Mobile Millennials hold intense buying power.

A key focus was placed on mobile at this fall’s major automotive conferences; JD Power and Driving Sales Executive Summit.  While the rise of mobile is nothing new, new data reveals mobile’s emphasis on automotive shopper behavior.

“The rise of mobile and tablet devices has fundamentally changed how consumers shop for cars.”

94% of millennials go online to get info when shopping for a new car

44% will use mobile at the dealership

-Clayton Stanfield of eBay Motors

“If dealers do not have a mobile strategy, they risk losing a valuable audience.”

14% of women ages 25-49 are mobile-only. They access Internet solely through mobile or tablet devices and not through PCs.

- Frank Weishaupt of Jumptap

23% of consumers use multiple devices to shop for cars.

Multi-device users start their car shopping on a mobile device.”

-Rick Wainschel Vice President, Automotive Insights AutoTrader.com

“Apps are great way to reach Gen Y buyers”

PC usage has declined year over year and mobile is at the forefront. Worldwide tablet shipments are expected to overtake total PC shipments late next year.

- Arianne Walker Senior Director, Automotive Media and Marketing Solutions at J.D. Power and Associates



48% of all auto searches come from a mobile device"-Amy Peet, senior digital manager @Chrysler

85%  of smartphone users prefer mobile apps over mobile Websites

Apps are more convenient, faster and easier to navigate, according to a new report from Compuware. Users are voting with their views and actions and they are requiring the easiest way to connect with your brand.

- Compuware 2013 study

Millennials actually enjoy browsing the lot more than older generations and are more dependent on the salesperson for information. However, they're also more likely than older generations to go out of their way to avoid interacting with dealership staff.

"Millennials view the dealership as a key piece of their research process – they're looking for experts to help answer their questions and to touch and test out the physical car before making a purchase,"

- Isabelle Helms, senior director of Research and Marketing Analytics, AutoTrader.com

 

Why the major emphasis on mobile?

Because the millennial generation, the auto industry’s next crucial target, lives this way.

- Clayton Stanfield, senior manager of dealer outreach for eBay Motors.

A major shift in automotive shopping is happening now.  There are hosts of progressive, forward thinking dealers tackling the connected generation head-on.

Questions:

What percentage of your customers are active on a smartphone or tablet while at your store?

How has the connected generation affected your marketing strategy?

What changes have you made? Proactively or Reactively?

Tell us in the comments below!

Every month, millions of potential customers search the web for used vehicles. Contained within those searches is extraordinarily powerful data that can transform the way we sell cars.

When a customer filters by specific features, they are telling us their hot buttons. When they submit a lead they are making an even stronger statement about their preferences and what they are willing to pay for. Customers are telling us exactly what we need to know to find the right car for them. It’s time we started listening.

Let’s take seats as an example. Using online search data from last quarter, we took a look at customer preferences for used Chevrolet Silverado 1500s, Ford Escapes and Honda Accords. These models are among the most sought after used vehicles in their respective classes: pickup, SUV and sedan. Using all of this information, data scientists were able to identify the seat options customers were willing to pay for across these three make/models.

Let’s take a look at the results:



Notice that among those that search for the Chevy 1500 Silverado, consumers are willing to pay for the higher end seating options. The green dots by heated seats and seat memory indicate that customers choose used Silverado 1500s at a higher rate when they have these features than when they don’t. Cloth seats are found to have little to no impact on a buyer’s interest in the vehicle.

When looking at the Ford Escape, we see a pattern nearly exactly opposite of that of the Silverado 1500. Customers tend to choose Ford Escapes with cloth seats at a higher rate than those with leather. Escapes with heated seats and seat memory are chosen at a lower rate than those without these features. This is not say that Ford Escape customers do not want leather seats or other high-end seat features, only that that they don’t want them enough to pay the premium. A very similar pattern can be seen with the Honda Accord.

OK...so what?  My advice...  

Showcase your vehicles with preferred configurations. Advertise your packed Silverado and your base trim Escapes and Accords.

Does this example mean that you shouldn’t buy baseline Silverados, packed Escapes or luxury Accords? Not necessarily. It all depends on YOUR particular local market demand and supply.

Are you currently looking at similar data to help determine how to merchandise and what to showcase in your advertising?

Joining Jared Hamilton and Joe Webb for my first full DSES Conference

Driving Sales Executive Summit 2013 Review with Kevin Frye

Can I handle FIVE straight days of Las Vegas and TWO conferences at the same time? I was here to find out, as I arrived Sunday morning in Sin City. Now that's a name. Maybe they should rename my hometown Cincinnati to Sinsinnati to give it some edge, or perhaps Skincinnati, I mean we DO have a casino now. Wow, 2 sentences in and I already digress. Are you ready for my FIRST ever review of the Driving Sales Executive Summit? 3 - 2 - 1 - Liftoff!

Twitter Alert! - looking for some great folks to follow on Twitter? I have done my best to link each person's name in this review to their Twitter page. And if you are strong enough to handle my sarcasm, feel free to follow me @kevinfrye1, and of course don't forget to follow DealerRefresh / Jeff Kershner)



Am I the only one to catch the humor here with Arnold Tijerina?

