Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Robert Hildreth on September 21, 2011 at 1:18pm

thanks Michael.....I appreciate your input and taking the time to respond. Who is the company handling your Craigslist postings?

Michael Abrams said:

One thing that has been successful in keeping the cost of leads down is to have a reputable company handle Craigs List posting consistently and compliantly for the dealer.  I have been using a system for about a year now with one of the dealers I know here in Birmingham that has provided a very good ROI.  The monthly charge for the service has been relatively low (about $750 per month) and the number of phone leads has been around 80 plus per month.  That's about $10 or less per phone lead (unique).  Plus they get 10 or so email leads each month as well.  So they get about 90.  They sell about 8 cars per month off of this program and pay approx $750.

 

I have tried to hook up with various other, more aggressive programs to produce 'organic leads' over the past couple of years...at great expense to myself.  The only thing out of all those efforts that has actually stuck and has returned value at a reasonable price is the posting service.  Some of the programs worked for a few months before 'back links' and other interferences rendered those programs less than of value.  I guess you live and learn.

 

As for the third party providers (Cars.com, Autobytel, AutoTrader, etc.), if they work in your area and you get a decent ROI, I guess you might as well play along.  We all agree that 'organic lead production' is the desired way of marketing, but when you need to go outside that circle to obtain enough leads to operate, they do fill a need.

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Permalink Reply by Robert Hildreth on September 21, 2011 at 1:20pm

If you do not mind Kevin, what coupon did you use most recent that you felt was effective. (if you do not mind sharing)

Kevin A Lepine said:

We JUST started to use the DealerOn coupon and in the past 2 weeks have already seen more leads then with the one we used from AutoBytel... I was VERY against these coupons before convinced to try them... Well, now I wouldn't have a site without them! You just need to have a GOOD coupon that is set up right. a "normal" pop-up coupon will NOT work.

bryan w shufelt said:

We have customers keep telling us they hate the coupon on the web sight

Mike Warwick said:

You've got the thrid party leads covered so I would look at putting a coupon onto the webiste.  Dealeron has a great product with their E-Autosavings coupon.  Depending on how much traffic your site gets, you can easily generate an additional 75-150 leads a month from this coupon.

 

If your PPC is performing well, you can also look to increase that budget.

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Permalink Reply by Robert Hildreth on September 21, 2011 at 1:26pm

Funny story with BlueSky...I emailed the company to get more information just a few weeks ago.....the President was great...emailed me back late that night with a personal response...I was impressed and immediately was willing to listen to anyone willing to work as many hours as I do.....

 

So when I recieved the follow up email from him I read it and I responded that I just wanted some materials and that give me a few weeks and I will follow up.

 

So then 2 days later I recieve an email from a name I noticed that was CC'd on all the correspondance I was getting from the President.

Any word back from this guy?

I responded back to him...and CC'd the President. 

 

Nope no word back from this guy...laughs...(you may want to check the address before sending)

I thought it was kind of funny...but decided since I was not getting good follow up to just move on...sounds like my instincts were right...

bryan w shufelt said:

Like several on here have said, Most work for a short while then they are no good Had the exact same problem  with auto- by- tel, they started out strong early this year. but had to cancel them they faded out...cars direct worked for a few months but then the leads were so rotten could not do anything with them.   I am about to try lead strom has anyone used them can you give me any info on them.......oh also blue sky.....a big dud!!! not luck at all with them

 

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Permalink Reply by Michael Abrams on September 21, 2011 at 1:35pm

Robert:  It's an arrangement I made with Dealer Promote through a convoluted arrangement with Dealer 123.  You might do well to call me up and see if I can handle it for you if you prefer.  I am paying them on a credit card through one of my partners every 1st of the month and then collecting the money from the client (dealer).  Dealer Promote likes it better this way because they don't like billing people.  Anyway, if you want me to run it through, we should talk and I'll see if I can set it up in some fashion.  As far I can know, there is no term contract, but you need to let me or them know before the end of the month if you are terminating the service.  205-967-9405. 

