Tom Kain's Posts - DealerELITE.net2024-03-28T15:13:02ZTom Kainhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/ThomasKainhttps://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/135705588?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1https://www.dealerelite.net/profiles/blog/feed?user=1vhntgdsbn6tj&xn_auth=noCustomer Defection Pointstag:www.dealerelite.net,2015-05-13:5283893:BlogPost:4546662015-05-13T20:02:14.000ZTom Kainhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/ThomasKain
<p><span>Nearly 70% of active service customers are within the manufacturers warranty (1-3 year old vehicles), leaving a retention rate of only 30% after the warranty expires. The BIG question is WHY are dealers losing 70% of their active service customers when the warranty expires? </span><br></br> <br></br> Three Main Defection Points <br></br> <br></br> <strong>First Oil Change </strong><br></br> <br></br> <span>Believe it or not, a majority of customers never make it back to the dealership for even their first oil…</span></p>
<p><span>Nearly 70% of active service customers are within the manufacturers warranty (1-3 year old vehicles), leaving a retention rate of only 30% after the warranty expires. The BIG question is WHY are dealers losing 70% of their active service customers when the warranty expires? </span><br/> <br/> Three Main Defection Points <br/> <br/> <strong>First Oil Change </strong><br/> <br/> <span>Believe it or not, a majority of customers never make it back to the dealership for even their first oil change. Crazy, right? Well its true and there are a couple of good reasons why. </span><br/> <br/> <span>1. Poor email acquisition practices. Statistically, dealers are capturing less than 50% of their customers emails at time of sale. Meaning even if they are trying to get them back in for service, they only have 50% of their active service customers with which to try and connect. </span><br/> <br/> <span>2. Customer Disengagement. With the first service intervals for newer vehicles becoming increasingly longer (some being as much as 10,000 miles), many customers have already disengaged due to excessive, untimely and non-relevant monthly email communications. So even if a customer is sent an email invite, chances are its being deleted rather than opened. To put things into perspective, the industry average email open rate is 10% - 15%. For example, if a dealership has 8,000 active service customers and assuming an email capture rate of 50% (4,000) at best the dealership is connecting with only 600 (4,000 x 15% = 600) of their active service customers. </span><br/> <br/> <span>If a dealership is serious about capturing more service opportunities, they must have a dedicated solution for connecting with customers when it pertains to vehicle maintenance. This is the only way a dealership will be able to effectively reach their service customers. It cannot be done via newsletters or blanket email service specials. It must be OEM Specific, delivering the right message at the most accurate time. </span><br/> <br/> <strong>Tires </strong><br/> <br/> <span>Did you know 78% of customers maintain their vehicles where they purchase tires and 60% of customers do not even know their dealership sells tires? </span><br/> <br/> Customer Tire Statistics (NADA) <br/> <br/> <span>15% of the vehicles in your service drive need tires </span><br/> <span>75% of customers purchase tires from the 1st person that recommends them. </span><br/> <span>78% of customers maintain their vehicles where they purchase tires </span><br/> <span>40% of customers know their dealership service department sells tires </span><br/> <span>80% of customers state they would “likely” purchase from their dealership </span><br/> <br/> <span>If a dealership is not letting their customers know they sell tires and connecting with customers at the right time who need tires, there is a great chance the customer will buy tires elsewhere along with their future service work. </span><br/> <br/> <strong>End of Warranty </strong><br/> <br/> <span>This may be third on the list, but its one of the highest defection points. This is a critical time in the ownership life-cycle when a customer needs to make a big decision and when the dealership should be stepping up to provide their customers with options. This is the perfect time for a dealership to invite their customers in for a complimentary inspection and a great opportunity to explore available options. </span><br/> <br/> <span>Every complimentary inspection produces one or more of the following: </span><br/> <br/> <span>1. Creates up-sell opportunities for the service department. </span><br/> <br/> <span>2. Opportunity to sell an Extended Service Contract. This increases loyalty and keeps the customer coming back to service in the future. 70%+ of customers will purchase their next vehicle where they service if taken care of. </span><br/> <br/> <span>3. Sell a new or pre-owned vehicle. The customer upgrades their vehicle and the dealership takes in a Premium Trade. </span><br/> <br/> <span>As you can see, there are a number of reasons why dealerships have customer defection issues and the biggest reason I have found is communication. </span><br/> <br/> <span>What are your thoughts?</span></p>Communication Is Key For Service Productivitytag:www.dealerelite.net,2013-02-18:5283893:BlogPost:3539762013-02-18T02:51:52.000ZTom Kainhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/ThomasKain
<p>I think we can all agree, good communication is key to healthy personal relationships. Its no different when it comes to relationships between a dealership and their customers. A good example, sales professionals who stay in contact and effectively communicate with their customers during and especially after the sale will always be the top performers. By staying connected, they are building long-term relationships which will result in future benefits. For the sales professional, those…</p>
<p>I think we can all agree, good communication is key to healthy personal relationships. Its no different when it comes to relationships between a dealership and their customers. A good example, sales professionals who stay in contact and effectively communicate with their customers during and especially after the sale will always be the top performers. By staying connected, they are building long-term relationships which will result in future benefits. For the sales professional, those benefits come in the form of repeat and referral business along with high CSI scores.</p>
