DEALERSHIP VENDOR
BUYER’S GUIDE SPRING 2017 • T WICE YEARLY
The Essential Resource for Selecting Dealership Solutions: Dealer satisfaction ratings and product recommendations are compiled from over 30,000 Vendor Ratings collected from verified dealership customers actually using the vendor products as found on DrivingSales.com.
A DMS Decision you won’t regret for the next 5 years. Unlike that tattoo you got at 2am back in your 20’s...
A DMS that does business differently. www.automate.com/nada
Visit us at Booth #1707
4 Airline Drive, Albany NY, 12205 · 877.861.9625 · www.automate.com ©2016 - 2017 Auto/Mate, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Contents
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Why Vendor Ratings?
VENDOR RATINGS LISTINGS
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10
CRM – Sales
12
DMS
14
Inventory Merchandising
15
Lead Management
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New Car Leads
17
Owner Marketing
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SEM – Paid Search
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SEO Tools & Services
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Used Car Advertising
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Websites
Chat Tools & Services
CATEGORY GUIDES
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Category Guide Intro
26
Introduction to CRM
30
Introduction to DMS
33
Introduction to Chat
36
Introduction to SEO
39
Introduction to Inventory Merchandising
42
Introduction to Used Car Advertising
46
2016 Marketing in Review
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DEALERSHIP VENDOR BUYER’S GUIDE | SPRING 2017
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Welcome
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DEA R R EADER,
he automotive industry is built on forward motion. We are driven by the opportunity to grow, innovate and rethink the norms. The way forward is through working together, dealer and solution providers, to keep our foot on the pedal of innovation. Introducing the DrivingSales Buyer’s Guide. This guide represents over 1,000 automotive solutions and over 35,000 dealer reviews of those products from DrivingSales Vendor Ratings to identify the solutions that have risen to the top. These vendors have worked closely together with dealers to refine their product and services to help dealerships achieve their goals and improve performance. DrivingSales Vendor Ratings is an open platform for vendors to list their products and for dealer professionals to share their experiences while working with those companies. Each review is validated by the Vendor Ratings team to ensure that it was submitted by a current dealer employee and that they have experience with the product to ensure the value of the feedback. We’ve included the results of those reviews in this guide. Use this guide as your top shelf resource when searching for solutions for your dealership. We include category overviews to help you review critical points to consider before you select a vendor. Frankly put, just because dealers rate one vendor highest does not necessarily mean they are the right fit for your dealership. To find the right partner you need to weigh your specific needs and read the experiences of other dealers to see where the two meet. We encourage every dealer professional to share their experiences with their solution providers on DrivingSales Vendor Ratings. Only through and open dialog between dealers and vendors do we have the opportunity to continue to improve. Keep this guide on hand for finding your next solution provider and look for our next issue mid-year 2017 that will include other categories of solution providers. Sincerely,
Jared Hamilton Founder, DrivingSales, LLC
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Why Vendor Ratings?
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he DrivingSales Vendor Rating site is the first industry. We appreciate both our vendor participants and the formal mechanism for dealers to rate and dealer reviewers for their contributions and commitment to review their vendors in a comprehensive, realimproving performance in dealer operations. time vendor directory. We have over 35,000 Rules reviews, recommendations and insights on the products dealerships use to run their operations. It In order to maintain the credibility of reviews posted on empowers dealers by allowing them to learn about all the Vendor Ratings, DrivingSales has adopted the following rules: solutions available, view actual customer feedback, both • Only dealership employees can post ratings and good and bad, and see how each solution actually performs. reviews. Reviewers are verified to ensure they are valid The fundamental concept of Vendor Ratings is helping and eligible to leave reviews. dealers identify the best solutions that drive innovations. • Dealership employees can only rate Before Vendor Ratings, these and review the products they have conversations occurred, but they % experience using. These ratings were either one-to-one between NOT SURE are a chance to hear from actual dealers or during 20 group meetings. customers with live experience These conversations were not using the solutions in their stores. benefiting the industry or helping the product vendors improve • Each reviewer must answer three their solutions through customer questions to complete their rating: % % feedback. NO YES 1. How many stars does the The Vendor Ratings platform solution deserve? allows real-world experiences to be shared with other dealers as well 2. Would you recommend as solution providers. This helps the product or solution to dealership decision-makers identify colleague? and select products that help them achieve their specific goals. In 3. Why would or wouldn’t you Did you visit DrivingSales Vendor addition, the platform helps vendors recommend the solutions? Ratings because you are currently considering purchasing a product? interface with dealers directly to What are the pros and cons? uncover product improvements and new opportunities for innovation. After the review is confirmed, Today, Vendor Ratings is the source all three components of the % for dealers to evaluate solutions for review, along with the job title of NOT SURE their dealerships. the reviewer, are posted live on The information the platform DrivingSales for all to reference when provides is a vital catalyst to selecting new vendors. Vendors are % purchase decisions. Over 38% of encouraged to track and respond to YES dealers visiting the site are actively ratings of the products. in the buying process. And 56% Safeguards of them said they consider new % products and solutions because of DrivingSales protects the NO the information on the platform. anonymity of each dealer employee Vendor Ratings is built on who leaves a rating and review. This a foundation of peer-to-peer is done to ensure the dealers can recommendations by dealership provide candid, honest feedback. employees. When both vendors and However, DrivingSales requires a Has the information in DrivingSales dealers participate on Vendor Ratings, valid name and contact information Vendor Ratings caused you to the platform achieves its stated goal for each reviewer so that each consider new options in your purchase process? of driving innovation in the automotive review can be verified.
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The title of the reviewer is posted on the site to provide necessary context to the review. This is critical for dealership decision-makers to understand how the reviewer would use and value the product they reviewed. Although the title is displayed here, there is no tie to the reviewer’s information to protect anonymity. Each review is passed through a variety of technological checkpoints to ensure vendors are not incorrectly influencing or “gaming” the system. Furthermore, DrivingSales staff calls and verifies each review.
REVIEWS IN VENDOR RATINGS
Dealer Satisfaction Awards The DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction Awards recognize those solutions with the highest vendor ratings. For the top eight categories with the most reviews within the Vendor Ratings, there are three award winners. DrivingSales recognizes the “Highest Rated’ vendor and two “Top Rated” vendors. These awards reflect products and providers with a proven record of success and excellence in serving their dealer clients. The Dealer Satisfaction Award trophies are presented annually. Learn more at DealerSatisfactionAwards.com. The Vendor Ratings Dealer Satisfaction Awards are based solely on the aggregate of dealer ratings submitted from January 1 to December 19, 2016. Visit page 6 for a list of this year’s award winners.
Vendor Ranking
Rankings
In each product category the vendor solutions are ranked in real-time as each new dealer rating is submitted. The vendor products are ranked based on a weighted Bayesian Algorithm. This is a standard mathematical calculation that looks at the number of stars the reviewer gave as well as the statically valid sample size needed, relative to the competitive set, to create a ranking based on the statistical accuracy of the results. The equation takes into account the frequency, volume, timeliness and star rating of every review. This produces a more reliable ranking to allow dealers to see if a products is receive better ratings based on timeliness as opposed to older reviews that don’t represent current features of the current product. The fact that the algorithm focuses on these additional factors also incentives vendors to ensure that the customers are actively reviewing their current products and their features. Vendors are encouraged to refer their customers to Vendor Rating to submit reviews. Vendors may also use their ratings on their sites, with written permission. Because of the algorithm rules, vendors with 3 stars may rate above a company with 4 stars if mathematically the first company has a higher probability of success based on the submitted reviews. Vendors can choose to enhance their listing and provide additional information for dealers. These are premium listings. Vendors with premium listings are ranked according to the algorithm. Standard products are ranked the same way. We encourage all dealers to rate and review their vendors by visiting drivingsales.com/vendorratings#ratevendor.
Only dealership employees are allowed to rate their vendors on DrivingSales.com and all submitted ratings are verified. The vendors are then scored and raked using a weighted Bayesian Algorithm (shown below). Sometimes a company with 3 stars will rate above a company with 4 stars if the first company has a higher probability of success based on the submitted reviews.
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W = R(M•V) + C(2V•M)
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V E N D O R
R A T I N G S
Chat Tools & Services Solutions that allow conversation and interaction with customers as they interact with a website. Some solutions also have text capabilities. PREMIUM LISTINGS
Contact At Once! – Contact At Once! Chat + Text Digital Connections Phone: 678-648-6961 Email: marketing@contactatonce.com
99% Recommended Score: 3030.322
Contact At Once! is the highest rated, most widely used chat + text digital connections platform in the automotive industry. It is the platform of choice for AutoTrader.com, Cars.com, OEMs and more than 13,000 dealers. Dealers use Contact At Once! to conduct at least 25% more sales conversations with online shoppers.
Gubagoo – ChatSmart Phone: 888-771-2993 Email: info@gubagoo.com
99% Recommended Score: 1631.01
Gubagoo’s innovative and proprietary dealer chat technology goes a step and beyond by providing web-based customers unprecedented insight into a dealerships inventory and services. Unlike other automotive chat platforms, our behavioral engagement makes ChatSmart the best live car dealer chat on the market.
CarNow – Visual Sales Messenger Phone: 877-882-5353 Email: tim@carnow.com
100% Recommended Score: 636.325
CarNow Visual Sales Messenger (“VSM”) is a next-generation digital communication platform we have developed in partnership with leading dealership groups across the country. Our technology is built on a unique software architecture that provides the foundation for digital retailing in the Automotive industry, and fundamentally enhances the interaction between customers and dealers.
