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

Posted by Sean V. Bradley on November 16, 2010 at 12:00pm

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"

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How to use Facebook to promote your blog & engage your customers - Syndicate your blog through Facebook to gain readership - Pete Jewett, SEO Analyst

Posted by Sean V. Bradley on November 11, 2010 at 1:30pm

http://www.internetsales20group.com

http://www.dealersynergy.com

***Re-Published from Dealer.com Site

How to use Facebook to promote your blog & engage your customers - Syndicate your blog through Facebook to gain readership - Pete Jewett, SEO Analyst

You don’t have to be a social media expert to know that posting fresh relevant content on your Facebook Page is a must if you want to keep your customers engaged. One way to consistently post content and engage with your consumer is by syndicating your blog to automatically feed into your Facebook page every time you publish a post. Whenever a post is added to your blog, it will automatically display on your Facebook page's news feed for all your fans to view.

Whether you subscribe to Dealer.com’s blog platform or not, if you have a blog you should be syndicating it to gain readership and offer your customers fresh content on a regular basis.

It is easy to link your blog and Facebook fan page for automatic syndication! It takes less than 5 minutes to configure... here's how you can set it up:

1.Find your RSS feed URL - Visit your blog's home page and click on the orange button labeled "RSS 2.0", click it and copy your RSS feed's URL in the address bar.
2.Edit Your Facebook Page -Go to your Facebook Fan Page and click "Edit Page" beneath the Page profile picture.
3.Find Notes - Find Notes among the list of applications and select "Edit." Click "Edit Import Settings" under the Subscribe Section
4.Paste the URL - Paste your blog feed URL in the Web URL box and start importing.
Be aware that once you set up your blog to be imported into Notes, Facebook will pull previous posts into your feed. Once set up, it will scrape your site daily for new posts.

Now that you have your blog set up to post to Facebook, start writing!

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Taller de Dealer Synergy, "Internet Sales 20 Group 2010"

Posted by Iván Maldonado on November 9, 2010 at 10:12am

"Internet Sales 20 Groups"

Mercadeo Digital

Algunas veces subestimamos el poder que tiene el mercadeo digital. Es interesantes saber que ya no solo existen dos o tres formas de mercadeo digital sino decenas de maneras de hacerlo y con resultados impresionantes. Una de las principales herramientas que podemos utilizar es "SEO, VSEO". El poder utilizar esta herramienta para atraer clientes y futuros compradores de nuestros servicios a nuestro sitio "web" hace del mercadeo digital unas de las cosas mas importantes para hacer negocios.

No hay duda de que el taller de "Internet Sales 20 Group" esta llenando todas las expectativas. Mucho se ha aprendido y mucho queda por aprenderse.

Se han eliminado los acentos para evitar errores de interpretacion de motores de busquedas.

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The VERY FIRST Article to be Published in the Entire Automotive Sales Industry about Video Search Engine Optimization - Sean V. Bradley - Digital Dealer Magazine 2007

Posted by Sean V. Bradley on November 7, 2010 at 12:56pm
http://www.dealersynergy.com http://www.internetsales20group.com "The Next Online Evolution: Video Search" Was FIRST Published in Digital Dealer Magazine in 2007 Did you ever wish you had a hot tip, or like the television show, Early Edition, get tomorrow’s newspaper today and then go out and buy a winning lottery ticket? Even better, what if you could call yourself back in 1985 and tell yourself to buy all the Apple computer stock you could handle. Wouldn’t that be awesome? Sorry, but I can’t help you with those items, but I can share with you that I strongly believe video search is a sleeping giant of an opportunity that is growing and poised to explode at quantum speeds and virtually no one in the auto industry is taking advantage of the opportunity. Everyone knows about search engines and they are used all the time, but I was surprised at the sheer magnitude of their influence. • 88 percent of adults conduct online research prior to completing their purchase. • 67 percent of adults in the United States use search engines as a research tool. • 54 percent of search engine users find web sites to purchase their desired product. • 62 percent of search engine users click a result within the first page. The latest multi-media/video trend is video Internet marketing or Internet 2.0. Video search is the foundation for the next Internet evolution. The new web is evolving to become a very different animal than it is today. It’s truly becoming a tool for bringing together the small contributions of millions of people driven by their individual preferences and desires. Just a few months ago, eMarketer, an online marketing news channel, said more people than ever are watching more online video more frequently. eMarketer estimates that over one-third of the US population will view video on the Internet on average during 2006. By 2010, the US Internet video audience will have grown 45.8 percent to 157 million, up from 107.7 million this year. When Google spent $1.65 billion for 19-month-old online video phenomenon You Tube, it was portrayed as a sign of the triumph of online video. They didn’t buy it just because it was a cool site; they bought it for the audience it reaches. Research shows the current video-viewing audience is predominantly male and most are heading toward middle age rather than their first job. This means that site visitors are in their prime spending age and advertisers need to know they can reach this audience in this new medium. This model is evolving as we speak and will become the way advertisers reach buyers in the future. Companies that succeed in this new medium within the channel will be those that are in the right position to leverage the video viewing community to get their messages across. Just like a traditional web site, video enhanced sites have existing content and keywords married to special events videos, and the various search engines that consumers use each day pick these up. Cyrus Krohn of MSN Video says, “Television has got a lot on the Internet as far as history goes, but the evolution of products I’m envisioning will service both parties,” he said. “I don't know how long it’s going to take, but you’re really going to have a hard time distinguishing between the monitor and the box.” Growth in this area will continue to explode and opportunities for automotive advertising, marketing and branding will be abundant on these video channels. Most people I talk to under 50 are well aware of YouTube.com, MySpace.com, Google Videos and others, and the e-mail I used to get with jokes are now replaced by e-mails with links to online videos. Here are a few more eye opening stats. • For all the clips playing, online video advertising currently comprises just 2.6 percent ($410 million) of total Internet advertising spending ($16.4 billion) • The average video seeker is far more likely to be heading toward middle age rather than heading for his first job. This means that users are in their prime spending age and advertisers need to know how to reach out to them in this new medium. • Time magazine unveiled its “Person of the Year” for 2006 on December 16, 2006, as – you, the creators and consumers of user-generated Internet content like video-file sharing sites YouTube, and the social network site MySpace.com. Over the next few years, companies will expand their presence utilizing online videos and keywords they could never have even imagined using today. Television commercials are expensive, but you can put “commercials” and other branding videos online for free. Do you utilize videos on your web site? You can easily tweak them and post them on YouTube and other sites now for free. Film your sales manager giving a brief overview of a new vehicle model and post it on the web. How about posting a short video of your service manager talking about the importance of tire rotation on your new SUV? Can you see a brief clip or series from your business manager explaining the value of an extended service contract? I can also see him or her talking about loyalty programs, GAP coverage and other important aftermarket products. Currently you probably have just a bulletin board in the showroom with testimonial letters from happy customers. Why not film customer testimonials and make your customers “stars on the web?” Are you starting to see the possibilities? You don’t always need a professional film crew to do the videos, but it will help. Try it out with your home video camera, experiment a bit and post a few to see the results and ask for feedback from friends, associates and family. Maybe you have a college nearby with a film program. Invite some of the students to get some experience by videotaping your team for online videos. Some may jump at the chance. You will quickly learn how to make it happen. Let that Steven Spielberg part of you come out, and start working on your next big blockbuster.
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Cross Promotional Marketing, (REAL) Business Development written by Sean V. Bradley and originally published in Digital Dealer Magazine

