Beyond Listings- Drive Sales with a Comprehensive Online Presence
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Transcript of Beyond Listings- Drive Sales with a Comprehensive Online Presence
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Welcome: We’ll Begin at Noon ET
• To hear the audio portion for today’s webinar:
• Turn up your computer speakers
• Use a pair of headphones• Having audio problems?• Request a toll-free dial-in
number for the WebEx teleconference
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Welcome
• Have a question? Need our attention?• Enter your question or comment by clicking on
the question mark in the lower right corner of the WebEx browser
• Tweeting today’s call? Use #dalive.• Want a recording of today’s presentation?• Visit http://dealers.cars.com/live on Monday
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Webinar Audio
• To hear the audio portion for today’s webinar:
• Turn up your computer speakers
• Use a pair of headphones• Having audio problems?• Request a toll-free dial-in
number for the WebEx teleconference
5
Today’s Moderator
Jack Simmons• Dealer training manager,
Cars.com• 25 years automotive industry
experience• Connect with Jack:
dealers.cars.com/facebook
dealers.cars.com/twitter
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Today’s Panelist
Shaun Kniffin• Director, Internet sales and
e-business development• Germain Motor Co.• Columbus, Ohio
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Today’s Objectives
In today’s workshop, we’ll discuss how:• Banner advertising raises your dealership’s profile and
the visibility of your Internet listings.• Chat, mobile and video provide deeper engagement
with online shoppers.• Inventory specials open your inventory and increase the
likelihood of a sale.
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Listings Start the Conversation
• Fully merchandise your inventory with
• Multiple photos• Descriptive sell copy• Competitive price
• Connect with online car buyers
• Email• Telephone• Walk-in visits
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Influencing Consideration
Differentiating your store may require new strategies
• More than 2 million listings competing for shoppers attention
• 16,000 dealers• Specific search criteria helps
buyers filter results faster and more effectively than ever
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Beyond Listings: Build Your Brand
Banner advertising:• Allows dealerships to brand the store and
promote specific make/model, inventory options
• Raises top-of-mind brand, store awareness as car buyers scan search results pages
• Drives click-throughs to your listings, store website
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Beyond Listings: Promote Specials
• Specials help minimize aged inventory• Viewed by 68 percent of walk-in visitors using
Cars.com1
• 41 percent of third-party site users viewed videos before visiting a store1
• Open your new-, used-vehicle listings• 72 percent of walk-in visitors using Cars.com view full
inventory1
1 Value of Third-Party Sites to Dealer Walk-In Traffic, Synovate 2008
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What Works: Germain
Inventory specials• Drive listings visibility on
group websites and third-party sites
• Increases awareness on search results pages and boosts vehicle details page views
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What Works: St. Augustine
Inventory specials• New since March 2010• Used since May 2008• Feature specials on own
site and third-party sites• Specials drive 10% to 15%
additional click-throughs• Featured vehicles turn
20% to 30% faster• Boosts listings visibility on
search results pages
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Beyond Listings: Connect with Chat
Chat creates a fifthcontact channel with your third-party listings
• Clicks to your website• Email• Telephone• Walk-in visits• Chat
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Reach New Buyers With Chat
Some shoppers prefer chat• Provides quick access to the
information they want (e.g., availability, condition, price)
• Protects their anonymity• One in four adults sends
more instant messages than email1
• 90 percent of people use IM at home; 20 percent from work2
1 AP/AOL Instant Messaging Survey, 20072 AOL/Opinion Research, 2007
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Win the Sale With Chat
Source: Contact At Once! LLC, February 2007
• Be available, respond in your own words
• Build excitement• Answer shoppers’
questions, get their contact information
• Qualify shoppers to open your inventory
• Take the conversation offline to win the deal
Car buyer chat requests are most common between noon and 4 p.m. during the week, when shoppers are at work and can’t use the company phone or email system.
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What Works: Germain
Launched chat in May 2010 on Germain sites and with Cars.com listings
• Sales and service requests managed through the group’s 14-person BDC
• Initial results:• 70% appointment-kept*• 54% of kept appointments
bought a car*• 3% of Internet business*
* As of June 2, 2010
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What Works: St. Augustine
Launched chat in May 2010 with a services provider
• 90% of chat requests come from new prospects*
• 22.6% closing rate*• Agents obtain the shopper’s
name, email address and phone number and set the appointment
• Dealership salesperson confirms the appointment
* As of June 2, 2010
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Beyond Listings: Mobile
Mobile technology:• Connects you with on-the-go buyers
• 1 in 3 people in the U.S. use the mobile internet1
• 1 in 4 people in the U.S. use the mobile internet regularly1
• Up 92 percent from 2006• The mobile internet user base is
increasing• 400,000 people per month. 1
• Allows car buyers to contact you, locate your store, search your listings
1 Critical Mass: The Worldwide State of the Mobile Web, Nielsen Mobile, July 2008
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Connect with Texting
“Send to Phone” text messaging
• Text options that may be a better match
• Allows you to take the initiative in contacting in-market shoppers
• Consumers will use texting when shopping
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What Works: Germain
Corporate mobile site:• Provides car buyers with 24/7
access to the dealer group’s complete inventory
• Allows shoppers to locate stores with the car they want, obtain contact information
• Connects customers with search tools to quickly identify vehicles that meet their needs
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Beyond Listings: Video
Fully demonstrate your cars, showcase your store
• 63 percent of shoppers who viewed video said it influenced their decision to visit the dealership*• 59 percent of dealers were estimated to be using video in 2009**• 41 percent of car buyers searched
YouTube***
* Value of Third-Party Sites to Dealer Walk-In Traffic, Synovate 2008 **Source: The Kelsey Group, 2008 *** Google, 2008
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Video Sells the Car
• Walk-around videos should demonstrate:
• Condition• Standard equipment• Unique features
• Personalizing the video builds rapport
• Make a call to action, invite the customer to contact you
View this video at http://www.tinyurl.com/plantcity
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Video Sells the Store
• Provide reasons to buy from your dealership:
• Extensive inventory• Convenient location• Financing opportunities• State-of-the-art facilities• Business philosophy• Community reputation
• Ask happy buyers for video testimonials
View this video at http://www.tinyurl.com/marazzi
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What Works: Germain
• Developed videos that showcase
• Inventory• New-model introductions• Sales, service• Specials• Used-car pricing
• Use videos on dealership sites, third-party listings sites, YouTube channel
• Average 20 views/video
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What Works: St. Augustine
• Added video in May 2010
• Demonstrate the vehicle• Brand the dealership• Increase listings visibility
on search results pages and drive more vehicle details page views
• Boost average time on the dealership website
• 50% increase from 1 minute to 1.5 minutes
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Review
• Banner advertising builds your store’s brand and helps you create top-of-mind awareness.
• Inventory specials minimize aged listings and encourage car buyers your other stock.
• Chat connects you with buyers who might not contact you through email, phone or a visit.
• Mobile puts your cars in front of on-the-go shoppers.
• Video lets you fully merchandise your store, listings.
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Save the Date
July DealerADvantage Live• Small Screen, Big Sales• July 9• Noon EDT• Host: Kathy Kimmel,
Cars.com director of training
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Resources for Online Success
DealerADvantage• DealerADvantage blog: Read
and discuss articles, videos and Cars.com news that drive your success dealeradvantage.cars.com
• DealerADvantage Live: Free monthly webinar offers advice on internet sales, marketing dealers.cars.com/live
• Facebook: Share, discuss internet sales, merchandising dealers.cars.com/facebook
• Twitter: Get a daily online sales, merchandising tip dealers.cars.com/twitter