Dealership Innovation Guide Q4 2012

The Waikem Way!

Folks, This is the InternetBy Tony Rhoades - 8

Today’s Automotive ShopperBy Adam Thrasher - Page 26

Branded vs. Unbranded SearchBy Eric Giroux - Page 42

Online ReputationManagementBy Jacob Solotaroff - Page 44

TAMING YOUR DATA By Adam Grossman - Page 30

4th Quarter • 2012

A DrivingSales Publication

INNOVATIONDealership

GUID

E

Quarterly Ranking of Dealership Vendors and Best Practices

Doug and Craig WaikemFuture Focused. Detailed Eye.By Brian Chee - Page 32

3rd Quarter Vendor Rating Results

- Page 6

2 • 4th Quarter - 2012 • DrivingSales, LLC Dealership Innovation Guidewww.DMEautomotive.com

I’m passionate about helping my clients find the formula by providing a continuously open line of communication that focuses on honesty and results.

Manal Itraish, Dealership Consultant Maven

Science Driven Direct Marketing that gets Results | Dealer Branded Mobile Apps | MasterCall Solutions

866-714-9449

Dealership Innovation Guide DrivingSales, LLC • 4th Quarter - 2012 • 3

Dealership Executives, The new year is just around the corner and it’s time to prepare the business plan for the 2013 and beyond. In looking back through 2012, we saw a huge wave of data – the importance of data, the accessibility of data, and how to manage the data. You can now measure more things in your business than you even have questions for! Billy Beane’s keynote at the 4th annual DrivingSales Executive Summit focused in on managing your team with data instead of gut feeling; a strong panel of CEOs in our industry discussed tracking influence of car buyers by using data. Everywhere you turn, the importance of data is the hot topic.

But as we step into 2013, we don’t need to hear more stories of why data is important. It’s time to focus in on how we can leverage data. We need to be able to intercept the customer in their car shopping process, and data is the way to reach that end. The leads are only as strong as the journey the customer took to submit it, and to truly capitalize on that, we need to understand the customer experience before they even make contact with a dealer’s store. That’s where the data comes in.

The answers are out there, hiding behind a veil of numbers. Getting a grip on the customer journey through the data will dramatically impact your marketing efforts, closing rates, and ultimately, your bottom line.

Enjoy the remainder of 2012 and let’s take charge of our own journeys by understanding the customers’.

At your service,

Jared HamiltonFounder, DrivingSales, LLC

Jared Hamilton, Founder of DrivingSales LLC is a third-generation car dealer and technology geek. His passion for this industry and for tech has inspired him to help dealers gain access to better information, faster.

This guide is meant to be used within dealerships to keep dealers informed about emerging trends in vendor products and world-wide best practices. Find this content online at dealershipinnovationguide.com.

Meet the Team

Jared HamiltonFounder, DrivingSales Inc.

@drivingsales

Lindsey AugusteEditorial [email protected]

@lindseyauguste

Jeff PeaseArt [email protected]

@jeffpease

Larry SchlagheckDirector of [email protected]

@ larryschlagheck

Bart WilsonBusiness [email protected]

@bartrwilson

Paul HamiltonProduction [email protected]

@ pbhamilton

Tommy BayDirector of [email protected]

@tommybay


INNOVATIONDealership

GUID

E

Quarterly Ranking of Dealership Vendors and Best Practices

DrivingSales, LLC • 4th Quarter - 2012 • 3

4 • 4th Quarter - 2012 • DrivingSales, LLC Dealership Innovation Guide

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About This GuideDealership Innovation Guide is published quarterly by DrivingSales LLC. To subscribe, visit DealershipInnovationGuide.com. Printed in the United States of America. Copyright © DrivingSales LLC 2012. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or otherwise reproduced without publisher’s written permission. Dealership Innovation Guide and DrivingSales LLC assume no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or photographs.

Letters To The EditorDealership Innovation Guide and DrivingSales LLC welcome Letters to the Editor. If you have questions about the guide, or would like to make a comment, or voice an opinion about the guide, DrivingSales LLC, or the industry in general, please feel free to write us.

Please send letters to [email protected]. Include a telephone number and address (preferably email address). Letters may be edited for clarity or space. Because of the high volume of mail we receive, we cannot respond to all letters.

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2012Table of Contents4th Quarter

FEATURES

14

18

22

26

28

30

36

42

44

46

32

06

40

How to Leverage Consumer SentimentBy Alex Schoeneberger

Folks, This is the InternetBy Tony Rhoades

Reimagining SQRsBy Cassie Allinger

Today’s Automotive ShopperBy Adam Thrasher

What to Search for in 2013 & BeyondBy Brian Chee

Taming Your DataBy Adam Grossman

Bridging the Certification GapBy Joe Stroffolino

Branded vs. Unbranded SearchBy Eric Giroux

Online Reputation ManagementBy Jacob Solotaroff

Better Social Media ManagementBy Shaun Raines

The Waikem WayWhether hiking, skiing or selling cars for the Waikem Auto Family in Ohio, Doug and Craig Waikem share a passion about gradual and constant improvement -- in life and business. We sit down with them and talk about working with family and what they see as the keys to successful retail innovation.

On DrivingSales.com, dealers can rate their vendors. All reviews are verified to be legitimate and posted for you to learn who the best vendors are – directly from your peers.

Mobile & Location Based Services[infographic]

COVER STORY

Dealership Innovation Guide


Over 10,500 unbiased vendor ratings submitted by verified dealers.

View detailed vendor reviews written by verified dealers at DrivingSales.com/Ratings

CATEGORIES8

9

10

11

12

13

Call Management

Chat

CRM Fixed Operations

CRM Sales Department

Dealership Management Systems (DMS)

Internet Lead Management (ILM)

Internet Trainers

Inventory Pricing

Mobile Sites

New Car Leads

Owner Marketing

Reputation Management

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEM - PPC

Used Car Advertising

Websites



How Vendor Ratings Work The DrivingSales Vendor Ratings site is the first formal mechanism for dealers to rate and review their vendors in a comprehensive, real-time vendor directory. It empowers dealers by allowing them to learn about all the solutions available and to view actual customer feedback, both good and bad, about how each solution actually performs.

Rules

• Only dealership employees can post ratings and reviews. Reviewers are verified to ensure they are valid and eligible to leave reviews.

• Dealership employees can only rate and review the products they have experience using. The ratings are a chance to hear from actual customers with live experience using the solutions in their stores.

• Each reviewer must answer three questions to complete their rating: 1. How many stars does the solution

deserve?2. Would you recommend the solution to a

friend?3. Why would or wouldn’t you recommend the

solution? • All three components of the review, along with

the job title of the reviewer, are posted live to DrivingSales.com for all to reference when selecting new vendors.

Safeguards

• DrivingSales.com protects the anonymity of each dealer employee who leaves a rating and review. However, DrivingSales requires valid name and contact information for each reviewer so that each reviewer can be validated.

• Each review is passed through a variety of technological checkpoints to ensure vendors are not gaming the system. Furthermore, DrivingSales staff calls to verify a large percentage of the reviews.

Vendor Ranking

In each product category the vendor solutions are ranked in real-time as each new dealer rating is submitted. The vendor products are ranked based on a weighted Bayesian Algorithm. This is a standard mathematical calculation that looks at the number of stars the reviewer gave as well as the statistically valid sample size needed, relative to the competitive set, to create a ranking based on the statistical accuracy of the results. Sometimes a company with 3 stars will rate above a company with 4 stars if mathematically the first company has a higher probability of success based on the submitted reviews.

We encourage all dealers to rate and review their vendors by visiting DrivingSales.com/Ratings

Dealer Satisfaction AwardsThe DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction Awards recognize those solutions with the highest vendor ratings. For each category within the vendor ratings there are three award winners,

the “Highest Rated” vendor and two “Top Rated” vendors. These awards reflect products and providers with a proven record of success and excellence in serving their dealer clients. The Dealer Satisfaction Award trophies are presented annually.

Rankings Only dealership employees are allowed to rate their vendors on DrivingSales.com and all submitted ratings are verified. The vendors are then scored and ranked using a weighted Bayesian Algorithm (shown below). Sometimes a company with 3 stars will rate above a company with 4 stars if mathematically the first company has a higher probability of success based on the submitted reviews. w = (m*v2)*r+(v2*m)*c

The Vendor Ratings in this issue are based on the aggregate of all dealer ratings submitted from October 1, 2011 to September 30, 2012. *Category scores are computed per category and are not comparable across the board. For questions about Vendor Ratings, please contact [email protected]



Call ManagementSolutions that track inbound calls through designated tracking phone numbers so that you can manage your marketing spend and increase ROI.

Company Product Score Rating RecCallSource CallTracking 697.35 100%CAR-Research XRM Call Tracking / Ad Sourcing Solution 239.55 95%Callbright Inbound Lead Tracker 180.58 100%Century Interactive Call Tracking 37.28 100%Who’sCalling Who’sCalling 30.41 75%Dealer.com CallTracking 8.79 75%CallRevu, LLC CallRevu, LLC 4.11 100%eLead eLead Call Center 4.11 100%DealerSocket Call Management 3.50 100%ADP Dealer Services ADP Network Phone 3.17 33%

Add your own vendor ratings at DrivingSales.com/Ratings

Chat Products These solutions allow you to meet, greet and converse with customers who visit your website, as well as set appointments, generate leads and provide better customer service.

Company Product Score Rating RecContactAtOnce! LLC ContactAtOnce! Auto Dealer Chat 953.61 98%Activengage Activengage Chat 228.56 98% Dealer e Process Dealer e Process Live Chat 161.15 100%CarChat24 CarChat24 - 24/7 Fully Staffed Chat 15.09 100% Client~ConneXion Chat~ConneXion 2.61 100%

CRM / Fixed OpsCRM - Fixed Ops: Customer Relationship Management systems for the Fixed Operations.

