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http://www.BradleyOnDemand.com/ 856-546-2440

Make Money Mondays with Sean V. Bradley - Know Your Used Car Inventory

In this week's Episode of Make Money Mondays Sean V. Bradley, President of Dealer Synergy, explains the importance of evidence manuals. A Digital Evidence Manual is a clever way for you to show why a prospect should buy a vehicle from you. Previously evidence manuals were made with notebooks and pictures, but in the modern age, we are seeing them created in videos and on tablets. You should always try to receive a customer review after you sell someone a vehicle.

Sign up now for Internet Sales 20 Group 10 in Philadelphia, PA July 10-12, 2017!
http://internetsales20group.com

To visit all of our Make Money Mondays in one place visit: http://www.MakeMoneyMondays.net/

If you like Make Money Mondays, you will love Bradley On Demand: http://www.BradleyOnDemand.com/
856-546-2440

For more information about Dealer Synergy, visit http://www.DealerSynergy.com/

If you have any questions, call or text Sean on his cell 267-319-6776.

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http://www.InterneetSales20Group.com 267-319-6776

Jason Manos , General Manager of Toyota Manhattan Reviews The Internet Sales 20 Group in New York…

Jason says that when he was told from the VP Of Operations he had to go to a 3 day workshop, he was not to thrilled. Like all other General Managers, there is a lot going on in a dealership… not rot mention in New York City. But Jason goes on to say how he was BLOWN AWAY and Highly recommends the Internet Sales 20 Group for ANYONE but he also suggests that senior management and owners should definitely attend.

Toyota Manhattan is part of the BRAM Auto Group which generate over a Billion Dollars!

If you want any information for #IS20G, please call me on my persona cell phone # 267-319-6776

Read more…

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=878526905513532&set=a.181141865252043.43794.100000686934552&type=1&theater

www.VinSolutions.com

What Has Been Your Experience With VinSolutions?

With any large company there will be lovers and haters but as a national consultant, it is my responsibility to identify the truth and value of any and all corporations that effect dealerships, especially my Dealer Synergy clients.

I posted a simple question on my Facebook and in less than 24 hours it received almost 200 comments. It seems that there are a lot of people that have an opinion about VinSolutions. There were a lot of people passionate in their positions! It shows that CRMs are very important for a dealership to be successful. Even more important is that dealerships choose the right partner to help them achieve that success.

Here is the "Cut and Paste" from my Facebook Thread.

* I would LOVE to hear your thoughts and experiences about VinSolutions.

#CarPeople I want to get your opinion about VinSolutions as a CRM. I have a lot of Dealer Synergy clients that have been giving some candid feedback and I want to ask my network here on Facebook your thoughts. I am curious to hear from DEALERS, NOT from Vinsolutions or their employees. Please let me know what you like and what you do NOT like. As a national consultant and trainer, It is very important to gauge what the dealers are thinking so I can make the best decisions and provide my clients with the most accurate feedback. Thank you all in advance-

Shane Locke It's great for the salesmen as far as accountability goes , you have to complete tasks or u cannot input a new customer . Internet sales is another story , dealer peak was great from a internet perspective . Dealer peak allows you to make high volume calls without losing your place with the "last action" option . We miss dealer peak.

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Sean V. Bradley Csp Thank you Shane Locke for the feedback. I too think that DealerPeak is a good tool!

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Stanley Damer I'm a dealer in the D. Bout to sign up with there new web platform that's adaptive with mobile! Great new product. Other than this platform I never been impressed with them. Sean V. Bradley Csp if ur interested with the best CRM that all us large ford dealers use in Detroit message me! Ford are high volume in the D and follow up is the key (33 ford dealers in 3 counties) let me kno. Love money Mondays

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Sean V. Bradley Csp Stanley Damer Thank you so much for your insight!

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John Roberts Like Shane said, the accountability of Vin is great. The main drawbacks I find with it is a lack of inventory page for salespeople and it does not remove a no longer owned car from marketing campaigns, so you find need your trade emails going to people that no longer have the particular car.

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Sean V. Bradley Csp I would love for you to post here what the CRM company that you DO prefer on this thread but if you prefer not to make your opinion public I respect that. I guess it is enough that you do NOT recommend their CRM...

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Sean V. Bradley Csp John Roberts, Thank you very much. Shane Locke is on top of his game... like it seems you are! I appreciate your opinion

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John Roberts One other issue I forgot to mention, Vin does not update from DMS, so if something changes in DMS it will not push to Vin.

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Sean V. Bradley Csp That can be frustrating

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Gary Reed Been using Eleads, seems to be working pretty good. I thought it was a jr. Vin solutions crm as I have used Vin before.

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Kristin Buckley Don't even get me started.

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Sean V. Bradley Csp I have also heard some really good things about eleads!

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Sean V. Bradley Csp Kristin Buckley please do, you have been a valued Dealer Synergy client for a LONG time and are a Veteran of the Internet Sales 20 Group events and even a "Best Idea" contest winner. Your Ford dealership has been in business for OVER 100 years! I would LOVE to hear your opinion

 

Kristin Buckley Okay... Let's see.. Their "support" sucks. No one ever knew what they were talking about, they could only ever "open a ticket".

We couldn't get one good, accurate report to come out of that thing they like to call a CRM/ILM to save a life.

Anyone who has any type of BDC should just track everything on paper and save themselves a shit ton of money because it is definitely NOT designed to work based off of your dealership. They definitely think you should run your store based off of how they have their CRM set up.

Oh, and Sean Rancier was the worst account manager I've EVER dealt with (and I deal with almost all of our vendors). He told me he had too many accounts to pay attention to us, and if I wanted a certain report I should learn how to make them myself because support was only there to try and fix something if it breaks, not create reports for us.. I wonder if I still have his emails........

