http://www.internetsales20group.com 

Man Bites Dog? A Way to Fight the Deleted Google Reviews Dilemma

No different than numerous dealers, a client of mine, 25-year dealer Mohammad Ahmed―president of Northend Motors in Canton, Mass., in the Boston area―had numerbous positive reviews, all collected legitimately through very satisfied customers, stripped from his Google Places listing. Before this action, his dealership rated a score of 28 out of 30, which by Google standards is defined as “Extraordinary to Perfection.”

Removing his 145 legitimate positive reviews is one thing, but Google chose to leave six negativereviews and three negative scores without reviews―he has collected one positive review since. His dealership score has fallen to a 5, which is defined as “Poor to Fair” by Google.

According to articles posted by industry experts online, 70 percent of customers are using online reviews as part of their consideration as to where to buy. The results of Google’s actions have had a devastating effect on Northend Motors, even though they have hundreds of other reviews posted on CitySearch, Dealer Rater, InsiderPages and Yahoo.

Mohammad is not alone! Many other dealers all over the country have noticed the same thing.

How can you possibly fight a company like Google―which is so big and all-encompassing―where you have no real customer service contact and their own sales and engineering sides do not even communicate on their changed algorithm issues? E-mails sure aren’t going to do any good.

My brainstorm today was for Mohammad to do what so many consumers seem to do when they have a problem with their car … contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office. It may have worked. If you, too, have had a problem, I suggest you take similar action immediately!

The following is directly from Mohammad: 

“I called FTC, (877) 382-4357, and also used FTC.gov and IC3.gov (Internet company complaints). I have not filed a complaint in writing yet because the person I spoke to on the phone took the complaint over the phone. My complaint number is 39764404. After I explained in five minutes what Google had done throughout the country to good businesses, she was very receptive and (she) also said this doesn't help the consumer because they are only seeing the bad reviews. ‘They should see both, only then a consumer can make an educated decision.’ She recommended that we should have every business that we know and dealership that we know file a complaint and that will speed up this process because this is unfair to business and to consumers.”

Mohammad also reached out to his attorney general. He was less successful there since Massachusetts only takes complaints from individuals—not businesses. However, they thanked him and gave him a feeling that even though they don’t take complaints from businesses, if they received enough calls they would take their own action. Each state has its own position, so don’t rely solely on Massachusetts’ stance.

If you are a dealer or dealership employee, this is where you come in. Have you checked your Google reviews? If you haven’t, you should. Nearly every client I have has found their positive reviews have disappeared. A prominent dealer and client of mine in central Kansas had hundreds of reviews and ascore of 29 disappear, leaving but four negative reviews that averaged five-and-half-months old. They now have nine reviews (five new) and no score. Any doubt how that impacts a business?

I am not an attorney, but my opinion is what Google has done reeks of a deceptive trade practice (treble damages), and I think it could well cross the line of libel.

If you have the same problem, I urge you to call the FTC using the number Mohammad provided. He said you are welcome to reference his case number. I would also recommend you contact your state attorney general’s office.

Very few dealers, no matter their size, can have an immediate impact with a company the size of Google. The federal and state governments can. Google just paid a $22 million fine recently (I know, a drop in the bucket for them), and they will have to answer to the FTC.

It is their business, and they can cause changes like this at will, unless it materially misrepresents what your customers previously posted. Removing your positive reviews and leaving negative ones does just that. You may never get your positive reviews back, but just as the woman at the FTC said, leaving the old negative reviews just isn’t right. Hopefully, they will relent and repost the positive reviews; but if not, with enough of a voice against them, I would think they will quickly remove the old reviews as well.

Thanks for your ears today. Good selling, and for once, maybe the FTC can be viewed as a friend of the dealership as opposed to the bad guys. Go do your part!

Best regards,

GG

Greg Goebel, CEO

Auto Dealer Monthly, LLC

Source - http://www.autodealerpeople.com/profiles/blogs/man-bites-dog-a-way-to-fight-the-deleted-google-reviews-dilemma

Do You Have Fake Twitter Followers?

