http://www.seomoz.org

http://www.automotiveinternetsales.com

Why Every Marketer Now Needs to Employ a Google+ Strategy For SEO

Courtesy of Insignia's Guest Blogger Jody DeVere, CEO of AskPatty.com Inc.

The range of vehicle accessories in the automotive aftermarket industry today is nothing less than staggering.  From the simple embellishments like better floor mats and car covers to complete sparkling chrome makeovers and everything in between, there are gizmos and attachments to make virtually any car or truck carry more things, move a little faster, last a little longer, and look a little better.  In the shuffle of all these accessories, sometimes we forget who's holding the purse strings of most vehicle purchases in North America:  women.  Females make the purchase decisions in an increasing majority of North American households, and many times they are making the accessory decisions, as well.  Are you effectively marketing your own accessories to women?  Here's a list of five tips you can use to make your automotive accessories more attractive to the female consumer.

For full article click here

4 Tips To Boost Your Vehicle Sales Close Ratio

Everyone remembers the famous line from the movie Boiler Room, “Always be closing”. Sounds good in theory, but is it practical? As a dealership you have to be creative, but use practical knowledge to improve your closing ratio. Here are four tips to help. All are creative but easy to apply to your operations.

1. Practice Relationship Building:

In order to gain a new customer and their loyalty, you must build a positive relationship with them. Ask those qualifying questions, but don’t forget to be conversational and genuine. Your objective is not to just simply close the deal but, you should be striving to make a connection. When a prospect walks into your dealership whether they test drive a vehicle or not always get their contact information. Let them know you want them to be aware of any deals and specials you’re promoting. Also, ask for special dates, like their birthday and send birthday coupons. This helps facilitate a positive connection between them and your dealership. Not every prospect will purchase on their first visit, but that doesn’t mean they won’t become a loyal customer.

 2. Show and Tell:

Nothing is more frustrating for your prospect than for them to know more about the product you’re selling than you do. A salesman that doesn’t know their product immediately impacts whether a person will buy from a dealership. You should know enough about every product you sell to give a presentation. Don’t just give them enough information to operate the vehicle during a test drive. Show off certain features that will appeal to them, show them how they work and how it will benefit them. Accessories solutions and displays are an excellent interactive way of showing and telling. Pre-loaded vehicles also make great show and tell tools.

 3. Understand the meaning NO:

“No” in car sales doesn’t always mean no, it usually means “not right now”. 33% of potential dealership customers that said no said they would come back to that dealership and allow them another chance to close the deal. But, what usually happens is no one follows up. If a person says "no" it’s important to follow up and find out why. When a customer says no, invite them to take a “how are we doing?” survey. Use that information to follow up and close the deal.

 4. Practice Team Building:

Every dealership has that champion sales consultant, the one that has a 75% closing ratio and averages $800 per car in accessories sales. But you also have the salesmen that could use some work; they’re the new kid on the block or just haven’t gotten the hang of it yet. And, your entire sales team is only as strong as the latter. Use everyone else to strengthen your team. Your champion is sure to have some tips to share and lessons to teach the rest of the team. Sharing best practices or word tracks is a great dialogue for team growth..

Insignia Group, the leading provider of accessories sales systems and training has helped dealers maximize profits for over 10 years. Supporting 20+ brands and dealerships nationwide, we help our customers establish and grow their Accessories Profit Center. Call 888-579-4458 to learn more or schedule a demo.

http://www.dealersynergy.com

http://www.dealersynergy.com 

I remember when it happened:

The Director walked in and said, “Today’s minimum goal is 18 appointments.”

I remember when it happened:

The Coordinators complained, “That’s not really fair, we have to train!”

I remember when it happened:

The Trainers said, “We’ll make sure you all have an opportunity to get on the phones today.”

I remember when it happened:

We had a great training session, everyone was enthusiastic about learning.

I remember when it happened:

We picked up our phones and started dialing.

