Stop Throwing Spaghetti - Develop Your New Hires

Years ago someone shared with me that old maxim "you gotta throw some spaghetti at the wall and see if it sticks".  So it seems that if one flings pasta at the wall, a fully cooked noodle will stick, one that has not finished cooking will not. Somewhere in time a little boy or girl watched grandma do this, connected this imagery to the trying new ideas and suddenly a clever new boardroom analogy was born!

Automotive dealership managers love the spaghetti throwing method. Even in the age of precision analytics dealer managers "try it and see if it sticks."

A troubling majority of automotive sales managers apply this same technique to their hiring and training actions, too. It has been well established that this results in a prodigal waste of payroll funds. All money issues aside, Not committing to the success of your news hires flies in the face of basic human decency. If you hire someone, you owe it to them to make provisions for their success.

Most people begin a new job awash in optimism. Their hiring marks a new beginning full of promise.  This time it will be better, they said so in the interview!  Then comes his/her first day...

The typical automobile salesperson's first day as a new hire involves showing up at a sales meeting where he/she is subjected to a mix of mistrusting stares. He/she may get a cursory introduction, or not. The new hire may eventually get some logins to start taking OEM product training. At some point he/she will be shown a place to sit and told to watch the door. When he/she finally feels confident, well -- take an up!  In about six months the managers will let the new hire go and then joke about their poor performance.

"Yeah, I tried, but either you know how to cat or you don't."

Am I being a little over dramatic? Is my brush a bit broad? Yes, but understand that I have seen various aspects of this in far too many dealer organizations. (I know owners/managers who actively avoid learning a new hire's name until they make it six months. If you do this, by the way, you're an asshole.)

Constant turnover is costly. Unsuccessful new hires cost money. To me cost is only part of the issue. Look, if someone has agreed to come and work in your organization, as an owner or manager you have a moral obligation to at least equip them for success.

She just wants to succeed in her new career.

At the very least, a new hire training program should include:

• A Training Schedule. Let them know what the first few days/weeks will look like. Even the most basic training schedule will ameliorate the nervousness and confusion inherent in working somewhere new.
• Organized HR Documentation and Policy Handbook. Have a packet ready for them with the necessary documents concerning their employment. Make sure they immediately have a resource that let's them know how to access their employee benefits and how payroll works.
• Facility Tour. Show them where they work, where they can eat lunch, take breaks, and go to the bathroom. Let them know where to direct customers they may encounter someone asking them where a particular department is. Make them proud of where they work!
• Work Space. Let them see where they will be doing online training, observing, and ultimately selling. (I know space if often limited, but a new hire's work space should make them feel special. Stick them in an uninspired space that reeks of defeat and you will be sending a clear message about your expectations for their success.)
• Departmental Orientations. Have the managers of the various dealer departments meet briefly with your new hire. Have your managers familiarize them with his/her department and how it interacts with sales.
• OEM  and/or Sales Training. Have an established curriculum for training including a timeline for its completion. Not sure what to do? Most automobile OEM's have sales training integrated into their product training courses. If you are doing your own training, don't wing it. Your program needs at least three basic components:
• Curriculum Goals. Have a plan! What is it you expect them to know at the end of training? (It's very important to remember that good training is not having someone listen to war stories or one's greatest closing hits album. Teach skills, role play, demonstrate, etc.)
• Learning Materials. What support materials are going to be needed? (Handbooks, printed forms, audio/video equipment, etc.)
• Assessment Tools. How are you going to measure mastery? What equals a passing level of competency? How do they demonstrate mastery for you. (Don't just use your "gut". Have a measurable standard that will apply to everyone.)
• Job Shadowing. Pick someone who is freely open to mentoring new salespersons. Make sure they have proven teaching skills. This is the person who will be helping him/her convert book knowledge into execution. Choose Yoda carefully.
• Review Timetable. Establish a time(s) where the new salesperson's performance will be reviewed. (Don't make your new hire wonder how he/she is doing, and don't suddenly call them in to discuss performance. Let them know when their and how their performance will be reviewed.) 

No one fell out of their mother's womb selling cars. While you cannot train ambition and personality does play a part in sales, the idea that someone is either a natural or not is the banter of the lazy or unskilled manager. The new hire trusts you to help him/her learn. They want to succeed. Help them! You will make a good (and stable) living -- and it will show you're a good person!

Become the Star of Your Own Success - Even WITH That Pimple

If you have ever watched a TV show of video bloopers, been on Reddit, have friends or relatives that include you in the address bar of every funny viral email they send, or have surfed YouTube for blooper videos, then you probably have seen Bill Dance.

Bill was going to be a third generation doctor, that is until he came upon a rather grisly traffic accident.  With that experience he was no longer interested in a career in medicine.  So what would he do?  Well, he liked to fish.  Bill started joining, and winning, lots of fishing tournaments.  This led to endorsements, and name recognition, and ultimately his popular fishing show and product empire.

Bill is certainly not the most polished public speaker.  He does not have a commanding film presence.  Bill is likable, though, very likable.  His sincere and simple nature connects with viewers to make him one of the very best at what he does.  Most likely though, you know Bill because of the times that things have gone wrong.



So what does this have to do with automotive digital marketing or car sales?  One of the hardest things to convince business development and car sales professionals to do is to make a short video for a customer.  You would have more success asking them to go to hell to retrieve the devil's nose ring while he sleeps!  Almost all of the time it comes down to an absolute fear of the vulnerability inherent in being captured on video.

We all have seen that sales colleague who is not the best dresser, is as smooth as a cob in his/her presentations, and whose speech makes Homer Simpson look like the president of Toastmasters and yet who still has success selling!  We all know why.  For all that he or she lacks in appearance or eloquence, they connect with people.  Here's a little secret:  If someone on your staff is even somewhat successful setting appointments or selling cars -- they, too, can obviously connect with people!

