After 12+ years in Automotive Internet Sales...

I have learned a lot about what to do and what not to do. I have seen firsthand how powerful automotive Internet sales can be for a dealership. I have also seen how it can wreak havoc in a dealership that doesn’t execute properly. After speaking with and training more than 2,000 dealer principals and GMs personally, I have identified a lot of similarities that are consistent all over the country and do not discriminate.

First, dealers see the value, need and urgency to maximize the Internet not only to increase market share, volume and gross, but actually to retain current market share and profits.

The problem is that there is a lot of disinformation everywhere. Everyone has an idea and a strategy, but finding the right information that fits a particular dealership’s scenario and goals is hard to find. There really isn’t a lot of continuity out there. Sometimes “experts” contradict the ideas and strategies of other “experts.” The other issue is that there are a lot of these “experts” out there, but mostly these people have an “expertise” in only one or two fields — not enough.

Maximizing an Internet department is more than knowing how to build the “ultimate” dealership Website. It is more than having 5,000 followers on Twitter for your dealership. It is more than having a state-of-the-art BDC. The issue I see is that dealers are told if they do or buy something, it will be a “silver bullet.” There are no “silver bullets.” There never have been and I doubt there ever will be any. An Internet department (or any department, for that matter) is made or broken, maximized or underutilized in four key areas: Products, People, Process and Promotions. That means that all “4-Ps” need to be working “synergistically” to ensure maximum success. You cannot have all or most of your attention in one or two areas. You need to make sure that all four “cylinders” are firing.

Here are the questions that dealers should ask:

• What are you looking to accomplish with your Internet department? Increasing only Internet sales, or maximizing all profit centers online (parts, service, finance, body shop, etc.)?

• Do you want to sell volume, gross or both? Are you looking to increase new vehicle sales, used vehicle sales or both? Each possibility has a different strategy.

• Do you want to be proactive, reactive or not at all for special finance?

• Do you have all of the right tools (technology, resources, programs, etc.) for a viable department?

• Do you have the right people and the right amount of people in place?

• Have you developed a “mission statement”? Have you created a standard operating procedure for everything in that department?

• How are you planning to drive traffic? How are you going to handle your conventional advertising strategy? What is the proper formula between conventional and digital?

• How are you going to perpetuate success after initial launch?

After you answer all of these questions thoroughly and start to create a plan, you will need to prioritize. This is another sand trap for dealers. They have problems “putting first things, first,” and the result is that they do not focus on the most important items. The dealers who work hard but not smart are rarely successful.

Lack of consistency and acceptance of mediocrity are the biggest reasons for failure or limited success for a dealership’s Internet or business development department. That might sting, but that is the truth. We have found all over the country, no matter what the franchise or geographic region there are dealers who fall into this category. Sometimes it is the dealer principal, sometimes it’s the GM and other times it’s the Internet/BDC director, but it is the same story. Someone at the dealership heard of a successful Internet/BDC department or they read an article or they went to some workshop or 20 Group and were inspired and excited. So, they create a plan (with or without an outside consultant or trainer), and for a short while things are good (sometimes). Then, after a bit of time — or sometimes right after implementation — reality kicks in and they start to deviate from the plan.

Here is what I see on a regular basis from dealerships that succumb to mediocrity:

• They start to compromise their process based on outside influences, such as their competition doing business a certain way, and they feel they must conform.

• They are not consistent. They might do different parts of the strategy at different time. No continuity = No success.

• They do not track details of the department properly, if at all.

• They are not consistent with training, or don’t even bother to train at all.

• They are disorganized. There is no prioritizing of tasks, so the department is working and grinding all day but they are not being effective at their overall mission.

And, as important as all this is, people are the “wild cards” of the “4-Ps.” With money, you can buy everything else. But you have to find and cultivate and keep people. There are a lot of variables to think about in this area, including:

• Do you have the right person for the job? Do they have the right skill set and fit the profile for success? This is a common problem.

• Do you have the right amount of people? I have seen two Internet reps working 600 fresh leads per month. Not the best strategy.

• Do you have a schedule that make  sense and maximizes business potential? Statistically, you will connect with more people between the hours of 6 and 8 p.m. So, it might not be a good idea if you have everyone leaving at 5 p.m.

