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Hello! I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe holiday yesterday with friends and family. Sometimes that's exactly what we need in order to hit the "reset button" and refocus on our careers. I know that I am very thankful for being back to Dealer Synergy, and one of my favorite and rewarding things, in my mind, is to give back to our clients and other people we come in contact with to make them better people and better skilled professionals. We are here today AND tomorrow for any support you may need throughout the weekend, and ensure a strong month-end.
People across America have one thing in mind today and this weekend...and that is to shop, shop, SHOP!
Perception is reality, and every TV, newspaper and website advertise that you will absolutely get the BEST deals of the YEAR today and have all kinds of weekend blowout sales. RIDE THE WAVE! Make sure that anyone you speak to knows that this is very true especially in the Automotive business. From my experience, dealerships are just as busy as malls, retail stores this weekend, so turn these shoppers into BUYERS! Really push for appointments for today and tomorrow, and worst case scenario, if they can't make it, you can always relay that this holiday sale is going to be extended through month-end, and push for Monday and Tuesday to ensure you finish your month strong!
In Sean's Turkey day post below, he included quite possibly one of my favorite videos I have ever watched. One of my favorite sayings is "Carpe Diem", which is Latin for "seize the day" and I believe this video really sums it up in one of the best ways possible. If you haven't already, watch the video, and take about 2 minutes to think about it. I guarantee it will be 5 minutes (or 300 seconds) well spent. Make your time efficient and productive...and make every minute, second and phone call that you make count!
As always, our team here at Dealer Synergy appreciates and encourages comments, blogs, testimonials and participation...so let us know what you think, because we look forward to hearing from you!
Have a great weekend!
Andy
http://www.internetsales20group.com
I wanted to wish everyone a VERY Happy Thanksgiving from me, my family and the entire Dealer Synergy Team. I personally have a tremendous amount to be Thankful for. As you might or might not know, I was in a horrific, near fatal Jet Ski accident in Puerto Rico this past summer. It was a sureal experieince to say the least, I was in Puerto Rico for 2 months and out of work for over 3 months due to the accident. I had a lot of time to think, reflect and truly appreciate what I have. Sometimes when you are going at "warp" speed everyday things might get taken for granted. I am Thankful for my life, to be able to breathe. As simple as that may sound I am sincere. I am blessed and Thankful for my family, friends, company, clients and the ability to do what I love each and every day.
Life is WAY Too Short!! BeThankful that you have life and the opportunity to be and do anything you want to do. Reflect... Soak it all in... Enjoy it!
God Bless and Happy Thanksgiving
Sean V. Bradley-
Call us NOW 302-653-2301
Deer hunting is a HUGE deal in middle and lower Delaware... right where our stores are located! This customer shot this testimonial and sent it in on opening day of deer season!!! Congratulations to Trey Wallace who got his first buck!! He says he couldn't have done it with out the help of his Chevrolet Silverado and Willis Automotive!! WOOHOO!!!
http://www.joomla.org/
http://www.internetsales20group.com
At the recent Internet Sales 20 Group in Philly I had the opportunity to meet with Subi Fernando, the Internet Director for Basil Resale Centers. I have to say that I was VERY impressed with how much on point she was with Automotive Internet Sales and was equally impresses of her use of Joomla! For her organization's MAIN WEBSITE! http://www.basilresale.com/ The site is NOT perfect, there is room for a lot of opportunity, a lot of growth but the site isn't bad at all and the best part is that they own it themselves! They utilize a FREE platform called Joomla! (which is an open source CMS). I have seen a Lot of companies use Joomla! for focus / micro sites but rarely have seen it used as their primary site. The fact that they pay $26 dollars a month for the site is AWESOME!! Plus, they have NO CONTRACTS... They do it all in house. I am Not saying that this is for everybody... For the record, I DO NOT mow my own lawn lol! But, I do want dealers to know that there are OTHER viable options than what they might already know about. I like the idea for a progressive dealership (or dealer group) to take control of their OWN Multi Million Dollar Department and RUN with it... If they have the skills and resources to do so.
So, Kudos to Subi and to Basil Resale Centers!!! For more information on Joomla! or Basil Resale Centers... Contact Subi, she is a member of AIS.
SVB-
Hi everyone! It's been a great 1st week back to Dealer Synergy and I have spoken with many of our clients so far for a phone training or just to say Hello! There is so much that can be done to get our dealerships ramped up for year-end, and I promise I will reach out to those of you I haven't spoken to yet very soon. I have been working on more material to help improve Dealer Synergy's action plan in keeping our dealers ramped up, and better than ever on the phones. With the economy constantly changing, I have new scripted rebuttals that will help our departments handle more types of customers.
