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Being in the automotive industry for some time now, nearly 8 years, I remembered back to the days when I first started. I was 20 years old, fresh out of college, trying to take over the world - one phone call at a time. The company I was with at the time, didn't have the luxury of having the finer things that other automotive companies had. We had a pad, paper, and IF our website company offered a FREE CRM, we had that too.   A few years went by, I saw myself begin to progressive and outgrow the store I was at, I was ready for a great challenge. I joined Pine Belt Automotive for a great opportunity and a chance to see my talents flourish with a company that was the top of their game. 

I can tell you from firsthand experience, a huge part in our success here is Dealer CRM | iMagicLab. And I can tell you why in one word.... Simplicity. Like many other dealerships in America, we still have managers, employees, and officers that have worked more time in the "old days" then they have in the "new days" and that's okay! The car business will always remain the same in which you still must execute the basics better than your competition in order the succeed month in and month out. What our CRM company does that brings us to another level, is adapt to OUR life, instead of us adapting to theirs. They are habit forming, they are easy, they do not complicate the situation, they do not try to do too much, they simply compliment our dealerships lifestyle and now has become a system in which we depend on. 

Now look, it did not start out like that all. There was a time where we as a dealer we just logging in deals. And then we eventually moved to deals and "should be a deal." Now, I can honestly say, we are at 95-98% every month. And listen, anyone who sits where and tells you they are at 100% and they never miss anything and any other talk like that is flat out lying. We are humans in a fast paced world, we are not perfect and will never be. DealerCRM did an unbelievable job with their updates and improvements to take an already great product and make it excellent. 

iMagicLab is a tool in which we lean on. It is a tool in which we need for our everyday business. It blends simplicity with necessity. It pays attention to detail, but not too much detail.  It will not consume you or overwhelm you. As an Internet Director, I can use and be successful with any CRM that you put in front of me, any Internet Director/Manager will be. Our learning curve is a lot sharper then everyone else in the dealership. It's the SALESMAN, the blood line of our dealership, that took the ball that is iMagicLab and ran with it. Why? Because it is not a second job for them. It complements the job that they already have. 

This blog entry is not intended to sell or promote in any manner. I just simply want to applaud Dealer CRM | iMagicLab, Ownership, Management, Support, and everyone else involved with the creation and every day activity of our system. 

Back in 2009, the team of Mike and Maaike, the designers behind Google’s G1 Phone among other innovations, released a concept design for the car of the future. Lost behind the futuristic glass enclosure and auto-drive capabilities were the reasons they undertook the project: “Freed from the monotony of driving, we can enjoy quality time while in transit: socializing, gaming, movies, business, videocalls, web surfing, sleeping or discovering new places with powerful voice controlled search and navigation.”

We’re a car culture. Our manufacturers continue to advertise power, performance, passion, heritage and sex appeal—but the next generation of buyers is less interested in that than they are in engagement, connection, impact and lifestyle. To them, driving is a distraction from their life.

In 2010, the millennials (the current 16-34-year-old demographic) surpassed the baby boomers as the largest generation in the United States, with more than 77 million members, or one in four Americans. Inevitably—and soon— they will buy more cars, get married, buy houses and have families. At the same time baby boomers are retiring and driving less, so understanding how to sell to millennials will be critical to your dealership’s success.

When you are able to identify the approximate age of an Internet lead, how do you respond to those in the 16-34 age group? Here are a few tips on how to respond to millennial Internet leads:

1) Price is Important….: The millennials have had a tough time establishing careers in this down economy, as evidenced by a 16% unemployment rate in their age range. Many also graduated college with student debt. Lack of finances is one big contributor to why many of them aren’t currently buying cars. If you notice their inquiry is on a “budget” car, respond by sending links to similarly priced vehicles, both used and new.

You may also want to bring up financing options with millennials sooner rather than later, so you don’t spend a lot of time selling them a car they can’t afford. Fortunately, credit restrictions for auto purchases have been easing lately. Offer to help them become qualified, and send links to whatever payment marketing tools are on your website. If you have a new generation shop-by-payment tool, they will be able to peruse your inventory based on what their monthly budget is.

