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Digital Dealer 11 Review by Kevin Frye
- Automotive News, Press Releases, and Events
- 19 Replies
Kevin, great write up! It gave me the 'inside scene' since I missed it...I was really pleased to be asked to speak at DSES and couldn't be away for both. Thanks for giving me/us a thorough summary! 
Digital Dealer 11 Review by Kevin Frye
- By kevinfrye
- Automotive News, Press Releases, and Events
- 19 Replies
Kevin Frye reviews Digital Dealer 11
What happens in Vegas no longer stays in Vegas … as shared by Eric Qualman in his keynote presentation at Digital Dealer 11 – and how appropriate considering the explosion of social media the last few years. While many of you have been waiting for this semi-annual review of the Digital Dealer conference on DealerRefresh, many others have been getting a “play by play” analysis of the conference via Twitter, Facebook, industry blogs, and more, with real time updates, photos, and even video.
Could any of us have imagined how much our market would have changed just since Digital Dealer 1?
I think we are all familiar with this…
I arrived on Sunday morning for an early start to the week with the VinSolutions Dealer Advisory Board running from Sunday evening through Tuesday. Before the chaotic week began, I figured I would spend a few hours at the Mirage pool, and wow, the people-watching was first class. I have never seen so many tattoos in my life, and then I learned that “The Biggest Tattoo Show on Earth” was just wrapping up its convention at the Mirage. Maybe I should review The Biggest Tattoo Show on Earth next year…
While this review is about Digital Dealer, I think it is important to share a few words about my experience with the VinSolutions Dealer Advisory Board. VIN has really made itself an exceptional player in the industry by making significant efforts to listen to its customers, and to implement their end-users’ ideas into their solutions. I have been able to tap into the knowledge base of some of the top performers in this industry at these boards. VIN treats each of us with a first class experience and I extend my sincere thanks.
Chip Perry of AutoTrader Talks about recent acquisitions
As we wrapped up the VIN Dealer Advisory Board, I had the pleasure of meeting Chip Perry with AutoTrader, who spoke about the recent acquisition of VinSolutions, as well as Kelly Blue Book, Homenet, and vAuto. While I have to respect the confidentiality of much of what was shared during this discussion, I can share that I was impressed that Chip Perry and Mike Dullea (CEO of VinSolutions) would take the time to speak with us as end-users and explain many of their long term goals.
Suffice it to say, the integration of each of these vendors and their data is being approached slowly so as to ensure minimal to no disruption to current customer service, as well as to optimally leverage the power of having all of these tools and data under one umbrella. Why do I share this? Because is segues into…
Exhibit Hall at Digital Dealer 11
Behold the Behemoth! Was there any bigger statement to attendees of Digital Dealer 11 than the first 3 feet they walked into the exhibit hall?
Front and center, from left to right was VinSolutions, Homenet, AutoTrader, Kelly Blue Book, vAuto, and Kelly Blue Book. As I thought about all of the vendors I visited, and all of the dealers I spoke with, the pink elephant in the room was the merging of these powerful vendors under common ownership. If the future of our industry lies in greater efficiency and greater power by merging some of the most important tools we utilize under one umbrella, then where does a dealership stand if they are not using that “one” solution? Are you at a disadvantage by using a solution outside of this group because you have more cost by not taking advantage of economies of scale? Do your competitors using a “one” solution have an edge on you because of the significant inside look they have with their online shopper traffic by having integrated data?
If you know me, you know that I can be outspoken, and I am compelled to share this as this is the unspoken concern that many dealers (and vendors) are thinking about at this time in our market.
Sometimes the first bite is the best… I kicked off Digital Dealer 11 by participating in the roundtable discussions in the Grand Ballroom. Our table had an animated discussion about several issues, including how we measure ROI accurately, what the expected benchmark closing rates on lead providers should be, what new online tools were working for us and we would recommend to others, and much more. I had the pleasure of meeting Jane Garzona with Longo Toyota during this discussion who was very impressive and I can now add to the long list of invaluable network connections I have made at prior Digital Dealer Conferences.
It’s understood that you are good… I think one of my biggest dilemmas in attending these conferences is in choosing which presentation to attend. While I have listened to many presenters that I know are great, I try to balance which ones I go to see with whether I have reviewed them in the past.
So… I am sorry I was unable to see Shaun Raines and his great panel, Jeff Kershner, April Rain and Richard Herod (who were presenting at the same time as me and I hear they did great!), Pat Ryan, Ralph Paglia, my great friend Joe Webb (who helped me tremendously in my speaking presentations), Phil Sura (does anyone else agree that Phil is the nicest guy in this industry), Sean Stapleton, Jack Simmons, Tony Rhoades, Larry Bruce (always sparks a lively debate), Rich Lucy and Anthony Bartoli (two of the smartest and funniest guys in automotive) and more… Believe it or not, I was actually “splitting sessions” this year, going to one session for about 25 minutes, and then switching to another, just to be able to maximize my exposure to the great talent that is shared at each conference.