I remember when it happened:

We left message after message after message…and somehow, before we knew it; we had eleven appointments.

I remember when it happened:

We all were excited, “We’re two thirds of the way to the goal.”

I remember when it happened:

Someone said, “The contact ratio is unusually high today.”

I remember when it happened:

 I took a T/O for a coordinator, hung up and signaled “Thirteen” but was promptly corrected…”Fourteen”…someone else had gotten an appointment while I was on the call…felt great to be wrong!

I remember when it happened:

This was UNBELIEVABLE! …could it really happen? ...only one hour had gone by.

I remember when it happened:

The energy was like a boiler room…you could literally feel it on your skin.

I remember when it happened:

Fifteen! Sixteen, Seventeen?

I remember when it happened:

The fight was on…everyone was dialing the phones.  Assistant Director, Director, trainers, er’body!

I remember when it happened:

Eighteen…nineteen, we cheered; then got real focused.

I remember when it happened:

Someone asked, “What’s the record for appointments in one day here in this department?”

I remember when it happened:

The coordinators and directors answered in unison, “27!”

I remember when it happened:

Someone said “people…we just set twenty appointments in less than two hours; just imagine if we had all day.”

I remember when it happened:

Things slowed down…The trainers said, “I didn’t hear any bells…It’s not over, keep going!!!”

I remember when it happened:

Twenty-one…Twenty-two.

I remember when it happened:

It was time to go.

I remember when it happened:

They turned out all the lights. (as if that mattered to me)

I remember when it happened:

 They were ready to lock the doors.

I remember when it happened:
The last coordinator hung up the phone and announced “We started just two hours ago, and I just set the twenty-third appointment of the day.  Woohoo!”

I remember when it happened:

The owners of the Dealership walked by and said, “Dealer Synergy...WOW!”

Word Tracks: A Proven Method for Selling Automotive Accessories

Insignia has many years of experience in the automotive industry. And, we’ve discovered a few strategies and techniques very successful dealerships use to create high profit margins by selling accessories.

One sales strategy that we have discovered to be successful is word tracks.  Now, I know what you are thinking. It’s a sales script, but not necessarily. A good sales consultant understands active listening, information processing, and then responding.  Ever heard the saying, good actors don’t act. It’s true although they are saying pre written and memorized lines, the thought, intent, and emotions are real.  Why? Because, they are truly listening, processing the information, and responding. They’re just using the script to do so. You say you are not an actor, good, you shouldn’t be. But there are four things you must be to be a successful salesmen using word tracks are:

1. Excellent listener
2. Diligent at practicing and then applying word tracks
3. Sympathetic towards your customers
4. Knowledgably about your customers and your product

It is often said by the learned in the marketing field, that customers are not solely price motivated.  This can be proven every day of the year, when people all around the world go to something we call “Convenience stores.”  Think about it, when you're driving in your car, and that yellow light appears in your dash next to the red E, what do you find attached to nearly any gas station? ...Not a penny candy store.  Furthermore, 7-Eleven…doesn’t have the best priced anything, but people still continue to flock to the establishment 24-7.  I only say these things to help you understand the point…that (to 80% of people) price isn’t everything.  I hope you are following me. 

I don’t know about you, but I like to make money.  Most business owners feel the same way as I.  We can’t make money on a consistent basis if we constantly give our products away below market value.  In our industry, we have one of two choices.  We can either discount the vehicle, or build value in our 4Ps.  (More on the 4Ps later.)  I will admit that it is much easier to just go ahead and discount stuff, but to BUILD?  Oh No! …That takes work!  However, look at it this way; discount = less, value = more…are we motivated to benefit from the ease of less or the value of more? 