CarChat 24 – 24/7 Managed Chat, Text & Advanced Dealer Chat Software Phone: 800-510-7567 Email: sales@carchat24.com
95% Recommended Score: 122.563
We provide 24/7 hosted Live Chat / Text Support & Chat Software for new and used car dealership websites. CarChat24 helps dealers sell more vehicles by converting a higher percentage of their website visitors into quality leads. Our well trained friendly staff, using our state-of-the-art live chat software and our proven proactive chat process, creates a positive experience for dealership website visitors.
Dealer e Process – Dealer e Process Live Chat Phone: 866-682-8908 Email: dave.page@dealereprocess.com
100% Recommended Score: 11.747
While chat applications aren’t exactly new, Dealer e Process Live Chat is anything but ordinary. We offer 24/7 Managed, Dealer Managed & Jump In Hybrid Chat. Live Chat is an extremely valuable chat application that Dealer e-Process offers on ALL dealer websites regardless of vendor. Our live chat powers websites from Dealer.com, Cobalt, Vin Solutions etc.
ActivEngage – ActivEngage Managed Chat + Text and Web-based Software Phone: 800.441.7779 Email: sales@activengage.com
100% Recommended Score: 5.26
Convert 80% of chat and text conversations into quality leads for your store with ActivEngage’s managed service! Our team of professional Chat Specialists is highly-trained to greet, assist, and move online shoppers further down the sales funnel on your behalf. Or allow your staff to chat with and convert web visitors, using ActivEngage’s innovative web-based platform.
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DEALERSHIP VENDOR BUYER’S GUIDE | SPRING 2017
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STANDARD LISTINGS
Gubagoo – TalkSmart
100% Recommended | Score: 28.536
Conversica - Conversica
100% Recommended | Score: 18.301
LiveAdmins LLC – WebGreeter Live Chat Software
100% Recommended | Score: 9.852
Engage to Sell – Proactive Live Chat
100% Recommended | Score: 6.052
Consumers Are Everywhere. So BE Everywhere. From “is-this-the-car-for-me” to “need-an-oil-change” moments, YOU can be there, ready to help when it matters most...with text, chat, in-app messaging and more.
Dealer Sites
Online Listings
Your Messaging Network Online Advertising
OEM Sites
Mobile Apps
www.contactatonce.com
Visit NADA Booth #363 & see how Contact At Once! can help.
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DEALERSHIP VENDOR BUYER’S GUIDE | SPRING 2017
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V E N D O R
R A T I N G S
CRM – Sales Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems track and maintain all customer and employee interactions throughout the lifecycle of the client. PREMIUM LISTINGS
ELEAD1ONE – ELEAD1ONE CRM Phone: 888-671-7216 Email: eleadsales@eleadcrm.com
99% Recommended Score: 10260.001
Sell smarter with the automotive CRM rated highest in dealer satisfaction! The most intelligent and intuitive CRM in today’s market, ELEAD1ONE fully integrates marketing, sales, and service operations into a single, web-based platform to help dealerships grow their business
DealerSocket – DealerSocket CRM Phone: 949-900-0300 Email: info@dealersocket.com
98% Recommended Score: 10043.34
DealerSocket’s CRM will allow you to manage fresh ups, phone ups and Internet leads all from one tool. Your dealership spends tens of thousands of dollars every month to get the phone to ring, get test drive appointments and generate Internet traffic.
DriveCentric – DriveCentric CEM Phone: 314-325-4088 Email: sales@drivecentric.com
95% Recommended Score: 249.477
DriveCentric offers a simple yet powerful interface that anyone can use. Its intuitive design makes it simple for salespeople to do their job — sell cars. No more jumping between multiple confusing systems; DriveCentric consolidates everything into one rich user experience.
STANDARD LISTINGS
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VinSolutions – VinSolutions Connect CRM
93% Recommended | Score: 608.329
ProMax – ProMax CRM
90% Recommended | Score: 124.677
CDK Global – CDK CRM
44% Recommended | Score: 86.131
Reynolds and Reynolds – Contact Management
75% Recommended | Score: 84.007
DEALERSHIP VENDOR BUYER’S GUIDE | SPRING 2017
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STANDARD LISTINGS
Dominion Dealer Solutions – Dominion CRM
83% Recommended | Score: 62.645
DealerPeak – DealerPeak CRM Center
83% Recommended | Score: 56.523
Votenza Systems – Votenza CRM
CAR-Research – CAR-Research XRM 3.3 stars
DealerCRM – PlanPlus Online 5.0 stars
100% Recommended | Score: 43.825
71% Recommended | Score: 35.23
100% Recommended | Score: 32.371
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www.DSES.com/Registration
Questions?
Visit us at www.dses.com
DEALERSHIP VENDOR BUYER’S GUIDE | SPRING 2017
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V E N D O R
R A T I N G S
DMS Dealership Management Systems (DMS) provide accounting, service, parts, and sales/ F&I department systems to support dealership operations PREMIUM LISTINGS
Autosoft, Inc – Autosoft FLEX DMS Phone: 844-888-8200 Email: sales@autosoftdms.com
99% Recommended Score: 347.966
A fully integrated, open architecture platform, Autosoft’s FLEX DMS gives auto dealers a proven way to manage operations, communicate with customers and prospects all while servicing and selling cars quickly. FLEX DMS Features: comprehensive Accounting, Parts, Service, Dealer Principal, F&I.
Auto/Mate Dealership Systems – AMPS Phone: 877-340-2677 Email: marketing@automate.com
97% Recommended Score: 183.751
Auto/Mate Dealership Systems is a leading provider of dealership management system (DMS) software to retail automotive dealerships, typically saving dealers thousands of dollars per month from their current provider. Our Automotive Management Productivity Suite (AMPS) is a user-friendly, feature-rich DMS in use by more than 1,100 auto dealers nationwide.
Dealertrack – Dealertrack DMS Phone: 516-734-3600 Email: social@dealertrack.com
85% Recommended Score: 50.314
At Dealertrack we’re reinventing the DMS to better serve the automotive businesses of today and of the future. We’re not just making our technology more modern and our functionality more intuitive. We’re focusing on our dealer relationships - going the extra mile to deliver unparalleled support.
STANDARD LISTINGS
Reynolds and Reynolds – Reynolds POWER DMS
Reynolds and Reynolds – ERA-IGNITE
CDK Global – CDK Drive
Frazer Computing Inc – Frazer Computing
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DEALERSHIP VENDOR BUYER’S GUIDE | SPRING 2017
75% Recommended | Score: 17.401
57% Recommended | Score: 8.28
63% Recommended | Score: 7.015
100% Recommended | Score: 6.978
DRIVINGSALES.COM
STANDARD LISTINGS
AutoManager - DeskManager
100% Recommended | Score: 6.127
PBS Systems Inc – Aristo Gold – DMS
100% Recommended | Score: 5.959
CDK Global – CDK DASH
100% Recommended | Score: 5.959
DealerBuilt LightYear DMS – DealerBuilt
100% Recommended | Score: 3.04
A DMS Decision you won’t regret for the next 5 years. Unlike that tattoo you got at 2am in your 20’s... A DMS that does business differently. www.automate.com/nada
Visit us at Booth #1707 Auto/Mate Dealership Systems · 4 Airline Drive, Albany NY, 12205 · 877.861.9625 · www.automate.com ©2016 - 2017 Auto/Mate, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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V E N D O R
R A T I N G S
Inventory Merchandising Solutions designed to store and manage inventory information such as vehicle specs, pricing, and pictures.
PREMIUM LISTINGS
ELEAD1ONE – ELEAD1ONE Inventory Phone: 888-671-7216 Email: eleadsales@eleadcrm.com
100% Recommended Score: 1311.511
A robust new and pre-owned inventory management solution that helps you stay ahead of constant changes in the market. Stock and source inventory using a summary of key insights that weigh dealership business goals to ensure stocking recommendations enhance your strategic direction.
vAuto – Conquest: New car inventory management and pricing software Phone: 877-828-8614 Email: marketing@vAuto.com
100% Recommended Score: 16.442
With more comprehensive live market data than your OEM system provides, Conquest™ gives you the tools to efficiently manage your new car inventory, stock the right vehicles and options for your market, and sell more cars more quickly.
STANDARD LISTINGS
Autotrader - Alpha 3.7
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86% Recommended | Score: 19.754
HomeNet Automotive – Inventory Online (IOL)
100% Recommended | Score: 16.442
Dealerslink - Dealerslink
100% Recommended | Score: 13.327
Autofusion Inc – Autofusion Inventory Management and Photography Solution
100% Recommended | Score: 5.25
AutoUpLinkUSA – AULUSA Inventory Management
100% Recommended | Score: 5.25
DEALERSHIP VENDOR BUYER’S GUIDE | SPRING 2017
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Lead Management Products and solutions designed to assist dealership employees in handling Internet inquiries.
PREMIUM LISTINGS
ELEAD1ONE – ELEAD1ONE ILM Phone: 888-671-7216 Email: eleadsales@eleadcrm.com
100% Recommended Score: 5284.947
Aggregate leads from all your online sites into one centralized view for quicker response and easier management. Our ILM automates your lead process through customizable routing capabilities for instant, short-term, and longterm follow-up. With complete access to new and pre-owned inventory within the ILM tool, you can quickly send vehicle details and photos to give customers the exact information they need to make informed decisions.
DealerSocket ILM Phone: 949-900-0300 Email: info@dealersocket.com
100% Recommended Score: 97.949
Streamline your Internet process by improving lead routing, response time, consistent targeted process, content and collateral, and ROI.
VinSolutions – Vinsolutions MotoSnap ILM Phone: 844-569-7526 Email: vinleads@vinsolutions.com
100% Recommended Score: 14.881
With VinSolutions Automotive Internet Lead Management, you can send automatic responses that include all of this and more. With our revolutionary system you can have complete access to your entire new and preowned inventory within the ILM. This allows the quickest response to inquiries with the use of inventory photos and details automatically included in the email message reply.
