Daily Automotive eCommerce Success

Guest Consultant for Ai-Dealer at NADA

I will be a guest consultant for Ai-Dealer at NADA along with three other TOP industry experts.  If you are going to NADA, please send me a quick email and I'll email you my cell number so we can meet up at Ai-Dealers Booth #1854 or meet up somewhere at the convention.  I hope to hear from you!

Here is an excerpt from Ai-Dealers eNewsletter announcing it:

• "Steve Nickelsen has been my good friend for many years now.  He is my partner in Ai-Dealer and I in his Nickelsen Partners since we founded it in 2002.  If you haven't met him before, Steve is perhaps the foremost dealership profitability coach that exists in the business today.  My favorite reference for Steve is an Ai-Dealer client (this car dealer also has had Steve as his profitability coach for 3+ years now), who to this day credits Steve with saving his dealership.  I have seen dealerships who work with Steve double and triple their profits.  I invite you to come meet him at the show, discuss your operations with him and decide if you can afford to continue doing what you are doing the way you've been doing it.
• Shaun Raines is both the CEO of DealerAdvisor, one of the most progressive car dealer Internet advisory services out there, and a business development manager at SiSTer Technologies, a really very interesting (and affordable) video creation and distribution solution for car dealers to work through their digital marketing.
• Chris Hanson, Director of Ecommerce Solutions for VIN Solutions, who has built several of the best Internet departments in existence and who runs the helpful site Follow Up For Success.  I still attribute this great engagement and take control of the online sale quote to: "Mr. Consumer, have you ever bought a car online before? 

    Well may I take a moment and explain how we help consumers do that here?"  Try it.  Work it in to your voicemail scripts so that you'll actually get some return phone calls... then come meet Chris.  He has lots of good ideas to go with this one (as well as what you should and shouldn't say next).

• Cory Mosley, CEO of Mosley Automotive who has 7.5 reasons why you can't afford to not to begin to lay the foundation for your Internet success online today.  I have seen Cory speak many times now about online practices.  If you think you are good, Cory can make you better.  If you know you don't know much and want to figure out how to profitably sell cars online, Cory can help you get started. "

2008 Internet Marketing Report: Who's calling reps? We know

Where did that Web lead come from and where did it go?  Sound familiar?  We didn’t always know how a prospect had found us nor did we always know whether a rep had taken the call........

To read article, Click the link below and go to page 7, number 3

Download 2008 Internet Marketing Report interviewed Chris Hanson on Whats working with other companies page 7 number 3

2007 From browsing to buying: Online car shopping takes a new twist

DealersEdge
CAR DEALER INSIDER

From browsing to buying: Online car shopping takes a new twist

With just a few shopping days left until Christmas, many dealership customers will be wrapping up their gift buying online to avoid the mall crowds.  They’ll be stuffing online shopping carts with sweaters, slippers, toys, and maybe some automotive accessories too. And if they want to, yes, they can even click on a car.  While it’ll probably be a while before most customers are ready to take the leap from online shopping (i.e. research) to true online buying – going through the whole car buying process without setting foot inside a dealership – the options are growing.

To read the full article, click the link below, page 3:

Download Car Dealer Insider Interviews Chris Hanson From browsing to buying Online car shopping takes a new twist

2006 AutoSuccess Best Practices Summit IV

Chris Hanson was invited to speak at the AutoSuccess Summitt IV on May 18th and 19th, 2006. At the Venetian Resort and Hotel, Las Vegas, NV

Download AutoSuccess Best Practices Summit IV Chris Hanson

2004 Car Dealer Insider interviews Mark Tewart and Chris Hanson

Sales pros share secrets to success
Car Dealer Insider Newsletter, October 18th, 2004

New vehicle sales consultant Chris Hanson of Hibbing Chrysler, Minn., would be a superstar in almost any store he worked.  Over the past three years, he's averaged over 200 vehicles sold each year, and has set a personal goal of reaching 300 sales in the next year. To get there, he's adopted some of the practices that sales consultant Mark Tewart of Tewart Enterprises, Lebanon, Ohio, advocates in his "Contrarian Approach to Sales."  ....................