First impressions count, and The Bellagio is a beautiful hotel/casino, and as I walked in I immediately started looking for Bradley Cooper, Zach Galafianikis, and the rest of the "Wolf Pack", but all I found was a mattress with Superman sheets stuck on top of the statue outside of the entrance. Did Jared have a rooftop drink the night before?

I arrived for the 3:00 pm welcome, and immediately saw a large amount of great friends and leaders in the industry. I also learned that they had a special Canadian breakout session earlier that morning, where they taught our friends up north that DOS is no longer the primary operating systems for most dealership computers. We had an exciting start as Charlie Vogelheim, our Event Emcee, set off some airbag explosions under our seats to get everyone fired up - and then... Jared Hamilton took the stage to present "The Future of Fixed Operations".



My favorite friend to "clown-around" with - Brent Wees!

He walks the walk...

Jared shared that Driving Sales was the "progressive conference", where vendors could not "buy the stage", and he then impressed me with an extensive overview of where our market is today, with an emphasis on where fixed ops fits into today's eCommerce market. As our OEM's make higher quality cars, we are impacted as dealers, as our customers now own cars with longer service modules.

Ultimately, we need to improve our digital marketing to win back our fixed ops business, as our non-OEM competition has raised their competitive game to the highest level. I have seen this first hand with my early SEO efforts dominating the fixed ops SERPs, but now I struggle as competitors like Midas, AAMCO, Firestone, and many more have entered the digital marketplace.

Jared is right, and the truth is that fixed ops has been the neglected stepchild for many years as the early digital emphasis has been on new and used car sales on our websites.

Is the BDC a fix?

When it comes to fixed ops, Jared mapped out how a Fixed Ops BDC should now be a centerpiece of the modern dealership, and he pointed out that this is a call center, not an Internet lead center, allowing for quick response to service inquiries. With so many of our customers now shopping from mobile devices, we have seen a rise in phone calls as these shoppers use "click to call" the majority of the time rather than fill out a form.

Understanding how important mobile is in our current market, Jared encouraged dealers to direct their marketing towards mobile first, and then the PC platform. One should also remember that any emails you send out should be mobile friendly first as well. And when it comes to keeping on top of your market, I liked Jared's simple advice - look where the venture capital is going, and that is where the market is going.



So this is where my friends are hiding? Alex Jefferson, Eric Miltsch, Peyton Hoffman, Blake Arbogast, Jerry Thibeau, Kate Frost

What goes up, must come down...

So far I was really excited, and if Jared led the rest of the conference, I was fine with that. However the next presentation led by the Senior Director of Analytics at AutoTrader was a bit of a letdown. Most of the information shared was VERY basic and not progressive at all. In fact, this was information I have known for almost 10 years (more pictures and better descriptions sell more cars - wow). I felt like I went from the top of the mountain to seeing a vendor who bought the stage and shared very basic info.

I will not lie - I hesitated to share this as so many of my peers had built this up to me that perhaps I had unrealistic expectations. That is ok, I will return to this subject, as this was only one presentation of many. Which leads to my next favorite thing...

As much fun as X-Ray glasses? Absolutely!

Talk about giving candy to a baby, the live Twitter feed is awesome, and it also takes a lot of courage for DSES to project. Why? This provides real-time transparency of how folks feel about the conference. Now that is "walking the walk" and I commend you DSES, great job!

When I talked about the previous session offering very basic info, I saw real time tweets from folks that felt the same way, which really caught my attention, as well as validated my feelings. Oh boy, watch out DSES attendees, you just gave me a live twitter feed to share my scathing sarcasm and also my encouraging remarks.



Entering the Driving Sales Executive Summit

And the ball goes back, Back, BACK, Home Run!

DSES has caught my attention with the great keynote speakers they bring in, and former Navy SEAL Leif Babin was a huge hit. As a former US Naval Officer myself, Leif's lessons on leadership ring very true with me, as I used those same skills to help lead the Jeff Wyler Automotive Family through the biggest change this industry has ever seen, and not only that, to become a leader in eCommerce.

Leif shared that your people need to know what to do and WHY, and that you must TRAIN TRAIN TRAIN, and he is absolutely correct. I also liked how Leif shared that one must exercise humility and check their ego to identify how we can do things better. That sounds easy until you remember that both the Navy and car folks are filled with highly competitive type A personalities.

From a personal standpoint, I would share that the level of competition we train for in the military is at the highest level, it is life or death, and attention to detail and incredible discipline are key to dominating your competition. Take those 2 things and combine them with what Leif told dealers to practice - one must exercise extreme leadership, continuously critique your performance to improve, and train hard to be the best. Leif - that standing ovation for your service was well earned, and this fellow vet thanks you.



Enjoying the complimentary limo service care of HookLogic

Sound of whip cracking....

No, I didn't stick around for the evening events as I met my wife in the Bellagio lobby to celebrate our 22nd Anniversary by going to see the new Cirque de Soleil Show "One - Michael Jackson" at Mandalay Bay. Many thanks to David Metter, Jeff Kershner, and the folks at HookLogic for the complimentary limo service while I was in Vegas. I also enjoyed the "beverages" provided in the limo by MSCloud Services - nice touch, and much appreciated. If you have not seen the show, it was phenomenal!

It's the most important meal of the day...

