The Masters Champions of Automotive Internet Sales

Who Would You Nominate for a “Green Jacket?”

As the best golfers in the world compete for the Green Jacket at Augusta, I can’t help but think of the largest similarity that Major tournament golf champions have with the champions of the Automotive Internet Sales world – Consistent Excellence.

Great golfers lead The Masters for a day or two and often fade. Only the best of the best are still in contention late on Sunday. These are the professionals that have paid their dues – made mistakes and learned from them, pushed themselves, sacrificed, maintained focus in the face of adversity and persevered.

The most successful BDC Directors and Automotive Internet Salespeople did not get that way overnight. They fight for respect, advertising budget and credit for sales in an industry that’s looked down upon the BDC or Internet Sales Department as “those guys in the back that play on computers”, compared the salespeople who work the floor exclusively. They share best practices on websites like AutomotiveDigitalMarketing.com, DrivingSales.com, DealerRefresh.com, dealerElite.net and others. They attend conferences like Digital Dealer, Internet Battle Plan, NADA, JD Power Roundtable, and DrivingSales Executive Summit – sometimes at their own expense and at their management’s protest, but they press on. Most don’t last very long and are soon seeking greener pastures, as the dealership maybe didn’t live up to their commitment of ad budget – or personnel – or focus of the dealership toward technology – or pay plan originally agreed upon.

The leaders who can achieve longevity through turnover, tumultuous times, new technologies, and old-school mentality resistance, while producing consistent and steady, measurable growth for themselves and their department are truly the Champions of the Automotive Internet Sales world. Here’s wishing there were a Green Jacket for them – and, not to get political, but women would be included in this club… Who would you nominate for the Green Jacket?

Adam Ross is the Managing Director of Infinite Prospects, Inc. Adam is a seasoned veteran of the car sales industry who has over 11 years of Automotive Internet Sales experience on both the dealer and vendor side, and continues to learn all he can about maximizing sales through technology for car dealerships. With hands on experience from the sales desk to management and high-level executive communication, Adam has thousands of connections in the automotive industry. From solutions providers, to lead generation websites, to implementing best practices for following up with prospects and closing appointments that lead to sales, Adam is the person you want to lead you through the technology landscape. He’ll help you select the best sales technology for your car dealership, get your team running at top efficiency using the tools necessary for success, and maximize the capabilities of the solutions you already have in place.

Name(required)

Email(required)

Website

Comment(required)

Connect With Infinite Prospects on Social Media

• Twitter
• Facebook
•  LinkedIn
• Google+
• DrivingSales
• ADM Network
• Flickr
• Tumblr
• YouTube
• Press Room
• Dealer Elite

Dealerships – Claim and Merge Multiple Facebook Business Pages

Does your Dealership have multiple, unclaimed Facebook Places and Pages? If the answer is yes, claim them and merge them with your current Fan page!

Many dealerships have multiple Facebook pages representing them out there. Which page are your customers checking into? You can merge these other pages with your fan page, but you must claim each of these non-fan-page  pages before you do so.

Here’s how to claim and administer the pages that are not your fan page, but represent your business:

First, you should be an administrator of your dealership’s Facebook fan page – you will need to be in order to merge the two (or more) pages.

Next, search Facebook for your dealership name (in the white search box at the top blue bar). Are there multiple entries coming up?

Click on the first dealership page that is not your fan page. Click on the box in the top right corner that says: Know the Owner? 

In the box that pops up, enter your email address. It must be the same address as the one that administers your fan page. 

You will receive an email inviting you to Claim the Page by clicking on the link.

After clicking “Claim Page”, you are directed to a page asking you to certify that you are authorized to claim the page.

 

It’s that easy! Once you are the admin for both the fan page and recognized as the owner of an unclaimed page, as long as the address for both pages match identically (you can change the newly claimed page to match your Fan page), you can merge the two pages into your fan page – here’s how:

This comes right from Facebook’s help section, found here:

http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=249601088403018#I-have-two-Facebook-Pages-for-the-same-thing.-Can-I-merge-them?

