http://www.car-mercial.com 

R.I.P. Karry Moore - Remembering Karry Moore Friend and Partner (Co-Founder of Car-Mercial) - Good Times At Our Wedding

https://www.youtube.com/seanvbradleytv

What Are You Doing With Your Time?  We ONLY have 86,400 Seconds in a Day. When They are Gone, They are Gone! 

AUDUBON, N.J., July 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) And NCM "20 Group" / Convention Speaker Sean V. Bradley, CEO of Dealer Synergy and founder of http://www.automotiveinternetsales.com Announces The Upcoming Automotive "Internet Sales 20 Group" in Chicago October 23-25, 2012. The Upcoming Automotive Internet Sales 20 Group will be held at the beautiful downtown Chicago Hilton. This is a "20 Group" / Boot Camp for success. The dates are the exact same dates as the upcoming Digital Dealer Convention. The "Internet Sales 20 Group" is the perfect alternative to the "Digital Dealer Convention." Our research shows that more dealers prefer to send their executives, managers, Internet Sales / BDC team to a FOCUSED workshop with a powerful instructional design with a beginning, middle and an end rather than a large convention with numerous speakers speaking at the same time with different messages, sometimes even contradicting each other. At the Internet Sales 20 Group there will be One message, One design all focused for the attendees to learn and most importantly implement immediately upon their return to their respective dealerships. Sean V. Bradley is quoted as saying, "As a Charter Member of the Association of Automotive Internet Sales Professionals and Former General Assembly Speaker for the Digital Dealer Conference I have learned a lot over the years. There is value of getting 200-300 dealers in one area and have workshops, training, vendor booths etc…for them to 'connect' with like minded people with the same goal, 'Automotive Internet Sales & Digital Marketing Success.' Here is the problem though, when you get so big, things slip through the cracks. Our research shows that today's Dealerships prefer precision, focused, workshops that they can learn and implement from. Not to be confused when they leave with the massive sensory overload. A Great analogy is Dealerships prefer a 5 Star Restaurant rather than a good buffet. And that is exactly what the 'Internet Sales 20 Group' is…a 5 Star Restaurant." The Automotive Sales Industry is fully supporting the upcoming Internet Sales 20 Group. We have some of the most prestigious sponsors in the industry, including: AutoSuccess Magazine AutoUSA Cars.com Carsdirect.com Car-Mercial Cactus Sky Dealer eTraining Dealer Synergy FranklinCovey Reach Local And there are lot more that are being added everyday. Special Guest Speakers Announced: Bill Finocchario – President of Peruzzi Toyota. Bill's Internet department grew from 37 units per month to 119 units per month and because of his profound success, Bill was a Cover Story for Auto Dealer Monthly Magazine Durran Cage – General Sales Manger of Alan Vines Automotive. Durran went from being a Chrysler OEM rep to an Internet Director selling 27 units online to 95 units online and then promoted to GSM. Durran is the September 2012 Cover story for AutoSuccess Magazine Robert Wiesman – Expert Sales Consultant, delivering 30+ units per month. Robert has more online visibility that the AVERAGE dealership! Robert has been nationally recognized for his profound success. http://www.robertwiesman.com The Internet Sales 20 Group is not until late October, so there will be many additions to the Speaker and Sponsorship list. For now, here is the current list of speakers: Cory Mosley – CEO of Mosley Training Fran Taylor – Fran Taylor Training "Undisputed Champion of Prospecting" Stan Sher – Dealer eTraining Susan Givens – Publisher of AutoSuccess Magazine Peter Martin – Cactus Sky AJ LeBlanc – Car-Mercial Sean V. Bradley – CEO of Dealer Synergy & Founder of http://www.automotiveinternetsales.com Karen M. Bradley – President of Dealer Synergy & Certified FranklinCovey Facilitator For more information on the upcoming Automotive "Internet Sales 20 Group" go to http://www.internetsales20group.com Media Contact is Amanda Melendez – 856-546-2440, Amanda@dealersynergy.com SOURCE Synergized Media PR Newswire (http://s.tt/1jbdO)

Meanwhile, nearly every business is represented on Facebook, including the automotive industry which has also parked their cars on Facebook. But once convinced, many people build loyalty with a car brand, sometimes for a lifetime. Cars are emotion and social media is also emotion-driven. Car manufacturers are only too well aware of the emotional appeal and cleverly pitch their marketing at the niche markets they know will be interested in their products. Social media offers many possibilities for interactive communications with fans, loyalists and potential customers. Cars on Facebook seem to be a perfect fit and we try to investigate this.

Cars On Facebook – The Brands In Our Comparison Group

As usual, we need to limit the amount of pages we take into a comparison. We use the number of Facebook fans to form a comparison group in this case. We know that this way of selecting the pages does not satisfy all needs, but we think it is a good starting point for a discussion.

