Mississauga is giving away a free Toyota Yaris on Facebook

When I think of Car Dealer Facebook Giveaways this is what comes to mind:

• Free IPAD
• Free Car Detail
• Tickets to a concert

Toronto Automotive Marketing Guru Brent Wees just let me know that Mississauga Toyota is ready to Pony Up a brand new Toyota Yaris to the winner of their new Facebook Contest which is crowned as “Park a Yaris”. You heard right, a car dealer is giving away a free car via their dealership Facebook page.

With the new Facebook Timeline, I find it a bit trickier to quarterback these type of promotions due to the layout restrictions.  If you simply click the box just left of “Like” you will see the Park a Yaris tab.  I’m glad to see that Mississauga Toyota had thought this out before launching the promotion.  I personally think the old layout was way better to when trying to draw attention to the “Contest”.

As of today Mississauga Toyota has 952 “Likes” but I’m sure you will see that number multiply as the name of the game is getting friends to also join in the fun.  

Take a read of the official Press Release.  PS…. I joined the contest!

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE:

In the social media space usually dominated by the big car brands, Mississauga Toyota, a single-point dealership, has taken a leap into the world of Facebook contests in a very big way.

With the Park A Yaris Contest, their goal is simple – to give away a 2012 Toyota Yaris Hatchback. But, through a fun and engaging world on their Facebook page, they’ve taken one of the more mundane elements of driving – parking – and turned it into an exciting way to enter for a chance to win weekly prizes and the Grand Prize of a Toyota Yaris.

In the last 12 months, Mississauga Toyota has been shifting their advertising efforts online and this contest represents their greatest achievement to date. With a rich interactive entry mechanism, users can select the colour of their Yaris, add their profile picture and explore a virtual parking lot filled with exciting illustrations. With a heavy focus on sharing, users earn extra entries for every friend that enters the contest after they’ve referred them.

Combined with a very modern and urban design, this ambitious project illustrates Mississauga Toyota’s commitment to standing out as an innovative dealership and marketer.

Mississauga Toyota is a family owned and operated business located at 2215 Dundas St. East just west of Highway 427 in Mississauga, Ontario.

Check out the Park A Yaris Contest right here

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If you didn’t get a chance to check out the hilarious April Fool’s joke the boys at DealerRefresh pulled yesterday, you can view it on my Facebook Page…. don’t worry Canada loves you Stan.

Time to highlight the articles from the Month of March that I found interesting.  Please let me know in the comment section if I missed any.

1. How to buy a car (VIDEO): Woah! I remember this dude when I used to sell cars at Ernie Dean Chevrolet in Alliston, ON!! Love him or hate him, this is reality.
2. 2011 E SHOPPER Automotive Experience Study:  Some really cool finding in this thorough investigation.
3. Ultimate Pinterest Guide Part #1:  Had to thrown something Pinterest related. Plus Laura has a cool blog…worth reading.
4. Social Media for PR Nightmares: David over at Persuasive Concepts explains how to leverage social media when shit hits the fan at your dealership
5. Complete Guide to new Facebook Timeline:  Pat Flynn has put together the best guide on the web for Facebook’s new timeline changes. Still need to work on mine

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Using video responses helped Elise close 20% of Internet Leads!

Take yourself outside of the auto industry for a moment.

The coffee shop I go to daily is out of my driving way, but I go there because they provide me with the best service and great tasting coffee.  The nail place I get my nails done is not the cheapest place in town or the closest to my house but I go there because they do an excellent job in their services and give me personal attention.  These are small purchases in my daily life-

So imagine spending instead of $2 for a coffee, $15,000 for a car.  Or perhaps I am shopping for an SUV, so now I am spending $30,000 on a vehicle. Who would you buy a car from?

As Internet and BDC departments continue to grow with over 85% of buyers now doing research online, it is mandatory we must use this to our advantage.

BRING VALUE to your first impression.  Once upon a time, emails were cutting edge.  Proper punctuation, maybe a signature at the bottom or company logo would catch the customers attention.

