The updated list of speakers for the 8th Digital Dealer Conference
and Exposition will be posted on February 19, 2010.
Below is just a small sample of some of the great speakers from last conference.
SAMPLE OF SPEAKERS FROM PAST CONFERENCE
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Never Fly Solo Learn how to recommit to the ‘core wingman values’ of integrity, service, and excellence
Whether you are a dealer, GM, GSM, sales manager, Internet sales manager, e-commerece director, CRM manager, BDC manager or pre-owned manager, your success depends on the mutual support of trusted partners to help you maximize your potential.
Fighter pilots call these partners wingmen.
In his keynote speech at the 7th Digital Dealer Conference & Exposition, combat decorated fighter pilot and leadership speaker Lt. Col. Rob “Waldo” Waldman shares business critical concepts for success in business and life.
You’ll learn to:
Recommit to the “core wingman values” of integrity, service, and excellence.
Transform relationships among colleagues into “interdependent partners” for success.
Take courageous action and ask for help during times of adversity and change.
Communicate effectively under high-pressure conditions at work.
Rob Waldman is a dynamic professional keynote speaker and seminar leader with over 18 years of leadership, training, and sales experience. He is a graduate of the U.S Air Force Academy, and also holds an MBA with a focus on organizational behavior. A former combat decorated F-16 fighter pilot, Waldman flew over 65 real world combat missions in extremely hostile and competitive environments and survived numerous missile launches against his aircraft. Having transitioned from “Top Gun” to top businessman and entrepreneur, he successfully led national sales efforts for several cutting edge technology and consulting firms. His unique experiences both in the military and in corporate America enable him to genuinely relate to the challenges faced both in and out of the workplace.
An overview of the most important Internet initiatives your dealership can implement in 2010 to get ahead, stay ahead and increase your ROI. The workshop will cover a 30,000- foot view and drill down to detailed specifics on the top cutting-edge Internet and digital advertising initiatives that will get your dealership ahead. Topics will include proper web development, advanced web analytics, complete search strategy, rich content development, online and offline advertising integration, third-party lead providers, secondary content, social networking and more. Each section will contain a topic overview and introduction, detailed drill-down and specific resources to help implement the initiative and measure your success.
Duncan Scarry is president of Moore & Scarry Advertising. He is a sought-after speaker on digital advertising topics. As the head of one of the country’s top digital advertising agencies, Scarry brings real-world experience to his seminars. With experience spearheading the digital and traditional advertising efforts of companies like AutoNation, Asbury, numerous Automotive News Top 125 Dealership Groups and over 300 retail dealers across the country, Scarry talks with authority about everything from the tried and true to the bleeding-edge and experimental.
Scarry has been a top-rated speaker at the Digital Dealer Conference, the Digital Dealer Webinar Series, the AutoTrainingEvent series and is slated to speak at the upcoming 2010 NADA Conference and Exposition.
Ralph Paglia will showcase actual dealership implementations of social media marketing and reputation management strategies. Attendees will learn how to measure performance and track the results required for increases in sales and profits. Learn how to create and sustain ongoing competitive advantages by building a foundation that position your dealership as the place to do business! Use customer engagement models that have become more effective than conventional interruption based advertising alone. Attendees will receive online access to step-by-step tactical blueprints that make it easy to use a combination of low cost dealer sponsored communities that are automatically updated daily using free OEM supplied assets. See how to engage your dealership’s employees within your community, then syndicate video, photo, blogs and discussion forums into the most popular social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube, Digg, Blogger, Wordpress and others to create a powerful and automated social marketing and reputation management network that generates real-world sales and profits.
Ralph Paglia is responsible for business development at ADP’s Digital Marketing Group. Paglia helped establish strategic alliances for ADP with digital marketing enterprises such as Google, Yahoo!, KBB, Specific Media, Jumpstart, DealerRater, Ning and DoubleClick. He has over 20 years of automotive experience including Reynolds Consulting Practice Leader and several dealership management positions. At Courtesy Chevrolet in Phoenix, his Internet and BDC teams generated over 4,000 vehicle sales in 2006. Paglia has developed digital dealer programs for Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Toyota and others. Paglia recently collaborated with Ford marketing executives to create and launch the Ford Digital Advertising Program for Dealers.
TRACK SPEAKERS
Customer Retention: Fact or Fiction Can you spend yourself into retaining customers or will you spend yourself out of business? Is it really worth it?
Did you know that most dealerships spend six to eight times more money attempting to attract new customers than they do on keeping their existing ones? Loyal and dedicated customers can be worth 10 times or more than a one-time buyer. And, one-time service jobs are often unprofitable ones!
This workshop points out the subtle expense and income differences between customers who are satisfied and those that are loyal and dedicated. We will discuss behaviors and work processes that affect service and parts customer retention. Mark Beaton will show you how to create a service department and parts department philosophy that builds long-term relationships and repeat service and parts business.
Upon completion of this workshop, you will be able to: identify service and parts functions that are critical to customer retention, allowing you to better handle customers during each phase of the service or parts process; augment and perfect customer interactions in ways that will result in increased loyalty.
Mark Beaton is the president and founder of MBA Dealer Services, a fixed operations consulting company. During the past 37 years, Beaton has worked in every position in fixed operations. He has been a new car dealer and works as a fixed operations instructor and subject matter expert for Chrysler, LLC.
Beaton has developed many dealership fixed operations training programs. He has taught over 7,000 fixed operations personnel, including general managers and dealers, fixed operations management, sales techniques and customer service.
Mobile marketing via SMS only scratches the surface of the value of text messaging to your organization. Text message auto-responders to keywords are adding little value to your sales efforts because they are a dead-end experience that forces the customer to take action to continue the sales process. Imagine how useless a phone number would be if when a shopper called the number all they got was a pre-recorded message.
The goal of mobile marketing is to opt-in shoppers to ongoing, two-way communications via SMS for sales and customer service for the complete customer lifecycle. Permission-based text messaging gets your message into the hands on consumers in real-time, getting your information noticed ahead of competitors using voice or e-mail communications.
Learn about the different technologies and applications for mobile communications and how to put it to use in your department.
Stan Bradbury is the co-founder and president of Dealer Text Solutions, the first company to develop comprehensive text messaging solution for automotive retailers and service centers, and the co-founder of CallBoost, the leading provider of 1-800 vanity phone numbers to auto retailers. Prior to the auto industry he was a marketing and technology strategy consultant to companies such as Chevron, Seagate, Dolby Laboratories, Polaroid and Warner Bros.
You know analytics are important, but do you know what to look at and how to apply what you learn from them to improve your web marketing efforts? Successful dealers are utilizing the power of web analytics to realize the full potential of their web sites, developing deeper customer interactions that lead to measurable value. When you understand how to use web analytics, you can drive more leads, increase sales and profits, and improve your customers’ online experience.
In this session, you’ll learn:
Key concepts, tools, techniques, and practices of web analytics
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and why they are important
Conversion chains
The difference between data collection methods
How to measure online marketing campaigns
Fundamentals of Search Engine Optimization measurement
Fundamentals of visitor behavior analysis
How to measure and optimize paid search campaigns
How to measure offline campaigns with online data
Aloysius (Al) Carl has over 14 years of experience in both B2B and B2C web marketing, with a proven track record of helping businesses achieve successful, cost-effective web marketing strategies. As the Search Engine Optimization (SEO)/Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Product Planning Manager for Reynolds Web Solutions, he is instrumental in guiding strategy and product planning to help dealers gain the most from SEO and SEM on the Reynolds WebMakerX platform and maximizing results from paid advertising campaigns. As an established SEO and SEM specialist, Carl delivers on-point web solutions strategy and planning, and assists dealers in implementing Internet strategies that deliver results.
Heather Hansson has over 10 years of experience working directly with dealers, has a vast knowledge of dealership data management and reporting, as well as the day-to-day processes that impact inventory sales. As a product planning manager for Reynolds Web Solutions, she is focused on key elements of successful dealership web strategies, including reporting, analytics, performance metrics, and inventory data, both in new software development and performance, measurement, and analysis best practices. Hansson helps translate what dealers need into tools they can use to increase sales and make their business more cost efficient.
