AutoJini.com Dealer Website Blog

The Mobile Phone Site ? Why Every Dealership Needs One

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 14:58:00 -0500

The mobile phone generation conducts as much business, if not more, from their mobile phones than from their desktop/laptop computers. Think about people's texting habits, especially those of young adults. They use any and every spare moment to stay in touch with family, friends and yes, even products. Many are watching the auto market, waiting for the arrival of that new or used car they plan to buy. And many of these customers are prepared to act on what happens, then and there. Businesses have to move with this new generation of customers, literally.

Mobile Site vs. "Regular" Website
This new generation of tech-savvy adults is constantly online, reading the news, watching for something to go on sale, or checking out the latest and greatest products. They tweet, blog and update their status online. They want the ability to purchase, inquire and share information, as it happens – now, not later. That means while they’re standing in line for coffee, riding a bus to work, walking down a street, or hanging with friends at bar. These customers don’t wait until they’re at a computer... they conduct business when and wherever they are.

The dealer may think, "Hey, that's great! They'll check the cars on my website while they're waiting in line somewhere." To a certain extent, this is true. A car buyer can search for the right key words or even type in a dealership's URL and find the dealership's website then and there on his mobile phone. The problem is if the dealership doesn't have a mobile site. The mobile phone user will still access all the information from the dealership's "regular" website, but it won't be easy to view or navigate that website from his/her mobile phone. In this case, the customer may forgo looking up the information, or move on to another dealership, one that is designed for mobile viewing. If that dealership has a mobile site, however, the customer will see all of the dealership's information - formatted for the mobile screen and designed in a way that encourages exploring the site, calling the dealership (with the simple touch of a speed-dial link), and even purchasing a vehicle.

Take advantage of your customers impulses to call, request a quote, make an appointment or purchase. Don't give them a reason to put off contacting your dealership. Let them do it then and there, wherever they happen to be when they're thinking about purchasing that next car.

Power of Social Media on Mobile Sites
Are you leveraging the power of the social media networking? Just one customer wants to say something to his network of friends/associates about a car he/she found on your site. He clicks the SHARE media button on his/her choice, makes a comment, and touches 'send'. A second later, posted on his/her social media site, connected to potentially hundreds of his/her friends, is a comment about your dealership, or your car, with the links (and a photo!) to your website. And it doesn't matter whether his friends are using mobile phones or computers… they link to your site regardless.

The good news here is that you don't need to have accounts with Facebook, YouTube or Twitter to leverage the power of social media networking (though doing so has other advantages that are best reviewed in another article). You can use share-links to further your branding and business goals from your ‘regular’ and mobile websites.

But again, if you only have a 'regular' website, then that is what the social network of dozens/hundreds of friends will see, including those viewing your site from a mobile phone. You should give the entire group, the dozens/hundreds of potential customers, the chance to view your cars or website in the best format possible, one which encourages them to view, search, contact and buy. You don’t want 80%, 90%, or even more of these potential customers to ignore your dealership because your 'regular' website is too hard to view from a mobile phone.

Conclusion
You know your customers. Are they the mobile phone generation or the computer generation? Most likely they’re both. But what are their research and purchasing habits? By neglecting to have a mobile site, you may well be sending your customers and potential customers to the next dealership on their list, one that has a mobile phone and does business in a way that fits your customers' on-the-go lifestyle. Dealers must change with technology, and reach out to customers through the technology they are using, or dealerships will limit their sales potential with the technology-savvy adults of today - and tomorrow.

[Learn more about mobile phone website or try our demo]

What is better? Site Traffic or Site Conversion

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:27:00 -0500

In the mad rush to increase traffic to our websites, we often lose sight of the ultimate goal... converting traffic into leads. Our basic internet strategy should be two-fold: 1) Drive traffic to the site 2) Once the viewers arrive at the site, don’t let them leave... keep them on the site as long as possible to increase the likelihood of turning a casual visitor into a lead.

Driving Traffic To a Website
There are three essential elements for driving traffic to your dealership website: 1) the website must be fully optimized for target keywords 2) social media sites are up-to-date and 3) blog entries are interesting. These three facets work alone and together to attract your potential customers and draw them onto your website. Once viewers find their way to your site, the next step is converting those visitors into leads. If the website fails to leverage its traffic, then employing the best SEO techniques and writing the most engaging social media and blog content in the world won’t be worth a penny.

How 'Sticky' is Your Site?
What is a Sticky Site? A sticky site is a website that is rich in content, easy to navigate, and provides information with few key strokes, it makes a visitor wants to stay. Sites which are hard to navigate, visitors find hard to communicate with the dealership, and information is hard to access are not sticky sites. These sites drive viewers away.

