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"The Phone is the MOST Misused Resource at a Car Dealership" Article first published in Digital Dealer Magazine, Sean V. Bradley - CEO of Dealer Synergy

Posted by Sean V. Bradley on November 7, 2010 at 12:45pm
http://www.dealersynergy.com http://www.internetsales20group.com First Published in Digital Dealer Magazine March 2007 Hello, Can you Hear Me Now? The phone is one of the most misused opportunities in a dealership.” I was actually told that about a decade ago when I went through my first phone sales training class. The truth is that it still applies today. Sometimes it takes forever for someone to even answer the phone and from there it gets bounced from the receptionist to the salesperson and finally to a manager. In most cases like that, the prospect abandons the call out of exasperation. To make matters even worst, when a salesperson or Internet/BDC rep gets a potential customer on the phone, he never even gives his name, asks the prospect for his name or builds value in himself and the dealership. Let me give you a great example. I was recently working with a franchised dealer in Kentucky for a week of training on business development and reviewing the dealership’s phone process through role playing. I was stunned when we engaged our role-play because the manager of the department was ignoring my questions, being vague and personifying the stigma of an old school car salesperson. I corrected her and started to teach her the proper methods and she further surprised me by explaining that she felt that what she was doing was wrong, but was trained to do so. She went on to tell me that the previous training company had told them to follow the scripts and ignore the prospects. She also said that the trainer actually sat in class and said no matter what the customer asks, ignore him and keep going on with your script. Knowing that trainers are teaching this is very disturbing to me. I want to clear up some things and give you all some very powerful information about phone sales and statistics based on our research and experiences in the field: • More than 80 percent of the time Internet or sales consultants don’t ask for the name and number of the caller • Seventy-eight percent of the time they do not attempt to make an appointment with the prospect • More than 70 percent of the time the sales consultant didn’t qualify the prospect properly. Some might have asked questions about the vehicle, but very rarely asked the prospect about wants, wishes and expectations other than the vehicle • More than 85 percent of the time the Internet or sales consultants did not properly identify themselves or ask the customers to write down whom they should ask for when they get into the dealership • More than 70 percent of phone ups are not logged into an ILM or CRM properly or even logged in at all, which means they are never followed up on The bottom line is there are steps to a sale – any sale. You need an opportunity to do business. You need to get someone to like you, trust you and believe you. If that occurs, they will buy from you (or at the very least come in for an appointment). If you want to be successful at selling cars you need to master your phone skills. And if you want to maximize your Internet department, special finance department or business development center, then you absolutely need to not only get control over your phones, you need to master them. You need to remember several things: • There is a science of communication…55 percent of communication is visual perception and body language. Thirty-eight percent of communication is auditory stimulation and inflection of tone. Finally, only 7 percent of communication is conveyed through text…the words we use. • That means you need to have a solid plan of how you are going to engage your prospect. You need to have an escalation protocol; meaning if there is only 45 percent (meaning 38 percent inflection of tone and 7 percent in words that we use) of communication on the phone, your main focus is to escalate that relationship as fast as possible to the next stage…the appointment. So, you should not be focused on selling the vehicle over the phone. You should focus on selling the appointment. The vehicle “selling” should be done in your environment, when you can conduct a full product presentation and the demo drive. You need to get in front of the prospect to start building rapport. • You should have a solid incoming phone call process. Following is an example. Incoming call script Dealership rep: “Thank you for calling ABC Motors, Sean speaking… are you calling about our