digital dealer magazine - june 2009

Just as you are trying to keep your store(s) on the cutting edge, we are doing the very same thing as we venture into a new frontier in the publishing biz.

We can get this digital version in your hands 2-3 weeks faster than the print version, giving you the freshest information possible. You can click on links at the end of each article to email the author of such. And you can click on the ads to link to that advertiser’s website (and you’d REALLY be helping us out by doing just that).

It’s quite intuitive…I don’t think that someone who uses the Internet to make a living will have any trouble easily figuring it out.

Please let me know what you think about it… [email protected]

Welcome to the digital editionof Digital Dealer magazine!

Michael Roscoe Editor-in-Chief

The Technology Magazine for Dealers & Managers

June 2009

Association of Automotive


Internet Sales Professionals


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KARLAGULESERIAN

Internet DirectorApple Automotive Group

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KARLAGULESERIAN


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Internet Sales:Highlights from a RoundTable Discussion at the 6thDigital Dealer Conference page 12

Internet Sales in aStruggling Marketpage 15

Technology TrendsHow Many People do youNeed in your IT Department? page 19

BDC/CRM:Rules for the New Market Playerspage 25

Internet Sales:Highlights from a RoundTable Discussion at the 6thDigital Dealer Conference page 12

Internet Sales in aStruggling Marketpage 15

Technology TrendsHow Many People do youNeed in your IT Department? page 19

BDC/CRM:Rules for the New Market Playerspage 25

DD 4 June 2009 DigitalDealer-magazine.com

FEATURE

Digital Dealer Cover Story22 Karla Guleserian


COLUMNSAAISP Notes

10 Mike Roscoe

Internet Sales12 Highlights from a Round Table

Discussion at the 6th Digital Dealer ConferencePhil Sura

14 Get your Dealership Into the Minds of Car ShoppersPaige Presley

15 Internet Sales in a Struggling MarketDaryl Sanders

16 The New Four SquareDavid J. Nelson

18 Winning OnlineTom Mohr

Technology Trends19 How Many People do you Need in your

IT Department?Sandi Jerome

20 Have You Upgraded your Operating System to Dealer 2.0?David Greene

BDC/CRM25 Rules for the New Market Players

Chuck Barker

Pre-owned Vehicles28 Your Dealership’s Biggest ‘Black Hole’

Dale Pollak

DEPARTMENTS6 Digital Dealer E-mail8 News

TABLE OF CONTENTSAssociation of Automotive




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A PUBLICATION OF

JUNE 2009

MANAGING EDITORLINDA DI PIETRO

[email protected]

PUBLISHERGREG NOONAN

[email protected]

ART DIRECTORJOE BIRCH

[email protected]

PRODUCTION MANAGERELIZABETH BIRCH

PRINT PRODUCTIONDAVID MANTHEY

DESIGN CONSULTINGPUBLICATION DESIGN, INC.

COVER DESIGNJOE BIRCH

[email protected]

COVER PHOTOGRAPHYCONTE PHOTOGRAPHY

CIRCULATION SUBSCRIPTIONRICH JARRETT314-432-7511

[email protected]

NATIONAL ADVERTISING [email protected]

607-264-3359Dealer magazine makes every attempt toensure the accuracy of all published works.However it cannot be held responsible foropinions expressed or facts supplied herein.Nothing june be reproduced in whole or in partwithout written permission from the publisher.All rights reserved. The publisher encouragesyou to submit suggestions. Submitted materialsbecome the property of Horizon Communications,Inc. and will not be returned. Send material forpublication to 330 Franklin Rd., Suite 135A,PMB 386, Brentwood, TN 37027. The editorreserves the right to edit material; submissionof material constitutes permission to edit andpublish that material. This publication isdesigned to provide accurate and authoritativeinformation in regard to the subject mattercovered. It is presented with the understandingthat the publisher is not engaged in renderinglegal, accounting or other professional service.If legal advice or other expert assistance isrequired, the services of a competent profes-sional person should be sought. From aDeclaration of Principles jointly adopted by aCommittee of the American Bar Associationand a Committee of Publishers.

The Technology Magazine for Dealers & Managers

Karla GuleserianApple Automotive

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Phil Sura,I am the Internet manager at Keene

Chrysler Jeep Dodge in Keene, NH.I’m spearheading the development ofthe Internet department and one of myInternet marketing ideas includedutilizing Facebook – then I read yourarticle in April’s Digital Dealer maga-zine, “Why Do I Need to be onFacebook?” and thought you might beable to discuss any basic dos and don'tsthat you’ve found for using Facebookand other social networking sites.

I look forward to hearing from you!Chris FrentzenInternet ManagerKeene Chrysler Jeep DodgeKeene, [email protected]

Hi Chris,Great questions. Congratulations on

being ahead of the curve by leveraging thesocial sites to drive sales and awareness foryour operation. Many believe that thesocial sites and YouTube helped Obamatremendously. If he is leveraging YouTubeand Facebook, shouldn’t a dealer?

The key is testing concepts with thecustomers to see what drives results. Hereare some basic steps to get started withFacebook:

1. As part of your monthly e-mailcampaigns, invite your customers tobecome raving fans of your dealership bybecoming Facebook fans.

2. Teach your salespeople to createFacebook pages by keeping the informa-tion professional and then ask them tobecome fans.

3. The friends of the customers and theemployees can then easily join.

Once you get it started, Facebook willmanage itself.

Within 30 days of creating Facebookpages, Richard Herod, e-commerce direc-tor of Saturn of St. Paul, personally soldtwo cars and has another prospect, all forzero costs. Keep in mind that Facebookwill not sell an additional 20 cars a daywithin a month, but it is an opportunityto expand the reach of your operation andsell some additional units. BecauseFacebook allows people to state what is ontheir minds each day, it makes it easy to

identify opportunities. In both cases withthe two cars being sold, Richard noticedcomments about frustration over the carbuying process. He then contacted thosefriends and took care of their concerns.When someone states with an update, “Ihate car salespeople”, it sends a clear signalto their entire social network that theyhave a problem that needs to be solved.Richard now has 30 to 40 employees whohe is mentoring on these concepts. Multiplyhis successes by 40. Think of Facebook asan opportunity to give people a chance tobe noticed. It is one-to-one marketing.

The key is being willing to adopt newconcepts like Facebook to adapt to the newvirtual sales space that exists today.Congratulations on being bold andworking outside of the traditional box.

Phil Sura

Mr. Barker,I have read your article in the March

2009 Digital Dealer magazine concern-ing objections, “Dealing with ObjectionsProperly,” and I think this is a greatarticle to learn from. I saw where you saidyou have a total store CRM checklist,and I would like to receive one. Here inour BDC I always try to emphasize toour BDRs how important it is to find outexactly what the customer's objection is.I really believe once we have the objec-tion we can work on the solution.

Rosie SotoMoritz of North [email protected]

Mr. Barker,I was reviewing the March issue of

Digital Dealer and came across yourarticle, “Dealing with ObjectionsProperly.” We are in the process ofdeveloping our Internet department,BDC, and CRM programs and wouldvery much like a copy of the CRMchecklist you mentioned.

Thank you in advance and for allyou folks do over at Digital Dealer! Itreally is a fantastic source of informa-tion for those of us that are somewhatnew to the business, and I am sure forthe veterans alike.

Thank you,Chancey MooneyhamInternet Sales ManagerLinwood MotorsPaducah, KY and Metropolis, IL [email protected]

Mr. Mooneyham,Thanks for writing and requesting the

checklist I mentioned in my article. I hope it works and is applicable for

your business. I use this when I go into astore to perform what I call a CRM NeedsAssessment and based on the findings Isubmit corrective solution recommenda-tions or fixes. Often I am then invitedinto the dealership to host a CRMInitiative Workshop with all sales profes-sionals and managers to enhance thestore’s efforts to enhance business and theteamwork required to build the businessunder a true CRM initiative. This work-shop has a heavy emphasis on behavioridentification of prospects/customers and21st century telephone skills coupled withhigh level professional communicationstechniques. These represent the trifecta foraccomplished CRM initiatives and mustbe in place to manifest growth and franklysurvive in this marketplace.

As you go through this checklist keep inmind a dutiful perspective toward objec-tivity and honesty in assessing each area.Then, when you have completed it youmay consider e-mailing me for some direc-tion and suggestions to repair thelackluster areas you encounter.

Keep in mind the trifecta items andtheir importance.

Chuck Barker

Hello Mr. Skeans,I was looking back at your July 2008

article in Digital Dealer magazine,“Profit is Opinion – Cash is Fact” andwas wondering if I could receive someinstructions for creating a DOC on myADP system? Thank you in advance.

Sincerely,Jeff Lister GMKnippelmier Chevrolet Blanchard, [email protected]

Hi Jeff,For an example of the “frozen asset”

reporting referred to in the article, pleasetake look at the spreadsheet available fordownload on the free tools page on myweb site www.jimskeans.com.

Thanks for reading Digital Dealermagazine and if you need anything elsejust let me know.

Regards,Jim Skeans

D IGITAL Dealer E-MAIL

Digital Dealer welcomes your letters andafter verification will run them signed orunsigned. Letters june be edited for spaceand clarity. Send letters [email protected].

D IGITAL Dealer

Declined services feature added toAutoSoft Traffic

COP CRM Every day, in every dealership, despite

service advisors’ best attempts, vehicleowners decline one or more recom-mended services. Capturing even a few ofthese seemingly lost opportunities canbolster service sales dramatically.

Often, however, declined servicesopportunities simply get lost in theshuffle and not followed up, a costly lossfor any dealership, especially today.

New technology, fortunately, makes iteasy for service departments to capturedeclined services opportunities fromrepair order information residing in thedealer management system (DMS) andthen integrate that data through acustomer relationship management(CRM) system that enforces declinedservices re-contact.

Traffic COP, the new CRM fromAutoSoft International, now incorpo-rates a new Declined Service tool to helpthe service department track and pursuethis lost business. Traffic COP pullsflagged Declined Services opportunitiesfrom the AutoSoft DMS. By printing aDeclined Services report from TrafficCOP, the service manager has a list ofdeclined services opportunities at his orher fingertips. Customers then can be re-contacted by phone or email with asimple yet carefully crafted message orincentive offer to entice their return tothe dealership to have that declinedservice completed.

AutoSoft Traffic COP gives servicemanagers complete and deep trans-parency into every service opportunity –customer by customer, service need byservice need, follow up by follow up,day by day – so advisors are heldaccountable for pursing declined serv-ices opportunities and converting lostbusiness into profits.

www.autosoft-asi.com

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Importing online vehicle inventories

easier for OVE.com’s partners

OVE.com provides independentauctions with an automated inventoryimport solution that simplifies theprocess of adding new vehicle listingsand reduces time and costs spent makinginventories available online.

Many independent auctions use theinventory import feature because it inte-grates seamlessly with in-houseinventory management systems they arealready using, including ASI’s auctionmanagement software. Auctions caneasily import images and display condi-tion reports on OVE.com. Thosecapabilities make it easy for auctions toadd listings frequently and saturate themarketplace with their vehicles.OVE.com is tightly integrated withAutoTrader.com too, so dealercustomers can move their vehicles overto OVE.com with a few mouse clicks.

