Comment

Comment by jeff sterns on March 25, 2013 at 10:41pm

If I owned a store, I would go myself and bring my BDC Manager to a Dealer Synergy BDC 20 Group. Be ready to take notes, roll up your sleeves and work. 

That's it.

Comment by Joe Webb on March 25, 2013 at 10:24pm

Exactly, Mathew.

I agree that far too many "consultants" are nothing more than regurgitating frauds, but they don't all crib from the oldest of experts.  They pull from others as well.  That's just one of the reasons I made this comedic video against those poser consultants - 

http://www.dealerknows.com/the-internet-sales-guru-ninja-thought-le...

But I simply had to respond as your video and comment here seemed to be blanket statements and we have many dealer clients who would go to the mat for us explaining how we've helped them achieve great understanding and results above what they would have been able to yield on their own.  For that reason, I had to comment.  And as I said, Yes, there are amazing needs in our industry for Cardone, Verde, and Ziegler's trainings regardless of a dealer's showroom prowess.

Comment by Barrett Schrader on March 25, 2013 at 10:10pm

Don't fix it if it isnt broke! Too many "one man bands" out there trying to reinvent the wheel~

Comment by Mathew Koenig on March 25, 2013 at 10:05pm

Joe, thanks for the comments pointed toward me brother ;) My rant against consultants are pointed at the guys who merely recycle other people's information which, unfortunately, is the bulk of guys out there.

I know you have extensive digital/auto experience and I remember sharing a few if your videos with folks when I was a sales training manager at Cars.com.

That said, I respect your opinion to agree with me my friend because iron sharpens iron and differences in opinion are often there because people bring different tools to the table.

That said, while the digital world is familiar to you and I and many others, there are still quite a few dealers who are new to understanding this arena and unfortunately, they get taken advantage of by guys who have ONLY clicked a mouse but have no experience woth the real world of selling to a human being.

I don't just mean "road to a sale" process and I don't mean 'controlling a customer' - I mean being a professional who asks quality questions so they can serve the needs of the consumer.

Just because Cardone and Verde have been around the block, doesn't make all of their info irrelevant.

In my opinion (which I'm not asking you to agree with), too many 'consultants' try to reinvent the wheel instead of making the food wheel even better.

Those 'veteran masters' have been successful for years, and have helped other because they have a lot of solid information that works because it makes sense.

Are they 100% digital rock stars in all areas? Nope.

We all know great guys and gals who are awesome at email communication and follow up but terrible at using the phone right?

Being successful in the automotive workd of digital doesn't mean being a sucky salesperson hiding behind a mouse, it means using the best information you can get your hands on, putting the best processes and people in place for your dealership and market.

In my opinion, it means connecting with the consumer on their terms and caring about helping them accomplish their goal in the most efficient way possible (that goal has been taught for more years than I've been selling btw-it's just that many salespeople didn't care) . In my opinion, it also means doing it better than the people you're competing with.

Ah heck, what do I know though, all my info is just recycled from a bunch of old veteran masters right?

Comment by Joe Webb on March 25, 2013 at 9:53pm

And I apologize for going off on a rant.  Sometimes I feel the need to protect dealers from bad advice as well as idiotic blanket statements that all consultants are knock-offs of others.  In many cases, this couldn't be more true..  But not all.  I have the utmost respect for Cardone, Ziegler, Verde, Anderson, Ziglar, Stuker and others, but claiming they influence all digital consultants is pretty ridiculous.  I think many will give me credit for being one of the industry's earliest bloggers, writers, and speakers on Internet sales and digital marketing.  I'd gladly match up chronological timelines on Internet sales discussions vs. some of our industry's old guard, and I STILL believe they are 100% needed for sales efficiency and training for showroom, F&I, and service.  But this is 2013 and in 2013 people have specialties.  Specialties are born, not adopted as a means to stay relevant.

However, I still apologize for switching lanes and topics on this blog.  I don't mean to start controversy as it usually isn't my M.O. (though I know my friends at Dealer Elite don't mind a little controversy in the threads :)

Everyone who knows me understands that I am an entirely open book for free advice to those in our industry that need it.  You won't find anyone that would say otherwise.  If you want free advice, call me at your convenience.  847-456-5130.

Joe

Comment by Barrett Schrader on March 25, 2013 at 9:44pm

Not seeking out expert advice will end up costing your Dealer thousands of dollars and most likely your job. There are way too many common pitfalls that cause a business development initiative to fail.
Someone will need to slow your Dealer down so he realizes BDC doesn't happen overnight and that it takes complete management support to ensure success!