In today’s marketplace, dealers must ensure that their advertising dollars are being spent wisely and reaching the right people. To stay ahead, every effort must be made to retain your loyal, happy customers. Can you be sure your advertising is reaching the intended party (i.e. your current customer base)? In this session, dealers will learn the tactics and technologies necessary to achieve the three most important goals of any store: How to convert service customers to showroom ups, ups to sales, and sold clients to service. Dealers will be able to return to their store with strategies and techniques on how to bring their advertising in-house and immerse their customers in their own marketing messages to ensure profitability. You want to move the needle in your store? Attend this session, it’s a don’t miss opportunity!
One of the original automotive Internet pioneers, Gilbert A. Chavez grew up in the automotive industry. Chavez has been recognized as one of the leading experts in retailing automobiles. He is a true innovator and renowned for his success in team building. Once called the Vince Lombardi of car guys; he is a former U.S. Army infantry officer, company commander and paratrooper. Chavez has served as the COO for the Krumland Auto Group, as the general manager of the Burt Automotive Network, as the e-Marketing director for the Phil Long dealerships, the largest privately owned dealer group in Colorado, and the e-Marketing director for the Planet Automotive Group. He also served as the vice president of Operations and Business Development for iMagicLab. “My job is to surround dealers with amazing technology and with the brightest and most forward thinking car salespeople I can find. I have worked in every sales role that a car dealer has and have been exceedingly successful at every level,” says Chavez.
The mantra we hear daily from Internet managers and salespeople regarding Internet prospects is, “This is frustrating and futile. It’s hard to measure ROI.”
The fundamentals of the sales process are unchanged, but the Internet has affected how customers interact with you. To move ahead of competitive Internet departments, it’s imperative that you implement five key drivers to get the relationship started. Follow this roadmap and prospective buyers will have reason to do business with you over someone else!
In this session, you’ll learn the current top five practices, harvested from top-performing Internet departments. As we share these, you will:
Learn how to craft e-mail templates that get responses.
Understand what customers are really asking.
Get your share of the market using technology already at your fingertips and that is free.
Discover what is follow-up, and what is simply annoying.
Be able to sell more cars in less time!
Matt Clark is a senior e-Business consultant for the Reynolds Consulting Group, and has over 20 years automotive retail experience. An early advocate of using the Internet to drive sales, increase revenue and maintain positive customer relationships, he also has expertise in using the Internet to generate new business. Clark has launched numerous successful Internet departments and has hands-on consulting experience in over 550 dealerships in the past six years. He most recently functioned as a liaison for a major OEM in an expansive west coast market, raising Internet close rates, accelerating lead response time, and creating revenue for both dealers and the manufacturers
As dealers begin the migration from traditional marketing to digital marketing, there needs to be a focused and well-planned strategy in place to maximize the allocation of marketing spend. This seminar will present a series of best practices for dealers to decide which channel will provide the greatest opportunity to attract more prospects, convert more buyers, transact more deals, and retain more customers. Part of this presentation will also include an overview of a process for how dealers can better manage the migration from traditional to more digital marketing solutions, including digital advertising, online transactions, and electronic customer communications tools.
Larry Cochran is vice president, Digital Marketing, for ADP Dealer Services. He brings over 25 years of automotive industry experience, with a concentration in customer care, digital marketing and overall dealership technology, to this workshop. Prior to his current role within Digital Marketing, Cochran led the sales efforts for an ADP unit called Hayes Ligon, which supplies service information to auto dealerships. In addition to these roles he has held numerous positions in sales and training for ADP.
Cochran has presented at numerous automotive industry functions and has written several industry articles with a focus on digital marketing.
To be successful in today’s highly competitive marketplace, dealers need to make a profit. Many dealers struggle to get the prospect’s attention and therefore, engage in costly price wars to get the prospect to respond to them or get them to the showroom floor. What to say and when to say it will unlock the keys to success. This course will cover phone scripting that will allow you to create a relationship with the prospect. In addition, the psychology of the buyer and the basic human behaviors to get the prospect to open up and build positive relationships will be uncovered.
People buy cars from people and people buy cars from people they like. Recipients of this training class will further understand the keys to the process and how the phone call can set up the profitable sale, creating a win-win scenario.
Dennis Colome bridges the gap between Internet department and showroom floor. As the creator of iConsult Performance Coaching Program, and as an industry leader he has availed his 32 years of automotive dealership experience to an industry in progressive flux. Over the past 15 years Colome has trained over 1,200 dealerships and have assisted 16,000 dealership and OEM personnel.
Colome's belief is the art of the e-mail and the phone is one of the best selling tools in today's marketplace and those who use it effectively can increase performance.
Today’s Internet world has changed selling from a one-on-one personal handshake style to a somewhat cold and impersonal long-distance relationship. This session will address putting the personality into your keyboard and training your people so they are set apart from other stores. Tim Deese will show you how to make the normally cold cyberspace sale a warm friendly place that will drive customers to your dealership and buy your cars. From the initial meet and greet, to the appointment, to delivering the car, your Internet personnel must be in tune with all facets of the selling process, including inventory, both new and used, while expressing their enthusiasm through their keyboard. Come and see how to make your Internet sales staff as good as your floor staff.
Tim Deese founded Progressive Basics in 1981 as a training company dedicated to training dealers and used car managers to improve the used car department in their dealerships. Starting from an independent dirt lot, to owning two dealerships, Deese sat in every seat in the dealership, from porter to manufacturer before selling in 1981 and opening Progressive Basics. He has designed and built for Datsun, and the Trail Hustler (later known as the Nissan Pathfinder). Deese has spoken numerous times at NADA, FADA (Canada) and in Hong Kong, and AADA in Australia. Deese has had the honor of training over 50,000 dealers and managers around the world.
In the new economy of smart business, knowledge is power and data is knowledge. Did you know that dealer web sites are now the second most visited sites by automotive shoppers? Do you know what online shoppers are looking for versus what you have in stock? The questions are endless. But now we have definitive answers to these questions, thanks to the Internet.
With 90 percent of all auto shoppers hitting the Internet to research their next vehicle, we now have the magical luxury of “watching” what they do during their auto shopping process. This allows us to precisely customize our marketing, follow up, online ad placement, inventory mix, and every aspect of our business to target exactly the right people in the right places at the right time. What can’t be measured can’t be managed, and we now have the most powerful yardstick ever, right at our fingertips.
Jason Ezell is one of Dealerskins’ original founders. Since the company’s acquisition by Dominion Ent. in 2005, Ezell has served as national sales director and director of industry relations. He is currently a private consultant to the company and dealers nationwide. Prior to Dealerskins, he worked in dealerships for almost 10 years as a sales manager, finance manager and GSM for a Toyota dealership and then a high-end luxury dealership. From there, he joined Autotrader.com at its inception as a regional account manager and sales trainer. Ezell has been a vendor representative on the J.D. Power Internet Roundtable and speaks to NADA Dealer 20 groups nationwide on web site strategy.
A practical, easy to follow presentation providing the necessary tools, steps and processes to increase fixed operations market share and improve customer satisfaction. Moving forward it is imperative that we understand the systemic cultural changes that have taken place over the last several months. These changes have manifested themselves in the unique management of individual, family and business economic matters.
Adapting and applying the right mix of e-Commerce has become essential for survival and growth. This is a tested system that has worked for the past 10 years with single and multi-point dealerships. The World Wide Web is changing all the time, the demographics of consumers and the way they interact and respond to dealerships is also changing. Using these simple techniques will catapult your dealership’s fixed operations and increase the sales side of your dealership at the same time. Plus new fixed operations and sales word tracks and e-mail responders that will capture today’s shopper.
Ray Fensterhas been involved in all areas of the automotive business with a concentration on using the Internet. He formerly was the e-Commerce director of the Lindsay Automotive Group and has been with other groups around the Washington D.C. beltway for over 10 years. His expertise is in maximizing the use of web-based marketing and lowering dealerships’ overall marketing costs. The Lindsay Automotive Group was one of the very few groups chosen by eBay to pilot the e-dealership program. Fenster moved the eBay local and national program ahead to include new car as well as used car sales, service and parts. Many of the top performing Internet dealerships in the Washington D.C. area have Internet sales managers that Fenster has trained. Fenster is currently offering consulting services by analyzing current e-business status, working with management developing improved strategies, recommending needed technologies, coaching/training to utilize systems effectively and providing easy to understand tools and metrics to continually improve in a cost effective manner.
The game has changed; breaking through a mass amount of e-mails is no longer the end goal. The real art lies in what you say, how you say it and the timing in which the message hits the prospect’s inbox. Do it well and you can create measurable action. Do it poorly and you lose sales.