When your staff takes a moment to record a short video to answer their customers' questions, they begin the process of building rapport.  That is the most compelling reason that the video should feature THEM!  Don't worry about brief moments of being tongue tied, awkward camera angles, a bad hair day, or that pimple that just showed up.  Does that keep them from approaching showroom visitors? 

Customers will appreciate that they went the extra mile to record a personalized video for them.  Now the prospect will also get to see that the person that is helping them is real -- and has imperfections -- just like them! 

Here is an example of a simple customer video I did when I discovered that one of my BDC reps was off sick and had an interested prospect with questions about a VW we had online:



As you can see, the technique is not hard, it requires no special equipment beyond your smart phone and a YouTube login, and takes hardly any time to execute.  The biggest challenge is getting your staff to stop being afraid of being themselves! 

I am not supermodel material.  I actually really hate the sound of my voice when recorded.  I was not dressed well that day as I had planned to stay cloistered in my office.  In fact, did you notice I was even wearing the logo of a competitor?  None of that mattered as much as letting this customer know that we valued his interest, we work as a team, and that we were happy answer his questions.

Everyone recognizes Bill Dance for one simple reason:  he was not afraid to put himself out there -- even to the point of sharing a laugh, or hours of laughs, at his expense.  Your customers are going to meet your staff eventually anyway.  Invite them to control that inevitable first impression somewhat by packaging it within a simple, and very real "WOW!" moment for their prospect.  It won't take them long to begin feeling, and cashing, the results!


Sources:
http://www.billdanceoutdoors.com/
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=fishing+blooper+videos
https://youtu.be/VSazi4GwRqI
https://youtu.be/OC7LcjnbzCY
http://www.whybuyengagement.com
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeanU6VHbYsoj32NVdjBlbg

I'm Sorry, Was That Your URL?

Love him politically or hate him, Donald Trump's strategy cannot be labelled "timid".  Recently the news included a story that Jeb Bush had failed to renew or claim jebbush.com.  Though the page was blank and, thus, no cause for concern, it now redirects to donaldjtrump.com.

Wait, that's not Jeb!

My friend, former co-worker, and fellow YouTube star Gabe Pytel wasted no time on Facebook asking me if the stunt looked familiar.  Of course it did.

One day early in my career my general manager and I were buying domain names for our particular auto group.  In the course of the process we discovered that the two closest auto groups, both of which eschewed any thoughts of an Internet advertising strategy, had only one domain apiece registered.  For a quick investment of $100 we soon owned multiple derivatives of our competitors' names.

In the world of SEO, unless we were going to build and optimize sites on these domains, they were likely to be all but invisible in organic search.  I bought them, however, because the tablet and smart phone browsers that were emerging were increasingly combining search into the address bar.  By redirecting these domains to my dealer site, someone who would type into their tablet browser "mycompetitorautogroup.com" would suddenly end up on my site.

Oh yeah!  Got 'em!

 It was more an exercise in fun than a quest for meaningful conversion.  It was also going to be fun to see how long it would take for the competition to even notice.  One of them was tipped off within a few weeks by one of our salespeople.  He called one of the owners in a red faced rant about how he was going to have me arrested by the FBI and thrown into federal prison, etc. etc.  That was funny.  It's hard to say if the other would ever have noticed.  We gave them all back.  They didn't even charge the $100, which would have been a small price to pay for the lesson learned, but that was their choice to make.

While it makes for a funny story to tell around the water cooler my stunt, which I'd like to believe inspired The Don, should serve as a reminder to all business owners.  I would not recommend wasting money on every possible derivative and variation of your business name, but at least own the basics.  If your business name is frequently misspelled or prone to error through fat finger syndrome, perhaps you should register the misspelling, too, and redirect it.  Laws protect you from trademark squatters, but who really wants to go to that expense or face the embarrassment of Jeb, and ... I won't mention his name.

Hey, it's my website..no...wait...NOVAK!

The Neanderthal CRM

Many, many moons ago I was a brand new agent at the Western Southern Life Insurance Agency.  I was given a debit book (book of customers whose premiums were collected by the agent), piles of marketing material, business cards, and a cool little desk that opened like the ones I had in elementary school.  I was also given a stack of 3x5 index cards with pre-printed fields on them complete with a metal box whose dividers allowed you to file the cards according to who was to be called throughout the month.  In order to be effective, Western Southern wanted me to have a plan for regular customer engagement.

Customer relations tools are not new.  They have been around for decades.  Almost without fail new managers stepping into their new position would put in place the CRM strategy and tools he/she used successfully as a salesperson.  For automotive managers, this invariably involved some sort of desk log that everyone was responsible for filling out whenever they had an "up".  The manager could then flip through the pages in meetings asking each salesperson the status of any given unsold customer.

Enter CRM software.  Software brought to the industry the automation of the 3x5 index cards, sales activity sheets, and the sacrosanct desk log.  Calendars within the database kept salespeople from missing important calls should they have forgotten to shuffle their cards properly. In addition to automated customer and prospect contacts, CRM software gave the automobile sales manager a whole new level of control.

Instead of simply tracking the most recent entries on the desk log, CRM software allowed managers to track the follow up activity of their sales staffs. For those for whom complete control was the source and summit of their management strategy, electronic CRM's offered the opiate known as the "lock out".  Salespersons who were not consistent or timely in their follow up could be locked out of certain customer files or from working with new customers altogether until they approached their manager for electronic absolution.

Today CRM use should no longer be about control but about producing detailed, reliable data that can be used to measure the effectiveness of a business development or sales staff.  Unfortunately, the many resulting automotive CRM software platforms today appear to be based on the desk log model and sort prospects and customers according to three basic archetypes:  Internet, Phone, and Walk In.  They measure activity by tabulating the volume of calls, emails, letters, or customer visits.  While no shortage of new tech features have been added to help the competing CRMs differentiate themselves from their competitors, scant attentions seems to have be given to the restructuring of CRM software platforms to allow these types of activities to be further categorized. 