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<p>That being said, would you agree, good communication between your service advisors and customers could have the same positive benefits for your dealership service department? I certainly hope so, because its absolutely true!</p>
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<p>I'm not going to get into service processes, what I would like to do is quickly go through the typical communication string between a service customer and advisor based on my personal experiences from both sides of the service desk.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Here we go...</p>
<p></p>
<p>Customer arrives at the dealership service drive at 9:00AM where they are greeted by an advisor. The advisor does their job of getting all the particulars from the customer about their vehicle; mileage, why the vehicle is in for service, contact information etc. The advisors tells the customer they will give them a call when the vehicle is ready and the customer leaves for work (gotta make money to pay for that ride).</p>
<p></p>
<p>A couple hours later... The technician informs the advisor the customers vehicle needs additional work. The vehicle is not under warranty so the work cannot be completed without first getting authorization from the customer. Its now 11:00AM and the phones are ringing. The advisor is answering status calls, scheduling appointments and at the same time trying to get the customer on the phone to authorize the additional repairs. The customer is at work and unavailable to take the call. The advisor leaves a message for the customer to call back. The customer calls back a few hours later, only to be put on hold as the service advisor is swamped with more calls. The customer leaves a message and the game of phone tag has begun. Its now been 5 hours since the customer dropped their vehicle off and its still on the rack waiting for authorization. The rack is tied up, money is being lost, and all because the advisor cannot reach the customer on the phone. Does this sound familiar?</p>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3366ff;"><strong>52% OF A SERVICE ADVISORS DAY IS SPENT ON THE PHONE!</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #808080;">Source - DealerPro Training Solutions</span></p>
<p></p>
<p>Fast forward a few more hours, its now 4:00PM and the advisor is finally able to reach the customer for authorization, however, the additional work is going to take another 2 hours and will not be completed before the technician clocks out for the day. The customer is upset, the advisor is frustrated as they just got an earful from the customer, and all this because they could not connect on the phone. Its an all around bad experience.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Could this communication failure have been avoided? Yes! But only if the service department had the right communication tools in place.</p>
<p></p>
<p>So lets start the process all over again with one exception. That being, when the customer drops their vehicle off for service, the advisor asks, "Mr. customer, would you like to receive text notifications while your vehicle is in for service today? We can text you when service is complete." The customer says "I did not know you offered that, yes, please text me as I'm not always available to take a call at work." Now when the technician comes to the advisor with additional work requiring authorization, the advisor goes to their PC, types in a quick message and in seconds the customer receives a text about the additional work. Within minutes the customer replies to the text authorizing the repairs and everything is running smooth. The car is out of the shop in record time, the customer is happy, the advisor is happy and the technician is on the next vehicle turning more hours for the service department. Oh yeah, and the advisor never had to pick up the phone!</p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3366ff;"><strong>97% OF TEXT MESSAGES ARE OPENED, 83% WITHIN THE FIRST HOUR</strong></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3366ff;"><span style="color: #808080;">Source - Pew Foundation</span></span></p>
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<p>Bottom line, for many customers a text message is the most convenient way to communicate. Its fast, easy and a task that can be completed almost anytime or anywhere they may be. Even if the customer is in a meeting or on the phone, they can easily receive and respond to a text message very quick.</p>
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<p>In conclusion, offering service customers the option of communicating with their advisors via text messaging is beneficial to customers, advisors and the service department as a whole. By offering the option to text, your dealership can and most certainly will see an increase in Customer Satisfaction along with an overall increase in service department production.</p>
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<p><strong>Special Note:</strong> <em>I do not recommend service advisors text customers from their cell phones. It can be disastrous for any number of reasons and being they are representing your dealership when communicating with customer, the dealership would be the one to take the hit.</em></p>
<p></p>
<p>Thanks for reading and please let me know if you have any questions about incorporating the right text message solution for your dealership service department.</p>Perceived Valuetag:www.dealerelite.net,2012-02-22:5283893:BlogPost:2784152012-02-22T21:06:34.000ZTom Kainhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/ThomasKain
<p>If a product or service is priced low, does that mean it has less value? We've all heard the saying, "Perception is Reality", and to many, a product or service which is priced high, is automatically assumed (we all know what assume really stands for) to have more value. However after talking with a number of clients and dealers about their current and past vendor relationships, I've found in many cases, its just the opposite, and more times than not, over promising and under delivering is…</p>
