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LA Williams, national trainer for Dealer Synergy speaks on the upcoming Internet Sales 20 Group Workshop in Chicago, IL held  on October 23, 24, & 25, 2012. Professionals such as Ralph Paglia, Robert Wiesman, AJ Rucker and Peter Martin are just a FEW of the automotive industry's finest, which will be guest speakers at this event.

http://www.internetsales20group.com

http://www.dealersynergy.com/

 

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Discount code: $500 off EOF12
http://www.internetsales20group.com
http://www.automotiveinternetsales.com 
Why the Internet Sales 20 Group is the ONLY SHOW in town:

Internet Sales 20 Group is a REAL "20 Group" with an attendance of 90% Dealer Principals & General Managers
Digital Dealer is a Huge Buffet... That means that there a lot of different companies, some contradicting each other, some with speakers with no "speaking" / facilitating experience, training etc... There is no "instructional" design nor a beginning, middle and end.
The Internet Sales 20 Group has invested a tremendous amount of Money in gathering "Field Intelligence" on a 20-25% of the Entire group... The First 25 dealerships are having 6 Key Performance Indicators measured: SEO, Reputation, 2 Recorded Mystery Shopped Calls, Website, Leads and Social Media. The Internet 20 Group is Not only gathering field intelligence but will also create a "mini" 20 group composite for the entire group. Digital Dealer doesn't do that... they can't do that. They do not have the expertise or resources to do that.
Internet Sales 20 Group has Numerous New Speakers including Dealer Principal Speakers like Dealer Principal, Paul Sansone Jr., President of Peruzzi Toyota, Bill Finocchiaro, GSM of Alan Vines Auto, Durran Cage and More... 
Plus Ralph Paglia (AutoCon founder... And Former Major Presence of Digital Dealer), JD Rucker, Cory Mosley, Stan Sher and more
Why are the top automotive industry people like Jim Ziegler, Ralph Paglia, Brian Pasch, Jared Hamilton, JD Rucker, Cory Mosley not supporting Digital Dealer... why is that? Ask them :) When you think "Automotive Internet Sales" Internet Sales... these people come to mind and they are NOT there!
Sean V. Bradley and Karen Bradley are both Certified FranklinCovey Trainers and the only official company partnered with FranklinCovey.
Group 20 Membership include special "Exit" strategy / workshop for you to create individual action plans for each and every member of the 20 group. You will be coached to create immediate actions / implementation plans. We understand that when you go to a workshop or convention, there is sensory overload and some people might not know where to even start... No Problem, We Do! We will help you figure it out too! Digital Dealer does not, they can not... they do not have the expertise or resources to do so.
We have 2 different nationally recognized success stories from 2 different magazines.that are members for this upcoming Internet Sales 20 Group. There will be other 20 group members with National Cover Stories and Nationally recognized Success stories in attendance.
Digital Dealer has a Hugh Exhibit Hall, there will be a lot of vendors there, a lot of people spending a lot of money to sell you things. The Internet Sales 20 Group does not have an exhibit hall. The Internet Sales 20 Group is not a convention... it is not a "vendor festival".
VIP Party - Experience Chicago like a star and ride our Car Ad Guys sponsored limos to the First Class 20 Group VIP event sponsored by ReachLocal.
If you want to gamble, catch a Vegas show, have fun and or a vacation. Vegas is Great! But if you want to learn, if you want to be successful... chicago is the better choice.
Money Back Guarantee - If you are not completely satisfied with the 20 Group experience and do not walk away with valuable information that will bring your dealership to the next level, then we will return your money back.
There is nothing wrong with the Digital Dealer program or convention but the Internet Sales 20 Group is hands down a better choice! Sign up Here!
Automotive Internet Sales 20 Group Update - Chicago, October 23rd - 25th
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http://www.neilhuffman.com
http://www.internetsales20group.com

Automotive Digital Marketing Manager of Dealer Group in Kentucky - 17 Years in Automotive Sales

Quick interview with Joe Turner, Digital Marketing Manager with the Neil Huffman Auto Group. Joe has been in the industry for over 17 years and is a veteran in Automotive Internet Sales. Joe gives some advice based on his experience(s)

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CarsDirect.com is pleased to be a presenting sponsor at the upcoming  Dealer Synergy Internet 20 Sales Group, to be held October 23-25 at the Hilton Downtown Chicago. This groundbreaking sales workshop is focused  exclusively on Internet sales.

CarsDirect's session will be hosted by seasoned Internet sales experts who will share exclusive 2012 CarsDirect data aggregated from thousands of online car shoppers. The workshop will explore the latest buying trends, reasons customers aren't buying, and how dealers can change their current processes to  immediately improve their closing ratios.