Name	Logo	Fans
BMW		10,58m
Ferrari		8,88m
Mercedes-Benz		7,80m
Audi USA		5,48m
Porsche		4,31m
Ford Mustang		4,22m
Lamborghini		3,66m
MINI		3,07m
Chevy Camaro		2,93m
Jeep		2,73m

You can see a mix of big brands such as Audi, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, next to dream car manufacturers such as Ferrari and Lamborghini, in addition to target group-specific popular brands such as Jeep and MINI.

Ford and Chevrolet are even represented by the, of course historically and emotionally models Camaro and Mustang.

But of course fan count is just the beginning and not the right metric to make statements about the success. For more insights we need to check the engagement of the fan base.

People Talking About Cars On Facebook

The People Talking About This – Rate displays the absolute number of people talking about this divided by the number of fans. In the following chart we chose a data range from 1/1/12 till today to create a better and more meaningful overview and exclude some kind of dilutions through special weekly campaign peaks.

Apparently Lamborghini was talking point number one for cars on Facebook for the first quarter of this year. The highest peak for the supercar manufacturer was on the 9th of February with a PTAT – Rate of 17.09%. During the year change the iconic American car, the Ford Mustang, was on everyone’s lips. Lately, it seems to be Audi USA, that fans are talking about.

In this post introduction, we wrote about the interactive communication between brands and fans, it’s now time to measure these interactions.

Interaction Rate Of The Top Car Manufacturers

The following chart shows the average number of interactions (likes, comments and shares) per own post normalized per fan for a specific time interval. Since a daily summary of the intercation rate is somewhat cluttered, we measured the rate in a monthly interval since the beginning of the year 2012. But for the daily time interval, we can at least constitute the highest interaction – rate peak for Audi USA on the 30th of June. So, in order to protect your eyes, here is the monthly evaluation:

Not surprising, we can see in this chart similar results as in the PTAT-Rate chart before. Lamborghini, Ford Mustang and Audi USA are again on the podium. So these three brands have a relative high amount of active fans, one of the most important factors for effective Facebook marketing.

But what type of content is catching the fans interest?

The Interaction Rate By Post Type

Cars on Facebook – an image driven business. Like already mentioned, photos and videos are attracting the most likes, shares and comments. Once again Lamborghini plays the dream car card and leads in case of most photo interactions. Ford Mustang beats Mercedes-Benz for video content. A rarity is certainly the music content of Mercedes-Benz and Ferrari.

Naturally you need to check the interaction rate by post type chart in connection with the post type distribution of the car brands on Facebook.

Post Type Distribution Of The Car Brands

In this chart you can clearly see the content type preferences of the brands. While photos are the leading source for Audi USA – Porsche and Mercedes-Benz have the highest amount of video content, Ferrari prefers the posting of links and Chevy Camaro likes to use status updates to talk with the fans.

Please note: You can click on every chart and then hover over the data to check any of the numbers.

Facebook Key Metrics For The Automotive Industry

Now to the hard facts for cars on Facebook – the key metrics from 1/1/2012 up to today:

In this table you can easily see the leader in every relevant Facebook metric. Therefore BMW gains the largest fan growth and also the highest number of absolute people talking about since the beginning of this year. Ferrari published so far 594 own posts, a really impressive number and therefore got the most likes and comments. But the most shares were grabbed by Mercedes-Benz. The maximum number of user posts was generated on the Facebook page of Jeep. At least, the highest average interaction rate was created by Lamborghini. And this brand with the famous raging bull logo, which belongs to Audi since 1998, also seems to pull the the emotions of the most Facebook users.

Hopefully, our analysis gave you a deeper look into the world of cars on Facebook and what marketing strategies the automotive industry uses to attract the attention of potential customers.

Are you missing a relevant metric or do you have a question? Just drop us a line in the comments.

Source - http://blog.allfacebookstats.com/2012/07/cars-on-facebook-an-analysis/

BIG Idea of the Week: You can't quit on your dreams now... Why? Because you're close.

You're REAL close. One small shift - one small change - one small letting-go-of-what's-not-working. We're always so quick to ADD - add a new product, add a new service, add some more marketing, add a new sales rep, add more and more and more. Sometimes the secret to success is to let go. My pal Kathy Dempsey likes to say "Shed or You're Dead." What do you need to shed in order to grow the business of your dreams? Think about it.

- David Newman

http://www.dealersynergy.com 

http://www.dealersynergy.com

SEO For Startups In Under 10 Minutes - Search Engine Optimization - Google

http://www.dealersynergy.com 

Sean V. Bradley & Robert Wiesman Training on Automotive (Internet) Sales At Dealer Synergy

http://www.dealersynergy.com 

Master Sales Consultant Robert Wiesman Shares Some of His Tradecraft Secrets (Has MORE Online Visibility Than Most Dealerships)

Americans viewed more than 11 billion video ads in June, representing a 9.2% increase from May’s previous high of roughly 10.1 billion views, per July 2012 comScore VideoMetrix data. To put the rise of video ad impressions this year in perspective, June’s 11 billion views is almost double the 5.6 billion views from January of this year, though January had seen a rather substantial drop from the previous month’s 7.1 billion.In June, video ads accounted for 25% of all videos viewed, up almost 16% from 21.6% in May. Ads accounted for 2% of time spent viewing video online, compared to 1.9% in May.