Company Product Score Rating RecCIMA Systems CIMA Car Care Service Menus 190.97 100%CIMA Systems CIMA CarView 69.36 100%Dealer e Process Virtual Service Consultant 21.77 100%Dealer e Process Live Repair Orders 5.32 100%DealerSocket DealerSocket Service 1.46 100%VinSolutions MotoSnap™ Service CRM 0.99 50%

*Category scores are computed per category and are not comparable across the board. For questions about Vendor Ratings, please contact [email protected]


CRM / Sales DeptVariable Ops: these are CRM systems that track all your walk-in, phone and Internet customers through the complete sales funnel and owner life-cycle. They allow for advanced customer segmentation and marketing and track your sales activities by employee to make your team more effective at attracting customers and managing relationships.

Company Product Score Rating RecDominion Dealer Solutions Dominion CRM 269.25 95%CAR-Research CAR-Research XRM 73.57 98% DealerSocket DealerSocket CRM 51.11 89%VinSolutions VinSolutions MotoSnap CRM 3.22 77%

Dealership Management Systems (DMS)Dealership Management Systems connect all your dealership departments with accounting and maintain your dealership data in one central place. These ratings are for the DMS systems themselves, NOT the solutions that plug into the DMS systems such as a Desking or CRM solution.

Company Product Score Rating RecADP Dealer Services ADP Drive DMS 373.56 55%Reynolds and Reynolds Reynolds ERA DMS 179.80 68%DealerTrack DealerTrack DMS 77.88 57%Auto/Mate Dealership Sys AMPS 22.36 86% Reynolds and Reynolds ERA-IGNITE 12.28 100%AutoSoft Inc. AutoSoft DMS 10.58 40%Reynolds and Reynolds Reynolds Power DMS 1.53 50%


Did you know DrivingSales has over 10,500 verified vendor ratings? Visit DrivingSales.com/Ratings for more information.

Internet Lead Management (ILM) These Internet Lead Management solutions are built exclusively to handle incoming Internet leads and manage your Internet sales process. Many full-service CRM systems include Internet Lead Management features, but the ILM systems listed below are stand alone utilities built exclusively for managing Internet Leads.

Company Product Score Rating RecDominion Dealer Solutions Dominion ILM 102.16 99%CAR-Research XRM Internet Lead Manager 2.02 100%VinSolutions VinSolutions MotoSnap™ ILM 1.47 80%DealerSocket DealerSocket ILM 0.61 89% Dealer.com Dealer.com Lead Machine 0.48 88%

Inventory Pricing With market volatility and transparency increasing online, knowing how to price your inventory is a science critical to increasing your store’s profitability. These “Inventory Pricing” tools collect various forms of market data to help define the optimum pricing for your inventory to maximize both Gross and Turn.

Company Product Score Rating RecvAuto vAuto Pricing, Appraising Tools 306.66 100% VinSolutions MotoSnap Market Pricing 3.89 63% DealerTrack eCarList TrueTarget & eCarList HD 3.80 86%FirstLook FirstLook - 360º Market Pricing 1.83 50%Black Book Black Book Used Car Guides... 0.90 100%

*Category scores are computed per category and are not comparable across the board. For questions about Vendor Ratings, please contact [email protected]

Internet TrainersConsultants and trainers who focus on bringing online success to dealerships. General Dealership Consultants, Sales Trainers, and Fixed Operations Consultants belong in their own categories.

Company Product Score Rating RecKPA KPA Webinars: DealerWebinars.com 202.97 100%PCG Digital Marketing Brian Pasch 27.95 98%Phone Ninjas Phone & Internet Training 4.33 100%PCG Digital Marketing Glenn Pasch 2.87 100%DealerKnows Consulting Joe Webb 0.86 100%


866. 989.8077 | [email protected] | www.elead-crm.com

One Solution Proven to Sell More Cars!© Data Software Services, L.L.C. 2010-12

“As the #1 volume car store in our region, it’s important that we partner with a company who is evolving in an ever-changing market - ELEAD One is that partner! The Call Center signi�cantly increases our �oor tra�c and be-backs. With ELEAD, we are able to retain more customers and increase market share.”

Mobile SitesThese websites are built specifically for mobile browsers to cater to customers surfing the web from mobile devices.

Company Product Score Rating RecDealer e Process Dealer e Process Mobile Websites 249.49 100%Dealer.com MobileSites 6.33 91%Cobalt Cobalt Mobile Websites 3.71 67%VinSolutions MotoSnap™ Mobile Websites 3.17 75%DealerFire DealerFire Mobile Websites 0.38 100%

New Car LeadsThese providers collect and aggregate leads from their web properties and from partner sites, then distribute these hot leads to dealers. Currently this category is for both finance and vehicle leads.

Company Product Score Rating RecDealix Dealix New Car Leads 157.73 89%Cars.com NewLeadsPlus 7.70 60%AutoTrader New Car Advertising 5.04 64%ZAG Zag Sales Strategy 3.89 46%Autobytel Inc. Autobytel New Car Leads 2.09 71%Dealercentric Solutions Get Approved n Seconds 0.31 100%


Reputation Management These products and services help a dealership manage its online reputation. They may assist with review collection, monitoring, resolution and promotion of online reviews.

Company Product Score Rating ReceXtéresAuto Online Reputation Management 119.43 96%DealerRater.com DealerRater Certified Dealer Program 28.87 100% PCG Digital Marketing Reputation Management Services 2.52 100%Dominion Dealer Solutions Dominion Prime 1.28 100%Naked Lime Marketing Digital Reputation Management 0.44 100%

Owner MarketingThese targeted solutions help you mine and segment your customer database, and then market to them successfully. These solutions can market to your customers through email/direct mail/phone and other means.

Company Product Score Rating RecJ&L Marketing, Inc. Sales Events 360.94 100%CIMA Systems Complete Virtual BDC 212.60 100%J&L Marketing, Inc. Customer Pay Clinics 121.95 100% J&L Marketing, Inc. bLinked 70.34 100%Dominion Dealer Solutions Dominion Marketing Services 21.26 100%CAR-Research XRM Owner Marketing 1.68 100%

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) These companies will help get your website optimized so that it shows up higher in the search engine rankings. These services generally include both on-page and off-page optimization.

Company Product Score Rating ReceXtéresAuto eXtéresAUTO - SEO 685.49 95%Dealer eProcess Power PageRank SEO 374.87 100% PCG Digital Marketing SEO & Strategic Internet Marketing 74.90 92%KPA TK Carsites PowerSEO 49.66 100% Dealer.com ManagedSEO 31.31 89% Autofusion, Inc. Search Engine Optimization 21.06 100%DRIVE Digital Group SpeedSEO 10.83 100%Smart Web Concepts SWC SEO 3.90 100%POTRATZ Search Engine Marketing 3.90 100%Naked Lime Marketing SEO & Social 3.90 100%

Did you know DrivingSales has over 10,500 verified vendor ratings? Visit DrivingSales.com/Ratings for more information.


SEM - PPCThese solutions help you determine how to invest in and execute a Pay-Per-Click campaign on the major search engines for greatest ROI.

Company Product Score Rating RecDealer eProcess Dealer eProcess Digital Marketing 264.24 100% POTRATZ Search and Behavioral for Web 65.87 100%PCG Digital Marketing PPC Management Service 54.07 100%Dealer.com TotalControl Dominator 45.12 85% Local Search Group Edge Inventory PPC 10.35 100%ReachLocal Automotive Division ReachLocal Digital Marketing 6.15 88%Naked Lime Marketing Digital Advertising Service 1.51 100%DRIVE Digital Group SpeedSEM 1.51 100%Autofusion, Inc. Search Engine Marketing (SEM/PPC) 1.22 100%

WebsitesThese full service websites are built to be the main hub of your dealership’s online presence and are central to your dealership’s marketing, branding and customer service. Note: Micro Sites and Mobile Sites are rated in their own categories on DrivingSales.com.

Company Product Score Rating RecDealer eProcess Dealer eProcess Dealer Website 197.96 99%Dominion Dealer Solutions Dominion Websites 50.94 99%DealerOn Flex Sites 43.54 99%DealerFire DealerFire Custom Websites 28.64 98%Dealer.com Digital Website Suite 5.44 88%Autofusion, Inc. Custom WebSolutions 5.09 100%Cobalt Cobalt Websites 3.10 75%KPA TK Carsites Websites 2.16 100%Dealer HD Dealer HD Web Site 1.25 100%

Used Car Advertising These consumer facing websites allow you to display your inventory to in-market consumers. They make huge media buys to attract customers to your inventory, and to increase your walk-in, phone and web leads.

Company Product Score Rating RecCars.com Cars.com Online Advertising 128.34 90% AutoTrader.com Used Car Advertising 113.60 76% Dealix UsedCars.com 87.17 94% Digital Compass Marketing Automotive Advertising Network (AAN) 5.82 100%DealerMall.com Cargigi 4.96 75%Kelley Blue Book Dealer Showcase 4.18 67%Mojo Motors, Inc. Mojo Motors Used Car Marketing 3.24 100%Autofusion, Inc. New Car WebSolutions 1.30 100%


S ometimes, understanding your target audience’s behavior leads to changes in your marketing

and sales processes and focuses. From a professional standpoint, the better I’ve come to recognize the different industry players – their roles, mindsets and general personas – the better I have performed in my career. Building user personas is a common tactic in software product management that I think most of us mentally do in an unstructured, subconscious way as we go about our daily lives. In a nutshell, when identifying user personas, research allows different customer types to be established. These types are then given names like “Sarah the Retiree” and assigned a hypothetical backstory, including common traits embodying a demographic of people

How to Leverage Consumer Sentiment to Sell More Cars


that consume the product. Personas are used to guard companies against alienating users by allowing the team building the product to easily, mentally put themselves in the user’s shoes. The thought is that if you remember that, as a basic example, Sarah the retiree can’t read tiny text online your product will not feature tiny text.