Comment by Joe Webb on March 25, 2013 at 9:33pm

I'll gladly jump in after the comments from my good friend, Jason Mickelson.  "Advice" is a broad statement for something as detailed as a well-groomed BDC department.  If you have a specific need, there are many among us who will share with you what worked for us.  Just a couple bits of advice I can recommend is to make your BDC agents pay performance-based opposed to solely hourly and to insist on a short time frame every morning to them role-playing amongst each other... even if it is 10 minutes. It gets the team listening, engaged and practice.

Now, to comment on Matthew Koenig's comment.  I had the ability to watch his "rant" video against consultants and I'd have to disagree.  He is obviously someone who personally has been inundated with veteran sales training from the masters and believes everyone is a regurgitation afterward.  I tend to disagree whole-heartedly and all of our clients at DealerKnows would as well. (See what I did there?  It's called a hyperlink.  Find that in one of their books :)

Now, I'm a fan of Verde and Cardone (I'd consider Grant a personal friend), but I unfortunately was never gifted with the ability to receive their training while in retail.  And yet I somehow was able to succeed on my own through trial by fire tactics and a good amount of intuition.  I'm not a sales trainer, but I am a digital consultant/trainer.  Today's dealerships are so steeped in technology that I believe it is beneficial to have someone training that has actually clicked a mouse to sell a car.  I apologize for the combative nature here, but me thinks it is often the masters who now need to regurgitate digital retail strategies from the youngsters.  They likely have never had to personally build out processes, templates, word-tracks, and multi-channel communication tactics to market to 2013's Internet shoppers (let alone 2000's Internet shoppers).

I will agree with Matthew that not all consultants are equal and far too many are unproven, undocumented never-do's who've only read blogs, but never performed the actions themselves.  However, some of us actually have (including Jason Mickelson) and can profoundly impact the inner-workings and processes of dealers large and small.  Not because we've listened to old "road to sale" VHS tapes are we able to help dealers.  But because we understand technologically-assisted selling in a way that endears dealerships to consumers without focusing on "if-I-could-would-ya" objection handling techniques.

But Frank, with that said, it is far too early for you to consider a consultant.  As a matter of fact, don't hire one. Not for a long time.  Succeed, fail, succeed again and grow based on your own understanding, not someone else's.  That's what was required of Jason Mickelson, myself, and many others.  You'll be stronger for it.  And when you're ready to take your above-average results to greater heights... THEN it may be time to bring in an expert that has done it before themselves.  Not someone only trained by vendors.  But it isn't vendors you should ever worry about.  The true snake oil salesmen of today are those that make a living reselling other's products.  Just do your research and go direct to the company rather than lining someone's wallets with commissions from the very own products you can get yourself.  That's a third bit of advice.

All the best...
Joe Webb

Comment by Jason Mickelson on March 25, 2013 at 8:58pm

I agree with Mr. Koenig.  Free advice is hard to come by.  My next recommendation is to narrow your question a little.  Find a specific process or problem you are having and bring it to the table.  Many ask questions that are so vague and require a book to effectively answer. Please don't take this as forum scolding, just friendly advice.  

You will encounter numerous new and interesting challenges.  Bring those to the table.  I think you will learn valuable information when you ask concise and specific questions. 

Comment by Mathew Koenig on March 25, 2013 at 7:53pm

Frank - I'd connect with Tommy Russel since he is obviously doing something right and he's offering free advice. You're already doing something right by reaching out to the gang of dealerElite since there is some great experience here!

As a 20 year veteran of this industry who has worked on both sides of the desk (retail for 12 years, then with Cars.com, Edmunds and now my own company) the best advice I can share with you is to make sure EVERY decision you make will help you do one or both of these:

1. Keep your current customers coming back

2. Help you get new customers

There are a million consultants who are more than happy to tell you to revamp your entire store and take your money by sharing advice that they got from Cardone or Verde 20 years ago. The advice is good, but you don't need to pay for it. Again, you have an experienced guy down below who is having success in his BDC and he's offering it up for free so listen, take notes and make sure your end game is always focused on "getting & keeping". 

Common sense should always be your guide and always stay humble enough to ask for help (prayer included) 

:-)

Helping the best get better,

Mat Koenig

KonigCo

www.konig.co

"The Best Mobile Marketing for Auto Dealers - Just ask Google"

Comment by Randall Welsh on March 25, 2013 at 7:32pm

Sometimes a third party can see what is really wrong and give valuable advise. If you are willing to listen!. rwelsh@cimasystems.NET

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