Keep all channels open as a mean to sell more cars! Have your employees share your message with their friends. The more eyeballs on your message the better!

I have read a lot of studies on this topic and found that when employers lock down these pages, employees will just use their smart phones to do the same.

Our dealer blocks social media save for the Internet Department that I manage.  So 3 employees have use of it.  Initially the thought was to connect with Gen Y on their terms for our Scion Brand.   In fact the opposite has happened, as baby boomers are embracing it as much as Gen. Y, Millennial and X buyers.  So for our initial 1st year in the world of social media, I would have to formulate my opinion that a dealer would greatly benefit from allowing the use of Social media and embrace the needs of the market as well as the future employees that will manage that market.  Ultimately driving sales has to come from a systematic approach to managing social media networks and leveraging the benefits on a macro level for all the dealerships departments, not just sales.  Connecting with the core values and buying motives of the next generation of buyers will involve adapting the sales to marketing strategies ability in building, supporting, and cultivating relationships outside the physical showroom.  Virtual showrooms on a dealers website are a key portal to introducing a dealers commitment to embracing the total relationship cycle by acknowledging the use of social media.
 
Considering the amount of time people spend on the internet should be a key indicator that social media sites are the hub of where all communication takes place.  To support this, I have had more interaction with a new client on Facebook than through a phone call or email.  The issue lies with security.  Virus’s run rampant among the net and social media has been flagged as a hot bed for the new hackers delight.

James

We do block social media...we actually block many websites.  In my opinion I think it's a mistake.  I think it is a great way to communicate with your customers on a much more personal basis.  Most of our employees will just use their phones anyways so why not embrace and support it. 

As an HR Manager at a dealership who writes a personal humor blog, writes for an online magazine, and for an HR blog... I would really be two-faced to block my employees from social media.  We actually encourage them to sell cars to their Facebook friends.  We love the interaction with our customers.  Let's be real here... people spend a lot of time on social media.  We are being smart to capture some of that time.  We track where our leads come from, and I can promise you it works.  The one thing we do not allow is trash talking the company.  As long as they stay positive... we fully support their social media efforts.

There's a great Ted Talk on the biggest obstacles to getting work done at work - Social Media isn't the problem. Jason Fried: Why work doesn't happen at work - Login to view embedded media View: http://www.ted.com/talks/jason_fried_why_work_doesn_t_happen_at_work.html

RT @Dealerrefresh: Does Your Dealer Block Social Media? Comment right here -->> http://bit.ly/n1SohB

Does it really even matter anymore if the dealer is on Facebook?  Seems to me like we're chasing, chasing, chasing...  I'm starting to think we're chasing "nothing" -- just keeping-up for the sake of keeping-up.  I know that now we "have" to be there -- but the reasons "why" we have to be there seem to be fading pretty fast.  I mean, if a tree falls in the woods, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?  If we dumped our FB page, would our thousands of fans notice?  I wonder...

An employee who uses Facebook to distract them from their work is using other forms of distractions as well, like a phone to call their friends.
 
Facebook will not create a poor worker. Poor results means poor work. 

Staff need to be trained on Facebook and how to use it to benefit the dealership. If they are using Facebook in non-work way, then there will be trouble. The same as if you are calling your friends on the dealership phone. Whats the difference?

I haven't restricted social media sites, yet. We have trained our people and encouraged our people to leverage the opportunities that social media, particularly Facebook, presents. However, I have found that the work related efforts are vastly out weighed by distraction and headaches (inappropriate posts, pictures, etc.) We implemented a new network recently and will be restricting these sites soon. Obviously, they'll still be able to check Facebook on their phones, but I think this is much better than browsing for the entire day. Most of our Facebook sales have started from a private message from an acquaintance, friend, or previous customer and these messages are emailed to you.

Anyone with an iphone is getting "social" on their own terms. 

Hovering over the receptionist and distracting her from her work, can't be a better use of time than watching your competitors YouTube channel.

