After two women test drove a Mercedes Benz ML at Atlanta Classic Cars recently, the sales team decided to take advantage of the EasyCare CoVideo program and get creative.

Instead of the standard email follow-up response to thank them for coming in, the sales associate stood in front of the model each of the ladies had driven and reminded them in less than 30 seconds how much they enjoyed the ride. The video e-mail was creative, fun and within two weeks, both women were driving out of the dealership with their new vehicles.

“So we’re two for two and we’re excited to continue using the program,” said Joanna Ellis of Atlanta Classic Cars. “We have used the iflip camera, the desktop webcam and we’re really looking forward to expanding our use of the program too.” EasyCare CoVideo is also available for Android and will soon be fully compatible for recording on iPhone and iPad.

More and more car dealerships across the country are feeling the same way. EasyCare CoVideo software provides an easy way to record, save, manage, and send video messages. All videos are housed in a web-based, password protected video library hosted on secure cloud servers.

Joe Healy, the Internet director at Lone Star Chevrolet in Houston, Texas, said their dealership has been using the program for over two years.

“One of the reasons I like it is I can send a video much quicker than I can possibly type a memo. We use it every day to communicate not only with our customers, but with each other,” he said. One reason we use it is to separate ourselves from the competition. When a lead comes in, we immediately send an EasyCare CoVideo. It’s more important and effective than the typical auto responder because we know it is viewed more often.”

Healy said his Internet managers like it because they get a notification when the e-mail is opened and can follow up while the customer is still sitting in front of their computer.

“Many times they’ll even joke: ‘Hey, I just looked at your video,’” he said. “Just like the government has a program: eat five fruits and vegetables a day, our saying here at Lone Star is send at least five videos every single day. My number one salesman actually holds the record. He sent 107 videos in one day and he sold 26 cars that month.”

Custom designed template which includes seven controllable links and dealership branding.

EasyCare CEO Larry Dorfman said the resources it offers through EasyCare CoVideo were developed to help dealers find a unique way to communicate better with their database and prospective customers.

“We saw this as an opportunity to introduce it to the more than 1,400 dealers we serve, as well as to introduce new dealers to EasyCare and our mission to help dealers get more customers, more profits and more retention. Using EasyCare CoVideo, dealers can turbo charge their message and make it much more personal than a typical text e-mail,” he said. “The response to the program from dealers, managers, salespeople and service personnel has been nothing short of remarkable. Dealers using the program are selling more vehicles and increasing customer retention in service. That’s what we were looking for.”

“When everybody’s out there texting and writing and you’re using this kind of video tool, it really sets a dealership apart from the others.” Larry Dorfman

“EasyCare employees use the program all the time to communicate internally as well as to our dealer customers. Most find that it only takes a few videos to get totally comfortable with recording and sending videos instead of e-mails. The program isn’t designed to replace all text e-mails. It is designed to replace those that really matter by adding audio and visual to standard text.

“From the product itself, all the way through the support you get with it, it’s phenomenal,” said Ron Ewer of Legacy Ford in Houston, Texas. “I look forward to many more years with it. Customers love it. We’ve been using it quite heavily on some e-mail blasts.”

The software was developed on the technology campus of Purdue University by a local entrepreneur and a young software programmer. “What we saw was an opportunity to take a piece of software that was developed at a high level, but still needing a lot of infrastructure,” said Dorfman. “We had the resources and the connections in the automotive business to take it to the next level.”

According to a study by Dr. Albert Mehrabian, words and text only represent 7% of how we communicate. The other 93% is via visual and audio. So using video to communicate internally as well as externally clearly should result in better communication for the dealership.

Changing the way to capture customers

EasyCare introduced the “new” EasyCare CoVideo to dealers at NADA in 2011. Since then dealers across the country have begun to engage with their customers and prospects in a totally different way. Some of the uses of EasyCare CoVideo are:

• Responding with video to Internet leads.
• Following up with a prospect that visited the dealership, but didn’t buy.
• Sending out automated video communications from the dealership CRM and service retention software.

“EasyCare CoVideo really sets us apart from the competition.” Paul Milano

With the increase in use of 3G and 4G smartphones, more consumers are choosing to be communicated via this format. EasyCare CoVideo communication will play on all smartphones including Droid and iPhone.

Dorfman added, “When everybody’s out there texting and writing and you’re using this kind of video tool, it really sets a dealership apart from the others.”

“With the different templates and endless types of messages that can be sent, we have an enormous amount of flexibility getting the right message to our customers in a way that most customers are unfamiliar with,” Paul Milano of Montrose Auto Group in Alliance, Ohio said. “I like the ability and flexibility of EasyCare CoVideo. It allows my service management teams to instantly connect and communicate to our customers.”

“From the product itself, all the way through the support you get with it, it’s phenomenal.” Ron Ewer

Milano said most people feel traditional emails are getting old. “Everybody is getting inundated with traditional e-mails,” he said. “EasyCare CoVideo allows us to deliver a personal message directly to the customer. This has a much bigger impact than a traditional text or e-mail message.”

This gives dealers like Milano an opportunity to immediately establish a connection with potential customers. “We instantly start building a rapport with the customer from the moment the EasyCare CoVideo e-mail is opened,” he said. “In our competitive business environment it’s all about building rapport and standing out in the crowd. The better relationship our staff builds with our customers, the more successful they are having customers spend money with us. Our goal is to stand out above and beyond our competition and keep our customers away from our competitors. EasyCare CoVideo gives us the competitive edge.”

There’s nothing like a satisfied customer

Like the customers at Atlanta Classic Cars, the EasyCare team is receiving a positive customer response for a number of reasons.

Customers watching videos from Joanna Ellis of Atlanta Classic Cars can see a warm touch with a bouquet of yellow roses behind her on the desk. Jenn Hamilton’s video from Subaru of Gwinnett in Duluth, Georgia, has her sitting in front of an automobile with a big red bow around it and classical music plays in the background as she talks.

“…our saying at Lone Star is send at least five videos every single day. My number one salesman actually holds the record. He sent 107 videos in one day and he sold 26 cars that month.” Joe Healy

“EasyCare CoVideo has been helpful in setting our dealership apart from some of the other dealerships in town because it’s a different way for people to communicate with you, a different way for people to do business,” Hamilton said. “It makes it a lot more personal. You can just do something sitting at your desk. You can do it from home even. It’s just easy. Press a button, record and go. We probably use EasyCare CoVideo most in sending out initial replies to people when they inquire online just following up with them. They love it because they see you in the dealership and they say OK, I know who you are and they like it and it’s a neat way for us to connect. And they feel like they’ve been here before. I would absolutely recommend EasyCare CoVideo to anyone who is looking for something different and unique.”

Milano agrees. “In the past we have sent an e-mail blast about an upcoming sale event. We tried to get creative on the look of the ad (color, wording, and creative templates). With EasyCare CoVideo you can see and hear the excitement in our managers. It is as if you were standing across from the customer to deliver the message.”

“I like the ability to instantly be able to touch my customers in a way that they are not accustomed too when they open an e-mail,” said Milano. “I have sent a personal thank you to many customers and vendors using EasyCare CoVideo and received an enormous amount of positive feedback. EasyCare CoVideo really sets us apart from the competition.”

Mike Delong is the national brand manager for EasyCare CoVideo. Delong has been in the automotive business for more than 25 years. He began his career as an F&I manager. Over the years he has held positions from sales manager to general manager to operating partner with experience in both domestic as well as import brands. Delong joined EasyCare in August 2010. He avidly uses EasyCare CoVideo. Visit easycarecovideo.com. For more information on EasyCare, visit easycare.com. You can reach out to Mike at mdelong@easycare.com.

But it won’t happen if Matt Buchanan and Jesse Biter, founders of Dealers United (DU), have anything to say about it. DU’s mission is to save these dealerships from extinction.

Now more than ever

Buchanan and Biter know they have little time to waste. The trend of big fish getting bigger—and more powerful—is not slowing down.  As a result, the competition for private owners no longer is coming from the dealership down the street; today’s competitor is the MegaDealer Group. From 2000 to 2009, dealer groups with 20 or more stores grew by 64 percent, and seven of those were publicly-traded companies. During the same period, the rest of the industry fell by 28 percent.

