Feedback from dealers using TRUECar

[Jeff Kershner]

Different sides of the camp. I understand both but I'm sure I lean more to one side.

The question is do you NEED to have TrueCar in your marketing/lead mix and if you don't are you truly losing out?

That's like saying you NEED to have eBay, AutoBytel, AutoTrader, SEO, Paid Search or any channel for that matter. It comes down to your marketing mix and execution accordingly.

Many forget about the legacy side of TrueCar still known as Zag. A lot of dealers report great results and love the legacy program.

I believe when the name TrueCar gets thrown around by many, they're referencing the TrueCar website, the leads derived solely from and the whole debacle around DMS data and Scott Painter's "initial" attitude toward dealers and this business as a whole.

Some say you're "feeding the beast". And if you're going to do this, then quit bitching about a lower cost per sale and profit - as many dealers do. Each dealer/company has a decision in where to place their marketing dollars and acquire leads from.

Does a dealer NEED to have TrueCar in their mix? For the sake of the legacy leads, depending on location - I can understand why some do or feel as if they do.

Are these lazy dealers? I wouldn't say that.

I understand where Jerry is coming from and unless you're in a consultant role and see how costly a break in process can be, it can be hard to rationalize. Dealers will quickly spend more money for a few months in order to obtain more opportunities and possible sales. From Jerry's point of view (and he is right), you're losing great opportunities that you already have in front of you each day with POOR processes. Especially on the phone.

Dealers on average LOSE more opportunities a day to sell a car than what they gain, due to poor phone skills alone (and showroom skills for that matter).

BUT rather than fixing the process, training their people and holding them responsible for their job, dealers would rather pony up a few dollars and buy their way into more opportunities.

Lets ask ourselves and be honest - is this the lazy way out?

Of course IT IS!



Side note:

No matter how you slice it, you're paying a company to sell you opportunities. They're taking your money (and data) to grow. This particular company has a track record and someone at the helm on a mission to change the industry and the way consumers buy their vehicles.

Does the industry need to change? Let's agree in many levels it does. Is this a company you want to support in possibly doing so? Only you can answer that. I know my answer.

 

[Walt Kustra]

Walt, I am certainly biased as I am an executive at TrueCar, but can give you a few quick facts. Our billing model is a pay per sale model but certain states require subscription or other models. The majority of our referrals come from our large Affinity partners like Consumer Reports, USAA, AAA, Geico etc. We work with several OEM's that give special incentives to the members of our Affinity groups which helps you be more competitive and increase margin. We will continue to advertise to help drive traffic to our dealers as well as continue to evolve our business to support dealers and our members. The decision to add any vendor to your dealership is a personal one that should always be based on ROI or goodwill....Good Luck in 2013...Mike

Mike,

Thanks for the honest feedback. Glad to hear from you!

 

[ddavis]

I believe when the name TrueCar gets thrown around by many, they're referencing the TrueCar website, the leads derived solely from and the whole debacle around DMS data and Scott Painter's "initial" attitude toward dealers and this business as a whole.

Several phrases come to mind when I think of TrueCar: "Can a leopard change its spots?", "fox in the hen house" and "sleeping with the enemy". Scott Painter's "initial" attitude isn't up to interpretation. He was very clear in what he thought of the car business and car people. Honestly, I'm disappointed when I see anyone doing business with these people. We're better than this.

 

[Jerry Thibeau]

We pulled A LOT of buyers from Fort Drumm that we would NEVER had sold had we'd not been on the program.

Instead of paying TrueCar, why not do your own advertising in that market. Perhaps you could have sold more cars?

 

[Jerry Thibeau]

CBS news recently ran a story about companies that are growing. TrueCar was the feature company. They are adding hundreds of people and opening new office space. Who do you think is paying for this expansion?

Truecar is expanding their footprint in a big way. Have you ran a Google search lately using price and cost phrases? Good chance TrueCar is on the first page competing with your dealership for page rank. It's only going to get worse as they grow.

I can't wait for the first dealer to come on here and start complaining about how much money they are paying TrueCar each month. People have their heads buried in the sand while TrueCar continues to execute their domination plan.

If I could deliver my message to every dealer principal, I could and would put TrueCar out of business tomorrow!

 

[BriBlanchard]

I need some feedback from anyone who has recently signed on with TRUECar. Originally when it first came out a while ago it was something that everyone (including myself) was totally against. All of the sudden I see every dealer around me is signed up. I am currently having a weak new car month and am wondering if its time to jump on the band wagon as some of my peers seem to be making headway in my PMA and we are not. We also are having our own customers come in with these misleading printouts and basically threatening to go elsewhere until we educate them. I don't see this as a tool to gain new business, but to keep from losing my own. Its not a good feeling to even be considering it. What I want to know is Are any of you signed up, and if so what are your thoughts. I want everyone's opinions even those who would never use it. I need to make an informed decision here on what way I want to take my store. Thanks in advance for all your input, everyone is always so helpful.

