To Ship or Not To Ship, That Is The Question

With 90% of new and used vehicle shoppers looking for the perfect car on the Internet your potential customer base just got a whole lot bigger (or smaller). 

Bigger if you decide to sell to everyone that's interested, Smaller if you choose to sell just locally.

I've had many of my dealers tell me they don't even respond to bidders on eBay, or emails from people in another state.  THAT'S CRAZY!  Ask yourself this; did you display the name and location of your dealership on the listing?  Of course you did.  So it stands to reason that the customer is willing to buy out-of-state, why aren't you willing to sell out-of-state?

Let's take the mystery and fear out of shipping a vehicle to a customer across the country. Some simple research will tell you exactly what your responsibility is in your state for tax and title, there are also several services that will handle everything for you.  Plus most DMS software will calculate taxes for any zip code and know if there is city, county, etc.

There are also several shipping companies that specialize in autos, heck, you can even use FedEx or UPS.  And for convenience; the shipping charges can be financed into the car deal (line 3) item.  You can even mark it up like sublet and make some money!

To protect yourself from shipping incidents (while rare), take these simple steps, they'll boost your feedback (CSI) ratings too;

• Take pictures of the car being loaded into the shipper and email them to the customer with a message like "here's your car on the way to it's new home".
• make sure the driver sees you take the photos so he knows there is a record of the condition of the vehicle when it left the dealership.
• Leave a Visa gift card in the car with a note to the customer to get the car detailed on you.

If anything happens during shipping the shipper is responsible, but assure the customer you will handle the details of any repairs.

One last thing; make sure you disclose all your "selling out-of-state" requirements, and shipping policies in each listing - build it into your template.  Some of eBay Motors top sellers include a map of the North America in their listing with 'dots' for all the places they sell to instill confidence in potential buyers, it works!  You could even add a video.

Don't fear the out-of-state buyer, that's your new customer, and they'll tell 2 friends, and they'll tell 2 friends, and so on...

Free Beer!

What makes a great eBay Motors listing?  How do you get the shoppers to click on your listing over your competitors (without pulling out the old "Free Beer" trick in the title)?  We have some tips that will get you on the path to high traffic listings and more online sales.

It starts with the template.  Templates are available from many sources, if you're listing with a third party inventory management software they will provide standard templates and in some cases custom templates for a fee.  If you list directly through eBay Motors using their free Dealer Center listing tool they have a variety of free customizable templates.  Which ever you choose templates should be;

• Easy to read, test several background colors and text colors together.
• Use a professional font
• Compliment the brand image of your dealership 

Most templates have sections to guide you on content but make sure you include the following;

• Personalized banner that includes your dealership branding
• Start with a "glamour shot" of the vehicle 3/4 angle front view (headlights on)
• A great description that says more than the vin decoder - remember it's an emotional purchase, build some emotion with your description
• 30-50 additional scrolling FULL SIZE pictures, don't make your customers click on thumbnails, they'll get bored and quit.  A slide show works too.
• Icons or links for vehicle history reports, KBB
• List of standard options or window sticker
• Highlight additional options, especially DVDs, Navigation, Sync, etc.
• Icon or link to secure credit application
• Background or About Us on your dealership (video or photos)
• Clearly labeled sections for Terms and Conditions, payment options, expectations at the end of auction (deposit, etc.), Shipping options - include links, any disclaimers, options for purchase of warranties etc.

The biggest thing to remember is Full Discloser.  All fees, all packs, No Surprises.  Surprises lead to lost deals and bad feedback.  Click here for an example of a great template. (Choose any listing)

Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock

Time is precious.  Time is of the essence.  Time is a hot commodity.  All true; especially when it's your time right?  But never forget that time is just as important to your customers.

