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Some dealers will even LOSE money to sell you a car, because it could mean tens of thousands of bonus dollars or incentive money from our manufacturers. I have watched the owner of a dealership that I previously worked at actually lose over $2,000 to make a deal. You say how? That particular deal, made on the last day of the month, was the number 30 new car for the month, and we hit our OEM goal and got $1,000/copy for EVERY new car we sold that month.

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

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

CHOOSE WISELY

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

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

http://automotivevideosearchengineoptimization.com/

http://www.internetsales20group.com

http://www.internetsales20group.com

Interview with Whitney Willis Snow - Internet Director of Willis GM & Winner of AIS's "Dealership of the Month" Award December 2010

(READ the FULL Interview UNDER the IMAGE :)

Automotive Internet Sales “Dealership of the Month” goes to…

Willis Automotive of Smyrna Delaware

Willis Automotive of Smyrna Delaware are killing it on the Internet! They literally rose from the ashes and turned their organization around in some dark times. Willis Automotive of Smyrna is part of the Willis Automotive dealer group. They have 3 stores, Willis Automotive of Smyrna, Willis Ford and Willis Automotive of Middletown. They started their Internet initiative about a year and a half ago, right in the middle of the automotive collapse. As a matter of fact, they were one of the GM dealerships to get a letter. They lost their Chevrolet Franchise in Middletown Delaware. But this group did not let the economy beat them. They regrouped and created a NEW strategy and persevered through difficult times and are now set to reap all of the rewards from all of their hard work and tenacity. We are going to interview the Internet Director, Whitney Willis Snow-

AIS- First off, congratulations Whitney to you and your team! You just closed November 2010 with 48 units! That is AMAZING. You went from 5 units on the Internet and losing a franchise to 48 units and almost $100,000 GROSS in 30 days! I am so proud of you and very excited to share in your success.

WWS – Thank you, but it is a huge team effort. I am blessed to work with such an amazing group of people.

AIS – Whitney, your full name is Whitney Willis Snow… So, I am assuming you are an owner…?

WWS – We have a family business for over 60 years now… My mother, father, uncle, brothers etc… This is literally a family business. A small dealer group with 3 stores. I am the Internet Director and the youngest of the family in the business.

AIS – Tell us about the organization…

WWS – Simple, we are a family owned dealership with a ton of integrity. As I mentioned we have been in business for 6 decades and are very active in our community. Our reputation is everything to our family. How we treat our people… not just or prospects or clients, but how we treat our employees and each other. We strive to do the absolute best we can possibly do each and every day.

AIS – How were you engaging the Internet?

WWS – Not very much at all… We didn’t really have a strategy, no real dedication or commitment to the Internet as a “department”. As a matter of fact, when I first started working the Internet at our dealership I would simply email the prospect back once and then “hand over the lead to a salesman”.

AIS – Ok, what changed and why…?

WWS -We decided to actually build a “real” department with a strategy, focus and put resources behind it.We hired Dealer Synergy to assist us in creating the Internet Sales strategy and Standard Operating Procedures. We hired a new web design company to re-design our dealership website. We then focused on driving a lot more traffic to the dealership organically with SEO, VSEO and Social Media as well as buying leads from 3^rd party providers.

AIS- What was the most challenging thing for you and the fledgling department?

WWS – That is easy… “Teaching an old dog new tricks” LOL! No, seriously… getting this accepted by the showroom floor and the sales managers. It was VERY difficult in the beginning. We had so many people that were pessimistic, resistant, non-cooperative even to the point where we felt like people were purposely trying to sabotage the department. It was crazy! I felt like, here we were, dumping a ton of resources trying to grow the business and help everyone… from salesmen to managers, but there were people that felt like we were taking away from them, or that they knew how to do things better.

AIS – How is that possible?

WWS – As I mentioned, this is a family owned dealership. Our staff has been here for a very long time. We don’t have a lot of turn over. Everyone just needs to realize to get a bigger “piece of the pie”, the “whole pie” needs to grow! We are all working towards the same goal!

AIS –What happened with the Middletown store?

WWS – Bottom line is during the whole automotive economic collapse GM sent us a letter and we lost one of our Chevrolet points. It was very hard because we have been in business for such a long time. But we decided not to shut down the dealership, we turned it into a Pre-Owned and NAPA Car Care Dealership.

AIS – How has the Internet affected your dealership business?