Bottom line, you need to embrace Internet sales. You cannot wait until tomorrow to get it together. If you don’t create a plan for today, there might not be tomorrow.

If you have any questions about this article or if you would like examples (for free) Please call or e-mail me.

Sean V. Bradley is the founder and CEO of Dealer Synergy, a nationally recognized training and consulting company in the automotive industry. He can be contacted at 866.648.7400, or by e-mail at sbradley@autosuccessonline

http://www.dealersynergy.com

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Special Finance Online

Special finance is back — I am seeing all over the country that sub-prime sales are up. More and more banks are approving people with bad credit and no credit. Special finance is not just for used car dealerships and buy-here pay-here dealerships. Special finance is for every dealership, even highline stores can benefit from sub-prime deals. More than 50 percent of the United States has less-than-perfect credit. So, if you are not actively and proactively taking advantage of special finance, you are missing the boat. Dealerships that are successful with special finance boast grosses averaging of more than $3,000 per copy.

Now that I have your attention, let’s focus on something very special — “special finance online,” where special finance meets the Internet. We know that more than 89 percent of Americans go online before they ever step into the dealership for some type of research. That goes for people looking for a bad credit/no credit car loan. Most dealerships in 2011 are doing unsatisfactory in their Internet departments; most dealerships’ Internet sales departments or BDCs are non-functioning or unprofitable. The bottom line is that most dealers are still struggling with automotive Internet sales, so it would seem absurd for most dealerships to worry about any other form of Internet sales. That fact, however, is in your best interest. There is a huge opportunity with “special finance online.” It is like the Wild Wild West. Since no one really has dominated special finance online, which means the door is wide open for you and your dealership.

Here is what you need to do to dominate special finance online:

• First, create a “special finance” Website like www.autocreditapprove.com – Make sure it is NOT www.abcmotors.com / we do bad credit / no credit. You want to make it a complete separate entity, as if you have your own special finance lead source provider site.
• Make sure that you have the proper “onsite” SEO done to your site. Title tags, descriptions, anchor text, alt tags, key words, site map, and so on.
• Make sure you set up a separate Google Places page for your new special finance company, fully set up with unique content.
• Set up Google Alerts.
• Create an online reputation strategy for your sub-prime site. Google Reviews, Dealer Review Boost, Dealer Rater, Car Folks, Edmund Reviews, Yelp, etc.
• Create a campaign of “focus” (microsites) — one site for each relevant category.
• Create a Video Search Engine Optimization (VSEO) campaign.
• Set up a full special finance social media campaign/strategy (along with social media SEO)
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr
  • Flickr
  • YouTube
  • MySpace
  • WordPress Blog
  • Create a powerful search engine marketing campaign (Pay Per Click)

Basically, you are going to build a special finance site and think of it as a brand new dealership. In the same way that you are going to dominate automotive Internet sales, you are going to dominate special finance online. The idea is to make sure that when anyone searches for anything at all related to bad credit/no credit auto loan in your area (and surrounding areas) they will find your sub-prime site. You are going to be the “Autotrader” or the “Cars.com” for special finance online in your area.

You might be asking how is this possible? It’s simple: Everyone is asleep at the wheel. Again, most dealerships are struggling on how to simply survive with automotive Internet sales, special finance online is not even on their radar.

If you have any questions about this article or you would like me to assist you for free in starting your special finance online campaign, please call or e-mail me.

The Truth About CRMs…

Customer relationship management (CRM) software is always on a dealership’s agenda in our 20 Groups, and they almost always come up in every single workshop. And this is how it should be — it is one of the most important tools and resources that a dealership has in its arsenal for automotive Internet sales. Over the last 12 years, I’ve seen Internet lead management (ILM) and CRM technology companies evolve to have amazing offerings.