“We’ve been using OVE.com andhave seen great results,” said John Rea,past president of the National AutoAuction Association (NAAA). “Thisinventory import solution will only maketransacting business on OVE.com easier.It is helping us expand our business, andit’s a critical part of our remarketing strat-egy. I think that’s true for many auctionsacross the industry.”

OVE.com’s inventory import solutionmakes it even easier for independentauctions to leverage the power and bene-fits of OVE.com. Auctions can:

• Avoid listing or membership fees. • Set their own fees. • “Expand beyond the gates” to facil-

itate transactions they might notnormally touch. (Many dealers turn toindependent auctions to list vehicles attheir dealerships.)

• Sell more vehicles for theircustomers and expand their reachnationally and even internationally.

Glenn O’Leary, director of independ-ent auction relations for OVE.com says,

“OVE.com can help independentauctions maintain their identities,strengthen existing customer relation-ships and garner new business. It’s theonly online marketplace where sellers canchoose their preferred auction locationfrom which to both buy and sell.”www.manheim.com

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FirstLook expands consumer

optimization concept FirstLook has announced a concept in

marketing and sales centered on “thepower of selling value.”

FirstLook’s Consumer OptimizationSystem provides automotive dealers withthe ability to maximize online “pageviews,” drive in-store traffic and converttraffic into sales without giving away poten-tial gross profit. This new set ofconsumer-facing marketing and selling tech-niques focuses on optimizing pricing andadvertising and in-store sales.

Consumer optimization, a revolutionaryconcept that focuses “the power of sellingvalue,” is the key to successful pricing, adver-tising and selling of pre-owned inventory.Consumer optimization is broken down intothree areas:

• Consumer optimized pricing helpsdealers manage the fine line betweenover-pricing vehicles and under-pricing,enabling them to get all of their onlinevehicles “in the game” without givingaway gross profit.

• Consumer optimized advertisingmoves dealers beyond generic online adscreated with VIN explosions to highimpact ads that highlight the uniquebenefits and attributes that set a vehicleapart from the competition. FirstLook’s360º Internet Advertising Accelerator isthe first fully integrated solutiondesigned to create online ads that areconsumer optimized.

• Consumer optimized selling shiftsthe sales focus from haggling over priceand payment to focusing on a techniquecalled “Value Closing” – a more transpar-ent approach to selling that allows dealersto harness the power of the Internet tosell the value of their vehicle and price.

www.DriveYourNumbers.com

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connected to our hotel, the MarriottRenaissance Downtown, and it's rightacross the street from Legend's Corner,Tootsie’s, The Stage and all the rest ofthe honky-tonks.

We’ve got more than enough hotelrooms, more than enough room for oursessions and workshops, and easilyenough room for exhibitors with one-third of the entire exhibit hall at theNashville Convention Center.

Besides being home to the DigitalDealer Conferences (and me), did youknow that Nashville is within 600 milesof 70 percent of the population of theUnited States? That’s one of the reasonswe're holding the event in Nashville.Also, Nashville has always been well-received and well-thought of byattendees and prospective attendees.Plus we had to get out of the Orlando-fall/Las Vegas-spring rotation, becauseFlorida can be just a little risky duringhurricane season.

And honestly, another big reason forNashville is that I’m following my ownadvice re: the economy and the retailautomobile market: hope for the best,prepare for the worst. We were able toget a very flexible agreement with thehotel and convention center here. Ireally stuck my neck out in Las Vegaslast April. The hotel room nights guar-antee and the food and beverageminimum had me risking over half amil. Maybe it was dumb luck, but the400-plus registered dealership atten-dees surprised even me (I know itsurprised some past exhibitors whodidn’t exhibit). The deal we made herein Nashville cuts the risk considerablybut still will allow us to hold as big ofan event as we’ve ever had. It’s justgood business.

So, now you know when and now youknow where. So what are you going to doabout it...right now? How about this...goto www.DigitalDealerConference.comand take a look. And don't forget...it'snever too early to register for the early-bird discount.

Mike RoscoeD IGITAL Dealer AAISP NOTES

I’ve got good news and I’ve got greatnews. I know where the nextDigital Dealer Conference &

Exposition is going to be held. Thisfall, November 1-3, the 7th DigitalDealer Conference & Exposition willbe held in...Nashville!

That’s right y’all, The Digital DealerConference & Exposition is comingback home to its roots, Nashville,Tennessee. Don’t know if you recall,but the first two events were held inNashville in the spring of 2006 andspring of 2007. I remember itwell...the cozy Nashville AirportMarriott being too small to put all theexhibitors into one hall; squeezing toomany people into the session rooms;the smelly cab rides downtown to hitthe honky-tonks.

The Digital Dealer Conferences havegrown considerably since then, so thistime in Nashville we won’t have any ofthose problems. We are holding thesessions and exhibit hall at theNashville Convention Center, which is

Michael RoscoeEditor-in-Chief

Marriott Renaissance Downtownwww.DigitalDealerConference.com

CONFERENCE & EXPOSITION

7TH7TH

November 1-3, 2009 • Nashville, TN


The latest Digital Dealer confer-ence was great for a number ofreasons. I reconnected with

friends, the weather was 90 degrees,the conference was at a top notchhotel, and there was a definite increasein the number of dealer principalsattending the conference with keymanagers from their dealerships. Theconference kicked off with the oppor-tunity to network with others in roundtable discussions. My table comprisedof two dealers, seven Internet directorsand several sales managers from citiesacross the country. We focused on aconcern or problem from each dealer-ship. Each member of the table wouldarticulate the problem and the groupwould share ideas on how to resolvethat issue. Here are some of the issuesand ideas that our team came up with:

Problem: Salespeople are notsupporting the Internet department.Some are negative and they complainabout the Internet team. The depart-ment is responsible for appointmentsetting and then turning the deals overto the entire sales team.

Solution: The problem with thisoperation is that every salesperson isqualified to work the Internet leads,including the grumblers. The sugges-tion was to limit the Internet leads to asmall number of salespeople who earnthe right to work the Internet deals.Allow the old school guys and thegrumblers to work their own deals andfeed the salespeople who are supportiveof the Internet activities. Earning theright to qualify to work the Internetdeals could be base on a combination ofindividual CSI scores, closing ratios anda miscellaneous factor such assupport/attitude.

Problem: The dealership is doingwell, selling 80 to 90 units a monthfrom the Internet. The director believesthough, that they are missing opportu-nities and should be able to jump to the

next level. Salespeople at this dealershipappreciate the Internet and the salesteam. The Internet deals are worked bythe sales team and closed by the financemanagers. The goal is 200-plus unitssold from the Internet department.

Solution: Create an independentsales team focused on the Internet. Thisincludes a director, dedicated Internetsalespeople and dedicated financemanagers. This operation is well aheadof the curve with 90 Internet salesmonthly. To jump to 200, the dealer-ship will need to embrace a differentsales process. Other dealerships werementioned that have increased Internetsales to the 200 to 300 sales level. In allcases, a dedicated sales team was part ofthe equation. It is identical to separatingthe new car department from used.

Problem: Sales management is notsupporting the Internet team. Theybelieve that the Internet is hurting grossaverages and they don’t buy into theidea of allowing the Internet director tohave the ability to work their own deals.The Internet team keeps detailedreports to track key metrics while thesales management team only tracks thebasics on the paper logs. The salesmanagers are paid off of the grossgenerated in the Internet office.

Solution: The dealer needs to getinvolved with this. It became apparentthat the traditional sales managers werethreatened by the success of the Internetteam. This is a sad commentary thathappens in many dealerships. The oldguard philosophy clashes with thechanges taking place. The transitionfrom showroom selling to virtual sellingis not going to stop because veterans arenot comfortable with the changes.Dealers must evolve or die andmanagers must adapt or leave the indus-try. The dealer needs to take thefollowing steps:

1. Lay down the law with sales manage-ment to make it clear that the dealership

is entering a new phase, which willrequire the support of every employee.

2. Explain that dealerships of the pasttracked customers coming into fourareas within the dealership (new carsales, used car sales, service and parts).These customers were visible and therewas physical interaction. The dealershipwill now simply have another depart-ment, which is not immediately visible– the virtual customer.

3. To stay competitive, dealermanagement must understand thatused cars, like new cars, are a commod-ity transaction. The Internet is theprimary reason for this. Ninety-fivepercent of the Internet market buyersare using Google to start the process.

4. Provide continuing education bysending the sales managers to the nextDigital Dealer conference and requirethe managers to review articles fromthe magazine.

5. If all else fails, set an example byreplacing the worst offender.

Problem: Not certain of how to handleprice questions on the Internet? This wasa concern with a couple of participants.

Solution: Value must exceed the costof the cars. It is still up to the Internetsalesperson to sell himself/herself, thedealership and the car. If you dwell onthe price only, you will lose.

1. Several operations at the table did anice job of providing information onthree units, including price every timeto the customer making an inquiry.Example: a customer is requestinginformation on a base Explorer. Theresponse would include the informationand price on the Explorer, a pre-ownedExplorer and an Explorer with a differ-ent package. If you can create choices,you will be in a stronger position.

2. It was also suggested that a video ofthe units should always be pushed outto create a “pattern interrupt.” Thecustomer will evaluate the response ofthe three or four dealerships where a

Highlights from a Round Table Discussionat the 6th Digital Dealer Conference The transition from showroom selling to virtual selling is not goingto stop because veterans are not comfortable with the changes

D IGITAL Dealer INTERNET SALESPhil Sura

DigitalDealer-magazine.com June 2009 DD 13

lead is being sent. The customer expectsto get a text response, possibly with apicture of the unit in question. A videoof the car would take the experience tothe next level. A video walk-around is amore emotionally engaging experienceand it breaks the expected pattern setwith other dealerships.

3. The consensus was that theInternet team should get the customeron the phone whenever possible todiscuss the options. If you rely on e-mails, you will not be as effective. Thegoal is to get the customer into the deal-ership. It is also important to note thatsome people only feel comfortable witha sales process through e-mails. Somepeople don’t feel comfortable with thephone sales process. Respect the wishesof the customers since they are the oneswho have the ultimate choice –the deal-ership from which they buy.

Problem: The top salesperson of thestore is not a believer in the Internet andhe works hard at discrediting theInternet department. He has been withthe operation for a number of years andhe has a strong customer base.

Solution: This is similar to the firstproblem listed. Some of the best tradi-tional salespeople will never adapt to thevirtual sale. Some of the frustration is areality that the game has changed andsome of the veterans are threatened. Insome cases they don’t like the young kidsbeing hired to set up Internet initiativesbecause this represents change. Thesteps discussed include the following.We will call the salesperson Joe.

1. The dealer should talk to Joe. TakeJoe to lunch. Explain that the world haschanged. Thank Joe for the 10 years ofservice. Tell Joe that he is family; he willalways have a home with the dealershipbut you need and expect Joe’s support.Explain that his behavior is in directconflict with the direction that the deal-ership is going. Ask Joe, “Can I counton you to help me with this?”

