Automotive Lead Response Strategies: Stop Overthinking the Auto-Response! The primary goal of your internet sales process – that is, the process you use in response to a new sales lead arriving in Web Control (or whatever CRM you use) – is to reconnect with the prospect. That’s it; just get them on the phone or […]
Automotive Internet Sales Processes: The DISC Test and the DIR Test If you’re involved in your dealership’s marketing decisions, you’ve probably heard about the DISC Test, right? Does It Sell Cars? For many dealers, every marketing decision comes down to this simple test. Does this or that sell cars? For some, it’s not just a […]
The Car Dealer’s Step-by-Step Guide to Getting More At-Bats First a WARNING and a DISCLAIMER: WARNING: This is a freakishly long article that’s chock full of valuable information, so give yourself plenty of time to digest it and be prepared to share parts of it with different people on your team. DISCLAIMER: There is […]
The Goals of Your Internet Sales Process I read some posts from a well-meaning internet sales trainer in automotive recently that gave me pause. Basically, this trainer appears to be taking old-school phone-up cards and reconfiguring these for dealers to use as their strategy for their lead response processes. The trainer is telling clients and […]
In a recent CBT News interview (that aired this week), Joe Gumm asked me the following question: “We’re about two months from wrapping up 2017; and some dealers are already thinking about 2018. So, if you had a top five list of things dealerships need in order to be successful from this point on, what […]
How to Always Respond First to Your Internet Leads There’s a great study I like to quote from a company called CraftJack that shows contractors who connect with a prospect lead first convert those leads into customers 238% more often than those who connect second. 238% more often! Just like it does for contractors, connecting […]
The Coming Automotive Retail Disruption? It’ll be about Price and Convenience (and Nothing Else) (This is a follow-up to an article I posted on DealerRefresh a couple of weeks ago that focused on the myth that dealers are behind other industries in terms of tech, marketing and the customer experience.) Can we please stop talking […]
Okay, so you know you need to employ a conversion button strategy on your websites, but did you know you can have too many buttons? You can. It comes down to choices for your site visitor; and research shows that when consumers are presented with too many choices, they punt. They make no choice. […]
Can we all agree that if we doubled our demo drive percentage, we could double our write up percentage? Great. Now, can we agree that if we doubled our write up percentage, we could double our closing percentage? Outstanding. Since we all agree on this, let’s shift our primary focus in the dealership away […]
The Entire DIY Marketing Movement is Misguided I was on a call with a vendor the other day as he pitched his product. He wanted my opinion on their offering, so I asked that he show me his company’s solution as if I were a dealer-prospect. His pitch was compelling and his company has […]
Digital Dealer – Why It Pays to Shop Around the Perimeter Most of us know that the healthiest way to shop in the supermarket is to stay around the perimeter (where the food is generally the freshest and most natural) and avoid the “Frankenfood” in the center. Can the same be true for vendor expos […]
As I wrote in the previous post in this series, a button strategy that drives leads is one of the simplest changes you can make to your website that will immediately drive more sales leads. So simple to get right… and so simple to get wrong. Buttons? Really? Buttons are so important to the […]
Newsflash: Car buyers hate the typical car buying process. Today, in their mind, they’ve already completed their own needs analysis. They’ve made their product selection. They know the car’s features. Everyone who submits a lead, calls you, or walks onto your lot is ready to test drive. In fact, because they’ve already come equipped […]
Whether addressing a 20 Group or consulting in a dealership, I am constantly asked questions like this: “So, Steve, what cool, new digital marketing sources are you seeing out there and what do you recommend?” The answer to this question always contains two parts: First, I tell them about the cool, new stuff I’m seeing; […]
Slowing Sales? The First Expense You Should Cut Is Your Phone Training! Wait… what? Did I just read what I think I read? Yep. If you’re a car dealer looking for ways to save money in the face of current market softness, I honestly recommend (for most of you) that you eliminate your phone […]
There is no “rule” in your dealership more harmful to your long-term success than that asinine, unwritten guideline that basically gives half the deal for any previous customer to the salesperson who sold them the last time. Ugh. I wrote “rule” in quotes, because this isn’t so much as rule as a copout on […]
Instead of being an 11- or 12-part, 3+ hour ordeal where your salespeople treat the prospects like suspects, the best road-to-the sale is actually controlled buying process: Controlled, in that your salespeople must remain fully in control throughout; Buying, in that the customer must feel like they’re buying, not being sold; and Process, in […]
BREAKING: Fort Lauderdale, FL, June 19, 2017 – Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) jolted the automotive retail industry this morning when it announced plans to buy giant AutoNation (NYSE: AN); introducing more uncertainty into a sector already faced with massive disruption on the horizon ranging from online car sales to autonomous vehicles. The $5.33 billion deal, a […]
Did you know that some of the nation’s best dealers have been closing their appointments that show at better than 80% for years? It’s true. Moreover, it’s actually not that hard to do – provided those at the top of your organization are truly committed to implementing a simple, repeatable process that works. The […]
When it comes to online vehicle specials, I’m flat out embarrassed for more than half of the dealerships I work with. There are even times that I actually want to ask: Why do you even have links to your specials pages on your website? If you’re a typical dealer, your specials pages can be […]