Meanwhile, in June, each of the top 5 video ad properties delivered more than 1 billion video ads, led by Google Sites (1.41 billion), closely followed by BrightRoll Video Network (1.39 billion), and Hulu (1.33 billion). Rounding out the top 5 were Adap.tv (1.15 billion) and TubeMogul Video Ad Platform (1.04 billion).

Time spent watching video ads totaled 4.6 billion minutes during the month, up from 4.5 billion in May. BrightRoll Video Network delivered the highest duration of video ads at 805 million minutes.

Video ads reached 53% of the total US population an average of 68 times during the month, up from 64 in May. Hulu delivered the highest frequency of video ads to its viewers with an average of 52, while ESPN delivered an average of 34 ads per viewer.

Facebook Grows Video Audience; Vimeo Cracks Top 10

Among the top 10 US online video properties in June, Facebook reported strong month-over-month unique viewer performance gains, rising almost 11% to 49 million, and in the process leapfrogging Microsoft and Viacom into the 3rd spot. Yahoo maintained its second ranking, with close to 51.5 million viewers, but dropped 11% of its viewers. Whereas in May, Yahoo’s audience was roughly 13.5 million larger than Facebook’s, by June, that gap had been whittled down to just 2.5 million.

Google remained the top online video property once again, with about 154.5 million viewers, up close to 2% from 151.7 million the prior month. VEVO dropped a slot to the 4th ranking in June (46.2 million), while Viacom Digital moved up from the 7th spot to enter the top 5 with 38.9 million viewers. Vimeo entered the top 10 for the first time, in the 10th spot, with 21.4 million viewers, while News Distribution Network and Hulu dropped out of the top 10 rankings.

Google again demonstrated the highest viewer engagement, with an average of roughly 7.7 hours per viewer.

Top 5 YouTube Partner Rankings Intact

The June 2012 YouTube partner data shows that video music channels VEVO (roughly 45.1 million viewers) and Warner Music (26.1 million viewers) maintained the top two positions. Gaming channel Machinima ranked third with 23.6 million viewers, relatively unchanged from May. Maker Studios (21.2 million) and FullScreen (16.2 million) both maintained their rankings from the previous month.

Among the top 10 partners, Machinima displayed the highest engagement again, at 76 minutes per viewer, ahead of VEVO, at 50 minutes per viewer. VEVO streamed the most videos (567 million), followed by Machinima (447 million).

Other Findings:

• 84.8% of the US internet audience viewed online video in June, up slightly from 84.5% in May.
• The duration of the average online content video was 6.8 minutes, up from 6.5 minutes in May, while the average online video ad was 0.4 minutes, unchanged from the previous month.
• More than 180 million US internet users watched online video content in June for an average of 20.64 hours per viewer.
• The total US internet audience engaged in 33 billion video views, down from 36.6 million in May.

Source - http://www.marketingcharts.com/direct/online-video-ad-views-continue-to-reach-new-heights-22712/

