Archive for 'What's New'
Sales People Make Economies not Marketing by Grant Cardone
Posted on 08. Mar, 2009 by admin.
Economies do not exist until somebody BUYS something! And economies cease to exist when a sale is not made. Management then decides “customers aren’t buying anything so let’s just cut heads, slash budgets, hunker down and shrink our way to greatness!”
Prospecting, Interviewing customers to properly identify problems and opportunities and then collaborating with them to find appropriate solutions seems to be a skill set lost to an entire generation. How did this happen?
Two major shifts drove this change. In the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, virtually every company had a sales force that were required and depended on things like; prospecting- the creation of customers, product knowledge, application knowledge and selling skills. Great companies were built on great sales teams who were responsible for creating opportunities not for just selling them. The sales team was the engine, leading the charge, driving the revenues of the company! In the 90’s sales teams were deemed to expensive to maintain, inefficient, difficult to manage and the responsibility for driving revenues shifted to the marketing department. The theory was that the company could create demand for products and services through advertising, promotion and gimmicks then the company could merely harvest the flood of incoming orders with call centers or order desks. The second major shift currently taking place is from traditional marketing to internet marketing.
But, what happens when customers stop looking and searching the net and the phone stops ringing? Because selling is a lost art the solutions are limited to- increase the advertising, make even bigger claims of the importance of customer satisfaction, lower prices (again) and increase gimmicks like no money down, rebates, zero percent interest and free trips. Companies started spending more money on ad campaigns and google search then the entire sales force makes in salaries and commissions. While these marketing shifts created breakthroughs in the ability to reach greater numbers of potential customers, the fact is it failed! You don’t have to look far to see the corpses of companies who relied on marketing and disregarded the sales team; Circuit City, Heard Automotive, Dilliards, Sears, Washington Mutual, Wachovia and Merrill Lynch. These companies failed because of their dependence upon their marketing campaigns and their inability to sell their products! Marketing without a trained sales team is a “one way” vehicle, causing the company to only activate at the point of marketing and then become passive at the point of creating an opportunity or even closing on those created.
These marketing methods virtually eliminated management’s expectation of the sales team and their abilities. This is a critical problem in a recession, maybe event the cause of it, whereby the customers stop looking for new products and services, and therefore are immune to the wiles of marketing and promotion. The consumers’ focus in now also on cutting expenses and unless your product or service can help them save money without any investment, they simply won’t pay attention. Search engine optimization is useless when potential customers stop searching.
Companies must return to the creation of true sales skills and sales teams because without them nothing happens! Management, marketing and customer satisfaction does not sell product. Sales people sell products and you must have effectively trained salespeople that can (1) generate a prospect and (2) know how to determine what is needed, (3) how your product or service can satisfy that need and (4) how to justify a purchase decision. The lost art of real salesmanship must be restored in order to create the revenue a company desires.
A well trained sales team, not management, not the internet, not customer satisfaction and not marketing is the only thing that can cost effectively create customers in this economy. Economies exist only when someone finds a prospect and then sells that prospect a product or service at which point they exchange money with your company. Sales people drive entire economies and without them we have no economy.
Grant Cardone, Author of Sell to Survive
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Automotive Video SEO and Internet Marketing?
Posted on 25. Feb, 2009 by admin.
Auto Dealers are having trouble with sales in this economy. Many dealerships are closing their doors. But it’s not all doom and gloom. There are some savvy Internet sales managers taking advantage of the downtime to create Video SEO campaigns that they hope will pay off big when the economy rebounds. Early indications show that they are on to something.
One example of an automotive dealer that is excelling with the use of Internet video is Mtn View Auto Group in Chattanooga Tennessee. The Auto Group is currently running video marketing campaigns for both their Ford and Chevrolet stores. Mtn. View has embraced Internet Video Marketing and they are dominating the local car market Online. By utilizing as many as 10 different video sharing sites, and embedding their videos on a separate blog, tried-tested-marketing-strategies Don is able to make sure that their videos are getting maximum exposure, and targeting their local auto enthusiasts and car buyers through as many channels as possible. Running a variety of campaigns allows them to provide more content to their viewers, and highlight specific vehicles that need to be moved off the lot.
Don’s team runs separate campaigns to target different vehicle buyers - one campaign spotlights used vehicles, another campaign focuses on trade-ins and yet a third is composed of new vehicle walk-around’s. By using separate campaigns, they have been able to target specific vehicle niches, and the buyers associated with those markets. www.tube-pros-espects.com Their videos show up in the search results for keywords related to that subject - I.E. someone searches for the term “Chattanooga Corvette” they will find Don Erwin’s video of a 2009 Corvette Z06 in the top 3 results - which means that the viewer of the video fits their target audience from a needs standpoint, as well as geographically, and in most cases this means that they are in the buying phase and looking for the local dealer.
