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Sean V. Bradley, CSP, CEO of Dealer Synergy speaks on the topic of how BDC is not an expense. People are not an expense, they are an asset. The difference between your organization and others are your people. The competition does not have anything different than you do, people are not an expense it comes down to your value proposition package. You cannot make money without putting money out. 92-99% of Americans go online before they even step foot in the dealership. If you can direct that traffic to an Internet or BDC department and you've got the right factors, you will be able to build a customer factory.

If you like Make Money Mondays, then you will love Bradley On Demand:http://www.BradleyOnDemand.com

Do you want more information on the automotive industry find out more about Dealer Synergy and our training services:http://www.dealersynergy.com

Dealer Synergy Headquarters are located in Audubon, NJ: http://bit.ly/1tF0RrQ

• Are you missing phone calls from potential customers?
• Do you want to make a big difference in your sales every month?
• Have you been looking for more people to talk to?

On this week’s Think Tank Tuesday, I offer one idea that will make a dramatic difference in your sales every month.

This week's Make Money Mondays, is with the CEO of Dealer Synergy. Sean V. Bradley, CSP discusses your BDC department. 

BDC= Business Development Center. A BDC is a department that proactively drives traffic to the dealership, and does not respond to reactive traffic. How can you create business that isn't already there? Through Internet sales, Service conversion, service BDC, equity mining, data mining, cross promotional marketing, special online finance, etc. There are 8 ways for a salesperson to sell an automobile. Those 8 ways include walk-in, be-back, Internet, phone, prior customers, referrals, service conversions, and prospecting. You need to respect the fact that there is so much opportunity on the Internet and have your salespeople perfect and manage the 8 ways to sell an automobile. 

Want more training from Sean V. Bradley? Check out http://www.BradleyOnDemand.com

For more information on the automotive industry visit http://www.AutomotiveInternetSales.com

In just a few weeks, Google will update the criteria they use to determine your search rank. On this week's Hard Facts, find out what your website needs in order to maintain a top position.

Congratulations are in order for our President of Dealer Synergy, Karen Bradley.  Dealer Synergy is an award-winning national automotive training and consulting company. Karen has been with Dealer Synergy and actively involved in the automotive industry for over 8 years. In addition to such she has over ten years experience in accounting and has served as Chief Financial Officer. Now, she is being honored with one of the highest nominations in the industry, Automotive News’ 100 Leading Women award.

Every five years, Automotive News nominates the top 100 female executives in the industry. The list is compiled from dealerships, suppliers, and automakers to create the top 100 in the North American Automotive Industry. Nominations are based on who readers feel should be considered for the year’s list. Karen Bradley has been deemed worthy of this nomination by her peers.

Karen is a very hard working woman and worked her way up from the Director of Dealer Synergy, to the position she holds as President today. Through her principles and Dealer Synergy’s, her mission statement remains to enable greatness in our industry. She makes it her mission to help people do more, be more, and to achieve more. This allows people to sell more cars, more often, more profitably.   What makes Karen unique is the knowledge she has instilled in herself with time management, Franklin Covey certification, and her work/life balance. Some of her many accomplishments include:

• Co-creator of Internet Sales 20 Group, the most preeminent 3 day workshop in the automotive industry. 

• NADA 20 Group Speaker

• National Speaker Association Member

• Trainer and Facilitator of Franklin Covey (7 Habits of Highly Effective People and 5 Choices to Extraordinary Productivity) it is also important to note that of the 2 people officially partnered with the Franklin Covey Organization in the Automotive industry, Karen is the only female.

• Authored articles for National magazines such as AutoSuccess

• Co-creator of the virtual training platform BradleyOnDemand.com

• Sole curriculum creator for workbooks, deliverables, Dealer Synergy and Internet Sales 20 Group.

• Expert Blogger on AutomotiveInternetSales.com

• Through Dealer Synergy, trained 11,000 automotive professionals, 2,500 Dealer Principals and General Managers  at over 900 different dealerships in the United States and internationally.

We can’t stress enough what an amazing accomplishment this is, and on behalf of Dealer Synergy, how proud our team is of our President.  Karen has helped lead Dealer Synergy to be the company that it is today. What is even more amazing is that this is only the beginning. Karen is due to launch her video series for work/life balance training by Summer 2015. As a wife, mother of 4, and a successful businesswoman, Karen gives the true meaning to a leading woman. In the meantime, check out some of her work with the virtual training platform BradleyOnDemand.com to teach you how to sell more cars, more often, and more profitably.