Posted by Sean V. Bradley on November 7, 2010 at 12:51pm
http://www.dealersynergy.com http://www.internetsales20group.com "The Power of the Network" originally published in Digital Dealer Magazine June 2007... Currently Verizon Wireless television commercials show crowds of support people for their wireless network. This conveys in a very clear fashion that Verizon customers have an incredible amount of support behind their service. Business people have known that networking is a great way to get the word out about their business. Think about MBNA credit cards. They offer private-label “affinity” programs for all sorts of fraternal collegiate and charitable organizations. Consumers’ loyalty to their college institution means a MasterCard with a campus image on the front and fees for the credit card company and the college when the card is used regularly. Business development is an art form; you cannot expect to do what everyone else does and be great at it. You need to think outside the box. What would you say if I told you there was a way for your dealership to attract an audience of over five or ten thousand possible buyers and control that opportunity and literally steer them to you and your dealership? This program takes the best aspects of affinity marketing and leverages it to the next level to create excitement, build loyalty and sell more vehicles. Instead of prospecting one person at a time, the goal is to go after major accounts, organizations that have hundreds to thousands of members. Think of it as fleet sales on steroids. Just so we are clear on what I am sharing with you, here are examples of the groups you can target for your dealerships: • The United States Military: Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, National Guard and Coast Guard • Law enforcement agencies: local branches of the FBI, DEA, Secret Service, ATF, INS, state police, police departments, sheriff departments, and correctional facilities • Fire departments • Hospitals • Teachers’ unions, schools, colleges, and universities All you need to do is contact these organizations, build some rapport and establish a relationship with them. To aid in that effort, offer them a “Value Partner” Program (VP). What you are going to do is let them know you have designed a “special” program and a website not open to the general public. The web site is exclusively designed for the sole purpose of providing valuable information for their group. Once members of the organization log on to the site and enter their password they will be admitted to the site and receive real benefits such as: • Discount pricing on vehicles • Discount pricing on service • Discount pricing on parts • Free or discounted items or services from other businesses Imagine a program with a military base close to your dealership. You would have access to a huge demographic. Instead of prospecting one by one you would have an entire military base where you could focus a specific marketing message. You can include not only the soldiers but also all the civilian department of defense workers on base. Then you could extend it to all of their family members, too. The potential prospect and the opportunities are incredible. If you tell these members with the military and their affiliated groups that they will get incredible services and discounts, why wouldn’t they explore their options with your organization? Think about this from your perspective. If your spouse is a teacher and in a union and that union offers discounted interest rates on vehicle loans wouldn’t you look into it? This would be irresistible to many of the members in the group. Where do you begin? Before you approach an organization you want to secure commitments and services from local businesses in your local market. What do you look for? Frankly just about anything should be under consideration. Discounts on beauty salon services, spa visits, sporting events (both professional and collegiate), dining, nightclubs, limousine services, electronics, computers, dry cleaning, and so on. These are all items that can be part of your offering. For the program I created in the Philadelphia area, I went to prominent and well-known establishments and pitched them on how they could increase their business by being part of my network. Naturally you want to speak with the owners who have the authority to implement these types of programs and discounts. One nightclub/restaurant was a favorite watering hole for athletes, actors and musicians and always had a line waiting to get in the club. I shared my plan with the owner and the potential audience we were targeting. They offered $25 off coupons on any meal $50 or over. I then asked him to provide an awesome prize once a month that can be raffled off or given away. With hopes of increased business, he provided an unlimited amount of those $25 coupons and then once a month he committed to offer a bottle of Cristal Champagne or another top shelf champagne plus two complimentary entrances into the establishment, plus two VIP entrances so the winners can go mingle with celebrities in the crowd. The point was to have a night out with VIP treatment for the lucky winner. The retail value of the monthly prize was over $600, and there was absolutely no direct cost to the dealership. The net value of the donated monthly prize was less than $200 for the night, but the advertising the restaurant got to the military base members and others in the group was worth thousands of dollars. Plus the idea is that they have such an awing experience they will want to come back and, at the very least, tell everyone about their great experience at the restaurant. A limousine company provides another good service. They often have downtime and are looking to pick up extra business. I packaged the monthly night out to the restaurant with a limousine ride and again, the limousine company received great visibility in the program, and our members received free limo rides. We were able to promote our dealership services and the products and services of our partners on radio, television, in print and of course on the Internet. This program differentiated our dealership from every other one in the market. We had articles written about us in the military newspaper on base and that helped feed the number of users on the program. I guess today they call this viral marketing, but we just saw it as a great way to leverage existing networks, add strong value to the program and provide incredible service to the members at our dealership. This program was business development at its best. Sean V. Bradley
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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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Follow Up with your prospects & customers using SOCIAL MEDIA & Internet resources like: Face Book, Twitter, MySpace, Google & AOL Instant Messenger - Sean V. Bradley

