February 19, 2008 www.internetresearchpro.com
..."Consumers know and trust Kelley Blue Book values more than any other valuation source," Marcotte added. "By utilizing Kelley Blue Book values on our sites, we're providing shoppers what they want and need and keeping them on our sites longer."...
..."Having Kelley Blue Book values on our Web sites and on our lots helps bridge the trust gap between our dealers and car shoppers," said Gary Marcotte, senior vice president of marketing and e-commerce for AutoNation."...
Very true BUT hold on a minute and think about...I completely agree that it helps establish validity with regard to pricing but what it DOES NOT DO is start the selling process because you can't price a vehicle "low" enough ever to make that happen.
It takes interaction between a customer and a sales representative so when one wonders why the rep has to go back and forth price cutting while working with management, here is the answer...
Because they are selling a price and not the vehicle if the customer has never been given a product presentation henceforth establishing VALUE in that pre-owned vehicle or new car model.
Pricing may help generate inquiries but it's a slippery slope because customers demand open market pricing upfront.
So your damned if you do give pricing and damned if you don't but forgiveness can be had if you repent from the old school ways by giving that online customer respect for their time, distance traveled and trust in providing valid information BEFORE you ask the question "what day is good for you?, morning or afternoon? and blah blah blah" and so on. Huh, they didn't show up. Go figure, something must of "happened"...dog sick, somebody died, leaky roof etc.
Crap customers are created through bad service and not born that way. So you gave them a price and your upset they didn't have respect for your time price cutting?
Get over it. Information trumps price in making sales. The better you can deliver it the more you sell.
While your here think about this...Why does a customer ask you for more static pictures when you have posted 20 zillion of them online? Obvious answers, they look terrible, too small or way too slow loading because your website builder got cute and thought it would be cool to make them load in flash.
What is the customer really asking you for? Your help and the desire in building a relationship pursuant to buying a vehicle, get it? If they ask for ANY information the unspoken words are still the same with one exception when they inquire "do you still have the car, I'll buy for the price advertised and here is my credit card" done deal, ya right, happens that way all the time. LOL!!!
Anybody want to bet on whether my company's service is the future?
Call me direct anytime and anyplace and bet your commissions on it. Well maybe not because you have to sell something first, so cash will do.
Pete Latsoudis, 1-800-Autocam
pg.6 Kelley Blue Book and Autonation Article Comment
pg.5 One Web: Desktops and Devices Unite!
It's coming soon to a customers big screen at home or office are you ready autodealers?
Look at this way, has anybody heard about one of the key ingredients to a successful business as being location, location, location?
YOUR MOST IMPORTANT LOCATION IS YOUR WEB AND HOW WELL YOU PRESENT YOUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES. Having a beautiful waterfall in the showroom is great but THAT IS NOT THE FIRST PLACE YOUR CUSTOMERS VISIT!
Here is an excerpt of what is developing and you can read the rest by clicking the title link above.
..."If Adobe has its way -- given its Open Screen Project announcement of May 1 -- that will be the case. The Open Screen Project is an Adobe-led effort to drive rich Internet experiences across televisions, personal computers, mobile devices and consumer electronics"...
pg.4 Attention Dealer Principles Why Your IT Manager Said NO To Our Service
*Article Baselinemag.com-Ericka Chickowski March 23, 2008 --IT Labor Shortage or Not, Gaps Remain
...Steven Ostrowski, director of corporate communications for the Computer Technology Industry Association (CompTIA)...
"Ostrowski agrees, explaining that one of the biggest skills gaps that his organization currently sees in the IT job market is in soft skills, like management, communication and understanding of business processes.
“What we're finding and what we're hearing is that companies no longer want people just with strong technical skills,” he said. “They need to have a combination of technical, and business knowledge in that understanding how it fits into the business interests or the business operations of the organization they work for."
Ostrowski explains that in today’s tight economic times, many businesses are looking to squeeze as much value as they can out of their existing IT infrastructure.