Making your Dealership Website 'Stickier'
In addition to reviewing the number of unique visitors to your site in a given month, you must review the number of leads your dealership site generates. In other words, what is your conversion rate? If your rate is low, the first thing you must consider/assess is how long you are able to keep a viewer on your site. If they viewer stays a second or two and then leaves, that’s a good indication that your site isn’t sticky. That's when you know it's time to review your site with a critical eye and make the necessary changes to retain these viewers and turn them into leads. The longer a viewer stays on your site, the more likely your site will convert that viewer to a lead. Discuss with your website provider what you can do to increase the 'stickiness' of your site.

Converting Traffic to Leads
There a few basics items you need on your dealership website to increase the number of leads from your dealership website. On your website, you should:

Prominently display your dealership’s phone number (having a toll free number that is exclusive to your website will help you track the leads which come from your website).
If majority of viewers are leaving the site in less than 20 seconds, use a different home page with a different strategy or ‘look’.
Offer ‘vehicle search’ on every page (making the vehicle search available from any page increases the chance that sooner or later the viewer will perform a search).
Allow a one-click or no-click Contact form (the less the clicks, the easier it is for a customer to contact the dealership).
Emphasize your strengths (if your dealership specializes in selling mini-vans, highlight this fact on the site. Make sure your testimonial section highlights this specialty too).

Work with your website provider, making simple changes such as those listed above should not cost you an arm and a leg, but a few percentage point increase in your number of leads will greatly improve your bottom line.

Feel free to email or call me with any questions. Best of luck to you in your traffic conversion efforts!

Syed Azam
AutoJini.com
syed@autojini.com
515-232-2024

3 Must-Use SEO Tools For Auto Dealers

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:27:00 -0500

Most dealers prefer to hire a third party to optimize their websites for search engines. While this is usually the best way to optimize the website, this does not mean the dealer should forego tracking his website's performance. After all, no one knows more about the dealership than you and your staff.

The following three tools are free, easy to use, and are recommended for anyone who wants to assess how well a site is doing in the search engine rankings. Whether you are an SEO expert or a first-timer, take a few minutes to log onto these sites and get established… you'll find the data helpful when planning and implementing SEO for your dealership.

1 - Website Grader http://www.websitegrader.com
Powered by HubSpot, Website Grader is the simplest of the three SEO tools discussed here today. Enter your website's URL (example: www.yourcompany.com) on websitegrader.com and press the "Generate Report" button. While this tool gives your site a grade (HubSpot uses its own criteria to evaluate your website), the value-added service here is the detailed analysis provided in the report.

The easy-to-read report breaks down the analysis by the quality and quantity of items such as content, inbound links, social media, forms and tags. Website Grader provides a powerful snapshot of your dealership website’s SEO performance, both on-page and off-site optimization, giving you insight into which SEO techniques you are utilizing well and where you still need to improve.

2 - Google Analytics https://www.google.com/analytics
Google Analytics is one of the best tools available for analyzing a dealership’s website traffic. Remember, if you cannot measure your site's performance, you cannot improve it!

Google Analytics allow you to review four important metrics:

Website Visitors
Traffic Sources
Keyword Referrals
Performance of Goals (goals that you set up)

To review the data, create an account on Google Analytics (go to the above link, click on the “Sign Up Now” box, then use your email to set up the account). Next, if your SEO specialist has already added Google Analytics to your dealership’s website, ask him/her to add your email account (this will allow you to see the same report and data that he/she sees). If your SEO specialist has not already added Google Analytics to your dealership’s website, ask him/her to do so.

Review your website data every Monday for the previous week’s performance. Similarly, on the first day of every month, print the previous month’s report. Set up an appointment with your SEO specialist to review the report together. You will be amazed at how much you will learn about the activity on your site in just a few months.

3 - Google Webmaster Tools
Website indexing by Search Engines is a crucial part of SEO. Google Webmaster Tools allows webmasters to check their sites’ indexing and thereby optimize their sites’ visibility/accessibility to the search engines. The most basic, and perhaps important, of all the webmaster tools provided by Google is allowing webmasters to submit their site maps to ensure that all the site’s pages are getting indexed by the search engines.

To sign up with Google Webmaster Tools, use can use your Google Analytics account. After logging in, select the option to add a site. Google will give you a code, also called a Meta Tag. Ask your SEO specialist to insert the Meta Tag on your website, to allow Google to verify that you are the owner of the website. If your SEO specialist already has an account with Google Webmaster Tools, ask him/her to share the login and password with you so you can review how Google is indexing the site.

Once you log in, you can review:

Crawl Errors (you can see the details of the pages Google couldn’t access on your site)
Top Search Queries in which your website showed up (and the number of clicks your site received)
The List of External Pages Linking to your site (The more external pages linking to your site, the better)
How Fast Your Site Loads

This simple tool offers a wealth of data that is often not available in one location. Review your website’s indexing status using Google Webmaster Tools to gain valuable insight into just how well-optimized your website is for the search engines.

