News from Black Book Online throughout the Southeast. Latest observations, ideas, success stories from my dealer partners.
Monday, March 28, 2011
3 KEYS TO INTERNET SUCCESS
This is from an article in Automotive Digest that Mike McFall (President and Founder of Black Book Online) put out some time ago but still holds water in today's market!
1. Management- either you are in or out. Management commitment starts with a vision for success and clear goals for ROI which are expressed to everyone in the store. It’s that simple.
2. Measurement- if everyone knows the goal then you can share the success or fix the failures. Your MOR meeting should devote at least 10 minutes to Internet metrics, which ultimately are cost per sale and ROI.
3. Money- pay plan dictates behavior and success. Link every dollar of compensation to a successful action.
If dealers follow this simple formula expect to see "Measurable" results.
1. Management- either you are in or out. Management commitment starts with a vision for success and clear goals for ROI which are expressed to everyone in the store. It’s that simple.
2. Measurement- if everyone knows the goal then you can share the success or fix the failures. Your MOR meeting should devote at least 10 minutes to Internet metrics, which ultimately are cost per sale and ROI.
3. Money- pay plan dictates behavior and success. Link every dollar of compensation to a successful action.
If dealers follow this simple formula expect to see "Measurable" results.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Activator GPS Video will increase your trade-in lead volume by 40%!
Would you like to see a live demo of how our GPS video avatar will look on your existing website? Just click on the link below and you can see how our avatar will look on your existing website. You can change the model, verbiage and location. The most popular verbiage is "Insider Info" and I personally think it has the best message as it prompts the e-customer to schedule an appointment.
https://stream.livefaceonweb.com/
https://stream.livefaceonweb.com/
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Credit is the future for website conversion..
Nice article by Steve Stauning someone who offers unparralled insight into the E-commerce side of the business!
Internet Strategies with Steve Stauning | |
 | Steve Stauning is the founder of pladoogle.com and a principal in the marketing services consulting firm Kain-Stauning. He is the former ecommerce director of the Asbury Automotive Group, and prior to that he spent several years overseeing the development of web-based products for automotive dealers at Dealer Specialties and Reynolds & Reynolds. You can reach Steve at: sstauning@dealer-communications.com |
Majority of New Car Shoppers Plan to Research Financing Options Online – Is Your Website Ready? March 21, 2011
Click here to read more blogs by Steve.
Contained in the results of a study released last week, kbb.com reported that 66% of new car shoppers planned to finance their next vehicle purchase and that 64% of those planned to research their financing options online.
While kbb.com seems well-prepared to help these consumers understand their options (based on their announced collaborations with Bank of America and Autobytel's Car.com), I don’t see very many dealer websites that are equally prepared. Can consumers visiting your website get the answers and options they need or will you force them to find this information elsewhere?
Think about it this way: If a consumer finds what they need on your website and submits a purchase request, you have a tremendous advantage. If they leave your website and end up on a competitor’s site or a research website (from whom your competitors buy 3rd party leads), then you are at a distinct disadvantage. (I won’t even go into what happens if you’re the only one not buying 3rd party leads in this case.)
Help! I want to keep my consumers on my website!
Rather than provide some long-winded, clever response to this definite cry for assistance, I thought the best way to help dealers understand what might resonate with finance customers researching online (and increase online conversions) was to provide the following financing checklist for dealer websites:
· Online credit application. Sure you have one, but does it work? In one test with a dealer group in Texas who changed their online credit applications from the standard long, uninviting static forms to short, attractive and interactive forms with video, the results were pretty astounding: depending on the store, they saw a doubling or even tripling of the number of completed credit applications. Plus, the average FICO improved by 50 points! (This is logical, of course, when you consider that someone with a 780 isn’t likely to complete a long form online, while the guy with a 480 has plenty of time and nothing to lose by completing your long application.)
· Online trade appraisal. Most dealership websites do a good job of giving the customer the option to check their trade value online. That said, you’ll want to make sure consumers can find this form on your site. (Hint: I would put a link to this form and a link to your credit application in the navigation drop downs for new cars and used cars, in addition to the finance drop down.)