That would be your networking breakfast, as I arrived early to get a quick bite and catch up with many of the great people that were present. The format for the exhibit hall was different, with the vendors on the outlying walls, and the dealers at the tables in the center. I think the layout at the Digital Dealer conferences is more vendor friendly, but on the other hand, the emphasis here might be more towards the dealers. Either way, I respect the fact the the vendors are a KEY part of funding events like this and I support their access to reach out to dealers like myself.



The exhibit hall at Driving Sales Executive Summit

What does it sound like when you step on a dog's tail? YELP!

Why didn't YELP name their site "Hooray", or "Great job"? Could it possibly be because they focus on the negative reviews, hence a painful expression like "YELP"?

Rough start to the day, as the YELP session was VERY basic again - eg. Have you claimed your Yelp page? Do you know how to set it up? This again appeared to go contrary to "progressive and not having vendors buying the stage". I certainly realize that was likely not the intention, but the live Twitter feed validated the feelings of many.

Do you remember when Merchant Circle was Google's darling?

And then they were swept to the side and Yelp was the new darling? It makes me question if this might not happen again with Yelp. While I realize that Yelp has a large audience on the coasts, the traffic in the Midwest is minimal. Several Yelp reps have contacted me about Yelp advertising for dealerships, and the costs versus the traffic seen on our local Yelp make absolutely no sense. Further, lots of dealers like myself have struggled with the Yelp review filters, which seem to mysteriously give long standing prominence to negative reviews, while making it difficult to get positive reviews to publish and remain published. Kind of reminds me of the old news motto - "If it bleeds, it leads", and I am cynical about how much Yelp helps us.

On one hand, Yelp tells us to create "customer evangelists", but then they tell us to not ask our customers for Yelp reviews - ummmm. Yet when I was at the Digital Summit at Mountain View, Yelp shared a best practice on how businesses would actually stage events for prominent Yelp'ers in their market to encourage them to leave great reviews for them. Talk about mixed messages. I will stop here, but with one last point. Have you ever wanted to leave a review about Yelp? HUNDREDS of folks did at DSES via the live Twitter feed - I told you I loved the transparency (great job Charlie as you wrapped this up with some well stated words...).



Have you made a visit to Fremont Street and "Old Vegas"? - lots of fun!

Step right up and pick your winner...

The Driving Sales Best Idea contest was next, and I love this concept. It promotes being progressive by encouraging both dealers and vendors to compete for innovative ideas that improve our industry. While there were several great ideas (great job Megan Barto and Jason Stum!), I agreed wholeheartedly with the winner, Robert "Car-Bomb" Karbaum, who brought a simple concept, the "Appointment Boarding Pass", and implemented it into automotive and saw great success. Check out www.appointmentboardingpass.com to see how you can use it at your dealership.

Top Secret: The answer to all of your problems is US Navy Leadership!

Ok, I am having fun with you, but when Dr. Joe Weintraub used another US Naval Officer as the right example on how to create a culture of innovation within your organization, I had to share a laugh with Glen Dakan (another former US Naval Officer sitting next to me). If you want to innovate, you have to allow mistakes and failures, and I could not agree more.

Over the last 10 years I could count many eCommerce efforts our automotive group has tried and has failed, but we learned from every one. And that is the second key point that Dr. Weintraub discussed, failures should be treated as a learning opportunity. If you want to be a progressive dealer, then this session was for you, as if you want to lead, you must be willing to bleed, and most dealers do not want to take that risk. That's ok, I am willing...

That would be Professor Plum, with the candlestick, in the Billiards Room...

I think I should have called our next speaker "Professor Chris Reed", as he lead us through Cobalt's efforts to develop a formula to calculate the likelihood of a car selling by measuring customer engagement. No problem, that is as simple as finding the Holy Grail, right?

Chris shared how he looked at what drives VDP's (vehicle detail page views) as that is an indicator of what is working on our websites. Some years ago I would have told you that I was not impressed with Cobalt, but the last couple of years I have watched Cobalt raise their game and I am impressed (and I even tweeted so during Chris' presentation...)



Jared Hamilton and Glenn Pasch - 2 passionate folks in automotive

Somebody at DSES has spherical objects of a goldish color...

Hands down the best session for me was the Data Panel Discussion, and I commend Jared on tackling what I consider to be one of the biggest issues in our industry. I recently attended a major digital conference (non-automotive) this fall, and the innovation in digital marketing is amazing, especially in how it harnesses big data to Fortune 500 companies' advantage. I had to ask myself, why don't we see such cutting edge innovation in automotive?

Think about it. If you are a small start-up with an innovative idea, and you need access to the dealership's data, it costs you a small fortune. That means the cost must be passed on to the dealer, which means it is a difficult sale right out of the gate as you try and get started. Further, your ability to integrate and communicate with the dealer's data is filled with a host of obstacles and costs that make it either impossible, or at a minimum, very expensive.

Is innovation being stifled in our industry as a result of current data practices? Driving Sales wrote a cutting-edge article on this controversial issue with "Hidden DMS Data Charges" - it is a MUST READ for all dealers. While the participants on the panel were friendly, many of the questions were met with answers that dealers found evasive. For myself, let's just say my fingertips were bleeding as I tweeted faster than an M60 machine gun with an overheated barrel.