Not only does this strategy lead to ranking for highly targeted search terms, but it drives more traffic to their website, and takes up more positions in the Search Engine Results Pages (Serp’s). The benefits of owning more spots in the SERP’s is that you create a larger online presence, you have more control over what is being said about you online, and you are able to push your competition down in the results.
By strategically targeting customers through online video, Mtn. View Auto Group has increased their overall Internet sales, gained a larger share of the online market, and reached more customers than ever before. As they continue to work with online video, they are honing their processes and improving their effectiveness, and their reach begins to grow as well. They are gaining valuable knowledge and experience, not to mention market share, and when video marketing online begins to hit it’s prime, they will be well positioned to dominate, and take their sales to a new level.
While there aren’t a lot of businesses that are embracing Internet Video Marketing with the same vigor as Mtn. View Auto, this model can be adapted for almost any business, and now is the time to get in, while errors will be forgiven, there are fewer competitors, and the market is not yet saturated.
Any predictions about the full scope of online video in the future are pure speculation at this point, but the potential implications for business are huge, and when Google purchased YouTube for $1.65 Billion in October of 2006, it was a pretty good indication that the world’s leading search engine has plans to make it big. Bundle that with the introduction of Universal Search, and it’s easy to see that online video marketing has a bright future.
There is a huge opportunity for those businesses that are early adopters of this increasingly powerful advertising medium. Starting an Internet Video Marketing campaign now will pay off big dividends down the line. Get in now or get left behind! See some sample websites using video at http://www.mainlinehonda.com or http://www.cmcbenz.com
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Checklist for Internet Marketing Success for Dealers
Posted on 03. Feb, 2009 by admin.
Use this Automotive Internet marketing “cheat sheet” to see how your dealership is performing on the Internet. Are you conquering all of these areas and performing automotive internet marketing as well as your competitors? Although success or failure in these areas could imply that you need improvement, it does necessarily mean you are not an expert in your marketing area since so many other businesses and dealerships are failing to execute even a small portion of these requirements.
We built this simple checklist and refine it as needed to determine the “health” of a dealership’s website or marketing efforts. Many car dealers feel they have everything handled, or have concquered all that is available online but the truth of the matter is they usually have much to learn or are not succeeding in one area or several.
Take a look through the following and rate yourself, or we can perform a rating for you.
Automotive Internet Marketing Success Checklist
New Vehicle Marketing Checklist:
- Google search displays client franchise with state name (Chevrolet dealer NJ)
- Google search displays client franchise with County name (Honda dealer Bergen County, NJ)
- New Vehicles Featured on website Homepage
- Google Search displays ad to dealer’s website for a model name (Honda Civic)
Used Vehicle Marketing Checklist:
- 90% of their Used cars on Craiglist:
- Preowned Vehicles Featured on website Homepage
- Preowned Specials are on dealer website
- Google Search displays link to website for used, franchise, state (certified Honda Delaware)
- Google Search displays ad to dealers website for used model search (used Ford)
Automotive Brand and Reputation Marketing Checklist
- Client’s name is found in #1 position on Google
- Dealer Rater /Rip Off report is not on Google page one
- Negative reviews not found on Google page one
- Is your business listed in all yellow page directories? Yellowpages.com, yellowbot.com, superpages.com, local.com, etc
Online Marketing Link Checklist:
- Site has dozens of pages indexed in Google: example, search site:mainlinehonda.com
Dealer Website Marketing Checklist:
- Internet Savings coupon on site
- Current Ad on site
- Video player on site with compelling video or youtube video
- New Car Specials on Site
- Used Car Specials On Site
- Service Coupons on site
If one of several of these areas are lacking then you may be missing out on some great conversions of traffic into leads. When you are looking for an Automotive Internet Marketing expert, make sure they are looking at all of these areas. If not, contact PureDealer at 609 977 5050
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Craigslist Automotive Marketing Video
Posted on 01. Feb, 2009 by admin.
Please view a great Craigslist Automotive Marketing video and learn how many visitors, phone calls, and emails that you can gain from doing Craigslist the “right way”. Sell more cars and eliminate third party lead providers and other vendors. Some of our dealers have saved thousands over autotrader and cars.com marketing budget.
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Coffee is for Closers!
Posted on 28. Jan, 2009 by admin.