I don’t build software these days, but I still find myself subconsciously slipping into personas as I go about my daily life so that I can better understand how different people approach certain types of marketing and information. When I reviewed the Kelley Blue Book Q2 2012 Consumer Sentiment study, I quickly found myself subconsciously slipping into a dealer persona.

Several parts of the study stuck out as actionable information for dealers.

Purchase Lead Time is Longer than Some SuspectThe median purchase lead time for those intending to buy a new or a used car is 183 days – more than six months. If you only look at new car intenders, the number drops to 153 days, or more than five months. This is still a long time. These numbers also have remained relatively consistent in studies from recent quarters. In the constant effort to influence consumers looking at VIN-specific inventory, consumers in earlier stages of research are sometimes pushed aside by dealers in favor of more

immediate gratification. However, there are a number of marketing opportunities to help sway these researchers towards your dealership, including targeted online display advertising on sites that researchers are most likely to frequent and traditional brand marketing.

Digging deeper into those two numbers, the median lead time for new-car intenders is a month shorter than new- and used-car intenders combined. Many used-car shoppers have been left out in the cold by a shortage of used inventory, pushing late-model used prices closer to new-car prices. Especially as incentives heat up to move 2012 inventory out, there is an opportunity to convert many of these customers to new inventory.


Some Ups Visit Your Dealership Months Before They BuyThe study also found that 47 percent of new-car intenders had visited a dealership. If the median timeline for a new car shopper is more than five months and nearly half of those consumers have visited a dealership, then there must be a whole lot of “be backs” visiting your dealership. These research-minded customers are coming to dealerships to find more information – they want to see the car in person, drive it and learn more about it. Some, but not all, of these customers will end up buying a car because of excellent salesmanship. Now that you know many of the customers that “get away” are much earlier in their research process, you may recognize new opportunities to improve how your sales team reacts to them on the lot and how, when, and for how long your team follows up with them if they leave without buying.

Related to the previous opportunity, the two largest problems consumers visiting dealerships reported were that 30 percent had difficulty finding the specific vehicle they wanted at the dealership and 26 percent lamented the small selection of vehicles on a dealership lot. These consumers can be made aware that the vehicle can be special ordered, transferred or may already be on the way. Meanwhile, the time should be taken to accurately describe the differences between the desired vehicle and what’s on the lot so the consumer understands the key differences. This may seem like a waste of time to those that believe the customer will just go find the vehicle at another dealership with you having done most of the sales legwork for the competition, but withholding the information from the customer has a more negative effect. In the event they leave without buying, you can either be seen as a good source of information that may increase the likelihood they open up to you with future questions instead of going to another dealer or you can be perceived as the unhelpful, unknowledgeable person that wasted their time.

Basic Concerns Need ReassuranceFinally, when asked about the importance of various features on a vehicle, consumers were most concerned with warranty (95%), fuel efficiency (89%), power windows and doors (88%) and advanced safety features (83%). Three out of four of those are a reflection of today’s consumers placing their basic needs ahead of slightly more exotic amenities like Bluetooth integration, heated seats, navigation, and even cruise control. Reassuring customers about those basic items first will set the groundwork for the rest of the sales process.

Kelley Blue Book randomly surveys KBB.com users on a quarterly basis to trend the attitudes and behaviors of vehicle shoppers. If you’d like a copy of this study or more information on how you can turn these opportunities into more sales, please reach out to us at [email protected].

About The Author: Alex Schoeneberger is a marketing manager at Kelley Blue Book and an eight-year auto industry veteran. Prior to Kelley Blue Book, Alex began his career at CDMdata, taking photos and collecting marketing data on dealer inventory before

moving to training, software product management and product marketing roles. Alex holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics, is a rabid hockey fan and spends much of his free time serving as an amateur plumber and general handyman on his home in Mission Viejo, California.


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Folks, this is the Internet


A s I surf the Internet thinking, “What hot topic is worth writing about?” I can’t help but recall one

of my favorite quotes. “Gentlemen, this is a football.” These famous words, which began the first pre-season training held by legendary coach Vince Lombardi, are the essence of his strategy. In today’s Linkedin world it could be said; “Folks, this is the Internet.”

The message is simple and worthy of daily reflection. Let’s slow down, focus on the basics and execute on the fundamentals.

But what are the basics, the fundamentals of eCommerce? Lead Generation? Response Time? Websites? Facebook? Twitter? While each has its place, the basics for me are “Structure, Process and Marketing.”

In late 2009 as I was building our eCommerce departments, Jared Hamilton spoke about “Structure, Process, Marketing” and it hit home. This was the basics for which I had been looking. I imagined building a skyscraper and how insane it would be to do so without a well-designed blueprint.

“Structure | Process | Marketing” defined my blueprint by providing a logical and structured way to evaluate everything. The more I thought about it, the more able I was to classify the elements of eCommerce. I realized that pouring money into marketing without the right Structure and Process could only result in a waste of time and money. The old idea of just spending more money to get more leads and sell more cars, no longer made sense. So I set out to identify the elements of eCommerce and to categorize each according to whether it was an element of Structure, Process or Marketing.

Creating a solid plan was to be more than simply setting a goal. I realized we must choose, from the beginning, to create a blueprint and architect the end we desire. I had to do the hard work of thinking through every detail and writing down my plans. Otherwise, I’d be leaving it all to chance. Peter Drucker said it best, “Action without planning is the cause of all failure.”

From the process of identifying eCommerce elements and thinking through the details, my blueprint for success was created.

“Structure, Process and Marketing” is a lot like building a skyscraper, months can be spent laying the foundation before anything is seen above the surface and you must build it from the ground up.

It all begins with the Experience and Vision of the owners and dealer principals in your organization. What does your leadership want from eCommerce? Is it more volume? Perhaps they only want an improved customer experience? You must make sure your vision aligns with theirs for this is the bedrock upon which you must build and the most important element for long term success.

Everyone in the organization has Experience and Vision which can be brought to bear on the blueprint you are architecting. Remember, planning is a team sport and they

will often have more information or a different perspective to guide you.

Once you have defined the outcome you must define the metrics. You can’t manage what you can’t measure and therefore your metrics are the key to accountability. Your metrics will be used in every part of the building process. They will let you know if you are on plan.

There are some elements which act like footings and hold up everything that follows. Preparation and Setup for instance impact everything. The type of department you choose will affect your process. Well-designed pay plans will provide leverage impossible to gain otherwise and either support or undermine your process.

More leads do not always equal more sales. Having the correct number of Internet salespeople and the technology


to support them is critical. Trying to do too much with too few will usually lead to fewer sales. After all, there is only so much any one person can handle before their performance begins to suffer.

Compliance also impacts everything. We’ve all heard the stories of non-compliance and we hope it never happens to us. Simple things can cost us, such as “Are my websites compliant with the factory?” and “Does texting fall under CAN-SPAM or Telemarketing Laws?” We must spend time thinking about and planning for compliance or risk building it only to have the ground move beneath us.

Once your footings are in place you can begin to build the Structure. Structure like well-defined reports is essential to managing the processes you put in place to run your operation. Lead Management and having the right tools is also critical. By establishing a blueprint you are better able to evaluate tools based on which structures and which processes the tool will support.

Early on as I thought about and researched tools, I found a video of a forestry harvester. (Google it if you have never seen one in action.) As you imagine competing against one with nothing but a chain saw there is not one chance in a million you could win. The right eCommerce tools are critical. Make sure you have tools which support your organization and provide you with the competitive advantage you need to win.

Have you ever seen it take two weeks to get a vehicle online with photos? If so, you should be asking questions like; “Are operational issues slowing down the process of listing our inventory online?”

Training is also structural. It’s one of the easiest things to overlook and next to Structure it is one of the biggest impacts on the success of processes. Make sure to regularly attend and conduct training.

Now that you have some structure on which to build, you can begin to focus on process efficiency. Do daily operations support your processes? Is eCommerce a part of the daily conversation in the store? Does your GM know the Metrics and are they holding you accountable?

Does your eCommerce department have a process for responding to leads? Do they know what you expect? Are you holding your salespeople accountable?

Websites are important to a successful operation unless you only plan to buy third party leads. Who is responsible for your website specials? Do you have a process to check lead submission?

What about Reputation Management? t’s important once you have the correct structures in place. Often times the structures of your store determine the success of your reputation management efforts.

As you can see there is a lot to think through and every element works together and supports the other elements. Once you have your structure and process supporting your marketing efforts then you are ready to focus generating more leads, improving SEO, conducting SEM and participating in Social Media. Having a solid blueprint will allow you to keep everything in its proper perspective. When vendors call you will be able to determine if adding salespeople to improve your structure is the right choice over spending more money to buy more leads. Sound Structure and Process is what provides you and your team the ability to effectively respond to customers that send leads as a result of increased marketing.

Now that you have a model; write it down, evaluate it and adjust. Keep in mind, a plan is something to deviate from. When a torpedo is fired it’s guided by a plan stored in its sonar tracking device. When the torpedo drifts off course the plan brings it back again. This happens over and over, being off target more than it is on. Finally, because of the plan, the torpedo finds its mark!

Do the hard work and think through the details of your structure and process, then create your own blueprint for success!

About The Author: Tony Rhoades is the Executive Director of Information and Consumer Strategies at the Gunn Automotive Group.

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Reimagining SQRs Full Circle Around

the DealershipE very day I talk to dealers and

tell them the same thing: data is like money in the bank. But

you’ve got to treat it that way. You need to respect it, you need to invest in it and you need to protect it. It’s your number one resource for connecting to your number one asset—your customers.

With everyone focusing on big data and the revolution that is expected to come from its entrance into mainstream, a lot of brilliance will be left in the dust. It’s new and it’s shiny and yes you’ll want to join in on the fun too - but you can’t make the mistake of forgetting about the resources you already have. This revolution, so to speak, isn’t about the data. It’s about learning how to manipulate that data into the form of insights and understanding, providing you with tools to make smarter decisions.

