There has been a lot of conversation lately about dealerships allowing 3rd party access to their data. In this post, I will provide you with some information that you will be able to use in determining how your data is used and some ways you may limit it’s use.

First of all, what is data? What’s the difference between good data and bad data? Why would anyone want to have access to my data? What could they do with my data and how can I monitor what is being done with it?

Data is stored in a database, and the easiest way to visualize a database is to think of an excel spreadsheet. You have rows and columns. At the very top is a row that is divided into columns, and each column has a title.

ID | Name | Address | Email | Phone | ……

Then each row represents a “record” in the database, that makes it unique so that it can be cross referenced by other database tables “other excel spreadsheets” if you will.

Lets assume the following:

1030033 | Fred Smith | 213 Main Street | fred@yahoo.com

The first number, or the ID is tied to Fred Smith. In a real database you wouldn’t see things like the numerical portion of the address in the same column as the name of the street, but I’m just doing it like this to simplify the example.

So 1030033 refers to Fred Smith, and if you had another database table where you wanted to create a new way to reference Fred Smith without using his name you could simply use his ID and create another number. Lets say Fred Smith is a lifetime customer, and each time Fred buys a car you want to create a new ID for him because its a big deal. All of his ID’s will refer back to the original 1030033, but instead of doing that you want to give Fred a “VIP” status so whenever he brings his car in there is a little “VIP” icon next to his name.

One way a web based application could accomplish this feature is like so:

The first digit of the person’s ID identifies how many vehicles they have purchased from your dealership. So if you wanted to know at a glance without diving into data you absolutely don’t have any use for in this particular query, you could simply sort your ID column and immediately you could see you have 6 people that have a user ID that begins with 8. That would mean you have six people who have bought eight cars from you. Then you have 20 that have bought seven cars, and you get the picture.

Well instead of looking at the “raw data” for every customer who walks in, you simply have your web developer design a cool looking little “VIP” icon that will be displayed next to any customers name that has a user ID that begins with a 2 or above. That means anyone who has bought 2 or more cars from you will have a VIP icon.

The purpose of explaining it like this was to illustrate that your data is only meaningful to you when you understand it in the context of how it is stored. If the above example was true in your system, a user ID number would have significant meaning to you as opposed to just looking like a random string of numbers.

Find Out What Data Is Being Shared and With Whom

Now with that being said, the next step is to understand how your data is being stored, who has access to it, and so forth. Let’s just keep with the above example being true, that the first digit represents the number of cars purchased by a customer.

If you were given 15 minutes to select 5 ID’s from a competitors database, don’t you think you’d like to take the five with the highest first digit in their ID? Of course, they would be considered the most profitable customers of that dealership.

However, you would make that selection only because I haven’t given you any other parameters to consider.

Let’s add another field to make it more interesting. The column header just has “CLV” at the top and since I created the database I know that “CLV” stands for Customer Lifetime Value.

Without having been told what CLV stood for, that column wouldn’t have meant much to you, just a three digit column from 000 to 999. Who cares what that means right? Wrong.

This column is the cumulative figure (multiply by 1000) of the total revenue earned to date by this customer.

So if your customer has an ID of 5959393 and their three digit number is 050, you can tell me on average how much they spent per vehicle. ($10k). The first digit tells me they bought 5 cars, the three digit code tells me they’ve spent $50k. Now we are getting somewhere.

That “CLV” column has lot of importance now, perhaps even more important that the first digit of their ID #.

So How Can This Help You Protect Your Data?

This simply boils down to what fields your 3rd party needs access to. In the case of TrueCar, they simply need to know if Fred bought a car from you after he went through their process. They don’t need to know how much he spent, or how many cars he’s bought from you, or anything else.

So the answer to this is to simply create a dedicated True Car database table. This table will only be populated if one of their leads actually buys a car from you.

I’d also suggest time stamping their lead in your own database so if you and another local dealer wanted to do a little “analysis” on how they are distributing the leads, you’d have some ability to identify trends in the data.

Dealers really need to spend some time understanding how their data is collected, stored, analyzed and shared. Your database is gold. Don’t let outside people wander in and out of the vault unless you know what they are doing in there.

And if you know what they’re doing in there, you won’t have to question whether they are up to no good, because you simply give them access to the areas they need and that’s it.

If you ask any legitimate company to provide a recent snapshot of the data they’ve taken they should be able to answer you within 24 hours and if not, lock em out.

What Is TrueCar?