<p>If a product or service is priced low, does that mean it has less value? We've all heard the saying, "Perception is Reality", and to many, a product or service which is priced high, is automatically assumed (we all know what assume really stands for) to have more value. However after talking with a number of clients and dealers about their current and past vendor relationships, I've found in many cases, its just the opposite, and more times than not, over promising and under delivering is the end result.<br/> <br/> With that being said, for the past three months I have been working on the re-branding and launch of a company with tremendous value. Anyone who knows me, understands I do not get involved with or attach my name to any type of business solution unless I know without question it will be of great value to my clients. That being the case, I've been struggling with the aforementioned question. While I know the service is of great value, at the same time I feel a dealers perception of the service may be that its inferior, simply because the cost of service is low. Sure, we could raise the cost, still deliver a far superior service and in the end all of our clients would be happy and none the wiser. While this sounds like a reasonable solution, I know there are smart business minded dealers out there who feel the same as I, when I say "Sometimes more can really cost less".<br/> <br/> So now I need a favor from my friends in the dE community. If you could take just a few minutes of your time and visit <a href="http://mytextclub.com" target="_blank">http://mytextclub.com</a> and let me know what you think about our 'more is less' approach. Please keep in mind our clients have all achieved a minimum of 15% increase in sales with many exceeding 20% with our service.<br/> <br/> I encourage and would appreciate your feedback.<br/> <br/> All The Best,<br/> <br/> TOM</p>RapidFire Auto on AutoDealerTarget Roundtable Tonighttag:www.dealerelite.net,2011-11-29:5283893:BlogPost:2515172011-11-29T21:01:07.000ZTom Kainhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/ThomasKain
<p>The AutoDealerTarget Roundtable, hosted by Tom Kain and John Miller is broadcast LIVE every Tuesday night at 10pm Eastern / 9pm Central.<br></br> <br></br> This Week<br></br>
When: Tuesday, November 29th @ 10pm Eastern / 9pm Central<br></br>
Join Us: Google Hangout, Live Broadcast at <a href="http://autodealertarget.com/roundtable">http://autodealertarget.com/roundtable</a><br></br>
Featured Guest: Greg Clausen and Jae Chang of RapidFire Auto (…</p>
<p>The AutoDealerTarget Roundtable, hosted by Tom Kain and John Miller is broadcast LIVE every Tuesday night at 10pm Eastern / 9pm Central.<br/> <br/>
This Week<br/>
When: Tuesday, November 29th @ 10pm Eastern / 9pm Central<br/>
Join Us: Google Hangout, Live Broadcast at <a href="http://autodealertarget.com/roundtable">http://autodealertarget.com/roundtable</a><br/>
Featured Guest: Greg Clausen and Jae Chang of RapidFire Auto (<a href="http://rapidfireauto.com">http://rapidfireauto.com</a>)<br/>
Topic: Discussion on 2-way text communication and marketing solutions for dealership service and sales departments.<br/>
<br/>
If you would like to join in on the discussion, please comment below and we will add your name to the invite list. We only have 7 spots available, however you can watch live and communicate with us via chat at <a href="http://autodealertarget.com/roundtable">http://autodealertarget.com/roundtable</a></p>Jesse Biter is Featured Guest on The AutoDealerTarget Roundtabletag:www.dealerelite.net,2011-11-15:5283893:BlogPost:2464302011-11-15T05:28:01.000ZTom Kainhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/ThomasKain
<p>The AutoDealerTarget Roundtable, hosted by Tom Kain and John Miller is broadcast LIVE every Tuesday night at 10pm Eastern / 9pm Central.<br></br> <br></br> <strong>***Don't Miss This One***</strong><br></br>
<strong>This weeks Featured Guest is Jesse Biter of Dealers United</strong><br></br>
<br></br>
<strong>When:</strong> Tuesday, November 15th @ 10pm Eastern / 9pm Central<br></br>
<strong>Join Us:</strong> Google Hangout, Live Broadcast at…</p>
<p>The AutoDealerTarget Roundtable, hosted by Tom Kain and John Miller is broadcast LIVE every Tuesday night at 10pm Eastern / 9pm Central.<br/> <br/>
<strong>***Don't Miss This One***</strong><br/>
<strong>This weeks Featured Guest is Jesse Biter of Dealers United</strong><br/>
<br/>
<strong>When:</strong> Tuesday, November 15th @ 10pm Eastern / 9pm Central<br/>
<strong>Join Us:</strong> Google Hangout, Live Broadcast at <a href="http://autodealertarget.com/roundtable">http://autodealertarget.com/roundtable</a><br/>
<strong>Featured Guest:</strong> Jesse Biter of Dealers United (<a href="http://dealersunited.com/" target="_blank">http://dealersunited.com</a>)<br/>
<strong>Topic:</strong> Discussion on putting the power back into the hands of single point dealerships by leveraging the purchasing power of many dealerships.<br/>
<br/>
If you would like to join in on the discussion, please comment below and we will add your name to the invite list. We only have 7 spots available, however you can watch live and communicate with us via chat at <a href="http://autodealertarget.com/roundtable" target="_blank">http://autodealertarget.com/roundtable</a></p>The Dealership Newslettertag:www.dealerelite.net,2011-11-14:5283893:BlogPost:2457132011-11-14T05:31:20.000ZTom Kainhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/ThomasKain