Now, with the CRM companies providing auto responders-many of these emails are close to or nearly the same.  An email is nothing more than words on a screen.  There is no audio, no tone inflection or any emotion.  There is nothing in an email that can excite a customer except for maybe a low ball price.  In an email we have the least control and many dealerships are forced under the perception that the only way to win an internet customer is to drop their pants and sell their product below invoice and give away holdback.

I am here to tell you this is a broken method.

The evolution of a customer starts with the first moment of truth.  A customer is shopping online for a vehicle.  The internet, a chat session or even a phone call will not gain a sale to your dealership.  The customer still needs to come to the dealership.  86% of customers end up buying something different than what they originally inquired on, and the only way for a customer to make a purchase is to come to the dealership.

As a customer however, they are taught to have an instinctual fear of Car Salespeople.  Salespeople are stereotyped to be just as pleasant as sitting in a dentist chair.  An email or even a phone call is much less personal to a customer to where they do not have to come in.  However, our goal as a dealership is to get the customer in the store.  How do we do this?

The first moment of truth is where this process begins.

Working in the internet department, we all face the same challenges.  An invalid phone number and sometimes even a bogus name.  A customer does this because of the fear they have of being bothered or pushed into a sale.

So imagine being a customer, submitting an internet request and you receive the same autoresponder from 15 dealers.  Then, there is one email where instead of just words is a personalized video message.

A video message that is simple and short.  A video with a face, a voice and introductory of the salesperson and their genuinality in serving your needs.

Working at Sunset Honda, this was the process that I did to bring the customer into the store.  The result for me  was not only a huge cliental basis but responses from customers like below.

The result for me closed 20% of my internet leads.  And not just a high closing ratio, but a loyal customer basis who would drive four hours JUST to buy from me.  A dealership in LA or San Jose (both 4 hours from Sunset Honda, San Luis Obispo) would send low ball quotes below invoice but this ultimately was not want the customer wanted.  My customers wanted exactly what I preached-a relationship and a person who cared for their needs and would be there for them the entire process.  Nothing better than a video message with visuals and tone would create this  first moment of truth.

Customers want a valuable salesperson who is above the stereotype.  They want someone who will assist them in their entire purchase and future purchases. They want someone they like and trust.  It goes back to the same reason on why I drive out of my way to go to a certain coffee shop, or why I pay more to go to a certain nail shop.

The common response after seeing these videos is time efficiency.  The veterans in the business are convinced that this takes too much time.  The average salesperson will complain that it will take too much time to send a video-and then at the end of the month they have 8 cars out.  The truth to this however is that times are changing and we need to evolve with it-otherwise your competition will and your customers will buy outside of their local  market to purchase from the salesperson who brings them the most value.

The video greetings I sent took me five minutes to make.  The hardest part of course was learning the software to edit them.  This however is just like any other task we must learn in our business such as it was when the internet first came around and we had to learn how to write and send an email, or how to upload a photo.

Is your internet department getting feedback like this?

Bring your customers into the dealership to sell the car.  Be the dealership or salesperson that will create the highest first impression to get your customer to trust and like you.

Elise Kephart
elise@phoneninjas.com
www.phoneninjas.com

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The leap year must have gave the auto business a real kick in the ass because sales were up big time.  If you want to see the Feb numbers in Canada you can check out this detailed PDF click here.

If you are on the Home Page right now of the Dealer Geek,  you will notice the new lightbox I added with a email sign up form.  I’ve done a lot of research on this type of sign up form over on Social Triggers.  It has only been a couple weeks but the subscriptions are are piling up.  I’ll keep you all posted on the results after a few months of data.

The Facebook Page has also been lively as I try to put more effort into some meaningful conversations.  Even a picture of Brian Burke talking about goalie troubles at the TADA Digital Dealer even in Toronto.

So let’s get to the goods and look at 5 killer articles from around the web for February 2012.

