give him a copy and suggest that this should and could be our store’s culture. Request he read it at a sales management meeting to set the leadership expectations bar for all his stores. This way everyone is in the loop. I would gently explain to him that (without any names) you have witnessed salespeople being treated disrespectfully and you know the store can only grow its people when they are respected and professionally treated. Next, your friend the GSM should be spoken to as a friend would, referring to the articles and suggesting together you guys vow to make a positive change. Then, announce it at a sales meeting to the team. I have found that salespeople typically forgive the people who have offended them when an apology is submitted for their past behavior and promise to become more professional in their interactions with them going forward.

Warmest regards,Chuck Barker

Dealer welcomes your letters and after verification will run them signed or unsigned. Letters may be edited for space and clarity.

Send letters to: 2000 Town Center • Suite 1900 • Southfield, MI 48075FAX: (248) 351-2699 • e-mail: [email protected]

The Technology Magazine for Dealers & Managers

December 2009

Association of Automotive

Internet Sales Professionalswww.AAISPonline.org

OFFICIALOFFICIAL

Association of Automotive

Internet Sales Professionalswww.AAISPonline.orgAssociation of Automotive

Internet Sales Professionalswww.AAISPonline.org

PUBLICATIONPUBLICATION

JOSEALONSOInternet e-Commerce DirectorJenkins Auto Grouppage 18

JOSEALONSOInternet e-Commerce DirectorJenkins Auto Grouppage 18

Internet Sales:Are You a Creator, or Just a Bad Prophet?page 10

Online Buyers Have Wants Also page 18

How to Respond to Leads the Right Way

page 20

Technology Trends:How to Find and Use Customer Data

page 25

Internet Sales:Are You a Creator, or Just a Bad Prophet?page 10

Online Buyers Have Wants Also page 18

How to Respond to Leads the Right Way

page 20

Technology Trends:How to Find and Use Customer Data

page 25

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IGITAL DEALER TECH NEWSD

Black Book introduces addition to Activator’s Advanced Conversion

ToolkitBlack Book’s Online Division announced

the introduction of a new product enhance-ment that boosts leads already coming from its Activator sales conversion tool by up to 30%. Activator’s Advanced Conversion Toolkit has been enhanced with the addition of Activator using new technology to generate high-impact pop-ups that give website shop-pers incentives to get a value for their trades and make dealership appointments.

Conversion results to date show that, because these shoppers are seeking trade-in values, they are close to making a buying decision. Activator uncovers them, identifies them, allows the dealer to contact them and close the sale.

Black Book’s online products currently appear on over 7,000 dealership and manufacturer web sites around the coun-try. Activator has proven to increase leads coming from dealership web sites by up to 50% with average closing rates of 15%. The 30% increase delivered with this “Advanced Conversion Toolkit” enhancement is in addi-tion to Activator’s traditional results.

“Over a period of several months, our cus-tomers taking part in our initial pilot program experienced a significant lift in the number of web site leads generated from their web sites,” said Mike McFall, Black Book Division president. “When our customers are success-ful, we’re successful,” he concluded.

www.BlackBookUSA.com

Experian Automotive expands vehicle data service offerings with

ManheimExperian Automotive has enhanced its

vehicle data service offerings with Manheim, a leading provider of vehicle remarketing ser-vices. In addition to providing auction data to Experian’s AutoCheck reporting service, a free vehicle history snapshot will now be offered,

giving dealers immediate access to potential vehicle condition issues on www.manheim.com, including OVE.com and Manheim Simulcast.

The AutoCheck snapshot features a quick and easy view of the potential issues in a vehi-cle’s history, directly from online presale list-ings, and gives dealers the option to purchase full AutoCheck reports. Having access to this important vehicle history information helps dealers make better decisions in buying the right vehicles at the right value and gives their customers confidence that their inventories are safe and reliable.

“The combination of Manheim’s data and AutoCheck’s industry-recognized vehicle his-tory reports will give dealers a new level of buying intelligence with quick, easy access to the information they need,” said Scott Waldron, president, Experian Automotive. “Working with Manheim allows us to bring a consistent

repository of reliable, auction-announced infor-mation to used-vehicle dealers.”

As part of its renewed relationship with Manheim, Experian’s AutoCheck will con-tinue to incorporate Manheim’s auction-announced information, such as frame or unibody damage, into its vehicle history reports. This information has been found to be among the most important aspects of a vehicle’s history that used-car buyers want to know before making a purchase.

“Manheim is dedicated to providing its customers with the information they need to make smart vehicle purchases,” said Nick Peluso, senior vice president of customer man-agement, Manheim. “Building on our exist-ing relationship with Experian Automotive helps ensure that dealers have access to the best information to determine the right vehicles for their inventories.”

www.experianautomotive.comwww.manheim.com

Polk launches automotive lists online

R. L. Polk & Co. has launched Automotive Lists Online, a new web-based system that enables dealers and direct marketing agencies to quickly order highly-effective automotive marketing lists for use in vehicle sales and service marketing campaigns. The new online list ordering system identifies consumers that are most likely to own a particular brand of vehicle, who are in the market to purchase a specific vehicle and who are likely to spend within a particular budget amount, among other criteria.

“We created this system to make list order-ing faster and more efficient for our custom-ers,” said Laura Murray, product strategist at Polk. “Three product packages are currently available, based on our most popular and requested Total Market Predictor list combi-nations—vehicle ownership by make; vehicle ownership by make, plus in-market timing; and vehicle ownership by make, plus year model.”

Five additional packages are under develop-ment that will target likely motorcycle owners and individuals by automotive service prefer-ence – those who prefer to do the servicing themselves and others who would rather take their vehicle in for service.

Automotive Lists Online also enables users to enrich their lists with an array of data ele-ments such as Target Score Predictor, eth-nicity/language preference, household age, income and marital status. The system offers free customer file uploads (e.g. dealer file sup-pression) which enables users to de-dupe a prospecting file in order to obtain pure pros-pects or target only their current customers according to certain attributes, such as likeli-hood to be in-market.

Automotive Lists Online can be accessed directly at http://automotivelists.polk.com.