Social Media Guidelines

Social Media Guidelines A Blueprint for Policies in Dealerships At this point, a large number of dealerships have jumped into using social media for one purpose or another—marketing and branding, reputation management, customer relationship management, even lead generation. Even if your dealership has not jumped on the social media bandwagon, however, you can be assured that at least some (if not the majority) of your employees are either occasional or avid users. Some of your salespeople may already be using Facebook or Twitter to communicate with current customers or prospects via their own personal accounts. That being the case, it may soon, if it has not already, become necessary for you to address the proper use of social media by both the dealership and individual employees, and determine what your policies should be. Dealers who embrace using social media in the dealership seem to be of differing opinions on whether or not formal guidelines are needed for employees. Some dealers believe that it is necessary to provide rules and structure only when employees are representing the dealership on social media in an official capacity—posting on the dealership’s Facebook page, contributing to the dealership’s blog or otherwise assisting in the dealership’s reputation management. Other dealers believe that guidelines are needed to address employees’ individual conduct during personal social media use, especially if it relates to their work in any way. Still others are of the opinion that trusting employees to responsibly represent the dealership on social media, whether in a personal or professional capacity, is no different than trusting them to represent the dealership over the phone or out in public; they believe that if they hire the right people it shouldn’t be a cause for concern. Chris Boudreaux, senior vice president of services at social media agency Converseon and creator of the website SocialMediaGovernance.com, in his December 16, 2009, report entitled, “Analysis of Social Media Policies: Lessons and Best Practices,” suggested that a company create at least two policies: “One policy that sets the expectations and boundaries for all employees, including any relevant limitations or suggestions for the personal use of social media,” and “Operational guidelines for employees working on social media as part of their job.” Employees’ Individual Use of Social Media While you can’t exactly dictate how your employees use their personal social media accounts, you can provide some guidance as to appropriate conduct when their use of social media intersects with their professional life, and having these guidelines written down as part of company policy might just protect the dealership from the FTC if an employee behaves improperly online. Jim Radogna of Dealer Compliance Consultants noted in a July 27, 2011, blog post on AutoDealerPeople.com, “According to FTC guidelines, ‘The Commission agrees that the establishment of appropriate procedures would warrant consideration in its decision as to whether law enforcement action would be appropriate use of agency resources. The Commission is not aware of any instance in which an enforcement action was brought against a company for the actions of a single ‘rogue’ employee who violated established company policy that adequately covered the conduct in question.’” Thankfully, establishing social media guidelines pertaining to employees’ individual use of social media needn’t involve pages upon pages of rules. There are some guidelines for employee social media use that seem to be universal among businesses in many different industries: • Any use of social media for work purposes should be confined to your work day. Any social media activities pertaining to work that are conducted outside normal work hours will be considered optional and voluntary on your part. • Be transparent. If a conversation pertains to the business or the automotive industry, identify yourself as an employee of the dealership. If you have a vested interest in what is being discussed, be the first to point it out. • When posting comments on matters related to the business and the automotive industry, identify your views as your own personal opinions and not reflective of the views of the dealership’s owners or management. • Be honest. Don’t post anything that is untrue or misleading, and don’t encourage others to post anything untrue or misleading about the dealership, such as a fake “customer” review. • If you encounter something that requires an official response from the dealership, such as negative comments about the kind of service a customer received or a false statement about an individual at the dealership or about the dealership itself, relay the information to the appropriate person in management so that the matter may be dealt with through the proper channels. Do not attempt to respond on behalf of the dealership. • Be courteous and have respect for others. This means respect for individuals, respect for the dealership and respect for competitors. Don’t make derogatory comments about the competition, whether it’s a competing dealership or another vehicle manufacturer. Respectfully acknowledge differences of opinion and don’t pick fights. Don’t use language that may be deemed offensive, inappropriate, demeaning, threatening or abusive. If you speak about others, do not disparage them or state anything that is not factual. • Protect confidential and proprietary information, and respect others’ privacy. Customer information must be protected in accordance with the dealership’s information safeguards and privacy policy. Do not identify a customer without their express permission; this includes posting photographs of their new vehicle or commenting/congratulating them on their purchase. Do not reveal proprietary information regarding dealership operations. • Respect copyright and fair use laws. Don’t claim authorship of someone else’s work; always attribute quoted information to its original author or source. Do not post copyrighted information without written reprint authorization. As a general rule, it is better to simply link to information you wish to share rather than repost it. • Remember that the Internet is everywhere, and it is permanent. Anything you post can be read not only by friends and family but possibly by other dealership personnel and competing dealerships. Also, search engines and other technologies make it virtually impossible to take something back once it’s “out there.” Think before you post. • Engage in meaningful dialogue. Try to add value to a discussion and provide worthwhile information and perspective. For example, don’t merely jump into a discussion about a 2012 Chevrolet Camaro to tell someone you can get them a great deal on one. No one appreciates random solicitations. Think more along the lines of commenting that you drove one when it first arrived at the dealership and were really impressed with the V6 engine on the 2LS trim. • Own up to your mistakes and correct them. If you have misstated something or been in the wrong, admit your mistake up-front and move quickly to correct it. Use of Social Media in the Dealership Social media sites can be great assets for a dealership when it comes to advertising and/or marketing as well as reputation management, if they are used correctly. When used incorrectly or carelessly, social media can bring headaches and even legal trouble. Here are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to your dealership’s use of social media: • Although social media sites are regarded as comparatively casual communication channels in contrast to traditional media, any advertising activities conducted