Should dealers leave vehicles online that are no longer in the store? A number of dealers utilize this tactic with the thought that they can then “flip” the shopper into another vehicle. While this technique works a small fraction of the time, you still have to decide what you are going to tell people when they ... Read More »

For years, there has been a lot of discussion and effort made to address customer handling at the store level. The T/O system,up-selling, the closing room. The early betting was that online was going to change all that.
And it has.
Having recently purchased a new vehicle I was struck by an anomaly: the showroom ... Read More »

You can now relive the 2007 J.D. Power and Associates Automotive Internet Roundtable. Below, view video and audio of the event as well as download the attendee list, program workbook and presentations.
Video -  View all of the presentations from the main Red Rock ballroom.  Included in this feature is real ... Read More »

Despite the tremendous changes the Internet has caused for the vehicle buying process, service is still stuck in the old model: call to schedule or drop in early morning.  But many of your customers would probably welcome the ability to schedule service online (assuming it actually works as expected).  Dealerships ... Read More »

Below are the links for the presentations given at the 2007 J.D. Power and Associates Automotive Internet Roundtable.
Please note: A few of these are quite large and may take several minutes to load.
Click here for audio, video and additional meeting downloads.
Day 1 - Wednesday, October 17th
 ... Read More »

We heard snippets this morning, at the IRT, from several recently released automotive Internet research studies. J.D. Power and Associates spoke to their recently released Autoshopper.com studies and a collaboration between The Cobalt Group, Yahoo and Polk discussed findings from their Dealer eBusiness Performance Study. ... Read More »

David Metter, CMO Mile One/Atlantic automotive cited the bidding war among dealers for the same words and phrases as one reason he's planning to get out of paid search. He further notes that content is king, and urges dealers to put more pressure on OEMS for more/better content.
Seems to make sense: on a national, ... Read More »

Four high profile dealer representatives appeared on the Internet Roundtable "Successful Dealer Panel" to share their opinions and experiences on a range of Internet related topics. Ralph Ebersole, who moderated the panel, queried panel participants on a wide range of subjects including the dealership sales structure, ... Read More »

The opening Roundtable dealer sessions focused on process issues related to retail Internet strategies. Ralph Paglia opened the session, focused on human resources, the "people"part of the equation. In finding and retaining top talent Paglia reminded the audience that published job descriptions and published pay plans are ... Read More »

We heard some interesting comments at the marketing roundtables today.  Here's a selection of quotes (feel free to chime in with your own thoughts):
From Good Behavior, Bad Behavior: How to Tell the Difference (Behavioral Targeting)
"I haven't seen click through rates dramatically increase as I narrow down ... Read More »