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Mid-Week Motivations with Joe Cala - Thermostats vs. Thermometers - Automotive Sales / Car Sales

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The Evolution Of The Automotive Sales Industry - Automotive Internet Sales - Car Sales 

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Make Money Mondays With Sean V. Bradley SPECIAL EDITION With Anthony Alagona - How An Internet Sales Coordinator Make Money

Hello everyone,

I wanted to reshare this article written for Dealer20.com

The broken process in our industry is sending a templated email with one or two phone calls and then trying the next day.

I call 4x a day, with a video message, a confirmation to that video message, a handwritten card or thank you postcard, a text message and I call 4x a day.

The process closes over 20% of internet traffic.

Posted and Written by Alethe Denis on October 25, 2013 

Branding yourself on Youtube is no simple task however Elise has managed to make her videos so popular amongst those in the auto industry that some stores are using them for training purposes. The Youtube Diva is on the cutting edge as far as incorporating the technology available to us today into her sales process. She’s also become quite good at it; being recognized by the likes of Jim Zigler as far back as 2010. She’s now sharing a lot of her insights at automotive industry conferences and of course via her YouTube channel.

In the beginning Elise’s videos were very focused on the vehicle, that the customer stated they were interested in, per the customers email or form filled out on the dealer website. Her videos strained to hold the attention of the prospect in todays busy world. They contained loads of information up front and rounded out at about 5 minutes run time. Elise found that by paring these videos down, to focus on starting that relationship with the customer, she had a lot more success and better customer response. Focus on the customer experience and the personal relationship, more than the vehicle and sales pitch right off the bat. You want to put the customer at ease, show them you are a real person and begin a friendship. Including referrals has also become a trademark of Elise’s videos to customers.

This process has been tried and tested with exceptional success by Elise. Below is her process for contacting new internet leads step-by-step:

1. From your Office Line, Call the customer at about 9am.
a. Tell the customer that you have “Some Great News” and ask for a return call
b. Keep it short and non-specific but give your hours and contact information
c. Let the customer know that if you don’t hear back from them you WILL try them again later today
2. Send your Video email message immediately after your first call attempt.
a. Introduce yourself and your store
b. Tell the customer briefly what you discussed if you got ahold of them and thank them for speaking with you
c. If you left a voicemail then give them your vehicle options that match the customer enquiry e.g. “We have the 2013 Honda Accord available in the red or white today”
d. Give the customer your direct contact information clearly and your hours in store
e. Make it Personal. Use the customers name and be casual and conversational
f. Keep your video under 90 seconds and under 60 seconds is optimal
g. Ask for the Call back and let the customer know that you WILL contact them again if you don’t hear from them.
3. From your Mobile Phone, Call the customer at about 11am.
a. Do NOT leave a message
4. From your Mobile Phone, Call the customer at about 2pm.
a. Again Do NOT leave a message
5. From your Office Line, Call the customer at about 5pm.
a. Leave a Message again with your contact details and hours in store today
b. Ask for the call back and explain that you WILL call the customer back again tomorrow if you do not hear from them before then

Some people may call this borderline harassment, but the simple fact is that the customer has requested this information about a car that interested them on your lot. You may get some negative feedback on occasion however for the most part it is your job to reply to these leads and you aren’t doing your job if you don’t get in touch with the customer.

The goal is to Set an Appointment. You can’t sell a car if you don’t get that customer on the lot. How you begin your relationship with each lead will determine if you get that appointment set. Treat each lead as Elise suggests above and I bet you set more appointments. It’s our job to sell cars and put the numbers on the board sure, but giving the customer the most wonderful car buying experience should also be high on your personal agenda. Once you get the customer on the lot they can fall in love with the car. Videos and that personal touch will build trust and help the customer to fall in love with your store. It also removes the awkward from your first appointment as the customer feels that they have already met you and you can get straight down to it when they arrive.

Source: http://www.dealerelite.net/profiles/blog/show?id=5283893%3ABlogPost%3A395399&xgs=1&xg_source=msg_share_post

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Mid-Week Motivations with Joe Cala - Keep Planting Seeds - Automotive Sales - Car Sales

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"How To Sell 30+ Cars & Make OVER $130,000 Per Year" Workshop For The Greater New York Auto Dealers Association

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Re: Internet Manager Best Practices (Aaron Harris Question) - Sean V. Bradley & Joe Cala

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This week's episode is "Always be prospecting". VERY powerful but simple ideas on how to prospect and sell more cars, more often!

Sean V. Bradley recently attended a Jim Ziegler Sales Management Workshop and was reminded of this simple technique to increase sales IMMEDIATELY.