I was there to cheerily help fellow dealers answer the following questions in the first 30 seconds - "Who owns the data? - we do.". "Who controls the data? - we do.".  Now, when you charge exorbitant fees to our vendors for access to our data, and then have them sign a confidentiality agreement to not show us what those fees are (which we end up paying), does that really help us? Does it help our industry to become innovative?


I officially submit my apology to DSES at this time...

At one point during the data panel, the live Twitter feed went down, at which time I tweeted "Breaking News" (see above), and said Tweet was retweeted across the next several days. Sorry for any confusion folks, I didn't mean to cry "Fire" in the movie theater. I shared several of my tweets and a few others below to give you a feel of how the reception was in the room.

Bottom line - as an industry we have to achieve a better solution for our vendor partners to be able to integrate with our data in a cost-effective manner if we are going to be innovative and move forward.


Just like Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee at Lake Mead - I have been banned!

Well, I was surprised that DSES had not banned me yet with my barrage of tweets, and I was also encouraged - did this mean they wanted more? Hmmm. I moved on to attend some breakout sessions, but did not learn anything that was really new. For crying out loud, I was seeing Google ZMOT slides that I saw over a year earlier, so I was a bit disappointed.

It was a pleasure to sit in with David Kain who shared some good points (do you request video resumes from your folks? I do...) and he told dealers that if your customers love mobile, then your sales reps should love mobile too. Unfortunately I did not have much that was noteworthy from my remaining session before we wrapped up the day with the final keynote.

Where exactly do game show hosts buy their jackets?

I don't know myself, but I DO know who has the answer, Charlie Vogelheim. Well, either Charlie knows where to buy these sparkly jackets or he is really talented with a bedazzler. Meanwhile I was up early and ready to defend my Digital Media Debate title, now just what exactly was I doing???

Enough already!

Joe Webb and Bill Playford really know how to torture me, and for crying out loud I was waterboarded while in the Navy (true story, apparently good enough for US Naval Aviators but not for terrorists...). Last year Joe and Bill set me up to debate Jim Flint who I highly respect and value as a leader in this industry, and this year I find out I am going to debate Bryan Armstrong. C'mon now, who is next year, Mother Theresa?

I did my best to speak as fast as Jared Hamilton (did anyone catch that I was almost out of breath near the very end?) and I battled Bryan valiantly. Let me share that Bryan Armstrong is not only a leader in automotive, he is a leader in LIFE, as his personal ministry is raising and mentoring foster children, including adoption, and the size of his heart is unmatched in our industry. Now I wish we would have measured the decibels for a round of applause for that!



Debating someone whom has my highest respect - Bryan Armstrong

The debates are a lot of fun and bring some great energy to the room. More of this conference seems to focus on learning as a larger group with the breakout sessions as a smaller part IMHO, and I enjoyed it, as we can still interact via Twitter and social media. Cam Chell, CEO of Podium Ventures spoke next to the packed room and shared his personal story of rising to the top, falling back, and then picking himself back up lead again. What did I walk away from with his presentation? I was struck by his brutal honesty and humility in recognizing his personal failures, and seeing that as an opportunity to learn and grow better from. This was a solid keynote as it built on the earlier concepts shared by Leif Babin and Dr. Weintraub.

If a celebrity shared your name, would your SEO efforts have their SERP after yours?

Danny Sullivan, the search guru (not the race car driver) searches up first, so I guess I know what he is doing is right! I am a long time follower/fan of Danny's, and I was excited to see Danny selected as a keynote speaker.

Danny shared some great points, encouraging dealers to have content on their sites beyond what we are selling. He also emphasized that mobile shoppers want location, hours, and click to call on your mobile site. It was a great session, but it was nothing really progressive. That is ok, as I realize I am likely more of an SEO geek than many others and this stuff might not seem new to me, but one thing did bother me...  I saw a tweet during this session, and a few others in the previous presentations that in effect said "This info is too basic, this is not Digital Dealer". I respect your opinion that some of the info may have been too basic, but you were not at Digital Dealer while tweeting that... 



Technology in action during breakout sessions - Daniel Fontaine, Megan Barto, and Jason Stum

 

Driving Sales or Digital Dealer?

I know what everyone wants. You want me to choose one conference over the other, or state that one is much better. While I am an outspoken individual, I hope that those who know me well would share that I am also very respectful, and in that light, these are my feelings.

Driving Sales is an excellent conference, setting high goals and aspirations for itself, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I would not say it has a clear difference in being more progressive though. Much of what I saw was very basic, and the truth is, I think all of the conferences are struggling to find progressive material as our market is slowing down from the rapid growth we saw some years ago. Much of the material we are seeing is just being re-hashed over and over again, and many of the speakers we hear are speaking at most if not all of the conferences. That does not mean they are not good, but it does mean that the differentiation between the conferences is slim.

Digital Dealer has an advantage because of the sheer size and scope of their conference offering material from the basic level to the advanced. Just because one offers basic material (which many dealers do want) in addition to advanced material does not label you as a basic conference. It depends on what you are looking for - and yes, there was some great advanced content at Digital Dealer 15.

Keeping it real...