sale?” *You want to properly greet the prospect on the phone and set the stage. Remember, you only have one chance to make a first impression. Right from the onset you are setting the tone for the call. By asking the question, “Are you calling about the sale?” you are finding out why the prospect is calling or from where they are calling. Prospect: “No, I am not…is there a sale going on?” Dealership rep: “Absolutely! We have several sales going on. (Make sure you have a list of current sales or promotions handy.) Are you looking for a new vehicle or a pre-owned vehicle?” *This is an opportunity to create some excitement…sales is about transference of energy. If you aren’t excited, why should your prospect be? Prospect: “A used car probably.” Dealership rep: “Great, which one of our sales were you calling in on?” * Now is the time you are going to find out exactly from where they are calling. This is the time where you find out where your ad dollars were successful. Prospect: “I saw your ad in the Auto Shopper magazine on that pre-owned ‘05 Suzuki Grand Vitara.” Dealership rep: “That vehicle is definitely available… your name is…? And how do spell your last name?” * This is very important; you need to ask his name. Some people might go for the phone number too, but a lot of people on the phone are skeptical about giving the phone number out so quickly. I think it’s best not to go for it this early in the game. Getting a name is a great start. Now you can use the prospect’s name in the conversation and make the experience more personal. Prospect: “Dave A-D-A-M-S” Dealership rep: “Dave, just so I know… besides availability, what else is important to you in purchasing your next vehicle?” * This is so important. You are going to qualify your prospect here. Most sales are not made because the salesperson was on the wrong car and the prospect’s “wants, needs or expectations” weren’t met. A salesperson’s ultimate goal should be to exceed a customer’s expectation, but the fact is you can never exceed a customer’s expectations if you first can’t identify their wants wishes and expectations. Let the prospect tell you what it is going to take to earn his business. Let him give you all the details to assist you in closing the sale later. Remember what Dr. Stephen Covey says… “Seek first to understand before being understood.” Prospect: “I was looking for the best price.” * It doesn’t matter what they say, meet their expectations. Make sure they know you are there to help them. Then transition to your value package proposition (meaning sell, sell, sell your dealership). Show them why they should do business with you. Dealership rep: “Dave, how about this… If I wasn’t able to get you the best price… I would never expect you to purchase a vehicle from me, OK?” Prospect: “OK.” Dealership rep: “Dave, with that said… can I tell you what else we do here to go above and beyond for our customers?” * This is again an opportunity for you to create excitement. This is the part where you can exceed their expectations. If they were “expecting” anything else, they would have mentioned it previously. By this time we have properly qualified our prospect, created rapport, and met their expectations. Now we can go for our “value package.” Prospect: “Absolutely!” Dealership rep: “Here at ABC Motors we have created a special value program that includes: • Free delivery to your home or office • Rewards / loyalty program • Tires for life • Free oil changes • Price guarantee / price protection • Loaner cars • Entry into our drawing (for just coming in for an appointment)” * You can use anything here… whatever your dealership does as its “differentiator.” Dealership rep: “How does that sound, Dave?” * This is your trial close. Prospect: “Wow… are you serious?” Dealership rep: “Absolutely. When is the best time today for you to come in – afternoon or evening?” *That is the close. Set the appointment on the quarter hour. Say something like, “Which is better, 3:15 or 4:15pm?” Appointments set on the quarter hour have a better show ratio. Sales representative should close with asking for the prospect’s cell phone number and e-mail address, explaining that if something changes they can get in touch with the prospect and they will send an e-mail confirmation with directions for the appointment. It is important to obtain this for follow-up with the prospect. I hope you all realize how powerful the phones are… master your craft. Sean V. Bradley
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Sean V. Bradley, CEO of Dealer Synergy "Customer Loyalty and Database Mining" (First Published in Digital Dealer Magazine September 2006)

