Recap: Used Vehicle Mastermind Exchange Sessions at Digital Dealer Las Vegas 2022
It’s always our pleasure to be involved in Digital Dealer. This time, I was joined by Tracy Myers, dealer principal of Frank Myers Auto Maxx in Winston Salem, NC. Throughout the four used vehicle mastermind sessions, dealers were able to dictate the topics that they wanted to discuss and get feedback from their peers. So, while Tracy and I were co-moderators, it was really
dealers running the sessions.
Here are the top six issues that dealers wanted to discuss during these sessions:
- The acquisition of used vehicle inventory and value or implementation of buying centers: This was (understandably) a huge topic for the dealers at Digital Dealer Las Vegas as it was at DD Tampa. Dealers shared strategies that have proven effective for them. It was much different, whether a dealership was rural or urban, but overall, dealers left with ideas they could try in their markets. Attendees wanted to discuss the pros and cons of having dedicated buying centers outside of their dealerships, covering costs, effectiveness, and
desirability amongst consumers. Will consumers feel less intimidated selling their car from a “buying center” versus going to a dealership? That and investment were the top discussed items in this topic’s session. - What strategies can help you stand out to consumers on ads and their website: All the noise in the world, with many businesses bombarding consumers, made dealers ask their peers about strategies to stand out from the crowd. And once a consumer is on their website, they discussed why the conversion rate is higher and what they can do to increase that. Dealers seemed split on the ad part, with the advice mostly centered around compelling creative. As for the website part, many dealers felt that the less friction a website places through the many widgets and choices simply confuses consumers, which overwhelms them. The main takeaway was that introducing less friction by having less conversion choices helps dramatically increase conversion rates. A clean, easy-to-navigate one that guides a customer through the journey that the dealership wants them to take was the consistent advice given.
- Hiring and retaining quality staff: This topic has always been a pain point for dealers. When discussing this topic, the main challenge that a dealership has is that they struggle with finding quality candidates (not just warm bodies) that will stay. There is a lot of
investment in bringing on a new hire, so it is arduous for them to be on a never-ending hiring mission. Dealers shared the importance of having a company culture that elicits a work environment where employees want to be out of loyalty and contentment, not just simply because it brings a paycheck. - Concerns about Facebook’s ROI: While Facebook has performed well for dealers (especially in the Facebook Marketplace,) with Facebook taking away automated inventory feeds that forces dealers to create listings manually, many dealers wanted to talk about whether the time it takes to do this outweighs the benefits of sales from these – or not – and what, if any, strategies dealerships are using if they are or have they given up on inventory ads and, perhaps, simply gone to branding ads or have shifted their social marketing budgets elsewhere? There were a lot of different opinions and advice given on this segment with some dealers sharing that Facebook is still performing for them while other dealers had the opposite opinion. Needless to say, it was a very divisive topic.
- TikTok: When this topic came around, there was a lot of information shared. Many dealers wanted to know if this popular platform was worth allocating marketing dollars to and, if so, why. A lot of the conversation centered around not only TikTok – as a platform – was even worth their time and, if so, how they could capitalize it in a way that makes sense. A lot of information was shared. Everything from basic, what TikTok is and how it can benefit me to strategies they can use as well as how to optimize strategies they have been using already on the platform. The bottom line was that TikTok isn’t going anywhere, so dealers should seriously consider how best they can use it in their markets.
- Service Business Conquesting: This topic was something that, it seemed, many dealers didn’t understand the importance of or, if they did, didn’t know how to do. Most seemed to understand that independent repair facilities are doing a much better job at gaining regular maintenance service business (at the very least) away from their dealerships and were asking their peers for advice on how they can reduce that through conquesting strategies and/or educating the customer on the benefits of doing business with a dealership.
As usual, the exchange sessions at Digital Dealer were fun for me and Tracy to moderate; the sessions gave us insights into dealers’ concerns, and attendees liked them because they were getting advice from their peers on the topics they wanted to discuss. Tracy and I look forward to continuing opportunities to be a part of the forums that Digital Dealer allowed us to participate in!
-Originally published in the November/December 2022 issue of Dealer magazine
Troy Spring is the owner of Dealer World, Agency 345, and co-founder of Dealer Funnel. His roots in advertising started while he managed four automotive dealerships and the large advertising budgets for the stores. The dealerships all grew under his watch. He credits much of that growth to the advertising decisions he made to drive more business to each location. He has spent the last decade perfecting what he calls the four pillars of advertising: reach, frequency, creative, and cost. He is a strong advocate of this formula. He spends much of his time sharing these concepts as a national speaker and occasional guest on podcasts.