STANDARD LISTINGS
DealerSocket – SocketTalk
CallSource – DealSaver
92% Recommended | Score: 131.722
86% Recommended | Score: 67.501
GoMoto – GoMoto Digital HUB
100% Recommended | Score: 14.881
Better Car People – OvernightBDC
100% Recommended | Score: 14.881
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V E N D O R
R A T I N G S
New Car Leads Lead provider services that aggregate customer inquirers from owned and third-party web properties and sell these leads to dealerships. PREMIUM LISTINGS
Autobytel Inc – Autobytel New Car Leads Phone: 800-585-5431 Email: scottp@autobytel.com
98% Recommended Score: 54.985
Autobytel’s New and Used Car Programs connect dealers, dealer groups and OEM’s with a steady flow of serious, in-market car shoppers from Autobytel’s family of websites and other premium Internet brands, as well as providing a suite of value-added tools proven to help close those leads, including Rapid Response, Custom Messaging, Email Manager, and LeadCall.
OnlineBKManager.com – Bankruptcy Lists Phone: 888-739-1468 Email: contact@onlinebkmanager.com
92% Recommended Score: 10.363
Weekly lists containing mailing information for people who recently had their BK discharged.
CarGurus – CarGurus Listing Packages (New Car Leads) Phone: 855-712-6559 Email: marketing@cargurus.com
93% Recommended Score: 8.752
CarGurus offers three levels of listing packages that allow dealers to show their inventory to high quality, readyto-buy shoppers. The Basic listing package allows dealers to list their inventory for free on CarGurus and start receiving anonymized leads. The Enhanced and Featured listing packages provide more valuable resources like contact information for leads, dealership branding on the VDP, access to our proprietary pricing tool, and more!
STANDARD LISTINGS
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TrueCar – TrueCar New Car Leads
77% Recommended | Score: 4.663
Edmunds.com – Edmunds New Car Leads
93% Recommended | Score: 4.159
Kelley Blue Book – KBB New Car Leads – LeadDriver
88% Recommended | Score: 1.708
Cars.com - NewLeadsPlus
93% Recommended | Score: 1.026
DRIVINGSALES.COM
Owner Marketing Data segmentation and analytics tools that help identify and target potential customer opportunities based on lifestyle and historical purchase patterns. PREMIUM LISTINGS
ELEAD1ONE – GoldDigger Phone: 888-671-7216 Email: eleadsales@eleadcrm.com
100% Recommended Score: 2608.258
Grow business development profits by leveraging ELEAD1ONE data mining technology to increase revenuegenerating opportunities through vehicle exchange incentives, pulling customers into the market before they shop your competitors. Turn your current customers into loyal, repeat business by targeting vehicle owners in equity, or those that can lower their payment or are at the end of a lease or warranty.
DealerSocket – RevenueRadar Phone: 949-900-0300 Email: info@dealersocket.com
100% Recommended Score: 110.469
RevenueRadar is an advanced dealership database-mining tool powered by DealerSocket that constantly scans your customer database and detects money opportunities within your DMS.
AutoAlert – AutoAlert Phone: 888-998-8575 Email: info@autoalert.com
25% Recommended Score: 7.604
AutoAlert is the industry’s leading automotive data mining and sales opportunities platform that helps dealerships identify high-quality leads, increase volume of retail trade-ins and improve customer retention. With AutoAlert you build long term client relationships that expand your sales opportunities, provide better service, and help you make more informed marketing decisions.
STANDARD LISTINGS
Outsell – Outsell Campaign
Dominion Dealer Solutions – Dominion Marketing Services
DRIVINGSALES.COM
100% Recommended | Score: 11.664
100% Recommended | Score: .468
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V E N D O R
R A T I N G S
SEM – Paid Search Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Pay-Per-Click (PPC) solutions help dealerships determine investment in display and paid ad campaigns. PREMIUM LISTINGS
Dealer e Process – Digital AMMP Phone: 866-682-8908 Email: dave.page@dealereprocess.com
97% Recommended Score: 6.411
Digital AMMP is the automotive industry’s premier SEM/PPC platform. This system offers dealers an opportunity to advertise their entire inventory, and brand themselves as a one-of-a-kind dealer, on the world’s most popular search engines, without over spending or wasting their advertising budgets.
Naked Lime Marketing – Digital Advertising Service Phone: 855-653-5463 Email: info@nakedline.com
100% Recommended Score: .358
Naked Lime’s Bing and Google certified specialists keep up with constantly changing digital advertising rules to successfully manage paid search campaigns, digital video, social media and display ads, and digital remarketing for you. Our data-driven strategies help you target the right audience at the right time, and our transparent reporting shows you the effectiveness of every dollar spent.
PureCars – PureCars SmartAdvertising Phone: 877-860-7873 Email: sales@purecars.com
50% Recommended Score: .296
SmartAdvertising technology drives the most qualified traffic to a dealer’s website and helps dealers make more efficient decisions with their digital advertising dollars (paid search, display advertising and retargeting). SmartAdvertising programmatically determines the ideal vehicles to market, in the ideal zip codes, to the consumers that have the highest probability of converting into buyers.
STANDARD LISTINGS
DealerLeads – Digital Marketing/PPC Traffic
CF Search Marketing – SEM by CF Search Marketing
ZMOT Auto – ZMOT-TM Targeted Marketing
POTRATZ – Search and Behavioral for Website and Mobile
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DEALERSHIP VENDOR BUYER’S GUIDE | SPRING 2017
100% Recommended | Score: .873
100% Recommended | Score: 1.703
100% Recommended | Score: .358
100% Recommended | Score: .3580
DRIVINGSALES.COM
SEO Tools & Services Search Engine Optimization (SEO) solutions are designed to optimize websites in an effort to display higher result rankings. PREMIUM LISTINGS
Customer Scout Inc. – Customer Scout SEO Phone: 888-545-7660 Email: sean@customerscout.com
100% Recommended Score: 5.069
Customer Scout SEO employs many different elements in creating targeted Automotive SEO strategies. We partner with exclusively with just One Dealer, for One Brand and in One Market. Regardless of what Google and other search engines change in their algorithms, these three key elements will always carry weight with the search engine optimized page rank.
STANDARD LISTINGS
CF Search Marketing – SEO by CF Search Marketing
100% Recommended | Score: 1.06
POTRATZ – Search Engine Marketing and Search Engine Optimization
100% Recommended | Score: .663
Wikimotive – Content Marketing for SEO
100% Recommended | Score: .309
Force Marketing – SEO, SEM, and Digital Marketing
100% Recommended | Score: .309
Dealer.com – Dealer.com SEO
Search Optics Inc – Search Optics SEO 4.0
DRIVINGSALES.COM
67% Recommended | Score: .26
100% Recommended | Score: .202
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V E N D O R
R A T I N G S
Used Car Advertising Third-party consumer-facing websites designed to display dealership inventory to in-market consumers. PREMIUM LISTINGS
CarGurus – CarGurus Listing Packages (Used Car Leads) Phone: 855-712-6559 Email: marketing@cargurus.com
92% Recommended Score: 43.902
CarGurus offers three levels of listing packages that allow dealers to show their inventory to high quality, readyto-buy shoppers. The Basic listing package allows dealers to list their inventory for free on CarGurus and start receiving anonymized leads. The Enhanced and Featured listing packages provide more valuable resources like contact information for leads, dealership branding on the VDP, access to our proprietary pricing tool, and more!
Autobytel – Autobytel Used Cars Phone: 800-585-5431 Email: scottp@autobytel.com
100% Recommended Score: 25.689
Autobytel’s Used Car Program featuring performance-based marketing allows dealers to list their entire used car inventory on Autobytel’s network of sites – with no listing fees.* Dealers only pay for the online and phone leads they receive through the program – with no subscription fees.* *Available in most states
Lotlinx – Shopper Targeting Platform Phone: 800-625-5469 Email: sales@lotlinx.com
100% Recommended Score: 1.167
LotLinx is the ultimate Automobile Shopper Targeting Platform. Our patented technology collects userdeclared shopping data from 13.6 million active online shoppers every month. LotLinx identifies and tracks active car buyers based on the digital signals they send out, enabling you to target low-funnel, well-qualified car shoppers in your local area, based on their specific purchase intent – year, make, model, price, location.
STANDARD LISTINGS
Cars.com – Cars.com Online Advertising
92% Recommended | Score: .93.516
Autotrader – New, Used, and CPO Inventory Listings
88% Recommended | Score: .59.652
Edmunds.com – Edmunds Used Car Advertising
TrueCar – TrueCar Used Car Leads
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DEALERSHIP VENDOR BUYER’S GUIDE | SPRING 2017
94% Recommended | Score: 7.93
100% Recommended | Score: 2.574
DRIVINGSALES.COM
STANDARD LISTINGS
PureCars – Value Intelligence
100% Recommended | Score: 1.167
Kelley Blue Book – Dealer Showcase
100% Recommended | Score: .947
CarSoup.com – Used Car Advertising
100% Recommended | Score: .75
GetAuto.com – Advertising & Leads Program
100% Recommended | Score: .425
NEWS
DRIVINGSALES.COM
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V E N D O R
R A T I N G S
Websites Digital solution providers that create full-service website products designed to be the primary digital marketing presence for a dealership. PREMIUM LISTINGS
Dealer Car Search – Responsive Websites ®
Phone: 502-326-8413 Email: joseph.hardin@dealercarsearch.com
97% Recommended Score: 520.018
Internet Advertising Management, Responsive Website Design Services & Much More!
Dealer e Process – Dealer e Process Responsive Websites Phone: 866-682-8908 Email: dave.page@dealereprocess.com
97% Recommended Score: 82.229
Dealer e Process is proud to be the recipients of the most glorified awards in the auto industry. Dealerships looking to adapt to changes in their marketplace and incorporate better solutions should take a hard look at the solutions being provided by Dealer e Process, a leading website provider in the United States, Canada, Mexico & Holland.