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Over the past eight-years I have read tens of thousands of emails. I have written and setup over a thousand emails for clients in the auto industry. When it comes to email marketing, I am very proud to be consider by most, an expert in the field. My expert knowledge of email…</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Over the past eight-years I have read tens of thousands of emails. I have written and setup over a thousand emails for clients in the auto industry. When it comes to email marketing, I am very proud to be consider by most, an expert in the field. My expert knowledge of email marketing did not come from books or online tutorials, it comes from first-hand experience facilitating the best companies and individuals in the auto industry achieve success with email. With that being said, I still understand there is always room for improvement and knowledge to be learned, so I make a conscious effort to learn everything I can about my profession.</span><br/> <br/>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Which brings me to this... About two months ago I got a call from a friend of mine, who works for a dealer group, asking me about email newsletters. He asked which company I would recommend to handle this for his stores. While I knew there were companies who provided this service to dealers, I could not recommend any one of them as I did not know the quality of service they were capable of providing. You see, I will never recommend a company unless I know for certain they are capable of providing a superior level of service. So, I told my friend I would do some research and get back to him with my recommendations.</span><br/>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #666666; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Eye-Opening Research</span><br/>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Eager to help and admittedly curious, I began my research right away. Holy headlights Batman, what an eye-opener. I was absolutely astonished by the poor quality of setup and content being provided to dealers. Most of the newsletters I found were of such poor quality, I did not know whether to laugh or feel sorry for the dealers who were roped into thinking these companies were giving them a quality service. What I did realize was an immediate need for a competent email newsletter provider, one that could provide relevant content and proper setup with the ability to increase delivery, SEO and ROI.</span><br/>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #666666; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Right Content & Setup</span><br/>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Now, I am not going to start blasting specific companies, that is not my style. What I will do however is explain exactly how an email newsletter should be designed, the content it should contain and some other important things you should have done that are (so obvious to me) not being done by the ‘so called’ top providers I researched.</span><br/>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Lets start with content. First, the content must be focused and relevant, which was one of the first things I noticed missing from the email newsletters I reviewed during my research. </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Travel gadgets and sinus infections are hardly relevant content for a dealership newsletter.</span> <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> With that being said, content should be focused on three areas; the dealership, the brand and the region. You will find when focusing on just these three areas, there is never a shortage of great content to provide to your readers.</span><br/>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Here are just a few examples for each of the three areas:</span><br/>
</p>
<ul>
<li style="list-style-type: disc; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #666666; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Dealership</span><ul>
<li style="list-style-type: circle; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Tell a story about your dealerships history. People love to read stories and most dealerships have great stories about their beginnings.</span></li>
<li style="list-style-type: circle; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Employee Spotlight. Pick a new employee to feature each month in your newsletter. Let them write their own story to tell your customers. This will do two things. First it will give your customers a way to learn more about the personal side of your dealership and get to know your employees better. Second it will make the employee feel special and boost morale.</span></li>
<li style="list-style-type: circle; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Customer testimonials with pictures.<br class="kix-line-break"/></span></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li style="list-style-type: disc; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #666666; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Brand</span><ul>
<li style="list-style-type: circle; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Highlight popular new vehicles.</span></li>
<li style="list-style-type: circle; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Exciting industry news.</span></li>
<li style="list-style-type: circle; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Videos focused on top selling vehicles.<br class="kix-line-break"/></span></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li style="list-style-type: disc; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #666666; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Region</span><ul>
<li style="list-style-type: circle; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Events going on in and around your city or town.</span></li>
<li style="list-style-type: circle; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Seasonal Service reminders (ex. winterizing your vehicle).</span></li>
<li style="list-style-type: circle; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Events being held at your dealership.</span></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br/>Equally important is the setup and design of your email template. While I believe images are a key element to making the newsletter look nice and professional, its important to make sure your email is setup in a way that images do not always have to be viewable to have a presentable look, and here is why... The majority of email clients today will almost always ask the user if they would like to “Show remote content?” If the design is not setup with proper image placement, your email could easily look like it was designed by a group of first graders, throwing the all important ‘Professional Appearance’ out the window.</span><br/> <br/>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">However before we get into image placement, I would like to cover some of the content basics.</span><br/>