Posted by Sean V. Bradley on November 7, 2010 at 12:39pm
http://www.dealersynergy.com http://www.internetsales20group.com This article was first published in Digital Dealer Magazine September 2006! The thrill of gambling is exhilarating. Am I going to win? Am I going to hit it big? Let me put it all on the line and see what happens. Since living close to Atlantic City, NJ, gambling has always intrigued me, but I must confess I am not a gambler at all. I am a realist; I am a numbers person. I don’t feel comfortable just hoping on the long shot. So, where am I going with this? Well, this is exactly what is going on in our industry today – gambling. Dealers are advertising on a long shot. There is no science, no reason – just hope that our initiative sells some more cars. It’s all in the statistics, but is anybody listening? You head down the road of spending tons of money to bring new customers into your dealership or to your web site, and then you do not do a value proposition for the dealership. From there you sell the vehicle, have no plan to bring that customer into service and you do very little to create a relationship that will lead to valuable service business and the inside track to the customer’s next vehicle purchase. Let’s talk about some numbers. NADA tells us that the average store spends over $500 in advertising for each new vehicle sold. That number is actually incorrect because we know a large percentage of sales are repeats, referrals or came to us because of our location/brand. This means you probably spend closer to $800 to $1,000 for each vehicle you sell from your advertising. You only close at 22 percent on your ups; 40 percent of those never create a cash RO and a full two-thirds of these customers are gone by the time they truly become valuable – which is when the vehicles reach 30,000 miles. Oh yeah – by keeping them loyal you also pick up amazingly profitable service business. The customer that does remain loyal is seven times more likely to repurchase and on average will have a gross of an additional $900. Let me break it down further. Smart Tech Enterprise research states that a prior customer closes at 60 percent versus 22 percent for a fresh up, with a gross profit increase of over $900. But most dealers don’t allocate any budget for owner retention efforts and the dealerships that do only allocate minimally. Let’s say you should at least spend 10 percent of your ad budget on loyalty for your customers. Create a custom value proposition, leverage it during the sales process and apply it to customers to keep them happy in service and then allow your customers to earn toward their next vehicle purchase. Airlines, hotels, rental cars, grocery stores and thousands of retail establishments already know what you refuse to learn. Any one transaction has little value compared to the loyalty of a customer. In working with CRM and database marketing for years, it is also amazing that you ignore your database. You do garage predictors to try and find people who may or may not have the money, inclination to your brand or even be in the market for a vehicle, yet you ignore a gold mine in your own database. Again, it goes back to a dealer’s gambling mentality. You choose to take a shot in the dark versus science and math. NADA again tells us 2 percent of the people in your database purchase a vehicle every month. A typical store has an active database of 6,000 to 10,000 customers. Think about the potential and then get sick over the fact that you have not created loyalty with these people. One hundred twenty to 200 people from these stores purchase every month and you have done little to say, “Buy from me,” unless they get that generic mailer via the garage predictor. Claim your customers as our own. Glue those who have been in within the last six months with a rewards program. Aggressively go after the inactives for service and let everybody know you want to sell them their next vehicle. The good news is you can do all of this for the 10 percent of the ad budget discussed earlier. I am always amazed when I talk to dealers who will not commit 10 percent of their ad budget to what makes the most sense. It goes back to gambling. I am not a gambler, however, if you are, at least be a smart gambler, and play the odds. What makes more sense? Putting all of your money on a 22 percent shot or at least some of your money on a 60 percent shot with the opportunity to make $900 higher gross profit per unit? I was going to end this article at this point, but I was thinking about a conversation I had recently with another industry expert. We were discussing that a lot of articles are written that have good surface content. They explain the issues, but do not go too deeply into the “how” to solve or the “how” to actually take action. In my opinion, that’s for two basic reasons: They don’t want to give away the farm for free. After all, we are all here for business. Or, they don’t want it to look like they are trying to plug their products and/or services. I hope you would feel that I have covered some useful content and information, but now I am going to take it to the next level. I want to give you some strong takeaways – things that you can put into effect immediately at your dealership and see some great results. Let’s start with an example of a customer loyalty program: • Free lifetime state safety inspections • Free loaner vehicle with a 30,000 mile service • Free body shop estimates • Free shuttle service • Free car wash • 10-15 percent discounts on installed accessories • Loyalty pricing • Referral program • 10 percent toward your next vehicle purchase • 5 percent toward major service • 5 percent toward body shop • “Frequent Flyer Miles” program The idea is to reward your customers for their actions. Anything that they do at your dealership gets them rewarded. For example, there are companies out there that have loyalty cards with smart chips in them that allow the customers to earn “points,” like airlines have frequent flyer miles. So, anytime the customer goes into your dealership to buy parts, have service work done or to purchase a vehicle, they will earn points on their card for future activities. The more they do in your dealership the more they earn for future visits. Okay, now you have an idea of what a rewards program looks like. How do you utilize this information at your dealership(s) immediately? One idea is your web site. Remember, over 85 percent of people who buy cars go online first to do research before they ever step foot into your dealership. There should be a section on your web site that is clearly defined “Customer Rewards” or a button that says something to the effect of “Click here for Customer Rewards.” The idea, again, is to call attention to this section. Remember most dealers do not have this on their site. This is an opportunity to differentiate your value package proposition for your dealership from any other dealership around you. Remember, the average prospect researches three to five web sites before choosing yours. If your competition is giving cars away at invoice or there are other price factors, why should they pick you? If you are a little farther away than your competition, why take that extra drive to your dealership? Because you have something they don’t… a customer rewards program! One last idea – what about your lost opportunities? I mean all of those leads you don’t close? Let’s say you buy or generate 400 leads in a month. You sell 40 units; that’s 360 leads left over. Some are bogus; some don’t respond; some bought elsewhere or just changed their mind. You can contact all of your dead leads, let’s say your “bought elsewheres” for example, and let them know you wish them the best with their new vehicle and even though you didn’t earn their business they can call you whenever they’d like to ask you any question they might think of… and oh, by the way… as a token of appreciation for them letting you have the “opportunity” to earn their business you want to give them a gift… an “owner’s reward” card. Explain all that the card does and contains. You will be surprised how many people will use this card. The benefit here is that you are going to turn a lost opportunity, somebody who bought elsewhere, into a service customer, and remember, a service customer is seven times as likely to purchase a vehicle from where they have their service done. Keeping all this in mind, my aim is to help you sell more cars more profitably and more often! Sean V. Bradley
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Dealer Refresh EXPOSES Mike Roscoe and Digital Dealer...