Attendance at this event will be limited to provide focused, intensive strategy and planning designed for you. Secure your spot today!!

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2011 Case Study: Bonfire Helps an Unlikely Industry Get Social

Company: Beaverton Auto Group

Campaign Length: Nine Months

Result: Facebook interactions increased 1,021%, Facebook fans increased 172%, and Facebook cost-per-fan decreased 38.2% (averages)

The Challenge

Beaverton Auto Group consists of three auto dealerships: Beaverton Nissan, Beaverton Hyundai, and Damerow Ford. A locally owned and operated company, Beaverton Auto Group was quick to realize and understand the dramatic shift to social media in an industry that has relied heavily on traditional mediums.

Each of the three brands at hand have experienced their own significant challenges during the recession and natural disasters in Japan, which caused difficulty in maintaining a consistent supply of inventory. Bonfire was appointed to launch the company into the social space to build brand awareness, increase web traffic, nurture their communities, and ultimately drive sales.

The Customer Experience

Auto dealerships aren’t exactly known for fantastic customer service, and many customers dread stepping onto the lot. So instead of simply telling everyone how great their customer service is, weshowed them by displaying photos of happy customers next to their brand new cars. Not only did this provide an avenue to build trust among potential customers, but it also helped us grow a relevant fan base—one filled with existing customers and not random visitors who want nothing to do with the product. The pictures quickly became a hit, with customers often asking for their pictures to be taken before the conclusion of the sale and showing gratitude in the comments.

We also provided exceptional customer service via social channels, further contributing to our highly interactive communities.

Incentives

One of the most significant shifts in social media in 2011 was the expectation of the consumer to be rewarded for connecting with brands online. Knowing this was a key to success, we wanted to do something fun to reward our fan base but also add value and generate business for our client.

We achieved this in several ways throughout the campaign, the first of which was exclusive service specials for Facebook fans. To make this process ultra-convenient for the customer, we enabled them to download and print the coupons right from Facebook vs. making them click through to another site. We also ran an iPad 2 Giveaway as part of our “fan giveaway” value proposition.

Facebook Advertising

Most auto dealerships use their Facebook pages exclusively to advertise. Not our clients.

We advertise where it was meant to be—using Facebook ads. They allowed us to extend our campaign reach significantly while allocating our budget only to our target demographics. Throughout the campaign, the ads were the highest generator of new fan growth than any other medium.

The Results

A well-executed strategy, optimized tactics, and a focus on valuable content yielded phenomenal results over our nine month period from February–October 2011. In fact, Beaverton Hyundai now has more Facebook fans than any Hyundai dealership in the nation.

Beaverton Nissan

Facebook Fans: +183.2%

Facebook Interactions: +668.4%

Facebook Advertising Cost-Per-Fan: -53.7%

Beaverton Hyundai

Facebook Fans: +260.5%

Facebook Interactions: +1,480.6%

Facebook Advertising Cost-Per-Fan: -62.4%

Damerow Ford

Facebook Fans: +73.4%

Facebook Interactions: +914.8%

Facebook Advertising Cost-Per-Fan: +1.4%

Source - http://bonfiresocialmedia.com/2011-case-study-bonfire-helps-an-unlikely-industry-get-social/

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Can You Sell Cars Working 4 Hours A Week?

Can you imagine? Instead of working 60 plus hours per week, you show up at 9 AM on Monday and weekend is just four hours away! What would you do with all the free time? I would probably play enough golf to be on the PGA tour, lift weights and work out everyday, and then on Saturday, maybe go to Home Depot, buy some wallpaper, maybe get some flooring, stuff like that. Maybe Bed, Bath & Beyond, I don’t know.

For those of you who haven’t read The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss, you’ll be really disappointed to know that I am not starting a revolt to reduce dealership hours from 9AM-9PM Monday through Saturday to 1 4-hour workday. However, I am confident that I will save you a ton of time and be able to help you make more money.

Let’s get started..

Stop checking your email every five minutes!

Prior to reading the 4-hour workweek I was super guilty of this. By checking your email every minute you can’t get anything done. What happens is you start to work on something important like an email blast, website analytics, advertising, etc. Then you get an email from your factory rep with daily sales update, while checking this email you get a SPAM email that you have to unsubscribe from, and then you get a bill emailed to you that you print out to authorize payment for and before you know it it’s been a half an hour and you completely forgot about your email blast.

Instead of checking your email every 5 minutes, set 2 times per day that you check email say 12 PM and 5 PM. I’m sure it’s your habit to check their email the first thing you get into work each day, but you must break this habit! Henry Evans in the book The Hour a Day Entrepreneur uses a sports analogy, rather than start the day on the defensive responding to emails you want to start the day on the offensive. Making stuff happen, making profit happen.

