Touting Dealer Satisfaction figures seems to be the norm these days with classified dot coms. The size of the in market audience is where the rubber hits the road. How many eyeballs are being exposed to my vehicles and in turn how many phone calls are being generated from them. I personally don't even consider an email a serious part of measurable metrics anymore, the phone call is it in converting a web shopper to an up and in turn increasing our ROI with a classified advertising product. For us Autotrader.com & Cars.com have been in a consistant dead heat in phone call generation for at least the past year and a half. What I'm wondering is why Autotrader.com charges us twice the rate we pay Cars.com for virtually the same ROI? anyone else in the same box w/Autotrader.com?

We use Automart at one of our locations, and it measured almost dead last for overall ROI for year to date (for internet leads). Beep Beep beat it, Dealix beat it, AutoTrader beat it, etc. I can only share our experience, and we pay close attention to measuring our ROI for all sources and Automart has not been a good performer for us. Kevin Frye/eCommerce Director/Jeff Wyler Automotive Family

this is interesting. i think we will have to reserve judgement on the outcome of this until the program is rolled out in force.

i don't quite think it will be as bad as some expect, but that could be because i'm an optimist !?

Jason -If smart bothers you, wait till you hear what Honda is now requiring!

manufacturers always seem to think they can do a better job then their dealers

make cars (GOOD cars - not good ENOUGH cars)... and leave the rest to everyone else... please.

I have used a number of support centers based operations in the Phillipines and India that work with a number of international companies including Dell tech support. The support is very knowledgeable, the communication/language was no problem at all. in fact I and many have found the experience very rewarding. I have had issues with communicating with automobile sales and service professionals in the States that were more difficult.

The key as always is hire smart and train well. The added benefit is many of these employees are very happy to have stable work at a fair wage.

The perception of call centers for solving tech solutions with clients who maybe more stressed for a number of reasons is not the same as a potential client who is looking for information in making a purchase.

Let it be said there is a need for a solution as the process that is presently being used in the US is not working and when one company finds a solution that will work the others will follow quickly.

Interesting topic. Not sure an national BDC with a call center in the Phillipines or middle east will work. Have you called Dell tech support yet? While the support is very knowledgeable, the communication/language barrier leaves much to be desired.

This reminds me the "governmentalization" of something. By getting a behemoth company involved, it suddenly becomes cumbersome and is not agile to stay current with trends. To wit: As the OEMs are starting to want to go to one website provider, one CRM, etc., they are losing sight that these sales are HIGHLY regional, and what works well in Fort Worth will not produce the same results in Dallas.

Solution? Simple. Put the dealer on the hook for a specific model by putting it in their contract (BDC/Internet, ISMs, BDC only, etc.) and require them to maintain a set number of goals for each to ensure they are working. Or, place a performance bonus for those stores adopting and embracing the concept. Make a model out of them.

Driving it from the top down invariably results in poor adoption and results. Most dealers are highly competitive, so if they are falling behind a peer or the competition, they generally adopt what the other guy is doing to stay close.

Thanks for the article Alex, and continued comments from Lao.

A national BDC through an OEM? Hmmnn...

Believe you are right on with the initial customer OEM contact and scrubbing, then passing it on to the dealerships BDC as a qualified car shopper (are ya taking notes Nissan USA?) lead. Then the OEM follows up with a quick CSI call from an RDR post sale.

Outside of the initial contact and post sales survey from the OEM, the dealership should be responsible for the customer satisfaction of the sale and service afterwards.

Customer retention is going to come from the personalized service of the sales rep that sold the smart car (and quality of vehicle), not from a nationalized, word scripted, OEM call center.

But the manufacturers will never get with the local dealers to get a real pay plan for sales reps to stay there long enough to care about post sales follow-up.

Ok, I know I'm late, but here are my entries for acronym bingo...

BDC = business development center
USA = united states of america
CSI = customer satisfaction index
RDR = retail delivery receipt
OEM = original equipment manufacturer

Eh? eh?

Isuzu has contracted with a third party company to follow up with the leads and coordinate with the dealers in setting appointments and following up with the client.

I do not believe they realize what an opportunity they have here if they expand the program as the clients enjoy the prompt follow up and quality source of information provided, Many clients said when they began "wow we are hearing back" makes you wonder what the ISM's were doing all this time?