Posted by Sean V. Bradley on October 26, 2010 at 8:00pm

(Jeff Kershner)

First off, we have to ask the question how so many Digital Dealer attendees got spam email from DealerElite.net asking people to sign-up? There were some pretty hefty names thrown around in that email too.


Pictured: Dean Wormer, Jared Hamilton, Joe Webb, Alex Snyder (standing in for Jeff), Gary May, Brian Pasch


Unfortunately one man gets to own this entire section. It is really sad we heard so much around this individual because his conference was actually the best one he’s done yet. And again, neither Alex or Jeff were present for any of this – these are just things we heard.

So let’s start off by saying that we heard “the wise asses at DealerRefresh are on probation and I don’t need them to promote my conference anymore.” So Mike Roscoe, we dedicate this section to you.

Our “piece of $h1t” buddy Jared Hamilton is completely banned from Digital Dealer conferences. This is the same guy who received the Lloyd Richardson award from Mike in 2008 for being the biggest giver in our space. Way to pay him back! By the way Mike, where is Lloyd? We miss him.

Speaking of banishment, another good man, Gary May, caught the wrath of Mike in an email that ended his participation in the conference. Alex got to see it and said it really shows someone’s true colors. The email was in regards to an IM@CS blog post from the Saturday after DD9 recommending that there is still room to improve the Digital Dealer conference for dealers. Maybe Gary will make that email public one day.

And in the spirit of how things should be presented to the public, we heard any non-Dealer Magazine media was not fully welcome to the event. Automotive News and Automotive Digest are two who we heard were snubbed.

