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internet sales 20 group review, part 3seanv.Bradley 14

prospecting, selling gross and referralsfranTaylor 26

growing crm use leads to growing dealershipgregw.Coleman 10

JimCrouse 28 the swell of promise is on the horizon:are You ready for the next wave of subrime profitability?

dalePollak 18 selling cars is like popcorn

‘dealer of the Year’ Jessie armstead a proven champion on and off the field

susanGivens 08

the onlY three waYs to grow Your dealershipdo You have a game plan linked to all three?

scottJoseph 32

are You using Your data integrationas a strategic weapon?

seanStapleton 30

historY tells us to make the transition into becoming a ‘fifth-generation’ dealership

erikStuttz 24

markTewart 34 whY Your new Year’s resolutions fail

an interview with RBM of Atlanta-North

marshBuice 16 want to sell more? eat more! part 2

susanGivens 38 video search engine optimization increasessales bY 45 percent

howardLeavitt 22 what is change and what does it mean to You?

bryanAnderson 39 easier than shooting fish in a barrel

mattBaker 42 customer pain = profithow feature and benefit selling can cost You sales

RBM of Atlanta-North:New Mercedes Store’s Intense Focus on “Getting Found Online” at Search Engines & Review Sites Beats Recession

tomHopkins 36 “i want to shop around”

marcSmith 20 sales opportunities in the customer lounge

http://www.autosuccessonline.com

http://www.autosuccesspodcast.com





http://www.smaalliance.com

leadership solutionSusanGivens

08 autosuccessonline.com

‘dealer of the Year’ Jessie armstead a proven champion on and off the field

Jessie Armstead, a five-time Pro Bowl linebacker for the NY Giants and Washington Redskins was recently recognized as “Dealer of the Year” at the 15th Annual Urban Wheel Awards in Detroit, MI. When a pre-season injury prompted Armstead to retire from the league, he would continue to win off the field and on the lot of Hamilton Honda in Hamilton, NJ — the 65,000-square foot, state-of-the-art dealership he opened in May 2009 with partner and automotive veteran Mike Saporito. Just one year after opening the doors, Hamilton Honda skyrocketed into one of the top 10-largest Honda dealerships in the nation.

Now, as the dealership prepares to finish its second year in business with tremendous momentum, Armstead was recognized as “Automotive Dealer of the Year” at the 2011 Annual Urban Wheel Awards. For 15 years running, the star-studded ceremony has honored companies, executives and suppliers for recognizing the growing multicultural consumer and embracing diversity in operations and missions. Armstead took home the Oscar-style statue that celebrates the dealer’s creation of products and implementation of services that keep the diversity of their consumers in mind.

“It’s an honor to share this award with other leaders in the industry who acknowledge the multicultural communities that support our businesses,” Armstead said. “I can only hope that the awards show will continue to inspire my colleagues in the industry to not only consider, but to embrace the diversity that exists across the nation.”

Editors at Decisive Magazine and an independent panel of 15 professional automotive journalists and business organizations selected all nominees, finalists and winners. Armstead accepted this notable honor alongside other industry trailblazers who distinguished themselves for their approach to the multicultural consumer base.

Other awardees included Tony K. Brown, Ford’s group vice president of purchasing, who accepted the award for “Executive of the Year” from two distinguished presenters; his boss, Ford CEO Alan Mulally and U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI). NASCAR’s Max Siegel, owner and CEO of Revolution Racing, received the “Pioneer of the Year” award. “Lifetime Achievement” awards went home with Rodney O’Neal, president and CEO of Delphi; Andra Rush, president of Dakkota Integrated System; and Frank Venegas, chairman and CEO of The Ideal Group, Inc.

Held at the MotorCity Hotel and Casino in Detroit, the awards show drew in an impressive crowd of 1,500 automotive executives, supplier executives, politicians and members of the public. Celebrities, awardees and community leaders also graced the VIP “Green” carpet, hosted by Ed Foxworth III and Naomi Patton. Master of Ceremonies and CBS News Analyst Jamal Simmons kicked off the award celebration that honored leaders in the automotive industry and showcased the Urban and Green Vehicles of the Year.

The ceremony marked the start of the North American International Auto Show, one of the most prestigious auto shows in the world, by recognizing the following vehicles: The Chevrolet Cruze was named “Car of the Year,”

Jeep Grand Cherokee was named “Truck of the Year” and the VW TDI Jetta was named “Green Car of the Year.”

Hamilton Honda’s extraordinary growth has been a result of their active community involvement, exceptional customer service and their volume-pricing strategy, which gives consumers guaranteed low prices, along with free oil changes, loaner cars and car washes for life. The dealership has become known for its customer-friendly team and its state-of-the-art facility is equipped with an Internet café offering free refreshments and a mini-museum with Jessie Armstead artifacts from the brightest moments of his career that makes every visit to the dealership a top-notch experience.

“On and off the field Jessie is a leader and he inspires greatness from all those he works with,” said Sean Wolfington, owner of the marketing company Hamilton uses.

Armstead’s recognition as “Automotive Dealer of the Year” comes on the heels of other notable achievements since his venturing into the automotive world. Last year, AutoSuccess recognized Armstead and Saporito as “Automotive Pioneers” for their role in growing Hamilton Honda into one of the top 10 Honda dealerships in the nation.

Although Armstead has received a lot of national recognition, he is deeply committed to serving his local community and supports a number of not-for-profit organizations including YMCA, where he was honored as the recipient of the prestigious 2010 Community Enrichment Award. Armstead is also actively involved with DARE, Cystic Fibrosis, My Sisters Place, City Meals on Wheels and Make-a-Wish Foundation. New Jersey Senator Tom Goodwin recognized that “Hamilton Honda has become an important member of the New Jersey business community since in its first year, employing more than 100 individuals and generating more than $90 million in sales revenue.”

Susan Givens is the publisher of AutoSuccess. She can be contacted at 877.818.6620, or by e-mail at [email protected].

partners Jessie armstead and mike saporito skyrocket to become one of the top-10 honda dealers in the country in less than 12 months.


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sales & training solutionGregW.Coleman


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Conventional wisdom says that keeping prior customers and selling to them is far easier than making cold calls to potential new customers, and that is as true — if not more so — for the auto sales business as any other industry. The CRM is a vital tool in creating a relationship with customers that turns into a rewarding experience for both the customer and the dealership. Many dealerships, however, only scratch the surface on utilizing their CRM to its fullest. We recently spoke with Greg Coleman, director of business development of the Oxmoor Automotive Group in Louisville, Kentucky, about how they found a CRM provider that met their needs and how they are growing to use their system to build their future.

autosuccess: describe how the place of the crm system has evolved within your dealership in the last few years.greg coleman: The CRM has evolved in our dealerships dramatically, and continues to be more of an asset each month. As recently as the spring of 2010, CRM was only utilized by our Internet departments. Traditional “paper logs” were used by closers for the sales floor, and accountability was just a guess. The CRM was introduced to the dealership as a whole and communication, as well as accountability, has improved dramatically. We follow up with each customer, processes have been streamlined and, with continued monitoring, we look forward to an increase in ROI of our marketing dollars.

as: how do you use your existing customer database in your marketing efforts, and how does the crm help with that?gc: We utilize our existing database for several marketing campaigns. Lease renewals, service reminders and data mining for customers in equity positions have been some examples of successfully using our current database. At a minimum, we have

been creating monthly newsletters to keep our brand both relevant and recognizable to our previous customers.

as: how do you use your crmsystem in areas of your dealership other than sales?gc: Other than the initial sale, we use it for birthdays, anniversaries and even service campaigns. If you only think of a CRM as an initial sales tool, you are probably missing half of the potential benefit to your dealership. Having the ability to e-mail campaigns to hundreds — sometimes potentially thousands — of prospects and customers at no cost is an extremely valuable and powerful resource.

as: describe how your crm systemis used in the path to the sale.gc: Our CRM is utilized in the path to the sale as a guide or road map. Once a prospect is engaged, either on the lot or through the Internet or phone, a set of steps is initiated. We don’t believe in templates as a crutch, but we do utilize templates to begin the conversation so we have a consistent approach to all of our prospects. We also utilize it as a daily guide for our sales staff. Each has a plan for the day to follow up on unsold customers as well as those previously sold. In the winter months, the “up bus” is not coming; it is important to have a plan, and the program our provider has set up, helps give us that plan.

as: what would you like to see crm systems grow to include in the next few years?gc: It is hard to fathom now what the need will be in a few years. It seems like technology is changing by the day, and in my opinion, we could use a couple of years to perfect all of the systems and processes we have available to us now. I can only imagine mobile capabilities though, and can envision the time when a customer comes in and can scan their iPhone into a system that will know their credit, and have all of their trade

information and vehicle history records, along with their driver’s license, making paper and even typing a thing of the past.

as: when looking for a crm provider, what are the most important thing a dealership should look for? gc: A dealership should first do an internal analysis. First of all, are we ready for a CRM? Will it be a culture change, and do I have the right personnel to embrace this technology? Are we ready to accommodate the customer and sales personnel with computer terminals, driver license scanners and other technology? After this is answered, a request for proposal should be sent to potential providers. A cookie-cutter approach won’t work for every dealer. Make a CRM provider partner with you, not sell to you. Also, consider initial training and support — these were the two most important factors for us.

as: what would be your advice to other dealers on different methods of utilizing their crm that they might not be using?gc: One piece of advice I would give would be to incorporate newsletters and e-mail campaigns into their marketing. I have found that to be time well spent. It can be used for prospects, sold customers and non-sold prospects, and is absolutely free. This is obviously nothing new, but in the regular mystery shops that I conduct, I find that maybe only five percent of dealers over a several-month time period will use a newsletter to follow up.

For more information about Greg W. Coleman, MBA, director of business developmentfor the Oxmoor Automotive Group, visitwww.oxmoorautogroup.com.

