Eight Tips to Help Every New Dealership Internet Manager

It’s your first day as an Internet Manager. Congratulations! You are now in a position of leadership for your dealership’s digital presence, an opportunity that is exciting and challenging.

It is also a critical position for your dealership’s success. Here are eight tips to get you started:

1. Seek training opportunities.

You may have years of Internet management experience in a business development center, and perhaps you’ve even worked with your dealership’s automotive advertising agency before Combining your energy and experience with expertise on the toolset is foundational to your success. Use your vendor’s training resources.* Start with new client onboard training now to set the groundwork for your own performance, and your company’s success later.

2. Schedule a monthly performance review call with your Digital Advisor.

One of the most important steps you can take as a new Internet Manager is to engage with your digital advisor. Schedule a phone call during your first week to review and discuss the creation and execution of your dealership’s strategy and goals. Use the conversation to obtain insights from the perspective of your Digital Advisor – your partner in success. Get everyone on the same page as soon as you can through a thorough analysis of data to paint a complete picture of where your business has been, and where it should be headed.

3. Measure and communicate performance before the end of the month.

You’ve gone through some training and talked with your Digital Advisor about performance. Now it’s time to commit to ongoing performance analysis so you can manage for improvement. Pay close attention to webstats, leads, and monthly executive reports as well as website vehicle details page views. As Internet Manager, you will likely be celebrated for great performance and held accountable when digital goals are not met. Don’t wait until the end of a month to measure and communicate performance:

– Communicate lead and call volume to New and Used Sales Managers daily.
– Share vehicle details page (VDP) views and page view saves to sales teams as indicators of prospective customers browsing inventory.
– Reveal page view statistics for other key demand indicators such as the directions to the dealership page.
– Disseminate lead and call volume all month in a cumulative fashion
– Ensure that sales teams are executing on the opportunities digital is creating.

4. Conduct a website audit.

A website audit is an assessment of your digital property and an opportunity for improvement. Think beyond lead conversion and look to engagement by identifying the pages with the highest bounce rates, pages with low times on page, pages with outdated content, and any pages or navigation that don’t reflect your dealership positively and consistently.

Using these findings, pinpoint your lowest performing pages. They are driving down your total site performance Use the skills and advice you’ve gathered from training and conversations with your Digital Advisor to make improvements to these pages to engage customers and give them reason to continue on into your site. This is also a great time to ensure that only current dealership staff has access to the backend of your site.

5. Conduct a digital advertising assessment.

Begin building an advertising budget by identifying current ad spend on both digital and traditional media and analyzing its performance. Ask yourself: what can you spend on digital versus traditional and what returns can you expect from each? Do the dealership decision makers have the same insight into the power of digital advertising in your local market and in our industry? Do all managers in the dealership know the quantity of leads their department receives from digital advertising? Create buy-in for digital advertising by proving its value every single day and with every single lead.

6. Identify campaign opportunities.

As you begin to settle in to your new position, it’s time to move beyond micro changes and examine macro campaigns for your digital solution. Do you want to move specific models you may have overstocked? Do you want to promote a national sales event? Perhaps you want to start promoting Certified Pre-Owned, Parts, or Service? What is the right mix of specials, featured vehicles, slideshows, landing pages, and advertising?

Prioritization needs to involve dialogue with other managers in the dealership. A digital presence tightly aligned with the dealership’s established identity tends to perform the best. Once you have these priorities, ensure that expectations are consistent with your resources.

7. Grow your digital advertising budget.

Ninety-five percent of car shoppers are shopping for their next vehicle online. To grow your business, you need to optimize your dealership’s reach with digital advertising that targets your local market. To do this, allocate more advertising funding to digital. Communicate its proven value to your organization. Ask your Digital Advisor for resources for having this conversation.

8. Create high-level goals and strategy.

Once you’ve gotten your feet under you in your new position, and you’re able to see a broad view of your dealership’s objectives, create a set of cohesive, overarching goals and a strategy for how to achieve them.