A big first step toward revamping a dealership website for better lead generation often involves cleaning up the VDPs (Vehicle Display Pages). A good strategy is to strip off anything unnecessary and/or distracting, leaving only what the customer needs to get information, build trust and move down the purchase funnel. Below are some VDP elements that can help enhance the customer experience without giving them an opportunity to bail.

The first pieces of a VDP are great photos that show off the vehicle's features. This is the most basic of VDP elements. Having actual photos of the vehicle described in the VDP, rather than a stock photo, is always highly preferred. In addition, the VDP should accurately describe everything about the vehicle including MPG, any extras or features, and any other technical specifications a customer might want to know. Showing alternate similar vehicles at slightly varying price points can keep a customer on your site if they like what they see on the VDP, but want a couple of options.

In order to build trust on a VDP, some dealerships use logos or list awards that the dealership or vehicle has won. These are good ideas, however most customers are more easily swayed by word of mouth, which in this case could be reviews. Thus, vehicle and dealership reviews together are very effective VDP elements that help reassure a shopper that both their target vehicle and the dealership are trustworthy and approved by others.

The final VDP elements need to be prominent conversion items that easily pull the customer through the sales funnel. These should include a form submission option, live chat and a trackable phone number. The conversion buttons, numbers and widgets should be placed in very prominent spots on the VDP to make the next steps toward purchase clear.

There are other items that can enhance a VDP, but the basics listed above can form a good base for testing and lead capture. How are you all arranging your VDP's for maximum business opportunity?

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http://www.DealerSynergy.com 856-546-2440
http://www.BradleyOnDemand.com
http://www.InternetSales20Group.com
Sean V. Bradley Introduces Chris Sondesky, The New Vice President of Dealer Synergy - Car Sales

http://www.DealerSynergy.com 856-546-2440
Billy Vamvakidis, National Sales Consultant at Dealer Synergy - Automotive Sales

Let's bring it back to the basics when there were no apps and all you had to rely on was an old fashioned pen and a piece of paper. On this week’s Think Tank Tuesday, I explain a way to stay more organized while decreasing the amount of fire drills throughout the day.

If you want to turn your CRM into an ATM, you need to integrate it with your BDC. In order to do this, you should make sure that all processes are mapped out in all of your departments. The reason why most CRM's fail is because the CRM is not set up properly. If you want your BDC to be successful, then you should be focusing on making your CRM successful as well. Make sure that your CRM is mapped out for Internet lead management, set up proper inbound and outbound action plans, map out outbound, video emails, and texts. You want to make sure that all communication points are integrated, including social media. Now, what should you be doing with dead leads?

You should redirect your dead lead to a service opportunity or a referral. You should do this because NADA say that if someone buys a car today, someone else in their household will buy a car within 90 days. On the service side, a customer is seven times as likely to purchase a vehicle from where they service their car. Just because you lost a sale, doesn't mean that you lose a service deal or a referral. Remember that the R in CRM stands for relationship. You need to have your CRM mapped out with birthdays, anniversaries, service appointments, holidays, etc. Think of your CRM as an ATM. In order to make withdrawals, you need to make deposits. Understand that your BDC and your CRM are synergistic and dependent upon each other. 

If you want more virtual training check out http://www.BradleyOnDemand.com

For more information on the Automotive Industry check out http://www.AutomotiveInternetSales.com

What do your customers have to say about your service and collision centers? Let's find out and then capitalize on it. On this week's Hard Facts, Samantha explains how video can win you loyal customers.

If you are looking for an exciting career in the automotive industry. RK Chevy in Vineland, New Jersey is hiring for numerous positions:
Internet Sales Coordinators,BDC Reps, Showroom Sales Consultants. Please call if you are interested or if you know someone that would be perfect for these positions. RK Chevy knows 92-99% of Americans go online to shop, so the internet sales department is getting built up to be HUGE.Start your new career today!

http://www.myrkchevy.com

Massapequa Nissan Is hiring! If you are looking for an exciting career in the automotive sales industry, this is a great opportunity for you. If you're currently working at a dealership and you aren't making the money that you want, need and deserve...you need to call ! Even if you have never worked in the automotive industry, but you want to make as much money as you can earn, this is perfect for you! They just built a multi-million dollar customer development center, and we are looking for the best of the best to work in our department. They are looking for Internet sales coordinators, BDC reps, appointment setters, and showroom sales consultants. Massapequa Nissan is a part of the Atlantic Auto Group, and the # 2 privately held dealer group in the country! If you want to work with an award winning team, call right now!

http://www.MassapequaNissan.com (888)-610-6673

Give the people what they are looking for. It seems like such a simple concept, yet so many dealerships fail to deliver and lose many potential customers in the process. A best practice for a landing page is to make sure that once a businesses' message is out there, customers are able to easily find and utilize whatever was stated in that message.