1. Does Social Matter? –  Interesting read from Matt Murray at Dealer.com.  This guy is super smart and has the data to back up his story.
2. The Value of Pinterest for Car Dealers: Even my mom is talking about Pinterest.  Who better than JD Rucker to give us the 411 on this new social craze.
3. Ford’s Company Blog Sucks:  Marcus sure stirred the pot with this post. Loved that Scott Monty from Ford chimed in and showed how professional this guy really is.
4. Local Will Mater More and More:  Read this dealers. It is super relevant for your business.
5. Car Salesman, Still Sexist, Still Stupid:  Oh snap.  Car Dealers get shit on once again in mainstream media.  I thought we were over this hump in 2012.

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This should be on every salesperson's desk

In a world of “Gurus” and “Consultants” it is sometimes hard to see through the fog and obtain some good solid information. Sure the blogs and forums are out there but sometimes a nice paper book at your desk is what you really need.

Phone Ninjas put out a great 80 page in depth Phone and Internet training manual for car dealers.   Jerry was kind enough to send me a copy to review.

After a few nights on the Ipad, I bombed through Jerry Thibeau’s latest manual that should be considered the “Bible for Car Sales”.

I have been following Jerry Thibeau, founder of Phone Up Ninjas since 2009 where we met on the infamous DealerRefresh Forums.  Jerry was the kind of guy that would help on any issue even if it had nothing to do with padding his own wallet…my kinda guy.

It was clear from reading some of his articles that he was an amazing trainer and a wealth of information.  Jerry was the one that got me hooked on Jing after his article “Turbo charging your Internet responses”.  If you want to see firsthand why Jerry Thibeau has a thriving business just take a gander at this thread – “How are your phone skills” (quick answer for most dealerships .. pretty shitty)

Why should dealers care about Phone Training? Its 2012 right? The game has changed it is all about email, text, Website Chat right??

Jerry provided me with some interesting stats that will give your management team a reason to invest in phone training.  Check it out.

This is taken from Page.4 of Jerry’s training manual.  I had to leak this page to give readers an official State of the Union.

INDUSTRY FACTS

Customers

80%   of your phone traffic will buy within 3-5 days.

90%  will buy within 10 days.

76%  of your customers will call before the come in.

85%  will visit the internet when shopping for a vehicle.

50%  of your appointments will purchase a vehicle at time of appointment.

86%  of your customers will purchase something other than what they inquired on.

In Jerry’s manual you will also learn about some scary statistics of the way dealership sales staff are handling calls.

I have done some pretty extensive sales training in my day and I can say that this manual was not a review.  It has been awhile since I was on the phone in the dealership and I would have killed to have something like this to follow.

Here are some reasons that I think every dealership should provide their staff with this 80 page training manual:

• Learn WHY and WHAT motivates customers  when purchasing a car
• Master the right words and tones to guide your phone up to an appointment
• The 7 steps to the Phone Up – (pure gold!)
• Increasing the amount of customer information your obtain on the phone call
• Dealership salespeople will finally have a plan when taking that phone call

Every dealer needs to go out and get a few copies of Jerry’s manual.  I am in no way affiliated with this product and do not receive a commission.  I want Dealer Geek Nation to be ready for war when those sales calls come in and I’m confident this is going to help drastically.

How much you ask for this book?? It’s $24.95! Cheaper than a case of Coors Light!  Get more details here:  Phone Ninja Training Manual

Please use the comment section below to review this training manual.

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So Toronto went through the whole month of January with no snow!! Dealers are loving it!  I’ve talked to dealers all over the GTA and they haven’t had to move the lot around once…gotta be a first.

There is a buzz around the city this month when it comes to digital marketing.  Dealers have a real thirst for content which works out great for the Five Alive Series.

Holiday parties are over, budgets are being made, and it’s back to business.  My Top 20 Blog Topics post received some great comments in January which I am really excited about.

Is blogging going mainstream in the dealer world for 2012? My guess is not yet, but 2013 it’s on!