Posted by Sean V. Bradley on November 2, 2010 at 9:00pm
Follow Up with your prospects & customers using SOCIAL MEDIA & Internet resources like: Face Book, Twitter, MySpace, Google & AOL Instant Messenger - Sean V. Bradley I have been thinking about an article / Video post that I can do that is of value and a little bit different than what you see everywhere else... and here is what I have come up with: In my travels ALL OVER THE COUNTRY with dealerships, I hear a lot that it is hard to get an Internet prospect on the phone... YES it is!!! LOL!! *** Seriously, that is the HARDEST part of Automotive Internet Sales... getting the prospect on the phone. As a matter of fact statistically, you are going to reach about 12- 15% of your attempts or phone calls... So, lets break out the calculator and be crystal clear here. If you attempt to call 120 people per day (what we suggest), at a 12% connection ratio... you will connect with about 14.4 people.... at a 15% connection ratio you will connect with 18 people. Lets do the math in the other direction... if you ONLY are calling 30 people in a day... you are ONLY going to connect with about 3-5 people a day... So, first TIP is to attempt to contact people MORE... Why...? Well, more attempts = more connection...more connections = MORE appointments!!! & More appointments = MORE Shows and MORE SALES!!!! However, it is HARD to connect with people... I get it. BUT, are you going to just sit around and "WOE is Me"? or are you going to be proactive and try to do something about it? Sales is SIMPLE... you get what you put into it. You put no effort, and you will be BROKE... you put effort in and you can make $$$$$$$$. Here are some quick things you can do if you CAN NOT reach a prospect by the phone or you have a bad phone number or NO phone #... * First, you can try doing a "Reverse" look up with the operator... and try to get a different # * You can drop your prospect’s name into Google and you might find out some details, a Social Networking site etc... * you can go to Face Book or Twitter directly and drop their name or name and other deails (if you have) and try to find their profile and or page... ** If you find them on their Social Media... you can contact them directly through their Social Media. What is GREAT about this is that MOST Social Media is directed to people's cell phones :) And more than 1/3 of the population access Social Media via their mobile devices... *** Another opportunity is through Instant Messaging tools like AOL Instant Messenger (AIM). If you get an email from a prospect that is like: - johndoe@aol.com / johndoe@hotmail.com / johndoe@gmail.com... the PREFIX (The words BEFORE the @ symbol is USUALLY their INSTANT MESSENGER Address!!! That means that you can try to Instant Messenge hard to reach prospects... There are a LOT more cool things you can do to try to engage your prospects... This was just a quick article to assist you all. I hope you see value in it and I trust it will help you IF YOU TRY IT-
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Reposted from Automotive Digital Marketing - "7 Myths of how people search for a car on line" - Larry Bruce, MicrositesByU