But over the years I still get the same question “What is the best CRM for dealerships?” The answer is complex, because there are different “flavors” of CRM, and what’s right for one dealership can be the wrong fit for another; we’ll get to that in a moment. The goal of a CRM package is to reduce redundancy by offering with multiple tools and consolidate to one centralized platform. That means if you have multiple tools / products that do the following:

• Digital or manual showroom control system (desk log)

• Service reminders

• Permission-based e-mail campaigns

• ILM tools

• Phone up tracking system

• Inventory management system

• Call tracking software

• Service appointment system

• Data mining

• BDC campaign management

• Special finance

• Reporting and analytics

With the right CRM, you don’t need a separate tool to perform all these functions. Theoretically, the right CRM lets you consolidate all of this with a single technology platform. The benefit here is multiple. It’s certainly cheaper to pay for one CRM tool than having to purchase numerous tools individually. While an individual tool will almost always be cheaper than a full CRM, if you add up all of individual tools out there, the total cost would be much more expensive than the average cost of a CRM.

One of the most powerful benefits of using a single CRM solution, however, is the fact that all information is on one centralized platform. For example, if you have a prospect that sends an Internet Purchase Request, the CRM will have that in its database. If that prospect decides to walk in the dealership and is “logged” into the dealership’s CRM as a showroom prospect, it will be recognized immediately that that prospect was originally an “Internet opportunity.” Furthermore, if that prospect was ever in the dealership’s service department or did any type of business with that dealership, it would show up in reports. Most CRMs will calculate the amount of profit made from each customer, and the dealership can see the whole picture of a customer or prospect. This is important because if the dealership has the full picture on a situation, it can make better business decisions.

Not all CRMs are perfect fits with all dealerships, though. CRMs can be designed to focus more on one area of sales than another. If your dealership also focuses on this area, it’s a good fit. If you don’t have a particularly strong Internet sales department, but your CRM specializes in Internet lead management, that can be a bad fit. You have to do your research before committing to a CRM solution.

The best advice I can give is to stop trying to shove a round peg into a square hole. Too many dealers out there buy one tool, and then try to make it do what it wasn’t designed to do. I’ll give you an example. I have a dealer client that purchased a tool that was 100-percent designed for special finance. It was designed for a “special finance” depart ment, and was designed by a “special finance” branded company. But the dealership uses this tool for its entire store, and they depend on it for their Internet sales department. The crazy thing about this situation is that the dealership doesn’t even have a “special finance” department. They bought this tool without researching the situation, and are now paying the price.

Here are some steps you can take before you buy a CRM:

• First, simply ask yourself “What do we want or need a CRM for —Internet, sales, service, BDC?” When you answer that question, find a CRM that specializes in that area of need.

• If, for example, you have an extreme need for Internet lead management, compair CRM tools that specialize in that area with each other. Find out why they feel they specialize in ILM, and find out what credentials they have for ILM.

• Get references, and then actually call other dealers using the tool. Ask for references who aren’t in their marketing, and speak to the actual department you are investigating. Don’t ask the dealer principle or GM about Internet lead management; ask the Internet or BDC director. Get their real opinion from a day-to-day operational level.

• Accept the fact that you might need to have more than one tool. For example, I have a lot of dealer clients who have multiple tools. They might have a full CRM and an ILM tool, as well. Yes, this goes against the myth that a CRM can do everything, you’ll be better off in the long run with the right tools for your dealership.

Look at it this way: You wouldn’t go to the ophthalmologist if you had trouble breathing. The ophthalmologist is a doctor, but that’s not his specialty. Use this same mindset when selecting your CRM.

Please e-mail or call me if you have any questions about CRM or if you would like a free strategy session/assessment on your current CRM solution.

Sean V. Bradley is the founder and CEO of Dealer Synergy, a nationally recognized training and consulting company in the automotive industry. He can be contacted at 866.648.7400, or by e-mail at sbradley@autosuccessonline.com.

http://www.dealersynergy.com

Does your ONLINE Reputation Suck...? Are you sure... You better check and if Does, You better know what to do!