Here we go with the first Five Alive for 2012.  I’ve picked 5 articles that are worth a read for Dealership Marketing Professionals.  If I missed any good articles please post them in the comment section.

1. Dealer Apps a Nuisance or Necessity? –  A lot of dealers are getting caught up in all the buzz over apps. This is a great article to help you decide if it is something you need to jump on now…. or wait and see.
2. Using video when responding to a customer:  Think video is the way to go when responding to email leads?? Follow Ken Beam and Elise Kephart and you are golden.
3. How People Make Decisions: I can’t get enough of Social Triggers.  Be sure to listen to the podcast.
4. What type of Sales Manager are you?:  I’ve been following this guy, Used Car Ricky. Let me know what you think of him.  His blog layout is pretty sweet.
5. Foursquare in Context: I still don’t use Foursquare but Scott Monty from Ford is smart as hell.  Interesting read.

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Is 2012 the year to take Social Serious?

If you are like any of the 250 million users who access social media daily, you most likely have posted a status update or tweet before you even down your first cup of coffee. Social media has become so engrained in our daily routine that we often #tweet and #retweet numerous times before we even have a physical conversation.

But, could it be possible that we have become so used to social media being at our fingertips that we are beginning to overlook its basic elements?  Much like a paid advertisement or spam E-mail, there are some aspects of social media that we no longer notice.

For example, let’s take the Facebook, Twitter and blog buttons on your dealership’s website.  Are they featured at the top?  Are they hiding at the bottom? Hey, Mr. Social Media Guru, do you even have buttons? If Facebook is in the top three referring sites to your dealership’s website, can you really afford to be glossing over the social media connection to your dealership site?

It might very well be time to just start calling it “media”, rather than “social media.”  This avenue has clearly become a preference for advertising, marketing and, dare I say, lead generation. And if there is one thing that we all know, it’s that lead generation pays the bills.  Pause. Can you say that social media is going to provide insane lead generation?  Not quite.  Let’s all remember engagement isn’t lost on anymore

Take 2012 as your year to capture the attention – and satisfy the appetite – of these media addicted inclined consumers and meet them right where they already live and breathe. The link between media and your website can satisfy your customers’ needs for constant social interaction.  Take 2012 as the year of online marketing, and you don’t even have to call it social media.

And, by the way, the more people that you can get to share your website content, the more leads you can generate through SEM. Looking to Google+ on that!

DealerFire, an award-winning custom automotive website provider headquartered in Oshkosh, WI has been internationally servicing car dealerships with stellar Digital Marketing and Design Services since 2003.  How can we help you sell more cars?

Jessica Ruth, @whatjruthsaid,  is an automotive marketing baller at DealerFire, has a mild infatuation with Twitter and tries to hide her Midwest accent while writing.

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Get your dealers blog fired up! Wooh!

So it’s 2012 and after months and months of putting it off, your dealership is ready to finally get started on their car dealership blog.

For the purpose of this article, I am going to assume that you have already bought into why you should have a blog for your dealership.  At this point you are just looking for some guidance on what to start writing about.

Don’t worry I’m not going to bore you with a bunch of search engine optimization mumbo jumbo that your website provider is probably ramming down your throat.  I’ve been in your shoes.  Starting a blog is the easy part.  The problem is a majority of blogs do not make it to see their 1^st birthday because of a lack of vision, process, and content ideas.

I often stumble across a dealer’s blog and see the same patterns time and time again.  Their blog will have 3-5 posts and most of the time it is a limited time special sale or a current promotion (that is expired ).  Don’t forget the last entry was one years ago.  They failed because they weren’t bought into blogging and were not prepared.  I won’t let that happen to you.