Dealers are increasingly being challenged by their OEM's to measure multiple key performance indicators (KPI).  Any serious dealer monitors how many calls the sales or business development staff has made and measures the number of resulting appointments, but knowing the conversion ratio of all sales calls does not tell the full story.  Were those outbound calls to those who submitted an information request via email?  Were those returned calls to prospects who visited yet did not purchase?  Were they marketing calls to follow up on equity or lease retention offers, or perhaps they were calls to owners as part of a sold follow up process?

If CRM software only considers a phone call a phone call (or an email an email, etc.), the only way to measure trending successes or struggles is to again keep paper activity logs that are manually tabulated -- the very thing software CRMs were created to replace.  Dealers need reliable data to let them know that while they are strong in first outbound calls to email prospects, for example, their appointment setting prowess with unsold showroom traffic is struggling.  This is the sort of data that empowers management to use targeted training in those areas that are of the greatest concern first.

One cannot blame the CRMs, by the way, for the slow evolution of detailed KPI cataloging.  When the majority of your target consumers still seek reporting metrics that convert easily into "gotcha" moments used to assign blame, it is difficult them to appreciate the value of new, more specific KPI capture.  To remain competitive, the CRM industry has had to develop shiny new objects like web cam integration, gauge styled graphics, and social media lookup icons to throw into the cage to keep the gorillas excited.

The tipping point is approaching, though, when a substantial number of dealers will need the ability to effectively and efficiently capture those KPIs that will allow them to most effectively analyze their conversion success.  Those CRM vendors who have tested, reliable, and easy to use platforms in place to meet these demands will obviously be at a decided advantage.

So, too, must your CRM Software Evolve!

Texting: Who Controls the Conversation?

The latest craze to have hit automotive sales where customer engagement is concerned has been texting.  You can scarcely scan any industry blog/newsletter headlines or attend any best practices seminar without the writer or speaker reminding you that everyone is texting these days and therefore you must text your customers.

Just a second, my salesman found a convertible with leather!

When texting first hit the scene, early adapters took to texting like a middle school kid at Christmas opening up their first iPhone.  To compare the volume of texts initially to the carpet bombing of Dresden would not be a bad analogy.  Like the poor folks in Dresden, some customers grew weary quickly of their new BFF in the car business.  Savvy lawyers quickly noticed the tort potential presented by a dealer or online marketer who pushed poor Ms. McGillicuddy past her text message allowance resulting in her phone bill going up.

Quick! Text everyone that we are making Deals! Deals! Deals!

While the texting frenzy has tamed itself a bit one cannot argue that it is, in fact, an effective and even desired medium of communication.  The issue now becomes one of data management and control.  To properly manage text you should make certain that the texting occurs through a vendor tool for texting or a CRM and not through the individual phones of your staff.  The way in which your sales staff texts their prospects and customers will determine whether you have control of the conversation, liability for the contents of the conversations, and finally the means to determine whether or not the exchange is consistent with your dealership's best practices.

Allowing salespeople and BDC reps to text using their personal cell phones does make texting convenient for your staff.  They are also more likely to respond immediately to a customer message.  While this is a powerful benefit and a strong argument for allowing the staff to text from their own devices,  you are letting them contain and control their conversation with your customer or prospect. A sales manager cannot demand to see someone personal cell phone, nor is it likely your staff will welcome them combing through text message logs to find customer conversations that they can review. They effectively own and control those records.  If several employees are texting a customer at the same time (salesperson, BDC, manager, service writer, etc.), there is no coordination of messaging.  They may even be contradicting one another inadvertently.  An employee whose phone gets lost or damaged results in you losing all record of what was said to a customer and when.  Likewise, if they leave or are let go, with them go your contact records.  

Another risk inherent in letting the staff use their personal devices is in liability.  Customers may have shared social security numbers, bank account numbers, or other sensitive data reasonably assuming that they are sharing it with your dealership.  What if this information is compromised through a stolen phone or the carelessness of an employee?  Not knowing what information is being exchanged and having no provisions for securing the data that the consumer may have assumed that you are responsible for only invites new liability.  Remember, those lawyers that are getting fewer chances to sue for texting without permissions or opt outs will welcome new reasons to file more suits these days!

Sooo, who can I sue today?

It is poor management that does not frequently monitor phone calls and emails to customers for the purposes of identifying both training needs and exceptional performance.  With an increasing number of customers communicating via text the importance of monitoring these exchanges is increasing daily. What if a member of your staff is promising perks to make a sale that are not in compliance with company policy?  What if they are being outright deceitful?  What is a salesperson is making unintentional mistakes because of product knowledge deficits?  With no control of the communication mechanism you have next to no provisions for reviewing and guiding these conversations.

So she texted me some questions and guess what I did?

I knew a sales manager who was a phenomenal networker and who enjoyed a sizable customer database from having been at the same location for all of his career.  He was forever calling and texting customers from his cell phone.  While he is hardly a liability in regards to professional or ethical conduct and is unlikely to suddenly pull up his stakes and leave, the reality is that he completely owns and controls those conversations.  Even if he welcomed the request to share his message log with the dealership there is no simple or effective means to transfer all that data.  The reality is that were tragedy or illness to strike the dealer would have, for all intents and purposes, no access at all to the most important records for his customer database!

I'm fine. Let me text my customers. What could possibly happen?

There are an increasing number of vendors who offer quality texting solutions to sales organizations.  Make sure that the one you choose is very convenient, integrates as seamlessly as possible with your CRM software, and that management maintains full control over the content of the records.  Once you've selected your texting software comes the herculean task of making your sales staff migrate their customer texting to the new system and agree to stop using personal devices all together.  It won't be easy - at all - but clearly is in the absolute best interests of your organization. 

Digital Overload? Do Few Things But Do Them Well!