Source - http://www.automotivedigitalmarketing.com/profiles/blog/show?id=1970539%3ABlogPost%3A407314&xgs=1&xg_source=msg_share_post&page=1#first_comment

Despite social media’s rapid ascent to its current status as the “must-have” channel for all marketers, the most effective marketing tool for business may still be email marketing. A well planned and executed email campaign has the ability to produce higher rates of engagement and user action than a similar social campaign. Not bad for a channel that’s been around since before Mark Zuckerberg was even born.

However, email can be a difficult medium to master for many marketers. From subject lines to send times, there are hundreds of variables that affect the success or failure of a given email campaign. In a recent Pardot survey, respondents reported using email marketing for a number of different purposes as well. With so many elements to consider, email can be overwhelming for many marketers. It’s for this reason that we have created the infographic below to help marketers design successful campaigns quickly, by focusing on the steps that matter the most.

Source - http://www.pardot.com/infographic/6-steps-effective-email-marketing-infographic 

Having looked back over nearly two decades of automotive advertising from newspapers to niche auto and RV magazines, I find it interesting that nothing has changed. The methodology and strategy has had no improvements which begs to ask: are the results getting any better or are they continuing to diminish?

One of the reasons I believe the strategy used for traditional advertising isn't performing as well as it used to is because, for the most part, ads haven't changed or evolved to meet modern consumer demands and expectations. Consumer expectations are continually evolving and it's vital for any dealership to take some time to figure out with laser accuracy what group of people each ad is meant to target and work to unveil their emotional needs.

An example would be to say that week one's ad will focus on attracting single mothers with small children or young families. In this instance, plastering a hundred different vehicles on a page doesn't really speak to these groups of people. Running an ad, however, that focuses on a common vehicle that these consumers would purchase (a mini-van or compact SUV), as well as the safety features of that vehicle pulls on the heart strings of the consumer and attracts them into coming up with reasons to purchase.

Picture, price, picture, price, picture, price just doesn't work any more - and let's face it, when it did; those ads were only targeting a measly 2 - 5% of in-market consumers. 

By focusing on consumer expectations, determining what target market you will try and reach with each ad, and determining the best way to uncover the consumers emotional needs, you'll pump some life back into your traditional marketing efforts and start tracking a positive return on your advertising investment.

What say you?

http://www.dealersynergy.com 

Automotive Social Media - Automotive Digital Marketing - Car Dealerships Social Media - How To?

Think you know all there is to know about Pinterest? Think again. Here are Five things that perhaps you may not know about the Pin-loving social network:

1) Pinterest is the Third Most Popular Social Network

• Of course, we can classify a website's popularity in many different ways. However, since launching in 2010 and gaining a head full of steam this year, Pinterest has cemented itself as the 3rd most popular social networking site, just behind Facebook & Twitter
• In March, they received 104 MILLION visitors. (I'll let that sink in.....) 
• That is immense growth for a site that is barely two years old. 

2) It's not Just Women....

• Once Pinterest gained traction earlier this year, a narrative grew around the social networking site claiming it was just for women. But, a closer look indicates otherwise. 
• The percentage breakdown is this 65% women/35% men. While this isn't necessarily a balanced scale, it does indicate that the website isn't just used by one specific gender/group of people. 

3) You're spending more time on Pinterest than...

• Believe it or not, users are spending more time on Pinterest than they are on Facebook. A recent study found that the average Facebook user spends approximately 12 minutes on Facebook, keeping an eye on what their "Friends" are doing, while Pinterest users are spending 16 minutes on the site.
• For some perspective, the average YouTube user spends 16.5 minutes. 

4) Silicon Valley?

• While most tech startups seem to originate in the depths of Silicon Valley and some in New York City, Pinterest started in the Midwest. It goes to show you: a great idea can take you anywhere, regardless of its latitude!

5) Self Promotion is indeed allowed

• When Pinterest was first unleashed into the virtual world, it was simple: pin a few recipes, a few photos to a board, and interact with others. 
• However, now the folks over at Pinterest (as of March), have allowed self-promotion for businesses. 

Are you a Pinterest addict? 

http://www.dealersynergy.com 

Social Media Guidelines

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

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

I know what you're thinking – who does this guy think he is? How does he know what my “thing” is. Good – I have your attention.

