Articles

When talking about websites, people oftentimes get completely caught up with look and feel. Don’t get me wrong, the look and feel of your site are important – but there’s a lot more to a site than simply how it looks.

So what makes look and feel take a backseat? 

First off, your site’s code. It’s not glamorous, most people never consider it, but to a large degree your site’s coding is a major player in determining whether or not anyone ever even sees your site at all. 

Bad site coding = bad search rankings = crickets.

If your site’s code isn’t optimized – and beginning this month optimized for mobile first - according to Google, you’re going to have a tougher time ranking in their search results. And don’t forget the push on having a security certificate on your site (https:) because a.) it’s a big ranking factor with Google now, and b.) browsers are now beginning to throw up flags to visitors warning that your site is not secure if you don’t have the certificate – scaring visitors away.

A poorly constructed site can continue to cost you in the long run as well. While Google advises that organic search results are not improved by how much you spend on AdWords, there is a very high level of predictability in how much (or little) you’ll spend on PPC advertising when looking at how you rank organically. Your organic ranking is based, among other factors, on how well your site is structured. A well-constructed site is easy for Google to crawl, and is less likely to have visitors bounce (immediately click the back button or leave the page). 

Search engines’ livelihoods depend on providing good, accurate, answers quickly. Sites that do this are rewarded first with good organic placement, and second, through less expensive Pay-per-Click costs. 

Google is pretty smart, they make it difficult to force your way into relevance using PPC if you have a bad site construction-wise, content-wise, or both, by making it more expensive to force your ad to the top. 

So the goal is to have a site that is well constructed from a coding perspective, because that is the first thing that search engines look for, and without solid site construction you won’t get seen in search results, and won’t get the traffic needed to be successful online.

As you know, Powersports Marketing now offers websites, and we’ve seen some pretty amazing results from dealers using our platform. The number of leads that dealers are getting are up from previous providers year-over-year, thanks to code written exactly how search engines want to see it, in addition to a ‘No Fluff’ approach to look and feel that creates leads.

In addition to the work we’ve been doing to create solid, well-organized, Google friendly code, we’ve been working on something else as well. Our in-house development team members have a release coming soon that will help rocket our client’s web sites to the top of organic search results – both for dealership searches and individual unit searches in a way not seen before. I can’t wait to share the results with you.

For now though, I recommend you give us a call and have one of our team show you the best new web platform in the business. We can show you how to increase your leads and sales right now.

Talk soon 

Brad

As you may have read in the last Ultra Marketing Machine Newsletter, Google recently released an update to their ‘Maps User Contributed Content Policy’ and it greatly impacted reviews. The biggest change has to do with what’s called Review Gating. 

To address this, Google’s guideline says, “Don’t discourage or prohibit negative reviews or selectively solicit positive reviews from customers.” This means a business can’t ask customers for feedback on their experience in a way that separates potential good reviews from bad, that’s Review Gating.  

A good example of this would be an email to customers having 2 links in it; one for ‘Excellent Experience’ that leads folks down a path to get an online review, and another link for a ‘Less Than Excellent Experience’ that leads to a private feedback page. 

Not abiding by this new guideline can lead to catastrophic consequences, like ALL of your Google reviews being deleted. Think that’s not possible? It is. In fact, several years ago Google came out with a new guideline that prohibited reviews being submitted by the same IP address. At the time, it was a big deal to be close to 100 Google reviews, and the dealers that had reached this level were asking for reviews by handing customers an iPad while they were in the dealership. Google didn’t want businesses putting pressure on customers by standing with them while they wrote the review. The end result was what we call a ‘Google Slap’… they removed ALL of their reviews. They’ll do it for this as well. 

This is one of the reasons we’ve invested a lot of time and resources into our Reviews and Rankings Mobile App. This app gives your front-line staff the ability to take a picture of their customer at the point of purchase and email it to them. It will also post the picture to Facebook automatically, and then send a review request the next day. We’re close to releasing an update to the Reviews and Rankings App that includes the ability to also send a review request via text message, which studies show increases review conversions. 