For the automotive dealer principal, it has been a rough twenty years.  For the longest time, the secrets to success in automotive retail involved getting the right piece of real estate, the best placement in the Sunday paper, and holding on to the very best closers you could on your sales floor.  Then along came the Internet.  Now I won't bore the gentle reader with endless cliches, the changes and necessary adaptations have been well chronicled.  For the established dealer, though, what should be the focus of their adaptive efforts?  The website? Vehicle listings? Conventional advertising messages?  Sales Training? For all the gigabytes of research data on the topic of automotive digital marketing, there still exists no single magical formula. 

The industry is constantly quoting a new favorite study with some stat demanding immediate attention.  Typically third party vendors seize on this new stat and storm dealer principals and managers with explanations of how their product perfectly addresses the issue.  If one looks at these innumerable studies over the past several years in their totality though one finds among the many flash points behavioral trends that can help identify the most important digital priorities for dealers.

Before you begin: Get to know your ZMOT. 

Years ago Google identified the concept of the Zero Moment of Truth, that magical moment that a consumer you may not even be aware of discovers you online.  What do they see?  What do they learn?  What is their all important first zero impression?  No dealer should start any discussion on its digital marketing strategy without first objectively discovering what their ZMOT looks like.

Six years ago people spent almost twenty hours online to shop for a vehicle and identified 4-5 dealers that they intended to visit.  Fast forward to now and they spend fifteen hours to find the 1.4 dealers that they intend to visit.  The number of online shoppers who showed up without contacting a dealer first used to be 20% (the old "stealth customer").  Now that number is nearly 70%.  What does one do?  What does it mean?  It means that Internet research is easier to do, people are better at it, and the quality of online merchandising is allowing them to eliminate dealers from their consideration that are not worth the time to visit.  

An automotive dealer must be able to put ego aside and give a critical, objective look at what the consumer finds when they find the dealer.  This means not only looking at their website but at all their online presences (Organic search, OEM sites, 3rd party listing sites, directory listings, etc.).  Next they must acknowledge that shoppers likely don't shop as they would.  With an objective eye, a dealers should ask:

• What does the online shopper see when they discover the dealer online?  
• How does what they see impact the online shopper's goals or intentions?
• What impression(s) is made?

Step One.  Showcase your wares.

You sell cars, remember?  The seminars have been replete with dire warnings:  Google likes content!  Write blogs or else!  Video is king nowadays!  Get reviews, people want reviews! You need Facebook content!  All of these are great suggestions in and of themselves, but just as you wouldn't want the ER doctor to stop CPR because he sees you could use a quick procedure to eliminate an ingrown toenail, don't chase extras until your primary source of revenue is presented in the very best way possible.

Take any dealer website and measure the click through rates of their calls to action and you will see almost without exception that the top three will be:

• New Inventory, 
• Used Inventory
• Specials.  

Most of your visitors are on your site to shop for cars.  Let them find cars!  The quality of your inventory listings - including NEW cars - should be impeccable.  Think like a shopper.  Will the shopper find clear, accurate and even candid (don't hide damage your aren't fixing) photos with informative -- not cheesey and industry banter filled -- descriptions?  People spend several minutes on average looking at Vehicle Detail Pages.  Dealers who make that stay worth while have taken an important first step in building trust and rapport with this unknown web visitor, which happens to be the next important step.

"...but just as you wouldn't want the ER doctor to stop CPR because he sees you could use a quick procedure to eliminate an ingrown toenail, don't chase extras until your primary source of revenue is presented in the very best way possible. "

Step Two.  Build trust.

If after reviewing the inventory a shopper is still on the dealer website where does he/she go next?  The research and interviews overwhelmingly indicate that they either want to know where you are or who you are.  Make sure your website answers both questions in the most favorable light.  This is where consumer reviews, community involvement, good staff pages, easy directions, and an idea of what to do when one arrives at the dealership come together to create the perfect "why buy" impression.  

(For the love of all things digital, if you have a page called "Why Buy" with a bullet list of things car buyers get please replace it with something a little more subtle and inviting.)  

While specialty pages and content help, in the short run make sure that every page -- including hours and directions -- instruct, welcome, and invite. 

• Keep your staff page up to date and looking good.  Faces make an emotional connection.  Let your shoppers connect with your staff and lower their apprehension. 
• Don't just show a map.  Describe how to get to you and where to park/stop once there.
• If your social media is real and organic (not "car spam") make sure there are links to it.
• Have tools on your site to help people plan their shopping strategy like trade estimators, payment calculators, and easy online finance applications.

In addition to building sufficient trust and rapport with the anonymous online shopper to convince them to include you in the 1.4 dealers they intend to visit, find every reason to softly encourage a more direct engagement.  Getting a web shopper to call or email increases the likelihood that they will visit exponentially.  For this no long term studies are needed.  Ask the most grizzled old school sales manager the key to winning a face to face encounter with a car shopper and he will grunt almost without fail, "you gotta get 'em on the phone."

Step Three:  Don't set up a disconnect.

A dealer's web presence should sync perfectly with the consumer experience.  Don't publish pricing that reflects razor thin margins if you plan on starting with an arbitrary price on the first pencil.  If there were conditions for loaner vehicles in service don't let the consumer discover that while dropping off their vehicle before work.  If you offer special incentives to buyers (car washes, first oil change free, etc.) don't make them ask for it.  These perks should be part of the overall presentation.  Finally, avoid "getting them in" on falsehoods.  If a vehicle is no longer available say so.  Work on pivoting the shopper to a different vehicle rather than risking the harshly negative experience of coming to the dealership for nothing.

The worst thing a dealer can do is to present a progressive, customer oriented online face only to have the consumer arrive on the set of the 1970's movie "Used Cars".  Hell hath no fury like an angry online reviewer and with so many possible sites for an enraged car shopper to "flame" a dealer online, it will be nearly impossible to keep a good positive/negative review balance everywhere.  Make sure your team knows the message you are projecting and manage the showroom experience accordingly.  It's that simple.

