Why did you choose to put all your dealerships online?
We wanted to tell the public that we have locations in all these places as well as the most inventory that any dealership around here has.
Where did the desire to go online come from?
From our executive vice president.
How are you getting most of your leadsare they coming from your site or are your dealerships hooked into the buying services?
Right now we're getting most from our site.
Do you contract with any of the buying services?
We have contracted with one and we're connected with a few that are not paid for. They basically come to us for free.
How many people per month visit your site?
I would say pages viewed is more what we're looking at. It really varies by month, but it's like 50,000 to maybe 75,000.
What steps have you taken to integrate your staff into your Internet endeavor?
We have one main Internet sales coordinator at each store. They are part of that store's team and they report to that store's GM.
Walk me through your sales process.
Basically, each Internet sales coordinator at each store is required to check e-mail at certain intervals. They are also responsible for making sure that we had ads online, specials or features of the month. We also have photos up of all of our used vehicles and we found that that's a critical element. If you don't have photos you might as well not be there. Basically we stress the main points-response time, photos and up-front pricing.
Up-front, meaning one price?
We have a best price and that is the price.
How do you handle trade-ins?
Right now they're handled in the usual way. We hope to build something online where we can handle trade-ins online, but it's a difficult thing to do.
Now how long has your site been up?
We revised it completely and relaunched back in April of this year, but the presence has been there for almost two years.
What has been the customer's reaction to the way you are selling the cars?
In general it's pretty good, however, there still is the perception that you have to haggle over price, and we try to stress that the price that's posted on there is the price that is the best price. Typically, if they go and look through Edmonds or KBB or something like that, they do come back and say, "Yeah, I guess you're right."
What have been some of the biggest hurdles involved in your Internet effort so far?
Probably technology in this area. The lack of high speed modems, DSL service, free relays, things like that. I guess an internal hurdle has been working with the different inventory systems like Reynolds & Reynolds, EDS, how they're different and how they can be and cannot be compatible with different types of internet setups and database management.
How about staffing?
We've gone to hiring people that have sales experience but no automotive sales experience.
What do you look for in a potential Internet salesperson?
Generally it's somebody who likes vehicles, who likes to sell, who's aggressive, but not overly aggressive. Someone who's comfortable with computers and technology. Somebody who's trained in customer service and realizes the value in building a relationship.
What are some of the marketing things you have been doing to help promote your Web business and make it successful?
We have done a lot of offline advertising in local papers, things like that, but we've also collected e-mail addresses and we use those in our business development center and then incorporate that into our business development process. We're looking at doing TV, basically because of the demographics of our typical internet shopper. A lot of our shoppers don't really read the newspaper, at least in this area. We don't have an outstanding newspaper like the Chicago Tribune or something like that. The Milwaukee Sentinel is probably the best paper we have around here, but it doesn't have a great deal of circulation in the valley.
What has made you different from other dealerships who are trying to be successful on the Internet?
Our inventory is fresh, our ads are fresh. We don't have anything out there that is outdated. Just yesterday I was shopping our competitors online and there are ads for oil changes that expire in April. That's pretty bad. We also have photos of all of our vehicles, and that pretty much beats the competition hands down. We're looking at revising the site again to make it all-inclusive to add a lot of different features throughout the dealership as well as adding information on the community.
How many cars are you selling?
It varies. Basically our import store does very well. We have a lot of competition with Chevy, GMC and Ford in this area, so we don't do as well as we'd like to on the Internet in those makes. We sell Honda/Toyota very well, which have customers who are interested in the Internet and are typically well-educated. We do very well in those stores.
Do you get more traffic from new or used on your sites?
It varies with the product line. At our Enterprise store, where we have BMW, Volvo, Saab and Mercedes, they get more inquires for new vehicles, but our Ford and Chevy stores get more inquiries for used cars.
What are some of the future plans for www.bergstromauto.com?
We do plan on beating the socks off all our competition. Hands down, we intend on having the best site out there. We totally believe that the Internet is the place to be and if a dealership isn't there, they're not going to be around a long time.
What advice would you give to dealers trying to grow their Internet departments?
First of all, be patient with technology. It can be very, very frustrating. Second of all, don't add a lot of bells and whistles to your Web site. People coming to an automotive Web site want to see product, they don't necessarily want to see rotating banners and things like that. Put a sales process in place that is really driven for the Internet consumer and you'll have a site that is a winner.