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Sean V. Bradley Csp Brian Keith Redmond and James D Brafford say hello to RC Lacy Ford Lincoln Subaru

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Sean V. Bradley Csp WOW! I am sorry to hear that Kristin Buckley.

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Kristin Buckley DealerPeak has been amazing. Their staff always knows what's going on, they definitely communicate with each other, and go out of their way to try and make their tool work around our stores processes.

My favorite part is the fact that it's not just set up for "admin" "manager"
And "salesmen" logins. They control each piece individually.

I wanted the salespeople to be able to close out their own sales and 15 minutes later they all had access to it.

If I have a suggestion on something they either work on changing things, or at least give us the option to have it built for us by their support team. Couldn't be happier

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Sean V. Bradley Csp I am very happy to hear that! Jock Schowalter Joel Matteson and the rest of the DealerPeak is AWESOME!

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Sean V. Bradley Csp For the record, Dealer Synergy works with 13 DIFFERENT CRM / ILM companies with dealerships all over the country. I am VENDOR neutral. I only want to know what dealers like and don't like and why-

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John Roberts Thought of another, any problems that come up they want three samples before opening a case. Not everything happens in threes.

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Megan S Barto DISCLAIMER: I am a dealer.
I love VinSolutions. We've been on them since 2007 and every issue I've ever had has been rectified.
As far as "support ticket issues" - find out who your Performance Manager is - go through them. The custom reports are amazing. I have 20-30 of them set up for just about every person that needs any kind of reporting. Including salespeople! "Save A Deal" - delivered to my sales professionals email inboxes. Daily. With their ups.
Salespeople CAN close out their own visits - or they can't. If you don't trust your Green Pea? Don't let them close out visits! VinSolutions does integrate bi-directionally with your DMS - all it takes is a simple phone call to set it up. Id anyone needs any help with VinSolutions - let me know - I'd be happy to help!

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Sean V. Bradley Csp Thank you Megan S Barto You have been nationally recognized for your Internet Success. I appreciate your insight-

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Kristin Buckley My performance manager was the biggest problem we had.

The system wouldn't track customers for our BDC reps at all.. Once it was switched over to a salesperson it stopped tracking for them. I tried like hell to make that system work for us because it costs so much money to switch systems, plus loss is customers etc. but it just wasn't going to happen. I am very computer savvy and I knew that system inside and out.. The problem is that not everyone was/is that savvy and VinSolutions is complicated for the average user

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Sean V. Bradley Csp Kristin Buckley did you meet Megan S Barto at our Internet Sales 20 Group ?

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Kristin Buckley Not officially but I know of her. We were on Auto Dealer Live together once

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Megan S Barto Kristin - you can assign specific BDC agents and there's even a system report (not a custom report) that's "Performance by BDC Agent" which makes a FANTASTIC tracking/breakdown sheet. And if you don't like your PM - you can ask to have them changed!

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Kristin Buckley I know the report.. We had a problem with it because it would round robin a BDC agent onto every customer added to the system. So it was definitely not accurate. Believe me, I spent a lot of time on the phone with whoever would listen to me from Vin. It wasn't designed to work with our store and by the end of it they could have completely redesigned their tool and I wouldn't have used it if they paid me to.

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Megan S Barto The nice thing about VinSolutions is there's a work around for just about everything. Just in certain situations - you just need to find a Performance Manager with some knowledge of the system and some imagination.

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Kristin Buckley I imagined that system going right out the window.... And it was so weird because the next thing I knew, it was gone.

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Sean V. Bradley Csp LOL!

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Subi Fernando Ghosh I'm no longer a dealer, but it's been less than a year after 6 years in a showroom but I had vin (among others) and had a single really bad experience. when I took it to them, they addressed my issues, took input for opportunities to help the platform and really dove into great options with reporting. I ended up with a strong vin relationship with my reps after they helped me out. I will say that their new restructuring efforts have made huge differences for the better. I'm impressed with their direction and growth in the last year. I would definitely recommend them but ensure (like with any Crm switch) that they have an individual in house that understands the ins and outs of CRM for proper set up. My experience is that poor set ups usually set the tone for poor experiences with CRMs. I've even had a great experience with ADPs CRM that most complain about after setting up a great partnership for my dealer group.

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John Roberts I would love to find out about getting ours to be Bi-directional. Don't take my posts wrong, I do not hate Vin, it is head and shoulders above our previous CRM, just wish a few things were better.

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Sean V. Bradley Csp This is not an Anti VinSolutions thread. This is a clarity thread. We have heard from numerous people naming the pros and cons of the tool

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John Roberts I agree, just want to make clear my feelings

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Sean V. Bradley Csp Absolutely! Thank you so much for your insight

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Kristin Buckley The way Subi and Megan talk about vin is how I feel about dealerpeak. The entire staff has treated me like gold and I love the fact that I can name probably half of their staff by their first names. Not only does their tool work so much better for our store, and performance wise, but they're less expensive.

Having been treated like we were not important from a company we were spending $3500+ monthly was all I needed to move on.

People buy from people they like, right #carpeople!? Lol

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Megan S Barto John - DM me your questions about Vin - I'll be happy to answer any!

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Tammie LeBleu CRM thats the key to being successful in todays market. I used Car Research and had phenominal success with it. When I was still at ORR Group I trained some Internet Managers on VIN Solutions and found it hard to navigate. There are so many components that are not utilized. I had the honor of training my first store over a week ago in BDC and their CRM was VIN. I am not one for bashing but I defintely prefer Car Research to VIN.. I am partial because of the great succes I had with it but lets just cut through all the red tape. It doesn't matter what CRM tool you use. You must marry it adapt its processes and put those strict processses into place and you will be successful. It is the road map to great success and must be utilized everyday....