2) ….But Not as Important as the “Feel Good” Factor. Although millennials may be looking for value, giving them the bottom line price is not guaranteed to get you the sale. In general, neither will selling the features of the car. Less than 15% of millennials describe themselves as “car enthusiasts,” compared to 30% of baby boomers,* making a car more of a commodity than an emotional purchase.

Most millennials want to “feel good” about what they’re buying. In a 2010 Pew Research Center study, more millennials said “Helping Others In Need” is more important than “Owning a Home.” So if it’s a hybrid, emphasize the benefits to the environment. If your dealership is involved in the local community, try to weave in a conversation about a charity you recently helped out, or other social benefit that your dealership has provided. Another strategy is to share YouTube ads from the brands they inquired about, to help them decide which brands they identify with.

3) Let Others Do the Talking. Millennials are extremely active with social media and use the Internet to do most of their research. In general, they trust the opinions of their friends and the masses before they trust recommendations from a salesperson. If possible, let your social media platforms and online review sites do as much of the “selling” as possible for you and your dealership. Send them links to the objective, third-party research sites, to your online review sites and especially to any reviews that may specifically mention you, the salesperson. If you don’t have any video testimonials from customers, get some, then send the links to those on your YouTube channel.

4) Don’t Pressure Too Much, but Don’t Give Up. Millennials are in a state of “constant consideration,” so if they don’t respond to your request for an appointment, or stop responding entirely, don’t give up. It may be they’ve backed off the idea of purchasing for the moment. Chances are they will still purchase in the next 90 days, and when they do it will be with someone who they have built a rapport with.

5) Use Your CRM For Communication Preferences. Millennials expect companies to do business with them on their terms. This means if they prefer to text, you should be texting them (or your competitor who does text them will be the one to engage with them).

The millennials now outnumber boomers, and their growing purchasing power will soon be felt. What tips do you have to market to this tech-savvy generation?

# # #

*Statistics taken from the Spring 2013 research report “A New Direction: Our Changing Relationship with Driving and the Implications for America’s Future” by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.

http://www.internetsales20group.com

Mark Rodriguez is a National Speakers Association Member, GNYADA Speaker /Trainer, NJ CAR Speaker / Trainer and and Internet Sales 20 Group Speaker / Trainer. Mark recently stopped by our Production Studio to share some of his wealth of knowledge in Automotive Phone Sales.

Thanks Mark!

If you like Mark's message and are interested in hearing more, then you are in luck! Mark Rodriguez is going to be speaking in Los Angles, at the upcoming Internet Sales 20 Group!

As Facebook continues its unofficial quest to make the platform pay to play and with Twitter quickly following in those footsteps, many are looking towards advertising as the most important component, but they would be wrong. Others who sell their products would say that strategy can overcome the need to play, but they would be incorrect as well. It’s the third component that plays in both of the other two realms that really makes up about half of the equation.

Social media marketing for the automotive industry is 2 parts content, 1 part strategy, and 1 part spend. There was a time not too long ago that it was even more prominent, but modern social media requires businesses to apply all three in order to have a winning combination.

Content is the beginning. You have to have a nice array of content to post on your social profiles, particularly on Facebook. Twitter has a never-ending flow of content bombarding you every day in the form of the blogs you read, the news that presents itself, random thoughts that make for good Tweets, and random pictures that you take or that you find on the internet. Pinterest is quickly becoming more about search than anything else and Google+ is failing in its mission to be anything more than a search engine tool. This leaves Facebook as the lone component that requires full effort in order to find the appropriate content.

Strategy must be applied once the content is gathered. Some have the time and resources to accumulate a strong pool of content and can plan out much of what they’ll post on Facebook ahead of time. Others must take what they can find in the limited time they have to find it every day or every week. Either way, a proper strategy that plays to both the algorithm as well as the expectations of the fans must be integrated in order to deliver the right content at the right time.

