Well...

I'm looking forward to UFC 86 tomorrow night when Rampage Jackson fights Forest Griffin for the light heavy weight title. If for some reason the fight is lacking I will be content after reading this octagon like beat down of AutoTrader.

Big thanks to all y'all!

Shaun

I recently spoke with an autotrader rep I've known for a couple years who informed me they are seeing unprecedented levels of cancellation and or downsell. Seems to be the perfect storm situation for them in that the car market is the worst in decades and autotrader gouged another set of price increases at the same time. We cancelled them last year for much of the same reasoning mentioned here, the ROI was really lacking compared to what it used to be so we cancelled. Glad we did because we've been killing it with SEO & SEM for about the same ad spend we had with autotrader, maybe that's the "slack" afterall, bigger search engine audiences.

Fact: Auto Dealers nationwide are under financial duress not seen in decades.
Fact: ATC's ROI is not what it was.
Fact: ATC continues to raise rates.
Fact: Many of my "untouchables" will be getting the axe in 2009.

ATC rates are high enough for me to seriously experiment with "life after ATC". God help 'em if I find another venue to pick up the slack (ahem... will there even be any slack??).

Joe

Just had a visit yesterday from my AT Rep and a guy from a different area. The new guy didn't say a word, and the existing guy just said "I'm not leaving" about 5 times.

Kinda funny that I came here & read this thread today

The morning coffee just left my nose. Thanks for not resisting Lightnup, that post needs to go straight to the DR hall of fame for hilarity.

Jeff Kershner wrote: ".....I would wait to unleash my furry on the Blitz team....."

Jeff, I've been calling on dealers for longer than I care to remember. Thank God I have never had one unleash his furry on me. I've had to withstand a dealer's fury on a number of occasions, but the first time one unleashes his furry on me, I'm switching careers!

Sorry, I just couldn't resist.

Alex: "Am I going to lose the "under" bet? Here's another post toward my loss "

I've been trying to help you win Alex by staying (mostly) out of the fray, but who started this one in the first place?

And just for the record, it would make my day if ATC discontinued blitzes immediately if not sooner. IMHO, the long-term damage done (to image, credibility and local relationships) more than offsets the short-term revenue generated. Note that I am not disparaging the value of the solutions. It's just that I, like many others, am not a fan of this particular sales tactic.

Alex,

You saw what happened last time, did you really think a post on Autotrader would come in under 100? I don't think there is another vendor any of us use that would get this much attention on a post.

Now if we could only go viral and give them the Husker BMW treatment, maybe then they would cut us a break on pricing. Do I have any volunteers for the Chip Perry talking head?????

Amy - here's an easy leasson:

Don't burn any bridges & don't just cross them; build them first.

Eric

Am I going to lose the "under" bet? Here's another post toward my loss

Amy -

I never wanted you to leave this site in the first place! I have no clue where you got that idea from, I am glad you are back and getting into action!

We all work in a world of hard core competitors as you know. But here at Dealerrefresh it is good that all of us get togethor and actually speak our minds. You came off pretty hard in the beginning, do you remember???

Lack of Class, lol, thats silly. Each one of us here are in a Class of their own, and for sure it's not lacking

Again, I am glad you are back! Don't give up so easily!

AT needs to revamp some of their reps and let the local reps give those discounts etc that the Blitz team does. Many dealer have a rep they have a lot of trust in but does Auto Trader trust their reps to provide them with the discounts etc?

Apology accepted.

Good luck Amy.

J

Jay- i was wrong. you in fact have done training seminars with autotrader.com. I even spoke with a guy you know from Sonic years ago. I should not have called you a liar or questioned your integrity. I apologize.

The hardest lessons in life to learn are which bridges to cross and which brudges to burn...i am human and i am still learning.

Jennifer- their are no words for your TOTAL lack of class...

Because you want me to leave this site so badly...i think i will stick around.

Until then- I should probably chill out a little before i get into trouble. thanks Jay

Where is the "Come on Boy and Girls, let's play nice" comment from Jeff?

Jeff you on vacation or something?

Ryan - Witch Doctor ?? Funny....

Lighten Up -

I must have had a blonde moment but as I recall seeing auto trader commercials maybe from the year prior, so my bad. I think I can use you as a personal assitant!

Thanks for your correction, it is and will be appreciated.

Amy, You came back! I knew you would have, just to see what responses came back after your " I am out" statement.

And funny thing you still responded again. Strange....

"""Amy, my post was directed at you and your combative posts with YOUR CUSTOMERS. There are good Autotrader reps out there, you are just not one of them."""