The 2013 Special Finance Benchmarks were announced at the Used Car University Subprime Conference, held last month in Las Vegas. To no one’s surprise, after analyzing tens of thousands of special finance (SF) transactions, the performance benchmarks increased in nearly every aspect of operation from 2012 to 2013. In some cases, the numbers came in at or above all-time highs. These upticks certainly demonstrate an aggressive and competitive battle for market share among auto finance companies.

The chart here supplies all the key metrics that comprise the Used Car University benchmarks, which are calculated at the 75th percentile levels. The following will delve into some of the most important metrics dealers typically look at daily.

Volume and Conversion Rates
We begin with deal volume and the general makeup of dealers’ SF businesses. While both franchised and independent dealers enjoyed a general uptick in volume, franchised dealers grew at a rate of slightly more than 10 percent — all based on new-vehicle sales. In 2012, new vehicles comprised 34.7 percent of a franchise dealer’s SF volume. In 2013, that ratio grew to a whopping 40.8 percent, which shows the strong influence of the captives’ subprime efforts. And their impact on the market is being felt all the way down to “Tier 4” SF customers.

And as unit volume increased, so did both the conversion ratio of showroom opportunities and deal gross profit. This year, franchised dealers converted 37.9 percent of the SF opportunities that made it into their showroom. They did slightly better than independents, which converted just less than 33 percent of their opportunities into sales.

Conversion of most lead types improved in 2013, especially third-party leads. Franchise dealers converted nearly 11 percent of their third-party leads, while independents converted nearly 10 percent — both significant improvements from 2012 and the past four years.

Internet leads also converted well. Independents delivered 14.9 percent of all SF leads they received from their websites, while franchised dealers delivered 14 percent of their leads, just a tick off from last year. 
Phone conversion increased as well. As a group, franchised and independent dealers converted in the mid-13 percent range of all incoming SF phone calls.

One metric absent from this year’s benchmarks is the credit-hotline lead, where customers dial a toll-free number to apply for financing. Such leads have been a staple in the SF segment since the early 1990s. This year, however, marks the first time that an insufficient number of dealers reported credit-hotline usage, making the category’s results statistically irrelevant. Results from the few dealers who reported using credit-hotline leads were all over the map, making it impossible to set a benchmark.

Gross Profits
Gross profits on SF deals soared this year. Unlike the last two years, when there were significant differences in vehicle (front-end) gross profits between franchised and independent dealers, gross profits in 2013 came in close enough to set a single benchmark: $2,235 per SF vehicle sold. F&I (back-end) gross profits did continue to see a significant variance. The franchise benchmarks dipped ever so slightly to $1,056 per SF vehicle sold, while independents improved gross again to $763 — still far short of the franchised dealer mark.

Adding the front and back ends together, total deal benchmarks for 2013 come to $3,291 per SF vehicle sold by franchised dealers and $2,998 for independents. That’s a significant increase over 2012 and the past five years.

Marketing Spend
For the second consecutive year, SF advertising expenses still remain inefficient compared to past years. Franchised dealers actually reduced their ad cost per vehicle sold to $436, while independents crept up to $360. Additionally, ad expenses as a percent of gross profit still dropped for both sides due to the significant increase in deal gross profits.

Investment in advertising media varied significantly between franchised and independent dealers. Franchised dealers, who spend more money overall, tend to direct more of their ad budgets toward broadcast and digital than independents. They drive the customer to the phone or dealer website and then work leads through a call center or business development center (BDC). Only 11.5 percent of all the total opportunities received by franchised dealers are customers who walk into the dealership. As for independents, more than one in four customers walk into their stores before first contact.

Results also revealed that franchised and independent dealers amped up their broadcast media spends this year. Forty-four percent of franchised dealers spend money on radio advertising, and for those who do, that medium represents 73 percent of their entire SF advertising budget. TV is also in play. It’s used by nearly one in three franchised dealers, representing 54 percent of their ad budgets.

Whether franchise or independent, one thing is for sure: The numbers add up to increased success and penetration into the subprime credit market. While deal conversion and gross profits have not quite returned to 2007’s peak levels, they are not far off. In fact, it wouldn’t be surprising to see SF benchmarks reach all-time highs in 2014

Source: http://www.autodealermonthly.com/article/story/2013/09/shifting-into-high-gear.aspx

Over the past decade, advertising budgets across the country have been increasing in the automotive industry. A new eMarketer report projects that the US automotive industry will spend $5.07 billion on paid digital advertising in 2013, with that total rising to $7.80 billion by 2017.

As budgets increase so does the number of channels in which those ad dollars can be spent, making decisions about where to spend your dollars extremely challenging. One important channel that should not be overlooked is mobile advertising on Google.

For the first time, smartphones are currently on pace to outsell standard feature phones. To say that the mobile car-shopping population is growing is an understatement. A J.D. Power & Associates study found that the percentage of US vehicle shoppers who have visited an automotive website via a smartphone grew from 17% in 2010 to 31% in 2012.