Let's continue by discussing the term motivation.  It is a process that elicits, controls, and sustains certain behaviors.  Let’s begin with the end in mind…What is the behavior I’d like to elicit and sustain?  Why... the purchasing of vehicles by potential customers of course.  Wouldn’t it make sense to put a controlled process in place to create this behavior?  Retail Businesses do it all the time.  I got a coupon from Sears the other day for 10-50% off…I MIGHT use it IF it’s CONVENIENT for me…IF I need something from them in the time allotted.  It is safe to say, that I am slightly motivated to shop at Sears when they want me to shop there.  They have something in place to motivate/control my behavior.

Now…we could structure a deal with our customers for 10-50% off of vehicles, and still only experience a 20% increase in business.  Another option is to sponsor a “BuildACar” campaign, or a “Onsite delivery to anywhere in the continental United States” promotion…and savor an altogether different business increase.  What is the draw of a Car Show?  Your dealership could host one once a quarter to boost sales another 20% because of the tactical information available to your customers.

All these are motivators:

1. Build a car = Availability.
2. Onsite Delivery = Convenience.
3. A Car Show = Research.

And if your internet customers hate car salesman, then I suggest you change the way you do business…you can find three very easily executable proposals to do just such above.

 This article actually was stimulated by a whole’nother thought/idea, nevertheless; creative thought bloomed.  I sincerely hope that the words here are exercising your right brain as well…motivating you to sell more cars, more profitably, more often.

(Was that a stretch?) ☺

These are the testimonials after a 1 day workshop!

Let’s say that you’re an auto dealer with a successful social media aspect of your digital marketing campaign – you have tons of Facebook fans, a healthy community that provides feedback and applause, and an online presence that grows every day. But the point of any marketing endeavor is to eventually convert your fans into loyal customers, and you determine that your Facebook page just isn’t bringing in sales –  despite all the positive metrics that indicate otherwise. What went wrong?

Location has a significant impact on automotive dealerships because of the very nature of the business. It is not economically viable to ship a 4,000-pound vehicle across the country, so you depend on sales within your jurisdiction. Therefore, you reach out to local media. When you purchased that billboard space on the interstate, you did it because you knew that drivers in the area would view it. When you filmed that goofy ad and broadcast it on Channel 12, you did it because you knew that all viewers would be local.

Your Facebook page is very different from these media. After all, what good are fans and followers if they will never buy a car from you? This very question keeps auto dealers from utilizing social media platforms and sticking to the tried-and-true marketing methods of the past. However, you are in luck! Facebook has a built-in feature that allows you to deliver relevant content to the regional audience that can most benefit from your messages. This digital marketing strategy is known as geotargeting.

When you update your followers about your promotions using a Facebook status update, explore the Audience button underneath the entry field. From there you can select what regions can view your status, and with a few clicks, you can customize your posts for different cities, states, countries, and languages. So how can you use this to localize your Facebook page?

If you have a lot of Spanish-speaking customers, use the language filter to connect to them and customize their messages in español! If you have a local promotional event, don’t bother your entire following - send invitations to only those in the area! You could even use this functionality to send different messages to different regions and A/B test them by comparing their conversion rates. But, the most effective way for auto dealers to localize their digital marketing efforts is an analytics tool that can report the exact location of all website visitors in real time!

___

Need help making your Facebook content relevant to your region? Leave a comment at our blog and our marketing staff can help!

 My name is Robert Wiesman, a true front line automotive sales professional. I have roughly about a year and a half in this business and if want to be a six figure player YOU NEED TO INVEST AND TREAT THIS LIKE YOUR OWN business!! I can not stress that enough! Everybody knows it, everybody says it, but hardly any one really does it! I do!!

Invest in yourself

1. Look good

2. Drive what you sell

3.Training materials, role play everyday and when you get home with your signifigant other, buy any books, audio, dvd and virtual training you can get your hands on, Derek Jeter hits the batting cage daily, if you are a pro you should as well.

4.Dominate social media, custom pages, solid informative content. You can not post too much.

5. Brand yourself. Look at www.robertwiesman.com. Build yourself as a brand and keep it in front of people.(Not going to give away all my secrets.