Advertising is the third component. It’s the trap. It’s the aspect of Facebook that seems so easy in the beginning but that can be butchered very quickly to the point that you can no longer effectively advertise. Here’s what happens…

You start off and see the “Boost Post” button on something that you just put up on the page. You click it and see that for $15, you can expose your content to thousands of people. Heck, you can probably reach a couple thousand people by spending $5 if your page is doing pretty well already. You give it a shot and, voila! Your post gets more exposure, more reach, and more engagement than anything you’ve posted in the past. You do the math and you start boosting other posts. It’s all good stuff.

One day, you see that your boosting numbers look different. Rather than spending $5 and reaching 1200-1700 people like you did a couple days before, you see that the same money now only buys you 500-950 views. You might do it or you might even bump it up to $10 for this post. Either way, you hope that it’s just a temporary drop because you’ve been telling everyone how awesome you are at Facebook.

A couple of weeks later, your heart sinks when you see something like the example below. This is a Facebook page that has 1700 fans that we took over recently. They didn’t do anything wrong, really. They simply didn’t go through the steps and monitor their EdgeRank properly to prevent this type of dip from happening. In short, Facebook and this page’s fans have spoken. They were exposed to the wrong content at the wrong times and it ate away at their potential to use Facebook ads.

Thankfully, it can be fixed. It requires content. Great content. Facebook advertising is different from other types of advertising in that the sentiment towards the ads has a tremendous effect on the potential reach and ROI on future ads. If you advertise something that gets a lot of negative feedback, it will cost more to advertise your next few posts. The ads are tied in directly with the organic algorithm. With Google, you can optimize your way to the top of you can buy your way to the top. On Facebook, there’s no distinction between advertised posts and organic posts. Just because you pay doesn’t mean that your posts will be seen.

With the right strategy, properly managed advertising, and a ton of great content, you can master the art and science of social advertising. With any single portion missing, there’s a good chance that you can do more harm than good.

* * *

Originally posted on automotivesocialmedia.com.

http://www.internetbattleplan.com
Jim Ziegler's Internet Battle Plan XIV - Las Vegas - August 13th, 14th & 15th

This site (automotiveinternetsales.com) has a great feature that can help users network with other professionals in their region but it is extremely under utilized.  Add your location to the Member map to help fill in the blanks and be seen by others in the industry.  

http://www.dealersynergy.com

http://www.internetsales20group.com

Sean V. Bradley Training Internet Sales Directors On Projections & Forecasting - Automotive Sales

I had two Internet Sales Directors Fly into my corporate office for "Internet Director Immersion Training".

This video is me "Free-Styling" My vision, my formula for profound success. This is the reason why we have so many national success stories. If you watch this video you can and learn how to duplicate this system for your dealership. I have to be honest and say, that you will have to probably watch this numerous times but it is worth it.

If you have ANY questions about this video or how YOU can do something like this for your dealership. Please feel free to email me at sean@dealersynergy.com OR you can call my cell phone # 267-319-6776

I look forward to sharing in your success-

www.dealertrack.com/emenuipad.

Dealertrack eMenu for iPad transforms aftermarket selling into an interactive experience that will capture the attention of your customers. Showcase your F&I product offerings to increase sales and profits while delivering consistent presentations.

Most of your customers already use an iPad for routine tasks. Change their routine, put on a show, and personalize the sales process for each customer. Data is collected in real-time from the iPad survey tool, providing instant feedback on their interests. Your F&I manager will receive an email with survey results, page views and specific information on the products and videos viewed.

eMenu for iPad Overview
Watch Video
To schedule a free demo or learn more, call us today or fill out the form on this page.