Our phone trainings have been going great, and we have some new clients that will be able to take advantage of our brand new cirriculum of phone trainings to make you a "Appointment Ninja" faster than ever! Everyone that is fluent and already taking advantage of "the 10 steps" will get even better! It's the perfect time to start making the end-of-year "push" to really CRUSH the competition and finish the year with fantastic numbers (and PAYCHECKS!!).
As of now, I wish everyone a safe and happy weekend...and we all know the weekend is always better after having a BIG Saturday....so CONFIRM those APPOINTMENTS!! :)
Andy Fedo
VP of Training
Dealer Synergy
http://www.internetsales20group.com
Recently Google created a Tsunami of change by integrating Google Places into organic search results. Dealers called me to ask what I thought these changes would have to their Automotive SEO strategies. I was not quick to answer because I think that Google is still refining their balancing act of SEO, SEM, and Google Places.
With that said, I am feeling much better about the changes that are in play. I was worried that the new Google Places integration would start at the top of organic listings which would favor websites connected to a Google Places page. From what I can see, Google is still rewarding exact match domain names and highly optimized websites before the “mosh pit” (in green) is displayed.
In the example below, a broad search phrase like “Los Angeles Dealers” produces a list of car dealers that have Google Maps, but before those listings, three company websites appear.
In the search results shown above, you can see that an “exact match” domain with good content, links, and relevance PRECEDES the massive block of results shown in green that are enhanced by Google Places data. You can also see the other two websites that rank above the Google Places block are not slackers at all: Automotive.com and Cars.com.
Google SERP Find Exact Matches First
I’ve said this before and will repeat it again, Google always tries to present, on a search results page (SERP), the best matching assets in its database. Google, Yahoo, and Bing all weight exact matching domains very high as long as the websites have relevant content. Redirected domains that are not hosted will never appear in search results so all those parked domains you may own are not helping you. It may be time to get those parked domains on a real content publishing strategy!
Don’t Forget The Stars
When Google integrated Google Places, the normal 8-10 organic listings were changed dramatically which created a “jump ball” once again in the search marketing Olympics.
I would like to remind all car dealers that they MUST develop a comprehensive Internet Reputation Management (IRM) strategy to increase participation of their clients to posted reviews. My recommendation is that a successful dealer should have TWICE the number of positive reviews “stars” of their nearest competitor. That may be harder in years to come but all dealers should have a few HUNDRED reviews posted from authentic customers.
Testing Search Results Start To Show A Trend
From recent testing that I have done, websites hosted on great domain names may actually have an edge over local car dealer websites. Take a look at the search listed below. The websites that Google felt were best matches and NOT in Google Places were listed first. Then the local dealers were listed.
Once again, the TOP websites above the integrated and enhanced Google Places organic listings are two heavyweight contenders UsedCars.com and Yahoo Autos. For the car industry, the bigger, more established inventory advertising websites could be getting more traffic because they are NOT in the green Google Places area and shown at the top of the page.
This trend continues as you type in even broader searches, and you can see that websites that are EXACT matching or that have high SEO inbound links on targeted keywords, appear on Google Page One before the Google Places block. So, in essence, Automotive SEO strategies are still in tact and dealers that have EXACT matching microsites with great content are getting a boost.
The Future Automotive SEO
Since I am an advocate of Automotive Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies, you would expect me to defend this marketing strategy but I will be the first to say that the changes with Google Places is still a dynamic event. I’ll keep you posted on what I find and make recommendations to take advantage of opportunities I see.
About the Author
Brian Pasch is the CEO of the PCG Digital Marketing and an active writer for the automotive community.
http://www.internetsales20group.com
Automotive Internet Sales is GIVING AWAY FREE CASH MONEY... $300 (Out of our own pockets...) I have a CONTEST That I put together for you all!!
Contest Details -
We are looking for the BEST Customer Testimoniasl from your Dealership(s)!
Contest Rules -
You NEED to upload Customer Testimonials to www.automotiveinternetsales.com (This Site :) AIS is looking for The Best Video... that doesn't simply mean the most expensive... It means we are looking for POWERFUL Testimonial videos that will actually influence people into wanting to vist / purchase from your particular dealership versus the competition.
AIS wants to see the diffferent types of Video Testimonials that you get... Are they for New Cars? Used Cars? Finance / Special Finance? Service / Body Shop etc... Female Buyers... etc...
AIS is looking for creativity and CONTENT!!
Contest Reason / Goals -
Here at AIS, we believe that VIDEO is SOOOO Important & We also believe that having AWESOME Prospect / Client testimonials that you can use in your marketing initiatives, your website(s), your email teamplates, your online reputation management strategy as well as SOCIAL MEDIA... Can seriously give you a competitive edge in your market. We decided to offer a $300 CASH contest to whoever uploads the "Best" Dealership Testimonial video to AIS. This is a GREAT way for us to teach & learn from each other in this community.