2. Isolate Joe from the Internet team. 3. Let Joe work his customer base. Problem: Poor closing ratios. The deal-

ership is getting 330 Internet leads withthree salespeople. The salespeople areresponsible for working the entire deal.

Solution: The ratios are out of line.

Each salesperson can only effectivelywork 80 deals each month. TheInternet salespeople love to have ahigher ratio but the store’s closing ratiowill suffer. The dealerships that hadpoor closing ratios and averages greaterthan 85:1 agreed to hire additionalsalespeople.

As I travel around the country, I seeidentical issues and problems. Getconnected with a group of other dealer-ships to talk through the problems thatyou are facing. One Chevrolet 20 groupthat I visited is inviting their Internetmanagers to the next meeting for thisvery purpose.

Phil Sura is a VP of the AutomotiveDivision of UnityWorks Media.

DD 13

If you wish to discuss this article withother dealers, or with the author,please go to the “Discussion Forums”at www.DigitalDealer-magazine.comand enter the “Internet Sales” forum or e-mail him at [email protected].


When it comes to the success ofyour dealership in this dayand age, it’s critical to have a

sound yet adaptive online presence.While clean design, updated specials

and multiple inventory listings arecertainly vital parts of an effective web site;it is crucial to pay close attention to howshoppers get to your site in the first place.

Including your URL on every ad,marketing piece and promotional item is,of course, the simplest way to promoteyour site and encourage visitors. But,according to the most recent AutomotiveInternet Shopper Study by J.D. Powerand Associates, 86 percent of auto shop-pers are going online to search for theirnext vehicle. With so many peoplelooking to dealer web sites for informa-tion, you need to consider how and whereyour web site appears in lists of relevantsearch results.

If you’re following online basic bestpractices, then you already have the infor-mation that car shoppers want in yourvehicle research tools such as the ability toconfigure a vehicle, compare several vehi-cles, view relevant rebates and incentives,and access trade valuation information.

Having your dealer web site appear asone of the top links in Google or Yahoo!will help shoppers find this valuable infor-mation on your site versus someone else’s,all while building shoppers’ confidence inyour ability to provide them with the bestcar buying experience possible.

Search engine optimization (SEO) isunderstandably a hot topic in the webcommunity right now, and everyone istrying to find the magic answer when itcomes to getting their site at the top ofthe search engine lists.

SEO is really not as complicated aspeople make it out to be. Here’s a list ofthings that you should and shouldn’t bedoing now that will improve your results.

Do: Focus on your site’s content toimprove traffic by including keyword-rich information that will not only be

useful to your shoppers, but will also beaccessible to search engines looking forrelevant sites.

Also, place keywords in your page titleand header, and be sure to always haveinformation-rich content within eachpage of your web site. Search engines willcome across the information, index thepages and boost your site’s rank.

Don’t: Insert so many keywords thatyour site looks more like spam than a cred-ible resource for vehicle information. Thispractice of “keyword stuffing” leads to alower ranking for your site and dilutes thestrength of your SEO campaign.

Rand Fishkin, the CEO atSEOmoz.org, a popular site that educatespeople on the ins and outs of SEO,debunks the myth that the denser thekeywords, the more popular your site willbe. Fishkin notes that having multipleappearances of certain keywords is notnearly as valuable as having just one goodlink from a credible source.

Do: Provide a sitemap that searchengines can easily index. It should containessential information for search enginessuch as when a page was last updated andwhat pages you believe are most impor-tant to shoppers.

Don’t: Organize your site in such a waythat it takes more than three clicks to getto any one page. If a page is too manyclicks into a web site, search engines willignore it.

Also, according to the J.D. Power Studypreviously referenced, you lose nearly aquarter of your online shoppers per click.By keeping each page accessible from thehome page, you’ll retain customers whileenhancing your page rankings.

Do: Start a blog about trends in theauto industry, the most popular vehicleson the market and/or how your dealer-ship is serving the community. By havingthis content on your site you will beadding more relevant keywords, whichwill enhance your site’s search ranking.

SEOmoz.org offers excellent tips on how

to have a successful business blog, includ-ing having a corporate voice instead of apersonal one, reaching out to your audi-ence versus selling to them and creatingeasy-to-read content that isn’t too lengthy.

Don’t: Let more than one or two weeksgo by without updating your blog. To beeffective and useful to consumers, a blogshould be updated on a semi-weekly basiswith posts about current events and infor-mation, not promotions or newsletters.

Do: Get as many links back to your sitefrom other web sites by submitting yourURL to relevant and niche directories.You can also get involved with socialnetworking communities like Facebookor LinkedIn that link your profile to yourdealership site.

Don’t: Get involved with link farms andother spam-like ways of link building.Search engines will see that your web sitewas linked from a low quality site, andthey will lower the value of your page rank.

As the online community becomesmore competitive with each passing day,it’s imperative that you optimize your siteto ensure it appears in relevant searchresults. A good web site provider shouldknow all of these best practices, andmore, as they stay on top of industrytrends and incorporate them into thestructure of your web site.

Paige Presley is the marketinganalyst/writer for Dealerskins in Nashville,TN. She enjoys mixing her passions for allthings technology and for following con-sumer trends by staying involved in marketresearch for the auto industry.

Get your Dealership Into the Minds of Car ShoppersHow an optimized web site can boost your business

D IGITAL Dealer INTERNET SALES Paige Presley

If you wish to discuss this article withother dealers, or with the author,please go to the “Discussion Forums”at www.DigitalDealer-magazine.comand enter the “Internet Sales” forum or e-mail her at [email protected].


With the slowdown in store traffic,it’s time for auto dealerships acrossthe nation to think and act differ-

ently than ever before. As a result of decreasedsales, many stores have nearly shut off their adbudgets, other than short-term event efforts.Why? During these days of uncertainty,potential customers aren’t responding even tothe best advertising efforts.

However, in spite of this economicslump, there are opportunities that arecoming into our store that we are not maxi-mizing efforts to convert. After all my yearsin the car business I propose that most storesare missing prospective customers every day.So, as a seller, how do you find the hiddenbuyers and what do you do with them?

First let us consider the Internet lead.Every prospect has made a special effort toget to us. They’ve researched online to finda suitable automobile web site. They’vetaken the time to narrow down their questfor the right vehicle. These people haveprobably scanned through several choicesbefore making a final selection. Beforereceiving the necessary information, on thevehicle of their choice, they have suppliedyou with their name, e-mail, phone,address, and a make and model for consid-eration. My past auto business experiencetells me to value this prospect. We have todo whatever it takes to connect with themto work toward the sale.

The challenge is that the behavior patternof Internet prospects has slowed down, andnow it is maybe five to six months versus the60-day buy cycle we have been experiencingover the last five years. So how do we bettermanage these leads? This is where Internetsales expertise pays off. Right now everyoneneeds to alter his or her Internet salesprocess. This is why I advocate databasemanagement of all leads. We need to begoing back six months and rework all leadsthat are unsold.

In all my experience in dealership salesconsultant work, I know that every Internetsales department has untapped leads datingback six months. In fact, nearly one third toat least one half of all leads have never been

talked to! In most store processes, thesepotential buyers are sitting in the CRM tool.Do I need to say anything else? It is time torectify the process to make an all out effortto reach every lead in some way or other.Perhaps the floor staff could come in (asopposed to sitting there with nothing to do)and join an all out effort to make sure we aremaking every effort to work every lead andcultivate them toward a sale.

In addition, for the leads we have alreadytalked to, more than half of them are stillsitting in the CRM tool because the neces-sary follow-up process has not yet ended inan appointment. And I mean sitting therefor months with no further follow-upaction. Therefore, I’ve altered my manage-ment process to ensure that my Internet staffreconnects with every contact they havetalked to, weekly. New behaviors requireprocess modification and certainly now isthe time to modify.

So what about used-car phone ups fromthe likes of Autotrader and Cars.com? Mytraining method has closed 10 to 15 percentof these leads. But every time I scan thephone lists I still see another 15 to 20percent that, for whatever reason, weren’ttalked to. My suggestion is to forward theafter-hours calls to someone’s after-hours cellphone, or at the least, the first thing in themorning, have someone else call back thesephone numbers to see what can be done.

What do we do about the hesitant peoplewe talk to from these used car leadproviders? The challenge is to get their e-mail address for future follow up. Mostlikely these calls get shuffled as a bad leadrather than take the time to gather moreinformation from them and dig out a possi-ble sale.

No doubt the Internet has revealed thepent up demand in the marketplace. Butdepending on your specific market,people are struggling with the question,“When is the right time to buy?” If theirjob status is shaky, obviously that is aserious issue. However, consider that if 10percent plus is unemployed that means 90percent are employed. Maintain a positive

attitude in the very face of a negative andfearful environment.

All voice mails should end on a positivenote. Be sure to say, “This is a great time tobuy a car!” All conversations need to beuplifting, helpful, encouraging, and bringpromise to work out everything during theupcoming in store appointment. We exist tohelp consumers find solutions to their car-buying needs.

My new-car Internet staff is sellingmore used cars than ever. My philosophyis to make it happen no matter what ittakes. Be prepared to offer alternatives. MyInternet staff is trained to serve and go theextra mile by making additional calls tomake it happen.

Therefore, I advise all dealers andmanagers to take a constructive look at theirInternet departments. They should realizethat there is more opportunity than one canimagine. Let’s inspire existing staff to workthose leads. Talk to everybody. Keep callinguntil you get them in the store. This is notthe time to cut third-party leads. In fact, I’dadvise every dealership to buy more leadsrather than spend money on other unpro-ductive advertising.

The Internet delivers opportunities,which sooner or later equals revenue. Whatmore can a dealer ask for in this market?

Daryl Sanders is the owner of Internet DealerSolutions, Ltd. He has installed his evolvingsales system in over 100 dealerships. He has abusiness degree in marketing from Ohio StateUniversity. As an offensive tackle at OSU, hewas an NFL number one draft pick in 1963for the Detroit Lions.

Internet Sales in a Struggling Market


D IGITAL Dealer INTERNET SALESDaryl Sanders


Aseasoned car salesperson escorts acustomer into the sales office athis dealership. Sitting across the

desk from his customer, the salespersonsays, "So how can I earn your businesstoday?" The consumer contemplates –will I be treated fairly and given a goodprice? Will this salesperson try to takeadvantage of me? The salesperson pro-ceeds with the negotiation, based on thefour-square leverage points: trade-invalue, purchase price, down paymentand monthly payment. While the con-sumer struggles to understand a gooddeal from a bad one, the dealer “worksthe numbers” and ultimately gains theupper hand in order to settle on a dealthat works in his favor.

While this is how a negotiationscenario may have played out in thepast, history has led many consumersto feel jaded about the car buyingprocess, often feeling like the negotia-tion process is set up to confuse theminto buying a car at an unfair price.Participating in a four square negotia-tion often resulted in the buyer feeling“worked” by the end of the process.However, while the dealer has tradi-tionally had most of the leverage in thenegotiation, in today's Internet age,negotiation leverage has now shifted tothe consumer — particularly in today’sdown market.