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Automotive Retail and Technology – Recipe for Riches

There might not be a more fun industry than automotive retail technology. If you have a good idea and a little

bit of luck you might hit it big sooner than you think.

A lot of it has to do with technology. Prior to the Internet, innovation in the automo-tive space was slow and steady. But once the web hit the mainstream in the mid-to late ‘90s, young people -- restless, dreaming of building the next big thing -- jumped into the automotive retail space.

And hit it big, they did. Remember some of these names? Mark Campbell sold StonAge.com to Autobytel, took his millions and built a mansion somewhere on the west coast. We haven’t heard from him since.

Jon Christiansen and Greg Baszuki basically created InvoiceDealer.com while eating pizza in the living room with $150,000 from family and friends in 1999. In 2004, they sold Dealix (renamed from InvoiceDealers) to Cobalt for more than $60 million.

Sean Wolfington is another name that belongs in the pantheon of people who have either created or jumped on board early with a company only to sell it for millions later.

His family was influential in creating Cyber Car and AutoMark which it sold to Reynolds and Reynolds in 2001 for a rumored price that exceeded $100 million. Wolfington then joined with BZ Results and sold it to ADP in 2006 for a reported $125 million.

Wolfington is back, this time as chairman of the board for VinSolutions. There’s no secret the gameplan is to build it up, get as many customers as possible and then sell.

These are just a few examples. The last decade was a golden age for firms supply-ing services and solutions to franchised car dealers. It was either get acquired or get big. Companies such as AutoTrader.com and Cars.com went big and now have revenues in the

hundreds of millions of dollars.Other companies, such as ADP, Dominion

and DealerTrack have been buyers, adding to their portfolio of services.

I’ll often ask new players in the space about their plans for getting acquired. Typically, they’ll recoil and insist their goal is to build a great product. No doubt, that’s true. But getting into this space to build a company only to turn around and sell it is not a bad thing. It’s called capitalism.

I often hear how the automotive retail space is behind other industries with its adoption of technology. While dealers tend to be cautious – and rightfully so -- our industry has been a great laboratory of ideas and is far ahead of most industries comprised of small businesses.

Being an industry that entrepreneurs and investors find attractive only serves to bring better products and solutions to the dealership.

The unbelievable success the last several years that technology companies experienced in the automotive retail space continues to attract both big name investors and the smaller angel investors.

It’s likely we’ll see more blockbuster deals this year. Investors again are looking hard at the automotive retail space and some of the larger firms have money to spend.

It’s an indication of the growing confidence that automotive is a fundamentally strong sector that will continue to grow in the next couple of years.

The collapse of the auto industry the last 20 months kept many deals from happening. In fact, a couple of big deals close to being done fell apart at the finish line in fall of 2008.

Right now, it’s a bunch of rumors. As a rule, I do not report on rumors involving specific firms. However, there is a growing trend the last few months of technology-type companies that are either on the market or are looking to add to their portfolios.

Investors are getting itchy trigger fingers and the pressure is building too for firms to get something done. These companies are sitting on a lot of money and would like to fill holes in their product solutions. That means over the course of this year the industry likely will see some interesting, and potential block-buster deals occur.

The landscape on the technology side likely will look much at the end of 2010 than it did at the end of 2009. Stay tuned, this could be a fun year.

IGITAL Dealer AAISP NOTESDCliff Banks

Cliff Banks

Vice President and Editorial Director

“Once the web hit the

mainstream in the mid-to

late ‘90s, young people

– restless, dreaming of

building the next big

thing – jumped into the

automotive retail space.”—Cliff Banks

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Selling Cars in the Post-Control World

The battle is over. The customer now controls the car-buying process, and it is up to the dealer to support, advise

and encourage the customer along the way to the sale. Dealer actions that seek to control the process — such as hiding information — simply don’t work anymore.

Dealers must come to terms with three key realities of today’s digital ecosystem:

• Consumers have instant access to the world’s information.

• Speed is key.• The wisdom of crowds is accessible by all.The first principle of today’s digital eco-

system is the accessibility of information. Google-empowered consumers have access to all the data they need to make a purchase decision. Often, consumers are better armed than dealers. This simple fact cuts the legs out from under the traditional view of how cars should be sold. Under the traditional view, the key is to hide information until the customer is in the dealer’s clutches. In the worst forms of this approach, the up is bagged, tagged and dragged through a Fargo-style sales pro-cess, “controlled” by the dealer at every step. Most dealers have progressed beyond these extremes, but remnants of the traditional approach linger. For instance, only 38% of dealers share the price when first requested, according to JD Power. Twenty-five percent of dealers will never share the price until the customer is on the lot.

The problem is that such an approach no longer works. The Internet customer will keep the dealer at arm’s length until the dealer has won her trust. To win that trust, she expects transparency. If a customer requests the price, the successful dealer understands that the customer has shared her request with mul-tiple dealers — he’s now on trial — and to do anything other than send a price quote

response will imperil the deal and frustrate the customer.

Further, the successful dealer understands that it’s not enough to just respond with a price quote. The second principle of today’s digital ecosystem is the power of speed. When a customer requests information from a dealer, she wants it quickly. Speed of price quote response has been shown to correlate highly to increased sales, especially when achieved within 10 minutes.

Yet 25% of all leads don’t get answered at all, according to Cobalt, and the average response time on those that do is over five hours. Following up with a phone call within an hour is also key, but only 25% of all leads receive any call at all.

Lack of transparency and poor, slow response to Internet requests comprise twin threats to a dealer. It’s not just the lost deal: such practices can cost the dealer his reputa-tion. Which brings us to the third key prin-ciple of today’s digital ecosystem: dealers must respect the power of the Wisdom of Crowds.

Consider the danger of the frustrated

customer. She has powerful tools at her dis-posal to publicly vent that frustration, to the dealer’s great harm. In the Internet’s public square, ratings and reviews travel to every corner of the dealer’s market, propelled by Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo and thousands of other sites. Through the Wisdom of Crowds a disaffected customer (and especially many dis-affected customers) can profoundly impact a dealer’s business by essentially counter-adver-tising: alerting other prospective customers to the dealer’s poor business practices.