TrueCar operates a website which publishes prices for new and used cars. Their slogan “Know the Real Price” claims to offer the most transparent pricing data available on just about any vehicle on the market.

So if you are in the market to buy a new car, and have narrowed it down to the one you want, you can go to their site and enter in the year, make, model and TrueCar will give you a price, and list some of the local dealers who can sell it to you at that price (if they pay TrueCar a fee.)

TrueCar doesn’t sell cars. They just try to dictate the way cars are sold, and if it means turning dealer against dealer, that’s what they’ll do. In fact, they’ve been at it for awhile.

How Does TrueCar Rip off Dealers?

TrueCar is ripping off dealers by accessing data and using it to create competition in the market.

A customer who buys a car from a dealership after going through TrueCar will be “proof” that a dealership was able to sell a particular car at that price. If one dealer can do it, others should too, and so the “race to the bottom” ensues.

It doesn’t take long to see how dealers are going out of business.

TrueCar aims to make a commodity out of the car business. I don’t know about you, but buying salt, sugar, coffee beans, soybeans, aluminium, copper, rice, wheat, gold, silver (commodities) is not very realistic for the automotive industry.

That’s where this goes if dealers don’t step up and stop this now. Cars are highly sophisticated, and it turns out that sophistication comes from the US, more specifically Detroit.

TrueCar Is Betting $200M That It Will Take A Long Time To Figure Out What They Did

And quite frankly, they know they are going to get away with it:

In a statement, TrueCar said it is “addressing technical and procedural questions raised by regulators who may not know what to make of our service…. TrueCar invites and takes seriously questions about consumer protection and is vigilant about ensuring that its partner dealers honor their commitments to buyers.”

[LA Times]

So what exactly are they doing, and why does this need to be exposed and investigated.

1. They are charging dealers a fee for every customer who buys a car through this process. It’s $299 for a new car buyer, $399 for used.

2. They have access to a growing number of dealership databases so they can accurately charge the dealer for every sale they sent their way.

3. They are currently partnering and acquiring companies that have vast amounts of customer data, pricing data, email addresses, phone numbers, credit scores, and private financial information.

So isn’t it odd that they are charging dealers, the same dealers they may eventually put out of business? Sounds like ethical business practices to me.

Next is the dealers database they so “conveniently” need to have full access to in order to determine whether or not the customer who came in with a TrueCar price sheet actually bought a car. Don’t worry, they don’t care about the price that customer just paid, and they certainly wouldn’t tell your competitors, can you imagine?

The point I’m trying to make on that last one is, that Scott Painter, the CEO wrote on his blog that they don’t use that data:

We don’t use our dealer partners’ information to populate the TrueCar pricing curve. That information comes from entirely separate sources of anonymized data that represent nearly 90% of all vehicle transactions in the U.S.

So what I’m sitting here thinking is, what does he consider the definition of “anonymous data” to mean? If you delete the names is it anonymous? Because, if you have enough data you can certainly cross-reference by email address. That’s crazy talk!, or is it?

TrueCar claims it’s not using the data like that, which seems odd especially for a company that is acquiring data is massive quantities. DealerTrack has already started turning over their data, as of October 1st, 2011:

On August 19, 2011, we agreed to sell our wholly owned subsidiary, ALG, to TrueCar in a transaction structured as a tax-free reorganization. In consideration for the sale of ALG, we were to receive a 15.0% equity interest in TrueCar and a warrant to increase our ownership interest to up to 19.9%. In a separate series of transactions, TrueCar completed a new equity financing raise with other investors. To maintain our 15.0% ownership upon the closing of the transaction on October 1, 2011, we made an additional investment in TrueCar in the amount of $7.5 million through cash remaining on the balance sheet of ALG on the date of sale.

We have also entered into additional commercial arrangements with TrueCar for its use of certain DealerTrack and Chrome intellectual property and data in its products and services. In addition, we have the right to appoint a director to TrueCar’s board of directors, which we have exercised as of October 1, 2011.

[source: DealerTrack Holdings 10Q]

TrueCar Tells Dealers To Change Prices

Now remember the quote from Scott Painter’s post? The one where he states that they don’t use the pricing data. Well it appears that is not true based on the following information shared in an industry podcast.

In Larry Bruce’s podcast, pay attention to the 20:00 mark:

“It has been an absolute race to the bottom, and our TrueCar rep used to call us 3-4 times a week because people were changing prices that fast. TrueCar was telling you this? Yes, they can go in and see the data, and they can see what everyone else was doing…..”