It’s no secret that nearly 100% of prospects & customers do research online before choosing a product or a dealership, but did you know reviews also help prospects choose a sales person? As your front-line staff utilizes the Reviews and Rankings App, it grows their personal reviews. If they sent the review request, they get credit for the dealership review. It doesn’t take long for folks to start coming in to the dealership asking for a staff member by name that they’ve never met before. In fact, research shows that 84% of people trust online reviews as much or more than they trust a referral from a friend. 

If increased reviews (that avoid the Google Slap) & and an easy system to put customer photos on Facebook aren’t enough value to give the Reviews and Rankings App a try, here are some other benefits:

-Increased gather rate of customer email addresses & mobile phone numbers 

-Improved customer loyalty & referrals

-Better customer engagement 

-Incredible future marketing

-And more…

Whether you’re already a client or not, you’re invited to join a webinar covering the details of our Reviews and Rankings App:

When: Tuesdays in July

Time: 3:30pm – 4:00pm Eastern

Link: join.me/psmtraining

Dial-in: 1-213-226-1066

Conference ID: 274-467-152

See you on the webinar,

- Tory

As the story goes, a mom was making a pot roast for family dinner with the help of her daughter. Before placing it in the oven she cut the ends off of each side of the roast. Her daughter asked why, and mom replied “because that’s how my mother taught me to do it. I think it may sear in the flavor, but I’m not sure.”  Curious the daughter called her grandmother and asked why she cut the ends off the roast. The grandmother said it was just how she was taught by her mother. So the daughter called her great grandmother at the nursing home to ask about the roast. The great grandmother explained that her oven was so small, she had to cut the ends off of the roast so it would fit into her tiny oven.

This story is commonly shared because of all of the habits we as human beings fall into without question, just because it’s how it was done before us.

This also happens all the time with business, and processes. Back in the late 90’s I was one of the first wave of dealers to sign up with Powersports Network for a website. Having previously experimented with a customer building our sites only to find out updating units was just too heavy of a lift, I knew that a ‘done for you’ specialty provider was the way to go. And I was right, PSN made a great product and were regularly listening to clients and adding new features and bells and whistles.

At some point way back then, I think we all began to think that the more navigation buttons we had the better the site. In time the sites became extremely busy even offering games and puzzles, weather widgets, and all kinds of other amusing links designed to entertain site visitors and therefore increase their duration.

Back then, many “experts” were teaching us that the goal of our sites was to keep visitors hanging around longer. Things evolved, and in time we all begin looking harder at how to drive more traffic to sites and generate more leads from that traffic. Many of these “newer” best practices challenged the traditional thinking of the more bells and whistles the better. What was really the goal of a dealer’s website supposed to be?

Here at PSM we sat back and watched as new site providers came in and took market share from Powersports Network who once owned our industry. We even became fans of some of the new providers and would recommend them to our clients. As a marketing company it was our job to figure out how to drive more quality traffic to sites and get that traffic to convert into leads. As time has passed, the new providers began adding more and more “bells and whistles” and we once again began challenging what many of the “experts” were saying was the purpose of a site.

This had a lot to do with our decision to enter the website business. We often have dealers tell us the purpose of their site is “to get our name out there”, “it’s our online store front”, “it’s the new yellow pages”, “to brand our dealership” etc.

None of those answers are necessarily bad, and most are a happy byproduct of a good site, but none are the exact answer we’re looking for. We have a very narrow focus and feel that the purpose of your website is: “To Generate Sales Opportunities aka Quality Leads.”  

That seems pretty straight forward right? You can’t sell a new or pre-owned bike online, so the next best thing is to have site visitors raise their hand and identify themselves as prospective buyers (aka a conversion). The more your site “converts” the more leads you generate, and the more leads you have, the more you should sell.

So why do some dealer sites in similar market areas with similar brands generate 30% to 50% more leads than their competitor? Let’s look at two popular search engines for some perspective.

Here is what Google looks like when you arrive:              And here is what Yahoo looks like:

Both are search engines, but Google owns about 86% of the *market share with Yahoo and Bing fighting for most of the balance. Google has a clear vision as to what the purpose of their site is. They want the visitor to “convert” by typing in a search keyword or phrase. They have had the discipline all these years to fight off the bright shiny objects that could be all over their home page. Do you think Google could generate some revenue by putting corporate advertising on their home page? You bectcha they could, but they remain laser focused on the purpose of their site. Here at PSM we’re really excited about our new Firestorm websites, and we’ve bought a bigger oven and are no longer cutting the ends off the roast.