DealerOn – Chameleon Responsive Website Phone: 877-543-4200 Email: chris@dealeron.com
97% Recommended Score: 59.662
Responsive Website Design is a technology that allows a website to automatically resize based on the resolution of the device trying to access it. This technology continues to prove its benefits, so much so, that Google is publicly endorsing it. Having a mobile-optimized website is critical for your dealership to maintain a successful digital presence.
Dealer.com – Dealer.com Websites Phone: 888-894-8989 Email: social@dealer.com
93% Recommended Score: 39.164
Dealer.com is the automotive industry’s leading website provider, offering uniquely tailored desktop, mobile, and tablet experiences driven by robust analytics and the nation’s deepest car-shopper knowledge base. Precise inventory and incentives automation drives website engagement, while holistic SEO maximizes reach.
PERQ – FATWIN Web Engagement Phone: 800-873-3117 Email: info@perq.com
100% Recommended Score: 9.269
FATWIN Web Engagement is a product of PERQ that increases conversion, on your existing website, by creating and delivering interactive experiences. We achieve 200% conversion lift through custom branded interactive Trade, Price, and Promotion tools. These consumer experiences capture 5x the consumer data and are 3x as likely to convert to a sale.
Dealer Inspire – Dealer Inspire Websites Phone: 855-357-4677 Email: sales@dealerinspire.com
100% Recommended Score: 6.571
Dealer Inspire offers customized solutions in website building that create sites that are as unique as the companies we serve. Responsive technology provides a clean web experience from any device. Dealer Inspire is also innovative in the world of True ROI, Personalized visitor experience, geofencing and much more.
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PREMIUM LISTINGS
DealerSocket – DealerFire Responsive Websites Phone: 949-900-0300 Email: info@dealersocket.com
67% Recommended Score: 5.751
At DealerFire, we design custom, responsive and engaging dealer websites with the ideal combination of artistic form, intuitive function, and compelling information. This optimal blend of form and function ensures a positive first impression from potential buyers and translates into closing ratios, ROI, and customer satisfaction levels well above those of typical car dealerships.
fusionZONE Automotive – Dealer Websites Phone: 888-576-1136 Email: support@fzautomotive.com
100% Recommended Score: 3.128
fusionZONE Automotive offers automotive dealers across the nation cutting-edge websites that are designed with the sole objective of driving website conversion and leads as direct mechanisms to sell more vehicles. fusionZONE Automotive does not just design websites; they offer progressive complete digital marketing solutions which maximize the potential of dealers’ digital dealerships of all sizes.
STANDARD LISTINGS
Slipstream Auto – Slipstream Websites
100% Recommended | Score: 13.861
CDK Global – CDK Digital Marketing
85% Recommended | Score: 12.337
AutoRevo – Dealer Websites
100% Recommended | Score: 9.676
Dealer e Process Mobile Websites
100% Recommended | Score: 8.939
VinSolutions – VinSolutions Dealer Websites: Haystak’s KORE 360
DLD Website – DLD Responsive Websites
Jazel Automotive Solutions
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88% Recommended | Score: 4.363
100% Recommended | Score: 3.734
50% Recommended | Score: 1.849
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C
Category Guide
hanging vendors is expensive. In addition to the cost of the product and any implantation charges, you have a learning curve with your people, and this means time and money. If you are going to disrupt your culture with change, it had better stick. There are many resources you can use to determine a feature set, create use cases, and identify vendor options. I don’t really know what you’re talking about, I would explain what a feature set, use case, etc. is first. 20 Groups can be extremely valuable in determining vendor changes. Your peers can provide you with valuable feedback on who they utilize, and you can get composite data to validate that feedback. Vendor marketing such as white papers or webinars can give you an idea on how different companies view opportunities and their processes on addressing them. You can demo products at a conference such as NADA and talk to vendors face to face, getting answers to questions and seeing how they really are. Vendor Ratings on DrivingSales can give you an idea
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of the products dealer employees’ value as they go about their daily operations. These are individuals that have already vetted a solution and gone through the install process. They are telling it like it is. The DrivingSales Buyer’s guide is meant to be one more resource you can use when researching vendors. As we’ve compiled this reference guide, we’ve written some category guides to use. These aren’t meant to be deep soup to nuts evaluations. Rather, they are designed to assist you in your research and provide you with some considerations to think on as you go through the vendor selection process. A solution that works well for a 15-store group might not be the best option for a singlepoint store. This issue will present six category guides on solutions used in most dealerships. Further issues will have additional guides. There are some great vendor solutions out there. The industry is really pushing the envelope on customer experience and digital marketing, and vendors are innovating to address these new opportunities.
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CATEGORY GUIDES
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Introduction to CRM
30
Introduction to DMS
33
Introduction to Chat
36
Introduction to SEO
39
Introduction to Inventory Merchandising
42
Introduction to Used Car Advertising
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2016 Marketing in Review
There are some great vendor solutions out there. The industry is really pushing the envelope on customer experience and digital marketing, and vendors are innovating to address these new opportunities.
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Introduction to CRM Overview This introduction to CRM is intended to educate and inform readers who are either considering integrating a CRM into their dealership or looking to replace an existing CRM solution already installed. It is designed to provide readers with a well-rounded view of what a CRM solutions accomplish, their importance in a dealership setting, its importance in a dealership setting as well as details a dealer should consider when making a selection. The pages following this will then highlight reviews by dealers of the different CRM solutions available which can assist dealers in selecting the right solution provider to partner with.
What Is CRM? A CRM (Customer Relationship Manager) is a software solution that assists dealers in recording customer interactions across the lifecycle of the relationship. it is generally used in multiple ways including but not limited to; handling Internet leads, recording followup with prospects and/or previous customers, recording follow-up with prospects and/ or previous customers, recording customer visits from lot traffic as well as transactional information such as sales and service visits. Importance of CRM A CRM solution is designed to facilitate many activities within a dealership more efficiently. It can make customer interactions more personalized, automate follow-up communications as well as prompt follow-up activities with salespeople and/or service as well as sending marketing messages such as sales, special offers or coupons to customers. Management can use CRM to effectively manage sales activities happening within their showroom both with customers currently visiting the
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dealership as well as follow-up activities being performed (or not being performed) by their salespeople on a daily basis. Proper use of a CRM allows for a more efficient dealership operation and results in the identification of future revenue opportunities both in service and in sales. A CRM can track the entire customer lifecycle and will be programmed to maximize opportunities with both previous and past customers. It can increase customer retention and increase the customer lifetime value for a dealership’s customer base.
Considerations in Choosing A CRM Solution Communication – Today’s consumers are choosing to communicate with dealerships via many different channels. A CRM solution should be able to automatically track and memorialize all communications on an individual customer level whether that communication
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Proper use of a CRM allows for a more efficient dealership operation and results in the identification of future revenue opportunities both in service and in sales. communication tools while desking tools, DMSs and service activities are contained within separate systems. The ability to maintain accurate information on customer communication and activity across all departments makes managing, following up and marketing to an individual customer more relevant and personized. Service Department Integration – While many dealers typically limit their CRM usage to the sales department interactions with customers, dealers should inquire whether a CRM has service department functionality. This allows service advisors to record customer interactions in service combined with sales activity in a single record making the overall history of individual customers more comprehensive. Some CRMs offer comprehensive integration with software in use by service departments while others offer native sales and service functionality including service scheduling, follow-up, repair order and vehicle history as well as accepted or declined service recommendations.
is via e-mail, phone, text, chat or conversion via a web lead. While salespeople will still need to manually enter a customer upon their first interaction as well as record completed activities and/or communications along with notes regarding those interactions, many of these other communication service providers will offer automated data pushes to provide third-party verification of the activity. This is important in verifying that the activity was actually completed. Transactional Activity – The ideal CRM will also include service activity, sales data such as vehicle purchased as well as financial data regarding that sale and all other revenue streams. Providing a comprehensive overview of the lifecycle of a client allows dealers to get a better overall picture of any given customer’s relationship with the dealership. Oftentimes, CRMs are only utilized as
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Mobile Capabilities – Another consideration that dealers may consider important is the ability of salespeople to enter communication activities via a mobile device. Salespeople are frequently in communication with customers via their personal cell phones, on the lot or in other physical locations without access to their work computers. This can lead to a failure in recording interactions accurately. In addition, some CRMs are server based and can only be accessed within the confines of the dealership’s server versus at any computer that has Internet access. There are several reasons for these distinctions and why a dealer would choose a server-based CRM versus an Internet-based solution. A server-based CRM can provide more data security in the sense that a user must be using a computer within the dealership preventing potential hacking and/or data intrusion. A web-based CRM, however, can allow users to access and record interactions from any location. The primary function of a CRM, however, is to record communications accurately and in-depth. A webbased CRM solution would allow users to record those interactions from wherever they are physically located while a server-based solution would not. Technology Partner Integration – Just about every dealership will have a variety of software solutions in use at any given times. A website provider will have multiple conversion opportunities for consumers.
