American Lung Association Bike Trek to Shakertown update
I had one of those “aha” moments the other day. I was training for the upcoming American Lung Association Bike Trek to Shakertown and had ridden about 40 miles or so and my legs were starting to tire. At the time I was riding on a country road and going uphill so I was not going very fast at all (about 10 MPH) several cars were showing their displeasure at my pace as they passed. I remember saying to myself if they only knew how far I had already been they would surely be more understanding.
And then I realized we all need to apply that to all aspects of our lives. I know too many times I have let impatience get the best of me. Be it at the drive-through window, at a traffic light or the line at the grocery store. So this week I am going to make it a point to be more patient and try to remember that I do not know what the other person is going through. This week I am really going to work hard to be more understanding of others and try harder to have empathy for all those that I meet.
So there are three weeks left to finish training for the ALA’s Bike Trek to Shakertown and I am pretty sure that I can do the 140 miles but it definitely will be a challenge. Maybe my good friends at Bob Hook Chevy (whom I am very proud to say are sponsors of the event and me as a rider) can have a car ready to bail me out if needed, after all, I saw a brand new 2010 Cobalt for just $199 on their website.
Until tomorrow keep on keeping and oh yeah GO CARDS!
AT&T Customer Service vs. Verizon
Forget the debate about whose network cover more people in more places, though I often am very thankful that I am with Verizon. No today, I'd like to talk about AT&T's customer service or lack thereof.
About four years ago I too was with AT&T (then Cingular) but after several run ins about bad reception and service I took my plan to Verizon. My wife however stayed with AT&T for one reason, the rollover minutes. She just loved the thought of those minutes piling up as though we'd her or the kids would ever use them.
She was recently laid off and had to send the company iPhone back and so the kids were going to get her a new iPhone for Mother's Day. A good friend said to wait since the iPhone4 was to be released soon so we did.
Yesterday AT&T's website crashed and was down almost the whole day. Today she finally got a hold of someone and was told to drive down to the store (about 20 miles from our rural house) and they would get her pre-order completed. She gets down to the store and was told by the AT&T representative that they could no longer take any pre-orders. WOW can we roll that over too?
So yet again, I am reminded why I love Verizon and left AT&T years ago. It seems that you can put lipstick (iPhone) on a pig (AT&T) but it will always be a pig.
I just really have to wonder why Apple continues to allow this absurd treat of really is Apple's customers? Just a thought..anyone have any AT&T disaster stories? I'd love to hear them.
Change, Uncomfortable but Necessary
The past few months have been challenging not only for the nation and our industry, but also for me personally. Shortly after the New Year began, I left my previous company and began a new adventure with a longtime friend at iMagicLab. I simply was ready for something new. It’s been a bit uncomfortable at times getting re-acclimated in a new company, but I believe with all my heart that tit was truly time for a change and so believe that it will all be for the best.
This is true for our dealerships as well. There are many times that we know in our hearts that we need to do something different but still resist. Many of us have websites that we know no longer market our stores the way we need them to. Others are using outdated CRMs that we know no longer help us retain our own customers. In almost every store across the nation there are items that we know we need to change but have resisted for various reasons.
Today stop and take a minute and look at the things you know you need to change in your life and at your dealership. Yes, change can be uncomfortable, but in the end when you’ve made that change, and you’re starting to hit your new stride, you can look back and be glad that you changed. I know I am glad that I made the changes I made.
So what changes do you want to start today?
Toyota uses Social Media for discussion
Toyota COO and President Jim Lentz
As part of the campaign to get in front of the accelerator pedal recall Toyota COO Jim Lentz fielded questions today on Twitter. While it's not really earth shattering news, it does demonstrate that Social Media plays a vital role in the new marketplace.
Customers want transparency from companies that they deal with. It reassures them and shows what they can expect should any problems arise in the future. So while Toyota did not sell any cars directly during today's Q&A session, I have no doubt that they convinced more than a few people that will be buying soon, that Toyota is easy to deal with.
Dealerships can apply the same principle. Don't use sites like Twitter to try and sell cars, rather use them to sell your dealership. Show current and prospective customers that you are open, transparent and easy to deal with. You will find big dividends in retention and new customers as well.
As always, please feel free to contact if you have any questions how you can use Social Media as part of your overall online strategy.
Spring 2010 looks to be huge, is your dealership ready?