Vivian Holmes with IntellaCar and Paul Rini of Jeff Wyler Florence Buick GMC
First on my list was “Creating the Apple Store Experience in Dealerships” by Jim Hughes and Bruce Polkes with IntellaCar. Jim and Bruce shared how Apple does a great job bringing their products to life when you visit an Apple store as they aspire to “wow” each and every customer that comes in their front door. Apple clearly understands how customer satisfaction drives customer retention – and can anyone argue that most Apple customers are loyal to their brand?
I found this presentation to be very important to me as I am always looking forward, and it is readily apparent that the younger generation is drawn to tech-savvy businesses. What message is sent when you demo a new car with multiple high-tech features, and then hand your customer a pen and a paper application to fill out? Can we say DISCONNECT with our upcoming future customers from this tech savvy generation?
If your cars have the latest and greatest in technology, then why don’t your people have the same? I spent some time later with Vivian Holmes of IntellaCar looking at their iPad solution as well as with Rich Lucy (a current user) and was very impressed.
I pity the fool who doesn’t listen to his customers! I was presenting for the second session with “Shut Up and Listen to Your Customers!” and I shared multiple video clips with actual customers who directly answered many of the questions we bring to these conferences. Take a minute to watch the clip below and see what customers have to say about what they think when they see your inventory online without a price.
If you would like to see the entire playlist of videos that I shared to utilize in training your dealership personnel, just email me at kevin.frye-at-jeffwyler.com and I will send you the playlist (it is a private playlist and I must send you the links to be able to see).
Make like a banana and split… Next up was a split-session, where I attended Nikki Allen’s “Listen Up Kool Aid Drinkers” where she shared some inside information on how she has taken her dealerships to a premiere level, and then I ran down the hall to catch Bryan Armstrong’s “The Solutions Lie in Service”. If you have not figured out now how explosive the growth has been in eCommerce for service, then you are being left behind.
I understand that ALL of us have started out with sales as the primary priority, but Bryan shared how important our online presence is for service customers. Bryan brands himself as “the average car guy”, and his easy going manner and great sense of humor allows him to easily identify with his attendees, who walk away with simple, easy to implement ideas and strategies that help build your online service reputation while increasing service revenue. Sounds like a recipe for success to me…
There are dollars in the data… Eric Brown, CEO and co-founder of Dataium moderated a panel that discussed advanced cloud intelligence data solutions. “Advanced cloud what?” you ask? Let’s just say that the power of data and analytics with our modern Internet allows us to better recognize our visitors’ pathway into our website, along with a whole bunch of other data that gives us invaluable insight on how they are shopping for a car online.
Hmmm, how’s this – what if a customer started shopping online and found himself on KBB.com, researched some trade-in values as well as read some reviews on great fuel efficient cars, and then went to AutoTrader to search some inventory. While there, the shopper found some inventory that was priced very competitively within the market (maybe that dealer was using vAuto…) and then went directly to that dealer’s website, where they looked at several pages and then submitted a lead. When you receive that lead, you are able to see the entire path of how the shopper found their way to you, and with that information, you know that they are researching a great fuel economy car priced between 15k and 20k and they have a preference for the color blue. All with the power of integrated data.
Did anyone pick up on the relationship between several of these vendors? I strongly believe this is the next wave of technology which will drive our eCommerce efforts.
Tom Harsha with iMagicLab and Kevin Gordon with the Jim Pattison Group
Did Homenet finally lose the blue softball jerseys??? OK, I don’t know if they were a hockey jersey, softball uniform, or what, but I think the folks at the Homenet booth were relieved to be wearing something different at this Digital Dealer conference J. While visiting at the exhibit hall, I was able to see many great friends, including Nick Cybela (“Digital Nick”) with Ford Digital Marketing who shared some great insight on some recent changes with Google that could help me with my search engine marketing efforts.
Joshua Fichter of 5 Star Ford shared how they are changing their showroom experience to greatly streamline the dealership visit and cut down on time spent in the purchasing process. I was very happy to see another great friend, Tom Harsha, who continues to grow and improve iMagicLab with another mutual great friend, Keith Latman.
Chad Smith with Three Birds Marketing
Word on the street – no major items of excitement at this conference imho. It seems the primary question and concern I was seeing was how the industry will shake out with the recent acquisitions of many of our major providers. Several people were excited about Three Birds Marketing, which provides a powerful integrated marketing and communications platform for delivering creative, content driven marketing services. Chad Smith gave me a demo of their solution which emphasizes to “listen, engage, convert, and retain”.
Blackbook was also promoting their free credit score estimator tool while hosting R. Lee Ermey, “the Gunny” for photos.