WWS – Point Blank… the new Internet Department SAVED us from losing our business. NO Exaggeration… The units we have been selling out of the Internet Department kept the doors open.I don’t think we could have survived the automotive economic situation without our Internet Department. We have increased internet volume and gross each month. As a matter of fact we have also increased the dealership’s total volume of sales as well as the dealership’s total gross profit.

AIS- How is everyone at the store now a days with the department…?

WWS- MUCH BETTER… there is a lot of more communication, a lot more appreciation for the department and a lot more respect for not only the department but for all of the team members in our department.

AIS- How many people are in your department?

WWS –There are 4 Internet Sales Coordinators (Phone Ninjas / Appointment Setters), my Assistant Director, and myself for a total of 6 people in the department.

AIS – What are the biggest challenges for your team?

WWS – The same, I’m sure, as all internet departments… handling people J dealing with price, objections in general, attitudes, etc…

AIS – Any advice?

WWS- Absolutely… be prepared. We have a plan of action for EVERYTHING. Phone Process, Email process… objections and rebuttals and of course “What If” process… What if this happens, what if that happens… what if, what if, what if… you have to be prepared for everything and PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. Sharpen the saw. That is why we are part of the Internet Sales 20 Group (www.internetsales20group.com) and very active on www.automotiveinternetsales.com

AIS – Yes, you are! Congrats on winning the Dealership Video Testimonial!! That was AWESOME!!

Anything else you would like to add to the readers?

WWS- Yes… Don’t let ANYONE tell you that you can’t do something! Don’t let ANYONE discourage you from your goal/mission. You can do anything you put your mind too!

** Also, if anyone wants to call me directly for any advice or questions, it would be my pleasure. I believe in Synergy and in the whole Internet Sales 20 group concept. With that being said, if you HAVE any IDEAS or resources that you think are worthwhile that can help me to continue growing my department…PLEASE feel free to contact me and let me know!

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

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

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

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

http://www.internetsales20group.com

http://www.willissmyrna.com/

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SVB-

http://www.dealersyenrgy.com

http://www.facebook.com/seanvbradley

Hello! I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe holiday yesterday with friends and family. Sometimes that's exactly what we need in order to hit the "reset button" and refocus on our careers. I know that I am very thankful for being back to Dealer Synergy, and one of my favorite and rewarding things, in my mind, is to give back to our clients and other people we come in contact with to make them better people and better skilled professionals. We are here today AND tomorrow for any support you may need throughout the weekend, and ensure a strong month-end.

People across America have one thing in mind today and this weekend...and that is to shop, shop, SHOP!

Perception is reality, and every TV, newspaper and website advertise that you will absolutely get the BEST deals of the YEAR today and have all kinds of weekend blowout sales. RIDE THE WAVE! Make sure that anyone you speak to knows that this is very true especially in the Automotive business. From my experience, dealerships are just as busy as malls, retail stores this weekend, so turn these shoppers into BUYERS! Really push for appointments for today and tomorrow, and worst case scenario, if they can't make it, you can always relay that this holiday sale is going to be extended through month-end, and push for Monday and Tuesday to ensure you finish your month strong!

In Sean's Turkey day post below, he included quite possibly one of my favorite videos I have ever watched. One of my favorite sayings is "Carpe Diem", which is Latin for "seize the day" and I believe this video really sums it up in one of the best ways possible. If you haven't already, watch the video, and take about 2 minutes to think about it. I guarantee it will be 5 minutes (or 300 seconds) well spent. Make your time efficient and productive...and make every minute, second and phone call that you make count!

As always, our team here at Dealer Synergy appreciates and encourages comments, blogs, testimonials and participation...so let us know what you think, because we look forward to hearing from you!

Have a great weekend!

Andy

http://www.internetsales20group.com

http://www.dealersyenrgy.com

I wanted to wish everyone a VERY Happy Thanksgiving from me, my family and the entire Dealer Synergy Team. I personally have a tremendous amount to be Thankful for. As you might or might not know, I was in a horrific, near fatal Jet Ski accident in Puerto Rico this past summer. It was a sureal experieince to say the least, I was in Puerto Rico for 2 months and out of work for over 3 months due to the accident. I had a lot of time to think, reflect and truly appreciate what I have. Sometimes when you are going at "warp" speed everyday things might get taken for granted. I am Thankful for my life, to be able to breathe. As simple as that may sound I am sincere. I am blessed and Thankful for my family, friends, company, clients and the ability to do what I love each and every day.