“You can merge duplicate Pages and Places. Please note you can only merge the Page or Place with fewer likes into the one with more likes. To do so:

1. Go to the Page or Place with the most likes. This will be the one you’ll keep.
2. Click the Edit Page button in the top right corner.
3. From the left sidebar, select Resources.
4. Click the Merge Duplicate Pages link. This link will only appear if you admin two Pages with similar names.
    
5. A dialog box will show Pages and Places you admin that qualify to be merged. Select the checkbox for Page(s) you wish to merge. If you’re merging a Place and a Page, they must have the same address information.

For Pages with the new timeline design, replace step 2 with the following instructions, then continue with steps 3-5 above:

1. Open your Page’s admin panel
2. Click Manage 
3. Select Edit Page
    

Please note: The Page or Place with fewer likes will be removed from Facebook and you will not be able to unmerge them.”

Here’s another great article from InstdeFacebook.com detailing screen by screen how to merge: http://www.insidefacebook.com/2011/08/03/how-to-use-merge-duplicate-pages/

This whole process should not take you much time at all and will streamline and consolidate your listings on Facebook, ensuring that every shopper will see YOUR messaging, all FB check-ins will be combined in one place, and all fans of the other pages will be merged, so you lose nothing at all.

Adam Ross
Managing Director
Infinite Prospects, Inc. – Online Solutions for Car Dealerships
(201) 448-7253 phone
http://www.infiniteprospects.com
http://www.facebook.com/infiniteprospectsinc
http://www.twitter.com/inf_prospects

https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/106156827638663977698/106156827638663977698/posts

http://www.linkedin.com/company/infinite-prospects-inc./
http://infiniteprospects.wordpress.com
Skype: infinite.prospects

Is Your Dealership Attending Digital Dealer 12?

Are you attending the Digital Dealer 12 Conference and Exposition in Orlando, FL on April 3-5?

We will be there, working in the InstaQuote booth, interacting with the most progressive dealers and educating them about the best automated quoting system available for car dealers!

Visit our website at http://www.infiniteprospects.com to learn more about InstaQuote, Cargigi, eXteresAuto and other services available to enhance your dealership’s online efforts.

We look forward to seeing you there! Drop us a line to let us know if anyone from your dealership is attending!

Digital Marketing Department for Auto Dealers… Can it Pay Off?

I originally wrote this blog post (CLICK THIS LINK) almost 2 years ago, titled, “We need to Re-Position and Re-Name The Internet Department,” on AutomotiveDigitalMarketing.com, but the subject matter is more relevant than ever. An “Internet Sales department” will, sadly, no longer be sufficient for car dealerships going forward. That day is coming sooner rather than later.

As online consumer use has grown, the size of the staff working to capitalize on that

increased usage has remained relatively stagnant. There will continue to be the need for appointment setters responding to leads via email and phone, business development coordinators to make lease retention, unsold showroom and service follow-up calls. However, there is also enough work in marketing a dealership online to occupy one person (or an entire staff) on a full-time basis in a DIGITAL MARKETING DEPARTMENT without that person having the burden or responsibility of setting appointments or selling cars. Most dealerships assign this role to the Internet Sales department, who are then forced to split their time performing both their original role (calling leads and selling cars) and this new added role of online marketing and keeping up with the latest trends. As a result, most of the time you will both see a drop-off in sales productivity and see a valiant but usually inconsistent attempt at marketing the dealership – limiting yourself in both areas.

Just to name a few of the responsibilities this department could cover better, simply because they can dedicate a full-time effort, rather than a part-time one:

• Monitoring and reacting faster to ongoing changes to Google algorithms effecting search presence,
• Overseeing the online Review Site (Reputation) Management for the dealership
• New Social Networks popping up just in the last year that can’t be ignored (Google+ and Pinterest), added to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, Tumblr, FourSquare,  and many others
• Publishing more often to your Company Blog
• Reaching out and sharing best practices across the online Digital Automotive community on sites like dealerElite.net, DrivingSales.com, DealerRefresh.com, AutomotiveDigitalMarketing.com, AutomotiveReputation.com to name a few.