I find it absolutely fascinating just how many dealerships I've walked into over the past couple of months and found, you ready for this? Silence. No customers on the lot, sales people hanging out around reception, flirting, cracking jokes, texting and the list goes on. Everything opposite of what should be happening is happening.

I spent a few minutes with a client at a major franchise dealership just last week talking about this exact topic. He is at his whits end with how things are looking at his dealership but just doesn't know how to turn things around and foster a productive change at his store.

Are you, or someone you know feeling the same way? Let's bring things back to basics for a few minutes and look at a couple of ways to turn things around. Success is hanging in the balance.

Do You Dream?

Sounds cheesy I know. One of my kids favorite movies is Disney's “Tangled”. The story of Rapunzel who has been locked up in a tower her whole life and has a dream to check out the annual lantern festival on her 18^th birthday. Haven't seen it yet? Sorry for the spoiler.

There's one scene in the movie where in Disney fashion, the characters break out into song about Having a dream. The essence of it is that each character had a dream at one point and for whatever reason it was taken from them. Now, back to you and I.

Do you have a dreams? Have they been taken from you due to the economy, dream stealers or a plethora of other excuses? Do you still know what you want for your dealership?

If you'd like to create positive, productive and profitable changes within your business, here are the first two steps.

1. Define (or re-define) your dream

2. Gain a burning desire for its achievement.

Moving on...

Willingness to Learn / Willingness to Take Action

Have you ever read any self-help “be successful” types of articles? They all seem to offer the “fail proof” way to achieve greater success. They always seems to start with putting the pen to paper and writing down goals. Goals are great, don't get me wrong. I just don't agree that they are a sustainable driving force to helping you accomplish the success you are seeking.

Don't believe me? How many people do you know that actually stick to their New Year resolutions? If setting goals gave us enough sustainable power to act, there would be no more New Year Resolutions – the world would be a better place filled with extremely thin, successful, wealthy, patient, traveling, money-saving people.

Let me submit that before putting pen to paper, one must determine the level of their willingness to learn and willingness to take action. Think about this for a second. You've clearly defined your dream and now have a burning desire. If your dream is to have a more successful dealership by selling more vehicles, take a moment to rate your willingness to learn and willingness to take action in order to make that dream happen.

If I asked you to give yourself a “Willingness” score, what would it be?

Take a minute, pull out a piece of paper and give yourself a “willingness to learn” score between 1 and 10 (1 being none, and 10 being high). What did you come up with? Now do the same for your “willingness to take action”. What? Two 10's? Really? That's amazing! Now where would your score go if I told you the only way to make this happen is to abstain from drinking coffee for one full month? Why the sudden decrease?

Here's why goal-setting isn't the first step to success. All of us have goals, most of us haven't really determined whether or not we have the willingness to make them happen. Often the only thing that stands in the way of achieving dreams is our willingness to learn new ways of doing things and our willingness to take necessary action. Are you willing to do whatever it takes to make your dreams a reality or would you prefer to just keep going as you are?

Conclusion:

Stop with the shenanigans! Continuing to do business the same way with no willingness to learn or take action will just give you more of the same depressing results. If you aren't picking up what I'm putting down right now, then selling cars and being profitable just isn't your thing.

Now - Stop blaming the economy and other lame excuses for your lack of success. Achieving your definition of success is in your capable hands. Define your dream, determine your level of willingness, and enjoy the results. You deserve it.

Michael Cirillo is the Executive VP at AutoVelocity™ and works with dealerships to help them achieve greater success through their marketing efforts.

www.autovelocity.ca

Join me on facebook

778-475-5412

For those of you who know a little bit about me, you know that I  worked in the print media and advertising industry for nearly a decade and grew up around the industry my entire life. I want to spend a couple of minutes discussing some concepts that I am more than confident will help your dealership in attracting new and returning customers so that you can start seeing more (and better) results for your dealership immediately. That's right - I just said "IMMEDIATELY".

A little bit of background first:

Over the years, you've probably noticed that the ads you see in the newspaper or in magazines haven't really changed much. They consist of a bunch of pictures of vehicles and the prices associated with those vehicles; Starbursts with low finance rates, or bold letters promoting the BIGGEST SALE EVENT OF THE YEAR! Everything always seems to revolve around price.