Martineau agreed with Ostrowski’s assessment.“So they need people who can tell them how to take what they have today and make it work to its optimum capacity so that they can either become more productive as a business or reduce costs as a business,” he said. “And if an employee doesn’t understand how technology fits into the whole business scheme of things then they’re not much use to their employer as an IT worker.”
-So if your employing IT Sales Managers who are technically skilled but do not understand the core "sales process" of YOUR BUSINESS, how many deals are you losing not solving the problem of time, distance and trust?
pg.3 Google and Your Ad Money
Is your dealership spending thousands of dollars thinking Google can help you sell more cars? Think again.
Google is not at your dealership behind a computer building relationships with customers or product presenting.
You need to only understand that yes indeed customers found your site using Google search results, but in fact used it as shortcut so they would not have to put it into their browser address box with your web address http://www....com
Read this excerpt from eWeek.com Apri, 10, 2008 by Clint Boulton
"The one area where Google isn't particularly strong is in e-commerce transactions, where its Google Checkout platform sees only about 1 percent of what is sold on the Internet."...
My point here is that by subscribing to the 1-800-Autocam service your dealership would NOT be increasing ad and marketing expenses but in fact reducing it by shifting the money away from unsubstantiated results like Google ads.
Our service is either a Yes or No. Did you or did you not gain interest or sell a vehicle using it? period.
pg.2 Simply amazing!
We have been using the GO LIVE DEMO service for a few months and the response has been incredible.
Customers love that we are able to reduce the inquiry response time and time spent at our store by at least 50% by conducting a go live demo BEFORE they come in.
We are a new and ever growing luxury pre-owned autodealer in Northwest Indiana and have always known how important building trust with customers is.
There is truly nothing that can be said that customers haven't heard before about generally describing a vehicle that is for sale. Carfax and sending thank you for your inquiry alone is like driving in the dark with your eyes closed shut.
When they approached me about subscribing to the service I only had to ask myself why would I send anybody money to buy a car based on a few photos or pre-recorded and poor quality videos?...I wouldn't!
Want more bids on ebay and a better sale price? We found how much less work it truly was to stop the e-mail madness of sending documents and pictures back and forth. In conducting a live demo the customer and presenter visually see
the same vehicles features at the same time therefore customers
expectations are met based on self conclusive facts.
With 1-800-Autocam my sales presenters now can bridge our brick and mortar store with the virtual customer and aren't just waiting at the door all day for a fresh up.
It keeps them pro-active in a 10 hour day instead of trying to get lost or cut out early.
We also have had customers that where previously in the store but unfortunately the particular vehicle they where looking for was not in stock at the time.
When we searched and got the car for the customer, call after call to set appointments became a challenge because as almost everybody these days time is very valuable and the ever present lack of trust and "will be a waste of time if not as described". Now we can take firm and not maybe deposits from out of state buyers because what they see live online is what they will get.
Anytime or anyplace at home or office, our online customers are able to view in a matter of minutes and query the presenter about the vehicle of interest.
One more fact is that we are being overwhelmed by e-mail inquiries but which ones are more important than others?
The one's that lets us start the sales process by clicking and calling for a live demo...period. It is so easy to get off price alone and schedule a test drive if you give the customer something else to talk about OTHER than just "what's your best price".
Selling automobiles is truly a service and we are thankful for 1-800-Autocam letting us become part of the "e-vrolution" of an industry.
Joe-General Manager Dupont Motors Inc.
pg.1 “People don’t like to be sold"
www.smallbiztrends.com-January 25, 2008 By Anita Campbell
Siamak Taghaddos, GotVMail Communications – “People don’t like to be sold. If they did, they would spend all their free time in car dealerships. Instead, people want to be informed, they want to be educated. You’ll find your best customers are those you educate about your product or service and who then decide to purchase it because it is a good fit for them.
Prospects who buy your product/service but are not educated about your offering will be disappointed. They will not be return customers. Worse, they will tell others how they got ’sold’ by you. In the Internet age, this can quickly be very destructive to your business.”