Answer your customer’s questions:

It’s simple.  Your future car buyers are going to Google and typing in all the questions they may have about their next vehicle purchase or service.  Once Google realizes that you are the authority on these topics you are going to make it rain with the search engines!!  Simple Terms: MORE TRAFFIC

Talk to the staff and find out “What are the top 10 questions” customers ask on a regular basis.  Do this for sales and service and you will be able to get a list together in no time.  Once you have the topics it is easy.  Why you ask?? Because you are the expert on these topics dammit! Hitting the top of Google on car review you sell is going to be a home run.

Review Posts Secret Sauce: Here is a quick secret.  Review everything!!!  New car comes out.. Review it! New option comes out..Review it (Navigation, Blue Tooth, Iphone App).  Online shoppers will add the word “review” to the end of all kinds of search queries.

But please, please, pretty please do not just copy and paste a review off the manufacturer’s website.  We are looking for fresh original content.  This has got to be one my biggest pet peeves I see dealers doing all the time.  It’s just flat out lame.

Okay here it is…..20 Blog Post ideas for your Car Dealership:

I know it seems like a real pain in the ass to come up with new articles but c’mon you are a car dealership, there are so many things to talk about.  Hopefully this list will give you some inspiration and get the wheels in motion.   Oh ya.. I haven’t worked in a car dealership since 2008 and I came up with these in about 20 minutes.

1. Should I lease or finance my new car?
2. Will I get more money selling my car private or trading it in at the dealership?
3. Is it safe to do a credit application on a dealership’s website?
4. What isn’t covered in the manufacturer’s warranty?
5. Where in (your town) can I get my car detailed?
6. Where in (your town) can I get an oil change?
7. Looking for a new Honda Civic? Try a Chevy Cruze ( comparison article)
8. Should I buy a new car or a used car?
9. What kind of down payment do I need to finance a car?
10. Do I need to take my car to the dealership I purchased it from for service?
11. How can I terminate my car lease early?
12. Here are some new ways to – Wax Your Own Car (How to do stuff posts)
13. Top 5 questions to ask yourself before you buy a new car? (used vs. new)
14. Who qualifies for the Honda (your make) graduate program?
15. Trailering specs for the GMC Yukon (enter your make/model)
16. ABC Motors review of the new 2012 Chevy Volt (every model you sell should have a dealer produced review)
17. What is an admin fee and what does it cover?
18. Top 3 places to get your car washed in ENTER YOUR CITY
19. Winter tires vs. All season tires?
20. Top 5 myths about buying a new car (get your hit list from staff)

Please use the comment box below to add any titles that you think would work.  I’d love to turn this blog post into a Car Dealer Blog Title Bible!

Bonus*** Here a few dealer blogs that are doing it right:

• Capital Ford
• Marlboro Nissan ( Great use of posts that are not t always AUTO)
• Patty Peck Honda
• Checkered Flag

By:  Ryan Thompson

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You want how much for your trade?

This year is different.   Yes it is.  This year, you will keep a watchful eye on your dealership’s sales initiatives.  No more of this “every so often” review of team performance or blindly hoping the new guy is doing a decent job on the phone.  Yup, you will tackle it all…but wait, what’s that?

This morning should be dedicated to an in-depth review and a conference call just came up.  In the afternoon you’re scheduled for two sales meetings.  Tomorrow you’re travelling for a conference and of course, deserve a restful weekend off upon return.  Yikes.  It’s already early March and you’ve added this resolution to the “try again next year” bucket.

If your dealership is like many others, phone call tracking is an integral piece of the sales process pie.  It certainly should help in this area but unfortunately, may fall victim to the situation above. Have no fear.  There is hope because good call tracking is designed to make your life easier, not harder.  Below are three easy, simple, tasks you could execute right now to get ahead of the game.

1.)    Set up automated reports

Easy enough right?  Yes, it is actually.  Creating an automated report takes seconds and provides the data you want most in your email inbox.  How about a detailed daily report of all inbound calls?  Maybe a weekly high level summary or a monthly overview of call trends?  These can be sent to multiple recipients and generally, a specific subject line and comments are editable for each.  Automated reports take the work out of retrieving data.