My favorite analogy to describe this is: think of your hand. You have 5 fingers – each of them represents a profit center of the dealership (New, Used, F&I, Service, Parts). All 5 are connected to a palm, which ties everything together and makes each finger that much more powerful. The palm is the DIGITAL MARKETING DEPARTMENT. Fingers + Palm = Hand, which can accomplish much more than any one finger or two fingers can.

Compensation would be largely salary-based, with specific goal bonuses for # of check-ins in a certain time period, minimum number of outbound posts, volume of inbound engagements, and other measuring tools currently available that would show increase in reach, popularity and brand awareness. What are your thoughts about this idea?

Please comment below or visit my website to connect with me, Adam Ross, Managing Director at Infinite Prospects, and schedule a no-obligation FREE one-hour consult on your dealership’s online marketing strategy.

Improve Your Monthly Internet Sales on InfiniteProspects.com

CAR DEALERSHIPS – IMPROVE YOUR MONTHLY INTERNET SALES!

Visit our All-New, Content-Rich Website at http://www.infiniteprospects.com NOW!

Are you overwhelmed by the multitude of Internet marketing choices?

Infinite Prospects provides expert insight into Automotive Internet Marketing solutions for dealers and sales professionals.

Infinite Prospects Releases its v3 website – (screenshot of homepage)

Through personal, one-on-one coaching, you will discover:
» Secret marketing techniques for online auto sales success
» How to take advantage of the newest online trends and opportunities
» Insider knowledge to proven processes that increase monthly sales
» How to gain customers’ attention through the latest marketing products and services

Learn about how Infinite Prospects can help your dealership sell more cars online. Whether you need on-site sales training and consulting for your car dealership, technology training and consulting, or to guide your team through the follow up and sales process with both automated and manual contacts, Infinite Prospects is there for you. We are authorized resellers for InstaQuote, PureCars, Cargigi, eXteresAuto, AutoE Dealers and HomeNet, to name a few, plus we are Certified in Teaching and Training AVV WebControl. Contact Adam Ross, Managing Director at Infinite Prospects today – call (201) 448-7253 or visit our content-rich website at http://www.infiniteprospects.com. We look forward to your feedback and comments!

Tie Your Craigslist Ads to Your Facebook Fan Page and YouTube with Cargigi Autos and Infinite Prospects

What if every person who shopped your vehicles on Craigslist were directed to view the same vehicle listing on your Facebook fan page with video?

Cargigi recently released a new Social Media package add-on to their Automated Classified Posting service for $299/mo. that enables dealerships to do just that! Get more eyeballs to your Fan Page and increase the possibility for “Likes!”

By adding an Inventory section to the dealership’s Facebook Fan Page, Cargigi’s Craigslist ads can now direct every click from the Craigslist ad posting to view the same vehicle on the dealership’s Facebook Fan Page. The Cargigi-sponsored toll-free number appears on the listing as well as a lead form for the shopper to submit their contact info. Any lead submitted through the form is routed to the dealership’s CRM tool.

Facebook Inventory Tab List

Cargigi’s Social Media package also includes YouTube video creation and integration. A video is created for each used car by stitching the photos together, adding a text-based intro-and-outro and a Text-to-Speech voiceover description of the vehicle. Cargigi uploads each video to the dealership’s YouTube channel and ties it to the Facebook Fan Page inventory listing.

We Create Videos of All Used Cars and Upload To Your YouTube Channel

From now through October 31, 2011, any dealership currently not subscribed to any of Cargigi’s services are eligible to receive a very special offer. When you sign your dealership up for a single-market Craigslist package at $399/mo., we’ll include the Social Media Package add-on FOR NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE – not for a limited time but FOREVER! Save over $3500/year!