In this presentation, Bobby Gaudreau, sales director of Automotive Services Group, IMN, and one of the most popular speakers at the Spring Digital Dealer Convention, will outline how dealerships can maximize their e-mail marketing offerings to ensure prospects open, read and act on the information.
His presentation will include:
Scheduling – does timing really matter?
The difference between targeted marketing and desperate marketing
Key metrics and benchmarks to measure success
Subject lines? So yesterday. Today content is King.
The black hole... spam and junk folders
Robert W. Gaudreau is national sales director at IMN. He has over 10 years of sales, marketing and management experience, namely in the automotive arena. In his current role at IMN, he is responsible for all field sales operations for IMN’s Automotive Services Group.
Prior to IMN, he worked at Autobase, Inc. in a number of key positions. Namely, as a district sales manager, he helped to grow the New England region into one of the top regions in the company and earned the status of the company’s top salesperson. Later he was selected to pioneer and ultimately manage, Autobase’s National Account Management Program, where his team was responsible for all renewal and vertical business.
Gaudreau holds an MBA for Northeastern University and a BS from Keene State College in NH.
The latest CRM and sales technologies are only as good as the sales strategies and skill of the people using them. For dealerships stuck in the old command and control systems of selling, with a reliance on four squares, closers, and “desk men”; the Internet has been a disruptive technology, slowly but surely eroding sales and profits. Others have shifted their sales strategies to contend with the new online vehicle shopper by creating Internet departments and Internet sales specialists while still trying to maintain a traditional sales approach. But some dealerships with progressive leadership and effective management teams have developed selling strategies designed to collaborate with customers, evolving from the management of transactions to the creation of a faster, easier purchase and ownership experience. This session examines the strategy these dealerships use and five key elements of collaborative selling systems that attract online vehicle shoppers.
David Greene brings a sterling reputation as one of the automotive industry's most progressive and effective performance and training professionals. Greene has been in the automotive industry since 1980 and has worked in all aspects of retail sales management. Prior to founding e-Pro Automotive Group, Greene was EVP of Sales & Service for Reply!, an online marketing services firm. He also served as vice president of Sales and Dealer Network Operations for Autoweb.com, one of the first publicly traded online auto buying services. He had overall responsibility for dealer network development, dealer training and consulting services, customer care and account management.
Overcoming today's challenges in sourcing used vehicles requires new
benchmarks and new processes. John Griffin, an automotive retail expert and
member of the vAuto senior management team, will review current industry
dynamics driving the need for change as well as introduce and outline the
processes essential for effective sourcing.
John Griffin, VP of Performance Management, brings a wealth of automotive
retail experience to the vAuto management team. Griffin has more than 20
years of executive management experience at some of the most successful
dealer groups in the country. Designing and implementing highly effective
sales and operational management processes throughout his career, he has
developed a specialty as an accomplished trainer, providing results-driven
training programs for all levels of dealership personnel. Griffin has also
provided consulting services to manufacturers, re-marketers, auctions and
suppliers in the automotive industry. He has also completed comprehensive
management training through OEM executive and dealer development programs.
Are you giving up gross when you don’t have to? What are you basing your vehicle pricing on today? What processes do you have in place to price the vehicles you are advertising on the Internet? Did you know that how and when you change pricing impacts your potential margins?
Understanding how a vehicle will perform not only in the market, but at your store is becoming increasingly important. Doug Hadden will show you how to utilize key data points to make smarter decisions when it comes to managing your inventory. Specifically:
How to identify your right inventory
How to close more trades
How to maintain profitability
The goal is that you walk away with process and practices you can put in place immediately to begin driving change for you dealership. For instance:
How to “mine” the right data to base your inventory decisions – where to get it and how to extract that information
What to do with the data/how to use it
Best sources for acquiring vehicles
Appraisal best practices – top tips to help you win more trades
How to price vehicles to sell
Doug Hadden is the manager of Training and Development for DealerTrack Inventory Optimization, powered by AAX. Doug helps Dealerships and large Dealer Groups to sell more vehicles, faster, with higher gross profits utilizing DealerTrack’s Inventory Optimization Solution. In his previous position at JMsolutions, Doug was the National Accounts Manager in charge of managing the relationships of some of the largest automotive retailers in the country such as Asbury Auto Group and Penske Automotive. Doug is no stranger to the challenges of automotive retail and wholesale management. Starting his career as a lot porter, he worked his way through every dealership department, holding positions as line mechanic, service writer, new and used car sales, finance manager, sales manager and General Manager.
The vast majority of customers are conducting research online before they even step consider stepping on your lot. You need to ensure that your virtual lot is as well organized and managed as your physical lot. It is time to move your dealership towards being an Internet Dealer in order to thrive not just survive. Rafi Hamid, an award winning Internet marketing executive will provide you with the critical path to begin this process.
Rafi Hamid, an award-winning Internet marketing executive and e-commerce sales director, is the senior director of digital marketing services at vAuto, a high-tech provider of used-car inventory management systems for dealers. Prior to vAuto, he was director of e-commerce for the Napleton Auto Group where they had very successful Internet sales and marketing processes, with 18 record months in just the last 24 months. Prior to Napleton, Hamid was an Internet group director for Bob Rohrman Auto Group, which achieved record success under Hamid’s direction. He is a recent winner of the Digital Dealer AAISP 2008 "Hardest Working Internet Sales Professional.”
Contrary to popular belief, getting ahead in today’s market does not require more spending. This session will prove your store can increase walk ins, phone calls, and web leads to deliver more car deals while reducing your budget. If you are willing to keep your level of spending the same, hold on and get ready to hire because using the full arsenal of free and cost effective web tactics could deliver more customers than your current setup can handle.
What attendees will learn:
What common mistakes most dealerships are making when allocating their marketing spend given the shifting landscape of online marketing.
How to recognize online trends and think like a web marketer to capitalize on the movement of your customers.
What the wide array of free or cost effective marketing tools online are and how to get started with them.
How to determine what is best for each individual store, so each attendee can write an appropriate business plan to get their department ahead while the market is soft and stay ahead as the market rebounds.
Jared Hamilton is a third generation dealer and graduate of NADA’s Dealer Candidate Academy and NADA’s Advanced Education program at Babson University. He lead a two-year research project and filmed a series of educational documentaries about the changing Internet landscape and how the best dealers are harnessing its power. He is the founder and CEO of DrivingSales.com, the largest best practice social network for car dealers and is a frequent speaker at industry events, 20 groups and association meetings.
On a daily basis, you receive leads through your web site and third-party sources. How do you ensure those prospects are who they claim to be? As you work the deal, and work through the credit application process, are you confident you have collected the proper detail to validate the prospect’s credentials?
Randy Henick will showcase best practices on how to create or customize a program to minimize compliance and identity theft risks when taking both online and in-store applications. These best practices will help you to develop a program to identify, detect, respond and update procedures to be used on a consistent basis. Additionally, learn about what is expected under state and federal regulations on training of your staff when it comes to identity theft and compliance with the FTC Red Flags Rule.
Randy Henrick is associate general counsel at DealerTrack. He has been DealerTrack's regulatory and compliance counsel for five years and has been a consumer credit and banking lawyer for over 25 years at places like GE Capital, Citibank, MasterCard International and FleetBoston. He is chairman of the New York State Bar Association’s Consumer Financial Services Committee and an adjunct professor of U.S. Consumer Credit and Privacy Law at New York Law School. He authored the DealerTrack Compliance Guide, and is considered an expert on identity theft issues.
Richard Holland will present a workshop to educate attendees on the benefits of using Software as a Service (SaaS) technology. SaaS technology can provide dealerships with ways to dramatically reduce software and technology costs, while creating efficiencies across their dealership. The workshop will instruct attendees how to examine and research all aspects of technology from CRM to online inventory management, with the purpose of lowering their costs and streamlining dealership sales and work processes.
Attendees will also learn how to use this technology, and its inherent security capabilities, to identify potential inefficiencies at their dealership. A comparison of benefits of SaaS technology applications to server-based automotive technology will be presented. In addition, attendees will be provided examples of the potential dollar savings that they may benefit from utilizing SaaS technology for a wide range of dealership software needs.
Richard Holland is vice president and general manager of DealerTrack Systems, Inc. Holland directs product management and strategy for DealerTrack’s DMS (dealer management system). With a strong combination of technical and business management skills, he is uniquely qualified to lead this business in the development of innovative solutions that meet dealers’ needs.
