All Blog Posts Tagged 'consumers' (90)

A Tornado That Was a Long Time Coming

As a dealer, it was always frustrating to spend a ton of money on leads just to see sales-to-lead ratios stuck at 8-10%. Essentially, if I spent $25 per lead from third-party providers and received 100 leads, I would need to recoup over $2500 to make that service worth it. However, that doesn’t always happen. Some dealerships would say, “Hey, we sold two cars…

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Added by Wesley Gregg on August 24, 2020 at 9:54am — 2 Comments

To Price or Not to Price: That is the Question!

In this modern age of transparency, dealers can get somewhat confused on the subject of pricing. Should they provide upfront pricing on their website, or ask customers to engage with their site first before receiving the dealership’s best price?

 

The industry is pretty divided on this topic, with consultants, trainers and others on both sides…

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Added by Brett Sutherlin on February 7, 2019 at 9:00am — No Comments

Are you Deaf, Dumb & Blind to your Customers on Social Media?

Every successful business needs customer feedback to gauge how they are doing. Customer loyalty, experience and retention can’t be modified without hearing what your customers think. Dealerships rely on such things as manufacturer surveys and online reviews to get an idea of how well they are doing. Some will even go a step further and email their own survey, or have their…

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Added by sara callahan on July 12, 2018 at 9:46am — No Comments

When It Comes to Service the Sky Should NOT be the Limit

For today’s consumers, time is the ultimate commodity.  No matter how much money they have, consumers are always on the go with their busy lives. Whether that means shuttling the kids to soccer practice, or running a bunch of errands, when it comes to fitting vehicle service into their busy schedule it is often viewed as a large and inconvenient time sink.

 

To…

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Added by Ujj Nath on May 14, 2018 at 9:18am — No Comments

What Do Car Subscription Services Mean for Dealers, OEMs and Consumers?

There’s a huge push going on across the nation for subscription-based vehicle services.

First introduced by manufacturers, more than a few dealerships have rolled out similar services for their customers. The general concept is that a consumer can pay a flat-rate monthly fee to drive a vehicle of their choice. The payment includes everything from insurance to service,…

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Added by Chris Miller on May 8, 2018 at 9:23am — No Comments

The Dominance of Video Marketing for Business

As video continues its quick rise it has become the most engaged with and…

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Added by Timmy D. James on October 26, 2017 at 9:08am — No Comments

Information is a Powerful Loyalty Tool -- if Used Properly

In today’s retail automotive climate, customers have more access to information than…

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Added by Mike Gorun on October 24, 2017 at 9:28am — No Comments

The Princess and the Frog: Does Size Matter?

I’m sure that you’ve all heard the tale of the princess and the frog. In the beginning, the princess despises the frog and doesn’t want to interact with it – especially not to kiss it – but through personal interaction and a little time, the frog wins her over, gets that kiss and transforms into the prince he actually was all along.

  

In the past, big brands…

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Added by Ujj Nath on July 12, 2017 at 9:40am — No Comments

Can Your Used Car Buyers Trust You?

Consumers have plenty of choices when it comes time to buy a used car – private sellers, independent used car lots and, of course, franchise dealerships. Each have their pros and cons, ranging from price, to quality, to reliability and safety. The one edge franchise dealerships may have over all other options is that consumers, in general, believe that a used vehicle at a…

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Added by Chris Miller on February 27, 2017 at 9:19am — 1 Comment

Why Recalls Won’t Ever Go Away: Part 2

In my last blog, I shared some reasons why dealers need to prepare for a constant flow of recall repair work for a long time to come. In this second part, I’d like to lend some further insight as to why savvy and responsible auto dealerships need to develop a strategy for recall repairs. I could not fit them into…

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Added by Chris Miller on February 9, 2017 at 8:47am — No Comments

Video Marketing: Sell, Don’t Tell.

Why are we obsessed with television and movies? Because, just like books, they have the ability to capture our attention and transport us into fictional situations and universes.

