Sep 1, 2020 | CRM, Desking, Digital Retail, Finance & Insurance, FRIKINtech, Lead Response
While many car dealers have settled into the “new normal” (a phrase that should certainly die a fiery hot death along with “unprecedented” and “uncertain times”, we get it, stuff is weird), there is an underlying concern that our...
Aug 15, 2020 | CRM, Desking, Lead Response
So, what’s your strategy for responding to leads from Autotrader, Cars.com and Cargurus? Do you use the same first response template for all of your lead types? Well, here’s the rub. You’re probably not the only dealer getting a swing at these...
Jul 22, 2020 | FRIKINtech
Rick Gibbs named chairman of the board at FRIKINtech, Inc., effective July 22nd, 2020. FRIKINtech is short for FRIKTIONLESS technologies and aimed at car dealers who want to automate transparency on their websites and in their CRMs.FRIKINtech is paramount to the...
Jul 6, 2020 | CRM, Marketing, Websites
In 2001, I was handed the reigns to my dealer group’s website. Back then, showing a list of cars like a spreadsheet was a big deal. Photos? Ha! Those were untenable due to cost. Third parties weren’t much of a thing, but neither was the online shopping experience. The...
Jun 15, 2020 | Desking, Digital Retail, Lead Response, Marketing, Websites
Every car deal involves numbers, the dollars and cents of the deal. When numbers are presented, customers react. This has been happening since the first car was sold. With current automotive digital retail tools, we lose the rudimentary act of gauging a...
May 28, 2020 | CRM, Digital Retail, Marketing, Websites
For Part Two (part one here), we must first acknowledge that car shoppers are irrational and emotional. More often than not, we make purchase decisions based on what looks good and feels cool instead of choosing vehicles with adequate comfort, decent gas mileage, and...
May 28, 2020 | Digital Retail, Marketing, Websites
In 2014 one of my Dealer.com coworkers had an idea to put a “Buy This Car” button on dealer websites and present payments to the customer after soliciting their trade and credit information. He believed dealers were the problem for...
May 12, 2020 | FRIKINtech
When the up-bus unloads, often at least one of the passengers is the customer’s third base coach. Well, it’s time to level the playing field. Introducing FRIKIN Dealer Third Base Coach, Chris Latta. Drawing from his extensive, decades-long success in...
Apr 7, 2020 | CRM, FRIKINtech, Lead Response, Marketing, Websites
As hard-hitting COVID-19 was on the world it did not cripple online car shoppers. As more manufacturers launched more compelling incentives and quarantining measures prevented showrooms full of ups, people went online. The above graph shows the engagement rate, by...