This new digital reality has fundamentally changed the game. In this brave new world, dealer business success rides on a well-built reputation, which in turn rides on the favor-able impression of past and current customers, which in turn rides on the dealer’s ability to support and facilitate the customer’s car-buying process with transparency, prompt-ness, fair pricing and good service. In a very real sense, each deal is much more than just a deal. Yes, a car was either purchased or not. But under either scenario, a second dynamic is in play. Was the customer satisfied with the experience or not? On that, the dealer’s reputation—and his business future—hang.

Tom Mohr is CEO of ResponseLogix, and has worked closely with auto dealers for 25 years. Prior to ResponseLogix, Mohr was president of Knight Ridder Digital, where he was on the board of Cars.com.

If you wish to discuss this article with other dealers, or with the author, please go to the “Discussion Forums” at www.Dealer-communications.com and enter the “Internet Sales” forum or e-mail him at [email protected].

IGITAL Dealer INTERNET SALESDTom Mohr

“In the Internet’s public

square, ratings and

reviews travel to every

corner of the dealer’s

market, propelled by

Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo

and thousands

of other sites.”—Tom Mohr

IOL Video Online Interactive multimedia marketing

with Video-To-Pictures, voiceovers, and live video options

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610-738-3313homenetauto.com [email protected]

Title Sponsor


Take Video Off the ‘To Do’ List

For many dealers the message is becom-ing clear that it’s time to get video off the “to do” list and onto the Internet

to capitalize on what customers have dem-onstrated is their preferred method of receiv-ing information.

A recent panel of automotive marketing experts unanimously agreed the biggest chal-lenge facing dealers this year will be finding ways to sell more cars while spending less. By being aware and taking advantage of this consumer buying trend, you’ll have a chance to do both.

What we have here is a natural progres-sion similar to 12 years ago, when it was first suggested that dealers include a photo of the advertised vehicle in their online classified advertisement.

Many at the time questioned the value, although it was what the customers told us they wanted. From there, to stay visibly relevant, it evolved and became necessary to include multiple photos to meet the demands of online shoppers. Today, many dealers include 30 to 40 photos, providing a graphic walk-around of the car. We’ve now become so conditioned as customers that

many of us will not even consider viewing an ad unless it has photos. It’s that instinc-tive disregard that tells you that you need to take the extra step by providing video, or again risk being viewed as irrelevant. The customer once again has demonstrated their desire for a medium that has become mainstream.

While TV has provided the consumer with information in the past, online videos have become more impactful. The big dif-ference between TV and online video is that information viewed via TV is more likely to cause the customer to make a mental note and continue watching their program, while after viewing an online video they are already in front of their computer, have searched for specific information and are poised to take action. It’s the dynamic content in videos that cause customers to stay on sites longer, view more inventory than originally intended, and in many cases, contact the dealership to gain more information, visit the dealership or make an immediate purchase.

If you’re still hesitant, take a look at this information. In November 2009, 170.6

million U.S. visitors viewed 31 billion videos in just one month according to comScore; this is up from 146 million visi-tors and 12.7 billion videos from the same timeframe in 2008.

According to Ad Age, for dealerships looking to build their brands online, video represents a low-cost, low-risk way to con-nect with in-market consumers in the chan-nel where they will do the majority of their product research. Recognizing this, six-in-10 car dealers say they will incorporate videos on their web sites and in marketing efforts because the effect of the dynamic content of video has proven to engage customers longer, more often and effectively.

The fact is that there is a monster oppor-tunity out there and you need to be part of it. The customer has spoken.

What if the additional exposure increases the time customers spend on your website viewing inventory, ultimately motivating them to buy from your dealership? You could spend more time selling to proven in-market car shoppers, instead of trying to find them.

Do nothing, and you’ll lose sales to the 60% of dealers who are posting videos. It’s time to get video off your “to do” list and onto the Internet so they can help you sell more cars.

Rob Lange is the national sales training direc-tor for Kelley Blue Book.


IGITAL Dealer INTERNET SALESDRob Lange

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It’s a Performance – Make Sure Everyone Knows Their Roles

For dealers, your store often tells the story

of your life. This is especially true for those second- and third-generation dealers. Every day, your dealership puts on a show for the consumer. The customers are your audience and you are the director. When you open the doors, you are pulling back the curtain for all to see. You’ve brought in the cast and paid their wages. Now, are you sure everyone knows what they are supposed to do? While we hire talent to run our dealerships, we don’t always guide them with written job descriptions. We must.

“Places, everyone, places,” the director shouts. You have put everyone in position, but can you ensure your cast understands what needs to be done?

Many of your sales managers and service writers have been given the title and respon-sibility because they’ve succeeded on the sales floor or as a service tech. They’ve filled in during the absences of other managers and excelled. When promoted, though, few are given quality-written job descriptions detail-ing what their position entails because we feel they already know what is asked of them. Or perhaps a job description wasn’t provided solely because many don’t know what to include.

A job description simply states the roles and responsibilities required of the position, along with a reporting structure and details involving hours and expectations. It should address future questions, employees’ potential for growth/earnings, functions of the job, skills needed, and how actions will be conducted.

Job titleConfirm the title of their position.

Representative, associate, consultant, special-ist, coordinator, manager, and director all mean different things to different people. Having the job title spelled out will deter them from asking for a special designating word on their business cards (i.e. the ever-popular “sales specialist” being chosen over “sales representative.”)

Salary rangeThis serves as a reference guide to compa-

rable salaries within the industry. Make sure

the starting salary is noted, as well as mid-range (and high) expectations for the position. If applicable, specify commissions, performance bonuses, percentage of profit, and any potential raises for long-term employment.

Purpose of the positionSpecify the objectives of the position. This

section allows you to place a little weight on their shoulders and makes them understand how important of a role they play in the overall success of the dealership and the team.

Job description/list of dutiesBeginning with the most important tasks

first, list every duty required of them to per-form their position. As the list continues, detail what their role is in the completion of each task. Are they simply delegating the work and ensuring it is done or is it their personal respon-sibility to complete it?