We don’t have a choice about social media, it’s about how well we do it… Eric Qualman, author of Socialnomics, gave the keynote address, while dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt in remembrance of the passing of Steve Jobs the previous day. While Eric shared many great points, I think one that you will enjoy is klout.com, where you can determine how influential you are within your industry. What better tool for a competitive crowd like the automotive industry? Hmmm, let’s take a look at my friends with the “most klout”
1) Bryan Armstrong (65)
2) Jeff Kershner (52)
3) Sean Stapleton (51)
4) Joseph Little (44)
5) Allison Carpio (40)
6) Jeff Wyler (26)
Am I surprised Bryan Armstrong is the leader? Absolutely not – Bryan has raised over 20 foster children and I have the highest respect for him both in and outside of the industry, great job! If you are serious about social media, Klout is a great tool to see how well you are doing in your efforts.
I’m always suspicious of guys wearing bow ties… Another split session on the board, with Tim Clay’s Total Conversion” presentation that shared how a dealer can significantly improve the strength and presence of their website online by making sure to claim and match up the multiple sites online that list your dealership. When is the last time you audited your high profile portal sites online???
Tim is one of the best speakers I have seen, very professional, and he is great at making complex things easy to understand.
The other session I attended was Jim Flynt and Alexi Venneri who shared “10 Things I Hate and Like About You”. Jim and Alexi shared a key point when it comes to social media – when you are not trying to sell, you do sell. Jim also shared how important Facebook is when it comes to our service departments, as our service customers visit our dealerships way more often than sales, and they are more likely to share their experience online. Jim is a personal friend and a true leader in the industry, great job Jim and Alexi!
Packed and stacked… Yes folks, the rumor is true. There are real, living people that work at Google, and one of them descended from the heavens to visit us at Digital Dealer 11. And the house was packed (note to Mike Roscoe and Arnold Tijerina, if you bring Google in, make sure to provide a large room to accommodate the crowd).
Google shared in detail exactly how their search algorithm works and how to guarantee to be in the first position on page 1 for every search. If you failed to attend Digital Dealer, your loss! I came away with 3 key points straight from Google in this presentation.
First, they shared that Google’s current philosophy is “Mobile First”. Is your dealership preparing for mobile? Google shared that when it comes to mobile, it is NOT about filling out forms on your phone, it is about hitting the live link to make a phone call to your dealership from the mobile site.
Second, 81% of car shoppers are deciding within 3 months on their car buying decision. The buying cycle is starting to shorten with the readily available access to information. Is it time to adjust our Internet lead workflows and shorten them???
And finally, Google shared what works when it comes to being successful online – Be found, Be relevant, Be engaging, and Be accountable. Does your website fit this profile? If so, something tells me that Google will reward you in the search engine results if so.
I really enjoyed Matt Murray’s Presentation on why “Social Media” works
Matt Murray doesn’t know squat about social media! Absolutely kidding. Matt and I have had some back and forth about social media after my “Social Media is BS” presentation at DD10, and I certainly wanted to attend his presentation on “Social Media Works”. Matt had the best PowerPoint presentation and an incredibly smooth speaking style that I truly enjoyed, he is a natural when it comes to speaking in public.
I think Matt shared the true secret of success when it comes to social media. When you provide superior service and an exceptional experience, then your customers will talk about this on social sites and you will be successful. Hmmm, maybe Matt and I are really on the same page when it comes to social media... He also shared some innovative ideas on how a dealership can work to identify the “influencers” in their market and then work with them to be successful in social media. Note to DD team – bring Matt back, he is good!
Show me the money!… Jerry Thibeau of PhoneNinjas wins my highly official contest for best give-aways and most engaging presentation. Jerry opened his presentation by showering the front rows with dollar bills. Alex Jefferson injured some attendees in his effort to gather some “penny slots” money for later while the folks in the back regretted not sitting up front. Jerry held a contest with great prizes where he would randomly mystery shop dealerships that were in attendance and measure their phone skills. When we work SO HARD to convert website traffic into phone calls, why do we do such a poor job at answering the phones? Highlight of the presentation was a live mystery shop where the guy who answered the phone at the dealership and did the worst job identified himself at the end of the call as the General Sales Manager….
Give it to me straight… No holds barred in Kendall Billman’s presentation about “What is Your Website Hiding”. Kendall had researched the websites of attendees and showed many deficiencies in their current websites, including lack of good page titles and meta-tags, failure of content to be read by the search engines, and having very few indexable pages for the search spiders to read. Sometimes the truth hurts, but when your highest source of store traffic is your website, can you afford anything less than the full truth? Kendall is witty and entertaining, and when people saw that he was throwing out $25 casino chips for questions, he was suddenly quite engaging as well (kidding Kendall! Great job!)
What do shoes and cars have in common? Perhaps more than you can imagine. One of the best presentations I attended was by the folks at Zappos.com. Zappos shared with photos, PowerPoint, video, and songs how they have become one of the most successful eCommerce businesses in history. How do they do it? Like their motto says, they are “powered by service”.