The Power of INSIGHT and the Power to WOW:

Drive home key selling points using the latest in video, mobile and interactive drag-and-drop technology.
Rate and present your dealership’s package configurations or make adjustments on the fly from the touchscreen.
Create an individualized presentation using customer data collected in real-time from our survey tool.
Customers can submit their survey responses from the user-friendly touchscreen for automatic email delivery to your F&I manager.
Resources

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Having worked in the dealership for the last 15 years I have firsthand experience with all these things and then some. Immediately prior to joining iMagicLab I made a conscious decision to enter the vender world, just as I made a conscious decision to enter the retail auto industry so many years ago. It wasn’t happenstance, wasn’t “a job” but is a career fueled by a passion. It's amazing to me when talking with dealers how many times they don't expect me to understand these things simply because I’m a “CRM Vendor.” Here’s a fun list of some of the more common highlights your CRM vendor doesn’t know or understand.

1. How to load a navigation disk. – Okay some manufacturers are getting away from them but still how much of a PITA is this? Don’t get me started on setting up Bluetooth or a rolling code garage door opener…

2. Contracts in Transit and what it really means for the Dealership!! – Every Finance Manager just broke a sweat!

3. They don't know what to do when the Internet is down. - Do you even know where to start to type or hand-write a contract?  Do you know how to get used car values without using the internet? This leads us to... #4

4. They don't know how to appraise a trade. – Sure they may have tools that pull numbers from KBB and black book, but we all know that’s NOT "appraising."  To them recondition cost is just a magical number. I know that wad of gum stuck in the driver's side carpet is going to cost $65.00 and the cracked windshield will be $133.50. No tool is going to have that info on the fly!!

5. They don't realize what an early model trade can do to a cash position. – We had a great weekend, sold 28 cars with 10 early model trades and sales people were mad because I wholesaled them all. We couldn’t floor them and we needed to preserve our cash position.

6. They don't know how to sell a car. – Sure, they can rattle off a preprogrammed road to a sale but can they create their own? Based on your store, your market, your brand and your team? Do they know how to switch a customer from an F250 Crew to a used Malibu? 

6.5 They never stood on point. – Enough said…

It’s my opinion that the key to working with dealers and providing the level of service needed to facilitate positive and sustainable change is understanding their business. Helping dealers find the right solution that matches their needs is what makes this job amazing.  I understand more than most of my contemporaries that cookie cutter approaches simply don’t work.

-Chris Vitale is Vice President of Sales for iMagicLab and resides in Baltimore, Maryland which is where the company’s headquarters is located.

What would you say if a customer asked "Why should I buy from you?"  Everyone can compete on price, but in order to gain more customers and increase your sales, you need to have a competitive advantage. What's yours?

In this week's Think Tank Tuesday, I'll explain why it's important to set yourself apart from all the other dealers in your market, and how to do so.

Hi everyone!

I would like to thank everybody who particpates on this site.

There are always valuable ideas to use and make life more productive

and professional! If you are on this site then you know what I'm talking

about!

Thanks again.

Mark

If there’s one thing that gets under my skin the most about local businesses on social media, it’s that they rarely take advantage of one of the most important types of posts: local facts. It’s a low-hanging fruit that is completely missed by most.

It starts with having a local following and fan base, of course, but if your page is in what we like to call stage 2, then local facts are an easy way to get people talking to your and about you. It’s one of the most important tools in our arsenal that we use to promote clients but it doesn’t take a team of social media specialists to make it happen. You can do it very easily on your own.

In the example above, you see this Long Beach Chevy dealer has a post up about an interesting fact for the Long Beach area. Someone saw it in their news feed, recognized it, then tagged their friend in a comment. The friend saw the post as a result and commented as well. He recognized the house in this case… it was his neighbor!

The individual interaction has an exceptional algorithmic effect on Facebook. Whenever anyone likes, comments, or shares a post, it has an opportunity to be seen by that person’s friends. When something like this happens where two friends are having an exchange on the post, the chances of their individual friends seeing the post increases, of course, but the chances of their shared friends seeing it shoot up exponentially. Once one of those friends like the post, now it’s very likely that their entire shared circle of friends will see the post.

This is a great thing because chances are very high that the majority of the people within this circle are within the market area of the dealership. That’s one of the ways the Facebook algorithm works. It’s one of the easiest ways to get posts like this to be liked by 30 local people and seen by over 1000 locals.

Fun idea to throw out there and we have been having HUGE success with. 