Hierarchy and teamDefine who they will be reporting to and

what individuals will be reporting directly to them. Many new employees come in with the expectation that due to their title of manager, everyone without the title of manager reports to them. This can be a sen-sitive situation in those dealerships where the Internet department team reports solely to their director and that director reports to the general manager only. It is best to clarify this “structure” of the depart-ments upfront so there is no confusion and specify who is on their “team.” New employees understanding their supervisory role is imperative to their success and the streamlined processes you’ve created within your dealership.

Ideal candidate/skills neededThe new employees must be told the skills

they are going to need to be successful in the position. If there are certain solutions, software, or programs that are imperative they know going in, it is best to detail it here. If they are to have completed certain tasks during their past experiences, describe how the ideal candidate for the position will utilize those abilities.

HoursWe’re in the auto industry and it is well

known that we often work insane hours. That being said, it is necessary to assign specific work hours expected for the posi-tion and include the dealership’s operating hours as well.

‘And other duties assigned’The beauty of the car business is that no

two days are the same. Every customer is dif-ferent and each day there is a new circumstance to handle or concern to assuage. Including “and other duties assigned” tells the employees they are responsible for those random chores that essentially help “take care of business.” Hopefully, we are all hiring those candidates that are looking to take on more responsibil-ity and willing to fill up that rare free time during the day with goal-oriented objectives on their own.

This statement of duties should be pro-vided to every new employee on day one to overcome any unforeseen conflicts in the future. After all, it is usually the bad perfor-mance from an employee that causes the store to lose a sale or valuable customer, but in the end, it will be you who shoulders the blame. Preparing written, detailed job descriptions for every position in the dealership (no matter how big or how small) provides total account-ability because they now “know their role.”

With their roles clearly defined, you are setting them up on a path for success. As the director, you’ve given them their lines, their blocking, and all of the notes necessary for them to perform for the public day in and day out. The rest is up to them to put on a good show.

Joe Webb is the president of DealerKnows LLC, an automotive digital marketing consultation firm.


IGITAL Dealer INTERNET SALESDJoe Webb


Driving Better Closing ResultsExperts share their closing secrets

The close is the ultimate measure-ment of the effectiveness of a sales process. Retailers around the world

go through countless steps to drive interest in their product but it is wasted energy if it doesn’t translate into sales. Really nice and talented Internet directors lose their jobs every month when they forget that their responsi-bility is to push unit sales.

There is not one standard within the indus-try for metrics beyond the basics; close by lead source and a monthly budget. What is a good closing ratio today? Should a dealership determine a cost per close per lead provider and cut off providers that do not meet a cer-tain minimum standard? If I have the budget, should I simply continue to buy leads to drive sales? Are there tools to help? These questions were given to a group of directors.

Diane Anderson is e-commerce director at Hubler Automotive Group in Indianapolis. Diane was hired as the BDC manager for Hubler Chevrolet in February 2009 and was then promoted to take over the group in June and create a centralized BDC. The Chevrolet closing ratio moved from 5% to 15% (recent months) while the group (10 stores) is now averaging 11%. Diane actually accomplished this while cutting both staff and ineffective lead providers. Her staff includes two full-time business development represen-tatives (BDR) and one part-time employee. Third party providers were cancelled for poor performance and to streamline the current initiatives. “It made more sense to get the department up to par before wasting money on leads that were not being managed cor-rectly,” stated Diane.

Diane initially focused on producing a quality process in the following areas:

• Management of the leads as they came into the CRM tool (Auto Jockey)

• Phone skills with inbound opportunities• Phone skills for outbound follow-up

Rather than forcing X number of calls, the focus and pay was directed to shows and closes. Both measurements jumped. Show ratio jumped from 42% to 63% and the clos-ing ratio moved from 33% to 52% (close/show). Follow up on every lead (presently at five attempts in 21 days…with a goal of nine attempts).

• Long-term follow-up of the unsold leads. This included a series of e-mails based on the current status of the client and scheduled reminders for outbound call follow-up (180 days).

Bottom line: the Chevrolet dealership in 2008 delivered 454 units from 9,141 leads with five BDRs. In 2009, the same dealership delivered 460 units from 4,165 leads with two BDRs. The additional nine dealerships for the Hubler group consolidated leads to the two BDRs at the Chevrolet dealership in July. For the second half of 2009, those additional 2,851 leads accounted for an additional 294 deliveries (10%).

Wayne Ussery is the e-commerce director for the Jim Ellis Group in Atlanta.

Wayne considers a cumulative close rate of 10 % to be the floor. The Jim Ellis Group strives for higher percentages, but most stores average 9-12% for a close rate against total leads. All leads must be tracked to accurately get a true ratio. Wayne does not believe that a true closing ratio is a diluted top number. Some dealerships for example have a practice of deleting out of market customers. Wayne also includes phone leads, tracked by sales people gathering data and inputting into the CRM system, as well as chat sessions.

The Ellis Group does break out closing ratios by lead source. They monitor the cost per sale, as well as the “trending closing ratio”. “We make the choice to cut off a lead source when the trending reaches a low, sometimes based on just closing ratio, but other factors are also considered,” according to Wayne. If

the lead provider generates traffic to the Jim Ellis sites, those leads hold more value which is factored into the analysis. Those providers, responsible for driving web traffic, will receive some additional grace. Wayne also considers the true value of the lead providers before cut-ting them off. If the closing ratio is low, AND they are not sending traffic, those providers are fired quickly. Quality leads are critical to the Jim Ellis team.

The Mile One team consists of 65 dealer-ships in the northeast. The better Mile One dealerships exceed 20% with their closing ratios. The group tracks in excess of 15%. The goal of the group, according to David Metter, is to drive organic and VIN specific leads for each dealership. David and his team devel-oped strategies to cut out the fat by developing metrics that allow them to score leads with 50 data points. One company supporting the Mile One team is RL Polk, which devel-oped a lead scoring tool. Metter compares it to buying individual stocks. You would not invest money in a company without some type of analysis. Metter wants to have the ability to focus on the people most likely to buy and he wants to know what the best possible match is for a prospect (type of unit, price…). This approach has also cut turnover with Internet salespeople to 3%-4%. “If you have a stable sales team, you can always get better closing ratios,” according to Metter. If you can provide the salespeople quality leads with a good pay plan, people stay. The Mile One team has performed well at being process oriented and tactical with their approach to e-commerce.

