Dot Common Sense

©2008 John Fuhrman

Auto Dealers and the web. Man what a mixture. On the light side it’s like oil and water. More often it’s like gasoline and a lit match. I look at what’s out there and think about how the buyers and sellers surfing the net are totally unimpressed by what’s out there. Don’t get me wrong, there are some really great sites out there and they are probably generating some great client contacts. But, I can say that based on my experience and eyewitness viewing, there are some myths that need to be dealt with.

Myth # 1 – YOU MUST HAVE A WEB SITE!

Look, it’s the Information Age, right? Shouldn’t every office have a web presence? Only if they first understand the expression, you can never make a second first impression. If 77% of today’s buyers are on the net before visiting a dealership, your web site is your first impression. If your site is under construction, don’t put it up. If it’s connected to some outside other .com company, don’t associate with it. If you don’t know if it’s even working or not, take it off the web.

If you’re thinking that this probably doesn’t apply to you, think again. Over two weeks, I did some on-the-job research. I found that the odds are very strong that your site, if it works, is in the minority. And the minority doesn’t do anything for you.

For some background, my company is on the web every day. We provide products and training to dealers in F&I, sales and service. Since we like to practice what we preach, nearly 90% of our marketing is done on line. Much of that is spend scanning Dealership web sites to find contact information for applicable products and services we offer. When the lack of quality web sites became apparent, I was asked to take a look. Being a small company, I decided to kill two birds with one stone and market to all the good sites I’d find. Boy was I surprised.

Myth #2 If You Can See It For Yourself, It Must Be Working

I visited over 1,000 Franchise and Independent Dealer Sites in all 50 states. Single point to multi-line groups, mega-dealers and Franchises. None were exempt from poor quality. Here is how it broke down.

1,000 visits or attempts to visit.

226 - were not working, under construction, linked to online poker, or other industry, or
even linked to other “Factory” sources.

332 – were cookie cutter (probably free or all done by the same person) sites that
provided no unique information. Only information about broad market topics.
These are online brochures, which are fine if that’s your intent.

442 - worked well enough to find individual contact information, sales people and
manager’s names. However, 77 of those emails were not activated for one reason or
another.

That means less than 40% of the sites currently on the web are working in a client friendly manner. How can you make your site stand out and work for you rather than just take up space somewhere on Google®?

Think like a sales manager. If you saw an agent greet a potential client outside the office, and before they even shook hands greeting a customer, handed them a credit app to be filled out before even saying hello, what would you do? Then, think how the client might feel when they look to email a salesperson for details or a question, and they have to fill out a complete questionnaire and still don’t know the salesperson’s name. Or worse, the email to the name they want to reach, doesn’t work.

Myth # 3 They’ll Know What You Meant

Finally, if your showroom or parking lot isn’t laid out like a maze with a cheese prize at the end, don’t make it an endurance contest to figure out how to use your site to find out the deals and inventory you have. (For a free list of 10 tips to better web presence, email me at jfuhrman@igotmycar.com and write “Web Presence” in the subject line)

If some of this sounds ridiculous, consider the odds. Over 61% of the sites on line fit into one or more of these observations. Your site should be a reflection of who you are as an office, or professional. Visitors should get a sense of what their experience would be visiting your place of business by how your site is designed. Do yourself a favor. Find a 15 year old and ask them to visit your web site and give you an honest answer. In fact, visit it with them and see for yourself.

John Fuhrman has been training and consulting dealers since 1992. He is now concentrating his efforts in North and South Carolina. His company, Carolina Automotive Resource Services is the exclusive agency for CMS “Employee Tool Pay” programs for technicians. His programs, F&I consulting, and products are increasing profits while reducing liability for many franchise and independent dealers. His company offers seminars and in store training and free evaluations. You can contact him at dealerprofitsnow@aol.com.