Automotive News, Auto News and Trends from Automotive Digest

Industry White Papers

Automotive Information Network Inc. and www.automotivedigest.com are pleased to provide a repository of research, analysis, and data about the automotive industry and its supply channel.

Papers and documents of significance will be posted from time to time for extended periods of time. You are encouraged to contact and interact with the authors and to submit any commentary to either AIN or the author.

Papers will be accepted for review and posting at any time from individuals and companies with established credentials.

Send papers as a Word or PDF file to Chuck Parker, Publisher, chuck@automotivedigest.com.

RECENT WHITE PAPER POSTINGS:

Using a Robust Accessories Selling System

Summary:Despite the current economic downturn, accessories continue to represent an important profit center for your dealership. According to SEMA, accessories sales are over $38 billion annually. How much of that revenue is your dealership grabbing?
Authors:Philip Fallis, Director of Operations and Emerging Solutions, Chrome Systems
For more information:http://www.fixedopsmag.com/

Traffic Counts, Attitude and Basics

Summary:Wherever there is a problem there has to be a solution. Relying on the basic art of selling -- the one constant in our business -- will enable dealerships to capture market share away from competitors who only focus on closing the deal now. Always remember: A salesperson's job is not to sell cars, but to help customers buy them.
Authors:Richard F. Libin, President of APB-Automotive Profit Builders, Inc.
For more information:rlibin@apb.cc

Social Media in the Automotive Industry

Summary:The goal of a social media strategy is to become part of the conversation in order to influence opinion, address concerns and learn from people that are talking about your brand. It requires careful planning, goal setting and following established guidelines to avoid damaging a brand or reputation. By entering the fray of social media with an established plan, OEMs and dealers can promote their brands and help influence what consumers are saying about them.
Authors:Cobalt
For more information:www.cobalt.com

The Continuing Erosion of your Showroom Traffic

Summary:Measuring showroom traffic has always been one of the key indicators into the health of our dealership and our marketing efforts. Everyday countless dealership managers still walk down to the desk and look at the log wondering how many "ups" they had for the day and the status of each of them. The only problem is that over the last 10 years that number continues to erode at an ever more rapid rate. This is obviously due to the Internet and the shift of information that has become available online, allowing consumers to shop for their next vehicle from the comfort of their own home without having to step foot inside your dealership. This massive shift has forced us tochange our selling strategies and tactics.
Authors:Todd Smith, President & CEO of ActivEngage, Inc.
For more information:http://activengage.com/

The Best Way to Tackle Your Parts Inventory is to Outsource

Summary:A dealer's parts inventory can be valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars to well over a million dollars. This large of an asset needs protecting and auditing, ideally, by an unbiased third party. Let's take a look at why "independent" beats "in-house."
Authors:Jennifer Conner, Marketing Director, Total Dealer Solutions Inventory
For more information:http://totaldealersolutionsinc.com/

Internet Changes Buyer and Car Dealership Behavior

Summary:Not too long ago, anyone shopping for a new or used car or truck would spend hours scouring the newspaper or waste precious time and money driving from dealership to dealership to compare models, trim levels and prices. Today's smart, Internet savvy customers do it all with just a few clicks on their computer keyboard and from the comfort of their own home or office. The Internet has, in fact, now become the information and shopping source of choice for today’s busy, timecrunched car and truck buyers.
Authors:ShipCarsNow
For more information:http://www.shipcarsnow.com/

Busy dealership relies on DealerSocket to generate customer knowledge that fuels effective marketing, higher sales

Summary:Brian Crane is especially impressed with DealerSocket’s ability to track customer activity. "Everything I need to know about a customer is just a mouse click away. I can see how many cars he's bought, when he had them serviced, when he was in the store and what he was looking at. I use that knowledge to make our marketing campaigns more effective."
Authors:DealerSocket
For more information:http://dealersocket.com/

Email Frequency: How Relevancy Tactics Changed the Rules

Summary:Marketers are used to planning ahead as most media buys must be scheduled months in advance. The problem that most email marketers face is how to plan the schedule.
Authors:Cactus Sky
For more information:http://www.cactussky.com/csweb/index.php