Life is WAY Too Short!! BeThankful that you have life and the opportunity to be and do anything you want to do. Reflect... Soak it all in... Enjoy it!

God Bless and Happy Thanksgiving

Sean V. Bradley-

Hi everyone! It's been a great 1st week back to Dealer Synergy and I have spoken with many of our clients so far for a phone training or just to say Hello! There is so much that can be done to get our dealerships ramped up for year-end, and I promise I will reach out to those of you I haven't spoken to yet very soon. I have been working on more material to help improve Dealer Synergy's action plan in keeping our dealers ramped up, and better than ever on the phones. With the economy constantly changing, I have new scripted rebuttals that will help our departments handle more types of customers.

Our phone trainings have been going great, and we have some new clients that will be able to take advantage of our brand new cirriculum of phone trainings to make you a "Appointment Ninja" faster than ever! Everyone that is fluent and already taking advantage of "the 10 steps" will get even better! It's the perfect time to start making the end-of-year "push" to really CRUSH the competition and finish the year with fantastic numbers (and PAYCHECKS!!).

As of now, I wish everyone a safe and happy weekend...and we all know the weekend is always better after having a BIG Saturday....so CONFIRM those APPOINTMENTS!! :)

Andy Fedo

VP of Training

Dealer Synergy

andy@dealersynergy.com

http://www.internetsales20group.com

Recently Google created a Tsunami of change by integrating Google Places into organic search results. Dealers called me to ask what I thought these changes would have to their Automotive SEO strategies. I was not quick to answer because I think that Google is still refining their balancing act of SEO, SEM, and Google Places.

With that said, I am feeling much better about the changes that are in play. I was worried that the new Google Places integration would start at the top of organic listings which would favor websites connected to a Google Places page. From what I can see, Google is still rewarding exact match domain names and highly optimized websites before the “mosh pit” (in green) is displayed.

In the example below, a broad search phrase like “Los Angeles Dealers” produces a list of car dealers that have Google Maps, but before those listings, three company websites appear.

In the search results shown above, you can see that an “exact match” domain with good content, links, and relevance PRECEDES the massive block of results shown in green that are enhanced by Google Places data. You can also see the other two websites that rank above the Google Places block are not slackers at all: Automotive.com and Cars.com.

Google SERP Find Exact Matches First

I’ve said this before and will repeat it again, Google always tries to present, on a search results page (SERP), the best matching assets in its database. Google, Yahoo, and Bing all weight exact matching domains very high as long as the websites have relevant content. Redirected domains that are not hosted will never appear in search results so all those parked domains you may own are not helping you. It may be time to get those parked domains on a real content publishing strategy!

Don’t Forget The Stars

When Google integrated Google Places, the normal 8-10 organic listings were changed dramatically which created a “jump ball” once again in the search marketing Olympics.

I would like to remind all car dealers that they MUST develop a comprehensive Internet Reputation Management (IRM) strategy to increase participation of their clients to posted reviews. My recommendation is that a successful dealer should have TWICE the number of positive reviews “stars” of their nearest competitor. That may be harder in years to come but all dealers should have a few HUNDRED reviews posted from authentic customers.

Testing Search Results Start To Show A Trend

From recent testing that I have done, websites hosted on great domain names may actually have an edge over local car dealer websites. Take a look at the search listed below. The websites that Google felt were best matches and NOT in Google Places were listed first. Then the local dealers were listed.

Once again, the TOP websites above the integrated and enhanced Google Places organic listings are two heavyweight contenders UsedCars.com and Yahoo Autos. For the car industry, the bigger, more established inventory advertising websites could be getting more traffic because they are NOT in the green Google Places area and shown at the top of the page.

This trend continues as you type in even broader searches, and you can see that websites that are EXACT matching or that have high SEO inbound links on targeted keywords, appear on Google Page One before the Google Places block. So, in essence, Automotive SEO strategies are still in tact and dealers that have EXACT matching microsites with great content are getting a boost.

The Future Automotive SEO

Since I am an advocate of Automotive Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies, you would expect me to defend this marketing strategy but I will be the first to say that the changes with Google Places is still a dynamic event. I’ll keep you posted on what I find and make recommendations to take advantage of opportunities I see.