I think this could be a path of sucess for Isuzu as they are a quality brand at a popular price, great warranty program and Isuzu is one of the top truck OEM's in the world, they have international brand recongition for quality. Look at the loyal Trooper following. They are under marketed in USA

The "Howard Dean" success factor could be applied here if they approach the market properly.

Isuzu???!!! What are they doing? Inside the United States? How many Isuzu dealers are left?

The older/larger OEM's certainly have the pockets to pull it off, but I wonder if the willingness will be immediate. Toyota, BMW, and Honda have all spoke of straight integration with dealer CRM tools - not just ILM tools like some have already done. I believe this integration will be one of the first steps down this path.

smart, on the other hand, is a new OEM to the States with the ability to start fresh. I asked whether there were plans to integrate with a CRM, but they haven't gotten to that point yet. They did say they want to. I think the success of third party follow-up is a direct relation to the information inside a CRM.

A company like Toyota, Nissan, Mercedes or maybe Ford that has a large international experience (in Asia) will probably be able to be a bigger player in the development of this portion of the industry and lead the way.

A well trained call center in India or the Philippines with proper supervision and the use of today's technology will be able to make this concept model work, really this is no-longer a concept as the model and technology already exists.

The key factor is the training and proper supervision of the call center staff which would be a 24/7 operation. Many of the OEM's already have product training systems and testing in place, they will just need to modify and tweak it a bit.

This will be a “segway” for the OEM’s to be able to develop their sales reach internationally. This will also be a way for the more astute OEM's to bypass some of the "Old School Bagage" some dealership and industry management has about ecommerce and using technology to sell automobiles

The dealerships will have their own staff that would be interfacing with the OEM's that would be on the dealerships payroll. With this model the dealership will become more of a fulfillment center as well as traditional dealership and service outlet.

Isuzu already has a project they just started that is doing a very basic version of this; outsourced to a 3rd party company. They may not be aware of the potential of what they are doing and may not know how to take it to the next level, they may not even be interested??

You're absolutely right Lao! I see a lot of potential for better customer service out of this model. The difficult part is funding a national BDC for a company like Ford and the reluctance of some dealers to not see the positive sides. I saw some push-back from a few dealers at the smart meeting, and these were very pro-active dealers.

I think the older OEM's will start with a merged CRM system to monitor dealer activities, then speculate a national BDC might be the answer. Going back on the costs - how many people would you need to man a national BDC for a company like Toyota? Is that an average of 3 people per dealership? If there are 1,000 Toyota dealers, that's 3,000 new employees.....big bucks!

This is definitely a great time to be on this side of the automotive business with a short memory for the "good old days".

This is only the beginning. As some of the more astute OEMs see the potential and advantages of working more closely with the clients we will see much more of this type of activity from them.

This will be a boon for the OEM'/clients and the dealers who are able to work from this formula, it will save money, time and allow the clients better service (hopefully). This is a great time to be in the industry as there are so many opportunities developing.

I don't believe there is a "No Quote" option. That being said the answer to your question is to become a student and master of the phones. The internet lead is simply an opportunity to begin a dialog with the customer.

I would recommend training programs like Alan Ram or Dealer Synergy. I made mastering phone skills a priority very early on in my career as a floor sales person. Little did I know that it would be instrumental in taking on and being successful in Internet Sales.
You must have a game plan and process in place and make sure that everyone is following it. The bottom line is strong phone skills can overcome the price quote without ever giving the customer the impression that you don't want to quote them. There will always be a situation where you must quote a price, but again if you are truly a "Phone Ninja" You will be able to overcome any obstacle.

I would recommend training programs like Alan Ram or Dealer Synergy. I made mastering phone skills a priority very early on in my career as a floor sales person. Little did I know that it would be instrumental in taking on and being successful in Internet Sales.
You must have a game plan and process in place and make sure that everyone is following it. The bottom line is strong phone skills can overcome the price quote without ever giving the customer the impression that you don't want to quote them.

There will always be a situation where you must quote a price, but again if you are truly a "Phone Ninja" You will be able to overcome any obstacle. This may seem over simplified but basically the ability to manage a strong internet team comes down to training, training, training. I hope this does not offend anyone but every sales person thinks that they are good on the phones. I have listened to sales calls for many years and let me tell you that is the furthest from the truth. Make the committment to a strong process and you will be more effective at setting appointments and steering clear of price and trade values.

