Does Your Dealership Ignore Customers?

Would you feel comfortable letting shoppers mull around your lot or your showroom without ever being greeted, welcomed or offered assistance? What would the impact be to your bottom line if your sales people took such an approach with your walk in traffic and waited for the customer to approach them? What is your current website doing to engage visitors within the first two minutes?

There are a few important factors to consider when choosing a live chat provider:
• Proactive chat capability versus reactive
• 24/7/365 live chat coverage
• Ability to handle multiple chats simultaneously
• Ability to deliver chat transcripts in real time
• Ability to push individual pages to the consumer i.e. lead forms
• Ability to send chats to correct dealership departments

The longer you wait to incorporate proactive live chat on your site to help you cultivate sales leads, the longer you will continue to be a great lead generator for your competitor.

For more information, please visit ActivEngage.com.  Click here to read the entire article.
 

Beggs: Used Price Slowdown Continues in Midst of Strong New Sales
Increase in new car sales in recent months has forced decline in used vehicle prices, says Ricky Beggs, Black Book managing editor, pointing to a continuation of softer used car market as a result.
AutoRemarketing, June 9, 2010

Report: GM to Reinstate More Dealers
Good news for more GM dealers around the country. GM North American President Mark Reuss says automaker will have about 5,000 U.S.dealers, working to reinstate about 900 more than originally planned. Full report expected in mid-July.
Detroit News, June 9, 2010

GM Recalling 1.5M Vehicles Over Fire Concerns
GM is jumping on automaker recall bandwagon (hopefully before accidents occur) and will recall 1.5 million 2006-2009 vehicles worldwide to disable a heated washer fluid system module that could lead to fires. It's GM's 2nd recall (2008) over this issue.
MSNBC.msn.com, June 9, 2010

NADA Used Car Guide Maintains Wholesale Price Drop Predictions
With incentives helping boost the new-vehicle market, wholesale prices dipped slightly in May. The drop was expected and may continue through year's end. Analysts also noted that some segments like midsize vans and large pickups outperformed expectations.

Is Digital Revolution Driving Decline in U.S. Car Culture?
The U.S. vehicle market has been shrinking for 15 years as baby boomers leave it and younger generations increasingly find automobiles less relevant to their lifestyles.  Staying connected to friends safely, telecommuting, mass transit and shared vehicles, and environmental concerns are all working to significantly reduce the young driver market.

TRW Automotive Supports Vehicle Makers Preparing for New US NCAP Requirements
TRW Automotive says it's ready to help automakers meet more stringent NCAP safety criteria for next year. Key to TRW's readiness is the use of computer simulation to evaluate existing safety features and test new ideas before implementing traditional testing.

Compli & CoreLogic Credco Webinar

Compli & CoreLogic Credco discuss crucial details you need to ensure compliance with new "risk-based pricing rule" on Wed, June 16, 1 p.m. Eastern. "Live" Q&A session following one-hour FREE webinar. Reserve your webinar seat and receive email confirmation. Email Laurie Halter with questions.

New Web-Based DMS from Nowcom

Nowcom adds major upgrade to its Dealer Desktop program. New DealerCenter 7 is an inventory management tool with vehicle history reports by AutoCheck as well as booking services by Kelley Blue Book, NADAguides.com and Black Book. Dealers can manage online advertising through AutoTrader.com and Cars.com or Nowcom custom websites. Visit the Nowcom website for more information.

MobilTrac Provides Free Accident History Reports

Available on Any Mobile Phone from instaVIN™, MobilTrac announces a "free report" offer with the launch of its real-time mobile Accident History service. To receive a free report, text the 17-digit vehicle VIN number to “INSTA” or 46782 from any mobile phone. Offer good through June 30, 2010. Also includes Vehicle Valuator, up-to-the-minutes trade-in value with report. More information at www.instavin.com.

This Campaign Requires Minimal Effort and Offers Maximum Results

Each year, millions of people are involved in motor vehicle accidents - many resulting in injuries and some in death. Sadly, most can be prevented by taking small but important safety measures, such as staying alert and avoiding distractions while driving.

June is National Drive Safe Month. Communicate with your customers and find a way to demonstrate that their safety is high on your priority list. Last year, an OK dealer hosted a Safety Event that resulted in an additional 438 closed ROs for $63K in revenue and an extra 15 vehicle sales!

Interested in setting up your Drive Safe campaign? Click here to request more information or call OneCommand at 800.211.7614 today! Our recommended June campaigns include National Drive Safe Month, Father's Day, Summer is Here Event, Summer Accessories and Detail Clinic.
 

Your DMS is full of customer "types" -- active, inactive, defective. But there is one thing they all have in common: Service department customers are more savvy and demand better and faster responses than visitors to the service departments of days gone by. They have less time to spare, some of the technology is beyond them, and breakdowns are far less tolerated in this hectic world we find ourselves in. Bottom line -- there is no time more crucial for understanding the mind of service customers. Click here or click on the image for some timely insight!

Telematics Takes a Look at the Future
Leo A. McCloskey, Airbiquity, speaks out about global trends

Leo A. McCloskey is VP of the Airbiquity marketing and product management team. When asked which trends will impact the industry the most in the coming years, McCloskey pointed out a few important trends:

One is globalization. While the North American market is currently the more mature connected vehicle market, we expect that will change in the coming years. This was one of the considerations in deploying our service delivery cloud globally from the beginning: It provides both experience and resiliency as we deliver solutions where our customers want them.

Another important trend is hyper-personalization. The introduction of the iPhone really changed the landscape for consumer expectations. Consumers expect services tailored to them from their selected information sources. The age of one-size-fits-all is truly over.

A third trend is inclusion of the smartphone into the connected vehicle service proposition. The phone’s data plan brings broadband connectivity as well as highly personalized content and services. Says McCloskey: In the very near future, the introduction of HTML5 is likely to enable personal clouds that contain personal data (pictures, music, etc), and this needs to be included in the connected vehicle framework.

What key topics will you discuss with the industry at the 10th annual Telematics Detroit 2010 Conference?
The key focus of the talk will be on enabling the OEMs to safely deliver services from anywhere – including personal clouds, smartphones, and their own service platforms – without losing control of the in-vehicle experience.

News from the Automotive X Prize Competition

Viking 45 from Western Washington University is one of several entries to advance to the second stage of competition. The first performance stage of the competition, the Shakedown Stage, ran from April 26-May 7. The next stage of the competition, the Knockout Qualifying Stage, starts June 15. Only 10-20 teams will advance to the Finals Stage in July, and about 8-15 teams will likely go on to the final Validation Stage in August. In September, three of the remaining teams will be chosen as the contest’s winners, splitting $10 million in prize money between them. Click here or click on the image to learn more as the contest advances!