There's no doubt that price is an important topic, but maybe not as important as you might think - especially if your aiming to get a fresh influx of new customers walking onto your lot.

To demonstrate, let me encourage you to drive down any auto mile wherever you are, and take a look at the signage that dealers are placing near the roadway with hopes that it will capture new business. What do you see? 

• Employee Pricing Event

• Red Tag Sale

• Really Big Sale

• Year End Clearance

• Inventory Blowout - unbeatable pricing!

Everything revolves around price!

Not even in the market!

Have you ever considered what percentage of people in your area are even in the market to purchase a vehicle? Think about it. What good is busting your chops over showing people how low your finance rates are, or how low your prices are when majority of people aren't even in the market to buy? Don't believe me? Consider this example.

Have you ever found yourself thumbing through a consumer electronics flyer from the weekly paper? If you're like me, you do it all the time. I'm sort of a gadget geek. But what happens when you get to the appliance section of the flyer? You slam the thing shut or throw it away? Why do you think that is? 

Vehicles are much like appliances. When you have appliances that are working, purchasing new ones are the last thing on the totem pole of priorities aren't they? So it is with vehicles. When people have a vehicle that is working, they aren't really in the market. All the best pricing and finance rates in the world won't do a hill of beans for your efforts in attracting new business.

Plenty of Fish in the Sea...Just Not Where You're Looking

Have you ever heard that saying before? It's absolutely true. There are plenty of fish in the sea. The problem is that by focusing primarily on price, you and all of your competitors are fighting over a very small portion of in-market consumers. Have you ever wondered why your print ads aren't getting you the results you want? Have you considered why your website isn't producing the leads that you want it to? 

When you really take a look at it, Dealers that enter the arena prepared to battle over price may not realize that they are fighting over around 2-5% of the entire population. That's really the percentage of people that are in the market to buy a vehicle today. So much effort for so little potential! It's kind of depressing isn't it?

Let's use the odds in your favor. In order to start seeing immediate (measurable and duplicate-able) results for your marketing efforts, you may be required to change the way you think a little, and perhaps; change some of your current process to meet consumer expectation. All in the name of profitability.

What Drives Consumers to Buy?

If only 2-5% of consumers are in the market to purchase a vehicle today, have you considered how you could tap into the other 95-98% of the market that perhaps would be willing to purchase a vehicle but may not necessarily be in the smaller percentage that cares about price?

It's absolutely vital for every dealer that wants to start selling more vehicles, products and services to understand what drives consumer purchase decisions in order to offer something really unique and actually tap into a never ending pool of customers. Let's take a look at a couple of examples of what drive consumers to purchase.

1. Emotional needs / wants: We all have them and because of that,advertising how your products and services can fill an emotional need will actually help you penetrate a larger market and get your business in front of more interested people.

I'm a perfect example of this. A couple of years ago, when my wife and I received news that she was expecting our second son, one of the first things we discussed is how our small sedan would no longer fill our transportation needs (Emotional need #1 - necessity). Could you imagine two car seats, potentially two strollers not to mention half the house that you have to pack up when you have kids, all crammed into the back of a small sedan? We went from not being in the market to being in the market in a matter of days.

The more we thought about what we would need, other issues came up. Safety (emotional need #2), Comfort (emotional need #3), Room (emotional need #3), Vehicle features (emotional need #4) and so on. Price wasn't even on our mind yet because we were too busy formulating our list of needs.

Then came the emotional wants. Status (emotional want #1), luxury (emotional want #2), add-ons (emotional want #3)...you get the picture.

You see, not everyone is in the market to purchase another vehicle. Everyone however, is in the market of fulfilling their emotional needs and wants. While all of your competitors are engaged in the price battle over a small percentage of the market, you could be addressing the demand of a larger market and funneling those consumers into your dealership. You will never run into a short supply by focusing your energy on the things that everyone wants fulfilled – Their emotional needs.

When you have your approach set up correctly, you've strategically provided the right information and uncovered the emotions of your customers, the results will be like magic.

2. Reciprocity: Have you ever heard of the law of reciprocity? This is something that successful marketers have been using for decades and let me tell you, it works extremely well! Most cultures have this law hard-wired into the back of their minds. To simply define it, let me sum it up as I give you something and as a result, you give something in return.

