Fairhope, AL, March 9, 2011 — ScreenCrafters, a top provider of First Party Leads for automotive dealers and many other industries, announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) awarded the veteran, boutique technology firm a patent for their highly successful lead generation and delivery system. The system, sometimes called SiteEncore™ or Last Man Standing, often doubles or even triples the number of sales leads clients generate from their own websites.

The USPTO patent, number 7,904,335 titled “Web Site Lead Generator,” covers virtually all uses of undefeatable pop-ups and pop-unders to generate sales leads or gather consumer information from client websites. ScreenCrafters has been providing this technology to automotive dealers since 2006 and currently drives First Party Leads for nearly 2,000 websites.

Unlike traditional pop-ups, the ScreenCrafters Web Site Lead Generators are designed to create sellable leads where most pop-ups just deliver advertising that has little or nothing to do with the host website. Additionally, ScreenCrafters Web Site Lead Generators are virtually never blocked by traditional pop-up blockers; this often makes them the most effective lead providing vendor for their clients.

“We have used ScreenCrafters lead generation system on our websites for over five years.” Stated Mark Burshears, Technology Director for the O’Brien Auto Group. “ScreenCrafters regularly generates about 40% of all email leads from our website and we consistently close 18% of those leads. Our results have been outstanding.”

In addition to offering their product directly to car dealers and other website owners, ScreenCrafters also licenses their technology to a number of companies to use in creating their own lead-generating systems. Currently, ScreenCrafters is evaluating further licensing opportunities for their newly patented technology, including helping large classified advertising websites drive additional leads, as well as powering daily deal offers that deliver incremental revenue for a number of verticals.

“As you can imagine, since the official announcement that the ScreenCrafters patent would be awarded back in December, many companies have inquired about both exclusive and non-exclusive licensing opportunities of this technology.” Disclosed Steve Stauning, founder of pladoogle, LLC, the company managing the licensing relationships for ScreenCrafters. “It’s great to see ScreenCrafters go from this sort of obscure company built from the ground up by Steve and Cindy Crim to become one of the
hottest topics in digital marketing circles.”


About ScreenCrafters:
CandSNet, Inc. dba ScreenCrafters, based in Fairhope, AL, was founded in 1998 by Steve and Cindy Crim and is the leading provider of first party leads to the automotive industry and the developer of the newly patented Web Site Lead Generator technology used by numerous verticals to enhance their digital marketing efforts. Contact Information: stcrim@screencrafters.com.

About pladoogle:
pladoogle, LLC, based in Coeur d’Alene, ID, was founded in 2009 by Steve Stauning with the goal of leveraging underutilized ecommerce technology solutions from boutique firms, including the lead-generating technologies perfected by ScreenCrafters. pladoogle is the exclusive licensor of ScreenCrafters patented technology to enterprise users and resellers.

Hybrids gain share among online consumer auto shopping online as SUVs decline

Nashville, TN —03/09/2011— Was $3.40 the magic gas price for Hybrids? Though gas prices have been increasing steadily over the past 6 months, hybrids until recently, have not benefited as consumers continued to shop for less fuel efficient cars, SUVs, and trucks. However, once the national average for gasoline broke $3.40 per gallon, the trends began to reverse.

"Typically gas prices have not impacted auto shopping behavior, however recent increases have begun to change online auto shopping behavior," stated Jason Ezell, President of Dataium. He added, "Consumers have generally only responded to long sustained periods of gas price increases, and then reverted back to prior behavior once they got use to the higher prices. That said, recent rapid increases combined with news of unrest in the Middle East has clearly turned the tide."


During the month of February, hybrid inventory searches as a share of all auto searches demonstrated a trend line that was nearly identical to trends in gas prices. Interest in hybrids increased 10% as gas prices increased by 5%. Still, inventory searches for hybrids represent only 1.5% of all inventory searches by prospective auto buyers. Historically, once gas prices reverse course, the American consumers' search behavior changes course just as quickly. It remains to be seen whether such a reverse in trend will occur after this gas price spike subsides as well, or will the continued political instability in the Middle East motivate consumers to hedge their bets.

For more information and analysis, Dataium has posted its inventory search and gas price metrics at www.gaspriceaffect.com.

About Dataium, LLC
Dataium is the largest aggregator of Internet automotive shopping activity. The company collects, analyzes, and indexes billions of online automotive shopping events. Dataium supports patented data collection and reporting technology; VisiCogn® Collection Utility, VisiCogn® Knowledge Center, VisiCogn® INSITE, and is also known for its ASI™ index. For more information, visit www.dataium.com, email: info@dataium.com, or call 877-896-DATA (3282).

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Love him or hate him, no one can deny the tour d'force known at the moment as Charlie Sheen. Though he has brashly "beeped" his way through numerous media interviews and lost his job on Two and a Half Men, he has become an overnight sensation on Twitter. Now, you too can drink #tigersblood, live with #goddesses and #earnyourself as you read Sheen's thoughtful posts online. But he isn't just tweeting phrases, he's adding video through Ustream in a webcast known as Sheen's Korner (100 million views in two nights time), adding pictures through tweetpics and even advertising for an intern that can down tiger blood with the best of them.