Posted by Sean V. Bradley on November 1, 2010 at 5:06pm
How people search
EDITOR'S NOTE: Transcript of Presentation: How people search - Presentation Transcript 1.7 Myths about How, Where and Why people search for a car and what they do when they get there VINSolutions Dealer Advisory Board Meeting Las Vegas NV 10.12.10 Larry Bruce President / CEO MicrositesByU.com @pcmguy. 2.PPC #1 way you can conquest new business for your dealership 3.What’s holding you back? 4.7 Myths that have been heaped on us with little or no basis of actual behavior •People trust 3rd parties more than the dealer •Internet shoppers are price driven •The internet is better for used than new cars •Organic links are trusted more than sponsored •The long tail search phase •People will go online and just come into the dealership •You can’t compete with the budget of the OEM , AutoTrader or Cars.com 5.•Over 35 hours of video •109 users •436 searches 6.Myth 1: People trust 3rd parties more than the dealer 7.Myth 1: People trust 3rd parties more than the dealer Of the 26% that converted: 8.Myth 1: People trust 3rd parties more than the dealer Why did they convert there? This same scenario happened 86% of the time a user landed on a 3rd party site 9.Myth 1: People trust 3rd parties more than the dealer How did they get there? 10.Myth 1: People trust 3rd parties more than the dealer What would have happened if?… Number of Mustangs available What types are available How much they cost 11.Myth 1: People trust 3rd parties more than the dealer Version 2 payment 12.Myth 1: People trust 3rd parties more than the dealer Version 3 trade‐in 13.Myth 1: People trust 3rd parties more than the dealer Things you can do to your website / landing experiences to instill trust. Reviews used by 32% of the users tested •Put your eBay rating on your home page with a link to the ratings •Put your Google ratings on your home page with a link •Put your Yelp ratings on your home page with a link •Use some excepts from letters or surveys on your home page •Facebook Like button on your home page and in special pages and your blog. 14.Myth 2: The Internet is all about price It is actually about saving time and hassle – 1st Concern, do you have what I want? 28% of the time a visitor will search themselves right out of a car 15.Myth 2: The Internet is all about price It is actually about saving time and hassle – 1st Concern, do you have what I want? Volzauto before 16.Myth 2: The Internet is all about price It is actually about saving time and hassle – 1st Concern, do you have what I want? Volzauto After 17. 18.Myth 2: The Internet is all about price It is actually about saving time and hassle – 1st Concern, do you have what I want? 19.Myth 2: The Internet is all about price It is actually about saving time and hassle – 1st Concern, do you have what I want? •1 click access to the most popular selling vehicles •UserTesting.com to find trouble spots in you conversion funnel •Crossbrowsertesting.com to find the breaks in code This has doubled Volz Auto Groups Lead Conversion Rate 20.How Split Testing Works Split Testing Platform 21.How Split Testing Works www.google.com/websiteoptimizer Split Testing Platform 22.Myth 3: The Internet is more suited to used cars than new Search testing found New & Used to be evenly split 23.Myth 4: Organic links are clicked and trusted more than sponsored links For pure purchase intent sponsored links converted 300% higher than organic links 24.Myth 4: Organic links are clicked and trusted more than sponsored links CarMax landing pages showed up in 33% of the searches that were performed in this test all sponsored links 25.Myth 4: Organic links are clicked and trusted more than sponsored links For pure purchase intent sponsored links converted 300% higher than organic links 26.Myth 4: Organic links are clicked and trusted more than sponsored links Organic traffic is inconsistent. You have no idea what the users intent really is other than 70% of the time they were looking for your dealership to do something The term Random access website refers to your main site where the users intent isn’t clear and there is a lot of navigation for them to get lost in the page shuffle 27.Myth 4: Organic links are clicked and trusted more than sponsored links Organic traffic is inconsistent. You have no idea what the users intent really is other than 70% of the time they were looking for your dealership to do something 28.Myth 4: Organic links are clicked and trusted more than sponsored links You will get higher conversions and better results out of PPC than organic SEO efforts but to do so you have to optimize at all 4 dimensions of online marketing Test‐Driven Marketing: •Geo‐location •Keyword / placement Making •Ad position agile marketing strategic •Landing / Conversion growth engine. 29.Myth 4: Organic links are clicked and trusted more than sponsored links Test Driven Marketing Ad Group Ad Split testing for Ad Ad Ad CTR Ad Split testing for Landing Landing Landing Conversion 30.Myth 4: Organic links are clicked and trusted more than sponsored links Test Driven Marketing Ad Group Ad Split testing for Winning Ad CTR Ad Split testing for Winning Conversion Landing 31.Myth 4: Organic links are clicked and trusted more than sponsored links A culture of constant improvement Ad Group Ad Split testing for New Ad New Ad Control Ad CTR Ad Split testing for New New Control Conversion Landing Landing Landing 32.Myth 5: The long tail search phrase Yes in overall internet searches long tail search phrases 4+ words are 23% of the searches and do have higher intent. But in the car business this is not the case. 33.Myth 6: People are going to your site and looking at vehicles then showing up on your lot The internet is an “Influencing Medium”. If you believe that then I have other stuff I want to sell you 34.Myth 7: You can’t compete with the budget of the OEM, AutoTrader, Cars.com Yes at the local level you absolutely can and you absolutely should. Other contributing factors to the search •Location 54% •Product 80% •Avg number of searches 3.5 35.Myth 7: You can’t compete with the budget of the OEM, AutoTrader, Cars.com Yes at the local level you absolutely can and you absolutely should. Location 54% 36.Myth 7: You can’t compete with the budget of the OEM, AutoTrader, Cars.com OEM Involvement 37.Remarketing 23% Email Capture Rate / 37% Call Rate 38.Remarketing 39.Remarketing 40.Remarketing 41.Remarketing 12% Click Through Rate 17% Conversion Rate 42.Integrated Channels Honda CTR – 3% Conversion – 31% 43.Integrated Channels 44.Integrated Channels Budget ‐ $500 Honda Service for Schools www.supplies4kids.com ; Service Your Honda and Help a child with School Supplies! CTR – 7% Conversion – 23% 45.Integrated Channels Budget ‐ $200 CTR – 3% Conversion – 47% 46.Integrated Channels Important: Service your Honda help a child get school supplies http://bit.ly/4kids Haynes Honda donates $1 for each RETWEET Retweets – 1112 142 new followers Conversions – 115 last count 47.Integrated Channels 48.Summery •3rd parties DO NOT have a Brand or a trust advantage. They don’t really even have an SEO advantage •You’re going to get a lot farther if you give visitors what they want, when they want it the way they want it than trying to run a bunch more people to your website and convert the same lousy percentage. •Internet user don’t play favorites with new or used and they both convert just as easily. •Organic links do not have some magic hold over the customer and are very inconsistent when it comes to intent. •To make PPC really work you have to control all dimensions of the online marketing experience. •Split testing is really the only way to consistent double digit conversion rates and constant improvement. • if you’re one that believes the internet is an influencing medium then you may be joining some of our less fortunate car brethren that no longer have a store. •You absolutely can and should eliminate 95% of your dependence on 3rd parties between you and your visitor / customer. •Targeted PPC + Remarketing will pick you up to a 40%+ Conversion Ratio •Integrating Channels the right way increases conversions into the 30%+ range
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Amazing Article from @TheMaria (Maria Ogneva) "Not Down With OPIP (Other People’s Intellectual Property) — Yeah You Know Me!" LOL! I LOVE IT :)