Robert Hildreth said:

thanks Michael.....I appreciate your input and taking the time to respond. Who is the company handling your Craigslist postings?

Michael Abrams said:

One thing that has been successful in keeping the cost of leads down is to have a reputable company handle Craigs List posting consistently and compliantly for the dealer.  I have been using a system for about a year now with one of the dealers I know here in Birmingham that has provided a very good ROI.  The monthly charge for the service has been relatively low (about $750 per month) and the number of phone leads has been around 80 plus per month.  That's about $10 or less per phone lead (unique).  Plus they get 10 or so email leads each month as well.  So they get about 90.  They sell about 8 cars per month off of this program and pay approx $750.

 

I have tried to hook up with various other, more aggressive programs to produce 'organic leads' over the past couple of years...at great expense to myself.  The only thing out of all those efforts that has actually stuck and has returned value at a reasonable price is the posting service.  Some of the programs worked for a few months before 'back links' and other interferences rendered those programs less than of value.  I guess you live and learn.

 

As for the third party providers (Cars.com, Autobytel, AutoTrader, etc.), if they work in your area and you get a decent ROI, I guess you might as well play along.  We all agree that 'organic lead production' is the desired way of marketing, but when you need to go outside that circle to obtain enough leads to operate, they do fill a need.

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Permalink Reply by Robert Hildreth on September 21, 2011 at 1:44pm

Manny,

I will look into your suggestions as well as your company....it will take me awhile to digest it all and I will hit you with questions from there...thanks for the input

MANNY LUNA said:

Robert,

Looks like your doing a great job making things happen to sell cars! In reading everyone post sounds like everybody is singing the same song, I have used, worked with and have some of there products in our clients dealerships,some do very will and some of our dealers are having problem with there inventory feed on there website. I agree with Robert with eleadcrmcom , there are some tweaks that you can make with your website company to help you get more 1st party leads;

NADA tells us that the customer's will go to your Specials page first, That would be the first thing to do. As far as posting your inventory on Craigslist, If you don't have any more then 45 to 50 preowned cars in stock you wont get the traffic you really want. Cargigi can do a good job with your inventory I seen on your website. Cost 399 for the first area amd 299 per area after that. They are month to month so I would give them a try.

NADA has found that 1st party leads will close at 16% compared to 3rd party leads at 8%,so the goal is to have a ton of 1st party leads funnel into your main website. So be sure your website is ready to sevice your online clients.

 

Who do you like....and why?

 

I would like one vendor to do a all in one package that can funnel in tons of first party leads into my main website, then sign me up on a exclusive agreement for my brand with a 75 mile radius consisting of 10 cities.

That way they couldn't go to my competition and sell them the same package.

We are the only Company in the Indrustry that do that.

With just a little over 120 clients, We are the only Digital Automotive Company that can boast a 98% retention rate since 2007.

This is what we do for one of our Kia dealers in Hou,Tx, they are the number one Kia dealer in there region, they sold 130 new Kia last month.

 

Digital Media and SEO Content Strategies:

 

 

Strategies:

 

-Monthly Digital Plan and Budget

 

-Develop and drive short and long term strategies

 

-Weekly analytics and ROI Reports

 

-Manage current vendor relations including inventory feeds to various sites

 

-Social Media strategy and planning as well as extensive reputation management services including “fan sites”

 

testimonial and review submissions to various review and social bookmarking sites (totaling 350 different sites per review)

 

-e-news letters and email blast campaigns

 

-weekly conference calls

 

-Employing the newest and most innovative products into campaigns

 

SEO:

 

-Video SEO exclusive to each dealership for their brand within a 75 mile radius consisting of 10 cities

 

-Deployment of 10 micro sites within a 75 mile radius consisting of 10 cities

 