· OEM Incentives. Can consumers find all of the same incentives on your site as they can on the OEM’s website? If not, then expect to have them leave your site and seek out this information. Better yet, add this content with strong calls-to-action that encourage the consumer to submit their information.
· VIN-Specific Finance Specials. Sometimes called “New Car Specials” or “Manager’s Specials,” VIN-specific finance specials are a great way to display a couple of competitively priced new vehicles per model without having to discount the selling price of all your vehicles. When you show available rebates and discounts on a given unit, and then you ask for the consumer’s information, you stand a great chance of acquiring a lead that your team can close.
· Leasing Information. Even if you don’t do a lot of leasing, it is a good idea to display leasing information (especially when that information shows a payment lower than a traditional finance payment).
· Lease v Finance Information. Creating a static page on your website that explains the different vehicle purchase options is not only easy to do, you might have an F&I vendor who already has one ready to go. Ask around, and if you can’t find one, your F&I manager should be able to put together the proper word track for you to place on your website.
· “Yes We Can” Verbiage. For the consumers seeking auto financing – even for those with good credit – there is always a concern that they won’t get approved. By filling your website with positive financing messages and encouraging site visitors to “Save Time – Apply Online,” you will grow your finance leads and your overall store sales. Also, be sure that customers understand that your team is filled with experts at auto financing – many consumers still think a dealer would rather do a cash deal than a finance deal – make it clear that you love to finance vehicle purchases and that you can secure competitive rates for the customer.
It should go without saying, but you’ll want to check with your OEM on compliancy, and also verify that whatever you place on your website is in accordance with the laws of your state. Of course, once you do provide online consumers with the opportunity to research their finance options with you, be prepared to receive more and better sales leads from your own website.
Good selling!
While kbb.com seems well-prepared to help these consumers understand their options (based on their announced collaborations with Bank of America and Autobytel's Car.com), I don’t see very many dealer websites that are equally prepared. Can consumers visiting your website get the answers and options they need or will you force them to find this information elsewhere?
Think about it this way: If a consumer finds what they need on your website and submits a purchase request, you have a tremendous advantage. If they leave your website and end up on a competitor’s site or a research website (from whom your competitors buy 3rd party leads), then you are at a distinct disadvantage. (I won’t even go into what happens if you’re the only one not buying 3rd party leads in this case.)
Help! I want to keep my consumers on my website!
Rather than provide some long-winded, clever response to this definite cry for assistance, I thought the best way to help dealers understand what might resonate with finance customers researching online (and increase online conversions) was to provide the following financing checklist for dealer websites:
· Online credit application. Sure you have one, but does it work? In one test with a dealer group in Texas who changed their online credit applications from the standard long, uninviting static forms to short, attractive and interactive forms with video, the results were pretty astounding: depending on the store, they saw a doubling or even tripling of the number of completed credit applications. Plus, the average FICO improved by 50 points! (This is logical, of course, when you consider that someone with a 780 isn’t likely to complete a long form online, while the guy with a 480 has plenty of time and nothing to lose by completing your long application.)
· Online trade appraisal. Most dealership websites do a good job of giving the customer the option to check their trade value online. That said, you’ll want to make sure consumers can find this form on your site. (Hint: I would put a link to this form and a link to your credit application in the navigation drop downs for new cars and used cars, in addition to the finance drop down.)
· OEM Incentives. Can consumers find all of the same incentives on your site as they can on the OEM’s website? If not, then expect to have them leave your site and seek out this information. Better yet, add this content with strong calls-to-action that encourage the consumer to submit their information.
· VIN-Specific Finance Specials. Sometimes called “New Car Specials” or “Manager’s Specials,” VIN-specific finance specials are a great way to display a couple of competitively priced new vehicles per model without having to discount the selling price of all your vehicles. When you show available rebates and discounts on a given unit, and then you ask for the consumer’s information, you stand a great chance of acquiring a lead that your team can close.
· Leasing Information. Even if you don’t do a lot of leasing, it is a good idea to display leasing information (especially when that information shows a payment lower than a traditional finance payment).