Vehicles sold in new car franchised stores experienced a similar trend. The industry as a whole suffered a 33 percent decrease while MegaDealer Groups enjoyed a 23 percent up-tick in sales.

Putting the rise of publicly traded dealership groups in perspective, 1996 marked the first year of the phenomenon with three such dealer groups. At that time, the three companies collectively held a mere 0.4 percent of the new vehicle market. In 2009, the market share of public dealership groups was about 7.3 percent, a whopping 1,700 percent increase in a little over a decade.

Fighting an unfair advantage

The trend is obvious. Conglomerate dealership groups are growing while privately-held dealerships, for many years the backbone of the industry, are seeing their numbers dwindle. You can’t read an automotive trade journal these days without learning about still another small, family-owned dealership closing its doors for good; often after decades of service to their local community.

The odds of business survival, already tough during a recession, are stacked against the Davids in favor of the Goliaths. Conglomerate dealerships buy in bulk and get huge vendor discounts. They can leverage multi-dealer marketing campaigns and promotions. Publicly-traded dealership groups have the resources to be innovative, participate in test pilot programs, and even create their own technology tools.  They can share best practices across their portfolio of dealerships, standardize procedures, and protect their reputation in the marketplace.

These conglomerates can offer more cars for customers to choose from and, like Walmart, because they deal in huge volumes, can afford to offer their products to consumers for less.  And if that isn’t enough to drive fear into the heart of any private dealership, the big guys have more and better access to financing; coming at a time when banks are overly cautious about lending and car financing has all but dried up for everyone else.

According to Buchanan and Biter, if you’re a private dealer, you shouldn’t just be worried; you should be ready to fight back. It’s an uneven playing field.

Level the playing field

The competitive landscape may be tilted in favor of the conglomerates, but it doesn’t have to stay that way thanks to Dealers United. This innovative company is the first service to leverage the combined buying and negotiating power of private dealerships, as well as provide business development services for its members. Dealers United goes beyond the normal buying co-op by vetting, negotiating, and following up with vendors, making sure vendors deliver as promised.

In addition to its strength in numbers philosophy, DU is driven by two other key concepts. First, joining is free and any dealer may join; no hassles, no fees. Second, DU is a service of, by and for dealers; and, appropriately, dealers call the shots.

So, how does it work? Dealers United members identify a specific service they desire, say SEO, CRM or DMS through a group vote each month. Industry experts from Dealers United research leading providers of that service/product through Q&A sessions and onsite visits with businesses. Once the best of the best vendor in the category is selected, Dealers United negotiates the best deal – leveraging the combined buying power of its membership. At the end of each month, DU will distribute a detailed video about the vendor to members, as well as specifics of the upcoming deal.  Dealers decide whether they want to participate by agreeing to the discounted price and buying the offer. If the minimum number of dealers is met, it’s a done deal and the participating members are given the group discount on the product or service.

Each vendor deal that DU members select will be time-sensitive, with clearly stated start and end dates, as well as parameters for the minimum and maximum number of dealers the chosen vendor can handle. Biter estimates DU members could enjoy vendor savings of anywhere between 45 to 75 percent. This savings represents money dealers could reinvest in their businesses or simply take to their bottom lines.

“We know through discussions with other vendors that MegaDealer Groups, on average, save at least 40 to 60 percent on average off what the smaller, private dealers pay for essentially the same product or service,” said Buchanan.

Win-win for dealers and vendors

Vendors benefit as well. Dealers United will act as the voice for private dealerships while giving those vendors with superior product offerings the opportunity to market to a highly-targeted group.  Each month dealers will be asked for feedback on which vendor providers they’d like reviewed by Dealers United. DU will then research the vendors within a specific silo, whether it is CRM, Social Media, Web Design etc. and select the provider that represents the best quality and value for dealer members.    Instead of a vendor having to spend resources reaching one dealer at a time, they’ll be able to capture bigger, multi-dealer sales with less effort.

Vendors will still need to deliver. DU plans to secure service performance level guarantees (just like the MegaDealers routinely enjoy). If a particular vendor fails or underperforms, participating members could be entitled to receive credits for the missing or unsatisfactory service.

“Speaking as a vendor with years of experience negotiating deals with MegaDealers and single-point dealerships, I can honestly say that smaller dealerships often end up with the short straw,” said Biter. “They don’t have the expertise or the staff to negotiate favorable terms and conditions. As a result, they often miss out on the benefits of an SLA, a service level agreement.”

Perhaps the hidden gem in the DU plan is the opportunity for private dealerships to tap into the emerging vendor market. It’s these newer products, according to Biter, that are changing the automotive landscape yet are typically only available to early adopters from big dealer groups.  Acting as a business development team, DU can stay on top of latest trends and products, vet the appropriate vendors, and free up their dealership members to focus on selling cars.

The voice for private dealerships

A self-proclaimed geek, Biter became an automotive vendor at an early age. Responding to a dealer’s request, Biter created a software program that automated the process of uploading car inventory to the Internet. He named the program IOL, for Inventory Online, and it became a software sensation. Before long, Autobytel asked him to install the software at dealerships around the country and, as they say, the rest is history. Biter founded HomeNet Automotive and grew the company from zero employees and one dealer to over 135 employees and more than 18,000 dealers, before selling the company to AutoTrader in 2010.

“I learned a lot about the automotive industry, especially about vendors and the way they sell their products,” recalled Biter. “I’ve seen first hand some of the amazing new products that will someday revolutionize the auto industry the way my product did.”

Buchanan’s family started in the automotive business in Ocala, Florida, in 1992, with a single dealership. Eventually, the family owned more than 20 dealerships and was ranked as the 20^th largest dealership group in the country. But by 2005, the family sold off the majority of their dealerships and was left with only three stores. This transition from small dealer to big auto group back to smaller dealership taught Buchanan an early lesson in the buying power—and influence—of the bigger-is-better concept.

“I realized the importance of purchasing power, efficiencies, and advantages that large dealer groups have,” said Buchanan. “After discovering this, I knew that all private dealerships deserved the same opportunity to succeed as any other dealership, regardless of which dealer group they belonged to.”

Survival of the best connected

According to Buchanan and Biter, Dealers United is that rare “now more than ever” opportunity. Dealers United levels the playing field and enables smaller dealerships to secure more favorable terms and conditions with vendors, save money, and compete more efficiently against publicly-traded conglomerates.

“If a frog is placed in boiling water, it will jump out. The same frog placed in cold water that is slowly heated will not realize it’s in trouble and will die,” said Buchanan. “Right now, as private dealers, we are the frogs.  Up until the mid 90s, we were in the cold water.  Since then, the conglomerates have been turning up the heat and the industry is hardly noticing.  Dealers United plans to stop this trend before consumers only have five auto retailers to choose from.”

It’s not simply a matter of the more, the merrier. To the visionaries behind Dealers United, it’s a case of the more, the better deal. Whether you’re talking about frogs or fish or your family’s legacy, it all boils down to survival.

Jesse Biter is the co-founder of Dealers United, the first service to leverage the buying power of private dealerships, complement their business services through the vetting of vendors and act as a conduit for smaller stores to compete with conglomerates. Biter has strong expertise is vendor negotiation, before starting Dealers United he founded HomeNet Automotive and grew the company from zero employees and one dealer to over 135 employees and more than 18,000 dealers, before selling the company to AutoTrader in 2010. Jesse and his wife Katie spend the majority of their time in Sarasota, Florida where they nurture their love of flying, boating, golfing, skiing and scuba diving. In addition to action sports, Jesse is active on the board of the West Coast Black Theatre Troupe and is an active supporter of various charities in the Florida area.

Matt Buchanan is the co-founder of Dealers United, the first service to leverage the buying power of private dealerships, compliment their business services through the vetting of vendors and act as a conduit for smaller stores to compete with conglomerates. Buchanan has extensive experience in dealership operations through his current position as the Principal of Sarasota Ford. Before running the Ford store, Buchanan attended Dealer Academy which helped him learn the ins and outs of dealership operations. Previous to his time at Sarasota Ford, Buchanan worked as a financial advisor at Merrill Lynch and is a graduate of Stanford University, majoring in Science, Technology, and Society. He enjoys flying, boating, and spending time with his friends and family at his home in Sarasota.