Apple Auto Group is based in the Minneapolis area and it includes two Ford dealerships and a third location for pre-owned. Michael Groves is the e-commerce director. The group has a minimal accept-able performance goal of 10.5% for their closing rate. The expectation is 12.5% with

IGITAL Dealer INTERNET SALESDPhil Sura

DigitalDealer-magazine.com April 2010 DD 17

15% being a stretch goal. This includes all Internet, phone, and live chat leads com-bined. Michael also grades his staff on how many leads to appointments are set as well as appointments set to show. The BDC’s job is to get the maximum amount of customers through the door as possible. When a guest gets to the dealership the hand off process has to be streamlined and consistent to ensure a maximum level of customer service. All set appointments are confirmed by a sales manager. The customer is then greeted by that sales manager and introduced to the sales consultant. The sales consultant is responsible for starting and warming up the VIN specific unit that the guest is interested in looking at. This also includes confirming that the car has fuel and that it is ready for a test drive, to ensure a good guest experience.

All Internet leads are tracked into their Autobase CRM. The dealership also tracks sales calls which are routed into a global BDC. All calls are uploaded to the BRM tool for notes and they are followed up for 180 days. Michael believes that you need to have a source of truth for all data to ensure the least amount of data error. Accurate data with notes, e-mail history and the source allows

you to make smart decisions on where to invest your marketing dollars. Michael also believes that it is imperative to break out data including closing ratios by lead provider. Any lead provider over a cost of $200 per sale is in the red and they may be cancelled. Some providers may be higher than $200 but are a necessity to hit certain volume levels. One provider for example was slightly more than $200 per sold unit but that provider was spe-cifically tied to the sale of 27 units. The Apple team will still bend on this formula for good business. The end result is that Michael’s team delivered 166 units (only e-commerce deals) during the month of December from 988 leads for a 16.67% closing ratio. This placed Apple Ford 50th in ranking for ecommerce sales for all Ford dealerships.

Here are some suggestions:1. Develop a process that tracks all leads.

Don’t eliminate leads to make your numbers look artificially high. You will never know if you are doing a good job.

2. Track the performance of each lead provider and set store standards with closing ratios and cost per sold unit.

3. Develop a process which treats guests

coming in on an appointment special.4. The goal should not just be grabbing

any lead provider that you can find. Higher volume doesn’t always lead to a better depart-ment. You may frustrate your team by provid-ing leads that add little value.

5. Develop a means to score the leads.6. Focus on quality. As in the case of

Hubler, you may need to take a step back-wards to get the basics in place before moving forward.

7. Seek knowledge. It is only hard if you refuse to improve. Attend the next Digital Dealer Conference, read the magazine, and subscribe to a blog (Digital Dealer will be starting a blog and you can join Dealer Refresh).

Phil Sura is a VP of the Automotive Division of UnityWorks Media.


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CAR-ResearchXRM_halfpage2.pdf 1 3/16/2010 11:13:51 AM


Joshua FichterDirector of Operations

Sam Pack’s Five Star Ford

COVER STORY


Number one for two years among Ford dealerships in Internet sales, Sam Pack’s Five Star Ford in North Richland Hills, TX, and the group’s

other two stores in Carrollton and Lewisville, are some of the most respected dealerships in the country.

Joshua Fichter, director of operations for the North Richland Hills dealership credits support from the senior management and an attitude

of constant learning as the reasons the three stores are so successful.

TELL US HOW YOU GOT INTO THIS BUSINESS.Well, I got into the car business on a bet

with my parents back in 1996. They wanted me to get out of what they called a ‘dead-end’ job and try car selling. I said okay as long as long as they would pay my bills if I failed at it. Low and behold, 15 years later and I am still waiting to cash in on paying my bills.

I started with Allan Vigil Ford in Atlanta and sold there for 18 months. Then I moved to Texas where my family was at the time to work for Sam Pack’s Five Star Ford in February of 1998 as a retail floor salesperson. In August of 1998, they asked me if I wanted to try Internet sales. I said sure, what was it? They said well, there’s the computer and you go figure it out, so that’s what I did.

Why do you think they asked you to do that?

I was the type of salesperson who was always looking for a prospect to hand out postcards to people whose cars would be coming up. And I was always the type of person who would grab those and work them. I think a lot of it had to do with how they saw me from a follow-up standpoint. I’m not a techie person, but I have some technical skills. Also, it is just my nature to take something on that is a little different. I worked the process to get the customer to visit the store.

That was the early the days of the Web.Yes, that was back in the day when every

Internet customer had a 700 beacon score and cash to plop down, and was willing to pay for the convenience of buying online. It was a different time.

But, like a lot of dealers, the management at Five Star wanted the proof ahead of time. So, I was a one-man show for a year and a half. Hindsight being 20/20, there’s no telling

how many sales we lost, because I had too many leads, I couldn’t follow-up properly. I was handling 200-250 leads a month by myself and selling the car cradle to grave. So, it wasn’t real good, a lot of it was if the customer never responded, I never responded and that was just reality.

When did you start adding staff?Over the course of time, it appeared we

needed additional people. Also, my wife was going to have our first child. So, I asked them who was going to replace me for that time.

They asked who I wanted. I told them, Kelly Blackwell, and they agreed.

Kelly sat down in front of the computer and said, ‘Okay, tell me about the Internet, I’ve never been on it before.’ He proceeded to sell 29 and a half cars that month. We still joke about that today, because the Internet is not about technical, it is still sales.

It was off to the races then.Our numbers more than doubled immedi-

ately in March of 2000. If you have the right number of people working, with the right number of leads and follow up, in general you are going to sell more cars.

We added our third person in January 2001. I left internet as my focus to start a business development center here at the deal-ership in the start of 2002. Since then, our Internet department has grown to 11 internet sales managers with a full-time director. And, I’m still not certain we have enough people, especially with some conversations we have had in the past couple of days.

How do you handle the Internet leads?A lot of dealerships went with Ford on the

business development center idea and rolled

their Internet departments into the BDC – which we never did.