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Customer and transactional data is the most valuable asset any dealership can own, so dealers should consider how the CRM solution provider handles and records this data. Dealers will often utilize third-party vendors to provide additional conversion or communication opportunities such as trade-in valuation, credit applications and chat functionality amongst others. Call tracking services are often used to both source marketing and record calls for review. Some dealerships have separate software in which to desk deals, appraise vehicles and record service activity such as repair orders. Equity mining software is also used to track and identify customers who may be attractive sales prospects due to their financial position in their current vehicle. When choosing a CRM, dealers should review their existing technology solutions and inquire as to the native integration each has with the CRM solution(s) being considered to evaluate compatibilities. The more solutions that integrate with each other, the more efficient the dealership’s activities and customer data will be. Data / Reporting Capabilities – Customer and transactional data is the most valuable asset any dealership can own, so dealers should consider how the CRM solution provider handles and records this data. An important concern of many dealers is the knowledge that the dealership owns their own data. This ownership can be a big deal should the dealership ever decide to change CRM solutions in the future as they could be faced with a situation in which there is data loss. In general, CRMs should have the capabilities of preventing “dirty data” as best as possible such as duplicate entries for a single customer whether that was accomplished m anually or automatically. CRMs should also have multiple reports that can be accessed by authorized users in real-time to analyze customer activities or other desired data. Data security is also an important consideration so dealers should inquire as to the CRM solution’s various data security measures such as access levels on an individual user basis as well as the ability to export specific customer data to third-party vendors should that access be necessary. Marketing – Many CRMs are used in e-mail marketing capacities. Consumers are barraged with
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messages at an increasing level so ensuring not only that your messages are relevant but are also received is imperative. E-mails can easily end up in spam folders and never received by customers. This can easily mean the difference between making and losing a sale. In addition, CRMs should provide the dealership with an easy way to identify and segment audiences in order to ensure that the messages being sent are relevant to that specific group of customers. The lack of this functionality or difficulty with which it is presented can lead to consumers ignoring not only that message but also future messages regardless of relevance.
Solutions by Business Type In the CRM solution category, the considerations listed above are fairly universal regardless of whether the dealership is a single-point or large group. While other solution categories may present different needs based on single vs multi-point situations, the ability to record all customer interactions is critical. One consideration concerns multi-point dealer groups in that dealers should inquire whether the CRM solution provider will integrate amongst all stores within the group for users with the appropriate administration rights via a single log-in allowing a dealer to access enterprise-level data on multiple departmental activities.
Summary A dealer could choose a solution provider that does not provide every consideration listed above. These considerations are only meant to educate and inform dealers on what capabilities and functionalities should be thought about when choosing a CRM solution. Ultimately, the correct solution for any dealership is the one that they feel comfortable with in terms of stability, support, training and the ability to grow with them. The CRM vendor ratings on page 10 share the various CRM solution providers and is meant to be an additional resource for dealers to use when selecting the CRM solution partner that is the best fit for their dealership.
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BUILT TO PERFORM GENERATE MORE PROFIT FOR YOUR DEALERSHIP
CRM
CONTACT
SERVICE
TRAINING
THE BENCHMARK IN AUTOMOTIVE SOFTWARE
NADA 2017 BOOTH #4019 www.elead-crm.com l 888.989.8077 © 2017 Data Software Services, L.L.C. All Rights Reserved.
Introduction to DMS Overview This buyer’s guide overview is designed to offer insight and advice for those who may not be familiar with this category as well as help guide dealers in their decisionmaking process. It is not designed to endorse or influence readers but simply to educate.
What Is a DMS? A DMS (Dealership Management System) in its simplest definition is the brains of any dealership’s operations. This integral piece of software is typically responsible for collecting, facilitating and recording just about every piece of information and activity of a dealership’s operations. A DMS will typically be involved with everything from customer information, transactional data, vehicle inventory, accounting functionalities, service repair orders and history, desking abilities as well as RDR reporting. In addition, a DMS is typically the hub in which a dealership’s vendors receive the data they need to perform their tasks such as gathering pricing data for not only a dealership’s website but also for all third-party listing sites which a dealer subscribes. Importance of DMS As you’ve probably guessed, a dealership’s DMS is the most vital service in operation. Because of this, dealers would be wise to not make hasty decisions when selecting a DMS. Once a DMS solution is chosen, it can oftentimes be difficult and arduous to switch providers in the future. This difficulty exponentially increases the
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longer a dealership is with a provider. The data within a DMS encompasses just about every aspect of a dealership’s operations and will contain a database that is the lifeblood of both current and future activities.
Considerations in Choosing a DMS Solution Data Ownership – A major consideration in choosing a DMS solution provider is knowing who owns the data contained within it. On the surface, it might seem that the answer to that question is easy but this controversy has as been around for quite some time. As previously mentioned, the DMS contains the entire existence of a dealership. The loss of all that data can be devastating to a dealership akin to removing all memories from a dealership’s brain including customer, service and transactional data as well as other vital accounting records. In addition, this ownership can dictate the ease at which a dealership could transition to another solution provider in the future should the desire arise. Data Privacy – Because the DMS contains so much private customer information, another consideration that a dealer should investigate is the security of that data by the provider. A breach of a dealership’s DMS can lead to devastating consequences for both a dealership’s customers as well as present legal liability for the dealership for the misuse of that data. DMS systems will contain F&I information including personal information like social security numbers, dates of birth and other sensitive customer information. Another consideration when it comes to data privacy and security is how the data is stored. Some providers will use server based infrastructures – typically with an on-site server along with an off-site backup server – while other DMS providers operate by storing the data in the cloud. Depending on a dealer’s needs in off-site accessibility along with the various data security risks each storage method presents is something a dealer should consider. Functionality – While most DMS solution providers will offer comparable functionalities, some will have more robust offerings and features integrated than others. The needs of a dealership weighted against both the benefits of the additional features versus the costs should be considered when selecting a solutions provider. Some of the newer entrants into the DMS space (Agile Core DMS Providers) include features as standard where legacy providers (Integrated Platform Providers) may offer
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Complexity & Cost Many
Number of Solutions
Few
Dealership Complexity Single-point
Enterprise Groups
Complexity & Cost Many
Number of Solutions
Few
Core DMS Functionality Sales & F&I Accounting Service & Parts Report Generator
Core DMS Functionality Typical Agile DMS - Standard Features Desking Payroll Dashboards
Typical Agile DMS - Standard
API Data Integration Features Third Party
Desking Payroll Products Dashboards
Service Scheduling Products Inventory Solutions Data Integration Appraisal API Tools F&I/Service Menus Third Party Products CRM Prooducts
Service Scheduling Products Inventory Solutions Appraisal Tools F&I/Service Menus CRM Prooducts
Sales & F&I Accounting Typical Integrated Platform Service & Parts Report GeneratorStandard Features
DMS -
Enhanced Data Sharing between Modules Detailed Dashboards Typical Integrated Platform DMS Optional Modules Standard Features Enhanced Data Sharing between Modules Payroll Detailed Dashboards Appraisal Tools
F&I/Service Menus Modules CRMOptional Products Deskgin Payroll Inventory Solutions Appraisal Tools Electonic Dispatch F&I/Service Menus Quick Service Center CRM Products Service Scheduling Deskgin
Inventory Solutions Electonic Dispatch Data Quick Integration Service Center Service Scheduling Third Party Products
Data Integration DRIVINGSALES.COM
Third Party Products
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TRANSACTIONS TRANSACTIONS INVENTORY INVENTORY REPAIR ORDERS ORDERS REPAIR
CUSTOMER DATA CUSTOMER DATA
DESKING ABILITIES
DESKING ABILITIES
ability to export selected information which they can then pass along to the outside vendor. In example, an e-mail marketing vendor would only need the customer’s name and e-mail address if the dealer is doing the segmentation prior to the transfer of information. The e-mail marketing vendor would not need complete access to the entire customer’s history nor would they need transactional data. The ability to not only control who is accessing the data but also which data they can access is an important distinction in this era of customer privacy concerns. Financial Considerations – Not including features and add-ons, one of the decisions a dealer will be faced with is the cost and contract terms for any given DMS provider. The legacy providers have a large market share in the automotive space and will oftentimes be more expensive and require longer contracts while the newer companies will be less expensive and have shorter contracts. This generalization, of course, can vary from company to company and be negotiated through increasing contract terms and functionality. Keep in mind that this is the most important technology partner a dealership will have so ensuring that a dealer chooses the right match for their budget and situation is imperative.
Which DMS is Right for You? some of the additional features as optional at additional charge. The above graphic will lend some clarification into the differences between the two types of DMS providers described. Technology Partner Integration – For seamless operation and integration with a dealer’s other technology partners, it is often necessary for access to DMS data. Some providers are completely open to working with other solution providers while others necessitate outside vendors to pay for certifications and access. This can cause problems for a dealership who wants to use a certain outside vendor who needs DMS access but is not certified to access it. Closed access can translate into higher costs from outside vendors passed on to the dealer if the DMS provider charges the vendor for access. Dealers should inquire whether the DMS provider’s access is open or closed as well as how that translates into outside vendors access and/or restrictions to that data. Marketing/Data Segmentation and Export Functionality – Many vendors do not need unrestricted access to a dealer’s DMS data to provide services. Since customer data is necessary in marketing and segmentation is frequently used to choose groups of customers to send relevant messages to, a dealer should inquire as to the ease in segmenting customer audiences and then the
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Ultimately, this decision is dependent on the dealership’s structure on an organizational level. Small independent or single rooftop stores may be fine by going with a less expensive solution while large dealership groups who need enterprise level solutions may find that a legacy solution provider is the best choice. With the difficulty at times in transitioning from one DMS to another, a dealer should take into consideration their vision for business growth. Failure to do so may see a dealer being forced to transition from one DMS to another at a future date – a process that can be time-consuming, arduous and take many man hours. The ability of the DMS solution selected to grow with a dealership is an important consideration in the selection process.
Conclusion Selecting a DMS provider is one of the most important decisions a dealership of any size can make. This technology partner will more than likely be one that a dealership will utilize for years, if not decades, to come. Choosing a DMS provider should not be taken lightly. Utilization of the DMS vendor ratings on page 12 can assist dealers in beginning the process of choosing which DMS providers to consider and begin their research. Dealers should also utilize their peer networks, 20 Group members as well as other channels to reach out to and discuss providers with current dealer clients of prospective DMS solution providers.