Posted by Sean V. Bradley on October 29, 2010 at 12:57pm
In the spirit of correct attribution, the above title is my cheeky take on Naughty By Nature’s OPP – if you don’t know what this song is, I can’t help you. An unpleasant event happened to me very recently that made this post a necessity. Someone ripped off my content, to pass it off as his own. It wasn’t borrowed or repurposed; it was blatantly copied and pasted, passed off as someone else’s and even shared across Twitter as someone else’s creation. Now don’t get me wrong; this is not the first or the only, or even the last, time this has happened. But this was one of the more offensive examples. Following it, I had several conversations with various folks on Twitter, sharing similar stories. I think there’s a need to talk about proper etiquette when repurposing and attributing, as well as how to protect yourself from stuff like this. I’m going to attack part 1 in this post, and part 2 in a later post. I wrote an article about 12 steps to finding a top-notch social media person, which became a solid hit on the Attensity blog, as well as on SocialMediaToday, where it was syndicated. It was picked as a leading story of the day, and even became the title of the daily content email that it sends to its subscribers (which is not a big deal to some, but I consider it an honor). It is still one of the more commented articles in SocialMediaToday. For a social media content producer, this level of engagement is a compliment of the highest order. While I was on my blogger high, I noticed that there was an article circulated around Twitter, which looked eerily similar. I clicked the link and saw the following (see below): My heart sank. There it was, the article I worked so hard on, lifted word for word, with no commentary, nothing that says: “Hey, I found this great article Maria wrote. I agree with A, B, C, which I’m posting below. I would also like to add X, Y and Z”. With Jeremy’s picture and name prominently featured at the bottom (see below) and with my article starting with the word “I thought,” it basically looked like Jeremy thought what I had written. There was a tiny attribution link at the bottom, which appeared as a meager attempt to cover one’s behind (CYA) in regards to attribution. I just don’t buy that as attribution, and it appears intentionally misleading. On further examination, the site was full of “repurposed” content. To make matters worse, all of this content was duplicated across two sites, both of which has been taken down. The site owner defended himself, saying that that his goal was to “repost gems” found around the Internet. In my opinion, there are enough quality aggregators and syndicates like SocialMediaToday, and they do a pretty bang-up job. So unless that’s your stated purpose, I’ll just assume you are ripping off content. I found it purposefully misleading when Jeremy tweeted this article, retweeted himself, and said nothing when others tweeted it as if it came from him (i.e. “Great article, Jeremy). See below: In my opinion, if you perpetuate wrong attribution, you are complicit in IP theft. Instead, you should correct and say: “Actually this article was written by so-and-so.” This was probably on of the most severe recent example of IP theft; unfortunately, it’s not the only one. I monitor social media for a living, so I have my ear to the ground, and find a lot of my content stolen. Sometimes it’s cut and pasted to look like the author of the blog wrote it, sometimes it’s presented as if I guest posted there, which I didn’t. I’m very deliberate about where I post, and I will always tweet links to such work. I should probably create a page on this blog linking to my work around the WWW. Yes, there are examples like this, of people outright stealing content. But there are also some people who are just bad at social media, or new at it, and clumsily do a bad job of attribution. So I figured I’d write the following 9 steps to ensure that these “mistakes” don’t happen again. First time around they are negligent; second time, they are pre-meditated intellectual property crimes. So here we go; don’t say I didn’t warn you: 1.Ask for permission: Duh! I’m sad to even have to write this point. You should always, always ask someone for permission to repurpose, if you are using more than just a simple quote. You should always link to the original site as well. Creative commons is there to protect creators and consumers of content alike. When deciding whether or not you can repurpose something someone else has written, make sure that it belongs in the category that’s OK to modify and build upon. 2.Add commentary: It’s OK to quote and post passages written by others. We, content creators, want people to use what we create; we want people to find value in it. We want our content to be discussed and debated, so please do use parts of an article, as long as you put your own thoughts around it. Don’t have time to provide your own viewpoint? Don’t have a viewpoint? Hmmm, perhaps blogging isn’t for you. Just sayin’… 3.Clearly quote: You must clearly demark the beginning and the end of the quote and say either before in the text “According to Mr. Smith, [insert quote]”. Remember how we learned to quote correctly in high school; nothing has changed. Plagiarism is still plagiarism. 4.Don’t start with “I” if it’s not you: Never start a quote with “I” or “Mine”, unless you clearly mark who is talking before the quote. Otherwise, it makes it appear that you did something and not the original blogger. Always put a lead in before a sentence that starts with “I” or “Mine”. 5.Use passages, not the whole thing: You should never post the whole post word for word. Borrow a section and put your own commentary around it (see #1). 6.Unless I wrote it for you, it’s not a guest post: It’s not OK to introduce the cut and pasted content as if this author guest-posted on your site. Unless you had a formal arrangement that this person was guest posting, it is NOT a guest post. 7.Give credit in your tweet: If you tweet or share an article that’s inspired by someone else, you should always mark it in a tweet (ht @name is a good approach; “ht” stands for “hat tip”). If someone retweets or shares an article you repurposed and credits you entirely, it your responsibility to point out that it was inspired or based on someone else’s. If someone tweets “hey check out this great article by @xyz”, and you are @xyz you should say “Hey, it was actually @abc’s”. 8.Attribute at the top: Always attribute at the top of the post, most people don’t read to the bottom. Having a little hidden link at the bottom doesn’t count as attribution; it counts as “CYA”. 9.Recognize the purpose of blogging: The purpose of blogging, is to share your unique viewpoint, synthesize the world through your own lens of experience. The purpose is not to collect keywords to drive traffic to your site, so that you can sell your social media “guru” services. By practicing best practices of attribution and preserving others’ intellectual property, you will come across as a thoughtful person. Instead of making bloggers mad, you will build relationships and alliances. In the end, this is what social media is about.
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Re-Posted from Dealer Marketing Magazine Newsletter -Five Tips for a Successful Social Media CRM Strategy -Mike Martinez, CMO Izmo Cars