We’d love to share our secret recipe with you, for more information contact us today at 877-242-4472 or shoot us a message at www.powersportsmarketing.com  

*Research conducted by Statistica

OBJECTIVE

Gainesville Motorsports has been a family owned and operated dealership in Northeast Georgia since 1974.  Their team of enthusiast and knowledgeable sales professionals know their way around motorcycles, ATVs, UTVs and Watercraft from all of the major OEMs. 

Like most service and retail business, they wanted to ensure they had a SYSTEM for converting their happy customers into positive reviews on their Google listing.  Most businesses recognize the necessity of having a solid and ongoing stream of good reviews on Google.  Those reviews translate into more business, but only if they are authentic, white-hat reviews that remain within the parameters of Google’s strict review policies.

SOLUTION

Through the Local Web Dominator program, Sales Manager, Anthony Carruth, signed his entire sales team up to use the Reviews & Rankings app included in the program.

The app allows the sales team to capture a picture of their customer on their new ride and immediately email it to the customer (directly from the sales professional that just sold them the unit).  

From that single mobile app photo, those customers are automatically featured on the Gainesville Motorsports Facebook page. And, they automatically get a review request email the following day directly from their sales person.

The sales team doesn’t have to remember to post to Facebook or ask for a review. The Reviews & Rankings app does it all, automatically, for them.

RESULTS

The sales team alone has used the Reviews & Rankings mobile app to send 64 customer pictures of new purchases in the past 30 days. From using the app, the sales team generated over 50% of the reviews for the entire dealership.  Additionally, 18 new reviews on Google in just 30 days.  That’s almost a 30% conversion rate for customers leaving reviews on Google after getting a request directly from their sales person.  Customers respond better to the person they just had a great experience with buying a fun new ‘toy’.  A request sent to the customer from the sales person increases the customer’s response to that review request.  

There is almost a 20% increase in conversions to Google reviews when the request comes from the sales person directly (instead of from the dealership in general).

And, since sales people have a tendency to be just a smidge competitive, the Reviews & Rankings app gives them the vehicle to not only grow reviews for the dealership, but also for themselves.  So, the team can see how they rank against each other on the Employee Reviews section of their review site: www.gainesvillemotorsportsreviews.com/reviews/employeereviews.aspx     

Does your review acquisition system incorporate marketing automation, and a systematic way to grow reviews on Google, while increasing engagement from your sales team?  If having your sales team ask for reviews is like pushing a rope uphill, let us show you a better way that is fun and easy for everyone.  Give us a call at 877-242-4472 to schedule a FREE DEMO of the Reviews & Rankings mobile app to see how this feature could make a huge impact for your dealership.

 Dealership: 

I normally don’t feature the same dealership twice in one year (February 2018), but I had to circle up with the guys in Ames, IA, just 30 minutes North of my office in Des Moines, to check-in on the progress they’ve been able to make so far this year with the Sharp Shooter Program.

Solution: 

Why? Because they’ve executed five Sharp Shooters so far this year. The biggest difference in our clients ‘getting a shot in the arm’ and absolutely blowing up their business, is marketing with the Sharp Shooter Program consistently. Consistency is king. Whether you’re talking about working out or marketing your dealership, consistency is the key to your success. 

According to a recent study in the Powersports Industry, it takes up to 28 touches to gain a new customer. A touch can be a mail piece, a phone call, visit to the dealership, email, social media update, etc. What this means is, if you’re serious about increasing customer retention or carving off new market share, you have to be consistent. You have to be dedicated. You can’t send one mail piece to a group of customers who’ve never done business with you before, one time, and expect they all come running into the dealership waiving the mail piece begging to buy something.

If you’ve ever worked with us or read this article before, you know the Sharp Shooter program starts by targeting people who ride what you sell and live in your backyard. This is made up to two groups of people: 1) Past Customers - active & inactive and 2) Conquest Prospects - folks who ride but haven’t bought from you. 

Once we identify the 3% of riders in any given market, we give them up to 12 direct opportunities to respond to the marketing. Every customer has a preferred method of contact and by utilizing as many as possible, we drastically increase response rates.