Previously, Holland was national sales manager for Cars/Dyatron, a specialist in GM dealership software. He also served as general manager of Advanced Computer Systems, the first company to introduce IBM systems to the automotive retail industry.
Holland has a bachelor of science degree from the University of Utah, and is a certified IBM professional.
Focus and watch your heart rate – micro-blogs and tagging
Don’t slow down now – smart collecting information via RSS feeds
Sprint to the finish – meet your friends and fans – the two types of social networks
Check your vitals – start gathering intelligence which will relate back to your consumer’s purchase funnel and the social feedback cycle
Examples of work(out) – sheets which will guide you to be in better shape on behalf of social web, multimedia, micro-blogs and tagging, RSS-feeds, social networks and campaign objective for the social feedback cycle
Volker Jaeckel (a.k.a. VJ) is the digital marketing ambassador for the Cobalt Group. As a former e-Commerce director and social media specialist, he converted poor performing Internet sales departments in Michigan, Arizona and Atlanta to successful and profitable operations. He is a native German and has lived since 2001 in the U.S. and specialized in Internet sales processes and automotive digital marketing. In April 2009 he was featured as the cover story of Digital Dealer magazine, and appeared as a speaker at the 6th Digital Dealer conference in Las Vegas. VJ is considered a progressive “Internet and car guy,” who is eager to try something different in his teaching approach rather than following old, antiquated marketing methods. His specialties include: coaching, speaking, and convincing others of the power and impact of the social web.
Web Merchandising: Let’s Get Emotional! Why spend money on an expensive web site, SEO, online classifieds or any online marketing effort if you aren’t going to create emotional ads that ‘sell’ the consumer once they are there?
This session will teach you how some of the top dealerships in the country easily create emotional advertisements that turn vehicle display pages (on your web site and online classifieds) into powerful lead generating ads that create urgency, inspire mental ownership, and dramatically increase web site and online classified (such as AutoTrader.com, Oodle, Craigslist, etc.) conversion rates. Additionally, you will learn how you can save your dealership money, increase both the reach and frequency of your web site and all of your online ads, and dramatically increase your sales – all at the same time.
Timmy D. James is a leading automotive digital marketing expert and a well-respected speaker at industry events. As director of Sales with HomeNet, Inc., James leads the rapidly-growing automotive technology provider’s direct-to-dealer marketing, sales, and product initiatives. James and his team have helped thousands of dealers to increase sales by implementing the proven ‘Best Practices’ that are consistently employed by top e-Dealers. HomeNet has emerged as the market leader for Internet marketing and data acquisition/aggregation, currently helping more than 15,000 dealers to get more leads from their web sites and online classifieds with the powerful Inventory Online (IOL) Vehicle Marketing Suite.
In the past year I have done over 350 video walkarounds and 60 customer testimonials for my web site that I have hosted on You Tube. In the first year the videos have over 20,000 views. Nothing I have done in the 18 years of selling cars has had a faster return on my time and effort than this. Two days after posting my first five videos, a customer walked into the showroom and said: “Hey, you are the guy in the video!”
You will receive all the info you need to have video up and running in one hour. Also, let me show you some short cuts I have learned in the last year that will save you time and effort. By the way, did I mention this is free technology? Wow, I wish some would have gave me all this information. I had to figure it out on my own. You don't have to!
Tim Jennings has 18 years of automotive selling experience.The last 15 years have been at Tom Sparks Buick of DeKalb. Jennings welcomed the task of running the Internet department in 1999. At that time the rest of the staff wanted nothing to do with it. Often fellow employees would tease about the “Internet mooches.” Like picking a solid stock early he enjoys a good return on his investment of time. Jennings started the Internet department and has built it into one of the best returns on the dollar at his store. He spoke at the 2007, 2008 and 2009 Digital Dealer Spring Conferences. “I’m not here to sell you anything. I’m here to help you, so you will help me! Let me tell you what I have learned online since 1999.”
Are you a “Jack of all trades”? Do you need to be one when it comes to your Internet department? This is the seminar for you. We will discuss a little bit of everything. Included will be tips and tricks that I have learned from the past 10 years at one store, with one web site, and one guy – the Internet guy!
Topics to be discussed:
Your relationship with your owner/manager
Your relationship with your computer
Your relationship with your customer
Advertise for $5 a day or $50 a month
Who, what, where, why, and how to spend your money
Sew it up! Make sure you are in control of the leads
Brand yourself
Free inventory, video, free video e-mail, free chat, free online listings
Tim Jennings has 18 years of automotive selling experience.The last 15 years have been at Tom Sparks Buick of DeKalb. Jennings welcomed the task of running the Internet department in 1999. At that time the rest of the staff wanted nothing to do with it. Often fellow employees would tease about the “Internet mooches.” Like picking a solid stock early he enjoys a good return on his investment of time. Jennings started the Internet department and has built it into one of the best returns on the dollar at his store. He spoke at the 2007, 2008 and 2009 Digital Dealer Spring Conferences. “I’m not here to sell you anything. I’m here to help you, so you will help me! Let me tell you what I have learned online since 1999.”
It’s time to get ahead of the other dealers that are contacting your customers. If you know more than they do – you’ll “wow” your customers and stay ahead of the competition. Your DMS system and the Internet have valuable data and with a few keystrokes, your next customer conversation can start with a reminder that their safety check is due and ask if they like living in Green Oaks or enjoyed attending UCLA. Learn how to look up, extract and mine the data from your DMS system and enhance that with a few tricks of a self-proclaimed “Internet detective.”
Sandi Jerome has over 30 years experience in the automobile business. She is a former F&I manager and assistant general manager. She has been the fixed operations manager, system administrator and CFO for the largest Chevrolet and Dodge dealer in a five-state area. She was the first editor of Digital Dealer magazine and now consults on DMS systems, expense control, CRM, financial analysis and other automotive technology. Her NADA workshops rate in the top 10 percent including her popular “Super Controller” and “40 Valuable Things to do with your Computer System.”
FordDirect FordDirect shares its latest innovations to engage and communicate with your customer
Mine your database for additional sales and service opportunities
Extend the conversation with your customer on and offline
Acquire and keep your customers
Joe Kaczmarek, FordDirect Director of Operations. Kaczmarek has 13 years experience within the automotive industry. Before joining FordDirect, he worked for Toyota/Lexus, Autobytel and the Rosado Auto Group.
At Toyota/Lexus, he was accepted into the management trainee program in California and transferred to the Central Atlantic Toyota Dist in Baltimore, MD and promoted to service and parts marketing manager. For Autobytel, he assisted with building the first lead marketing field force and managed the Boston and Philadelphia territories. The last three years at Autobytel, he sold and provided Internet sales training for dealers in the Northeast.
Kaczmarek then accepted a position with the Rosado Auto Group (10 locations, 16 franchises) located in Northeast Pennsylvania and built an e-commerce business from the ground up. This included implementing a lead manage process, managing the online marketing for the group and rolling out a CRM solution.
Recent studies show that pent-up demand for new cars in the United States remains high. As consumers look to replace aging models, will they get the information they need and purchase from you – or your competitors? This workshop examines the online advertising and Internet sales tactics you'll want to put in place to win more than your fair share of the deals.
In this session, you’ll learn how to:
Mine your CRM system, service/parts department and body shop for prospects.
Fully merchandise your listings online and sell the value of buying from your store.
Purchase third-party leads to connect with in-market shoppers.
Implement effective sales processes to engage new-car buyers and work with them throughout the purchase process.
Kathy Kimmel brings more than 15 years automotive industry and dealership management experience to her role as training director at Cars.com. Her expertise covers every aspect of the dealership, from managing sales and service operations to driving customer satisfaction and implementing training programs to mentor new employees and groom seasoned managers. Her current daily responsibilities include creating and performing training for dealership personnel that focuses on best practices for Internet sales. Kimmel understands the day-to-day business of selling cars and what it takes to build a successful sales organization.
As both local and national dealers face longer sales cycles and increasingly hesitant consumers, the utilization of efficient and cost-effective tools to bolster the impact of often de-centralized marketing efforts has never been more important. That is precisely why the partnership between Jumpstart Automotive Group, the fastest growing digital network of in-market car shoppers, and Sonic Automotive, the nation's third largest dealer group with 149 local dealerships selling 33 automotive brands, has caught the industry's attention. Jumpstart is helping Sonic Automotive consolidate its localized digital marketing efforts – with the aim of addressing Sonic's legacy of managing all advertising efforts at the local dealership level. On this panel, Jumpstart, Sonic and industry experts will discuss the successes and lessons learned from this deployment which aligns Sonic’s dealers with a consistent digital strategy, resulting in greater budget efficiencies for Sonic as a whole.