Posted by Sean V. Bradley on October 29, 2010 at 12:00pm
For Real Results, Don’t Forget Your CRM!



There is endless chatter about social media in the dealer marketing world these days and why wouldn’t there be? Over 500 million people are using one of the “Big 4”—Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and Linked-In. In addition, of the two-thirds of Americans who now visit social networking sites, 43 percent visit them more than once a day. Significantly for the retail industry, and automotive dealers in particular, 68 percent have become a fan or friend of a product, service, company, or group on a social networking site. Without a doubt, dealers need to harness the power of social media. Most of the social media chatter and discussion, however, currently revolves around dealership Facebook pages and Twitter accounts, while almost none of it focuses on one of the most powerful tools in a dealership’s arsenal…the CRM/ILM system.



Yes, tapping social networking can be a little overwhelming and tricky, but if you utilize your CRM and ILM systems, along with some key best practices, you can eliminate much of the confusion and create a straightforward strategy. For example, knowing whether or not a customer belongs to a social site is helpful (and you can do that directly through your CRM/ILM system, with the right plug-ins); but seeing how many friends or contacts that customer has on each site gives you a powerful advantage. Based on the user privacy settings, you can actually go directly from the CRM tool to a customer’s social media page to gain even more information about that customer.



Imagine the selling opportunity with a customer that has over 200 contacts on Facebook alone. If this “influencer” has a good experience at your dealership, then recommends your dealership to his/her friends via a post on the wall, and those 200 contacts have their own friends, the customer’s experience becomes viral across all of those contacts. Your marketing efforts can grow exponentially by targeting just one prospect and then spreading the positive message by word of mouth or, in this case, “text of mouth”! And this is just one opportunity you can leverage combining the right CRM system and plug-ins, as well as the following simple best practices:



1. Enhance your CRM data to include social media information for each of your customers and prospects.



2. Use the enhanced data to create outbound CRM/ILM-based campaigns that target social network influencers in your database.



3. Target your social media campaigns. Don’t just email the same content asking everyone to be your friend, make the request relevant to the recipient.



4. Train your store to review the social media data (recent posts, friends, etc.), in addition to the customer’s history of interactions with your store, before they interact with the customer.



5. Measure, measure, measure!



Bottom line: just as you should never forget your CRM and ILM systems when planning your email and direct mail campaigns, be sure to include these critical systems as you map out your social media plan…it is a lot easier than you think, just try it!



Mike Martinez is chief marketing officer at izmocars.com. For more information about izmocars and iCRM social media plug-ins, go to www.izmocars.com/solutions/icrm.html.
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Dealer Marketing Article (November 2010) "BDC vs. Sales Floor"

Posted by Sean V. Bradley on October 27, 2010 at 10:30pm

BDC vs. Sales Floor
Does your sales force communicate effectively with your internet/BDC department? If you are like a lot of dealers the chances are that the answer is “NO”. I have worked in a few dealerships over the years where I have experienced the same problems as an Internet director. Nowadays, I have been working with dealerships nationally on a training and consulting level where I still see the same problems arise.