-Extensive back linking campaign including link wheels for each individual dealer rooftop

 

-Adding target links to each review submitted through the reputation management package

 

-Creation of blogs integrated into the micro sites for enhanced optimization

 

-Friendly SEO reports sent out weekly (micro sites and dealer website reporting)

 

-Create an on page seo strategy consisting of inventory and target market optimization

 

-Manage website content for seo optimization purposes

 

-Manage and create a strategy for SEM (keyword strategy media buying, placement etc) Amounts TBD and will vary

 

Website Maintenance:

 

-Upload custom sliders for home page of websites consistent with other marketing campaigns with updates incentives,

 

community involvement, etc.

 

-Create and upload car specials slides

 

-Create special landing pages and micro sites for SEM campaigns

 

-Make necessary compliance changes to website

 

-Manage and help negotiate with current vendors

 

-Oversee content strategy of dealer’s main website

 

Please take note that in order to sell tons of cars, you have to have great reviews also. We do that to:)

Here are a couple of links that should help you see the big picture of what are customer are looking for:

http://www.mediapost.com/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=157679

 

 

Internet traffic will have increased six fold by 2012 in a five-year period as more users view and post videos online, delegates at an Internet forum heard on Wednesday.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.11b0df967c4c85298aa3020...

A new report from YuMe on 2011 Q2 video metrics shows that nearly 25% of all video ad impressions come from three states: California, Texas, & New York.

 

Great post, let me know when your ready to have some real fun and dominate your market!

 

 

 

Manny Luna

832-341-1806

 

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Permalink Reply by Kevin A Lepine on September 21, 2011 at 2:36pm

Well... When using the coupon that AutoBytel has we saw an immediate increase of about 50-75 leads a month through it (on top of our normal site traffic). As time went on the leads started to lessen and I we became more and more frustrated with the "Set" templates that they are currently offering. About 3 months back, DealerOn contacted us... We already have an amazing website company (TK) and decided to try out their coupon. Its only been 2 weeks now so I do not have a solid opinion yet BUT I have seen a good spike in leads. Anyone can put a "coupon" on their website. The thing is having it show up without the customer getting that annoying pop-up. Both AutoBytel and DealerOn have Pop-Backs and trademarked their products. Both seem to work pretty well, we are just trying to see which is best for us. If you are already with AutoBytel for leads, I would HIGHLY recommend at least giving it a shot. 

Robert Hildreth said:

If you do not mind Kevin, what coupon did you use most recent that you felt was effective. (if you do not mind sharing)

Kevin A Lepine said:

We JUST started to use the DealerOn coupon and in the past 2 weeks have already seen more leads then with the one we used from AutoBytel... I was VERY against these coupons before convinced to try them... Well, now I wouldn't have a site without them! You just need to have a GOOD coupon that is set up right. a "normal" pop-up coupon will NOT work.

bryan w shufelt said:

We have customers keep telling us they hate the coupon on the web sight

Mike Warwick said:

You've got the thrid party leads covered so I would look at putting a coupon onto the webiste.  Dealeron has a great product with their E-Autosavings coupon.  Depending on how much traffic your site gets, you can easily generate an additional 75-150 leads a month from this coupon.

 

If your PPC is performing well, you can also look to increase that budget.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin A Lepine on September 21, 2011 at 2:43pm

and... both are only about $250 a month flat fee. for 50+ leads its totally worth it! 

Kevin A Lepine said:

Well... When using the coupon that AutoBytel has we saw an immediate increase of about 50-75 leads a month through it (on top of our normal site traffic). As time went on the leads started to lessen and I we became more and more frustrated with the "Set" templates that they are currently offering. About 3 months back, DealerOn contacted us... We already have an amazing website company (TK) and decided to try out their coupon. Its only been 2 weeks now so I do not have a solid opinion yet BUT I have seen a good spike in leads. Anyone can put a "coupon" on their website. The thing is having it show up without the customer getting that annoying pop-up. Both AutoBytel and DealerOn have Pop-Backs and trademarked their products. Both seem to work pretty well, we are just trying to see which is best for us. If you are already with AutoBytel for leads, I would HIGHLY recommend at least giving it a shot. 