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Subi Fernando Ghosh Aaaand tammie comes in to lay it out! Preach on sista!

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Sean V. Bradley Csp Thank you Tammie LeBleu you (and I) are on the COVER of AutoSuccess Magazine for this very subject... CRM! http://issuu.com/autosuccess/docs/as.nov14

AutoSuccess November...

issuu.com

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Nathan Hays Our DMS Import from Autobase to VINSOLUTIONS was/is atrocious. 56,000 people, 4 brands, 3 rooftops and 4 store IDs. Data wasn't scrubbed. Each store/ID has different settings, permissions. Part of it our issue, part AutoBase, Part ADP. It's brutal.

The customer merge function is better than it was. The website provider/software compatibility is mediocre. Minimal Cheome/Firefox support. Internet explorer sucks, but I'm forced to use it because of VIN. The mobile app is better, however my settings have been shut off at random.

Their support is pretty good. Very quick, yet very concerned with closing tickets, even without resolution. I have a few other complaints, but many of it is out of my control.

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Sean V. Bradley Csp Tammie LeBleu for the record... you were the #2 Nissan Consultant in the United States, selling 47.5 units in one month and 400.5 in one year and made OVER 1.5 Million Dollars selling cars on the showroom floor in less than 5 years right?

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Kristin Buckley We had auto base before vin too. It was like living with the Flinstones and then moving in with the Jetsons lol

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Subi Fernando Ghosh One last note. If we're talking CRMs DealerSocket has a fantastic product, is incredibly intuitive, and excellent customer service.

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Tammie LeBleu Right! And Car Research was my tool and my road map to success!!!

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Megan S Barto I was on the cover of AutoSuccess talking about CRM as well! #smallworld http://issuu.com/autosuccess/docs/as.july14/0

AutoSuccess July 2014

The #1...

issuu.com

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Sean V. Bradley Csp I gave you kudos Megan S Barto!!

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Sean V. Bradley Csp Ours was last month... #JustSayin

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Megan S Barto So you're copying me???

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Sean V. Bradley Csp Actually... you were copying me. My clients and I were on the June issue too http://issuu.com/autosuccess/docs/as.june14

AutoSuccess June 2014

The #1...

issuu.com

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Sean V. Bradley Csp LOL!!!

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Megan S Barto My GM is in on this month's cover. http://issuu.com/autosuccess/docs/as.dec14

AutoSuccess December 2014

Sean V. Bradley Csp OUCHHHHHH! You GOT ME

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Megan S Barto I know - it doesn't happen often.

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Sean V. Bradley Csp This thread is one hell of a plug for Susan Goodman Givens and AutoSuccess Magazine!

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Nathan Hays Needs some Midwest love.

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J.r. Batchelor I've used almost every CRM personally and what I noticed with Vin was that you can't use their follow up process or you would not touch customers daily during the initial 30 days. I agree with Tammie LeBleu unless managers and salespeople own and master the CRM any tool the dealer chooses will be in vain.

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Sean V. Bradley Csp Thank you J.r. Batchelor I appreciate your insight!

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Megan S Barto JR - I absolutely agree with you. A CRM is a *tool* you need to have competent people running the tool - no matter what the CRM is. With Vin - their processes are a great base, but as with anything you need to add your own "flair" to it. Which is why I've modified every single process in VinSolutions. It's also the job of their Performance Managers to help you modify them for your store!

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Sean V. Bradley Csp I will say this though Megan S Barto, you are one of the exceptions... as you pointed out, you were on the cover of AutoSuccess Magazine. So, you know what to do, how to do it and how to modify it and make it better. There are a LOT of sales reps, Internet Managers / Directors that do NOT have that knowledge or experience and are dependent of Customer Service / Client Support to guild them and assist them, to coach them, to assist them and if it isn't there... then the dealer is screwed. And this goes for ANY CRM COMPANY.

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Kristin Buckley We are process driven, not task driven.... Right Sean V. Bradley Csp lol

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Sean V. Bradley Csp YES!!! Kristin Buckley EXACTLY

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Sean V. Bradley Csp Dealer Synergy does NOT want the CRM to tell you WHO to call in the "task list". Process driven versus task list driven wins all the time, every time. Task list driven leaves too many errors and gaps.

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Sean V. Bradley Csp That is J.r. Batchelor 's point

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Kristin Buckley Another reason I love dealerpeak.... But they're going to have to start signing my pay checks if I keep going lol

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Sean V. Bradley Csp I am referring to CRM as it relates to an Internet Department or BDC that has "Coordinators" or BDC Reps... b/c these people do NOT have to get up and do product presentation, deliveries etc...

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Sean V. Bradley Csp LOL! Kristin Buckley

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Kristin Buckley Applies to salespeople too. Our "guys" have their folders they go through daily to keep their customers in front of them. They don't operate just based off of tasks either. I've been able to set our system up to work for THEM. We have folders for everything.. Makes life much easier

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Sean V. Bradley Csp Look at this Video I created in April, 2014 about VinSolutions and how to actually set up VinSolutions the RIGHT WAY! This is the Dealer Synergy system (qucik version). Do you hear the COMPLIMENT I give VinSolutions? This is TRULY a NUTRAL post https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jyo5w0aTM40

Set Up VinSolutions...

youtube.com

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Sean V. Bradley Csp If you are not part of the solution... you are part of the problem-

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Joshua Shackelford Dealersocket is a far superior CRM.