Manage by the Numbers, Not the Financial Statement

Summary:You can buy into the negativity and cut expenses (i.e. jobs, advertising, inventory, promotions, training, etc.) or you can stick with the basics– the fundamentals that are driving success, and hold every individual in the organization - beginning with yourself - accountable for doing their job and driving success.
Authors:Richard F. Libin, President, APB-Automotive Profit Builders, Inc.
For more information:http://apb.cc/

Don't Wait for Your "Wake-Up Call"

Summary:Your store's inventory health is the real importance of getting the decision-making process moving toward the top of your decision-making plateonce and for all.
Authors:Scott Dreisbach, Vice President of Valuinsight, Inc.
For more information:http://www.valuinsight.com/

Take a Closer Look at the Warranty Advisor

A different view of the warranty administrator.

Rich Reinicke, Vice President of Automotive Warranty Network, Inc.

For more information:

Dealers - Take a New Look at Call Tracking

Summary:Call tracking collects valuable information about prospects and the phone calls themselves that make your dealership more efficient and more profitable. Are you ready to buy? Well as you go down the path with potential provider, be sure to ask the following questions to ensure a pleasant technology vendor experience.
Authors:Stephen Cravens, Head of Marketing, Century Interactive
For more information:http://centuryinteractive.com/

2010 Dealer Survey Results (from ShipCarsNow.com)

Summary:While a lot of information is available about the used car industry, not much to date has been focused on auto transportation. As a company specializing in auto transportation services for the remarketing and used car industries, ShipCarsNow uses its survey results to understand and respond to customer requirements for shipping pre-owned and wholesale vehicles, especially when buying online through Internet auctions.
Authors:

ShipCarsNow.com

For more information:http://www.shipcarsnow.com/scn/jas/index.xhtml

How Dealer Reputation Impacts Email Deliverability

Summary:Most marketers engaged in email marketing do not realize the important role that their reputation plays, not only on their deliverability, but also on the overall return of their marketing investment.
Authors:Peter Martin, President, Cactus Sky Communications
For more information:http://www.cactussky.com/csweb/index.php

Knowledge About Customers Fuels Effective Marketing, Higher Sales

Summary:Brian Crane is executive manager at Ken Garff Automotive, a busy dealership in Ogden, Utah. "We're about 40 miles north of Salt Lake City, so it's a very competitive market," says Crane. "We've been using DealerSocket for about two years, and we can really see the difference it's made in our business." Crane is especially impressed with DealerSocket's ability to track customer activity. "Everything I need to know about a customer is just a mouse click away. I can see how many cars he's bought, when he had them serviced, when he was in the store and what he was looking at. I use that knowledge to make our marketing campaigns more effective."
Authors:DealerSocket
For more information:www.dealersocket.com

Navigating The New Era

Expert Legal, Accounting and Finance Tips to Keep Your Dealership on Track

Compli, Crowe Horwath LLP, Stockamp Brown, LLC & Huntington National Bank

For more information:www.compli.com

Using Multi-Channel Communications

Summary:A single channel strategy uses one medium, direct mail for instance. A multi-channel strategy uses two or more, say direct mail, email and the dealership website. Two events can create a memorable customer communications experience. First is the use of a multi-channel strategy. The second is to have a coherent roadmap for communicating specific messages to customersat critical touch points.
Authors:Jim Roche, Founder and CEO, Auto Point
For more information:http://www.autopointinc.com/

Retaining Service Customers

Lang Market research revealed that the average dealership in 2009 lost 74% of new car buyers to aftermarket service shops. Why? Is it neglect? Is it becauseyour employees don't care? Is it because your prices are too high? The truth is that it could be because you're not tracking them properly. Remember that old saying "out of sight out of mind"? Well, if you want to improve customer retention you must first measure, track and monitor it.

Authors:Larry Edwards, President, Edwards & Associates Consulting, Inc.
For more information:http://www.edwardsconsult.com/

Are Electric Vehicles a Passing Fancy?