<br/>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">1.</span> <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">For a professional look, the email body should be no larger than 650 mega pixels in width.</span><br/>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">2.</span> <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Limit the content to a maximum of five header sections.</span><br/>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">3.</span> <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Longer content should always be truncated with a ‘read more’ link located at the end.</span><br/>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">4.</span> <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Keep the length of your email short enough to be entirely viewable in most email clients.<br/></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">5.</span> <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Always include text hyperlinks to your dealership website (home, new, used, trade-value, testimonials, etc).</span> <br/>
<br/>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">While its not rocket science, I felt it would be a good idea to let you know what the proper setup flow should look like, all the while keeping in mind the placement of images.</span><br/>
<br/>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Images in a newsletter or any email for that matter should be used in moderation and never be located in the middle of the email body (this is a very common mistake). I recommend using five or six images max and limiting the size of the images to 150 mega pixels or less, for the exception of the header. The largest image in your email will always be the header. The header should have the same look and feel as your website and always include your dealership name & branding. All other images should be located at or near the footer of your email. These images will many times be links to videos, dealership photos and current events going on in your region. Alternate placement for images would be in the lower content header sections and be of thumbnail size. By ensuring the proper placement of images, you can guarantee a layout that is easily read by all recipients whether the images are viewable or not.</span><br/>
<br/>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Click here to see an example of a proper setup:</span> <a href="http://bit.ly/skxmWq"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000099; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://bit.ly/skxmWq</span></a><br/><br/>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Click here to see the same example without images:</span> <a href="http://bit.ly/tni9wO"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000099; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">http://bit.ly/tni9wO</span></a><br/>
<br/>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #666666; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Newsletter Content Hosting</span><br/>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Why would you host your newsletter anywhere other than your dealership website? Email newsletters are an SEO Powerhouse. Full of rich-text content being updated every month, the only place your newsletter content should be living is on your website.</span><br/>
<br/>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #666666; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Very Important Information...</span><br/>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">If your newsletter is hosted anywhere other than your dealership website, you are throwing away the most powerful SEO generator you have available. If a newsletter provider says they cannot or will not do it, then you need to switch immediately.</span><br/>
<br/>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Wrapping this one up... A dealerships email newsletter is a direct extension to its customers and prospects. When properly setup and managed, newsletters can effectively develop your customer relationships, increase customer loyalty and generate referrals month after month. If you have any questions or need an effective newsletter solution, please reach out to me anytime.</span><br/>
<br/>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Tom Kain</span><br/>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">President</span><br/>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">AutoDealerTarget</span><br/>
<a href="mailto:tkain@autodealertarget.com"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000099; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">tkain@autodealertarget.com</span></a><br/>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">p. 606.657.0277</span></p>AutoDealerTarget Roundtable with Featured Guest Mike Stenger, Social Media Experttag:www.dealerelite.net,2011-11-08:5283893:BlogPost:2427142011-11-08T22:57:21.000ZTom Kainhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/ThomasKain
<p><em><strong>Reminder...</strong></em><br/> <br/>
AutoDealerTarget Roundtable - TONIGHT with Featured Guest +Mike Stenger ...Join Us LIVE 10pm Eastern or watch at <a href="http://autodealertarget.com/roundtable" target="_blank">http://autodealertarget.com/roundtable</a></p>
<p><em><strong>Reminder...</strong></em><br/> <br/>
AutoDealerTarget Roundtable - TONIGHT with Featured Guest +Mike Stenger ...Join Us LIVE 10pm Eastern or watch at <a href="http://autodealertarget.com/roundtable" target="_blank">http://autodealertarget.com/roundtable</a></p>AutoDealerTarget Roundtable with Featured Guest Mike Marinitag:www.dealerelite.net,2011-10-31:5283893:BlogPost:2385082011-10-31T20:58:21.000ZTom Kainhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/ThomasKain
<p>The AutoDealerTarget Roundtable, hosted by Tom Kain and John Miller is broadcast LIVE every Tuesday night at 10pm Eastern / 9pm Central.<br></br> <br></br> <span style="color: #808080;"><strong>This Week</strong></span><br></br>
<strong>When:</strong> Tuesday, November 1st @ 10pm Eastern / 9pm Central<br></br>
<strong>Join Us:</strong> Google Hangout, Live Broadcast at <a href="http://autodealertarget.com/roundtable">http://autodealertarget.com/roundtable</a><br></br>
<strong>Featured Guest:</strong> +Mike…</p>
<p>The AutoDealerTarget Roundtable, hosted by Tom Kain and John Miller is broadcast LIVE every Tuesday night at 10pm Eastern / 9pm Central.<br/> <br/>
<span style="color: #808080;"><strong>This Week</strong></span><br/>
<strong>When:</strong> Tuesday, November 1st @ 10pm Eastern / 9pm Central<br/>