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Not sure who else is counting what version of the internet we are, but it's an interesting post though. Now, there are 3 key elements that are now dominating: How we interact, where we interact and where our interactions are stored. In other words:  Social, Devices and Cloud. 

Software is now Social ______ fill the blanks. Media, Marketing, Reputation, Commerce, Exchange, Business and now I hearing stuff like Social TV, Social Radio...the name itself and the concept has endless ramifications. I see the social stuff as Usability trend rather than platform or a service. The fact is that soon EVERYTHING, I mean EVERYTHING will be Social Something or that works thru a social platform.

As far as Hardware/Devices is concerned, it won't matter how or where you get your fix. It will be a matter of platform preference, your TV, your smart phone, your car, your toaster, refrigerator. Running apple os x, windows, linux, android...it won't matter, in fact it doesn't matter much today.

Storage is all about the Cloud. Storage now takes place somewhere except your hard drive. Local storage is becoming obsolete. Think of how much "you" or how much of you is online, SSN, Name, relationships, business transactions, emails. Go back 5 years and trying being sold on the idea and see how much things have changed. 

What does it all mean? in general and as a consumer, very sadly is just invasion of privacy, but that's one end of the rope. On the marketing/sales/biz side and to our benefit, we now have access to anybody and their likes, anywhere, anytime to offer, sell and service. Matter if ethics how we use this technology.

So, if i had to agree that such thing exists and label what it represents, I'd say internet 5.0 is nothing but invasion of privacy 2.0.

German Sosa - twiceinteractive.com

I knew somebody was going to get picky

I don't have those answers and nobody does at this time.  All I know is it is coming.  It is just another growth step in the "organic" evolution of technology.

Great article Alex. Think you need to add a 4.1 with the mass advent of API's that allowed the type of cross platform interoperability that makes this I5.0 shift possible. Pretty exciting stuff indeed!

If everything works on one platform created by one or more companies, what happens if that platform fails? Gets hacked? Has a coding error? The company gets sued out of business?

Do we lose the entire ability to work seamlessly across multiple channels on one platform? Will there be another company to take it's place and fill the role? 

Hopefully, as users and adopters of these technologies, we will ask many more hard-hitting questions to secure the longevity of the future of internet 5.0. 

Internet 5.01: Jorts available in the Cloud.

Dealer rater is a terrible company. I am glad that Google punted them as well. They use barbarian tacktics and lied to there customer base about this possibly happening.. No tears here.. Yelp bit the hand that fed it.. Cya later CEO..  Good for Google!

One thing that has inspired a lot of speculation here is
that the folks at Google often change their minds as part of the innovation
process.  Some of you have wondered if they might require those of us who
have a third-party review component to our site register as a “certified”
content provider in order to have some control over the quality of their
content, or they may reverse course and go back to the way things were, for
example.

 

Right now, even though Google has changed the way they
aggregate reviews on Google Places, there is still an SEO benefit to having
good review volume in as many places as possible.  Many of our most
successful customers have also shared with us that one of the secrets to their
review success has been casting the widest net possible with reviews so they’re
covered in the many places shoppers go in the car buying process.

 

At the end of the day, the importance of building review
volume across all review sites hasn’t changed.  Admittedly, Cars.com is a
little new to reviews, but we’re committed to the space and want to make the
process as easy as possible.  We appreciate as much feedback as possible.

Lauren Beaubien
Solutions Manager - Dealer Reviews, Cars.com

Jeff thank you for posting. We are extremely excited about this event and I hope you are able to attend we'd love to have you. 

Ouch, seems like a lot of hate against the Gen Y'ers on this blog and some very ignorant comments.
 
Jade is absolutely right.  I work at a dealership and run circles around these guys. I answer phones, I walk the lot, I wait on people in the front, I will do it all to not be bored with my day.
 