Can you imagine how blacksmiths reacted to the "horseless carriage" at the turn of the last century? I'm sure some saw the new fangled things as just a passing fancy, and thought they would never replace the horse for transportation—so why worry. Some probably saw the horseless carriage as the wave of the future and began looking for ways to adapt their business. And there were obviously those who decided the trend to horseless carriages was real, but there would always be a need for blacksmiths and kept doing business as usual.

Here we are at a similar point in time a hundred years later. For years we have heard predictions that the internal combustion engine (ICE) was doomed and would be replaced. The recent past has seen great strides in improving the ICE, making it more efficient, less polluting and more powerful. Most recently we've seen various types of ICEs combined with electric motors to form hybrid vehicles.

Authors:Jim Spoonhower
For more information:www.fastlaneresearch.com

Auto Accessories Sales - Timing is Everything!

Summary:izmocars released the findings of a national dealership report, revealing that when it comes to selling accessories to new-vehicle buyers, the right timing– along with providing rich visualization of the potential enhancements– makes all the difference. In a nine-month study of 120-plus dealerships, car buyers presented with an online configuration tool (allowing them to interactively customize their new car from a menu of accessory options) precisely at the time of purchase were dramatically more likely to buy. One in two buyers experiencing that process purchased accessories (up from one in ten before), and the average dealership generated$400-$600 in accessory-revenue-per-vehicle-sold, up from$80-$120 before– representing a revenue gain of 500%.
Authors:izmocars
For more information:www.izmocars.com

Are You Unknowingly Putting Your Dealership's Financing at Risk?

Summary:In today's economy, having a sound relationship with a financial institution is more important than ever as lenders assess risk and manage their portfolios to comply with increased regulatory scrutiny. Dealerships need to be aware of key factors that can affect their relationships with lenders in these difficult times.
Authors:Jodi Kippe and Dave Jarrett, Crowe Horwath
For more information:www.crowehorwath.com

Warranty Compliance -- Keeping More Money in an Audit Involves the Technicians

Summary:What's happening in most dealerships is that the manufacturer is "loaning" warranty dollars until an audit is performed where the loans are then paid back. Now you need to be sure your dealership takes the steps necessary to claim the warranty money you're entitled to and -- more importantly -- to keep it in an audit.
Authors:Rich Reinicke, Vice President, Automotive Warranty Network, Inc.
For more information:http://www.awninc.com/

Be Everywhere in Today's Market

Summary:The key to winning in today's Internet market is to leverage as manyonline opportunities as possible to get people to find your dealership and inventory. Once they find you, it's just as important to sell them on your dealership experience.
Authors:Tony French, President, Automotive Internet Media
For more information:www.automotiveinternetmedia.com

Here Come the "Echo Boomers," Looking Forward to Automobile Ownership

Summary:Echo Boomers, the generation born between 1975 and 1991-- and estimated to be about 77 million strong-- are expected to reshape much of society as they come into their peak earning years. And there's good news for auto makers and dealers. "We have heard that "Echos" as a group are less interested in vehicle ownership than other generations and wanted to investigate those claims as it could impact the future of the auto business," said Chip Perry, President and CEO, AutoTrader.com. "The results we found were certainly contrary to the conventional wisdom."
Authors:AutoTrader.com
For more information:http://www.autotrader.com/

Next Generation Service CRM

Summary:The rapid acceptance and use of stand-alone solutions like online scheduling and ESM has led to a predictable outcome-- the need for a Service CRM solution that integrates online Service scheduling with electronic service menus. First generation CRM solutions have improved the customer experience but, in doing so, have also raised customer expectations. The full impact on convenience and trust is not realized until the online scheduling application fully integrates, in real time, with the electronic Service menu.
Authors:Neal East, CEO, Xtime
For more information:http://www.xtime.com/

Youthful drivers...is your company exposed?

What is a youthful driver? Although opinions may vary, most rental car and insurance companies consider anyone under the age of 25 as "youthful." If a 24 year-old is considered a "youthful" driver, then what is a 17 or 18 year-old? Are you planning to provide a youthful family member with a car? Do you have employees under the age of 25? Do they drive company vehicles for business purposes? What if they do? Remember that because your business owns the vehicle, you are vicariously liable for any damage a youthful, inexperienced driver may cause. Making appropriate decisions can help prevent losses and protect company assets.