on social media are subject to the same rules. Any advertising you do or anything you post that could be construed as advertising, including the posting of inventory, must meet state and federal truth-in-advertising standards. Also be aware that the Federal CAN-SPAM Act can apply to messages sent by commercial social networking sites. • Don’t tweet about or post every bit of inventory you have on Facebook. Most dealers have already figured out that this can be a real turnoff for social media followers; it clogs up other users’ news feeds and is considered annoying. That isn’t to say you can never post about your inventory. If you take in a particularly interesting or unique vehicle on trade or get a handful of a certain in-demand new model from the manufacturer, by all means, use it to generate interest. However, if you post listing after listing, eventually others will simply tune it out as virtual white noise or drop you altogether. Also, keep in mind that the posting of inventory could be considered an advertisement and as such is subject to state and federal regulations. • Have a set procedure in place for dealing with any negative comments about the dealership encountered online. Designate someone in dealership management to deal with and respond to negative comments, and make certain employees understand that they are to notify that individual about such encounters rather than attempt to respond on their own. This way, you can ensure that everything is dealt with in the same manner and consistent with the best interests of the dealership. • Don’t post fake reviews. By that same token, don’t alter or omit content or otherwise manipulate the content of a review. The Federal Trade Commission’s Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising state, “Endorsements must reflect the honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experience of the Endorser … [T]he endorsement may not be presented out of context or reworded so as to distort in any way the endorser’s opinion or experience with the product.” The FTC can impose stiff penalties for violating its rules by planting or allowing someone else to plant fake reviews. • Keep in mind that while you can offer a customer an incentive such as a free oil change to write a review about the dealership, according to FTC regulations the customer writing the review must disclose the source and nature of any compensation they receive. • Obtain permission from a customer before posting any photos or messages pertaining to that customer’s vehicle purchase online. They may not want everyone in the virtual world to know they just made a major purchase. Respect their privacy. • If you opt to hire a third-party company to help manage your online reputation or social media presence, be certain that company is aware of and adheres to state and federal advertising regulations as well as your dealership’s own social media policies. • If a customer expresses dissatisfaction online with how something was handled by the dealership or believes a mistake was made, don’t get defensive and don’t argue with them publicly. Acknowledge the customer’s feelings and request that the customer contact the dealership so that you can make a good faith effort to resolve the problem to their satisfaction. HR Use of Social Media The use of social media by a company’s human resource department, either to monitor current employees or screen job applicants, has been hotly debated recently as more and more reports emerge of employers seeking to gain access to current or prospective employees’ social media accounts. In some cases, employers have gone so far as to demand social media login and password information from individuals who have set their profiles to use the highest privacy settings. Facebook specifically addressed this trend in a March 23, 2012, post by Erin Egan, Chief Privacy Officer, Policy, Facebook: “In recent months, we’ve seen a distressing increase in reports of employers or others seeking to gain inappropriate access to people’s Facebook profiles or private information. This practice undermines the privacy expectations and the security of both the user and the user’s friends. It also potentially exposes the employer who seeks this access to unanticipated legal liability. The most alarming of these practices is the reported incidences of employers asking prospective or actual employees to reveal their passwords.” The post went on to note that Facebook has “made it a violation of Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities to share or solicit a Facebook password.” A March 20, 2012, article by Manuel Valdes and Shannon McFarland of the Associated Press noted that some employers, rather than asking for employees’ logins and passwords, are asking applicants to “friend” the company’s HR manager or to log into their social media accounts during interviews. The article also noted, “Questions have been raised about the legality of the practice, which is also the focus of proposed legislation in Illinois and Maryland that would forbid public agencies from asking for access to social networks.” A March 25, 2012, Associated Press article noted that Senators Charles E. Schumer of New York and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut were calling on the Justice Department and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to begin investigations into whether employers asking for Facebook passwords during job interviews are violating federal law. In a press release also dated March 25, 2012, and posted on Senator Blumenthal’s website (blumenthal.senate.gov), the senator stated, “I am alarmed and outraged by rapidly and widely spreading employer practices seeking access to Facebook passwords or confidential information on other social networks .… A ban on these practices is necessary to stop unreasonable and unacceptable invasions of privacy.” Dealer Compliance Consultants, in its “Social Media Policy Guidebook for Auto Dealerships,” said that “friending” an applicant should be avoided and could potentially open an employer up to invasion of privacy claims by potential employees. Even if an individual has not restricted access to their social media profile information and it is easily discovered during an Internet search, this can still be potentially problematic for an employer. That same publication notes, “When a job candidate is the subject of a social media search there’s a possibility that the search will reveal information that would be off limits in an interview, such as age or marital status. Hiring managers should be very careful in using private information people are posting publicly to make hiring decisions.” This practice could open a dealership to allegations of discrimination. The publication also points out that even if the hiring manager did not rely on anything unlawful, the information on social media sites might not be reliable. For these reasons and more, according to Dealer Compliance Consultants, “Given the real possibility for inappropriate and illegal uses in the hiring context, organizations need to carefully consider how, if at all, they utilize the sites when screening candidates.” To insulate the dealership from this type of risk, an outside agency could be used to screen potential employees. However, dealers need to make certain any such third-party company follows the correct procedures and that the dealership’s job applications contain the necessary notifications. According to Dealer Compliance Consultants, “If an employers uses a third party to conduct searches on job candidates, the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act and applicable state law on background checks likely will apply.”