It is a difficult habit to break, but you must keep Outlook closed and even turn off the email notifications on your iPhone. Some of you might have managers or the owners above you whose emails you feel obligated to quickly respond to, however if you explain to these individuals that you are only checking your emails at 12 PM and 5 PM each day in an effort to increase efficiency and for them to call you with anything urgent. You will find that responses to most of their emails can wait and that they will call you if they truly have something urgent.

Single tasking is the new multi-tasking!

Poker is a passionate hobby of mine and I play in the WSOP main event most summers, but the majority of my play used to be online before it got shut down in the US. When playing online poker I had 3 22” monitors set up playing 12 tables

simultaneously (there are people who play many more tables than this!). While it was fun and exciting to play so many tables, I found that my win rate was much lower than if I played only 3 or 4 tables. The reason… playing less tables I was able to focus more on maximizing as much profit from the hands I was ahead in and minimize loss in the hands I was behind in.

The same principles can be applied in the dealership. At one point, I would have my email, Facebook, Twitter, CRM, website editor, vAuto and instant messenger all open at the same time. Why? Because it was awesome and made me feel really important to have so many windows open. Naturally all of this leads to little focus and a lot of distraction. Now, I’ll try to keep only the things open I need, for the most part this is just one program. However, there are times where I’ll need multiple things open like if I’m desking deals for instance that I may need multiple things open.

In terms of getting things done. I set 12 month, 6 month, and 1 month goals and funnel each of these goals to specific daily to dos. I use Evernote the night before to prioritize the entire next day to do list. As I mentioned you want to head into work on the offensive making stuff happen. On a given day the priority might be a customer we are real close with closing, sometimes it’s working on the CRM action plan, writing a press release, sales training, etc. However, they are prioritized and align with my goals, instead of someone’s email.

Eliminate work other people can do

Prior to reading the 4-Hour Workweek there were countless things that I would do on a weekly basis and the entire time while doing them I would be thinking someone else really could be doing this for me. The reason I didn’t, I was too lazy to teach someone else how to do it. I am sure there are countless things that you could have someone else do as well. A few things that come to mind are reporting sales, sales logs, and dealer trades but I am sure there are countless other things that you can have someone else do for you as well.

Below is a great chart that is included in the 4-Hour Work Week on finding stuff to outsource to a personal assistant. I have found that there are enough people in the dealership to keep busy that a personal assistant isn’t necessary. Finance Managers are great people to utilize because they are detail oriented and while they aren’t selling products you might utilize their skills rather than have them checking Facebook while they are waiting for another deal. Other people that come to mind are secretaries or warranty administrators. I would recommend not having sales people doing stuff like this because there are a lot of sales people who will make these things a higher priority than selling cars.

Empowerment

Another thing that is mentioned in the 4-Hour Workweek that is a big time saver is empowering your employees. Now, truthfully I’ve yet to implement the majority of the stuff I am suggesting so these are merely ideas. However, Tim Ferriss shares about how he would get 200+ emails per day from the customer service side of his business about different customer complaints and how each should be handled. He would spend 9-5 replying to each email about how to handle the situation. Ultimately he empowered his customer service to fix any customer problem under $100 without contacting him and this instantly reduced his emails from 200 per day into fewer than 20 per week.

In the New Gold Standard is explained how the Ritz-Carlton empowers each employee up to $2,000 per day to take care of any customer issues and also to exceed their expectations. Naturally this empowerment must been managed, but both Tim’s company and the Ritz-Carlton note that such empowerment has had little to no effect on the bottom-line. Yet, the quick resolution of problems has undoubtedly increased customer happiness. Even if such empowerment does minimally affect the bottom-line, the freedom from constant interruption this provides you and your managers makes it well worth it.

Dealership specific example of how this could be effectively implemented would be to provide a structure for internet pricing for BDC or Internet Sales Reps so they don’t have to check with a Sales Manager for every price. Also for Service Advisors to take care of any problems and unhappiness on the service drive.

Time Vampires

In Dan Kennedy’s book No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs Dan talks about one of the of the biggest threats to your time and energy, time vampires. Time vampires can come in the form of coworkers, vendors, and even customers who have no regard for your productivity and are constantly interrupting you with meaningless questions, stories, or gossip. Some time vampires he talks about in the book are Mr. Have-You-Got-A-Minute, Mr. Trivia, and Mr. Soap Opera. These people need no description, you know who I’m talking about.

A couple of things to drive a stake into the time vampires is to end the open door policy! If you are working on something and can’t be interrupted put your phone on do not disturb and put a big sign outside your office to not come in for a set period of time. I tend to bounce around from dealership to dealership and therefore don’t have an office so when I sit down to get work done I put on headphones. When people see me banging on my keyboard and working diligently with my headphones on they know it better be good to interrupt me.

