ContactAtOnce!™ Announces License Agreement with PowerSports Network

Today we announced that PowerSports Network (PSN) will integrate our IM/Chat solution with their website platform which is used by 3,000+ motorcycle, boat and RV dealers. This is an exciting opportunity for us as a company – a chance to bring the same strong ROI we’ve delivered in the automotive sector to an entirely new sector. PSN is a clear market leader and we’re honored to be working with them.

Automotive Internet Traffic Update

Yago Paramo, head of Paramo Group Inc. (one of our business partners), writes a monthly e-newsletter that is chock full of good stuff (including some comedy!) for automotive internet sales managers. Yago’s business serves only the state of Washington, but if you work around auto retail I suggest subscribing regardless of where you are located geographically.

In this month’s edition Yago has an article entitled “Internet Traffic: Where Are We?”. In it he posits “you can almost spot an upward trend in traffic on every single one of [the third party automotive websites] however the number of leads actually is dropping down. Why is that?”

Read the full article, then ask yourself what investments you’ve made to ensure that the visitors being channeled from 3rd party sties to your dealership’s website don’t remain invisible. As Yago points out, visitgors are less and less likely to fill out a form or call you, so what are you doing to capture them?

Check out our new product tour that includes downloadable dealer testimonials – there you will find some suggestions for how you should be answering this key question.

Every Auto Sales Person Will Use Mobile IM

It’s not a matter of if, but when…

Dealerships committed to growing their business through internet sales have already invested in Blackberry’s for their sales people with great results. Improved responsiveness means more sales and a happier customer. But a fast reply to an email is NOT going to be enough going forward.

As readers of this blog know, car shoppers of all ages prefer IM in many cases because:
· They are discretely shopping while at work and a) can’t call or be called and b) don’t have the patience to wait for email responses.
· They want anonymity while asking some initial questions about a vehicle.

And as if those reasons alone aren’t compelling enough for an ISM trying to move more cars, one has to look at demographic trends as well. Email is not even the preferred means of communications for buyers under 35 years old – instant messaging (IM) is.

IM until now has been primarily a desktop solution, used for personal communications between “buddies” or business communication between a consumer and a dealer via the dealersihip’s (or a 3rd party) website. However, like so many other things, IM is now going increasingly mobile.

Mobile IM i is taking off in a big way, driven not only by user’s desires but also by technology changes. Most notably, the launch of 3G networks by the wireless carriers combined with the dropping price point for unlimited wireless data plans. These phenomenon have triggered amongst mobile users a move away from relatively expensive SMS text messages and towards mobile IM. There was an excellent post on the GigaOM blog the other day about mobile IM that provides highlights.

The bottom line is that it is just a matter of time until every auto sales person not only has a Blackberry (or equivalent), but also has an IM client on that device through which many live conversations with shoppers will take place and many appointments will be set.

Rindos – Show Me The Money!

Dan Rindos is a Vice President with Bargain News LLC, a ContactAtOnce! customer located in Trumbull, CT. When he’s not innovating to extend his company’s leadership position in auto classifieds in the CT, NY, NJ tri-state area, Dan can be found speaking at industry conferences and sharing bits of wisdom with his peers in the publishing industry.

Dan recently shared with us a presentation he did at the ICMA conference in Amsterdam and with his permission we’re now sharing it with you. In it, Dan shares the success story that is Bargain News including some specific recommendations for how any auto classified website provider can enhance their offering and get dealers to show some money. Learn and enjoy!

Debunking Auto Industry Internet Sales Myths

I read a great article recently by Richard Greene of Auto Remarketing News entitled “Independent Dealers Can Maximize Internet by Debunking Internet Sales Myths”. I recommend it to anyone reading this blog with an auto industry association.

Chip Perry, CEO of AutoTrader.com, is one of the experts debunking myths. The other expert is Joe Lescota, chair of automotive marketing at Northwood University. Joe had my favorite quote "Let's quit spinning our wheels on the technology and think about how technology works emotionally".