Zappos delivers such an exceptional service experience that they differentiate themselves from their competition, and their incredibly satisfied customers are loyal and they share their experiences on the social sites. Sounds like what most dealerships are trying to figure out. HOME RUN. Attention Mike Roscoe and Arnold Tijerina – please bring in more “outside industry” success stories like this to Digital Dealer. I can share from personal experience that some of the best ideas I have applied in our eCommerce efforts at Jeff Wyler were learned from innovative thinkers outside our industry.
Alex Jefferson and friends enjoying Las Vegas
Bitch and moan, gripe and groan… I only heard a few complaints about Digital Dealer 11. While the new registration process was a success for many (It took me less than 3 minutes to check in and get my badge and bag), there were several others who had to wait over an hour when they found their badge had not been pre-printed, etc. I also heard a few complaints about the food/drink service this year (no fruit for breakfast, not as organized). Maybe we are just getting spoiled?
Keeping an automotive industry person satisfied has got to be worse than dealing with a high-maintenance spouse – ouch!
Arnold Tijerina, April Rain, and Larry Bruce enjoying “Old Vegas”
And that’s all folks! OK, ok, I know you want to know about the “after-hours” part of Vegas.
Seems like this “staying in Vegas thing” is getting harder every year. There were LOTS of VIP events and parties hosted by more vendors that I have ever seen. An attendee at Digital Dealer really gets spoiled with the first class treatment provided by multiple vendors. While I cannot attend every event, I can share big thanks for the hospitality and generosity shared by all. I would like to thank Larry Bruce who took April Rain, Arnold Tijerina, and myself zip lining over Fremont Street in old Vegas (make sure to check out the video, looks like Larry needed to be rescued!) What a great time and if you have not visited this part of Vegas, it is a blast.
Had a great time in the limo with this crowd, and wow, if I could bottle Larry and April’s energy, I could build the pyramids in 3 days.
Joe Little of VinSolutions gets a Tattoo at the VIN King Ink Party
The VinSolutions party at King Ink was a big draw, and there was a line of people who wanted to get a free tattoo care of VIN (fake and REAL). Speaking of which, if you got a QR code tattooed on your body, where would it point to if someone scanned it?
I want to see your answers in the remarks below.
Having fun at the ActivEngage Party at the Venetian
The always awesome crew at DealerRater (Chip, Heather and Matt) treated me to dinner at the Mirage, where I spent time with Kevin Gordon and Nick Williams, Alex Jefferson, Jeff Kershner, and many more. Todd Smith with Activengage is “money in the bank” when it comes to entertaining, and I thank him for a great time while eating at Bouchon at the Venetian. I had a wonderful time playing penny slots with Katie Richter (GREAT friend!), and when I was down to my last nickel, I gave it to Alex Jefferson who then won $30. Who votes that Alex owes me half???
Was also able to spend time with another GREAT friend, Su-Lin Jasicki, and meet new friends like Sean Pettley.
This is how the “High Rollers” live! – Ok, it’s just $40.10 on penny slots, but FREE drinks!
I’m getting too old for this sh-t! OK, five total hours of sleep the last two nights was tough, but I was still there in the morning, though Alex Jefferson showed up with only 10 minutes to spare. He better be thankful, because our motto is you can party hard, but you better be leading the pack in the morning, and I would have tortured him relentlessly if he was late J.
As I wrap up this conference review, I have found over the years that the biggest benefit I have found in these conferences is the acquaintances I made at the shows, that turned into associates, who then turned into friends, and who have turned into some of my best friends. My biggest complaint is that I feel torn in where to spend my time when I attend Digital Dealer now as there are SO MANY great people I know in this industry.
Cheers to all, and I look forward to seeing you at Digital Dealer 12!
What happens in Vegas no longer stays in Vegas … as shared by Eric Qualman in his keynote presentation at Digital Dealer 11 – and how appropriate considering the explosion of social media the last few years. While many of you have been waiting for this semi-annual review of the Digital Dealer conference on DealerRefresh, many others have been getting a “play by play” analysis of the conference via Twitter, Facebook, industry blogs, and more, with real time updates, photos, and even video.
Could any of us have imagined how much our market would have changed just since Digital Dealer 1?
I think we are all familiar with this…
I arrived on Sunday morning for an early start to the week with the VinSolutions Dealer Advisory Board running from Sunday evening through Tuesday. Before the chaotic week began, I figured I would spend a few hours at the Mirage pool, and wow, the people-watching was first class. I have never seen so many tattoos in my life, and then I learned that “The Biggest Tattoo Show on Earth” was just wrapping up its convention at the Mirage. Maybe I should review The Biggest Tattoo Show on Earth next year…
While this review is about Digital Dealer, I think it is important to share a few words about my experience with the VinSolutions Dealer Advisory Board. VIN has really made itself an exceptional player in the industry by making significant efforts to listen to its customers, and to implement their end-users’ ideas into their solutions. I have been able to tap into the knowledge base of some of the top performers in this industry at these boards. VIN treats each of us with a first class experience and I extend my sincere thanks.