Whatever city your dealership is from, check out the next sporting event that is set to play. For us, we are in a NY/PHI market so I can alter the search either way. But for conversations sake, lets use the Yankees. Tonight they play the Royals at 7:05. 

Create a Facebook Post with the Yankees saying "Pine Belt Nissan Game of the Week! Yankees vs Royals. Pick tonight's winner and predict the score and the winner will receive a $150 gas card! It's as easy as Pick, Like, Share, and Win!"

Take 15 bucks out of your pocket and promote this post. You will be amazed at the results! People LOVE this. I also take this a step further... I will conquest our competitors cities. 

Below is an example of our last contest. No one guessed the score and there was not a winner... But the end result was amazing.

In total we generated 12 shares, 51 likes, and 50 comments. It cost our dealership 15 dollars, no one won the gas card, and we were able to market in 4 of our top competitors cities. I made the age range 25-55 and it made for a very successful event.

Try it out. Low cost way to get your name out there and have fun with the public. 

Listening to Grant Cardone, I have determined that I am 100% a "Hater". Hard thing to say and repeat out loud. I am a hater. So are you, too? If so, what are you going to do about it? I'm learning that sitting around hating on your job does nothing but kill you. If you want to increase your business, stop hating your job and do something about it.

Sean talks about the "3 Minute Book" in a lot of his references and especially today in "Make Money Monday". It's not hard to do. Make your binder and create your path. I'm learning that you must track 100% of your opportunities. Learn from your mistakes. See where you need to improve your numbers, and you'll find why you hate your job. Make yourself increase your numbers. Train yourself to be better. Strive to be the best in your store. Strive to be the best in your area. Strive to be the best in your State. Strive to be the best in the country. Set your goals. Keep your goals updated. Beat your goals. Create a better life for you and your family. 

Stop being the "Hater" we all talk about. Stop infecting the whole sales floor and look to dominate your business. Maybe you don't know you're the hater -- like me -- but just look at your numbers and see where you are and where you want to be. Make it happen. 

Go to work to WORK -- Not Hate. 

Zach 

@yourautoguyzach 

Let’s face it, no matter how great we do at listening to the wants needs and desires of our customers there comes a point where we suggest that they purchase and it triggers an internal voice that makes them say “no”.

It’s not that they don’t want to buy, it’s that there is something inside that seems to force them to resist.

No worries, with a simple method that I call the “4Rs of Objection Handling” you can overcome just about any objection.

1. Repeat – Just repeat the objection. This lets them know that you’re listening and it also may help them hear how silly it sounds so they can change their mind and say yes. Example: “The price is too high.” You would simply repeat it: “Ok, the price is too high.”

2. Replace – Replace their objection with another, more positive word that helps them see that there’s a solution to their concern. Example: “So you do want to buy it, you just want to make sure it fits into the budget you can handle, does that sound about right?”

3. Remove – We want to make sure there are no other concerns so we’ll ask an isolating question to remove any other possible issues. Example: “Other than making sure it fits your budget, is there anything else that would keep you from enjoying this great automobile?”

3. Re-close – This is where you overcome that single concern and offer them another chance to say yes! Example from this price objection: “Mr. Smith I know the payment is $50 more than you were hoping but remember, this new Honda Civic will save you $50/mo on gas and $20/mo on car insurance so you’re going to actually put $20/mo back in your pocket by saying yes – not to mention the fact that you LOVE driving it! You don’t want to drive that old Malibu home so let’s get your paperwork handled and help you start enjoying your new civic, I need your OK right here.”

Will this work with everyone? No, but ask yourself this: What are you doing now? Does that work with everyone? Think of this as one more arrow in your quiver of closing ideas and make today amazing!

You can find fun closing techniques right on your iPhone for just 99¢ at http://j.mp/autoclosesapp

http://www.internetsales20group.com

Make Money Mondays With Sean V. Bradley - "The 3 Minute Book"

Sean V. Bradley invented a system for time management, projections, forecasting and accountability for the Internet Sales Coordinators / BDC reps that can also be utilized for Sales Consultants... And it ONLY takes 3 minutes a day. Its called the "3 Minute Book". 

http://www.internetsales20group.com 

http://www.automotivedigitaltraining.com 

“Let’s meet halfway” or “Let’s split the difference”: AKA The Worst Closing Technique Ever!