Here's the truly amazing thing about the entire circus, Sheen has skyrocketed to 2 million followers on Twitter in a week's time. That's two million people clamoring for his "wisdom." While I don't advocate for living like Charlie Sheen, I do advocate for marketing like him. Some things to note:

1. He doesn't just tweet, he uses every tool at his disposal, video, pictures and more.
   
2. He's using controversy to his advantage and redirecting the discussion based on his own ideas, not the media.
   
3. Even though he's lost a prime time show, his popularity is brighter than ever based on his social media prowess.
   
4. Sheen has definitely created a brand around himself and is using it with lightening force.
   
5. He truly does drink tiger blood.

My guess is Sheen will come out unscathed and more in demand than ever. #U'vebeenwarned.

Can You Handle the BEST Price Question?

As I travel the country training automotive sales professionals on the proper techniques for handling phone shoppers, I am often asked the price question. “Jerry, how do you handle the customer who just wants the best price over the phone?”

Well, that’s a great question and I address it in this article.

I’ll start off by saying that the price question is one of the most feared question in the business and is often fresh on the minds of sales people. It is not the customer they fear, they fear having to go ask the manager for a price. Most managers don’t like to give pricing over the phone and will inform sales people to just try and make the appointment.

My coaching staff and I listen to approximately 1,000 recorded sales calls per month and find that less than 10% of the customers are looking for a true purchase price. Often it’s the sales person who leads the customer into asking the, “what can I buy it for” question. Or the customer starts asking questions such as, “do you have any lease specials” and the sales person thinks an exact price from a manager is needed.

To help you better understand this issue, I decided to play the part of a tough customer who wanted an exact price over the phone. I selected five Honda dealers around the country and shopped the Honda Odyssey since it’s always been an in demand vehicle. I chose a Honda EXL with Honda DVD rear entertainment with a sticker price of $36,830, including a destination charge of $780.

Four out of the five dealers offered a discounted price over the phone. Three out of the five dealerships asked me for an appointment, but in a weak manner. Only one of the five dealers asked for my last name. The New York City dealer was the only dealership not able to obtain my phone number, but they did ask in a weak manner. The amazing part of this exercise, not one dealership called me back later in the day to follow up with me. This should be a must do for every sales manager when no appointment is made. Here is a list of the pricing I was able to obtain:

Location
Price

New York City
$33,651

Charlotte
$33,151

Florida
$34,830

Chicago
$36,830

LA
$34,757

Using the audio files below, you will hear how they each addressed the price question. I’ve also embedded comments about how they handled themselves on the phone.

NYC

Charlotte

Florida

Chicago

LA

How should you handle the price question?

1. Ask about the trade!
Not one person asked me if I was going to trade in a vehicle. When the customer tells you they have a trade, I would then encourage you to ask questions to indicate your interest in their trade. Never tell a customer “oh that’s a wholesale piece.” What you should say is, “I am confident we can get you top dollar for your trade. When is the last time you had your vehicle professionally appraised? Not only will we get you the lowest price for the new Odyssey, but we’ll also get you as much money as possible for your trade. When are you available, now or later today?”

2. Sell the value of your dealership.
What makes your dealership better than the others in your area and be prepared to share that information on the phone. It might sound like this: “I know getting a good deal is important to you and I can appreciate where you are coming from, but there are a lot different ways to save you money on a new Honda Odyssey. If you’re flexible on colors, I may be able to get you a better deal depending on our inventory. You can also be guaranteed that with our huge selection, I’ll not only help you find the right vehicle, but I’ll make sure you get the lowest price around. We’ll even back that with a price match guarantee. We’re the largest Honda dealer in the area and we did not get that way without being aggressive on our pricing. Not only that, but we’re also very proud of the fact that our customer satisfaction levels are among the highest in the industry. Not only will you get an excellent deal, but you’ll also get outstanding service. When are you available to come down and pick out your Odyssey, today or tomorrow?”

“With an in demand vehicle like the Odyssey, pricing fluctuates on a daily basis depending on what we have available. My manager is more aggressive with discounts when you’re here in the dealership.. I’ll be glad to get you a price, but I can assure you you’ll get a better price in person. When is a good time for you to come in and get your best price, now or later today?”

Click to expand...

3. If the customer continues to ask for a price, give them a price.
By not giving a price YOU ARE the high price. You could say something like: “The price on the Odyssey you’re considering is (Give Discounted Price). I can promise you that I will honor this price I quoted you. I’ve been working here for five years now and I take great pride in treating my customers with honesty and with integrity, and my dealership also operates in the same manner. The price I’ve given you is a fair price, and I really would like to earn your business.

4. You are your own little business within a business, invest in this process and watch it work. Would you spend $20 bucks to make a few hundred?  Then keep a few gas cards on your possession and offer them as a way to bring customers in.  “I promise you that when you come to our dealership you’re going to be happy with the deal we give you.  If I can’t earn your business, I’ll give you a $20 gas card for your time.  That sounds reasonable, right?  Are you available today or tomorrow?”

On a final note, I would like to address all the managers reading this article. We need to lead by example. It’s easy to tell an employee what to say, but a good leader will pick up the phone and teach their employees how it’s done. Often managers won’t do this for fear of failure themselves. I often get managers on the phone when shopping dealerships and they struggle right along with the sales people.

For those of you who would like to record your outbound calls for training purposes, we can provide outbound numbers that will record your conversations. Just make sure you are aware of your state’s recording laws first. If this is something you would like to consider, please call or e-mail us.

Next month I’ll repeat this process with pre-owned vehicles.

How do YOU handle price questions?