Digital Dealer - November 2017 - 40

By Josh Blick
CEO,
Dashboard
Dealership
Enterprises APRIL 21-23, 2015 * TAMPA, FL

COMMUNICATIONS

APRIL 21-23 * TAMPA, FL

The New Car Manager's
Modern Guide to Merchandising
Perhaps more than
any other role in the
dealership, the new car
manager's responsibilities
are evolving rapidly. It
used to be that new car
managers would merchandise cars on the lot,
order new inventory and
negotiate dealer-trades.
Now they must master
multiple data points to
ensure inventory is
properly merchandised
across the internet, know
what's selling in your
area, determine appropriate stocking levels and
manage the marketing
processes to drive peak
departmental performance.
That's a lot of responsibilities, so it's no wonder
the new car manager's
role is growing in importance, and will continue
to grow in importance. Today's new car managers
must be knowledgeable
about digital marketing
and how your website
works. They must also be
savvy when it comes to
analyzing data.
As margins are controlled more by the manufacturers and less by
the dealers, dealers are
getting less gross profit
per vehicle. If you want
to increase profit, you
have to increase volume.
The best way to increase
volume is to attract more
online visitors and convert more of those visitors
40

NOVEMBER 2017

WHEN A SHOPPER SEES A "CALL FOR
PRICE" ACTION, THEY IMMEDIATELY
THINK THAT IF THEY CALL YOU, YOUR
SALESPERSON IS NOT GOING TO TELL
THEM THE PRICE AND WILL TRY TO GET
THEM IN FOR AN APPOINTMENT.
into leads.
The more vehicles become commoditized, the
more important it is that
your dealership's website
and VDP search results
are found. Do not rely on
your website provider to
ensure this happens. It's
not their responsibility.
Today that is the responsibility of the new car
manager.
Fortunately, these

D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

responsibilities are not
complicated if you know
what to look for. Here
is a guide of sorts that
can be used by new car
managers. First thing
every morning, use this
checklist to take care of
your online merchandising responsibilities.
1. Look at your website's Vehicle Display
Pages (VDPs). How
many vehicles on your

website have a minimum of seven pictures?
Better yet is to have both
pictures and a video.
Your goal every day is to
have 100 percent of your
vehicles with at least that
many pictures. This task
should become as routine as tying your shoes
in the morning.
2. Does every car
have a price? This is
critical. If your OEM
doesn't allow you to post
a discounted price, post
the MSRP. Do not post
a "Call for Price" button.
When a shopper sees
a "Call for Price" action,
they immediately think
that if they call you, your
salesperson is not going
to tell them the price and
will try to get them in for
an appointment.
Today's car shoppers want honesty and
transparency. If you still
use this kind of tactic,
your dealership is perceived as untrustworthy.
Consumers are savvy
enough to know that the
MSRP is not set in stone.
Post a price for every
vehicle. If you don't, you
are essentially saying,
"I don't want to sell you
a car."
3. Click-through rate
(CTR). Paid search is a
critical part of your ad
budget. Are the words
you're using to drive
traffic converting at two
percent or greater? Often
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Dealer - November 2017