Conclusion
While dozens of websites promise to give you the ultimate tool and strategy for search engine optimization, together, these three tools provide a good starting point for anyone analyzing a website’s SEO 'health'. They are free, easy-to-use, and will allow you to focus on key areas of website analytics when making SEO decisions for your dealership.

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About the Author: Syed Azam is the president of AutoJini.com, a leading provider of website solutions for auto dealers. He can be reached at syed@AutoJini.com or 515-232-2024.

Top 6 Reasons Dealers Need a Website

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 04:21:00 -0500

How many Customers would you GAIN by having a Professionally Developed Website?

The fact is, dealerships who have websites take customers from dealers who don't have a website (or have a weak one). You're losing customers every day to dealerships that have professionally developed websites. Professionally developed websites expand a dealership's customer base and advertise inventory in ways conventional advertising can't.

Top 6 Reasons Dealers Need a Website:

1- Capture New Customers: Many prospects begin their search online (the point where they're most impressionable). If they find the right vehicle, they're more likely to visit that dealership. But even if they don't find that perfect vehicle at first glance, a well-designed site draws them in. Customers see the large inventory, the well-organized display of vehicles and information, and the wealth of information that will help them choose a vehicle… they see a dealership that “has its act together” and will help them find what they're looking for.

2 - Convey Credibility - Build Trust: Show prospects that you're not just another small dealership… give them the tools to shop in the way that they want to shop. With every page of your site, inspire confidence in your customers. Show them that you know what you're doing, and that they can trust you. Testimonials alone can draw customers to a dealership by telling them what their peers think about your dealership and its salespeople. Testimonials convey confidence and trust in a way that makes them want to approach your dealership.

3 - Allow Prospects to "Test the Waters" and Build Confidence: New prospects often want to know more about your dealership before they approach a salesperson. This gives them a comfort level, and more willing to speak face-to-face. Through your website, you let your customers know everything they want… you start building your rapport in a way that makes them feel safe and secure.

4 - Decrease Advertising Costs while Expanding your Reach: Calculate the cost of just one opportunity lost per month. You can have a professional Web site for much less than that! But why lose even a single customer to insufficient advertising? Consider how easy (and inexpensive) it is for customers to find you with a simple online search. They type in their city, and type of car, and your site comes up among only a few others… you've already weeded out more than half of the competition! The same can't be said for advertisements in the local paper.

5 - Provider More Details Than Newspaper and Magazine Ads: List hundreds of vehicles, with dozens of photos and details about each one (transmission, mileage, color, price, features and more). Update your inventory instantly, not once per week as with printed ads. Feature EVERY vehicle in your lot, not just a few at a time.

6 - Promote Up-Selling: Hook customers with your full array of services. From repairs to warranty plans, your dealership can up-sell additional services before your customers even step onto your lot.

The ultimate purpose of a website is simple: to get customers to buy your vehicles and services.

A professionally built and maintained site generates a fantastic return on investment. If you would like to discuss how we can develop your dealership website in a way that will improve your business and push you ahead of the competition, please contact us at your convenience!

5 Ways to Make Your Dealer Website Draw (& Keep!) Customers

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 03:56:00 -0500

How do you convince new customers to buy from you and not the competition?

Perhaps you have taken the first step and created a website for your dealership. Kudos to you! But don't stop with merely having a web presence. Make sure you take the necessary steps to Draw and Keep your customers.

5 Ways to Make Your Dealer Website Draw (& Keep!) Customers:

1 - Maintain a Complete, Up-to-Date Inventory: To sell your vehicles, you have to flaunt them. Yes, flaunt them. Show them off, each and every one of them. Keeping your inventory current online is important for making sales. Your customers won't buy what they can't see! And listing vehicles that are no longer on your lot only frustrates customers, preventing sales. The right web service provider makes maintaining your up-to-date inventory online an easy part of your daily routine.

2 - Photos, Photos, Photos! : Photos capture your audience's attention. And details -- comprehensive details -- reel them in! Give your customers all the views (front, back, side, interior) of each vehicle, then let them read over all the details they want. Let them start to "mentally own" the vehicle before they ever enter your lot.

3 - List Inventory on Multiple Website: The more sites which list your inventory, the more customers you reach. It's that simple. Customers don't limit their searches to dealership sites. They search dozens of independent car sites. List your inventory where the customers go, without any effort. A professionally designed website will 'automatically' push your inventory to all of the major car sites. Many of the sites are free (i.e. AOL Autos and Overstock.com), while others charge a nominal fee (i.e. AutoTrader.com and Cars.com).

4 - Make Your Website Easy To Find! : If your customers can't find you, then it doesn't matter how appealing your site is. Far less expensive than traditional advertising -- yet much more productive --search engine optimization (SEO) is a must these days. The right web service provider will know which SEO methods work and which ones don't!

5 - Create Customers Appeal : While creating that human connection with your customer through testimonials and a great "story" about your dealership is important, don't forget about all the bells and whistles that keep customers searching through and using a website.

