Beyond The First Pencil

Digital retail transactions are the next generation in customer experience. Kathi and Mike discuss how caring for the customer’s needs is nothing new, and why that caring mindset will give dealers and their staff a running start in digital retailing. 

Then we share a couple of sub-prime deal stories, of which we have thousands.

We also talk about some key findings in a new E-Lend digital retailing study regarding barriers to digital acceptance within operations. It’s quite interesting!

Link to the E-Lend study HERE.

Get in touch with us!

Kathi: [email protected]

Mike: [email protected]

And don’t forget to download Kathi’s FREE Guide to Social Media for Car Salespeople here 👉 https://bit.ly/socialsellingvip

Mike just got back from NADA and shares his insights.

Kathi and Mike discuss the welcome addition of new voices in the car business. Diversity and inclusion are finally being talked about, and with that, comes company culture and employee retention.

The Jam documentary “About a Young Idea” 

The Style Council “Long Hot Summers” documentary

The Pogues’ “FairyTale of New York” (live version, RIP Kirsty MacColl)

Get in touch with us!

Kathi: [email protected]

Mike: [email protected]

And don’t forget to download Kathi’s FREE Guide to Social Media for Car Salespeople here 👉 https://bit.ly/socialsellingvip

This week, Kathi and Mike discuss the ever-evolving dealership model and how the partnership with the manufacturer seems to be evolving too. There doesn't seem to be the push-back that there once was to the franchise model, especially given shifting consumer preferences. We wonder how that will look as we go forward. 

On the music front, we chat about our one favorite concert (we only choose one but we have many), and the details of those concerts that will forever be etched on our lives: Mike's was The Cocteau Twins and Kathi's was a string of 5 nights of Elvis Costello. 

Get in touch with us!
Kathi: [email protected]
Mike: [email protected]

And don’t forget to download Kathi’s FREE Guide to Social Media for Car Salespeople here 👉 https://bit.ly/socialsellingvip

This week, Kathi and Mike talk about the changes that are happening right now in the Facebook Ads ecosystem and beyond…and strategies to consider going forward.

On January 19, 2022, Facebook said it would be removing some ad targeting features, including ones that focus on race, ethnicity or religion. They’ve actually expanded on their removal of targeting capabilities. Advertisers need to consider how those changes will affect marketing strategy, especially in a targetless world where third-party cookies that have tracked internet users for years are going away.

We touch on our love for Twitter and why it’s a unique platform for users. Automotive Twitter has been slow to the draw, but for salespeople it could be an interesting place to practice social media skills.

We have always believed that including salespeople and other team members in the social media/content creation effort can pay off huge. Now that reaching car buyers is getting tougher, is it time to tap into this amazing resource?

Great example of how car salespeople can leverage online reviews: Larry Henderson’s DealerRater profile HERE: 

In our music segment, here’s a link to Amy Winehouse and Paul Weller duet: I Heard It Through the Grapevine HERE

Get in touch with us!
Kathi: [email protected]
Mike: [email protected]

And don’t forget to download Kathi’s FREE Guide to Social Media for Car Salespeople here 👉 https://bit.ly/socialsellingvip

Kathi and Mike build on last week’s discussion of the looming automotive online reputation debacle around MSRP markups and the potential for gouging. We are talking about it again because this week added even more weight to it. 

Marking up MSRP right now is a gamble that some think is a sure thing. Consumers are wise to ALL the old tricks and as dealer advocates/former retail peeps, we are pleading with the industry to take a good look at their behavior and make a course correction. 

Speaking of online reputation management, it’s crucial to have a plan. Here is a link to Kathi’s post about 5 Foundation Essentials for Online Reputation Management HERE

It was International Clash Day! We share our fave songs (even though all of their songs are our faves). Check out this must see documentary for fans: Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten HERE

And don’t forget to download Kathi’s FREE Guide to Social Media for Car Salespeople here 👉 https://bit.ly/socialsellingvip

Just when we thought we were gaining ground on dealership customer experience, somehow things have gone south. And we are digging ourselves a hole that will be difficult to recover from. 

Kathi and Mike share their insights on how inventory shortages have turned some really nice dealers into places that no one wants to visit. Where all that hard-earned goodwill is fading fast.