Don't paint me as a fool, I have little patience for that. I am well aware of many of the fractions in this industry at the speaking and conference level. It makes me sad, as the number one thing I value at any of these conferences are the GREAT AUTO PEOPLE that I interact with, and many of these same people have felt they must "choose sides" as to which show they attend.

I remember the early days when the digital automotive family was much smaller, and we all gathered together in Nashville at the only conference we had, and over the years, as we have become older and our family has expanded, many of us have moved into different directions. I sometimes feel a bit sentimental when I look back at those times, but our market continues to be so exciting that I am thrilled to see where we have come, and where we are going.

Sorry, but I am not going to get into name-calling or labeling. Driving Sales is a great conference, and I have great respect for what Jared and his team have done, and I admire that in their efforts to be progressive, they are willing to sometimes fall short (isn't that part of what we learned is important to being innovative?). Any great competitor respects his/her competition, and at the end of the day, good competition raises the bar for all of us.

Have you noticed that the keynote speakers at Driving Sales and Digital Dealer have never been better? You can thank competition for that.

Many thanks to everyone who worked to put together a great Driving Sales Executive Summit, and cheers to all of the great men and women who work on the front lines and that I am privileged to call friends. And I hope that the welcome mat for DSES is still outside my door next year as I would be honored to join everyone again.

How was DSES 2013 for you? Sound off in the comments!

 

Hoping that Marilyn is squeezing my bum, but afraid it is Michael...

Kevin's semi-annual Digital Dealer Conference Review

It's early Thursday morning, 5:20 am to be exact, and as I wrap up another Digital Dealer conference, I figure I should start the day with a well-needed cup of coffee after another long night in Vegas. I close the door quietly and head up the hallway towards the elevator when I hear... wait? Is that someone snoring?

Sure enough, I find some strange guy passed out on the couch next to the elevator with his pants pulled down and his shirt pulled up. Wow, looks like another Wolf Pack wannabe had one heck of a good time in Vegas, I only wonder who was responsible for the "de-pantsing" (and yes, I almost took a picture, but I restrained). When I exit the elevator I tell the security guy he might want to go up to Floor 10 for a quick walk-around...



Digital Dealer 15 at The Mirage - at VinSolutions Reception

The good news is that the line at Starbucks is non-existent at this hour, and I get a cup of some dark roasted bold and take a seat to try and get my thoughts together when... well, let's say I am joined by one of Vegas' finest "hostess" girls, dressed in what looks like the shortest Minnie Mouse dress I have ever seen, and she is plenty friendly at this early hour. I politely share that I am not looking to "party" right now and I make a quick departure

Then... I run into one of my friends in the industry who I was out with the night before and I realize he is STILL out enjoying the night. Ladies and Gentlemen, ONLY IN VEGAS do you wake up to a morning like this. And with that, I present (cue music now...)

My semi-annual Digital Dealer Review...



Joining Chris Hill with his presentation on BDC or Bottom Line

Can you swallow the Hill-Pill?

My first session to attend was Chris Hill's "BDC or Bottom Line", where a packed room of dealers were waiting to hear Chris share his feelings about BDC. I think I can sum it up like this, former Mixed Martial Arts fighter Chris Hill showed up, removed the "country club atmosphere" at his dealership and held his sales managers accountable to manage their people into doing what they should already be doing - and set new sales performance records in the process. It was apparent that there were several folks in the room who had been sent by their Dealer principals to see if BDC was the solution to their problems, and I think many of them were surprised.

I really like Chris' no-holds barred approach (MMA move?) in letting folks know that many sales managers are not expecting enough from their sales reps. BDC's are expensive, require constant training of personnel, and many of those same personnel leave for more money (once they realize that BDC folks are doing all the work while the sales reps are making the money). Wow, only a few paragraphs into this review and I am certain there are readers that are highly agitated reading this, but, if you really think about it, aren't many BDC's just a Band-Aid for not leading your people to change their work habits to match their changing shoppers?

Edgy stuff Chris - and I appreciate your honesty and resolve.

Twitter Alert! Are you looking for some great auto folks to follow on Twitter? I did my best to add the Twitter links to most of the folk's names in this review, go ahead and click on each name for your Twitter follow. And, if you are strong enough to handle my sarcasm, give me a follow @kevinfrye1. And of course don't forget to follow DealerRefresh / Jeff Kershner.



Digital Dealer has gone international as a large group of folks from Italy, Brazil, Canada & more attend to learn automotive best practices (Igor Kalassa on right)

Next Up: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - or maybe it should be called Dr. Jerry and He Cannot Hide.

That would be Jerry Thibeau and Joe Webb presenting "When a Stranger Calls", with an underlying theme of classic horror films. One might ask "Is there anything more we can learn about handling inbound and outbound phone calls?" - and the answer is a resounding "Yes!".

The rapid growth of mobile in our industry has lead to a matching rise in phone calls. Our mobile shoppers are much less likely to fill out a form on a small mobile device when they have the option to "Click to call" your dealership, and properly answering inbound and outbound phone calls is more important than ever.

For myself, I have been against phone scripts for sales reps, as I feel they do not sound natural for each person. This session persuaded me to think different, as Jerry emphasized that a sales rep must master the phone script before they venture out on their own, because when they do not, you end up with phone calls that miss the fundamentals (getting name, asking for the appointment, etc). Joe and Jerry also shared that even though the buying cycle has shortened in the last year, it still takes approximately 8 phone attempts to have the best contact rate with your prospects.