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Sean V. Bradley Csp Thank you Joshua Shackelford. There have been numerous people on this thread that have spoken highly of DealerSocket and I have a lot of Dealer Synergy clients using DealerSocket but I would love to hear what you like about them most and what you think they do that sets them a part from all other CRMs...?

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J.r. Batchelor As we all know this is a people driven business. You can have all the best tools in the world and have an $200K ad budget but when the rubber meets the road you MUST have the right PEOPLE. Processes without the right people are utterly worthless. Sean V. Bradley Csp Megan S Barto

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Sean V. Bradley Csp Well said!

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Joshua Shackelford Compared to VinSolutions is like comparing Harvard to grade school. Endless amount of data to pull. It gives you alerts daily on all previous customers, ups, and service customers as well. I run a Ford and GM store, I can pull equity positions (you're no longer upside down), APR (based on your rates and payment history I can save you X amount of dollars when you trade in and up), how much they would save on fuel by trading out of an older car they're in to our newer one that's also under warranty, time since last service, warranty expirations and renewal etc. It gives the amount of data I can have my employees mine nearly endless. It's much more complex but it's reports and data on MY employees as well as the salesman has helped show me who's working it right and who's not. I can automatically generate birthday, anniversary or purchase etc and link directly to the customers social media to communicate, congratulate etc. It brings more "development" of business than any other CRM, including Vins than I've ever seen. It's allowed me to help make actual "salesman" out of salesman instead of product pushers. Makes all the difference in building and retaining a customer base.

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Sean V. Bradley Csp Thank you very much for the detail Joshua Shackelford!!

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Joshua Shackelford I tried to be objective but it's honestly apples to oranges. What do/would you prefer?

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Joshua Shackelford Oh yea, the mobile app of socket is second to none. It really makes my job as manager of 2 lots much easier.

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Sean V. Bradley Csp What do I prefer as a CRM? or do you mean as to your feedback?

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Joshua Shackelford CRM.

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Sean V. Bradley Csp LOL! of course...

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Sean V. Bradley Csp First, I want to say that I truly believe that there isn't a perfect CRM. There are NUMEROUS functions of a CRM, BDC, Dealership(s). And different CRMs specialize in Different things. For example... some CRMSs SPECIALIZE in Special Finance, some CRMs specialize in Data Mining, some in LEAD MANAGEMENT, other in showroom control / desking...

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Joshua Shackelford Haha.. So are you obligated to prefer vins? Lol.

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Sean V. Bradley Csp So it is important for a dealership FIRST, "Begin with the end in mind". What are THEY looking to accomplish...how are they going to use the CRM?

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Sean V. Bradley Csp Now with that being said... As it relates to Internet Sales, BDC... Lead Management. I have my (NEW) Top 5 in NO particular order...

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Joshua Shackelford The downside to socket is teaching those less tech savvy how it can help them. Some guys are pen and paper guys, but it's MY job to show how the benefits of managing leads in their customer bucket and every detail of their deal and how it can make them money. If I'm not showing them how it's here to make them money then I am failing them.

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Sean V. Bradley Csp 1. DealerPeak 2. DealerSocket 3. eLEads 4. Dealertrack DMS 5. AutoLoop (VERY SOON)

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Sean V. Bradley Csp LOL!

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Sean V. Bradley Csp THAT is ANOTHER issue... NADA just released its 3rd Annual Industry report on Workforce. It states that Dealerships have a 66% Turnover rate on the showroom floor! http://www.nadafrontpage.com/Dealership_Workforce_Study... That means that with such a HIGH Turnover... all of the new sales reps that join the force have to be accimated to the CRM ASAP... who is doing that? Who is monitoring that this is getting done the right way?

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Joshua Shackelford BDC managers are the most under appreciated people in any dealership.

Because who's going to teach them? We are. And in our market, producing 50 additional sales to a 150 car a month lot plus cleaning up sales staff garbage, spending most my day on 700 credit to pre-qualify.

I've turned my departments out of appointment based and into qualified buyer based. Im incentivizing getting credit apps more and more. It's saving and making my company more money in the long run for all the obvious reasons... What salesman wants to waste 2 hours on a guy 7k hooked who can't even buy paper?

No one. We sat at a 50% show to sale conversion last month which is absolutely unheard of.

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Sean V. Bradley Csp Strong!

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Joshua Shackelford The manager I replaced had 82 shows and 4 sales in her last month.

That's essentially stealing from the company.

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Tom Hawkins We install Vin Solutions starting at 8:30 tomorrow morning. Over the years, I have been on Autobase, Interflow, Dealer Socket, back to Interflow, and then Car Research. After a painful year on Car Research, I decided to give Vin a try after running into Sean Stapleton at Driving Sales Executive Summit. We are already using Cox products vAuto, HomeNet, Auction Genius, and Auto Trader so going to Vin Solutions was an easy choice and a large savings due to consolidation. I am sure I will have my share of frustrations with Vin Solutions at first, but he two things I like about Vin are: 1. The marriage of all these products under the Cox Automotive label will allow the exchange of data that will benefit dealers a great deal...now and well into the future. 2. They use the performance manager model similar to vAuto. We are very satisfied with our vAuto performance manager process. I will be holding them accountable for how well we use the system. To be fair to Car Research, the previous owner was draining the company and not investing in the future of the product. I believe Auto Loop, with Tammie LeBleu's leadership, will make it much better company by upgrading the platform and giving them the tools to succeed (I was on the Autoloop Dealer Advisory Board). However, I couldn't wait, especially with the advantages for me of the platform consolidation. I guess I will know for sure when we're fully into it. But as you can see I have had enough experience with different CRM's to have a little bit of an idea.