Often I find dealers practicing this law, but in reverse. Customers often have to make a purchase before they can get the value added offer, when really it should be flipped the other way around. Give something of value to the customer first, build the relationship and they will reciprocate by making a purchase from you.

Conclusion:

Whether you want to believe it or not, it doesn't really matter. The definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting a different result. If you truly want to increase the profitability of your dealership, stop focusing so much energy on pricing. Remove yourself from that never-ending uphill battle and re-target your efforts into fulfilling the emotional needs/wants of consumers. Provide value by offering the right information first and let the law of reciprocity take you all the way to the sale. 

Your success starts here.

http://www.dealersynergy.com 

Most professional copywriters know that in a sales letter, the most important item after the headline is the postscript (P.S.) at the bottom.

Research shows that when people open a letter, they often scan to the bottom and read the P.S. before they actually read the letter itself. A good writer will take advantage of this opportunity to maximize their message with a strong P.S.

Do your salespeople know that including a P.S. in their emails is also incredibly effective?

It is such an easy way to increase the impact of your emails. That simple sentence at the bottom of a two or three paragraph email can help you increase urgency, reinforce your main message and add value.

Here are a couple of ideas on what you might include in your P.S.:

1. Main Theme with a Twist
Restate your main benefit from a different perspective. Whether or not they read the whole email, this gives you another chance to deliver your most important information.

2. The Time is Now
Use the P.S. to add urgency. Are the incentives expiring in a few days? Do you only have two left of the particular model in the color they are looking for? Let them know.

3. Add Social Proof
This can be a great place to add a customer review, especially if the review reinforces your particular offer or deals with a common objection or concern people have.

4. Sweeten the Deal
Is there a bonus offer you can add? Here’s the place to do it. For instance, “P.S. – Since it’s raining today and the showroom is a little quiet, my sales manager is including floor mats with the next vehicle sold.”

The P.S. should appear right below your signature line and should only be a sentence or two. Make sure it includes a call to action at the end as well.

Are you using P.S. in your’re emails and if so, what are you using in your postscript? 

P.S.
If you want to see exactly how adding a P.S. to your email makes a difference, include a unique tracking URL in the P.S. so you can measure the clicks.

Source - http://www.dealerrefresh.com/using-ps-dealership-email-follow-up-sales-letter/ 

The Coolest Car Dealership Commercial I have Seen in a Long Time! 

Global Consumers Place Highest Trust in Earned Media

Online automotive consumers place the most amount of trust in earned media, and the least in ads served on mobile phones, finds Nielsen [download page] in an April 2012 report. An impressive 92% of automotive consumers surveyed around the world said they trust earned media, such as word-of-mouth or recommendations from friends and family, an 18% increase from 2007. Automotive consumer opinions posted online (70%) was next-most trusted, outpacing other formats such as editorial content within newspaper articles, dealership and car company websites (both at 58%). Text ads on mobile phones are trusted by just 29% of automotive consumers.

This finding contrasts with April 2012 survey results from Ipsos, which found that while automotive consumers worldwide may turn to their friends for advice on vehicle purchases and repair services, only 38% will trust a dealership, make of vehicle or a service department more because friends recommended it.

Traditional Media Takes a Fall
Data from Nielsen’s “Global Trust in Advertising 2012″ indicates that automotive consumer trust in traditional paid advertising messages has taken a significant drop. While close to half say they trust TV (47%), magazine (47%), and newspaper ads (46%), confidence in these ads has dropped by 24%, 20%, and 25%, respectively from 2009 to 2011, when the latest survey was conducted.

Despite this fall in trust, traditional media ads, particularly on TV, appear to have their intended effect. According to April 2012 survey results from ExactTarget, TV ads influence a larger proportion of online automotive consumers... a product or service than a variety of other advertising media. 53% of respondents said a TV ad had influenced them to purchase a vehicle or maintenance service in the past 12 months, putting TV ads far ahead of newspaper ads (32%) and magazine ads (30%). In fact, three times more respondents said they had been influenced by a TV ad than by a banner or other ad on a website (53% vs. 18%).