For more information about eLEAD CRM, contact director of marketing, Melissa Maxey. She can be contacted at 866.922.0175, or by e-mail at [email protected].

growing crm useleads to growingdealership


http://www.northlanddealer.com

http://www.oxmoorautogroup.com


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their situation? beyond “challenging”When RBM of Atlanta-North’s location was selected in 2006 for a brand-new Mercedes store, the stars looked aligned for sure success for the Alpharetta, GA dealership. Atlanta was the fastest-growing city in the U.S. — Forsyth County ranked among the fastest-growing, highest-income suburbs in the nation — and car dealers were basking in five straight years of more than 16.5 million new vehicles sold. As hard as it is to replay the recent recession, we know the next dark chapter: RBM North opened its doors in late 2007, precisely when the economy sank into recession. Their grand-opening balloons deflated fast as housing prices, jobs and car sales began their downward spiral. “Our location, Forsyth County, took some of the most severe blows in the entire country,” said GM Randy Powell.

To make matters worse, not only were they the youngest Mercedes dealership in a market with four established players, they were a near-rural, “destination” store with severely limited natural traffic. Internet manager Bethany Johnson joked, “Most of our drive-bys are cows.”

forging the strategyPowell had to take a hard look at their situation: the harsh economic realities, their near-remote location and the fact that, in a brutally competitive market, no one knew who or where they were. “We needed a cost-efficient strategy that would get us found, and fast,” he said. Powell, who serves on MBUSA’s Regional Dealer Advisory Board, said that while he has 35 years of experience in the car business, the strategy he devised didn’t come from him being a “car guy,” but by taking a clear-headed look at what actual consumers did when they bought anything.

Powell used his wife as his “strategy muse.” “No matter what she was after, she was online, all over the search engines and review sites, and she always managed to nail the right choice, even if she had to go out of her way,” he said. “I knew we needed to think like her, and focus aggressively on our search presence/SEO and our online reviews. About 90 percent of car buyers use search engines, so first they have to find you, and then you need to answer their main question: ‘Do I want to do business with you?’” While RBM North’s “online visibility” quest evolved over the next three years, they flew out of the gate with an 85 percent digital strategy (which has now grown to 90 percent). Their strategy revolves around two core pillars: have a powerful, first-page organic search presence, and stand out as the No. 1 consumer choice, with great online reviews.

getting seo rightPowell had a freshly minted URL, but it was, as he puts it, “on the 400th page at Google.” He initially bought his way onto the first page through PPC, and then in 2008 hired one SEO company (and then another), but met with mediocre results, only achieving 30 percent first-page placement rates. He ultimately chose eXtéresAUTO to try a more collaborative SEO approach — and one that cast a far wider geographical optimization “net,” given that Atlanta metro is more spread out than Massachusetts. And, given the state of new-vehicle sales, they decided to intensely optimize pre-owned inventory, service and wholesale parts, with tens of thousands of make-, model- and city-specific optimizations established around keywords such as “certified,” “used,” “parts,” “service” and “repair” across Google, Yahoo! and Bing.

seo impactPowell reports that their subsequent organic results “reveal why dealers should never give up on SEO, and why they (who know the market trends best) should collaborate with providers.” Johnson said that within just three months they saw “a massive impact on new, used, service and parts sales, and a huge jump in out-of-state parts and pre-owned business.”

• First-page search engine placement rates skyrocketed from 32 percent in early 2009 to 85 percent today.

• The dealership has had nearly 700 percent growth in Website traffic: 765 unique visitors monthly before the campaign (Feb. 2009) to 1,215 by Nov. 2009 to 5,905 by Dec. 2010. Search engines now drive the lion’s share of their Web traffic (49 percent), followed by direct-to-site (43 percent) and third-party lead sources (six percent).

tackling online reviewsBy early 2009, Powell and Johnson realized that the impact of online reviews had reached a tipping-point. And they also saw the major

competitive opportunity, given the striking disconnect between the good customer experience luxury dealers actually provide, and their often far less positive online reputations. “It had become a far bigger animal,” Johnson said, “and while we were committed to keeping our online reputation management totally authentic and organically-driven, we needed help with the heavy lifting.” They again partnered with eXtéresAUTO, setting in place processes and tools to systematically track, manage and gather reviews.

their process• Let the whole store know how serious this campaign was — and they

“funded the party,” replacing CSI survey bonuses with rewards-per-positive-review.

• Implement a back-office tool to track all reviews/posts about their dealership to immediately respond to any unhappy customers.

• Top management personally calls to make it right, following up with e-mails linking to sites where posts were made, making it easy for customers to retract reviews or post new reviews.

• For each new, positive CSI survey and with every visibly satisfied customer (sold/unsold), they politely request a review, following up via e-mail templates that make it easy for customers to post by including links to targeted review sites.

• Templates are loaded on every sales/service reps’ computer and can be customized and deployed with three clicks.

• Rotate review site links to saturate reviews across targeted sites. • Don’t aim for all 5-stars or try to remove/rebut negative reviews

publicly online. If negative reviews appear, use templates to gather positive reviews at those sites to “surround them with love.”

• Establish online pages for salespeople to showcase their reviews, and then train them to use positive reviews to convert prospects.

• Include reviews in outgoing e-mail signatures, at the Website and in marketing.• Insist on great customer service. Identify anyone less than happy

before they leave the dealership.

reputation management impact“Our 20-month review push has led to an ever-escalating increase in phone, Website and e-mail inquiries; walk-in traffic; and closing ratios, as we’ve blanketed reviews across many sites,” said Peter Leavy, the dealership’s GSM. The numbers bear this out:• The number of reviews has grown from 13 before campaign started to

296 (near-5-star) reviews by Dec. 2010. • There has been 1,000 percent-plus growth in review-site-generated

calls.• Review-driven customers close 15 points higher than all other leads.• One-third of review-generated customers specifically ask for

salespeople by name.• Overall new, used and service business was boosted by 10 to 15

percent.

combined roi:SEO and reputation management combined have had a dramatic impact on their bottom-line. “We are by far the newest, most remote store, with the leanest budget among our competitors,” Powell said, “but because we’ve established the best search and review presence, we’ve quickly cornered 10 percent more market share.”

search engines + review sites now drive: • 500-plus, tracked calls each month.• 70 percent-plus of their digital business, and 60 percent-plus of

total store business, at only 6 percent of their total digital spend.

google places and developments on the online review frontRBM North’s online visibility campaign helped them thrive over several of the toughest years the auto business has ever seen. And, in just the last few months of 2010, there have been a host of rapid-fire developments on the online review front, from Google Places to Google’s HotPot (their new location-based review platform) to Edmunds’ new site putting a huge emphasis on dealer reviews to Cars.com’s announcement that they’ll unveil dealer reviews this March (putting the muscle of two Super Bowl commercials behind the launch).

All this means that RBM North’s past, present — and future — hard work in the review trenches has — and will — pay off even more. For

instance, when Google Places rolled out in October (a major change in the way local search results are displayed, giving far more visibility to a business’ reviews) Johnson said, “Our dealership’s 220-plus, near-5-star reviews now really leap out in local dealer searches at Google, as does our competitors’ complacency. Reviews are all stacked up against each other on the first page, and it’s pretty obvious who I would call.” The upshot: RBM North saw an immediate 30 percent increase in calls from Google/the review sites across the last two months of 2010 (traditionally rotten traffic months for dealers), compared with their summer numbers.

RBM’s North’s strategy was 100 percent-based on what auto shoppers actually do most (search online) — and what they seek most (the right dealership, with a great reputation). Despite the nearly absurd challenges they faced, their SEO and online reputation management campaigns ensured they not only survived the recession, but they prospered. And they’ve really put themselves in the pole position today, as search evolves and online review activity ramps up across the Web and the big auto sites. “At the time, the decisions we made weren’t ‘safe,’ but they turned out to be right,” Powell said. “No marketing strategies have a higher impact, are more cost-efficient or deliver a greater ROI.”

For a free, step-by-step playbook on how to implement this proven reputation management process at your dealership – and/or a free, customized report on whether your dealership is ready for the new Google, e-mail or call us at the information below.

For more info on RBM of Atlanta-North, visit www.rbmnorth.com.

For more information about eXtéresAUTO, contact the director of dealer training, Merla Turner. She can be contacted at 866.462.6914,or by e-mail at [email protected].

http://www.rbmnorth.com



leadership solutionSeanV.Bradley

PAR

T 3internet sales

20 groupreview

This month, we’ll finish our look at the responses we gathered from our recent, successful Internet Sales 20 Group three-day event. 20 Groups are great because they show real-world situations and real-world solutions. There are few unique problems; odds are, someone out there has faced what you’re facing, and has figured it out. Reinventing the wheel is a waste; learn from the experience of others.

what are some unusual ways that you’ve been able to build an identity for your dealership to separate it from the competition?• We engage in a lot of community involvement.

We sponsor local sports teams, host annual flu shots through the Red Cross and sponsor a scholarship at the local high school.

• We hosted a child safety and trick or trunk event with 40 other co-sponsors, which brought more than 2,000 people to our dealership. We had our local fire department and Northstar ambulance display the “jaws of life” in action, plus we had local police

and sheriff deputies with their motorcycles, K-9 units and a helicopter. We also had a trick or trunk contest where children could trick or treat and vote on each vehicle.

if you had to pick one area for your salespeople to work on for professional development, what would that be?• Phone skills and training

• Work ethic and self motivation

• Listen, listen, listen!

• Customer e-mail follow-up, texting and social media

• Learn to drive traffic for themselves, and create their own book of business

• Willingness to accept the Internet department and the ideas/changes that we would like to implement

• Time management

• Confidence, confidence, confidence

what three qualities do you look for when hiring a new salesperson?• Personality, drive and communication skills

• Good communication skills, good personality (reflects on phone calls) and organization skills

• Appearance, aggressive in work ethic and very personable

• Personality, appearance and hunger (willingness/wanting to work/wanting the sale)

• Willingness to learn, creativity, and a person who follows through and completes projects on time with the brand in mind

• Desire (the will to do what it takes to steadily perform), professionalism (someone who customers will feel comfortable with) and attitude (positive attitude lead to positive results; negative attitude can be a cancer to your team and dealership)

• Self motivated, coachable and good listener

• Personality, good attitude and self-confidence

Sean V. Bradley is the founder and CEO of Dealer Synergy, a nationally recognized training and consulting company in the automotive industry. He can be contacted at 866.648.7400, or by e-mail [email protected].