Dealers are now contending withsuper-empowered consumers, who havespent an average of 6.5 hours research-ing online before ever setting foot in thedealership. In fact, unlike the days oftraveling from shop to shop down dealerrow, today the average consumer onlyvisits 1.5 dealerships before purchasing.Super-empowered consumers are typi-cally armed with very specificinformation about the car they want topurchase. They know the availabilityand price of similar vehicles in yourmarket and have a sense of “fair price”based on guidebooks such as Kelley Blue

Book, Edmunds True Market Value andothers. As a result, the negotiationadvantage has been turned in favor ofthe consumer.

Consumers and dealers collideWhile most dealers sell based on the

four money-related leverage points ofthe four square method, mostconsumers buy based on what theyvalue, or what we like to refer to as theM.A.R.K factors:

1. Mission: Does the vehicle fit my mis-sion? • e.g. Safe, fuel-efficient, family car thatseats five (including three car seats) andhas a cargo area instead of a trunk to fitmy dog

2. Affordable: Is this vehicle affordablegiven my financial means? • Payment range is the primary factor.

3. Risk: How much risk on reliabilityam I taking? • One-owner, still under warranty, serv-ice history, low mileage, J.D. PowerQuality Ratings, projected total cost ofownership

4. Key differentiators: What are thekey differentiators of this vehicle versusmy alternatives?• Leads consumers to make purchasingdecision based on price to value equa-tion

Let’s face it, in the Internet age,dealers need to recognize that the foursquare method is no longer theprimary consideration when negotiat-ing a sale. Of course, price, payment,trade-in and down payment are stillcritical components to the deal – butthey should not be the starting point.Starting with the dealer’s “foursquares,” which focus on money levers,rather than the consumer’s M.A.R.K

factors, which focus on personalmission, can lead to a huge disconnectbetween how dealers sell and howconsumers buy. The haggling thatensues can erode dealer profits andprevent deals from being closed.

What dealers need is a new approachto selling – one that takes advantage ofthe consumer’s knowledge and sells onvalue, rather than selling solely onprice. At the Digital Dealer Conferencein Las Vegas (just days prior to writingthis article), I presented this “New FourSquare.”

The new four squareIn order to meet the needs of the

empowered consumer, it’s time fordealers to adopt the new four squaremethod, which centers on the M.A.R.K.factors, or the emotional and functionalneeds of the consumer. The new foursquare shifts the process from aconfrontational negotiation based solelyon price to a more win-win negotiationbased on consumer values. The key liesin shifting the sales focus from hagglingover price and payment to focusing onthe principles of consumer optimizedselling, (see Pat Ryan’s May DigitalDealer article “Stop Haggling…Start“Value Closing”), and a technique called“Value Closing.” In this more transpar-ent approach to selling, the dealer’s jobis to highlight the value of each car andleverage the information that consumershave been using in order to meet theirneeds and values:

1. Vehicle highlights: Focus on thehigh value equipment that most closelyfulfills the customer’s mission.Differentiate your vehicle from similarvehicles on the market.

2. Quality and risk profile:Highlight the vehicle attributes that

The New Four SquareLook beyond the numbers – sell value to retain more gross

continued next page

D IGITAL Dealer INTERNET SALESDavid J. Nelson


have the potential to reduce risk andreinforce vehicle quality.

3. Certified pre-owned: Highlightvehicle certifications, which provide ageneral sense of quality (betterinspected, reconditioned, etc.). It is crit-ically important to emphasize some ofthe powerful benefits of certifiedprograms that currently have lowconsumer awareness such as “seven-year,100,000 mile extended warranty” and“24-hour roadside assistance.”

4. The value of your pricing: Sell thevalue of the price you are offering as itcompares to the trusted sources thatyour customer has likely alreadyreviewed such as Kelley Blue Book,Edmunds TMV and JD PowerInformation Network, as well as thevehicle’s own pricing history (i.e. origi-nal sticker price, your original list price,average selling price, etc.).

By aligning dealer’s goals withconsumer’s goals, the new four squareputs dealers in a better position topersuade the consumer based on howthey define value. The result: a win-winnegotiation process that allows you to:• Draw a parallel between what your

customer has learned and what theyneed

• Determine what evidence you have tosupport them

• Empower your sales team

In today’s Internet-empoweredworld, the “old four square” should nolonger be the centerpiece of the negoti-ation. Rather, it should be used afterthe four pillars of the “new four square”have been sold to the customer. In theend, dealers who adopt the new foursquare will earn the trust ofconsumers—and will be rewarded withnot only the sale, but with buyers morewilling to pay a fair price for value. As aresult they will create satisfiedcustomers while also increasing poten-tial for strong gross profits.

David Nelson is senior vice president andgeneral manager for FirstLook’s EliteOperations Division. FirstLook byINCISENT Technologies is the leader inautomotive retail performance solutionsand was ranked as the #4 Fastest GrowingSoftware Company in the United States inInc Magazine’s 2008 Inc500, as well asthe #1 Fastest Growing Company in theautomotive sector.


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Here is a stark but simple fact: themarketplace offers fewer activebuyers than are needed to sus-

tain the current dealer community. ADarwinian fight for survival is under-way; an alarming percentage of dealerswill go out of business in the next 12months. Those that emerge will do sobecause they possess key traits that pro-vide a persistent competitive edge.

How can a dealer leap into this evolu-tionary winner’s circle?

The answer to this life-and-death ques-tion is hidden behind another: where dodealers have the greatest opportunity toimpact a buyer’s choice of dealership?This is key. If you know the moment oftruth—the moment when the customeris most open to a dealer’s courtingrituals—you gain a distinct advantageover competitors. By closely observingthe steps a consumer goes through to buya car, the point of maximum influencebecomes clear.

Two incontrovertible facts guide us.First, over 80 percent of car-buyingcustomers use the Internet to gain aninformation advantage as they prepare tointerview dealers who seek their favor.Second, an increasing percentage ofcustomers extend their remote engage-ment further by sending their firstexpression of interest (a lead) over theInternet, to multiple dealerships.

The moment of truth, of course, is thepoint where the consumer has sent a leadto three to five competing dealerships. Thedealer who leaps in front of the pack andfirst initiates the courting ritual, then isgently persistent with insightful words andoffers over time, leaves his competitorsclamoring in the dust.

Rapid response and effective follow-upare the one-two punch that knocks outthe other guys. Experience shows thatdealers who can deliver an immediateresponse with a price quote every timewhen a customer submits a lead, andpersonalized follow-up every time when

the customer doesn’t buy, will see at leasta two percentage point increase in closerate on average. Get these two criticalsteps right and you’ve made the leap intothe winner’s circle. Why? Because so fewdealers can pull it off. According to J.D.Power’s October 2008 Internet MysteryShop Results, the average response timeon Internet leads is over 12 hours. Thirty-two percent of leads don’t get answered atall. And if there is a response, 55 percentof the time the customer receives just onesingle e-mail, even though 32 percent ofcustomers buy 90 days or more aftersubmitting a lead, according to the 2007Cobalt/Polk eBusiness Study.

Here’s the opportunity: customers wanta quick, information-rich response. TheJuly 2008 Capgemini Cars Online Studyshowed that faster response times had adirect correlation to higher conversionrates. Citing one example, “Capgeminifound that when the automaker respondedto a customer web inquiry within 20minutes, conversion rates were doubled.”A rapid, relevant response increases sales.

Speed is key, but it’s not the only impor-tant factor. Evolutionary advantage is alsotied to the content of the dealer’s message.We’ve just reviewed the huge disconnectbetween reality and customer expectationsfor responsiveness. J.D. Power indicatesthat consumers are even more critical ofthe completeness of the response.Customers want the dealer’s price, anddealers who hide it hurt their prospects fora sale. According to Forrester Research’s“Auto Site Dealers Must Rethink PriceInfo” article in June 2006, “…consumerswho understand car prices are happierwith their vehicles and their dealers. Theyfeel significantly better about their car-buying experience and are more likely topurchase from the same dealer again.”AlixPartners, 2007 Consumer BrandsIndex study found “…auto buyers are nolonger willing to settle for anything lessthan totally honest and consistentpricing.” Polk’s Consumer Expectations

for Internet Lead Marketing Study, May2008, shows that offering upfront pricecorrelates directly to significantlyincreased customer loyalty.

Some dealers realize that hiding the priceis self-defeating. As one participant in theApril 2008 Polk Automotive IntelligenceSummit said, “…if I don’t give price infor-mation to the customer, I’m automaticallyviewed as the highest price guy in town.” Arelevant and transparent response is impor-tant in order to build customer confidenceand trust. That means the response shouldinclude the price.

But how can a dealer do it? No matterthe size of Internet department, thereality of car-selling at ground zero (thedealership) is a steady hail storm ofdistractions that take away salespeoplefrom the incoming lead. Whether it be atest drive, a customer in the financedepartment, the weekly sales meeting,breaks, lunch or a day off, many conflict-ing priorities pull salespeople from thetask of executing a quick response to thecustomer. The result? A third of leads gounanswered. The remainder receives aresponse more than a full business dayafter arrival of the customer’s request.

Then there’s the question of the responseitself. Is there a price? That’s what thecustomer wants. Even if the dealer is willingto provide a price, and the salesperson can getthe quote out, too often the quote is compro-mised by human error—math, spellingerrors, etc., or it lacks punch: no new andused car alternatives shown, for instance.These errors and omissions, large and small,weaken the impact of the response.

Under the Internet department struc-ture, the problem with immediateresponse is distractions that pull salespeo-ple away from their computers. Under aBDC structure, the problems are cost,quality of personnel and managementoversight challenges.

Here’s the simple fact. To make themost of the moment of truth – to make

Winning Online

continued on P-DD21

D IGITAL Dealer INTERNET SALESTom Mohr


Irecently did a study and deter-mined that you need one ITperson per every 72.5 users. I’ll

explain this ratio later in the article,but for many dealers, the thought ofcutting your IT department mightscare you. Instead, why not get morevalue from your IT department ratherthan trying to use my ratio to makestaff reductions? Every dealership ITdepartment or system administrationshould be doing three things and notdoing three things to get the mostvalue for your technology dollars.

The first item that your IT depart-ment or system administrator shouldnot be doing is to support the DMSsystem. Your DMS system comes withmonthly support for each of the appli-cations and much of the hardware. Ifyour employees prefer to use yourfriendly IT person instead of thecumbersome DMS support depart-ment, then you need to stop payingsupport to the DMS company. Sincethat can’t happen (you signed a contractthe requires you to pay support), youneed to have your employees use theDMS support as long as the issue is notkeeping a customer waiting. Next, yourIT department should not repair print-ers or PCs down to the componentlevel. This hardware has gotten socheap that you can save money bykeeping backups of equipment insteadof having your IT department tearapart computers and printers, trying tofind out what is wrong. When youreplace a perfectly good PC with anewer model, wipe it and reinstallWindows. Now you have a nice freeand fast backup PC to give to anotheremployee. The third thing your IT staffshould not do is to answer the phones.When they are busy working on oneproblem, the interruption of the nextphone call slows them down. Your ITdepartment or system administrator

can work more efficiently if youremployees use e-mail or electronicsupport software. It is vital that youhave either this software or some kindof support log because without it youcan’t determine what your IT staff orperson does all day.