Then we get to the ultimatums. When it is all about the benjamins, competition gets fierce. Many players like getting a paycheck, but also have a lot of passion for the industry too. However one individual seems to think that some of the players should dump everything to only participate in Digital Dealer. If rumors are true that both Brian Pasch and Joe Webb were told if they wanted to continue participating in Digital Dealer they had to give-up speaking at the DrivingSales Executive Summit or events that would support or build the DrivingSales brand, then that is just a travesty


14 Comments
Justin Duff

October 26th, 2010

I also heard that Dealer HD bought Ford. True story.

Jeff Collins

October 26th, 2010

Mike Roscoe is a narccist. DD is a great venue for the dealer body but sadly Mike Roscoe now has developed a “GOD” complex. I expect to receive a email notifying me that I too have been banished! Mike pull your head out of your butt and open your eyes. Try building relationships rather than tearing them down. The same people that made DD successful, can and will bury you. I think this would be a good time to start our own conference. The “DealerRefresh Summit” You heard it here first.

Len Critcher

October 26th, 2010

We had a serious issue with the Digital Dealer organization as both exhibitor and speaker back in 2008. Our experience has kept us away from the conference since. The purpose of such a conference should be to bring people together – to share in ideas, products, and best practices. The person in-charge should be a politician, not a dictator.

We thoroughly enjoyed the goodnatured and positive content/sessions we saw at the 2nd Annual Driving Sales Summit which we highly recommend as an alternative.

Justin Mathers

October 26th, 2010

ADP’s CRM tool is the single worst in the industry followed by a close second with Reynolds Contact Management. Anything they can do to get rid of that POS is good. AutoTrader is a cancer. First vAuto, now KBB. We all know they suck. It is only a matter of time before they destroy both those brands.

Chili Palmer

October 26th, 2010

I know you guys don’t appreciate anonymous post but I’m doing it because I need to keep speaking at Digital Dealer events. And Chili Palmer is the man telling you how it is (Get Shorty). When (not if) DrivingSales gets to over 500 attendees I will gladly give Roscoe the middle finger he deserves and hedge my bets with Jared.

I am so glad you guys finally put something out in the open about Roscoe. I see that it is all rumors and hearsay but I have seen and heard this stuff too many times going back to third Digital Dealer. It is time someone exposes that bastard for what he is.

I can only imagine the cussing and screaming going on at the Dealer Magazine office today. Mike is throwing a fit while the rest of the team is secretly agreeing with what is being said here. Cliff – get out while you can. Have you heard the saying “When you lie down with dogs you get up with fleas.”

Len -I’m glad to see you show some backbone and post up like a man. I’m sorry I couldn’t do it myself. But I couldn’t resist leaving this completely alone.

Ryan G

October 26th, 2010

Ah…so that cat is out of the bag on Roscoe. I will politely take this opportunity to share why I have completely avoided Digital Dealer for the past 4 years – because I stopped supporting Mike Roscoe after he shit on one of the best friends the auto industry has, whom I will leave unnamed for his own sake. There are a lot of good people doing great things in the auto industry and I get the feeling that this post will end up drawing a line in the sand between them and him.

I will also share that it was really cool to see the DSES via live stream. Hats off to Jared and his team for such a job well done all around. Feedback on the event has been great and I imagine that DSES will become (if it hasn’t already) the premier event for cutting edge auto professionals.

Layton Judd

October 26th, 2010

Sad to see people putting down any conference in the automotive space. There should be more and more information shared. Mike Roscoe stepped to the plate when no one else was willing and created a niche conference that has benefitted both the vendors and dealers. Jared has created another format that will allow dealers and vendors share ideas. Both conferences are excellent and with the size of our industry we should be glad that both Mike and Jared are planning on continuing to move forward.