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Introduction to Chat Overview
Types of Available Chat Services
This buyer’s guide overview is designed to offer insight and advice for those who may not be familiar with this category as well as help guide dealers in their decisionmaking process. It is not designed to endorse or influence readers but simply to educate.
Self-managed – Self-managed chat services are those in which a dealership’s staff is in direct communication with the customer when a chat is initiated. This type of chat is typically the least expensive but also requires that a dealership have someone available to respond to the customer should they initiate a chat.
What Is Chat? Chat services are an additional form of communication in which a dealership’s website visitor can use to communicate instantaneously with the dealership. There
Managed chat – Managed chat services are those in which a chat provider’s agents monitor, answer and respond to customer initiated chats on a dealership’s website. Those chats transcripts are then typically sent to the dealership’s CRM for an Internet manager of BDC representative to follow-up with. A managed chat provider’s goal when interacting with a customer is typically to gather contact information from the customer
are a wide-range of chat services ranging in complexity. Dealerships offering the ability for a customer on their website to chat with them can engage more customers as some may not want to fill out a form or be in a position to call the dealership but want to ask questions about anything from vehicle availability, pricing or even schedule service appointments.
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and chat agents are not typically able to directly answer customer questions on availability and pricing without involving someone at the dealership. Hybrid chat – This structure utilized both self-managed chat and managed chat depending on the situation. For example, the dealership could elect to have sales reps or BDC agents in the store handle chats during business hours use a managed chat service afterhours or at peak times of the day so customers don’t have to wait to chat with someone. Some managed services also allow for active chats to be “taken-over” mid-conversation by dealership representatives if the customer is progressing quickly.
Considerations in Choosing a Chat Solution Operational – The organization, operational and staffing capabilities of a dealership will be an integral part of choosing which type (self or managed) chat service a dealership chooses. Dealers should bear in mind that offering a chat service at all requires a commitment on the part of the dealership to be responsive to customers. A customer initiating a chat which isn’t responded to, is equal to a customer calling the dealership and nobody answering the phone. A dealer should know whether they have the staff availability to cover the chat functionality during and after business hours. Statistics show that customers will only wait a few seconds for a response on a chat before abandoning it altogether. Dealers with BDCs in operation could make chat monitoring and response part of their responsibilities. Dealerships who plan to rely on their salespeople to respond may want to consider time periods when every salesperson is with a customer and who will monitor chats within those periods of time. If a dealer determines that it does not have the ability to not only monitor but to respond to these customer-initiated engagements quickly, a managed chat service may be the right option for them. Pricing – There are various pricing models available depending on which type of chat services a dealer selects that should be considered: • Software Only – A self-managed solution can be either an automotive-specific or generic one. Either will provide the basics needed to provide communication functionality via chat for a dealer’s customers. Pricing can range from as little as $50
per month upwards. Dealers considering softwareonly providers should inquire as to how the chats are memorialized as well as whether the transcripts of those chats will be sent and recorded in the dealership’s CRM or simply sent via e-mail. • Per Chat – Some managed chat providers offer pricing structures on a per-chat basis. Essentially, this means that a dealer may pay a lower monthly rate and only be charged for customer-initiated chat sessions. For dealers with a high-volume of unique visitors on their websites or in areas with a dense technology educated population, this may not be the pricing structure to choose as the chances are a higher percentage of visitors will engage the dealer via the chat option. On the other hand, dealers in rural areas with either small populations or those less likely to be technologyoriented, this might be a cost-effective way to provide chat communication. • Performance based – This pricing model entails a moderate flat fee and, in addition, additional charges incurred by the dealer based on successful customer chat conversions. Dealers considering performance based chat should inquire as to what precisely is a conversion in the contract – sales lead, phone call, etc. With the industry standard goal for chat engagements being 1-2 percent, a dealer should weigh their monthly website volume into this consideration. This model allows customers to communicate with the dealer on matters aside from sales (like service appointment questions or general hours of operations) without incurring an additional fee. • Flat rates – Most flat rate fully managed chat services will include unlimited chat engagements by customers. There will be no consideration on whether the chat is a sales, service or general question by the customer. Dealers who receive a moderate to high volume of web visitors may want to consider a flat rate for two reasons. First, there is a fixed cost involved and second, they are providing an additional means for consumers to communicate with them. Most fully managed chat providers will operate 24 hours per day, 7 days per week in all pricing models except for software only so a dealer can capture customers who are wishing to communicate with the outside of business hours.
Dealerships who plan to rely on their salespeople to respond may want to consider time periods when every salesperson is with a customer and who will monitor chats within those periods of time. 34
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For the most part, any chat provider catering to the automotive industry will, at the very least, be able to send the chat transcript to a dealer’s CRM via XML/ADF format. Quality of Service In this section, we’re focusing specifically on fully managed chat services. The people employed by the chat providers are a direct representation of the dealership. The customers are not necessarily aware that the people responding are not employees of the dealership so the quality of their response is something a dealer should consider. • Training/Knowledge – Training and knowledge of the car industry will vary from vendor to vendor and even from different times of the day. Non-automotive vendors may have people trained to specifically get customer information but may not be versed in how to respond to car sales or service related inquiries. In addition, automotive chat providers who do have trained their chat employees in the automotive field could have more qualified and better quality chat agents on duty during regular business hours and less qualified during late hours. If a dealership’s chat is to be available to customers 24 hours per day and 7 days per week, a dealer may want to inquire what the chat agent’s knowledge in the automotive field is and whether that standard applies at all hours. • Outsourcing agents – While there’s nothing inherently wrong in outsourcing chat agents, a dealer may want to consider issues like the communication and knowledge abilities of those outsourced agents. Dealers may want to ask a potential chat vendor whether their agents are outsourced and ask for dealer client references. Dealers can then mystery shop those clients at off-hours to see for themselves the quality of responses and knowledge the chat provider’s agents represent. CRM Integration - For the most part, any chat provider catering to the automotive industry will, at the very least, be able to send the chat transcript to a dealer’s CRM via XML/ADF format. How the contact information included in the chat populates within the CRM will be dependent on how it is sent and how the CRM provider interprets the chat. Dealers choosing this option should inquire with both the chat provider and their CRM provider on how the chat transcripts will look when received within the CRM for ease of follow-up.
solutions. When a customer initiates a chat and has questions about a specific vehicle and/or questions that cannot be immediately answered from a computer, it can seem like a long time to the customer for the salesperson or BDC agent to collect that information. There are mobile solutions which exist which allow a salesperson to continue a chat initiated on desktop or by the company’s representative to their mobile phones and continue the chat as they collect the information including uploading pictures. This continues the conversation and decreases the time between responses helping to avoid the customer dropping the chat. • Text-messaging abilities – A natural extension of chat is SMS or text messaging. Some chat providers also offer the ability for dealership personnel to engage with potential customer via text messages including both pictures and video.
Conclusion Chat communication is a very attractive method of communication for consumers with many millienials comfortable with this mean of communication. It’s instantaneous, provides immediate answers and shows that the dealership is interested in listening. Choosing a chat provider should be viewed just as important as choosing a receptionist as, in many cases, chat may be the first time a customer contacts a dealership thus making it their first impression of the operations and customer service they should expect to receive doing business with it. The Chat vendor ratings on page 8 will share various chat service providers provided by verified dealers. The ratings should give a dealer confidence in choosing a chat service solution and provider that best fits their needs and budget.
Additional Options: • Mobile capabilities – This option mainly applies to dealers considering a self-managed or hybrid
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Introduction to SEO Overview This buyer’s guide overview is designed to offer insight and advice for those who may not be familiar with this category, as well as help dealers in their decision-making process. It is not designed to endorse or influence readers, but simply to educate.
What is SEO? SEO (Search Engine Optimization) involves the optimization of both on-site and off-
spots. SEO helps your site stand out and gain more visibility in searches, so you’re able to get more traffic and acquire more leads.
Considerations in Choosing a SEO Provider Cost – There are many options when choosing a SEO provider. While it’s easy to say that price is a factor, the reality is that SEO only works when it’s done properly. There are many companies – both inside and outside the automotive industry – who offer SEO services and pricing can range from the hundreds of dollars to the tens of thousands. Search engine optimization is a manual
site signals to affect the relevancy of a website when a user searches a particular set of keywords in a search engine. In other words, the optimization of a website’s online footprint to enhance visibility in the “free” (non-paid) organic results in a search engine. SEO includes both the creative and technical elements required to improve rankings, boost visibility, increase awareness, and drive website traffic. Importance of SEO The majority of your website traffic is driven by Google. Although social media and third party sites can send traffic directly, search engines account for the vast majority of dealership website traffic. SEO is important because it helps the search engines find your website and understand its relevancy to the searches that users perform. The search engine has to find every dealership in the local area, crawl each site, and determine which site is the most relevant to the search that’s being conducted. There are a limited number of organic spots on page one of search results, and in most markets, there are far more dealers than that limited number of available organic
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There are many companies – both inside and outside the automotive industry – who offer SEO services and pricing can range from the hundreds of dollars to the tens of thousands. process. It cannot be automated and be effective. SEO also takes a certain level of expertise and commitment on the parts of the company and its employees operating in the company’s SEO capacity on behalf of clients to keep up-to-date and current on trends and algorithm changes. Google has made many algorithm changes over time and will undoubtedly continue to do so in the future. SEO strategies that work well today may hurt a dealership in the future if Google so chooses. Proper SEO takes many man-hours of time when done properly which will always translate into a higher investment. In this category, an inexpensive solution will invariably not be a better one. Take that into account in your considerations.