Stop waiting for big data to hit; you already have a ton of data with untapped potential.

The Problem with the Automotive IndustryEver since I made the switch from dealership to agency years ago, I have watched the automotive industry evolve at an impressive pace. Although I was no longer right in the middle of all the action, switching sides provided me with a perspective I never expected. It has allowed me to observe and interact with dealers from a higher level, bringing

to light a wider variety of strategies, opinions and trends across the industry.

Of those observations, the one that never ceases to amaze me is the lack of communication between profit centers of a dealership. Throw animosity and unfriendly competition into the mix, and you’re not exactly destined for greatness. This becomes a huge obstacle when dealing with data - where does it go? Chances are it made its way to marketing, and perhaps sales, but that is probably it. What about every other key department? Should you forget about them?

The answer is no. You’re doing your business a huge injustice if insightful data doesn’t make a full circle around your dealership, connecting with each key player and decision maker.

Enter: Search Query Reports (SQRs)By definition, an SQR provides a list of the terms that users searched for prior to being exposed to a paid and/or organic listing for your website. The best part is that if you’ve been running paid search advertising and/or have had a website with proper tracking, you should have years worth of data already at your disposal.

SQRs are goldmines of information, which provide an endless source of data for query mining and analysis. These insights are consistently used to optimize

search marketing efforts, but why stop there? If we can pull ourselves out of the search funnel long enough to analyze these reports with new eyes, there’s a whole new world of lessons to learn.

Around the DealershipData is wonderfully malleable; it can be recycled, reanalyzed, and distributed to different key roles in a dealership to help make better business decisions. For this purpose, I’ve outlined how the information from one SQR can be easily repurposed to provide actionable insights for key members of the management team.

Used Car Manager - Gauge local consumer interest in used vehicles.

• Filter to only include ‘used’, ‘preowned’, ‘pre-owned’, or ‘pre owned.’

• Segment your data by date; resulting in top used car searches for this week, this month, and this quarter. This will be useful in evaluating trade-ins, buying new cars at auction, and even pricing your current inventory.

• Segment by model and graph the search volume for that model month over month for the past year. Look for any models that have seen significant increases or decreases in search traffic. If one particular model has only a modest volume of search traffic, but has been increasing for


the past 5 months, that is a model you should keep an eye on.

Finance Manager - Get to know your customers and the local economy.

• Look for trends in searches that reflect financial topics. In this situation, you’ll want to be looking at several years of data, if you have it. Use an advanced filter to include F&I terms such as ‘finance,’ ‘warranty,’ ‘credit,’ ‘auto loan,’ etc. This is going to be extremely unique to your market, which is the beauty of it. Keep an eye out for trends in seasonality, natural disasters, and the local economy.

• Graph the volume of all queries that contain the term ‘lease’ for the past 6 months. Whether customers are looking to lease or buy is extremely dependent on the promotions offered by automotive OEMs. It is also extremely indicative of their financial situation, and whether they are willing to make a long term investment in a vehicle.

Fixed Ops Manager - Perfect the timing of your merchandising and advertising.

• Many parts and services that a dealership offers follow a seasonal schedule, which is often reflected in the advertising and merchandising for them. By analyzing seasonal and annual trends in searches for these services or parts, you can gauge when interest in them peaks during the year, and more properly align your efforts with the customers’ wishes.

• Example: While experience might tell you that you need to start running a special for snow tires on November 1st, analyzing search trends for these services might show that people actually begin searching for the tires on October 1st. Without that information, you’ve just lost a month’s worth of opportunities to a competitor.

General Sales Manager - Understand your customers’ values and needs.

• Searchers tend to specify when they are looking for something that is used, whether it is a car, a

couch, or a computer; otherwise they are likely looking for something new. Therefore when isolating these queries, you simply need to filter to include all vehicle searches except ‘used’, ‘preowned’, ‘pre-owned’, or ‘pre owned.’

• Segment your data by date, resulting in top new car searches for this week, this month, this quarter, and this year. This will be useful in evaluating consumer interest.

• Filter searches that specify wanting a price, quote, or MSRP. Compare this number to the amount of searches that do not specify wanting a price. This tells you how price oriented your customers are. You can use this information to help evaluate your website pricing strategy, your in-store negotiating strategy, and your Internet sales communication strategy.

Dealer Principal - Evaluate your reputation in the community.

• Set an advanced filter for terms in the category of reviews, ratings, testimonials, etc. An abundance or recent increase in these types of searches might mean that you need to focus your attention on reputation management.

• Segment out branded searches. Are there any queries that stand out as odd that you can learn from or address in your future marketing messages? Perhaps your customers have a tendency to think you’re located in the next town over, but you’re actually located elsewhere.

Perhaps there was some sort of scandal or lawsuit that received bad publicity over a year ago, but people are still searching for it. Search queries on these issues will give you insight into consumer opinions, values, and give you the opportunity to respond.

You’ve Been ChallengedThe possibilities here are endless. Data - big or small - is completely irrelevant until you learn from it, take some sort of action based on what you’ve learned, and then measure the results. I challenge you to give this exercise a try. Using the ideas I outlined above, adjust it to suit the management team in your organization, then let loose!

You have nothing to lose and everything to learn.

About The Author: Cassie Allinger is a Senior SEM Strategist at Dealer.com; she works with major automotive groups to develop and optimize their search and display marketing strategies. Her additional areas of expertise include local SEO, conversion

optimization, and social media marketing. Prior to joining the team at Dealer.com, Cassie served as Internet Director of Spurr Dealerships in Rochester, NY, where she spearheaded the growth and development of the Internet Department. After leaving Spurr to give the startup world a try, it was no surprise to see her sneak her way back into the automotive industry. Cassie enjoys exploring her new home in Burlington, VT.

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T oday’s automotive shoppers have access to more information than ever before. A shopper

will spend over 18 hours online doing research before they even consider contacting a dealership, let alone step foot on your lot. As a result, your dealership should be asking two simple vehicle merchandising questions:

1. Does your dealership appear in the search results when buyers research?

2. Are you capturing their attention when viewing your inventory?

One effective answer is video content. While we all know that one of the most effective ways of getting in front of your potential customers is with video, the key to success is consistency and efficiency. The key to a successful online video process is consistency and efficiency. A video posted on YouTube allows potential customers to learn valuable information about you, the dealership, and the cars you sell. More importantly, it also raises the quality of the shopping experience by providing an efficient and helpful process.

We started using video at our stores about a year and a half ago as a way to improve our online reputation. We bought a cheap flip cam and started asking our sold customers about their experience. We posted our videos on our YouTube channel and our Facebook pages and asked customers four or five questions about themselves, the car they bought, their salesperson and other open-ended questions about their buying experience.

After seeing some great results with the customer testimonial videos, we started experimenting with some in-depth walk around videos on our new cars. These were done by one of our most knowledgeable sales consultants. Some were eight to 10 minutes in length and received over 10,000 views on YouTube. We have proven that people will actually watch a video about a car if it entertains and educates them.

The results of the new car videos drove us to do videos on our used cars as well. We were already taking our used car inventory photos, so the transition to doing videos was fairly natural. Our process for capturing our used vehicle photos involved using an iPhone with

TODAY’S AUTOMOTIVESHOPPER


the mobile inspector app by cDemo. When cDemo launched the ability to record video as part of the app, we killed two birds with one stone.

The only challenge we had with the walk around videos was making sure that our online merchandising team had enough product knowledge to produce a quality video. Since they had been using the mobile inspector app for several months, it had taught them a fair amount about the vehicles already. After a little research online, they were up to speed in no time. The best part about using mobile inspector to capture the videos is that the user doesn’t have to do a perfect walk around in one shot. The app breaks up the video into as many segments as needed and stitches all the clips together seamlessly when you upload the video.

Now, my merchandising team records all the details about the vehicles, takes 30+ high quality photos and films a real video walk around all in about 30 minutes per car. One push of a button and the information goes online to all of my digital properties including my website, third party sites, and YouTube.

In a time where speed to market is critical for turning your inventory, the mobile inspector app is allowing us to get our vehicles online quicker than ever. We actually have to wait on vendors like vAuto to process the information. In a little over a year, our YouTube channel has over 2,000 videos on it with over 360,000 views, most of which were created using the mobile inspector app on an iPhone. One video that was filmed with the app has over 50,000 views!

Keep in mind these are real videos, not some photo sideshow set to music with a computerized voice over. My belief in these videos is so strong that I had to find a website provider that would accept the YouTube link in the inventory feed to automatically post the videos for all of our visitors to see.

So, my question to you is what are you doing to capture your potential customers attention? If you aren’t adding video to your vehicle merchandising arsenal, you should be.

About The Author: Adam Thrasher is the eCommerce Director for Carnival Kia Automotive Group, Tennessee’s largest Kia dealer. He grew up in Lafayette, Louisiana. He attended Oklahoma State University and Middle Tennessee State University, studying

Organizational Leadership. After several years in the golf business as an assistant golf professional, Adam made the leap into the car business in 2008. He started in the business buying the used cars online and monitoring the ROI of the marketing channels used by the dealership. He moved on to Carnival Kia in February of 2011. He manages all things digital for the group, including internet sales, social media, online reputation, digital marketing for sales and service, vehicle merchandising and maintaining the websites.

Adam has always been intrigued by computers and the internet. He is passionate about using the power of the internet and the latest technology to grow his business. He firmly believes that the internet will make or break the car business and the dealerships that fail to embrace it will not be around long enough to reap the rewards.


H ands down, search marketing is the most convoluted and downright confusing

part of the digital world. It defies easy explanation, often works counter-intuitively and – despite its enormous footprint -- suffers under the lash of a single overlord. Not doing well in social? That’s bad but not terrible. Website needs an update? You can block and tackle that problem.