Our message focuses on, ‘what’s in it for the customer.’ I know for a lot of dealers, this is a difficult thing to wrap their heads around because as a dealer, you obviously want to sell units, service, parts & apparel. But ask yourself, “Do customer care about what you want?” The answer is, “No.” They care about themselves. We’ve proven through literally thousands of campaigns with over 1,000 dealerships nationwide, that focusing the message on what the customer wants (food, drinks, door prizes, demo rides, etc.), you’ll get much more of what you want (bike sales, service sales, parts sales, accessory sales, apparel sales, traffic and tons more leads)!

Plus, and this is a big plus, customers are so overwhelmed by marketing messages asking them to come buy something, they automatically tune them out. If you consistently ask them to buy something from you, they will tune you out! If you ask them into the dealership once per month for a party, not only will they never get tired of you asking, but they will increase the amount of times they visit the dealership and how much they spend with you.

Results:

Jon and his crew at Zylstra Harley-Davidson have totally bought into this strategy and it’s paying off, big time. They’ve done five Sharp Shooter events in 2018 so far (which took some serious faith with this year’s unbelievably bad weather), and the results they are getting continue to grow! Check this out:

January 20th Campaign – New Management, New Attitude Party: Over $10,000 in counter sales and 2 bike sales. 573 Leads.

February 10th Campaign – BRRRRRunch Party: Over $5,000 in counter sales in a snow storm. 262 Leads.

March 10th Campaign – Cabin Fever Reliever: $12,777 in counter sales (excluding service) with an estimated 400+ people in attendance! 339 Leads.

April 7th Campaign – 115 Years of Freedom: Over $15,000 in counter sales. 369 Leads.

April 28th Campaign – Hog Roast: $21,067 in counter sales! They also took 14 credit applications and have rolled at least 3 bikes from the event. 277 Leads.

When we asked him about his customers’ response to the events, Jon said, “Our customers are loving our events. I can really see this by the attendance, but also by the response to our call blasts. The first two parties (Sharp Shooter Events) our customers were surprised by the call blast. Not in a bad way. For the third party (Sharp Shooter Event) they were calling back letting us know if they were coming or not and asking what the games would be, etc. Great response for sure!”

The consistency of having monthly events not only has tremendous benefits for customers and the bottom line, but the staff too. “When I took over this store in January, our staff and customers were beat and tattered from the previous management. These events are huge wins for our staff. [It’s great]…to see marketing that is quantifiable. Success breeds success and these events definitely help that mid-month momentum slow down. I really have to give it up to them (the staff) more than anything. They are what makes these events successful.”

Jon’s looking forward to his ‘First Responders Appreciation Event’ coming up right around the corner! 

What’s Next:

June means Father’s Day, the unofficial biggest holiday in the Powersports Industry! This is one of the most popular events all year because of the ridiculous results our clients see. If you’re not feeling Father’s Day, anything Summer is a proven winner. After a harsh winter, don’t hope the weather provides you with what you need in June; drive sales through your doors with the Sharp Shooter Program. Then plan out the rest of the year so you can increase the number of customers spending money with you in 2018 and how much they spend! You have a narrow window of time to achieve your goals this year. Don’t wait! Check out the website (www.powersportsmarketing.com/sample-campaigns) for some killer campaign options and for more information on how the Sharp Shooter Program can help you have your best year yet, call me on my direct line 877-242-4472 ext: 112. Happy selling.

In his article this month, Rod talks about the changes Google has made with regards to how you can ask for reviews, and with those changes comes the possibility of receiving a few more negative reviews.

Of course everyone only wants to get positive reviews. As a Dealer Principal, anything negative can really feel like a gut punch, bringing with it all kinds of anger and the desire to go on the offense. After all, how dare someone call your baby ugly, right?

Now, we all know that about 5% of the customers who walk through your doors are just plain bat-crap crazy. It’s simply the law of averages, and there’s not really a lot you’re going to be able to do about that. Life simply isn’t perfect.

Occasionally, those idiots are going to find their way to a keyboard, and test your patience along with your customer service skills. It just is what it is.