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Tony White My thoughts as I am a user of VIn.

I myself have been in the industry for about 14 years. I have used many programs and there's not a single one that has it all.

Vin needs to work harder on their fixed operations side. Not as robust as the sales. And we all know how much business comes out of service.

Vin like anything is accountability. Fair warning to those getting ready to buy it. Map your processes out on paper first. This way you don't create useless processes that people won't follow and you have a printed out manual of the processes and email responses. This way no one can ever say they didn't know.

I worked for Autotrader and KBB as well. There is still a lot the COX corporation has to do to get everything to work together. Some of it never will unless they rewrite the entire code.

Vin is good. But like anything, it's only as good as the users and management team. I would be happy to help you with it if you need. Or to run ideas.

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Tony White You also need to know the depth of involvement your dealership is going to have in the tool. Are you only going to use it for Internet department, sales and Internet? Finance, forms, write ups? Trades? Marketing? Farming? Are you willing to make your service department use it? I think that has to be a big discussion. Then base your CRM around those needs. Not the other way around. Or you will be stuck with another headache and looking for the next shinning toy. Good luck!

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Tony White Sorry Sean V. Bradley Csp for writing so much. Just a huge topic. Bottom line is VIN is good. But only as good or as bad as you make it.

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Tina Ledoux Norton The best CRM depends on your dealer group and your level of usage. Tony White said it well above. In 2010 - 12, we made the decision to leave Autobase and we shopped everyone under the sun - it took everyday of 2 years to decide our next step. For our situation, we felt that VIN did not have the enterprise reporting necessary for a large dealer group - there were a lot of promises for what it would do in the future but we did not want to experiment. At the time, their poster child was Gary Crossley Ford. We visited them and found slowness issues, usage issues and because they were not a multi-point dealer, they could not address a lot of what we would need in a CRM. We also did not feel that it was as BDC friendly as some other tools on the market. In the end, we went with DealerSocket. Change is always difficult and there will always be those that resist. Roll out took almost a year and then it was another 6 months to a year beore I could say that we were truly users of the system and we are still learning more every day.

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Jeremy Lewis Great Topic, if VIn was smart someone would be reading this and using it to their advantage!

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Jarrod Kilway Sean V. Bradley Csp just throwing this out there if any of your stores need assistance or have a question please give them my contact info.

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Sean V. Bradley Csp Thank you Tom Hawkins for the feedback!

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Sean V. Bradley Csp Tony White, great sincere insight as always! Thank you

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Sean V. Bradley Csp Tina Ledoux Norton, thank you so much. There have been a lot of great kudos for DealerSocket.

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Sean V. Bradley Csp Thank you Jarrod Kilway

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Susan Goodman Givens Thanks everyone for the AutoSuccess shout outs. I am feeling the love!

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Vicky Cooper An Internet dealership will utilize all their available tools to their maximum but having the right tools can definitely have an impact on success. Vinsolutions is horrible about the "bad leads", customer merge, and support. One the other hand, it is somewhat user friendly, has mobile app, and is easy to edit templates & auto responders. The push from the DMS is less than desirable.

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Megan S Barto Vicky - have you tried their most recent Customer Merge? It's wonderful and is eons above the previous version.

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http://www.internetsales20group.com 

Canadian Internet & Digital Marketing Director, Ryan Holtz Reviews the Internet Sales 20 Group 

Ryan flew all the way from Canada to attend the most recent Internet Sales 20 group in Los Angeles. He was blown away by the #is20g. He said it was the BEST conference that he has ever attended... EVER!

Read more…

http://www.internetsales20group.com

Yelp and Siri Integration

Did you know Yelp is directly connected to Siri on the iPhone as well as apple maps? Since half of smart phone owners have an iPhone, the effects of Yelp on your business are even greater. Every 5 seconds a call is made to a local business directly from the Yelp platform on iOS, and over 30 percent of all searches on Yelp.com come from a mobile device.

Whenever someone asks Siri to find an “XX business type” near them, Siri automatically pulls up businesses with Yelp reviews attached. If you pull up apple maps and activate your tracking, you can view businesses in your area who all have Yelp reviews automatically attached. It simply cannot be ignored anymore. Yelp has major connections in the area of mobile and online reputation.

So what should you, as a business owner, do? Here’s a checklist:

  • Claim your page! This shows reviewers that you’re interested in their feedback and you are responsive. It also gives your company a little boost in the search engines.

  • Fill out all the details of your business, just like you have on your website.

  • Add photos. This adds a personal touch to the listing.

  • Respond to reviews, negative AND positive. This keeps the “Google Juice” flowing.

  • Run a check-in special and advertise it in your store. This will create more buzz about your business online.

  • Get ACTIVE YELPERS to write reviews for you. If they’re not active (more than one review), their review will most likely get filtered. You need to seek out people who make a habit of leaving reviews for businesses.

Following these guidelines, and identifying active yelpers will boost your business ratings as well as your SEO. It’s very clear that it’s a new age of online reviews and Yelp has staked its claim at the top.

http://thewebdoc.tv/yelp-and-siri-integration/?utm_source=eSuccesstip&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=http%3a%2f%2fthewebdoc.tv%2fyelp-and-siri-integration%2f&utm_campaign=eSuccessTip%3a+Did+you+Know+Yelp+is+Integrated+with+Siri%3f

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How to Remove Unacceptable Yelp Reviews

I hear this question frequently from our clients and prospects; “How do we get rid of outrageous reviews that are lies, slander, defamation, or out of bounds with the guidelines of Yelp?” Answer? Submit a request for removal especially if the review isn’t compliant with the Yelp guidelines.