We have had TrueCar for a few years now at least. In the beginning we were not getting a lot of quality leads, but once we adjusted our radius we were fine. It consistently holds the highest closing ratio for all of our lead sources. Yes, we pay $299/lead sold ($399/lead sold for used), but it pays off. They are easy to work with and we are staying competitive with the pricing within our market. The customers we get are very thankful and understand that they receive a pre-negotiated discount. There were issues at first for our customers not understanding that the vehicle being built wasn't necessarily in our inventory but we worked with our staff to slow the customer down and ensure they would still received the "Discount" not the "Price." All in all, we seem to be happy with TrueCar!

 

[Kelly Wilson]

Jeff - wow - come to STL and I'll give you a pat on the back for that!

When I get a live chat or a lead asking about TrueCar pricing (once every 3 months or so) I tell them if they print off a price with options that matches a car on our lot and place it in my hand, I will wave my % of commission to try to get the deal done.
We don't do TC, I get a flat fee not a %, and I hand them over to "that guy" on the floor-we sell about half...that's 2 sales we wouldn't have had otherwise and we didn't pay a dollar for the leads.
With an airforce base <20 minutes from us, I sometimes wonder about the USAA deals being missed - but the owner says he thinks the net would be a loss with the low prices.

 

[yagoparamo]

Instead of paying TrueCar, why not do your own advertising in that market. Perhaps you could have sold more cars?

Instead of paying TrueCar, why not do your own advertising in that market. Perhaps you could have sold more cars?

If I had one hour to explain why TC is successful and why dealers don't advertise in other markets I wouldn't have enough time to present all the proof that I have for the case.

One of the things that we have specialized over the years is on using microsites to index in key searches, like for example a city that lays in between two main dealer's DMAs. We also have lots of experience on building blogs with entries that are used in all these assets to further index in these usually unclaimed areas. The results are that we can show very well in very good areas with no competition and it takes a long time for dealers to even realize what we are doing since they don't look every week who or how people show in every single surrounding town.

The cost is minimal, you can follow what's going on since you see it happening. You can further set your websites and other assets to track what is happening.

BUT ONE PROBLEMO! The time frame.

This doesn't happen in a week, or a month, or sometimes even a year. Besides building there is indexing, then fine tuning then luring customers from those areas (they are as far from you as they are from the other dealer), etc.

Is a marathon but the end game is great: A hard business to earn but a difficult business to lose. The dealer that builds all these assets and indexes first has a great advantage over the one that follows him later on.

BUT THE ONE PROBLEMO--I TELL YOU.

True Car and many other 3rd party sites can play this game. They get leads for you because they have invested time and money to index right under your nose and now you willingly pay 10 sales X $300 = $3,000/month. Yet when you had the chance to build you own network you were not willing to invest the money and wait.

I agree with Jerry, this is bull crap. This must be the only business where the dealer finances the fishery, the fisherman, the boat, the cannery, the distribution channel, and when they get to sea there is a guy that has a net already around the fish. But from the POV we were not willing to buy the net when the opportunity was presented to us.

 

[muchdutch74]

My store utilizes Zag/TrueCar and CostCo, though not for long. I am not a fan of any third party lead provider as the Internet Department and BDC in particular (read: Business Development) should be doing just that, developing business. Organic leads, SEO/SEM, video are just a few tools at your fingertips and paying a vendor for names (and often bad info) that tons of other dealers get their hands on is simply bad business, especially when you consider the low conversion rate on these leads. You are essentially paying for the guarantee that you will loose at least 68% of these people to another store. Unless you have an amazing process in place and Reps that are magic phone warriors, you are paying to loose opportunity. Does that sit well with you, your manager(s), dealer principle? Be creative, innovative and think out of the box; third party leads is so 10 years ago and this includes Zag/TrueCar, and using them certainly does not equal creativity nor intelligent Business Development. I have only been at my store for 46 days, but we have shed third-party vendors and have refocused our efforts elsewhere which has already produced large dividends. We no longer pay to loose money and are generating our own business, literally and as it should be. Your sales floor needs to be properly trained to give their guests a knock-out, unforgettable shopping experience, your managers wretched from their old-school "get em in" mentality and your BDC Reps/ISM's up to speed on best practices, have solid processes in place that everyone follows to a "T" and training, training, training.
Also, understanding your customers, your ticket and your product will help guide you. For example, stores that perpetuate those ugly (and often hard-earned) stereotypes about this business are golden to me and my store and I would like to thank them for the opportunity to sell the people they couldn't; we proudly shatter those stereotypes and earn customers for life who send their family, friends and co-workers to us. See what I am alluding to? Opportunity is out there, you just have to be savvy enough to recognize it and pursue it accordingly. Create your own opportunity, don't pay for the illusion of it.

 

[ddavis]

but the owner says he thinks the net would be a loss with the low prices.

Kelly, ask the dealer: depending on the market, do you have dealer installed ads? (In this market, nobody can buy a car at the advertised price). Sell accessories. You can mule them on the trade, switch them to leases and optimize the back end. To do this, you have to first sell the car. When you give up the front end gross, your back is against the wall and good salespeople learn to do this quite effectively, given a good compensation package.


How many stores actually promote accessories?
Do they UA trades or just steal them?
How many leases do you do?
How strong is your F&I department?
Are salespeople rewarded for doing these things?


You might have an "old school" dealer but this is old school stuff.