ActivEngage co-founder, Todd Smith, learned first-hand the power of chat in 2006 when he began using it on his own dealership site while he was general manager of a Chevrolet store. He literally made his first vehicle sale from live chat within less than 24 hours of deploying it. Throughout the next year, he continued to experiment and perfect his skills in the medium, and became increasingly certain that properly managed chat is a sure fire way to increase website lead generation.

Armed with this knowledge, Smith partnered with automotive retail and technology authority, Ted Rubin, in 2007 to form ActivEngage. The goal was to help dealers around the nation increase lead generation and sales via dealership website live chat. Although other chat services existed at that time, none were designed specifically for the needs of automotive retail. Smith and Rubin knew from experience that their clients would be more successful with a service that was created for the unique needs of dealers. After over a year of research and development with dealerships, the company launched in early 2008.

ActivEngage now manages an average of 10,000 dealership chats per day and has managed millions of chats since the company began. Dealer clients include every major vehicle brand and type of dealership, from single rooftops to large dealer groups. This makes ActivEngage uniquely qualified to help dealerships increase website leads and sales.

Featured services

ActivEngage offers three levels of live chat service to meet every dealership need.

ActivConcierge is the industry’s premier proactive, fully managed live chat service. Within the first day of deploying ActivConcierge on the dealership website, additional leads are generated by turning website browsers into active sales leads. ActivEngage’s highly trained virtual sales team proactively engages all website visitors. Proprietary business intelligence also guides the conversations for optimum results. Further, ActivConcierge includes seamless integration of important shopper information, including the complete conversation transcript, with all CRMs and ILMs. ActivConcierge impacts the dealership immediately by multiplying the amount of leads the site generates, with no additional work required from the dealership.

ActivGuardian offers dealerships that choose to manage chat in-house additional support to ensure that all chats receive fast, professional responses. Since chat abandonment triples if it takes longer than 15 seconds to start a chat, it is crucial to greet site visitors quickly. If a dealership staff member can’t reach a customer, an ActivEngage representative will pick up the conversation and deliver the results to the dealership. ActivGuardian is the solution for dealerships that already have well-developed chat teams, but still want a back-up support system. The service ensures that no ups are missed on the website by always monitoring site visitors’ activity.

ActivSite helps dealerships begin online chat conversations with a software solution built specifically for auto dealers. The easy to use chat console lets the dealership begin engaging automotive website shoppers in the first day of use. ActivSite pushes the website to the next level by using the dealership’s best salespeople on the website to greet every visitor. The combination of ActivSite technology and the dealership sales team gives dealers control of meeting and greeting online shoppers. Taking virtual ups at the website drives more traffic to the showroom.

While chat is the foundation of ActivEngage’s services, the company also offers numerous tools and features to complement chat and increase its effectiveness.

ActivDashboard

ActivDashboard is the industry’s first comprehensive marketing dashboard. The proprietary dashboard allows auto dealerships, dealer groups and manufacturers to track all marketing metrics including website analytics, conversion points, ROI and more, from a single screen. Historically, monitoring dealerships’ online marketing from multiple campaigns, vendors and sources was time-consuming, complicated and sometimes impossible. ActivDashboard consolidates dealers’ most important metrics, to quickly and easily display all marketing campaign performance.

ActivDashboard incorporates all marketing data from live chat, phone, email, third party lead sources and website analytics. The data is then integrated and analyzed to provide advanced business intelligence to create the most effective marketing mix. ActivDashboard benefits all dealership types, and is especially valuable for dealer groups who need to aggregate individual dealership marketing metrics in one location. This ends the inefficiency of creating and monitoring multiple Excel reports because ActivDashboard puts the most important information into a single visual display.

Mobile application

Specifically designed for the needs of auto dealers, ActivEngage’s mobile application was in strategic development for close to a year. The native application gives automotive retailers full live chat capability, no matter where they are. The app’s interface is intuitive and extremely fast on both Wi-Fi and 3G networks, so the speed of service does not have to rely on the dealership’s internal network. Further, the ActivEngage live chat mobile app is available for iPhone, Android and Blackberry.

Visitor tracking data includes geographic location, keywords used to access the website, pages viewed and more, all visible within the mobile device, just as it is on the ActivEngage live chat computer console. Chat transcripts, contact information and vehicle details can then be generated to the dealership’s ILM or CRM, with no manual data re-entry.

One of the app’s most powerful features is the pre-read, which lets dealers see what site visitors are typing in the chat window, as they type it, in real-time. This allows chat reps to respond quickly and intelligently, because they can begin to formulate replies before consumers submit their questions. A menu of predetermined responses is also available, enabling fast communication with phrases and answers that are frequently used.

ActivConnect

ActivConnect is the dealership website tool bar that lets consumers interact with the dealership via Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, DealerRater and other social media sites, without leaving the dealership website. The tool bar creates an increased level of connectivity between auto dealers and consumers by solving the challenge of leveraging social media, without pushing shoppers away from the dealership website.

In the past, consumers had to leave the dealership website to connect with dealers on major social media sites. With ActivConnect, dealers can use social media and other interactive communication channels, while keeping consumers on the dealership website. The tool bar sits at the bottom of the dealership’s website and contains links for chat and all major social media sites. When consumers click on the links, the information appears directly on the dealership website, rather than taking shoppers away from the dealer’s site.

ActivConnect also includes business intelligence that allows dealers to create behavioral offers and incentives based on whether shoppers are new or repeat site visitors, whether shoppers have previously chatted, geographic location and more. In addition, ActivConnect tracks clicks on social media icons to measure dealers’ social media connectivity and reach with shoppers.

ActivProspect

ActivProspect is another proprietary technology that targets website visitors who are most likely to respond to chat invitations and ultimately end in sales. Based on click paths and behavioral targeting, ActivProspect pre-qualifies site visitors as prospective chats. This allows busy dealerships to more effectively manage their resources, and to spend the most time with site visitors who are most likely to chat, schedule appointments and make purchases.

ActivProspect was developed by analyzing automotive website shopper outcomes over three years on dealership sites across the nation. ActivEngage created the feature to assess all website visitors and identify the dealership’s hottest prospects, based on time on site, click paths and other website behavior patterns. Dealers can then maximize efficiency by spending more time with consumers who are most likely to make a purchase.

ActivTestDrive

ActivTestDrive integrates dynamic virtual test drives with live chat. When combined, chat and video create an interactive, real-time experience for website visitors. ActivTestDrive’s enhanced level of service and engagement lets dealerships create an exceptional first impression and helps turn more passive website browsers into active buyers. The short, engaging virtual vehicle test drives with live chat offer shoppers a dynamic, thorough experience of vehicles.

The use of video and live chat also allows a more controlled sales process at the website that can be integrated into the overall dealership sales process. Chat agents can move customers from videos on to rebates and incentive for vehicles viewed, and then move to current available inventory at the dealership. ActivTestDrive lets the dealership experience the virtual test drive with the shopper, co-browse pages together and move site visitors further along the sales process, all without picking up the phone or sending e-mail.

Executive Leadership

Todd Smith, co-founder and chief executive officer

Todd Smith is co-founder and chief executive officer of ActivEngage, Inc. He has over 20 years of successful industry experience and has worked in every facet of dealership operations, including spending 2007 as the general manager of a Chevrolet dealership. Todd has developed some of the most cutting edge eBusiness, BDC and showroom sales strategies and solutions for a variety of clients including Ford, Ford of Canada, AutoNation, Budget Car Sales, Maritz Inc, Mazda North America, Toyota Motors Sales, ADP, AutoTrader.com and over 1,500 dealerships across the U.S.

Ted Rubin, co-founder and president

Ted Rubin is the co-founder and president of ActivEngage, Inc. He is a leading expert on operations management, Internet process deployment, and technology development and utilization in the automotive industry. Ted has more than 20 years in the automotive industry, and has held virtually every position available in both dealership sales and service departments. Ted has worked with many recognized manufacturers and automotive companies to develop sales strategies, business development processes and effective training. These include: Toyota Motor Sales, Volkswagen, Renault, Southeast Toyota and Reynolds & Reynolds, as well as hundreds of individual dealerships.

