Bravo:
I agree almost entirely. Personally, it has been my experience that most dealers need to have a balance of both lead aggregators and exposure of their own URL. The goal of the dealership should be to some day wean themselves off lead sources that do not offer a significant ROI. But, if theyre making you money keep them, If you blow them off their going down the street and now your competitor gets those leads. Ideally you would want all of your dot-com biz coming from
www.hometownmotors.com (not an easy task).
There is no magic formula but there is hope, simply apply a few good business practices:
Find the Right People & Train them:
The right people need not be PC gurus just people who understand the selling process and are willing to make the shift to non-confrontational sales. A willingness to learn is a must. Then teach them email techniques, factory training (for product & process). Also make sure that your management is behind the I-net initiative or you will have sabotage within your own sales force.
Bring in a consultant who has a track record selling cars on the Internet its like hiring a personal trainer it works. Last week a dealer told me he needs me (Im a corporate e-commerce director with 12 years of automotive sales experience and 2 1/2 years of private e-commerce consulting experience). He admitted he knows how to sell cars and how to make money but, he wears blinders because his focus is 8 cars a day and $3000/copy. He does not have the time or the inclination to teach this himself he is better off letting someone else worrying about the I-net stuff. His parting words to me were Make it work
Give them the tools they need to succeed: a good PC, digital camera, Office 97 or 2000 and dont skimp on the ISP and connectivity DSL or ISDN if you can get it.
Take care of them, because once your ISMs have success your staff will become a hot commodity and you are likely to lose them to the competition if you dont take steps to keep them home. Id always have at least two people and one of your managers trained in the basics of net selling as a back up.
Empower them to make a decision and give them the information they need to make educated choices not Gut Guesses
Track each and every lead and make your people accountable ( I like Web Control )
Keep your page fresh and innovative If your not happy with your host because of cookie cutter sitesCreate your own content and tell them to put it on you site. If they dontfind someone who will, your page is your property and you have a right to make it you own.
HERE ARE A FEW KEY TIPS:
Immediate Response I like auto responders that reply within 6 minuets I train all my clients to use Eudora 4.2. It works and it is extremely stable.
Contact every lead a minimum of 5 times, 3 by email and twice by phone within the first 30 hours. Then add them to your email database for continued prospecting.
Dont jack the prospect around if they ask a question answer it truthfully and respectfully.
Have pictures of your used car on your site. Bring this in house you will be much better off in the long run. If you have time you can also photograph your new car inventory too much better than stock photos.
Study your competitions pricing and be prepared to combat it and not necessarily by being lower!!!
Write pre-scripted templates that answer common questions it will save you time in the long run.
Maintain a database of all you email addresses for every lead and stay in contact with prospects and customers every 45 days.
Remember that the S in ISM stands for sales that means you still have to sell. If you dont A.S.K. you dont G.E.T. the difference is that you go from forcing and tricking people to, skillfully guiding them through the sales process. Think about the last great buying experience you had. No doubt you were dazzled, your clients want the same experience.
TREAT PEOPLE LIKE THEY WANT TO BE TREATED
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Greg Machado
E-Commerce Director and
Independant Consultant
www.gMACgroup.com [This message has been edited by machado (edited 09-21-2000).]