A professionally-designed website will allow your customer to:

Browse Inventory (or) Search by Criteria (i.e. make, model, mileage, price)
Schedule a Test Drive or other appointment
Submit a Finance Form (securely!)
Submit Questions (or) Request a Quick Quote
Access Online Coupons
Use an Auto-Loan Calculator

Don't forget to include items such as hours of operation, location, and other services your dealership provides. But these are just the basics... there is so much more to creating a truly profitable web presence The best way to maximize your return on investment is to work with an experienced, professional web service provider. If you have any questions about creating a dealership website or how to improve your current website, feel free to email or call me.

Developing Your Selling Skills

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 07:47:00 -0500

By: Jay Rose

One of the first things that anyone considering a career in Sales has to realize is that they are already in sales now. Most people think negatively about selling as a career. One of the biggest reason why is because of the negative perception that sales positions have received. The problem is most of the bad experiences by customers were because the Salesperson was never trained properly to establish the most important thing in the sales process, a "relationship." Trying to convince a complete stranger to buy anything is very difficult no matter what product or service you are selling. The Automotive Industry has seen its ups and downs and most industry experts would agree that right now is not a very easy time to be in the automotive business. But with every downside there is always potential. The Used Car business has been hit hard recently with the negative values of large trucks and SUVs. This is due to the effect of the gas prices and perception of the consumer that they need to trade their current vehicle that is getting 15 miles per gallon for one getting 25 miles per gallon. The math problem with this situation is the average person will lose 30% more by trading that large SUV in right now and pay an additional 15% premium for the smaller vehicle with better gas mileage. The math might suggest that it could take some customers 17 years to make up the difference from the loss of value of the purchase divided by the gas mileage savings. But this all goes to prove to us time and time again that this business is not logical but a highly emotional business. It is for this reason we need to focus on Relationships first and the initial step in building any strong relationship is to get the customer to like us.

Most of the different sales processes I have learned over the last 21 years all have similar steps to selling but different word tracks to bring the customer through the buying process. The unfortunate fact is the majority of salespeople never master all of these word tracks that would guarantee them success. One of the biggest reasons this happens is because only 20% of salespeople go to Professional Selling Skills training that lasts at least 2 – 5 days. This initial training is critical because without a foundation of what their job skills really are, they will learn bad habits, work long hours without financial success, quit the business and justify why it is not their fault. In truth, they are correct because everyone needs training. Not just initial, but ongoing training from their manager, professional in-dealership trainer, outside “Live” workshop, or Online Video Training that they can access 24 hours a day. Most salespeople get exposed to training content. Some take that information and turn it into knowledge. A few practice this new selling knowledge and turn it into skills. But very few salespeople have the ongoing training support needed to turn those new skills into becoming a master at selling which is needed to become a Professional in Sales.

This trap can be avoided if the dealership and its management staff are committed to hiring only the most qualified candidates and not just another warm body for floor coverage. They also have to be committed to daily one-on-one training and weekly group training. These two areas are the biggest elements that are lacking in almost every struggling dealership I visit. I know that every dealership’s management team has good intentions and wants their salespeople to succeed; it’s just that their daily activities don’t reflect that. Most managers complain about the skills of the salespeople, though many don’t realize that it’s those very same skills that are the direct reflection of the manager’s ability to develop or not develop their team. A teacher cannot blame the students for failing, just as the salespeople cannot be blamed for not training themselves. I don’t know too many Master Mechanics in service departments that were hired, thrown into the service stall for 90 days without training to see if they would work out. Every Master Mechanic I have ever met was developed through a series of live training workshops, online courses, manuals, and hands on coaching from the Service Manager, Shop Forman and other Master Mechanics that took the time to guarantee success. I know some of us think that service is different, and it’s true, but it is only different because we let it be different. It is time to accept that the only way out of a down market is not going to be through an increase in advertising, but instead through the development of your salespeople, managers, underwriters, collectors and every other person that has direct contact with your customers.

Salespeople need to build their relationships outside the dealership through effective prospecting, by follow-up with their current working prospects and sold customer base, and also by developing new relationships through new leads (Walk-in, Phone & Internet). Although salespeople need to develop skills like prospecting, follow-up, product knowledge, closing, overcoming objections, negotiating, and presentation skills, the two most important skills they need to develop is the ability to build rapport with the customer through effective “openended” questions (What, Where, Which, When, Who, How & Why) and investigate properly to find and close on the perfect car (finance program if you are BHPH) and not the price of the car. The other skill they must master is phone skills. Mastering phone skills (including the internet lead which is just a phone lead with one extra step) will allow the salesperson to grow their business within a business with incoming phone leads, referrals from phone follow-up and ongoing phone contact with their customer base.