There are different ways to handle leads. We have always been a cradle to the grave store with our Internet department. Our guys — with the exception of signing the customer up in finance — do everything, from the first contact, to the demos, to the negotiation to everything else. So, you can’t handle as many leads as a business development center. We didn’t feel like moving it to a stand alone business development center where you had the callers was the right way to go. But I know a lot of dealerships who do it successfully.

We use Dealer Socket as our lead manage-ment tool, and all of the leads come in to an e-mail address. We can manage all of our leads and follow up by source, so based on the source it is coming into we can manage and see how easily different sources perform. We have a complete follow-up process for 180 days from when a lead comes in.

What do you see as being a big challenge still for dealers?

Having been involved with Internet sales now for 12 years, I see dealers still having problems putting the right number of people to the right number of leads that they are getting. What that number is, opinions vary. There is cer-tainly something to be said if you have someone handling 80 leads a month, and you’re doing a front-to-back process, then they’ve got too many leads. If they are just the person on the phone, they can handle a whole lot more leads.

You’ve expanded beyond just being an Internet sales guy.

I moved into business development for five years, trying several scenarios. We’ve had big staffs, smaller staffs, a mix of salespeople, then just salespeople.


Then in February of 2008, we started on a new path, which is the Director of Operations title. It involves the sales side right now and working through on processes and how we can leverage technology to help us more, that kind of stuff.

What are you looking to do this year?We are looking at the buzz words right

now — social networking, and online repu-tation management. I have a person whose only focus is managing the social networking, ensuring that we have constant contact and content going out. But it’s not sales content — its content to stay in front of customers.

We‘re quickly building that up and for the potential to reach people we have never reached before. If you look at the statistics, if you have 2,000 fans, and all of them have an average of 180 friends, with the right message and the right people getting involved, you could reach nearly 360,000 people with a message for free. So, I think, there is a lot of potential in that, and we are wrapping our heads around that.

You’re also focusing on reputation management.

We have been working with DealerRater.com for about two weeks. We are just right now getting our hands wrapped around online reputation management. I think a lot of dealers are getting into that, and what is the right way to do it? I don’t know if anyone knows the right way right now.

We’re also launching a new website for all of our stores, and a new group site that will hopefully be up before this article comes out.

I’m also trying to get away from using lots of vendors as plug-ins, and move to a digital services provider so to speak. So I can get better reporting and analytics. Then we can go to the next phase, which is better advertis-ing, remarketing and behavioral targeting. Funneling everything through one vendor that can manage all the analytics will give us a better idea of what is happening. There are a lot of irons in the fire right now.

So, a lot of changes?We are reviewing everything right now.

I think it is good to do that. My Internet manager will shop other dealers, but it goes beyond that. It stems from support from our upper management that encourages us to con-stantly look for ways to improve. We’ve been

to four different Digital Dealer Conferences, and April will be our fifth. We just returned from another training. We are constantly listening and talking and seeing what other people are doing, because we aren’t going to think of everything ourselves. Even though our numbers are good, we aren’t as good as we think we are. That is just human nature. It is always good to step back and evaluate.

Are you using the web to market your fixed operations department?

We haven’t done much of that in the past. We do run multipoint inspections service ads on the local newspaper site just to build awareness. We also e-mail consumers who haven’t been in for service in the last 6-12 months, 12-18 months and over 18 months.

Sam Pack’s stores have been strong nation-ally among Ford stores with Internet sales.

As far as Ford source leads are concerned, in 2007 and 2008 the North Richland Hills store was number one for Ford-sourced lead sales volume. And in 2009 we got edged out in the last month by one sale by my good friends at Galpin Ford.

Our Carrollton store ranked 12th while the Lewisville store finished 16th.

So these were leads that Ford was provid-ing you?

Yes, this particular award or ranking is for leads provided by Ford, which matches leads in their sales tracking system to sales reported by dealers.

As you look back on the last several years, what is the one or two things that you look back on and shake your head and ask, ‘What was I thinking?’

Well, I have one. We saw the trend of sales going down and made the mistake of cutting the number of people we had in the Internet department.

It wasn’t drastic – we were down one person. Not having that one person caused our closing ratios to go down on top of losing sales. So, we got caught up with this negative syndrome.

Although sales did go down overall nation-ally, the percent of retail sales that the Internet makes up in relation the dealer sales didn’t go down. In fact it grew. The power of the Internet continues to show us that more and more people are looking for information and coming through that Web portal.

On the flip side, what was the one thing you look back on and say, ‘Yea, I know what I’m doing.’

I don’t know if I have ever said that.

Well there has to be one thing, from the dealership perspective, you can say, ‘We took this direction, saw it and jumped on it.’

Well I think that is really 12 years of embracing the Internet as a place to do busi-ness rather than fighting it. Tony Pack, our dealer principal, back in 1995 was one of the first dealerships to sign up with Autobytel. He had a vision of the power of the Internet and we have made that come to life.

Joshua Fichter credits support from the senior management and an attitude of constant learning as the reasons the three stores are so successful.


It has taken several people — me, our Internet director, Kelly Blackwell and man-agement, to say we need to keep moving forward. There was a time when Kelly said he needed more people and I pushed back saying you are just cutting your other people’s throats. But, with more people, he got more leads and we sold more cars and grew.

So I guess the biggest part of this is for Tony Pack and our general manager Terry Rich, and all the way down the team, Internet is not only a niche market, but it is becoming more of a mainstream area to participate in and we better be doing it and doing it right.

Management has been great providing the right support. If you embrace it you are going to be successful at it. If you ignore it, then you will get exactly what you put into it

When you look short at the term future, let’s say the next year or two, are you seeing any trends?

I think one of our focuses has been to look at the lead providers that have been providing quality, not quantity. There is a lot of overlap from major players buying leads from secondary

sources. We have done away with those.

Kelly Blackwell came up with this. He would rather have less leads so he can focus time on the quality leads. I think from a buying leads standpoint, there will probably be a shift down to leads coming to dealerships via the social networking sites. Not that you are going to sell on there, but customers are finding you there. And then, from a standpoint of the search engine optimization and marketing, we’ll use our own site to generate leads.