Joe Kyriakoza is vice president, Strategic Insights at Jumpstart Automotive Media. His team is charged with driving strategic direction for Jumpstart’s clients by providing powerful insights and actionable analysis based on intelligence and information that the company possesses about the automotive shopping and purchasing process. Kyriakoza was formerly VP of National Advertiser Solutions for Jumpstart, in which he was responsible for leading a national sales team residing in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Detroit. Prior to that he was VP of Product Strategy. He has been a member of the Jumpstart team since January of 2006.
Prior to joining Jumpstart, Kyriakoza was a partner and manager of all national digital media initiatives for Ford Motor Media, the media buying arm for Ford Motor Company. He directed the online advertising spending of all of Ford’s brands, including Ford Division, Lincoln, Mercury, Jaguar, Volvo, Land Rover and Mazda. Prior to Ford Motor Media, he was an account director at Beyond Interactive, heading up accounts including Nortel Networks, LensCrafters, GiftCertificates.com and Rodale Publishing. Kyriakoza is based in Royal Oak, MI.
Dealerships spend countless hours and marketing dollars trying to drive leads from various sources to the showroom. However, it’s not just about driving traffic. It’s about driving traffic that has a higher percentage chance of closing and being better prepared than your competition to convert those leads into dealership visits. To do so, you must understand the buying motivations of the online shopper and be able to translate them in terms of “benefit to the customer.”
Kelley Blue Book’s www.kbb.com attracts more than 12 million visits each month with the ability to track consumer perceptions and actions. This session will reveal what consumers are looking for and the keys to getting the door open quicker and more often than ever before. Learn several simple, easily-mastered tools to make an immediate difference in increasing sales and income.
Rob Lange is the national sales training director for Kelley Blue Book. His responsibilities include providing educational materials to dealers to enhance their sales processes using Kelley Blue Book values and services, and conducting regional dealer meetings to educate dealerships on the power of the Kelley Blue Book brand. Lange develops “best practices” documents for dealerships, contributes monthly articles to industry publications and regularly speaks at related conferences. Lange authored “Selling the Online Mortgage Customer,” a comprehensive sales guide for maximizing results with online borrowers, and has conducted more than 350 webinars for more than 5,000 attendees.
The census reveals there are over 47 million Latinos in the U.S., and that Latinos are the largest minority group in the country. Virtually every auto brand, product and service is scrambling to tap into this large, lucrative and growing consumer base. But reaching Latinos effectively means more than just translating English marketing into Spanish: you need to know how to connect with this consumer emotionally, rationally and culturally. Hispanic online media habits are evolving and it’s imperative that automotive marketers understand and keep up with these rapidly changing behaviors. Attendees will learn specific strategies for effective online marketing targeted to Latinos.
Learn the “size of the prize” – the scope of opportunity for the automotive market that the Latino market presents
Learn the four Latino mindsets and how media consumption, online and social media habits differ among them.
Learn the six most common mistakes made in Latino online marketing and how to avoid them
Kelly McDonald: What does a blond haired, blue-eyed Irish girl know about Hispanic marketing? Plenty! Kelly McDonald has 23 years of automotive advertising agency experience, in both the general market and Latino market.
Her company, McDonald Marketing, works with clients such as Toyota, Harley-Davidson and Miller/Coors. In 2007, Advertising Age named her company one of the top Hispanic ad agencies in the U.S. In 2008, Inc. Magazine named it one of the fastest-growing privately-owned companies in the U.S. And in 2009, Advertising Age named her agency one of the top agencies in the U.S. across all disciplines.
Your dealership’s auto-response: Learn to craft an auto-response that has 15-20 percent of your customers asking you to call them on a specific number at a specific time.
Identify your key “now what do I do” opportunities: Turn common roadblocks into newfound success by utilizing these proven approaches.
Follow-up phone calls: The dos and don'ts that can turn your phone conversations into appointments, shows and sales.
Making the most of the five key drivers: Use this proven, customer survey driven guide to shape your short-, mid- and long-term follow-up process to make sure that you're getting your share of the business.
Vital statistics – What you should be monitoring and why. Learn the most important vital statistics and learn how monitoring this information could be the key to doubling your Internet sales when identifying and acting on known deficiencies.
You'll leave this session with at least three ideas that will improve your closing rates the first week that you're back at the store. We're looking forward to seeing you there!
Doug Mitchell, Ford Lincoln Mercury Dealer Lead Management/Digital Marketing.
Prior to supporting Ford full-time, Mitchell held multiple positions in Ford Retail starting in 1984, including as sales manager in a high volume Detroit Ford dealership.
Since 1999, he has supported Ford and Lincoln Mercury online efforts in automotive lead management and CRM process design. He has been a key developer in the Ford suite of e-tools and Internet sales process training.
He has conducted seminars in all Ford and LM sales regions, field personnel training, and new dealer training. Today his primary role with the Ford Lincoln Mercury Digital Team is working side by side with the regional digital marketing consultants and their dealers. This combination of forces is an ongoing effort to improve Internet close rates around the country.
When a customer sends her lead to three dealers, she puts each dealer on trial: “Who has a fair price? Who has what I want? Who will give me good service? Who can I trust?” This is the moment of truth. The dealer’s actions at this moment have greater impact on the customer’s ultimate choice of dealer than at any other point in the purchase process. But between test drives, store hours, meetings and other distractions, leads arrive when no one is there to answer them. And it’s not just about quick response, it’s about the content: presenting multiple vehicles, with option and pricing detail including incentives, in a brand-enhancing look and feel. Learn how digital response management solutions can beat your competitor at the moment of truth by sending a personalized, multi-vehicle quote in 10 minutes or less every time—no matter what you’re doing when the lead arrives.
Tom Mohr is CEO of ResponseLogix. ResponseLogix helps auto dealers across the U.S. significantly improve sales on Internet leads through personalized, rapid-response, multi-vehicle price quotes and groundbreaking lead follow-up solutions.
Prior to ResponseLogix, Mohr was president of Knight Ridder Digital, where he was on the board of Cars.com. Prior to that, he was Knight Ridder corporate director for Classifieds, where he oversaw $800M in revenue responsibility including $200M in automotive advertising revenue. He has worked closely with auto dealers for 25 years.
He has an MBA from UC Berkeley, and a BA from Queen’s University.
With the aid of key findings from a recently-conducted Northwood University research study, Tori Morandi will reveal keen insights into car shoppers' behaviors that will help you create a more seamless approach to your dealership's online and offline business. In this workshop you will learn the definitive role of online advertising, an explanation of trackable activity and how to use readily-available data from your online advertising partners to implement a dealership scorecard that will help you make fluid adjustments to your advertising and in-store processes.
Tori Morandi is manager of Industry Education for AutoTrader.com, the ultimate automotive marketplace. As a national spokesperson, she represents AutoTrader.com to dealership, association and OEM groups at trade shows, conferences and other special events. With over 10 years of experience as a public speaker and expert trainer, Morandi connects with audiences using a unique and energetic style that engages participants and promotes learning. Her presentations for AutoTrader.com cover what's happening in the industry, today's automotive consumer, emerging trends, and what's new with advertising and marketing on the Internet.
Previously, she has worked with BMW of North America and Toyota and Lexus of North America as a training and instructional design consultant. Her dealership experience also includes BDC implementation and development for the Porsche, Audi, Subaru, and Lincoln/Mercury brands. She holds a bachelor of arts degree in Public Relations from Pepperdine University.
Competing in a Web 2.0 environment requires providing your customers with new and engaging ways to learn about your listings – whether through on-the-go access to your inventory, virtual test drives with Internet video or real-time conversations via online chat. Effectively integrating these capabilities within your existing sales processes helps you to drive traffic to your showroom and edge out behind-the-times competitors. This workshop examines the tools successful dealers use to engage ready-to-buy shoppers and the steps they take to win the sale.
In this session, you’ll learn how to:
Leverage online chat to answer shoppers’ questions, build rapport and merchandise your store and listings.
Utilize mobile technology to increase your listings exposure among in-market shoppers and open your inventory with in-store buyers.
