April Rain and Julie Frye having a Grizzly Experience

I can bearly believe it…  Me: “Uh, what exactly is this?”

Montana Mountain Man named Kal Bozeman: “Grizzly milk, would you like to try some?”

Me: “Does it work?”

Kal: “My Dad raised my brother Bo and I on it” (as I look UP
to each of them)

Me:  “Sure, I will try
some” (knowing that my manhood was being tested)

Moments later, after drinking a thimble full of Grizzly
Milk, a huge rush of heat and energy came over me. The sleeves on my shirt
ripped as my biceps bulged with the massive energy of a Grizzly. Another dealer
accidentally bumped me from behind, and I turned around and pawed his face,
leaving 5 big scratches. Get out of my way, it’s time for my Digital Dealer Vegas
2021 recap!!!


Julie Frye, Ceren Isildak, and a very busy Melissa Green

So, is Grizzly milk a real thing? More on that later.

Is that digital check-in or just a mirage??? We arrived on Monday morning and checked into the Mirage using the MGM Resorts App. Pretty slick, never even had to wait in a line to check in or check out. Got a text alert that our room was ready, opened a digital key on my phone, and we were on our way. Wow, this digital thing is a pretty neat idea.


Jeff Wyler Marketing Team Dinner

Oui oui messier…  It’s always fun to reward our hard-working folks at Wyler with a team dinner, and we went to the Eiffel Tower restaurant at the Paris hotel. Unique view and venue, great food, and lots of fun and smiles. Unfortunately the Bellagio fountains were turned off due to the 65 mph gusts of wind that day.



Who says you cannot be a child again??? Nick Cybela setup a great event on Monday evening at Area 15 with Virtualis, where we did a cutting edge virtual reality experience. Each of us was equipped with a backpack, VR headset, as well as VR attachments on our feet and hands. Once the VR experience begins, you can see each other clearly as different colored “robots” and interact in the virtual world. Our first VR experience was to solve a mystery and find the crystal skull. After that was another experience where we were fighting zombies. It is hysterical to hear everyone hollering and laughing as you have the time of your life. Thanks Nick, and I highly recommend when in Vegas (10 minutes off the strip).


Great to see Jennifer Sanford

Starting your day with breakfast is key, as in keynote… Tuesday morning started with a continental breakfast, and then three sessions in a row in keynote hall. And wow, I have never seen keynote hall more packed than this Vegas 2021 conference.


Eliana Raggio as the Master Emcee

First, emceeing one of these events is VERY difficult. The bigger the room, the more difficult to engage them. And a big room means you need to bring a BIG presence to the stage. Kudos to Eliana Raggio who made this look effortless, as she not only kept the audience engaged, interacted with each speaker, and managed the agenda, all with a huge smile. Well done friend!


Julie DeTraglia as the opening keynote

Smarter, Faster, Stronger... No, that is not the description of the Six Million Dollar Man, but rather it was the theme of this year’s conference. Julie DeTraglia, with Disney Media and Entertainment, opened up with what the streaming TV revolution means for dealership marketing. Streaming TV has expanded significantly, especially with the pandemic last year and more people at home, and the opportunities to put our message in front of targeted audiences on streaming TV has also expanded. For me, the struggle is how to have a strong impact on these audiences due to the large amount of Streaming TV options to choose from.


Tech Talks in action

Did shark tank jump the shark??? Next up was Tech Talks, replacing the “shark tank” format we have seen at previous shows. Jackie Studor with Reach Automotive, Rashad Collins with Autodex.io, and Lawson Owen with Proactive Dealer Solutions each had five minutes to share their product with the crowd, followed by 5 minutes of questions that the audience could submit via phone. Simple format, though I wondered if it might end with a “vote” on which solution was best (it didn’t).


Tim Cox with CarNow and John Acosta

The one idea from Tech Talks that stood out for me was using blockchain technology with automotive. For me, if that was applied to vehicle history records, wouldn’t you have the most accurate vehicle history information available? From all owners? Is CarFax or AutoCheck looking into this for their future?