Search is different. It’s the one area that can most swiftly and fundamentally impact the success of your digital marketing. If you want people to find your website, you need to master it. If you want to control your first web impression, you need to invest in it, learn it and keep re-learning it, because search never sleeps. From Google to Bing and

What to SEARCHfor in 2013 & BEYOND


that lurking shadow called Facebook, change is its constant thanks to the gatekeepers of the search gateway, each of them intent on promoting their own business goals and policies of fairness. How you play the game depends largely on the rules they set, change, refine and set again. And as unfair as that sounds, well…the best marketers pick up their chins and carry on. If that’s you, here are a few trends we think you should be ready for in 2013.

Local Search Grows UpYou know how it goes: you find a secret route to work away from the gridlock, until one day you turn the corner and your secret road is chock full of cars. That’s local search over the next year or two, as ad networks continue to adjust to mobile and improve their targeting. As that happens, “local” will become the engine of progress for search marketing. According to BIA/KELSEY, a local media research firm, total US search advertising revenues will grow from $5.1 billion in 2010 to $8.2 billion by 2015, for a compound annual rate (CAGR) of 10 percent. That increase is fueled by local: the firm expects local search to account for upwards of 30 percent of total search volume by 2015.

Big Data and the Personalization of SearchWhich brings us to the next unmistakable trend: Big Data, and it’s impact on SEM. That’s the key to providing the increasingly targeted and personal approach so effective at the local level. In just the last few years, software companies have made automated bid management and optimization available to local marketers, all of it fueled on Big Data – analyzing trends, and optimizing budgets. Add to that the spectre of Facebook’s recent ad network launch, which matches their rich, personal data to advertisers. All of a sudden, knowing what kind of car, when and for how much gets easier all the time. Just be prepared. More data and more data accuracy may mean better results but it also means more cost.

The Long Slow Death of Direct MailBut that’s okay. You have a direct mail budget that will be easy to adjust, right? Most experts agree that direct mail is already under assault by cheaper and more effective online marketing techniques. That’s the definition of local search. According to Borrell Associates, direct mail spending is expected to drop a stunning 39 percent over the next five years. Expect increased expenditures in local search advertising to add to direct mail woes, as well: SEMPO predicts that spending on search marketing will grow 19 percent from $23 billion. While the Borrell report points at email as the primary threat to direct mail, the emergence of Big Data-driven local search advertising may also become a crippling blow.

Get Ready for Social SearchIf you thought working with Google was bad, just wait until Facebook figures out the paid search component of their revenue stream. That won’t be long, as they’ve already launched an initial product. That’s good timing: According to Comscore, the use of social networking sites for searching out local businesses has increased three-fold since 2008. Facebook is of course most widely used. Comscore also found that social network users are “heavily engaged in social aspects of local business search through profound usage and contribution to consumer reviews sites.”

As local business search on social networks begins to get results, the adoption rate will explode. It takes data, content and an appropriate SEM product to sell – all three of which are quickly reaching acceptable levels. Thanks to all that rich content delivered to their fingertips, users will expect a new standard of search effectiveness: location and hours details, reviews and photos and what your network of friends think. Those expectations will continue to be refined, optimized and improved upon for the next five years, all of it controlled by the search gatekeepers who continued overhauling the search gateway.

About The Author: Brian Chee is Editorial Director for DrivingSales.com. With over 14 years of automotive editorial and marketing experience, his background includes working for Autobytel.com as Managing Editor, and Volkswagen of America

as Digital Marketing Manager.


Y our dealership produces data every day: customer data, vehicle data, financial

data, employee data and it adds up fast. In fact, with the proliferation of social networks and web services the amount of data available to your dealership could dwarf what you produce internally. Effectively leveraging these assets will create a sustainable market advantage for your dealership but it doesn’t happen by accident.

Dale Pollak, founder of vAuto and regular contributor to DrivingSales, has written for years about the trend towards compressed margins and the reasons behind them. He has also explained how the only way to compete with such slim margins is to develop and maintain hyper-efficient operations.

Determining how to transform your operations isn’t easy. Successfully innovating, whether within your dealership or otherwise, requires a series of good decisions that don’t usually have obvious answers. Posing even more of a challenge is making these decisions without reliable facts leaving “gut feel” as the de facto standard. There is no substitute for human brain’s ability to synthesize data and recognize patterns but relying on gut feel to navigate through the complex and rapidly changing retail automotive market is tantamount to recklessness.

Business Intelligence in Retail Automotive?Has your dealership already invested in a Dealership Management System? How about a Customer Relationship Management system? Inventory Management System? Internet Lead Management System? The list goes on.

Now…how well do these systems integrate to present a single version of the truth about your dealerships operations? The answer is usually, not very well.

Imagine a situation where the dealer principal has a question that touches multiple departments and needs it answered fast. What happens? In many cases you’ll have multiple director or manager level employees exporting a segment of the information into their own spreadsheet. They will then spend hours or days massaging this data to develop insights and analysis only to find out that it conflicts with what their colleague developed independently creating a situation where trust in the numbers evaporates. Or, even worse, the whole exercise is for naught because it took too long to perform and present the results. What a waste.

This scenario represents a prime example of the data challenges facing a dealership or dealer group. The challenge, or better yet…opportunity, isn’t lack of data; the opportunity is effectively dealing with the mountain of data already available so it’s valuable to

business operations. We’re not talking about anything new here; there has always been more data than ability to analyze it. The interesting part…that’s no longer the case. A considered Business Intelligence (BI) program can transform activities and infrastructure from a low-value cost center into a high-value strategic advantage driving market share.

Big Data – A Meme that May Mean Something for You“One of my responsibilities as a Barron’s tech columnist is to be the keeper of buzzwords. Buzzwords are the fuel for elaborate stock theses on Wall Street, and they can drive the interest in stocks sometimes more than, say, revenue and earnings. The buzzword du jour is ‘big data,’ the information that piles up in the databases of companies everywhere and that those companies would like to manage and understand better.”

- Ray Tiernan, Aug 2012

In practice, most dealer groups don’t actually have a big data concern from the perspective of huge volumes. From a different angle though, there is a serious opportunity for any dealer who can take advantage of the tools developed for big data.

Big data has driven and is continuing to drive massive investments. Venture capital firms invested nearly $2.5 billion last year in big data related companies, according to Thomson Reuters, following over $1.5 billion in 2010 and $1.1

Taming Your Datato Win the Race Towards Operational Excellence…One Decision at a Time


billion in 2009. This excludes internal investments from juggernauts like Google, Facebook, Amazon, IBM, Oracle, SAP, etc. All this investment has created a burgeoning marketplace of business intelligence products many of which are within reach of the average dealer group.

These offerings include the ability to pull together data from disparate

internal and external systems in real-time, combine it with historical data, make predictions on what is likely to happen, and present it all to the right person, in the right form, at the right time for informing decision making.

With a growing and fragmented industry there are many players with vastly different concepts. Yahoo! has launched a service called Genome that allows customers to integrate their databases with Yahoo!’s to create real-time, hyper-targeted ad buying. They not only provide the software but a service team to run it for you. Conversely, Google’s big query is much more DIY for those who have their own engineers providing a columnar database as a service with utility pricing. Splunk, a public company and earlier stage Domo, and Karmasphere offer more well-rounded products with a better user experience. Open source options such as Pentaho and Jaspersoft offer budget alternatives. Once you get your BI basics taken care of there are other options for machine learning and predictive analytics such as Kaggle which provides access to premier data scientists by staging contests.

With the proliferation of such accessible tools your data can add significant value to your business. Moving beyond ad hoc reporting or basic dashboards into a program with standardized collection and analysis across the enterprise offers the potential for huge advantages. Being able to inform decisions and make them based on facts versus gut allows the dealership to grow beyond the scope of the principal and effectively streamline the business. It also prepares the organization for scale by establishing decision making as a repeatable process at all levels instead of magical divination for the anointed few.

5 Things You Can Do Today to Prepare for Winning Business Intelligence1. Establish a holistic vision:

your BI program should help drive performance by providing

employees, customers, and partners the information they need to make effective decisions.

2. Develop a master data plan: identify the master record for each entity within your control and remove redundancies and variation across applications to maintain a “cleansed” data set.

3. Influence data quality: whenever your systems collect data keep quality in mind. Implement best practices like reducing or eliminating free form fields and stop collecting information you already have. Present it for confirmation instead.

4. Identify a winning team: critical to a successful BI implementation is an executive champion who has broad authority to drive the initiative. Additionally, a technology champion and leaders from each operational area impacted by the program.

5. Create a stepwise strategy: diving right into the holistic endgame is a sure fire recipe for failure. Identify quick wins and implement an iterative methodology. These can run in parallel for faster execution.

About The Author: Adam Grossman is the CIO of Auction Direct USA, three time winner of Auto Dealer Monthly’s Independent Retailer of the Year award. He also acts as a strategic advisor to DealerTeam, the first automotive dealer platform born in the cloud. Adam is a

product visionary with broad experience in technology startups including a media partnership with the NFL Players Associationcalled Pro Player Insiders and a technology partnership with the U.S. Postal Service called Epostmarks. A systems engineer from Virginia Tech Adam is passionate about system optimization, crafting amazing experiences, and the intersection betweenmachine learning and the human brain. Adam is married with two young children and lives in Rochester, NY.


Doug Waikem

Craig Waikem


D oug and Craig Waikem could be on the same mountain yet neither would know it.

And even though the family (Doug is Craig’s uncle) enjoy a great relationship, neither would likely stop what they were doing, so driven are they at what they do and how passionate they are about their lives. Whether hiking for Doug or skiing for Craig -- or selling cars for both -- the two share a passion about gradual and constant improvement, each and every day and with each and every car sale. The results have been telling: last August, the Waikem Auto Family increased their leads 30 percent over August 2011. Doug and Craig are doing their part in a larger story that has spanned three generations and started when George E. Waikem Sr. sold his first car. Fifty-seven years and 7 new car franchises later, the Waikem family continues to define car sales in Ohio.

