It had originally been intended as a one-off event, yet according to Scott Neil, Managing Director, Autos and Housing at Kijiji, the inaugural DealerTalk conference was so well received in 2013 that the team quickly got to work planning a second event. Like last year, it took place at the prestigious Four Seasons hotel in Toronto’s upscale Yorkville district and like last year it drew some major names as keynote speakers.
Ryan Thompson, Head of Sales at Kijiji Autos said that attendance was also up from 2013 and that dealers from as far away as Prince George, B.C. and Manitoba made the trek, indicating that DealerTalk has already established itself as one of the premier dealer-focused events on the Canadian calendar.
Once again, Canadian auto dealer publisher Niel Hiscox, served as emcee and once again, he had the pleasure to introduce the ever energetic and engaging Paul Potratz, who was the first featured speaker of the day.
Paul Potratz
ALL ABOUT PROCESS
In his address entitled Digital Marketing: You Could be Wasting Thousands, Potratz talked about process and that why many dealerships struggle with their digital marketing strategy is often due to a lack of proper process in place. He also said that the buck stops with management. “If your sales are down, if your conversions are down and your website traffic, it is because of you.”
Potratz said that the lack of a process that everybody in the dealership understands is a surefire way of leaving money on the table and said that if staff aren’t able to perform it is often because they don’t know how to. “People come to work everyday wanting to do a good job, they want to be rockstars. So find their strengths, set goals and put the training and process in place.”
Potratz noted that when it comes to digital marketing, many dealer websites suffer from being a “laundry list,” emphasizing vehicle specs and price. “Bounce rates are 18.2 per cent, because most websites simply don’t have content.”
Potratz said that while it’s impossible to control human behaviour, adding quality content to dealership websites is still a surefire way to boost traffic, conversions and ultimately closing rates. “Your website needs to become research. You need to have this mindset. Consumers have tunnel vision and the Internet is called the Information Super Highway. So why are you making it so hard for them to do business with you?”
Potratz said that instead of advertising the fact that a vehicle has 10 standard airbags, show the benefits of having those airbags, such as why it’s important for child safety.
He also said that having actual third party reviews of the vehicle in question is also key in grabbing the attention of online shoppers. He also talked about the need for a consistent message and highlighted a number of sample webpages where dealer ads bore no real relation to the actual subject matter — i.e. a review page of the Chevy Cruze by a consumer publication, contained ads advertising price and deals such as “conquest cash.”
Potratz said that both advertising and marketing go hand in hand and that it was important for dealers to understand the need to build relationships with consumers and to keep search topics relevant to the audience.
Jason Craine
THINKING DIFFERENTLY
Part of what made DealerTalk a hit last year was the chance for dealers in the audience to hear from a fellow dealer about their own experiences. This year, Jason Craine, President and dealer principal from Mills Motors Buick GMC in Oshawa, Ont. took to the stage and discussed the Top 10 Things to Implement in 2014.
Craine’s story is quite remarkable in itself. Coming from outside the industry he was able to bring fresh ideas to the table and helped turn Mills Motors into one of the most active and successful stores in Canada when it comes to digital marketing.
He talked about Moneyball Metrics, referring to Billy Beane’s theory of management and what mattered most — getting a player to first base.
“Like baseball there are hundreds of stats we can look at but which matter most when it comes to selling cars? Vehicle Detail Pages or more importantly, time on VDPs.” Craine said that at his dealership, Google Analytics enables him to determine that every 31 views on a VDP correlates to one single vehicle sale.
“From this, we decided to take specific actions to increase VDP views,” he said. From that, 40-60 high-definition customized pictures of each new vehicle in inventory were created, with unique descriptions written up for each. From what Craine described as “Ground Zero,” it took four months, 500 vehicles and 25,000 individual photos to get things really up and running. Since then eyeball time on VDPs has gone from 7.4 minutes to 12.2 minutes (a 65 per cent increase). Meanwhile, Craine says actual vehicles have increased by 116 per cent. Increase your VDPs and merchandise your vehicles online, that’s Moneyball Metrics.”
Craine said it was important for dealers to understand their digital marketing as much as their financial statements and not to place themselves at the mercy of unscrupulous digital marketing or social media “experts” — those who often leverage a dealer’s ignorance to charge exorbitant fees, often with questionable results. “If we are educated we can stop being held hostage,” he said.
Craine said that strategies such as digital remarketing, (a tip he learned from Paul Potratz), as well as pay per click and an Appointment Boarding Pass (something he learned from Robert Karbaum at Weins Canada) are all ways dealers can serve to build their brand, increase traffic and get more customers in the door.