The final keynote was with Cliff Banks moderating a panel with Dean Evans from Cars.com, and Colton Ray with Walser Automotive group. While several areas were touched upon, there was really only one issue that caught my attention. Looking into the future, who will own the data for our customers? The OEM? Franchisor? Dealer? Vendor? This is very important to consider, especially when you look at the “connected car” which is a bigger part of our future.


Double Trouble with Owen Moon and Brad Paschal with Fixed Ops Digital

As a dealer, are you taking the time to ask who owns the data when you look at these new OEM approved solutions? Does it make sense for you to spend millions of dollars with marketing, just to give that valuable data to someone else? Of course I am biased, I am a dealer, however this is a very important area to consider – and perhaps something for Digital Dealer to focus on in the future. Or perhaps if you are aspiring to be a speaker, here is my idea for your session – “Who Owns the Data?”



Houston, they're back… The Expo Hall opened and was much bigger than the spring show in Tampa. Most of the big players were present, and lots of dealers started walking the floor, checking out new solutions, while also catching up with fellow friends.


Mountain Men Alan Cooper, Kal Bozeman and Alex Jefferson

I think I will take a walk-about... I always start by walking the entire exhibit hall to get a rough layout of what is going on. While doing that, I saw a big bear, with two tall cowboys standing next to it. OK, this caught my attention, especially when I saw a sign that this was Grizzly Milk (hence my opening story). First big question – is it real? And just as important, if it is real, how do you milk a Grizzly bear?


The Grizzly Milk gave Elianna Super Powers!

Well, there was a video showing how they “milk” the Grizzly
bear while it is hibernating, but this just raised another question – just WHO
did this the first time? I am pretty sure that there were two trappers in the
1800’s, drinking some whiskey late one cold winter night in Montana, and one
challenged the other “I dare you to go into that cave and drink some grizzly
milk straight from the source”. How do I know? I am a man, and we excel at
drinking challenges like this. And further, most car dealers are not far from
the scenario of these early trappers, as I soon saw dealers on the floor daring
the others to drink it.


I think I have seen Joe at Digital Dealer since DD3 when I started

Back to the “is it real?” question. I would encourage you to
visit grizzlymilk.com and see for yourself. And btw, I was warned to go
directly to the website, googling “grizzly milk” might bring up some unexpected
results.


Paul Wagner with CloudEngage talking about Chord

Who is the best Captain Hook??? Bottom line – this was the BEST hook I have seen for an exhibit at Digital Dealer. Everyone was talking about it and stopping by to see what the ruckus was about. Well done to Paul Wagner with CloudEngage, as he demonstrated their new Chord video solution. And another shout out to Kal and Bo Bozeman who had me laughing from beginning to end. I love bigger than life personalities, and these two delivered – hope to see you again in the future.



Struggling to keep up with service calls? Aren’t we all? I did check out the Brooke.AI solution, which uses artificial intelligence to not only answer your inbound service calls, but also to directly schedule appointments into tools like xTime. They were sharing an example where a dealer was using Brooke.AI to handle inbound service calls while they were closed, but you can use whenever you want.

AI is getting better every day, and as we work to be more
effective and efficient, this is another solution to help dealers address
challenging areas in their dealerships.



Food was good, and the desserts even better. Why is this an
important part of Digital Dealer? It is convenient to grab a hot meal during a
packed day, and it also keeps the foot traffic up in exhibit hall J


Glenn Pasch with PCG Digital packing the room

Glenn Pasch packed out his session on "The Truth About Digital Retailing". Glenn’s focus with your digital retailing experience is to keep it focused on saving time and making the buying experience friction-free. Glenn provided LOTS of “things to do” for dealers in the session and they were taking lots of notes. What a turnaround in the last few years with digital retailing, as most dealers now have it installed, especially after the pandemic last year.


With Jenny Harris from Jeff Wyler, Julie Frye and Kerri Wise with AutoFi

I was joined by my lovely wife Julie for the cocktail hour
and enjoyed seeing folks IN-PERSON! We are an automotive FAMILY and the best
part of Digital Dealer is always about seeing your friends and making new ones.
There were lots of “reunions” after almost 2 years for many of us to finally
connect again.