OK... I know you all have heard about online reputation mangement...but it is VERY IMPORTANT!! I have clients and soon to be clients calling Dealer Synergy asking for HELP!!!! They say they are being attacked by "Internet Terrorists" I am dead serious, thats what a dealership told me the other day... You have to protect your online reputation. It is SOOOO Important, that I dedicated (FOR FREE) a portion of my site to show the community several of the major online reputation resources out there. But, I came across this resource recelty and I now have sevreal Dealer Synergy clients that are using this company. I have NO AFFILIATION with them at all. I am ONLy going by what I see personally and what my clients have told me their experieinces are and they are ALL positive... If you are getting CRUSHED by BAD reviews then you NEED to look into these people. They can FIX it... but its NOT enough to "wash away" the bad reviews... you need to have a strategy going forward to create a positive online reputation management protocol and integrity... This on the other hand is to help you out of a BAD situation. Here is a Quick Video from a client of mine, the President of Peruzzi  Toyota talking about "Review Boost", Bill Finocchiaro

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As I sit down to write this post, I’m reminded of a situation where I once had to break the news to the owner of a dealership that he needed $1 million cash infusion to keep his store running. He’d been doing things the same way for years and it cost him dearly. The signs of demise were always there, predictions were made, but he chose not to act.

It’s a similar story with Social Media and online reputations for dealerships today. Doing things the same old way will not cut it in this new economy. The following is a list of my top 6 Social Media predictions for dealerships in 2011.  Some points could be considered wishes but hey, a girl’s gotta dream, right?:

1. There will be more Adopters and less Adopt-Laters.  Dealerships will buy into the fact that a well-defined strategy for Social Media generates leads. It’s not about waiting for the customer to come through the door anymore. It’s about meeting the customer where they are and listening.  Everyone will become better for this.

2. Dealerships will realize they can’t do it alone. Social Media is part PR, part marketing, part advertising, part geek…with a twist.  The futility will become clear in the thought that Social Media and online reputations can be managed in someone’s spare time.  They’ll see that the Internet Sales Dept is there to field the leads that come from Social Media and that those sales professionals can’t do that when they’re struggling to find content to attract new buyers.

3. Dealerships will allocate 25% of their advertising/marketing budget to Social Media and Online Reputation Management. Ford did it in 2010 and they’re now the leader on Social networks.

4. Dealerships will stop “blocking” Social Media sites from their staff’s workstations. They’ll establish a clear Social Media policy and fear will no longer blind management’s ability to see the value in having employees–their ‘brand advocates’–share cool things about the store to their trusted networks. Management will understand that staff is already using Social Media on their phones and laptops so blocking is pointless. Sure, it’s a shift in the way we measure productivity but by using positive reinforcement and recognition, management will be able to drive employee enthusiasm. The benefit will be that when the staff shares their enthusiasm with customers, it’s contagious.

5. Dealerships will recognize that content rules. Social Media is not only about a new medium, it’s about new and more meaningful marketing messages. Here’s what killer content does:

• Attracts customers
• Educates buyers
• Establishes credibility and trust
• Builds buzz throughout Social Networks
• Inspires customers to love you
• Increases your PageRank in SEO

….and it generates word-of-mouth and quality leads!

6. Dealerships and managers will have the patience it takes to build a following on Social Media. We all remember how comfortable it was to sit with the print advertising rep each week, design our ads and watch the customers come in the door. Dealerships in 2011 will see that today’s customer wants to buy or service their car from someone they know, like and trust. They’ll accept that Social Media relationships take time to build and this will encourage more dealerships to start using Social Media and integrate it into their budgets for 2011.  The payoff is Customers for Life!

John Wannamaker, often considered the father of the modern department store and modern advertising was quoted about 90 years ago as saying “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half.”

Unfortunately, this problem holds true for many car dealerships (perhaps not as dramatic as quoted by John Wannamaker). However, there is no question that advertising seepage and waste is one of the most pressing concerns for advertisers and reducing that ALONE should dramatically improve your advertising ROI without additional investments.

Therefore, as you plan your advertising strategy for 2011 what plans are you implementing to:

• Reduce the percent of advertising seepage?
• Find out which ‘half’ of your advertising investment is being wasted?
• Measure and track your advertising channels to determine which is NOT meeting your minimum advertising ROI requirements?
• Cost benefit analysis to determine how much say a 5% reduction in advertising seepage will mean to your bottom line?
• What specific strategies you can put in place to reduce advertising seepage?
• What specific strategies can you put in place to stay in touch and engage your existing customers?
• How do you plan to increase your parts, service and maintenance revenue with your existing customer base? 
•  Have you claimed Your FREE Google Local Places Listing and is it adequately optimized and mobile device enabled?
• Are you still advertising in the Yellow Pages? Do you know your marketing ROI for this channel?

