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!
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 Others are using outdated CRMs that we know no longer help us retain our own customers.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.
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.
Twitter 101: A Guide for Dealerships Part 2
You’re dealership is on Twitter, now what?
As I said previously, you need to post at least every day. If you use Outlook you can schedule a recurring task twice a day to remind you to post something.
Again, you don’t have to be a prize winning author, but it needs to be relevant and interesting. Here are a few points that will help make you worth following:
Be Helpful:
Cars and trucks today have more computers on board than the first space shuttle did. With all that technology comes tons of questions.
Find out what are the most asked questions at delivery. Talk to your service advisors and see what they get asked most often. What high tech features does your OEM have?
Basically all of the frequently asked questions (FAQ) that your customers and prospects ask would be informative and helpful Tweets.
Take an inexpensive video camera and shoot a short video demonstrating the “how to” for your FAQs and post the videos on your dealership’s “channel” on You Tube. (If you don’t have a YouTube channel for you’re dealership don’t worry, that will be our next topic.)
Then you can link to those videos in your Tweet. Remember that Tweets have to be 140 characters or less so use a URL shortener like http://bit.ly. A good example of a FAQ Tweet might look like this:
Need to connect your iPod to your Microsoft Sync? Here's how http://bit.ly/2OWqoi
Be Informative:
Use Google Alerts (http://www.google.com/alerts) to notify you via email whenever certain terms are posted online.
So if you’re a Ford dealer you might set an alert for the term “Ford F-150”, then select news for the type of alert and you be notified when there are press releases about the F-150. Then you can read that press release and determine if it’s something your customers might be interested in. If so, shorten the URL like we did above, mention the article and post. An example of an informative Tweet may look like:
Wow people really love their F-150's http://bit.ly/1xhswU
Be a Good Neighbor:
Get with local charities and civic organizations and when they are having local events Tweet about them and where possible link to their site. Say your local Habitat for Humanity is looking for volunteers, you could Tweet something like this:
If u r in the #Indy area @IndyHabitat is looking for volunteers THIS Sat morning/afternoon. http://bit.ly/49wgy8
Be Positive:
Post positive or motivation quotes from time to time. There are tons of sites that you can get a motivational quote of the day emailed to you. You can then Tweet that quote. Who wouldn’t want to pass on something that makes your day like:
“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful”. Albert Schweitzer
Using Twitter to reach out to your customers and prospects is not hard and does not take a lot of time. With just a few minutes each day you can post/Tweet useful and informative items that people will then pass on or “Re-Tweet” to their friends and family.
Then every now and then you can Tweet about a new incentive that the OEM just announced or a great service special. People expect and will respond to an ad occasionally if the routine content is worth their time and attention.
As always there’s so much to talk about so I will post another article soon that will help you use Twitter at your dealership. In the mean time if you have any questions at all please feel free to call me at 502-689-5370 or follow me on Twitter, I am @dealerist.
Twitter 101: A Guide for Dealerships
Everybody in the industry seems to be telling you to get your dealership on Twitter and the truth is you need to be. But, has anyone really told you why or even how? Lets’ take a basic look at Twitter and see what it is, why you should be on and more importantly, how to use Twitter.
First you need to realize that Twitter is a lot like CB Radio for the Internet with one big exception: Everyone gets their own channel. Looking at it from that perspective keep in mind that people CHOOSE to listen (Follow) you so you have to be worth listening to.
Reality check: Twitter is NOT an advertising tool, a bulk email tool, or about large numbers of followers. Let’s take a look at each of these individually.
Advertising:
Twitter is not an advertising tool, it is a relationship tool. Remember they choose to follow you so you must be worth following. If all they get is a steady diet of marketing they will stop listening. Use Twitter to build relationships with your customers and potential customers by providing meaningful content that they can use.
After you have established your Twitter “Channel” as informative, entertaining and worthy of following you can then occasionally put out a special or an announcement. The best strategy here is to use a bridge. Briefly mention the special on the Twitter and refer to your Facebook Fan Page where you can really market your specials.
Bulk email:
Common sense should tell you that just blasting out pitches like a bulk email program will not work on Twitter. Yet, every day I see people use Twitter just like that and then complain that Twitter does not work for their store or their customers demographic or their OEM brand.
Like we said before Twitter is a relationship media just like all Social Media. I really can’t say this enough so I am going make it clear:
People CHOOSE to follow/listen to you, so you HAVE to be worth Listening to.