The "kids table" at the Digital Airstrike dinner

Time for a quick shower, a shot of grizzly power, and a great dinner. We joined the Digital AirStrike team for a great meal at Tom Colicchio’s steakhouse, where we were easily the loudest and most fun table in the place. I cannot share some of the stories shared at the table last night, but I would encourage you to ask Eliana Raggio about the Dave Matthews Band…


Charile Vogelheim and Eric Brown working the floor

Wednesday morning started with an early breakfast and my 2 sessions “Engaged or Enraged, Are You Winning the Battle for Yes with your Website?” I had a huge room, and being that this was early in the morning after a full night of Vegas fun for most dealers, I worried about how many folks would attend. I failed to have faith in my fellow dealers - they were there early and ready to go!


Two of my fave people, Heather Mackinnon and Matt Lamoureux with Quotible

The room was full by the time I started, and I was honored
to spend some time with some very smart dealers in the room, all looking to get
better. Candidly, I shared some very advanced content that is dry and not very
exciting, but my goal was to teach dealers how to optimally measure engagement
on their website after ensuring they had the best conversion tools in place,
and then how to drop that data into a Google Data Studio report where they
could identify the best engaged and best converting traffic they were
generating with their marketing efforts. My final surprises were how to get the
best traffic at the least cost by leveraging third party data, and how to
double their appointment setting rate by removing forms from their website and
replacing them with live chat. Do you want to know how to do it? Make sure to
catch my recorded session from Digital Dealer Vegas 2021.


George Nenni working the crowd

George Nenni with Generations Digital shared lots of info on how to dial in the recipe for your website traffic with a rapid fire approach of multiple things a dealer can do. Why rapid? A new format was being tested with shorter sessions (thirty minutes) for this conference. I have mixed feelings as many speakers seemed to be rushed, but this also allows more sessions to be available for dealers to choose from. I know that I like the traditional 40 minute format for myself (followed by questions) as I usually present advanced content that requires some time to build up. What do YOU think?


High energy with Paul Daly, Brian Kramer and Kyle Mountsier

Immediately after George Nenni was “Saying Goodbye to Best Price Inquiries” with Brian Kramer with Germain Toyota of Naples, Kyle Mountsier and Paul Daly with Contagious Auto. Opening up with some upbeat music, Paul, Kyle and Brian shared several compelling reasons to leave the tradition dealer messaging of “best price, best payment, most inventory, etc” which often leads our consumers to come in and ask the questions we don’t want to hear – “what is the best price” for example.


Great to see Subi Ghosh after more than a year

Why not market to them to get them to ask the questions you
want to hear. How can I buy a car quicker? What is the value of my trade-in?
What most impressed me about this session was the energy and passion each of
them brought to make automotive better.


What can I say - Danny Benites is very popular

Quick lunch, and time for a meeting with the great staff
that puts on the Digital Dealer conference. Digital Dealer (Emerald
Expositions) is always working to make the conference better, and more
dealer-centric. Many auto conferences have come and gone, but Digital Dealer
has only become bigger and better. My biggest recommendation was simple – how
do we encourage uprising talent to speak at these shows? At this stage in my
life, I am focused on helping others in growing their careers, and to encourage
them to give back to our industry with renewed passion and innovative ideas. If
you know some young talent that would be great for speaking at Digital Dealer,
please encourage them to apply to speak. And remember, Digital Dealer lead the
way with encouraging dealers (like me) to speak at these events, we need more
dealer talent on the front line to speak at these shows (and note, I will be in
the front row of your session J
)



Listen up whippersnappers!!! One area I am not completely enthused with in Exhibit Hall was the “live shows” taking part in a larger booth next to fellow exhibits. While it is fun to hear the loud music and folks shouting, it is VERY difficult to talk to the vendors in the exhibits across from and next to these events. I told one vendor I would have to come back later. Am I just getting old and cranky? Word of advice, just don’t bump me after I drink some grizzly milk.


William Camp and Jamie McBee with Toyota USA

Where are all the OEMs??? For the last ten years, I have always seen our Toyota district reps (and higher) at Digital Dealer, to include sitting in my sessions. Where are all of the other OEMs? Am I just missing them? It is encouraging to see the Toyota team eager to stay on top of the latest trends and innovation at Digital Dealer.


