CRM DOMINATION IN AUTO RETAILING
WE ARE ENTERING AN ERA OF CRM DOMINATION
- BY JAMES A. ZIEGLER, THE #AlphaDawg
Third party Vendors are waking up to their worst nightmare. The party is almost over and we're turning the lights on. They are in denial reminiscent of 'Newspaper Advertising' a few decades ago. Newspaper was the juggernaut, dominant, over-bearing, dictating, necessary, and way over-priced. At the end of the Newspaper Era, they were screaming they were still effective and still relevant as they could no longer prove heir worth or justify their extravagant high-prices. The Newspaper Advertising moguls were sucked down into the tarpits wheezing their last wheezy gasps, still proclaiming their relevance.
NOW - The Paradigm is shifting again. The third-party vendors can no longer justify their rdiculous high prices and can't document any real results. They're No Longer selling results, they can't. They don't have them to show. So they misdirect with VDPs and SRPs and QRXs instead of showing us real business. AND, they tell the dealers if you're not selling, it's your employees fault.
WHAT CHANGED? Well several things changed.
FIRST OF ALL, the consumers changed. Dealers websites are smarter and more reactive. VDPs need to become stickier and conversion is 'king'.
SECONDLY, Mobile Happened! Consumers are engaging on handhelds and tablets and devices other than desktops. They are able to USE Google and other avenues to directly connect with the dealers. Real time transactions favor the dealerships, not the vendors.
THIRDLY, Dealers became educated in dealing with the modern consumer and they don't feel hostility on our Websites. CHAT is huge for conversion.
AND FOURTH, The "CLICK TO CALL" Google option puts them in touch with us immediately. It's probably one of the greatest things that's happening to fuel the shift. TEXT MARKETING and PERSONALIZED VIDEOS from the Dealerships are humanizing our efforts. People still like to deal with people. ONLY the Vendors see advantages to dehumanizing the processes. We are NOT DEVO.
THE CRM Companies that own website development will inherit the business. They become the DASHBOARD that controls the Dealers' Marketing... Adwords, Social Media Strategies, Everything the Dealership does to market. The CRM creates it, coordinates with the website, and measures and adjusts the campaigns. THE CRM companies allow the dealer to run their campaigns without all of the slander and defamation the vendors use to bring us down and make themselves look like the saviour from us. Reputation will be better and profits will increase.
I have always advocated a CRM-Driven Culture in the Dealerships, now the worm is turning and the third-party vendors are scrambling like Newspaper executives did several decades ago. I doubt they'll go extinct totally, but their value in our marketing plans will become second-tier and optional.http://www.InternetBattlePlan.com
Comment
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Comment by Brian Bennington on January 27, 2015 at 9:26pm -
Jeez, Dawg, what an optimistic post! If only it comes true. I did notice in your ADM copy of this last week you mentioned several of these "salesman's reputation bandits" by name, except of course Scott Painter's operation. Could that be because he has enough juice to make it uncomfortable for anyone who criticizes TrueCar? (With the threats the government was making concerning them, it almost seemed like he had a bureaucrat in his pocket.) If it was anybody but you, I wouldn't mention it, but your frankness and savvy is legendary on ADM and DE and I did miss you "naming names" and calling them out. But fear not, you're still "Alpha" to me!
As to "drumming third parties vendors out of the Corps," I have problems with their marketing implying dealerships aren't the most honest place to get a car, but they actually are a result of dealerships not stepping up to address customers' longstanding trust issues. Otherwise, they couldn't have got the foothold they have. However, they truly are a product of our times when no one trusts anyone.
The dealers I'm involved with using third party vendors are pragmatic about it, treating them like they're just another source of business. No special love, no special hate. I don't have a dog in this hunt, as my business is exclusive to generating repeat and referral business, but it's crossed my mind that third party vendors could eventually specify that not only would dealers pay a fee for a third party customer, they'd get a fee every time that customer came back to purchase another vehicle. Now, as somebody probably only you and I are old enough to remember use to say, "What a revoltin' development this turned out to be!"
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Comment by steven chessin on January 21, 2015 at 6:32pm
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"AutoTrader, is "Dealer friendly" Really ?
You busted dealer VDPs properly. Most dealer sites do not offer modifications for more "sizzle" or search optimization so using "non-stock" VDPs is common. When a dealer buys a website they should not also have to buy a proper inventory module. But as imperfect as dealer site VDPs are to various levels they are at least in this century! AutoTrader's inventory content pages are relics.
The good news - is that the playing-field is equally bad for everyone. The bad news is for dealers that are motivated to present their cars better can't. If you have beautiful pages on your website it is lost in the translation. That is not dealer friendly. Ebay alone allows high-quality VDPs to be imported faithfully.
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Comment by James A. Ziegler on January 21, 2015 at 6:24pm
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Clarification:When I said Autotrader was Dealer-Friendly, I was referring solely and strictly to the fact they don't bash dealers to the consumers as a sales tactic the way that CarFax and Edmunds and Some Others Do.
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Comment by Roger Williams on January 20, 2015 at 12:24pm
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It's very refreshing to hear truth and honesty from someone who knows all the players the ins outs of what is really going on and has the courage to just put it out there-
Thanks Jim, I now have twisted sister playing in my mind! That drum line is unique- I probably will all day! I'm even seeing the video in my head!
"We'll fight (yeah) and you'll see"..,
Thanks Jim
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Well Roger, glad you asked, nobody is seriously saying they will all die completely die and disappear, they will morph and realign into a CRM (AutoTrader already owns Vin Solutions)
No matter what anyone thinks of TrueCar, they have a model that always ends up in the delivery of a car, period. If you don't like the gross they deliver, that's another issue, but, you will deliver the unit.
Cars.com however, in my opinion, can't justify their charges (which are through the stratosphere, unreasonable and ridiculous) Edmunds, in my opinion, is blatently "Anti-Dealer'" and will never win over the industry. CarFax and CarGurus, "Road Kill". I can Hear Twisted Sister right now singing in my mind... "We're Not Gonna Take It!" AutoTrader, is Dealer Friendly and does NOT Promote hate and distrust like CarFax and Edmunds, but; their prices are absurd.
A CRM Company that builds responsive Websites and has a credible Lead-Management and Marketing Online Dashboard, and has Conversion as a priority will inherit the Industry.
To answer your question YES, the current crop of lead generation will either evolve or disappear into a CRM Driven Model.
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Jim,
As is your wont you are spot on!
What will become of some of the bigger ones like cars.com and auto trader? Will they morph into a partnership of large CRM companies?
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- the revolutions here and they are screaming bloody murder because they all see it coming. Ask your CRM Provider and others, the CRMs are gearing up to take over the marketing. I just wrote this article/blog a half hour ago and it's already viral. Three CRM Companies and Website Vendors have already, in just a half hour, asked me for the permission to reprint and distribute at the convention.
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