Marketing and advertising your dealership has gone from mass channels such as radio and TV to a more personal and on demand approach. Instead of repeating a broad message, today you need smaller more people centric messages. It’s not that marketing your dealership has died, it’s just changed. Today people have more power and more choices. So what’s the best way to reach them?
Be Accessible.
Whether it’s your website, your Facebook page, Twitter or You Tube or any other number of sites, there are more ways to reach more people than ever before. Can your prospects and customers engage you on multiple platforms? Some people prefer to submit a form, others prefer to call, many still use email and an increasing number would rather use Facebook or other social media sites. The lesson here is simple don’t limit access to your dealership to your website and phone.
Be Active.
You don’t have to sit at your desk and post Tweets all day. However, do post something regularly. I would suggest at least three to five times a week. More importantly set up alerts to notify you when your dealership is mentioned.
Short and Sweet.
Because of all the ways to reach people today, this is more important today than ever before. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to send a long email or posts on your social media sites. Use just 10% of your message at a time, so if you want tell prospects about a car and your description is 500 words send to them in 50 word increments. Brevity is king, when people see long email messages they tend to put off reading it.
In closing this is an exciting time to be in the car business. A lot of people have been waiting to buy that new car, waiting for the economy to settle down, waiting for credit to open back up. This spring should be one of the best in a long time. Now is the time to make sure that your dealership is ready. Feel free to call me if you have any questions on how you can put Social Media and your website to work for you.
Will 2010 be a great year for your dealership?
New Year’s Eve will you stay up to watch the New Year come in or make sure the old one leaves?
While 2009 has certainly been trying, I will stay up to watch 2010 arrive. I am confident that this year will be one of the best ever. Business is starting to come back again and dealers today are better equipped to meet the demands of today’s buyers.
On a personal note I have completed my move from Southern California back to Kentucky and am ready to face the exciting challenges of helping TK get a better foothold in the Southeastern market.
My series of articles about each of the OEM’s will begin next week and we will start with Chrysler. I hope that these articles will help you sell more cars by showing you what the OEM’s are doing with Social Media and what some of the brightest in our industry think is the best way for you to use it at the dealership level.
So here’s to a great 2010 may each of you be blessed this year.
2009 LA Auto Show Observations and Opinions
As Press Days wind down at the LA Auto Show I thought I would stop and share some of my observations and opinions. I attended to the show to see how each of the OEMs are approaching Social Media and what their future strategy might be.
From a purely Social Media point of view Ford was the clear winner of the show. Their use of Social Media savvy “Agents” was brilliant and with more than 80,000 people expressing interest in a car that has yet to be shown to the public, they have proved that Social Media Marketing can be wildly successful when done right.
While Ford clearly “get’s it” several OEMs still have a lot to learn. We asked each manufacturer’s representatives who was the point of contact or who was in charge of their Social Media initiatives. Far too many times we had to explain in greater detail what we meant by Social Media. Many of the OEMs don’t have anyone that specifically handles their Social Media activities. In the coming weeks I am setting out on a mission to profile each OEM vision for Social Media usage in 2010. So stay tuned to my blog.
It was also very interesting to see how the OEM’s presented their press information at a show where “Green” was definitely a theme. Some had kits that were very slick and contained CD’s with photos and documents. Others used high tech USB devices that contained the materials. I thought that the most creative and eco-friendly were the ones that simply presented you with a card that had a URL with a username and password.
Speaking of eco-friendly Hybrids were the stars at nearly every display. The Chevy Volt had a big introduction and will make its entry in the California market in 2010. Chevy will distribute 100 Volts to the electric companies and will get their assistance in building hundreds of charging stations throughout the state.
Overall I really enjoyed the press days at the LA Auto Show. I am looking forward to discussing Social Media plans for 2010 with each of the OEMs and profiling each on my blog. As always if you have any questions feel free to call me at 502-689-5370 or contact me at Twitter, I am @dealerist.
Social Media Goes Corporate
An interesting study crossed my desk today, the 2009 Business Social Media Benchmarking Studyby Ben Hanna, Ph.D. the VP of Marketing for R.H. Donnelley Interactive.
While the study does not directly address the retail application of Social Media, it does reflect a growing trend of mainstream use of Social Media not only by individuals, but also by businesses. Over 4,000 respondents were surveyed and even though the study focused mainly on business to business use of Social Media there were some surprising revelations.