•••

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IMN-3.6875x4.875-v4.indd 1 9/17/2010 9:47:58 AM

In hopes of improving our sales career, we recently peered into the world of fine dining in order to gain an insight of what great servers do so well to enhance their guest’s evening and to improve their paycheck. We now know that great servers make themselves approachable to their guests, are attentive to their needs and have extensive knowledge about the foods they are serving. Here are a few more lessons sales consultants can learn from great servers:

be deceptiveGreat servers are masterful deceivers. They make their guests feel exclusive. At their last table, no tip was given and the guests left the charred remains of crackers and foods strewn about by three children who apparently have never had the privilege of feeling the leathery, disciplining power of a belt. Great servers deceive their anger and do not carry their frustrations from one table to the next. Servers act like a host of the Emmy’s, keeping the atmosphere light, festive and moving. Servers have the ability to glide from

one table to the next as if they were on ice — making it seem effortless.

Lesson learned: “Deception” in the world of sales can be interpreted as a nasty, negative word, unless put in its proper perspective. Sales is infested with rejection, missed quotas, product failures and disgruntled clients. A masterful sales consultant deceives the fact that, although calamity may be happening all around, it must be put in its proper perspective by dealing with one issue at a time. If sales were easy, you would have never replaced the person who jumped ship in hopes of finding an easier gig. Be grateful that you have the rare quality of being able to handle rejections, fight through missed quotas, give superior service when a product fails and be empathetic toward your frustrated clients. Sales consultants wear many hats. It is not your client’s responsibility to deal with your personal problems, but it is your responsibility to care for their needs. Do not let all of the hard work you have worked for hours, days, even months get flushed away because you are having a

bad day. Solutions to problems are the mortar in the building blocks of your character and you must never take things personally.

be alive,not a corpseWaiting in a state of repose is not what great servers do. Servers do not believe in hovering over their guests, as if working for the Secret Service. Great servers are experts of running a covert operation making the guests feel alone, but never further than a glance away.

Lesson Learned: Great consultants should be in a constant state of motion. I teach my consultants to appear to be busy, even if they have nothing to do.

Clients like to work with people who do not look like they are standing on a corner waiting for a cab. When negotiating with your clients, a great consultant should follow the 3 P’s: Prepare, Present and Patience. Preparation is critical when working with a client. An unprepared sales consultant can be snuffed out within seconds. Uninterested clients make comments like, “We will think about it and get back to you.” They then take a “three-year business trip” – always away on business each time you call to follow up. A made-to-order presentation is presented showing what the client will benefit from your product. If the first two have been done correctly, a sales consultant can then display patience by asking for the order and silently waiting for an answer. Great consultants are wave makers; they strike the water (preparation) causing ripples of more waves to reverberate (presentation) and continue to sell even when nothing is being said at all.

servers are artistsA great server is an artist who uses his unique creativity to show sensitivity and imagination to his guests in hopes of making the evening as unique as a thumbprint. A magical, memorable evening creates a relationship and has guests coming back for more. My wife and I have a restaurant we frequent on very special occasions, but if our favorite server is not there, neither are we — she makes the evening that special. What a great server is to a restaurant is what a three-wine reduction sauce is to a steak: the missing link.

Lesson learned: You are the award-winning artist of “You.com.” Market yourself in such a way that, through selling a superior product and creating a memorable experience, a relationship will be formed. People do not buy great products; they buy quality products from a great consultant. Relationships trump price every time.

Congratulations, you have rekindled your relationship, brought your pallet out of hibernation tasting five-star delicacies, as well as put your sales career back on the right tracks toward your quest of being a superior sales consultant. Eat from the tree of success, be fruitful in your relationships, and multiply your sales exponentially.

Marsh Buice is the sales manager of Mark Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep. He can be contacted at 866.535.5006, or by e-mail [email protected].

leadership solutionMarshBuice

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marketing solutionDalePollak


selling cars islike popcorn

Many dealers are familiar with the phrase “popcorn cars.” This refers to cars that sell or “pop” quickly off the lot. The analogy between cars and popcorn, however, may have more relevance today than ever in the past.

The essential ingredients of popcorn are kernels, oil and fire. Anyone that has cooked popcorn knows that some kernels pop quickly while others more slowly. When most of the kernels are popped, there are always some left over that never popped.

Assume that your used vehicles are the kernels, the oil is your photos and descriptions and the fire is your pricing. It’s obvious that no matter how hot the flame, you can’t make popcorn with feed corn or without oil. In other words, if you have the wrong cars and poor marketing, bargain basement pricing will never be enough. Similarly, you can have the most desired vehicles and tremendous marketing skills, but if the vehicles are overpriced it just won’t pop. The reality is, like popcorn, you have to have the right cars, great marketing and proper pricing.

Today, dealers have access to information that can help them pop every car perfectly every time. This new information is the number of search result page (SRP) hits and vehicle detail page (VDP) conversions. So what is an SRP and a VDP? If an online shopper searches for a 2009 F150 truck, they may get five pages of F150 trucks returned. Depending on the site, there are usually between 25 and 50 vehicles on a page. Assume that your dealership’s

vehicle is on page four and the shopper only looks at vehicles on pages one, two and three. In this case, your dealership does not get credit for an SRP until and unless the shopper looks at page four, the one that contains your vehicle. If the shopper who looks at page four drills down on your vehicle to see all the photos and description, then you get credit for a VDP. Keep in mind that on a third-party classified advertising site, nothing of any value occurs for a dealer until and unless the dealership gets a VDP view on their vehicle.

Now, consider an example of two vehicles in stock. After 15 days in inventory, the first car has 50 SRP hits and 15 VDP hits. The second car has six SRP hits and 0 VDP hits. What does this information tell the dealer that wants to pop these two vehicles off their lot?

The first vehicle that received 50 SRPs is one that is much more sought after than the second vehicle that received only six SRPs. Essentially, the first vehicle is gourmet corn, while the second vehicle is feed corn. The fact that the first vehicle converted SRPs to VDPs at the rate of 30 percent suggests that its photos and description are superb and the price is proper. The fact that the second vehicle didn’t convert any of the SRPs into VDPs suggests that the marketing and/or pricing is not right. Put another way, all the ingredients for popping this car off the lot are missing.

The question is whether the individual in your dealership who is responsible for popping cars off the lot has any awareness as to the SRP and

VDP performance of their inventory. Ironically, SRP and VDP information for every car has been available for a long time on the back end of well-known sites like AutoTrader.com and Cars.com. Typically however, most used car managers are unaware that this information exists or its relevance to the desired outcome of moving cars quickly. Such information has traditionally been viewed as merely Internet metrics without much relevance to used vehicle production. In fact, the tracking of SRPs and VDPs on a per-vehicle basis is probably the most important used car management metric in the car dealership today. Knowing whether the vehicles in stock are ones that people are searching for, whether the photos and descriptions are differentiating and whether the current price is right are the essential ingredients for used car success.

Dale Pollak is the founder of vAuto and a best-selling author. He can be contactedat 866.867.9620, or by e-mail [email protected].

“In other words,if you have the wrong cars andpoor marketing, bargain basement pricing will never be enough. Similarly, you can have the most desired vehicles and tremendous marketing skills, but if the vehicles are overpriced it just won’t

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sales opportunities in the customer lounge

“Take a chance! All life is a chance. The man who goes the furthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare.” — Dale Carnegie

I have always admired people who think outside the box — people who are a little less conventional in their thought process and are always willing to go the extra mile. Ricky Minor states it well in his new book, There’s No Traffic on the Extra Mile.

Several years ago, a gentleman who worked for me introduced me to a novel idea that he had

implemented into his sales process when he was a manager in a dealership. He had often observed the number of people sitting in the customer lounge who were, for the most part, waiting for service. “Here is a captive audience,” he thought. Statistically speaking, a large percentage of them either had a family member or knew someone who would purchase an automobile within the next 90 days. After a little thought, he came up with the idea of giving a showroom presentation for one of the new model vehicles. This he thought would be a great opportunity to create a non-threatening environment for the sales professional to introduce something new and perhaps answer customer questions around their existing vehicle.

The next challenge was when and how to introduce this presentation. He worked on a script and practiced how he would introduce the presentation. Once comfortable and well-rehearsed, he decided the following Monday morning would be the first dry run. He walked into the customer lounge and said out loud, “Excuse me! In the next five minutes, I will be conducting a presentation of the all-new Camry on the showroom floor. Anyone who would be interested in seeing this presentation please follow me, right this way.” He told me he would then simply pause with a smile until he had at least one participant who was interested. After a few moments, if there was no response, he would smile and say, “Anyone?” If there was no response, he’d say “thank you” with a smile and leave.

What he discovered was that many people would accept the invitation and would follow him to the showroom floor. This provided an excellent opportunity to:• Present a new product• Answer questions about the new vehicle and

the customer’s present vehicle• Engage in a more personal conversation,

creating a relationship with the customer• Have the customer continue on a

demonstration ride with an associate• Ask for referrals

This became a part of the store’s sales process. Every day a different sales associate would be given the opportunity to follow this process. The sales associates loved the fact that the manager had led by example. Not to mention it also gave them a chance to sharpen their presentations and improve product knowledge.

If you haven’t heard of this before, you may just want to give it a try. You may want to use this as an incentive, allowing only qualified sales associates to participate in the process. I don’t need to tell you that, in this economy, conquest business is where it’s at, and anything you can do to spark the interest of the consumer or acquire a lead for a new sales opportunity is invaluable.

Marc Smith is the president and CEO ofMarc Smith International LLC. He can be contacted at 866.665.4479, or by e-mail [email protected].


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leadership solutionHowardLeavitt


what is change and what does it mean to You?