There are also, unfortunately, those times where a customer has a legitimate beef with your dealership, and you’re going to have to do the right thing to restore the relationship. Your baby isn’t ugly, but at certain angles, and in a certain light, he might look a little like Winston Churchill. Into every life a little rain must fall…

There are a small number of dealers whose baby is truly a beast. Like, face caught on fire and somebody put it out with a shovel, kind of ugly. I’ve seen your reviews and you have bigger fish to fry. This article may help down the road…

Right now I’m talking to the majority of dealers who read this newsletter, who are astute, and take the reviews game seriously. You’re the folks who push hard for that perfect 5-star average, because you know it means that people will know, like, and trust you – and that equals sales.

Here’s an interesting fact for you: a perfect 5-star rating isn’t the most desirable rating. Why? Northwestern University conducted a study that showed that consumers are most likely to purchase when a product/business has a 4.2-4.5 star rating. 5-star ratings were considered “too good to be true,” while 4.2-4.5 were considered to be transparent and balanced. Potential customers don’t expect your baby to be perfect. That’s good news.

A Power Reviews study showed that 82% of people seek out negative reviews in an effort to get all the information they can before deciding where to buy. 60% read negative reviews first. If there aren’t any, that’s a problem. When they do find some, if they’re mostly that crazy 5% group, that’s okay. The crazies self-identify pretty well, and get dismissed by those with any sense – and hopefully act as a deterrent to other crazies. If there are a few other legitimate low score reviews with good responses, that shows potential customers that while you may not be perfect, you care and will take care of the few problems that may arise.

Another interesting thing that came out of a Centennial Shopper survey was that 44% of respondents wouldn’t trust a product/business without negative reviews.

I’ll give you a real life scenario to kind of bring this all together. I found it interesting that my experience played out the same way as the study results did.

I’m a Corvette fanatic. Don’t judge me, at least it’s not Mustangs…

I bought my dream car last year (2006 Z06), and couldn’t have been happier or more excited. It’s a monster.

I needed to have some work done on it, (because, MORE HORSEPOWER) and as you may have guessed, I was VERY particular about where my baby was going to get it done.

I researched all the specialty Corvette shops in the Atlanta area, and found that there were three within 90 minutes of me. The first thing I did was check their reviews – negative first. 

One got ruled out immediately, because their reviews gave an overwhelming feeling of a rookie shop ran by idiots. 

The second one had better reviews – even the bad ones were better than the first shop. I did get the feeling with a couple of the responses that while they were trying to make things right… well… could’ve done a little better. Didn’t rule them out yet though.

The third shop had a lot of reviews, including some that weren’t immediately flattering. The good thing though, was that the bad reviews were pretty clearly very limited to the crazy 5%, with a few legitimate sprinkled in – and all were handled head-on in a very professional, positive, manner. 

I called the second and third shops, and as you can probably guess I ended up going with the third. I don’t think it’s coincidence that they had a 4.5 star rating.

The bottom line is this, negative reviews are a necessary evil that gives credibility to your dealership – as long as there aren’t many of them and they get handled appropriately. Keep an eye on them (because potential customers are), keep them under control, and they can actually help build trust.

We have a system with our Local Web Dominator program that can help you grow those 4-5 star reviews to keep the balance.  Give us a call at 877-242-4472 to find out more.

Talk soon, 

Brad

The best way to make up for a slow start to 2018 (or if business has been great for you, to continue improving it) is through marketing and training. Good marketing generates measurable leads and traffic through your doors. Training your staff ensures that you’re selling as many new & used units, PG&A and Service as possible.

Marketing and training go hand-in-hand, and they must consistently happen simultaneously, not sequentially. Don’t fall into the trap of believing you must do one before the other.  

Also, you can’t afford to wait for business to get better before implementing good marketing. We hear dealers say this frequently, and they end up wasting a lot of time just waiting for business to pick up when they could have been ‘making’ it better. This way of thinking reminds me of a friend of mine who once told me he wanted to get in a little better shape before he joined a gym… wait, what? 

With that said, I do understand why dealers want business to get better before spending money on marketing. Their past experiences include spending (wasting) money on advertising that didn’t make one iota of difference. While, it didn’t generate more profit than the expense, they know they need to advertise, so business has to pick up before they can afford to spend the money. 

Their challenge: BAD MARKETING

While this may be a bit of a moot point right now because the weather is warm, and the riding season is upon us, spring being in full force means there’s even more reason to drive traffic and generate leads. You have to make hay while the sun is shining.