He said that when it comes to marketing, Mills Motors doesn’t approach it like a dealership but more like a media network such as Fox or HBO. “We have to have a skill set in-house to write, produce, add graphics and create videos. At Mills, content is a core product that comes in the form of entertainment and intelligence. We pack it up and distribute it through all the channels that are available to us.”
Theo Fleury (left) and Scott Neil, Managing Director, Autos and Housing, Kijiji
DON’T QUIT BEFORE THE MIRACLE
During the lunch break, attendees got a chance to not only nibble and network but also hear from a very special guest speaker, NHL superstar and Stanley Cup winner Theo Fleury. Recognized as one of the most talented players of his generation, Fleury’s store is one of the most remarkable of all. Despite his gritty determination and tremendous success and fame, for much of his life he was dogged by dark clouds — Fleury having suffered abuse at the hand of one of his mentors when he was young. In fact it became so overpowering that the hockey legend came close to ending his life while living in New Mexico. “I did not know how to live on life’s terms,” he said. A phone call from his son, helped steer things around and Fleury packed his bags and headed back to Canada. He started playing hockey again, met his wife and got clean. It was then he understood that the shame he was carrying around was not his but that of his abuser.
Fleury released his book Playing with Fire in 2009 and it struck a chord with hundreds of thousands of people across the country. “The greatest gift I have been given is the gift of forgiveness,” he said. Today, Fleury devotes considerable time and energy to helping others that have suffered from abuse and said that no matter how far you might fall down the ladder you can always find a way back up. “Don’t quit before the miracle,” he said as the crowd gave Fleury a standing ovation.
Jay Baer
THE LONG GAME
After lunch, attendees were eager to hear Keynote Speaker Jay Baer, marketing strategist and best-selling New York Times author, who discussed the idea of “Utility Marketing.”
“This is marketing so useful,” said Baer, “that people will pay for it.” He cited an example of Hilton hotels helping a young graduate find a job and that by doing so, when that person decides to travel and look for a place to stay, Hilton is likely the first hotel chain to come to mind.
Referencing some Canadian examples, he talked about “Taxi Mike” in Banff, Alta., who every year prints out a flyer highlighting the best places to go in town. “He folds it up and hands it out,” said Baer. “So when it comes to the end of the night and you need a ride home, are you going to ask the bartender? No, you’re going to pull that crumpled flyer out of your pocket and you’re going to call Taxi Mike.”
He said that Utility Marketing doesn’t require a lot to execute but it’s important to understand what is relevant to your customers, that way you’ll win in the end. He referred to it as playing the “Long Game” — understanding that while there might be no initial reward for implementing such useful marketing, the long-term benefits can be huge.
Baer noted that the marketing environment is getting tougher every day and the convergence of people’s professional and personal lives means that dealers are not only competing against stores down the street but “everything.” He said that given the amount of information available at our fingertips today and the fact that smartphone penetration in Canada has now reached 56 per cent, there really is no excuse for making a bad decision.
“If you teach better, you will sell more, in every brand, in every line throughout the world,” he said. Baer also noted that trust is the “prism through which all business success must pass” and the best way to gain trust is to be “radically honest.”
“One day, one dealership will focus on this and they will eat everybody’s lunch because they are on top of it. If you don’t do this then one of your competitors will.”
Panel discussion
GROUP FOCUS
Following Baer’s speech and a networking break, the day’s featured speakers got together for a panel discussion, moderated by Canadian auto dealer publisher Niel Hiscox.
Audience participation was lively and the panelists talked about some of the key issues facing dealers when it comes to promoting and marketing their business.
Paul Potratz said that “marketing was like dating” and that dealers really need to focus on building meaningful relationships.
Jason Craine — citing his dealership’s blog, said that by creating good content, the impact on actual business and the bottom line can be huge. “We posted 85 blogs about winter tires,” he said. “We talked about just about every kind of winter tire we stocked.” When the first snowfall of the year came, Craine said that website traffic went through the roof and that the parts department was struggling to keep up with demand.
Jay Baer, said that for dealers, persuasive marketing can be created not via cars themselves but things related to them, such as providing free window ice scrapers, gas cards or coffee mugs. “Your role is to make yours a better dealership. You may sell and service Audi, or Ford but that is secondary to what you deliver, which is service, value and being part of the community.”
For more information visit: dealertalk.ca and kijiji.ca.