The Action Plan

Though each of these steps can be subdivided into any number of far reaching projects one cannot plug every hole or address every deficiency at once.  Content for Google search engine, engaging social media fodder, cool ascetic website enhancements can all come later.  For now, do few things and do them well.

•  The inventory feed should be able to addressed with existing staff.  It is already being published, so make sure the effort spent publishing it is worthwhile.
• The website can be cleaned up in a matter of days with a decent support staff from one's site provider.  Clear off distractions and only keep and enhance for now those things that help the consumer shop the vehicle and get to know the dealership.
• Finally your sales managers should already be managing the staff to be in conformity with online messaging as they work to change the culture of the dealership to meet the challenges of the informed consumer.  If you have a cult of personality as opposed to a process driven culture, then this will be a lot more difficult.  (That should become the next challenge a dealer takes on.)

Attention paid to these three simple actions should begin to pay immediate dividends.

-----------------------------

Want an objective opinion about your efforts so far?  Ask Jeff to take a look at your online presence.   You can contact him via LinkedIn.   

How Not to Debate Call Monitoring and Sales Management

My LinkedIn updates recently featured a posting concerning a "debate" hosted by the web show Auto Dealer Live between Alan Ram and Phone Ninjas founder Jerry Thibeau.  Now I should disclose that I have enjoyed listenting to Jerry Thibeau speak at GM's eSummits for years and once was even privileged enough to share dinner with him, Joe Webb, Eric Miltsch, Allan Cooper and others from Dealer Think Tank.  I also used his Phone Ninjas service to train one of my BDC reps and found the service very satisfactory. That being said, I am always a fan of an objective, meaningful exchange of ideas -- especially in regards to automotive digital marketing.

The exchange is the culmination of a feud between the two first sparked by an interview on CBT News wherein Alan Ram, of Proactive Training Solutions, proposed that dealers waste money when employing third party call monitoring services.  Phone Ninjas' Jerry Thibeau, as one might expect, took umbrage with this notion and wasted no time in dispatching a rather pointed Dealer Refresh blog entry that featured a redlining "Bullshit Meter". 



Hopefully this debate is not the type of ideological fare one would typically expect from the Auto Dealer Live show. The exchange was light on content and saturated with bombast and sensationalism.  When filtered down to the basic essentials, the opposing arguments went thus:

Alan Ram, having taken great offense at Jerry's blog insult, posited that it is central to the job of any good sales manager to be monitoring incoming sales calls.  He believes that a seasoned ear can quickly spot missed opportunities and thus reach out to prospects before it is too late.

Jerry Thibeau, for his part, believes that the sheer volume of calls coming into a dealership make the idea of 100% instant call inspection unlikely, if not altogether untenable.  He believes that third party services such as the one he provides are better equipped to monitor, analyze, score, and coach sales staffs on their incoming call skills. 

Had the argument been limited to a serious discussion of these the forum might have provided some useful insights to those trying to maximize their sales teams' effectiveness.  Unfortunately, the conversation quickly degenerated into a bombastic and insulting tirade by Alan Ram who bemoaned that he could not believe that he had "put on pants" just for this discussion. 

The key to any good planner, manager, leader et al is the ability to humble oneself to the point that one is willing to believe that he/she could be wrong.  In its absence how can one be completely assured that our plans and processes represent the very best that there are? 

I concede that Jerry Thibeau drew "first blood" by using a "Bullshit Meter" graphic to confront Alan's proposition that dealers divest themselves of third party call monitoring.  Alan original point and subsequent counterpoints were drowned out his insulting, loud rant in which he focused on little more than the "third world call centers" and "minimum wage" talking points.

Auto Dealer Live and Alan Ram's related blogs proclaimed Alan the hands down winner, going so far as to claim that he "crushed" Jerry Thibeau.  (Alan is a regular contributor to their show.) Jerry's Phone Ninja site and his friends of course countered that it was Jerry who in fact won.  The reality is that this entire production was devoid of any meaningful exchange.   There was no winner here, but there was a clear loser -- the automotive sales industry itself.

If we expect ourselves to be taken seriously that we should behave as though what we do is serious business.  Both of these talented men had a valid point.  The hosts should have moderated a debate, and not simply reveled in an Alan Ram insult festival.

Should sales managers monitor their sales calls as Alan Ram suggests?  Absolutely.  Does the average dealership call volume make this unwieldy?  Yes.  When an inadequate job is spotted on a recorded call, should the manager just call the customer and not coach the salesperson?  Of course not. This is not ultimately an either/or question. 

Sales managers should be constantly identifying coaching needs and addressing them, but not just on the phone.  They should be coaching their staffs on greetings, product presentations, closing, proper follow up -- all the aspects of the selling process.  They are not omnipresent. Quality data helps them to deftly determine their teams' most urgent performance deficits.  A third party that can sift through every incoming call, find the sales calls, score them, and ultimately compile the data into easily interpreted reports can be an indispensable partner. 

A good sales manager is not someone who can do the work of ten others, it is someone who can elevate ten others to his level.  If a dealership budget allows for a good third party tool to help such a manager quickly determine who needs his/her assistance then utilize this tool!  If you have a successful manager, you will not have to give him/her permission to monitor random incoming calls on his/her own, as well.

As for online debates, let's debate.  If your ideas have merit, don't think that they can only be conveyed via bluster, and that counterpoints must contain childish insults.  Haven't we as an industry already caricatured ourselves enough?



Related links:
http://www.dealerknows.com/
http://www.dealerrefresh.com/
http://ericmiltsch.com/
http://cbtnews.com/
http://www.phoneninjas.com/
http://proactivetrainingsolutions.com/

How to Go Out of Business in One Lunch Break

There is a run on Excedrin in Westport, Massachusetts today. 

It all began commonly enough.  A herd of salespeople were hungry and, sales days being hectic as they are, ordered pizza.  Everyone pooled their money and waited for the luncheon fare to arrive.  When it arrived, the forty two dollar and change bill was paid with a handful of small bills totaling fifty bucks.  When the delivery driver pointed out that the bill was only forty two, the herd grunted acknowledgement.  When the driver left with what he thought was a seven dollar tip, the herd noticed that they received no change.