<strong>Join Us:</strong> Google Hangout, Live Broadcast at <a href="http://autodealertarget.com/roundtable">http://autodealertarget.com/roundtable</a><br/>
<strong>Featured Guest:</strong> +Mike Marini CEO of Cars Out The Door (<a href="http://carsoutthedoor.com">http://carsoutthedoor.com</a>)<br/>
<strong>Topic:</strong> Selling Cars Online - Discussion on setup and best practices for selling cars online.<br/>
<br/>
If you would like to join in on the discussion, please comment below and we will add your name to the invite list. We only have 7 spots available, however you can watch live and communicate with us via chat at <a href="http://autodealertarget.com/roundtable">http://autodealertarget.com/roundtable</a></p>Achieving Success with Email Marketingtag:www.dealerelite.net,2011-10-24:5283893:BlogPost:2353972011-10-24T02:30:00.000ZTom Kainhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/ThomasKain
<p>For the past eight years I have been very fortunate to provide email marketing solutions for an elite list of automotive dealers, vendors and trainers. If you did not already know, email marketing is the most cost effective vehicle for engaging conquest buyers and staying connected with current customers. It also has the highest Return On Investment compared to all other advertising mediums. If your dealership does not currently have an in-house email program (one that is measurable and…</p>
<p>For the past eight years I have been very fortunate to provide email marketing solutions for an elite list of automotive dealers, vendors and trainers. If you did not already know, email marketing is the most cost effective vehicle for engaging conquest buyers and staying connected with current customers. It also has the highest Return On Investment compared to all other advertising mediums. If your dealership does not currently have an in-house email program (one that is measurable and effective) you should get started today! If you already have an in-house program and are looking for ways to improve; I think you will find this article beneficial. So let's get started!<br/> <br/>
<span style="color: #808080;"><i>"First, understand that email marketing includes four key areas to focus on. Do this and you WILL achieve SUCCESS!"</i> -TK<br/>
<br/>
<b>Content and Subject Lines</b></span><br/>
There are several types of emails your dealership should be utilizing; today I will be focusing on the two types I feel dealers can capitalize on the most; conquest and newsletter. You might be thinking... "What's it matter, an email is just an email". While this may be a true statement, the type of email dictates the content.<br/>
<br/>
First, let’s cover conquest email. When sending a conquest email your main objective is to drive traffic to your website, service drive and showroom. The best way to achieve this is by having a very vibrant email, one consisting of high quality images with several ‘calls to action’ linked to different key areas of your website and/or coupons (everybody loves coupons). Normally you should be concerned with using more than just a few images, that’s where the beauty of a 100% opt-in database comes in handy and the worry goes away. However the same is not true for newsletter email campaigns.<br/>
<br/>
Newsletter email campaigns can include images, but should primarily consist of text content. Why, you might ask? First off, chances are your email database for newsletters, unlike conquest, is not likely to be 100% opt-in, since most of these addresses are obtained from customers at time of sale, service, or through appending via your CRM. This being the case, there is an extremely high probability that the images will cause your email content to be blocked by spam filters. If the delivery is successful, in most cases, the images will only be viewable after the recipient clicks to confirm its okay. Therefore, if your email consists of mainly images, its not going look very pretty as the recipient is going to see nothing but a bunch of blank boxes with little red x's. I only point this out because so many times I see dealership newsletters consisting of nothing but images and think to myself, "Who was the person that consulted with them on this setup?”<br/>
<br/>
Staying on the topic of newsletters... You need to understand, your customers are not going to read everything you put it there. Chances are they are only going to look for the "Titles/Headers" that interests them and read those sections. With that being said, keeping your newsletters compact, for lack of a better term, is best. I recommend a setup with four or five good titles and three or four lines of text below each. At the end of the text include a very simple "read more" link. This does two things; One, it keeps your email very clean and professional looking, and two it gives you another way to get the customer to your website to read, as the late Paul Harvey would say "the rest of the story".<br/>
<br/>
As for Subject Lines... Always try to keep them short and relevant. For conquest email (referring to a program with guaranteed delivery) you have a little more wiggle room because you know your message is going to be delivered, therefore its not going to hurt to put "Super Savings" or something along those lines. However for newsletters you want to be much more conservative as you will have to worry about spam filters and they are very sensitive these days. My best advice would be to use something simple along the lines of "ABC Automall-October Newsletter".<br/>
<br/>
<span style="color: #808080;"><b>Engagement</b></span><br/>
The key to a successful email campaign, especially newsletters, is to have engaging content. While a good writer can make reading very engaging, lets face it, most dealership newsletters are not written by a professional copywriter, so chances are the content is not always going to be super engaging material. There is on the other hand a great alternative, that being video. I'm not talking about a full-blown video production, a simple video, one shot from a web cam works great. You could also include videos provided by your manufacturer. Any video content you can include is going to make your newsletters that much more engaging.<br/>
<br/>
<b><i><span style="color: #3366ff;"><span style="color: #808080;">My little plug...</span><br/>