A big shift in culture for many dealerships is their view on recruiting different sales candidates (customer service representatives) instead of always looking for a former salesperson from another dealership who didn't follow-up their customers, effectively prospect for new customers or convert incoming phone calls into sales. I would recommend looking for candidates with previous phone skills and customer service experience as a foundation for sales. Most of these candidates have the habits and good attitude when it comes to handling these calls. But you need to also consider a different compensation plan other than 100% commission to attract these great candidates. Use local employment sections, online sources including the newly launched job finder link of quality candidates from NABD's website. ( www.bhphinfo.com )

Remember that the skills you develop in your career by taking care of your customers will carry over into your personal lives. This is why I live my life with passion and live by a quote by Zig Ziglar, "You can get everything you want out of life if you just help enough other people get what they want."

Have a great rest of the year and I look forward to working with you and your team.

Jay Rose

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Jay Rose is one of the most sought after International Trainers for Sales, Management, F&I, BDC, Used Vehicle MGMT, & Buy Here Pay Here Collections / Underwriting. Jay is President of GTS Training Solutions, GTS Call Solutions, and GTS Dealer Services. If you want to increase your business, contact Jay directly at jrosegts@hotmail.com or (904) 955-7666

Boost Your Auto Dealership Sales with Coupons

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 16:50:00 -0500

Using coupons to draw customers away from competitors and to your dealership is a simple yet effective marketing tool in every economy.

Consumers are changing their spending habits and auto dealers should pay attention to these changing trends and adjust their marketing efforts. A 2008 report shows that "62% of U.S. consumers who were decreasing their shopping expenses in October 2008 were using coupons more often to do so."ⁱ

The same report shares that in the same quarter that year "more than 25 million Americans visited a coupon site."ⁱⁱ Many of these consumers actively seek retailers who offer coupons. A year later the Washington Post reported that "Internet coupon redemption grew 300 percent."ⁱⁱⁱ

Here are a few ideas for auto dealers who want to increase sales by offering coupons or other discounts:

Be Creative with Your Offers
Consider offering a discount on specific parts or services. This would attract any vehicle owner looking to save money. Even a mere $5 off on a free computerized diagnostic check might attract new customers which can instantly boost revenue in your service department. These same customers may return to purchase other parts, services, and even newer vehicles.

Remember That coupons Sell for You
The purpose of creating coupons is to help sell your inventory. By offering sales coupons, like:

"$100.00 Off – Internet Only Coupon"
"Free Oil Change – On Your Vehicle Purchase – For Next 6 Months"

You can make these coupons general or make them vehicle specific. These coupons attract new and returning customers to your dealership; they increase your dealership’s opportunity of selling other products and services at full profit margin.

Don't Ignore the Power of the Internet
Using the internet to produce and distribute coupons will not only save you money, it can increase your brand name recognition. The best place to offer coupons is your dealership websites. As you already have the user on your site, give incentive to do business with you rather then the dealership across the street.

Create different types of coupon and test your market. Once you find out what works best in your market, you can offer those coupons all year long on your website.

As consumer behaviors change during this tough economy, it's time for dealers to change as well - offering coupons is a simple, tested strategy to increase your sales.

ⁱFrom comScore.com, Retail_Economy_comScore_Q3_08.pdf, State of the US Online Retail Economy: Q3 2008, page 20.
ⁱⁱFrom comScore.com, Retail_Economy_comScore_Q3_08.pdf, page 36.
ⁱⁱⁱFrom thewashingtonpost.com, September 2009, The Humble Coupon Joins Social-Media Web

The Receptionist-Your BEST Salesman

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 14:42:00 -0500

This article was written to highlight an often neglected area in truck sales; however it applies equally to auto dealers.

Is She Getting Enough?

The Receptionist-Your BEST Salesman.

Submitted by Kenny and Connie Meyer, Grayson Mitchell Truck Sales The nature of our business is centered on how to sell more trucks. In attending the UTA convention in Galveston, the main emphasis was, appropriately, how to sell more trucks. However, in our opinion, the most important element was never touched on—the important role of the receptionist.

All the money you spend on advertising is centered on one thing - getting customers to call your phone number.

When a customer calls, do you blow all that advertising budget by allowing the phone to be answered in a "weenie" little voice they can't hear or by rambling the stores greeting so rapidly it can't be understood?

The receptionist needs to understand that the total objective of the entire establishment is to sell trucks. She can learn this very simply if you include her in all staff sales meetings. This will strengthen her connection to the sales force and feel part of their success. It will also allow her to stay aware of how important the number of sold units per month is to the continued success of the business.

Of course, a great receptionist who understands the value of her contribution to the business is of no value at all if the person to whom the call was directed doesn't pick up the phone and say "hello." Voicemail is a wonderful thing if it is not abused. Any call not returned within the same one-half day it is received is probably wasted. Keep the voicemail message current. If you are out of the office for the day, have your voicemail say that, then change it when you get in the next day.

The answer to the question in the title "is she getting enough" is probably a resounding no. She may be getting enough for what she is doing, but is she getting enough for what she can be doing for you and your sales force?