We sat down with Doug and Craig and talked about the car business, working with family and what they see as the keys to success -- now and in the future:

Doug Waikem: The Second Revolution Back in 1974, I was selling cars in Dallas at Frank Parra Chevy. There was just a little bit of change during the first 20 years; maybe the sales process started softening up a little bit.

But in 1994 it all changed. I remember standing on the 10th fairway (I was a 4 handicap), listening to someone explain the Internet to me. I knew right

then -- I had this feeling in the pit of my stomach -- that it was going to change the industry. So I started reading up on it. Bought some magazines. I got in touch with Pete Ellis at Autobytel.com, and signed up. We were the first dealer in the U.S. to partner with Autobytel.com outside of the Orange County, CA market and believe it or not, my initial territory was 5 states! That changed everything. Today it’s all about certified, online training -- that’s the second revolution of the car business. That and full disclosure. Fact is, the consumer is the 500-pound gorilla and if you don’t acknowledge that...

Craig Waikem on the New WayYeah. We respond. We get back. It’s all about full disclosure and transparency - immediately, within 20 minutes. We schedule the appointments on a nice white board, so when the customer comes in they see it, and ask for the sales manager -- not some guy behind a cubicle. We want our managers to meet everybody, up front and first. Then they get a product salesperson involved.

Doug Waikem on Best PracticesThe other day, I found one of my report cards from high school. My GPA was 1.9. Back in school if I copied off the sharpest student, it was called cheating, but in the auto business it’s called best practices. When we started, I went to the best Internet dealers in the country and learned from the guys

that were successful. And you know what? They all had the same follow-up and Internet sales process.

Craig Waikem on Making PizzaWhen we get a lead it has to be done a certain way. I confirm and call every appointment, build the sales report, track leads, meet with our managers every single day. I have only 60 days to get an Internet lead counted as a sale -- that’s the limit. Doing that drives closing

The Waikem WayDoug and Craig Waikem Focus on the Future While Keeping an Eye on the Details


ratios down, but it’s far more accurate: right now our conversion from lead to delivery is 17 percent if they come to the dealer website -- 14 percent if they come from the automaker site and 10 percent when they come from 3rd party lead providers. We used to be on a 180-day sales process, but found out 70 percent buy within 60 days of submitting a lead so we put a lot of activity earlier in the sales process and the long term follow up is email only. It’s a lot more work, but it takes 8 to 9 attempts before you contact someone on average.

Our selling system is called RBI - we even have a big baseball diamond sign that tracks progress. It’s based on the key steps it takes to get from home to first and all the way back to home. Very strict and simple. In all our stores, we do everything the exact same way, so that it’s a very consistent and transparent experience for the consumer. The process is the same. We make pizza the same way at all our shops.

Doug Waikem -- Reading the X-RaysWe’re very process oriented, to the point where we track ups, demos, commitments, deliveries...12 to 14 managers report to me every day and

If I Were a Vendor...Doug Waikem says that if he were to decide to start a new business, it would help dealerships hire the right people. “We’re blessed because our turnover is so low,” said Doug. “Waikem has a dozen managers with over 20 years with us, and several over 30.” “But industry-wide, it’s a problem. It’s typical to see the sales force turnover every 18 months. I would improve the hiring process at dealerships, by identifying the personality strengths of great salespeople or BDC employees. I’d find the right online test for the applicant to take, and use that to compare them with other people in the industry who are successful.”

go over their “x-rays”. By tracking and measuring they do a better job, they understand what’s working, what’s not working -- and they try to improve on it every day. I do it because I hate it when we fall below our benchmarks. It takes a lot to track and report every day, but when we get these reports, they are all very laid out, very refined. And because we’re disciplined about it, within an hour I learn more about my dealership than most people figure out all day. It’s all about refining the process and doing it every day. Discipline and process.

Craig Waikem on the Joy of Web MetricsKnowing what my uncle likes to track helps. But the fact is that the game has changed for every department, not just the Internet department. And that’s one one of the things I love about the Internet: you can report on everything. With the right approach, you can see the ROI...it’s cool to see how many people are on the website, how many people actually buy cars. It’s our job to track this and learn from it.


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Doug Waikem on The BusinessMy name, personal cell and email is on every counter, everywhere. I believe in being available and working with our customers. How many dealers put that on every desk? I am blessed to be a third generation owner with a great reputation and good advertising. I suppose I just love the game -- the competition, exceeding our goals. When we hire someone, we ask them what their personal goals are, and we show them how, by achieving their work goals, they can achieve their personal dreams. I love it most when that happens, when our associates hit their personal goals. When I see someone achieving those goals, that’s the best part of the business. For me, I’m a car guy. If the car business wasn’t here I would probably be mowing lawns.

Craig Waikem on The Family BusinessWorking with your dad and your family, well, they can be a little harder on you than others, that’s for sure! That’s good because I’m passionate about the business and am very blessed to have this opportunity.

Doug Waikem on What’s Working NowWe want educated buyers. It’s in our ads -- we drive people from our traditional advertising to our digital properties, and invite them to become an educated buyer. When they walk into a Waikem dealership it’s important that they have a very positive, consistent experience, no matter which dealership. That’s why we introduce them with our managers, and invite them to become educated buyers.

Craig Waikem on What’s Working Now, Digital EditionBuying a car is still an emotional process, and we do a really good job of using technology to learn more about our customers and communicate with them. I mean at the end of the day ecommerce is really still all marketing and advertising. That’s why we started building

microsites. We’ve built a number of them -- specials, the blog, the Waikem Fan Club and Why Waikem. It helps us to, among other things, constantly communicate the right way with our customers. We reworked our email templates, our eblasts and our sales follow up. As a result of the blog, we dont send them to Autoblog, just our blog and our microsites. We don’t want to lose control of the customer on other sites.

Doug Waikem on What’s NextFirst, special finance in the digital world is an emerging opportunity. We’re all fighting for the 60% -- only one out of 10 dealers are any good at special finance, but four out of 10 customers need it. Fact is, more people with impaired credit are going online instead of going straight to the dealership; they now have more options. It’s become a digital war out there; we’re working with a credit repair company to help customers. We’re pretty good, but we’re going to get real good, real soon.

I also think that closing ratios should shift to 40 percent. Look at the stats: We have a benchmark of a 30 percent closing ratio on our ups, but today people only shop 0.7 other dealerships -- it used to be 4.5 during the pre-Internet days. Because of that, we believe close ratios should be more like 40 percent, not 30 percent.

About The Author: Brian Chee is Editorial Director for DrivingSales.com. With over 14 years of automotive editorial and marketing experience, his background includes working for Autobytel.com as Managing Editor, and Volkswagen of America

as Digital Marketing Manager.


E arlier this year, I started mulling over instituting a new kind of certified program at our

dealership. Think about it: Over 35 million used cars were sold in 2011, but fewer than 2 million were eligible to be certified by OEM-sponsored programs. Consumers, meanwhile, are willing to pay, on average, a 12-27 percent premium on a certified vehicle (an average of over $2,000) – meaning that if just one million more vehicles were sold as certified, dealers could realize additional revenue of $2 billion. This is a huge lost opportunity, and our dealership wanted to help close that gap. Our four franchises (Ford, Lincoln, Nissan and Honda) participate in the respective OEMCPO programs, and I saw first-hand how the majority of used car buyers preferred to buy certified vehicles (J.D. Power says 65 percent). Data also says that certified vehicles turn 20 days faster than their uncertified counterparts.

In addition, the economy and a longer ownership cycle was aging our used vehicle inventory, so only a small percentage of cars were eligible for the OEM programs -- but better built cars meant that the vehicles coming in for trade had a lot of life left in them. Meanwhile bargain conscious consumers were looking for certified cars and peace of mind. We saw opportunity!

Certifying ‘Budget Cars’Used vehicles make up 35-40 percent of the 350 vehicles sold monthly at our dealerships. Yet, we had been selling the lower priced, higher mileage vehicles that came in either ‘As Is’ or we wholesaled them. At first, we created a

‘Budget Cars’ category to cover some of our higher mileage/longer life vehicles with a flat 2,000 mile/2 month warranty. These ‘budget cars’ were run through service for basic safety steps, but it was rudimentary and most of our used car inventory continued to be sold ‘As Is’. Without a doubt, we saw that there was a market for a broader certification program, and knew that there was a whole population of car buyers who wanted a safe vehicle, safe brakes, etc., and who didn’t care so much about cosmetics -- but we simply did not have the tools internally to create the sort of robust program consumers were looking for, nor the technology to scale it, nor an independent inspector to verify for consumers that these vehicles were okay. Fortunately, we discovered that there were a number of third-party non-OEM certification programs in the market. We chose one* that covered vehicles up to 150K miles and 15 years old, and that offered third-party inspections, warranties and service contracts all activated through an online platform that made the whole process remarkably quick and easy. It also program provided third-party branding and extensive POS materials – and required BuyBack guarantees, which we knew would appeal to buyers.

A Store Apart: Stand Alone CertificationMy instinct was that if we were really to make this work, we needed to make it a completely separate experience for consumers – to create a stand alone certified store, just as if it were another franchise at the dealership (a separate website was also key). Luckily, we had an empty storefront at the dealership

that was housing BDC and Internet sales. By branding it uniquely and as a standalone entity, we were able to generate immediate credibility. We knew that for this to work, a certified vehicle couldn’t be just another car on the lot with a certified sticker in the window, it needed to be a completely unique experience. But it wasn’t just about branding – the actual sales process had to be different, too, and a key element of the process was to make sure that the vehicles were fixed at market price – no haggling whatsoever. We wanted to market the experience as ‘the easiest auto transaction you have ever been part of,’ and make it that way for both consumer and sales team. After all, the store was going to be unique and radically different, why not go there with fixed pricing. And it paid off - we have received very little push back. Bottom line: they wouldn’t show up

Bridging The Certification GapCreating a Whole New Profit Center with Longer Life/Higher Mileage Used Vehicles


if the price were not in their range. Plus without the haggling, it makes our sales team much more efficient.