Some of these items are immediately actionable, while others will take some time to establish. The most important thing is to continue to prove the value of digital by communicating its impact to the rest of the organization.

Patrick Wyld is Learning Solutions Manager at Dealer.com

*Dealer.com customers can access a library of resources on the Tutorial Page in ControlCenter, accessible by clicking on the Tutorials button from the Welcome Dashboard.

Eight Reasons to Sell Auto Parts Online

Dealer.com welcomes guest blogger Ibrahim Mesbah, CEO of Revolution Parts, part of the Dealer.com Certified Provider Program.

Today’s consumers expect the ability to research and buy anything online, at any time, on any device. With the continuous rise of online shopping, it’s no surprise that more and more buyers are purchasing factory auto parts online.

The benefits, however, aren’t only reserved for the shopper. The average dealer website with eCommerce generated over $240,000 in online part sales in 2014.

Are you equipped to get your share of online parts sales in 2015? Here are eight reasons why you should be making auto parts eCommerce a priority for this year:

1. The online auto parts market is expected to double – Online auto parts sales should double between 2016 and 2020 according to industry analysts at Frost & Sullivan. Be prepared to capture your piece of this rapidly growing market.

2. Selling auto parts online provides an additional revenue channel – With the right provider, online auto parts sales are a convenient and cost-effective way to generate revenue through an additional channel that can help you achieve your profit growth goals.

3. Consumers are keeping their cars longer – Since the financial crisis in 2008, consumers have been keeping their cars for much longer periods of time. The average vehicle age in America is 11 years, which indicates an increasing demand for car parts, as older vehicles require more service and part replacements.

4. Your competitors are selling online – More and more dealerships are beginning to notice the advantages of selling auto parts online. If other dealers are sharing product availability, making bookings, and closing product sales online, then they are capturing customers that could be yours.

5. Customers want it – In a world where you can order virtually everything via computer, consumers tend to get annoyed or frustrated when they can’t purchase a certain service or product online.

Consumers now expect the convenience of buying online. If a consumer visits your website and can’t easily find information on the part she is looking for, she will leave your site for another. When you empower consumers to find and order what they’re shopping for on your site, it will increase return visits and strengthen customer loyalty.

6. Processing and shipping orders are simplified Auto parts eCommerce solutions integrate with shipping providers so your order information is automatically transferred to the shipping label, and you can print within the eCommerce back office. Tracking information is saved with the order and email notifications are sent so customers know when to expect delivery.

7. Your parts business never closes – With online auto parts eCommerce, your customers aren’t beholden to the open hours of your showroom. You are virtually open 24/7, giving customers the ability to make purchases on their schedule, whether on a lunch break or in the middle of the night.

8. You can increase your customer base – People who live too far to drive to your store will be able to order your auto parts online and have them delivered straight to their doorstep. This will likely increase repeat buying, thus expanding your customer base.

Customers and dealers alike might be surprised at just how convenient it is to have online auto parts as part of the complete digital dealership. Meet customer expectations and boost your market share by offering online part sales on your website today.

Four Tips for a Shining Advertising Strategy this Holiday Season

 

The holidays are here, and there’s plenty of evidence that this shopping season will be the most digitally connected yet.

 

According to one projection, online sales will increase at least 13.5 percent compared with 2013. Shopper confidence due to lower gas prices and a recovering economy helps support the overall feelings of good retail tidings. When you consider Google data that shows automotive query volume at its highest during the holiday period, it becomes obvious that dealers need to optimize their digital advertising strategy during the holiday season to capitalize on shopper enthusiasm.

Here are four tips to get your digital advertising strategy in the holiday spirit:

1. Fill the top of the funnel – With so many people already online this holiday season, get shoppers in the awareness and consideration phases through Network and Premium Display. By driving this traffic to your website, you are gathering these shoppers into a remarketing list, which will help keep your brand top of mind as they consider a possible holiday car purchase.