Even when business is booming, however, it doesn’t mean you can view your marketing budget as an expense. You can’t just spend it and hope; it must be invested. 

Our Sharp Shooter program has been utilized literally thousands of times over the past decade by well over 1,000 dealers. It generates a positive return in Gross Profit, which makes it a true investment. It has stood the test of time and it always works.  

It generates leads in 6 ways: new sales, pre-owned sales, parts, accessories, apparel and service. You may be wondering how? 

We find the best people to market to – those who are most likely to buy something from you. Our strategy not only increases customer retention, it also carves off new market share and generates new customers. It’s the best of both worlds. 

Once we know who to target, we utilize several 1-to-1 direct marketing strategies to get the best response possible.  It’s not uncommon for us to get well over a 10% response rate, and 1% is considered good by most.

We write ad copy that relates to everyone we’re marketing to with a call-to-action that generates leads and gets traffic into the dealership. 

Staff training is included to maximize your R.O.I. 

Call me at 877-242-4472 for a quick one-on-one. I guarantee you’ll be glad you did.

Speak with you soon…

- Tory

When we first entered into the Online Reputation Management game back in 2011 it was a pretty leading edge concept. Nowadays a pro-active approach to growing dealership reviews is nearly normal and customary. 

It’s for good reason, as 85% of consumers trust online reveiws as much as personal recommendations.*

Google is well aware of this stat, and due to the power of online reviews to influence buyers and Search Engine Optimization (SEO), they take the integrity of the reviews they display very seriously. Unfortunately, the rise in popularity of online reviews has also brought along a number of spammy and unethical ways to attempt to game the system. 

A couple of years ago we saw a spike in fake reviews that were blatantly obvious.  Some were downright entertaining. These came from black-hat companies hiring low wage, off shore people to create fake google accounts and write fake reviews. Even customers caught on and called businesses out like this real review.

It didn’t take Google long to catch on. And when you got busted, they often deleted all of your reviews, even the real ones. 

Fast forward to today. 

Since creating the Powersports Industry’s first software-based review acquisition system, we’ve generated well over 130,000 verifed customer reviews (www.powersportsdealerlocator.com).  We’ve always been commited to complying with Google’s terms of service by only soliciting authentic reviews from real customers.

Well, last month Google revised their terms of service to prohibit what they call “Review Gating.” There were two big changes in the announcement.

1. Don’t solicit reviews from customers in bulk. 

2. Don’t discourage or prohibit negative reviews or selectively solicit positive reviews from customers. 

Regarding Policy #1: The only time our reputation management program solicits reviews in bulk is during what we called our “jump start” process, which typically happens when setting up an account for a new client. Like many other companies, we’d take the dealership’s opted-in email list and send them all a review invitation to launch the program. However, due to Google’s policies, this is no longer allowed. Other providers may wait until the end of each day or week and send 50 to 200 review requests, and this is no longer a viable option either. 

It’s also pretty easy for Google to monitor this because your dealership will go days or weeks with no reviews and then get 5 or 10 or more in one day. 

Now, what Google is deeming appropriate, and has even implemented themselves in some markets (for Android phone users), is what we’ve always prescribed as the ‘best practice’ for review invitations. Dealerships should ask for a review and send review invitations immediately after your customer does business with you. It just makes sense. We originally began executing this strategy via DMS integration, and still do for many dealers. However, it’s not perfect because many dealers aren’t so hot at collecting email adresses at the point of sell in the DMS, and sending a system-generated email doesn’t feel very personal.

That’s one of the many reasons we recently released a new ‘Reviews and Rankings’ mobile app.  This mobile app allows the sales person to take a photo of the customer with their brand new unit from their phone, and then immedialty trigger a couple of emails to the customer. The first email thanks them for their business (and includes the picture of them on their new ride).  The second email is a review invitiation email (and text capability is coming soon). The photo really adds to the overall buying experience, makes it personal and greatly enhances the review invite’s conversion ratio. While it’s less automated than the DMS integration, it creates more ownership from the staff because the review is listed under their name, and creates a fun ‘rankings’ system in your dealership. So there is a “What’s in it for me?” component for the individual sending the review invite.  