About the Author

Brian Pasch is the CEO of the PCG Digital Marketing and an active writer for the automotive community.

http://www.internetsales20group.com

Automotive Internet Sales is GIVING AWAY FREE CASH MONEY... $300 (Out of our own pockets...) I have a CONTEST That I put together for you all!!

Contest Details -

We are looking for the BEST Customer Testimoniasl from your Dealership(s)!

Contest Rules -

You NEED to upload Customer Testimonials to www.automotiveinternetsales.com (This Site :) AIS is looking for The Best Video... that doesn't simply mean the most expensive... It means we are looking for POWERFUL Testimonial videos that will actually influence people into wanting to vist / purchase from your particular dealership versus the competition.

AIS wants to see the diffferent types of Video Testimonials that you get... Are they for New Cars? Used Cars? Finance / Special Finance? Service / Body Shop etc... Female Buyers... etc...

AIS is looking for creativity and CONTENT!!

Contest Reason / Goals -

Here at AIS, we believe that VIDEO is SOOOO Important & We also believe that having AWESOME Prospect / Client testimonials that you can use in your marketing initiatives, your website(s), your email teamplates, your online reputation management strategy as well as SOCIAL MEDIA... Can seriously give you a competitive edge in your market. We decided to offer a $300 CASH contest to whoever uploads the "Best" Dealership Testimonial video to AIS. This is a GREAT way for us to teach & learn from each other in this community.

Contest Time (Start / End) -

Contest has officially started and it will officially END November 23rd 2010

http://www.dealersynergy.com

"Googolopoly" The BEST & Most Powerful Automotive Digital Marketing & Social Media Strategy for your Dealership

This Graphic sums it ALL up... This is Exactly what your dealership should be thinking with the Internet & with Digital Marketing / Social Media... The best analogy I can give you all is that I want you to think of Google as a Monopoly board or bettter yet a "Googolopoly" LOL! Google says that ONLY .5% (LESS than 1%) of people go past the First Page of Google. So, your strategy is SIMPLE... LIKE in Monopoly you try to get as many PROPERTIES as possible... That is what you want to do with the First Page of Google! you want to get as many positions as humanly possible. For example:

· You want to DOMINATE the First page EVERYWHERE... Starting with your MAIN www.abcmotors.com site.

· You want your Focus Sites / Micros Sites to show on the first page in the TOP 10.

· You want your Face Book...

· You want your Twitter...

· You want your NING...

· You want your Flicker...

· You want your You Tube...

· You want your Dealer Rater / Reputation Management etc...

· Videos, videos, Videos... AKA Video Search Engine Optimization!

· You want your Vertical Search... Google Business / google Maps...

· You want your REAL TIME Search (LIVE News Feeds on First Page Google)!

*** Why...? Simple... The MORE you are on the 1st PAGE the LESS EVERYONE else is... 3rd party providers, competition etc... And we all know that you have a FASTER gestation period generating your own leads, you have a higher gross and a higher closing ratio.

THE NEW Phrase to Remember is "Googolopoly"

http://www.dealersynergy.com

"Googolopoly" The BEST & Most Powerful Automotive Digital Marketing & Social Media Strategy for your Dealership

This Graphic sums it ALL up... This is Exactly what your dealership should be thinking with the Internet & with Digital Marketing / Social Media... The best analogy I can give you all is that I want you to think of Google as a Monopoly board or better yet a "Googolopoly" LOL! Google says that ONLY .5% (LESS than 1%) of people go past the First Page of Google. So, your strategy is SIMPLE... LIKE in Monopoly you try to get as many PROPERTIES as possible... That is what you want to do with the First Page of Google! you want to get as many positions as humanly possible. For example:

· You want to DOMINATE the First page EVERYWHERE... Starting with your MAIN www.abcmotors.com site.

· You want your Focus Sites / Micros Sites to show on the first page in the TOP 10.

· You want your Face Book...

· You want your Twitter...

· You want your NING...

· You want your Flicker...

· You want your You Tube...

· You want your Dealer Rater / Reputation Management etc...

· Videos, videos, Videos... AKA Video Search Engine Optimization!

· You want your Vertical Search... Google Business / google Maps...

· You want your REAL TIME Search (LIVE News Feeds on First Page Google)!

*** Why...? Simple... The MORE you are on the 1st PAGE the LESS EVERYONE else is... 3rd party providers, competition etc... And we all know that you have a FASTER gestation period generating your own leads, you have a higher gross and a higher closing ratio.

THE NEW Phrase to Remember is "Googolopoly"