Contact At Once! Provides Instant Engagement … Everywhere Car Shoppers Browse

When visitors to Kuni BMW’s website began clicking on the dealership’s chat invites in 2010, many shoppers were surprised at what they found.

The replies weren’t from computer-generated messages with no one behind them. Or, even from anonymous call-center employees who knew nothing of Kuni BMW’s inventory. Rather, the replies came—instantly—from the actual Beaverton, OR sales associates pictured in the pop-up invitations.

“Our customers were like, ‘Oh, you’re actually there,” says Jole McMurdie, Kuni BMW’s e-commerce director. “They were pleasantly surprised, and I could see why. When I click on my bank’s online chat invitations, which has some model pictured, I often don’t get a reply. With Contact At Once!, our customers were getting immediate interaction with real people—without exposing their personal information.”

Jole McMurdie, Kuni BMW ecommerce director and Contact At Once! auto dealer chat customer.

When looking at technologies to increase online leads and customer engagement, McMurdie had three must-haves in

• It had to be really easy to set up and use, as associates didn’t want to waste time learning new technologies.

• It had to be cost effective, as the tighter market was forcing more due diligence on marketing costs.

• It had to increase lead volume and offer measurable chat-related results.

McMurdie came across several online chat providers in her search, but she says Contact At Once! was not only the easiest to use, and cost substantially less than what Kuni BMW was paying for advertising, it also was the only solution compatible with third-party sites.

In March, Contact At Once! became the chat provider for AutoTrader.com. When an AutoTrader user is looking at a car being sold by a dealership connected with Contact At Once!, a chat window pops up. Only available associates are shown, allowing for instant engagement.

That meant salespeople could engage shoppers looking at Kuni BMW vehicles on Cars.com, CarsDirect.com, CarSoup.com, Craigslist and Facebook. The following year, Contact At Once! became the sole chat provider for AutoTrader.com, which attracts more than 15 million unique visitors every month.

Other plusses? Contact At Once! offered dealers powerful mobile-chat apps for the iPad as well as iPhone, Android and Blackberry smartphones. That meant associates didn’t have to be tied to their desks to answer queries.

For someone in charge of managing a dealer’s web site, McMurdie says she also found value in Contact At Once!’s analytics tool, which automatically tracks all chat-related metrics.

In addition, her service and parts department was interested in Contact At Once!’s ability to help existing customers get answers to quick questions without having to call or come in.

“Now, there are so many ways you can connect with people in addition to phone, email and text,” McMurdie says. “We just wanted to be as accessible as we possibly could. Now, we’re discovering that customers who are engaged with us early on the buying process are substantially more apt to take the trip to our showroom floor.”

Bringing online chat to new levels

Even when Atlanta-based Contact At Once! was established in 2005, chat was hardly a novel technology. It had been mainstream since at least AOL’s dominance in the mid 1990s. But what was novel was what Contact At Once! co-founder Marc F. Hayes did with chat for the auto industry.

Hayes, now executive vice president, who left an 18-year career at IT consultancy Accenture as a CRM expert to start Contact At Once!, saw four trends that paved the way for the industry’s first complete auto-dealer-chat solution:

• More than 90 percent of car buyers started the purchase process with a visit to a third-party auto site, and yet they weren’t being engaged.

• While online chat did exist for sales, it was mostly dedicated to prevent shopping-cart desertion.

• Very few auto dealers had chat on their web sites, and it was operated by outsourced call centers—not the dealers themselves.

• Existing chat solutions did not offer the ability to determine whether a particular person was actually there.

With the help of John Hanger, now CEO, Hayes developed the Contact At Once! technology, applied for a patent for the real-time presence feature, and reached out to auto manufacturers and online automotive classified providers.

Then came evangelizing the benefits of chat.

CEO John Hanger, whose 20 years of technology leadership spans companies including Flamenco Networks, Atlas Commerce, Mercator and SCT/Adage Systems.

“Between Google AdWords and traditional advertising, dealers are spending a lot of money to get people to visit their websites, but most visitors just browse and move on without contacting the dealership,” Hanger says.

With most online shoppers performing research at work, Hanger says, dealers were missing key engagement opportunities because these potential customers were unable to talk on the phone during job hours. Chat, he explains, started offering dealers a more discrete way to build rapport with these prospects without them getting turned off by filling out intrusive forms or picking up phones.

Then, the economic downturn hit. Hanger says the more challenging marketplace encouraged dealers to look even more seriously at chat, as they were forced to make changes to their marketing strategies.

Making the case for Contact At Once! even stronger was its unique third-party compatibility.

“Other chat solutions can work on dealerships’ web sites but are incompatible with classified sites such as Cars.com and AutoTrader.com, where most shoppers visit first,” Hanger says. “We’re getting dealers in front of anyone looking at their inventory, including the most popular websites where shoppers commonly start their searches, with just one easy-to-use chat solution.”

“Chat helps dealers sell more cars even though few have dedicated staff to answer the chats, thanks to the presence-aware features of our service. Some of our dealers really wanted to maximize the benefits, though.” Hanger says. That is why the company began offering “rollover” functionality where fully-trained call-center employees in Houston—not India or the Phillipines—answer inquiries during off or busy hours.

“Most of our competition outsources all interaction,” Hanger says. “We offer automatic connectivity with dealers and outsourced interaction.”

The Contact At Once! dealer interface, which offers intuitive chat analysis.

But having full connectivity in the modern world mandates mobility, Hanger says. In addition to building chat capability for common smartphones, Contact At Once!’s iPad app, introduced in 2010, offered dealers the ability to engage prospects in real-time chat, map their locations, see which Google search terms were used, and view relevant Carfax histories—in the office, or on the go.

With the combination of market conditions and technological advances, industry-wide adoption of chat increased.

As of May, 16.8 percent of U.S. dealerships had chat on their websites, according to DealerChatMarketShare.com. Contact At Once! owns the largest share of this market.

16.8 percent of dealers evangelized, 83.2 percent to go

Contact At Once!’s biggest challenge is getting dealers to embrace new technologies. However, due to the company’s recent integration with AutoTrader.com, experts see more aggressive adoption of dealer chat in the near future.

“Given AutoTrader.com’s status as one of the most popular automotive websites, we believe this move will likely accelerate overall dealer chat adoption,” DealerChatMarketShare.com says. “After all—if a dealer is using chat to handle customer inquiries from sites like AutoTrader.com, why not begin using chat on one’s own website as well?”

To help make this adoption even easier, the company plans ongoing technology upgrades, including building out its mobile offerings with more apps on different platforms.

The company also plans on further touting the benefits of chat.

Sometimes, however, the data speaks for itse

• Industry-wide, consumer-to-dealer chat conversions skyrocketed to 1.9 million in 2010, according to internal data.

• Typical Contact At Once! customers interact with at least 25 percent more shoppers daily.

• Typical customers see 50 percent of chats resulting in received contact information.

• Typical dealers experience 20 percent to 25 percent close rates with chat, which is similar to close rates for phone leads.

Sometimes, Contact At Once! reps only have to get one concept across to a dealer.

“One thing dealers often ask us is, ‘It only costs me $199 a month to get my face and name to appear on every listing on all these websites, and all I have to do is be accessible?’ ” Hanger says. “After that, we often don’t have to say another word.”

To learn more, visit www.autodealerchat.com or www.contactatonce.com.

Black Book® Online (www.blackbookonline.com), based in Boca Raton, FL, pioneered the online vehicle trade-in valuation industry, creating the most effective sales leads in North America. With the launch of Activator Complete™ in April 2011, Black Book Online now provides automotive shoppers with an instant and accurate credit score estimate along with a trade-in value range. Combined, these tools offer the highest quality sales lead available and represent the “Super Lead” for dealers and OEMs.

It’s not news that selling new and used cars to the general public has been transformed in the last 15 years by the advent of the Internet.  With approximately 90 percent of car buyers doing their research online, 20 to 50 percent of all dealer sales now come in through leads from the Internet.

But what’s really amazing is that so few dealerships have optimized their operations to fully take advantage of what could be their greatest source of sales leads.

What do we mean?

Consider this question: Whose sales leads do you trust most?  Leads bought from third parties, from the OEM or leads that come directly from your own web site?