We’ve all witnessed the following negotiating technique one way or another. A Seller is selling an item for 20,000 dollars. A buyer offers 18,000. So what’s the next natural move? 19,000 dollars, split the difference, right? WRONG! The “Let’s Meet Halfway” negotiating tactic is one of the most common logical pitfalls of any sales process. Maybe at first glance it sounds or seems fair, or even logical, but it is truly the worst closing technique… ever!

Here is why.

First and foremost, it’s “bad” for profit. Let’s say a manager wants to sell a car for 340 dollars a month and a customer offers 300 dollars. A salesperson proposes to “meet halfway” by settling for 320 dollars a month, thinking it sounds reasonable and fair. This kneejerk logic just gouged the potential payoff big-time. Worse yet, this cognitive “shortcut” is often proposed immediately, without even putting any effort into a more persuasive or logical arrangement. Even if the Customer agrees, which is highly unlikely, and the manager approves, which hopefully he/she wouldn’t, we just blew away 20 dollars times the number of months of profit. That’s 720 dollars for 36 months, 960 dollars for 48 months, and 1,200 dollars for 60 months! Where is all of that money going to come from?

Secondly, it’s terrible for your credibility and reputation. When a salesperson suggests to “meet half way”, falsely believing they’re showing flexibility and fairness, a potential buyer gets an immediate feeling that they’re dodging a huge bullet. The “they were trying to stick it to me!” sentiment immediately surfaces. After a while, buyers just start assuming everything is marked up to be sold at some mystery halfway point. The manager would look like the “bad guy” trying to take advantage of buyers that weren’t as vigilant, and a salesperson would compromise the “agent” role, knowing that $320 is possible.

Additionally, it’s truly counter productive for turning a buyer into a shopper. A potential buyer can’t help but think: “If they are willing to “meet half way” (coming down to 320) just like that, I bet they will come all the way to $300 if I stick to it! In fact, I should have started lower...” $250 becomes the new target at their next stop. Buyers becoming paranoid, doubtful and combative is hardly a sign of progress.

Consider an alternate approach.

Rather than focusing on two large numbers, isolate the difference between them. Remember the first example? What sounds more daunting, 20,000 dollars, or a 2,000 dollar difference? Shifting the paradigm from the large numbers to the relatively tiny, impeding gap number shifts the entire thought process. Back to the car payment example, rather than jumping to the halfway point, ask the customer: “So it looks like we have a 40 dollar gap. Is that it? Let’s work it out.”

Next, you need to properly address the two numbers. Using logic and reason, explain the logic (or more likely, lack thereof) of their stance. Using honest and real facts throughout, walk the buyer through the manager’s position. Build up an ethical and professional case for your stance. Soon, you will identify a moment where a buyer realizes your position is grounded in fairness and fact.

As the buyer becomes more aware of the reasons behind your number and becomes (even a little) more visibly comfortable with your position, buttress your logical appeal with “goodwill.” Emphasize the roles of everyone involved: the salesperson as the agent, the manager as a true professional and “good guy” (remember EMI?), and the dealership’s everlasting commitment to service.

Next focus on reemphasizing the value. Shine the spotlight on the new car they’re taking home, the expectations you’ve exceeded, and the amicable relationship you’ve forged. All the while, the customer is viewing the aforementioned gap as a minor obstacle between all of these things.

Finally, Seek agreement through facial expression, A persuasive eye-to-eye direct look, and then move confidently into a close. Praising the manager’s efforts, extending a confident handshake, and ask for the sale: 340 is more than fair, let’s do it!

Let’s all agree to leave the “splitting differences” and “halfway meetings” to yard sales and flea markets; in this industry, you need professionalism, strategy, and innovation to succeed – not an “old school” consolation “one-liner”.