Source - http://www.autodealermonthly.com/72/4565/ARTICLE/Social-Media-Guidelines-for-Dealerships.aspx

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jul 23, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Edmunds.com has officially surpassed 100,000 Facebook likes, and is now the most popular automotive information website on both Facebook and Twitter. As of this morning, Edmunds.com's 101,700 Facebook likes and 34,400 Twitter followers topped all other independent automotive shopping or research sites.

"Consumer engagement is a top priority for Edmunds.com and sites like Facebook and Twitter have been our front lines to interact with online car shoppers," says Michelle Denogean, Vice President of Marketing at Edmunds.com. "Our social media team has worked tirelessly to create fun and memorable experiences that resonate with everyone from first-time car buyers to seasoned auto enthusiasts."

Edmunds.com crossed the Facebook milestone just days after launching its first ever cross-platform ad campaign. The debut TV ad "Ask the Car People" premiered July 9th on airwaves in four local markets, and has been featured on each of Edmunds.com's social media channels. Online users can watch the ad any time at http://www.edmunds.com/about/ask-the-car-people-commercial.html .

To celebrate its 100,000 likes, Edmunds.com has posted a gallery of $100,000+ dream cars selected by members of Edmunds.com's editorial staff. Fans are invited to share their opinions on these fantasy cars on Edmunds.com's $100K+ Cars for 100K+ Likes post on Facebook.

Edmunds.com's social media presence extends well beyond Twitter and Facebook. Edmunds.com on YouTube offers reviews and instructional videos, while Edmunds' InsideLine.com on YouTube showcases video of some of the rarest, fastest and most expensive cars in the world. Pinterest users can pin Edmunds.com at http://pinterest.com/edmundsinc/ and Google+ users can track Edmunds.com content at https://plus.google.com/106326607174519341980/posts .

About Edmunds.com, Inc.

Edmunds.com, the premier online resource for automotive information, launched in 1995 as the first automotive information Web site. Its acclaimed mobile site, Edmunds.com Android App and five-star Edmunds iPhone and iPad apps make car pricing and other research tools available for car shoppers at dealerships and on the go. Its automotive enthusiast web site, InsideLine.com, is the most-read car publication of its kind. Its highly regarded mobile site and iPhone app features the wireless Web's most comprehensive gallery of automotive photos and videos. Edmunds.com Inc. is headquartered in Santa Monica, California, and maintains a satellite office in suburban Detroit. Follow Edmunds.com on Twitter@edmunds and like Edmunds.com on Facebook.

SOURCE: Edmunds.com

htp://www.dealersynergy.com 

http://www.dealersynergy.com 

Sean V. Bradley LIVE on an Automotive Internet Sales "Phone Up" & He CLOSES the Appointment

http://www.franklincoveydealersynergy.com

Sean V. Bradley Remembers Dr. Stepehen Covey, Author of the "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" - R.I.P.

http://www.dealersynergy.com 

http://www.internetsales20group.com 

Automotive Internet Sales 20 Group & Composite - Chicago, October 23-25 2012 At The Hilton

http://www.applehonda.net

Congratulations to Eric Nichols, Internet Sales Manager in Riverhead Long Island! 

Eric is Delivering 52+ units per month in a 2.5 person department- 

AIS - How Long have you been in the Automotive Sales Industry? 

EN - 5 and 1/2 years. I was in the United States Navy before that for 4+ years.

AIS - How did you go from Navy to a Car Dealership? 

EN - I worked some dead end jobs until my brother, Brian gave me a job in a BDC.

AIS -What type of training did you go through? 

EN - Nothing except what was regurgitated down from the managers at the dealership, who were making it up as they went or heard something from somebody or the OEM. Until we hired http://www.DealereTraining.com / Stan Sher. 

AIS - How did you meet up with Stan Sher and his company?

EN - Ironically, the GM brought him in after seeing that Stan Sher was a trainer for the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association.  At first, Stan "Mystery Shopped" my dealership. Needless to say, I wasn' t that thrilled at first LOL!  However I have become close with him and have learned a lot.  Basically all of the ideas I had that were swirling in my head, Stan helped me articulate them and implement them. 

AIS - So, I am going to transition the conversation for a little bit...

Tell me about your department in detail... 

EN -

* Website Provider - http://www.dealer.com

AIS - Do you like them?

EN - Yes, no issue to date.

* CRM - http://www.dealersocket.com

AIS - Do you like them?

EN - I actually LOVE them!! It is my biggest tool! It is my command center. It is my complete accountability for my GM.  After, Stan Sher helped setup processes in the CRM and create a guideline for how to measure the results in the BDC the tool has become my best friend.

AIS - Since you got excited when I mentioned the CRM, lets go a little deeper... 

How do you use your CRM? 

EN - We have an automated Email Action Plan, Data Mining, Lease Retention, Unsold Showroom Follow Up, Internet Leads, Incoming Phone Ups... Everything. 

AIS - Any Social Media Integration with your CRM? 

EN - Not at this time.  Although we learned from Dealer eTraining the importance of incorporating social media into follow up especially with leads that have no phone number or leads that are unresponsive.

AIS - What is your internet lead process?

EN - First, there is ONLY 1 "automated" email template... The 1st one. Then we send manual emails for the next 14 days... THEN it goes into the "automated category" until day 44. Then it goes into a MONTHLY Email Protocol.  We incorporate value builders and stress the importance of our positive online reputation in our process.

AIS - How long do you follow up with a prospect? 

EN - 180 days... 90 days is NOT Enough Anymore.  In fact, some OEMs require longer processes.  We noticed that our customers have extended their buying cycle to as long as 180 days.

AIS - How do you handle the Phone Call Follow Up Process? 