We have other ideas on how your receptionist could sell more trucks than your best salesman. If you would like more information on this topic or make comments on it, please call us at (319) 750-1010 or e-mail us at klm@farmtel.net.

Respectfully,
Kenny and Connie Meyer
Grayson Mitchell Truck Sales
Wayland, Iowa

PS: We know you may have a male answering your phones, but to make the article easier to read, we used the female category. Either way, the information applies.

8 Reasons Why Your Dealership Should Be on Facebook!

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 23:00:00 -0500

Dealing with the growing set of social media outlets can be daunting for auto dealers. However, ignoring these trends could mean passing up a great marketing opportunity. To put this latest trend into perspective, consider where you and your business were twenty years ago when the internet was relatively new. Not many dealerships had a website to promote their business. Over time, dealerships realized the potential of having a website. Today, most dealerships have at least a basic presence on the web. Marketing tools are evolving with the times, and the ways dealerships promote themselves must evolve accordingly.

While Facebook may have started as a social site, it has become a marketing tool that dealerships should not ignore. There is a lot to be gained from this latest marketing phenomenon, and nothing to be lost.

Here are 8 good reasons why your dealership should be on Facebook:

You'll get to know potential customers. Remember, Facebook is first and foremost a social site. Regardless of how many cars you have on the lot, sometimes it’s who you know that closes the sale. Welcoming potential customers to your Facebook page develops friendships and creates opportunities for getting to know one another.
You can invite satisfied customers to become your "fans." Nothing boosts a dealership’s reputation like a customer endorsement or referral. Customers like to share their experiences. Happy customers share happy experiences. Invite your customers to become "fans" on your Facebook page. Collect great testimonials by asking your satisfied customers to upload pictures of their purchased vehicles, along with a nice comment. These testimonials are probably worth ten times more than any ad you create or buy.
You'll reach new target audiences. Millions of people already belong to Facebook, with hundreds, even thousands more joining every day. Did you know that the largest and fastest growing demographic segment on Facebook is women and many earn annual salaries exceeding $60,000? And don’t forget that fifty percent of car buying decisions are made by women! Can you afford to ignore these opportunities?
You can connect with other dealers. In addition to making connections with prospective customers and new “fans” on Facebook, you can meet other dealers and vendors. As peers and business associates, other dealers can provide invaluable tips, contacts, and insights into your business. Facebook provides the ultimate networking opportunity with people around the globe.
You'll enjoy more exposure at no extra cost. It’s been said that if Facebook achieves national status, it would be the 3rd largest nation in the world with its ever-growing user base. Facebook offers dealerships more opportunities to connect with potential customers than your business would ever attain through more traditional advertising methods (i.e. newspapers, magazines, billboards, television commercials). Andhaving a presence on Facebook doesn’t cost you a dime.
You'll stay ahead of the competition. If not already, then sooner or later, your competition will be on Facebook. Today, lagging behind the social technology bandwagon can be fatal to your business. Create a first-mover advantage and join the growing community of Facebook. Now is the time to distinguish your dealership from dealers who are still thinking about joining Facebook. The earlier you start, the farther ahead you’ll be when more of your competitors decide to join.
You can enjoy search engine optimization (SEO). Search engines like Google rank websites by the quality of links attached to that site. All dealers want to see their websites show up on the first page of a Google search. One of most important criteria Google uses in ranking websites is the quality of incoming links to a website. Because Facebook has millions of users, it is a highly ranked site. Creating a page on Facebook and linking that page to your dealership website provides an instant boost to your optimizing efforts. Google also indexes your Facebook page, giving your dealership yet another avenue for showing up in Google’s results.
You'll reduce the chance of your promotions being ignored or "spammed." When you post a special event, sale, or promotion on your Facebook page, your message gets delivered…without fail. There is no threat of your promotion being flagged as “spam” mail or getting caught in email filters. Advertising cannot get better than this. Author's Caveat: There is a learning curve attached to becoming a member of Facebook community, just as there is a learning associated with any new tool or joining any new community. But, the earlier you start, the farther ahead you’ll be when more of your competitors decide to join.

About the Author: Syed Azam is the president of AutoJini.com, a leading provider of website solutions for auto dealers. He can be reached at syed@AutoJini.com or 515-770-6395.

Craigslist sends cease and desist to automated posting software & service providers

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 20:59:00 -0500

From Criaglists lastest blog posting...

"By offering services designed to undermine craigslist’s ability to enforce its terms of use, these businesses facilitate the placement of ads for illegal services that would otherwise be blocked by craigslist’s protective measures. craigslist has no tolerance for these activities and has filed 14 lawsuits and is sending “cease and desist” demands to numerous other companies and individuals offering such services. In addition, craigslist will investigate and provide information to state attorneys general for the prosecution of those engaging in and facilitating criminal activity."