Longtime friend Val Kuncheff - looking for new opportunities - reach out to him!

The corner area where some other sessions were being held
was a bit better, though it could be hard to hear the speakers. This is a
difficult area, as I know DD wants to keep dealers in exhibit hall, but the
logistics here are difficult to balance.


Beyond Impressed with Brian Kramer, GM of Germain Toyota of Naples

Brian Kramer then presented “If You’re Not Willing to Honor
the Value on Your Website Trade Tool How Will You Ever Disrupt Carvana?”
Another full session with LOTS of interaction with the audience. Dealers are
waking up to the fact that we must compete with Carvana, Vroom, CarMax, and
more. Brian is taking the time to share not only how Carvana is beating us at
our own game, but more important, how we can and should be fighting back. Did
you ever consider that Carvana is buying the used cars we want most to acquire,
and we are often left with the cars that are not as desirable to choose from?
Are we so focused on getting the best price for the trade, that we are missing
most of the inventory? Perhaps we should be most focused on the acquisition of
the trade first.


Mike Colacchio, Aharon Horwitz, Yaron Saghiv and Scott Williams

For me it was a LOT of time spent at exhibit hall again, meeting with current and new vendors. AutoLeadStar has expanded their marketing solution significantly, while UVEye has a photographic scanning system that can increase your tire sales in a BIG way.


Great dinner at Catch with Ceren Isildak with CloudOne and Kenny Calhoun with Dealer Funnel

We joined Ceren Isildak with Cloud One for another great
dinner at The Catch at the Aria. There are so MANY great restaurants in Vegas
to enjoy. And of course after that was the wrap-up Digital Dealer party at
Midnight at the Dolphin Bar at the Mirage. More drinks, more fun and laughs,
and another long day wrapped up.


Dan Dorsey, Jenny Wood and Myself with Wyler - wrapping up

Overall, another great show. My only regret is not having
the time to spend with everyone. As we wrap up 2021, I encourage dealers to
understand that we will be dealing with constrained inventory for some time,
while also grasping that each of us as great dealers needs to be working to
compete aggressively with Carvana, Vroom, etc. Adapt and overcome! I don’t know
if any other industry is as good at that as automotive, which is why I enjoy
working here so much. Cheers friends!


Always great to see my main man Alex Jefferson - Cheers to all!

[xfbbcode postid="61924"]Written by Kevin LeSage

One of the many benefits of digital marketing is the ability to track and measure. Tracking has always allowed marketers to optimize the consumer experience and better understand behaviors to deliver more relevant messages. There are changes coming to how we track and measure online behavior, and you may have already heard about the “cookie-less future” and “updates to third-party cookies.”

If you’re not really sure what the cookie-less future means for you and your dealership, you’re not alone.​

I’m going to break down what a cookie is, exactly what’s changing and how, in many cases, these updates are going to help automotive dealerships across the U.S.

What are browser cookies?​

When you hear the term “cookie,” think tracking. Technically, cookies refer to files stored on a user’s computer designed to hold data. They are two types: first-party cookies and third-party cookies. First-party cookies are unique to a specific website, and user data can only be collected and activated on that one specific website.

Third-party cookies are added to your device by other parties in agreement with the website you’re visiting. Third-party cookies allow marketers to follow users around the internet to learn about their behaviors, and, in many cases, retarget them and build custom audiences. Think relevancy: As a marketer, the more I know about your behaviors online, the better and more relevant ad I can serve you.

What’s changing with third-party cookies and how will it affect dealership marketing?​

As consumers have expressed increased concern over personal privacy and data, and as new regulatory laws have been passed, companies have had to adjust. Apple sparked the beginning of the end when it started blocking third-party ad tracking to protect its users. In January 2020 Google followed suit, announcing it will end support for third-party cookies in its Chrome browser within two years. The new changes to stop supporting third-party cookies are designed so the consumer wins.?