I preach the idea of "you don't ask you don't get". When you get on the phone with a customer you take two to three shots at setting an appointment by overcoming their price objections. I found what worked for me is telling the customer that "I have over 300 cars on my lot and I can give them a price on a car right now and when they can come our sale might be over or that we have 12 other sales people with customers who might purchase this car before they show up...if something changes and the numbers are different I do not want to look like a dishonest person. I prefer to meet with you in person to not only give you the best buying experience but to give you everything that you are looking for. After all would you prefer knowing that you met me and you knew that I was honest or would you like me to be a typical dealer that lies to you on the phone?" Now I wrote too much and I clearly do not talk so much when I am on the phone with a customer but these are my ways to handle objections. They will not always work and that is when you know you have a genuine mouche. At this point you break their legs, give away the car and move on. Get the appointment and sell it. However, the times these objections work you are able to get them in and spot them with more gross. You have to be able to read your customers mind by how they talk, where they are from and what their goal and objections are. It is not a very easy thing to do. As I plan to start doing consulting work I will teach these methods to dealers.

I get torn on this one.. we've tried different tactics at our dealership.. quote x% over invoice, quote invoice, quote 200 UNDER invoice, don't quote at all.

I was TOTALY against the old school 'don't quote prices'.

So far, our sales have been the highest w/o quoting (I'm talking new cars). Plus, our gross has been around 2500.

it seems that what people SAY they want, and what they actually respond to, are not the same.

I'm still trying to figure out the 'sweet spot' though.

I have often thought that some basic educating of the consumer would be worth trying:
"listen, here's the price I was able to get from the manager. But keep this in mind: the thought of losing a deal is much more realistic to him when you are sitting in front of him and he thinks you are going to walk. that's just human nature. Plus, there's a thousand diffenrent ways to configure a black jeep commander - each with a different price."
OK, it needs work

There are alot of great responses. It seems as if you have a Old school and New School sales battle at your dealership.

Jeff Kershner seemed to come the closest to combining the best of both. The dealership I work at gives me the freedom to make the decision about whether a best price quote will move the sales process forward or hinder it. The good thing about the internet is the wealth of information available within a few clicks of a mouse. The BAD thing is with all of the information, internet customers have a tenancy of hoarding information until that wornderful day arrives when it all makes sense and they feel comfortable enough to stop buy the dealership.

My philosophy is that you have two types of "Price Quote" shoppers.

1. The ones that ask for a quote because it seems like the right thing to do. When it comes down to it they are trying to get something accomplished that they feel MIGHT not be possible. (ie secure financing, trading a vehicle with negative equity...) Relationship building is essential with these customers. They are looking for the best OPPORTUNITY not the best PRICE. Quoting these customers a price usually winds pushing them away from visiting your dealership. What happens is, YES you did what they asked BUT it didn't get them one step closer to accomplishing their overall goal. Your best bet is getting them to look at ALL of the opportunities your dealership has available. Getting them off of the internet and on the phone is your only way of aligning their needs and wants

2. The second is the customer who doesn't have a phone number in the email sent to your dealership. These customers are the ones that want to conduct all of there business on the internet. They JUST want a price quote and thats IT. They have no intention of wasting their time if you cant meet their price on the car they sent in. 8 times out of 10 these customers have ALREADY driven the car. They have already sent in quote requests to multiple dealerships. You have ONE shot at this customer. Those gross profit loss deals will most likely come from here. The GM/Owner and I have the same thinking here.....send them the best opportunity you can offer and then.....do nothing. Either they will contact you to proceed with the purchase or you will never hear from them again. You've made them happy and in the process not wasted alot of time and energy. When we don't hear from them within 1 day we send an email which asks if our quote was satisfactory. Either is WAS or it WASN'T there is no grey area for this customer.

I can see how it would be frustrating if you are stuck at the Quote stage without being able to provide one but the owner you work for may be trying to push more traffic to the showroom. The only thing I can add is that if you are sending out a lot of quotes ask yourself how may calls have I made to this customer. I have a BDC dept and a product specialist which deal with the specific and the non-specific customers on new and used vehicles. Very rarely do I have to work a quote. We appoint about 70% of our internet leads before we get to that point.

Johnny,

I would step up and be THE MAN! Print out all the answer on this specific thread, make a meeting with the GM and Owner and tell them you need to find a system that's working, and that THEIR way isn't - to be perfectly frank. ASK THEM for flexibility, ASK THEM if they are truly committed to offering more one way to do business. Normally you find ONE WAY in a stockyard, just before slaughter!

Better yet, contact the last 100 people who actually bought at your dealership, and send them a small poll, telling them you are trying to make the experience the best - and ASK THEM for their answers and advice.