EN - It is different... 

As soon as we get the lead, we IMMEDIATELY make the phone call. If we do not connect, Then we call them AGAIN, later on that day.  

So, another way of explaining it is for the first 10 days we call TWICE a day... Morning and night, for a total of 20 calls in ten days. 

Then we go from 10 days to 12 days to 14 days...

Then we call 21 -26 - 31 THEN we start calling monthly.

AIS - Who is your inventory solution?

EN - We have our own photo studio then we upload to http://www.VAuto.com 

AIS - Who is your call monitoring solution? 

EN - Call Measurement powered by DealerSocket

AIS - What is your Online Reputation Management Strategy?

EN - We were using Dealer.com but just cancelled to go to www.flipstreammedia.com - THEY ARE AWESOME!  We are of the highest rated Honda dealerships in New York on DealerRater, Google Places, and other sites.  It is a requirement of all of our staff members to attain at least one review per week.

AIS - What are you doing for Social Media? 

EN - 

* FaceBook 

* Twitter 

* YouTube 

* Posterus 

* Tumblr

* Blogspot 

* Carmind - http://www.carmind.com 

AIS - What is your video and or VSEO strategy? 

EN - We are using Flip Stream for it all.  We learned basic in-house strategies for VSEO from Stan and use these practices at times.

AIS - What other additional resources, tools, websites, blogs etc... do you use as part of your "success strategy".

EN -

• Stan Sher / Dealer eTraining Blogs and Videos
• Sean V. Bradley / Dealer Synergy Videos
• www.automotiveinternetsales.com 
• All Google tools... ESPECIALLY Google Analytics
• DealerRefresh 
• Driving Sales - I actually wrote an article on Driving Sales

(I will POST it HERE) 

“Use the Source” By Eric Nichols

For the first time in automotive history dealers can now get an accurate idea of where their marketing dollars are going and how well they are performing. Yes I am taking about the all mighty source. No not the force, “THE SOURCE”. It may not be able to help you move items around or read people’s minds, but it does something even better…. MAKES YOU MORE MONEY…

In my years as a BDC rep and a BDC director, I have learned that the source can be mastered and understood now more than ever before. How is that you ask, quite simple with the following simple steps I have come up with you will be able to not only save on your marketing dollars but will you can profit off of it.

Step 1- Understanding Sourcing…. The traditional advertising types radio, TV. Newspapers never gave you an accurate idea of if your marketing efforts where effective. When sourcing you need to use the parent, child approach.If your paying for all these campaigns you need to know what is working

PARENT= SOURCE   meaning the broad spectrum source.

EXAMPLES OF SOURCE CODES

Fresh-up- A fresh up is any customer that comes to the dealership for no other reason but driving by or just walking into the dealership.

“NO ADVERTISING YOU ARE DOING BROUGHT THEM IN”

PHONE UP- Any customer who calls into your dealership that cannot be sourced to any specific advertising or 1-800- tracking #. Meaning if a customer calls your dealership using one of your individual 1-800 #’s and it shows up under that marketing effort, such as website, auto trader, cars, autousa, vehix, dealix etc……..THEY ARE NOT A TRUE PHONE UP THEY ARE WHATEVER MARKETING EFFORT THEY ARE TIED TO. INTERNET, TV, RADIO, ETC… EVERY MARKETING EFFORT SHOULD HAVE INDIVIDUAL AND SEPARATE TRACKING #’s FOR EACH AD.

Internet- any prospect that comes from any form of digital advertising online. It’s pretty simple as stated before if they send a lead/email into you it is pre-sourced in your CRM and labeled where it came from. Same with the internet phone calls your call tracking will say what website it came from. “INTERNET IS NOW ALWAYS GOING TO BE THE MAJORITY OF YOUR CUSTOMERS YOU TALK TO. LIKE IT OR NOT ITS FACT.”

INTERNET/FRESH-UP-  Last but not least my own creation. So before I explain to you what an Internet/Fresh Up is. Let me ask you a question.

A customer walks into your dealership and you ask how did you hear about us? They are going to say the either one of the above sources. It is your job to dig to see where they came from. ASK ASK ASK.

Statistics say out of 100% of all traffic

8% emailed before coming in

12% called before coming in

80% came in without emailing or calling.

Now that 80% is a curious thing do you think that 80% just came in for the heck of it, No something brought them in. Now are you ready for the Shocker out of that 80% of unknown origin. 75% of that # saw you on the internet, Car buyers will hit your website or your car listing about 7 times before they come in and the time searching is 15hrs or more online shopping. All you need to do is ASK... Don’t take the easy way out it’s your money either you ask or make sure your people ask.

- YOU COULD POTENTIALLY BE EITHER..

• WASTING MONEY ON BAD ADS
• CANCELING MARKETING EFFORTS THAT ARE MAKING YOU MONEY. Example... My dealer principal wanted me to cancel a major listing company because we were not tracking well with leads. I put the foot to my people to ASK ASK ASK….. And low and behold it was one of the top reasons for my walk-in traffic sales.