So how do we fix this common problem?

I learned from my previous dealer about the power of having mandatory weekly meetings. I am talking about sales meetings with sales managers, sales consultants, internet/bdc coordinators, and the internet director. The meeting needs to be mandatory and held once a week. These sales meetings need to be a half hour to an hour long with the purpose of uniting the two departments together.
The meeting must cover any news or updates in the dealership regarding advertisements and store policies. If there is an advertisement running for that weekend, there needs to be a customized script or outline created for the BDC so that the calls are answered properly. This advertisement needs to be reviewed in this meeting so that everyone is on the same page when speaking to customers.

The biggest goal of this meeting is to allow both departments to see how they operate. The way to do this is to role play around the room the phone scripts using coordinators and sales staff. Also, it is important to role play the sales process of how the customer will be handled once they arrive to the showroom. It is important that sales consultants and sales managers know what is being said on the phones and how it is being said. Why? It makes a smooth transition from speaking on the phone with one person and working in the showroom with another. When the customer comes in and works with a sales consultant, there will never be a “he said, she said” situation because the sales representative will know what is being said on the phone and will have the knowledge to check the notes of the conversation in the CRM.

What will these meetings do to your people?

These meetings boost strong morale in the dealership. The meeting needs to be positive and motivational at the same time. While these meetings are serious, people need to laugh and enjoy being in that conference room for almost an hour. It is a great idea to have bagels and coffee in the room for breakfast. One of the most powerful things I did at the dealership was taking pictures and videos at these meetings for memories. We need to understand that people love memories and they appreciate being remembered. There is nothing more rewarding then to look at them one year later and remember how effective these meetings were.

As the communication improves in the dealership by utilizing this practice, both departments will work together. The sales staff in the dealership will start to see value in the internet department and will only show respect as they will realize that the BDC is there to help them make money. When you motivate and lead your people by building value in the right processes, you will only see positive change.
Let’s face it, when I left my last dealership I had sales consultants that were sad about me leaving because of how I ran my department. This is the effect that needs to happen in your dealership right now. If you are not having the success that you desire in your sales and BDC department performance, it is a great idea to consider how the departments communicate with one another.


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(PR Newswire Press Release 10/28/10) Automotive Internet Sales, Digital Marketing and Social Media Leviathan Sean V. Bradley, CEO of Dealer Synergy launches www.AutomotiveInternetSales.com

Posted by Sean V. Bradley on October 27, 2010 at 10:03pm
Automotive Internet Sales, Digital Marketing and Social Media Leviathan Sean V. Bradley, CEO of Dealer Synergy launches www.AutomotiveInternetSales.com PHILADELPHIA, October 28 – Sean V. Bradley has been the leading authority for Automotive Internet Sales, Business Development, Social Media and Digital Marketing for over 11 years. Sean V. Bradley has solidified Dealer Synergy as the most advanced Training and Consulting team in the industry today. Dealer Synergy has thee most successful Internet Departments and Business Development Centers in the country. Sean and his Dealer Synergy team have set trends in the Automotive industry via the 13 different national publications that he writes for as well as the thousands of Dealer Principals, GMs, GSMs and Internet / BDC Directors he has trained. Sean V. Bradley recently launched the Automotive Industry’s Most Powerful and Useful Social Media / Networking site called www.automotiveinternetsales.com (AIS). Automotive Internet Sales is built on the NING platform but totally customized by the Dealer Synergy Advanced Digital Marketing team. Sean watched a lot of the websites and social networking sites in the industry for years and identified their Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (S.W.O.T.). There are some very good sites out there but most are done on a part time basis with little to no resources. Sean V. Bradley has created a complete www.automotiveinternetsales.com team to build the automotive industry’s best resource for anything and everything Automotive Internet Sales related. www.automotiveinternetsales.com is designed for Dealer Principals, GMs, Internet Directors, BDC Managers, OEM Reps, Vendors, Trainers, Gurus etc… There is NO hidden agenda, everyone is invited to join and participate. The only rule is that everyone needs to respect each other and provide valuable content and information for the community via blog posts, pictures, and video. AIS has a tremendous amount to offer the Automotive Internet Sales Community. Here is a breakdown of the site’s functionality: • Monthly Award for Automotive Internet Sales “Dealership of the Month”. And there will be an in depth interview with a SUCCESSFUL Internet Department / Dealership. • Like a “20 Group”… There is a “Best Idea” section of the site. • “Ask an Expert” section… • “Breaking News” Section. • “Social Media” section. • “Free Resources”… There are SO MANY things a dealership can do for FREE to improve their scenario… This section archives ALL of the FREE resources and ideas, tools, software and websites that can assist Dealerships get to the next level. • “Online Resource” section… There is a thorough list of online resources like AutoSuccess Magazine, Driving Sales, Dealer Refresh, InternetSalesManagers.Org etc… • “Online Reputation Management” resource section… • RSS feeds… • Industry Events Calendar… • Google Resources… • Various Contests and Give-a-ways… • And one of the most popular sections of the site is the “Top 10 Lists”… There is a VERY, VERY Thorough “Top 10 Lists” section, that has the “Top 10 List” for almost EVERYTHING! For example… The “Top 10 Website Providers”, “Top 10 Social Media Companies”, “Top 10 Automotive Internet Sales Trainers” etc… For more information on Sean V. Bradley, please go to www.seanvbradley.com or www.facebook.com/seanvbradley For more information on Dealer Synergy Inc. Please go to www.dealersynergy.com For more information on Automotive Internet Sales, please go to www.automotiveinternetsales.com or www.internetsales20group.com Source - Synergized Media Sean V. Bradley – sean@dealersynergy.com 856-264-0564
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Getting Ready for NADA—Get Ready for Social Marketing / Brett Stevenson- Dealer Marketing Magazine