Now, before we move on, let’s discuss WHY advertising seepage occurs. Let’s assume that you advertise only in the newspapers and Yellow Pages. You place your full page ad, with pictures of the cars you want to promote, your financing options, your phone or vanity #, address and website address. While this well and good, unless you have a short code keyword  or something that tie the two channels together, you will miss the % of your potential customers who prefer to use a mobile device to communicate and you are ignoring the largest growing segment of your potential target population.

According to EMarketer (Nov 2009), the % of mobile phone users is expected to increase at a rate of about 20% EACH year between 2008 and 2013 and as % of total US population, increase from about 16.7% in 2008 to 39.5% in 2013. In addition, according to Center for Media Research (Sept 2009), “80% of local media execs believe mobile will be the main distribution to consumers within 3 years”.

The New Multi-media Environment Calls For An Integrated Advertising Strategy.

Fortunately, there is a way for auto dealers to adopt this trend quickly, inexpensively and seamlessly into their current online and offline advertising strategies. The use of short code text messaging is already widespread. Adding this ONE keyword to all your advertising channels will vastly improve your response, leads and conversion rates.

Note that widely popular television shows such as “American Idol” and “Dancing With The Stars” give their viewers the option of calling or texting a vote to their favorite performer.

A catchy and memorable keyword in addition to a vanity # are a powerful combination to get your dealership’s name and brand message to consumers.

The multi-media car dealer will use their keyword, in the words of Thomas Hensey (Rhino Marketing), to “identify, find, touch and thrill” the target customer by offering them an incentive to text to their database. The dealer will then send the customer to their mobile website ad, featuring their specials, while at the same time sending that ad to YouTube and Social media.

In the process, the dealership builds a text messaging database of inquiries, leads, and customers for ongoing, periodic follow up. So long as the dealer continues to “touch and thrill” their database, they will be able to increase new sales, service and maintenance revenues.

The key to reducing advertising seepage and increasein sales and revenue is the ability to integrate ALL your advertising channels, and the short code keyword provides the dealer an inexpensive, quick and seamless way to do so. 

Michael Ofori is President of MVO & Associates, LLC, a multi-media advertising agency and can be reached at 978-631-0363  email mike@multimediaadvertising.biz

First, let’s look at the media advertising landscape for 2011; then determine how your strategy fits into that and more importantly, how you are going to maximize your advertising ROI within these parameters.

According to Carat, a leading independent media communications agency, total ad spend in the US is expected to increase by 1.7% in 2011. “All media are expected to return to growth, except for the newspaper sector, which, along with magazines, is expected to be the weakest performer. The two biggest areas of growth are internet and television, followed by radio, outdoor and cinema… Online continues to capture a bigger percentage of the media spend in 2010 at 11.3%, increasing to 12.1% in 2011”.

The trend towards mobile smart phone devices to reach people on the move cannot be over-emphasized.

Now, given this landscape let me ask you the following questions:

• What is your advertising strategy for 2011?
• Do you have a plan to minimize advertising leakage or waste?
• Do you have an integrated multi-media advertising strategy across ALL your media channels to maximize advertising message, leads and conversion?
• Do you have a rigorous tracking mechanism in place know which channel provided the best ROI, and more importantly, to quickly adapt to changing response, leads and conversion patterns?

Despite the changing demographic and ad spend landscape many automobile dealers continue to devote the majority of their ad budgets to TV, newspapers and radio. It is true that the internet is getting a larger share of today’s ad budget, however, there is NO INTREGRATED strategy yet in place to minimize advertising leakage or waste.

Every month, the average automobile dealership spends about $50,000 in advertising and the average dealership will use a combination of  TV, newspaper and magazines, radio, direct mail and the internet to advertise.  The critical question is WHETHER all of these channels are integrated in a way where EACH channel provides input into the other that validates the dealer’s brand message.

