I ask myself this often: What are we really trying to do on the internet?  Let’s start by looking at an extreme. Say a Dealership like that one in Northern, Idaho.  Here’s a dealership that is in a mountain town (2400 pop.) they advertise in those magazines you find in the pouch behind the seat in front of you on the airplane when you fly anywhere. They hardly have drive-by or walk in business. I don’t know what their numbers really are, but I would guess they have 35 or more people dedicated to an internet way of doing business. They are sixty miles from the next city with a dealership of any size. They sell literally hundreds and hundreds of cars on the internet every month…hundreds. I don’t know for sure, perhaps somebody from that North Idaho store will comment.

At any rate, these guys are doing something nobody else can. To try to compare any other dealership to this one would be folly. They are a one of a kind deal. What is it almost every other store is trying to do?  I tell you.  Here’s a list:

• Develop an internet sales scheme.
• Train salespeople how to use the CRM.
• Teach salespeople how to set appointments.
• How do you structure and run your day out of the CRM?
• How do we keep the web pages up to date and looking good?
• How to keep our online inventory current and up to date.
• How do we get the salespersons to do what’s expected?
• Do we use social media? How do we use it effectively?
• How can we get our sales staff to persistently follow the internet leads?

This may sound simple and silly, but most stores in the country are at the start of the internet thing, not at the top.  The world of internet auto sales is moving and changing so fast that most stores still aren’t sure what they want to do, or how to do it.  I’ve seen it first hand and I can tell you this: 95% of all dealerships in the country have no idea what they’re doing, or how to do it.  These guys are buying “Equity Finder” programs and hot lead generators for thousands of dollars, when they really should be buying training on how to make phone calls, send emails, schedule appointments, and set tasks in their CRM.

You gotta’ walk before you can run, and that 95% is running a three legged race to the next newfangled gadget to relieve lagging internet sales.

The overwhelming majority of dealerships will NEVER SELL cars on the internet, nor should they try.  The internet is for selling yourself and setting the appointment.  The time for selling the car is when the customer is in front of you at the dealership. Whenever you try to SELL the car on the internet, you expose yourself to the possibility of the customer building the “foundation for objection.”

And another thing…Who has the budget for all this stuff being advertised just to the right and left of my words here?

So….What is my point?  What is the solution?  Where do we go? The answer is this: Start at the beginning!  Take a long look at what is happening right now in your “internet department”

• Do you have a CRM?
• Do you have leads coming in?
• Do they all come to the same place?
• Are they being answered in a timely fashion?
• Does every lead get called?
• Does every lead get an email?
• Are comments made in the CRM?
• Is the next task scheduled in the CRM?
• Is every lead evaluated?
• Do the people using your CRM know how to use it and plan their day with it?
• Are appointments being set through this process?
• Does your sales force have any idea what to do with your internet leads?

If the above raises any questions, you need to think long and hard about where you are headed.  If you don’t have a handle on all the above stuff, you certainly don’t need to be buying anything other than leads.

You can’t sell cars on the internet.  You can sell appointments.

Coming soon...How your dog can appraise cars, figure payments, and even predict market trends...