Digital Dealer
Is Your Dealership Web Site Really Competitive Online?
By Todd Smith
I have been amazed by the number of dealers who I have talked with about their Web site who have felt that just by having a Web page and being connected to the Internet, this will be enough to sell units and make money online. The Web is a constantly evolving medium allowing us to interactively market your vehicles and services. Just being online will do very little for your store in today's fast moving net economy. As a dealer right now you are in a position to open up an entirely new marketplace for your store without building new buildings or adding additional franchises. But if you think that any old Web site will do in this digital economy, you are not only wrong, you'll be wasting your time and wondering why the Internet isn't working for your dealership.
I have taken some time to give you a partial list of questions that I ask dealers before getting involved with their Web business in hopes that these question will get you thinking about the future of your Web site and, more importantly, the future of how you will integrate the Web into the entire operations of your dealership. Take my questionnaire to see if your Web site really stacks up online or is just a virtual billboard spinning your dealership wheels in cyberspace.
- Does your Web site have a research center for your prospects to get product information including all vehicle options and pricing including invoice?
- YES NO
- Are you using specials and promotions at your Web site to capture shoppers' information, which will allow you to create Web based marketing campaigns?
- YES NO
- Have you set up a fully e-commerce-enabled parts department online where consumers can shop your entire parts database, then order the exact part they want and have it shipped to their house without having to speak to your parts counter person?
- YES NO
- Does your Web site have all the tools and forms necessary to allow consumers to appraise their own vehicle without leaving your site?
- YES NO
- Does your Web site take more than one click from your homepage to search your available inventory?
- YES NO
- Do you change your homepage monthly and change your entire Web site quarterly?
- YES NO
- Does your Web site offer online help via chat to allow consumers to communicate and ask your salespeople questions while they are still at your site?
- YES NO
- Do you use your statistics to not only track users to your Web site but also to make changes to navigation based on how people use the Web site?
- YES NO
- Have you incorporated an automatic e-mail system to follow up on leads you can't close after a pre-determined number of attempts?
- YES NO
- Do all your Web shoppers receive at least one e-mail per month from your dealership notifying them of specials, sales and store events?
- YES NO
If you answered no to more than two of the above questions, you are in the danger zone. This simply means you are not even keeping up with the evolution of the Web and the tools that are available. In the coming days, months and years, this will have a dramatic effect on your business and your ability to form new digital relationships with your customers. Right now you have the opportunity to learn, fail, get up and improve upon your e-business.
Since the Web is still somewhat new, customer expectations haven't risen to the same standards as offline when it comes to the automotive purchase. Let me warn you, though, that they are approaching this level at a rapid pace and within the next 12 to 18 months you'll have to rise to a new level of customer service to even be competitive in the marketplace. Thanks to the direct models and buying services that are pushing the boundaries with home delivery, no-hassle car shopping and all the other services that they are offering, your dealership will have to, at the very least, match these providers if not improve upon their offerings. Today the marketplace offers you a slight gap in allowing you to under-perform and fail in customer satisfaction. Tomorrow's marketplace will not.
This year the marketplace has heated up dramatically. Lead service organizations have teamed up just to survive, manufacturers are still trying to get a piece of the business and all the while dealers have come to depend on the leads that come from these sources instead of focusing on their own Internet business. Don't be surprised when these big bad wolves come to town and pull the rug out from underneath your store because they have been perfecting product distribution on your dime. Protect your local marketplace or one day you'll find yourself begging the wolves to believe you are good enough to be one of their distributors. It is an investment in your personal financial future and the future of your company. Take it seriouslyvery seriously. Customers will demand that you rise to the occasion to serve their needs or perish into digital chaos. The items I mentioned above are only the beginning of a long list that needs to be the basis of your "To Do list" so you can get in the game and make Web commerce work for your dealership.
Todd Smith is President and CEO of Target Marketing Group, the leading automotive Internet solutions provider. He is the publisher of the manual "Automotive Retailing on the Internet." TMG works with OEMs, dealership groups and individual dealerships on creating Internet strategies. Visit Target Marketing Group's Web site at www.tmg-online.com.