I’m excited for these changes for one main reason: Although audience size may decrease, audience quality will increase. Slapping third-party tags all around the web, to make a bunch of guesses about human behavior, is a poor way to build an audience. This practice creates a lot of marketing waste — in dollars, time and effectiveness. Of course, it’s never sold that way, but I have seen it many times over the years.

I’ve vetted many automotive data companies over the years. When I started peeling back layers and asking questions, I couldn’t believe the lack of credibility in the data. There was a lot of guesswork happening to build marketing audiences that were being resold. This system doesn’t help the car shopper or the marketer and can waste a lot of money — quickly.

Who wins in the cookie-less future?​

Businesses need to lean into their first-party data now more than ever. By leveraging your own data and partnering with high-quality data partners, you can be successful.

Leverage your own data: The most important asset you have right now is your own data. For car dealers, first-party data is the personal records in your CRM. Real people coming off lease, or declining service in your service bays. You can build an audience from YOUR data!

With each day that passes, your data increases in value and will become your competitive advantage. It is for Cox Automotive, parent company of Autotrader. Regardless of privacy laws or the crumbling of third-party cookies, we touch 75% of all U.S. consumers shopping for a car.? We connect the dots between our online websites, measuring consumer behavior down to the hour. We’re doing that through our first-party data stitching, tracking device IDs and IP address, then mapping all that data down to the person and household.

Read more about how Cox Automotive is partnering with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to scale our digital personalization.

Find a high-quality data partner: Data providers with meaningful partnerships and integrated technology are the ones who win in the very near future. Look for data partnerships with companies who allow access to their walled garden and “share” first-party cookie information. Companies with large, impactful first-party audiences like Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook can resell consumer behavior on their own platform; they’re referred to as “walled gardens.” Cox Automotive has one of the highest-quality walled gardens of data in the automotive industry. We track car shopping behavior down to the hour with the ability to identify “ready-to-buy” shoppers who are 15 times more likely to buy than the average person in-market. We’re also able to correctly predict which make the shopper purchases over 91% of the time.? That’s the power of building meaningful, quality audiences specific to the auto industry.

How car dealers can succeed in the cookie-less future​

Your dealership’s marketing strategy is all about using smart data to build high-quality audiences. Build first-party audiences and activate on them across Facebook, Over the Top (OTT) platforms, bid modifiers with Google, YouTube, etc. Then, build a conquest audience. Find new market share not currently in your CRM. Get them in your CRM. Add them to your first-party audience strategy. Keep feeding the machine!

And as you’re building out your audience strategy, there are some important questions to ask your potential conquest/big data partner. If your potential partner can’t answer these questions with facts, stats and deep knowledge, it may be time to reassess what they can really do for you, especially in the ever-changing world of digital marketing.

• How are you collecting or buying data?
• How are you activating on an audience?
• How are you identifying in-market car shoppers?
• How often are you consumer insights updating?

The cookie-less future is coming. Is your dealership ready? Find out how Autotrader can help at b2b.autotrader.com[/xfbbcode]

[xfbbcode postid="61526"]Author: Jade Terreberry

Let the chips fall where they may. As supply chain disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in a global chip shortage, carmakers and the automotive industry have been hit especially hard.

But if the last year has taught us anything, it’s that our industry can move quickly to adapt, adjust and meet the needs of our customers.

The chip shortage and supply chain constraints are out of our control. How you respond to them isn’t. ​

So now we have a vehicle supply and consumer demand equation to solve, with supply chain constraints as our variable. It’s time to get focused, adjust our approach and drive forward.
Here are seven key areas to consider as you start formulating your plan for success and growth through the chip shortage and imminent inventory challenges of the coming quarters. We’ll be diving deep into each of these in the coming weeks to help you navigate through this disruption, but here’s what to start thinking about:

1. Streamline your vehicle inventory acquisition to strategic sales model​

The decisions you make now for your inventory strategy will determine where you land in that widening profitability and market share gap in the coming quarters. Focus on sell your car, Instant Cash Offer and private seller leads and acquisition opportunities. Instant Cash Offers continue to be a viable source for acquiring used inventory, with offers up 23% from February to March 2021.? Work your service drive, CRM, sphere of influence and lease-term avenues. If you don’t have a specific plan around each of those items, one of your competitors does.