6. Your own website. Make yourself stand out to your clients as a true professional. 'Before we get together sir take a moment and check out my web page to learn a little more about the services I provide. Helps with credibilty. Keep it posted consistently with strong information that will make it a resource for car buyers.

7.YouTube Channel. Consistently record informative videos that give great information on one of life's biggest accomplishments buying a new car. Service tips, specials, up keep, performance, etc.

8.Prospecting tools. Keep your name in front of as many people as possible. Stickers with your information on them in the door jams and gas cap, pens of course drop them off at every bar, restaurant, etc. magnets for the refridgerator, insurance/registration card holders with your information on it, referral cards with your bird dog program on it,brochure with your information and a brief desription of the services you provide. I use many more and I am determined to stay on every ones mind and stay in front of as many people as I possibly can.

9.Marketing. Treat yourself like you are the dealer. Utilize SEO, VSEO, old school but effective is ads in local magazines ad newspapers. Radio is still solid but what is even better is being a guest on a local talk radio show as an "auto expert". I can not stress how important it is to brand yourself and keep your name buzzing and on the tip of everyones tongue. I am not going to give you all my creative ideas.

10. Technology. Maximize and utilize all this amazing technology. The iPhone and iPad have some great tools to run your business more efficently. This is 2012 baby it's time you joined us!

There are many other ways to invest in yourself and YOUR business. It really is your business so why would you even think for one second you do not need to invest in it? Treat you as if you are the dealer, the entity. Become a house hold brand, that is a automotive professional that geniunely cares about others vehicle needs.

The few ideas I listed above will plant many seeds and if done on a consistent basis will turn into many many deals that come to the showroom asking for YOU!!!!

Put your money where your mouth is!

www.robertwiesman.com

Robert Wiesman

717-816-9313

Rules and Regulations for the BDC:

I have established rules and regulations for the BDC Center so it s understood what qualifies them as credit to the internet department and the sales floor has a clear understanding where and how this customer came into the showroom. This also gives trust and understanding to each internet representative and the sales team. The rules help with the double dipping on leads.

Example:

Prior 72 hours when a BDC Rep. receives contact through email or a phone it is the BDC representatives leads

After 72 hours if the customer responds in either a mass email or decides to call in the new BDC does all the work, then the new BDC gets the credit

If a phone up comes in and the BDC has had a response from the customer then it’s the original BDC Rep gets the credit.  Need to develop a team environment.

If there is no contact through phone or email for 30 days then the record is open for any BDC

There must be a complete explanation in the notes of the CRM higher gear on what is going on with the customer.  If there is not an accurate notation the manager has the right to decide what BDC rep deserves credit of lead, if any.

If customer comes in and does not make an appointment, but you have had contact with that customer the appointment will be the original BDC rep.

On the daily log, if there is an appointment made be the salesperson it is the salesperson appointment.  NO BDC Rep is to take a salesperson appointment and make it theirs.

Cannot make an appointment when car is already sold or has a deposit taken

Etc…Each representative signs and understands these rules and regulations so there are no questions of what is being paid on or gets credit for.  Each Rep is responsible for handing there leads on the week bonus and commissions.

I use the method of SMART goals (retrieved from: www.projectsmart.co.uk/smart-goals.html) to help me establish my goals and objectives for my BDC team.

Specific:
*Well defined
*Clear to anyone that has a basic knowledge of the project

Measurable
*Know if the goal is obtainable and how far away completion is
*know when it has been achieved

Agreed upon
*Agreement with all the stakeholders what the goals should be

Realistic
*Within the availability of resources, knowledge and time

Time Based
*Enough time to achieve the goal
*Not too much time, which can affect project performance

Advertising:

Get everyone to your website!  All advertising should bring customers directly to the dealer website.  Use as little 3^rd party vendors as possible.  Less is more. The more contact and rapport you create with a customer the more loyal and trust worthy we become as a dealer. I work with six franchises and I found that the more you can control where you send your customers for information the closing percentage is much higher since you are guiding them to where you want them to go.