The Inventory ChallengeAnd so it began – we set up the store, and a prominent sign was erected with a revolutionary consumer message: CERTIFIED USED CARS UNDER $10,000. Establishing the storefront and re-designing it as a standalone certified store was the easy part. Developing a new process for assigning inventory from trades for the store meant a whole new process for our dealership.

Usually we would evaluate trades from the day before, deciding which bucket each vehicle went into: regular retailed, OEM certified or auction. But now, we had a whole new category – meaning the development of a whole new mindset for those evaluating the inventory. Many vehicles that would normally go to auction now became candidates – so the team had to train themselves to look past things they normally flag, and be extremely open-minded…after all, where else would you get a vehicle for $3,990 that is certified? We had to think: first time driver – budget conscious family, needs safe, good transport but no bells, whistles and shiny surfaces!

We knew consumers would look past the cosmetics, but we had to learn to

do that too. We identified a group of 20 cars to use as a trial for the third party inspectors (the program came with third party inspection from SGS) to test their judgment. So we input the VIN numbers in the online system, and with a few clicks, the inspectors arrived. Almost every one of the 20 vehicles ultimately passed, but we had a few bumps in the road with the service department who were more at home certifying 2010 vehicles for OEM certification programs. They had to be retrained that cosmetics don’t matter as much: dings, paint defects are fixable. I asked our third party certification provider for a checklist and guidelines to give to our service techs so that there would be no wasted time or inspections on vehicles that should have been weeded out instantly, i.e. cracked windshields, oil leaks, branded titles, etc.

Dealership Buy-InAlthough our certified store was a standalone store-front, it by no means ‘stood alone’ from the back-end dealership departments. Buy-in, new process and support was required across our dealership from new car sales to service to F&I…and the benefits were soon felt across the store. We had to retrain our managers and sales people – and in fact all our departments – on the value of the program. Once they

understood the concept, they quickly saw the value and opportunity. The process we mapped out for selling was a no-negotiation process, but we still needed a sales team to sell the vehicles, so we looked to the five person team already in residence: our Internet sales and BDC team. Training this team meant training them to sell the concept to customers as much as they were selling the car, while proactively interacting with customers and generating prospects. It turned out to be the perfect marriage. The process worked so well that within four months, we added more sales people and also allowed sales people from other brands to come over and sell the vehicles if a customer wanted more options.

Initially the F&I department was less than thrilled, because they had to sell the third party warranty versus having the discretion to sell whatever warranty they wanted, but they soon realized that no one else would warranty these vehicles, so it became an increased and relatively turnkey revenue opportunity. Another benefit was that these vehicles fit well with the credit-challenged consumer. Credit for this segment was loosening up again, and more and more were coming into the store. Plus the banks liked the surety of a certified vehicle. Then there was the Service department – once the mindset in Service changed and the techs worked from the guidelines, the department was thrilled with the program because their RO count – and RO revenue – shot up because of the increased work getting these vehicles ready for inspection and sale. The most immediate impact the new program had on the new car sales department was on trade-ins. It opened up new opportunities to provide better trade-in deals for customers who had eligible vehicles, knowing that these vehicles would generate good profits – and was key in helping more new car deals close.

A Certified SuccessIn just over two months from concept to launch, our certified store had its grand opening, including a car giveaway. Vehicles started moving rapidly: we achieved an astonishing 40 sales in our second month alone. Customer response has been extremely positive – they love


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the no-haggle experience and the peace of mind, and were beyond surprised that there were so many reasonably priced cars with certification. And, they couldn’t believe that the cars came with a buyback – a hugely powerful part of the sales process. It gives us huge credibility and really implants good will. As more and more customers came in, processes were refined. For example, the team learned that the more inventory they had certified, the more cars they could sell, and with easy certification and low carrying costs, they realized that their team was too picky about inventory and eventually developed just the right balance. We knew by the second month that we had a huge success on our hands. Not only had we moved a huge number of cars for such a fledgling program, but sales people from other parts of the store would walk up to me and say ‘this is the best thing we have ever done.’ We were selling these cars and getting market value with no negotiating, this meant very consistent gross and significant efficiencies because so much of the hassle of the normal process was eliminated.

After just two months in business, our certified store was turning vehicles at an average of 22 days, which is 30 days faster than regular used vehicles and nearly 15 days faster than OEM-certified vehicle. The store was realizing an additional gross on average per vehicle of 24% or $2,400, and over 35% of the stand alone store’s customers opted in for extended service, adding another

$2000, on average, to that revenue! All in all, it was a certified success.

About The Author: Joe Stroffolino is the Used Car Manager and Digital Marketing Director of the Causeway Family of Dealerships. He has been in the business since 1989 and has been with Causeway since 1995. Joe has the distinction of

coordinating FordDirect’s first complete online sold and delivered transaction in 2002. Joe attended Upsala College and has been married for 26 years and has three children.

1. http://www.jdpower.com/news/pressRelease.aspx?ID=2010201

2. CNW Marketing Research

3. https://www.polk.com/knowledge/polk_views/length_of_u.s._vehicle_ownership_hits_record_high

Best Practices for Success: Stand Alone CertifiedComprehensive Certified Partner – Offers warranties, service contracts, third-party inspection, BuyBack guarantees, robust POS materials and branding, auto inspection/information reports and online platform.

1. Smart Trade-in Evaluations – Beware of being too picky. Have clear guidelines for what makes sense for your stand-alone store. Quantity - don’t skimp on inventory, carry costs are low and profits will more than compensate.

2. “We Buy Cars” – Advertise that your dealership will buy cars. Consumers who come in to sell usually have to sell so you can buy them at the right wholesale numbers.

3. Realign Your Dealership Upfront – Coordinate the new processes of your store with the service department right up front…so they align with inspection requirements. Have as many meetings as it takes with managers and techs so they truly understand the store, the concept and the process.

4. Be a Franchise! – Treat your certified program like a franchise – never mix your certified vehicles in with your other inventory- distinguish the brand separately, giving these vehicles the credibility of the third party branding. Use a separate building if you have it or at the very least, a separate, dedicated, branded area. Don’t mix it up otherwise you white wash the uniqueness of it.

5. Concept, Concept, Concept – Retrain all your sales people and sales manager by selling the concept and then teaching them to sell the concept over the vehicle. Create unique sales aids, like a storybook so they carry the concept with them and can provide the ‘SureSale’ narrative to customers. And enforce it: inspect what you expect.

* Stroffolino used SureSale Certified as his third-party program and branded his store as Causeway SureSale.


S o you had a bad month last month...scratch that. Let’s use an optimal scenario instead: you

had a great month last month. Owner is happy, sales guys are stoked, morale is great, and everybody is patting you on the back for a job well done in digital marketing. After all, leads were flooding in from everywhere, closing left and right, ups were practically taking a number, thrilled to wait for their turn to fork over three grand for GAP insurance in the finance office. Most certainly, this had to have been a result of something you did. Of course, regardless of your understanding as to why your

team experienced such success, you happily receive the praise, all the while thinking to yourself, “I better figure out what the Fiat 500 just happened so I can keep these good times a rollin’.”

Discerning the strength of your dealership’s presence in the market is of supreme value to people in our position. Whether it is to, in fact, bring clarity to a past success such as the aforementioned, or instead, to highlight a deficiency, or more importantly, an opportunity. But how do we do this? My answer to pretty much everything (this question serving

as no exception) is simply, “Well, let’s take a look at some analytics.”

Gaining Dealership Perspective Using AnalyticsThere is much to be learned from a thorough digestion of web analytics. For the sake of isolating a single focus in this article, I’m going to assume that you have a basic understanding of Google Analytics, knowing how to interpret common metrics, traffic sources, and historical comparisons. Let’s examine in detail one of my favorite pseudo-advanced metrics: Branded vs. Unbranded search. First, definitions.

Branded Search: traffic to your website having entered the site as a result of searching for your brand (dealership name).

Unbranded Search: all other search traffic.

It isn’t enough to tell upper management, “I’m doing a good job with the computer stuff, guys because look: search traffic is up. See.” There are a multitude of variables that could have a confounding relationship resulting in inflated (and potentially irrelevant) search traffic. Heightened PPC budgets, a blog post that gained abnormally high organic presence for a generic search, offline marketing promotions, or maybe it’s simply that the car market is just “up.” The trick is drilling down and being able to clearly articulate where the quality traffic is coming from.

Brass Tacks: Branded vs. Unbranded Search


One of the handiest tricks that can bring a lot of “aha!” moments to the morning managers’ meetings is to show trending of Branded vs. Unbranded Search. It’s quite fair to assume that if Branded Search is up, then your offline marketing and community awareness is the cause. If you blast a ton of radio spots advertising that “your dealership” is giving away 10 brand new cars in some whacky giveaway, it’s certain that a lot of people are going to start Binging “your dealership.” (Side note: I was totally kidding about the use of the word “Binging.” I meant Googling. A little SEO joke for ya.) Contrastingly, if your Unbranded Search is skyrocketing, then chances are your organic presence for generic terms like “car dealerships city state” is on the rise.

“So Eric, is all this rambling just to say that I need to look at the keyword breakdown and see which are the most popular?” Well, yes and no. In doing simply that, you’re unable to aggregate all the variations of keyword groups that contain some form of your dealership name, as well as, all other searches. Furthermore, by simply looking at keyword rankings, you don’t have the ability to examine the traffic behavior, flow, and demographics for groups of keywords. The secret sauce lies in the setup of a couple simple Advanced Segments. (Yes, I realize “simple advanced” is an oxymoron, but I thought it made for unique editorial content... and really, as far as advanced segments go, this is about as easy as it gets.)

Getting Down to Brass Tacks: Step-by-Step How-ToWhen and if you revisit this article, this is the part you’ll skip to, because we’re about to put on the business socks and get right to it.