Your customers have been interacting with you online more than ever before - mostly for convenience but also to save precious time.  So when they reach out by email or live chat or phone or even if they do walk into the dealership; respect their time.  Here are a few things we suggest that will go a long way to gaining a customers business by showing respect for their time;

• Always start each interaction by asking them if this is a good time for them.  Give them an estimate of the call timing, "Ms. Jones, I'm happy to answer all your questions today, do you have 15 minutes now for us to talk?"
• If they ask the price of a vehicle, tell them.
• If the car is listed on an eBay auction and has a reserve, tell them the reserve price.
• If they ask for a estimated payment, give them one (don't transfer them to F&I).
• Be proactive - offer to send them info (CarFax, more pictures, video) on several cars that may interest them.
• Don't try and force them to make an appointment before you answer their questions - they may not even be local.
• If they ask you to send more information, or follow-up, make sure you DO IT.
• Thank them for their time no matter what the outcome is of the call.
• Encourage them to check out your website and read about your dealership, view testimonials, etc.
• Tell them you will be following up on a certain day and make sure you DO IT.

On your thank you or follow-up email; remember to include links to your website, Facebook, Twitter, etc. along with any links chosen specifically for that customer.  This interaction could be their first impression of you and your dealership, don't waste it by wasting their time.

In The Good Old Summertime

Summertime!  Is there anything better?  OK, except for the unusual amount of rain and thunderstorms we've had this year in the Midwest, but hey - the grass is really green!  Plus with summer comes more foot traffic at the dealership, and that's always a good thing.

I was out and about over the last week visiting our dealerships and talking with the sales managers and I noticed a few trends; good trend - more customers on the lot; bad trend - less listings on the Internet; good trend - more new car sales; bad trend - less Internet sales. I spoke with the GSM's and asked them why and they all said the same thing "we're too buy to worry about the Internet right now."  Luckily I only screamed in my head, since there were a few customers in the showroom.

I know it's easy to get busy and fall into the trap of summer sales but you need to look at the facts.

• Consumers buy more cars in the Summer
• 90% of your customers shop online (first)
• 75% visit the dealership already having made a decision
• Brand loyalty is down 50% from 10 years ago

With this in mind why would you stop using the Internet to advertise your brand, your dealership, and your inventory?  The customers are going to go looking online, if they don't find you they'll find someone else.

Yes, floor traffic picks up in the summer because it's easier for customers to get out and walk your lot, but did you know that Internet car shopping picks up in the summer too?  It does.  Check your own city on Google Insights. 

So instead of listing less, or neglecting your online virtual dealership in the summer (and losing those additional sales) maybe you should consider some summer help instead.  Hire a college kid while they're on break to do the listings, they could even help you set up that Facebook page you've been dying to build.  Happy selling!

No Excuses

OK, so let's talk about the service department.  I know, some sales departments look upon them as a necessary evil or in the words of Dave Page "Redheaded Stepchild".  He wrote an article yesterday on Drivingsales.com that not enough people are talking about out loud.

Most dealerships will admit that the service department carries them through at least a few months out of the year, and the reality of not having service or offering bad service, will ruin your sales department.  So why don't they get the love in your virtual world?  In particular your website and listing templates.  In Dave's article this passage got my attention:

This got me to thinking- how many dealers out there really give the marketing, advertising and development of their service departments the attention they deserve? When you take into consideration that 20% of people who walk onto a showroom floor buy and 100% who walk into a service department buy- might make sense to pay this red headed stepchild of a store a little attention.

Now I know you do market your service department, some of you do a great job but you've got that nice website - why not utilize it for your service department too.

I always recommend to my clients that when designing and building their listings templates for inventory that you include a great background and sales pitch for your dealership.  That includes a section for your service department.  Talk about your "award winning", "ranked #1 by...", XXX years combined experience of staff, kid friendly waiting area, courtesy shuttle...need I go on?  Oh yeah, I do - don't forget to personalize it with photos, customers really start to make a connection when they see smiling faces.

It doesn't take a lot to put this in place, and once you do it you only have to update it occasionally.  So no excuses about not having the time or the people.  Your customers have time to read it, you have time to write it. 

If you build the overall picture of your dealership it will build trust and confidence in doing business with your organization.  You'll see an increase in sales and in service customers.

Would You Recommed Us To A Friend?

