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Vendor Tactics that make you go WTF

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Eley Duke

Eley Duke

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Nov 30, 2009
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Eley
#1
I am not one to rant about vendors and some of the tactics used by some to grab dealers attention but I'm going to today. Girls in short skirts at conferences don't impress me, nice to look at but I have a damn good looking wife so its not going to win brownie points. Our dealership is very in touch with women because our dealer..... is my Mom! Fancy rock star Hollywood style parties, fun, but they don't influence my decisions because I make my decisions based on what is truly best for our store, not which vendor gave me the best hangover. Dont get me wrong, its fun, but they don't influence me. Vendors send all types of crap to kiss up to dealers when they are trying to close a deal, or think they are about to lose you. I've been sent squishy toys, 1,000's of pens, model cars (one person gave me a Mustang with their logo on the showroom one day, i wanted to smack him - Parker and I shot it up with our BB guns), wine (shitty wine too), olive oil - yep - some crappy olive oil of all things. Footballs, hats, and mess of crap that I could fill a dumpster with. I do have fun with my Dealer's United "Get out of my Office" button :D! And I got some delicious maple syrup from some friends, it was thoughtful and unique. There are a lot of nice things that I have gotten and appreciated from people that were not kissing my tail but doing it to say thanks for using us and that were items you could really use and enjoy. Not just another stupid ass squishy stress ball thing.

A lot of vendors spam the heck out of dealers in email too. I cant count how many times a week I get an email promising the latest and greatest thing. Phones calls seem to be getting worse too. But today for some reason one email got me fired up and prompted this. Here it is;

Subject: Your Radio & TV Ads Suck

I knew that subject line might get your attention.

Simply put, we produce better Radio & TV Spots thanyour local Radio Station, Cable Company or TV Stations can - period.

Our ads make you stand out in the commercial crowd.

To listen to our Radio Spots click here: Radio Samples of Voice Overs by Car Dealer Spots - The Automotive Advertising Experts

To view our TV Spots click here: Car Dealer Spots - Automotive Advertising Experts

Let us custom produce your next Radio or TV ad – andstand out in the commercial crowd.

Please call me at to discuss.

[FONT=&amp]Thanks,

[/FONT]It certainly got my attention as I am thinking what the heck is this, why would someone say that when we have been getting praised for our ads. Then I opened it. Seriously, this is how this vendor chooses to try to earn my business. First thing I thought, let me go stand in the Wal-Mart parking lot and approach someone in a nice car and say "Hey your car sucks, let me sell you a better one" - and then I show them some generic dime a dozen car.

I am probably getting too worked up over this, but if you are a vendor and you are serious about your business, think twice before you send some crummy blast email like this. "Your Radio & TV Ads Suck" is unprofessional, of course its going to get people to open the email, but its going to also get deleted when the dealer see's its the same old junk.

My response back to this vendor: Clever subject line, but its unprofessional and if you were serious about wanting dealers business you wouldn’t be spamming them with these kinds of emails. You’d be making real contacts by phone introducing yourself. And by the way, most of your ads are the typical car dealer screaming ads that sounds like some Sat night WWF wrestling commercial.

Take my email off your list.

I bet they sell purple inflatable gorillas too!
 
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#2
Eley,

I'm a vendor to dealers but I also have vendors for hosting/server equipment, labels, printing (over $1M a year account), etc. So I understand tat is a pain in the rear for you as it is for me.

So I thought about how my dealer feel many times, specially when I get attacked by a vendor and I feel irate like you feel right now.

However it is not easy for me or for the vendors that call on me, to find alternative ways to reach out and try to grow the business.

I try to remain calm nowadays when I get solicited and I remind myself that the guy on the other side is just trying to earn a living and make the best of his day to go home to his family with something to show for.
 
#3
It seems as though a few new vendors have jumped on the forums to ignite old threads and pitch products. Part of what makes DR better than other forums is the integrity of vendors conversing here. While I welcome new vendors (and their products) I hope that they abide by the rules of the forum.

For example: Ryan, Ed, Uncle Joe, Yago, Kershner, Jerry, Alex, jort wearin' John and countless others contribute everyday to the success of DR members without self promotion. Special thanks to those mentioned and all those who make my job easier everyday! To new vendors, try to learn from these folks and offer help when asked. Trust me, your business will be much more successful due to the relationships built here WITHOUT self-promotion..... Just saying

any-who, welcome to DR:rules:
 
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#4
Great post, I'm a vendor and choose not to market our program using email, word of mouth is the best way to build a solid book of clients. I don't think you will ever get a call from us unless you were referred to look at our program. Great post, I was on Facebook and the post "Vendor Tactics that make you go WTF" lead me here.
It was fun to read.

Manny Luna
 
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#7
I will have to play Devil's advocate here...

Do you know why vendors give away gifts? - Because it works.

Do you know why vendors throw lavish parties? - Because it works

Do you know why email companies use crazy subject lines? - Because it works

While we don't like many of the tactics used in the marketplace, the reason they are there is that they bring results.

Did you receive a gift? What do you feel in return? I should give them something back. It's called the law of reciprocity...

Did you enjoy the party? Do you feel like you have more of a relationship with the vendor now that you talked over a few drinks? Maybe now you will "like and trust" them more so as to make that decision to buy.

Did that subject line catch your attention? Did you open the email? You did - while a more accurate, yet boring subject line would never have been opened.

I am not saying you necessarily respond to any or all of these tactics, but a lot of people do, and that is why they have been part of sales for so long.

And being in the car business, where we have "gifts" for folks that show up for supersales, where we have email campaigns with catchy subject lines, and where we have "new car release" parties at our showrooms, I would feel hypocritical ripping on our vendor friends... Just some food for thought for all of us, including myself!
 
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#8
In addition to the items listed above, a vendor tactic that drives me nuts is ignorance, or laziness, in their technology implementations.

Most of you here likely have never had to deal with this issue, but it is certainly there.

With the large number of lead providers each interpreting ADF/XML slightly differently it can make parsing their payload a challenge.

Take for example vendors who place the <?ADF tag at the start of the XML document. This practice makes the XML DOM totally invalid. The whole idea of an XML document is that it starts with <?xml open tag.

Other vendors pass totally invalid data for the element. Take email addresses or phone numbers, you would think the vendor would validate and remove garbage on their form or somewhere along the line before passing it to the Dealer.

This is not to diminish those who do it right, the obvious players, but it is this poor implementation of technology that only complicates business for everyone involved.
 
#10
UPDATE: The vendor sent me an email after my email back to him yesterday. Here is his response.

Eley,

There was a terrible mistake in the subject line of my email to you today.

It was supposed to say “Do Your Radio & TV Ads Suck” – a question – not “Your Radio & TV Ads Suck” (a statement).

Several dealers replied saying that they were indeed unhappy with their creative – but I can see how a subject line like “Your Radio & TV Ads Suck” would offend you.

I sincerely apologize for the error.


I don't know this person so I can only assume he is being honest. Either way damage was done, they should have proofed their email subject line.
 
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