This is where the situation devolves rapidly.  The sales manager called the pizza place demanding his money be returned at once.

Now there are a couple of fundamental precepts to which one should adhere when dealing with the public.  The first is that in all your dealings your should default to courtesy in all things to the greatest degree possible given the situation.  The second is that one ought to realize that when your occupation is already smeared with a negative stereotype, perhaps one ought not post videos of you putting an entry level wage worker in his place.  The Internets may look unfavorably on you.



This video was brought to my attention in the morning of January 15, 2015 by Glenn Beck's Blaze news site.  By the time I was sharing the story with colleagues in the afternoon, F and R was feeling the, as one You Tube commenter put it, "the golden spray of Internet justice."

Their Google Business page would not load, but showed almost 3,000 reviews with and average 2.5 star rating.  A Facebook page christening them as the "F&R Auto Sales Douchebags" had quickly garnered almost 5,000 likes.  Probably the most blistering schadenfreude manifested itself on their Yelp page, where two thousand reviews left them trapped in one star hell.

The video above at the time of this writing has over 10,000 views.  The original Liveleak video post ended up being featured and had over a half million views! The story had been picked up the UK Daily Mail, and Telegraph as well as traversing all the way to the Land Down Under! Someone even created a satirical Google+ Page complete with paid search ads!  Their website?  It was taken down.

In a desperate attempt at damage control an apology has been issued, but to what avail?  Viral videos have a tendency to cycle for a long time.  This company is basically done.  What lessons can be learned?

This staff, the incarnation of the cast of Used Cars or The Goods, showed a wretched ugliness.  I hope for their sake that this was not a representation of their real selves.  The temptation in sales is to view the entire world through a lens of self interest.  This is their opportunity to see themselves and cringe, which is not always a bad thing.

As for organizations, the information age makes it more important than ever to take frequent, candid, even sobering looks at your organization's culture.  If within your walls it is common to have scenes unfold that you would not want to have go viral, then you have a problem(s).  Fix it.

Companies and organizations need to realize that reputations can be destroyed in a day.  Measure every word and image that you release in your corporate name.  Be mindful of the online persona of your key employees.  Finally, take a cue from Pope Francis and choose often the path of humility.

The Internets do not like bullies.

------------------------------------------

Epilogue:  So apparently the owner of this exemplary establishment, himself a glittering jewel of eloquence, went on the radio to "take responsibility."  What a piece of work.  Everyone in automotive sales who struggles with the perception that we are all classless hoods, thank this guy:

This apology explains it all.

Data-less Decision Making Made Easy by Google Analytics Academy

Perhaps I have been wrong.  I have spent so much time trying to convince dealer principals and car sales managers that fear the Internet that they need to be open to the world of digital marketing.  So much of my breath has been spent teaching that the power of digital marketing is in its constant undercurrent of data from which careful analysis can be drawn.  Over and over I have labored to find a way to gently explain how their fear of online marketing makes them look silly.

Eeeek! The Internets!

Today I learned (or, TIL in Reddit-speak) that perhaps I was wrong.

In keeping with my standard of staying on the cutting edge, I try to take advantage of every quality webinar or continuing education opportunity that I can find.  Among the helpful tools I have discovered is Google's Analytics Academy.

 I have completed two of their helpful course offerings so far.  When I checked in there today I discovered that the geniuses of Google have developed a new course that will help to empower those in the automotive industry who continue to dismiss all things digital.  (Almost all things, that is.  I have found many a manager or dealer principal who avoids using Internet assets for online business growth that finds online adult entertainment an indispensable part of his life.)

While it should be no surprise that an information juggernaut like Google should have managed to find a way to generate helpful content for almost any scenario, who could have guessed that they could create a course to help those who firmly believe that the Internet is a passing fad?  Well, they have done just that:

For those of you breathing a sigh of relief that finally there is help for you, the complete course outline can be accessed here.  If you are unsure if this course is for you, be sure to check out the FAQ page.

So for all of you out there that have been offended by my insistence that there exists a better way to grow your dealership, I apologize. 

Happy learning and stay classy!

Like Pope Francis, Execs Should Be Open to Ordinary Confessors

Once again Pope Francis is in the news "shocking the world" by actually living the Gospel.  In today's blockbuster, he broke from the tradition of the Holy Father having a specific, carefully chosen confessor to walking up to "an ordinary priest" in St. Peter's to make his confession.  I marvel that this should be news at all.  After all, the Church has always taught that even the Bishop of Rome himself is a sinner in need of confession.  The pontificate of Pope Francis has clearly been marked by his having adopted Saint Francis' maxim of "Spread the Gospel always, when necessary -- use words".  It makes sense, therefore, that having just exhorted the faithful on the importance of the Sacrament of Confession that he should approach the sacrament himself.  No pageantry, no lofty ceremonies -- just simply confess one's sins and experience the love of Christ through the sacrament.

So what does this have to do with digital marketing?

The Sacrament of Confession begins with an examination of one's conscience.  What have I done that has caused me to stray from the devout life?  What could I have done better?  How have I followed or not followed The Way?  While I would refer you to St. Francis DeSales, GK Chesterton, Dietrich von Hildebrand, or C.S. Lewis for the finer points of spiritual development my interest in this story is in exploring the importance of an executive examination of conscience.

I am not referring to issues of faith and morals, but the ability to take a candid, objective and curious look at one's marketing and sales processes and truthfully analyzing the results!

A quick perusal of my work history and one might speculate that either I interview like Dr. Jekyll and work like Mr. Hyde or I am particularly fond of exploring new opportunities.  A dealer principal will bring me on board because he/she wants to improve their digital marketing methods and get better results.

 I gather some baseline data and explain their current situation, and present my proposal for how to improve.  From this point we are the best of friends.

The problem begins when I conscientiously do my job.  Let me explain.