Not safe for kids, but very funny and sometimes not so far from some of the meetings I have witnessed.
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Think Small for your Automotive Marketing Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Posted on 31. Dec, 2008 by admin.
The big automotive marketing companies think big, act big, make big deals with the manufacturers. Major marketing contracts are negotiated on the manufacturers (dealership’s?) behalf and the best automotive website and marketing solutions are chosen based on some factors that occur behind closed doors without dealership involvement, intervention, or say in the matter.
However, when the big marketing company represents YOU and also ALL of your local competitors, who benefits the most? How does the Internet, Google, the manufacturer, and this big automotive internet marketing company decide who will rank #1 on Google for “Honda New Jersey” or “Houston Honda Dealer”? You paid your money just like the other 10 guys in your market, but why is the other guy beating you in the search results when you have made the same investment, paid the same bill, to the same manufacturer or vendor?
Who will get the #1 spot? Will it be the big Chevy dealer or the little Chevy dealer who wins in Google? Is money a factor, luck, favoritism? Is it first in first on top?
Well, some of these questions can be put aside because here are some good points to ask the “big web developers” or “largest automotive marketing firms” in the US when they ask for your business…
A few questions to ask the Large automotive marketing companies
1) How do you get me ranked higher than my competitor, when we both use the same exact site and SEO?
2) Am I allowed to choose the phrases I want to win in the search engines and if so what exactly will you do to ensure that I get there, and how much will it cost?
3) What comes for free and what is extra, regarding search engine optimization and SEO-based keywords?
4) What can I do, and what tools are at my disposal to self-manage my destiny on the Internet or has my fate already been decided when you signed the deal with automotive-marketing-company.com?
These are some tough questions that will make the big guys squirm because they really, truly have no alternative but to dodge the question or provide you with some lip service. “You’ve always been my favorite, you’re the best, we will get you #1 for what you need”, etc etc”. Just sign here on the dotted line… They are hoping you do not check, forget about it, or in a few months will let you know they are working on it, hoping to buy more time. Chances are good that your personal account rep will have left within 6 months anyway so all feelings of the sweet whisperings will slowly turn into a feeling of rage.
The Benefits of a smaller automotive marketing company are large:
1) We serve you, the client and do not have major conflicts of interest like the 500 pound gorillas do.
2) We can hand-craft a marketing plan that matches your exact needs to sell the cars you want to sell.
3) We move fast, have no red tape to cut through, and are on the forefront of the most current marketing techniques because we use them for ourselves. We talk the talk and walk the walk.
4) We do not have to cater to the manufacturers and limit your website, microsites, pay per click marketing, or automotive Search engine optimization to specific demands (unless co-op is involved of course)
Picture yourself for a moment inside a supermarket, in front of the ice cream freezer. There are 40 choices but the flavor is only vanilla. Who determines which vanilla ice cream container is placed in front? When you choose a major automotive web site marketer who also handles 39 other dealers in your DMA, what is the likelihood that you will be the ice cream in the front of the freezer?
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Custom Dealer Website- Mainline Honda
Posted on 14. Dec, 2008 by admin.
PureDealer offers some fantastic custom dealer websites and below is an example of a great dealer site that has more bang for the buck. The bounce rate on this site is extremely low because of the amount of deals and great offers that this dealership puts on the website. With just a few clicks, the homepage becomes an automotive marketing powerhouse.
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Automotive Search Engine Marketing - keep it simple
Posted on 04. Dec, 2008 by admin.
Automotive Search Engine Marketing is a complex concept for some, but can be simplified into various components to make it more easily digestible. Here are the two main categories of search engine marketing for automotive dealers. These are not all the variations of it and do not account for services such as automotive blogs, automotive epress releases, car dealer social networking or other automotive marketing ideas.
Automotive Search Marketing
This is also known as pay per click or in some cases Google Adwords. This is in nutshell, paying for placement or online advertising.
Automotive Search Engine Optimization
This is what many dealers call the “free Google listings” or what appears as the search results on a search engine. It is often called Automotive SEO or car dealer search engine placement, or you may ask Google to tell you some “car dealer search engine ideas“.
Marketing your dealership to the search engines is a very important concept but also, and often, involves a good dealer web site design to make sure that the automotive search traffic you receive will vonvert. Your goal is to become your own automotive lead provider through proper automotive search engine optimization and marketing.
If you want a Free Automotive Marketing Analysis contact us and we will review your site, your search optimization visibility and provide you with some great reporting at no charge.
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CraigsList Automotive Inventory for Car Dealers
Posted on 01. Dec, 2008 by admin.