Your walk-away from this session should be on the age-old question, should we provide the information in the phone that the caller is looking for?

Joe and Jerry shared that they would rather over-educate a customer than withhold information and anger a customer. Kind of reminds me of one of my favorite Joe Webb videos 4 Words That Make Car Sales Managers Sound Stupid "Just Get'em In". Speaking of which, we got to see several new videos from Jerry and Joe that were great, make sure to check out DealerKnows Consulting's YouTube Channel.



Alex Jefferson and Grant Cardone keep me on my toes at Digital Dealer 15

Have you heard about the 3 Rings of Marriage?

That would be the Engagement Ring, the Wedding Ring, and the Suffer-ring... (resounding groan in room). Well, I am all about looking into anything related to Engagement right now as I feel that this is one of the most important skills that dealers must perfect as we move forward. Clayton Stanfield presented "21 Ways to Help Your Store Build Engagement with the Millennial Shopper", where we would learn the results of a customer survey focused on identifying trends in today's car shoppers' behavior.

What do millennials want when shopping for a car?

They want lots of options in their purchasing decision, with a fun buying experience that is pain-free and without pressure, and most of all, they want to be able to do this from a mobile device. If you want to engage young shoppers, you need to engage them where they want to be engaged (online, text), not where you prefer to engage them (showroom). The best way to engage with millennials is to ask them lots of questions during their buying decision. When it comes to mobile, let me ask you this - Have you shopped your website from a mobile device?

How well did it display and work on your device? Did the emails you received from your CRM tool display optimally on your smart phone? If not, you have some work in front of you...

Contrary to popular belief, The Art of Enchantment is not found by constantly trolling the forums at DealerRefresh (sorry Jeff...), but Guy Kawasaki wow'ed the crowd with his presentation that focused on how you achieve likability and trustworthiness as a dealer (pretty important in today's online environment), and how to become the most enchanting dealer possible. OK, stop right here, click this link and buy Guy's book. It is a must read.



Meeting some of my favorite folks at the DealerOn booth - Eliana Raggio, Jeff Kershner, and Jim Flint

(Sound of beer can opening) "It's that time of dayyyy, When you can sayyy, It' time to - head for - the EXHIBIT Hall.

Some of you old-timers will remember that beer commercial (I remember those days, when I had no money but could buy a case of Busch swill, I mean beer, for about $5), and if not, I have hyper-linked it for you. I walk into the hall with my lovely wife Julie when - "Danger Will Robinson", I have NO DRINK TICKETS in my Digital Dealer badge holder. That's it. Now I am seething and already thinking how this review will absolutely destroy Digital Dealer 15 when... Kim DePalma arrives and apologizes and gives me 1400 drink tickets. Whew, the DT's almost set in, but as the much needed alcohol hits my bloodstream, I calm down and a smile returns to my face as I begin my favorite thing - networking!

Since this is my first appearance at exhibit hall, I spend time catching up with old friends, which also include many of my vendor partners. Don't fool yourself though. I have a binder filled with several issues that I have saved to discuss with these same vendors in person the next day, as well as new opportunities in the market that I want to investigate.

Eliana and the kind folks at DealerOn brought a comfy couch just for me to sit and relax on as I enjoy drinks with so many of the GREAT folks in automotive. Speaking of Big Comfy Couch, did you know that the girl from Big Comfy Couch married the guy from Blues' Clues???  Boom! - I will now have a Digital Dealer review featured at Snopes.com.



"Generous Jerry" Thibeau treats us to dinner at DD15 - thank you!

Don't Drink on an Empty Stomach! 

Jerry Thibeau saw me and quickly assessed the situation, I needed food if I was going to pace myself in Vegas, so he generously offered to take my wife Julie and I out to dinner at Stack's.

Jerry is like the modern day Truman Capote as he chose his guest list well, as we had dinner with some awesome folks in the industry, including my great friend Alex Jefferson, Grant Cardone, Blake Arbogast, and more, with guest appearances by Chip Grueter, Brian Pasch, and Eliana Raggio. Many thanks to Jerry for his generosity and especially for his friendship. I mean that sincerely, Jerry is a true asset in the industry (PhoneNinjas), and he is a classic example of how car folks are a lot of fun. It was also great to spend some more time with my friend Alex (I think I have him convinced to speak at the next conference, and he should...).



Katie Richter, Julie Frye, Alex Jefferson, and Bill Simmons enjoying the VinSolutions Reception - AWESOME!

Please say this in your best Three Stooges character "Curly" accent - "What is your porpoise in life?"

Good news! I found it, and it was at the VinSolutions after-hours reception at the Mirage, or more specifically, at the Siegfried &  Roy's Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat. I have been to a LOT of these conferences, and this was hands-down the most unique after-hours event I have attended. We were treated to private dolphin shows, great music, food and drinks, and access to see the famous white Bengal tigers and the lions in the garden, many of which used to be in Siegfried and Roy's show. There were LOTS of folks in attendance having a great time, and the up-close opportunities to see the animals and dolphins really created a "wow" moment. OK, believe it or not, I did not stay out too late as I had an early morning speaking slot...

Give me a Diet Coke and a Cigarette!