Contest Time (Start / End) -
Contest has officially started and it will officially END November 23rd 2010
http://www.internetsales20group.com
Chrysler Dodge Jeep Dealership comes up with a VERY CREATIVE Social Media Strategy for their FaceBook using "call of Duty, Black Ops" as a Promo for "Likes"... Basically, all a person has to do is "LIKE" Locklear's FaceBook Fan Page and they will be entered into a FREE drawing / Contest for a FREE Call of Duty, Black Ops game-
http://www.facebook.com/Locklearautomotive
http://www.internetsales20group.com
** If you "LIKE" their dealership on FaceBook, prospects are automatically entered to win a FREE "Call of Duty, Black Ops" game!
(Let me know what you think about this type of campaign... or if you have a unique social media campaign you would like to share with the community).
After doing 18 phone trainings with Internet Coordinators, Sales Managers, and Internet Directors in just 2 days, I've found a few routine things that I did when I was in ALL of your shoes before, that can help you starting TODAY:
1. Inbound calls - Ask for more phone numbers! Make sure that if the customer gives you a work/home number, ask the obvious question "Do you also have a cell phone number?" I'm pretty sure 99% of America will have a cell phone...and now you have a number to reach them at work or home...and don't be shy to ask for a 3rd number AND email address too!! This is a very important time of your call, so don't rush yourself to the next step. This will help you confirm your appointments at anytime, leading to a better show ratio.
2. "Please get a pen" - This simple phrase at the end of your call will work...GUARANTEED! Those of you I have spoken to in the last few days have heard me emphasized to tell you customer (when confirming your appointment) to "please get a pen". At this point, give the customer PERFECT directions to your dealership, your name, and direct phone number, and the person you have delegated to handle the customer at the door. Also make the customer "REPEAT your phone number back to you, to assure they have it right". This will confirm that they were in fact writing it down. We now have a much better chance of that customer calling us back if something comes up, or they get lost, etc...
3. RE: APPOINTMENT - Send email confirmations the day before your customer is due to arrive. Hopefully even if your customer didn't get a chance to return your call, they may check their email at night, over their morning coffee, or sometime before they are due to be there that following day. Some people are very email savvy, but it's "hard to talk at work"
Happy Selling and Always Be Closing!!
Andy Fedo
"Googolopoly" The BEST & Most Powerful Automotive Digital Marketing & Social Media Strategy for your Dealership
This Graphic sums it ALL up... This is Exactly what your dealership should be thinking with the Internet & with Digital Marketing / Social Media... The best analogy I can give you all is that I want you to think of Google as a Monopoly board or bettter yet a "Googolopoly" LOL! Google says that ONLY .5% (LESS than 1%) of people go past the First Page of Google. So, your strategy is SIMPLE... LIKE in Monopoly you try to get as many PROPERTIES as possible... That is what you want to do with the First Page of Google! you want to get as many positions as humanly possible. For example:
· You want to DOMINATE the First page EVERYWHERE... Starting with your MAIN www.abcmotors.com site.
· You want your Focus Sites / Micros Sites to show on the first page in the TOP 10.
· You want your Face Book...
· You want your Twitter...
· You want your NING...
· You want your Flicker...
· You want your You Tube...
· You want your Dealer Rater / Reputation Management etc...
· Videos, videos, Videos... AKA Video Search Engine Optimization!
· You want your Vertical Search... Google Business / google Maps...
· You want your REAL TIME Search (LIVE News Feeds on First Page Google)!
*** Why...? Simple... The MORE you are on the 1st PAGE the LESS EVERYONE else is... 3rd party providers, competition etc... And we all know that you have a FASTER gestation period generating your own leads, you have a higher gross and a higher closing ratio.
THE NEW Phrase to Remember is "Googolopoly"
"Googolopoly" The BEST & Most Powerful Automotive Digital Marketing & Social Media Strategy for your Dealership
This Graphic sums it ALL up... This is Exactly what your dealership should be thinking with the Internet & with Digital Marketing / Social Media... The best analogy I can give you all is that I want you to think of Google as a Monopoly board or better yet a "Googolopoly" LOL! Google says that ONLY .5% (LESS than 1%) of people go past the First Page of Google. So, your strategy is SIMPLE... LIKE in Monopoly you try to get as many PROPERTIES as possible... That is what you want to do with the First Page of Google! you want to get as many positions as humanly possible. For example:
· You want to DOMINATE the First page EVERYWHERE... Starting with your MAIN www.abcmotors.com site.
· You want your Focus Sites / Micros Sites to show on the first page in the TOP 10.
· You want your Face Book...
· You want your Twitter...
· You want your NING...
· You want your Flicker...
· You want your You Tube...
· You want your Dealer Rater / Reputation Management etc...