2. Keep your dealership visible – With car sales up year-over-year, so too is digital activity, and the opportunities for your competition to steal your business. Make sure your campaigns are fully funded to defend the brand name you have worked so hard to build.

3. Align your advertising campaigns with manufacturers’ ad investments –It’s always a good idea to align your dealership campaigns with OEMs’ national advertising efforts; but it’s critical during the holidays. Manufacturers invest millions this time of year in an effort to help clear out old inventory to make room for incoming models. By aligning your own dealership’s display advertising creative with the manufacturer’s national campaigns, you are turbocharging your ad investment through association.

4. Communicate your holiday goals with your digital team – Is your dealership pushing pre-owned vehicles? Is there a specific new model you’d like to move? Keeping clear and consistent communication with your digital advertising partners will ensure professional recommendations to make this holiday season a very happy one.

“Using Xtime ServiceTab, Labor Hours per RO are Up 35% and Advisors are Making More Money too.”

Jeff Bellinger is General Manager for Brandfon Honda, a sales and service volume leader in its district. Located in Branford, CT near New Haven, the dealership sells 1,560 new and used vehicles a year. Brandfon Honda operates 16 service bays and has eight service writers. To improve its fixed operations performance, the dealership installed Xtime hosted service CRM (customer relationship management) systems two years ago and recently provided service advisors Xtime ServiceTab™ mobile tablets.

“Our use of Xtime, and especially ServiceTab, has helped increase our labor hours per RO at least 35%,” Bellinger said. “Advisors like it because it helps them write up customers faster when they greet customers at their vehicles, and its checklist-driven walkaround guide helps them increase their upsell commission dollars.”

The mobile ServiceTab lets advisors greet customers right at their vehicles in the service drive, where conditions are more conducive to face-to-face interaction that builds stronger relationships and trust. By using this intuitive tablet interface, a service advisor can check customers in as they drive up, digitally record walk-around inspection results in real-time and discuss service recommendations without ever leaving the customer or vehicle.

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"Our use of Xtime, and especially ServiceTab, has helped increase our labor hours per RO at least 35%."

“This technology adds credibility to what an advisor is recommending,” Bellinger noted, “and everything is captured electronically – including the customer’s signature to get the repair order started so customers are on their way a good five minutes faster.

XTIME HELPS BRANDFON HONDA:

  • Simplify and organize appointment scheduling: Whether customers book their appointments by viewing Xtime’s online automotive scheduling software on the dealership’s website or service staff does it from their desks, scheduling is easier, faster – and more visible to help management better load the shop.
  • Maximize appointments: Customers using the dealership’s Xtime service e-menu select recommended and desired services and book their own appointments. Because the online appointment schedule is the same as that seen by dealership staff, customers book only available days and times. They may also call the dealership and schedule with the dealership’s Xtime call center.
  • Build customer trust and comfort: E-mail and other electronic service notifications keep customers aware of their vehicles’ service needs based on scheduled maintenances, recall notifications or other service reminder or promotional emails.
  • Increase service revenue: By helping to maximizing shop utilization, Xtime helps keep technicians productive.

PROVEN PRODUCTIVITY

Xtime ServiceTab helps advisors do more thorough vehicle walkarounds and identify upsell opportunities. Improved shop utilization through Xtime’s ServiceCRM™ product suite and its certified integrations with a dealer’s DMS ensures all appointments are 100% confirmed. Bellinger said Xtime’s online scheduling does more than help him streamline workflow. He shared that consumers in control of scheduling their own appointment hours often take those late afternoon or evening appointments that often get overlooked when some employees book them. “With online scheduling, we take appointments right up until closing and then stay late to finish the work if necessary,” he said. This table provides a snapshot of Xtime’s performance at Brandfon Honda:

Appointments Booked via Xtime Show Rate Appointment Repair Order Dollars Per RO Value
95.2.8% 84% $146,964 $268

Bellinger said Xtime’s involvement with the dealership has meant big performance changes. “In our district, we’re one of the only dealerships to have had significant RO count increases during the last two years – and we are also one of the only ones having month-over-month growth this year compared to last. I attribute a lot of that growth to Xtime,” he said.