Most dealers are running some sort of marketing, and one of the most popular ways to drive business is to advertise a promotion or special sale to bring in clients that are comparison shopping for price and/or value. The main issue in the digital space is what to do with clients that have clicked on one of the marketing pieces. The secret is to send them somewhere that will deliver on the promise made in the promotion - this is the best practice that a business can employ for a landing page.

Of course, it is now common knowledge that ads shouldn't send clients to the home page of a website. Instead, shoppers should be sent to a relevant landing page. The easiest way to keep customers on a site and moving down a purchasing funnel is to hand hold them step by step and deliver what was promised in the advertising.

For example, if a dealership is running a leasing special in AdWords, when a client searches and clicks on the ad, it is a best practice for the landing page to mention that same leasing special, and let the searcher know what the next step is (typically browsing available relevant inventory). Yet, many dealers still send clients to a home page or an inventory page instead. While some customers might react positively to this, most are just scanning the site looking for the same deal that was mentioned in the ad, and will not browse much further if they don't immediately see it.

Dealerships should always be aware of the bigger picture when it comes to their advertising. What are some ways you guys are making sure landing pages are relevant and deliver what was promised in the marketing?​

Knowing the difference between social media and social media advertising will save you thousands and help you sell more cars. On this week’s Think Tank Tuesday, I explain what you need to know about developing an effective and comprehensive social media marketing strategy that will optimize your ROI and stop wasting money.

Marketers, business owners and general managers are inundated with requests from all sorts of marketing agencies seeking to gain new clientele. Many companies start up based around a certain hot advertising technology. However, blindly following the latest digital marketing trends can result in an outdated marketing plan and wasted spend.

Of course, being aware of the automotive marketing landscape is going to help dealers determine which pieces of marketing they will need to help sell their cars while trying to remain cutting edge, within reason. Having an agency on your side that handles every aspect of your advertising (rather than dealing with a variety of vendors) can be of help, since the agency likely will vet digital marketing trends on your behalf before incorporating it into your marketing plan.

The algorithms that search engines and social networks use often make for a tricky landscape since the techniques for their effective use are going to change along with them. However, before jumping on the latest digital marketing trend regarding these engines and sites, one should try and get a feel for how useful these products and techniques will be if the algorithms change again.

All in all, the latest digital marketing trends will always form a confusing and constantly changing landscape. A basic rule of thumb is that if the product or service came to one's attention in an unsolicited fashion, approach with caution. What are some ways you all filter through the noise to find legit new approaches to marketing?

Sean V. Bradley,CEO of Dealer Synergy wrote an article for Auto Success Magazine about Why BDC's fail. A BDC can handle unsold showroom traffic, data mining, campaign management, equity mining, expiring warranties, aftermarket products, special finance, Internet sales, phone sales, cross promotional marketing, fleet, etc. One of the main reasons that BDC doesn't work is because most dealerships put untrained people together to do everything. Your Internet department should not be a big cluster of people doing a bunch of different things. You should scale into the BDC, and start with the biggest opportunity to be successful. The best thing for you to do is to start with the Internet because 92-99% of Americans go online before stepping into a dealership.

Your Internet department should be your anchor. Secondly, the Internet is predominately a phone sale. Email sells the phone, phone sells the appointment, and the appointment builds the relationship, product, presentation, demo, drive, and delivery. Your Internet department should be trained in the Inbound and Outbound phone call process, Qualifications, Objections and Rebuttals. If they are trained in these fields, they should be able to take inbound phone ups as well. So, the anchor of a BDC should start with Internet leads and inbound phone ups. After, you could increase to the next module. Depending on what your goals are, will dictate what module you implement next. Stop playing checkers with your BDC, and start playing chess.

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

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