· Videos, videos, Videos... AKA Video Search Engine Optimization!
· You want your Vertical Search... Google Business / google Maps...
· You want your REAL TIME Search (LIVE News Feeds on First Page Google)!
*** Why...? Simple... The MORE you are on the 1st PAGE the LESS EVERYONE else is... 3rd party providers, competition etc... And we all know that you have a FASTER gestation period generating your own leads, you have a higher gross and a higher closing ratio.
THE NEW Phrase to Remember is "Googolopoly"
I once saw a commercial, and those in the car business have seen it too, where a car salesman is portrayed by an old cranky badger. The commercials are funny. Like the old saying goes they are funny because they are true. I have been around my share of "badgers" in my career. There is one in particular where the "badger" is training a new hire in the fine art of fishing for a customer. The last line is a loud "KAPOWEE you just sold a car." Watch it here. Its funny isnt it?
If people really percieve thats how you are treated in my profession then I am ashamed. However, I know that is not how I treat people. Its funny that most of my customers come from past customers, or family or people from my church. I also belong to a referral organization called BNI, where the customers are referred to me by their friends. I cant be a jerk or "badger" because I have and build relationships with my clients. If you want a car salesman go somewhere else. If you want a person that is going to be there in ten years to help your kids buy a car then come see me. My pledge to you as all my other clients is, I'm going to be there when you need me, whether its picking up your car for an oil change or showing you how to connect your bluetooth headset, I am there.
With Social media coming into play we as salespeople have to be better. We have to care more. I invite all my customers and readers to friend me on facebook and follow me on twitter. The reason for that is so after I take care of you, you can tell others that I treated you well too. I cant get any more honest than that! I need you to help me. I also need you to tell me if I messed up too,yes I want negatives as well. I know im not perfect, so I need you to tell me where to improve!
I have been selling cars for over 9 years. I love this business. I love how it changes consantly. I love the different people I get to help. You the customer is what this is all about. I will close this with another one of my favorite badger videos and will assure you. You will never see me do the wiggle dance!
http://www.internetsales20group.com
***Re-Published from Dealer.com Site
How to use Facebook to promote your blog & engage your customers - Syndicate your blog through Facebook to gain readership - Pete Jewett, SEO Analyst
You don’t have to be a social media expert to know that posting fresh relevant content on your Facebook Page is a must if you want to keep your customers engaged. One way to consistently post content and engage with your consumer is by syndicating your blog to automatically feed into your Facebook page every time you publish a post. Whenever a post is added to your blog, it will automatically display on your Facebook page's news feed for all your fans to view.
Whether you subscribe to Dealer.com’s blog platform or not, if you have a blog you should be syndicating it to gain readership and offer your customers fresh content on a regular basis.
It is easy to link your blog and Facebook fan page for automatic syndication! It takes less than 5 minutes to configure... here's how you can set it up:
1.Find your RSS feed URL - Visit your blog's home page and click on the orange button labeled "RSS 2.0", click it and copy your RSS feed's URL in the address bar.
2.Edit Your Facebook Page -Go to your Facebook Fan Page and click "Edit Page" beneath the Page profile picture.
3.Find Notes - Find Notes among the list of applications and select "Edit." Click "Edit Import Settings" under the Subscribe Section
4.Paste the URL - Paste your blog feed URL in the Web URL box and start importing.
Be aware that once you set up your blog to be imported into Notes, Facebook will pull previous posts into your feed. Once set up, it will scrape your site daily for new posts.
Now that you have your blog set up to post to Facebook, start writing!
Your Ford Focus Global Drive is a smartly packaged promotion, filled with altruism, goodwill, and finally tied with a great, big incentive ribbon. So, why after 3 weeks of being live, do you only have 9 videos uploaded? Reuters reports that you want to choose 100 people to participate. The December 31st deadline is fast approaching. How are you going to convert people from low-involvement likers to high-involvement evangelists?
Here’s the great mystery of social media: it’s low involvement, and no matter what anyone says, we aren’t quite sure what “liking” something means when your like is nothing more than a click. Social media marketers are constantly trying to engage those “likers” so that they become evangelists. When it works, it’s magic. But when you can’t convert your likers into people who participate with more high-involvement content, then you’re stuck with… well, the Ford Focus Global Drive.
I have some answers for you, Ford. If you’re listening – which I would bet that you are – give me a call. You made a bet on social media, you have deep investments in this project, and you need to keep momentum moving forward for your brand. Let’s do it together.
MacKenzie
972-458-2026
http://www.dealersynergy.com
http://www.automotiveinternetsales.com
Automotive Internet Sales Department goes from delivering 60 Units online to OVER 200 Internet Units ONLINE!! - They CONVERT an ENTIRE Dealership into their INTERNET DEPARTMENT! You Must WATCH THIS VIDEO!