Craigslist is a huge online property that car dealers can benefit from in some major ways. In the past it has been very time comsuming, labor intensive, and quite frankly a lot of work to get your postings in and keep them regularly updated.
PureDealer however has solved many of these problems with our new CraigsList Automotive Inventory Service. We will post your entire used car inventory into your local Cragslist Automotive area on a monthly basis for one low price. We work with all of the major data providers (and some small ones too) to get your current pictures and inventory onto Craigslist.
How it works:
- We post all your ads and inventory for you.
- We provide all of the staffing to get your entire preowned inventory online.
- We repost deleted, flagged, Craiglist ad postings as needed
- We add new vehicles once they are added to your inventory.
- We also post all pre-owned to backpage.com
In some cases the automotive marketing budget and inventory site investments have dropped dramatically for some dealers. Since this service is much less expensive than the major sites on the market, the return on automotive advertising investment is very high. Sell more cars and smarten up your automotive marketing efforts today. Contact us for more details, and sample links to some real dealers who are moving cars every month for fractions of what they are paying for other service providers.
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Automotive Internet Marketing is the new snake oil
Posted on 11. Nov, 2008 by admin.
There are many legitimate Automotive marketing experts in the marketplace, and there are just as many snake oil salesmen. Here is one way to differentiate between those who offer real services and those who are looking to make a buck.
There are many categories of snake oil salesmen in this marketplace, including the following:
The followers:
“Traditional automotive ad agency” turned into “Internet advertising agency“. This is the result of sleeping dinosaurs who became so fat with their commissions that they lost sight of the goal. Suddenly they wake up, slap “automotive internet department” or “automotive e-marketing” on their website, patch together a few vendors, and think they can take a $50k ad budget and put it into adwords. Some are so late to the game it is embarrassing and couldn’t even name 5 search engines without the help of their outsourced department. Typically, these companies turn into vendor whores and sell whatever ends up on their desk to try to get back the “good old days” where dealers lined their pockets with print budget. They know automotive, but do not know Internet.
The wanna-be’s:
They are late to the game, have a few tricks in their bag, and have achieved some level of short or long term success. They are riding off of buzzwords and will sell whatever you want to buy or whatever seems to have a good “pitch” at the time. They may also be a version of the “converted advertising agency” concept outlined above or they were involved in another market and are just getting into automotive in the past few years (or months). They may have some marketing experience but they do not know automotive. Many of these companies will be jumping from one hot topic to the next. You may “feel” like you are cutting edge but results can, and should, be measured carefully. You may find yourself saying things such as “I am an automotive social network enabled dealership” or,
The snake oil salesmen:
These are self proclaimed “automotive seo experts” and the type who manage to get dealers hooked on the allure of national traffic that cannot convert or getting them super-long tail phrases that get no traffic such as “2006 Infiniti with low miles and A/C in Bumbletown”. Some dealers are just addicted to #1 positions, despite the reality that they may not be good words. These are the true criminals in automotive advertising industry that gives legitimate marketers a bad name. Never mind the leads their service brings, and phone calls that can come of it. A good snake oil salesman will sell the dealer on the sizzle, promising that the steak will come. Six months later, they dealer may (or may not) come off of their high but by then they are many thousands of dollars invested.
A good tracking system including CRM, and call tracking, will help stop the snakes from getting more of your budget.
One recent example is an automotive waste management study we performed on a dealer in the Northeast. He had purchased some microsites, SEO, and some electronic press releases (automotive ePR) among other related services from this provider. Months and months of time and money were invested, and the dealer stated over and over that the investment was one of the best they had made.
However, Rome was burning while Nero was fiddling.
The dealer was not tracking the phone calls, nor were they tracking the actual sales from this “automotive search expert”. Sure leads were coming in, but in the past 3 months, they sold a single car. In one week, they received one phone call off of this investment. Now that we have the data, we can help the dealer to see better, but a good snake oil salesman will always say that results are - just around the corner.
Creating legitimate content, focused on driving legitimate traffic on the proper keywords, to the right dealer at the right time is the right move. However, there is too much smoke and mirror activity in search engine optimization that the room can quickly turn into a funhouse with sleight of hand and shell games taking precedence over real logic.
In all, it is not easy for a dealer, and there are many choices, but choose a company that offers full disclosure. Above all, answer every statement that make with “well, how many sales became of that, and who can I call to verify”. Quickly, they will load up their huge luggage full of tricks and send their telemarketing company off to set more appointments to find the next sucker.
-Michael Sweigart
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