“Everything changes, nothing remains without change” – Buddha

I started in the automobile business in 1965 as a parts driver for a Dodge truck factory dealership. One of my clients was still trading horses as well as cars. I could not begin to imagine how dealer operations would change over the next 45 years. The one thing that I can guarantee is change, whether we like it or not. How can a six-letter word have so much power and cause so much fear? Very few of us accept and embrace change; we live in our comfort zone rather than entering the challenges of the unknown.

The parts inventory was managed via a card index system, which was pretty common and required eight hours a day to maintain. This manually controlled system was considered to be the state of the art for controlling a million-dollar parts inventory. One day, late in 1969, the file drawers and all the inventory cards were gone, replaced with a Texas Instruments machine that recorded transactions on cassette tapes. It was the beginning of dramatic change, and we had no warning or preparation. The parts personnel had an immediate crash course in a new way to find, order and account for the inventory, or perish in the process. It was now clear that our manager had disappeared for a few days to train on this new system. “Learn quickly” was the only choice, and in this case it worked. We didn’t have any time to think about the why and how; we just had to do it now.

The 1960s were the time when our country embarked on the race to the Moon using the latest technology. At the same time we dealt with assassinations, the civil rights movement

and fighting a war in South East Asia while trying to live the good life. It seemed we could do anything we wanted, so adapting to change seemed easier back then. We went on to have Pong and Pac-Man at the local bars and thought, “Wow, what a world.” There was no cable, no Internet, no cell phones, no PlayStation, Xbox or any of the handheld devices that are standard in so many houses today. The technological world was getting ready to make its move with a generation that was not prepared. Not all of us got through the 60s unscathed; we changed as a society, if not personally.

In 1973, I wanted to become a programmer and enrolled in New York University Division of Business Management. I wanted to change and find a better way to process data, so night school became my second job. Three years later I graduated, but did not leave the automobile business. Instead, I used my education to try to educate and apply data management to the everyday operation of parts, service and sales. I found out quickly that getting my peers to change the way they operated was a daunting challenge. They could understand how technology could be used in accounting and parts, but not for service or sales. It was a different world with a larger new car dealer body than today’s market. There was little pressure from imports; domestics ruled the roads and the OEMs thought they were impervious to the upstarts from Europe or Asia. They didn’t think anything would change and, in turn, were not about to change the way they operated or what they produced.

In today’s world, new technology enters the marketplace every second. There is the need to purchase and showcase new fads, only to

replace them almost immediately with even newer models. We change phones as quick as we change our shirts to have the latest gadget and technology. Obsolescence is a way of life; as soon as you pay the bill and start to use the new device, it becomes the old device.

We change devices, but won’t change the process of how we operate our businesses. Just signing up for the latest CRM does not guarantee a true change of thought or understanding of software. I recently interviewed a new car dealer who signed up for a state-of-the-art CRM product. He has the salespeople enter the contact information electronically; they then proceed to print the screen so they can give the manager a paper up sheet for desking. Did he change his process even though he has a state-of-the-art solution for managing sales traffic and work flow? Obviously, he did not.

Does change mean new ideas, or just a different way of operating? To me, it is both, but change gets its start with you as an individual when you open your mind to think outside the box. It means that you are not willing to accept the status quo. It means that you will lead by example. It means you will learn from the past but look forward to the future.

Doing the same thing every day and expecting a different result is a form of insanity. Be proactive, embrace change, and make the future work for you and your staff.

Howard Leavitt is the president and founder of AutoRaptor CRM. He can be contactedat 866.618.9053, or by e-mail [email protected].


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sales & training solutionErikStuttz


historY tells us to make the transition into becoming a ‘fifth-generation’ dealership

Automotive industry icon Bob Tasca Sr. was a mentor to many. He once wrote a powerful and inspiring book, You Will Be Satisfied, which, to this day, is a textbook in more than 75 colleges and universities nationwide on how to run a business with the customer placed first and foremost. Tasca inspired me to write a book by sharing the importance of including basic principles of business within my writings, just as he did. My theme for the book is the history of the automotive industry and the profound lessons it has taught us…and more importantly why we need to ensure we solidly transition into this “fifth generation.”

When most of us think of history, we envision landmarks like the pyramids of Egypt or even the Great Wall of China. These two locations reflect centuries of rich history. Within America, there is certainly history, but compared to the Middle East and Asia, we are relatively young as a nation. By reflecting on the history of a nation in comparison to the automotive world, it is safe to say that our industry is in its infancy stage of development, growth, innovation and improvement. Great! Now what?

It is a good idea to begin by explaining what this “fifth generation” means and represents. If you look back at the short span of only 100 years of automotive history, a solid principle consisting of two words comes to mind: Profound knowledge. Profound knowledge is this: What we know in advance, we prepare in advance, and it also tells us what we know in advance, we may not wish to repeat again!

Let’s explore how these “generations” were formed. If you consider the average age of a contributing member of society, that age is around 25. A 25-year-old normally has steady employment and contributes their necessary tax dollars to our economy. On average, this 25-year-old is soon married, begins a family, buys a home and — most importantly for our purposes — purchases an automobile. In summary, if it takes 25 years to “grow a

consumer,” that shows us that over a period of 100 years, we have only witnessed four generations of automotive consumers.

Let’s explore some interesting observations from each of these past generations within our automotive history:• From 1900 to 1950, the only way on average

a dealership encountered a consumer was by walk-in traffic, and owner loyalty was at an all-time high rate of more than 65 percent.

• From 1950 to 2000, owner loyalty took a huge dip, there were more brands and models, the operation of a dealership was — in most cases — not performed very efficiently and technology was not factored in, with the exception of needing an accounting DMS. Consumers, because of numerous variables, started to feel a safer way to approach a dealer was to phone-in and ask the same questions they started to ask on the showroom — and still ask to this day.

• With the launch of the fourth generation through today, dealerships have operated just to survive, working with desperation, as opposed to inspiration. This generation, in most cases, was trained by third-generation leadership, which caused them to operate third-generation practices. All dealerships within the latter part of the fourth generation strived to learn to use a new tool, the Internet, to leverage, sell and service more vehicles.

Now, with profound knowledge, where does this fifth generation come into play? Well, within the years of 2000 to 2025, we find ourselves now in the fifth generation!

With profound knowledge, the dealers we work with throughout the country never allow themselves to operate with third- and fourth-generation practices. Our dealerships look with passion each day at tying all seven automotive profit centers closely together and with a fifth- generation approach, an approach that has

clear vision, strategy and, most importantly, tactics that leverages their people, processes and technology to meet the needs and demands of this fifth-generation consumer.

Just think for a second: This fifth generation will not accept taking five hours to purchase a vehicle — period. Also, if our business plan as a dealership in 2011 is focused and centered primarily on just walk-in traffic, a huge red flag should go up.

More recently, franchised dealerships have seen manufacturers observing, with higher expectations than ever before, the operations within their stores and are super focused on ensuring that the future be more efficient and more consumer focused than ever!

Let’s be clear though — the people mainly challenging us to operate “fifth generation” are the present-day fifth-generation customers. This fifth-generation consumer has set the standard and has a clear goal to purchase our products and services in a timely manner. Let’s make sure as dealerships we deliver on these expectations.

Let us all take sound advice from an automotive professional born within the second generation, Bob Tasca Sr. Until 84 years of age, he always shared with everyone he encountered the need of sound business principles and, most importantly, having an openness and willingness to change to meet the demands of customers. Make sure early on in 2011 to transition your dealership to far exceed the expectations of this present fifth generation. Let’s make history together!

Erik Stuttz is the founder of Automotive Legends Group USA. He can be contactedat 866.386.0661, or by e-mail [email protected].

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sales & training solutionFranTaylor

prospecting, selling gross and referrals

Salesperson prospecting is the best way to increase sales without spending tons of money. Be sure your sales staff gets serious about building a business within a business by buying prospecting tools. Establish a rule that every sales rep must have six tools besides the usual birthday cards and business cards that everyone has — this will give you an edge. Put a referral bonus amount and a picture of the sales rep on everything. Remember: A dealership never sold a car; salespeople do. Promote your people with prospecting tools. You don’t have to spend thousands and thousands every month to get customers in when prospecting works the best and is cheap for what you get in return.

The best way to sell more cars is just do what others won’t or don’t. The average person goes on a six- to eight-mile demo. Go at least 12 to 15 miles on a demo. Remember: Our goal is one a day for sales reps. By going on a longer demo, you can build value and a relationship with the customer twice as long as compared to a six-mile demo.

Do a service walk with every customer after each demo. Don’t just tell the customer that the service area is clean and you have a nice manager here to help them. Sell yourself, the salesperson and what you will do if the customer has a concern or problem. This takes three to five minutes, and is something most salespeople bypass. This will cost you money if the step is missed.

People will pay more money for something they like. It starts with attitude. Are we selling distressed merchandise, or one of the best products in the world? If the sales rep has a great attitude and does all the steps of the sale correctly, it’s hard to say “no.” The benefit to doing it correctly is the gross. Spend at least one hour doing all the steps properly and it will take you less time to close a deal. If you short-cut the steps, you have to give gross away because the want and value won’t be there. Hold back on every trade to start the deal. Who knows what a trade is worth? No fear selling. Wholesalers won’t put the same number on

a trade, so no customer is an expert. It’s not where you start, but where you end up that makes people happy. If you don’t ask for it, you won’t get it. Gross is easier to get when all the steps are completed.

Ask for referrals at delivery. Send out hand-written birthday cards with your $100 referral bonus on the back (be sure to check the laws in your state regarding such matters). Call customers on their birthday. Give them all a magnet to put on the fridge with your $100 referral on it. Send holiday cards and call them on that holiday. Go out and talk to at least 10 people every day. The more people who know what you do, the easier it is to sell cars. The problem with most salespeople is that they keep looking for a new plan instead of a good plan to keep in contact with their past customers.

You have to work three times as hard to sell cars to new customers as to repeat and referral customers. The grosses are higher, close ratio is higher, and it’s more fun and less stress. No matter what, don’t shortcut the steps of a sale, and never let the customer forget the fun they had buying a car from you.

Fran Taylor is the president and CEO ofTaylor Techniques. He can be contactedat 866.848.9864, or by e-mail [email protected].