Branded Search

Step 1. Log into Google Analytics and navigate to the Standard Reporting tab.

Step 2. Click on Advanced Segments, and click the “+ New Custom Segment” button.

Step 3. Select “Include” from the drop-down box (is already set that way by default).

Step 4. Click the green drop-down bar that says “Ad Content.” Type in “Keyword” and select.

Step 5. Leave “Containing” in the gray box and then type your dealership name in the following field.

Step 6. Click the blue “Add ‘OR’ statement” link.

Step 7. Repeat steps 3 through 6 until you have exhausted all common and potential misspellings of your dealership name.

Step 8. Name your segment “Branded Search.” Hit Save.

Boom. You just created your Branded Search Advanced Segment. Let’s take that bad baby for a test drive. Now when you click Advanced Segments, you should be able to check the box next to Branded Search in the Custom Segments section, and then hit Apply. You’re then able to analyze the visit behavior of all the traffic that came to your site having searched for your dealership name. What content did they look at? What were the popular entrances and exit pages? How long did they stay on the site? Where (literally, where on the map) did they come from? Did they trigger any goal conversions like filling out a contact form or scheduling a test drive?

Unbranded Search

Step 1. Repeat steps 1 and 2 from Branded Search above.

Step 2. Select Exclude from the first gray dropdown box.

Step 3. Click the green drop-down bar that says “Ad Content.” Type in “Keyword” and select.

Step 4. Leave “Containing” in the gray box and then type your dealership name in the following field.

*Step 5. Click the blue “Add ‘AND’ statement” link. *NOTE: Although similar to step 6 in the Branded Search segment,

you need to be sure to use AND statements (instead of OR statements) for your exclusions.

Step 6. Repeat steps 2 through 5 until you have exhausted all common and potential misspellings of your dealership name.

Step 7. Name your segment “Unbranded Search.” Hit Save.

Guess what you’re going to do next? If you guessed, “fiddle around with my new advanced segment,” you’d be correct.

Making Sense of it AllThere is plenty of subjective analysis that you can take away from the data you will uncover with these new advanced segments. My guess: you’ll know better than I what sort of goodies to look for and how to interpret your own stores’ analytics. But what I will tell you is this: The next time things go exceptionally well for your store(s) -- or exceptionally bad -- before you rush to go throw money at a new vendor, or cut all your budget from traditional media... take a look at your Branded vs. Unbranded search. Present your findings with other bright minds in management, and you will be sure to make confident, guided, and more successful marketing decisions.

About The Author: Eric Giroux is the Director of Digital Marketing for the Briggs Automotive Group, a 10-point dealership group based in northeast Kansas. Eric started a web development company in 2008 that currently owns and maintains two

men’s lifestyle blogs. The company has grown to five employees and has worked with many notable brands including: USA Today, Nike, Red Bull, VIZIO, and others. Giroux graduated summa cum laude from the University of Kansas School of Business in 2010 with a Bachelor’s of Science in marketing. More recently, Eric was featured on the cover of Auto Success Magazine for his work in part to develop and implement a new online vehicle retail platform dubbed “Wholesale 2.0.”


OnlineReputationManagement How Does Your Dealership Stack Up?

H ave you thought about your online reputation lately? If the answer is no, consider this:

according to a recent survey by Deloitte, 82 percent of consumers say their purchase decisions have been directly influenced by reviews—swaying them to either look elsewhere, or confirming their original interest in a brand or vendor.

And it’s not all electronics and household goods: According to some industry experts, as many as 69 percent of car shoppers said online reviews influenced their decisions about which dealerships to visit.

The popularity and influence of online reviews isn’t the only reason you need to pay attention to your reputation. The proliferation of these review sites—and their diffusion across the Internet—is just as telling.

One example is Google’s ongoing push to pull reviews from several popular sites, connecting them to relevant search

results. It isn’t only Yelp, Amazon and other universal review-heavy sites—niche players are getting involved as well.

Cars.com says its reviews will now appear in relevant Google search results and the preview pane of dealerships’ listings on Google. This adds one more source to the list of sites from which Google pulls dealership reviews—including dealerrater.com, citysearch.com and more.

What does this mean for you? If your reviews are good, it could mean a lot. According to Cars.com, dealership ratings in Google search results provide about a 30 percent increase in click-through rates.

But getting customers in the door is only half the battle. Mobile-savvy customers could be—and likely are—reading reviews while at your dealership. Deloitte says mobile will influence $158 billion of in-person retail sales this year. That essentially means

that people are comparison shopping via their mobile devices while in the store—or in dealers’ cases, while on the lot—and potentially bringing their business right over to the competition.

If all of this information is making you think twice about the way you manage customer reviews, you’re not alone. But according to many reports, dealerships are having trouble keeping up with their counterparts in other retail segments when it comes to online reputation management. If you’re ready to get your Web word-of-mouth in order, here are a few tips to help you get started:

1. Begin with the basics. Good word-of-mouth starts with the way you market yourself—and how well you deliver on these promises. Consumer-relevant marketing is a must to get people on the lot, but it’s also the start of the sales process—one in which you will hopefully build


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About the Innovation GuideThe Dealership InnovationGuide is a freepublication from DrivingSales.com full of thegood stuff for dealers looking to improve.Check out the latest issue of the InnovationGuide! It's packed full of the latest vendorratings and articles that will help dealersidentify and adopt best practices that affecttheir bottom line.

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Imagine you have a customer on thephone or right in front of you and they arenot happy. This customer is looking forsomeone to help them. You feel that youare on the edge of a potential scene ifyou do not handle this correctly but youare not sure what steps to follow to bringa calm positive resolution to the situation.Following these simple st [!]

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trust and credibility in not only your inventory, but also your brand. Using book data, awards and other third-party information in your sales pitch can make potential customers feel like they’re getting a good, fair deal—which will likely lead to better reviews. Simply put, if you sell your cars on value, not on price, and have the tools you need to prove your value to the customer (an iPad, for example, for easy access to inventory information on the lot) you’re on the right path to build a good reputation.

2. Respond promptly (and appropriately) While you can’t always control what people say about you, you can address complaints and show gratitude toward compliments. Trying to make things right with disgruntled reviewers can go a long way. If review readers see that you’re

responsive and want to make things right with those who’ve had a less-than-stellar experience, they won’t judge you as harshly. And, chances are, negative reviewers may even rescind or edit their reviews if you address their concerns or simply offer an apology. Thanking reviewers for positive postings can reinforce—and even boost—good word-of-mouth.

3. Be authentic Last but certainly not least, keep in mind that there’s no good way to fake positive reviews or wash away negative ones (although some companies claim they can do it for you). Just be honest and do your best to be aware of and address critiques—the good, the bad and the ugly.

At the end of the day, online reviews can make or break a consumer’s decision to visit your lot—and make a purchase. While you’ll never have total control over

your online reviews, if you’re diligent, you can seriously influence them. And that, as we’ve seen, can have a serious influence on your success.

About The Author: Jacob Solotaroff, Chief Operating Officer of MAX Systems is responsible for the overall strategy and direction of MAX Systems. He brings 15 years of experience in software and analytical technology. Previously, Jacob was the General

Manager of a Match.com business unit and before that led Match’s North American Product Management team.


BETTERSocial Media ManagementT he Internet is simply amazing.

Finding and sharing information has never been faster or

easier in our lifetimes. Our ability to communicate has been transformed by the Internet. When was the last time you sat down with a pen and paper and wrote someone a letter? We’re easily 15 years down the Internet road and it keeps growing in complexity. Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Foursquare, are only a small glimpse of what the Internet has to offer us.

If you’ve jumped on the Social Media bandwagon or if you’re still getting around to it, you’ll want to pay attention. You may be one of many dealers running the race, trying to keep up, but feeling tired and maybe even overwhelmed. You’re not alone. Too many people think that to be successful in social media, you need to get on every platform available, make a lot of friends and let it ride. Unfortunately, that couldn’t be further from the truth. To find success, Social Media must be managed, and one of the most effective methods to use is commonly referred to as an Editorial Calendar. Using an Editorial Calendar helps you keep track of important performance indicators, which enables proper Social Media management.

An editorial calendar is created in spreadsheet format with several columns. A basic example would include these columns:

• Date – This will help you track the speed of engagement and is important for historical reference

• Topic – An example would be a video or article explaining the advantages of economy cars

• Department – You’ll want to keep track of which department the content is intended to benefit

• Writer – Who is responsible for the content creation?

• Notes – This is where you want to record engagement rates. Clicks, views, calls…

• Distribution – Where is the content being published? (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc…)

Ultimately, you want the data in your Editorial Calendar to facilitate better decision-making. Not only will it help you prepared for and anticipate your content needs, but you’ll end up discovering what topics have better engagement rates than others and which person on your staff creates the most valuable and

engaging content. You’ll also identify which departments need more attention.

Although editorial calendars aren’t commonly referenced in association with the auto industry, it’s the easiest way to manage your social media interaction, which has becoming hugely relevant for dealers. Creating these calendars is the first step to stronger interaction, and then of course, potentially developing your social media strategy to track lead generation. Until then, get busy with your Editorial Calendar!

About The Author: Shaun Raines is the Executive Director of the DrivingSales University. He is a 20-year automotive industry veteran who has dedicated the last 13 years to helping dealers effectively use the Internet to attract, acquire and retain

customers. A sought after speaker on digital media and process, he has presented at Digital Dealer Conferences, OEM dealer events, the DrivingSales Executive Summit and multiple industry conferences.


TO WIN NEW-CAR BUYERS YOU HAVE TO DIFFERENTIATE.

LET BASEDRIVEOPEN YOUR DOOR TO MORE NEW-CAR SHOPPERS.Start differentiating your dealership now: dealers.cars.com/KickIt© 2012 Classified Ventures, LLC™. All rights reserved.

CARS.COM wishes all DrivingSales readers a solid year-end close!


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