Trust in Online Ads Low, But Growing
The Nielsen study finds that trust in most online ads is relatively lower than on traditional media, save for ads found on OEM branded websites, which are trusted by 58% of consumers. For example, only 40% trust ads served in search engine results, while just 36% trust online video ads, or ads on social networks. These findings are similar to Nielsen and NM Incite survey results released in February 2012, which found more trust in branded website ads than any other form of online adv....

Despite low rates of trust in online banner ads (33%), this represents a 27% increase since 2007. Similarly, while the level of trust placed in mobile phone advertising is still low, at 29%, this is an increase of 61% since 2007, and 21% since 2009.

Attitudes Towards Relevance Mirror Trust
The Nielsen survey also asked respondents to identify which advertising and brand messaging platforms are the most relevant to them when searching for information about the products, finding that the relevancy results often mirrored the trust responses. Recommendations from friends and family again topped the list, at 90% of respondents, followed by consumer opinions posted online (75%), branded websites (59%), and editorial content such as newspaper articles (55%). The relevance of paid traditional media platforms ranged from about 40-50%, while many online platforms scored lower, save for ads served in search engine results (42%).

Other Findings:
Latin American consumers had the highest levels of trust across 17 of the 19 advertising methods identified, when compared to other regions.
Trust in mobile phone ads was highest in the Middle East and Africa, with 40% indicating trust in text ads on mobile phones. These consumers also placed more trust in billboard and outdoor advertising than the global average (59% vs. 47%).
Consumers in Asia Pacific reported a higher level of trust in all formats surveyed when compared to the global average. They also had the highest level of trust in earned media, such as recommendations from friends and family (94%) and consumer opinions posted online (76%).
North Americans and Europeans appear to be the most skeptical consumers, with European respondents reporting the lowest levels of trust in all but 1 format (consumer opinions posted online - 64%).

About the Data: The Nielsen Global Trust in Advertising Survey was conducted in August/ September 2011 and polled more than 28,000 consumers in 56 countries throughout Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and North America. The Nielsen survey is based on the behavior of respondents with online access only. Internet penetration rates vary by country. Nielsen uses a minimum reporting standard of 60% internet penetration or 10M online population for survey inclusion.

Source - http://www.marketingcharts.com/television/global-consumer-trust-highest-in-earned-media-21766/ 

The 7 Secrets to Ford's Social Media Marketing Success 

Last year I noticed articles and videos appearing online and on Social Media such as YouTube about the Ford Fiesta. So I decided to dig a little deeper to find out about what Ford were doing in Social Media to market their products.
Scott Monty is the Head of Social Media at Ford and has only been there since 2008 and put in place a Social Media strategy including multiple Social Media channels.

Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Flickr

Scott said that his “Jewel in the Crown” is the Ford Fiesta Movement that involved selecting 100 socially vibrant individuals who were provided with the European version of the Ford Fiesta 18 months prior to it being manufactured and released in the USA. These socially media aware fanatics were encouraged to share their experience with the Ford Fiesta over the 6 months on their Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and YouTube channels.
What were the strategies that Ford implemented to create viral awareness without one dollar of traditional marketing spend?

The 7 secrets to Fords Social Media Marketing Success
People trust corporations less so with the rise of social media you need to allow other people through word of mouth create trust for you through Social Media (it amplifies your message)
Reached out to those who are listening and let them do the talking for you and to connect with people like themselves
Let them know that you are real people just like them and are passionate about what they do and the Ford Brand
Run a competition involving Social Media eg.. To be selected to drive a Ford Fiesta for six months – select 100 of those who are “socially vibrant” such as Michelle McCormack ..view her application on YouTube.
Aggregated the content on Fords Fiesta movement website (crowd sourcing content) without editing it!
Implemented multiple Social Media channels such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to create digital buzz
“Get On Board” the executive team and the board of directors

The Results
11 million Social Networking impressions
5 million engagements on social networks (people sharing and receiving)
11,000 videos posted
15,000 tweets.. not including retweets
13,000 photos
50,000 hand raisers who have seen the product in person or on a video who said that they want to know more about it when it comes out and 97% of those don’t currently drive a Ford vehicle
38% awareness by Gen Y about the product, without spending a dollar on traditional advertising ( Fords model “Fusion” doesn’t have that awareness after 2 years of being out in production and yet it has received hundreds of millions of dollars in traditional marketing spend).
Following the Ford Fiesta movement the launch of the Fiesta Ford did run a traditional marketing campaign including TV, Print and and Outdoor advertising.