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leadership solutionJimCrouse


No obligation. Send an E-mail to [email protected]. Put “KEYS” in the subject line and we’ll send it right out!

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the swell of promise is on the horizon:are You ready for the next wave of subprime profitability?

Certainly you’ve heard the rumbling. GM’s purchase of Americredit is a huge indicator to those of us who ran through the subprime ranks in the 1990s and early 2000s. Effectively, the government is leading the charge in increased lending for the significant segment of the market that technically qualifies as “subprime.” Bill Visnic of Edmunds.com succinctly states that the subprime market is “definitely going to expand” in 2011. In fact, according to Experian Automotive, the arm of the credit reporting company that reviews the car industry, the share of new vehicle loans going to “credit-challenged” buyers increased 12.7 percent in the third quarter of 2010 compared with the same period a year earlier.

These statistics aren’t news to the many dealers who maintained their subprime operations through the most massive contraction the industry has ever experienced. The subprime warriors who hung in there are poised to capitalize on what industry experts are touting as the next “big wave” of profitability since subprime departments became popular profit centers. And guess what? Even though credit scores are falling, people are still making their car payments.

The “experts” keep banging the subprime drum, as if the savvy dealers who remain standing on the playing field haven’t considered ramping their subprime efforts back up. It boils down to threshold – there’s no question that jumping back into the subprime game sounds like a good idea, but what about proactively gearing your organization to truly be ready to profit from the opportunity? In my more than 22 years experience working in the subprime market, both on the retail and on the national marketing sides, I’ve established a formula for success that every dealer can use to either start a subprime department up from scratch — or, ramp up a department that they’ve mothballed over the past several years. There are three critical components to the success of a new or revisited subprime venture — and everything hinges on getting these “right.”

lead generation One of the cornerstones of BarNone’s success

under my management was the significant generation of leads utilizing multiple marketing channels that resulted in extremely high ROI on marketing dollars. We drove leads utilizing broadcast media, Internet, direct mail, etc. The marketing options available to dealers today are significantly greater, and offer mind-blowing targeting capabilities that weren’t available even five years ago. The first order of business for any dealer-based subprime program is determining where your lead flow of subprime customers is going to come from. You need to find out how reliable the sources are, how consistent they are, and what kind of ROI they deliver for their current clients. Short-term contracts or on demand programs are best. Typically, online leads are less expensive but result in a lower closing ratio and lower return on investment. Direct mail leads are more expensive, but close at a higher rate and generate a higher return. Deciding on the best mix of lead generation programs for your subprime program requires due diligence and maybe some trial and error, but once you have the “right” combination, you’re “in business.”

staffing Anyone who has ever involved themselves in the automotive subprime realm knows it’s a grind. Without a consistent process, and properly trained staff, you might as well throw your marketing dollars out the window. If you figure that taking an application over the phone takes your special finance manager at least 30 minutes, how many inbound inquiries/applications are you going to be able to process each day? Are they trained to ask the questions that the loan officers will ask? Do they use a consistent process each and every day, and is each one of your managers capable of performing at the level of the others? This step in the process, is where the break down most often occurs.

process Having a consistent and efficient method for the processing of inbound inquiries and applications is the final and perhaps most critical ingredient to the success of “Mission Subprime.” You know how it can go: phone

rings, sales person answers, races for an application, gets a five-line app, makes up some “phone authorization” code, and hangs up to run and find a sales manager to pull the credit report. If the salesperson manages to get that done, chances are, the report bodes ill for the buyer; the salesperson shoves the whole thing in a drawer and moves on in search of new prey. This is obviously a worst-case scenario, and many dealerships across the country, some 4,000 of them to date, are actively involved in processing applications in a more appropriate way, but are they still capable of reaching the efficiencies they need to realize the greatest ROI?

Fortunately, solutions that provide for training, or for entire fulfillment outsourcing exist, and these options offer scalable solutions that represent a variable and controllable cost. This flexibility allows a dealer to catch the next wave of subprime without incurring headaches and mitigating risk.

I’ve said quite a few times over the past few months that if I were going to go back into the retail business, I’d go back in as a “subprime guy.” Just like the other 4,000 “subprime guys” who are currently out there doing their thing, I’d set up my processes, and I’d start selling cars. The great news for the other 20,000 dealers out there is that there are resources, and there is technology available affordably today to help you construct or reconstruct your subprime programs and gear yourself for success. It’s a lot like surfing. When you know the waves are gonna get good, you gear up and get ready. Fortunately, there are a lot of us who have been there, and we’re back in the marketplace, offering our expertise and advice to help you make the most of the next Spi-Fi wave. Get ready to catch it.

Jim Crouse is the CEO of Cloud One. He can be contacted at 866.485.7071, or by e-mail at [email protected].

http://www.gamarketing.com



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marketing solutionSeanStapleton


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are You using Your data integration as a strategic weapon?

I believe that in today’s ultra-competitive market the visibility into your data is no longer sufficient. Users must be empowered to easily act in real-time directly on this data from one common platform. It is an important trend to recognize; the more solutions that take advantage of interoperability points to increase efficiencies, effectiveness, cost reductions and just ease of use will thrive. We can see it more clearly everyday by analyzing everything from customers’ usage, conversion rates and through simple customer feedback.

There is no debating that this approach will help dealers and large dealer groups drive operational efficiencies in many areas. Every profit center must be synergistically integrated with every other department in the dealership while, at the same time, producing their maximum profitability. If not, you are missing out. Data and product integration is vital to ensure that data is not lost, replicated erroneously or supplied by a third party — to avoid inaccurate analysis.

Does your Website work with your inventory

module? Does your ILM work with your CRM and desking tool? Can you evaluate a trade from your desking tool? Should they all work together? The proprietary advantages are huge if you have a single synergistic approach that works.

There are many dealerships and dealer groups that have now recognized that this approach not only gives them competitive advantage but is easier to manage and, in most cases, saves them money. The approach is a virtually untapped goldmine. The question is: Are you set up to maximize your opportunities using your solutions providers and customer database that you have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to acquire? Or are you just “checking the box”? (“Yes, I have an Inventory provider; yes, I have a separate ILM, different CRM, different mobile CRM, different desking solution, and a completely different company for my data management, equity mining and direct mail.”)

Are you leveraging one of your most valuable

assets that you own today?

Do your current solution providers recognize and support the new undisputable shift in the automotive market towards a usable and precise strategy that recognizes data and product integration as a fundamental cornerstone of competitive differentiation?

You owe it to yourself to make an evaluation so that you can make the changes needed to give you the most competitive advantages possible.

Sean Stapleton is the CSO forVinSolutions. He can be contacted at 866.587.7629, or by e-mail [email protected].


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marketing solutionScottJoseph

Right now many of us have set goals for what we want to accomplish in 2011. Any time I plan our business goals and strategies it is with the following in mind.

The reality is there are only three ways to grow your dealership — or any business, for that matter:1. Increase your number of active customers2. Increase your average profit per transaction3. Increase your customers’ repurchase

frequency

Look at this conservative example shown by yearly sales (of course, this same formula can and should be applied to every area of your dealership):

A 10 percent increase in each of the three areas equals a 33 percent increase in profit.

suggestions to growYour customer baseIncrease your leads or inquiries through:• Referral systems• Acquiring conquest customers at break-even

up front and make a profit on the back end• Advertising• Turning service customers into sales

customers• Running special events• Using public relations Increase your customer retention rate by:• Delivering higher-than-expected levels of

service

• Communicating frequently with your customers to nurture them

• Improving your customer’s current situation. You have hidden assets in your customer database where you can actually offer customers the opportunity to reduce their monthly expenses with no money down — regardless of equity.

Increase your closing percentage by:• Increasing sales skill levels of your staff• Making irresistible offers• Educating your customers• Gain control of your direction and destiny.

Stop blaming people and circumstances and take total responsibility for your numbers.

suggestions to increase Youraverage profit per transaction• Improve your team’s selling techniques to

up-sell and cross-sell• Packaging complementary products and

services together• Increasing your pricing and hence your

margins• Offer greater/larger units of purchase

To increase your repurchase frequency:• Advertise your service and parts department

so your customers come back to you again and again

• Communicating personally with your customers (by telephone, letters, e-mail and social media) to maintain a positive relationship

INCREASEyour number of customers sold

INCREASEyour average

profit pertransaction

INCREASEyour repurchase

frequency(Assuming customer buys

one vehicle every four years and you improve it 10%)

TOTALyearly gross profit growth

1,500

+10% Increase

1,650

$2,000

+10% Increase

$2,200

1

+10% Increase

1.1

=

=

=

x

x

x

x

$3,000,000

33% Increase

$3,993,000

• Running special events such as “VIP days,” “closed door sales,” “limited pre-showings” and so on

• Pull-ahead programs by giving customers irresistible offers before their normal repurchase dates

to help You get started,answer the following Questions:• How many customers do you estimate you

could sell this year?• List two additional sales processes to make

up for current sources of leads and sales.• List ways you can use endorsements, referral

campaigns and social media to more than double your “word-of-mouth” business.

• List ways you can generate 20 percent more qualified leads — and then improve your conversion rate up to 40 percent.

• What could be the value of average purchases?• List ways you can insulate yourself from

price competition and charge a premium that fairly reflects the quality of your dealership.

• List ways you can package your products and services to increase your average profit per sale without sacrificing market share.

• List ways you can convince just 10 percent of your clients to give you 100 percent of their business.

• How many times could an average customer buy from you each year (for just front end sales – within a 3.5 year period)?

• List ways you can structure strategic alliances to enable you to introduce other companies’ products to your clients (and vice versa).

• List ways you can convince customers to make bulk purchases and commit to “standing order” agreements.

• List ways you can cost effectively create one or more back-end products that your customers will willingly purchase from you.

Scott Joseph is the president of J&L Marketing, Inc. He can be contacted at 888.835.1689, or by e-mail at [email protected].