Incorporate video (e.g., vehicle demonstrations, customer testimonials and new-model introductions) into your online listings and dealership’s web site(s).
Identify new and emerging contact channels (e.g., social media sites and text messaging) into your online advertising and Internet sales processes.
Jonas Moskowitz is a product manager at Cars.com, where he manages the company’s independent dealer advertising products portfolio. In this role, he consults with independent dealers on how to leverage Internet advertising to increase their online exposure and sell more cars. Jonas also provides strategic direction for the company’s core independent dealer advertising products and spearheads its dealer financing, mobile, web site and BHPH initiatives.
Web 2.0 could be your best opportunity for building customer loyalty and increasing leads. Yet, the use of the term is so widespread that it’s become little more than a marketing buzzword. In this session, you’ll gain a practical understanding of the web 2.0 phenomenon and explore techniques you can use to take advantage of it, maximizing your web site potential.
Josh Muller has eight years of experience working with auto dealers to develop effective, revenue-generating web solutions. As product planning manager for Reynolds Web Solutions, Muller focuses on aligning the core capabilities of Reynolds’ WebMakerX solution, including design, usability, and accompanying services with dealer needs, helping improve dealers’ business results.
While most dealers sell based on the four money-related leverage points of the four-square method (trade-in value, purchase price, down payment and monthly payment), most consumers buy based on their emotional and functional needs, or the four M.A.R.K factors: Mission, Affordability, Risk and Key Differentiators. Dealers need is a new approach to selling – one that takes advantage of the consumer’s knowledge and sells on value, rather than selling solely on price. The new four-square method, which centers on the M.A.R.K. factors, shifts the process from a confrontational negotiation based solely on price to a more win-win negotiation based on consumer values.
David Nelson is senior vice president and general manager for FirstLook’s Elite Operations Division, where he is responsible for leading a team of automotive experts in cutting-edge technologies that are grounded in the most effective practices of today’s dealerships. The Elite Operations Team has improved operational performance at leading dealerships such as Penske, Hendrick, Tuttle Click and Luther automotive groups. Nelson holds a masters in Business Administration from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, a juris doctor from Northwestern Law School and a bachelor of arts from the University of Texas.
Get real-world examples from top dealers. This session will show you how to:
Gain powerful new insights into your dealership
Develop highly targeted micro-campaigns that will drive traffic and revenue
Gauge marketing effectiveness and track campaign efforts to ROI
Increase your service drive business
Ensure accountability at all levels
Attendees will come away with a clear understanding of how to quickly and easily accomplish these same results, regardless of the size of their dealership or dealer group.
Jonathan Ord sets vision and drives overall strategy as CEO and co-founder of DealerSocket. Under his leadership, DealerSocket has received many accolades including being named to the Red Herring North American 100, International Business Awards Best Overall Company and #1 on the Deloitte & Touche Fast 50 list. Ord has been honored several times one of the most successful young entrepreneurs and executives in Southern California.
A recognized leader in the automotive industry, Ord is a regular contributor to numerous business and auto industry publications and an in-demand speaker at elite 20 group meetings for top dealers groups including Larry H. Miller, Van Tuyl, Penske and Galpin.
Are you tired of your competitors ranking ahead of you in Google search results? Are your competitors surrounding you for key search phrases targeting your franchise brand, specific models and service/parts searches in your state?
Brian Pasch will show attendees how to harness the marketing power of content-based SEO strategies. Learn how to create web articles that target any search phrase in you want high visibility in Google search.
This session will give hands on examples during the seminar on how to utilize free and low-cost web publishing platforms the leverage your franchise news, special events and sales promotions to increase traffic to your web site. Write your way to better rankings, with more monthly unique visitors to increase your first party leads.
The attraction of content based SEO strategies are that they deliver traffic and leads like an annuity. Unlike pay-per-click advertising, which stops when funding stops, content-based SEO techniques work day after day for your dealership once the content is published on the Internet.
With dealerships watching their expenses and trying to do more with less advertising dollars, content SEO techniques will help you move ahead and stay ahead of your competition. While your competitors are asleep about this important marketing technique you should be burning the midnight oil.
This seminar and handbook will give you the playbook and confidence to return to your dealership and make a difference immediately.
Brian Pasch, president of the Pasch Consulting Group is an 18-year veteran of the direct marketing industry. His company’s web sites are on Google page one nationally for search terms that include “Automotive SEO Consulting” and “Automotive SEO”.
Witnessing the redistribution of media budgets to Internet advertising in 2006, Pasch created an Internet marketing consulting practice. The Pasch Consulting Group has clients in a number of diverse industries and professions; automotive dealers, entertainment, financial services, manufacturing, medical, food service, real estate and consumer goods. Pasch is an avid writer on search engine optimization (SEO) and digital marketing strategies.
Dale Pollak, a leading industry expert, will outline best practices used by the most successful used car dealers today. Velocity dealers are thriving by adapting their operations to a new, efficient used-car marketplace where high turn is the new standard for success. Dealerships that use vAuto are successfully turning their entire used inventory in record speed. They’re running, not just managing, their used car departments.
Drawing from 13 years of experience as a dealer principal and more than a decade as a successful high-technology executive, serving the automotive retail industry, Dale Pollak is a highly sought-after authority on maximizing dealership profits from used vehicle operations. Dale Pollak is currently the chairman and founder of vAuto, Inc and a published author. The book is entitled Velocity: From the Front Line to the Bottom Line and is aguide for the used car department that compiles Pollak’s more than 20 years of observations, best practices and strategies.
In this session, you will learn the results from an extensive consumer survey on vehicle purchasing and leasing, and about today’s successful dealerships – how they attract web traffic and drive sales.
Can you compete online? Consumers visiting your dealership web site want to buy a vehicle, and need to be educated with interesting and comprehensive information. Your dealership can get ahead and stay ahead by incorporating proven and emerging web site content that meets, and potentially exceeds, the expectations of today’s increasingly well-informed and Internet-savvy consumers.
Brian Rabold, a strategist for Chrome Systems, will present the results of an extensive consumer survey about online vehicle purchasing and leasing, along with real-world success stories from dealerships that were able to boost website traffic and lead-to-sales conversions by enhancing their web content and the user experience.
Learn about the content consumers need and expect to find the vehicle they want, and how to entice them to buy that vehicle from your dealership. Maximize the ROI on your SEO/SEM strategy by building a highly interactive, easy-to-use website packed with information that meets the needs of a wide variety of audiences.
As Senior Internet Product Marketing Strategist, Brian Rabold helps dealerships of all sizes, manufacturers, and automotive portals identify and implement existing and new online technology to increase brand awareness and generate leads. An expert in consumer-facing solutions, Rabold was instrumental in designing and implementing a robust vehicle comparison tool for nissanusa.com. Prior to his current position at Chrome, he spent three years in their Content and Information department, contributing to the
development of VIN-decoding solutions. Rabold has nine years of experience in the automotive industry, and is a graduate of the University of Michigan.
Imagine you are responsible for shutting down 2,000 automotive dealerships, would a dealer’s online existence be a factor in your decision making? Believe it or not, there are still thousands of dealers who practically don’t exist online. Not many businesses can survive today without a serious commitment to all the Internet offers. Today, people surf, search and socialize online like never before. Businesses must be seen and found in order to survive and even thrive during tough economic times. At this session, enjoy straight talk about search, video, display/banner advertising and how your digital existence is critical to your success. You’ll also leave with some great ideas and results based recommendations.
During his 18-year career in the automotive industry, Shaun Raines has been at the forefront of digital marketing innovation, playing integral roles in operational efforts for Microsoft’s Carpoint.com; CarsDirect’s Connect and Reynolds and Reynolds’ web site platforms. In 2007, Raines founded Dealer Advisor, LLC, working with car companies such as Subaru, consulting at local dealerships and regional events. Most recently, he was named director of ReachLocal Auto, a vertical specialty department of ReachLocal. As a thought leader in digital marketing for the automobile industry, Raines’s mission is to continue growing ReachLocal’s services to the auto industry.
Dealerships have a limited set of assets: hard assets (building, inventory) and soft assets (people and customers). One hundred percent of the dealer’s revenue is derived from the customer base, hence the customer base is the most important soft asset that the dealer owns.