Regarding Policy #2: Don’t selectively solicit positive reviews or discourage or prohibit negative reivews. This is really what “Review Gating” is. Our system, and many others out there, used to ask customers if they had an excellent experience or a less than excellent experience. This would act as a simple filtering mechanism, and if their experience was excellent, we would ask for a review. If their experience was less than excellent, we would send them to a private feedback survey. 

I personally don’t view this strategy as black-hat or unethical in any way. From my perspective the only people who used to leave reviews were pissed off customers and happy customers just went away happy. “Review Gating,” as Google calls it, was just a smart way for business owners to level the playing field. But, the Goog doesn’t see it that way.

Their ball, their court, their rules, their referees, and we’re committed to playing the game within the rules, so we immediately killed our filtering system. Remember, there could be serious consequences to not following the rules; like loosing years of real harvested reviews, so it’s not worth testing the Google Algorithms. 

Good news is that initial testing of the Reviews & Rankings mobile app usages is showing more reviews generated, because every single customer is getting an invite, and many potentials reviewers are not being filtered out. Furthermore, customers are more educated and expect to see some negative reviews and if they don’t they will be suspicious. So the best way to fix a bad review or two remains the same as we’ve always taught, bury it with positive reviews. 

For more information on our new Reviews and Rankings mobile app, or how we can help you boost your online reputation contact us today at 877-242-4472 or shoot us a message at www.powersportsmarketing.com

 There’s no doubt that having a sales process and trained staff in your new and used departments will result in selling more units. However, the best sales techniques on the planet are useless if the buyer doesn’t want to buy. This is why understanding buying motives is equally as important, if not more, than top notch sales skills.

The reality is buying a motorcycle, RV, boat, etc. is an emotional purchase, not a logical one. This is why the intent of all of your dealerships marketing should be to “trigger” the emotions that lead to “wanting to own” rather than the “defensive logic” of not wanting to be sold. 

Month in and month out in this newsletter we talk about our “Predictiable Growth” formula which is to “touch” your Buying Base 52 to 104 times per year. This may sound pretty simple but  it can easily be botched up with the wrong approach. For example, if every time I receive a message from you, regardless of the media, it is always “Hey you, wanna buy a bike, lets do a deal, I wanna sell you….”  then which emotion are you triggering, wanting to own or not wanting to be sold?

Just as a reminder, we define your Buying Base with two groups of customers/prospects. Customers, who are already in your database because they have done business in the past, and prospects who are not in your database, but live in your market area and have an interest in the products you sell, but have not done business with you in the past. You don’t own those customers in your database, they are only rented, and the rent is due every month. BUT…. They are the most likely people to give you money in the future if you continue to “trigger” their emotions of “wanting to own”.  That second group, the prospects who haven’t done business with you are a little more expensive to get into the dealership, but still a solid target audience to allocate budget to, if you do it the right way.

So let’s look at two pretend Dealer Principals with two different approaches to their annual marketing plan. Both are astute dealers and create an annual plan of attack rather than being completley reactive month in and month out. They are both experienced and have wasted hundreds of thousands on mass media like radio and TV and now believe direct marketing clearly provides the best bang for the buck. They also both buy into going after their Buying Base to “touch” them 52 to 104 times per year. 

There is only one main difference in their marketing approach, the message. Dealer one is all about “Moving the Metal”. His direct mail, email, facebook, etc. is all about finance special offers, best trade in value, factory rebates, low price guarantee, and meeting monthly goals, every single month. 

Dealer two on the other hand creates a “Reason to Visit his Dealership (and Website)” every single month by hitching his wagon to the time of year. In January he does a “Resolve to Ride” campaign, in February it’s a “Cabin Fever Reliever” theme, in March it’s “Spring is in the Air” in April it’s “April Showers Bring May Horsepower” and so on. You get the idea. In most of his marketing he’s sending an invitiation to his Buying Base to come into the dealership for a party they are having with Free Food, Drinks, Door Prizes, and more. He also offers a Free widget to customers who will go to a landing page and share what’s on their mind this time of year. AKA... what they would “like to own”.