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sales & training solutionMarkTewart

whY Yournew Year’sresolutions fail

When you read the title to this article, did it make you wince? Did it make you a little angry? For most of you, you have already let your resolutions go to the wayside with empty promises. The good news is that you can achieve most, if not all, of your resolutions.

First of all, words are cheap. You must truly decide. You are who you decide to be at any given moment. When you truly decide to achieve something, you begin to walk, talk and act more like that person who has achieved the goal you desired. Every day provides you with RPE’s (Recent Positive Experiences) that give you proof you have achieved victory already — only the date and time have not been filled in.

Secondly, you must erase all your limiting beliefs and create a “superstar” mindset. You can’t act in confidence if your mind is telling you that your goal is impossible. You must write down what you want, and then listen closely to what your limiting beliefs are telling you. Write down those limiting beliefs and then erase them. You must start with a clean slate, or your subconscious mind filled with

all those limiting beliefs will lead you like an autopilot directly to failure.

Begin to bombard your brain with evidence that what you want to do can happen. Listen to audios, watch DVDs and read positive material that supports your mission. There are millions of examples of people who have accomplished much tougher tasks than anything you can ever dream of and they did not have more talent, knowledge or anything else than you.

Begin to picture in your “mind’s eye” exactly what you want to happen in complete detail. Try to imagine, and then feel the exact emotions you will feel when you achieve your goal. You can dismiss this as silly if you want, but if you are not reaching your goals, you have to look in the mirror and take responsibility for what is truly silly. There are no excuses.

Behind every goal is a desired emotion. That emotion represents something you feel that you want or need. Ask yourself why you desire that. “When the ‘why’ gets strong, the ‘how’ gets easy.” When you know why you want

something and what that fulfills in you, you can now begin to plan the daily actions that will lead you there.

You may not be able to determine exactly when you will reach your goal, but you should have a deadline to each and every goal you set. A sense of urgency is a key to achieving success in anything you do. It’s amazing what you can accomplish in a quicker period of time than you would have ever imagined if you give yourself a deadline. The best way I have heard this described is, if you had a gun to your head and had to accomplish this goal by the date determined, would you?

Once you achieve one goal, it will give you competence in how to achieve the next one. Competence = Confidence. Acting confidently in a competent manner each day leads to achievement of your goals. Don’t let another year go by without you achieving what you desire and deserve. Until you decide you deserve your goal, your desire will only be half-hearted. Here’s to you and toasting the achievement of all you desire.

For a free special report on “How To Achieve Your Goals,” e-mail me with the word “goals” in the subject line to the address below.

Mark Tewart is the president of Tewart Enterprises, and the author of the best seller, How To Be A Sales Superstar. He can be contacted at 866.429.6844, or by e-mail at [email protected].


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sales & training solutionTomHopkins


Have you ever heard this from a potential client: “Okay. Well, thanks for the information. I want to shop around and will get back to you if this is really what I want.” Unless you’ve only been in business a day or two, you have.

In most cases what are they really saying to you? They’re saying, “I want to know if I can get it cheaper somewhere else,” or “I want to find if I can get the dealer across town to beat your price.” It’s usually a money issue when you hear those words. Occasionally, the client will not really be certain that the product meets their needs and be looking for other vehicles, colors or options along similar lines to what you have available.

Having clients with a desire to shop for a bargain is a given in any business, but especially so in the automotive industry. Knowing how to get them to stop shopping and make the decision to own is a skill. It’s a skill you can develop with some thought and a bit of effort in applying the right strategy.

You must understand that it’s pretty normal that we all want that new car smell, the best warranty in the business, the great-looking vehicle, the most economical, environmentally forward car or the status-symbol car of our dreams. But, no one wants to pay too much for it. Before you can use the right words to address these situations, you have to know what you’re up against.

How much do you know about the vehicles, options and special pricing offers being made by your competition? Do you know what your clients are comparing you with? If not, invest some valuable time in research. Investing a

day or two visiting the competition with the eyes of a shopper just might surprise you. You may readily see a weakness in their product or service that you will then use as a strong selling point in your presentations. You may find a weakness in yours that you will need to be prepared to address with those savvy shoppers who come your way. Either way, you must learn information critical to your success.

After doing your research, you may learn that the competition truly does offer your product at a lower investment. Or, it may be that they offer a similar vehicle with fewer options, just not options that most people would care about. Or, they may not offer the excellent service that you do. There’s bound to be something you find that’s not as good as what you offer. If you don’t find one of those three things as being different from your offering, you may need to talk with your manager about how the dealership wants you to handle the situation.

The next time you hear a client say, “I want to shop around,” or “I can get it cheaper somewhere else,” use these words: “That may well be true, Mary. And, after all, in today’s economy we all want the most for our money.” You see, by agreeing with them, they’ll sense that you have their interests at heart and will listen to what you say next: “A truth that I have

learned over the years is that the cheapestprice is not always what we really want. Most people look for three things when making an investment: the finest quality, the best service and the lowest price. I have never yet found a company that could provide the finest quality and the best service for the lowest

price. I’m curious, Mary, for your long-term happiness with your new vehicle, which of the three would you be most willing to give up? Quality? Service? Or, low price?”

You’ll find that few clients want to give up on quality. Oh, there will be a few who will choose to downscale either in the size of the vehicle or in the number of options they want. Not many like the idea of inferior service. So, that leaves the money as being the main issue in 90 percent of the cases. What you’ve just done with the words I’ve given you here is to help them rationalize and justify the amount of money that was the issue just a moment ago. They have to admit that in order to get quality and service, there is a cost. Most people, when they come to this conclusion, realize the benefit of having the buying decision made. They rationalize spending the money in exchange for that great service and quality product — the things that really make the difference in a vehicle purchase. Then, they can move on to getting something else done that’s important in their lives, not investing any more time in researching their vehicle purchase and being happy to have made their final decision.

Then, it’s your job to keep them happy enough with your follow up service that when it’s time

to replace that vehicle or purchase another, they’ll come to you.

World-renowned master sales trainer Tom Hopkins is the chairman of Tom Hopkins International. He can be contacted at 866.347.6148, or by e-mail [email protected].

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marketing solutionSusanGivens

video search engine optimization increases sales bY 45 percent


Video Search Engine Optimization (VSEO) is the process of ensuring that video assets generate the highest-possible volume of quality traffic to your Website. Dealerships such as Gary Mathews of Jackson, in Jackson, Tennessee, recently implemented a digital marketing platform to help them appear on top of the leading search engines like Google, Yahoo!, Bing and YouTube in their local market to attract, sell and service more customers profitably. “My Internet department has been doing 40 to 45 percent of the dealership’s business, and that’s true accountable sells, not just sourcing,” said Duran Cage, Internet Director for Gary Mathews of Jackson.

With more than 88 percent of ready-to-buy consumers using search engines to shop, most dealers are scrambling to outbid their competitors to appear on top for the most popular search phrases in their market. Gary Mathews uses a VSEO company that automates thousands of activities to ensure

their dealership dominates the most popular search terms on all of the major search engines organically with high-impact videos. This practice has become vital to successful online marketing strategies. Online video is fast-becoming a highly effective and cost-effective means of advertising within the automotive industry.

In the last two years, there has been an undeniable surge in the number of online video viewers, with approximately 175 million unique viewers watching an average of more than 900 minutes of online video each a month, based on an October 2010 report by www.comScore.com, and www.eMarketer.com predicts nine out of 10 Internet users will be consuming video by 2012.

In 2007, Google pioneered “universal search,” otherwise known as “blended search,” where multiple search results are returned in one convenient results display that includes

Websites, news articles, images, press releases, maps, blogs, social media, e-commerce and video. Google’s universal search capability undoubtedly kicked online video marketing into high gear.

According to Google, searchers are 55 percent more likely to click on thumbnail video images than static links and because of this Google gives more ranking authority to video, thus placing videos on the top of search engine results. “People would rather watch the movie than read the book,” said Karry Moore, president and founder of www.Car-mercial.com, the company

that Gary Mathews uses. “VSEO is ‘targeted TV,’ and VSEO allows dealers to deliver their message to engaged consumers.”

Additionally, dealers can now have multiple listings on “Page One” by implementing a strong SEO and VSEO strategy. Traditionally, dealers could get only one listing for a keyword or phrase such as “Jackson TN, Hyundai Santa Fe” or “Hyundai Santa Fe Jackson TN” because they only had one Website optimized for that phrase. Now with VSEO, they can build on that single Website return to have multiple video listings on that page, which creates more exposure for the dealership and keeps the competition relegated to “Page 2” results.

Google indexes all video-sharing sites, not just YouTube. This means that the more video sites a dealer distributes their video content to, the more opportunity that the search engines will have to index those videos and consider it relevant content for search returns; thus, multiple listings for keywords or phrases such as “Jackson Hyundai Santa Fe.”

Video has become such a game-changer that VSEO companies like the one Gary Mathews of Jackson uses have developed and launched the automotive industry’s first true video search portal, www.CarBuyersEngine.com, the only video portal of its kind where consumers can research and shop for new and used vehicles, find a dealership, review vehicle comparisons or financing without the typical online “clutter” — meaning, no pop-ups or annoying previews to sit through before video begins.

The Internet is an ever-changing landscape and dealers need to keep pace with the changes. There are no silver bullets, but clearly video and VSEO need to be incorporated into a dealers’ online digital strategy. “We want to ‘own’ the Jackson market and video is helping take us to the next level,” Cage said.

Susan Givens is the publisher of AutoSuccess. She can be contacted at 877.818.6620, or by e-mail at [email protected].

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marketing solutionBryanAnderson

easier than shooting fish in a barrel

Lead generation in any industry or economy is vital to the health and prosperity of business. This has never been more important in the automotive industry than it is right now. The swinging showroom door, traditional marketing and the quest for new customers while ignoring your owner base is all quickly becoming a thing of the past. What is smart is taking advantage of what you already know about your customers, and using it in a way that makes the most sense – and profit.

Dealership CRM databases easily contain 50,000 … 100,000 … even a million plus customers, in some instances. Let’s just consider one segment of these enormous goldmines: your in-equity customers.