We have learned to use SEO/SEM on our website to our advantage. We have a very strong closing percentage from our SEO leads.  We are now tapping into Adwords marketing which I feel will be a strong push for our internet leads this quarter.

Current lead providers:
Website
Manufacture
Edmunds
Auto trader
ZAG/TrueCar

Since I have started with this organization and implemented my process and procedures for the BDC this organizations numbers from the internet department 2010 to 2011 have shown a 41% increase.  The stores are not highway stores and have now relied on our department for 40-45% of monthly sales, not added units.

• Year 2010 internet deals  425 
  year 2011 internet deals  601

41% increase

Jenna Dellanno
Business Development Manager
Ray Price Auto Group
raypricecars.com

One of my biggest secrets to bringing customers back into our showroom is my Customer Relations person.  They are part of my BDC crew but her title is Customer Relations Representative.  This is our way as a dealership to separate ourselves from the salesmanship mentality, giving a customer to trust that they are speaking with someone who wants to know how their visit went.  Many dealers have their salespeople or sales manager make the next day thank you for visiting call but we have our Customer Relations Representative contact our unsold showroom traffic.  I found in my experiences that when a sales manager and or a salesperson made those  follow up next day calls customers do simple one liners such as “still looking”,  “not in the market”, or “I will call you”.  With my customer relations person they take out the threat of a sales tactic.  The customer truly gets the feeling our dealership wants to know how their visit went and if they had any additional questions.  Many times it opens the flood gates as to how poor our salesman were or how they did not like the sales managers attitude.  More often though, many express on how they did not receive enough for their trade and we were not able to get to the payments they wanted.  With those statements from our customer triggers my Customer relations person to ask appropriate questions such as:  I’m sorry to hear that we were not able to get to where you wanted to be, but if we could re visit your deal with my sales manager and get to your number or close to it will you come back into our dealership?   Majority say yes of course, then I the BDC Manager receives the deal, takes a look at what and how the customer was treated and find out why our sales floor did not sell the customer when they had been in the showroom.  I then negotiate with my sales manager to either push the trade or take off on the sales price that was presented to the customer.  The Customer Relations person is to handle all unsold traffic floor ups and internet ups.

Some Customer examples:

Example 1:

A customer had come into our showroom and was greeted by a salesperson just as they always do.  Customer wanted to be at a certain price on one of our used cars and the sales manager would not agree to sell the car at that point to the customer for the price they wanted.  My customer relations person called to find out how their visit went.  The customer expressed that the dealer was not willing to negotiate and that she wanted to be at a particular price out the door. They had been waiting for a call back from the salesperson which they had still not received.  My customer relations person asked what car they were working on and the number they needed to be at, the customer expressed concern as how are you going to help me if I was already at your dealership and they were not willing to do anything then.  The customer relations person response was my sales manager re visits the deal and that if we can get you to the price on that car you will come back in?  Since a relationship was developed with the customer relations person they found out the problem as to why she need to be at a certain price it was because she was approved through her credit union and wanted to purchase that car with them but we had been able to get her a better interest rate and to put the difference of our price of $265 dollars on her credit card we could make the deal happen. We didn’t do anymore on the price, but since the relationship was built and found out more details as a non salesperson we had been able to convince her of purchasing the vehicle with us and not changing the sales price.

Example2:

A customer had little and not much credit pretty much a ghost is how they described them.  The sales manager did not waste too much time with them and expressed that we were not able to get them financed. Once my customer relations person had followed up and discussed what happen during their visit my representative was able to discover that a family member could provide $10,000 towards a purchase of a car and was able to come back down and bought one of our pre -owned car. 