There's a good chance your company has responded to the recession with a smaller staff and an increased commitment to providing an exceptional customer experience. Such efforts might address systemic issues like "poorly designed interactions, broken processes, outdated business rules, insufficient customer insight and cultures that are far from customer-centric," notes Bruce Temkin in a post at the Retail Customer Experience blog. And while some companies will succeed in this process, Temkin says, others may falter.

Here is some advice for keeping your customer experience efforts on track:

1. Drop the executive commitment facade. It's very easy for executives to say "customer experience is important." But it's much more difficult for them to dedicate the time and energy required to make it a real priority. So executives should either get actively involved in customer experience transformation or drop it from their agendas.

Start here: Develop a customer experience dashboard and manage the results with the same energy that you manage financial results.

2. Keep from getting too distracted by social media. Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites may seem sexy, but they aren't the only channels for customer feedback. Other channels like comments on surveys and voice-of-the-customer calls can often provide even richer insight. So companies need to learn from social media feedback, but not overreact to it.

Start here: Treat social media as one of many listening posts in a comprehensive voice-of-the-customer program that examines both structured and unstructured feedback.

3. Stop squeezing the life out of customer service. Research shows that consumers care more about good customer service than they do low prices. It also turns out that many customer service interactions are critical "moments of truth" that drive customer loyalty. But companies often treat customer service as an unwanted stepchild, focusing almost exclusively on aggressive cost-cutting. So companies need to start viewing customer service as a strategic asset.

Start here: Measure customer service efforts based on how effectively they help customers.

4. Restore the purpose in your brand. True brands are more than just color palettes, logos and marketing slogans, they're the fabric that aligns all employees with customers in the pursuit of a common cause. They represent a company’s heart and spirit. Unfortunately, many companies have lost this sense of purpose in their brands. So companies need to redefine their brand and embed it in the hearts and minds of all employees.

Start here: Translate your brand into promises you will make (and keep) with customers across every key touch point.

5. Don't assume employees will get on board. Employees are often the most critical element of any customer experience effort. But you can't just hope that everyone will participate in these change initiatives. So companies need to actively focus on engaging employees at every level across the organization in their customer experience efforts.

Start here: Communicate (a lot) about "why" customer experience is important and allow employees to participate in defining "how" to make improvements.

6. Translate customer experience into business terms. Research uncovered a strong correlation between customer experience and loyalty. An average $1 million company can generate $284 thousand of additional revenues from customer experience improvements. But most companies don't fully understand the link between customer experience and business results. So companies need to identify how customer experience impacts their financial results.

Start here: Engage the leadership team to develop a model which shows the impact that customer experience has on customer loyalty.

With everyone wearing more "hats" now, its important to keep your eye on the ball when it comes to customer service.  That's the only way you and your customers will weather this economic storm together.

Success Is Virtually Yours

The NIADA Convention started today in Las Vegas (at Ceasers Palace no less!) Which reminds me of a funny story...oh right, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Any-who, there is a jam packed 3 days worth of workshops that actually sound pretty good. The first session is about Social Media and Networking, and there are additional workshops on The Web and Innovative Marketing.

One in particular caught my eye. Here's the synopsis;

“The Internet: Your Virtual Showroom”
Never had enough space? Couldn’t afford that beautiful building without winning the lottery? Now with just a click of the mouse, you can have it all! This session will give you the keys to online advertising success. You will learn how to stimulate dealership “walk-in” traffic, engage prospects and expand your dealership to the mega “store” you always wanted.

They had me at "with just a click of the mouse, you can have it all!"

That's the great thing about having a virtual showroom, it can be Big and Bad even if you're short on space! It's the perfect extension to your dealership (without having to move all the cars to shovel the snow). Here are some of the keys to having a great virtual presence;

• Invest in a great website, professional and easy to use
• Talk up your dealership, use personal histories, customer testimonials, local news items, and employee quotes
• Take fabulous pictures!  Don't use stock photos
• Anticipate what your customers wants;
• links to KBB, vehicle history reports, financing options, payment calculators
• If you have it listed on eBay or Craigslist - post the link
• Contact info that actually contacts someone! 

You can build a "Mega-Store" without leaving the comfort of your showroom, just make sure you offer the same great service and attention to your virtual showroom customers because they're as real as your dealership.