What about the three things your ITdepartment should be doing? First, theyshould find ways to use your databaseto sell or service more vehicles. Thisincludes keeping the database clean andupdated and constantly creatingmarketing reports for your keymanagers. They should also be keepingthe DMS database synchronized withyour web site inventory, CRMcustomer database and servicemerchandising and scheduling tools.How can you effectively use these toolsif nobody is making sure all the data iscorrect? Next they should be providingregular training on all your technologyfor the users. Each month, newemployees start work and the mostcommon contribution to that person’ssuccess by the IT department is givingthem a password. Instead they shouldgo over all the technology you own andmake sure the person knows how to useit. Last, they need to provide regular

reports to you regarding the security ofyour system. What virus and firewallare they using and how up-to-date is it?What methods are they using tocomply with Red Flag and Safeguards?This should be provided at leastmonthly as a “state of the system”report for you. To get back to my ratioof one IT person per 72.5 users, thatwas for one particular dealership groupand as you know, no two are alike. Eachdealership has different DMS systemsthat provide different levels of supportand each dealership has different tech-nology that might include support ornot. Sometimes I analyze a dealershipthat has all their PCs under third-partysupport and others have it supported bythe IT department. The key to gettingthe most value from your IT depart-ment is to analyze their electronicsupport log (or get them to startkeeping one) and determine if they aredoing the right type of support thatmakes money and protects your dealer-ship. Send me an e-mail if you’d like afree job description for an IT directoror information on analyzing your ITdepartment costs.

Sandi Jerome is a former controller,CFO, system administrator, F&I, assis-tant GM, and fixed operations managerwith over 20 years experience in the auto-motive industry. She is the owner of SandiJerome Computer Consulting.

How Many People do you Need in your IT department?

If you wish to discuss this article withother dealers, or with the author,please go to the “Discussion Forums”at www.DigitalDealer-magazine.comand enter the “Technology” forum or e-mail her at [email protected].

D IGITAL Dealer TECHNOLOGY TRENDSSandi Jerome

“Why not get more

value from your

IT department

rather than trying

to use my ratio

to make

staff reductions?”—Sandi Jerome


If your dealership is marketing andselling to a Web 2.0 world but stillusing a Dealer 1.0 operating system –

it might be time to consider an upgrade.An operating system is the program thatonce installed on your computer, man-ages every other program on thecomputer. If you think about it, yourdealership has an operating system aswell. You might not have noticed if youwere working with an outdated systemin the past, but the challenges of the cur-rent market have made it clear whichdealers have made the upgrade to Dealer2.0 and which haven’t.

Based on our work with dealershipsthat are fighting to maintain and growmarket share in a brutally competitiveretail environment, there has been ashift in focus from simple cost cuttingto significantly improving the efficiencyand effectiveness of the retail operatingsystem. They can literally do more withless. The upgrade formula is prettysimple. Fewer resources (opportunitiesto do business) x increased efficiencies(improved selling system) equalscompetitive advantage and greatermarket share.

The best news is that it doesn’t costmuch to upgrade your operatingsystem – only the ability to embracechange, see new opportunities, and bethe driving force that combines salesenabling technologies with peopleand potential.

Here are five key applicationupgrades you’ll see in a Dealer2.0 operating system:

• In Dealer 1.0 we relied heavily onexpensive display advertising, theprimary strategy behind which was tohave a lower price in a larger type fontthan our competition. That way, whenour prospective customers responded tothe ad we could do everything possibleto avoid talking about price and reallysell the value of taking action today!

Unfortunately, this often leads us backto price, framed within the ancient ques-tion, “If I could... (insert whateverprospect has just asked about or requestedhere) ...would you (insert anything to theeffect of buy a car today here)?”

In Dealer 2.0 we have developed acustomer communication strategy that

enables our sales and service team todeliver a unique selling proposition atevery customer touch point in the deal-ership. The manufacturer of your vehiclefranchise markets the benefits of owningyour vehicle brand – the dealershipmarkets the benefits of doing businesswith the dealership. In the informationage we don’t so much sell the prospectthe vehicle as we sell the prospect theexperience of making a good decisionabout where to get the vehicle.

• In Dealer 1.0 “be-backs don’t comeback” and the sole purpose of our exis-tence as salespeople is to convince awalk-in prospect – better known as anup – that today is the day, this is the car,and we are the place from which topurchase it.

With an upgrade to Dealer 2.0 wewisely realize that prospects mightvisit our web site and several othersbefore leaving and coming back tosend us an e-mail request for moreinformation. Although our goal is stillto sell a car today, building a sellingsystem around that objective in agrowing market of research intensive,choice conscious and Internetempowered super shoppers is not realeffective. Why? Because the prospectis trying to make a decision that isbest for them.

If our communication with them isreally telling them that we are trying toget them to make a decision that is bestfor us and not them – we usually losethe sale whether it is today, tomorrowor next month.

In an upgraded selling system wehave learned to expertly facilitate theprospect’s shopping experience and sellthem on the fact that we are easy to dobusiness with, we genuinely want tohelp them make a good decision andwe can make it faster, better and easierto get the vehicle they want.

• Dealer 1.0 has very limitedmemory. We assume this is directlyrelated to the programmingmentioned earlier, which holds that ifthere is no opportunity to do businesstoday it follows that there is no oppor-tunity to do business tomorrow, muchless two months from now. As a result,after an unsold up leaves the dealer-ship or our e-mails are not respondedto, the prospect gets mentally deletedand we look for the next up orinbound e-mail lead.

Luckily in Dealer 2.0 we have devel-oped a long memory and the conceptof prospect relationship management.We know that only a relatively small

Have You Upgraded your OperatingSystem to Dealer 2.0?

continued next page

D IGITAL Dealer TECHNOLOGY TRENDSDavid Greene

“The best news is that

it doesn’t cost much

to upgrade your

operating system –

only the ability to

embrace change, see

new opportunities,…”—David Greene


percentage of prospects – whether inthe form of e-mail leads or walk-inprospects – will be sale ready on the daythat we see them. We need a follow-upplan that doesn’t make dumb contacts –sending out an e-mail or making a callto a prospect that essentially asks, “Areyou ready yet?” is a dumb contactbecause it adds no value. Instead wecontinue to market to prospects over aprolonged period of time with valueadding messages that keep us first inmind when they are in an active deci-sion making mode.

• In Dealer 1.0 a sales process istypically a list of sales concepts listedfrom 1 to 10 and posted on a wall in aplace that is alternatively referred to as“the training room” or “the breakroom.” In theory this list identifies “thesteps of the sale,” it usually begins withthe meet and greet and concludes withthe close. This list is seldom if everrepresentative of what sales peopleactually do, but it makes everyone feellike there is a sales process in place,which everyone knows is somethingyou’re supposed to have – plus it letssales management get back to being“desk men” instead of process coacheswhich requires skills they haven’tupgraded to yet.

Dealer 2.0 is all about being efficientand effective and neither can beachieved without a well designed salesprocess. We define a “sales process” as acommunications strategy combinedwith a series of sales activities thatoccur in a pre-determined sequence,with each activity adding greater valueto the next and resulting in the highestpercentage of sales results possible. It’smeasurable, manageable and we use itwith every opportunity to do business.In Dealer 2.0 a sales manager is not a“desk man,” but an individual whoseresponsibilities include helping thesales team to follow the sales processand coaching them on how to achievepeak performance.

• In Dealer 1.0 we only want to talkabout price in all of our traditionaladvertising to prospective vehiclebuyers. When we actually get to talk toa prospective vehicle buyer, we rigidlyavoid discussing price until they’relanded on a specific vehicle and readyto buy today. This helps to maintain ahigh level of mutual distrust betweenseller and buyer and ensures that sales

managers are able to retain their roles as“desk men” while sitting in a “tower”overlooking the showroom floor.

With Dealer 2.0 we have gotten overour phobia of price and no longerequate it with a license to shop –mostly because we have figured outthat our Web 2.0 prospect is all aboutresearch and shopping, it’s what theywill do. When they ask us about pricethey are usually really asking us, “Areyou easy to do business with?” Theanswer to this is an important part ofwho they eventually choose to do busi-ness with. Knowing this we haveformulated a pricing philosophy thatenables us to answer pricing questionsin a way that builds customer trustwhile retaining average gross profitsequal to or better than we did inDealer 1.0

In making the upgrade to Dealer2.0 you’ll find that most of your deal-ership’s sales enabling technologies –the applications you purchasedhoping they would provide you witha competitive advantage andincreased productivity – will runfaster and be much more effective.You’ll also find that while you mayhave fewer sales opportunities than inpast years with your upgrade, you’llbe ready to convert a much higherpercentage of current opportunityinto sales today.

David Greene is president of e-ProAutomotive Group and is one of theautomotive industry's most progressiveand effective performance and trainingprofessionals. Greene has been in theautomotive industry since 1980 andhas worked in all aspects of retail salesmanagement. Prior to founding e-ProAutomotive Group, he was EVP ofSales & Service for Reply!, an onlinemarketing services firm. He also servedas vice president of Dealer NetworkOperations for Autoweb.com, one ofthe first publicly traded online autobuying services.

the leap up the evolutionary ladder –manual solutions are inadequate. A tool,an intelligent interactive system that oper-ates continuously as the dealer’s digitalassistant, is needed to ensure a quote issent to customers immediately, showingmultiple vehicles, both new and used, thatsurround the customer’s specific request,to every lead every time. If the customerdoesn’t buy right away, a clean, profes-sional follow-up campaign must ensue,one that intelligently customizes themessage based on the customer’s behavior,and interactively enables the customer togain more information and reveal whenshe is back in the market to buy.

In summary, whether it’s an expandingmarket or a shrinking market, the high-performing dealer consistently wins at hiscompetitors’ expense. It’s about survival,and the stakes can’t be higher. He prevailsby catching the customer’s attention atthe point she is most open to being wonover: when she has presented three to fivedealers with an opportunity to provethemselves. Thirty two percent won’tanswer at all. The rest may get around toit in over 12 hours. Almost two-thirds ofdealers won’t send the customer a pricequote unless she’s willing to talk on thephone, or come to the dealership. A fasterresponse—with the pricing informationthe customer wants—right away everytime—with follow-up that is bothfriendly (i.e., relevant, personalized, not“spam”) and persistent enough to catchthe customer when they’re back in themarket—achieves the goal. Dealers can’tdo it manually: it’s too costly, too hard tomanage and too prone to failure. Theonly viable solution is a powerful, intelli-gent tool that can act as your ongoingassistant, communicating on your behalfthe right way, right away, every time.

Tom Mohr is co-founder, president, and CEOof ResponseLogix. Mohr was president ofKnight Ridder Digital, responsible for the digi-tal assets of the second largest newspapercompany in the US. He was also a board mem-ber of the parent company of Cars.com andApartments.com, as well as CareerBuilder.