DO YOU WANT TO BE SUCCESSFUL AND COMPETE IN TODAY'S MARKETPLACE? THEN LISTEN TO WHAT OTHER BUSINESS LEADERS ARE SAYING.
BOTTOM LINE...OLD SCHOOL WAYS DO NOT WORK.
ADAPT OR MOVE ON BECAUSE YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO "BUY" YOUR BUSINESS ANYMORE WITH GIMMICKS OR LOOK AT ME I AM ACTING CRAZY SO COME ON IN TODAY FOR A BETTER DEAL COMMERCIALS. Pete Latsoudis-1-800-AutoCam
Any of your vehicles to customers located anywhere
in the country with our GO "LIVE" DEMO solution.
into your website, e-mail message or online ad and begin
viewing a high resolution video feed and call to tele-query
your product presenter for a product demonstration.
New, Pre-owned or Certified vehicles inquiries
are converted into live virtual customer's, just as though
they where standing in your vehicle showroom right now!
*We provide the technology required to your retail automotive dealership for live media marketing vehicle demonstrations.
*Consultation on ad promotion and placement is included.
-Current Facts Of Why To Use Our Service-
"A fresher, more modern approach eliminates the fears prospects have of auto retailers and understands why many vehicle shoppers are online in the first place. First, you need to address specific customer fears. Those include the fear of salespeople waiting to attack anyone that drives onto a dealership parking lot, customers getting pushed off to another salesperson or manager and the sometimes protracted length of time it can take to go through the sales process.
If you can take these fears away and develop solid selling processes to meet today’s buyer’s expectations, you’ll have something to sell on that phone call: quality customer treatment and service.
In many cases, internet salespeople immediately discuss the vehicle that was requested on the lead with the prospect"...(WITHOUT ANY PRODUCT DEMONSTRATION OR PRESENTATION)
"What happens next? “What is your BEST PRICE?”...
Making a bit more sense why using our GO LIVE DEMO solution is so important.
Those are two questions that will reduce your profit margin, increase noncommitment and tie up your salespeople’s time, only to possibly lose out in the end. Old-school selling tactics don’t work anymore, either."
*Fort Lauderdale, FL (PRWEB) March 10, 2008 -- AutoUSA, the industry's leading provider of the highest quality Internet-generated consumer leads to auto dealer's nationwide, announced today that in a survey of 400 automotive dealerships, over 90% of respondents ranked "accuracy of the information" as the most important feature that keeps dealer's satisfied with third party new car lead providers.
More than 50% engage in some sort of "response activity," which included visiting a Web site, going to a physical location or making a purchase.
*EWeek.com January 02, 2008 --As much as e-mail, instant messages, blogs and their brethren technologies have helped knowledge workers better collaborate, interruptions and duplications derived from these forms of digital communication and content are overwhelming workers to the point of distraction.
The result is an egregious lack of productivity that may cost the U.S. economy $588 billion a year, according to a report by Basex, which has tabbed information overload as the "Problem of the Year" for 2008.
1. The success of customer relationship management depends on whether each interaction of customers with the organization was satisfying enough.
2. The cumbersome process is cost ineffective and unfriendly to maintain and track product and user data accurately.
*Great article excerpt from Baselinemag.com
By Chris Gonsalves March,04,2008
Ego Massage Does Your Business More Harm Than Good
- How it works in IT-
"You have an IT admin who makes decisions on new technology with a success rate roughly akin to a coin flip. But being the evolved, new-age manager you are, you lie and tell him his instincts are first rate.
When the spam filtering technology he installed starts to gobble legitimate e-mails—infuriating users and crushing corporate productivity—he’ll go to the wall trying to defend his choice. He’ll blame user error, insufficient training, nefarious outside forces… anything to keep from admitting he made a bad call. After all, YOU told him he was a whiz. Is any of this sounding familiar?"
Once again and never can say it enough, selling is about relationship building and providing a service and NOT by automation.
...LIVE ONLINE...
