BMW hits a homerun with the Miracle League of Manasota

The Miracle League of Manasota is an organization dedicated to providing an opportunity for all children to play baseball, regardless of their ability. For the 14,000 school-aged children with disabilities in Sarasota and Manatee counties, the Miracle League of Manasota is providing many children the thrills of baseball regardless of their ability to play. The Miracle League of Manasota played their first game this past March at the newly built Orioles-Pirates Field at Longwood Park. Instrumental in support for this venture was BMW of Sarasota, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Baltimore Orioles and Sarasota County.

BMW of Sarasota’s Victor Young, Ed Seymour, De’Vone Brownlee, Charles Wilson,
Brian Doonan and Matthew Mesquita have all been personally involved in the
effort. On March 3rd the Miracle League celebrated their first local
practice and assigned to BMW of Sarasota was a special young man named Joey Barr
(pictured). Joey is an awesome baseball player and one of only 2 children that
didn’t need a tee to hit a ball. Joey is 10 years old and has been battling
Leukemia since the age of 2; he just recently finished his treatments. Prior to
completion he wasn’t able to be in sunlight or enjoy outdoor activities, so his
father built a room in the house where he could play baseball. When asked
whether he would prefer to be a Pirate or an Oriole, Joey said “I want to be a
pirate because then I’ll have (the) strength to fight my cancer.”

Great job Victor Young and TEAM BMW for investing in such a worthy cause in
the communities of Manatee and Sarasota Counties!

BMW of Sarasota

BMW Of Sarasota's Facebook Page

How to Win "Friends" and Influence ... Your customers...

Honda of Ocala, BMW of Sarasota, Ford of Port Richey and Toyota of Tampa Bay Foster Relationships with Well Attended New Car Clinics/Customer Appreciation Events

In the retail car business we all want a high percentage of customer retention. We aim to wow customers at the time of purchase, administer free or included maintenance, make their first service appointment and then we sit back and track our figures. Is it enough? Never! A good job for most manufacturers is probably around 40% for the typical used and new car customer retained. A rock star job is somewhere over 60%. We can’t just count on “good” service to keep folks coming back. What our customers want is a relationship. They want a comfort level with our people. They need to believe our pricing is fair and that there is a benefit to driving past 32 franchised and independent service centers to climb back into our service drives. Are we giving them that message?

A recent study in March’s “Digital Dealer,” found that only “10% of the annual service spend of a dealer’s customers migrates to independents but dealers are bleeding nearly three times more business to aftermarket chains.” What does that mean? It means that the Jiffy Lubes and Tires Plus’s of the world are eating our lunch. There is a reason when the independents and franchised service centers send a car our way when they can’t complete a repair. We have the best trained employees around! Do we remind our guests? The same study also found that Dealers’ “loyal customers actually spend less on service annually then the loyal customer of the aftermarket segment.” We need to break that mindset that the aftermarket customer is simply a series of inexpensive oil changes and nothing more! It’s just not the case.

A great way to bring customers back into the fold or keep them as our guests is Customer Appreciation Events and New Car Clinics. When I was the GM of Wade Raulerson Buick GMC our customer appreciation nights were more than just snacks and handshakes they were Community Events. They were sales, exhibitions, floor morale boosters, new product launches and the ideal opportunity to return to the RELATIONSHIP BUSINESS. Recently BMW of Sarasota, Ford of Port Richey and Toyota of Tampa Bay all held well attended New Car Clinics/Customer Appreciation Events.

Here are some pointers I have gathered from our GM’s and my general experience:
1) How to get the word out:
a. Direct Mail – Not free but a great avenue to reach guests
b. Direct E-mail Campaigns – Free and a Great Way to Reach Recent Sales Customers
c. Social Media – If you have invested in building a database --- Facebook and Twitter are free and easy ways to remind your guests what you are doing.
d. Showroom and Waiting Room Point of Sale / Post notices in the restroom! That’s right folks! Your bathrooms! The logical progression of indoor advertising is quality and flexible point of sale advertising for your restrooms. Hooters posts today’s sports page – why aren’t we posting valuable messages for our guests!
e. Display Reminders in F&I – especially new car clinic dates

2) Have them make a VIP appointment. Use e-vite or your CRM tool to track who is attending and manage reminders.