Selling customers who are in an equity position is nothing new; but where this used to be business we stumbled upon, it now has become the grail we seek as auto dealers. The great news is you already have the data. Everything you need is available in your store

to create an additional revenue stream month after month. Think about it: Any one of your managers could go in the back and dig through the paperwork from the past few years. With this in hand, they could then cross-reference that info with the following:• Current value of vehicle by model, mileage

and market info• Payoff calculation considering refundables• Specific term based on buyer preference • Specific rate based on buyer history• Consideration for all current manufacturer

rebates and incentives• Buyer’s vehicle preferences and present

vehicle run against current history• Identify all opportunities that fit within the

dealer’s preferred profit structure

Where manual calculations would make this task nearly impossible, technology makes it a breeze; generating a daily list of in-equity sales and service customers.

You know how it plays out from here. You

contact a short list of these customers each day, based on the above calculations, and inform them that with little to no money down they could get into a new vehicle without increasing their monthly payment. You are the hero in the customer’s eyes and the hero at the dealership.

Let’s take it to the next level: while one-to-one contact with equity customers has produced great results for many dealers, timely campaigns to these same customers may be the golden ticket. Incorporating in-equity customers into your monthly marketing plan adds an additional layer of contact and purpose. This additional layer doesn’t just increase revenue, but boosts customer loyalty and retention.

And while your customers are saving money, you are making more. Gross from in-equity sales are higher on average. As the customer perceives a deal in his or her favor, there is very little pushback on price. These highly satisfied customers generate referrals – an added perk to working equity leads. Based on consistent results in 2010, equity management could perhaps offer the greatest return on any investment a dealer could make in 2011. Fish in a barrel doesn’t even compare; this is dinner served hot at the table.

Bryan Anderson is the founder of Autobase. He can be contacted at 866.667.9659, or by e-mail at [email protected].

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sales & training solutionMattBaker

customer pain = profithow feature and benefit selling can cost You sales

Take a second to consider your direct competitors. Chances are one of them (if not all) has inventory comparable to yours, and many offer the same features and benefits you do. What does this mean to the customers you target? Thanks in part to the accessibility of info on the Internet, today’s car buyers often pride themselves on knowing which dealerships stock similar cars. In addition, these “savvy shoppers” will have no problem bringing their product knowledge to your attention, especially if it’s regarding a competitor’s price. To move the sales process forward, these customers need more than just a reason to buy at the lowest price. They need a reason to buy from you.

What’s a salesperson to do in a situation like this? Spout off the car’s major features and benefits? Sorry — your competition has already told the customer that. So now what? If you’re next move was to compete on price, you may want to take note: There is more than one way to sell against your competitors. Lowering your price at the expense of traditional and outdated sales techniques should not be an option.

While traditional feature and benefit selling may have worked well in the past, consumer buying behaviors are rapidly changing. Features and benefits do still have their role in any successful sales process. Basing an entire sales strategy off this principle, however, is becoming an increasingly unproductive way of doing business.

This article will explore a less traditional, more effective sales technique known as “pain funnel” selling. If you are a dealer, manager or salesperson looking to decrease the likelihood of price shopping, and increase customer urgency to buy, then this technique is for you.

feature & benefit vs. pain funnel: what’s the difference?Day in and day out, many salespeople rely on feature and benefit-based selling as a means to make a living — often overlooking the fact that their approach may be what’s standing between them and their next check.

Most salespeople spend so much of their time rattling off features and benefits that they often don’t realize why the customer might want or need to buy a car. In fact, scripted explanations of a product’s features and benefits often make things more complicated by raising potential issues not originally considered by the customer.

Every salesperson, at some point, has been trained to utilize this traditional approach. As

a result, consumers have grown board with the repetitive pitch, and are less responsive to it. Granted, features and benefits are an important aspect, but only when the features and benefits discussed are specifically tailored to what your customer believes are important. It’s time to swap out meaningless feature and benefit-focused conversations for more emotional connections with your customers.

Emotions are the governing power when it comes to decisions — especially those concerning purchases. People in general buy for one of four reasons. These are:1. Current Pain 3. Future Pain2. Current Gain 4. Future Gain

Emotions one and two are the most powerful and are, therefore, the most influential when it comes to purchasing. Emotions three and four are important, but are less likely to immediately influence buying decisions. The pain funnel selling strategy focuses on probing emotions one and two in an effort to ignite a more instantaneous response from the customer.

Think of it like this: You’ve got the flu and have decided to see a new doctor. If the doctor focused all of his time talking about his education as opposed to asking for your ailments, what would get accomplished? Would you be correctly diagnosed, and receive a prescription to cure your pain? Well, probably not. If the doctor had focused more on your ailments and less on his ego, you’d have a much better chance of becoming pain free.

Pain funnel selling works off of a similar principle. Instead of focusing on features or benefits the customer isn’t interested in, it pushes for the customer to talk about their problems. Doing so allows the customer to self-discover how you or your dealership can help them feel better. As a result, that customer understands the urgency in rectifying their problems and is more likely to decide to buy from you on the spot with less resistance to price.

the five-step processWhile the principle is simple, its execution has been known to throw even the most talented salespeople for a loop. Not because it’s difficult, but because it’s so much different than what they’ve done in the past. Here is a five-step process you can follow that will help you grasp the principles of pain funnel selling.

step 1: Find your true prospects. Even those who appear to be well will have a problem. Once a problem has been uncovered, make sure to ask how long they’ve dealt with it. Those who have let it linger for years will likely not be looking to fix it today. Others who have recently

discovered the issue will be better suited to make a more immediate change.

step 2: Make the prospect hurt. OK, this sounds bad, but in reality it’s the best thing you can do to move the prospect forward. Customers may respond to your initial pitch by remarking that they like the car you have to offer, but they can “get it cheaper down the road.” These potential customers see an intellectual reason for purchasing, but they haven’t understood it emotionally yet. Don’t try to read the customer’s mind. Get clarity on why they are having a problem.

To draw out the prospect’s pain, use a dummy approach (for more on utilizing the dummy approach, read “Learning the Language: Three Communication Tactics to Increase Closing Percentages” in the July 2010, issue of AutoSuccess Magazine). Respond to customer comments with questions that delve deeper into the problem. Going for the close at this stage will ruin your chances for a sale.

step 3: Intensify the prospects pain. Don’t be afraid to probe the issues the customer brings up. You want them to self-discover how bad things really are. Once they reach that point, they’re emotionally involved. But be wary: Over-probing can lead to a lost sale, too.

step 4: Arrive at the “critical state.” This is the point where customers are willing to pay anything or do anything to solve their “current pain.” Taking them on this painful journey has made them realize why they need to fix the issue immediately. At this stage in their world, life may not go on without eliminating the pain.

step 5: Perform a healing miracle. This is where you position yourself and your product as the cure. Reiterate the pain the customer just divulged, and explain how you and your product plan to take each aspect of it away. Features and benefits play a role here. But don’t forget: Only present the features and benefits that solve the prospects current pain.

While this five-step process has been proven to be effective, it is not without its boundaries. To better understand how this process should be utilized, e-mail me with the subject “pain funnel” to receive G&A’s Guide to Improving Sales Talent: Pain Funnel Selling. This informative guide will help you discover ways to implement this strategy through industry relevant role plays and pain-provoking word tracks.

Matt Baker is the vice president of sales for G&A Marketing. He can be contacted at 866.618.8248, or by e-mail [email protected].



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Hendrick Lexus implemented new marketing strategies across mul-tiple mediums that improved their sales and service profi tability and positively aff ected all their profi t centers, while reducing their over-all costs per sale.

Th is fl agship Lexus dealership opened its doors in 1989 and has become the #1 luxury retailer for the Hendrick Automotive Group, the largest privately owned group in the country. Located in Charlotte, NC, Hendrick Lexus has grown into a national leader for Lexus in numerous categories and currently

Hendrick Lexus Soars Ahead 14 spots in Market Share in Just 3 months

ranks as the #1 volume dealership in the Carolinas. In addition, they are the only dealer in the country to win back-to-back awards as the #1 Certifi ed Pre-Owned Lexus dealer in the nation.

“We are consumed with delivering a world class customer experience that far surpasses our customers’ expectations – we want to WOW our customers every chance we get,” said Brian Gendron, General Manager of Hendrick Lexus. “We believe that no one will treat our customers as well as we do, so we owe it to everyone in our market to

make sure they know about Hen-drick Lexus and have the oppor-tunity to enjoy the experience our employees create.”

To ensure that every eligible cus-tomer knows about Hendrick Lexus, Gendron took time to as-sess and reengineer the dealership’s entire marketing strategy to attract, serve and satisfy more custom-ers for less cost than they spent before. “We need a holistic mar-keting plan that communicates a consistent message through every touch point with the customer,” said Gendron. “We were spending

In a Nutshell


Success Storying.com for targeted email and di-rect mail campaigns for Hendrick’s sales and service departments. “We use the manufacturer’s research, Polk Market data and the dealer’s historic sales and service trends to target in-market customers who buy and service more oft en with the dealership over their lifetime,” added Blackburn.

“We are making an eff ort to spend money more eff ectively by attract-ing and retaining customers who spend more with us, not just today but over their life time,” said Gen-dron. “When the press said we were in the worst market in 18 years, we actually felt some wind in our sails because of this new strategy. We were connecting diff erently with consumers and it drove them to us. We had moved up 14 spots in YTD rankings over 2009 in only 3 months and it was evident our plan was defi nitely working.”

Another component to Hendrick’s new marketing strategy is online videos to promote the dealer-ship. Today over 70% of online car buyers initiate their new vehicle search online and Hendrick uses video search engine optimization (VSEO) to appear on top of the search results with hi-impact vid-eos that promote their dealership and the products they sell. Google changed their algorithm so that video results have more search au-thority than traditional text results so Hendrick uses VSEO to appear on page one for the most popu-lar search phrases in their market.