This increased access to smart mobile devices in the hands of potential car shoppers is a largely untapped opportunity. Especially when you consider that mobile shoppers are proven to convert better than desktop shoppers.

A recent study of Nissan's digital traffic found that mobile car shoppers are 30% more likely to submit a lead than their desktop brethren. These potential customers tend to be on the go, in more of a rush, and looking to gain information--- and sometimes take action--- as quickly as possible.

If you're not advertising and promoting your brand to roving car shoppers, that will help you build a strong mobile brand

Here are four mobile musts for your dealerships website and ad campaigns that will help you build a strong mobile brand.

1. Consider Your Mobile Shopper's Experience

Before even thinking about advertising to drive traffic to your mobile site, you first need to get the site ready for proper viewing. The goal should be to make a simplified version of the full website that is user friendly and intuitive for your mobile shoppers.

First, make sure graphics and all content load quickly. Mobile users have limited time and attention spans. Aresearch study conducted by user experience expertsAkamai shows that mobile website bounce rate increases drastically if a site takes longer than 6 seconds to load.

Your next step should be to consider the varying screen sizes of mobile devices. Verify that appropriate formatting is in place to make the content appealing and easy to navigate while viewing on phones and tablets.

2. Appeal to Mobile Search Traffic

Now that you've streamlined your mobile site, it’s time to put yourself in the mind of the mobile shopper. Ask yourself:

What searches would a mobile shopper perform, and how can I utilize that search information to drive relevant traffic?

The user experience when performing a dealership search is different on a phone or tablet than it is on a desktop. For one thing the potential buyer is using a touch-screen, and therefore is less likely to type a long search query. Shorter searches mean that the keywords you need to bid on need to be very precise. It would be wise to consider possible shortenings or abbreviations. And be sure to avoid using keywords that are overly broad that will end up attracting irrelevant clicks.

3. Enhance Your Campaigns

Enhanced Campaigns in Google Adwords is a powerful feature than can help you organize your different mobile campaigns and set your mobile bids to ensure your ads perform better. Think about the size of a mobile screen and how important it is for mobile ads to rank high. On a desktop there are ten ad positions that take up close to one third of the screen, while phones and mobile devices might only feature three ad positions that occupy 50% of the screen.

That's some valuable real estate right there! This monopoly on screen space is another reason why mobile ads tend to have higher click-through rates.
And in case you were wondering... Yes, Google has effectively monopolized the mobile search market. According to Global StatCounter, Google's mobile search market share was 96.9 percent as of May 2012. This alone is more than enough reason for dealers to embrace Enhanced Campaigns in their mobile strategy.

4. Optimize Your Landing Pages for Mobile

Potential phone and tablet customers deserve the same experience as desktop shoppers. Directing users to designated landing pages with strong, relevant content--- and not just dropping shoppers on the home page--- is a big part of providing that seamless experience. These landing pages should be mobile optimized, easy to navigate and in line with the site’s overall style and layout.

These steps may seem basic, but there are still brands out there that ignore the simplest things that make the biggest impact on their dealership advertising.

What steps have you taken to make sure your advertising is reaching the growing mobile shopping community?

Source: http://www.automotivedigitalmarketing.com/profiles/blog/show?id=1970539%3ABlogPost%3A503012&xgs=1&xg_source=msg_share_post

Your website provider should be able to provide you with a monthly report that lists the number of hits your site has garnered, the sources of those hits, how long the average visitor spends on your site and what they are visiting on your page.

Most dealerships now have an Internet department. Some stores have gone full speed by appointing an Internet manager, hiring representatives to follow up on leads and creating an advertising budget. Other stores have approached the digital age more cautiously, just dipping their toes into the vast pool of online media.

I visit dealerships across the country, and there seems to be no similarity at all in how Internet sales are handled and accounted for. Some dealers think they are maximizing their online sales revenue just by answering every e-mail and chat request.

There is a lot more to it. It just depends on how much money, time and resources you are willing to commit to the project. Full speed or not, from an accounting standpoint, it may make sense to set up a separate department to manage the income and expenses you derive from online sales. Here’s a six-step plan:

1. Hack Your DMS

It should be very simple to set up a new department on your dealer management system (DMS). Assign your new department a number and name, set up income and expense accounts and assign them a factory financial statement line number so they show up on your monthly financial statements. This step forces you to decide how you are going to track your Internet sales, as most factory charts of accounts don’t have separate accounts set up for Internet sales, cost of sales and expenses.

2. Track Your Sales

To properly track your Internet sales, you must set up separate sales and cost-of-sales accounts for each model of new vehicles you sell. Do this for your used inventory as well. If you don’t track these sales, cost of sales and gross profits separately — whether on a spreadsheet or in your accounting software — so you can subtract them from your financial statements, you will probably not have a clue if the money you are spending for this department is worth it.