· Lease v Finance Information. Creating a static page on your website that explains the different vehicle purchase options is not only easy to do, you might have an F&I vendor who already has one ready to go. Ask around, and if you can’t find one, your F&I manager should be able to put together the proper word track for you to place on your website.
· “Yes We Can” Verbiage. For the consumers seeking auto financing – even for those with good credit – there is always a concern that they won’t get approved. By filling your website with positive financing messages and encouraging site visitors to “Save Time – Apply Online,” you will grow your finance leads and your overall store sales. Also, be sure that customers understand that your team is filled with experts at auto financing – many consumers still think a dealer would rather do a cash deal than a finance deal – make it clear that you love to finance vehicle purchases and that you can secure competitive rates for the customer.
It should go without saying, but you’ll want to check with your OEM on compliancy, and also verify that whatever you place on your website is in accordance with the laws of your state. Of course, once you do provide online consumers with the opportunity to research their finance options with you, be prepared to receive more and better sales leads from your own website.
Good selling!
What's your website call to action? Food for thought....
What's Your Website Call to Action?
by on Mar 23, 2011
What is your call to action on your website? Hopefully, there are a few of them on your home page and also on your inner pages within your website. I have looked at hundreds of websites and thousands of pages in the automotive industry, and there are a few things that are common among all of them. But there are some that stand out more than others just because of the dealerships' call to action on the site. It made me want to click more and more, and even give some of my information, well, some of my mystery shopping information.
Trade In Apprasal Tool
About every dealership had some type of appraisal tool within their website. The most common ones seemed to be Blackbook, KBB, and Autotrader Trade-In Market Place. There are some pros and cons to all of them. Of course, you will always have the customer say that the figure is too low.
With Autotrader TIM, the one drawback that I saw was the number that was given. Yes, it is great that the figure is guaranteed by Autotrader, but if it is too low, the customer won't even respond to a phone call or an email wanting to acquire their vehicle. Autotrader says that it is a way to acquire inventory, but it is difficult to get a customer on the phone or via email because the number may be too low for them and they may feel offended by the offer made by Autotrader, not the dealership. Another con is that it can be time consuming for the customer with all of the information that they have to put in the computer just to get the figure. The pro is obviously that the price is guaranteed by them. If you as the dealer don't want the vehicle, take it to the designated auction and get your money back. Also, customer service is great with the Trade-in market place. They are fast on making any adjustments if needed on the phone with you as the dealership.
With KBB, it is a well known name and is where everyone has been trained to go in the past 10 plus years to get a trade in value. Their reputation has been good in the industry and according to KBB, they have 14-16 million hits to their site a month. I have no idea how many trade values are made, but I would guess that a large portion of the 14-16 million do a trade evaluation. The cons is that the customer always thinks that their vehicle is in excellent condition when they need 4 tires, and all of their services up to speed. It is easy to overcome with a customer just by going to their website and going to the condition examples.
Blackbook is the last common tool. When doing a trade appraisal with that tool, it will give you a $1000-$2500 range on the vehicle depending on how you have it set up. The one thing that I like about that is that it gives a range. That give the customer an idea on their trade, but to get a really firm number, they have to come in and have the used car manager look at it to put a firm number on it. You can also set the values to be from rough to average, average to clean, etc. I haven't really found any cons with Blackbook. Their numbers are generally pretty accurate.
Social Network Buttons
Social networking is here and now and it is here to stay so you better get with the program. There are some things that you have to watch when putting buttons to your Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and blog on your homepage. Yes, it is great to have them there so your customer can connect with you on another level. The thing that you have to be careful about is taking them off your website by click of the mouse. You spend all kinds of money in your digital marketing to get them to your website and they click on your Facebook button, it takes you your facebook page, then they can start playing on Farmville, Mafia Wars, etc. and not make it back to your website to do what they originally were there for. The same thing can happen with your Twitter, YouTube and your blog. They may never make it back to your site.
Prominent Specials
Make sure that your specials are prominent. If you don't have them on your website, get them there. That should be the second most visited page within your website. Also, be sure that they are current and coincide with any Manufacturer incentives so you don't confuse the public. If you have something special, put it on there and differentiate yourself from the other dealers. (Consult your advertising guidelines with the Manufacturer.) Make sure that you have not only Sales, but specials for your Fixed Operations.
