Paving the way

THE INAUGURAL CANADIAN DEALER FORUM BY DRIVINGSALES INSPIRED DEALERS AND VENDORS ALIKE

Ron Henson, Global Brand Ambassador for DrivingSales (left) and Tom White Jr., General Manager of Subaru of Wichita

After Canadian dealers asked to have a DrivingSales conference in Canada, they got their wish.

DrivingSales held its inaugural Canadian Dealer Forum in Calgary, Alta. on June 22-23, bringing in dealer principals, general managers and other department managers from across the country.

It was the first DrivingSales event for Derrick Edmunds, sales operations manager at AutoCanada in Edmonton, Alta. The chance to interact with industry experts and even those from outside of the industry drew him to the event.

“It’s been a great atmosphere, definitely. Lots of good speakers and lots of valuable time in the off to speak with some people,” said Edmunds. He liked that he was able to spend time talking to the vendors he works with on a daily basis.

Redg Snodgrass, CEO of Wearable World

Elgie Bright of Northwood University spoke about leadership

Some vendors had also set up booths, and were ready to engage with the dealers. One was DealerSocket, an automotive software solution provider that has been part of the DrivingSales conferences for years in Las Vegas.

When Sam Rizek, Director of Sales & Business Development for DealerSocket Canada heard a DrivingSales conference was coming to Canada, he knew he had to be there.

“Of all the conferences, in terms of staying ahead where you need to be going, I think it’s one of the best for that,” said Rizek, and added he can learn about some of the best practices at the event and then tie them into the company’s product offerings.

Ryan Thompson, head of sales at Kijiji Autos, summed up his experience: “Great speakers, super engaged audience.”

FOLLOW THE LEADER
Jared Hamilton, founder and CEO of DrivingSales and owner of the Walla Walla Valley Honda dealership, kicked off the event and set the tone for the day.

“I need you enlightened with tactical ideas so when you go back to your store I want to see you [create] change,” said Hamilton.

To help inspire the dealers in the room, many of the speakers talked about how leadership affects the store culture— and even the retail industry as a whole.
Success really boils down to your attitude, said Elgie Bright, chair of Automotive Marketing at Northwood University in Michigan.

“It’s transformational leadership attitude of the people at the top,” said Bright, and added this is what has made retail industry leaders such as Disney and Amazon so successful.

Bright told the story of when he met hockey legend Gordie Howe, who was doing promotional work for a dealership based in Floral, Sask.

At the time, Bright was still in high school. He asked Howe what made him so successful.

Howe replied, “You have to win the moment,” and then he said, “you also have to win the fight.”

Since then, Bright said, he always asks his students who they admire in the industry and why.

The AutoAlert team at their booth

Dealers need to create fans —and that begins with the staff at the dealership.

This is particularly important for the millennials who work at the dealership, said Bright. They look up to dealer principals and general managers to help them with their self esteem.

“The boss, the captain, the GM, the dealer sets the tone for what happens in the marketplace,” said Bright. “Hopefully you are inspiring somebody when you go to work everyday.

Tom White Jr. said he thinks “management” is a bad word. “I’m looking for leaders,” he said.

As the general manager for the Subaru of Wichita store in Kansas, White Jr. said most of his sales team comes from outside of the automotive industry, and can bring in a fresh perspective.

Salespeople are the most important at his dealership—not the managers.

Jaimie Holland, Outside Territory Manager, and
Ryan Thompson, Head of Sales at Kijiji Autos

When it comes to building a culture, which White Jr. called “the backbone of our success,” there’s consensus involved but, ultimately, the best ideas should win. Managers are not necessarily the best people to dictate the culture, he added.

It’s also important culture is documented, which is exactly what Subaru of Wichita does.

The dealership’s culture is displayed for customers to see when they walk into the dealership.

BIG IDEAS
Dealers were also able to hear from speakers outside of the automotive industry, like Redg Snodgrass, CEO of Wearable World.

The San Francisco-based company connects technology experts, thought leaders and startups to build game changing emerging technologies.

These are the kind of connected devices that can collect data and track human activity using sensors through heat, vibration, pressure and acceleration.

“There’s an intensity going on where everyone is looking at how humanity will change,” said Snodgrass. He believes these changes will have a profound effect on marketing and the ways to engage the customer in the dealership world.

