Does your website propose marriage on the first date?

After reading the rather humorous headline (it is a link to the actual article)... the message sank in and it wasn't so funny any more.  It did however lead me to a new insight on something I've been struggling to articulate.

Up until now, dealership websites have done exactly what the author complains about... they provide superficial information such as generic VIN decoding data, useful/distracting videos, confusing navigation, overwhelming configurators, no useful dealership differentiation, non-color matched new vehicle photos, then WHAM!  Call or email (submit a lead).

WHAM!  We hit the consumer with a marriage proposal on the first date.   

Those dealers who consider themselves serious about getting some sales from all of their Internet efforts, gird themselves for battle with CRM tools, autoresponders , BDC operations, clever talk tracks, custom email templates and start working the phones to get the consumer into the dealership.  

Is it any surprise that consumers are getting wise to the fact that submitting an Internet lead is not a path to a better car buying experience?

Is it any wonder that many dealers struggle with the overall profitability of the model?  Internet staff turnover (high effort, low compensation), lower grosses ("we have to promote price or they won't come in!"), forget about finance and insurance products until "discuss at delivery", and then there is the cost of all of this technology, staff and time.. "but we have to be on the Internet!  Newspapers don't do nearly what they once did and all of the consumers are there!"

It's frustrating for dealers and judging by consumer's feedback (they want more online not less), it is frustrating for them too.

So what does a more balanced online car dealer to consumer relationship look like?

In July the Editor of F+I Magazine had his wife use the Ai-Dealer system as the basis of his editorial.

"I thought I'd put it to the ultimate test.. what did my wife think?  She's pretty crafty you know.  She selected the Camry and breezed through the rest of the process... She got a kick out of how the avatar's eyes followed the mouse and how it changed facial expressions... Now my wife has purchased a vehicle before, but it sounded like this was the first time she completely grasped the itemized breakdown of the deal."

What I found interesting about his test was we designed and built our system for demographic groups our research showed wanted a different and better way to buy a vehicle.  We identified women, youth and busy working professionals as our top demographics.

Now you are an industry executive, an OEM executive, a dealer or an Internet Manager charged with making sure your organization is competitive in its marketplace or you wouldn't be on my distribution list. 

Perhaps you feel differently, but here is what I believe is coming: Real eCommerce for dealers is already commercially available, installed, live and selling cars. 

OEM's and dealers with it embed this message into their advertising:

The ONLY complete online shopping experience

www.your_dealership_url.com

I've had readers of these emails ask me what the Ai-Dealer product is + how is it different from what else is out there.  Here is a very brief overview.  I'm not writing this to pitch it, but you'll need the understanding to follow the line of thinking about what to do vs. continuing to propose marriage on the first date.

• It is a complete, stand-alone application which a dealership provides to its consumers. 
• It can perform the complete function of a dealership salesperson and finance manager interacting with the consumer.
• Consumers have to validate their email address in order to create their account and log in 
• Once inside, there is no dealership involvement required except to review and approve the completed deal.
• The outcome is a fully Desked car deal inclusive of credit, interest rates, rebates, trade equity, extended service, protections, accessories, tax, title, fees and accurate monthly payments.
• Consumers access it from the dealership's website, but it could be used in the showroom too. 
• It delivers a branded, consistent, complete, legal shopping experience 100% of the time. 
• It never gets too busy, takes a day off or quits. 
• It could even be used to train a new salesperson. 

If it sounds like someone you'd like to hire in your showroom, that's really what you are adding to your operation.

The getting started cost is less than what you "invest" on newspaper ads or a new hire + you get your territory for that sum.

If you are worried about existing sales cannibalization or your staff making less, don't be.  Just the opposite happens.  You get shopped more and you sell more.  In dealerships with it, all employees make more money.  The staff who suffer work at dealerships and OM's who don't have the system and so get fewer shoppers.

Some have expressed that only a human can sell a car.  To date they have been correct.  Then again, using the existing technology there also wasn't a way to do it that mirrored the way real people buy cars in the physical world from car dealers.  Now that the capability is here, that original statement is no longer true.

See "Has the 17 minute transaction become a reality?"

So without getting carried away with statements like game-changing, here is how to use it to make more money:

• Advertise the competitive advantage this gives your dealership (or if you are an OEM, that it gives your franchise)
• You will get some direct sales
• You will also get far higher "conversions" = leads

Even with our system the number of non-buyers still greatly exceeds the buyers, but overall conversion (total # of consumers providing their validated email addresses) goes up tremendously.  So does the responsiveness of consumers to attempts to follow up.  Apparently courting before marriage pays dividends.

Some customers make for lousy dates.  Some will cheat.  They'll come take your time, get your prices, build their deal and not buy from you.  It happens every day in the showroom and with your Internet operation.  That is a consumer who deserves what they get at the next store if they buy there and one who doesn't value a better experience.  Let them go, you don't want them.  Is it better to let them waste the website's time or your staff's time like they do today?  Total cost... $10 (what we charge for a verified email address).  What is that expense costing you today?

With true eCommerce, you are asking the consumer out on a date.  Consumers are getting to know you while you are showing them that they can trust and like you.  Classic relationship building that works just as well in the online world as in the offline world.

While you are dating (they are working with the experience you provide), you get to communicate why they should buy from you, set your own pricing philosophy (negotiation or non-negotiation), give them an experience they can't get from others, teach, educate and train them.  Many consumers come back to the site repeatedly and work on several vehicles.  By the end, they ALL recognize that even a new car is hardly a commodity transaction.  You are a car dealer.  You do this all the time.  You already know that.  They are a consumer who does this every x years.  They have Internet companies telling them that buying a car is a commodity because it suits the provider's purposes (to capture the lead), that they can get unbelievably low prices (yet somehow all dealers buy their cars from the same places???).  Nothing convinces a consumer that there is in fact a better way like a great experience, especially one where you control the medium and the message.

Just like when you are getting serious in a relationship (at least that is what my wife called it back in the day... as a former dealership CFO I call this "closing"), when you have earned the consumer's trust, differentiated yourself and when you have earned the right, then it is appropriate to decide if you want to get married.

The Internet doesn't change that.

To me, the more important question is, "Now that you know that the consumer experience on your website doesn't line up very well with the psychology of selling, what are you going to do about it?"

Or are you going to continue letting your website propose marriage on the first date?