Authors:Daryl Allegree, Risk Engineering Manager, Zurich North America
For more information:http://www.zurichna.com/zna/home/welcome.htm

Where Is the Financing Coming From?

Summary:Today's financing terms remain more limited than they were before the recession. For the most part, the limited number of recent loans has had higher spreads over the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), lower loan-to-values, and shorter repayment terms. However, some large banks are looking to expand relationships with existing clients and pick up new clients. Given a well-capitalized buyer and a solidly profitable store, certain banks might, in limited circumstances, offer 70 percent loan-to-value on real estate and up to 50 percent blue-sky financing, in addition to floorplan financing.
Authors:Rick Kotzen, Partner, Crowe Horwath
For more information:http://www.crowehorwath.com/crowe/

A New Kind of Service Contract: The Pre-Paid Maintenance Program

Summary:It's critical, however, to acknowledge the compelling reasons many owners do not return to their selling dealer for necessary maintenance. Among the many reasons why owners go elsewhere? Perceived higher costs, difficulty in scheduling appointments, longer wait times for Service, etc. But cost is number one. Countering this belief and retaining these "rogue" customers can make the difference between good and great absorption, not to mention overall dealership profitability.
Authors:Rob Mancuso, Senior VP, Corporate Communications and Investor Relations Officer, The Warranty Group
For more information:http://www.thewarrantygroup.com/

Where to Focus First: Dealer Advertising & Computer Systems Expenses

Summary:Perhaps more than ever, dealers need to tighten their belts to ride out the rough environment and protect their bottom lines. Fortunately, several types of expenditures are ripe for reduction.
Authors:Jodi Kippe, Partner, Crowe Horwath
For more information:

http://www.crowehorwath.com/crowe/

How to Market and Sell Services with Webinars

Summary:Webinars consist of visual elements delivered from your computer (such as an MS Powerpoint presentation) and most-often a teleseminar delivered through a phone bridge or through the computer speakers. Usually, attendees are in "listen-only" mode and can interact via text to respond to survey or polling questions and pose questions to the presenter(s).
Authors:GoToMeeting and Quantum Leap Marketing
For more information:http://www.gotomeeting.com/fec/

Diesel and Gasoline Exhaust: How to help protect your business and your employees

Summary:Diesel and gasoline exhaust can be hazardous to employees working in dealerships and automotive services businesses. And not just those working in the shop are at risk; office employees can also be exposed through poor ventilation systems. So what can you do to protect your business and employees from dangerous exhaust fumes? It's critical to understand the health risks, continually measure diesel and gasoline exhaust levels in the workplace, and plan and communicate how to handle hazardous materials, including diesel and gasoline exhaust, to employees.
Authors:Daryl Allegree, Risk Engineering Manager, Zurich
For more information:www.zurichna.com

Warranty Compliance Begins with the Service Advisor

Summary:Dealers and automakers alike stand to lose out financially due to a lack of stringent compliance when it comes to warranty documentation details. Dealers must pay close attention to audits, charge-backs and the myriad of reasons that lead to financial loss. Now, more than any time before, the dealership needs to pay attention to warranty documentation details or lose warranty money. It's just that plain and simple. So click here or click on the image, and let an experienced warranty advisor fill you in on how to keep the hard-earned dollars you make in your service department.
Authors:Rich Reinicke, Vice President of Automotive Warranty Network, Inc.
For more information:http://www.awninc.com

Unlocking the True Value of a Lead

Many dealers know the average price of an Internet lead, whether it comes in from a third party web site, their own web site or through search engine marketing. But do they know the real value of every lead? Keeping cost per sale down is important, but once the sale is completed many salespeople set the lead aside, failing to recognize it may have anything more to offer.

To unlock their true value, dealers should be tapping into Internet leads as a revenue source for other departments. It's common knowledge that nearly half of online used car sales come from new car leads. So why not use those same Internet leads to increase service traffic?