 

Regardless of whether the movie or television show is fiction or non-fiction, this is an engaging way to tell a story that we’re interested in hearing and also seeing. TV, movies and…

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Added by Timmy D. James on January 19, 2017 at 7:49am — No Comments

Video Isn’t Only for Marketing

When it comes to video, most dealerships tend to think of it for purely sales department use, and sometimes in service. From communicating with customers via personalized emails, to live video walkarounds, video is certainly an excellent way to engage customers and increase VDP views. It is also a great tool for the service department to better explain and illustrate service…

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Added by Timmy D. James on January 9, 2017 at 10:30am — No Comments

Design a Video Showroom to Banish Customer Fears

Car shoppers still hate to visit dealerships. Ask them why and they'll tell you they don't like pushy salespeople, they're afraid of being ripped off and that buying a car still takes too much time (among other reasons).

 

In an attempt to banish these customer fears, dealerships come up with marketing slogans like, "No haggle guarantee," and "Your friendly…

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Added by Timmy D. James on November 29, 2016 at 8:44am — No Comments

Your Online Reputation Is Who You Are… to Your Customers

Before the Internet people chose who to do business with based on their community and word-of-mouth. There were no review sites. Now, however, review sites are flourishing -- just about every third party listing service has adopted them and there are many stand-alone services too.

 

Consumers increasingly conduct their research online during their car shopping…

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Added by sara callahan on November 9, 2016 at 12:18pm — No Comments

Don’t Use a Band-Aid When What You Really Need Are Stitches!

There is a lot of talk and buzz building about the importance of video marketing – as there should be. Video is quickly becoming the preferred medium for consumers. Don’t believe me? Literally thousands of articles exist on the Internet illustrating the benefits of using video in your marketing.

 

But for this blog I would like to take a step back for a minute.…

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Added by Timmy D. James on November 3, 2016 at 9:51am — 3 Comments

What to Do with the 5 Must Have Types of Video Content

In my last blog, I shared the five types of video content you must have when beginning your video marketing initiative. To recap, they include: New Model Test Drive, Inventory, Value Proposition, Testimonials and Lead Follow-up.



Hopefully you’ve begun the process of…

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Added by Timmy D. James on September 15, 2016 at 9:18am — No Comments

Shoppers Speak Out: 5 Things That Are More Important Than Price

When shopping for anything, especially big-ticket items like cars, shoppers compare prices. It’s natural to try and find the best deal and save as much money as possible, however, times have changed, and the best price is no longer the sole determining factor when it comes to where and when consumers purchase. The ability to comparison shop online has made it necessary for dealerships to compete in areas other than price alone.  Instead, they must specialize in many of the other things that…

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Added by Joseph Little on July 1, 2016 at 10:41am — No Comments

Google. Apple. Microsoft: Tech Companies Building Cars

I frequently talk about the current industry disrupters taking sales from dealers – the Beepis, Vrooms and Carvanas, amongst others. These companies snuck up on dealers and, with little warning, jumped into the spotlight and sucked investors into a future Nirvana of car buying bliss. They are currently blasting feel good messages to consumers portraying car dealerships as inconvenient -- pushing a message of an easy buying experiences which, unsurprisingly, consumers (and investors) have…

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Added by Joe Orr on June 22, 2016 at 8:54am — 3 Comments

Does Recall Non-Compliance Leave Your Dealership More Liable & At Risk?

There’s no question – the recall crisis is eroding the confidence consumers have in vehicle safety. Every day, we hear of more vehicles being recalled for various reasons. If nothing else were to get recalled, we’d be looking at an “estimated” completion date of around 2020. That’s assuming the parts to fix the recalls aren’t themselves recalled -- as was the case when TRW…

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Added by Chris Miller on June 15, 2016 at 9:58am — No Comments

YouWho? Why YouTube May Not Be Your Most Effective Video Marketing Option

As consumer touch-points in the car buying journey continue to increase, it’s ever more important to ensure that your video content is available at each and every one of those pit stops the car buyer takes. Your digital touchpoints are in essence your brand’s points of customer contact, from start to finish. For example, customers may find your business online in an ad, see…

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Added by Timmy D. James on June 6, 2016 at 10:47am — 1 Comment

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