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Communication – While simplified SEO may sound easy, effective SEO takes expertise and knowledge of current best practices, search engine algorithm changes and the client in-depth. SEO is not a cookie-cutter solution. For any SEO vendor to properly service a client and maximize the results, the provider needs to talk to the dealer and understand what is unique about them. Regular communication is key to having a vendor partner that will be effective in this area. A question that all dealers should ask of a prospective SEO vendor partner is how often there will be contact and consultation. Just as with any vendor, all successful relationships stem from partnerships. SEO can be confusing and many dealers
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Search engine optimization can be very complicated and requires many man-hours by people continuously staying on the cutting edge in a world of ever changing rules and algorithms. Vendor Relationships – Search engine optimization is platform agnostic, meaning that SEO services can be performed for any website regardless of the website provider. All SEO providers can function and execute effectively regardless of whether their company also offers websites to dealers. Dealers should inquire as to whether a company’s SEO services require the dealership to switch to the provider’s website services and, unless a new website was already under consideration, understand that an SEO provider can provide their services to any dealership regardless of who the dealership’s current website provider is.
won’t understand how certain efforts or activities are benefiting their dealership. A dealer who needs help understanding these activities as well as the results from them will want to inquire as to the availability of their account representative as well as his or her willingness to spend time educating them and answering questions when they arise so that the dealer can get an accurate understanding of how the provider is helping them. Included Services – Search engine optimization is more than simply creating blog posts or model research pages. Dealers should inquire as to what SEO services a vendor is including in their proposal specifically. Search engine optimization includes many off-site signals as well. Dealers will want to know if a vendor includes citation work, link building and reputation management in their services. In addition, dealers will want to inquire whether any content created for their dealership is duplicated across other clients or if it’s all unique to the dealer’s website. This is extremely important to know as a website can quickly lose favor with search engines if it’s found to be using duplicated content.
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Reporting – Of course, results matter as well. Dealers should always expect to receive regular reports on key activities and metrics from any vendor partner – SEO included. Dealers should inquire as to the regularity and consistency of reporting from their vendor. At the very minimum, dealers should expect to receive regular monthly reports from their vendor partner. Those reports should never be only keyword rankings. Every search engine user sees different results thanks to personalization and localization, so ranking reports are not accurate gauges of success by themselves. The facts are that a dealership investing in search engine optimization is doing so to see a return on revenue. Because of that, reporting should be relevant and tied to the dealership’s bottom line. An example of a good report would be one that includes organic traffic, leads from that traffic and trends of those over time. This will allow a dealer to truly assess how their investment is performing and tie that directly back to sales.
Conclusion Search engine optimization can be very complicated and requires many man-hours by people continuously staying on the cutting edge in a world of ever changing rules and algorithms. Proper SEO can’t be automated and must be personalized to the dealership. By taking into account the answers received from the above considerations, a dealer can be more confident in securing a vendor partner that will service them properly. Choosing the right vendor partner in the area of search engine optimization is extremely important. The wrong vendor using outdated tactics can very easily do a dealership’s digital footprint more harm than good. Dealers should take time when considering who to partner with and use the SEO vendor ratings on page 19 as factors when making a decision.
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Introduction to
Inventory Merchandising Overview This buyer’s guide overview is designed to offer insight and advice for those who may not be familiar with this category, as well as help guide dealers in their decisionmaking process. It is not designed to endorse or influe nce readers but simply to educate.
What Is Inventory Merchandising? Inventory merchandising is very simply creating a compelling vehicle description page (VDP) through the use of (text) descriptions, images, video and other calls-to-action. A dealer’s inventory is their most valuable asset and how a dealership advertises its vehicles can mean the difference between a sale or not. Customers are increasingly visiting more
Considerations in Choosing an Inventory Merchandising Solution There are essentially two fundamental avenues that a dealership can choose when making an inventory merchandising decision. A dealer can choose to do it themselves, or dealers can outsource the merchandising to a vendor partner. There are pros and cons to each decision and the size of the dealership or group will certainly play a part in the route a dealership chooses. 1. Do It Yourself – Depending on the volume of vehicles that a dealership has in stock and turns, a do-it-yourself model could certainly be a viable and inexpensive option. Keep in mind, however, that even dealers who choose to do it themselves will need a vendor partner in order to upload descriptions, images and other media for distribution to their website as well as all of the third-party listing sites they subscribe to. This option can involve equipment ranging from minimal expense to full-blown studios and production areas. In addition, a dealer should consider the man power and time it takes to properly represent the vehicle through images and video, and also how quickly the vehicle can be processed upon acquisition when it’s ready to be added to the front line after recon and detail.
touch-points on their car-buying journey and encountering multiple similar vehicles for consideration. With most dealerships being competitively priced, the ability for a dealer to compel a customer to choose their vehicle over a competing dealer could very easily boil down to how the vehicle is presented whether that is on their own website or a third-party listing site. DRIVINGSALES.COM
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2. Inventory Merchandising Vendors – These vendors are professionals who typically visit a dealership regularly in order to photograph new inventory. They will then upload those images and/or video on behalf of the dealer to a distribution service for distribution. Inventory Merchandising vendors will typically offer a range of services including different image quantities per vehicle as well as video options. The frequency of visits is also an important consideration when choosing a partner, as that will affect how quickly a vehicle is properly represented and marketed on the Internet. Most vendors operate on a per-car cost basis and that cost can vary depending on volume and frequency.
Inventory Merchandising Considerations A mentioned earlier, a vehicle detail page is extremely important to attracting customers. Regardless of whether a dealer chooses the do-it-yourself route or partnering with an Inventory Merchandising provider, dealers should know and consider the following when making a selection. 1. Images – The quantity and quality of images is of extreme importance in properly representing a vehicle online. Most dealers will have at minimum 20 pictures with the average being around 40. Dealers should also take into consideration whether images will be taken of their new vehicle inventory alongside their used vehicle
The frequency of visits is also an important consideration when choosing a partner, as that will affect how quickly a vehicle is properly represented and marketed on the Internet. 40
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As technology continues to evolve, some Inventory Merchandising providers are offering media such as Virtual and Augmented Reality as well as 360-degree images. inventory. This can, of course, increase the cost of the service but many consumers find actual images of new vehicles more appealing than simple stock photos. 2. Video – Video is an increasingly attractive medium to include on a VDP as consumers are more likely to watch a video of a vehicle than click through 40 or more pictures on by one. There are a few types of videos that can be used and dealers should decide which they plan to implement on their vehicles. a. Stitched photo videos – This form of video takes the images of the vehicle and compiles them into a video form. Some stitched photo videos can include branding and in-video interactive callsto-action, as well as music. These are typically automated once images are uploaded and take the least amount of effort. b. Live video – This video type would entail live video walk-arounds of each vehicle. They can range from quick walk-arounds of the interior and exterior of the vehicle with no sound, to complete walk-arounds that include explanations and selling features similar to how a salesperson would show a vehicle to a customer on the lot. This type of video is more time intensive but is also an option that many Inventory Merchandising providers offer at an additional charge. Dealers who choose to use a vendor for their merchandising efforts should understand and inquire about the process used by the provider as there are multiple methods that will result in both a large quantity of images as well as live video of a vehicle. The first, and most time-intensive, is for multiple images to be taken first followed by live video. Technology, however, can take a live video and extract as many images from the live video as the dealer desires. This is much less timeintensive, results in more images and should result in a lower cost per vehicle. 3. Vehicle Descriptions – Dealers should inquire as to whether an Inventory Merchandising provider will be providing vehicle descriptions for each piece of inventory or whether the dealer will need to do that themselves. Vehicle descriptions help tell a vehicle’s story and can add to the attractiveness of a vehicle to a buyer. By default, many vehicle descriptions are
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simply lists of features; options and packages reading like the Maroni on the vehicle’s window. Good vehicle descriptions can certainly contribute to the impact any given vehicle’s VDP will have on a potential buyer. 4. Frequency of visits – The faster a dealer can get images and video taken and uploaded, the faster that vehicle can start attracting interest from buyers. Many studies have shown that the speed at which images and video are included in a VDP directly reflects a dealer’s turn rate. An important consideration when choosing an Inventory Merchandising provider then must include how often they will be visiting the dealership to take the images and video. 5. Data Distribution – Every Inventory Merchandising provider will have software services that they use to upload images and video on behalf of the dealer for distribution. As vehicles sell and/or are added to inventory, the amount of time it takes for that distribution or update is directly connected to how often the distribution vendor being used pulls the data from the DMS. Some data distribution vendors will only update a dealer’s inventory once per day while others are willing to update inventory and pricing every hour should the dealer wish. The Inventory Merchandising provider should know the capabilities and frequency in which the data distribution service they use is able to deliver. As technology continues to evolve, some Inventory Merchandising providers are offering media such as Virtual and Augmented Reality as well as 360-degree images. While these technologies are relatively new to the market, a dealer may want to inquire as to whether these services are currently available should they wish to deploy them.
Conclusion In summary, dealers will need to merchandise their inventory. The considerations and descriptions above are meant to serve as direction for a dealer in making a decision on which inventory merchandising solution best fits them. In choosing an Inventory Merchandising solution provider, these considerations should be taken into account based on the budget, needs and desires of the individual dealer. Obviously, the more features a dealer desires, the more they should expect to pay a vendor on a per car basis. The Inventory Merchandising vendor ratings on page 14 are designed to help a dealer begin their decision making process with information on verified dealers for each solution provider.
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Introduction to Used Car Advertising Overview
Importance of Used Car Listing Services
This buyer’s guide overview is designed to offer insight and advice for those who may not be familiar with this category as well as help guide dealers in their decisionmaking process. It is not designed to endorse or influence readers but simply to educate.