Robert Hildreth said:

If you do not mind Kevin, what coupon did you use most recent that you felt was effective. (if you do not mind sharing)

Kevin A Lepine said:

We JUST started to use the DealerOn coupon and in the past 2 weeks have already seen more leads then with the one we used from AutoBytel... I was VERY against these coupons before convinced to try them... Well, now I wouldn't have a site without them! You just need to have a GOOD coupon that is set up right. a "normal" pop-up coupon will NOT work.

bryan w shufelt said:

We have customers keep telling us they hate the coupon on the web sight

Mike Warwick said:

You've got the thrid party leads covered so I would look at putting a coupon onto the webiste.  Dealeron has a great product with their E-Autosavings coupon.  Depending on how much traffic your site gets, you can easily generate an additional 75-150 leads a month from this coupon.

 

If your PPC is performing well, you can also look to increase that budget.

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Permalink Reply by Robert Hildreth on September 21, 2011 at 2:49pm

Great information Kevin...I sent you a friends req through LinkedIn...hope that was okay..would love to stay in touch...I will let you know what happens with this...

Kevin A Lepine said:

and... both are only about $250 a month flat fee. for 50+ leads its totally worth it! 

Kevin A Lepine said:

Well... When using the coupon that AutoBytel has we saw an immediate increase of about 50-75 leads a month through it (on top of our normal site traffic). As time went on the leads started to lessen and I we became more and more frustrated with the "Set" templates that they are currently offering. About 3 months back, DealerOn contacted us... We already have an amazing website company (TK) and decided to try out their coupon. Its only been 2 weeks now so I do not have a solid opinion yet BUT I have seen a good spike in leads. Anyone can put a "coupon" on their website. The thing is having it show up without the customer getting that annoying pop-up. Both AutoBytel and DealerOn have Pop-Backs and trademarked their products. Both seem to work pretty well, we are just trying to see which is best for us. If you are already with AutoBytel for leads, I would HIGHLY recommend at least giving it a shot. 

Robert Hildreth said:

If you do not mind Kevin, what coupon did you use most recent that you felt was effective. (if you do not mind sharing)

Kevin A Lepine said:

We JUST started to use the DealerOn coupon and in the past 2 weeks have already seen more leads then with the one we used from AutoBytel... I was VERY against these coupons before convinced to try them... Well, now I wouldn't have a site without them! You just need to have a GOOD coupon that is set up right. a "normal" pop-up coupon will NOT work.

bryan w shufelt said:

We have customers keep telling us they hate the coupon on the web sight

Mike Warwick said:

You've got the thrid party leads covered so I would look at putting a coupon onto the webiste.  Dealeron has a great product with their E-Autosavings coupon.  Depending on how much traffic your site gets, you can easily generate an additional 75-150 leads a month from this coupon.

 

If your PPC is performing well, you can also look to increase that budget.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Warwick on September 21, 2011 at 3:55pm

Kevin - I keep telling people about how effective the Dealeron Coupon is and I always get comments from people saying that "coupons don't work."  Well, I always managed to sell 15-20 cars a month with the Dealeron coupon but if people want to keep convincing themselves that coupons don't work, the old saying that "you can lead a horse to water" seems to apply.  If people took the time to go through the process of filling the Dealeron coupon out, they would realize that it's much more than a pop-up coupon.  I've used Steve Crimm's product that he remarkets through Autobytel as well and while I think Dealeron has a better product, both will help to generate those all important website leads. 