At least a third of the dealers I speak with come across bitter with just one mention of Yelp.  Some of them might be throwing down their own gavel as Yelp is back on court over alleged extortion and review manipulating. Angry Business Owners Appeal Yelp Ruling Over Alleged Extortion  

Yelp says “Inappropriate content: Colorful language and imagery is fine, but there's no need for threats, harassment, lewdness, hate speech, and other displays of bigotry.”

What is even more disturbing is when you engage a disgruntled Yelper (could be a competitor smearing) to resolve the issue and all you get is another visceral low blow or flat out silence. Reacting with an attack against the offender is natural, but I would advise dealers to step back, stop defending it, and consider a request for removal rather than engaging in a nasty verbal salsa with a bitter enemy. Search engines love the dirt and the more you respond to belligerence, the higher the debate will rank for your dealership name.

One of our clients once asked, “Can you help me get a Yelp review removed?” He shared his feelings of defeat; “The owner of the dealership has been personally attacked and it’s destroying our reputation and we’re losing business.”

I told him the review was ludicrous; falling within Yelp’s inappropriate content guideline and he didn’t have to tolerate it. Here’s the Yelp review that was on the web for only a month and did significant brand damage.

The Consumer Yelp Review

The removal submission to Yelp from our client

The "review" that XXX has left our dealership is not only extremely far from an accurate account of her attempted transaction, but is a blatantly published defamation of our dealership’s character and slander. We are a locally owned business for over 30 years and our owner, XXX, is a former recipient of the "XXXX" award. For "XXX" to name my salesperson and call him a "Racist Idiot" is nothing short of slander and is an embarrassment to my salesperson and his family and to YELP for allowing such verbal abuse to occur on your site. [Dealer Name] works extremely hard in encouraging our customers to leave reviews on sites such as YELP because of the relevancy and authenticity of your reviews. However, this particular review is neither authentic or relevant and most of all it is defamation and slander. XXX other reviews also need looked at. They are also racially motivated and distasteful. We ask that you please remove this immediately.

Response from Yelp within 24 hours

Hi,

We have removed the review by XXXXX because it falls outside our Content Guidelines. Please keep in mind that if the user chooses to edit their review so that it falls within our guidelines, we will allow it to remain on the site.

Regards,
XXXX
Yelp User Support
San Francisco, California

Yelp Official Blog | http://officialblog.yelp.com
Yelp Frequently Asked Questions | http://www.yelp.com/faq
Yelp for Business Owners | https://biz.yelp.com

A huge victory for our client considering Yelp is not easily swayed in favor of the dealer. With dealers becoming more and more aware that Yelp dominates the mobile experience for iPhone users, now is the time to make the move to get content removed. If you’re not challenging defamatory reviews and instead, engaging in war, that’s like throwing cotton balls at a moving train.

If you’re wondering if filtered reviews on your Yelp listing are unjust and ludicrous, check out The Definitive Guide To Avoid the Yelp Review Filter

Yelp can help you submit your removal request

Jerry Hart
President
eReputationBUILDER

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FROM THE DESK OF JOHN KRAFCIK

 

July 1, 2013

 

 

To All Hyundai Dealers:

 

With pleasure, I announce the launch of Hyundai Customer Reviews powered by SureCritic, a new and innovative program created for your dealership’s Service Department.  Hyundai Motor America designed this web rating and review program for you to leverage customer satisfaction in order to more efficiently market your dealership’s reputation, increase web visibility, and ultimately grow customer retention.

 

In today’s consumer-driven marketplace, automotive retailers need a web presence.  In fact, your Service Department has one, whether created by you or not.  HMA collaborated with a group of our dealers to create a program that ensures a positive presence with verified reviews from real customers.

 

Our approach is simple.  Customers complete a four question web survey about their service experience.  Customers can share their review on the social media sites of their choice.  Dealers can address and fix customer complaints before lower ratings post on the web.  Dealers can also share reviews via social media sites.

 

A six month pilot among 22 dealers produced fantastic results.

·         Ratings averaged 4.7 on a 5-point scale.  All dealers performed at 4.3 or higher.

·         95% of customers would recommend the dealer for service.

 

The law of averages applies to the web: The more real reviews your dealership receives, the closer your score reflects real performance, which is over 4-stars for most Hyundai dealers.  The many positive reviews overshadow the few negative reviews, but these negative reviews lend credibility to the process.

 

Hyundai Customer Reviews launches as a voluntary program, and I encourage all dealerships to participate.  Web ratings represent the CSI of the future.  HMA will guide you through the enrollment process and support you through the simple start-up period.

 

Hyundai Customer Reviews comes at no additional cost to you.  That’s how strong we feel about it.

 

Watch for a communication from Frank Ferrara, Executive Vice President of Customer Satisfaction, with program details.

 

Stay humble, stay hungry,

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Sometimes, social media seems to be integrated into every part of the day. But, are companies reaping rewards or return from the social-media campfire conversations?

That would be a NO.

There are plenty of conversations that power a business to stand out from the competition, but for many, deducing all the fodder into financial gain is not easy.

The number of small businesses that have increased their social-media budget has quadrupled, and 43 percent of small businesses now spend more than six hours each week dealing with social media.

In the near future, I’d hedge to bet businesses will discover that online reviews provide more conversation in fewer places, and reveal the invisible customer – the one that got away (and launched an online review assault against the company).

Our research suggests Facebook is not the first stop when people want to check out a business; they often go to review sites beforehand.

The Verification

My team at eReputationBUILDER recently did a study on two dealerships, one with high-end buyers and the other with mid to low-end buyers. We analyzed sentiment and patterns in both review growth and customer perception.