Example 3:

A customer’s vehicle choice of trim and model had to be located from another dealer.  The particular salesperson they had in the showroom avoided locates at all costs.  Once my customer relations person was able to talk with the customer so much information was collected they were able to find out that we need another salesperson to work this deal so we could find the car for this customer and sell it. 

Below are some word tracks, scripts, and follow up process ideas:

Unsold Showroom Follow up Contact

1 day after visit                        Phone- BDC Thank you for visiting

2 day after visit            Phone/email- BDC if did not contact 1^st day after visit attempt another call- then unsold email

3 day after visit            Phone- BDC Thank you for visiting

7 day after visit            Phone- BDC Thank you for visiting- depending on previous contact

21 day after visit          Phone- Are you still interested in make or model? Depending on previous contact-

Schedule appropriate phone/email based off the follow contact above- you are responsible for assigning your phone calls where you see appropriate

1 Day after visit (phone)

BDC Rep:  Hi, may I please speak with (customer name)

Customer:  This is (customer name)

BDC Rep:  Hi, (customer name), this is (BDC Rep name) from the customer relations department at Ray Price (make) the reason for my call is to thank you for visiting our showroom and to make sure your questions have been answered and  to see how your visit had went with (salesperson).

If yes: Great, do you have an idea of when you would be visiting or seeing (salesperson) again?  Is there a message I can relay to him to help assist in your buying process?

Voicemail message:

If no: (This is where you may find out if the customer liked or disliked the sales representative, bring to  appropriate managers attention for this customer service situation to be handled)
              If customer does not want to work with Salesperson, offer alternative solutions such as:
            Working with another salesperson
            Working directly with a sales manager
If resistance: explain that we are looking for any feedback that could help us improve how they were treated in the sales department. It’s important to our dealership that we know how to improve.

More options for a process:

Unsold Traffic:

Guidelines to Succeed in Unsold Showroom traffic

1. Reconcile daily to make sure the up count matches the number logged. It’s important to make sure all customers had been logged the previous day by the sales representatives or sales managers.

1. BDC handles the call as customer relations call, BDC has a strong sense of confidence and belief towards the customer so customer show that we care here to assist on any situation

1. BDC handles all objection and issues regarding the customers visit in the showroom, and brings the issues good/bad to the BDC/General Manager

Process for Unsold

Next day follow up call is to ask customer how visit went, if a message is left assign again later that day- Do not leave message on 2^nd attempt. If cannot reach by phone send unsold email

Day 3: make an attempt for call but do not leave a message, only one message should be left with in a 72 hour period especially if the salesperson has called the customer.

Day 5: Watch the salespersons follow up; make sure that salesperson has not yet already talked with customer

Depending on what happened after day 1-3 will determine follow up for next steps

If customer is not sure of when they are ready to purchase:
Follow up calls every 5 days up to 30 days
After 31 days call once a month
If left message during this process use to your best knowledge of appropriate follow up

If customer bought elsewhere, transfer to BDC manager so it can be kept track of

IF customer has email address:
Next day: Unsold email
3 Day: KIT email
5 Day: (email) Incentive?
7 Day: Unsold Email
12 Day: KIT email BDC
Once a month, KIT email

Jenna Dellanno
Business Development Manager
Ray Price Auto Group
raypricecars.com

Not even a half-hour ago, I got off the phone...

I've done many things in my life, and I've encountered several different styles of teaching.  I can honestly say, with no hesitation, that I am an extremely kinesthetic learner.  In fact, I am SO kinesthetic that (in the past) my auditory learning abilities have lent themselves to selective hearing: I tend to fall asleep in class and tune out the lesson if there isn't enough visual stimulation, however...

...Not even a half-hour ago, I got off the phone with LA Williams.

