I have been a huge fan of video for a long time now, I have followed a friend of mine Elise as she has gone from selling Hondas at a dealership in San Luis Obisbo to becoming a nationally know consultant in the automotive industry and one of her strengths has always been her consistent use of video in her responses. One of the difficulties has always been how to best use video for emails, should I record and post to YouTube then send the link or use one of the many new video email services? Although there are some good apps out now I have just signed up for the BombBomb video app and so far I am very happy with it. It is easy to use for a non-tech guy like me and the response has already been fantastic! I will be posting more feedback as I get it figured out and really get it going but here is my first email video, it goes out on the third day after a lead has been received to un-contacted guests and I have seen an open rate of over 65% and a 35% view on the clip. Most importantly I have brought three customers in with the video and the two deals made from customers we hadnt been able to reach will more than pay for the first six months of the app! Stay tuned car pros, I will bring you more from the field soon!
 Getting Socially Savvy at the Sales Desk! My entry into what’s now called social media was back in 2006 when I first joined LinkedIn. To me, it wasn’t a great avenue to sell cars through. I thought it would be a much better avenue to explore if I were selling copiers or other business to business sales. A few months later, I moved to a Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep store and updated my status on LinkedIn. The next day I got a direct message from a contact of mine, saying how happy he was that I was at a Jeep store because he and his wife were actually looking for a Grand Cherokee. That was the very first 'digital 'deal!  Many of my colleagues assume that I am 'anti-vendor' when listening to my rants about allowing 3rd party companies to post on behalf of car dealers. I'm more about raising awareness of the importance of knowing whats being said online for your store. Dealer life is busy and chaotic, trust me I know, however simply handing the keys to your stores digital presence to a company that may not have your dealerships brand at the top of whats important could cost much more than the couple grand you pay them each month.... Its always an honor to be asked to participate in a great conversation by the folks at Auto Dealer Live! The topic of the day was the 'road to the sales desk' and we had some awesome viewpoints shared. If I'm not out on the lot at 12:30 each Thursday I am sitting at the sales desk with one of my screen tuned to www.AutoDealerLive.net to catch some great stuff for car pros from car pros... you should be too!
How to tap into the power of Social Media Marketing without being a 'guru'! I'm Mike theCarGuy and as a sales manager working full time at a So Cal dealership I've used my experience and knowledge to create and grow my stores digital presence and increase business along with it, come to my session at Digital Dealer to learn how and go back to your dealership with tips and techniques that will help you do the same with immediate impact! #DigitalDealer21 #DD21 #AutomotiveMarketing 
While walking the floor of the NADA convention I caught the eye of a good friend, who I had actually NOT shaken hands with before, Joey Little of AutoAlert/Motofuze. Joey was chatting with industry folks on a podium right in the middle of all the action and invited me to sit and speak with him, huge honor for a car guy like me for sure and we had a great talk!
 With the explosive growth of automotive CRM companies has come the wealth of data on modern car shoppers research and purchase processes. As car dealers are bombarded by 'expert' vendors promising to increase sales with their access to 'big data' it seems some of that info could be shared by CRM companies to help dealers laser target customers. Some 3rd party lead providers already notify a dealer that a lead has also requested info on another make and model vehicle, a savvy CRM company could take that to an even higher level and notify dealers when a consumer submits a lead to multiple stores using the same CRM. For instance:
Dear ABC Ford, Your customer Joe Smith with email address joesmith@emailservice.com, who recently requested information about a 2016 Ford Fusion has also requested information about a 2016 Honda Accord. Many great Internet salespeople already send comparison info when following up with leads however being able to send specific comparisons might assist in gaining a customers trust by providing relevant shopping assistance rather than a shot gun blast of specs on vehicles possibly not even being considered. Something like; Hello Joe! The 2016 Fusion you have selected is a fantastic choice in a field of great cars. Many of our Fusion customers have also looked at the new Honda Accord and they have found that the Fusion offers better... CRM companies already share your customer data with research and even some marketing companies, why not with the dealers they gather it from? This is just my opinion of course but perhaps it could be a conversation that dealers could benefit from.  Are your salespeople just ‘winging it’? Chances are that your Internet Sales Personnel have a process they work off of, a series of steps to take when they receive an online information request that probably includes a schedule of when and how they attempt to contact the customer. Everyone has their own idea of what works best; call, email, text and follow with another call… call, call, email and call again the next day etc. While I am not here to suggest what process works best I am merely asking two questions. First, as the Manager or GSM etc do YOU know what the sales process for Internet leads is? If not why not?  Leverage your employee’s sphere of influence to increase sales: Whether you a fan of Kim K or not its impossible to ignore that she has grown a huge audience and has quite the power to influence! Almost completely through Social Media she has grown an empire, wouldn’t it be great to have that kind of following for your dealership? Please keep in mind I’m not saying I have a ‘magic bullet’ that will create millions of loyal followers for your dealership that would only buy from you however, you can expand your stores influence in much the same way as Kim has and who knows how big it could get! .  Back in my early days of selling, lets call them the 'late 80's' shall we(?!), I had a sales manager who's only directive when approached with an objection from a customer was "just get 'em in!" It didnt matter if they were out on the lot or at home and on the phone, all he could ever offer me for assistance was 'jus get 'em in and we'll deal with it then'. I hated having to go to him for help and swore that once I became a manager I would never tell anyone that worked for me anything that wasn't at least some what helpful. Over the years I have worked with more managers than I care to count who worked with that old mentality and I have never quite understood the reasoning of it. I've even asked some of them why they think the salesperson is asking them for help, dont they think if that the salesperson has tried all that they know to 'get them in' and is simply asking the person that should know even more for guidance. Often the sales manager simply assumes the salesperson is 'getting weak' or being lazy and unwilling to do/say whats needed and I still don't believe that to ever be true. A few years ago when the always funny and always on point Joe Webb made a video about this very thing I, like many, laughed hard and thought to myself; "I'm glad those days are behind us"! Or so I thought..... |
Hello and welcome to the home for all things Auto! No, this isn't some sales site, its more of a place for car folks of all types to hang out, find out and share about the cars and the car biz we all love. Take a look around, maybe you will learn something or at the very least find your self smiling, and if you do... leave me a comment so I know I at least did something right! Thanks for stoppin by...
Need to reach me? Call or Text: (909) 213-5475 mikethecarguy@outlook.com My Dealership: Riverside Chevrolet 8200 Auto Dr Riverside, CA 92504 (951) 396-2222 Website 
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