Call us today at (201) 481-1424 for more information about Cargigi Social Media integration or to schedule your demo test drive.
Infinite Prospects is an authorized Cargigi Autos reseller.

Automate Your Inventory Posting to Craigslist with Infinite Prospects

Sample Craigslist Ad

Is your dealership posting vehicles on Craigslist? If so, do those listings direct shoppers from Craigslist to a unique landing page? Where is that landing page hosted?

Cargigi offers dealerships a month-to-month, FULLY AUTOMATED Classified Posting solution starting at $399/mo. for the first Craigslist market, and $299/mo. for each additional Craigslist market.

This service handles everything “from-soup-to-nuts” for the dealership with full transparency, so all you have to do is sit back and answer the phone and emails that come in as a result.

Each ad is image-based with multiple photos, a toll-free number and alternate choices the shopper may also like. Clicking anywhere on that image directs the shopper to an independent landing page of the same vehicle that includes a lead form for the shopper to submit their contact info. Any lead submitted through the form is routed to the dealership’s CRM tool.

The $399/mo. single-market subscription fee from Cargigi includes a Live Market Activity Monitor program so you can track what’s happening real-time with your active listings on Craigslist.

Also included is a unique toll-free number (which redirects to wherever the dealership desires) that tracks and records all calls, enabling you to monitor and listen to those calls online.

For a limited time Cargigi will also include, free of charge, access to the ADAM (Auto Data Automated Management) inventory management system and reporting tool.

Call us today at (201) 481-1424 or Click Here for more information about Cargigi Classified Postings or to schedule your demo test drive. Infinite Prospects is an authorized Cargigi Autos reseller.

3rd Party Landing Page Directed from Craigslist - Click to View in a New Tab or Window and Click Again to Magnify

New InstaQuote Functionality + Redesign

On October 5, 2011, InstaQuote began releasing (in beta) its latest version (v5) of automated new & used car lead quotes for auto dealerships. This new version incorporates several major changes, adds some new functionality, and adjusts the layout of the quote.

The biggest change to InstaQuote is the type of email it delivers to the consumer on behalf of a dealership. Consumers will receive a Rich-Text email with a hyperlink to view the quote in a browser.

Email that the Customer Receives from InstaQuote and the Dealership

This browser-enabled quote allows InstaQuote to do several new things that it could never do before:

1. Consumers can now search all the alternate new and used cars in inventory on an overlay screen
2. Shoppers can one-click “Submit” an alternate vehicle request (since we already have their contact info)
3. Buyers will see a dynamic auto-scrolling row of alternate new & used vehicles, and they can now see content that earlier was hidden behind tabs (more photos, standard features, technical specs, custom videos, get a new quote, etc.) in an overlaid window, so they never have to leave the quote window.

Static Screen Shot of the Newest Version of InstaQuote for New and Used Car Dealers - Click to See Full-Size in a new tab or window, then Click again to Magnify

InstaQuote Showing the Inventory Overlay - Click to See Full-Size in a new tab or window, then Click again to Magnify

Salespeople get much more prominence in InstaQuote v5. Managers can now add a photo, schedule, and bio text for each salesperson, giving the consumer a higher comfort level and recognition of whom they’re corresponding with.

InstaQuote v5 empowers the dealership to have more control over how their quotes look to consumers, with make-specific templates as well as the ability to change color schemes to match the dealer’s branding.

InstaQuote v5 also adds a new “Test Drive” feature, enabling the consumer to send the dealership a test drive request by simply selecting a preferred and alternate date & time and clicking “Submit” – no re-typing of their contact info is necessary, since we already had that in their original request.

InstaQuote pricing starts at just $499/mo. (single franchise dealer) for unlimited quotes and unlimited users. Additional franchises under the same rooftop cost just $75/mo. more.

CLICK HERE TO GENERATE YOUR OWN INSTAQUOTE

With all this new functionality and these new features, I urge you to reach out to me and take a test drive of this amazing updated interface. You won’t be disappointed!