</span></i></b>If you are camera shy, there is another solution, one that we use here at AutoDealerTarget called GoldMail. This program is by far one of the coolest ways we have found to engage with our customers and it is so easy to use. Click <a href="http://play.goldmail.com/69vbuq1gtn3v" target="_blank">here</a> to see one I created in about 3 minutes (take notice of the company branding at the beginning). We handle the automotive vertical for GoldMail; so If you like what you see, give me a call.<br/>
<br/>
<span style="color: #808080;"><b>Database Maintenance</b></span><br/>
Okay, database maintenance is not exciting or fun to do, it is however very important, and a key piece to email marketing success. Much like personal hygiene, keeping your database clean and healthy, like your teeth, is paramount. Remember, your database is only as good as the data it contains, so if you have bad addresses, duplicates or incomplete data you will run into delivery issues.<br/>
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Here are the three things you <u>must</u> do to maintain a healthy database:<br/>
<br/>
<span style="color: #808080;"><strong>1.</strong></span> Make certain there are no duplicate addresses. No one wants to receive the same email multiple times, and when they do, they are more likely to opt-out from receiving future emails.<br/>
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<span style="color: #808080;"><strong>2.</strong></span> Remove any bad email addresses. A bad email address is any email that is not delivered, also called a ‘Bounced Email’. If you are sending from an internal email system you will get the bounce back in the email account from which you sent the email. If you are using an email service like ConstantContact you will have access to a report showing the email addresses that were not deliverable. It is important to understand, if you fail to remove these addresses you will run into delivery issues for future email campaigns, as mail servers have a very good memory and will assume your message is spam.<br/>
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<span style="color: #808080;"><strong>3.</strong></span> Always and I do mean always, take care of any ‘Remove Requests’ immediately. If you do not, you are subjecting your dealership to some huge fines. The CAN-SPAM Act states that you have 10 days to honor the request for removal. However I recommend taking care of these requests the same day you receive them.<br/>
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<span style="color: #808080;"><b>Frequency</b></span><br/>
I cannot stress enough how important limiting the frequency of your email campaigns is to your overall success. If you send emails too often, you run the risk of ‘Email Fatigue’. No person on earth wants to get emails from a business everyday or week for that matter. Sending to often will result in a high number of remove requests and to be honest its just down right rude. The best practice is a maximum of two email campaigns per month for conquest and once for newsletters.<br/>
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Wrapping this one up... email marketing is an exceptional vehicle for generating more leads and increasing customer retention. If you focus on the four key areas I mentioned, you will be well on your way to achieving success with email marketing.<br/>
<br/>
As always, if you have any questions about conquest email, in-house email solutions, or anything to do with email marketing, please reach out to me. I am always here to help!<br/>
<br/>
Massive Success Always,<br/>
<br/>
Tom Kain<br/>
President<br/>
AutoDealerTarget<br/>
p. 606.657.0277<br/>
<br/>
<strong>P.S. Join us this coming Tuesday night, Oct 25<sup>th</sup> at 10pm Eastern for the <a href="http://autodealertarget/roundtable" target="_blank">AutoDealerTarget Roundtable</a> where our featured guests will be Chris Saraceno and Mike Myers from DealerElite.net. It's sure to be another great roundtable!</strong></p>AutoDealerTarget Roundtabletag:www.dealerelite.net,2011-10-18:5283893:BlogPost:2330452011-10-18T04:26:10.000ZTom Kainhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/ThomasKain
<div class="vg"><b>You're Invited!</b><br></br> AutoDealerTarget Roundtable, hosted by <span class="proflinkWrapper"><a class="proflink" href="https://plus.google.com/116917400120964459989">Tom Kain</a></span> and <span class="proflinkWrapper"><a class="proflink" href="https://plus.google.com/107938742202388819980">John Miller</a></span> is broadcast LIVE each <b>Tuesday night at 10pm Eastern / 9pm Central</b>. Once a week Tom & John will spend one hour on a Google+ Hangout with featured guests…</div>
<div class="vg"><b>You're Invited!</b><br/> AutoDealerTarget Roundtable, hosted by <span class="proflinkWrapper"><a href="https://plus.google.com/116917400120964459989" class="proflink">Tom Kain</a></span> and <span class="proflinkWrapper"><a href="https://plus.google.com/107938742202388819980" class="proflink">John Miller</a></span> is broadcast LIVE each <b>Tuesday night at 10pm Eastern / 9pm Central</b>. Once a week Tom & John will spend one hour on a Google+ Hangout with featured guests from the automotive industry and dealership professionals in a roundtable setting, sharing great ideas, best practices and learning from many of the most successful and brightest minds in our industry.<br/>
<br/>
<b>This Week</b><br/>
<b>When:</b> Tuesday Oct 18, 2011 - 10:00PM EST<br/>
<b>Place:</b> Google Hangout, Live Broadcast at <a href="http://autodealertarget.com/roundtable" class="ot-anchor">http://autodealertarget.com/roundtable</a><br/>
<b>Guest:</b> <span class="proflinkWrapper"><a href="https://plus.google.com/109345865429707844168" class="proflink">Michael Nast</a></span> CEO of Dot TV Media Services (<a href="http://dtvms.com/" class="ot-anchor">http://dtvms.com</a>)<br/>
<b>Topic:</b> Taking Dealers LIVE on Social Media - Discuss the benefits of live event broadcasts and where Google+ for business is headed.<br/>
<br/>
If you would like to join in on this weeks roundtable discussion, please comment below and we will add your name to the invite list. We only have 7 spots available, however you can watch live and communicate with us via chat at <a href="http://autodealertarget.com/roundtable" class="ot-anchor">http://autodealertarget.com/roundtable</a></div>AutoDealerTarget Roundtabletag:www.dealerelite.net,2011-10-11:5283893:BlogPost:2308682011-10-11T05:35:36.000ZTom Kainhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/ThomasKain