I'm glad that Craigslist is taking this step. This year SPAM has gotten out of control on Craigslist. I hope one of these 14 lawsuite's target Craigslist Ad Removal programs.

Tip: Setup your dealership website domain for Auto-Renewal

Wed, 28 May 2008 23:05:00 -0500

Tonight as I was working on a powersport dealership website and I added links on the dealership's link page for ATV Trader and Snowmobile Trader site. On checking the links, I noticed that both domains www.atvtraderonline.com and www.snowmobiletraderonline.com are down, because the domains expired on May 21st. I'm amazed that Dominion has not realized that these domains have expired and renewed them.

If they don't renew it soon, these domains might be renewed by me and redirect to AutoJini.com... :)

Your website domain name is the most valuable part of your online presence. Do not lose it. Most registrars offer an option to renew your domain automatically before it expires. If you registered your domain name yourself enable the auto renew option or better yet change domain's administrative contact to your dealership website service provider. Loosing a domain to cybersquatters can be frustrating.

Dale Pollak has launched a blog

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:27:00 -0500

Dale Pollak author of In Velocity, From the Front Line to the Bottom Line (a must read) and founder of vAuto has just launched a new Blog at www.dalepollak.com. So head on over and checkout excellent post like The Origin of Certified Vehicles. Personally I'm all for “certification” ethical standards.

Following is the official press release.

NEW DALE POLLAK BLOG FOCUSES ON USED-CAR INDUSTRY TRENDS

Author, former new-car dealer and high-tech entrepreneur Dale Pollak has launched a blog (www.dalepollak.com) to discuss used-car sales trends.

An extension of Pollak’s best-selling book on the used-car industry, the blog features daily insights and anecdotes on used-car business operations. In Velocity, From the Front Line to the Bottom Line, Pollak discusses the Internet’s impact on used-car sales. A “must read” for auto dealers and their used-vehicle sales personnel, the book recently broke into Amazon.com’s top-10 list of reference books.

Pollak notes that today Internet-savvy shoppers compare prices and options on a wide variety of vehicles before their first visit to a dealership used-car lot. To succeed, he believes that used-car dealers will need to change their traditional business models and adopt a more sophisticated approach to inventory management.

The nation’s more than 70,000 independent and franchised used-car dealers are challenged not only by a new generation of Internet-shopping consumers, but by a growing number of used-car superstores, according to Pollak.

“I hope my new blog will be helpful to dealers and their new- and used-vehicle sales departments as well,” he says. “The blog is interactive and will be as informative as possible. We plan to have fun with it too.”

Pollak has more than 25 years of retail dealership experience, including 13 years as the owner of Pollak Cadillac GMC Truck in Elmhurst, Illinois. Among other distinctions, his store consistently ranked among the top-five Cadillac dealerships for customer satisfaction nationally.

As a successful dealer, Pollak placed a high priority on his store’s pre-owned vehicle operations. He continues to believe that used-car sales departments are the key to successful dealership operations and are important new-vehicle sales drivers as well. In today’s technology-driven market, he points out that pre-owned vehicle operations need to be managed from a financial and data-driven perspective.

Dale Pollak also is the chairman and founder of vAuto, a Chicago-based company that provides retail automotive dealerships with a better way to price, appraise and stock pre-owned vehicles. Prior to founding vAuto, Pollak served as vice president of sales and business strategy at Digital Motorworks, a market leader in data integration and application development for OEMs, mega dealers and third-party providers. He helped build the company from inception to its acquisition by ADP in 2002.

A highly sought-after speaker at national dealership conferences, Dealer 20 groups and state dealer association meetings, he most recently was a featured speaker at the 2008 National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) convention in San Francisco, the CPO Forum for certified used-car dealership operations in Detroit and the Digital Dealer Conference and Exposition in Orlando.

The auto industry’s fastest-growing provider of Internet-based used-vehicle inventory management systems, vAuto attracted more than 1,000 visitors a day to its booth during the 2008 NADA convention.

Five out of the nation’s six highest volume franchised dealerships by brand, including Ford, Honda, Nissan, Lincoln Mercury and Toyota, use pricing and appraisal strategies supported by vAuto software solutions. Virtually every imported and domestic vehicle brand is represented on vAuto’s customer list, including Acura, Audi, BMW, Hyundi, Infinity, Kia, Lexus, Mercedes and Porsche, as well as all Chrysler and General Motors brands.

Headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Oakbrook Terrace, vAuto maintains a research and development center in Austin, Texas. More information is available on the Internet at www.vauto.com.

Contact:

vAuto
Steve Chastain, 877-629-7648
E-mail: schastain@vauto.com
or
AutoCom Associates
Larry Weis or Christina Eckl, 248-647-8621
E-mail: lweis@usautocom.com or ceckl@usautocom.com

####

How to increase your dealership website conversion rate (Part 2 of 2)

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 13:58:00 -0500

Here are 30 tips you can implement right now to increase your dealership website conversion rate.