Compile the data and then present to the owner, with a demand for a raise, because you just did what none of their managers, or the owner did...

ASK THE CUSTOMER WHAT THEY WANTED!

Hi Johnny,

I can feal your pain. It's very frustrating to be instructed to do something that you just know to be counterproductive to your cause. There have been quite a few posts with many good ideas prior to mine. I don't have anything different to say in that regard, but I do have one suggestion for you.

If your boss is open to any ideas at all, or if your comfort level permits doing it on your own, I would suggest taking a noticable percentage of your monthly leads and doing exactly with them as he would have you do. With the other percentage, or a test group, do with them as you think they should be done. At the end of a three month trial period, examine the results as to which method works best. If everything we hold to be true works as we think it should, there should be a noticable difference in performance between the two groups. If you can prove your way works better, how can he refuse?

Ray

Looking over all these posts for this thread, I see that most people have the same issues. Lets face the fact that if you take 100 leads, within that group you have a cross section of the same type of people you meet on the street, or on the lot... there is a percentage of most personalities, some strokers, kids, etc. What I am doing is telling people in my first email that """"Hey - we got your internet request on the 2006 Ferrari 599 GTB (I wish), do you remember filling out that form sending it, that's why you're hearing from me? and Hey - the next step is the most important one: I will be calling you to make sure I got my facts straight, discover those small details, to find out WHATS GOING TO BE THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT THE NEXT CAR YOU OWN... and by the way, what is your phone number where I can reach you at, so I can help make this a great experience for you, whether you buy from me or NOT"""". I include my picture, links, hours and a motivating quote at the bottom. Now if someone doesn't reply, I mean give you the courtesy of a call or reply, especially after repeated attempts, why in the world would you send them a quote, especially if you haven't discovered the small details and what's important to them? Are you a Quote Clerk? Be a professional. Presently I am in the process of allowing the Law of Attraction to magnify my life experience, so I can be all I can. In a nutshell, when I do speak with someone, I immediately try to set up and appointment after a little discovery of their situation. If you ever speak with someone, ask them the million dollar question: WHATS GOING TO BE THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT THE NEXT CAR YOU OWN? I assure you that 98% of the ISM's and Salespeople they meet, NEVER ask them such an important question. I learned that you do not have to be better than anyone else - just be different by being yourself.

Thank you Jeff, Good advice.

I am trying to transition to the phone as much as possible as that seems to be the only way that I can make something of the leads I get. What I really struggle with right now is the customer that either does not provide a phone number or will not give one. Like you said these are the people that you need to "drop" and send out an email here and there in hope to get a 2 way with them to build a relationship. Thank you for all your responses.

Johnny Swartz

Thanks for the comment Shaun you absolutely right.

Jake, I have taken your angle at things and trying to get more aggressive with a website, SEO and Autotrader. While this is not an instant solution it will benefit me down the road while I try to convince him what he wants me to do makes no sense.

-Johnny

Johnny,

Great question for the DealerRefresh audience. A few comments seem self promoting to me, but the one's from your true peers have some value.

Any method of getting customers to come in without answering their questions or providing the information they're looking for, forces you into traditional, manipulative, soon to die, consumer hated car sales tactics. If I ask you for a price and you give me bull$#!+ or offer me a cheesy gift to come in and talk price, your opportunity with me is over! Those dealers that continue to search for new ways of manipulating and controlling customers are simply putting off their demise.

You stated that you understand what your owner is trying to do. This is good, but it is essential for you to know that this is the wrong way.

"Get 'em in."
"Sell the appointment not the car."
"Your presence is your leverage."
"What will it take to get you to take it home today?"

Give me a break!

You must answer your customers questions, including price quotes. You'll lose more sales by not offering a price than by offering one and isn't it easier to find out early in the process that your prospect will not or can not buy than it is to find out later? What tone are you setting in the relationship with your prospect when you refuse to be straight forward and honest in the beginning?

The answer to your question is that any method that avoids taking care of your customer and treating them the way you would want to be treated is the wrong way. You're looking for ideas to get people in without giving them what they ask for. Is that the kind of experience you would want? Would these Jedi mind tricks work on you?

If you can't get your owner to leave 1987 and embrace what's going on in 2007, you many need to search for a store that truly sets you up to win. Crafting skills meant to manipulate and control customers will not benefit your future. Don't just think progressive, be progressive.

With encouragement and hope,

Shaun