In my opinion, the most ROI effective, integrated advertising strategy MUST encompass the following and include an appropriate, affordable, easy to implement online platform to enable seamless execution:

• TV: You are already spending money here so make sure you include your toll free #, website info and provide an incentive for your watchers to respond to your shortcode keyword.
• Newspapers & Magazines, Radio & Direct Mail: A contact phone #, website and shortcode keyword are critical here. Note that a response to your shortcode keyword will allow you to direct your customers by smart phone to your mobile website, YouTube and  Social Media sites.
• Your Online Website: Must be well planned, easy to navigate and SEO optimized. Do not forget a call to action to your shortcode keyword.
• SMS Text Marketing Platform (Opt-in): If you do not have this, you are missing a HUGE part of your potential audience. For people on the go, you can push through instant coupons, discounts, contests and gratification.
• Automated Submission Of Ads On YouTube & Social Media: Your presence in this space without a lot of effort and resources is key. Tie in with the other strategies produces maximum results.
• Automated Mobile Website Capacity: This is critical in today’s smart phone environment and to reach the Y generation.
• Tracking & Measurement: Having a separate shortcode keyword for each advertising channel will allow you to track responses, leads, conversions and ongoing customer lifetime value. This will also show you over time which channel represent you most effective ROI and potentially reduce your ad spend.

 Once you have your prospects and customers’ keycode contact #, you can now send your prospects periodic new sales specials and coupons, and for existing customers, reminders and/or coupons for maintenance and other services.

Now, you are wondering HOW you could do all that without substantial incremental expense. First, doing this for 6 - 9months should show you which channels have the smallest or even negative ROI for possible elimination. Second, the potential incremental sales from this strategy should more than make up for any additional expense with this strategy.

You can position your company today to capitalize on the new advertising landscape by incorporating these multi-media advertising strategies to improve your ROI. Many of your competition are already doing it.

If you want to find our how other automobile dealerships are using this strategy, please contact me.

http://www.dealersynergy.com

http://www.internetsales20group.com

Former General Manager of the World's Largest Dealership "AutoLand" in NJ Mike Cola is interviewed by Automotive Internet Sales

A few years ago, I was working at a Japanese high-line store and we took in a Porsche 911 on trade with the engine light on. We sent it through the Service Dept for Recon. They were able to get the engine light to go out (although I never knew exactly how) and we put the car
on the front line for sale. A buyer came in that weekend and purchased the car. Two days later, it came back on a flat-bed. Why? The engine had seized because it had no oil. In an effort to save money on the Recon, we let our Japanese-trained technicians work on it. Had it gone to the Porsche dealer a few blocks away, we might have saved the car. Instead, we had to put a $10K engine in it.

Letting just anyone ‘do’ Social Media is risky business. Social Media is much more than setting up a Facebook page, uploading YouTube videos and broadcasting Tweets. Most dealerships set up a profile on Facebook and notice that there are many more things on the to-do list. Pretty soon, interest wanes because they find out it’s harder than it looks to create valuable content every day. Who then is best suited to handle the dealership’s online campaigns?

CHOOSE WISELY

If you have employee that can free up the time and has the knowledge on how to use the Social Media tools, it might seem like an easy solution. So did sending the Porsche to our Service Dept. If you have an employee who knows how to use Facebook or Twitter, chances are they know how to use these tools for personal reasons. Engaging the online customer (Marketing), generating leads (Advertising) and building your store’s online reputation (Public Relations) is perhaps asking more of that employee than they are capable of.

Collaboration with a talented strategist is necessary to achieve your dealership’s goals with Social Media. Experts provide training and guidance to acclimate you and your staff to the process of engaging your online buyer. You’ll find that engaging a Social Media specialist not
only costs less but it will quickly bring in leads you never knew existed.

http://www.internetsales20group.com

AutoTrader.com Agrees to Purchase Auto Inventory Solutions Leader HomeNet Automotive

ATLANTA and WEST CHESTER, Pa., Dec. 1, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- AutoTrader.com, the Internet's ultimate automotive marketplace and consumer information website, has agreed to purchase HomeNet Automotive, a leading provider of online inventory management and merchandising solutions.

The purchase is expected to close by the end of the year.

The addition of HomeNet to the AutoTrader.com family of companies and brands provides AutoTrader.com with a best-in-class inventory management solution for the thousands of auto dealers who use AutoTrader.com to present their inventory of new, used and certified pre-owned (CPO) vehicles to online vehicle shoppers.