Attract qualified traffic… if you are a Ford dealership don't just do pay per click campaigns for generic terms… like dealership, service center, auto repair, auto dealer.
Add a track able toll free number on your website. You can use services like CallSource , WhosCalling
Have a great looking dealership website design… since Jake over at HigherTurnover.com has done a really nice write up on this, go check that out.
On your finance applications make sure you are using SSL and the user knows about it.
Have a clearly defined privacy policy… on each form that you request for mailing list signup, state that you won't sell or rent the list out to any third party.
Keep the menu names standard… don't have the user guess what is under a menu item.
Include directions button wherever you display your address.
List your address, phone and contact link on each and every page.
Don't auto play sound or better yet have no sounds on your homepage… most visitors will visit your dealership site from their work. Check out an excellent post over at SEOMoz on why you don't need sound on your website. TIP: You can figure out where most of your traffic is coming from by looking at your website's hourly stats and network location maps.
Provide clear images of your vehicles… check out AutoTrader.com “How to Sell Your Car” section for more details.
Keep important information above the fold – at the very minimum show your potential customers make, model, price, general specs and contact button. If they can see this within first couple of seconds you can capture them, remember “Eye level, is buy level”.
Include points of reassurance by every point of action. Ex. – Let the visitor know that someone will contact them in the next 4 hours, a day etc.
Remove distractions form your lead generation forms… don't display any offers or flash banners on the pages or worst a pop-up.
If you have multi-step lead generation form use process indicator. Ex. - If your finance form has multiple steps, indicate what step they are on and how many steps there are.
Implement one click or at max two click inventory display.
If you have a lot of vehicles allow the user to sort on price, make, model, and year.
Use real customer testimonials and authentic customer photos… no stock photos. You loose on credibility.
Look over your lead forms and only keep the fields you need… if first and last name would do… remove the field for MI and Salutation…
Have clear and concise error messages on your lead form… Clearly state what the error is… where the error is… and how it can be fixed.
Have an “About Us” page on your dealership website.
Write a great description of your used vehicles… check out “ 10 Tips for Writing Online Car Ads”
Spell check your website.
Update those copyrights statements in the footer… its 2008 and not 2007.
Identify / Create a USP (Unique Selling Proposition) to distinguish your dealership from the rest and exploit it. Ex… "we're the no-hassle car dealership. One price - you know exactly where you stand."
Optimize your website for search engines… most of your traffic will come from search engines… you can read more on SEO in our Search Engine Optimization category of this Blog and check out AutoConversion.net for more info on this topic.
Use your homepage wisely…. Don't just have an image of your dealership on this page… add some featured vehicles, quick inventory search, and link to service appointment lead form.
Provide a “Specials” or “Sales” section on your website.
Add “Reassurance logos” on your website site… such as local dealership association, BBB, CarFax, etc… (BTW Carfax 1-Owner vehicles sell faster and sell at a premium...)
Include live chat and/or click to call now.
And most important of all, make sure your website is useable.

Interested in more ways to increase your website conversion rate then checkout…

Google Conversion University
LunaMetrics Blog
GrokDotCom

Conversion Basics - Part 1 of 2

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 03:17:00 -0500

Beginning of new year and everyone is taking about conversion rate... so I'll jump into this and give my thoughts and explain bit more on:

What is conversion rate?
How do I increase my dealership site conversion rate? (Part 2)

In this two part series first we are going to look at, what is conversion rate?

Since most dealership sites are actually lead generation sites, the conversion rate is the number of visitors as a percentage of total visitors who complete a form and you are able to contact them again. So in our case a successful convert is someone who has completed one of the online lead generating forms or got in touch with your dealership through your website. A dealership website commonly convert around 1%-3% rate.

So what are some of these lead generating forms? Well it could be any of these... the more you have on your dealership website the better.

Contact Form.
Test Drive Form
Quick Quote Form
Online Vehicle Configurator
KBB or Black Book Trade In
Schedule a Test Drive
Online Winnings (Free Gas, Signed Baseball, etc)
Click to View Price (simple email, name, phone form)
Online Coupons
Parts Request
Service Appointment Form
Finance Form
Vehicle Locator
Live Chat
Click To Call
Pre-Approval Form
Contact this staff member
Mailing list signups

So thats the basics of what conversion rate is and where it can happen on your site... next we will look at how to increase your dealership website conversion rate.

Has Ford gone nutts...

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 02:22:00 -0500

From slashdot....

"In a move that can only be described as 'Copyright Insanity', Ford Motor Company now claims that they hold the rights to any image of a Ford vehicle, even if it's a picture you took of your own car. The Black Mustang Club wanted to put together a calendar featuring member's cars and print it through CafePress, but an attorney from Ford nixed the project, stating that the calendar pics and 'anything with one of (member's) cars in it infringes on Ford's trademarks which include the use of images of their vehicles.' Does Ford have the right to prevent you from printing images of a car you own?"