What’s your perspective on the type of information you provide to someone who sends a lead or calls? Do you provide a price and range of vehicles?

We provide price 100% of the time, and we try our best to offer multiple vehicle options. We are not afraid to give it to the customer. I still contend that a customer on the Internet wants to do business with the local dealer, as long as the local dealer provides them with the service and information in the form that they want to receive it.

What’s your mix, do you get a lot of e-mail leads, or is it mostly phone?

We get a lot of e-mail leads more than the phone. The phone rings too, but in the scheme of things, used car providers, Autotrader.com, you’re going to get more phone calls than e-mail leads, but from a new lead standpoint, and you’re going to get more e-mail leads than phone calls. I think that is a big difference with used cars.

Are you guys looking at mobile initiatives?We are. Our new site will be optimized

for mobile. I just haven’t gotten my head wrapped around how it is going to work. It is coming, but how it plays out at the dealer level, I am not quite certain yet. I know we need a website that will show up on a phone the way a customer is going to want to see it. That is step one.

Step two, we need to be able to adapt to the way the customer wants to communicate, so if it is text, make it text. There are going to lots of changes as we’ve already seen. Accepting that change is inevitable, and stay with it and stay a step ahead of it is the goal.

[email protected]

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So, what is Dominion Dealer Solutions? Turns out, it is more than meets the eye. Dominion Dealer Solutions provides technology expertise for most departments in a dealership. From inventory management to showroom customer management to service retention marketing, Dominion Dealer Solutions presents some of the industry’s leading software providers. The list of businesses in the Dominion group is impressive: lead generation through carloan.com; customer relationship management tools through AVV, Autobase, and @utoRevenue; web sites through Dealerskins, XIGroup and Dealer Specialties; inventory management through Dealer Specialties; and industry research through Cross-Sell. Together, these businesses serve more than 60 percent of auto dealers nationwide.

Dominion Enterprises collected these well-known brands in order to offer car dealers unmatched marketing technology tools. “The only thing we don’t offer is a DMS” says Robert Berndt, president of Dominion Dealer Solutions, a division of Dominion Enterprises, “and that piece doesn’t really fit our core strength. We’re a marketing technology firm, helping dealers with all of their customer-facing needs.” Truth is, Dominion Dealer Solutions is more than just the sum of its parts. Here’s a rundown of its businesses:

Autobase offers an entire suite of cutting-edge marketing solutions and time-tested sales processes that drive and close significantly more business in the showroom and service lane.

@utoRevenue produces quantifiable results by sending the right message at the right time through the right channel. Through skilled consultants, innovative systems, networked communications and tools, @utoRevenue drives customer retention and loyalty with relevant, consistent, and bi-directional messages.

AVV Web Control provides dealers with secure web-based tools to convert prospects into repeat customers through a proprietary lead and customer management program.

Carloan.com specializes in delivering high-quality, high-intent special finance car buyers by utilizing cutting edge lead generation and scoring technology.

Cross-Sell helps dealerships make better inventory decisions, develop effective selling strategies, and find additional finance sources by delivering over 5,000 fully customized vehicle market intelligence reports each month.

IGITAL Dealer VENDOR PROFILED

Robert Berndt, president of Dominion Dealer Solutions is often asked, “What does your company do?” “Almost everything,” is his regular response. “We feature many of the industry’s leading technology brands, names you know by heart – it’s not sur-

prising you don’t know Dominion, but you do know our brands.”


DataOne Software offers comprehensive and robust automotive dataset support products and services that span all aspects of the automotive and associated industries.

Working in tandem, The DataCube and SelectQu service over 12,000 dealerships nationwide. The DataCube Software Solution is specially created to help dealerships sell cars and book service appointments online. SelectQu is a bi-directional data transfer program managing in excess of 100,000 daily data transfers at over 12,000 dealerships.

Dealer Specialties provides a comprehensive suite of inventory management solutions, websites, Internet marketing tools and enhanced vehicle listings distributed online. Dealers can choose from full-service data collection to industry leading in-house products to manage their inventory, giving them the best value for their changing needs.

Dealerskins delivers visually-engaging and search engine optimized automotive websites that convert car shoppers into car buyers through the use of consumer-centric products, easy-to-use-tools and superior customer support.

XIGroup provides cost-effective websites and superior customer service to franchise and independent car dealers. XIGroup offers a unique blend of customizable designs, easy to use tools, and search engine expertise.


In the fall of 2008, Robert Berndt, who had recently assumed leadership of this newly formed division, faced a challenge. For the previous three years, Dominion Enterprises had engaged in a buying spree, plucking some of the best providers in automotive marketing technology. “The goal was to allow these businesses to thrive as individual, standalone businesses, providing them with R&D resources and some basic administrative oversight,” says Berndt. But, the industry was nose-diving, and the buying habits of clients were changing. Dealers were increasingly opting to work with as few vendors as possible. The existing line-up of businesses forced customers to work with each, individual business – not an ideal customer service arrangement.

Berndt began to make changes. Working closely with the businesses’ management teams, he began to reorganize for optimal customer service, invested in technology and marketing infrastructure, and changed the name of the division. The decentralized Dominion automotive group became Dominion Dealer Solutions. This name more closely reflected the essence of the division – providing integrated marketing technology and expertise to car dealers. But, the individual brands would remain independent. “Our primary strength is our expertise within these businesses. We do not want to compromise their entrepreneurial talent or diminish their brands in any way,” says Berndt. He continues, “Our goal, to help car dealers attract, retain, and service customers for life, cannot be met if we don’t build on those strengths.”

This building process has relied heavily on feedback from customers. Dealers such as Rodger Lau, executive vice president at Jeffrey Tamaroff Automotive Family, provide regular feedback to their counterparts at Autobase and Dealerskins. “Bryan Anderson, the founder and general manager of Autobase, is a true business partner. We talk all of the time about improvements in the software to benefit my people. Bryan not only listens – he acts on those suggestions,” says Lau.