3) Give them an incentive to come in!
a. Food – cater the spread to your locality and customer; don’t skimp – everyone loves to eat and they will remember a quality meal.
b. Remember it doesn’t have to be a free gift or a “bribe” to get them in --- people are looking for information too. Empower your customers with information about basic maintenance or the latest technology that exists in their vehicles. They took in a lot of information during delivery. Truth is the average customer probably knows less than 60% of their vehicles full potential.
c. Tell them of your store’s business plan and relay factory progress as well
d. Have a raffle for employees and guests. Make it fun. Get some sports tickets from the folks you advertise with. One year at Raulerson a guest one some prized SEC Championship tickets. We called the ticket number out three times and they were nowhere to be found. Larry found them in F&I finalizing their final paperwork.

4) Have your entire staff attend and accessible to customers

5) Now Show Your Customers What Sets You A Part – Reinforce That Added Value
a. When guests arrive please make them feel welcome. Have a VIP check in and have someone show them around your facility. Explain the perks of your facility. We think they know --- but we only do so because we are in that facility everyday!
b. CFNA Table and Sign Up
i. Have one of your advisors man a CFNA table. Give them a coupon or bonus for sign up.
Go over the program and its benefits. Spiff your writer.
c. Do you have a customer loyalty card, program, or free oil change program? Let people know about it. Have a sign up table.
d. Do you have a dare to compare board display to reinforce your competitiveness on the customer pay side? If so…display it!
e. Build Your Social Media Audience: Take pictures of guests with new product and their family and ask if you can “Tag” them into their Facebook profiles. Setup a staging area like a Hollywood red carpet. When you are e-mailing them their picture or tagging them on facebook ask them if they would login and like your page. A five minute investment and now you have the ability to market to your customers’ everyday --- for free! Kudos to our stores who are putting on these clinics and appreciation events with some consistency! Remember each month to spend time investing in the Relationship Business. It’s at the core of what we do.

Former FSU Head Football Coach Returns to the Swamp

“Isn’t it funny…me being here?” a voice rang out in a familiar Alabama drawl. The voice was that of former Florida State Head Football Coach Bobby Bowden who had returned to Gainesville not for football but for the annual North Florida Fellowship of Christian Athletes Banquet. Throughout his talk Coach Bowden stressed the importance of such organizations in the lives of young people. Members of Morgan Auto Group and Wade Raulerson Buick GMC attended to be recognized for their recent contribution to the organization. Coach Bowden remarked that when he was growing up you might find 10 young men in a room and 1 without a father. “Now,” he said (in some places) “that might be reversed.” Coach Bowden highlighted the leadership roles that coaches fill in the community but also in students lives. He also touched on his two national championships and success as a football coach but remarked you can’t take it with you. “I get letters from my former players all the time, and you know what? They never are about football (and the team’s accomplishments).” He said the content of communication with past players was mostly about the impact that he had had in their lives and about their families. He remarked that one day his national championship trophies would “turn to dust.”

Over 500 people were in attendance at the Swamp’s “Touchdown Terrace” which included personal recognition of former dealer owner Wade Raulerson and his wife Paula and several long time Wade Raulerson Buick GMC customers. The grass roots efforts of the local FCA extends far into the University of Florida as well as area high schools. The evening included hearing from UF and local high school students on the impact of FCA. One of the most profound talks came from Brian Allen current head coach of Columbia High School in Lake City. Brian was a former player of Coach Bowden’s and remarked that he was swayed by some of the temptations that exist for college athletes. “BUT Coach Bowden was always leading us off the field too, to become better men not just great football players.” He remarked that now as a coach of his own team he was able to “pay forward,” the impact made by Coach Bowden.

To learn more about the North Florida FCA: http://www.northfloridafca.org/

Up Close and Personal with Ford's Scott Monty

Many months ago I was in Dearborn, Michigan for a mandatory new dealers meeting with our business partner David Council. Since purchasing a Ford store (Ford of Port Richey) attendance was noted as mandatory so we made the trip expecting a standard fair of "baptism" into the Ford factory culture.

What we didn't expect was intimate meet and greets with Ford's key personnel including CEO Alan Mulally and Chairman Bill Ford Jr. In all my years in the business I had never been given such access to key people and for a meeting frankly that involved such a small segment of the dealer body. There were literally several dealers in our group that ran small, single point Ford dealerships with monthly sales in the teens. "This is how you change the way someone thinks about you," I remember thinking.