2.)    Listen to call recordings

Your tracking lines should be recording phone calls.  The opportunity to improve phone efforts by reviewing these calls is enormous: simply measuring and monitoring phone efforts improves performance.  To make your life even easier, have those automated call reports discussed in step one include call recordings.  You never need to leave your inbox!  Provide feedback on phone skills to the individuals handling calls, both the positive and areas needing improvement.

Some call tracking companies also offer a call categorization feature which weeds out calls that aren’t necessarily new business inquiries.  Take advantage of this if available to increase your efficiency when listening to a large amount of calls.

3.)    Talk with your vendor, ask questions!

A good vendor is there to support, answer questions, and discuss best practices.  Take advantage of their knowledge and work with them to get the most out of call tracking data and features.  Have a quick inquiry about a reporting capability? Shoot an email!  Looking to talk big picture strategy? Set up a call!  Whatever you do, don’t forgo a great resource.  Communicate with your vendor often and they should be a guide to finding the incredible value and power of call tracking.

There you have it.  Three easy ways to get more from your call tracking….right now.  It’s a New Year and an exciting time to step your game.  Let call tracking be your best (and easiest) tool for improving your sales efforts.

By: Mike Haeg

Mike Haeg is the Director of Sales and Marketing for Century Interactive, a phone call analytics company based in Dallas, TX.  Century Interactive works with thousands of dealers across the US and Canada by measuring their marketing efforts and improving their communication with prospects.  If you’re interested in learning more or would simply like to chat, give Mike a call at 888-593-0830, email at mike@centuryinteractive.com, check out centuryinteractive.com, or follow CI on Twitter @centinteractive.

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Does your ad have the right stuff?

Anyone who knows me knows how passionate I am about writing vehicle descriptions.  For some reason the majority of dealerships could care less about this art.

Most dealers are being brain washed that they need 40 photos on their ads to get more conversions.  Don’t forget the painful stitched together slideshow video – equipped with robot voice over (is that going die soon??).

You know the one I’m talking about.  Nothing like looking at a 7 series BMW and having to be reminded it has power locks, power windows, and traction control!!!  What accent does that woman have anyway??

Dealers who are moving metal these days on 3^rd party sites are all on the market value pricing train.  One price shopping is becoming the norm for used car departments across Canada and the U.S.A.  The Internet changed the rules a long time ago; however some dealers haven’t got the memo.  If you need an education on the topic I would start with reading Dale Pollak’s blog.

Price will get you eyeballs on your vehicle display pages.. that my friend is a fact.  The next hurdle is the conversion.  Writing effective vehicle descriptions will increase the chance of a phone call, email lead, or an automotive live chat.

Yes you need great photos, do not get me wrong.  But in my opinion, the secret sauce are in those text vehicle descriptions along with a killer headline.

DrivingSales TV featured a really cool interview with Jacob Solotaroff from Max Systems.  He came up with a really cool acronym for what a dealer needs to include in their vehicle descriptions.  It is called M.A.R.K. This video will give dealers a very good blueprint on what online shoppers are looking for when shopping for a used car.

• Mission: What is your customer looking to accomplish?? Do they want a safe family car?? Look cool driving down the strip?? Tow their new boat???
• Affordability: Is that new car or truck in their current budget?
• Risk: Does this car have good consumer reports reviews? Is it a lemon? Is it a piece of shit?
• Key Differentiators: This is my favorite!! What makes the car on your lot special? It could be the hands free bluetooth, heated leather seats, Spray in Bedliner?…. you know where I’m going with this.  It may also be your dealerships reputation an on-line reviews vs the competition.

I think Jacob did a great job of making a checklist that dealers can reference.  If your vehicle description simply says “pw,pl,auto” you are still in 1992.

Please use the comments below, and let me know if descriptions are as important as I think they are.

By: Ryan Thompson

Do not forget to enter your email address below.  I only send you content that will help your business grow. Receive special deals and exclusive goodies not available on the blog. Be sure to “Like” the Facebook Page for the straight goods.