<p><em><strong>You're Invited!</strong></em><br></br> <br></br> The Roundtable, hosted by Tom Kain and John Miller of AutoDealerTarget is broadcast live each Tuesday night at 10pm EST. Once a week Tom & John will spend one hour on a Google+ Hangout with special guests from the automotive industry and dealership professionals in a roundtable setting, sharing great ideas, best practices and learning from many of the most successful and brightest minds in our industry.<br></br>
<br></br>
-This…</p>
<p><em><strong>You're Invited!</strong></em><br/> <br/>
The Roundtable, hosted by Tom Kain and John Miller of AutoDealerTarget is broadcast live each Tuesday night at 10pm EST. Once a week Tom & John will spend one hour on a Google+ Hangout with special guests from the automotive industry and dealership professionals in a roundtable setting, sharing great ideas, best practices and learning from many of the most successful and brightest minds in our industry.<br/>
<br/>
-This Week-<br/>
<strong>When:</strong> Tuesday Oct 11, 2011 - 10:00PM EST<br/>
<strong>Place:</strong> Google Hangout, Live Broadcast at <a href="http://autodealertarget.com/roundtable">http://autodealertarget.com/roundtable</a><br/>
<strong>Guest:</strong> Dennis McGinn, CEO of RapidRecon (<a href="http://rapidrecon.com/">http://rapidrecon.com/</a>)<br/>
<strong>Topic:</strong> Vehicle Reconditioning - Eliminating process gaps to improve profit margins.<br/>
<br/>
If you would like to join in on this weeks roundtable discussion, please comment below OR send me a message and we will add your name to the invite list. We only have 7 spots available, however you can watch live and communicate with us via chat at <a href="http://autodealertarget.com/roundtable">http://autodealertarget.com/roundtable</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hope you can join us!<br/><br/>TOM<br/>--<br/>Thomas A. Kain<br/>President<br/>AutoDealerTarget</p>
<p> </p>Craigslist Has Rulestag:www.dealerelite.net,2011-09-22:5283893:BlogPost:2237452011-09-22T18:55:45.000ZTom Kainhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/ThomasKain
In recent months I have seen an increased amount of interest from dealers wanting to learn more about posting used inventory on craigslist, and rightfully so. Craigslist is an incredible vehicle for generating leads, IF you play by the rules. If you DO NOT...you might as well not even show up to the party, because the Craigslist Police are going to take you down.<br></br><br></br>Dealers are not the only people at the party either. Showing up are a number of companies, a few that are ethical and…
In recent months I have seen an increased amount of interest from dealers wanting to learn more about posting used inventory on craigslist, and rightfully so. Craigslist is an incredible vehicle for generating leads, IF you play by the rules. If you DO NOT...you might as well not even show up to the party, because the Craigslist Police are going to take you down.<br/><br/>Dealers are not the only people at the party either. Showing up are a number of companies, a few that are ethical and unfortunately some who are just trying to make a fast buck. Like drug dealers trying to sell a "dime bag", they are promising dealers an incredible high, some even go as far as telling dealers they can post 100% of their used inventory to craigslist every day. I am telling you right here, right now, this cannot be done, so like your momma told ya, "Just Say No".<br/><br/>Like many of the other marketing platforms available today, craigslist has rules. They are not hard to follow, but if your dealership, or the company you put your trust in to post your inventory breaks the rules, the end result...your vehicle posts get 'Ghosted'. For those unfamiliar, 'Ghosting' is the term applied when you make a post on Craigslist, and the system tells you that your post has been published, however your post never appears in a Craigslist search. There are two main actions that cause vehicle posts to get ghosted. The first is would be 'Flagging'. This is done by end users and something you cannot control. However, this is not the norm and nothing to be concerned with. The second is 'Over Posting'. This is when your vehicles are being posted far too often or by posting the same vehicles in multiple locations. Over posting will get you ghosted faster than a fart in a windstorm, and once your ip address is marked for ghosting, the only option you have to start posting again is to setup a new account with a new ip address. Who wants to deal with that?<br/><br/>As I mentioned in the beginning, Craigslist is an incredible vehicle for generating leads, IF you play by the rules. If you are using an in-house posting solution and have a dedicated staff to handle the posts, make sure they know the rules. A good rule of thumb is to post your vehicles in a four day rotation and always delete the older posts before posting the new ones, because you want to avoid having any duplicate posts. If you are using a vendor, make sure they are following the rules, and also go to Craigslist and do a search yourself to make sure your vehicles are being posted.<br/>
<p><br/>If you have any questions regarding Craigslist or you are in need of a Craigslist compliant posting solution, give me a call or visit <a href="http://autodealertarget.com/cl" target="_blank">http://autodealertarget.com/cl</a>.</p>
<p><br/>Massive Success Always,</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Tom Kain<br/>President<br/>AutoDealerTarget<br/>p. 606.657.0277</p>
<p><br/>SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:<br/>Google+ <a href="http://gplus.to/tomkain" target="_blank">http://gplus.to/tomkain</a><br/>dealerelite <a href="http://www.dealerelite.net/profile/ThomasKain" target="_blank">http://www.dealerelite.net/profile/ThomasKain</a><br/>LinkedIn <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/tomkain" target="_blank">http://www.linkedin.com/in/tomkain</a><br/>Facebook <a href="http://facebook.com/autodealertarget" target="_blank">http://facebook.com/autodealertarget</a><br/>Twitter <a href="http://twitter.com/autodealertargt" target="_blank">http://twitter.com/autodealertargt</a></p>