If you've read some of my past articles you know that the fastest growing demographic on Facebook is the age 40 to 50 segment. However, it may surprise you that know that of this study's respondents 58% were C-Level Executives (CEO, CFO President, etc.) One thing that jumped out to me was that only 2% of respondents listed their industry as automotive. In case you're interested the leading field was listed as retail followed closely by health care.
Information sources that did not require active participation such as webinars, podcasts reading ratings or reviews etc. were rated as more useful participating in discussions or forums. I found this particularly interesting because it has been said by more than a few experts that Social Media sites will soon be the new search engines. If this is the case then you might be wise to start advertising on these sites.
Webinars were listed as very useful. Is there an application here for the retail car business? Maybe a webinar to show owners how to perform routine inspections or how to use complicated features such as navigation?
Most were new to the business use of Social Media with 35% having spent less than one year managing or involved in the Social Media initiatives of their companies. Over 70% of the companies had less than two years of experience in Social Media.
So what are all these newbies doing for their business? The most popular was maintain company related accounts or profiles on the Social Media sites. Second was monitoring company related "mentions" on Social Media sites. Maintaining the company blog was a very close third.
A lot of companies (54%) reported using Social Media to monitor their users / customers ratings and reviews and 53% monitored their competitors mentions.
The 44 page study reveals that a relative new media is rapidly becoming a mainstream business tool. You can read the study at http://www.business.com/info/business-social-media-benchmark-study.
Is your dealership engaged? If you want to find out simple and easy ways to get your store started call me at 502-689-5370 or contact me at Twitter, I am @dealerist.
Dealership Marketing and Advertising in the Web 2.0 Age
It’s no secret that advertising methods that worked in years past no longer work, so how can you market your dealership in today’s economy?
I recently saw a presentation on What’s Next Marketing and Advertising by Paul Isakson on Slideshare. One of the points that he makes is that the future of marketing is NOT about doing and saying things TO people, rather the future of marketing is about doing things WITH and FOR people. Mr. Isakson’s presentation said that the future of marketing is:
Collaborative: In today’s Web 2.0 environment your customers are your dealership’s voice. What they say to their friends and family will trump anything you say in your advertising.
Generous: Almost every dealer I know has a charity that they work with. Your Facebook, your Twitter account even your showroom are venues that you can share with your charities to help promite their causes. By doing so you show your customers and prospects that you are involved and care about your community.
Experimental: Let’s face it, advertising today a moving target. You have to be willing to try new things. The great news is that social media and the web are perfect for experimenting so go ahead try that crazy idea out.
Helpful: One of the fundamental principles of social media is that people will share things they find helpful. So use your social media accounts and your dealership website to provide helpful tips and videos. Your customers and prospects will forward them to their friends and family and you get more exposure.
Playful: This should be a no brainer for those of us in the car business. Why do you think that the King of Cars was so successful? It was fun. When you have fun your customers see that you’re real. So get out there and have some fun with your marketing.
Personal: Ever since websites became common most dealerships have had staff pages. Those pages allowed us to tell our prospects a little about us. Today, social media sites go even further and if used properly show that we too have families, that kids play soccer too that we too are people just like them.
Honest: This one’s a tough one. As an industry we have always had a bit of bad reputation. I think dealers today are not only very honest; they are probably some of the most honest businesses around. Social media sites and the web allow you to work with you customers and prospects in an open an transparent way. If you staff made a mistake admit it and address it openly. Nothing will go further to help your store image.
Participatory: Like Paul Isakson says, “The best way to get people to do stuff with you, is to first join them in what they are already doing.” Your customers and prospects are already using social media to share and stay in touch with their friends and family. When you get involved with social media you’re joining your customers and in doing so they will participate by helping you build a better business.
Marketing your dealership today doesn’t have to be all that confusing. One thing is certain, the rules have changed and what used to work no longer does. But the good news is that if you’re willing to try new things and open up and let your customers help, there’s a whole new way to market your business.
As always please feel free to call me at 502-689-5370 or follow me on Twitter, I am @dealerist.
Most recent articles
- American Lung Association Bike Trek to Shakertown update
- AT&T Customer Service vs. Verizon
- Change, Uncomfortable but Necessary
- Toyota uses Social Media for discussion
- Spring 2010 looks to be huge, is your dealership ready?
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