“Xtime Completely Organizes the Day, Hour by Hour, and Helps Us Load the Shop More Productively”

Buddy Toups, Service Manager for Infiniti of Lafayette, manages three technicians and two service advisors for this Louisiana dealership servicing about 300 vehicles a month. To streamline appointment setting – and put control in customers’ hands – Infiniti of Lafayette started using Xtime hosted service CRM (customer relationship management) systems two years ago.

Xtime services used there include Dealership Scheduling, Online Scheduling and Electronic Service Menus. With all customer appointments, including those by phone, now booked through Xtime, scheduling is visible to all authorized service personnel. This depth of visibility will be even more important as the dealership moves into their new facility this year that will double its size.

Prior to installing Xtime, appointments were scheduled using paper documents and then keyed into the dealership’s dealer management system. The process was terribly inefficient and not very user friendly, Toups said.

“For Infiniti customers who live their lives by appointment, our ability through Xtime to ensure that the time and day they booked for service will indeed be available when they arrive. That’s a critical requirement that we must simply meet,” he added.

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With Xtime, we have access to customers’ entire service histories at our fingertips as we’re speaking to them.

“With Xtime, we have access to customers’ entire service histories at our fingertips as we’re speaking to them. Having this depth of customer and vehicle information so readily available helps us get to know customers and their vehicles better – and, as a result, Xtime helps us grow customer service and customer satisfaction as well as maintain our desired level of productivity,” Toups said.

XTIME HELPS INFINITI OF LAFAYETTE:

  • Simplify and organize appointment scheduling: Whether customers book their service by viewing Xtime’s online automotive scheduling software on the dealership’s website or service staff does it from their desks, scheduling is easier, faster – and more visible to help management better load the shop. “Xtime gives us great visibility into our appointments – who recreated what appointment and when – and clicking a VIN tab gives us the vehicle’s service history,” Toups noted.
  • Maximize appointments: Customers using the dealership’s Xtime service e-menu select recommended and desired services and book their own appointments. Because the online appointment schedule is the same as that seen by dealership staff, customers book only available days and times. They may also call the dealership and schedule with the dealership’s Xtime call center.
  • Build customer trust and comfort: Electronic service notifications keep customers advised of their vehicles’ service needs based on scheduled maintenances, recall notifications or other service reminder or promotion emails. When they arrive in the service lane, an electronic board announces their arrival, making them feel special.
  • Increase service revenue: By helping to maximizing shop utilization, Xtime helps keep technicians productive.

PROVEN PRODUCTIVITY

Performance data extracted from Xtime provide compelling evidence for its impact on service processes at Infiniti of Lafayette. This table provides a recent one-month overview:

Appointments Booked via Xtime Overall Show Rate Web Show Rate Repair Order Dollars Ave. Per RO Value
97.6% 87.9% 100% $41,375 $245/$263 web
Online Schedule Activity via Xtime Selected Services
Time/Day Searches
Booked Appointments Cancellations
3.3% appointments booked 13 10 7 0

Toups said Xtime streamlines the entire booking and scheduling process.

“Without this visibility into our work, it can be too easy to overbook. With it, we can instantly see what our day looks like and respond proactively. Xtime gives us a complete view of how many loaners are needed, how many waiters are scheduled, and we have the ability to add notes or ‘customer alerts’ for customers who may have special needs, and we can easily see how many hours we have scheduled for our technicians,” Toups said.

“We also have the ability through Xtime to email customers when their vehicles are ready for pick up. With Xtime, sudden change is easily accommodated. I simply tweak the day’s workload to keep work flowing evenly and productively so we load up the shop and increase our hours per RO. Xtime has been an invaluable addition to our service process and we are only using a small portion of its capabilities. It’s a fantastic tool, and we look forward to tapping into all of its resources when move into our new facility,” Toups said.