Hello everyone, and again thanks so much for all of your emails.  I have a lot to go over with you this month. I’m going to change gears and instead of giving away Flip Video cameras; I’m offering pre-paid registrations (Retail value $590 each) to the 2008 Synergy Sessions Event in New Orleans (May 13th & 14th). A lot of people have already registered and this is shaping up to be another sell out event.  Now let’s jump right into this month’s letter. We’ve edited part of it to maintain focus for our readers.

Hi Sean:
First let me introduce myself, my name is Tom Pion. My family and I run a Pontiac, Buick, GMC franchise in Chicopee Massachusetts ( http://www.pionauto.com).  I am 23 years old, and have been working full time for 2 years at our dealership. Right now my main job is to be the Internet and Used Car Manager responsible for buying and selling vehicles at auctions. We’re a smaller GM franchise, sell about 55 vehicles a month (30 used, 25 ne) and don’t have budget when it comes to advertising or internet expenses. Since I've been there I've doubled the traffic to our website.

My father still has reservations about the internet and technology, but I have been able to get him to use 3rd parties such as AutoTrader and Vehix. My biggest dilemma seems to be quality leads. I keep our websites fresh with different banners and backgrounds every couple months and update new and used specials every week and yet still don't see as many internet leads as I would like.

It's also hard being in a smaller store where not only do I have to do the Internet which as of right now means I have keep three sites updated with pictures, comments, and prices but on top of that I'm still need to go to the auctions which are two days a week, and insure that our cars have current Kelley Blue Book stickers and are priced correctly.

Now I know realistically I can't compete on the same level with bigger dealers because they have a bigger budget to work with. I saw your article in Auto Success and I thought you had some great ideas and tips. My main question for you is, “If you were a dealer with a small budget where or what would you use it on?

What websites or lead providers do you think would give me the biggest bang for my buck? With our conservative operation a big budget for leads is not an option and I need to show a good ROI to make my father a little more comfortable before taking that big leap. I'm not sure with the information I provided if you can give me an in depth response on what you would do in your position, but I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,

Thomas F. Pion
Bob Pion Buick Pontiac GMC
Internet Manager

This letter from Thomas mirrors the concerns of thousands of smaller dealerships across the United States and hopefully I can provide some ideas on where to get a good bang for the buck.

Based on your email, Thomas, it seems as though you have the basics already down. You have a website and some leads. As far as technology goes the only other thing I would highly recommend is a lead management tool or CRM.

I truly believe that implementing an Internet Lead Management (ILM) and/or CRM program is the most important tool for a dealership. A bad ILM/CRM process can drastically hinder a department. What you want to look for are tools that have a strong “Internet” component. Traditionally CRM tools have a weak Internet Sales component. One very cost effective ILM/CRM to consider would be AVV WebControl.

You said that your biggest challenge is quality leads and the two lead source providers you have are AutoTrader and Vehix. First things first; you need to identify exactly what type of units you are trying to sell. Are you focusing on new, used or Special Finance units? You can find lead source providers & aggregators that specialize in each of those categories? 

CarsDirect and Dealix are great for new car leads, Autotrader and Cars.com for used and Interactive Financial and 1-800 communications for Special Finance leads. I do believe that a dealership should diversify their lead source portfolio. The truth is that the absolute best quality leads are those coming from traffic to your own website. Historically these leads close at double the closing ration over third party lead providers.

There are three main ways to drive traffic to your website and I will list them in order of importance:

Hands down VSEO and Organic SEO is the way to go; especially if you are looking for the biggest bang for your buck.

I want to give you some suggestions that are FREE:

• Post your pre-owned inventory anywhere and everywhere on sites like Craig’s list for example (www.craigslist.com) Used cars are inventory based opportunities. You need to get as much visibility as possible for your inventory.
• Utilize websites like Best Place ( www.bestplaces.net) This site is very strategic. It allows you to focus your energy with clinical precision versus the “Shotgun” approach. Just plug in your zip code, or the zip codes that you are trying to target or conquest. It will give you all data conceivable. For example. I dropped in your zip code and clicked the button on the left “People”. It gives me a COMPLETE break down of the demographics in your area. For example there are 94.13% white population and only 4.35% Hispanic population in that zip code. I would focus all efforts on the white population for that zip code. However, if you type in 01103, that is Springfield only 10 – 15 miles away from your dealership… You will find something completely different: 35.83% white population, 22.71% African American and 52.90% Hispanic population.
  
  Now armed with those demographics you can begin to create campaigns for those demographics. You can find FREE social networking websites like www.blackplanet.com (The African American version of MySpace) and create profiles for your dealership toward the African American Community. You can do the same for any demographic. They have social networking websites for ethnic groups, gender and religion. Thomas have fun exploring Best Places.net, it is a great website with a tremendous amount of information for your dealership to create its strategy.
  
• The absolute best idea I have for you really isn’t an “Internet” idea… It’s a “BDC” idea. You need to target your customer base. Hands down. You need to create campaigns via, email, direct mail, text messaging and of course phone calls to your current customer base. Prior customers have a higher closing ratio than your fresh opportunities. Plus they are FREE! So put Data Mining on your radar. I would look to create campaigns not just for sales but also for service too.

Thomas I truly want you to be successful. I am going to give you two free passes to attend this year’s Synergy Session in New Orleans. You will have two days of very powerful information by our industries elite. You will be my personal guest and we will have time privately to sit down and go over a plan for your dealership.

Sean V. Bradley