Used car listing services are popular sites for consumers to visit as they will have vehicles from many dealers included for convenient search and compare functionality for a consumer. In addition, used car listing services typically have large advertising budgets in which to drive traffic to their site. Because these sites are so popular with consumers, a dealership should strongly consider participation in these sites in order to ensure that their vehicles are represented in the available options for consumers who are searching these sites.
What are Used Car Listing Services? Used car listing services are a way for dealers to get increased exposure for their inventory by leveraging popular consumer portals. Today’s consumers visit as many as 24 touchpoints in their car buying journey. Oftentimes, that journey does not begin on a dealership’s website but rather on third party sites that offer model research, comparisons and other reference material. These sites will also typically include searchable dealer inventory for both new and used vehicles where consumers can input variables such as price ranges, distance and others in order to narrow their options down to fit their needs and budget. In addition to dealer inventory searches, these sites typically offer other tools for consumers such as trade-in values, reviews of both vehicles and dealerships, financing tools and available manufacturer incentives available making them an attractive stop for consumers on their journey. 42
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Considerations in Choosing Used Car Listing Services Price – There are many used car listing services and pricing models vary quite a bit. Some will offer performance based pricing wherein a dealer can list their inventory free and are charged on a per lead basis. Others work on a subscription model with varying packages available on an escalating level that increase visibility on their site in consumer searches. A dealership’s inventory size can also affect pricing. Most used car listing services will charge on a per rooftop basis so dealer groups with multiple points should take this into consideration when selecting which services to utilize. Used car listing services can be a sizeable part of a dealership’s marketing budget so researching and finding the best match for a dealership’s budget in combination with performance is something that should be researched carefully. Conversion Process – One of the main questions dealers should consider when selecting used car listing services is simple: When a potential buyer lands on a vehicle display page (VDP) on the third-party listing service’s website, how is that conversion communicated and is that conversion exclusive or shared? There are several methods that used car listing services use to transmit and handle customer inquiries – some of which are considered controversial by dealers. • Anonymity - This entails that a dealer never receives actual customer information after they convert on a form on the third-party site but rather anonymous e-mail addresses in which to correspond to the customer. The
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Used car listing services are popular sites for consumers to visit as they will have vehicles from many dealers included for convenient search and compare functionality for a consumer.
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Especially in the area of used cars, dealers will want to monitor their market for availability and pricing to ensure that they are competitive in their offerings. reason for this expressed is usually one in which the listing service believes that allowing customers to remain anonymous will not only convert at a higher rate but that it offers a better customer experience. While that may be true, if a dealer never received actual customer information, future follow-up is impossible. • Conversion Process – Typically a dealer who is listing their vehicle on a third-party listing service would expect that they would be the only dealership receiving the inquiry from a customer requesting information. Some sites have been known to send these inquiries to multiple dealers either without the customer’s consent or through different prompts during the conversion process like asking the customer if they want pricing from other competitors and/or whether they are interested in other similar makes or models. Of course, there is also the option of choosing a used car listing provider that directs traffic directly to the VDP page on the dealer’s website allowing the dealer to guide the customer and convert exclusively to them. A dealer may want to inquire as to how these inquiries are handled and perhaps even collaborate with a dealer peer in testing and experiencing the process and results in real-world tests. • Branding & Dealership Information – Many used car listing services will limit branding and information control based on level of service that the dealer is subscribed to. The reasoning behind this is that the used car listing provider wants to be able to track and attribute both the conversion and resulting sale to prove performance. Dealers should know what information is available on each VDP and how much control the dealership has over the information presented. Used car listing services are increasingly displaying dealership reviews on VDPs – some being aggregated fro m other sites while others through partnerships. A dealer should ask a used car listing provider whether they have the ability to respond to or dispute any reviews appearing on their VDPs. • Competitive Advertising – Some used car listing sites will show display ads from competitors or competing brands on a dealer’s VDP. Dealers may want to inquire as to whether or not a used car listing service does this. • Enhanced Listing Options – Another feature offered by some used car listing services is enhanced listing options that elevate a dealership’s inventory
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in consumer search results thereby increasing the likelihood that a consumer would see it. Exploring these options and their pricing with a used car listing provider can give a dealer insight into the pros and cons of participating in this optional feature. • Pricing Opinions / Vehicle History Reports – Some used car listing services include indicators intended for consumers that grade whether a vehicle being offered is of a certain value level (i.e. great/good/poor). If a dealer wishes to partner with a used car listing provider that practices this, the dealer will want to ensure that their inventory is competitively priced at all times. In addition, some used car listing services will offer vehicle history reports (VHR) to consumers interested in vehicles. This can be a value add for consumers which is attractive to them. However, dealers will want to know whether this is the case or not to ensure that any given vehicle being advertised doesn’t have VHR issues. • Media compatibility – With the various forms of media available and in use for inventory merchandising by dealers, an important consideration is whether the used car listing service supports the media that the dealer is creating to advertise their vehicles. Some used car listing services will limit dealers as to the inclusion of video and/or other newer technologies. Knowing what is and is not compatible with a used car listing service is an important consideration especially if a dealer is producing rich content such as live video walkarounds.
Conclusion Most dealers consider used car listing services as invaluable and necessary partners for the simple reason that these portals have a high volume of consumer car buying traffic. Especially in the area of used cars, dealers will want to monitor their market for availability and pricing to ensure that they are competitive in their offerings. Because all of these used car listing services are public destinations, dealers can test and experiment as much as they’d like to see how vehicles are being displayed, in what order and what information each VDP page contains. The Used Car Advertising vendor ratings on page 20 will share ratings of various used car listing service providers provided by verified dealers. The ratings should give a dealer confidence in choosing a used car listing service solution and provider that best fits their needs and budget.
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2016 Marketing in Review
arketing for automotive dealerships in 2016 was a battle fought and won on customer experience. The digital marketing space is more crowded than ever from inside and outside the industry as everyone competes for consumer attention. Dealers aren’t necessarily only competing against each other anymore, they are competing against other brand names in the digital marketing arena. Additionally, new entrants in the industry are putting more pressure than ever on stealing the consumer experience from dealerships. Attempts such as Tesla’s OEM stores selling direct to consumers, online transaction companies such as Amazon and other alternative sales models have proven nothing more than distractions during 2016, but demonstrate that the traditional dealer model continues to be under attack. Winning dealer marketing strategies have to reach across all channels and mediums that affect their addressable market to own the experience. Although, the industry is swiftly moving toward websites, social and
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other digital strategies, dealerships should focus on protecting their addressable market and target consumers, even if those strategies include traditional media.
Mobile is King Mobile continued its unrelenting charge in 2016. DrivingSales Data collected from more than 2,000 dealer websites shows that in November 2016, 55% of traffic to dealer sites was from a mobile device. In November 2015 only 45% of traffic was from mobile devices. With this shift dealers must place more focus on mobile and consider it the default platform for their website. This consideration further emphasizes a responsive mobilefirst strategy for all communications and lead generation strategies.
Valuable Communication Lead forms have typically been the preferred approach to interact with customers and gain contact information to further communication. Studies have proven that many people refuse to interact with forms because they fear
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Dealers aren’t necessarily only competing against each other anymore, they are competing against other brand names in the digital marketing arena. what will happen when sharing their contact information (spam, unwanted calls). To address the issue of consumer hesitancy to share contact information, dealers looked to other communication formats to interact with customers. Some of these strategies included website chat, social media messaging, texting, online transaction applications and digital videos. Consumers are looking for instant value and these mediums offered a more instantaneous and direct form of communication versus traditional web forms.
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Social Media The jury is still out as to how effective advertising will be on the different social media platforms. Of the major sites though, Facebook made the most innovations during the year to assist in social selling and even launched some specific updates directed to the automotive industry. Facebook this year launched new advertising settings including multi-image positions and enhancements to their retargeting capabilities that opened up new
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possibilities for advertising on the site. However, the feature that had the most potential for automotive impact was the interactive immersive video ads that allowed people to view an entire vehicle interior within Facebook. Other sites made minor improvements to allow for new advertising approaches. Twitter improved its advertising and targeting tools to allow for more ad-hoc abilities. Further, Instagram, after being acquired by Facebook, opened up new channels that allowed for closer ties between Facebook and Instagram advertising. Â Â One clear use of social media that dealers have proven is the ability to leverage the networks for community outreach and communication. Social media strategies are increasing in importance due to the amount consumers rely on them to verify the reputation of a given dealership. However, many dealers still are not participating in sites like Twitter to monitor conversations and respond to concerns.
Review and Ratings Sites Today, dominant sites like Yelp and Google Local are being met with an endless amount of review sites. Many of these new vendors either offer increased control or moderation of reviews. Dealer customers are becoming savvier with reputation management and relying on reviews to help guide the brand, model and dealership they choose. The majority of third-party sites now offer ratings information at the model level and many offer dealer reviews as well. With the increase in the frequency of reviews and the locations where reviews can be left, dealers have a
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more difficult responsibility in tracking and responding to reviews. Many dealers have turned to solution providers to help manage their reputation to ensure their reputation stays positive for potential customers for both service and vehicle sales.
Alternative Distribution Models New companies competing on consumer experience and distribution models continually made significant noise in news and politics in 2016. These models included online buying and sales such as Carvana and Vroom as well as direct from OEM as from Tesla. Although these models did not see significant traction from the general consumer, they have proven that there is an appetite for these alternative approaches. Adapting to this new competition will require dealers to consider offering more services and interaction online. Finding solutions to extend these services will foreseeably become the hotbed of dealership innovation.
2016 in the Rearview 2016 will probably be remembered as the Year of the Battle to Own Consumer Experience, whether on review site, on social or on mobile. For dealers the most important strategies will be to secure and dominate the consumer experience for their potential customers. Make the messages relevant and direct, and ensure noise is reduced. The big win will be that customer that not only buys a car off your lot, but refers you to others and follows you on social. Cheers to 2017.
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