Here’s a recent quote from Painter where he is indicating that consumers don’t have to trust the dealers:

“There’s an average 25% range from top to bottom on what people pay for a commodity — the exact same car,” Painter says. “Buying a car should be more transparent. You don’t have to trust the dealer anymore — trust the data.” [CNN Money]

What consumers should do is question the data.

What dealers should do is ensure the privacy of their customers data.

What the state should do is investigate TrueCar and find out what they plan to do with all the data they claim they aren’t using, and were never authorized to be in the possession of when it was originally submitted.

Dealers are always looking for new ways to reach prospective car buyers, and when a company comes along with a product that will bring people to your showroom floor, dealers are anxious to jump on it.

Of course, the service isn’t free. In fact, it’s $299 or $399 per car sold, with the higher of the two amounts when it’s a used car.

You don’t sell a car, you don’t pay. Or do you?

For one, they aren’t going to call you up at the end of the month and say “Hey, did you sell any cars to the people walking in holding a TrueCar report?” They are going to need access to your DMS. Whether you realize it or not, your DMS is a goldmine of data. It’s got phone numbers, email addresses, and all kinds of stuff you’d never want your competitors to get their greedy little hands on.

The fact is, TrueCar should have access to only the data required to analyze the ratio of people who came in via the TrueCar process, and whether they purchased.

What I would like to know, and what dealers should band together and ask is, what data is being utilized, and if such data is used in a way that may be considered a conflict of interest.

I would request in writing that your DMS provider disclose to you anyone who has access or has requested access to your data, and provide the names and phone numbers as well as a copy of the contract you signed that authorized them to do so. If you’ve authorized it, I would consult a lawyer immediately.

Dealers need to understand that access to their DMS should be restricted to internal use only and any company that requests access should not be permitted to store such data, sell, publish or in any way distribute it to other partners.

Here is a quick SEO checklist / SEO Exercise for car dealers – Tune-up your website’s SEO!

1. Pick 2 Cities that you want to concentrate on dominating search for.
(example: detroit & dearborn)

2. Pick 3 Keywords.
(example: ford, car, dealer)

3. Combine the city keyword with two of the keywords you chose to make your list of keyword phrases.
(example: “detroit ford dealer” – “dearborn car dealership” – “detroit car dealer“)

4. Enter the phrase into Google and be sure to leave the quotation marks intact.

5. Under the search box, look at the number of search results. It will say “About …. results”
(example: “detroit ford dealer” has 237,000 results.

This means it will be harder to rank on page #1 of Google but it’s not impossible if you have help   If your phrase has less than 5,000 than it shouldn’t be a problem to rank very quickly by following the rest of these steps.

6. Without deleting your keyword from the Google search box, click on the far left to type in the search box so you can add site=yoururl.com
(example: site:gornoford.com “detroit ford dealer”)
Now look at the “About …. results” again. If you do not show any results that means your site will not come up when someone searches that particular phrase.

This also means you need to do some SEO ASAP.  To start with, you will need to edit your site to include that phrase, preferably in the title and/or description tags.

7. Once you have added the keyword to your site it might take a few days for Google to reflect the change in the search results, but you should see your site showing up when you repeat step 6.

8. Now enter the following into the Google search bar: links:gornoford.com -”gornoford.com” and you should see sites which have linked to your URL. (This should work ok, but Google doesn’t usually show every single link so your results may vary.  A good tool for this is mentioned in step 9 below.)

If you have access to edit any of these pages, then try to add your keyword phrase once in the text. The best would be to make the anchor text link pointing to your site the keyword, but that may or may not be an option available to you, just depends on the site.

9. If you haven’t already done so, setup Google Webmaster Tools here: http://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/

This will help give you insight into a lot of information on how your site is performing, and it can be integrated with your Google Analytics as well.

10. Work on getting your site on page #1 of Google by creating high quality content on your site’s most important pages, such as your home page, about us page, staff page, service, parts, etc.

Take a look at your pages from a visitor’s perspective and ask if you think that someone is getting the information that they are looking for or if you are linking to another page that might give more specific information that would be helpful.

By doing these 10 steps your site will have a good basic SEO foundation and the ability to drive more organic search traffic to your site. The value in doing this is free traffic for search terms your competitors are likely paying anywhere from $2 to $8 per click.

Invest that into creating better content, and a better experience for your customers and you’ll be happy with the results.

Steve Jobs was a remarkable leader and visionary, and perhaps the most passionate entrepreneur the world has ever known.