2. Re-imagine your Certified Pre-Owned segment​

People aren’t going to stop buying cars because there are fewer new cars available during the chip shortage. Train your sales team on creative conversations about the value of used inventory and re-think your selection criteria for certifying an eligible pre-owned unit. Over half of the eligible used vehicles for certification never get CPO status, but as the new car shortage continues, expanding this business segment may give you yet another competitive advantage.
And remember why CPO is so valuable to you and to your profits: keep that new car shopper loyal, on-brand and in-market while creating back-end extended service contracts, add-on protection products and warranty wraps. In 2020, brand was the most important factor in a new car purchase decision, so keeping customers brand loyal will continue to be important to long-term customer retention. ? Most people buy new not just for that new car smell but for the peace of mind. Give your consumers that same peace of mind on the cars you have available. Our data shows that cross-shopping of new and certified inventory is increasing rapidly, with the expectation that this trend will continue to grow.

3. Lean into fixed operations now​

If you have a service department, read this one over again. For most dealerships with service bays, fixed ops makes up about half of your overall profit, yet only about one-tenth of your marketing investment and probably less than one-tenth of your focus for growth. ?

We are just now starting to see the pandemic’s impact on consumer demand for service, and as consumers take to the roads again, their regular maintenance routines are resuming, they are acting on open recalls and are making purchases from locations farther from home. They’re also doing more online — with more than 5 million consumer visits to the KBB.com Service & Repair experience in 2021 so far? — which means your total addressable market is bigger than ever. But much like digital retailing 5-10 years ago, service and repair scheduling, fair and transparent repair pricing and researching are a “nice to have” competitive differentiator right now. Without these tools, though, you’ll soon be left behind.
This is your growth opportunity and it’s the perfect time for you to take advantage and grow this very stable, long-term revenue stream of your business. Open an extra shift, add a few techs, start a few hours earlier, stay open a couple of hours later, gain market share now and retain that profitability for the future. The handful of consumers who don’t buy now because of a new car shortage or higher prices will be more conscious of maintaining their current vehicle. And if they aren’t servicing with you, they are using your competitor. Remember that it’s not about the single oil change, it’s about the lifetime value potential of every customer you gain — whether they’re walking through your door or you’re going to their doorstep for service pick-up and drop-off.

4. Extend slow-moving inventory beyond your backyard​

And just because you are making money now on fast-selling and high-priced vehicles doesn’t mean you should relax on growing, aged inventory. Extend that slow-moving inventory beyond your own backyard to a market where the supply is low, demand is high and there’s more opportunity than in your local market. We have data that can easily tell you where to place that inventory for fastest turn and best profitability. Take it one step further; instead of waiting until the vehicle is “aged,” buy or trade for every vehicle with the extended market plan in mind. Every dealership is on an even playing field if they embrace these ship-to-home and ship-to-store concepts to meet consumers’ expectations.

5. Be efficient with time and money​

Industry-wide, we are seeing higher lead closing ratios, higher gross profits and more total sales on a month-over-month basis, which means demand is up. Used car inventory is down 11% month-over-month and new inventory is down 17% month-over-month from February to March 2021, according to Autotrader site data.? This situation makes it easy to accidentally create a scenario where your customer acquisition cost is an unnecessary black hole. Know what’s working for you and be ready to invest there. And know that you may not need every provider in the space now. Getting the right connection with the right consumer on the right car at the right time is imperative. Be there where and when they want to connect. You don’t have to be everywhere, just at the right place at the right time.

6. Consider quality over quantity​

In every part of your business, quality matters, and you must know your numbers. In a technology- and data-driven world, not every opportunity is the same. Walk-ins and VDPs aren’t all the same, not all personalization is created equal, lead quality has a broad spectrum and the competitive landscape is vast. Be sure to dig into any available data to determine which strategies and tools are working for you in today’s changing market. You may find some surprises.
Get yourself out of any linear, singular approach to value and quality measurement. The “cost per this” and “cost per that” strategies are viable, but only if you are considering them as part of a larger cost-to-value equation. The world of consumer, device, activity and engagement tracking is so far beyond our old ways of thinking. We must start using those advancements to make decisions within our dealerships, especially with the increased consumer demand driven by factors like tax season, stimulus checks and loosening pandemic restraints.