I hear that this is the traditional "Car-guy's breakfast", often confused with a supermodel's diet, but when I arrived at exhibit hall in the morning I found quite the opposite. We had a full breakfast selection available and I was impressed (all meals were great, best food at a DD conference yet). After a good meal and some quality time talking with AJ Maida, I met with some vendor partners to discuss some pressing issues (the revised Telephone Consumer Protection Act - are you compliant??).



Sean Stapleton, Richard Herod, and Michael Groves at the VinSolutions after-hours party

Please - just tell me, TELL ME NOW! 

Ed Parkinson was leading his session "Tell Me Now" where he talked about winning the follow-up game with today's shopper that wants an immediate response. Once again, we looked at the rapid growth in mobile, and Ed encouraged us to ask ourselves, "Do you have chat on your mobile device"?

Less than 5% of dealer websites have live chat, and if you think texting is the answer, think again, it is not as easy as that. And while click to call is convenient, remember that many millennials are hiding behind that mobile device as they don't want to directly speak with you yet.

I like Ed's concept of building trust with out-of-touch customers using pictures of folks on your chat box. If you work with heat maps (I do) on your website, eyeballs are almost always drawn towards human faces on a computer screen. Where do you get the best results? When you add a woman's face to your chat box. Hmmmm, I wonder if that same concept works with pretty women standing in front of a vendor's booth at exhibit hall.

Now that I think about it, several pretty women complimented me on my "Google Tie" while at exhibit hall, do you think they really meant it?



Subi Ghosh, Kevin Frye, Ryan Leslie, and Kelly Sue Wilson with some give-aways from my presentation. Check out Ryan's hat!

Is that Rainbow Brite or Kevin's new tie?

If you remember my Digital Summit at Mountain View review from this past summer, I forgot to mention something I picked up at Google's gift shop, a new "Google tie". As I strutted in like a peacock with my new tie to start my presentation, AJ Maida brought me down to earth with his remark "You better be careful which bars you go to tonight wearing that tie...".  Gulp, didn't think about that. That's alright, I know that most of the folks that attend my presentations like bright colors and shiny objects, so I wore that tie with pride and took everyone "Back to the Future", as I shared insight on where the automotive market is going in the future.

What are the 3 most important skills dealers must perfect to succeed in the future?

Well, you should have attended to find out as I shared lots of real life examples on best practices (let me know if you want a copy of the slide deck, but you have to leave a comment after this review with your email  . I wrapped up with a Jeff Wyler video that shared a new feature in Facebook's Life Event section, which includes a new car purchase. That was worth the price of admission alone! Speaking of which, the price has gone up for me, I gave away 3 boxes of 5-Hour Extra Strength Energy Drinks to this early morning crowd, along with some great gifts, I hope I left folks "energized" for Vegas that night.

I had to laugh as Ryan Leslie won the "Back to the Future rainbow hat" which is likely the ugliest hat I ever seen. Considering the session I just gave on how to engage on social media by producing truthful and relevant content, if Ryan wore his rainbow hat and walked into a bar with me wearing that Google tie, do you think that would create some engaging content on social media. Oh boy, time to use those 1200 drink tickets that Kim DePalma gave me...



Teach a man to fish and.... Wow, Bill Simmons can be taught with a fish! Always fun to spend time with Bill!

Is eating in Exhibit Hall with vendor booths all around you considered a "Digital Ambush"?

I rushed over to see Seth Barron's Keynote "The Digital Ambush" to find out for sure. Serious moment here - as a long time attendee of Digital Dealer conferences, the keynote speakers have exponentially gotten MUCH better. When you get the Head of Brand Innovations from Google to come speak, it is a great opportunity to listen.

First - Seth works at the highest level within Google, so one should expect a topic at a "Tier One" level of automotive, and Seth shared anecdotes and examples on how dealers need to understand their brand, know their audience, develop a meaningful strategy, and then create compelling content. My favorite point/example was with Nike. Nike knows that brands do not sell brands in the modern market, PEOPLE sell brands. As an amateur athlete, I am the spokesperson selling Nike as they engage me with my personal fitness endeavours.

My Nike running watch is a great example, where Nike encourages and motivates me to reach my goals, and then it shares my results (and congratulations) on social media sites. Nike understood their brand and they know me as a personal fitness buff, and then they created a strategy that included a tool that could help me with the Nike watch, and when I use it I am creating compelling content that helps sell their brand. Now - how can we do that with automotive?



Julie Frye, Katie Richter, and Subi Ghosh enjoy the DealerOn Party at Rhumbar

Running sure makes me hungy... 

Not sure if that is running of my mouth in this case, but I went back to an extended lunch break where I caught a quick bite and then went looking at new digital solutions for dealers like myself. Heads up - if you are not using a conquest email advertising solution, you should. CityTwist is one of the providers that were present that gives dealers a great source of quality website traffic that can bring additional sales to your dealership.

Looking to cut out the middleman when selling your wholesale inventory?  I had a great discussion with OnTheBlock.com, who were rolling out their website which offers shoppers exclusive wholesale vehicle inventory and major savings never before available to the general public. They have been working on this internally for the last couple of years and were excited to be at Digital Dealer to release it.