V5 is available for all current InstaQuote subscribers to immediately convert over, and all existing subscribers will be automatically converted in November if they have not already done so.

Call us today at (201) 481-1424 or Click Here for more information about InstaQuote or to schedule your test drive. Infinite Prospects is an authorized InstaQuote reseller.

Close 15% of Your Leads Every Month

I was inspired by a discussion on DrivingSales, an automotive social networking site, where an Internet Marketing Manager at a VW dealership was soliciting help on improving his closing percentage above its current consistent 10%.

This manager has a basic set of steps he follows, which are widely accepted as the best practice to achieve the best results in the automotive industry:

• AutoResponse
• Send Qualifying Questions (Fact Finding) email
• Send Price Quote email
• Call Customer
• Follow Up

I had a few suggestions for him, which you can apply to your dealership’s process to improve your closing percentage:

1. How many days out are you following up with each prospect right now? And how often do you email/call them? Converting more 30-90 day old prospects through diligent follow up is a key factor in increasing closing ratio.
2. Do you send TARGETED broadcast (bulk) emails? Targeting by model would make the offers more relevant to your existing prospect base.
3. Do you have a sold follow up EMAIL process that incorporates asking recently sold customers for referrals from their family and friends?
4. Have you heard of InstaQuote? It’s an automated email quoting system that works with your CRM tool to stop-the-clock and send a custom multi-choice email quote to each prospect. This would eliminate having to spend as much as 10 minutes per lead building a multi-price menu to email the client. The quote can also include useful links to pages on the dealership’s website, plus to the dealer’s social media outlets and 3rd party rating sites. Infinite Prospects is a distributor and can show you how it works. Pricing starts at just $399 per month, month-to-month contract with a 30-day money-back guarantee…

Each of these tips could help you save time or engage more prospects, which will add an extra few deals each month. With those additional sales, you’re talking about significant positive impact to your dealership’s closing percentage.

Infinite Prospects can help your dealership implement all of these ideas and much more. Please call Adam Ross at (201) 481-1424 or visit our website for more information.

Infinite Prospects helps car dealers sell more cars online through Internet sales contact process evaluation, coaching and training. Distributor for #PureCars, #InstaQuote, #CarGigi, #AutoETechnologies, #Carfeine, and #SalesDialers. Visit our website at

http://www.infiniteprospects.com.

Focus on Long Term Follow Up

Is your dealership’s Internet sales process focused largely on converting consumers within the first 72 hours of receiving their lead? If so, you’re leaving a large chunk of sales on the table…

How much time do you spend working your 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, and 90-day old prospects? Probably not enough…

While this published data may be a few years old, the statistics have not changed much since that time. Put together a strategy with a combination of phone calls, personal emails, email newsletters and direct mail (where possible) to stay in touch with the consumer for 90+ days and keep your dealership in their thoughts.

Excerpt from: 2008 AUTOMOTIVE ESHOPPER EXPERIENCE STUDY, conducted by The Cobalt Group and J.D. Power & Associates. 

“The 2008 J.D. Power and Associates New Autoshopper.com Study found that on average AUIs (Automotive Internet Users) report that they first decide to buy a new vehicle 15.4 weeks before they actually purchase one. Three weeks later they begin using the Internet to find information, which is approximately 12. 4 weeks prior to purchase. By the time they have narrowed their vehicle selection down to one vehicle they are typically 5 weeks away from purchase. This information is key to both understanding the best time to target and market to Internet shoppers and to understanding that shoppers may be in-market for different periods of time…

The longer a lead remains unsold, the more likely it is to convert to a used vehicle. Dealers should respond promptly to leads and have systems in place to market to car shoppers in a way that addresses what the consumer is likely to purchase based on the age of the lead. Suggesting a used vehicle alternative to a new vehicle lead as the lead ages could help convert the lead to a sale. Additionally, with a third of leads converting after 90 days, dealers who continue to market to consumers will benefit by selling to those with purchase timeframes beyond a three month period.”

What strategies does your dealership employ to stay in touch with consumers?