Every work place has their own Halloween like scares. The dealership is no different. Here are just a few scary things at the dealership or in the dealer world. What’s spooks you at your dealership?
Excitement filled the air as we boarded the plane for another trip to the strip for the Driving Sales Executive Summit. This event continually amazes us each year with Driving Sales recruiting some of the most progressive speakers in the space coming out to reveal industry innovations and collaborate with a wide variety of outstanding peers on the future of the automotive industry. Primed and ready to learn, collaborate and have some fun we snaked through the immense halls of the Bellagio and DSES once again did not disappoint.
With re-nowned keynotes including Jared Hamilton, Brian Solis, Bryan Eisenberg, Rand Fishkin, Mike Hudson, Jack Simmons, Florian Zettelmeyer, Adam Justis and 30 break out speakers there was no shortage of quality content. The automotive industry is on the verge of some huge changes and DSES revealed some exceptional insights on where, why and how we are getting to the next level.
If you attended DrivingSales Executive Summit this year you were likely saying this to yourself by the end of the conference.
The vast majority of keynote presenters this year mentioned the disparity between traditional retail automotive and the consumer’s perception of a satisfying consumer experience.
According to a recent AutoNews article, and much of the automotive industry, CarMax returned to buying leads this month after a 16-month break-up with AutoTrader and Cars.com.
Despite the rising costs and dwindling dealership brand presence, about 40 percent of CarMax’s 141 stores are now back up and running with Cars.com. And, quite possibly though not confirmed, the same can be said for AutoTrader.
Senior automotive analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, Kevin Tynan says..
I’m not sure we buy that….
CarMax wasn’t alone in its endeavor to quit third party leads. AutoNation didn’t go cold turkey, but as it builds the foundation that will rely on brand awareness over third party lead providers, the giant has been pulling away from buying leads. Check out what the Refreshers think about third party leads.
The U-Turn discussion is already underway over in the forums and waiting for your insight.
What is missing, if anything, in the research process that is being found on AutoTrader or Cars.com – and, not on YOUR dealership website?
What are you doing at your store about third party leads? Are you actually measuring their worth, and I mean, truly measuring?
For the first time in seven years, I’m walking away from the fall conference season with a feeling of complete and utter hope for our industry.
Never before have I seen so many dealers who were truly engaged with the speakers and each other. It’s as if we’ve hit a turning point where skepticism and confusion have been replaced by knowledge and understanding. I learned more from exchanging ideas with dealers than with other vendors.
There was one negative component that still reared its ugly head as it seems to do every conference season. The fallacy of “secret sauce” getting peddled by vendors is still ever-present. This needs to change and dealers have the power to make it happen.
One-Price Car Shopping. Is it Coming, or Not?
One Price…Is it Coming, or Not?
The short answer is yes, and it may not be as scary as you think.
It seems that we’ve been talking about a revolution in automotive retail for a long time. One-price car shopping. Salespeople as order-takers. Whole teams of dealership employees left to do little more than collect leads from a computer and process financing.
By some accounts, the revolution would be a total online shift to selling a car on a website or mobile device. In this vision, the future is as simple as point, click and drive.
Are YOU going to #DSES 2014?
DSES 2014 is right around the corner (this Sunday) and if there’s ONE event in the industry that I look forward to, it is DSES!
UPDATE: For the 6th year in a row DSES has SOLD OUT. But if you didn’t get a seat and would very much like one? Click here to possibly get on a waiting list.