The concepts he visualized and perfected led us to a place of limitless inspiration.

“To turn really interesting ideas and fledgling technologies into a company that can continue to innovate for years, requires a lot of discipline.” – Steve Jobs

Then as we hold one of his creations and appreciate the infinite detail it becomes part of us.

We attach sincere appreciation to the extent in which he treated each and every user of his products.

Steve Jobs made us proud, from the US based telephone support to the boxes that were made of a soft, satin finish no one in their right mind would ever discard.

“That’s been one of my mantras – focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.” – Steve Jobs

And that’s how we felt just looking at his stuff. The moment we touch a power button our entire user experience is beyond intuitive.

This passion was inherited by thousands of developers who created their own experiences based on the foundations of his vision.

I can give countless examples of how he created a special bond between people and technology in the way he merged industries and simplified our lives.

He challenged us to “Think Different” and inspired the creative side in us so we could create our life’s work and allow others to do the same.

RIP Steve – It was amazing to witness your vision become reality.

“He seems to embody the very essence of the best of Apple people: a quiet, thoughtful but intense passion to do the very best,” said Mike Martucci, a former Apple marketing director. “This manner, this vision and this level of passion is what drove Apple to the top before and, I believe, is driving it again.”

I don’t think people buy Ford vehicles today because of what Henry Ford stood for, or what he contributed in his lifetime but I still think it would be amazing to read about what he went through to start his company.

We usually hear from people after they’ve become successful, but what about the early stages of the company. How did they get through a particular phase? What did they do when times weren’t so good?

Businesses don’t survive unless someone sees to it that they do. And the point I’m trying to make is that we ought to know a little about this person (ie. the business) before we contribute money towards it or we could be perpetuating the existence of it.

Can You Humanize A Brand

Larry Bruce left a comment on a post I wrote about branding businesses with a blog:

You can’t humanize something that isn’t human. It’s not the company that a blog can humanize, it is it’s people.

Larry Bruce @pcmguy

I agree that people are what create companies, and operate them, but I think collectively there is something (ie. the brand) that represents their combined efforts.

Take BP. I don’t blame the poor guy working at the BP gas station for the spill, nor do I congratulate him on another profitable quarter. I don’t give him a heads-up that the corporate office is doing it wrong.

They basically destroyed underwater life to the extent we’ll probably never really know.

So with that example, I’d wholeheartedly agree that BP is never going to be able to repair their brand, but I certainly wouldn’t say that each and every employee deserves to be punished for the crimes against humanity that they committed.

Can Companies Be Evil

You’ve probably heard that Google’s mantra is “Don’t Be Evil” – which to a degree requires the company to make moral judgements on behalf of their users privacy.

What happens if all of a sudden Google appoints a new CEO and that person say’s to hell with that, I’m going to due my job, which is to return the highest possible ROI to my stockholders – so evil it is.

That certainly could ruin Google’s reputation, possibly even the future of the company.

I have met some people like that too, they’d rip off their own mother to make a buck. And that’s the point, you can’t be like BP and be in social media, or have a blog, or build relationships with anything other than your own kind.

How about Goldman Sachs:

During 2008 Goldman Sachs received criticism for an apparent revolving door relationship, in which its employees and consultants have moved in and out of high level U.S. Government positions, creating the potential for conflicts of interest.

Were these people corrupt before they came to Goldman or after they left? And would it be the person or the company that should be blamed?

Leaving The World In A Better Place

Henry Ford was a proponent of a higher quality of life for his employees.

He believed in paying people the highest wages possible, which led to money flowing through the system.

What we have today is large corporations, the kind that leave nothing but a trail of pollution, corruption and genocide as they go.

What we need are companies that do good, contribute and help, invest in people and communities, and leave a legacy behind them that the likes of someone like Henry Ford would be impressed to the point of writing a post on his blog.

That’s my point, and although you can’t biologically transform companies into humans, you can certain make them accountable to the ones who created them and draw your own conclusions to whether or not you want to give them your business.

Building Your Brand – With a Blog

Do you understand what a blog is? Forget the word blog, just think of it as a room full of trophies. You know, someone comes over and in the study are your kids trophies from all the events they took first place in. Or perhaps you bowl, and the china cabinet has been utilized as a trophy display highlighting your most accomplished feats.

A blog is like that, only you get more. It’s like having the ability to tell a story about how you get each one of those trophy’s, who you were up against, what you did to win, how you practiced and what you did and didn’t do right.