The last time vampire is Mr. Meeting.

Meetings

I have gone full circle on meetings. I used to be a Mr. Meeting. I thought that the old school car guys were crazy because they never seem to ever have meetings. However, after reading the 4-Hour Workweek and some of the other books I’ve mentioned I have realized that there can’t be anything less productive than a meeting. I used to take every meeting asked for by AutoTrader, Cars.com, CARFAX, and if you are vendor reading this and I forgot your company I apologize but the good news is I probably had a meeting with your company too.

So don’t let the vendors talk you into going over your account performance because this is simply an opportunity for them to upsell you on a higher version of their product or waste your time. Meetings should only be used to solve a pre- defined problem and must have a set agenda. So if you are having a problem or want to know about a higher version of the product, you set up the meeting with them.

Side note: one meeting I do recommend having is a morning meeting, most call it a save a deal meeting. I think it is so important that i will go over it in another blog post.

Questions:

Have you read the 4-Hour Workweek and if so what did you get from it?

Are you applying any 4 Hour Workweek rules at your dealership or to your personal process?

 

Source - http://www.dealerrefresh.com/hour-hour-work-week-dealership/#more-8007

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

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Its official everyone! We have locked in the Date, Time, Location and are currently working on the details for our upcoming Internet Sales 20 Group!


Let Me give you some of the highlights...

  • This is a "REAL" 20 Group... An Internet Sales / Digital Marketing 20 Group. Complete with Bench Mark Composites. I have spoken to over 75 NADA & NCM 20 Groups, I have worked with current and former NADA / NCM Moderators as well as Dealer Principals to create the MOST Amazing Composite & Benchmark Data.
  • I have a FULL Partner on the Actual Composite... A Dealer Principal with over 27 years Automotive Experience!
  • The FIRST 20 Dealerships to SIGN UP for this 20 Group Workshop (BEFORE September 15th) will receive a FREE SWOT Analysis:
    • We will conduct 2 different Mystery Shop Calls, record the MP3, GRADE the calls on BOTH quantitative and qualitative measures.
    • We will evaluate your dealership's Social Media Relevancy
    • We will evaluate your website and create a "punch-list" to identify opportunities to evolve and enhance your site
    • We will analyze your dealer sip's online reputation
    • We will evaluate your dealership's SEO penetration and visibility....
    • And some other important evaluations...
  • We have AMAZING High Level DEALERSHIP Speakers... NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED!
    • Bill Finocchiaro - President of Peruzzi Toyota and COVER STORY for Auto Dealer Monthly Magazine. He took his store's Internet Department from 30+ units per month online to OVER 117 units per month online!
    • Durran Cage - General Sales Manager for Alan Vines Automotive... He will on the COVER of AutoSuccess Magazine THIS SEPTEMBER!! He went from Chrysler OEM Rep, To and Internet Manager selling 27 units per month to building his department to OVER 95 units per month and NOW he JUST got promoted to GSM!
    • Robert Wiesman - Nationally recognized by AutoSuccess Magazine for his profound internet sales success as a SHOWROOM SALES CONSULTANT! He sells OVER 25-30 units per month and has MORE visibility online than most dealerships!
  • We have Some INCREDIBLE Industry speakers in the roster:
    • Susan Givens - Publisher of AutoSuccess Magazine
    • Cory Mosley
    • AJ Leblanc / Car-Mercial
    • Carsdirect
    • Peter Martin - Cactus Sky
    • Fran Taylor
    • Stan Sher
    • Karen Bradley - Dealer Synergy / FranklinCovey
    • Sean Bradley - Dealer Synergy / FranklinCovey
  • We are going to have an AMAZING VIP Networking Cocktail Event & Dinner

*** There is MUCH, MUCH more... I just wanted to give you a little teaser to what is coming. October seems a long time away BUT... it will come faster than we all realize.


So, PLEASE mark your calendars!

Message me if you have any questions!

UPCOMING Internet Sales 20 Group - Mark Your Calendars... October 23rd, 24th and 25th Downtown Chicago at the Hilton

WEBSITE COMING SOON!

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http://www.dealersynergy.com 

I had a GM and an Internet Director from a Dealer Group in Kansas fly out to meet with my at my office for some "pre training"... I also had the President of Peruzzi Toyota at my office. It turned into an awesome "Synergy Session".

Listen to what the President of Peruzzi Toyota has to say about incremental business and I love they way he breaks down the numbers from Internet ?Phone and Floor Traffic!

Automotive Internet Sales with Sean V. Bradley, A Dealer Principal, A GM & An Internet Director

http://www.peruzzitoyota.com
http://www.seanvbradley.com

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SPONSORS