If you wish to discuss this article withother dealers, or with the author,please go to the “Discussion Forums”at www.DigitalDealer-magazine.comand enter the “Technology” forum or e-mail him at [email protected].

Technology Trends, Greene (continued from P-DD20) Internet Sales, Mohr (continued from P-DD18)


Karla Guleserian, the 45-year-old Internetdirector for Apple Automotive Group in York,Pennsylvania, brought a polished resume andan extensive IT background to the table whenshe took her first dealership job at a modestsub-prime store in Baltimore in 2006. Thereshe says she worked to bring online sophistica-tion to a business that hadn’t had muchInternet success. After transforming the store’sweb site and implementing a solid lead gener-ation strategy, in 2007 she joined Apple, witheight franchises, the largest automotive groupin Central Pennsylvania, and again startedfrom scratch; this time with an eye towarddesigning online departments suitable to eachstore’s culture, while still making sense for the

enterprise as a whole. Today the group relieson proprietary web sites and a fully flexiblebackend administrative panel. An estimated30 percent of the group’s overall sales now aregenerated online.

Guleserian, who says she’s fascinated withthe radical technological change the Internetrepresents, still isn’t satisfied. She’s currentlyfine tuning everything and laying thegroundwork for combining online depart-ments where it makes sense, so leads can bedistributed from a central location. She alsosays she wants to make sure the group gets themost from social networking and video searchengine optimization, which she sees as anatural complement to Apple’s strategy of

relying on interactivity with its customers. Werecently spoke with her about how she hasapproached her job.

How did you get started in the automo-tive business?

It’s an interesting story. I’ve worked inbusiness development and marketing inthe IT space for about 20 years; sincebefore there was a true definition ofInternet marketing. For about 17 of those20 years, I oversaw the development ofweb-based high tech enterprise scale appli-cations, bringing those solutions to marketand formulating the business developmentand marketing plans. I was a consultant ona variety of projects ranging from hospitalinformation management systems toglobal asset tracking solutions across manydifferent industries. I developed and imple-mented full marketing strategies includingonline strategies and tactics encompassingeverything from e-mail marketing, pay-per-click (PPC) SEO, online audio andvideo lead generation expert writing, all ofthat. Those were the years when theInternet was booming and venture capitalwas accessible and then of course thetragedy of 9/11 hit and the IT spacechanged dramatically. Following thatperiod I became vice president of market-ing for an ad agency that built onlinethird-party lead generation solutions.When the company, Fluent CreativeTechnologies, relocated to Florida in 2006,I had the opportunity to go into a sub-prime Ford dealership in the Baltimorearea and implemented and end-to-endonline business development solution. Iwent into this 100-unit inventory store,rebuilt their web site, implemented a newlead management tool, took the storethrough a Reynolds CRM implementa-


D IGITAL Dealer COVER STORY

Karla GuleserianInternet Director

Apple Automotive Group


tion, generated my own leads, and handledthe phone appointments. Within the firstfull 30 days, my department sold 53 unitswith an average gross of $3,000 a copy.

How did you structure that department?I started by building a new web site and

two lead generation sites, in order to gener-ate direct, exclusive leads through PPCadvertising. We were able to eliminate allthird-party lead providers, with the excep-tion of Cars.com, which is a significantconsumer portal in the Baltimore region.When a lead came in, I was the sole phoneperson, so I handled the selling of theappointment. My show ration was morethan 80 percent. Working with one of thestrongest sales teams I’ve seen, they sold theunits while I focused on generating moreleads and getting more people in the door.

Did you consider that strategy a bitrisky at the time?

Well, I’m an entrepreneur so there’salways a level of risk with anything you doin business, and I’m not afraid of it. I cameout of an agency where I had been buildingonline lead-generation solutions acrossmany different industries and had neverseen one fail yet. From an academicperspective I have a bachelor’s degree witha double major in technology and manage-ment communications studies and I have amaster’s degree in electronic commerce, allfrom the University of Maryland, andgraduated with highest honors in 2003. SoI had the background and knew howsuccessful the strategy could be.

How did you get from that Ford dealer-ship to Apple Automotive?

From there I had a short stay, aboutthree months, with the Koons organiza-tion. They were very good to me, but I wasnot satisfied with being the ‘Internet girl’; Ihad more I wanted to do. I knew I had tofind an auto group that would bring me in,one that had made very little progress inthe Internet space, so I sought out Apple.After a few calls to Apple dealerships, I wasable to get in touch with the owner. Wehad a meeting and I was able after a fewmonths to show them the value I couldbring to the organization, and theybrought me on board in 2007. I’m hopingto stay here another 20 years until the endof my career. They’re very good to me.

Tell me a little more about Apple andyour Internet group.

I’m the director of Internet sales and

marketing for Apple Automotive’s eightfranchises. They include Honda, BMW,Acura, Subaru, Cadillac, Nissan, twoChevrolet stores and a Ford store, plus aused car outlet, all in York and Red Lion,PA. I have an office at the corporate centerin York but often move from store to store.I’m very hands-on with my departmentsand managers.

Essentially I started from scratch on theInternet department. Most of the storesdid not even have lead management tools.They were getting leads in their Outlookboxes. The first thing I did was take aculture test, spending some time in everyone of the stores doing a SWAT analysis,looked at the strengths and weaknesses andopportunities and threats and variouscultures and personalities of the GMsacross the stores. I knew I needed theirbuy-in for my vision for Apple, and thatwould be critical to my success. I presentedmy initial assessment and my plans forstructuring Internet departments for eachof the stores. I did that rather than optingfor a centralized Internet departmentbecause some of our stores are operatedwith some level of autonomy, so I knewthat I needed in those cases individualInternet departments.

I brought in lead management tools,educated and trained my team so theycould understand why we needed thesetools, set up their lead sources and docu-mented and mapped out a process foreffective lead management across thestores, while at the same time focusing onmy people and trying to identify thosewho were either taking leads or handlingphone calls. So I started out slow with thegoal of getting some small wins andputting some structure and processes inplace for the Internet department.

Now that you have some experiencewith that model will you stick with it?

At this time each store has its own ISM.But we have undergone a lot of change andwe’re now in the process of restructuringsome departments again with the goal tobecome an Internet automotive group. Weare a ways away from that goal. We have aunique culture in our stores, Apple has avery low turnover rate, some employeeshave been selling 20 to 25 years and I’mworking within that culture. In the lastyear and a half though, with some of thechanges I brought and with market condi-tions, the culture has evolved. So we maycentralize at a couple different locationsbut right now the existing model is a

unique Internet department in every store.Our plan is to experiment with a central-ized Internet department that will handleonline inquiries and leads for several storesfrom one location.

We are now in the process of upgradingour lead management tool. Effective May1, 2009, we will be live with iMagicLab,and it’s a very good thing because we actu-ally outgrew our old lead managementtool. We are also upgrading the communi-cations platform that I brought inDecember of 2007 and now are moving toa more sophisticated and functional plat-form, so we’re updating some tools andgetting some other things in place for thisrestructuring.

What are your processes now?The process is not going to change

much. We have a multi-pronged approachand at the core is the focus on maximizinglead conversion to our primary web siteand other conversion sites that we run. Weare heavily focused on direct lead genera-tion. In every store the direct leads have thehighest closing ratio and grosses. We doutilize third-party leads and have a strongreferral program and e-mail marketing onour communication platform to drivetraffic to our web site and Internet depart-ments. So we have a variety of strategies tobuild our lead volume. Some leadproviders for one store may not work aswell for another. So we’ve experimentedwith that and because brand, location andculture affect the performance of a particu-lar lead provider, at least at our stores, wetrack and manage the return on our invest-ment for all of our lead providers and makedecisions based upon those outcomes.

We have a consistent lead process acrossall stores. We identify three primary tierswithin a 90-day lead management cycle.The critical part we believe is the lead agebetween days one and 30. We would callthat Tier I. During Tier I, telephonecontact is maximized along with a series ofe-mails that will drive these prospects tocall the dealerships. We believe that our e-mail communication has one primarypurpose and that is to drive the call toaction of a phone call for the purpose ofselling the appointment and getting theindividual in our store in order to sell a car.We are appointment-driven in the first 30-day tier. Days 31-90 is the second tier;we’re still on the telephone but not everyday, and prospects get a series of autoresponders focused on selling our valuepropositions. Obviously the point is a call


Do you do search engine marketing?We do. We have engaged in pay-per-

click advertising, primarily promotiontargeted such as when we have a three-dayevent, and that is just because I try tocontrol costs very closely and I have foundthat pay-per-click can be a bit expensivedepending on the brand and where we’retargeting so that is very promotion specific.We use local search and we just completedour first level round of SEO strategiesacross all of our brands with specificlanding pages on our web pages andspecific sites that are search engine opti-mized for a defined list of keyword phrases,and targeting local search. We also doonline press releases that are search engineoptimized and with new tools we’removing into the area of optimized videosonline, social networking and blogging.

We’ve spent a year and a half laying thegroundwork for this transition to onlinemarketing and believe we needed a goodfoundation to build on and to implementcertain technologies and processes andwe’ve been training and educating in house,we’ve rebuilt all of our web sites with a full

back-in administrative panel, so those areour proprietary web sites. We built them tobe flexible and to accommodate audio andvideo on the fly and each of our Internetmanagers are trained and handle their ownvideo online specials, so we have total flexi-bility with regard to our web sites. In the ITspace, I had a development team in theUkraine that I had worked with for over adecade, so they did the programming andwe built it from scratch. We used Chrome’sweb service and partnered with eVox andbuilt it all from the ground up.

Last September we conducted an e-mailsurvey of our customers after our new siteswere live for 30 days. We received morethan 2,000 e-mail surveys from ourcustomers providing insight and feedbackon our web sites. It’s been a fascinatingopportunity and challenge.

What metrics do you rely on to measureyour efforts?

We are metrics driven. We use Googleanalytics on our web site and lead site

to action, such as telephoning the dealeror just stopping in at one of the locations.Tier II is our post 90-day lead age, whenprospects are converted onto a multime-dia communications platform so we canmaximize our communication beyondthe 90-day period. In Tier III we canfocus on relevant value building commu-nications from Apple, direct mail,telephone, text messaging, dependingupon available channels of communica-tion for the prospect. It may be about acommunity event; we have customerappreciation days, service-related couponsor other offers like driving them to one ofour car washes or service centers for aspecial value.

When do you retire a lead?We don’t. Once a lead is in our plat-

form, it’s retired when they come in andthey buy from us or they say, “Don’tcontact me anymore.” We monitor veryclosely the content and timing of ouroutreach. We only send communicationwe believe would be valuable and relevantto our prospects. continued on P-DD29

DEALERSHIP PARTNERS IN PROFIT:

Dealership name:Apple Automotive, Inc.