So the point is that just because they are a walk-in doesn’t mean that you can’t source them correctly. Yes they did not email or call but a certain marketing approach brought them down find out what it is. If it’s the internet you need to know that. Hence INTERNET/FRESH-UP. It’s neither a true internet nor is it a true fresh-up.

CHILD = TRACKING CODE

Don’t worry no long drawn out explanation on this one. Tracking code is the exact marketing listing, basically whatever company you are using that is promoting your listing. Simple as that.

So now that I have explained the different sourcing structures, how do you us put a plan into effect to get these sources? The only efficient way to do this is the following way and it may sound like a pain in the rear but it’s the only effective method.

HAVE A GREETER AT THE FRONT DOOR TAKE ALL INCOMING UP SHEETS AND LOG THEM INTO YOUR CRM… MAKE THEM RESPONSIBLE FOR IT. WE ALL KNOW THAT SALES REPS DON’T CARE AS LONG AS THEY MAKE A SALE THEY DON’T CARE WHERE THEY COME FROM AS LONG AS THEY COME IN. IT IS ON MANAGEMENT TO ENFORCE THIS. Having the greeter enter all info into the CRM will also ensure an accurate count of how many showroom visits you truly have. I have worked with managers who don’t collect log sheets, they throw them out to increase their closing ratio, they lose them the list goes on and on. As a GM, GSM, Dealer principal, BDC Manager it is on you to make sure that this is followed to a tee. The reason being is not only proper sourcing but proper follow-up is completed. And as you know that means more money in all of your pockets. Times are hard in our business now make the most out of everything you get in the door.

TO BE CONTINUED..... EPISODE 2: THE RETURN OF THE DUPLICATE 

SOURCE - http://www.drivingsales.com/blogs/usethesource/2012/06/10/use-the-source 

AIS - GREAT STUFF! 

AIS - What types of advice do you have for other ISMs or Internet Departments reading this article?

EN - EASY... Analytics.  Analytics.  Analytics...

VERIFY everything. Be sure. NEVER Guess.  I learned that by mastering your CRM reporting, Google Analytics, and other reports that you will always be able to monitor the success and/or shortcomings for the BDC department as well as the dealership.

http://www.dealersyenrgy.com 

Everyone Knows that Dealer Synergy's Chief Trainer is LA Williams and LA, is blind. S, when I saw this article my first thought was how this could benefit him AND our Dealer Community. You see, what has been amazing is that LA does such a tremendous job that a lot of our dealership network have actually went out and recruited BLIND employees! Yes, thats right we have dealerships that have Blind or Visually Impaired Automotive Internet Sales, BDC, Call Center staff members.  

Here is the article I saw and wanted to share with you all - 

Android App Makes Smartphones Accessible for the Blind 

When someone buys their first smartphone, the first question is usually, what apps should I get? Apps are part of what make our phones so valuable to us, from getting directions to finding a place nearby to eat, to keeping track of various items when we travel.

And now, thanks to a man who is visually-impaired himself, there’s an Android app that will turn a regular smartphone into a powerful tool for the blind.

Roger Wilson-Hinds, director and co-founder of Screenreader, built the app, called Georgie, specifically to help blind users navigate day-to-day obstacles like catching a bus, reading printed text and knowing exactly where they are at all times.

“It’s the first smartphone that’s been designed for blind people by blind people,” he said. And he should know, he just recently sent his very first text message.

Users can buy an Android smartphone pre-loaded with the Georgie software from Sight and Sound Technology, which provides hardware and software solutions for the blind. If they already own an Android phone, they can buy the app from the Google Play store and install it themselves.

Georgie uses fingers and gestures to let users navigate the software, just like you do normally. However, with Georgie, you hold your finger down, wait for a beep and hear the function you’re touching read out loud, whether it’s to make a call, send a text, or determine your location. Georgie makes extensive use of voice control software.

“Georgie is a suite of applications designed to cater for every single part of a visually-impaired person’s life,” says Glenn Tookey, CEO of Sight and Sound Technology, which distributes the software.

Users can purchase and download additional apps that provide more functions. The lifestyle app pack, for instance, offers newspapers that read aloud, and an online blog that lets you post using voice control. The Travel app has a feature that flags nearby points of interest as well as a sort of bus monitor that will verbally let you know when the next bus is due.

Wilson-Hinds, who named the software after his blind wife’s first seeing-eye dog, says Georgie will “totally change the lives of blind and partially-sighted people all over the world.”

The world, soon, as Georgie is branching out beyond the UK. US Android users can find the link in the Google Play store here. Sight and Sound Technology is currently working with distributors to offer Georgie pre-installed on handsets in the US.

Here’s a video so you can see for yourself how Georgie works:

What are other ways technology is allowing people with disabilities to gain more independence? Is Georgie something you would buy for someone you know?

Source - http://mashable.com/2012/07/17/android-app-for-blind-smartphone-users/