Industry expert, Ray Fenster of RayFenster.com, LLC asked this question to dealers and the results were as follows:

• 17 percent rated leads purchased from third parties as “excellent;”

• Manufacturer leads score a bit better at 23 percent rating “excellent;” but

• Leads from dealers’ own web sites were rated “excellent” 40 percent of the time.

With this fundamental truth in mind, Black Book Online set out several years ago to convert Internet traffic and leads into showroom traffic and sales.

Its mission: Improve the auto buying process by bringing customers and dealers together through an online experience that’s friendly, informative and empowering.

That’s the what.  Here’s the how:

Starting with what Black Book is known best for in the industry—collecting real-time wholesale pricing data from auctions all around the country. Black Book knows day-to-day, month-to-month, what the wholesale price of vehicles really are around the country (they are physically in the lanes of more than 50 auctions every week, no one else is remotely close).

These real-time wholesale prices are used as the basis for Black Book Online’s trade-in valuation tool, known as Trade-In Activator.  Dealers and OEMs who use Activator offer customers a convenient, easy-to-use tool that gives conservative trade-in values for their cars for free in exchange for contact information.  In doing so, the sales lead is developed on the dealer’s or OEM’s web site.

The fact that these real time wholesale prices are up-to-date and accurate is a bigger deal than one might suspect; with accurate data, customers coming into the dealer’s showroom are far less likely to be disappointed.

Today, Black Book Online’s products are on over 7,000 web sites and the overwhelming majority of OEMs and large dealer groups. Black Book Online generates more than 2.5 million, high quality leads every year.  Dealers—and consumers—get timely, accurate and independent information.  With car shoppers increasingly relying on the internet to shop for cars, these services are becoming more valuable in the sales process.

So what’s next?

Enter ‘The Super Lead’

Black Book Online knew it couldn’t stand still in a quick moving market.  Sure, trade-in was—and remains—the best tool available for actionable, high-conversion leads. Buyers want trade-in values (along with inventory and pricing information), but there was a big piece missing, a final brick to be removed in the wall standing between potential buyers and the dealers.  That brick was credit.

The landscape

According to a recent study conducted by Harris Interactive and commissioned by Black Book Online, nine out of 10 (91 percent) car buyers say that the information provided by car dealerships should be both more complete and more accurate, and 77 percent of financing car buyers think it is important to know their credit score when buying a car. Findings from the study also showed that most car buyers say it is important to know one’s credit score before buying a car. However, about 12 million U.S. adults who plan to buy a car in the next year say an unexpected credit score has stopped them from completing a car purchase. The survey was conducted online among a national sample of 1,063 adults 18 and over who indicate that they are at least somewhat likely to buy a car in the next 12 months.

Most people know that their credit scores will affect their ability to purchase, and what kind of rate they could get, but they also know that repeatedly checking their credit score, either using agencies (which require sensitive information such as social security numbers) or onsite at dealers, paradoxically hurts their score.

The solution

To overcome this dilemma, Black Book Online created a credit estimator product called Credit Activator, which gives consumers an estimated credit score range without asking them to divulge sensitive information such as their social security number or date of birth.

Customers are asked 12 questions online, and are instantly given a very narrow credit score range estimate that can help them in their buying process. Dealers, in return, get very accurate credit estimates on sales leads, along with contact information that allows salespeople to follow up.

Activator Complete includes a credit score estimator, which gives consumers a credit score range.

Customers that fully engage with the tool provide their contact information for direct interaction with their local dealer. This, in turn, creates a “super lead” for dealers, collecting information critical to the sales process including make and model of the vehicle the consumer is interested in, their trade-in value and an estimate of a consumer’s credit score.

Before a financing offer is extended to a customer the dealer conducts a credit review process, which includes an independent credit check.

For a demonstration of the credit score estimator engine, please visit http://www.blackbookcreditscore.com/.

Dealers know the result…

“With car buyers doing their research prior to visiting our dealership, they come in more informed and ready to buy,” said Butch Watson of Chuck Fairbanks Chevrolet, a dealer from the Credit Activator pilot program. “It is a definite value-add to our business.”

Mike Maher of Weber Chevrolet in Missouri is seeing more than five leads a day using Credit Activator.  “Dealership sales managers need to make the best use of their time and resources, which is why we often rely on leads from several sources. But, they have to be the right leads,” Maher said. “By using this new product, we have received 65 leads and sold six cars to date. It helps us by directing low-funnel, in-market consumers to us. This is a great product for your internet department’s tool box.”

When dealers combine the trade in estimate with the credit estimator, it creates a lead that results in the highest conversion rate in the industry, bar none.

Activator Complete collects information critical to the sales process including make and model of the vehicle the consumer is interested in, their trade-in value and an estimate of a consumer’s credit score, which in turn, provides dealers with highly actionable sales leads.

For more information or to schedule a demonstration, please contact Jerry Petrotto at jerry.petrotto(at)blackbookonline.com or 561-544-1488.

Mike McFall

President, Black Book Online

Mike McFall is the president of Black Book Online. In his role, McFall is responsible for company leadership, business strategy and overall growth.  Since the 2000 launch, the business has grown to include more than 3,000 customers including franchise dealers and OEMs.

Previously, McFall held positions at AutoNation and GMAC, where he led marketing strategy, product and internet platform development.  He innovated the first online credit application process while at GMAC.

Art DeLaurier

Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder, Black Book Online

Art DeLaurier is the co-founder and chief operating officer of Black Book Online. His background in technology, management and business strategy coupled with his contacts in the automotive industry and the national e-Commerce arena help to create numerous opportunities to attract new customers and drive substantial growth of Black Book Online.

DeLaurier was previously the vice president of e-Commerce Technology at AutoNation. There, he helped to build an e-Commerce business strategy that set a standard most other major auto retailers now follow.  Prior to that, he led several business technology initiatives for some of the most high profile brands such as Blockbuster Video, Pillsbury, Burger King and Eastern Airlines.

Executive Staff

Dianne DeLaurier, Vice President of Product Management

Jerry Petrotto, Vice President, Dealer Sales

Lisa Carter, Senior Director of Dealer Support

Jim Coker, Marketing Director

Consistent with AutoTrader.com’s approach to their previous acquisitions, VinSolutions will be a subsidiary of AutoTrader.com, and the current management team will remain intact, led by Mike Dullea (CEO) and Matt Watson (CTO) from their headquarters in Overland Park, Kansas. Mike Dullea, VinSolutions CEO said, “Our team is very excited to join forces with AutoTrader.com because we are both passionate about helping dealers use the Internet and innovative technology to grow their business. Together we will strive to constantly improve how we serve our dealers and how we help them attract, serve and retain their customers.”

VinSolutions’ software tools will be offered on a flexible a-la-carte basis with no long-term contracts, and dealers will have the flexibility to work with their other software vendors since AutoTrader.com promotes open platforms and integration across its software solutions and other dealer software tools.  “VinSolutions is a strong complement to our existing dealer software companies, and a priority for us will be to ensure the scalability of VinSolutions’ software and customer support and to execute on plans for how VinSolutions will integrate with vAuto, HomeNet and CDMdata to create an even more powerful suite of Internet marketing and sales related software solutions for dealers,” Perry added.

There are countless ways that these companies can share their resources and data to better serve their dealers and we will keep dealers up to date on what AutoTrader.com is doing to leverage these synergies to help dealers. While most people in the industry have heard of VinSolutions not everyone knows about everything they do so this article will give you an overview of what the company does and how it got to where it is today.

VinSolutions – The evolution of an automotive digital marketing powerhouse

VinSolutions has evolved from a small inventory management company to the creators of the leading enterprise dealership marketing system in the automotive industry and the 33^rd fastest growing software company in the United States according to the Inc 500. It was only three years ago when VinSolutions released its all-in-one dealership marketing system and today it is a market leader working with many of the best dealers in the industry and we wanted to share how they did it.

Like many technology companies, VinSolutions was founded by entrepreneurs who knew there had to be a better way. Led by Mike Dullea, CEO, the company experienced explosive growth over the last three years, growing more than 100% a year and signing up over 75 new full solution dealerships in the month of April alone. But things were not always this easy, according to Dullea. “In the early days we had too many months that we struggled to make payroll, but those are the times that challenged us and defined the character of our team,” said Dullea. “I knew we could make it as long as we stayed focused and payed attention to our dealers by constantly improving our technology to keep up with their needs.”