Even that week I remember texting a few friends something to the effect of "SNAP! I just met Alan Mulally the guy who's turned Ford around." Most of my friends were hopefully left impressed but one replied, "Is Scott Monty there?" I paused and opened Google on my cell phone.



"Scott Monty is the Director of Social Media and Global Multimedia Communications for Ford Motor Company." So I read up on Scott. I read how he once lead an effort to give pre-launch Ford Fiesta's to 150 influential bloggers across the interweb creating quite a buzz, he is the Oxford dictionary founder of the word "tweetup," and he also replicated the digital success of a super bowl commercial with a very well executed campaign for the revamped Ford Explorer at a set time to NOT coincide with the North American Auto Show.

I have to meet this guy. So this past Monday while I was checking my e-mails I was amazed to see that Mr. Monty was actually speaking Tuesday AM in front of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce as a part of their young profession "Emerge Tampa" program.

Yeah it was nice chatting with Scott and his talk did solidify my impression of him as a high performing piston in the new Ford Motor Company engine. However I wasn't there to rub elbows or talk about his collegiate background in classics. I was there to find what I could take away from his presentation.

I want to share those insights from Scott Monty's Social Media presentation now:

-There is an erosion of trust between average everyday people and LARGE BUSINESSES. People respond and respect the opinions of peers, or people like them.

-In today’s world people are bombarded with marketing messages. Putting a “human face” to your social media can be a positive way to cut through the clutter.

-Embrace some Woody Allen Philosophy and just be BE THERE: “90% of life is showing up!"

-Don’t be scared of multiple social pages to reach different customer segments

-Have engaging content, VISUAL CONTENT

-Speak like your audience to relate better

-Let people SPEAK OUT, Interact and don’t be afraid to JOIN THE CONVERSATION

-Use your social to PUSH people back into existing mediums LIKE YOUR WEBSITE

-Use social to raise awareness about things your WEBSITE ALREADY DOES

-Identify Peer GROUPS or INFLUENCERS who MAKE A LARGE IMPACT already in Social Media in YOUR SPECIFIC LOCATION; Create relationships!

Ok so nothing groundbreaking but Ford has become a SOCIAL MEDIA leader by living by these basic principles. Don't think it's helping? Let's see where "the new" Ford's sales are in four years.

TrueCar: Out to destroy our retail business model or a sales tool you should consider?

If True Car was a republican political candidate Herman Cain would still be in the race for the Republican nomination. Cain’s troubles would have been overshadowed as attention shifted to this revolutionary polarizing candidate “True Car.” But TrueCar is not a political candidate. TrueCar is a consumer website that offers a “low retail price” to car shoppers.

In general this isn’t a revolutionary idea at all. Sites like Edmunds.com, CarsDirect.com, and ConsumerReports.com have been around for years providing consumers with information about fair prices to pay for cars. Consumers for long periods of time have been able to replicate invoice pricing on any new car as they prepared for their trip to the dealer. So why the buzz about TrueCar? Well it’s in their execution. TrueCar in many ways is Edmunds.com on steroids. TrueCar’s sell isn’t just that they can tell you a fair price to pay; it’s that they have done the leg work for you and the dealer has already AGREED to sell it at that price. Scary? Maybe…but genius in execution. Oh yeah and that price is based on REAL DATA based on what other customers have actually paid. At least that’s True Car’s story.

Before our venture into the car business I knew my Father to be a Lexus guy having leased 3 in a row from the same salesperson at Lexus of Tampa Bay. When asked why (they had his business) my Dad would always mention “exemplary and professional customer service.” I remember asking him once if anything ever bothered him about the experience. “I always wondered just how much they were making off of me.” I have to think that’s a concern felt by SOME of our consumers. That’s who TrueCar is talking to.

I’m not excited about the price per deal ($300 dollars) or giving a third party access to our DMS. BUT having said that True Car has loaded their guns with 200 million in advertising dollars and despite some compliance challenges doesn’t look to be going away anytime soon. Some of our stores will not want to be left behind … especially volume driven stores with factory unit bonuses. I have enjoyed Honda’s stiff stance citing involvement with true car as a violation of Honda’s ad covenant. Honda has been proactive to a degree that is consistent with their personality and market position. Other car companies aren’t looking like they wish to make the decision on True Car for you. So what’s your take on True Car?