Thanks to Jay for pointing that out. It takes a lot of nerve to brag how much your dealers are spending with you. If I was the GM and caught wind of you saying and bragging about how much I am spending on Auto Trader, GIRL I WOULD BE CALLING YOU DIRECTLY. CANCEL CANCEL & did I forget to say CANCEL.

That would be pretty funny seeing you roll up your sleeves and getting dirty, were you in the Service Bay and not the showroom?

Check the ads in your local paper there may be an opening at that dealership you claim to get bank on in the service department!

Amy, You may need to get back to basics and start realizing bragging about dealers money that is spent with you is a TISK TISK.... Just a note to pass on to you so you can pin it on your shirt!

PS - I am still waiting on info from you on the SEO SEM oh yeah and BLOGS too...

Everyone on here has heard of the Cobalt/Dealix Breakfast of Champions right? Where do you think I got (borrowed) the idea for the name (the seminars themselves are much better than the ones we did back in 2000)?


I was also the Director of Training for Cobalt...

Amy, my post was directed at you and your combative posts with YOUR CUSTOMERS. There are good Autotrader reps out there, you are just not one of them.

Amy,

I have no doubt you would have any knowledge of this, but around 2000-2001 I was the National eCommerce Director for Sonic Automotive and you did have seminars entitled "Breakfast of Champions" The regional Manager was a good friend of mine, Sally Kees, who now works for a major dealerhip marketing company. Matthew Belk (Former Hendrick eComm Director) and I were the speakers at the Charlotte, NC seminar.

And Sally did send me to Cancun, I can post the pictures if you like. I happen to still have Chip's (that's your CEO in case you didn't know) email address, I am will be forwarding him a link to this thread so he can verify with you.

I suggest you check your facts before you insult someone's integrity in public. Our local managers will be receiving a copy of this thread, as well. I'm sure they'll be interested in finding out who is damaging their relationship with one of their best clients...

Wow Lightnup, that was textbook diversion. You know we are actually loaning out the witch doctor to our dealers to help them with ATC's blitz teams. Any takers?

The creative was discussed in another thread, right? Some liked it some didn't, that's the nature of a Superbowl ad. If the execution was Good, Bad, Right, Wrong, has already been debated here. End of the day we wanted to drive more buyers to the site and help our dealers sell more cars, and we are getting out of the box to do it. Doing the same old thing year after year seems to dry up the product and the value, right Lightnup? Thought that might be worth mentioning.

Amy -

You're looking for a constructive encounter yet you call someone a liar?

Your own netiquette leaves much to be desired...

Eric

Jennifer observed: "AT is a good investment if you use it right, but after the prices being jacked up to cover the Superbowl and all the Glitter, I would never consider using them again."

Um...Jennifer...It was cars.com that ran those Superbowl ads, not Autotrader.com. You know, the ads that portrayed car dealers as unethical crooks requiring threats from witch doctors and voodoo fire dancers before they treat customers fairly? Cars.com did those, not ATC. Just thought I'd clear that up.

Jay - There was "breakfast of champions" seminars. Cars.com, AutoTrader.com, Dealix and others have done them so YOUR credibility is intact and it is Amy's credibility I question. Since she didn't know about these seminars I'm guessing she is one of the new rookies that are there that didn't go through comp plan cuts and hence her approach to insulting essentially her customer. ATC lost a great man to retirement a few years back that knew how to treat employees well and gave them opportunity to make over 200k a year there. Now they have under 100k a year rooks like Amy that weren't there to even know about the "Breakfast of Champions" which is an industry standard.

RE: Jon - Amy will continue to be on here. Don't let her "LIES"
"So- this is my last communication and i will go on with my wonderful life- helping dealers to be even more successful. YALL have fun singing the blues together." fool you. I'm sure if Jeff was clocking IP address length of time she would be in the top ten with 8 other ATC employees.

RE: Amy:
"my first comment on this blog was suggesting that yall take advantage of the blitz team because they can offer deals that the local reps cannot. The blog took on a form of its own after that."

you say take advantage of a "Blitz" team that cuts deals that the local rep that services the account on weekly/monthly basis can't provide ? How is that a deal? Short term maybe but we all know at the first chance a dealer gets they cancel their "Blitz" deals. They have NO relationship with the dealer and are gone until next year IF they go back to that city. No Service, and obviously no regard for customers wishes per Jon's experience that you "empathize" with.

RE: Amy
"about the roi, cost per...etc. No matter how good you are it is impossible to track everything that we bring to the store. impossible. unless you are looking at the walk arounds (vehicle details pages) maps, links to your site....fact that virtually everyone on the site is a buyer...there is advertising value outside of what can be tracked to your department.