Chip Perry of AutoTrader Talks about recent acquisitions
As we wrapped up the VIN Dealer Advisory Board, I had the pleasure of meeting Chip Perry with AutoTrader, who spoke about the recent acquisition of VinSolutions, as well as Kelly Blue Book, Homenet, and vAuto. While I have to respect the confidentiality of much of what was shared during this discussion, I can share that I was impressed that Chip Perry and Mike Dullea (CEO of VinSolutions) would take the time to speak with us as end-users and explain many of their long term goals.
Suffice it to say, the integration of each of these vendors and their data is being approached slowly so as to ensure minimal to no disruption to current customer service, as well as to optimally leverage the power of having all of these tools and data under one umbrella. Why do I share this? Because is segues into…
Exhibit Hall at Digital Dealer 11Behold the Behemoth! Was there any bigger statement to attendees of Digital Dealer 11 than the first 3 feet they walked into the exhibit hall?
Front and center, from left to right was VinSolutions, Homenet, AutoTrader, Kelly Blue Book, vAuto, and Kelly Blue Book. As I thought about all of the vendors I visited, and all of the dealers I spoke with, the pink elephant in the room was the merging of these powerful vendors under common ownership. If the future of our industry lies in greater efficiency and greater power by merging some of the most important tools we utilize under one umbrella, then where does a dealership stand if they are not using that “one” solution? Are you at a disadvantage by using a solution outside of this group because you have more cost by not taking advantage of economies of scale? Do your competitors using a “one” solution have an edge on you because of the significant inside look they have with their online shopper traffic by having integrated data?
If you know me, you know that I can be outspoken, and I am compelled to share this as this is the unspoken concern that many dealers (and vendors) are thinking about at this time in our market.
Sometimes the first bite is the best… I kicked off Digital Dealer 11 by participating in the roundtable discussions in the Grand Ballroom. Our table had an animated discussion about several issues, including how we measure ROI accurately, what the expected benchmark closing rates on lead providers should be, what new online tools were working for us and we would recommend to others, and much more. I had the pleasure of meeting Jane Garzona with Longo Toyota during this discussion who was very impressive and I can now add to the long list of invaluable network connections I have made at prior Digital Dealer Conferences.
It’s understood that you are good… I think one of my biggest dilemmas in attending these conferences is in choosing which presentation to attend. While I have listened to many presenters that I know are great, I try to balance which ones I go to see with whether I have reviewed them in the past.
So… I am sorry I was unable to see Shaun Raines and his great panel, Jeff Kershner, April Rain and Richard Herod (who were presenting at the same time as me and I hear they did great!), Pat Ryan, Ralph Paglia, my great friend Joe Webb (who helped me tremendously in my speaking presentations), Phil Sura (does anyone else agree that Phil is the nicest guy in this industry), Sean Stapleton, Jack Simmons, Tony Rhoades, Larry Bruce (always sparks a lively debate), Rich Lucy and Anthony Bartoli (two of the smartest and funniest guys in automotive) and more… Believe it or not, I was actually “splitting sessions” this year, going to one session for about 25 minutes, and then switching to another, just to be able to maximize my exposure to the great talent that is shared at each conference.
Vivian Holmes with IntellaCar and Paul Rini of Jeff Wyler Florence Buick GMCFirst on my list was “Creating the Apple Store Experience in Dealerships” by Jim Hughes and Bruce Polkes with IntellaCar. Jim and Bruce shared how Apple does a great job bringing their products to life when you visit an Apple store as they aspire to “wow” each and every customer that comes in their front door. Apple clearly understands how customer satisfaction drives customer retention – and can anyone argue that most Apple customers are loyal to their brand?
I found this presentation to be very important to me as I am always looking forward, and it is readily apparent that the younger generation is drawn to tech-savvy businesses. What message is sent when you demo a new car with multiple high-tech features, and then hand your customer a pen and a paper application to fill out? Can we say DISCONNECT with our upcoming future customers from this tech savvy generation?
If your cars have the latest and greatest in technology, then why don’t your people have the same? I spent some time later with Vivian Holmes of IntellaCar looking at their iPad solution as well as with Rich Lucy (a current user) and was very impressed.
I pity the fool who doesn’t listen to his customers! I was presenting for the second session with “Shut Up and Listen to Your Customers!” and I shared multiple video clips with actual customers who directly answered many of the questions we bring to these conferences. Take a minute to watch the clip below and see what customers have to say about what they think when they see your inventory online without a price.
If you would like to see the entire playlist of videos that I shared to utilize in training your dealership personnel, just email me at kevin.frye-at-jeffwyler.com and I will send you the playlist (it is a private playlist and I must send you the links to be able to see).
Make like a banana and split… Next up was a split-session, where I attended Nikki Allen’s “Listen Up Kool Aid Drinkers” where she shared some inside information on how she has taken her dealerships to a premiere level, and then I ran down the hall to catch Bryan Armstrong’s “The Solutions Lie in Service”. If you have not figured out now how explosive the growth has been in eCommerce for service, then you are being left behind.