According to J.D. Power, about 9% of spending this year by automakers will be digital (Ford’s share spend is 25%.. and they were the only company not bailed out by the Federal Government), but that will rise to about 12% by 2012 as more companies embrace social networking, online gaming and rich media ads in place of traditional TV and print.
Scott Monty’s advice on whether Social Media Marketing is right for your company,
“If your customers are there you need to be there too” he also went on to say “You need to listen.. see how they behave and act similiarly”

Source - http://www.jeffbullas.com/2010/02/18/the-7-secrets-to-fords-social-media-marketing-success/

Mary Henige, General Motors Director of Social Media & Digital Communications

http://www.facebook.com/dealersynergy 

If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you know I’ve been critical of many companies for not quite “getting” social media, in some cases not even by a long shot. But I can tell you after engaging in private discussions earlier this week with General Motors Director of Social Media Mary Henige as well as a public discussion I co-hosted yesterday on Blog Talk Radio with communications strategist and author Deirdre Breakenridge, GM most definitely “gets” social media far better than most.

Our thirty-minute, wide-ranging conversation yesterday on Blog Talk Radio was co-sponsored by LiquidPlanner.com and Ragan Communications. Henige, a 25 – year corporate communications veteran at GM and award-winning corporate communications professional, outlined the company’s approach to social media as it relates to both internal and external stakeholders. In doing so she stressed the importance of an empowering corporate culture that has provided the foundation for strong levels of internal communication. It’s that internal communication and collaboration that have been key to GM’s recent social media successes according to Henige.

“It’s not magic,” said Henige. “What we do in social media is a lot of hard work, it’s engagement, it’s building relationships and that’s something that people in corporate communications and media relations are particularly skilled at doing.”

What struck me as most interesting was the willingness and ability of Henige and her counterparts in marketing to take a collaborative approach to social media rather than one based on a turf-war mentality.

What’s even more interesting to me is the nature of that collaborative relationship. Indeed, one of the most important roles of the social media team led by Henige in relation to social media appears to be that of a trusted internal social media consulting center of excellence. According to Henige, ”Because we serve as a resource to our internal…colleagues, our expertise is sought after all the time.”

Citing GM’s sponsorship of the South by Southest Conference as an example, Henige stressed that the collaboration between GM corporate communications and various departments within the divisional brands like Chevrolet have been key to GM’s success.

“Increased collaboration is the way that you win…[Responsibility for social media - related initiatives] should be shared. If you really want to do [social media-related initiatives] well, you need to leverage the expertise of each team…We’ve made great progress this last year.”

Interestingly the collaboration has extended beyond the marketing and PR silos to also include increased teamwork between corporate communication and customer assistance. And the results there have been equally impressive.

As an example, Henige pointed out that her team was “able to help customer service reduce their lead time from about 24 hours based on when they were online down to about 90 minutes just because we were able to filter out so much of what they were seeing.”

We asked Henige to outline some of GM’s goals for social media and she explained that while the brands that fall under the GM umbrella were primarily concerned with goals related to lead generation, customer loyalty and ultimately sales, GM corporate’s first priority for the use of social media was enhancing the corporate reputation and regaining customers’ trust in the aftermath of GM’s bankruptcy.

She stressed that listening was a key component in these efforts.

“Listening is very important…We’re there and we’re still listening. And that has [also] given us a great way to collaborate among GM employees globally.”

Selim Bingol, GM’s VP of Global Communications
GM uses SocialCast as its internal enterprise collaboration application of choice and the user adoption rate has been solid with some 27,000 employees joining the internal community hosted by the web application in a single year, according to Henige. She says GM has also begun using the Town Hall feature set that Socialcast offers which has allowed managers within GM to hold Town Hall meetings online with GM employees to further enhance internal communication.

From a strategy perspective, the March 2010 appointment of Selim Bingol as GM’s new Vice President of Global Communications appears to have had a positive impact on the significant progress GM has made on the social front. According to Henige, Bingol, who recently started blogging at a new GM blog called BTW, stressed the importance of benchmarking GM’s social performance which prompted Henige’s team to undertake a gap analysis that helped to identify areas of strength as well as areas in need of improvement.