Dealer 1 is only generating quantifiable leads from those who raise their hands and say they are in the market to buy today (low funnel) and are ready to negotiate. Usually less than 1% of your list. Dealer 2 is generating leads from those who are just sharing what they are interested in owning for any department in the dealership. Sure, many of these leads are higher up in the funnel, but he also picks up all of the same low funnel leads that Dealer 1 is getting, but those leads are not as focused on price. So, Dealer 2 has a much larger list of leads to follow up with, creating a month long sales process. Bolt this to the event he has each month, and he is constantly “triggering” the emotion of wanting to own. Furthermore, everyone loves to be invited to a party, and even those who don’t respond or come to Dealer 2’s event, feel an affinity towards that dealer, and when the time comes they will recipricate. 

Gitomer defines it like this: “The head is attached to the price, and the heart is attached to the wallet. If I pull on the heartstring, the wallet will pop out of the back pocket, and the only thing that can stop it is logic.”

It’s officially riding season, and there is no better time of year than right now to execute the above outlined strategy, so you can sell more units and make more money. Contact us today at  877-242-4472 to learn more or visit us online at 

www.powersportsmarketing.com

One of the most common questions I currently hear from dealers is, “Why should I switch to a Firestorm Website?”.  This article will have no fluff or hyperbole… just good ole meat and potatoes answers.

Let’s start with a foundational question: What is the main purpose of your website? 

I’ve mentioned this question before in past articles, but I’d be remiss not to state it again because your answer is like a compass that lets you know if you’re heading in the right direction. For instance, if your website’s main purpose is to get your name out there, you’re done!  It’s doing that. 

The correct answer is: To generate leads. All other functions are secondary.

The average website in the powersports industry gets around 4,000 website visitors and generates about 60 leads per month (or a 1% to 2% conversion rate). Our chief goal with Firestorm Websites is to generate more leads. 

This is meat and potatoes reason #1: Firestorm Websites have a 100% success rate at generating more leads each month, and we'll generate more leads for your dealership as well. For details on what type of increase you could expect for your dealership, call me at 877-242-4472.

But what about quality of the leads? First, let’s address the big fat ELEPHANT in the room:

1. Your website blatantly leads customers and prospects down the path of requesting a quote. Ever wondered why all your website leads are focused on price?

2. The MSRP is listed on your inventory pages, which means you’re pushing website visitors to expect a discount. Ever wondered why all your website leads want a discount?

3. Any good salesperson who follows up with website leads has been taught to avoid price. They’re trained to do their best to get the prospect into the dealership, and whatever they do, avoid talking price!

To recap, your website is actually leading visitors to focus on price and request a quote, but your salesperson is taught to avoid giving them a price? Wow! How is this the norm? Why haven't we caught this... it's terrible?! This process, which leads to a headbutt between your dealership and the prospect, causes less website leads (or a bad conversion rate) and less prospects in the store. 

When “quote request” is your call to action, it’s the equivalent of greeting a showroom guest with “Can I get you a discounted price on any of our inventory?”  That would kill your margin and your closing ratio. Oh yeah, this all leads to salespeople not being excited to get a website lead. Your salespeople ever said, “They’re all junk! It’s a waste of time! They just want our best price out the door! They never come in!”?

Recap: This is meat and potatoes reason #2: Firestorm Websites generate a higher quality lead that’s not just focused on price. Want details? Call me.

What about having real, authentic pictures of your inventory on your website. 

The auto industry is often said to be 10-years ahead of the powersports industry. In the auto industry, if you’re not adding 20 to 30 actual pictures of each unit, you’re doing it wrong. 

The problem is that it’s so darn time-consuming to take all those pictures, save them to your computer, organize them, then add them unit by unit to your website. This is where our back office mobile app comes in handy. 

Recap: Meat and potatoes reason #3: Now you can walk around your showroom and add inventory pictures to your website instantly using a tablet or mobile phone. The time savings and increase in leads this produces is amazing. 

Let’s move to your identity. 

Most dealer’s websites completely lack their culture, local geography and really any identity at all. You could literally slap any dealership logo on the site and it would work. This is not the case with a Firestorm Website.

Recap: Meat and potatoes reason #4: We work tirelessly to provide a completely custom, one-off site that tells your story. 

There are plenty of other features like DMS Integration, VIN Decoding, SSL Security Certificates, Responsive Designs, Great SEO and more, but I’m out of space.

I’m available for a ‘Meat and Potatoes’ phone calls and can show you dozens of live examples and results – call 877-242-4472 and ask for me.

- Tory