“Dealers were complaining about working with too many tools that didn’t talk to each other,” said Dullea. The average dealer works with 10-15 different companies who help them with their technology and Internet marketing and it can be challenging to manage so many systems. “I was spending too much money with 15 different companies that did not integrate,” said Todd Crossley from Gary Crossley Ford, the #1 Ford retailer in the Kansas City market. “Now I have one system that does everything from managing my Internet marketing to desking to service in one tool that is easy for my team to use. We are spending less for one system that does more than the 15 it replaced.”

VinSolutions’ “all-in-one” digital marketing system offers: search marketing, online advertising, social media marketing tools, websites, Internet lead management, CRM (Customer Relationship Management), sales force automation, sales management and desking, appraisal, finance, used vehicle market pricing, inventory management and distribution, hand-held inventory marketing tools, window stickers, automated video tours, targeted marketing with email, text, direct mail and telemarketing services. VinSolutions’ Dealership Marketing System has complete mobile integration so dealers can access reports from any mobile phone that has access to the Internet including Blackberrys, Androids and iPhones. Currently VinSolutions is certified by all major OEMs and integrates with most DMS companies including certified integrations with ADP, R&R, AutoSoft and Arkona. VinSolutions also has alliances and integrations with CARFAX, Autodata, RouteOne, DealerTrack, plus vAuto and Kelley Blue Book, both of which are also owned by AutoTrader.com.

Dullea had a lot of help keeping VinSolutions’ technology ahead of the curve because he has one of the most talented development teams in the automotive industry, led by Matt Watson, VinSolutions’ co-founder and chief technology officer. “If you can think it, Matt and his team can build it,” said Dullea. “With Matt and his team, we decided we wanted to build the most complete technology platform for dealers and dealership groups that has ever existed and we worked with our customers to make it happen.”

VinSolutions pioneered an unconventional product development process called UGPD, which stands for “User Generated Product Development.” This process connects users directly with the programmers who review, prioritize and develop new features in response to users’ requests. Every other Tuesday is Christmas morning for VinSolutions’ customers because that is when the new updates and features are released along with acknowledgements that recognize both the user who requested the enhancements and the developer who made them happen.

“This process incentivizes customers to give input and our developers to respond quickly with innovative solutions,” said Watson. “Everyone likes to see their work recognized so our developers love to constantly improve the system because their efforts are publicly acknowledged by thousands of users who often praise programmers on industry blogs when they create something very cool.”

As a result, VinSolutions’ customers and its team of developers have built the most comprehensive dealership marketing platform that integrates all the technology a dealer needs in one platform rather than attempting to tie together a group of different applications acquired from different companies who built on different technology platforms. As VinSolutions built its all-in-one system, dealers have signed up for one or all of its tools on a month-by-month basis with no contracts, so they could leave whenever they wanted. From day one, VinSolutions did not feel they needed long term contracts to keep dealers retained as long as they did what they said they were going to do when they said they would do it. VinSolutions’ dealers get to vote on the performance of both the software and the company every month by simply paying their invoice. Currently, this no-contract solution touts over 90% retention among VinSolutions’ clients.

As the company prepared to release its new all-in-one dealership marketing system, Dullea recruited the help of some automotive veterans who have helped other companies grow. Dullea recruited Sean Stapleton as their chief sales officer and Kendall Billman to lead their web marketing initiatives. Stapleton is an industry veteran and was the EVP of sales at Who’s Calling where he helped create a new category of call monitoring and measurement.

Billman helped develop web platforms for both Third Coast Media (acquired by Reynolds and Reynolds) and AutoONE Media, joined the team in 2009 and had complete control of developing a new web site platform that offered dealers the benefits of a combined solution. Billman’s efforts were recognized industry-wide as the new platform won several awards in 2010 and the company is currently releasing a new version that promises to set a new standard for what dealers must have in the future.

Dullea also recruited Sean Wolfington to join VinSolutions as a mentor and advisor. “We brought Wolfington on board because he helped lead some of the biggest digital marketing companies in the industry, (CyberCar & Automark, which R&R bought in 2001 and BZResults, which ADP bought in 2006) and his experience and advice has been invaluable,” said Dullea. “Mike and Matt built a great team with talented guys like Kendall Billman and Sean Stapleton, the best salesperson in the industry,” said Wolfington. “Dullea is a relentless leader who has built a fantastic team and Watson built an extraordinary technology platform.”

VinSolutions recently won the DrivingSales award for their web site, Internet lead management tool and their new VinLens product, a customer information application that lets dealers see who is on their site and what they are looking at so they can deliver custom messages and promotions based on what’s important to the customer.

VinLens also lets the dealer see where the customer has been before visiting the web site so they can track their advertising better and tailor their approach to each customer based on the information they have seen. VinSolutions also took the top prize at the Automotive Website Awards when they were recognized for building the most complete digital marketing system in the industry. Technology is moving fast, but it looks like VinSolutions has the right strategy to work with their dealers to run the never-ending race to stay ahead of the curve. Now with AutoTrader.com’s resources, the company is poised to make even larger strides in the future. 

COMPANY SNAP SHOT 

VinSolutions’ all-in-one dealership marketing system helps dealers find, sell and keep more customers profitably by integrating 14 components in one platform:

1. Dealer web sites
2. CRM and ILM
3. Digital marketing
4. Direct mail
5. Search marketing
6. Social media
7. Mobile marketing
8. Salesforce automation
9. Desking
10.  Inventory
11. Used vehicle marketing and pricing
12. Service CRM
13. Online service scheduling
14.  BDC

VIN’s Dealership Marketing System is integrated with all major DMS providers, major auctions, used vehicles guides and manufacturer incentive programs.

VIN’s easy-to-use web-based system automates customer contact throughout the entire ownership cycle via email, text, voice and mail, and enterprise reports are sent directly to mobile phones so dealers can run their business from the palm of their hand.

One of the reasons many of the largest dealers in the country have replaced multiple disjointed tools with VinSolutions’ Dealership Marketing System is because it offers an all-in-one system that has all the technology dealers need for less money than buying different tools from different companies.

An old saying goes, “Necessity is the mother of all invention.”

It’s an apt description for the development of PSCars.com, a new online vehicle shopping platform that seeks to transform online vehicle shopping and purchasing experiences for the benefit of both consumers and dealers.

“In 2008, we made a concerted effort to diversify and grow our business through expanding our technologies in automotive retailing,” says Dan Kodsi, CEO of PSCars.com and prior President of RPC Holdings Inc., a highly regarded, diversified company in South Florida that developed $1 billion in real estate projects and had holdings in technology and automotive dealership assets.

“Once we started digging in, we found an opportunity for us and all dealers to improve online vehicle shopping and help dealers capitalize on this marketplace,” Kodsi says.

“We’ve had a long track record of incorporating 3D animation and other technologies into online shopping and sales management processes,” Kodsi explains.

“With PSCars.com, we’ve taken the best of these technologies and blended them together to develop a ‘practical system” for dealer online exposure and selling. That’s what the PS in PSCars.com stands for.”

The seeds for the PSCars.com vision

When work began on PSCars.com in late 2008, Kodsi and his technology development team used an RPC-owned dealership as the research, testing and proving ground for the new company vision. They analyzed the way the store handled online vehicle listings and sales, and they studied the current market players to determine inefficiencies and areas for improvement.

Some of their initial take-away insights:

• Kodsi’s store, like other dealerships, lacked an effective, “owned” online presence for showcasing its vehicle inventory (e.g., an online showroom);
• The store wasn’t really equipped to address the growing number of consumers who prefer to negotiate and effectively purchase vehicles without coming to the dealership.
• The current online vehicle shopping sites—e.g., AutoTrader.com and Cars.com—were “too static” for Kodsi and his team. Their consumer research, particularly among younger buyers, suggested a need for a more self-directed, content-rich and easier-to-use shopping platform that would allow consumers to configure vehicles they wanted and offer a “click-to-delivery” process for buying.
• Online vehicle shopping sites did not offer a compelling way “for dealers to market themselves effectively and stand out against competitors,” Kodsi says.
• Current online vehicle shopping sites were difficult to navigate, serving multiple pages of research on vehicles rather than a single “panel portal” that housed everything a consumer would want to see.
• Dealers are worried about how to market and sell to younger buyers for whom the Internet and online shopping is second nature.