Posted by Sean V. Bradley on October 27, 2010 at 1:33pm
Despite the ups and downs of the last year, it appears the auto business is slowly moving upward on the activity meter. If this trend holds, 2011 should be a pretty good year for the auto business, but you need to start you planning now. Since we’re in October, it’s time to make plans to attend the NADA Convention in San Francisco February 5-7, 2011. To get the best hotel rooms and flights, you might consider booking now to save yourself the scramble later. This promises to be an innovative year on the exhibition floor. As in past years, there will probably be one, stronger theme throughout the hall. My prediction is Social Marketing. I think we can look forward to half the booth holders adding some form of social marketing to their offerings. This prediction is based on the trends we are seeing in the larger product businesses like Proctor & Gamble. Big business has discovered that you can reach a half million eyeballs using Facebook and engage the customer with the product for a lot less money than it costs to reach that same number of people using traditional media. Watch for auto dealers to ramp up their engagement with social media sources like Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare. To the skeptics that say, “Consumers don’t want to communicate with an auto dealership on Facebook,” you are wrong. What consumers don’t want is to be hit with sales messages on Facebook. The secret to Facebook and all social marketing is the concept of “giving.” This is hard concept for us in the car business to grasp. The value of Facebook to an auto dealer is to make friends with people who will eventually need to buy a car. You don’t make friends by saying, “Hey we have cars on sale!” You make friends by saying, “Acme Ford is participating in the March for Breast Cancer. We will donate additional cash to the March for every person that signs up to be on our team.” Or, another “giving” form of social marketing would be to say, “If you’re a Mustang fan, check out the Mustang Club that Acme Ford has formed. Sign up today and receive our free book, The Ford Mustang: American Classic, just for joining the club.” Do you see the difference between trying to push people with sales messages instead of pulling them with “giving” messages? A good way to learn more about using social marketing for your dealership is to go on Facebook and see how other businesses are engaging customers. The ones with the most friends are probably doing it correctly. Once you have earned the trust of a lot of “friends” on Facebook, you can communicate with a ton of potential customers without spending anything in the way of media dollars. Zero is a really nice price for marketing. If you are not savvy at Facebook, find someone who is to handle your Facebook site. Just make sure they understand “giving” vs. pushing.
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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…

Read more…

Re: AutoSuccess October Article on Internet Sales 20 Group from - Dave Walsh

Posted by Sean V. Bradley on October 25, 2010 at 4:30pm

Sean:

I believe in the thought process but the variables of market size, ethnicity, income level, and educational background taint those numbers more than anything else. We have been involved in 20 groups for the past 5 years and I know dealers that print multiple statements (phony financials) to exceed group performance averages. I also know that Dealers need more training and input from the Manufacturers to get a handle on internet marketing and sales.
We need you to work with GM, Chrysler, and Ford to get us caught up and moving forward.
There are no easy answers and thanks for listening,
Dave Walsh

Re:

Dave,

Thank you for your email in response to my article in AutoSuccess Magazine.

I too have sen fictional numbers from dealers but that is what an Internet Sales 20 Group Moderator can filter through... Plus, not everyone is going to be allowed into the 20 group. this 20 Group is ONLY for dealers that want to be successful...

I am excited for our November 20 group, there will be a lot of Dealer Principals, GMs and High Level Internet Directors... These people I personally interviewed before I allowed membership. They are ALL focused on Success.

I would love an opportunity to speak to you and brainstorm some ideas with you.

*** Please sign up for www.automotiveinternetsales.com ITS FREE and it is the technology that supports the 20 Group. I would love to hear your opinion on it-

SVB

Read more…

What is REALLY vital for your Dealership Website...? (No Vendor Spin PLEASE)

Posted by Sean V. Bradley on October 24, 2010 at 10:05am

Ok,

This is an oldie but goodie :)

I want to hear all of your opinions...

What is TRULY Vital for a SUCCESSFUL Dealership Website...?

I have Dealership after Dealership ask me these questions:

* Who is the best dealership website company?

* What are the best features for a dealeship site?

* Should I have a Flash site or not and why...?

* How many websites should I have?

* What is onsite versus offsite SEO?

* How often should I update my website?

* What content is important for my website?

**** And on and on the questions go... Please understand these are NOT the ONLY questions... I am simply trying to start the conversation...

I would love to hear from all of you as to what makes the MOST POWERFUL and Successful Dealersgip Website Solution and WHY?

I look forward to your posts

SVB-

Read more…

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