Credit Application
Your online credit application should be easy to navigate and easy to put the information in. Also, make sure that you are abiding by all of the new Red Flag rules so you aren't in violation with the laws that were put in place the end of last year. Also, when the lead comes into the CRM, make sure that they right people within the dealership have access to the information.
Phone Numbers
Most website traffic to your site is just to get a phone number to contact the dealership. Make sure that it is in a prominent location on the page. Generally in the upper banner portion of the page is the best place. There have been sites that didn't have a phone number on the front page at all. I would have to dig into the different pages to find it. Also, if possible, put different tracking numbers when coming from different sources (consult your website provider).
Chat
Chat is an up and coming product in the automotive industry. More and more dealerships are starting to utilize it. If you don't feel comfortable in doing the chat yourself, you can have it outsourced to a company and they will do what they are best at. I have seen conversion rates go up 1%-3% as a result of having chat. If someone is in their cubicle at work and can't make personal calls, they have another option of connecting with the dealership through chat to ask questions.
If you have all or just a majority of these item on your homepage, you will be at the conversion rates that you need to be at to be successful. The benchmark that each dealer should be at is between 7%-10% for fixed operations and 2%-4% for sales. This includes all leads submitted, appointments, chats, and trackable phone calls. If you have these items in place, you should be in that percentage range and it will make you successful.
Trade In Apprasal Tool
About every dealership had some type of appraisal tool within their website. The most common ones seemed to be Blackbook, KBB, and Autotrader Trade-In Market Place. There are some pros and cons to all of them. Of course, you will always have the customer say that the figure is too low.
With Autotrader TIM, the one drawback that I saw was the number that was given. Yes, it is great that the figure is guaranteed by Autotrader, but if it is too low, the customer won't even respond to a phone call or an email wanting to acquire their vehicle. Autotrader says that it is a way to acquire inventory, but it is difficult to get a customer on the phone or via email because the number may be too low for them and they may feel offended by the offer made by Autotrader, not the dealership. Another con is that it can be time consuming for the customer with all of the information that they have to put in the computer just to get the figure. The pro is obviously that the price is guaranteed by them. If you as the dealer don't want the vehicle, take it to the designated auction and get your money back. Also, customer service is great with the Trade-in market place. They are fast on making any adjustments if needed on the phone with you as the dealership.
With KBB, it is a well known name and is where everyone has been trained to go in the past 10 plus years to get a trade in value. Their reputation has been good in the industry and according to KBB, they have 14-16 million hits to their site a month. I have no idea how many trade values are made, but I would guess that a large portion of the 14-16 million do a trade evaluation. The cons is that the customer always thinks that their vehicle is in excellent condition when they need 4 tires, and all of their services up to speed. It is easy to overcome with a customer just by going to their website and going to the condition examples.
Blackbook is the last common tool. When doing a trade appraisal with that tool, it will give you a $1000-$2500 range on the vehicle depending on how you have it set up. The one thing that I like about that is that it gives a range. That give the customer an idea on their trade, but to get a really firm number, they have to come in and have the used car manager look at it to put a firm number on it. You can also set the values to be from rough to average, average to clean, etc. I haven't really found any cons with Blackbook. Their numbers are generally pretty accurate.
Social Network Buttons
Social networking is here and now and it is here to stay so you better get with the program. There are some things that you have to watch when putting buttons to your Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and blog on your homepage. Yes, it is great to have them there so your customer can connect with you on another level. The thing that you have to be careful about is taking them off your website by click of the mouse. You spend all kinds of money in your digital marketing to get them to your website and they click on your Facebook button, it takes you your facebook page, then they can start playing on Farmville, Mafia Wars, etc. and not make it back to your website to do what they originally were there for. The same thing can happen with your Twitter, YouTube and your blog. They may never make it back to your site.
Prominent Specials
Make sure that your specials are prominent. If you don't have them on your website, get them there. That should be the second most visited page within your website. Also, be sure that they are current and coincide with any Manufacturer incentives so you don't confuse the public. If you have something special, put it on there and differentiate yourself from the other dealers. (Consult your advertising guidelines with the Manufacturer.) Make sure that you have not only Sales, but specials for your Fixed Operations.