“It was an eye-opening experience,” Kodsi says of the initial research and development for PSCars.com.

The company built its prototype and prepared its formal launch about a year ago when necessity spurred a second round of invention and innovation: Apple’s iPad took off like a rocket.

“We had to rebuild our system and develop apps to ensure PSCars.com worked within the iPad and other tablet mobile platforms,” Kodsi says. “Now, we’re not restricting consumers to using a computer—they can shop for vehicles wherever they are using their mobile device of choice.”

The three core elements of PSCars.com

During its initial market research, Kodsi and his team learned that consumers wanted more control over the online vehicle shopping experience. At the same time, they recognized that, like their own store, dealers were unsure about the best way to facilitate online vehicle purchases from their own websites.

In response, PSCars.com addresses these market needs with three core elements:

Element 1: The New Car Showcase: “Our goal is to create the dealers’ showroom experience virtually,” Kodsi says.

When visitors go to PSCars.com and click on “New Cars,” they can select a vehicle make and see all models in a 3D showroom that allows them to drill down to vehicle specs and configure their new vehicle trim, interior/exterior colors and other options to fit their needs.

Individual dealers who partner with PSCars.com and sign up for exclusive territories by make will “own” these virtual showrooms. Dealers can brand these online showrooms as they desire, using them to offer up specials and other store-specific content, Kodsi says.

At any point in the configuration process, online vehicle buyers can get a quote, chat live with a member of a dealer’s sales team, build comparison vehicles or skip the configuration steps altogether. “The consumer isn’t forced to do anything and we’ve designed the process to allow multiple touch points for dealers,” Kodsi says.

The New Car Showcase also lets consumers “show off” the vehicles they’ve built with friends. The platform offers cues for consumers to “share” their new vehicle with friends via Facebook. (In fact, the company has already showcased its Car Configurator on its own Facebook page to test its traction. “People love it,” Kodsi says. “Everybody likes the opportunity to build the car of their dreams.”)

Once consumers have built their vehicles, they can continue the purchasing and negotiation process with a dealer’s sales team. “Our platform offers a way for dealers to brand themselves and provide a shopping experience and process that fits their needs,” Kodsi says.

PSCars.com serves up factory-provided information on vehicle specs and incorporates third-party sites like Kelley Blue Book to feed online shopper current pricing on specific vehicles. Likewise, the system links with a dealership’s inventory, sales and CRM systems to capture and track customer interests and information.

Element 2: Used Car Showcase: On the used car side, PSCars.com provides pathways for buyers in any stage of the shopping/buying process—whether they know exactly what they want or they’re kicking tires and comparing multiple makes, models and price points.

Like the New Car Showcase, consumers can configure and find the used vehicle they want by trim, equipment and price. Similarly, the site offers multiple opportunities for consumers to contact dealers directly to schedule a test drive or start negotiations to complete a deal.

A key difference for PSCars.com: The Used Car Showcase allows select dealers to “brand” themselves prominently through “featured listings” of dealerships and vehicle inventory. The featured dealers receive an exclusive space to offer advertorial-style background on their dealership and sales process. In addition, featured vehicle listings allow dealers a more prominent display of their inventory vehicles when they match those consumers select.

“Our single panel design offers a less-cluttered environment for dealers to brand themselves compared to other online shopping sites,” Kodsi says. “Further, this is a way for dealers to ensure consumers know they stock and sell vehicles that may not be the same make as their franchise.”

Element 3: The Negotiator: This component of the PSCars.com platform, which will launch once the company gains critical mass among dealers, powers the “click-to-delivery” purchase process on the site.

It works in two ways:

1. Consumers who configure vehicles through the New Car and Used Car Showcases can opt to use The Negotiator panel to begin the purchase process with a given dealership. Kodsi says this feature will appeal to the estimated 55 percent of online vehicle shoppers who want to effectively negotiate and purchase vehicles without coming to a showroom to meet with salespeople. “This is especially true for younger buyers who don’t want to buy cars the same way their parents did,” he says.
2. Consumers can use The Negotiator to submit a new or used vehicle of their choice to participating dealers for offers. Dealers then have the opportunity to follow up with an offer and, if a consumer accepts, begin the negotiation and purchase process.

“Our approach provides a more qualified lead to dealers than any other online vehicle shopping sites offer,” Kodsi says.

The Negotiator panel also allows dealers to configure their online purchasing process to suit their stores and sales processes. For example, dealers can use the PSCars.com feature to offer credit applications, accessory purchases, F&I products and other elements of a deal they’d present in an off-line transaction.

Kodsi notes that The Negotiator is not a “capture and control” feature. “Consumers are not forced to complete the process and the site offers multiple ways for consumers to contact a store and connect with a salesperson,” he says.

PSCars.com’s plans for dealer and consumer launch

PSCars.com debuted its system for dealers at April’s Digital Dealer Conference in Orlando. Its sales team is currently meeting with dealers across the country.

“We’re offering special promotional pricing during the initial sign-up period for chartered dealers who want to lock in exclusivity in their market regions,” Kodsi says.

The company is also offering ramp-up options to dealers, depending on the components of the PSCars.com platform they want to integrate into their online vehicle sales strategy.

On the consumer side, PSCars.com has partnered with online and off-line advertising groups to achieve “significant growth” in 2011 and raise consumer awareness about the company’s new vehicle shopping and purchasing portal.

“We believe our value proposition from a price point and positioning perspective is very much in line with consumer and dealer needs,” Kodsi says.

Key executive bios:

Dan Kodsi — CEO

As the principal visionary for RPC Diversified Holdings, Inc., Dan Kodsi has spent the past two decades building the firm’s $1 billion portfolio of real estate, technology and automotive dealership assets. His leadership skills include an uncanny ability to harness emerging technologies that provide unique and satisfying customer experiences and ensure more efficient and cost effective sales and management processes for the firm. Kodsi’s innovations have earned awards and recognition for RPC’s pioneering use of 3D animation in sales processes. Kodsi is now marrying his market insights, management skills and ability to create value with the “Practical Systems” venture, and its flagship online automotive retailing platform, PSCars.com.

Ken Horton – Director of Sales


Ken Horton has more than 20 years of successful experience in automotive retail sales and dealership financing. As senior vice president of sales for Bank of America Dealer Finance and vice president of regional sales for Huntington National Bank Dealer Services, Horton built relationship-based sales environments to serve dealer customers. Prior to his dealership financing experience, Mr. Horton worked for six years as a finance director for large volume organizations, including AutoNation. At Pscars.com, Horton is leveraging his dealer relationships and sales management experience to drive the company’s business development efforts.

Automotive giants – Germain Motor Company, Antonino Auto Group, and Fletcher Jones Motorcars – boost business with the use of the industry’s most experienced and highest-rated automotive CRM

Germain Motor Company, Shaun Kniffin, Director of Internet Sales and eBusiness: “We’ve increased Internet sales year-over-year by as much as 36% with the use of Autobase. They hit an absolute homerun with their solution. The alignment of products and benefits of online reputation, social media, and equity based marketing programs is like a drug and we aren’t quitting.” Germain Motor Company was established in 1947 and is comprised of nine dealerships in OH, seven in FL, and dealerships in both AZ and AR. With 15 brands provided, customers have diverse vehicle selection.

Antonino Auto Group, Chris Shields, Internet Sales Director: “Since using AVV, we have increased Internet sales by almost 400%! AVV is one of the strongest ILM tools on the market. The ability to track and manage Internet leads and phone ups has allowed us to drive a significant amount of business.” The Antonino Auto Group was founded in 1957. Starting as a single point used car location, the group now consists of eight rooftops and 12 franchises. For over 50 years, the Antonino Auto Group has been serving three generations of families in South Eastern Connecticut.

Fletcher Jones Motorcars, Larry and Heather Lewis, Fixed Operations & Business Development Directors: “In January alone, our group revenue sales were over $1MM in ROs from customers we haven’t seen in over a year. The common denominator is that every single one of them was targeted in an @utoRevenue campaign.” Family owned and operated since 1946, Fletcher Jones has grown into one of the largest and most-respected automotive groups in the world, now comprised of 17 dealerships across four states. Fletcher Jones Motorcars in Newport Beach is the largest Mercedes-Benz center in the world.