Founded in 1996, HomeNet's proprietary "Get. Edit. Deliver" technology has helped thousands of automotive dealers nationwide generate a high volume of leads and increase online vehicle sales. HomeNet's signature solution, the Inventory Online (IOL) vehicle marketing suite, is an industry-leading vehicle inventory management and marketing system.

AutoTrader.com's purchase of HomeNet will bring a variety of benefits to dealers who post vehicles for sale on AutoTrader.com and to car shoppers who use AutoTrader.com to research and compare vehicles, find dealer specials, review inventory of cars for sale and select dealerships to visit.

For dealers, incorporating HomeNet's proprietary inventory management system into AutoTrader.com's dealer tools will allow for easier and faster inventory management and merchandising online. Dealers will be able to upload their listings faster, make updates and adjustments to their listings more easily and overall enjoy more flexibility and control in presenting their inventory for sale on AutoTrader.com.

Consumers shopping for vehicles on AutoTrader.com will have access to better vehicle information, enhanced listings that include more photos and dealer comments, advanced search capabilities and more frequent updates and information about the cars they are shopping for and researching.

The agreement to purchase HomeNet is the third in a series of acquisitions AutoTrader.com has announced in recent months. In September, AutoTrader.com announced the purchase of vAuto, the automotive retail industry's leading provider of advanced software tools for used vehicle management, pricing and inventory optimization. Then, in October, AutoTrader.com announced its planned acquisition of Kelley Blue Book (www.kbb.com), one of the most recognized and influential brands in the automotive industry.

"We are always looking for opportunities to grow our company, organically or through acquisitions, in ways that will make AutoTrader.com even more valuable to the auto manufacturers and dealers who advertise on our site and to the 15-million-plus consumers who shop for vehicles on our site every month," said AutoTrader.com President and CEO Chip Perry. "We were fortunate to be in a position to purchase vAuto and to agree to purchase Kelley Blue Book and HomeNet when these companies came available and we are excited about the value our combined companies can bring to the very competitive automotive shopping and marketing industries."

AutoTrader.com plans to operate HomeNet as an independent subsidiary.

Bob Landers, a 10-year AutoTrader.com veteran sales executive who was formerly vice president for AutoTrader.com's Southeast division, has been appointed general manager and vice president of HomeNet. He will be the top executive at the company, replacing founder and former president and CEO Jesse Biter. Landers will work directly with other leaders at HomeNet and be responsible for day-to-day operations and long-term growth at HomeNet.

About HomeNet Automotive, LLC: HomeNet Automotive helps the automobile industry save time and sell more vehicles. It is the leading provider of inventory merchandising, management, and marketing solutions, led by its flagship product, Inventory Online (IOL) Internet Marketing Suite. IOL is a web-based vehicle marketing solution that helps tens of thousands of automotive dealers to engage buyers online and bring them into the showroom by streamlining the process of converting raw vehicle data into consumer-friendly and emotional online ads. For more information, please email sales@homenetauto.com, visit http://www.homenetauto.com, or call (877) 738-3313

About AutoTrader.com

Atlanta-based AutoTrader.com, created in 1997, is the Internet's ultimate automotive marketplace and consumer information website. AutoTrader.com aggregates in a single location millions of new cars, used cars and certified pre-owned cars from thousands of auto dealers and private sellers and is a leading online resource for auto dealers, individuals and manufacturers to advertise and market their vehicles to in-market shoppers. The company also provides a robust suite of software tools for dealers and manufacturers to help them manage and market their vehicle inventory and display advertising on the Internet. AutoTrader.com continues to grow key business metrics, including revenue, profitability and site traffic. Today, AutoTrader.com attracts more than 15 million unique monthly visitors who utilize the site to review descriptions, photos and videos of vehicles for sale; research and compare vehicles; review pricing and specials; and read auto-related content like buying and selling tips and editorial coverage of major auto shows and automotive trends. AutoTrader.com operates two other auto marketing brands, AutoTraderClassics.com and AutoTraderLatino.com. AutoTrader.com also owns used vehicle management software company vAuto. AutoTrader.com is a majority-owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises. Providence Equity Partners is a 25 percent owner of the company and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers is also an investor. For more information, please visit www.autotrader.com.