Kim Clouse

October 26th, 2010

2 Years ago 2 friends of mine and I were doing a series of small speaking events around Texas, Oklahoma, and the Southeast called Auto Training Events. The group still exists on Linked In. I started it, and have not even logged on in over a year. During those events I had the AAISP links up on the site. I figured since 3 of us had opened the Digital Dealer booth at NADA (nobody was there) I would post the links that went to the Conference. I still have the rotten ass e-mail saved from our friend Mr. Roscoe and have been tempted to post it. I did not return to 3 conferences after that until this year. I thought it was a great conference but if these rumors are true I will not be surprised. The words in these posts are true, the people that made Digital Dealer can un-make Digital Dealer.
Wake up!!!!!!!

Ryan G

October 26th, 2010

@Layton that’s all peachy fuzzy but it’s clearly not how Roscoe sees it.

Layton Judd

October 26th, 2010

Ryan- If you knew me then you would know that peachy fuzzy is not what I am about. I will tell you that as a vendor in this space for a long time; we need to have more conferences! To put down Mike or Jared is the wrong approach support both and move on.

Marc McGurren

October 26th, 2010

My take on this situation for what is worth – DSES is a far superior conference for where we are at as a store than the DD8 conference I attended. DD is more 101 as IM@CS stated – call it like it is. Own it.

Did I get a ton a benefit from DD8? Yup. I met a ton of vendors, got exposed to industry leaders, and was challenged to raise the bar. All great things but the majority of the breakouts were sales pitches (I didn’t know any better). Hey – if that is what DD8 is about – showing a wide dealer base about emerging technologies that vendors offer – that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Will I most likely go back another time – probably so.

Why did I like DSES more – it was virtually vendor neutral except for a few plugs – but hey – you can’t blame them. Matt Murray did a phenomenal job talking about PPC yet never pitched their product. Yes – the name of his product was on some of the screen shots – but the talk was more about educating the dealer body about the importance of PPC in todays market – not how his product can take you there.

Also – less car people – more outside influences. We get in a bubble and like to pat ourselves on our back about how “innovative” we are yet – we are so far behind the curve as a industry it is sometimes scary. My head was spinning listening to some of the speakers we had as DSES.

Lastly – I truly believe there is room for everyone in this conference arena. I have learned relationships sell cars – not the car itself. If the rumors are true about how DD folks are handling all this – it will eventually bit them in the rear by burning those relationships…especially given the great alternatives being presented to us #DSES.

Hopefully this post won’t get me banned from DD myself. I heart DealerRefresh.

Jerry Evans @inspiredtrain

October 26th, 2010

How interesting. I got heat for daring to suggest that DSES was a better event than DD9 and it was suggested I would not be welcome at DD10.
As Layton mentioned, it is a huge industry that has room for many conferences, and I’m sure they all offer something useful to all who attend.
I will say this.
We as an industry know the importance of relationship building, follow up and staying connected with previous buyers, the ‘repeat’ segment of our customers is one of the easier sales.
If my budget meant I could only attend one event next year, I would choose DSES over DD9, simply because Jared responded to everything I asked, or tweeted, the positive and the negative.
The actions of the people connected with DD9 and their attitude to any negativity suggests to me if I did attend and had an issue, it would not be resolved professionally. It’s a shame as I certainly learnt from both events. Just goes to show customer service affects future buying decisions.
To those (who shall, for now remain anonymous) who suggested I would not be welcome, fair enough. Why would I pay $1,600 to feel unwanted. Be very careful, though, in this world of new media, bad news spreads far and wide my friends, and you never know, someone with influence and reach might decide to bite back.
Thanks once again for a great post, and to all who commented too, excellent discussion!

Eric Miltsch

October 26th, 2010

Way to go Jeff, glad you posted it…

I’ve never been to DD. Why? Everyone told me it was a big pitch-fest a few years ago. People I just met at DSES this year told me the same thing; I didn’t miss anything.

Yes, I understand these events have their place within the industry. Even more so, these events need leaders to help guide the direction and change needed for the business.

I saw Roscoe’s email to Gary. If that’s the type of leadership being offered up, feel free to add me to the DD banned list as well…probably one of the most unprofessional emails I’ve seen in a long time.