A legacy of superior performance

Instead of using soap to describe a car’s details on the windshield, the Nenni brothers envisioned equipping used-cars with professional window stickers, just like new cars, as a way of increasing the professionalism of the entire buying process. What started as a simple concept, evolved into a powerful marketing program, now utilized by thousands of dealerships across the country. In essence, the “used car window sticker” revolutionized the way dealers merchandised their vehicles on the lot.

Over time and through conversations with customers, the Nenni brothers realized the importance of collecting data about used-vehicles. Through hard work and dedication, they developed a software program, stored locally on a laptop, to collect and detail used-vehicle data, including make, model, mileage, engine specs, sales price, features and options. Basically, this data became the infrastructure that supported used-vehicle window sticker marketing.

Following the introduction of Internet service providers in the 1980s, and the Internet’s expansion for popular use in the 1990s, the company realized the impact the Internet would have on the car buying process. By the mid 1990s, Dealer Specialties pioneered the industry’s first online inventory management solution. By introducing digital vehicle photos for uploading to various early automotive portals, Dealer Specialties was able to transform online marketing. Around the same time, they also launched their own portal, GetAuto.com, exclusively for customer use.

In 1999, the family-owned and operated company was acquired by Dominion Enterprises. The former two-person window-sticker company had grown into a strong customer-centric organization delivering superior inventory software solutions and services to over 10,000 customers.

“Today, we have more than 800 representatives nationwide. We continue to be committed to delivering unmatched service to its customers. Dealers can rely on our highly trained experts for vehicle data collection, image generation, window labeling services, inventory management and internet distribution needs,” explained Glen Garvin, group general manager, Dominion Dealer Solutions.

Backed by the industry’s largest direct service organization, Dealer Specialties’ empowers dealers to utilize the level of engagement most beneficial to their organization. Whether a dealer desires full service or self service solutions, Dealer Specialties’ services are scalable, customizable and deployable.

Simple, powerful solutions

Dealer Specialties sweet spot is inventory management. The services and skills developed in this area have helped dealers enhance their websites and other forms of internet marketing.

Inventory management

Designed to help dealers quickly upload vehicles, change pricing, add photos, print window stickers, run reports and manage listings, Dealer Specialties’ comprehensive Inventory Management (IVM) solution saves time, boosts efficiency and turns inventory more effectively. The IVM system integrates seamlessly with consumer-facing touch points like dealer web sites, online marketplaces and social media outlets. Offered as a full-service or self-service offering, the inventory management system is scalable to meet each dealer’s business needs.

Backed by a legacy in window stickers, Dealer Specialties recognizes the importance of this service and maintains a strong industry focus as a premier provider. The labels are rigorously weather-tested in the toughest conditions, including intense sunlight and extreme winter. They stay crisp and legible while helping to maintain brand awareness. Often referred to as the non-stop 24-house salesperson, Dealer Specialties’ window labels help on-the-lot shopper quickly assess information about a vehicle. One of the most distinguishing characteristics is the ability of the window stickers to carry full-color branding and logos to maintain the unique marketing message of each dealership.

As imaging technology evolved, so did the Dealer Specialties’ method of collecting images. From standalone images, vehicle video walk rounds to automated pan-and-scan videos, Dealer Specialties adopted tools to help dealers move into 21st century merchandising techniques. Even more compelling, the Dealer Specialties images can be customized with background music, authentic voicing, custom dealer messages as well as dealer intro and closing footage to reinforce dealer brand and inventory availability at every customer touch point.

Additional, enhanced customer trend data is available from our sister company, Cross-Sell Inc. The Cross-Sell Reports provide dealers with comprehensive, customized market reports representing short-term trends and market movements. By utilizing monthly market reports, dealers are able to better understand market trends, track local competition, analyze buying patterns and evaluate tune inventory levels. With partnerships from over twenty-five Department of Motor Vehicles nationwide, Cross-Sell reports effectively showcase historical data to help dealers make better inventory decisions.

Dealer web sites

Provided through a partnership with our sister company Dealerskins, Dealer Specialties offers web site hosting capabilities. Combining industry leading web technologies with real-time inventory updates powered by IVM enables Dealer Specialties to delivering powerful and accurate web solutions to attract customers.

Five years ago, maintaining your dealer web site was vital to the success of your business. Today, consumers are demanding access to information anytime, anywhere. Mobile web sites, SMS texting capabilities and mobile device applications enable not only the consumer, but also dealer representatives to access information 24/7/365. Whether it is staying connected to customers via mobile web sites, updating your IVM system with inventory and pricing changes via a mobile application or sending the latest promotional deal via SMS text, Dealer Specialties can integrate and deliver the right, real-time solution to meet your needs.

Internet marketing

The introduction of online marketplaces, social media sites and mobile solutions has empowered some dealers and confused others. Certainly, the ability to reach new customers is unparalleled.  Dealer Specialties continues to offer integration software solutions to meet the changing needs of dealers as well as consumers. As an expert in inventory data, Dealer Specialties fights through the clutter to deliver real-time automatic, accurate and seamless inventory updates through its IVM system to a multitude of online marketplaces, including Craigslist and eBay, as well as social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter. 

Future for Dealer Specialties

Two timely examples of Dealer Specialties’ integration deals with – pricing analytics and lead management.

One constant struggle for dealers is how to effectively and efficiently buy, price and stock the right mix of cars and trucks for their lots. Pricing analytics tools enable dealers to boost profit and increase inventory turn rates by utilizing market data to make informed inventory decisions.

“When it comes to determining the right inventory, it is all about supply, demand and price,” explains Sean Conley, general manager Cross-Sell. “Designed to improve the stocking and pricing process, our data integrated with the Dealer Specialties inventory management toolset, evaluates market pressures, assesses historical information, compares local competition and presents a recommendation to maximize your profit.”

Another struggle for dealers is the challenge of separately managing their lead and inventory management solutions. By integrating Dealer Specialties’ inventory manager with our sister Dominion Dealer Solutions company AVV’s lead management system, the dealer profits from an integrated solution that eliminates the need to manage two disparate toolsets.

“By combining AVV’s WebControl lead management with our inventory toolset, we deliver synergistic capabilities featuring a single login, centralized dashboard with ability to toggle between internet leads, vehicle details, inventory levels and available pricing,” concludes Garvin.

Dealer Specialties continued innovation enables dealers to drive efficiency, boost performance and increase profitability through a wide range of flexible, scalable and robust software solutions and services.  Twenty years of experience, plus an ingrained consultative approach, will ensure that this trend continues. To learn more, visit www. DealerSpecialties.com.

Key Players

George Nenni, vice president and general manager, Dominion Dealer Solutions

George joined the family business in 1993. Over the years, he has held every job in the company, from photographer to graphic designer. George’s tenacity and dedication ensured that Dealer Specialties would evolve into a national software and services oriented organization. Today, George oversees the inventory and web site divisions of Dominion Dealer Solutions. He continues to integrate and deliver powerful technologies and services for the automotive industry.

Glen Garvin, group general manager, Dominion Dealer Solutions

As a veteran in the automotive industry, Glen is a previous owner and operator of a dealer services company. Since joining Dealer Specialties, Glen has utilized his entrepreneurial expertise to streamline data and integrate inventory capabilities. Today, Glen maintains responsibility for sales, operations, data management and development for all of the Dominion Dealer Solutions’ inventory and data businesses including Dealer Specialties, SelectQu, DataCube and DataOne Software. In addition, Glen is an active social media participant and frequently speaks to national and regional dealer groups on best practices in inventory merchandising.

Sean Conley, general manager, Cross-Sell

Sean has been an integral part of Dealer Specialties since joining the company in 2004. He began his career with Dealer Specialties by researching and identifying potential acquisition opportunities that would complement Dealer Specialties’ unique suite of services. In 2006, Sean led the acquisition of Cross-Sell, Inc. to provide competitive intelligence to Dealer Specialties’ customers. As general manager, Sean has innovated delivery of the reports and integrated data into Dealer Specialties’ data and reporting tools.