Credit Application
Your online credit application should be easy to navigate and easy to put the information in. Also, make sure that you are abiding by all of the new Red Flag rules so you aren't in violation with the laws that were put in place the end of last year. Also, when the lead comes into the CRM, make sure that they right people within the dealership have access to the information.
Phone Numbers
Most website traffic to your site is just to get a phone number to contact the dealership. Make sure that it is in a prominent location on the page. Generally in the upper banner portion of the page is the best place. There have been sites that didn't have a phone number on the front page at all. I would have to dig into the different pages to find it. Also, if possible, put different tracking numbers when coming from different sources (consult your website provider).
Chat
Chat is an up and coming product in the automotive industry. More and more dealerships are starting to utilize it. If you don't feel comfortable in doing the chat yourself, you can have it outsourced to a company and they will do what they are best at. I have seen conversion rates go up 1%-3% as a result of having chat. If someone is in their cubicle at work and can't make personal calls, they have another option of connecting with the dealership through chat to ask questions.
If you have all or just a majority of these item on your homepage, you will be at the conversion rates that you need to be at to be successful. The benchmark that each dealer should be at is between 7%-10% for fixed operations and 2%-4% for sales. This includes all leads submitted, appointments, chats, and trackable phone calls. If you have these items in place, you should be in that percentage range and it will make you successful.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Fish where the fish are! Convert service customers to E-commerce customers!
FISH WHERE THE FISH ARE:
In my travels around the Southeast I often get asked the question- "What are the successful dealers doing that I can incorporate into my monthly e-commerce success?" I also get asked "What can I do to improve my closing ratios on Internet leads?"
It seems that everyone is looking for that missing ingredient or the "magic bullet" and dealers want to know what that ingredient is. Most dealerships feel as though they are doing something wrong not to get the results that are reported/claimed by dealers on multiple publications in our industry. I don't feel as though dealers are necessarily doing anything wrong they just aren't taking advantage of the opportunities that are right in front of their noses.
I am not aware of any dealership that does not have ten times as many customers coming through their service drive each day as compared to the front-end (sales floor)of their dealership. So, why not bridge the gap between service and sales with a "Service-Drive Value Your Trade Kiosk"?
If the Internet Managers' most difficult task is to get customers to respond to the inquiry that the customer submitted, and yes getting customers to respond is the hardest part of the Internet equation. I know all too well as I racked my brain for years tweaking email templates, leaving countless voice mails to continually get frustrated by the lack of responses from Internet leads that my e-commerce department had invested heavily into in my former life as an ID/IM. I finally realized that email templates are effective if catered to personality profiles, not one cookie-cutter template for everyone, but templates are another topic altogether and better suited for a future article.
So back on topic, if there are so many more opportunities that exist within the service drive then why not get the customer that is already in your dealership engaging with e-commerce department? Dealers should work smarter not harder! Internet Managers spend most of their time trying to get customers to respond and to schedule an appointment and yet there are customers sitting usually within 100-200 feet of their office, go figure. Wouldn't it be nice to have customers seeking the Internet manager out to get an offer on their trade than it is to send another email or leave another unanswered voice mail?
I have several dealers in my territory that have incorporated my idea over the last four years and have had success converting their service customers into sales each month. This is a simple solution to implement and even I could arrange an area for customers to value their current vehicle while sitting in the service drive with nothing better to do. The worst case scenario is that the customer visits your website, possibly does an appraisal, views your inventory or maybe your specials (provided they are current) and sparks an interest in purchasing a new or pre-owned vehicle for your dealership. Heck even the service department wins because if the customer actually buys a vehicle the service life has just been extended!
So, in closing go "fish where the fish are" and reap the benefits of offering your customer a service that your competition has never thought of! Obviously being a Black Book Online dealer partner will enable your dealership to make this concept a reality.
Used car market is very strong! Dealers are in bidding war at auctions to acquire desirable inventory
Check out the article written by Ricky Beggs- Managing Editor at Black Book USA.
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