Consumer Reports gets it right...most of the time...

Ok so I couldn't help myself. First of all let me preface all of my remarks: as a car dealer who makes every attempt to be ethical I love the information age. I am not scared that most of our customers are more educated than myself on a specific model when they step into the showroom. I am excited. Cause if it's the right information and they are willing to let me make nothing more than a fair profit - than the transaction is going to be smooth and we have reduced the number of times someone would ever feel (dare I say it) "buyer's remourse."

BUT sometimes I read something from a consumer advocate service and it drives me nuts. It usually is something that means well but falls short of painting the full picture. So this time out I actually have written Consumer's Reports about some things stated in thier new 2011 New Car Preview.

I thought I would include the letter for all who follow this blog.

August 14, 2010

ATTN: Rik Paul, Editor “Consumer Reports”

Mr. Paul,

I simply wouldn’t feel like I was doing anyone any justice if I didn’t address your latest Consumer Reports Preview Guide. As a hard working, hands on, dealer principal in the car business I have found over the years that many of consumer reports teachings actually work adversely to the very same people you propose to help.

One simple example is found in this latest issue, “Don’t visit during special sales events solicited by direct mail. Those are often run by contracted specialists trained in techniques that increase the dealer’s profit.” You spend countless pages battering the word profit as if all other businesses in the world are non-profit. Being an industry insider like yourself you show no sympathy for the countless dealer closings and/or difficulties that have beset our economy and industry. It’s the information age Rik, “fair profit,” is more less the word of my generation along with being a responsible and ethical business man and dealer.

Now I will finally arrive at my point. Earlier on the same page you speak on “hard-to-track” dealer incentives. Being that I currently reside (and I might as well sleep here) in a General Motors store I do not deny that we don’t often receive incentives quarterly based on units and excellence in CSI (customer satisfaction). While it costs money to participate in this opportunity of earning these incentives (which we don't always reach) they are more often than not “passed on to the customer.” Oftentimes the best way I can communicate these “hidden” incentives directly to my previous customer base is through Direct mail.

I used to work in media. I understand that it is oftentimes a vacuum that needs to be filled. Why don’t you someday contract a current dealer to add a little true insight to your service? More often than not when the complete picture isn’t painted you do an injustice. In this case you’re hurting the very people who pay good money for your services.

Sincerely,


Brett A. Morgan
Wade Raulerson Buick GMC

The New Buick Lacrosse continues to garner praise....

The new Buick Lacrosse has lived up to every bit of the hype here at Wade Raulerson Buick GMC except for one thing...Sales! Buick's new revolution of cars has come to be in a time of economic downturn when many mature buyers have decided to stay on the sidelines. We are ok with this - for now...it has ensured that in Gainesville and Central Florida, clearly the 2010 Buick Lacrosse is the car market's best kept secret.

Just this week KBB (Kelley Blue Book) announced the Lacrosse #1 as far as the most comfortable vehicles under $30,000 dollars. Guess who finished #2? Again Buick with the Lucerne. Toyota is lucky it wasn't a Top Five List as the Camry and Avalon snuck in at #9 and #10 respectively.

I don't want to give our customers and my readers the wrong impression...we are selling some Buick product and the Buick Enclave product continues to do well. All I am saying is that we are sitting on a bonified hit and that the masses just don't quite understand this yet. I feel like I am managing the Beatles right before they signed to Capitol Records!

Then Autoweek this week caught my eye. They paired the new Buick Lacrosse CXS with the Audi S4, BMW M3, Cadillac CTS-V, Hyundai Sante Fe SE, Ford Fusion Sport, Chevy Malibu LTZ and VW CC Sport. And guess what they said?




"The car that surprised me most was the Buick LaCrosse. It's good looking, quiet and has a beautiful, comfortable interior. I'm not saying it was the best car at camp from a performance standpoint, but it surprised me the most of any car there." - Wes Raynal "Autoweek" Editor

So Gainesville, Ocala, Lake City, High Springs...I ask you...how long can you stand on the sidelines?

Brett Morgan
Wade Raulerson Buick GMC
General Manager
bmorgan@waderaulerson.com