Authors:Josh Vajda
For more information:vajdaj@autousa.com

10 Key Online Marketing Trends for 2010

Summary:Online marketing is facing unprecedented change, brought on by a volatile economy, the meteoric rise of new channels, and the increased demand for financial accountability. 2010 is already shaping up to be an exciting year for online marketers. To provide better visibility into the year's trends, Unica surveyed 155 marketers about online marketing technology usage and plans, and the data revealed 10 key online marketing trends for 2010.
Authors:Jay Henderson
For more information:http://www.unica.com

Responding to Automobile Safety Recalls

Summary:When a safety recall is issued by an auto manufacturer, potential risks can extend beyond the manufacturer and affect other automotive businesses. It's important for automotive businesses to have a plan-of-action in place to help address potential issues arising from recalls that can have an immediate impact on their inventory or fleet. This paper provides recommendations to help auto dealers, fleet managers and service and repair shops respond to auto safety recalls.
Authors:Daryl Allegree, Risk Engineering Manager
For more information:daryl.allegree@zurichna.com

Investing in Your Service Team

Summary:One of the biggest concerns for dealers these days is how to motivate the service staff to increase their performance. When attempting to motivate a group of people there are several considerations. After all, we know that what might motivate one person may not motivate another. Motivation is the internal reason for people to do what they do. It may be based on a reward, personal satisfaction, or fear of loss of privileges or monetary value. In the automotive world, sometimes service advisors are not properly equipped with the tools to become the best at what they are doing or they have simply been placed on the service drive and left to survive.
Authors:Chris Burnett
For more information:www.atconsse.com

Don't Miss Repair Rate Opportunities

Summary:As warranty continues to drop as a percentage of our total business and with better used vehicles available to the used car department, we can now say that the significant opportunity is not in repairing but maintaining vehicles. But don’t discount the financial effect that your repair rate can have on your operations. As you review your mix of work and look at the pattern, as long as repair operations are not 0%, we have an opportunity. What you need to figure out is how much of an opportunity exists.
Authors:David Dietrich
For more information:www.atconsse.com

Sales Process = Sales Success

Summary:In our increasingly complex and competitive marketplace, managing the sales process is a critical success factor in the consistent achievement of revenue goals. Senior sales executives and management teams who implement standardized sales processes and reinforce best practices will increase pipeline visibility, sales execution, and overall performance, leading to more predictable and sustainable revenue growth.
Authors:The TAS Group
For more information:http://www.thetasgroup.com/

Are All Your Marketing Dollars in the Same Basket?

Summary:In today's tough economic times your marketing dollars must work harder than ever before. But to make the most of your budget, you must clearly understand which efforts are returning value, and to what extent. The amount of advertising that you place in each advertising medium – direct mail, newspapers, radio, television, online, etc. - should ultimately be determined by what's generating the best results.
Authors:Tony French, Automotive Internet Media
For more information:www.automotiveinternetmedia.com

NAVIGATING THE NEW DEALERSHIP ERA

PROTECT YOUR DEALERSHIP FROM

THE PERFECT WAGE & HOUR STORM

COMPLIMENTARY LUNCH @ CATA HQ IN METRO CHICAGO

MAY 11 @ 10 AM CENTRAL - CLICK FOR INFO & REGISTRATION

Authors:Compli
For more information:

Is BHPH Right for Franchise Dealers?

Summary:Franchise dealers enter 2010 with many of the same challenges they have faced for the last 24 months, and for some of them, BHPH presents an opportunity for increased profits and success.
Authors:Kenneth B. Shilson, CPA
For more information:www.bhph.org

Service Marketing 2010 - New Solutions for New Challenges

Summary:Current economic market conditions are creating dynamic shifts in the automotive service industry. Consumers are keeping their vehicles longer, resulting in several impacts. One is that fewer new vehicles are being purchased, placing more pressure on new car dealership fixed operations departments to support overall dealership profitability. A staggering 74% of consumers report that they choose companies and brands based on what others say online about their customer service experiences. Vehicle service providers find that their online reputation increasingly will drive their business or harm it.
Authors:DriverSide & R.L. Polk & Co.
For more information:http://www.driverside.com/new/pages/docs/DSPolkWhitePaper_091207.pdf

Pollution: Does it have to be a dirty word?