The overall health and profitability of any dealership is directly related to the health of the existing customer base. Since customers who visit the dealer one to two times per year contribute to service revenue (and therefore absorption) and are twice as likely to purchase their next vehicle from that dealer, customer retention is an indicator of the overall health of the dealership. Despite the complexity of this issue, there is a single key metric that will measure the health of your customer base: average visits per year. The track will focus on how to measure average visits per year, what should average visits per year be for a “healthy” customer base, and how to improve average visits per year by managing your existing customer base and conquesting new customers. Specific techniques will include creating recall notices, how to capture customers who have defected to the aftermarket and recovering lost customers utilizing a multi-channel communications process.
Jim Roche is founder and CEO of Auto Point, the pioneer of ownership lifecycle management. Prior to founding Auto Point, Roche served as president and CEO of Ocentrix, Inc. He was also previously vice president of Product Management at Autobytel, and was president of Carabunga and SVP Operations, Newgen Results Corporation from 1994 to 2001. He has also served on the advisory boards of Oxlo, Inc. and 5square Corporation. Roche also authors articles for Digital Dealer magazine and does public speaking related to automotive CRM and direct marketing.
Learn how to get ahead of your competitors by really understanding and utilizing the Internet as the most effective advertising media ever invented!
Can you really get ahead in this economy? Yes, you can, but you have to change how you think and be willing to make radical changes. In this session, you will become armed with knowledge that can transform or even save your dealership. You will learn:
How to use your web site as the most important advertising tool ever created.
How to cut through the confusing technology jargon to properly evaluate products and services and alleviate over-spending or duplication.
How you MUST dominate online first, and cut back on increasingly less effective mass media (you can actually save money and get ahead of your competitors)
It’s not just about buying leads anymore – learn how to differentiate buying a lead from generating your own.
What online advertising sources are best, how you can measure them against other advertising including helpful benchmarks.
With a background in advertising sales and management including more than a few start-ups, Christy Roman has a unique perspective on advertising and the Internet. Her experience includes: ad agency owner; sales and management for newspaper, cable and various online ventures including AutoTrader.com and World Now. A few notable achievements: creating the multi-million dollar “Partnership Program” for AutoTrader.com; consulting for television stations to build Internet revenue; participating in an AOL-Time Warner multi-media initiative. She is President of Now Marketplace, Inc. which is also a chosen participant in the University of Central Florida Business/Technology Incubator.
Coordinate your Sales and Service Digital Marketing to Win A discussion about online resource coordination, the latest digital marketing tools and dealership personnel structures that can improve sales, service repeat rates and customer loyalty
The current disruption of the automotive market in North America has reset the number of dealers, changed consumer brand choices and forced dealers to re-evaluate their business models. Many dealers have struggled to gain a foothold with consumers who were loyal to those dealers that were forced to close by their franchiser. At the same time, however, the number of ways to reach consumers for sales and service business has increased. This session will cover sales, service and parts marketing.
We’ll discuss some principles to help dealers align their sales, service and parts marketing. The session will include a review of the tools available to reach customers. We’ll discuss the principles involved in executing a coordinated marketing effort. Finally, we’ll review the personnel and the training that can help you win in a tough market.
Mark G. Roman is the executive director, Sales, for Digital Motorworks, Inc. (DMi), a business unit of ADP Dealer Services. Roman brings over 30 years of automotive industry experience, with a concentration in customer care and dealership technology, to this workshop. Prior to joining DMi in 2002, he led Global Retail Processes for Ford Motor Company’s Consumer Connect Group with a focus on the Internet retail environment and its impact on Ford dealers across brands. Roman also led Ford’s Global e-Dealer CRM Technology Forum, a process to secure new technology for Ford dealers.
He has designed and conducted over 150 workshops on Internet strategy, Internet lead management and sales processes for various clients. Roman began his career in various dealership positions, including five years as chief operating officer of a dealership group with over $225 million in annual revenue.
The fundamental principle upon which Google is based can be summed up in one word: Relevancy. By ranking information based on what is most relevant to the user, Google set itself apart early on. And while the other search engine providers have caught on, other industries have not grasped the use of relevancy in their own businesses.
This session will illustrate how to apply the Google Relevancy model to online vehicle advertising with Consumer Optimization techniques. Just as Search Engine Optimization optimizes a web page so it ranks higher, Consumer Optimization optimizes an online vehicle ad so it ranks higher with consumers and is more likely to be chosen versus competitors’ ads. As a result, when applied to vehicle ads, consumer relevancy goes beyond what page a consumer should look at and focuses on which dealers the consumer should visit
Pat Ryan Jr. is the CEO of First Look, the #1 fastest-growing privately-held automotive company according to INC 500 2008. Pat’s pioneering work in Consumer Optimization has made him widely recognized as an industry thought-leader and speaker as well as a regular columnist for major automotive publications. Pat is instrumental in helping top dealer groups like Penske and Hendrick develop and continuously improve winning pre-owned and internet operations. Pat holds a Masters in Business Administration from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, a Juris Doctor cum laude from Northwestern Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Georgetown University.
Dealers buy leads that are not as rewarding as leads hidden in their database. Learn the proper steps of finding additional revenue from former customers hidden deep inside your DMS. Learn why these valuable customers keep getting overlooked.
Find valuable customers lost in your DMS
Find new sales leads from service customers who purchased elsewhere
Incubate Internet leads and showroom traffic that didn’t buy
Secret to getting current email addresses from your inactive database
Dealership personnel will learn how to:
Recognize the importance of content and context in customer communication
Understand the importance of segmentation and ranking
Leverage the DMS to gather information such as
True VIN count
E-mail lists
Key service groups
Lists of high potential sales customers
Start a proper dialogue with customers that gets them to respond
Accurately interpret performance results
You could be winning statistically but losing financially.
Bill Sattree is a dynamic and innovative direct marketing and sales expert in North America. He brings experience, energy, excitement and enthusiasm to his audience. Since 1979, Sattree has worked full-time in the automotive industry in various positions including general manager. He has spoken at over 60 dealer 20 groups (NCM Associates and NADA), and toured as a guest speaker/trainer for Lexus. He focuses on “best practice” ideas by utilizing a dealership’s database. Dealers are both educated and entertained by his unique way of presenting. Sattree’s greatest strength is his ability to deliver exactly what his audience needs.
Dealership web site and social media platforms are increasingly becoming great places to build relationships and engage automotive consumers in live online conversations. Educating and assisting shoppers in real-time during their online experience helps build rapport that leads to more committed relationships with your dealership. By combining proactive live chat and social media, you can create a richer, more interactive user experience and offer shoppers an unparallel sales experience online. Now is the time to leverage your web site and social media platforms to turn visitors into leads and sales for your dealership, in all profit centers.
Todd Smith is co-founder and president of ActivEngage, Inc., the automotive industry's leading live chat service provider. He has over 18 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. Smith has developed some of the most cutting edge e-business, 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.
Todd Smith will teach you the foundational elements of how to effectively operate a successful Internet operation followed by guiding you through the next level of performance strategies to take your dealership to the top!
Todd Smith is co-founder and president of ActivEngage, Inc., the automotive industry's leading live chat service provider. He has over 18 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. Smith has developed some of the most cutting edge e-business, 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.
In this session you will learn how to use and deploy a true data segmentation program that gives you a competitive advantage. The proper use of data segmentation combined with strong business analytics programs will facilitate business intelligence that creates competitive advantages. This approach provides marketers with customer behavior and preference data that enables companies to market to multiple segments with greater precision.
In basic terms, without data, a business is operating blind – relying on gut instinct as the basis for pursuing one particular marketing and/or other business strategy over another and in today’s environment you just can’t afford this approach anymore. Companies that ground such decisions in the actual observed behavioral and preference data of their customers stand to enjoy a great deal more success in their endeavors. You will see better results, waste fewer dollars, and hit the right person at the right time with the right message. Why market to someone who does not want to buy or use your services? Hope and spray does not work, especially today! Work smarter, not harder!
Sean Stapleton is executive vice president of Business and Sales for VinSolutions. Stapleton focuses his expertise on acquiring national accounts, working with OEMs and VinSolutions’ strategic partners. In the past Stapleton worked as vice president of National Accounts and vice president of Automotive Sales for Who’s Calling, and was co-founder of Visible Customer.
Stop Chasing Shiny Objects! How to get ahead and stay ahead by changing the way you manage everything about your Internet marketing
The biggest problem with nearly every dealership’s Internet marketing plan is that there are too many vendors and there is too much technology in the automotive Internet space today. Individual dealers are wasting tens of thousands of dollars every month on ineffective and/or unnecessary products and services, all while losing site of their real goals.
