I have been hired by a store to get their internet department up to speed. I have been there for 4 and a half days now. I am Internet Sales Director, with an assistant.

Here’s what we have:

• Cobalt Website: http://www.dublinauto.com
• Cobalt ILM: 2 seperate accounts (one for GM and one for Nissan)
• InterActive Financial Marketing Group: CarLoan.com and Autoloan.com secondary leads
• Upbeat attractive assistant who is still young and not “in it to win it” yet (but would like to make more money - I think).
• GM BuyPower Leads
• Nissan Factory Leads
• 3 people in one office (covering everything from training to answering leads), 1 phone, 1 computer (and an old laptop with Windows 98 on it), 1 real desk, 1 table for the laptop (overgrown calculator), everyone almost has to stand up when someone needs to move (tons of interuptions)

Here is what I propose. (For the immediate time being - Other “freestyle” stuff to come when the basics are down)

• I would cut the Cobalt lead management tool (which is really Outlook with some extra features), especially since you have to log into two different ILM’s to answer leads.
• Implement iMagicLab since it is a user friendly tool AND I will not have to learn something new.
• Get rid of GM Buypower and Nissan Factory leads (at least for the moment) so I can can get some control over the tracking, ROI, etc. 
• Focus on Nissan at first because they will be easier than domestics to sell online.
• Get about 100 Nissan leads from AutoUSA for the Nissans we have in stock (cut off leads for vehicles we do not have)
• Keep the Second chance leads, but answer them myself, since the assistant can’t get control on the phone (the 400 beacon gets to the store thinking they can do what a 799 beacon can do - when they even come)
• Train assistant on notes we took in Dealer Synergys’ Internet Bootcamp
• Get assistant keeping an “objections log”. She will write down any objection she gets as to why a person can not come in to the store (I told her to do this the second day I was there - she has yet to do it). We will train on the objections, putting them in there proper category of the five reasons people go online to shop for a car.
• Of course there needs to be space to work
• My friend Jeremy from Hi Octane Solutions has found a great all-in-one Inventory Management Sysytem I intend to use.

Am I missing anything? Please respond. I will get this done one way or another. I just thought it would be neat to see this unfold on this site, so other’s can learn as well as myself.

I have this idea for our dealer “megasite”. Well actually it is just my idea. If I wanted to use something or someone famous on my site (and make them say what I wanted pertaining to buying a car from myself), can I do that or will have I have get their permission, or give them royalties (as if I get any to give), or buy some images or video, or music of any kind, of this famous person or thing. 

Okay let’s say, I want to use that little Transformer, by Pontiac….ohhh what’s his name?

I may have him be a “tour guide”, to visitors at my dealer website, for maybeeeeee….Pontiac clientelle. So the Transformer could guide him/her (visitors) around the site keeping in mind that the visitors want to see Pontiac vehicles, while being sure they see the new and used cars that are similar to what they are looking at in the first place (this would work really well for dealers who have multiple manufacturer brands under one roof or on one lot. You could easily allow your visitor to see all their choices (that you offer) giving the feeling that they have shopped at multiple dealers and thus being more ready to buy). ###Did that make sense?###

Anyway, I would love to know the limits I have on this idea. I will be looking for this information for myself. But, I thought it would be a great topic here, so we can all learn from this. 

Okay, I am really no expert, according to the experts. However, I do have a sort of  ”common sense” about why a “Landing Page” is so important.

For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, it is basically the webpage you land on when you click an advertising link. I will not attempt to get that technical with this subject as I am a car salesman at heart.

I have several sponsors and a friend or two using space on this blog to attract our visitors to their products and/or services. However, only one of them is even close to using these links wisely. He has actually created a page that welcomes DealerISM readers to his site, instead of you just ending up on his front page. HiOctaneSolutions, that is a company that provides many services to dealers for their Internet Departments, has “got a clue” about this “landing page” thing.

Click on his banner or his link in this article and watch what you see. He also made sure he can track this activity as well. If you wil notice the bottom of his “landing page”, you will also, see a “Special Offer” just for DealerISM Members.

If you would like more information on this topic, just google “landing pages”, and if you notice the name “Seth Godin“, click it and read his information. So far everything I read from him is really good. Better yet, check out his article, “Landing page”.

In the retail automotive industry one of the biggest expenses is advertising. A dealership must advertise in order to keep it’s name out in front of the general public. Top of mind awareness is very important to a dealership’s survival. On average a dealership normally spends about $150 to $200 (probably alot more in most cases) in advertising on each car it sells. This can add up to a lot of money.

Word of mouth advertising is by far a dealership’s best form of advertising. When one person tells another about a good experience it builds more excitement, trust, and value than radio, TV or Newspaper ad could ever do.

This word of mouth advertising is the basis and core of the Birddog Club.

Meet the Company That Will Increase Your Retail Sales

Word of mouth is one of the most powerful forms of advertising. Satisfied customers can do more for a product or service than any measure of advertising. In the hunting world, a bird dog finds a covey of birds and flushes it out, allowing the hunter a clear shot. When the hunt is over, the bird dog returns with birds for the hunter. The same process applies in the car business, too.

For years, satisfied customers have been sending their friends and family to purchase cars from their favorite product specialist. Some customers even follow them from dealership to dealership; preferring to deal with someone whom they know will keep their best interest in mind. The Bird Dog Club is a creation that capitalizes on this special business relationship.

It works simply like this: Registered customers (bird dogs) hunt for birds (referrals) and then bring them back to the hunter (product specialist). Then, the bird dogs are rewarded with bones (cash).

The Bird Dog Club program was created in 1999 and has been headed up by Susan Glandon, National Sales and Marketing Director, since 2005. There has been a great deal of growing within the company. What was a 2-person sales operation last year including Susan and Inside Sales Manager, Tangie Collins, has now become a superb team of Product Specialists with the addition of Jeff LaGrone and Nora McCarthy.

The Bird Dog Club integrated a Customer Service Department and has taken on Tiffany Rogers and Cara Cathcart to provide on-going support and guidance to all club users. Jamie Cain serves as the Bird Dog Club’s President and maintains the vital role of IT support, while Courtney Phillips is Vice President. It didn’t take long for JMsolutions to see the great advantages the user dealerships had with the program. They teamed up with Bird Dog Club in February of this year and now proudly offer the program too.

There are currently over 100 dealerships nationwide using the Bird Dog Club program with an additional 9 in Canada . The program has proven to provide their dealerships with results. Taking a cross-section of Bird Dog Club users below, their numbers speak for themselves. These dealers will easily sell between 200 to 400+ referrals EACH this year.