To read the rest of the article, click the link below:

Download Car Dealer Insider Interviews Mark Tewart and Chris Hanson for Sales pros share secrets to success

2008 The Internet Marketing Report

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Building trust when prospects think your reps are rattlesnakes in suits ...

Shopping cart for products worth $20,000 a pop
How it built trust and sales

What happens if the knee-jerk reaction of most prospects is to think you are about to rip them off?

You have to go to extremes to show you have nothing to hide and prove you are telling them the whole story (no hidden fees, no strings attached, no fine print, no nothing that will bite them in the you know what later.)

That was the problem facing Chris Hanson, director of eCommerce with Subaru of Plano, Texas, www.subaruofplano.com. His company sells cars. And people who sell cars are often regarded as being as trustworthy as lawyers and journalists like me.

The answer was introducing a shopping cart online --- an unusual move in an industry where the average sale is $20,000 or more. Even more unusual, the company used an avatar to help prospects through the process.

If automotive dealers can sell cars online, what's stopping you?

Here is the story in his own words (the original appeared in our print publication, the Internet Marketing Report):

"We wanted to get prospects to trust us more than they trusted rivals. Every other industry was online, but our industry had resisted. And we also lagged when it came to trust: J.D. Powers’ reports showed the average buyer trusted us as much as the average lawyer. Not much.

"We knew many prospects were well-educated, computer savvy and unafraid of the Web. So we decided to try selling cars using a shopping cart with a difference. Because prospects were unfamiliar with the concept, our cart has an avatar, a virtual sales rep to guide them through the process.

Build trust in a non-threatening environment

"As a prospect lingers on a section, (for example, State taxes), the avatar’s eyes follow, look at the same spot, then rise to meet the eyes of the viewer and talk about how it works.

"Recently we’d been trying to contact a woman who’d called. But she wouldn’t take our calls.

"When we noticed she’d been using the avatar and cart, a rep called again, asking if she needed additional info. This time, she wanted to talk and we made the sale. In three months, we’ve already recouped the initial set-up costs. Prospects can get to know us, understand the process and compare offerings in a non-threatening environment. That establishes trust before they even talk to a rep."

In other words, this is about building trust by showing not selling, prospects get a guaranteed price, they get to see the details of the financing, the avatar explains interest rates, title transfers, taxes, etc.

Why buy this way? The first person to buy a car from Subaru using the shopping cart said that she liked to buy, but hated to be sold.

"I have only been buying a car every 10 years because I dislike the process so much. Now that I understand how it works, my whole view of the car buying process has changed."

That's someone who's likely to come back for more soon.

You can see the shopping cart at http://www.aidealer.com/AiDealerProduction/DealershipInventorySearchFrame.aspx?DealershipId=7

Postscript: Chris Hanson just e-mailed me to say he is holding a seminar on this stuff in March. You can get more info and read about how other companies are using avatars and carts at http://carguy70.typepad.com/followupforsuccess/2008/01/internet-sales.html

Posted by IMR editor Julie Power Thursday January 24, 2008.

Note: For actual post: http://eimr.blogspot.com/2008/01/building-trust-when-prospects-think.html

2008 Press Release from VinSolutions

VinSolutions Opens eCommerce Consulting Division

Overland Park, KS, October 31, 2008 – VinSolutions today announced the opening of their eCommerce Consulting Division. With automotive industry sales down an average of 27 percent, dealers are looking for an edge over their competition. Converting a higher percentage of Internet leads into Internet sales is an area where most dealership Internet departments could improve. “Internet Lead Management (ILM) is a large part of our business,” said Doug Kinney, VinSolutions’ CEO, “and it’s getting bigger every day, because Internet-generated sales are making a greater impact on dealers’ bottom lines.” According to J.D. Power, auto dealers subscribe to an average of 6.8 online lead providers, up from 5.6 in 2006; and 53 percent subscribe to a lead notification system. With continuing bleak sales projections circulating throughout the industry, running a profitable Internet sales department has become critical for success.