The two departments that benefited the most with this game changing insight into customer preference and behavior were operations and marketing.

Here are our findings: Despite differences in target markets (upper-middle incomes vs. middle to lower incomes), both dealerships experienced a growth in reviews. No matter how much or how little a person spent on a car or service repair, no matter regional differences, people still wrote reviews.

  • Negative encounters that led to bad reviews for both target markets all resulted in similar descriptions – rude service, dealership was a rip-off, sales team was dishonest, etc.
  • Positive encounters varied according to the target market. This led us to conclude the variables that drive customers to write negative sentiment are much more common than the variables that evoke positive feedback.

Group 1: High-end buyers

  • Features they looked for in their car
    • Options and customization
    • Elegant and classy look
    • Speed
    • Easy Handling
    • Advanced technology
    • Push-button parallel parking
  • Features they look for in a dealership
    • Waiting room amenities (Wi-Fi, free coffee, etc)
    • Detailing their car when it gets serviced
    • Financial Transparency
    • Polite, no stress salespeople
    • The Look of success, from the showroom to the people in it
  • Experiences that led to negative reviews
    • Bad amenities (e.g. no Wi-Fi in waiting area, etc)
    • No financial transparency in the buying process
    • Salesperson was rude and not appropriately dressed
    • Dealership was dirty or looked rundown
    • People were too aggressive to get the sale

Group 2: Mid to low-end buyers

  • Features they looked for
    • Mileage
    • Dependability
    • Car Safety features
    • Warranty
    • Access to manageable payments
    • Family friendly vehicles
    • Features they looked for in a dealership
      • No hassle financing
      • No co-signer required
      • Incentives
      • Different car options in their price range
      • Nice and friendly personnel
      • Family oriented
      • Experiences that lead to bad reviews
        • Bad customer service
        • Dealer not working with them to find the right price
        • Unnecessary delays in the sales process
        • Stressful rush to make the deal
        • High waiting times for service

Conclusion:


Brand association was stronger for lower-mid car buyers, but upper-income buyers cared more about luxury features. Dealers can leverage this research by making changes internally and invest dollars in marketing and operations. Propelled from the customers voice, reviews are measurable and certifiable.

The lower to mid-market company should link the brand name with its amenities (e.g., "INSERT DEALERSHIP NAME offers..."), while the higher-end business should advertise the luxury attraction ("Vehicle comes with push button parallel parking”).

Online review sites are a game changer, no doubt. But they are the dark horses in this race, at least in terms of where businesses are currently putting the most focus. Companies need to use these reviews to better their business practices and improve satisfaction and acquisition. Listen to what your customers are saying; and refocus according to your target market. You are sure to reap the benefits.

Jerry Hart
President
eReputationBUILDER

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Along with a total revamp of Maps, Google has announced at I/O, the forum and their blog the return to a 5 star review system. You can request an invite to the new Maps here. From their blog post:

Users who opt-in to the new Google Maps will now rate businesses on a scale that ranges from one to five stars. The system maintains the precision of the former 30 point scale while improving the readability and accessibility of the business listings. Your customers will be able to find up-to-date, accurate information on your business faster than ever. As a business owner, you’ll notice that past ratings have been mapped to the five star system.

Here is how the new scores are now calculated:

poor/fair = 2 stars
good = 3 stars
very good = 4 stars
excellent = 5 stars

Some other notes from Google:

  • Users on legacy Maps, mobile (Android + iOS), Google+, Google.com, and other properties will continue to see 30 point ratings for several more weeks
    • If a user is opted into the New Google Maps and clicks on a “more reviews” they will be taken to a plus page where they will see the 5 star ratings
    • However, if the same user had just navigated to the page from plus.google.com they would see 30 point scale
    • Note that users just searching on google.com not coming from New Google Maps will continue to see the old results.
  • Google will no longer be asking users to rate on specific dimensions/aspects. For example, for restaurants users will no longer rate the “food”, “decor” and “service”.
    • Google will show just one overall score (they used an algorithm to translate the food/decor/service scores into a blended overall score).


To the dismay of many, Google replaced the yellow stars with the Zagat system in May, 2012 when Google rolled Places pages into Plus. It was clear from August of last year that Google was testing a return to the 5 Star system and they were never removed from local AdWords display.

The current iteration of stars appear to be universally red and it seems that they will roll out to all properties over the next few months. The new “Places” results that were spotted earlier will apparently be the results seen when visited from the new Maps interface.

Original article from Mike Blumenthal

Jerry Hart
President
eReputationBUILDER
Schedule a free demo

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While at work I received a text message from a buddy of mine with the new Google Maps App URL. I immediately downloaded the app and began to play around with it.  Currently my cell phone service is Verizon and I have been using VZ Navigator. At only $2.99 a month, it is a great deal for anyone who does not have a navigation system or a vehicle with navigation installed. Google Maps App, being FREE, does the exact same thing so I used that for my ride home from work to test it out. I noticed a few glitches, but with anything new those kind of things are going to happen. The next day I was off and wanted to check out some furniture stores. I typed in the Google Maps app “furniture store” and immediately several local stores came up.

But here is the “GAME CHANGER”…

During my search, it gave me each stores Google Places ranting!! Wow!! I didn’t do any homework before I left the house, and now I didn’t have too! I had all the information during my drive. I was able to see which store had 2 stars and which store had 5 stars. I was able to see who to avoid at each store while in my car, while on my phone driving to the location!

My mind immediately turned to my business, the car business. How many customers are driving to your dealership using this app and notice a terrible review? How many of those same people punch in your competitors store who have a higher ranting through Google and head over there? It is going to happen more times then not.