7. Be nimble and aware of the volatile inventory supply-and-demand equation​

Consumers don’t stop needing or wanting cars when there is a chip shortage. The life events that drive vehicle purchases don’t stop because OEMs have new production constraints; new jobs, new babies, car accidents and sweet 16 birthdays all still bring new car buyers into the marketplace. Keep a very close eye on your inventory buckets in all segments by price, type and, mostly importantly, days on lot. Keeping your finger on the pulse of which segments need creative exit strategies and which segments need aggressive acquisition strategies will keep you healthy and profitable. An imbalance of supply and demand is where you’ll find market share opportunities that will accelerate and widen the gap between you and your competition when the market starts to normalize.

Disruptions like this chip shortage are catalysts for change ​

We know that change is the only constant and challenges drive innovation. And with any challenge comes opportunity. Do you take on the challenge to innovate, differentiate, gain market share, get smarter and become more efficient?
Today, supply chain challenges present opportunities to rethink how you’re doing business. Tomorrow, these opportunities could be your differentiator and competitive advantage.
Stay tuned for more in our series of how to plan for success during the ongoing chip shortage and inventory crunch.

Subscribe to our Dealer Advantage Blog HERE for more content and articles straight to your inbox.[/xfbbcode]

[xfbbcode postid="61320"]

Tips for Increasing Dealership Service Revenue this Quarter​

The majority of my client conversations revolve around front-end sales and generating high-quality audiences of in-market shoppers to target. But what about service and repair audiences? Service and repair is the biggest revenue driver at the dealership and a revenue source you can count on. So, let’s use all our best tools and strategies to target the ideal car owners and get them into your service department.

We all know that a good fixed-ops strategy is like a river that feeds the lake. It will lead to more front-end sales, as well. Below, I will share strategies on how to merchandise your fixed operations across key digital channels and share key steps to creating your own custom audiences to attract service and repair shoppers.

Let’s talk messaging.​

In a time of lots of uncertainty, one thing we can do for consumers is answer their questions upfront. Are you open? Is there a specific process they need to follow before visiting your service department? These are key questions on consumers’ minds during this pandemic, so let’s make it easy to find those answers across every channel. For example,

• Make sure you’ve updated your Google My Business page for service. Just last week, I checked two different stores’ hours on my phone, then drove up to see that the hours on the door didn’t match. Let’s not lose business this way!
• If you’re running any SEM, add a callout extension that says, “We’re open for service and doing XYZ to keep you safe.”
• Prominently include these details on social channels, your website, and in every service department marketing campaign.

What makes your service department stand out from the competition?​

This is a time to mention your processes, your competitive advantage. Some dealers are doing drop-off service and repair to customers’ homes or offices. “If you can’t come to us, we’ll come to you.” (If you’re looking for tips on making the most of service pick-up and drop-off, check out our earlier post - Tips for using valet service and repair to drive fixed ops revenue.

If I’m scanning Facebook and see a convenience that makes my life easier, I’m clicking. Whatever makes your dealership service department stand out, now’s the time to share that message with your local consumers. You’ve built an audience of local consumers on your social pages, so let them know what your service department has to offer!

Let’s identify the best targets for your service campaigns.​

Ideally, when you’re ready to start a service campaign, you’ll create an audience of people that are ready for service and repair, the same way you would for the consumers who are most likely to be interested in your inventory. Autotrader dealers can use nVision reporting to help them do just that.

Across Cox Automotive, we have our proprietary first-party tag living across our websites. This allows us to track shopper activity on websites like Xtime, a service scheduler, as well as across our other brands measuring leads, website activity, credit apps, etc. This gives Cox a 360 view of the consumer, and through the Audience Explorer report in nVision offers you a view of that data in your market.