I understand that ALL of us have started out with sales as the primary priority, but Bryan shared how important our online presence is for service customers. Bryan brands himself as “the average car guy”, and his easy going manner and great sense of humor allows him to easily identify with his attendees, who walk away with simple, easy to implement ideas and strategies that help build your online service reputation while increasing service revenue. Sounds like a recipe for success to me…
There are dollars in the data… Eric Brown, CEO and co-founder of Dataium moderated a panel that discussed advanced cloud intelligence data solutions. “Advanced cloud what?” you ask? Let’s just say that the power of data and analytics with our modern Internet allows us to better recognize our visitors’ pathway into our website, along with a whole bunch of other data that gives us invaluable insight on how they are shopping for a car online.
Hmmm, how’s this – what if a customer started shopping online and found himself on KBB.com, researched some trade-in values as well as read some reviews on great fuel efficient cars, and then went to AutoTrader to search some inventory. While there, the shopper found some inventory that was priced very competitively within the market (maybe that dealer was using vAuto…) and then went directly to that dealer’s website, where they looked at several pages and then submitted a lead. When you receive that lead, you are able to see the entire path of how the shopper found their way to you, and with that information, you know that they are researching a great fuel economy car priced between 15k and 20k and they have a preference for the color blue. All with the power of integrated data.
Did anyone pick up on the relationship between several of these vendors? I strongly believe this is the next wave of technology which will drive our eCommerce efforts.
Tom Harsha with iMagicLab and Kevin Gordon with the Jim Pattison GroupDid Homenet finally lose the blue softball jerseys??? OK, I don’t know if they were a hockey jersey, softball uniform, or what, but I think the folks at the Homenet booth were relieved to be wearing something different at this Digital Dealer conference J. While visiting at the exhibit hall, I was able to see many great friends, including Nick Cybela (“Digital Nick”) with Ford Digital Marketing who shared some great insight on some recent changes with Google that could help me with my search engine marketing efforts.
Joshua Fichter of 5 Star Ford shared how they are changing their showroom experience to greatly streamline the dealership visit and cut down on time spent in the purchasing process. I was very happy to see another great friend, Tom Harsha, who continues to grow and improve iMagicLab with another mutual great friend, Keith Latman.
Chad Smith with Three Birds MarketingWord on the street – no major items of excitement at this conference imho. It seems the primary question and concern I was seeing was how the industry will shake out with the recent acquisitions of many of our major providers. Several people were excited about Three Birds Marketing, which provides a powerful integrated marketing and communications platform for delivering creative, content driven marketing services. Chad Smith gave me a demo of their solution which emphasizes to “listen, engage, convert, and retain”.
Blackbook was also promoting their free credit score estimator tool while hosting R. Lee Ermey, “the Gunny” for photos.
We don’t have a choice about social media, it’s about how well we do it… Eric Qualman, author of Socialnomics, gave the keynote address, while dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt in remembrance of the passing of Steve Jobs the previous day. While Eric shared many great points, I think one that you will enjoy is klout.com, where you can determine how influential you are within your industry. What better tool for a competitive crowd like the automotive industry? Hmmm, let’s take a look at my friends with the “most klout”
1) Bryan Armstrong (65)
2) Jeff Kershner (52)
3) Sean Stapleton (51)
4) Joseph Little (44)
5) Allison Carpio (40)
6) Jeff Wyler (26)
Am I surprised Bryan Armstrong is the leader? Absolutely not – Bryan has raised over 20 foster children and I have the highest respect for him both in and outside of the industry, great job! If you are serious about social media, Klout is a great tool to see how well you are doing in your efforts.
I’m always suspicious of guys wearing bow ties… Another split session on the board, with Tim Clay’s Total Conversion” presentation that shared how a dealer can significantly improve the strength and presence of their website online by making sure to claim and match up the multiple sites online that list your dealership. When is the last time you audited your high profile portal sites online???
Tim is one of the best speakers I have seen, very professional, and he is great at making complex things easy to understand.
The other session I attended was Jim Flynt and Alexi Venneri who shared “10 Things I Hate and Like About You”. Jim and Alexi shared a key point when it comes to social media – when you are not trying to sell, you do sell. Jim also shared how important Facebook is when it comes to our service departments, as our service customers visit our dealerships way more often than sales, and they are more likely to share their experience online. Jim is a personal friend and a true leader in the industry, great job Jim and Alexi!
Packed and stacked… Yes folks, the rumor is true. There are real, living people that work at Google, and one of them descended from the heavens to visit us at Digital Dealer 11. And the house was packed (note to Mike Roscoe and Arnold Tijerina, if you bring Google in, make sure to provide a large room to accommodate the crowd).
Google shared in detail exactly how their search algorithm works and how to guarantee to be in the first position on page 1 for every search. If you failed to attend Digital Dealer, your loss! I came away with 3 key points straight from Google in this presentation.