Each story gives the person a deeper understanding of you, and your priorities. And if you share a lot of the same goals, then it’s much more likely that you’ll have a better experience being in the company of said person.

Companies Are Being Humanized

This is why blogging is so powerful. It gives the reader a better understanding of who you are, where you’re from, what you do and why you do it.

People seek relationships with others who share similar interests. Would you rather sit in a room with people and stare at the walls, or would you rather talk about what you do, and listen to what they do and have it actually be a productive use of your time?

I would.

So that’s the essence of having a blog. To put out the stuff about yourself, your business, and what you’re all about – and in turn, you’ll see the people who share the same interests start to read and engage with you on your blog.

Let Your Customers Tell You What They Want

The end of the rainbow. The place all businesses long to reach. It’s when your business has built a product or service in which the use of it results in wanting more.

Instead of spinning your wheels, you’re pre-selling your inventory. Your making money and you’re creating things people want and need.

Wouldn’t you want to have a place where they can give you that kind of feedback, and have it stay there as others stumble across it and become customers as well.

That’s the ROI of blogging.

So pick up the phone and let’s get yours going – toll free: 1 – (877) 222-1275

What’s A Good Car Dealer Strategy for Social Media

If anyone here can predict the future please raise your hand. That’s about what it would take to know without hesitation that the strategy you have developed is going to be successful.

The good news is you don’t have to be a fortune teller.

You just have to be yourself, and allow others to be comfortable being themselves, and that’s the basic foundation of building a good social media strategy.

Don’t Be Fooled Into How Easy It Is

Don’t assume you can follow what others have done, and get the same results. There’s just too many variables, so many changes, fads, and they’re usually nothing more than distractions.

In fact, I’ve come to realize that anything labeled “Free” now to me is translated into “Warning” – this product, though they say is free, comes at a very high price – time.

So, you say blogs are free, and you would be correct. However, if you take on this “free” product, and assume there’s no hidden costs with maintaining, designing, and publishing – well, you’ll be in for a surprise.

Exposing Your Strategy And Sharing

Marketing today is about communicating unique value by sharing information and knowledge.

You’d never know good marketing until after you bought the product and thought to yourself, damn…. that was clever.

It’s in the reviews, the pictures, the detailed descriptions, the helpful support via Twitter, the active Facebook page, the news on your blog, the quick reply back, your handling of a situation, an email response, an intuitive website, the access to information, the reaction to an urgent issue, and so on.

You can’t express that in a two-page weekend newspaper spread, but you can if you have a blog that collects all these examples and presents them to your prospective buyers.

This is the million dollar question. It’s really not that hard though, it just seems that way until you get into the flow.

Here’s some things I do, please share your tips as well in the comments I really appreciate it.

• Make a list of titles for about 5 upcoming posts. This is a good way to prepare yourself for to write about.
• Get some images, and be sure to resize them properly to fit the width of the post.
• Set up your mobile phone with an application that will post to your blog.
• Download a dictation application, I usually use Dragon Dictate.
• Schedule your posts in advance.
• Ask questions in your posts so your audience can answer them.
• Expand on an interesting blog post from a related blog.
• Take pictures of your business location, interior and exterior and post them with captions.

What is a blog, after all, the word itself sounds undesirable and if I could I’d rename it to something that sounds more appealing.

But instead of dwelling on what I can’t control, let’s talk about why this is a good source of referrals.

I’ll be the first to admit, I had no idea that blogging would be such a powerful tool. It became my most valuable weapon almost instantly.

You see, everybody is in need of content, its the fuel that powers the web.

The beauty with blogging is that whatever you write about, that becomes the very thing that attracts people into your conversation.

Notice I said conversation and not dealership.

Up until now, your efforts have been to get people into your dealership. Using ad agencies, marketing tactics, special offers, let’s not forget the biggest one referrals.

Let’s go a bit into detail on referrals. What makes referrals so powerful is that they are people who you sold to that had a good experience, and since they trust you more than they trust some random advertisement, you will likely get the sale.

But it’s in our nature to be curious. We read reviews on products to see what other people think. We compare products so we end up with the best one at the best price.

These shared experiences allow us to make more informed decisions, saving us time, and a lot of hassle.

A blog gives you a place to house all of this priceless content.

If you like attracting your ideal customers, the ones who are seeking information about cars you have.

Your blog is the most efficient and cost effective way to reach them and have them walking into your showroom ready to buy.

Give them an experience they can’t help but share with their friends, and family and you will see why your blog is the only way to make a powerful first impression from now on.