Number of Followers:
At the dealership level you should not be overly concerned with how many people are following you. You want a group of followers that are truly connected with your store so that your messages are relevant to them. As you become more relevant to your own customers they will tell their friends and they will follow and your base of followers will grow.
Building your followers starts on the lot. Have your salespeople tell unsold showroom traffic about your Twitter page. Your Service Advisors should be telling their customers about your Twitter page. The parts counter should have a sign telling customers to follow you on Twitter. Repair orders, business cards, F&I anywhere your dealership touches a customer there should be a sign asking them to follow you on Twitter.
Reality Check: Be sure that you set up your Twitter account as your dealership name. So if you are John Smith Ford your Twitter account should be JohnSmithFord or JSmithFord not Joe Wilson because he is your Internet Manager. I have seen dealerships that have their Internet Manager set up their Twitter page and then if/when they leave the Twitter page and followers go with them.
Make sure that not only your Internet Manager but also the GM, GSM and even you log in at least weekly and post a message.
I will post another article with some detailed do and don’ts that will make you a believer in using Twitter at your dealership. In the mean time if you have any questions at all please feel free to call me at 502-689-5370 or follow me on Twitter, I am @dealerist.
500,000 People a Day, What Are You Waiting For?
How many people do you know that won’t buy a lottery ticket until the jackpot reaches a certain amount? I’ll bet we all know people like that, maybe even ourselves.
Many dealers are like that when it comes to adopting new trends and technologies. I’ve been in the retail car business for over 14 years. I worked for dealers that scoffed at the notion of a website some even threatened representatives of websites companies. Today, almost every dealership has a website.
I read a report that Facebook is now adding 500,000 NEW users every DAY!
For those of you that don’t get “in” until the jackpot is big enough, I have some news…the jackpot is at an all-time high. It’s time for your dealership to get in Social Media.
By getting “in” I don’t mean just signing up on Facebook and Twitter. No, getting “in” means that you and your staff are serious about actually joining in the conversation that’s all ready going on about your dealership.
Fortunately, a lot of big corporations have been using Social Media for some time so here are some of the lessons learned thus far.
CUSTOMER SERVICE:
It’s been said that good customer service makes the best marketing. Start right now by offering customer service via Twitter. Smart companies have been following Twitter and when someone mentions their company they respond quickly to any issues or potential issues.
Have your Customer Service Manager or even you start following Twitter today. Tell your customers about it when their in F&I, the service drive and even tell your unsold showroom traffic about your Twitter page. If it were my store, I’d have it plastered on every door coming in and going out of the dealership.
This will be a bitter pill for many but the rewards will be almost instantaneous. Even if you can’t help a potentially upset customer right away via Twitter, you can at least point them in the right direction and get the resolution process started.
INCREASE YOUR REACH:
When it comes to promotions there’s not much that has worked as well on the web or on the lot as the word “Free.” Social media is no exception to this rule.
A restaurant recently had a drawing for a $100 gift card. To enter the drawing people had to tweet “Follow @Maggianos by 5pm CST to be entered to win $100 in Maggiano’s gift certificates,” during a specific time frame. As a result Maggiano’s gained over 2,000 followers in a single day.
You could offer a free oil change for something similar. Followers on Twitter are more valuable than any list of email addresses so any promotion that helps you get more followers is worth the effort.
DON’T TRY TO SELL:
This one will be hard for most of us, after all we’re car people. We’ve been taught to always be closing. But the reality of Social Media is that if you’re pitching they’ll stop following. Instead use a bridge by occasionally embedding a link in your tweets back to your Facebook Fan Page. There you can present special offers for all of your profit centers.
Implement a Social Media Policy for your department managers. Have each department tweet one useful tidbit either daily or every other day. Then stagger the times that each department does their tweet. The best part is the tweets don’t have to be original material. You can “Re-Tweet” an OEM press release, an article about one of your models or seasonal reminders such as how to set the clock in the car back in the fall.
There are too many ways to use Social Media than we can discuss in this small article. If you have any questions at all or would like more information on ways you can use Twitter and Facebook please feel free to call me at 502-689-5370 or better yet follow me on Twitter I am @dealerist.
So what are you waiting for? The jackpot has never been bigger and with Facebook adding a half million people a day you can’t afford to wait anymore.
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