A good digital marketing program runs on good data.  It is in the collection of this data and in its analysis that often other issues or deficiencies often become apparent.  For example, increasing visitors but decreasing engagement could be a web design issue but it could also be an indicator, in the automotive sales business, that perhaps your inventory is lacking.  It could be a sign that pricing is not in line with the market, or that the inventory lacks diversity or appeal. It could be the manifestation of an existing or developing image or reputation problem. What if the closing ratio is decreasing?  Or margins are contracting?

So often we want an immediate answer.  Someone came in that didn't like a picture on the website therefore the website needs changed immediately!  A follow up on an unsold appointment revealed that the customer did not like what was said when they arrived therefore the sales staff is to blame!  Good data only becomes statistically relevant when you have collected a large enough and random enough sample for whatever is being measured. 

What does that mean?  It means that one story or one opinion is a sample of just that: one.  Often a dealer principal or experienced manager relies far too heavily on their opinion.  With your competitors collecting and then objectively mining their data, they could be gaining valuable market insights that will give them an edge while you sit confident that since you started your own business or have managed one successfully for a while you must be right. 

In just a few short years the habits of the internet customer have morphed considerably.  While the psychology of closing a deal has not changed the activity leading up to it has.  Smart phones combined with the increasing number of people who are familiar with internet searches have changed the automotive sales customers' habits significantly.  Trusting your gut is fine, so long as you first ingest enough relevant data!

As I said good data analysis will sometimes bring to the surface issues that have heretofore gone unnoticed.  Your data may be telling you that a good manager needs to reconsider his/her strategies or even improve on performance.  It could also mean that the dealer principal might be wrong. 

This is the part I love: sharing data that indicates profitability might increase if we change our dealer culture or practices.  It is always received well.  I am thanked for the information and told how my ideals will be considered and that someone will get back to me. 

Typically they do get back to me, too.

Now for the record I have spent countless hours asking myself in what ways I am to blame for this pattern.  (I even read Dale Carnegie's classic How to Win Friends and Influence People.)  I have wondered if perhaps my intensity is to blame.  This is a genuine struggle, because if I am asking someone to pay me to make their organization the very best then that is precisely what I am focusing my energy on doing.  I always ask if the dealer principal or manager truly wishes to engage in a purposeful and candid conversation, or do they prefer to slowly explore ideas for improvement?  Invariably they boldly request an aggressive and candid analysis of data.  Ultimately, it seems,  I end up -- despite great results -- with no support.

When I saw Pope Francis set aside formality and simply do what he told the faithful ought to be done I had to wonder why in the hell this is so hard to do in business?  Looking at data to see trends and improve or implement processes is not about telling employees that they are bad at what they do -- it is empowering them with information to help them do better.  Are executive egos really such that they are beyond reproach even by something as benign and objective as numbers?  My inner cynic would tell you, "absolutely."

So here is my outline for a digital marketing version of an

Executive Examination of Conscience

• Have I put tools in place to measure as many aspects of my performance as possible?
• Do I routinely check for trends in online or on site activity?
• Do I ask "why" not only on downward trends but on upward trends as well?
• Do I make sure my data sample is large enough to be of relevance?
• If there are different theories of what is causing the trends, have I tested the opposing causation theories?
• Do I seek out the thoughts of employees or customers at all different levels and experience?
• Can I listen to this anecdotal evidence objectively without my feelings getting hurt?
• Am I interested in making growth decisions or is this business all about feeling important?
• Have I made recommendations based on sound reasoning?
• Did I thank my employees or subordinates for engaging in a candid, growth oriented dialog?

 While I still respect the right of every entrepreneur to risk his/her capital as he/she sees fit, I will forever wonder about those who seem abjectly incapable of being humbly introspective.

Have a question? Kindly tell me your life story first.

So I decide today to simplify the Contact Us form on my GM website so as to only require a name and an email address for prospective customers to engage with us. Nope. GM will not let me. In this current climate of NSA outrage and privacy concerns they think it is better to require the customer to divulge all their information right up front. Brilliant strategy! Why not just require them to pen a damned Dickens novel while they are at it?

Encountering History - Jim Roselle of WJTN

Ever have occasion to meet someone whose life strikes you with amazement?  I am not talking necessarily about someone having accomplished some singularly amazing feat:  the first atop Mount Everest, the inventor of some great marvel, or the vanquishing of some fierce opponent against overwhelming odds.  I am referring to someone whose life circumstances cause one to marvel.

Yesterday while doing a media relations tour with Erie Explosion owner Bill Stafford we went to the Media One studios in Jamestown, New York.  Marketing and Promotions Consultant Debbi Yoakum was giving us a tour of their facility when she directed out attention to the WJTN studio. 

I have always loved radio.  I frequently use this intimate medium to support and draw attention to my online marketing efforts.  From my youngest days the evolution of radio from crystal sets to the large radio from which families received news and entertainment until it was supplanted by the television has always fascinated me.  I cannot help but feel a sense of history when I see KDKA's call letters in Pittsburgh.  KDKA was the first commercially licensed radio station still in its original location.  WJTN lays claim to being the second.

Behind the microphone of WJTN was seated Jim Roselle.  Jim began broadcasting on this station as a part time sports commentator in 1953.  As I looked into the window of the studio I saw a vibrant old man, headphones on, speaking into the microphone as his hands gesticulated to an audience unaware of their dance.
 

WJTN Radio Icon Jim Roselle Jan. 30, 2014

When he went to a song/commercial break Debbi invited us into the studio.  Inside, a more affable, welcoming gentleman you could not have found.  Almost immediately Mr. Roselle made you feel as though you and he were old friends.

It was as he shared with us that he has been behind the microphone of WJTN for over sixty years  that I was filled with a sense of wonder.  I began to imagine the stories that must have crossed the desk throughout this storied career.  Surely he must have commented on the news of those days - news that is now a part of our common history.