Web site URLs:www.appleautomotive.com

Web site provider/hosting: JaguarPC

Vehicle marketing: HomenetCDM DataDealer SpecialtiesiMagicLab

DMS provider: ADPUCS

BDC software/vendor: UCS

CRM program: UCS

Vehicle video vendors: eVoxChrome SystemsInternal video productionand placement

Vehicle valuation tools: Black Book

Online lead generatorsnot including the OEMsources: Cars.comAutoTraderVehixCarSoupAutoUSACarsDirect

DealixBlack Book Online

Third-party sites whereinventory is posted: Cars.comAutoTraderVehixCarSoupAutoUSACarsDirect

Vehicle history reports: CarFax


in our profession and heighten theprofessionalism and true customerservice that built this industry.

The stores that are motivated toimplement new strategic and tacticalconcept training ideas and take theirstores to new and expanded levels ofachievement always impress me. Someare reporting sales up by 12 to 17percent this quarter. And then thereare the stores that make change a toxic

event. What is the difference? Somedealerships have a plan, strong leader-ship, spend money on training in newmotivational business strategies, getbuy-in from the team, make these newideas contagious and truly mean whatthey say. Then, there are the “ready,shoot, aim” approach stores. “Howmany have we sold today, Bob”? Theseincidentally continue to struggle yearafter year and experience high levels ofattrition and are now closing down.What they should have been saying is,“How many appointments have wemade this week”? Some stores alwayswait for the business to come to them.Some have a well trained staff thatgoes and gets business and buildscustomer relationships through theselling process.

Here are a few of the things theabovementioned dealers who areclosing were doing wrong:

• Treated the Internet manager as asecond class citizen. Did not includethem in manager’s meeting and didnot consider their input important.

• Did not stay up on Internetimprovement processes, SOP andtechnology.

• Had no specific process or trainingin place for the handling of incomingtelephone inquiries. Anybody couldpick up the phone.

• Had no training in place for relation-ship development communicationsand still wondered why gross profitswere down.

• Had very poor prospect follow-upprocess or training. Heavily reliedupon fresh up traffic to support thesales activity.

• Had no owner base strategy or train-ing. Due to attrition, most owners hadno one taking care of them and as aconsequence, no referrals.

• Did not encourage or ever give patson the back to their staff. People needto be loved to perform for you.

• Did not participate in communitygiving. Take, take, take and never giveback to the town that supports you.

• Kept everyone off base by intimida-tion and bragged about how rich hewas.

• Poor hiring practices. People hire intheir like-mindedness thus they never

Rules for the New Market PlayersWeathering this storm means being in it

continued on P-DD26

“Who has the time

and patience for

planning? Anyone

who wants to be

successful and stay

in business –

that’s who.” —Chuck Barker

D IGITAL Dealer BDC/CRM Chuck Barker

As we watch more and moredealerships close their doors,the opportunities amass for

those still in business – if you are will-ing to adopt and adhere to certainprinciples with a vengeance. I havewitnessed in the last month severalstores announce they are closing.Upon hearing this news, I reflected onthe multiple times I had conversationswith these dealers about elevating theirapproach to utilizing new processes,CRM initiatives, training and theirneed for improved leadership. Eachconversation I had with these dealersyielded essentially the same response:“We are doing just fine the way we areand really don’t need any of that stuff.”They were actually a bit arrogant andexhibited an opinion giving one thefeeling that they were solely responsi-ble for inventing the automobile andno one could teach them anything.Even as their reputations diminishedalong with their businesses, theyremained hard-headed about makingany changes because “This is the waymy father and his father did it.” OK,see you later Mr. Out of Business.

This story, sadly, is one major reasonthat stores are being driven (or shouldI say putting themselves) out of busi-ness. They were cruising in a strongmarket, either fearful, lazy or simplytoo hard-headed to adjust by imple-menting new business processes.However, the poignant tale-tell sign oftheir weakness was exposed in a downmarket. These stores also treated theirstaffs poorly, cheated them out ofmoney and earned a sour reputation intheir marketplace for unscrupulousmethodologies. I say good riddance.We do not need stores like that spread-ing cancerous paradigms to customersfurther infecting the good guys’ stores.What thoughts come to your mindwhen I say “car salesperson”? It is timeto take back ownership of confidence

elevated to a higher class of team play-ers or just stayed the same with noincrease in performance.

• Cut all investments in any type ofCRM initiative training for entireteam including managers andparts/service. No wonder their reputa-tion became tarnished.

So how do you stay alive and well?Simple, do the opposite of what thesefailed dealerships were doing and youwill come out of this much strongerand gobble up a greater market share.These dealerships are losing prospectsthat will be making a purchase some-where and it is your opportunity totake up the slack through fewercompetitors.

One big area that gets overlooked ina down market is that our efforts musthave the customer’s best interest inmind. We’re having so much troubledefining CRM processes for onesimple reason: so many of us are deter-mined to define CRM as somethingless than it is. Why? Because it’s easierto implement that way. Hey, if we cancut it down to a couple of simple steps,even one, we can slam it in muchquicker. Unfortunately, the only thingthat gets “slammed” using this abbre-viated approach is the dealership. Solet’s define CRM for all it is: acomplex, multiple processes with far-reaching effects on the very way weconduct business.

Start with developing customer-focused business strategies—alsoknown as the step we most want toavoid, because it’s all about planning.Who has the time and patience forplanning? Anyone who wants to besuccessful and stay in business, that’swho. The object of planningcustomer-focused business strategies isto find win-win opportunities withcustomers. Do more that benefitsthem so they’ll do more that benefitsus—like buy more from us, give usreferrals and stay with us. Thecustomer relationship planningapproach is relatively simple. Put your-self in your customers’ shoes. Seethrough their eyes. Discover what theywant and how they wish to be treated.Even anticipate what they don’t wantyet, but will. And when you’ve donethat, you’ll be ready to identify the bestmutual opportunities for your

customers and your company. Thenyou can prioritize these opportunities,pick the best and put them into play.Obviously, there’s a little more to itthan that, but that’s the gist of it.

It is very important to understandcustomer relationship planning andhow it’s done is recognizing thesesignificant departures from traditionalmarket planning:

• You plan everything around cus-tomer wants, not company goals.

• You focus on listening to cus-tomers, rather than forcing them tolisten to you.

Redesigning functional activities isotherwise known as the step we forgetabout altogether. Why? Because we’drather get ambushed by it, catch awhole quiver of arrows in the chest,then die a dramatic death in thecorner service bay.

So you don’t forget, here’s whathappens. When you change to morecustomer-focused business strategies,you have to work differently.Otherwise, you’ll do the same stuffyou’ve always done. But we have anasty tendency to “keep on doingthings the way we know” while tryingto go somewhere else. Ergo, we leavefunctional activities as they were. Thisdoesn’t work! Instead, we have to care-fully assess the roles of all departmentsinteracting with customers to see ifthey’re adding value to customers, oradding cost instead. Then we have tofigure out how to reconfigure ourorganization so that everything we dois designed to help customers andnothing we do adds unnecessary costs(this does not mean not investing intraining your team to become better).This does not mean cut, cut, cut, butinstead be wise.

The function of process re-engi-neering our CRM (not just thetechnical side) is fairly obvious. Inorder to put the customer in thecenter of our business circle, we haveto change departmental roles andresponsibilities. And when thathappens, we have to adopt new workprocesses. Otherwise, we’ll do thesame work we’ve always done withthe same outcomes yet hoping for adifferent result. But how should wechange work processes? Here’s where

things get interesting. We have twobasic choices—re-engineering toperform each process step as effi-ciently as possible or re-engineeringto maximize “throughput” from thebeginning of the marketing/salesprocess to the end. We normally optfor the former—which might work ifmarketing and selling were factorystuff with predictable work flows.But they’re not. Instead, we havethese unpredictable elements called“customers” that refuse to cooperateand do things according to ourschedules.

Without drowning in the science ofprocess management, suffice it to saythat in conditions of uncertainty,trying to maximize efficiency up anddown the process chain is usually anunmitigated disaster. In contrast,maximizing throughput usually givesus a far superior return on our market-ing and sales investments. Developingnew processes will take you to the nextachievement level but you better getsome training installed in this area aswell or again you will be wonderingwhere you are headed. I have puttogether a “must do” line item check-list entitled CRM Initiative Trainingand if you would like a copy totemplate your new initiatives, send mean e-mail at [email protected].

Chuck Barker’s experience ranges froman executive with a Fortune 200 com-puter corporation to the automobilebusiness. He has held positions as busi-ness development manager, salesmanager, acting GM, ADP executiveregional manager specializing in CRMand his own current company, ImpactMarketing & Consulting Group, LLC,located in Virginia. His firm deliversCRM process strategies, 21st centuryCRM sales training, CRM e-businessdeployment and CRM managementleadership workshops.


If you wish to discuss this article withother dealers, or with the author,please go to the “Discussion Forums”at www.DigitalDealer-magazine.comand enter the “BDC/CRM” forum or e-mail him at [email protected].

BDC/CRM, Barker (continued from P-DD25)


For as long as I can remember, deal-ers have always tracked theirshowroom traffic. “How many ups

today?” is a familiar question.Some dealers use sophisticated

customer relationship managementsystems to track this data; others use amore basic, paper-on-clipboard approach.

Either way is OK. The money andtime spent collecting this customerinformation is generally worthwhile.The data can often reveal importantbenchmarks valuable to any store—traffic that results from the latest adcampaign or the close ratios amongsalespeople on fresh and comebackcustomers.

Good dealers are intuitive about thesebenchmarks. They know if they do amailer to 5,000 customers, they’d expectto see 100 or more customers show upat their store. And, of those customers,they’d have expectations for their staff ’sclose ratios.

For some reason, however, while thiskind of data collection and customertracking is ingrained in the brick and

mortar operations of a dealership, it’slargely absent in dealership’s virtualshowrooms—especially when it comesto used vehicles.

I recently asked a group of 100 dealersand used vehicle managers at a confer-ence in Las Vegas to raise their hands ifthey knew, off the top of their heads, theaverage daily page views and detailedpage views for their online used vehicleinventory. In essence, I was asking howmany customers visited their virtualshowrooms.

No one raised a hand.

A knowledge gap that needsattention

To me, this is a critical problem. Mostdealerships spend thousands everymonth to list their used vehicles onthird-party sites like AutoTrader andCars.com. Yet, when it comes to assess-ing the effectiveness of theseinvestments, dealers and used vehiclemanagers are behind the curve.

Many have not even heard of pageviews and detailed page views, nor do

they understand how helpful these canbe at making a store’s online usedvehicle showroom more effective. Afterall, isn’t a detailed page view—when acustomer chooses to click on one ofyour vehicle listings—the equivalent ofsomeone walking into your showroomand saying, “I’d like to take a closer lookat that vehicle”?

I call this lack of knowledge the“Internet Black Hole” and, rather thanchastise dealers and used vehiclemanagers for being unaware, I’d rathereducate. The fact is, a deeper and moreanalytical understanding of basicmetrics like page views and detailedpage views can make a huge differencein getting more action from your onlineused vehicle listings and more sales.

Let’s take a closer look.Say there are two Ford stores in the

same town, roughly 10 miles apart. Bothadvertise similar used vehicle inventorieson AutoTrader. On the 15th of themonth, the first store has 37,000 pageviews, the second, 1,500. The conver-sion rate on these views—the number ofdetailed page views divided by pageviews—runs 5 percent for the first storeand 1.5 percent for the second store.