The folks at Calldrip were demo'ing their solution which helps dealers increase their chance of contacting a lead by 900% by responding within seconds of initial inventory. Just have a cc of each of your leads sent to Calldrip, and if the lead has a phone number, Calldrip's system can call the phone numbers of all of your designated sales reps at the same time, and the first to pick up gets the customer (and info). In a market where the demand for instant response is only growing, this is an answer many dealers are looking for.

Decisions, decisions...

The sessions offered at 2:30 were so good that I actually split my time between 2. First up was Dealer DIY: Inbound Marketing with Kevin Gordon and Nick Williams. Kevin and Nick's sessions are turning into a "must-attend" for me. If you are trying to figure out millennials, Kevin and Nick are living examples, and they are bringing fresh insight and energy into the automotive digital market. Even though they think it is funny to pull some of my Facebook photos offline and do their best to humiliate me in front of a crowd, I agree with their direction with digital marketing.

It no longer makes sense marketing to many to only persuade a few, when you can market to few and persuade many. Targeted marketing IS THE FUTURE folks, and this is one of the tremendous benefits of harnessing big data and digital marketing opportunities. Kevin and Nick also took apart the argument that the Internet kills gross profit. How much are you spending on your Starbucks coffee?

Did you know that 81% of drivers agree that quality of service is more important than the price of the vehicle - Kevin and Nick call that the "Starbucks Effect". Great advanced session, great presentation, and everyone thanks you for not photo-shopping the Speedo swimsuit on my picture.



Subi Ghosh delivers the straight talk to vendors on how to be better partners

Run like a son-of-a-gun...

And that I did as I ran down to see Subi Ghosh present "How to Manage Your Vendors by Becoming a TV Detective". Wow, more than half of the attendees were vendors, and you better watch out. Subi was talking straight about poor service practices by vendors, but more important, she was sharing how to become a better partner with today's dealerships. All of us were also treated to the Red Carpet premiere of "The Blame Game", a new video from Joe Webb and Jerry Thibeau that got a lot of laughs because (unfortunately) we could all relate to it.

Thank you Subi for taking a different approach where you reached out to help educate vendors on how to become better, which helps the industry as a whole. Follow Subi on Twitter, she is a rising star and I am very proud of her.

They ain't just acting at Acton...

Two of my favorite folks, Justin Brun and Ben Koller from Acton Toyota were presenting "Improve the Effectiveness of your Sales & Service Outbound Email Marketing". Think about it, if the buying cycle has shortened, and more people are using mobile devices now, you better be updating your lead process email templates to be mobile friendly and to be best scheduled to work with your online shoppers.

Justin and Ben provided great info and examples for folks to follow, including how to take advantage of mobile subtitles in your emails that go to mobile devices (nice!). Are you phone numbers in your email signatures setup to be a live link for "click to call" from a mobile device? That is a great idea.

It is always difficult to have 2 presenters at a session, and I could see that Justin and Ben were well prepared and rehearsed - thank you. I was looking for a little bit more on the mobile templates side, but I can see that Justin and Ben (and me) are still working on finding the best solutions for that. Future session?



AJ Maida, Jessica Wyler, Kevin Frye, VJ Jaeckel, and Mike Roscoe at DD15 Cocktail Hour

The 3 Musketeers or The 3 Stooges?

Three great keynotes to choose from, and I chose the controversial Larry Bruce who was presenting "It's Called a Marketing Mix for a Reason". There are a small handful of folks in the industry really working hard with digital attribution, and I was excited to compare what I have found with Larry's study. Larry's data came from over 100 websites and showed that the lead to purchase timeframe has shrunk to 57 days (remember when it was closer to 120 days???) - I keep emphasizing this as most dealers are still working the longer buying cycle.

Social media showed the greatest impact on lifting the click through rate on digital advertising, wow, if you are not onboard with social media, you better re-think that. A big finding was that the large third party providers (I will be kind and not share the names) really stand alone, and do not contribute or amplify your dealership's advertising efforts.

Whoa! Hold on there, does that mean we should judge those vendors primarily on the calls and leads we can directly track, and not all of this "additional website traffic driven to your website' and more? Can you understand why I am spending so much time with digital attribution right now?

Stand by for some future observations on this from me, but I would strongly encourage you to get a copy of the white paper that Larry produced after this year long study on channel contribution to a marketing strategy.



Jerry Thibeau closes out the conference with a TKO of the Dynamite Monkey - thank you Arnold Tijerina for this great pic!

"I act on impulse and I go with my instincts"

Gordon Ramsay (and here are Gordon's Top 10 One-Liners) . Well said Gordon, and with that I enjoyed dinner my final night at the Gordon Ramsay steakhouse at The Parisian. Fabulous food, even better friends, and a huge thanks to Sean Stapleton for the invitation. Let's just say that I was done speaking and I enjoyed my final evening in Las Vegas.

I then woke up at 5:20 am, thought I should start my day with a large cup of coffee, well, you know where that ends. Speaking of which, I actually arrive the previous Sunday as I also attended the Driving Sales Executive Summit, stand by for my first review. Meanwhile -  I look forward to seeing everyone at Digital Dealer 16 which will be held at Atlantic City May 6-8, 2014, cheers!

How was Digital Dealer 15 for you? Sound off in the comments!!