Maybe I was wrong.  Maybe I'm not so much visual / kinesthetic learner as I am an emotional learner.  It seems to me that I retain information exponentially faster when the stimulus (be it visual, physical, or auditory) is warm and inviting.  I've always been stubborn when it comes to opening up to new ideas (well...if I wasn't the originator of the thought), but to the outrageous credit of the staff at Dealer Synergy, and my recent conversation with LA Williams, I may not be so stubborn after all.  Maybe I just needed the right energy thrown my way: someone I could relate to, whether it be on my learning terms or not. 

Not even a half-hour ago, I got off the phone with LA Williams, and in a short period of time, I learned more about basic phone personality and transference of abstract energy than I have ever have in such a limited medium.  LA has a knack for doing with his voice what most people have difficulty doing with their entire body. 

Dealer Synergy is three for three.  I feel like I have a strong support system in place.

I am 26 years old and have grown up in the car business most of my life. My father played professional football in the NFL for 11 years and got into the car business a few years after he retired. So you can imagine growing up trying to live up to something like being ranked third in Cleveland Browns all time history of rushing yards behind Jim Brown and Leroy Kelly. Even if you aren’t a big football fan you have probably heard of those names. As a result I grew up being a very competitive and driven person because all I was used to hearing (and seeing my father’s old film highlights) from my parents was that you need to strive to be the best no matter what. I am extremely grateful for the way they brought me up because I think it has made me the man I am today.

Since I have grown up in the automotive business I have really grown to love it and take pride in telling people I work in this industry. The main reason I like this industry so much is that every day I come into work there is something new or different than the previous day. After graduating from college I really got a good sense of what career path I wanted to take. Being able to work in every single department in the dealership over the years, I have really grown to appreciate how each department is run like their own individual businesses. Also, being able to attend and graduate from NADA Dealer Academy really pushed my interest of the automotive business over the edge to where I can honestly say that this is what I want to do as my career. The things I learned from the academy had immediate impact on our dealership; from cost cutting to different ways of doing business to make customers happy and us some profits at the end of the day. I can truly say the academy gave me a wealth of knowledge that probably would have taken me years to gain. I would recommend it to any dealer son/daughter or just anyone who is serious about the automotive business as a career.

So, now on to my situation here at the dealership. Over the past few years I have had the opportunity to bring some ideas for us to improve as a dealership to the table, but being the owners son most of my  ideas were viewed by some as stupid, juvenile, inexperienced, etc. But I can say that my father incorporated a lot of those ideas and we have grown our business because of those ideas. The biggest obstacle I constantly have to deal with at my dealership is the constant mediocrity and settling. A large majority of the decision makers (managers) do not have the ability in my opinion to think outside of the box. They rarely come up with different ideas on how to improve their processes, people, products, or increase business as a whole. A lot of them (including my father) are somewhat stuck in the old car business mantra of things that worked in the past work today. I just do not think that a lot of things do. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of things that worked in the past that still work today, and the basics of the automotive business do not really change, but I am talking about the things that have evolved over time. Things like the internet, which in my opinion is the most overlooked and underutilized department in most dealerships. I even think they overlook in the NADA Dealer Academy to be honest because they have a new car class but do not really delve into teaching how important the internet is and will be in the future. I think the most forward thinking managers at dealerships who understand the internet, and the future of the internet, are going to be the ones who will strive and survive the best in the future.

 My problem I run into a lot here at my dealership is that I feel we are missing the whole paradigm shift that’s currently occurring in our industry right now. The days of being able to hold huge grosses has gone away, the internet has allowed our customers to become more knowledgeable of our vehicles that we are in reality. Being younger and seeing this trend I have tried to get my father, along with all the other managers to buy into putting most of our efforts (advertising, development ,etc.) into our internet department. Before I took over as the internet manager recently, our old “internet manager” was not performing any of the duties of an internet manager. He was simply a salesperson who cherry-picked the good leads and came to the managers meeting and gave false numbers. There was no tracking of anything at all besides how many leads he got for the month. What I have been trying to do is create an internet department that is based off of what I learned from dealer synergy over the past year. I found them in the autosuccess magazine that I read regularly and wanted to be one of their success stories. Unfortunately no one here at my dealership sees the value in their program and how they produce results for dealerships like our across the country.