Question: if 200 people go online and get a map somewhere...after they have spent 65 minutes researching what they want to buy....you think ANY of those showed up and bought a car that you didnt know about?"

If a dealer measures, ATC, Cars.com on the same basis which they both have "maps", "links to their site", "VDPs", and on most cases Cars.com is 25-50% less of an investment with all things being equal and considering all the map links, walk ins, ITS STILL a better ROI for a Cars.com dealer user. You said your not a "lead provider" so I'm comparing you to your closest and best competitor. Cars.com has better ROI, better service, and reps that don't insult their customers. Pretend your the ISM, where would you spend the money?


I'm going to parlay my over 100 posts bet, with the over 5 on at least 5 more posts from Amy, she just can't get enough. Her "wonderful" life isn't fulfilled until ALL dealers nationwide take credit for walk ins since phone calls, emails, and secure credit apps don't create a good ROI..

I for one do not question the fact that atc has a place in our marketing mix but sometimes I wonder at what price. The majority of dealers would be happier with a more competitive rate and a level playing field. Internet budgets are constantly scrutinized and paying for placement kinda goes against the spirit of the internet. I think that is why atc and pricing is always such a hot topic. atc is not the only vendor that angles with process and price but they get big monthly checks from most of the dealerships that employ us. I think we would like to see more help from corporate...we know its not the reps we see on a monthly basis. My rep delivered swag to me for a mountain bike race that we sponsored (on a Saturday)
my point is atc has some good guys but the suits running the show need to chill out with sales pitch......just sayin

Jay- you are sadly mistaken. I have spent many hours inside stores, rolled up my sleeves and gotten dirty. I might be blunt but i am not a snob. we never had seminars entitled "breakfast of champions"...and when did we supposedly send you to Cancun. You are telling a lie which now destroys your credibility. Care to give us some more details about your "seminars"?

Jon- I welcome the opportunity to share my thoughts. thank you for being the first constructive encounter....

my first comment on this blog was suggesting that yall take advantage of the blitz team because they can offer deals that the local reps cannot. The blog took on a form of its own after that.

I know exactly who you are talking about. It is very unfortunate the experiece you had and i empathize with you. What happened was wrong. that stinks.
That is not how true professionals should conduct themselves and it looks like she made a bad decision.
You mentioned that you had a good relationship with your local reps. I am hopeful that they were able to offer you a reasonable/fair solution?

about the roi, cost per...etc. No matter how good you are it is impossible to track everything that we bring to the store. impossible. unless you are looking at the walk arounds (vehicle details pages) maps, links to your site....fact that virtually everyone on the site is a buyer...there is advertising value outside of what can be tracked to your department.

Question: if 200 people go online and get a map somewhere...after they have spent 65 minutes researching what they want to buy....you think ANY of those showed up and bought a car that you didnt know about?

I think more internet managers should stand up and claim that credit as well....

Amy,

If you still happen to be reading, I am more than happy to share my issues about Autotrader with you.

First you made a comment about internet vendors being held to a higher standard for results, that may be true, but Autotrader is not the only vendor I hold accountable for cost per lead, cost per sale, and ROI, every vendor I use is held accountable. The problem with Autotrader is that month after month they have the highest cost per lead, highest cost per sale, and the lowest ROI of all the vendors I use.

Secondly the main subject of this post, the blitz teams. I have always had a great relationship with my local reps and have always been able to take them at their word,I had the impression that this kind of integrity ran through the company, that was before I met the blitz team.

I had the misfortune of dealing with Katie, a blitz team rep from outside my market, I'm sure you know her, she is one the the reps with her picture on the big Autotrader display booth. I made the mistake of extending to her the same trust I have with the local reps. When she came through our market the owner of the store was on vacation in Mexico, we signed a contract with a thirty day out that was contingent on his approval the next week, she assured us the she would hold it until she heard from us, when I called the next week to give he the go ahead, I found out she didn't hold the contract like she said she would and had already turned it in.

At the end of the thirty days I reviewed the results, traffic and click throughs along with the standards I mentioned before. The results did not justify the amount I was spending so I called to cancel. When I called I found out that I was in a 90 day contract, not the 30 day she had written on the contract, and I was not the only dealer to experience this in my zone.

From the minute Katie set foot in my store, everything out of her mouth was a lie, she even tried to tell me my call volume would increase four time more than what I was currently getting, which I new was BS to begin with.

My local reps have been warned that if I see another member of the blitz team in my store they can count on an immediate cancellation.

Amy, if you are still with us, I would love here your thoughts on this.