First, they shared that Google’s current philosophy is “Mobile First”. Is your dealership preparing for mobile? Google shared that when it comes to mobile, it is NOT about filling out forms on your phone, it is about hitting the live link to make a phone call to your dealership from the mobile site.
Second, 81% of car shoppers are deciding within 3 months on their car buying decision. The buying cycle is starting to shorten with the readily available access to information. Is it time to adjust our Internet lead workflows and shorten them???
And finally, Google shared what works when it comes to being successful online – Be found, Be relevant, Be engaging, and Be accountable. Does your website fit this profile? If so, something tells me that Google will reward you in the search engine results if so.
I really enjoyed Matt Murray’s Presentation on why “Social Media” worksMatt Murray doesn’t know squat about social media! Absolutely kidding. Matt and I have had some back and forth about social media after my “Social Media is BS” presentation at DD10, and I certainly wanted to attend his presentation on “Social Media Works”. Matt had the best PowerPoint presentation and an incredibly smooth speaking style that I truly enjoyed, he is a natural when it comes to speaking in public.
I think Matt shared the true secret of success when it comes to social media. When you provide superior service and an exceptional experience, then your customers will talk about this on social sites and you will be successful. Hmmm, maybe Matt and I are really on the same page when it comes to social media... He also shared some innovative ideas on how a dealership can work to identify the “influencers” in their market and then work with them to be successful in social media. Note to DD team – bring Matt back, he is good!
Show me the money!… Jerry Thibeau of PhoneNinjas wins my highly official contest for best give-aways and most engaging presentation. Jerry opened his presentation by showering the front rows with dollar bills. Alex Jefferson injured some attendees in his effort to gather some “penny slots” money for later while the folks in the back regretted not sitting up front. Jerry held a contest with great prizes where he would randomly mystery shop dealerships that were in attendance and measure their phone skills. When we work SO HARD to convert website traffic into phone calls, why do we do such a poor job at answering the phones? Highlight of the presentation was a live mystery shop where the guy who answered the phone at the dealership and did the worst job identified himself at the end of the call as the General Sales Manager….
Give it to me straight… No holds barred in Kendall Billman’s presentation about “What is Your Website Hiding”. Kendall had researched the websites of attendees and showed many deficiencies in their current websites, including lack of good page titles and meta-tags, failure of content to be read by the search engines, and having very few indexable pages for the search spiders to read. Sometimes the truth hurts, but when your highest source of store traffic is your website, can you afford anything less than the full truth? Kendall is witty and entertaining, and when people saw that he was throwing out $25 casino chips for questions, he was suddenly quite engaging as well (kidding Kendall! Great job!)
What do shoes and cars have in common? Perhaps more than you can imagine. One of the best presentations I attended was by the folks at Zappos.com. Zappos shared with photos, PowerPoint, video, and songs how they have become one of the most successful eCommerce businesses in history. How do they do it? Like their motto says, they are “powered by service”.
Zappos delivers such an exceptional service experience that they differentiate themselves from their competition, and their incredibly satisfied customers are loyal and they share their experiences on the social sites. Sounds like what most dealerships are trying to figure out. HOME RUN. Attention Mike Roscoe and Arnold Tijerina – please bring in more “outside industry” success stories like this to Digital Dealer. I can share from personal experience that some of the best ideas I have applied in our eCommerce efforts at Jeff Wyler were learned from innovative thinkers outside our industry.
Alex Jefferson and friends enjoying Las VegasBitch and moan, gripe and groan… I only heard a few complaints about Digital Dealer 11. While the new registration process was a success for many (It took me less than 3 minutes to check in and get my badge and bag), there were several others who had to wait over an hour when they found their badge had not been pre-printed, etc. I also heard a few complaints about the food/drink service this year (no fruit for breakfast, not as organized). Maybe we are just getting spoiled?
Keeping an automotive industry person satisfied has got to be worse than dealing with a high-maintenance spouse – ouch!
Arnold Tijerina, April Rain, and Larry Bruce enjoying “Old Vegas”And that’s all folks! OK, ok, I know you want to know about the “after-hours” part of Vegas.
Seems like this “staying in Vegas thing” is getting harder every year. There were LOTS of VIP events and parties hosted by more vendors that I have ever seen. An attendee at Digital Dealer really gets spoiled with the first class treatment provided by multiple vendors. While I cannot attend every event, I can share big thanks for the hospitality and generosity shared by all. I would like to thank Larry Bruce who took April Rain, Arnold Tijerina, and myself zip lining over Fremont Street in old Vegas (make sure to check out the video, looks like Larry needed to be rescued!) What a great time and if you have not visited this part of Vegas, it is a blast.
Had a great time in the limo with this crowd, and wow, if I could bottle Larry and April’s energy, I could build the pyramids in 3 days.