Emotional response is the key to the castle when it comes to moving more website visitors into live conversations with sales people. We talk to so many business owners that have invested heavily in the design and construction of their website and in attracting traffic to it via search marketing and other media buys, yet are frustrated by the tiny percentage of those visitors that actually turn into sales leads.

Visitors come, visitors go. Videos and other eye candy may entertain and keep them on the site for a little longer, but visitors still leave without engaging a sales person. Why? No emotional response. Or more precisely, the “I like that car” emotion that pictures, videos, and window sticker information stimulate too often doesn’t translate into any kind of action – like engaging a sales person to ask a question.

ContactAtOnce! delivers at least 25% more leads from a website by enabling a “dropin business card” that creates an emotional reaction and the impetus for site visitors to engage a sales person in live conversation. It not only connects the site visitor and the sales person from a communications technology perspective, it connects them emotionally. Read more about the dropin here.

Connecting National Brands with Local Buyers

Local search guru Greg Sterling had a great post on his blog yesterday entitled “Most Advertising is Ultimately Local”.

In it he points out that most national advertisers are good at brand building but miss opportunities to actually connect their target audience with the local offices and/or stores where transactions will ultimately occur. Why is that important? Because, as Greg points out, the vast majority of commerce is conducted a) locally and b) offline.

Auto manufacturers are prominent on the list of top national advertisers within Greg’s post. We’ve written in this blog before about how they can do better, and as a company we have a tremendous amount of experience in the auto industry. To drive home Greg’s point with another example, let’s pick on the Insurance industry…

State Farm Insurance may be a national brand but if I’m inspired by one of their “like a good neighbor” ads to purchase auto insurance, how easy is it to get to where I’m signing the paperwork and writing a check? Try it for yourself! Inspired by an ad, go to www.statefarm.com. From the home page you are directed to “Get a rate quote now”. Enter a zip code and get a form to fill out with the heading “Completing your quote should only take 10-15 minutes depending on the number of vehicles for which you need coverage.”. UGH!

I’ve not done this, but I bet if I called 100 State Farm agents and asked whether they would prefer a) a few fully completed and validated forms from the State Farm website or b) a much larger number of live conversations with consumers visiting the State Farm website for the express purpose of getting a quote -- almost all would opt for the live conversations. True, processing the quotes might require a little more handholding by the agent but what about the overall close-rate and amount of revenue generated? Isn’t that the real measure of advertising success? So why not do a better job of connecting consumers inspired by an ad to the local resource with whom they will ultimately transact? Seems like a no-brainer to me.

Solutions? Well, you’ve probably guessed already. ContactAtOnce! was designed specifically to move more website visitors into live conversations with merchants with special features to support aggregator/directory type websites. ContactAtOnce! has been proven to increase conversion substantially while simultaneously improving the consumer experience, enabling them to “Contact At Once”.

Classified type websites already understand and appreciate the value of solutions such as ContactAtOnce! and, I predict, national advertisers will be close behind.

OneCommand Live Chat Powered by ContactAtOnce!

Yesterday our partner OneCommand, an authorized ContactAtOnce! sales agent, announced their Live Chat Service in a press release that received coverage from a number of blogs and publications including Auto Remarketing. We’re pleased to see the announcement – especially the success story about Camargo Cadillac.

OneCommand is a leading provider of integrated and automated, personalized communications designed to streamline work-flow, reduce marketing expense and generate superior customer response. Focusing on the delivery of the right message, at the right time, and through the right channel, OneCommand has rapidly expanded its market penetration by helping its clients realize significant improvements in loyalty and retention, frequency of visit and overall profitability. OneCommand has over 4,000 clients in total, most of which are auto dealers.

With this announcement, the day when every auto dealer website includes instant messaging (IM/chat) has drawn nearer and the position of ContactAtOnce! as the number one provider of internet marketing tools to the automotive vertical is further cemented.