Five Dealerships Vie for Best-Idea Honors

LAS VEGAS – Dealership finalists in a best-idea contest include stores that track down customers and surprise them with gifts, give people prizes for best selfie photos and send sales prospects personalized-looking videos via YouTube.

The competition is a popular part of the annual DrivingSales Executive Summit. Participants describe their efforts to a panel of dealer judges. A total of $10,000 in prize money went to the five finalists.

The 2014 winners are:

“Free Gas Friday,” Harry Robinson Buick GMC in Ft. Smith, AR.

Staffers Cathy Nesbit and Alyssa Safty weekly scout local business parking lots, looking for cars with the dealership’s name on license plate holders.

They then find the owners and give them a gift bag and a $50 gasoline-purchase card. Video recordings of the presentation are posted online.

“It has captured people’s attention, increased our Facebook visits and increased sales in every department,” Nesbit says.

“Monetize Your Digital Assets,” VW SouthTowne, Sandy UT.

Print display ads touting dealership specials monthly are digitized and posted on third-party sites featuring the store’s inventory, says Internet manager Bryan Armstrong.

It’s more effective than using that online space to post a typical photo of the dealership, a picture that online shoppers aren’t particularly interested in compared with deals and specials, he says.

Plus, reformatting and recycling the display ads doesn’t cost extra. “‘Free’ is my second favorite four-letter word,” Armstrong says. “‘Food’ is my favorite.”

“#MyRide YYC,” Glenmore Audi, Calgary, AB, Canada.

Working under a self-love premise that “everyone loves selfies,” Shelly Hebert spearheaded a dealership initiative using those to promote the Audi A3’s debut.

“It puts us in a market we weren’t in,” Hebert, the store’s business-development manager, says of the compact luxury car introduced this year.

The store gave weekly prizes to participants who uploaded and posted photos of themselves and their cars on social media sites. The grand prize winner got a weekend road trip in a ’15 Audi.

“Everyone has a ‘ride,’” Hebert says, explaining the popularity of the program that “enhanced our consumer engagement and humanized our brand.”

By the way, the "YYC" in Glenmore's contest entry title is the airport code for Calgary International Airport. 

“Vehicle Exchange Program,” Cardinale Automotive Group, based in Seaside, CA.

This program aims to procure vehicles from existing customers, both to sell them a new vehicle and to stock the used-car lots. It’s a variation of what some other dealers do elsewhere.

Personalized correspondences go to owners of vehicles Cardinale is interested in obtaining and willing to buy at a price higher than blue-book listings.

“The letter from our general manager asks people if they’d be interested in exchanging their car for something newer and at a comparable price,” says Cardinale Chief Operating Officer Erich Gail. “The reactions usually are, ‘I’m not interested but thanks for the compliment’ or ‘Yes, I’d be interested.’”

Cardinale tries not to overdo it, he says. “We’re not offering a sales proposition, we’re offering an opportunity to exchange cars.”

The same offer is made to certain vehicles owners who are in for service work.

In the backshop, service advisers rather than showroom personnel suggest the swap. “Put a salesperson in the service department if you want fistfights,” Gail says.

“YouTube Postal Service,” Don Valley North Toyota, Toronto.

The dealership and others in the Weins Canada group send prospective buyers “pre-personalized” videos that look like they’re customized for each sales-lead recipient, says Robert Karbaum, e-commerce director.

The stores deliver the email through YouTube for a few reasons.

One is that email open rates are declining “even if you do make it through spam filters,” he says. “Text is OK, but some customers get angry if you text them.”

Google, which owns YouTube, essentially delivers the video. There are no spam filters to worry about because Google isn’t going to block Google.

Karbaum explains how to do and deliver the videos step by step here.

His idea wins top honors in the contest. Cardinale’s vehicle-exchange initiative is the runner up.

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