Joe Little of VinSolutions gets a Tattoo at the VIN King Ink PartyThe VinSolutions party at King Ink was a big draw, and there was a line of people who wanted to get a free tattoo care of VIN (fake and REAL). Speaking of which, if you got a QR code tattooed on your body, where would it point to if someone scanned it?
I want to see your answers in the remarks below.
Having fun at the ActivEngage Party at the VenetianThe always awesome crew at DealerRater (Chip, Heather and Matt) treated me to dinner at the Mirage, where I spent time with Kevin Gordon and Nick Williams, Alex Jefferson, Jeff Kershner, and many more. Todd Smith with Activengage is “money in the bank” when it comes to entertaining, and I thank him for a great time while eating at Bouchon at the Venetian. I had a wonderful time playing penny slots with Katie Richter (GREAT friend!), and when I was down to my last nickel, I gave it to Alex Jefferson who then won $30. Who votes that Alex owes me half???
Was also able to spend time with another GREAT friend, Su-Lin Jasicki, and meet new friends like Sean Pettley.
This is how the “High Rollers” live! – Ok, it’s just $40.10 on penny slots, but FREE drinks!I’m getting too old for this sh-t! OK, five total hours of sleep the last two nights was tough, but I was still there in the morning, though Alex Jefferson showed up with only 10 minutes to spare. He better be thankful, because our motto is you can party hard, but you better be leading the pack in the morning, and I would have tortured him relentlessly if he was late J.
As I wrap up this conference review, I have found over the years that the biggest benefit I have found in these conferences is the acquaintances I made at the shows, that turned into associates, who then turned into friends, and who have turned into some of my best friends. My biggest complaint is that I feel torn in where to spend my time when I attend Digital Dealer now as there are SO MANY great people I know in this industry.
Cheers to all, and I look forward to seeing you at Digital Dealer 12!
Satisfy Me!
- Off Topic & Everything Else
- 3 Replies
It’s what every customer wants, to be satisfied!
The point became very evident to me one day during a recent business trip.
On my way to visit a client, I found myself at the Atlanta airport searching for a quick bite to eat. I jumped in line at a Sbarro, ready to order a slice of pizza. There were several people in front of me and I noticed things were not moving very quickly. The pizzeria was staffed with four people, but only one person was taking orders, the same person was also fulfilling the orders and then working the cash register. Now I like a get it done person just as much as the next person, but in this case the one employee was not getting the job done. A South American tree sloth would have beaten this woman in a speed contest.
I started to notice other customers in line and they were all displaying signs of frustration and aggravation. Several customers behind me jumped out of line and gave their business to another eatery.
I then started observing the other three employees. One was assembling pizzas while the other two seemed to be doing meaningless stuff as they engaged in conversation. This staff of four might have thought they were doing their job, but to me they were failing miserably. Without satisfied customers, pizza making becomes irrelevant, since eventually there will be no customers in line to make the pizzas for.
Unfortunately many of us experience this type of service on a daily basis. I for one am not going to tolerate it anymore. Now that my cell phone has Socialcam installed (thanks Todd Smith), I’ll be making videos of poor experiences like this one and sharing them on YouTube. As Brain Pasch mentioned in his recent article, ZMOT (zero moment of truth) is going to have a big influence on consumers as they choose whom to do business with. I’ll enjoy helping be the demise of a poorly performing business so that the doors can be opened for those who do want to satisfy their customers!
So why share this story? This is a huge opportunity for us to improve how we handle our customers. I am not only talking about dealerships, but I am also talking about the vendors who sell to dealers. We’ve recently seen a few vendors take a bashing on the public forums and they too need to act. To keep this article focused, I’ll keep my suggestions geared for the dealer.
These are some of the more common areas where dealers fail to satisfy customers:
- Internet leads going unanswered for hours
- Unattended chat sessions
- Customers struggling through a phone system trying to reach a real person
- Service customers waiting to talk with a service advisor
- Customers waiting to pay their bill at the cashier
- Customers expecting to be followed up with and never receiving a phone call
- Sales processes taking too long
- Oil changes that take two hours
The list could go on and on, but you get the point. Every customer touch point needs to be examined and processes need to be put in place to meet the expectations of our customers. Get this right and prosper.
Every employee needs to be on the lookout for disgruntled customers, you’ll know them by their body language and facial expressions. If you’re reading about it online, then it’s too late, you’ve failed! If you see somebody constantly looking at their watch, then it’s time to act. A great place to start is with a simple apology. Engaging a customer in conversation will put them at ease. Cross train your employees to help others during peak busy times.
Most importantly, each employee needs to treat his or her job like it was their own prospering business. Take pride in what you do and fulfill your responsibilities. Try to give every customer a “wow factor.” What’s a “wow factor” you ask? It’s going above and beyond the expectations of what your customers expect and providing an even greater service.
To summarize this article, here’s a great quote from Jack Welch: “Only satisfied customers can give people job security. Not companies.”
The automotive industry is filled with mediocrity; the time to act is now!