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Permalink Reply by Kevin A Lepine on September 21, 2011 at 4:08pm

DealerOn & AutoBytel BOTH have great "coupons". Thing is, Most dealers will just consider them regular coupons and automaticly decide they will not work (As I did for MANY years). These are coupons that WORK and get more leads EVERY month. I am not sold 100% on dealerOn's coupon yet, but do know it is working at least as well as AutoBytels did!

Mike Warwick said:

Kevin - I keep telling people about how effective the Dealeron Coupon is and I always get comments from people saying that "coupons don't work."  Well, I always managed to sell 15-20 cars a month with the Dealeron coupon but if people want to keep convincing themselves that coupons don't work, the old saying that "you can lead a horse to water" seems to apply.  If people took the time to go through the process of filling the Dealeron coupon out, they would realize that it's much more than a pop-up coupon.  I've used Steve Crimm's product that he remarkets through Autobytel as well and while I think Dealeron has a better product, both will help to generate those all important website leads. 

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Permalink Reply by Rich Soviero on September 21, 2011 at 4:35pm

My Company is Dealer Solutions LTD, and  the name of the program is Autobook Now.

Robert Hildreth said:

Hello Rich, the name of your company is?

Rich Soviero said:

Robert,

 

      We have a program that consistently delivers 100+ leads per month to our dealer clients,and they are closing from 9-15% These leads are generated directly from your inventory and within the radius you want to focus on. If you would like to know more please call me at 954-658-2900

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Permalink Reply by Tony Abbott on September 21, 2011 at 5:05pm

Thanks for your reply Robert,

 

You have clearly been stirring up the pot with this discussion. I did a little homework and saw that you canceled our services just over two weeks into them. Although your process sounds stellar, I don't feel you gave CarsDirect.com a fair shot. Again, I would encourage you to  reach out at some point and let me resolve this issue with you. Happy Selling.

 

Best,

Tony Abbott

Dealer Relations

CarsDirect.com

310-280-4191

tony.abbott@carsdirect.com

Robert Hildreth said:

Tony, we have a system in place that generates 8 email attempts and 7 phone calls spaced over a 15 day period. That is the minimum for how the system works....I personally call a few times during that period and send 2 emails. I started off back in 2001 trying to understand the internet business. I saw the potential then and thought this was going to be a big part of how things are going to change. Since that point I have spent the last decade perfecting a follow up system that would maximize contact, allow good flow, (I.E. make sure it is reasonable how many calls and emials are expected daily), and lastly make sure the people making the calls and emails have the right mindset to do the work.

I go through every single lead....the problem with the leads we got were rather simple....there was only a few who were really interested in buying a car. Maybe not what we sold...or maybe they were not in our area and bought closer to home. But when I reviewed the leads...there was not one deal that we missed. Meaning the few who were buyers bought at another manufacturer or a like manufacturer but closer to home.

We had the opportunity to try 2 free months...and for 2 locations and 4 Internet salespeople who each individually have closing ratios over 10%....they could not close 1 deal....The notes they left me were very detailed and it was obvious the frustration each had working the deals.

 

I was nice in parting ways with your company...I said maybe in the future we will look at this again....BUT one very frustrating and insulting product you have that I do not like is a site that tells customers what they should pay for a vehicle. Who made your company the authority that we should sell cars for a loss?

 

When we did have contact with customers they threw this out at me like we were trying to rip them off....and I looked at what they were reading.....your suggested prices were deep into the holdback.....and seemed to never be in the same zip code with reality of what I could sell the vehicle for.....

 

It has to be said..if we consitantly close over 10% but could not even close 1 deal...it may not be us.

Tony Abbott said:

Gosh Robert,

Sorry to hear about your bad experience with CarsDirect.com. How was your process? With 72 opportunities how can you not have at least one sale? I would be happy to go through each and every lead with you and find out where and what happened to these opportunities. Please contact me. I would like to address this issue with you.

Tony Abbott
Dealer Relations
CarsDirect.com
310-280-4191
tony.abbott@carsdirect.com

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