When a young Jim Roselle took the mic in 1953, a young queen was being crowned in England, the United States was bringing the Korean War to a close of sorts, Jonas Salk was giving a trial of his polio vaccine to himself and his own family, Marilyn Monroe was being featured on the very first cover of Playboy, and Chevrolet was launching a new sports car called the "Corvette".

Jim Roselle, known for learning about his interviewees before their arrival so that he could do his trademark conversational style interviews, has sat with such diverse public figures as Rocky  Marciano, Joyce Carol-Oates, Richard Simmons, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Phil Donahue, Jane Goodall, and the late media elder Tim Russert.

Mid sentence Jim instinctively realized his song had ended and his eighty seven year old finger deftly tapped a computer touch screen to launch a commercial.  How different this must be from his first day in 1953!  I realized that this man has no board operator.  He commands not only the microphone but the production of his morning show with the ease of someone who has spent sixty years doing what he loves.  As a broadcaster Jim interviewed Lucille Ball, now he serves on the board of The Lucille Ball Little Theatre.  His career launched as the British Royals launched their yacht the Britannia, and he was behind the same microphone when this same royal yacht was retired by a queen no longer so young. 

His devotion to his audience limited our time with this radio legend.  He had played two songs and some commercials to facilitate our visit, but his "Dew Drop Inn" radio show was primarily a conversation, and his listeners were waiting to hear from their friend and constant morning companion.

Radio legend Jim Roselle meets with Erie Explosion owner Bill Stafford of Edinboro.

As the door to the studio closed, framed by pictures of a smiling Jim Roselle with Bill and Hillary Clinton, I was awash in wonder.  I had just shook hands with a man who was broadcasting when Glenn first orbited the earth and when man first stepped on the moon. He was a broadcaster at the time of the Challenger disaster, at both the initial launch and the loss of Columbia, and this same consoling voice would have been on the air when it was time to eulogize Neil Armstrong.  His career began the year the British queen was crowned, and he remains on the air as she slowly transitions her royal duties to Prince Charles.

As we were preparing to leave the beautiful, modern studios of Media One in Jamestown, a gentleman walked in with a yellowed old newspaper.  "I found some more old headlines for Jim," he told the receptionist as he made his way to the WJTN studio.

We had come to the studios this day to discuss ways to share the story of the success of the CIFL Champion Erie Explosion.  Neither Bill nor I thought that we would have the pleasure of encountering a vessel of history sharing a conversation with a faithful audience --a conversation about the news of today and yesterday shared within the warm environs of the Dew Drop Inn, all served up in "a cup of happiness."

Jeff Novak
Engagement Consulting LLC

Sources:
http://www.radiojamestown.com/pages/wjtn-jim-roselle-pages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WJTN
http://www.wjtn.com/

Ode to a Hummingbird, or SEO Now Made Easy-er.

Just when we thought we were all optimized, Google launches yet another zoological algorithm at us.  This time it's "Hummingbird".  This update does not appear as earth shattering to those tasked with optimizing the company's search rankings as the great Penguin invasion of 2012.  In fact, Google's little winged offering should make our marketing efforts a little easier. 

Search engines are rapidly developing the idea of semantic search, or search engines that don't just look at what you are search but attempt to also predict "why did you ask?".  Online communities like Reddit and Imgur frequently  have a good time with Google search suggestions.

Automotive dealers (or any digital marketer for that matter) need to understand that the search engines companies make their money by producing really good and relevant search results.  Often we get so narcissistic that we forget that the advertising world was not created to serve our ambitions alone.  They are there to create pools of users so that they can charge others for access to these users.  In the case of Google and Bing, we do not necessarily have to pay for this access!  We do, however, have to be a good search result.

So how does one become a good search result?  

It is done by being the best answer to a particular question.

Far from being intimidating, this should be seen as liberating.  Gone are the days of having to think up every conceivable keyword string that our customer base might use.  Now we just need to know what our customers want to know and be the best at providing the right answer. 

This is something we should know instinctively!  

How much easier is it to sit in a sales meeting and ask our staff what types of questions people ask them on the lot versus asking (especially older veteran salespeople) what types of search terms our customers are typing in?

Once we understand what our consumers are asking for, we can begin to make sure that these questions are answered on our web pages.  This goes beyond simply providing a price and a list of features on our inventory (which is still very much relevant, by the way!).  What other questions are our customers asking?  Some examples of unique questions we could be answering might include:

Is it better to buy or to lease a new car?

What is the gas mileage of the Chevrolet Impala?

How much can I tow with a half ton F150?

Is Honda really more reliable than an American made car?

Cobalt, in partnership with General Motors, now allows flex site users to have unlimited pages on their dealer websites, so adding information pages does not require paying for additional pages.  Complimentary blog sites like the one this humble blog is posted on can be used with links back to Google + and dealer web pages.

Now it is not all smooth sailing for traditional auto dealers.  Old school thought processes now have to give way to recognizing that there is value in having creative talent on the staff.  You can rely on expensive third party options, if you wish, but remember that your content will likely be uncomfortably similar to everyone of their other clients, too.  It is time to have on staff a copywriter or two and maybe even a graphic artist.  Oh, and we need to make sure that our "old guard" is nice to them and recognizes their value, too.

The search engine industry is always testing new approaches and modifying their algorithms.  We need to recognize that as consumer habits ebb and flow so must our content.  Google is already requiring fresh content, so this is not a question of adding some webpages then sitting back to see who drives in.  Guiding your efforts should be someone talented in organizing good online content and objectively measuring the results.  This person should be a partner to your sales managers, not a subordinate.  The hierarchical territory disputes traditionally associated with car dealerships need to diminish and a more collaborate, cooperative model be embraced.

Just as the market has changed with lightning speed the past few years so, too, have the tools changed that dealers can use to respond.  Again, this represents a tremendous opportunity for us to simply and effectively do what we do best: respond to the needs of our consumer base.  Google is empowering us to not simply know the answer, but to be the answer!