3. Establish Your Structure

Decide whether your Internet personnel should handle the lead all the way to the finish line or hand the lead over to one of your regular salespeople. If it changes hands, you have to decide how you want to record the deal on your books. If not, note each Internet sale on the deal jacket so accounting knows which sales account to record it in, where to post the commission and where to list other costs associated with the sale.

4. Separate Your YTD Expenses

Once you have the department and the general ledger accounts set up, you can move the year-to-date (YTD) expenses from the accounts you have posted transactions to all year to the new accounts. That will allow you to start your department analysis in the current month.

Once you begin posting the sales and cost-of-sales accounts separately, you can easily see whether your Internet department is profitable. Make sure you allocate the correct payroll costs for the personnel working in this department. It should be based on the percentage of time they are spending there. Now you can calculate the average gross profit per unit sold, the commission or cost to sell it, and the variable expenses associated with it — the same as you would with your new- and used-vehicle departments.

Make sure you have set up accounts for Internet-centric expenses such as website design, in-store Internet usage, monthly web hosting maintenance fees, search engine optimization and lead-management software costs, not to mention your manager and sales representatives’ salaries and commissions.

5. Separate Your Fixed Expenses

If you really want to do it right, you should be allocating some of your semi-fixed and fixed expenses to the Internet department. How much is up to you. This can be a real pain to analyze and allocate, so you may want to have the department up and running for a while before you take this step. Your office manager or accounts payable expert can probably tell you which expenses pertain to your new department.

For the most part, your largest expenses are going to be personnel and electronic media software and usage fees for each click, etc. These are the ones you need to pay the most attention to, as they are variable and controllable costs. If the cost of each sale is larger than the revenue you are generating, you will need to decide how to drive more people to your site that may buy, or start reducing some expenses so the department is not a drain on your dealership’s profits.

6. Order Your Reports

The profitability of any department depends on performance. Your Internet manager should track how long it takes to respond to a lead and how many leads are closing as actual sales. Your website provider should be able to provide him or her with a monthly report that lists the number of hits, the source (e.g., Google search terms), how long the average visitor spends on your site and whether they are visiting different departments.

With the right information at hand, you should be able to compute your cost for each lead and unit sale. Better yet, you can make intelligent decisions on how to improve your website, your inventory mix and your process for handling Internet leads.

Under Review

Once you have set up new accounts for the income and expenses generated by your Internet department, you can determine whether the department is profitable. If it isn’t, you need to act fast. Look at your site from the perspective of a potential customer and ask yourself the following questions:

• Is your site graphically appealing and easy to navigate?
• Does it look as nice as your competitors’ sites?
• Is your inventory easy to find?
• Are your vehicles listed with good photos, videos and descriptions?
• Are your online prices competitive for your market?
• Do you know how many of the same vehicles are for sale in your market area?
• Do you make it easy for customers to contact you?

Source - http://www.autodealermonthly.com/article/story/2013/10/a-web-of-lies.aspx?utm_campaign=Enews-20131029&utm_source=Email&utm_medium=Enewsletter 

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Make Money Mondays With Sean V. Bradley - Have Passion In Car Sales

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The Internet Sales 20 Group's VIP Networking Party Will Be Held In Hollywood's #1 Nightclub, The Emerson Theatre

The 2013 Internet Sales 20 Group in Los Angeles California will have its VIP Networking event in Hollywood's #1 Nightclub, The Emerson Theatre!!

The VIP Networking event is being sponsored by TrueCar & Trade-In Velocity

In addition, DealerTrack will be GIVING AWAY $1,000 CASH for the "Best Idea Contest"!!

You do NOT want to MISS this event!!!

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Internet Director / Internet Sales Manager Responsibilities Part 4 - Automotive Sales - Car Sales

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Internet Director - Internet Sales Manager - Responsibilities Part 2 - Automotive Internet Sales

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Sean V. Bradley has 15 years Automotive Internet Sales experience selling over 110 INTERNET units per month when he was an Internet Director at Pine Belt Automotive in NJ 

Joe Cala was the Internet Sales Manager at Nelson Mazda in Tulsa Oklahoma that took their department from 7 units - 80 units per month online. Joe then went on to Gateway Toyota, a Penske store to become the Internet Director for 6 years. Joe was delivering 150 INTERNET units per month. Cala also worked for Autotrader.com for a year.

Both Cala and Bradley have extensive Automotive Internet Sales experience and have created a 5 part Internet Director responsibilities series. 

If you would like more information please go to www.automotivedigitaltraining.com or call them at 856-546-2440 

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Mid-Week Motivations with Joe Cala - "The E3 Formula" - Automotive Sales - Car Sales 

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Make Money Mondays with Sean V. Bradley - Social Media & Video Communication