Taking your Internet temperature! Before you go one more step forward with your Internet program, you must take stock of what you currently have, what is working, and what direction you should be headed. The Internet is a powerful sales tool, and if you are not selling cars using it, there is a reason(s) why. 1. Write down what you currently use to generate leads, your own web site, buying services, classified sites with your inventory, etc... 2. How much traffic am I receiving? How many leads are turning into buyers? Is my web site listed high in the search engines? If you are not receiving traffic to your pages, you cannot expect much action. Important: Many large Dealership's with large advertising budgets can rely on their traditional ads (TV,Radio,Newspaper) to get their web address seen. If you are a smaller dealership with a more limited budget, you must be in the search engines or you will not receive much traffic to your web site. 3. Who is running the program and are they well trained? Are you using email properly? Do you have a lead tracking database to monitor follow-up? These are the main reasons most web programs are failing. Too many Dealer's are trying to use traditional sales techniques online and it doesn't work. If you are serious about the Internet you must understand the new buyer and what he expects. Is there complete cooperation from the rest of the Dealership? Many hard working Internet Professionals are failing because of old school management unwilling to work with the Internet customer. Are you putting competitive prices on your Inventory? The most common Web Presence mistakes we have seen. No Traffic to your Web Site. This is first and formost. Even if you have the best site on the Web, if no one is visiting your site, it really doesn't matter. Every mistake and tip we offer below assumes that you have dealt with the traffic to your site problem. Failure to put your inventory online with photos and prices: If you are relying entirely upon buying service leads to sell cars you are selling yourself short. As time goes on, more and more CarFinder services are popping up on the Net. Autobytel, AutoNetUSA, CarPoint, the list goes on. Many online shoppers will use 5 to 6 different carfinder services to narrow down dealers. But, if they can actually see your vehicles for sale (color photo) and get a price on that specific vehicle, they will contact you direct. This is the most powerful selling tool you have online and most dealers are not using it. If you do not have your vehicles online with photos and would like to find out how you can do it, e-mail us at dealerquestions@AutoNetUSA.com If you already have cars online with photos, put them on our Network and we will provide traffic. Failure to set-up a consistent Internet strategy. You have to have a gameplan. Fast follow-up, special Internet pricing, specific sales reps working the Internet are all helpful to maintain a good Internet program. Proper training and e-mail skills are paramount. You must be prepared to sell cars entirely different from the floor. Lack of support from Upper Management. Many people have not accepted this new form of communicating and selling cars. If your boss or bosses are not on board with the Internet, don't expect much cooperation from them. We have witnessed actual sabotage of Internet programs by Managers that did not want it at their Dealership. How do you get around this problem? If you are a serious player and want to sell cars using the Internet, work hard and sell cars online w/o help and convince your boss with results. If someone at your Dealership is purposely killing your Internet deals, you need to address the problem right away. If all else fails, work for a Dealer that is more serious. Not Marketing your Web Address in your advertising. If you have online New Car price quotes and Inventory online with photos, let people know! Check all of your Ads that your Dealership runs. Do they put your Web Address in there? TV, Newspaper, Auto Traders, it should be there. Add one more line to all your classified ads and add your web address. This has been proven to be very effective. Pulling people from the newspaper to your web site creates more interaction from shoppers because they can now contact you direct, and they are no longer looking at your competitors ads in the paper. Click here to return to Training Homepage All information is copyrighted ©1996-2005 by AutoNetUSA Inc Any reproduction or distribution of this material without permission  from AutoNetUSA IncC is strictly prohibited.