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This week as thousands of automotive professional head to Las Vegas for the 2012 NADA Convention, hundreds of vendor are preparing their booths to connect their products and services to interested buyers.

If you have never been to NADA, it can be overwhelming. Walking the exhibit hall can be exhausting.  If you can wear sneakers, bring them.

I wish  Segways were allowed to move me around the hall because vendors and dealers know the sore feet and backaches that are associated with being at a trade show for three days.

Finding The Magic Bullet at NADA

I’d like to make a suggestion to dealers who are heading to NADA to look for the next “magic bullet” to improve their sales and profits.  You may have a shopping list filled with booth numbers and VIP parties and those things are well and good.  However, the next magic bullet for your business and professional life may be something you didn’t think to add to the list.

To lead a world class life and business you need to invest in yourself first before adding more shiny objects or distractions. Regardless of your role in the dealership, true leadership requires the knowledge, passion, and energy to lead.  Do you have a limitless supply of these building blocks to success?

Your Top 2 Investments in 2012

Many of you know that I have a busy travel schedule. I would most likely be very sick today if two years ago I didn’t make the same two investments I am encouraging you to make.  The two investments are education and exercise.

Two years ago, I was inspired by Grant Cardone to read 70 books a year.  I took the challenge and have been rewarded 10X for the time I invest in reading. The knowledge, insights, and motivation I receive each week from reading is priceless.  Yet, as I meet with automotive professionals their commitment to reading is weak at best.

Need some books to start you on your way?  For industry professionals working for someone, read “Linchpin” by Seth Godin.  For business owners read “Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter” by Liz Weisman.

Reading helps to open our eyes to the experiences and opportunities that this world offers.  Being a business owner in today’s economic and social climate is not without its challenges.  Don’t go it alone.  Leverage the insights and experience of others and I guarantee you will be rewarded by your commitment to read on a regular basis.

Creating Unlimited Energy

The second investment I would like to challenge readers is in their diet and exercise.   I can’t say that the health of automotive professionals are any worse than any other industry. Regardless,  why compare ourselves to anything less than a lifestyle that generates the energy, clarity of mind, and passion.

The commitment to “move” each day in a form exercise that works best with your schedule and physique is the best investment you can make for your career.  Healthy people are the wealthiest people in the world.  With your health and vitality your opportunities are endless.

Since we are in the people business,  consider the difference in your work if you radiated health and positive energy each day because you felt great!

So, enjoy the 2012 NADA Convention. I am sure that there will be many “things” that will help you at work but don’t forget that without an investment in yourself, your true value will be drained by your work.  Take time to re-fuel your mind, body, and spirit.   Leaders Lead….so start with yourself!

I visited a client at their dealership this past week. After my full day review which included time to meet and train their staff, I was asked by the Dealer Principal: “How Far Behind Are We?”.

This is actually a common question that I get asked when I visit new dealers or speak at 20 Group meetings.  There is no simple answer to this question and it may not even be a relevant discussion.

Running a car dealership is not a sprint but a marathon despite the 30 day time clock that employees are measured by.

With that in mind, with the proper “training” and “patience” any dealer can win this business marathon.

I have witnessed impressive turn-arounds in 3-6 months because the dealer principal was behind the decision to change, adapt, and dominate their market once again. Old dogs can learn new tricks despite the familiar adage.

The Internet is a great equalizer. A single point store can actually have a more efficient advertising and marketing strategy if the right processes are created. Success starts at the top, so the dealer principal and General Manager’s “buy in” are key to leading their market in a ZMOT world.

SELECTING THE RIGHT COACH

Each dealership has their unique challenges and selecting the right coach will make all the difference in the world. It is ironic that for as big as the automotive retail industry is that there are not enough qualified trainers to assist dealers with the ever changing demands of the marketplace.

For some dealers, they have the right structure and processes in place but their marketing and advertising strategy is not aligned with today’s online shopping patterns. This is a much easier resolution to get a dealership back in the competitive race.

In other dealerships, the structure and processes are broken. In these cases, all monthly advertising and marketing investments are negatively impacted. This is more common than most dealers and 20 Group leaders would like to admit.