Summary:Pollution sounds like such a dirty word, and can cost your business millions of dollars without good risk management and insurance coverage. Is your business exposed to pollution liability risks? Are you covered?
Authors:Zurich
For more information:www.zurichna.com

A Cornerstone to Building Customer Retention

Summary:Dealership service business retention decreases from more than 70 percent in the first year of ownership to slightly more than 50 percent in the fifth year, according to a 2006 survey by J.D. Power. When you graph the retention for nearly every business, customer trends usually appears as a waterfall. That is, over time, more customers defect and less return. One way to increase overall traffic then is to increase the percentage of customers who return initially for service after their vehicle purchase. While the chart below depicts percentages, increasing your first appointment penetration will increase the likelihood of the customer returning throughout the entire ownership cycle.
Authors:Eric Wilson, Applied Transporation Concepts, Inc. (ATcon)
For more information:www.atconsse.com

Fraud in the Dealership

In parts I and II of the series, we discussed what a typical fraud perpetrator profile included and gave some strong fraud indicators in specific departments. An employee usually steals when there is an opportunity to steal and usually is someone that has been with company for at least five years and is in a position of trust. Many times additional duties and responsibilities were given to that person because of that trust that had built up over the years. Pressures such as money or addictions can drive someone to perpetrate a fraud especially when it is easy to justify the action. It is clear that even the most trusted employees will steal.

So where do you start? This final part will address ways to identify where you have the greatest risk in your dealership by ranking the following three statements in the order of which you would be most likely to say (1=most likely, 2=second most likely, 3=third most likely).

Authors:Brian Bentz, CPA, CIA, Dixon Hughes
For more information:www.dixon-hughes.com/dsg

Online Service Menus

Summary:In today's dealership environment, where new car sales continue to decline, combined with fuel prices that are constantly fluctuating and a consumer that is unsure of their economic situation, improving the dealership's fixed operations performance is on most dealer's minds. "How can I get more gross profit?", "How can I increase my hours per repair order?", and "What can I do to get more traffic in the door?" These are all questions that have been asked by dealer principals, GMs and service managers numerous times over the past several months. Ask yourself this question -- what is the most important point-of-sale tool that your service consultant uses today? The answer is the Service Menu. Menu sales are highly productive operations that most technicians can perform with less likelihood of a "comeback." And menu parts are typically in stock.
Authors:Dan Bowdon, Applied Transportation Concepts, Inc. (ATcon)
For more information:http://www.atconsse.com/

SAP - Giving Service Companies a Fast Start

Summary:Whether you offer IT services or strategic consulting, your success depends on how well you manage your key accounts to ensure long-term relationships and the highest possible margins. In the current climate of intense competition and increasingly well-informed clients, it can be difficult to maintain market share - let alone grow your business.
Authors:SAP
For more information:http://www.sap.com/

Automotive Loan Origination System

Automotive Loan Origination System -- Intelligent Integration and Auto-Decisioning Origination

Authors:Fiserv
For more information:www.fiserv.com

How Marketers Can Transform Their Business With Online Marketing

Summary:In June 2009, online business optimization firm Omniture commissioned Forrester Consulting to research the current state of online marketing and its measurement. The study evaluated how well marketers were maturing their approach to online marketing. What is their approach to online programs? What skills are marketing executives prioritizing now and in five years? What challenges inhibit further advancement? And what technologies, if any, do they rely on to help with online marketing management?
Authors:Forrester Research
For more information:http://www.forrester.com

Optimizing Paid Search Advertising - Used Vehicles

This study examines which companies are adept at delivering not only quantity but also quality of pay-per-click ads around searches for used vehicles in the U.S. We examined ads that were displayed when looking for the top 10 used cars in 10 markets. A total of 87 companies produced 992 ads of varying degrees of relationship to the searches.

Authors:Sorgenfrei
For more information:www.sorgenfreillc.com

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