Remember when....

As a little kid, I remember how exciting it was to look thru the Sears catolog, and dream about what I wanted!

Today with the internet, it is almost as good as that, instantaneously you can shop at a second's notice, and look for what ever your heart desires. Thats how I feel about being an Internet Manager, all prospective car buyers, can look night and day at anything car they desire, change the colors, add and take away equipment, and just over all do the same things, that they used to by driving around.

There is lots of ways to buy what you want, but do you really need to drive around lot to lot to try out different cars? Nope, not at all, most us have a good visual of what they want, and how much money they want to spend, then it is all down hill from there!

It is always a great day to open up an email from a customer, who might want a car, but it might be 3 months down the road, it happens, and it is not a bad thing. After all, not everyone wants to buy a car in the same day as the sales person believes they should!

Are Auto Shopper smarter today?

I remember when I first started selling cars, at the local Ford Dealership, there was a group of us,we all sat outside on the bench waiting for the next "up" to drive in.
I must have spent many long hours out there waiting for my turn to go chase a car around the lot, and just to give up my turn on a brochure. I couldn't help but think there had to be a better way to make my numbers each month, and support my family and have that legendary following of customers, coming back to me every few years.
Fast forward to today's car sales, and now if you pull up to a dealership with a whole group of sales people sitting outside, you have toknow that the dealership hasn't come around to doing business across the internet. The days of customer's driving around from lot to lot, to test drive a car, spend hours in the show room, being forced to do soemthing they really did not want or plan to do right this instant are just about over. In the old days, if you had a customer pull up on a saturday night, it was almost a promised deal, because they were tired out, and just wanted to buy a car and get it over with.
Now, with the beauty of the internet, most buyers can sit at home, negotiate almost the entire car sale from start to finish, and never leave their home or business, unless they just enjoyed the process of sitting in the showroom. Very few people really do!
I enjoy sworking with a customer from start to finish across the email, the customer is well informed, and has done a huge amount of research, and is ready to see if that new car will fit their family! Is there a trick to doing this, no, just being responsive, listen to the customer, give them options, suggestions, and most importantly, be straight forward. After all the customer, can smell BS even faster now with all the 3rd party sites that give them the information they need to be smart auto shoppers!
If your one of those smart auto buyers, remember, most of us in the Internet Sales Manager role's want to earn your business, and we will do everything possible, to keep you happy!
Till next time! :)

I just found this article

I have to say, this article is soooo true of today car sales. I couldn't help but share it:

http://www.drivingsales.com/blog/jaredh/2009/03/09/rip-four-square-negotiations/

Go Green?

It amazes me, how thinking back over the last few months, in the news, and politics, one item really bothers me. It seems congress, was telling the big 3 automakers, how they did not build the cars that we want to drive as consumers. How toyota and Honda are building the cars of the future. I have to agree on one small point the Prius is a great idea....why not Hybrid technology for those of us who commute each and every day.. And now the race is on for a full on Electric Car, and solor powered cars etc.....but I have to say this much, the fuel costs went down, and all the sudden you see the SUv's and trucks and big cars back out on the road. The car values are on their way back up in the market place. So tell me, are the big 3 building the cars we all want to drive?

Lets think about the Cadillac Escalade Hybrid, great SUV, definitly gets much much better gas mileage than any other SUV in its size and weight class, you would think it would be flying out of the showrooms...right? Nope....not at all. So why is that? Is it the cost? No, we still sell Escalades, basically the same price, can't be the size...we still are selling normal Escalades, so what is is? I know you can't load your family up and hook the boat up to the back of your Prius, so why not the hybrid made by GM? I'm open for comments on this one!
Here is a link to one of the 4 I have on our lot right now..... http://tinyurl.com/brv2hq

Anyone want to buy a new car?

I know, this is just what every dealership is saying right now! :)

Oddly enough, we all know there is pent up demand for the cars, just take a look at any auction right now, and see some of the pricing that is going on out there. It seems the prices are all on their upswing. Make sense? Not to me either!

As the Internet Sales Manager, here at a luxury Dealership, I see the highs, and I see the lows, and you can tell when the market is at its all time 12 year low, or back on the positive side. I still get clients requesting information about a new Cadillac, or a new Hummer, and still we continue to sell each and every day. I believe in that our industry is going thru a major face lift right now, and the way of doing business is definitly changing by the moment! I think there will be a lot less dealerships at the end of all of this, and probably less brands to choose from, but we have to move forward, somehow!
Thats enough for one day :)

Buying your Car across the internet!

Every day I wake up, grab my coffee, and settle in for the round of news, and check my work email for the internet leads that came in during the night. Now, if you are like most everyone else in the world you have sat home, looked up your favorite car, chose the colors, options, and then went to get your price, just to be stopped by, please fill in your information screen... What happens to that information? Let me tell you where it goes, all the sudden some idiot at 5 am gets a email lead (that would be me) and gets all excited thinking oh good...I have a fresh customer to work with! Sadly, you probably don't even know it, till you get introduction email, me asking you to verify your options and colors, and heck I even try to call you! All that just because you were just browsing!
Don't get me wrong....I like that people are actually dreaming of their new car, and that maybe sometime in the future you will get one! I just wish the marketing companies would change the screen to ask at the end of the information screen, are you just browsing or do you really want to get price? Seems so simple to me! :p

Do I think all customers should shop on the internet? You bet! I shop on the internet for my products, I research, read, google, check consumer reports, etc. Why? Im not emotional right then. I can get the right information to make a informed decision before I buy. So should you! If you send in a request for a price to a dealership, and you get the same response, I tried to call you, blah blah blah, and please call me for information, you do not have the right dealership! If you get a response from a dealership, that asks you what colors options, etc. You have the right one. Just hit reply, and give that information, and magically you should get a very competitive price! Why do I say a very competitive price, well, as a internet sales person, if I don't get your attention right away, no way are you going to even consider doing business with me! So I have one shot, to earn your trust, and business! Next time you are considering a new or preowned car, try it. You will be pleasantly surprised, as well as you might even find you can negotiate the whole deal on the internet, all the way thru, so all you have to do is go in and sign and drive away! Till next time.......