Solutions for these dealers can include hiring new personnel or creating in-store training programs. Progress can be made with realistic timelines, a clear commitment from the executive team, and a financial investment that reflects the urgency of the current needs.

But dealers only know what they know. Case in point, over 50% of car dealers have not properly claimed, optimized, and merchandized their Google Places listing. Google Places is the best free source of referral traffic and brand differentiation for car dealers yet few are leveraging it to influence consumers during the Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT).

GET A PROPER THIRD PARTY REVIEW

So, instead of worrying how far behind you are, it is best to get an honest third party assessment of your operations and marketing strategy. Dealers are comfortable with hiring third party companies to mystery shop their phone banks and Internet BDC processes. However, few dealers have had the courage to allow someone to audit their end to end business processes.

As PCG Digital Marketing increasingly is being hired for systemic audits for dealers, the opportunities that are uncovered are really breathtaking. Meaning, that new insights and strategies are discussed and implemented rather quickly to increase their bottom line numbers. Improvement can be seen in 30, 60, and 90 days. That is just the start.

One of the common outcomes that these audits produce are a new set of reports that allow dealers to monitor, measure, and benchmark their Internet investments and processes. That is the “holy grail” for dealer principals that can measure most all business units except for their digital investments.

So, before you start worrying how far you “may” be behind, I recommend that you make sure that you have your house in order and that you have the ability to accelerate past your competitors. get the structure, process, and strategy in place, then worry about being #1 in your market.

Brian Pasch, CEO
PCG Digital Marketing
Text PCGedu to 75674 get information on our upcoming conferences

Google just made a big change in how they will track organic visits to your website. If a consumer is logged into their Google Account and does a search in Google, and clicks on your link, you WILL NOT be told which keyword they used.

This has a major impact in keyword optimization and web content strategies. Google will still show referral website traffic but not the keywords used in search to arrive at your site.

Some blogs are estimating that only 10% of web surfers are logged in but I think the number has to be greater. There are 300 million gmail users and 550,000 Android phones are activated a day so this is a big issue.

Here is the official announcement from Google:

As search becomes an increasingly customized experience, particularly for signed in users, we believe that protecting these personalized search results is important. As part of that effort, today the Google Search team announced that SSL Search on https://www.google.com will become the default experience for signed in users on Google.com (see the Official Google Blog post to learn more).

Protecting user privacy is important to us, and we want to take this opportunity to explain what the Google Analytics team is doing to help you continue measuring your website effectively in light of these changes.

How will this change impact Google Analytics users?

When a signed in user visits your site from an organic Google search, all web analytics services, including Google Analytics, will continue to recognize the visit as Google “organic” search, but will no longer report the query terms that the user searched on to reach your site.

Keep in mind that the change will affect only a minority of your traffic. You will continue to see aggregate query data with no change, including visits from users who aren’t signed in and visits from Google “cpc”.

What is Google Analytics doing about it?

We are still measuring all SEO traffic. You will still be able to see your conversion rates, segmentations, and more.

To help you better identify the signed in user organic search visits, we created the token “(not provided)” within Organic Search Traffic Keyword reporting. You will continue to see referrals without any change; only the queries for signed in user visits will be affected. Note that “cpc” paid search data is not affected.

Our team continues to explore ways that we can surface relevant information, like search query data, to help you measure the effectiveness of your website and marketing efforts, and as always, we welcome any feedback or comments that you have.

Thank you for continuing to help us improve Google Analytics.

What do you have to say about this change? This is another example of why dealers need to keep connected with changes in Google because it seems like MANY things are changing on a regular basis.

I setup a text alert system when Google makes changes that will significantly impact your dealership. To signup, just text: PCGTIPS to 75674

Of course, this is also a reminder why you need to attend 2012 DMSC in February. You can save $300 if you register this month. Details are at: http://www.digitalmarketingstrategies.org

Brian Pasch, CEO
PCG Digital Marketing
Text PCGedu to 75674 get information on our upcoming conferences
Brian Pasch