FOURTH ANNUAL AUTOMOTIVE BOOT CAMP STRIKES A CHORD
In talking with dealers and their staff at this year’s Automotive Boot Camp (May 14-16), the general consensus was that this has become a must-attend event. Brandon Burling of Desert Sun Auto Group, came all the way from New Mexico to be here. “It’s worth it for the content and the speakers,” he says.
The 2013 event marked the fourth annual Automotive Boot Camp and with the chosen venue being the Sheraton in Downtown Philadelphia, there was definitely a sense of rolling up your sleeves and getting to work, much like Pennsylvania’s largest city, itself a no-nonsense kind of place.
J.D. Rucker
EIGHT LEARNING TRACKS
Part of the appeal of Automotive Boot Camp is the way in which it is structured. Two of the three days are packed full of workshops which are divided into eight separate categories, or what Boot Camp organizers call learning tracks. So whether it’s digital marketing, SEO, social media, sales, management or fixed operations, there are topics in each group of workshops that cover these different aspects of automotive retailing.
Canadian auto dealer was there to attend this year’s events. We began by listening to J.D. Rucker, director of new media for TK Carsites in his social media/SEO workshop entitled, Beyond the basics: Taking social media to the next level and beyond.
Rucker stressed the need for dealers to really be actively involved, to post content that’s local and relevant to their customers. “If you just run specials or dealership content you will get less and less exposure,” he said. Rucker noted that most dealerships have years, if not decades worth of content they can add which can really give their digital platform that unique personal touch, which is what many consumers are looking for. “Social media posts are important to get people to look,” he said. “Walk around the dealership, show people talking to customers, the fancy espresso machine, or massage chairs, people will like that stuff.”
Sean Stapleton (left) and event MC Brian Pasch of PCG Digital Consulting
KEYNOTE SESSIONS
This year’s Automotive Boot Camp also contained two general keynote sessions. Sean Stapleton, chief sales officer with VinSolutions, talked about how big data is changing the auto industry and how dealers can learn to harness it in order to gain a competitive advantage. “Data is one of your most valuable aspects,” he said, “are you treating it that way?”
“What do we spend?” Stapleton asked, “$200 to $1,000 to acquire a new customer at the front of our store? Ask yourself what are you spending today to retain those relationships and to have an opportunity to remarket back to them.” Stapleton said there are many ways to use data to effectively target customers, and to be successful it’s about being better, smarter and faster than the competition.
“If you can’t keep up with the data you will be left behind.” He said that savvy retailers today that are using big data to its fullest, are the ones that have the potential to really increase their operating margins by wasting less and selling more to the right person at the right time.
During scheduled breaks, attendees had a chance to chat with multiple vendors
In another round of eight workshops, called technology showcases, vendors got a chance to demonstrate their products and services. During the Dealer E-Process session, owner Dave Page said that a big challenge with many dealerships today is ensuring their websites are optimized to work just as smoothly for mobile usage.
“Currently 35 per cent of all your web traffic comes from mobile devices,” he said, “by 2015, Google predicts it will be 55 per cent.” He also said that dealers can really boost their service business by using a virtual service consultant instead of asking customers to fill out long, cumbersome forms online and also getting technicians to directly post photos of service repairs in progress to customers. “They see trust, they see process,” he says. “One hundred R/Os per day can land you 50 or 60 customers — it is a whole new strategy.”
Don Reed
A big issue facing many dealers today both in Canada and in the U.S., is how to compete with the aftermarket. During his workshop entitled The Four Essentials for 100% Service Absorption, Don Reed, CEO of DealerPro Training (and a former dealer himself), said that in the U.S. today, dealers have just 21 per cent of the parts and service business, the rest belongs to the aftermarket.
Reed said that service advisors are often known as discount kings and queens and need to focus on value rather than price. He said dealers have the ability to achieve much higher levels of absorption, though it requires major changes in current thinking. “CRM is all well and good,” he said “but if you don’t have a plan when these customers show up you will lose business and your CSI will plummet.”
He also said that when it comes to expenses on the service side, dealers need to manage by measurement. “Expenses going up isn’t always a bad thing. When your variable compensation goes up, that is good, when shop supplies increase it is bad.” He also said that BDCs need to focus on selling appointments. “The objective of the BDC is never to quote price or provide diagnosis, it is to sell appointments.”
Boot Camp guest speaker Bill Wittenmyer and Melissa Maxey of ELEAD1ONE
Following workshop sessions, there was a cocktail reception hosted by GSFS. This gave a chance for dealership attendees to mingle and talk with vendors, as well as assess the day’s workshops. In talking with both dealers and vendors, the one message we took, was that the small, social nature of the conference was much welcomed and that it really gave many a chance to network and form new relationships in perhaps a way that probably wouldn’t be possible at some of the larger events.
MARKETING THE MESSAGE
On Thursday, things kicked off with another early morning exercise session, followed by another raft of workshops. Julie Chisum, whose session was entitled —You should share your office with a top notch graphic designer. No, really? proved rather interesting. Chisum, who serves as marketing director for Cavender Toyota in San Antonio, Texas shared experiences of how an effective digital strategy has been able to significantly increase the store’s fixed ops business — to the point that the dealership saw a 1,900 unit increase in Repair Orders between December and February. For dealers looking at ways in how to improve their service operations, it was jaw-dropping to say the least.
Glenn Pasch
An eager crowd was gathered in the Liberty Room to hear Glenn Pasch’s keynote speech — Technology is your megaphone — what are you broadcasting? Pasch, COO of PCG Digital Marketing and a recognized expert and trainer, said that often people get too caught up on the technology aspect in reference to digital marketing. “Take a step backwards, forget the technology for a moment and focus on the message.”
He asked dealers in the audience how many of them focused on the experience and didn’t discuss price. “Will I find that on your website? That is your difference right there — that joy, that laughter — how we communicate that out to your consumers.”
Pasch said a common problem in the auto business is that we’re often too focused on our own industry and that can hamper creativity and ideas. “Look for inspiration outside. At times we are insular, we only tend to look down the block — if you don’t look for new ideas, you will run out of them and then all we are left with is price and you know where that leads.”
He said that dealers must remember that the message is the driver, digital technology is simply the vehicle. “Get it in the right order and you’ll be surprised at how much business you can do.”