With wearable devices, dealers will be six seconds closer to the customer by being able to tap into their emotions and understand their buying impulses. Sales managers can gauge the interactions between the salespeople and customers on the show floor in real time to determine how the sale is going, said Snodgrass.

On the service side, auto detect technology that is built into the vehicle will be able to detect driving behaviour, and can push out notifications and messages accordingly. Snodgrass likens it to a Fitbit device, but for your vehicle.

This technology is all coming, said Snodgrass. What dealers can do right now is figure out how to drive sales through social media and develop a plan to deal with customer data.

The DrivingSales Executive Summit, a digital marketing event for innovative dealers, will return to the Bellagio in Las Vegas on October 18-20, 2015.

MAKE YOUR BRAND STICK “If you don’t toot your own horn, no one else will.” — Jeremy Miller, Sticky Branding Jeremy Miller almost lost it all. In the early 2000s, his family business hit rock bottom. The brand had gone stale. But instead of giving up, he helped turn the business around by refreshing its brand. Miller is the president of Sticky Branding, a Toronto-based brand building agency, and bestselling author of a book with the same name. He shared some of his tips with dealers on how to build a retail brand that sticks: 1. BE FIRST. “First choice advantage is what makes a brand stick,” said Miller. 2. PUNCH OUTSIDE YOUR WEIGHT CLASS. Come up with a bold idea, said Miller. He gave the example of Jim Gilbert’s Wheels and Deals, an independent dealership in Fredericton, N.B., which became branded as “Canada’s huggable dealer” by sending 12,000 personalized gifts each year to customers, without any sales messages attached to them. Miller has heard anecdotally from customers that Gilbert changed the used car buying experience for them. 3. ENGAGE CUSTOMERS EARLY AND OFTEN. “If you don’t toot your own horn, no one else will,” said Miller. 4. DIVE DEEP INTO YOUR BUSINESS. See where you are today and where you need to go to move forward, said Miller. Get to the next level by focusing on a key area, such as brand and value proposition, product and service, talent and leadership, or operations and profitability. Determine what achieving this goal will mean for your customers, he said.

STOP FORCING, START RESPONDING “You have to let go of your favourite sins.” — Jared Hamilton, DrivingSales Jared Hamilton, CEO and Founder of DrivingSales, doesn’t beat around the bush. “Our industry is filled with a lot of crappy insight,” said Hamilton in his keynote presentation. This had many of the dealers in the room at the edge of their seats, as they were looking forward to what the dynamic speaker had to say. As the owner of the Walla Walla Valley Honda dealership, Hamilton also wasn’t afraid to comment on the industry: “I’m going to tell us that our baby is ugly.” Hamilton talked about the need for evolving the sales process based on insights from a recent DrivingSales Customer Experience Study, the results of which he shared with all of the dealer principals, executives and sales managers in the room. The $2.5-million study surveyed around 1,400 North American car consumers in the research, purchase and post purchase phases, and had a team of anthropologists conduct interviews during the different phases. Dealers know that customer buying habits and expectations have transformed, but Hamilton said the industry needs to be better prepared to handle them. “You will have to let go of your favourite sins,” he said. A big one is the current, linear sales process that dealers love to follow — and customers hate. In fact, 99.3 per cent of customers expect the process at your dealership to be a hassle, said Hamilton. Customers even went so far to say they, “felt like a hostage in the sales process,” he added. Like the issue of the test drive. Only four per cent of shoppers expected to test drive a vehicle on their first visit. But Hamilton said this doesn’t mean consumers never wanted a test drive — 90 per cent of them did want to test drive prior to purchasing the vehicle. So what can dealers take away? Don’t force your customer to test drive a vehicle, said Hamilton. “You don’t know where they [the customers] are on your journey.” Maybe their neighbour has the same vehicle. Or they might have test driven the vehicle at another dealership. Dealers might not know. What Hamilton does know is the dealership could lose out on the sale. Based on the survey results, half of the customers will walk out the door if they are forced into a test drive before they learn about the price of the vehicle. Instead of sticking to a rigid, linear sales process, Hamilton said it’s better to consider the customer’s needs and then progress from there. “You gain control by giving it up,” said Hamilton. Being transparent is the only way to breed trust and gain reputation, added Hamilton. That’s more important than any digital marketing strategy, he said.