As the businesses build technology bridges, they bring exponential value to their own customers. For example, Autobase CRM customers can now take advantage of the web-based service-scheduler, @utoScheduler, provided by @utoRevenue. This integration augments the existing contact history found in an Autobase customer record with a full account of all related @utoRevenue marketing efforts. When used in tandem with Market Center, the all-new campaign tool from Autobase, this integration aggregates all campaigns into a single list, whether their origin was Market Center or @utoRevenue. This seamless integration offers customers two major benefits: a single access point for critical customer information, and a continuum of consistent branding

throughout the lifetime of the customer / dealer relationship.

XIGroup customers have also benefited from an inventory integration project with Dealer Specialties. In response to requests from customers that needed more frequent updates on their websites to reflect pricing and availability changes, XIGroup worked with Dealer Specialties to develop real-time inventory updates for all joint customers. Dealers now do not have to worry about manually updating their website with mid-day price and inventory changes. Those changes on a dealer’s XIGroup website are seamlessly done through the Dealer Specialties IVM tool in real time, making this combined offering between our two companies the most unique in the marketplace today.

These types of software advancements and integrations allow dealers to simplify their workload. Dealers can concentrate on crafting the marketing message and then rely on the Autobase-@utoRevenue system to implement it. Likewise, the XIGroup-Dealer Specialties inventory tool allows dealers to concentrate on retailing their cars effectively instead of spending time completing price fields on multiple websites. Damon Cartelli, general manager of the Fathers & Sons Dealer Group, admits that “the more automation I can bring to my dealerships, the better the financial results. I prefer to work with vendors that can supply multiple tools with a simple customer service interface.”

Berndt reports that these examples are the beginnings of the intended cross-business partnerships within Dominion Dealer Solutions. “Most of our customers use multiple products from our businesses,” says Berndt. “We will continue to learn how to make their jobs more productive with our technology.” In a recent conversation, Cartelli confided, “My dealerships work with @utoRevenue, AVV, SelectQu, Autobase, Dealerskins, and Dealer Specialties. It looks like I’m a ‘Dominion’ customer now.” That was music to Robert Berndt’s ears.

Advertiser .............................pg #

ActivEngage ..............................15

AutoSoft ....................................26

AutoRevo ....................................4

AutoUSA....................................28

BZ Results ....................................3

Car Research .............................17

Dealer.com ..................................5

DealerPeak (Widestorm) .........12

Dealerskins ..................................7

FirstLook ......................................9

Homenet ...................................11

IMN Loyalty Driver ...................13

NADA Used Car Guide .............25

ResponseLogix ..........................21


Five Tips for Prepping Staff for System Change

Probably the best thing that happened to me as a controller was change. I worked for one dealer that liked to buy dealer-

ships, so I learned about buy/sells. I worked for a dealership group that liked to move general managers around (and sometimes out), so I learned how that position either succeeds or fails. I worked for a few that liked to save money by changing computer systems – and that change was the best learning pro-cess for me. By changing computer systems you learn a lot more than you probably want, like how to handle emergencies, where data is stored, and how your computer system processes data.

The best computer conversions that I have

seen have been where the controller and other managers are completely prepared. Having a great install team from the DMS provider or easy to use software helps, but I find that suc-cess is in the hands of your key management.

How? One of my favorite stories is about a wise man who is famous for being able to tell what others are thinking. Someone who wants to prove him wrong carries a live bird hidden in his hands behind his back. The person goes to the wise man and asks, “I have a bird in my hand, is the bird alive or dead?”

If wise man says “dead”, the person can open hands to let it fly away. If he says “alive,” the person squeezes the bird dead behind his back. The wise man answers, “The answer to

that question lies in your hands.”Making a change go easily is in your hands.

There are five keys to handling change:1. Get the other humans involved. If your

key management was involved in the decision, then they have a vested interest in making sure the change goes well. If you’re changing computer systems or buying new software – make sure they are involved in the selection. As a computer consultant, I always recom-mended assembling a technology committee of a parts manager, controller, service advisor or warranty clerk, Internet manager, and the dealer/GM. They should see the new options and vote on the one they like the best.

2. Schedule the change for the best time

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of the year or month. If you’re converting computer systems, the best time of the year is after a quarter ends and the best time of the month is between the 10th and 20th.

3. Make a plan for everything that can go wrong. Let’s say that you’re changing com-puter systems. What if you can’t open up a repair order on the morning of “go live?” Do you have a plan to still get the work com-pleted? Remember that we used to fix cars all the time without a computer. How can you calculate payments? Can you hand-write contracts?

4. Have a backup plan for #3 items. Your backup plan for not being able to write service on the new or old computer would be to have a download of your parts inventory – so you can charge out parts and your customer’s his-tory and vehicle file downloaded so you can figure out what they have had done (if you’ve gone away from hard copies.) Do you have some blank repair orders? Great. Otherwise, what can you use to create a repair order? Excel? Quickbooks?

5. Clear your schedule and everyone else’s.

During change it is important that you focus on this one change and not have meetings planned, vacations schedules and even ask employees to delay doctor’s appointments. Have each key manager prepare a staffing plan of how they are going to get through this

change with the current staff and if you might need some temporary help while your staff goes through training. During a computer

conversion, employees are only 25% produc-tive. Are you okay with only 25% of the bank deposit getting to the bank? How about only 25% of your sales?

If you use these five steps for every change – especially a computer conversion or new software installation – you might end up with a live bird when it is all over, but the answer is in your hands!

Sandi Jerome is a former controller, CFO, system administrator, F&I, assistant GM, and fixed operations manager with over 20 years experi-ence in the automotive industry. She is the owner of Sandi Jerome Computer Consulting.

If you wish to discuss this article with other dealers, or with the author, please go to the “Discussion Forums” at www.Dealer-communications.com and enter the “Technology” forum or e-mail her at [email protected].

Our Users Ranked US #1-• Speed in Getting Changes and Modifications Made• Maintenance of Your Daily Business with Minimal Interruptions• Problem and Concerns being Fixed Correctly the First Time You Call• Prompt Follow-up to Handle the Needs of You and Your Staff

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“Having a great install

team from the DMS

provider or easy to use

software helps, but I

find that success is in

the hands of your key

management.” —Sandi Jerome

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