What  I have to do is fight the uphill battle of not only being the dealer’s son, but the fact that I basically have very little support, resources, and buy-in from the other employees here. Being the type of person that I am I just look at it as an obstacle that I will love to overcome. Not just to prove to everyone I was right, but to prove the fact that with an open mind we can have success in something that we are not accustomed to. By following the dealer synergy model of having designate coordinators who solely make phone calls, set appointment, and answer internet leads, I plan on taking our store from mediocre to one of the best internet departments in our area. I can only imagine being someone who does not have such a vested interest in the dealership, how hard it must be to be in the same situation as I am. Luckily for me I have the authority to do things like add lead providers, employees, products, etc. without having to go through the proper channels for permission. But the advice I would give someone who is in the same position as me, would be to put first things first and try to deal with the things that you have control over. Like the say, Rome wasn’t built in a day so you just have to take it piece by piece. That is what I am doing for my situation, yes will it take me longer to reach my goal of being the best, but at least I know I will remain focused on what the proper processes and procedures it will take me to reach that goal. As long as I surround myself with people like me and employees who can properly execute the things needed to succeed, everything will fall into place over time.

http://www.dealersynergy.com/20k.html

     I truly believe that anyone can teach; not everyone can truly inspire.  

     On Monday, January 9th, after only two months on the sales floor of a car dealership, I had come dangerously close to falling into such a negative mind-state that I put in a soft resignation with the sales managers, and had almost completely decided to head in a different employment direction.  With literally one foot out the door, the finance director pulled me to the side and asked if I would hang back for a minute while he checked on transferring me into the internet department... which, about a half hour later, he came back and told me to head upstairs for the training that was starting in 15 minutes.  

     For the next two days, I listened to Mr Sean Bradley talk with such passion and charisma (even through his cold and broken voice) about his company and the achievements that I decided maybe he was right -- maybe the Laws Of Attraction were more than just a "sales pitch", and there was validity to the science and chemistry behind it: similar elements attract, polar opposite mindsets repel... much like magnets.  If I was to be successful, I had to get my mind right and radiate such a positive beacon of energy that negativity would deflect and glare at my success from a distance.

     The message didn't thoroughly sink in, though, until Mr Anthony Alagona arrived at the dealership on Wednesday, January 11th.  If anyone had asked me what I thought about positive people (even as recently as a week ago), although I would have loved to believe otherwise, my prior experiences would have led me to reply that positivity was a salesman's spin on reality; however, Anthony exceeded my expectations with far more than the right words... I saw, for the first time, positivity in another man's FACE.  Belief in himself, and confidence in the future for everyone in his life, radiates off of Mr Alagona like nothing I've even encountered before.  He made even the tedious task of running phone scripts enjoyable, taking on any challenge the group could throw at him -- flashing a charismatic smirk and dropping his characteristic "game on!" at anyone who came at him with a curve.  

     Neither Sean nor Anthony are salespeople; they both exude the same energy, as if they were made from a far greater mold.  They're both incredibly positive and intensely passionate men who believe so deeply in a better tomorrow that labeling them with anything besides their given names is almost insulting.  After only one week, they've both inspired me and made me stronger as a person... they just happened to be teaching me something about automotive sales.  

     Dealer Synergy is a powerful program; however, it's only a drop in the bucket of what the staff that run it are capable of.  To the car dealerships who use them, use them wisely; to those that don't, you should probably come up for air before you sink; and to anyone NOT involved in automotive sales in anyway... I suggest figuring out another way to get acquainted with both Mr Bradley and Mr Alagona.  They both have hearts of lions.  

     I owe my renewed faith in the possibilities of my personal success and the future of my career at the dealership to their presence and inspiration.  Thank you both so much.