 

For an Internet department to be profitable, it needs good processes and people. VinSolutions’ new eCommerce Consulting Division is designed to provide their clients with both. Consultants develop programs based on dealership needs. Putting proven processes to work in innovative ways, dealers should see their closing ratios improve and revenues increase. Techniques for training salespeople to improve conversion rates from leads to sold customers are also part of the program.

 

Successful Internet salespersons are able to blend traditional sales techniques with effective written communication skills and computer savvy. “There’s a lot more to it than people first realize,” said Chris Hanson, VinSolutions’ new eCommerce Consulting Director. “The challenge for Internet salespeople is discovering how they can get involved in consumers’ online conversations. Once they accomplish this, they’ll be able to better manage the sales process.”

 

VinSolutions selected Hanson as eCommerce Consulting Director because of his proven track record in creating profitable dealership Internet departments. “Most of my past clients saw a 50 percent increase in their Internet sales by simply following the process and techniques I gave them,” Hanson said. The program is customized for each client’s needs, but most include training in follow-up and selling processes, templates, video e-mail, blogging, phone scripts, Web site design and vendor recommendations. Intuitive navigation schemes, user-friendly pages with video and interactive demonstrations, suggestions for richer content and more functionality, as well as search optimization techniques are all considerations in the world of eCommerce.

 

About VinSolutions:

 

An industry-leading developer of Internet-based customer relations management (CRM) and Internet lead management (ILM) software, VinSolutions provides 24/7 dealership sales and marketing information to their clients anywhere Internet access is available. In addition to CRM, ILM and inventory management products, VinSolutions builds custom dealership Web sites, uploads inventory photos, offers their clients quality training and consulting services, as well as valuable customer support. VinSolutions is GM, Ford, Chrysler, Audi and Subaru certified and has working relationships, alliances and integrations with several automotive software service providers such as CarFax, Kelley Blue Book, AutoSoft, Inc., Autodata, RouteOne and DealerTrack.

2008 Car Dealer Insider interviewed Chris Hanson

Live chat and video e-mails give dealership business a big boost
Car Dealer Insider interviewed Chris Hanson, March 1st, 2008

What do you get when you add live chat to a dealership website? For one Texas auto group, it has meant consistently closing vehicle sales with 50 percent of the customers who use it. Its well-received video e-mails have also helped boost business.

The David Thomas Automotive Group’s stores, Subaru of Plano and Subaru of Dallas, have used live chat for about a year, says eCommerce Director Chris
Hanson. He introduced the auto group to video e-mailing back in 2004........

To read the rest of the article, click on the link and go to page 6.  Download CarDealerInsider.pdf

Internet Sales Workshop 2008

What Are you Doing About the Internet??

Follow Up For Success Internet Sales 2008

Plano, Texas - March 24th and 25th

For more details: Download Two_Day_Workshop.pdf 

Two Days of Intense Learning - Don't Miss It!

2003 Cobalt Case Study: Chris Hanson Hibbing Chrysler

Cobalt did a case study on Chris Hanson in 2003 to because of his strong closing ratio and follow up process. 

"In the heart of Minnesota's Iron Range, 190 miles north of Minneapolis, sits the small town of Hibbing, population 18,000. This remote Minnesota town may be the last place you'd expect to find a big dealership with a booming business and a sophisticated Internet operation, but that's exactly what you'll find if you stop in at Hibbing Chrysler Center, where Internet Manager Chris Hanson is getting extraordinarily profitable results using Cobalt's Lead Manager. What's extraordinarily profitable mean in hard numbers? "As of the end of March, my average closing ratio on Internet leads
was 34.5% for 2003," says Chris."

To read the full case study, Click Here