GM’s social media benchmark approach, its marketing and communications’ employees willingness to collaborate rather than compete internally, and its efforts to ensure that the GM story is communicated clearly, may together help to explain the company’s significantly improved reputation.

The recently released 2012 Harris Poll Reputation Quotient (RQ) study evaluates customer and other stakeholder perceptions of the 60 most visible companies in the country, across 20 attributes that are grouped into six dimensions of reputation:

Products & Services
Financial Performance
Workplace Environment
Social Responsibility
Vision & Leadership
Emotional Appeal
General Motors saw the greatest increase this past year among all 60 companies whose reputations are measured in the report, showing gains in every one of the six aforementioned dimensions of reputation.

Some other points of interest regarding GM’s social media – related initiatives:

GM’s FastLane blog began in 2001
GM sent out more than 1000 media releases last year
GM uses Google+ to distribute some of its news releases because of the ability to segment news releases according to blogger and media interests. Google+ also enables GM to add additional multimedia “color.”

SOURCE - http://vmrcommunications.com/blog/social-media-communications-strategy/internal-collaboration-is-the-way-to-win-with-social-media-says-gm-executive/ 

In the early ‘90s an acquaintance received a new job assignment. He was to set up an outbound telemarketing department to sell off millions of dollars of off-lease computer equipment.

He assembled a team of “telemarketers” – accountants and administrative assistants from within the company. He sourced and obtained a prospect database. A sales and call management system – a CRM -- was evaluated and installed. In the meantime, caller phone-skills training got underway while he developed daily call goals and quarterly revenue quotas.

In the second year of its operation, this in-house effort generated $20 million for the company.

Do you see an application here to your business?

What’s your CRM doing for you?

Your CRM should be a money machine. A detailed plan for its use, operation, reporting and management is vital. Hold accountable every user in sales, service and F&I accountable for capturing customer data into it. Be sure these individuals use the CRM to stay in contact with their customers.

It should go without elaboration that daily CRM use for customer communication is important. However, to create a money machine from it put it in the hands of individuals capable of riding it hard.

Start your engines

The following steps are a guide to CRM profitability:

1. Train internally or hire an individual to be your CRM specialist who likes speaking by phone. Their personality should project well to the listener.
2. Establish specific calling goals and make them aggressive. Define specific calling objectives: mining customer data for equity-play customers; customers soon to come off lease; or, older vehicles you’d like returning to your service department.
3. Ask your marketing person or agency to draft phone scripts. Scripts should detail key benefits and selling points for each call type. Train your specialist to use them to guide conversations.
4. Include in these scripts a variation of the Road to the Sale. Craft the script so your specialist’s conversation brands your dealership.
5. Determine your calling specifics. These include calling hours, call-out quotas and revenue expectations. Here’s a model: The number of dial-ups per day required to achieve X number of live calls X number of these calls that convert to X number of fruitful discussions = X number of sales opportunities. Decide to whom you will assign resulting live opportunities. This is the individual who will meet-and-greet the shopper when they come into the store.
6. As management, track this activity to hold your specialist accountable for making the calls as required. Use these reports to monitor performance.
7. Compensate based on the caller’s adherence to and meeting of the quotas and objectives. Add a spiff for every call resulting in an appointment set. Layer another spiff when the appointment shows (incentivizes proper appointment reinforcement efforts), and consider adding a percentage or flat commission when the appointment converts to sale.

These seven points provide a framework for turning your CRM into a true profit center. Truly, CRM application like this is a “numbers game,” which the right structure, the right objectives and the right specialist can turn into more “solds” on your lot and more ROs in your service department. 

Source - Automotive Digital Marketing (RePost)

http://www.automotivedigitalmarketing.com/profiles/blog/show?id=1970539%3ABlogPost%3A370558&xgs=1&xg_source=msg_share_post 

Jim Lecinski created an amazing PDF for his ZMOT concept:
http://www.zeromomentoftruth.com/google-zmot.pdf

This video was RePosted from ZeroMomentOfTruth on YouTube