With Audience Explorer, you can identify the zip codes that are ripe for service and sales. This data is live in our reporting tool, nVision. If you haven’t seen this, I highly recommend that you take a couple of steps:

• Watch my on-demand session “Personalization Is Not Created Equal” at the Cox Automotive Experience, January 28 to February 5.
• Then, if you’re an Autotrader client, reach out to your account rep and asking for a walk-through of Audience Explorer to see your data. There are lots of ways we can help you apply this data to create a more efficient fixed operations strategy for your dealership!
• If you’re not an Autotrader client, you can request a demo of nVision (and Audience Explorer) at b2b.autotrader.com.

How about adding a new advertising strategy into the mix?​

You’re connecting with car shoppers as they shop and research their next purchase on sites like Autotrader and KBB.com, but are you reaching potential service customers as they’re researching the repairs they need?

The Service & Repair Guide on KBB.com advises vehicle owners on repair pricing, recalls, and other service-related information, with an average of 1.7 million service-ready consumer visits and 300,000 VIN or license plate checks per month.* As a Featured Auto Repair Center, your dealership could stand out as the go-to dealership for car owners in your area and capture more new service customers. Let your local Dealer Success Consultant know if you’d like to learn more.

Let’s fill those service bays!​

Regardless of the challenges that are ahead of us this year, people will still need to have their transportation serviced. Challenges create opportunity. Just like with your sales campaigns, the success of service advertising is all about getting a concise, convincing message to the right people. Let us know if we can help. Best of luck and stay safe!
Learn more at b2b.autotrader.com

*KBB‌.‌com Adobe Analytics Data, average June – November 2020[/xfbbcode]

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[xfbbcode postid="61130"]Text is still wholly underutilized in the automotive industry as a way to connect with your prospects and customers and have meaningful conversations. Today I wanted to point out a few unique ways to leverage texting from acquisition to advocacy, especially as we continue to live in the “contact-free” world.


Showroom “Check-in” – You can add a QR code at reception and have all incoming guests “Check-in,” which then opts them into future text correspondence from the dealership. You should also add one at the finance office and an additional one on the service drive as these places are all high contact points for individuals to opt-in to different available text programs.

At 360Converge, we took it another step and made it easy to add people to any list and capture missing data fields through a series of questions to complete any customer profile in the database. This is by far the most straightforward program to implement and manage for your dealership. Plus, it helps to ensure every guest’s conversation continues long after their initial visit.


SMS Keywords- Another way to grow your connectivity with opportunities and existing customers is to let your customers subscribe to dealership lists using a simple SMS “keyword.” An example would be to text “Drive” to 844-360-0510. This will subscribe you to a specific single opt-in marketing list at 360Converge.

You could have keywords for many different programs at the dealership giving your existing customers personalization at scale and ensuring you stay in contact with every customer throughout their lifecycle.


Post Sale Follow Up– Another often overlooked but huge potential profit center for your dealership is following up with your customers after the sale with text automation. This powerful revenue area is perfect to leverage texting to create meaningful conversations after the initial sale. You can target customers to increase the number of Google reviews or focus on customers who didn’t buy extended warranties.

The possibilities are endless on building workflows that continuously impact your dealership’s bottom line through texting automation. One important one would be to schedule the first service appointment through an easy workflow that engages the customer through a text conversation instead of relying on email or your staff making endless calls.


Loyalty program- This is a missed opportunity in many service departments but a staple amongst the independent service marketplace. Using text, dealerships can create and administer a loyalty program for their best customers or an oil change club, or any program the dealership would like to make. This is an easy way to build loyalty at the dealership and pack the dealership’s service drive every morning.


Lease Retention- Lease renewal systems have been around for several years now, but most require a tremendous amount of human capital to administrate correctly through sending emails and making calls. This could be automated with text and deliver a more significant impact by communicating through the entire lease cycle with text touch base messages, questions, and additional information instead of just a rush at the end of the vehicle lease.

Individuals love to text and the control it offers them. Smart dealerships will use this communication channel to drive better relationships during the entire lifecycle, not just use it for sales and service appointments but to ingrain it into the whole dealership’s communication workflow to drive retention.

If you aren’t leveraging text you are missing the opportunity to build a lasting relationship using meaningful messaging that will continue to grow your bottom line every single month.[/xfbbcode]

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