As dealers, you continue to work with the same challenges you tried to solve 20 years ago: How can I generate more sales per person and how can I stop the constant churn of sales reps through my dealership? Why hasn’t technology helped? Because we’re all too busy chasing shiny objects to effectively run a sales organization!
This session is designed to help you focus your e-commerce efforts and marketing dollars to those activities, products and services that genuinely move the needle – all through actual examples you can take back to your dealership right away.
Popular public speaker Steve Stauning is an e-commerce industry veteran with a distinctive body of experience: including director of Web Solutions for the Reynolds & Reynolds Company and general manager of Dealer Web Services for Dealer Specialties. Most recently, Stauning served as e-Commerce director for the Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE: ABG) before founding his own e-commerce solutions firm, Pladoogle, LLC this year.
Stauning’s experience, from data collection to website management, to dealership operations, gives him a unique perspective on how to greatly improve the e-commerce effectiveness of any dealership – large or small.
This session will focus on how dealers are leveraging video to do the following:
Driving website conversion
Driving a higher click rate with units on the third-party sites (Auto Trader, Cars.com and Car Soup)
Driving search results on Google and Yahoo (VSEO-Video Search Engine Optimization)
Driving closing ratios with a video strategy.
Video has never been more beneficial to the dealer. Many industry experts believe that most dealers will eventually have a video strategy. We will focus on how you can:
Develop a video strategy
Metrics associated with video
What mistakes to avoid
How to sell this concept to the management team
Phil Sura is the VP of the automotive division of UnityWorks Media, a leader in the retail automotive web video space. Sura personally works with some of the largest automotive names in the country. He was previously a general manager for a top 100 Ford dealership and also spent 13 years with the Pat Ryan Group. Sura has been a regular contributor to Digital Dealer magazine for the past three years and he received recognition as one of the top presenters at the Digital Dealer conference in Las Vegas earlier this year.
Think of this as a hands-on Display Ads 101. Americans now spend an average of 14 hours a week surfing the Internet. For consumers in the auto buying cycle, 95 percent of that time is spent on non-automotive sites. Display ads in banner, skyscraper, medium rectangle and other formats allow dealers to grab the visual attention of consumers from other sites and drive traffic back to their web site.
During this interactive, instructor-lead workshop you will build your own display ad, so bring your laptop.
Rich Rikess has over 20 years of automotive industry experience. Certified in Advanced Instructional Techniques from Langevin Learning Services, he has worked in management, sales, marketing and e-Commerce. Rikess has provided extensive client consulting and training services for over half a dozen automotive manufacturers and numerous major dealer groups.
He started his career in 1987 at ADP, working with major dealer groups including AutoNation, United Auto Group (PAG) and The Larry H. Miller organization. Prior to joining Cobalt, Rikess was on the ground floor of a start up CRM organization and helped position that company as an industry leader. He comes from an automotive family. His father owned one of the largest Chevrolet franchises in Minnesota, Southview Chevrolet.
It’s not the wand that makes the magic happen, but the magician who wields it. All of the tools, solutions, and leads in the world may be necessary to stay competitive, but it is the people you employ that make you profitable. In this session, dealers will learn the best places and processes to recruit BDC and Internet talent. They will also be provided industry-best interview tactics, orientation programs, and training methods to properly prepare new hires for their automotive Internet sales departments. If a dealership is only as good as the people speaking to their customers, we must make sure we have the right people representing us in the first place.
Joe Webb is the president of DealerKnows LLC, an automotive e-commerce consultation firm, and the COO of Dealer Signage Inc. Webb specializes in training dealers on the entire spectrum of online marketing and sales, as well as the creation and management of digital signage networks.
Called “the funniest guy in the car business,” Webb is a writer for Digital Dealer magazine and has spoken at previous Digital Dealer conferences. In the past, Webb found success in the trenches where he created and managed an award-winning Internet department and BDC. His primary goal, as he always states, is “to better the culture of car sales.”
The shift from brick and mortar dealerships to Internet showrooms has been forced by reduced profit margins and a struggling economy. This seminar focuses on the solutions – not the problems – that have risen from the ashes of a shrinking auto industry.
Social networking has a place on the worldwide web but monetizing the investment of time and resources needed to develop an acceptable ROI has been a challenge. Dealership web sites are experiencing reduced visitors as online car shoppers have found other sources for the information they need. Customers are bypassing dealership web sites in favor of sharing experiences with likeminded shoppers before, during and after their buying/service experiences.
A properly orchestrated social networking program provides an excellent platform to build brand recognition and protect an auto dealer’s online reputation. A poorly constructed program will have the opposite impact. This seminar will provide a road map to a cost effective solution.
Philip Zelinger is the president of Ad Agency Online, LLC and founder of AdAgencyOnline.Net. He spent 25 years as a GM and dealer principal and the last 10 years he has been focused on digital marketing. Zelinger is an expert on Internet technologies that improve selling process sourced from his social networking portal and blog talk radio station – WAAOL, All Automotive Advertising News All The Time. As the author of two books on the auto industry, including “How to Sell a Car,” he is a recognized authority on market trends with the responsibility of selecting key vendors and applications for his dealer clients.
In this presentation, expanding on his highly rated NADA workshop, Jim Ziegler will talk about best practices, web presentations, social media and what successful dealerships are doing with technology- enabled sales and marketing.
In his unique style, Ziegler will demonstrate these processes and techniques with live Internet demonstration. The next generation Internet is a reality beyond the Web 2.0 interactive applications and Ziegler will discuss how to turn theory into sales.
The purpose of this seminar/workshop is to incorporate new, customer-friendly, technology-driven processes into the automobile sales and marketing at your dealership.
In all too many dealerships we’ve tried to remove the human side of the equation replacing it with pure technology-driven sales solutions. Ziegler believes it’s time to put the relationship back into the process. With today’s interactive Internet, we have more opportunity to communicate with our customers and create a genuine virtual relationship
James A. Ziegler, CSP, HSG, has 33 years experience in the business. He has researched, studied and trained in the retail automobile industry as surely as if he were studying for a masters’ degree in any other profession. He is the ultimate student of the business; no one has hands-on experience in the retail automobile business rivaling his accomplishments and experience.
Traveling more than 200 days a year, he has worked in more than 1,000 showrooms in no less than 200 cities in 49 states.
He is a featured columnist with Dealer magazine since its inception and is arguably the most read and quoted authority in the business.
How to Get Ahead and Stay Ahead with Excellent Phone Lead Handling Skills that Get Appointments and Close Deals Phone lead study results, tactical strategies for taking control of the call and recordings of real dealer phone calls – the good, the great, and the downright terrible!
This presentation will be a panel discussion and interactive workshop that will feature Dealix executives; leading industry sales trainer David Kain of Kain Automotive, and a successful Internet dealer; plus via audience participation, dealers will get tactical ideas for improving their phone call and phone lead handling process that they can apply in their dealerships immediately. Topics will include surprising and valuable findings from Dealix’s phone leads study of over 12,000 car buyer phone calls into dealerships; and actual recordings of dealers handling incoming phone inquiries into their dealerships – including terribly-handled phone calls, mixed calls with good and bad lead handling practices, and winning calls that got the consumer into the store and ended in a sale. The panel of experts will discuss what worked and what didn’t in the phone calls, how dealerships can do better, and how dealers can set up a winning phone lead handling process in their stores, from hold music to voice mails to call scripts. Prize giveaways will be included!
Anna Zornosa is general manager of Dealix, a division of Cobalt. Before joining Dealix in 2007, Zornosa managed consumer-facing web sites for Yahoo! and Knight Ridder Digital, among others.
Dimitar Alexandrov is a director of products for Dealix Usedcars.com and was a key contributor to its new design and re-launch in January of this year. Alexandrov has been designing products for dealers and shoppers of pre-owned vehicles for several years, and was formerly on the product management team at Cars.com.
David Kain has a unique blend of dealership and manufacturer experience. As dealer principal of his family owned dealership he learned how to make every dime count and produce sales each day. With FordDirect.com, as a founder and COO he worked with a talented team to create an industry leading automotive Internet company. As a partner in Jack Kain Ford and Kain Family Ford, he recognizes how important it is to make every facet of a dealership profitable. Kain has a real passion for the automotive Internet, which resulted in his creating Kain Automotive Internet Sales Training and Business Development Center Installation.
