How many of you like to fail? I will assume that no one raised their hand… that’s what usually happens when I ask that question to a group of highly successful salespeople. Now, please think of anything you have attempted to do, that was new and complicated, that you were successful at the very first time you tried it… walking, talking, hitting a baseball, skiing, selling a car… anything.  And even now, with experience and skills, isn’t it true that when you receive an Internet lead, you fail far more frequently than you succeed? What I want you to do is to embrace failure, manage failure and finally succeed through failure. Selling a car through the Internet is no different than anything else; there is a process involved. When you first learned to sell cars, you probably learned the 10 or 12 steps to a sale that began with the Meet and Greet and ended with the Delivery. The same applies with the Internet, except there are only four steps, once you have received a lead.

Research firm JupiterResearch recently held a conference in Los Angeles to discuss the results of its latest automotive study, “Effectively Using the Internet to Drive Sales in the Channel.” The study, which surveyed 133 dealerships, focused on dealers’ strategies, attitudes, and expectations for their online advertising initiatives. Some interesting data points came out of the study – concurring with what most of us to already know – that the Internet sales channel offers the most efficient way for dealers to connect with automotive consumers.

In the past, dealers automatically put most of their ad budgets into newspapers and divvied up the rest more or less equally between TV and radio. Now a relative newcomer has dealers rethinking their ad strategies and budgets: the Net, which offers not only dealer advertising but also information gathering on customers. Internet marketing director Wayne Ussery of Jim Ellis Auto Dealerships, Atlanta, gets all his news electronically and says he hasn’t picked up a newspaper in a year. His store spends less on print ads than on any other ad medium. “The handwriting’s on the wall—how long will it be before (the Internet) is the only medium?” This article was also published in the October issue of AutoExec Magazine.

For this quarter’s ranking of the top Internet dealers by close rate, Keenan Honda of Doylestown, Pennsylvania takes the spotlight for being the first dealership to make the #1 spot - twice. Also noteworthy this quarter is the performance of Hyundai franchise dealers. Howard Hyundai and Fuccillo Hyundai took the #1 spots in the Middle and Western US respectively. There are other standout dealerships that deserve honors. Those are the Internet dealerships that are repeat performers in the Dealix Dealer Close Rate Top 10 list.

October

Increase Your Close Rates by 4%

Phone-Ups, Walk-Ups, and Internet Prospects

Creating Money-Making Customer Emails - Part III

Vehicles with the Highest Close Rates



September

ISM Compensation Plans

Creating Money-Making Customer Emails - Part II

Top Dealers of 2Q04