“Google gives advantage to video results over text results and con-sumers like video more than text because it combines sight, sound and motion,” said Karry Moore, Owner of www.Car-Mercial.com, the company Hendrick uses to pro-duce, optimize and place hundreds of positive videos on top of the search engines. In addition to attracting new cus-tomers, Hendrick works very hard to create customers for life by de-livering a world class customer experience. “We want to astonish our customers with extraordinary service. We monitor how our cus-tomers are being handled so we can make sure that they receive a 5-star experience at our dealership,” said Gendron. Hendrick moni-tors 100% of their inbound calls so they can measure their advertising and track how their customers are handled on the phones, the num-ber one entry point for consumers today. “Our managers get instant alerts whenever a customer is mis-handled so they can contact them immediately to resolve issues, save a deal and save a customer in the long term. We save multiple deals a week and repair broken relation-ships that could lead to lost cus-tomers and even worse, bad word-of-mouth,” explained Gendron.

Hendrick uses their call monitor-ing strategy to ensure that every customer is handled properly and their advertising is generating the highest yield. “Within minutes of Hendrick’s management team re-

ceiving an alert, they are able to con-tact the customer directly and resolve their concerns,” said Chip King, presi-dent of www.CallRevu.com, the com-pany that provides the call monitoring service to Hendrick. Hendrick uses the reports to measure the eff ective-ness of their advertising and to moni-tor all customer phone calls through daily, weekly and monthly reports, as well as, real-time alerts that save deals and prevent potential CSI concerns.

“Our team’s compulsive focus on serv-ing the customer has enabled us to be-come the proud recipients of the ‘Elite of Lexus’ award for several years in a row,” said Gendron.

“While we have had a fantastic year, we have a lot of areas we need to improve on so we look forward to improving and growing in 2011.”

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Hendrick Lexus moved ahead 14 spots in YTD National rankings in less than 3 months by implementing a holistic marketing strategy that combines traditional advertising with digital, social media, reputation management, publicity, targeted marketing, point of sale merchandising and retention.

Hendrick Lexus’ advertising has the same look, feel and messaging so consumers are exposed to a consistent professional message and creative.

Hendrick Lexus executes a highly-effective comprehensive marketing strategy with clear calls-to-action across all marketing mediums.

Hendrick Lexus targets consumers who have the highest statistical probability of doing business with their dealership today and in the long term.

Hendrick Lexus promotes all their pro t centers with cohesive messaging.

Hendrick Lexus optimizes their online visibility with search marketing, video search marketing, targeted email campaigns and banner ads.

Hendrick Lexus monitors all customer phone calls to ensure customers are handled properly, examine ad tracking, and assess employee call performance.

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In a Nutshell

In a Nutshell


too much money with too many companies who were sending out diff erent messages to our customers with a diff erent look and feel. Th is confused our customers and our even own employees.” Hendrick Lexus’ new strategy uses the same messaging, designs and off ers across all advertising mediums: TV, radio, print, outdoor, web, search, social, email, mail, publicity, point of sale merchandising and retention. “We work with one company rather than 15 diff erent vendors and we are spending less for a more integrated strategy that delivers a positive and consistent message to the market.”

While Hendrick Lexus continues to provide the award-winning ex-perience that their customers and employees have come to expect,

they are now able to let more people know about it through their new marketing strategy that promotes all their departments, New, Used, Service & Parts, and Finance. “Too many dealers focus most of their marketing only on sales despite the fact that their service departments are the life-line when the market slows down,” said Sean Wolfi ngton, owner of www.Tier10Marketing.com, the marketing company that Hendrick Lexus uses. “It is critical for dealers to integrate all 10 tiers of marketing so the dealership has the same message, look and feel in all their advertising and marketing materials,” Wolfi ngton added.

“We now promote both sales and service to customers who have a better chance of doing business

with our dealership,” said Gendron, and their dealership has saved a lot of money by shift ing their focus from more expensive traditional mass marketing to a more targeted advertising that speaks to consum-ers who have the highest statistical probability of buying and servicing their vehicle with the dealership.

“Customers that live far away are naturally less loyal, but customers who live closer to a dealership’s “per-fect market” have a much higher probability of returning more of-ten, spending more money and re-ferring more of their friends,” said Budd Blackburn, the creator of the “perfect prospect predictor” and the owner of www.TeamVelocityMar-keting.com, the targeted marketing team that works with Teir10Market-








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Success Story Success Story

In a Nutshell

In a Nutshell


too much money with too many companies who were sending out diff erent messages to our customers with a diff erent look and feel. Th is confused our customers and our even own employees.” Hendrick Lexus’ new strategy uses the same messaging, designs and off ers across all advertising mediums: TV, radio, print, outdoor, web, search, social, email, mail, publicity, point of sale merchandising and retention. “We work with one company rather than 15 diff erent vendors and we are spending less for a more integrated strategy that delivers a positive and consistent message to the market.”

While Hendrick Lexus continues to provide the award-winning ex-perience that their customers and employees have come to expect,

they are now able to let more people know about it through their new marketing strategy that promotes all their departments, New, Used, Service & Parts, and Finance. “Too many dealers focus most of their marketing only on sales despite the fact that their service departments are the life-line when the market slows down,” said Sean Wolfi ngton, owner of www.Tier10Marketing.com, the marketing company that Hendrick Lexus uses. “It is critical for dealers to integrate all 10 tiers of marketing so the dealership has the same message, look and feel in all their advertising and marketing materials,” Wolfi ngton added.

“We now promote both sales and service to customers who have a better chance of doing business

with our dealership,” said Gendron, and their dealership has saved a lot of money by shift ing their focus from more expensive traditional mass marketing to a more targeted advertising that speaks to consum-ers who have the highest statistical probability of buying and servicing their vehicle with the dealership.

“Customers that live far away are naturally less loyal, but customers who live closer to a dealership’s “per-fect market” have a much higher probability of returning more of-ten, spending more money and re-ferring more of their friends,” said Budd Blackburn, the creator of the “perfect prospect predictor” and the owner of www.TeamVelocityMar-keting.com, the targeted marketing team that works with Teir10Market-








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Hendrick Lexus implemented new marketing strategies across mul-tiple mediums that improved their sales and service profi tability and positively aff ected all their profi t centers, while reducing their over-all costs per sale.

Th is fl agship Lexus dealership opened its doors in 1989 and has become the #1 luxury retailer for the Hendrick Automotive Group, the largest privately owned group in the country. Located in Charlotte, NC, Hendrick Lexus has grown into a national leader for Lexus in numerous categories and currently


ranks as the #1 volume dealership in the Carolinas. In addition, they are the only dealer in the country to win back-to-back awards as the #1 Certifi ed Pre-Owned Lexus dealer in the nation.

“We are consumed with delivering a world class customer experience that far surpasses our customers’ expectations – we want to WOW our customers every chance we get,” said Brian Gendron, General Manager of Hendrick Lexus. “We believe that no one will treat our customers as well as we do, so we owe it to everyone in our market to

make sure they know about Hen-drick Lexus and have the oppor-tunity to enjoy the experience our employees create.”

To ensure that every eligible cus-tomer knows about Hendrick Lexus, Gendron took time to as-sess and reengineer the dealership’s entire marketing strategy to attract, serve and satisfy more custom-ers for less cost than they spent before. “We need a holistic mar-keting plan that communicates a consistent message through every touch point with the customer,” said Gendron. “We were spending

In a Nutshell


Success Storying.com for targeted email and di-rect mail campaigns for Hendrick’s sales and service departments. “We use the manufacturer’s research, Polk Market data and the dealer’s historic sales and service trends to target in-market customers who buy and service more oft en with the dealership over their lifetime,” added Blackburn.

“We are making an eff ort to spend money more eff ectively by attract-ing and retaining customers who spend more with us, not just today but over their life time,” said Gen-dron. “When the press said we were in the worst market in 18 years, we actually felt some wind in our sails because of this new strategy. We were connecting diff erently with consumers and it drove them to us. We had moved up 14 spots in YTD rankings over 2009 in only 3 months and it was evident our plan was defi nitely working.”

Another component to Hendrick’s new marketing strategy is online videos to promote the dealer-ship. Today over 70% of online car buyers initiate their new vehicle search online and Hendrick uses video search engine optimization (VSEO) to appear on top of the search results with hi-impact vid-eos that promote their dealership and the products they sell. Google changed their algorithm so that video results have more search au-thority than traditional text results so Hendrick uses VSEO to appear on page one for the most popu-lar search phrases in their market.

“Google gives advantage to video results over text results and con-sumers like video more than text because it combines sight, sound and motion,” said Karry Moore, Owner of www.Car-Mercial.com, the company Hendrick uses to pro-duce, optimize and place hundreds of positive videos on top of the search engines. In addition to attracting new cus-tomers, Hendrick works very hard to create customers for life by de-livering a world class customer experience. “We want to astonish our customers with extraordinary service. We monitor how our cus-tomers are being handled so we can make sure that they receive a 5-star experience at our dealership,” said Gendron. Hendrick moni-tors 100% of their inbound calls so they can measure their advertising and track how their customers are handled on the phones, the num-ber one entry point for consumers today. “Our managers get instant alerts whenever a customer is mis-handled so they can contact them immediately to resolve issues, save a deal and save a customer in the long term. We save multiple deals a week and repair broken relation-ships that could lead to lost cus-tomers and even worse, bad word-of-mouth,” explained Gendron.

Hendrick uses their call monitor-ing strategy to ensure that every customer is handled properly and their advertising is generating the highest yield. “Within minutes of Hendrick’s management team re-

ceiving an alert, they are able to con-tact the customer directly and resolve their concerns,” said Chip King, presi-dent of www.CallRevu.com, the com-pany that provides the call monitoring service to Hendrick. Hendrick uses the reports to measure the eff ective-ness of their advertising and to moni-tor all customer phone calls through daily, weekly and monthly reports, as well as, real-time alerts that save deals and prevent potential CSI concerns.

“Our team’s compulsive focus on serv-ing the customer has enabled us to be-come the proud recipients of the ‘Elite of Lexus’ award for several years in a row,” said Gendron.

“While we have had a fantastic year, we have a lot of areas we need to improve on so we look forward to improving and growing in 2011.”

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Date post:	13-Sep-2014
Category:	Business
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