Then, we touch on the latest FTC crackdowns on companies and their third-party vendors who post an aggregate of only 4-5 star reviews on their websites. Customers are smarter than to believe a dealership has only 4-5 star reviews. All they need to do is click their Yelp app or visit Google to see that they’ve been duped by dealers (and their vendor) by omitting any 1-3 star reviews. 

Here’s the link to the article referenced from DealerKnows.com: The Automotive Customer Service Crisis of 2022

Here’s the link to the AWESOME Beatles Documentary Series “Get Back”: https://www.disneyplus.com/series/the-beatles-get-back/7DcWEeWVqrkE

And don’t forget to download Kathi’s FREE Guide to Social Media for Car Salespeople here 👉 https://bit.ly/socialsellingvip

A picture is worth a thousand clicks. 

What effect do customer images have on a dealership’s Yelp profile? How about Google profiles? We talk about how to review your own profile and what you can do to ramp up more customer-generated photos. Hint: employees are your secret weapon.

We touch a little bit on why humor is so important in social media when you want to stand out from the crowd. Check out this TED talk on Why Great Leaders Take Humor Seriously

Kathi is still offering her FREE Guide to Social Media for Car Salespeople here 👉 https://bit.ly/socialsellingvip

On the music front: we talk about certain bands that have experienced a break up and how their members have gone on to different projects - some worked out well, some not so much.

The simple equation of supply and demand is causing a tectonic shift in auto retailing. Kathi and Mike talk about the pitfalls as more dealers are adding “Market Adjustments” to their inventory (marking up price due to market demand).  It’s simple economics: when there are fewer vehicles to sell, the price increases. And with some factories switching up the traditional invoice>MSRP model, dealers have to switch up their operational approach to accommodate it. However, it’s all in the way you present it to the consumer. There are effective strategies to reduce the amount of consumer distrust.

Do you really have to be social on social media? We spotlight an example of how to use simple techniques to respond to comments/leads on social media and how not to ignore customers and allow them to think that you don’t care.

Our music segment covers the ultimate 80s band and video: Journey’s “Separate Ways.” Is there anything more iconic? Check it out!

Mike admits that he’s not a fan of a certain singer/songwriter trailblazer and Kathi shares that she was never a fan of bands at Gazzari’s “on the Sunset Strip.” (only joints east of the Roxy measured up!).

Do you sell cars? Want to sell more? Grab your FREE Ultimate Social Selling Guide here 👉 https://bit.ly/socialsellingvip

It’s been a tough week with the impact of COVID on all of us. As we begin the new year, we remind ourselves to find ways to make the best of things. 

Do we detect a culture shift happening? Auto retailers are starting to realize that social media is social. We’ve seen some big “auto voices” promoting old tactics and sadly, dealers and others are listening. But for Kathi and Mike, we advocate employing new social media techniques that help the customer as much as possible…and that means being social. While we’ve been saying social media is social for a long time, it’s been a slow adoption. Today, dealers and SALESPEOPLE have the opportunity to make an impact. That impact means no more question about WHERE a customer is going to do business but WHEN they will buy from you. 

Employee retention is crucial to future success. The shortages of quality people are happening now and will most likely get worse before they get better. We talk about simple ways to keep your awesome employees happy and engaged. We’d love to see the car business become a first career choice.

Get Kathi’s Social Selling Guide HERE.

Then we talk about the music styles that people would be surprised we are/were into. 

It’s our last pod of the year, our first New Year as podcasters, and we sure appreciate you listening. 

If you’ve spent any time online lately, you’ve likely seen a few photos of dealership addendum stickers in your feeds showing “Market Adjustment” amounts added to the price of a new vehicle. These “Market Adjustment” prices (see example HERE) are to accommodate for vehicle inventory shortages, which are common when demand outweighs supply - we just haven’t seen in the car business for a while. While this concept isn’t new, today’s version has some tricky outcomes. Kathi and Mike share their experience with Markups and the long term consequences for dealers and their customers.

If you haven’t seen Koda the Fluff’s trip to the dealership service drive, here you go: HERE.

In our never-ending quest to curate the BEST music related content…we’ve been watching a few music related documentaries. Here are links to the films mentioned in this episode:

Mr. A & Mr. M: The Story of A&M Records

Ricky Powell: The Individualist

The US Festival 1983 Documentar

And finally, the Super Dave documentary: The Super Bob Einstein Movie