Which of the two dealers is doing abetter job? What factors might bebehind the difference between theconversion rates? What might thesecond dealer do to adjust his onlinelistings to improve conversions?

The easy answer to these questions isthat the first dealer’s virtual used vehicleshowroom is in order: His vehicles allhave photos, accurate descriptions andcompetitive prices—it’s a consistent,compelling presentation on par with theeye appeal of the iron sitting outside hisstore. Meanwhile, the second dealer’svirtual showroom is more cluttered, lessconsistent and less likely to catch the eyeof online shoppers.

Your Dealership’s Biggest ‘Black Hole’

continued next page

D IGITAL Dealer PRE-OWNED VEHICLESDale Pollak


If you wish to discuss this article withother dealers, or with the author,please go to the “Discussion Forums”at www.DigitalDealer-magazine.comand enter the “Technolgy” forum or e-mail him at [email protected].

Cover Story, Guleserian (continued from P-DD24)Pre-owned Vehicles, Pollak (continued from P-DD28)

continued on P-DD30

activity and track them regularly as well asthrough reporting within our lead manage-ment tools. Nearly 30 percent of thegroup’s sales come from Internet leads now,and I think it was a couple of percent whenI started, though nobody really was track-ing anything then. When the marketstarted turning, October and Novemberwere a very tough months as far as show-room traffic for dealerships across thecountry, but it was actually the best monthwe’ve had since last July, so our web sitetraffic and lead volume have not seen thefluctuation in the market that other chan-nels have. We look at the data and analyzeit and try to learn what consumers arethinking, but whether it’s the price of gas,the accessibility of the Internet or someother reason, we’ve seen a steady increase inour visitors, page views and stickiness.Plus, probably about 60 percent of our website visitors are new.

What’s happening to sales in this difficult market?

We have absolutely seen a decline likeeveryone else. Our Internet sales are repre-senting a greater number of all sales. Thepercentage is going up on the Internet butwe’ve seen a decline in sales through ourother channels. But we are forward-lookingand believe that when the market swingsaround, we will be positioned to dominateInternet sales in our targeted regions.

How specifically do you use e-mail tocommunicate with customers?

We have an e-mail strategy throughoutall of our stores. We monitor e-mail collec-tions by the week for finance, sales andservice, because we communicate withevery customer through an e-mail in avariety of ways. We send service reminders,appointment reminders, monthly serviceand sales campaigns so that we’re drivingsales through our service department usinge-mail marketing. We use highly targetedcampaigns that vary through all our storesand segment our data so that we only sendselective campaigns to targeted markets.Every month we send service coupons andpost them on our web sites. We also juststarted a quarterly e-newsletter across all ofour stores with a variety of content. Forexample, in the first one we introduced ourcar wash in York, Apple Car Wash Express,which we call a customer retention toolbecause it was built so we can wash all ofour customers’ cars after service. I just sentout a promotion this morning announcinga complimentary service clinic for my Ford

tent, competitive pricing; compellingvehicle descriptions; the “in-demand”status of specific vehicles.

Among my clients, some stores arealso using these metrics to guide otherimportant decisions in their usedvehicle operations.

For example, some track the detailedpage views on a per-vehicle basis as aproxy-like data point to help themdetermine what vehicles they shouldstock and highlight through “SpotlightAds” on the third-party sites. Theapproach stands to reason as vehicleswith a larger volume of detailed pageviews are likely to be more “in demand”than those with lesser volumes.

I’ve also heard from dealers and usedvehicle managers who use detailed pageviews and similar metrics to addurgency in negotiations to closecustomers. In essence, these dealers aretelling customers, “Look at the atten-tion this vehicle is getting. If you passup our offer on this vehicle, you’ll missthe opportunity to buy it.”

As I noted above, metrics like pageviews and detailed page views for youronline used vehicle listings are essentiallythe same as the showroom traffic statsyou measure and track every day. Fewwould argue that dealers who carefullytrack these showroom stats, and usethem to pinpoint successes and short-comings in their sales processes, will dobetter overall than those who don’t.

The same is true for your virtual usedvehicle showroom—with one keydifference. You don’t have to pay extrato obtain your online metrics. Yourvendors already share them. Now, it’s upto you to find, get familiar with and usethese metrics to your advantage.

Drawing from 13 years experience as adealer principal and eight years as a suc-cessful high technology executive servingthe automotive retail industry, DalePollak is an authority on maximizingdealership profits from pre-owned vehicleoperations. Pollak is the founder andchairman of the board of vAuto, Inc. apre-owned inventory management solu-tions company.

It’s also fair to assume the first dealerand his used vehicle manager have abetter handle on the metrics for theironline used vehicle inventories. They’velikely tested the optimal number ofphotos, and the type of vehicle descrip-tions and pricing to generate the mostonline attention from used vehicle shop-pers. Chances are, they’ve also asked forand adopted recommendations fromtheir third-party web site vendor repduring the requisite monthly visits.

My point is that dealers and usedvehicle managers can and should takemore control of what they choose toshare with customers about their usedvehicles online. The first step towardmanaging this increasingly importantmerchandising and retailing channel isunderstanding the basic metrics thatprovide clues on how you can do better.

Getting to know your metricsHere’s a quick test I share with dealers

and used vehicle managers to attunethem to page views and detailed pageviews metrics for their online usedvehicle listings:

• How many page views has your deal-ership received today from your primarythird-party web site?• How many detailed page views haveoccurred today? • What’s your month-to-date ratio ofdetailed page views to page views(detailed page views divided by pageviews)?•What ratio of detailed page views shouldyou expect? What’s the industry norm*?

* A confession: This last question isloaded. Our industry has yet to clearlydefine benchmarks for the detailed pageview ratio. I do know, however, thatamong vAuto clients the ratio typicallyruns between 2 percent and 5 percent.Stores with higher ratios, it should benoted, have managers who review theseand other metrics on a near-daily basis.

For those of you who can’t answerthese questions off-hand, do not worry.The data’s available through the dealer-ship interfaces from third-party sites likeAutoTrader and Cars.com. If no one inyour store knows how to access themetrics, call your rep for help.

As you begin to get comfortable withthese metrics and use them to guide theway you showcase your used vehicleinventory online, you’ll start to see andunderstand the factors that make thesenumbers move up and down—consis-


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

ActivEngage ........................9

AutoListener......................27

Auto Point ..........................3

AutoTrader.com ..................2

AutoUSA............................32

BZ Results/ADP ....................5

cars.com ............................31

DealerPeak (Widestorm) ..28

Homenet..............................7

IMN Loyalty Driver............11

NADA Used Car Guide......13

Sandi Jerome Consulting..17

do business with you. A stat I recently readsuggests that only 20 percent of onlinecustomers are actually price-driven andthat’s what we believe. They want to betreated like they are important, and I don’tthink they’re any different from a customerwalking into the store, so it’s not our policyto just shoot prices out. We strive to tellApple’s value proposition because it really isvery strong.

How do you distribute your Internet leads?An auto-response goes out and an

Internet sales manager or phone coordina-tor calls the prospect immediately. We trainour people to strive to get the appointmentand we have a best-deal guarantee, so wefocus on selling the value of doing businesswith Apple, and during the entire cycle if avoice message is left, calls are automaticallypopulating the work plan and we makecalls until we get the prospect on thephone. So it’s heavy phone calls and autoresponders. Each store has an Internetdepartment. Depending upon the leadvolume, some stores have several ISMs;some may have one ISM with a phonecoordinator. Our Honda store for examplehas a team of ISMs. If a client is workingwith one member that lead is assigned tothat particular team member, but theyperform and are rewarded as a team.

Who updates your web sites?It’s a little different at each store. For

example, at my Acura store the servicemanager updates his own service specials,though I provide the creative. The salesmanager and Internet manager keep thenew car specials up-to-date, and theInternet manager maintains the used carspecials. If we’re having a crazy end of themonth I will jump in and check all of theweb sites to make sure all specials are active.We have a strong team approach.

Is there any tool that you’ve found to bereally effective?

When you say tool I think of tactic. SEOand the design of our web site are critical.We built in vehicle comparison tools forcomparing across brands, electronicbrochures and virtual test-drives, all thetools consumers need to take an action, soI think of that as our best tool. We useChrome’s web service so we have what wecall a lifestyle search where they can find avehicle by, say, fuel type, transmission type,price, mileage, body type, or all-wheeldrive. We have advanced search functional-ity at all of our sites. We have our green carsin a feed of their own, so if you’re lookingfor a vehicle that gets 30 miles per gallon

store in Red Lion on May 5, 2009, aninformation session for our clients. And wedid a pre-opening campaign for AppleFord Quick Lane.

Have you cut back on Internet market-ing spend?

Actually we’re currently increasing thatbecause we think we have proven a greatlevel of success in our Internet departmentsand we’re now bringing on more sophisti-cated tools to help bring this to a new level.We believe in the Internet channel and itisn’t going to do anything but grow, and wewant to be ready to leverage the opportu-nity to the fullest.

Do you believe in advertising prices onyour web sites?

We give quotes when asked but what Iteach is that price is not the primarydriving factor for the Internet customer to

you can search, and we have Apple certifiedvehicles with our own warranty, and wehave a car finder service so if it’s not in ourinventory, when a similar vehicle comesinto inventory you can be alerted via e-mail. You can also e-mail an entireinventory page to someone else. If, forexample, you go to the Ford store and yousearch Apple green cars and open up aspecific car, at the bottom of that page wepull vehicles from other stores in our groupthat are similar based upon logic we’vedefined for that car, so you may even see aHonda car on the Ford site.

How are you leveraging the social networking arena?

We are now using video in all of ourspecials and know the popularity of onlinevideo. We certainly need to leverage it toengage our customers, and soon we’re goingto be doing some personalized e-mail so theycan meet our staff. We’re a community-basedorganization and think we can get up close toour customers using video. Our strategyreally is all about community and interactiv-ity online so yes, we want to connect withour customers in the social networking space.Some of our customers don’t pick up thephone, they e-mail us. We want to respectthat and deliver the same experience throughthat channel. When I first started here Ithought the BMW store or Acura storecustomers would be the most likely to buycars online, but my customers in the Fordstore in Red Lion are far more interactive viae-mail. I learn something continuously hereand most importantly I’ve learned that it’snot just 18-year-olds but we’re seeing seniorcitizens booking their service appointmentsonline. I’ve learned not to stereotype.

What do you think distinguishes yourgroup?

We have an Internet strategy for the deal-erships that is really a team effort. I don’tbelieve there’s an Internet director, or GM,or CEO who can single-handedly imple-ment an Internet strategy. I have the finestteam of Internet personnel and top execu-tives who are supportive and open to tryingnew things they’ve never even heard of, andI have a team that were selling cars the oldway now doing things they never imaginedthey would be doing in the car business.We would never have achieved the level ofsuccess we have without those people.Everyone’s role is just as important as thenext person’s. We work together and thinktogether and succeed together.

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Cover Story, Guleserian (continued from P-DD29)

digital dealer magazine - june 2009

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