The majority of buyers in today’s market are Gen X and Gen Y. I, myself am Gen Y. I, myself bypassed a store because of a negative review during my drive to that same exact store.

Google Maps App is going to change the game. It is going to cause customers to detour from their original route and head directly towards a safe place to shop. I did… And I consider myself no different then any other shopper out there.

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http://www.internetsales20group.com

I am BEYOND proud of John Hinderer Honda and their AWESOME Business Development Center!!

And ESPECIALLY Rob Stewart. Rob is a new employee at the dealership (less than 4 months). He had no prior automotive sales experience. This man made almost 3,000 phone calls himself, he followed the Dealer Synergy process EXACTLY and POOF! He is responsible for almost 80 units getting delivered LAST MONTH!
I have been in Automotive Internet Sales for almost 14 years and have to say, that Rob has one of the BEST performances and success that I have EVER seen.

As you can see in the gotomeeting interview, he is simple... he works his plan, he works his pay plan. He does NOT make excuses, he does not take short cuts. On the contrary, he works hard, he works consistently and he works strategically.

The result is:

  • 2,892 phone calls made
  • 640 connections
  • 201 appointments
  • 134 appointments showed
  • 76 units delivered

October 2012, was the BEST month ever for the John Hinderer Honda BDC...

They delivered 142 units out of the Internet Sales Department and MORE than 50% came from 1 BDC Rep!

Any question...?

Please feel free to comment, email or call me.

Lets sell some cars!

 

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http://www.internetsales20group.com

The Internet Sales 20 Group

Recently the Internet Sales 20 Group just concluded in Downtown Chicago and it was a huge success! It wasn’t just a “regular” workshop or convention. It was set up like a traditional “20 Group”, including a full blown benchmark composite. The first 20 different dealerships that signed up for the Internet Sales 20 Group were thoroughly analyzed in 7 Key Performance Indicators “KPIs”…

  1. Two different  “Mystery Shop” phone calls that were recorded and graded (Executed by Dealer Synergy)
  2. Complete analysis of their Social Media penetration and relevancy (Executed by Social Dealer)
  3. Complete analysis of their online reputation (executed by Social Dealer)
  4. Deep analysis of their SERP reports, Search Engine Optimization Standings (executed by Car-Mercial)
  5. Complete 3rd Party Lead opportunities within a 10 and 25 mile radius (executed by Dealix)
  6. Complete Website effectiveness analysis (executed by Dealer Synergy)
  7. Complete Market Rater Reports (executed by Rich Dealers)

All this data was extracted or created without any assistance of the dealer(s). Once all of this data was created it was put into composite form, which means that the Dealerships’ names were removed and replaced with a dealership “ID Code”. This was to protect the identity of the individual dealerships and respect their privacy in public. Then the dealerships were “ranked” in numerical order based on the very best at the top of the composite list and the weakest at the bottom. This makes it very easy for the members to see what is “good” and what is “poor” and more importantly where they stack up against their peers.

So when the workshop opened up, everyone received a yellow legal envelope sealed with a gold “Internet Sales 20 Group Seal” and inside was an actual composite. If you were one of the dealerships analyzed, you would have additional content in your envelope. Basically an additional 50+ pages of the composite breakdown.

The very first part of the Internet Sales 20 Group was a Dealer Principal and Orlando Fuller from Dealer Synergy explaining exactly what an Internet Sales 20 Group composite was, how do you read one, where the data comes from and when you get back to your dealerships, where you can extract that data yourself.  Then for about 2 and half hours the Internet Sales 20 Group reviewed each part of the composite, almost like “question starters”. Once we reviewed a particular section, we would have incredible interaction with the audience and remember the audience was a majority of Dealer Principals, GMs and high level Internet / BC Directors. So, the interaction was powerful and strategic.  For example when we reviewed the section on online reputation, it spurred into this major section on EVERYTHING “Dealership Online Reputation”. Ralph Paglia and JD Rucker were amazing subject matter experts and kept the audience captivated with best practices, ideas and strategies for maximizing dealership online reputation.

Susan givens gave a powerful presentation on “AutoSuccess Dealership Best Practices” Including in her presentation were case studies and examples from some of the top dealerships in the country. Susan was very unique because she comes from a neutral position. She gets feedback from both dealers and dealer vendors. People were taking pages of notes during her presentation.

What was crazy was that was only the first day! After the day came to a close, everyone met downstairs of the Chicago Hilton and awaited the caravan of 14 passenger limos, courtesy of Car Ad Guys  that took everyone to the Ultra VIP party, courtesy of Reach Local at the “Carnivale Chicago”. The group was met by fire breathers and dancers outside the Carnivale that performed just for them. And inside their were other “Carnivale” entertainment… They had people lying on a bed of nails and some of the Internet Sales 20 Group members were able to stand on the chest of the guy laying on the bed of nails lol! The food and ambiance was utterly fabulous but the night got even better when we hosted the “Best Idea” contest. We started with almost 60 “Best Ideas”, the judges narrowed it down to the final 5 and then the audience voted (like X Factor or American Idol style) for the “Best Idea”. Mr. Ben Heath from Clift Buick GMC won the $1,000 Cash prize, courtesy of Helion. Ben’s idea was called “Perfect Match”.

I can not possible go over the entire hugely successful Internet Sales 20 Group in one article, so I decided to give a first day overview. Next article I will break down the rest of the Internet Sales 20 Group with actual details and strategies learned at the 20 Group.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call or email me.

Thank you-

Here are some videos from the event:
Ralph Paglia was a Speaker at the Internet Sales 20 Group

 

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