Dean Wormer, aka narcisstic bastard

October 26th, 2010

Seriously? This is what the Internet is for?

I know this is a “rumor” section…and absolutely no effort was made to substantiate these rumors through me, and therefore, totally one-sided. And I hesitate to do anything more than laugh at these types of things when friends say “Did you read…?” But some relevant info I’d like to share if I may:

Automotive News sent a salesman. Not an editor. Not a reporter. Not a journalist. Not even a blogger. Or an anonymous Internet poster. A salesman.

Automotive News, the self-purported “Bible of the Industry”…search their website for “Digital Dealer” and see what comes up. I don’t think they have ever even mentioned this important industry event. They sent a salesman to sell.

“You’re a delivery boy, collecting a bill, for a bunch of grocery clerks.”
~Marlon Brando as the insane Col. Kurtz in Apocalypse NOW.

That’s exactly what I said to the A-news rep while I squeezed a rag full of water on my bald head. I knew what he was there for. Just kidding…registration explained to him that we don’t allow competitors in our event. But I thought you’d get a kick out of the imagery…

Guys, a dealer wouldn’t allow a competitor’s salesperson on their lot to sell to their customers and potential customers. That’s not why they invested and took risks and paid for the advertising that brought them in. We don’t allow competitors onto our “lot”…the Digital Dealer Conferences. Not everybody will agree with or like this policy…but who amongst you wants to argue for letting competitor’s salesman onto a dealer’s lot? How about allowing competitor’s ads on the dealer’s website? Would you recommend that to your dealer clients…or to your dealer principal?

I have had salespeople and a publisher escorted out of competitor’s events. Just as I expect would happen to a competitive salesperson was on a dealer’s lot or in their showroom. Hey nothing wrong with tryin’…no hard feelings when we catch one or we get caught.

Look, Jared Hamilton’s a great guy. He’s spoken at DDs, has video-tapped at DDs, wanted to partner with me and now is a competitor. Competition is good. We will both make the other better. But it just doesn’t make sense to let a competitor on your lot. I am sorry if people don’t like that…or don’t like me because of it. But it’s a business decision…a sound business decision. And did you see what he’s got under his button-front shirt? I can’t afford freaking kryptonite! That $hit’s EXPENSIVE.

As for the individuals directly involved in rumors on or in this thread…

One of you didn’t mind spending time at my VIP tables at two clubs on two different nights during my conference. Didn’t say “Hello”, “Goodbye”, “Thank you” or even “Kiss my ass” the first night. Not a word. Not even when I “grooved” with your wife while talking to her. Dynamite lady BTW, very cordial to me…did she not get the memo?

2nd night I finally came over and talked to you to ask what the problem is, because that vodka is $400 a bottle and when it became obvious you were not going to dance for me like the girls the doorman sent over, I made an effort to talk to you, you know…to get my money’s worth. OK, that was embellished for comedic effect, but you get the point.

Two of you I spoke to on the phone directly. I clearly explained why these decisions are made and these policies are in place, and appealed to you to understand our position. One of you responded by openly misrepresenting facts and mis-characterizing the event after the conference and now by complaining about it openly and publicly and showing an email. The other responded by starting a rumor…and it got complained about openly and in a public forum.

One of you I invited up to my suite to discuss. I told you that it was suggested internally to me that we sell your booth to somebody else and find another speaker for your slot after you suggested in a public forum that if someone had been to Digital Dealer before, they should go to Driving Sales this October. I said, because of our unique relationship, I told them we leave it as is and I will talk to you in Las Vegas. Plus I was curious as to why someone who was speaking and had a booth would suggest people go to another event instead. I clearly explained why these decisions are made and these policies are in place, and appealed to you to understand our position. We discussed; I reiterated our position. I asked if you had any questions and you said “No”. Now it shows up here. Oh, and you said, “Mike Roscoe’s a crybaby” at Jared’s event. That HURT!