SOURCE AutoTrader.com

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This dealer had his kids helping him run the dealership. One was the Sales Manager, one the Service Manager and the youngest did deliveries for the Office. This was the juggernaut running this enterprise. They all spoke Swiss to each other…all the time…in front of customers and, ofcourse, the employees. Their saving grace was their take-no-prisoners Controller. He made sense of things, especially when the family would fight, and he made sure all the numbers landed where they needed to be.

My point here is that when management is speaking a different language, how can your staff bring their best game? Shouldn’t all the players be playing from the same Playbook to increase sales? The same applies to Social Media campaigns today at dealerships. Management decides to set up profiles on Facebook, Twitter and Yelp without a strategy that includes grassroots employee participation. Merely having Social Media in place doesn’t guarantee that staff will understand it and incorporate it into their daily jobs.

To better foster and manage Social Media, educate and develop everyone in the store. Make sure they’re speaking the same language. Take steps to engage employees and customers so they can easily collaborate with each other. Whether it’s the Salesperson asking the customer to give a short video testimonial at delivery or the Service Advisor reminding his loyal customers to ‘Love us on Yelp’, dealership Social Media marketing doesn’t work without each staff member’s buy-in and daily involvement.

In Social Media, your employees are the players who move it from a marketing campaign to having a conversation with your customers. Are they speaking the language of increasing sales?

http://www.internetsales20group.com

http://www.willissmyrna.com/

Congratulations to Willis Automotive, located in Delaware for WINNING the "BEST Dealership Testimonial" Contest!!! We received a LOT of Video Testimonials from dealerships from different parts of the country and I have to tell you they were fun to watch!! Thank you for taking your time to make them and upload them.

Willis Automotive won $300!! I will make sure that Whitney Willis Snow send us a video when she gets her $300 :)

Here is the winning video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keJn-2NlIYQ&feature=player_embedded

Ok, Why did I create this contest and give away $300??? For a couple of reasons...

- First, I wanted to do something fun for the website and I know EVERYONE likes FREE Money so... :)

- I wanted to show how REALLY important Video Testimonials are and I know that just asking dealers to create them isn't enough... I / Dealers need to incentivize salesman and the internet team to create as many awesome videos as possible. It is VERY important that dealerships realize that what other people think about them and say about them is VERY important.

I was VERY pleased with the dealers that entered the contest... I was proud to see some of the dealerships go HEAVY into this project and upload a LOT of videos from their prospects / clients.

- I wanted to gauge the creativity of the videos... And I have to admit, there is a LOT of work to be done. I watched ALL the videos uploaded and noticed the same pattern... dealer after dealer. It seemed for a lot of the videos they did NOT have a strategy... a focus. I actually saw some videos where it seemed like the people did NOT want to be on video!! It is very clear that you all need to CREATE a strategy BEFORE you start to shoot the camera. Remember that there is a reason why people go online... every prospect has an expectation... what they are looking to accomplish. It is important that you "lead" the prospect / client if needed before you shoot the video. Take video testimonials on specific things like: Price, Availability, Convenience, Looking for a different way to do business, research etc... from a first time buyer, female perspective, credit challenged etc...

** Let the prospect or client talk. Try to slow down on the narration of ALL the videos...

- Make the videos FUN, interesting, passionate etc... Video is important but now a days video is all over... so you want to make your content interesting NOT just there.

All in all, this was a GREAT FIRST contest for the new AIS site!!

Thank you for all that participated and Congrats to Willis Automotive for winning the $300 prize!

SVB-

http://www.dealersyenrgy.com

http://www.facebook.com/seanvbradley

http://www.facebook.com/Locklearautomotive

http://www.internetsales20group.com

** If you "LIKE" their dealership on FaceBook, prospects are automatically entered to win a FREE "Call of Duty, Black Ops" game!


(Let me know what you think about this type of campaign... or if you have a unique social media campaign you would like to share with the community).

Your Ford Focus Global Drive is a smartly packaged promotion, filled with altruism, goodwill, and finally tied with a great, big incentive ribbon. So, why after 3 weeks of being live, do you only have 9 videos uploaded? Reuters reports that you want to choose 100 people to participate. The December 31^st deadline is fast approaching. How are you going to convert people from low-involvement likers to high-involvement evangelists?

MacKenzie

972-458-2026