Think we can't carry a conversation or look someone in the eye? I have seen the world through the internet, I know what Shaquille O'neal is doing right now, I just saw a Bald Eagle swoop down and steal a fisherman's fish off his reel, I have every piece of information at my fingertips, I see news you can't even read in your daily newspaper because it only comes 2x a week. Tell me I can't strike up a conversation to anyone about anything and I will prove you wrong. Generation Y can relate to anyone and talk about anything that might strike up a solid conversation and build trust with a customer.
 
I would like to see a graph on the amount of vehicles purchased per year based on age.  I would have to imagine ages 30-70 take up the majority of these sales, especially the later half of that range who have money saved, great credit, pension plus social security and would hate to be in a vehicle without warranty. In my experience, it is so much easier to build trust with these people and get them to like you. With all of the technology on cars now and in the near future, who better to explain the technology? Tell me how many 40 year olds in dealerships can type 65 words a minute?  Tell me how many 40 year olds are comfortable receiving and sending texts back to customers...throughout the day, on weekends, at night because we are ALWAYS available, 24/7?Tell me how many 40 year olds can navigate through different systems and webpages as fast as Gen Y? We can run circles around these sales people who have been doing the same thing for 20 years. We bring fun and excitement to dealerships that 99% of people are too afraid to come into because of the old "car sales" techniques. 
 
On top of these reasons, and so many more, think about the type of competition a 23,24,25 year old would bring to the table. Do you think the salespeople who are use to sitting at their desk, waiting for repeats/referrals, and once in a while getting a fresh up would like to see someone new to the business, younger, faster, fresher, more qualified (assuming they graduated college) running circles around them?
 
And if you think I don't know what I am talking about... I am 24, graduated college in finance, make more money than 90% of the customers I sit down with in new car sales, work for one of the largest, most innovative dealerships in the nation, and will climb the ladder of success faster than any of the employees working at the dealership. The car business is a gold mine for kids my age. Dealerships must begin to recruit this generation if they plan on staying competitive in the future. We have totally new ideas from the usual norm, can explain every bit of technology simply, can work 2x faster and harder and create ways to make things easier, and can help transform dealerships to the fastest growing type of car sales... the internet. Car dealerships haven't even seen what will happen with online sales and any type of social media, they have only had a small taste in the last 4 years.

As someone who is on the cusp of Gen X and Y, I see a bit of both sides here. I work in an office full of Gen Y'ers around 23/24, who have yet to develop a sense of real accountability and lack experience to back up the talk. While I commend the enthusiasm and creativity my co-workers have, it cannot substitute for real world experience in many instances and it's us "old timers" who are barely pushing 30 who have come in to save the day on a number of occasions.

I know they think they're super guru ninja rockstars just out of college because they were great students and their parents told them so, but the entitlement for promotion is sometimes just too much for me. I've heard complaints time and time again about why they haven't been promoted yet...and they've been in the job two months...and it's their first job ever out of college...and they haven't been able to prove success. But their mom, dad, parents, and teachers told them that they will rise quickly in the world because of their awesomeness! I'm not picking on Gen Y, but it's one of the thing that needs to be taken into account when hiring them. If they don't get that promotion or gratification fast enough (or that challenge to substitute) they are going to move on to someone else they think will rise them through the ranks faster.

There is no doubt that certain brands would benefit hugely from Gen Y in the dealership...MINI, Subaru, Scion, and other "young" brands that have a cool factor that the 50 something GM is just not going to be able to recreate. If your dealership culture can incorporate this Gen Y attitude into your dealership I think you'll be more successful in the long run. If you do business as usual then you might find more headaches from both sides as frustration mounts.

Amen, Joe!  http://www.youtube.com/user/ToyotaUSA/?x=venza

I wonder if Y knows they are being (gently) teased here?

Jade's last post beautifully illustrates your point.  They think that cyber-social is "real," and that they are on some sort of stage where all the world is watching and all the world "cares." 

To even suggest that eye contact and a firm handshake are "phony salesperson mannerisms" says it best!  I don't think I could ever say anything that makes our point better than that.  Wow.  I didn't realize it was that bad.