One of you, whom I tried to help when you left a dealership, saw me at the conference face to face. Said nothing to me about any of this. Now you come here and bad-mouth me because of an email from two years ago? Why didn’t you say something then? Or in Las Vegas, face -to-face? You were all smiles with me then.

Guys these were private conversations and private emails, not “The View”. Is this how you do business? Is it?

I guess “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all” is right out the window here. But if the “glass houses” thing has any meaning, I have a question for one of you: why would you be involved in starting rumors when you’re boinking one of your older subordinates? You know who you are. Hey, I’m just askin’…

Ryan G, I would really like to discuss the situation re: how I “shit” on someone. I find that scenario disconcerting and would like to find out more, perhaps starting with what is your definition of “shitting” on someone. My email address is mroscoe@Dealer-Communications.com. Let’s try to set a time to discuss please.

Len Critcher, if you are so inclined I would appreciate a chance to find out what the speaker and exhibitor issues were in 2008. I have always had the attitude that we will make up for mistakes in such a way that the person is GLAD the mistake happened. My email address is mroscoe@Dealer-Communications.com. I am available to discuss at your convenience.

Jerry Evans, do we know each other? I don’t recognize the name. My bad if we have met and I’ve forgotten…like I stated previously, I am lousy at remembering names. Taken courses to improve…no help at all. I don’t recall personally being asked or tweeted anything by you, positive or negative. If you were treated poorly by a member of the DD team, let’s discuss and see if we can resolve it, nothing will change by complaining about it here. mroscoe@Dealer-Communications.com

Jeff Collins…have we met? Forgive me if we have and I’ve forgotten, I’m great with remembering faces, names…not so much. Is there anything specific you wanted to discuss or just posting some…uhhh…”constructive” critcism?

Marc McGurren, why would you get “banned”? Thanks for sharing your thoughts re: DSES…we will discuss what you’ve written as we discuss continually improving the Digital Dealer Conferences & Expositions.

Funny that one anonymous poster chose the handle “Chili Palmer” who I believe was a tough guy in a movie, right? Calls me a “bastard”…anonymously, so he can still speak at DDs…CLASSIC! He then applauded another poster for showing “some backbone” for posting up “like a man”. That is so deliciously RICH with irony!

Tell you what Chili…why don’t you prove to us that you are real…that what you wrote is legit. Be a man and state who you are. If you have in fact spoken before, I promise in front of God and everybody you will speak at the next Digital Dealer Conference. I will let you pick your own time slot. Hell, I’ll even make you an affiliated sponsor (a $1,995 value!)

I’ve dealt with a lot of people in the 16+ years since I started this business. You can’t please all the people all the time. As much as they try, dealers will have some people who don’t like them, feel they were treated poorly, yada, yada, yada. I believe I have been honest, direct, and up-front with the people who are slamming me here…except for the ones I don’t know and/or have not directly interacted with. I never claimed that I could please everyone all the time as it is impossible. If you don’t like any of our policies, feel free to contact me to discuss. Doesn’t mean we will change how we do business…but you never know. Or you can just comment and slam in forums like this “The View”-style. Your choice.

We had almost 1,800 people at the conference. Some of them love me, some of them like me, most of them don’t know me…some of them don’t like me and apparently, some of them hate me. I can live with that. I would like to be everybody’s friend, but this is a business and as such, there are competing agendas. That’s business biz…

On a lighter note, Animal House is my favorite movie and John Vernon was AWESOME as Dean Vernon Werner, appreciate the image. He died in 2005. I suppose some of you guys consider yourselves the rascally, rebellious Deltas? Well, then…in the spirit of Faber College’s best dean ever…”You’re all now on double-secret probation…NO MORE FUN OF ANY KIND!!!”

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go yell or scream or cuss or make threatening phone calls or whatever the heck it was somebody thought would be happening because of this silly little rumor thread. After all, I have an image to live up to…

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