Car Dealer Transactional Websites: Upcoming Events
I speak regularly with dealers and Internet Managers about the issues that matter most to them.
One common theme I hear is profitability (or lack of it) and learning how to unlock profitability on this new medium called the Internet.
There seems to be a common understanding that newspapers, radio and TV don't bring customers in like they used to and yet today, achieving solid profitability and sales volume from Internet leads is frustrating.
The first step for many dealers is education in what others are doing, shared experiences and scouring the market for what hot new trends are coming.
To that end, here is a list of some learning opportunities you may not have heard of:
- January 25th, 2008, 11am Eastern Time - An Internet Radio broadcast. It's FREE and lasts about an hour. You can register in advance to reserve your place.
- March 19th and 20th, 2008 in Dallas, TX - A 2-day highly intereractive learning workshop for car dealers and their Internet Managers. Facilitated by some of the most experienced Internet Managers in the business, you are encouraged to bring your real-world problems for discussion and review. Small venue. 50 person maximum.
- April 21st through 23rd, 2008 in Orlando, FL - The next semi-annual AASIP / Digital Dealer show. Make sure you attend the panel session on the consideration for and issues involved in dealers adopting transactional websites (a transactional website is one where consumers can interact without dealer intervention and buy not just inquire = send a lead or call).
In the interest of full-disclosure, I will be at or participating in each of the above if anyone has any questions on Ai-Dealer's shopping cart ecommence system for car dealers to let consumers buy cars online right from the dealer's website.
Hope to hear from you or see you there!
And some social evidence for the curious in the mean time:
“What we like most about the shopping cart for vehicles and Ai-Dealer’s shopping cart in particular is the level of engagement with the consumer that it provides. We can tell exactly how serious the lead may be by how much information they obtain in the process. Unlike chasing 3rd party Internet leads, the non-serious buyers in the shopping cart self-serve themselves in obtaining the information they need. We can now dedicate our highly trained selling professionals’ effort to those consumers who are truly in the car buying mindset.
What we’ve also found is that since most consumers prefer to use the Internet today, Ai-Dealer’s shopping cart for cars really feels like the right mix of self-serve control that consumers want while still creating the opportunity to sell cars that we as dealers need.
At Huffines Auto Dealerships, we truly believe that this is the beginning of how cars will be sold in the future – one seamless online and offline process.”
John Meadows
Director of e Commerce and Business Development
Huffines Auto Dealerships
http://www.huffineshyundaiplano.com/
“We have been using the Ai-Dealer shopping cart for several months now. It has sold cars for us that we would not have otherwise sold. I consider “shopping carts for cars” to be the next big thing for car dealers. It is going to revolutionize this industry.”
David Thomas, Dealer
www.subaruofplano.com and www.subaruofdallas.com
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