You didn’t miss the announcement of CarMax EasyShop did you?
Watch the car max video click here.

CarMax has just dramatically changed car buying with their new CarMax EasyShop. The service has been launched first in Raleigh and Fayetteville NC.

ShopEasy allows you complete more of the car shopping process at the convenience from any computer before arriving at the store and IMO, it’s looking slick!

Our good friend Brian has been talking about full transactional online car buying for years here on DealerRefresh and just published an article – Seeing Your Dealership As Consumers See It.

As dealers, most of us quickly nudge our shoulders at this while thinking to ourselves – “this will never work”, customers want to touch and feel a purchase of this size. Yes, there’s a lot of truth in that. The percentage of consumers that are willing to buy a car sight unseen (other than photos) is very low BUT climbing. And it happens on eBay every day. Though I’ll agree eBay is a much different marketplace – but is it really?

I’ll be the first to admit, I was a shoulder nudger not too long ago (only a couple years ago). I’m no longer.

More and more people are going to demand this way of shopping and buying their next vehicle. The traditional new car sales “professional” as we know it today WILL DIMINISH!. It’s going to happen – guaranteed!

Will it take awhile? Yes, I believe it will BUT also I believe every dealership website should consider allowing the customer the option of BUYING online now. Even if most of the transaction still happens at the dealership, a solid online buying process takes the customer down the road of the purchase. It’s not only a differentiator but it’s (can be) an engaging pre-closing tool.

How powerful is it to get a customer 30% – 40% – 60% down the road of the sale before even stepping into the dealership? This happens many times over the phone and via email every day but it’s usually a complete pain in the ass to deal with. What happens when the customer can do it at their own convenience?

A solid shopping cart on your dealership website can increase engagement, time on site, branding, positive customer experience, finance, and an actual purchase — the list goes on.

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE TRADE-IN? Let’s admit, it’s the one step in the process that nix the full online buying process. Though, or the time being I think CarMax has done a great job incorporating and explaining this into the EasyShop process. Plus, due to their already superb branding and marketing, everyone already knows the trade-in process at CarMax is effortless.

Even with the trade-in being an issue – it’s only a matter time of before we get this ironed out — think…KBB/AutoTrader TIM

So what do you think..Is this it the future of car buying?

http://forum.dealerrefresh.com/f43/carmax-easyshop-future-car-buying-1727.html

Thank you,
Thomas Ieracitano
Thomas

TheDigitalCarGuy.com

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Every day is a battle for online leads and brand awareness. Your competitors are using new online tools such as social media and search engines to advance on your customers. Your customers are rating your company and killing your reputation. You might even be your own worst enemy if you’re simply not in the online marketing war.

You need your own specialized, covert digital force to give you air cover. A team that will support your ground troops. A team that will scout new social media marketing tactics and then leverage them to give you an edge.
We are that team. You will get an unfair digital advantage so you can maximize social media, dominate the search engines, protect your reputation and capture more sales.

If you would like more information about leveraging social media for mobile devices please contact TheDigitalCarGuy.com .

Thank you,
Thomas Ieracitano
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posted by Glenn Jimerson
March 31, 2011

When was the last time you left the house without your mobile phone? Today’s consumer has more access to information than any group in history. In an instant, a person can grab a map to your business, peruse your reviews, and see deals your competitors are offering all from their smart phone. The dealership that successfully leverages mobile technology has an advantage in today’s market because many companies are not aware of its potential. In this article we’ll discuss how you can use mobile devices to help drive more customers to your showroom.

There are several players in the mobile space such as Facebook Places, Gowalla, Foursquare, and Google Latitude. These services enable people to broadcast to their social network where they are by “checking in” to a location. People are starting to make checking in a part of their daily routine. They check into restaurants, night clubs, and stores they frequent. For this tutorial we are going to focus on Facebook’s popular Places service.
The first thing you need to do is claim your Facebook Places location. You can do that by following the instructions on Facebook’s help page.
Facebook allows businesses to offer special “Deals” to people who check into their locations. This is indicated on their phone by a little yellow icon. When they select your dealership they will see an offer like this:

Offering Deals is useful for three reasons:

1. You create an incentive for an in-market customer to engage with your Facebook page. This engagement will allow you to reach them long after they have left the dealership.
2. Whenever a person redeems a deal, the details are posted to their Facebook “Wall” which in turn appears on their friend’s “News Feed”. This acts as a peer endorsement of your dealership as well as increases the visibility to potential new customers.
3. You can easily track the impact of this campaign.

Now that we know some of the benefits, it’s time to follow Monte Hall’s lead and “Let’s make a deal”. Once you have control of your Places location, navigate to the Admin area of your Facebook page and select “Deals” on the left-hand side. Click the link “Create a Deal for this Page >>”. There are 4 different deals you can offer. The type of deal you select is important depending on your strategy.

Individual Deal

An individual deal works like a traditional coupon. Someone checks into your business and shows their phone to the service adviser or farther down the line at the cashier’s desk.

An individual Deal is a great, straight-forward way to incentivize customer engagement with your social media account.

Friend Deal

A friend deal is only triggered when the number of people you specify check into your location. For example, you can create an offer that says check in with 3 friends and receive a $5 gift certificate to Starbucks.
The friend deal would be most beneficial for the new and used sales side of the business. People often bring friends and family when they go car shopping. Offering a Friend Deal leverages the social network of several people by incentivizing all of them to check in. So, the benefits of a Friend Deal are:

1. With multiple people checking into a location you’ve expanded the number of people who will see this announcement on Facebook.
2. The multiple check-ins creates greater social proof/reinforcement of the person’s endorsement of your dealership. Think of it like a movie recommendation. If one of your friends says a move is good you’ll consider watching it, but you may not take action since you aren’t yet convinced it’s worth the time. If 5 of your friends tell you a movie is good then you have multiple points of social proof backing up the claim which can tip the scales.

Loyalty Deal

As the name implies, you can offer a special deal for people who visit your location more than once. For example, on the 5th check-in receive 50% off your oil change. A popular tactic is to scale the value of the reward based on the number of check-ins. One thing to keep in mind is to take a look at their buying history to ensure they are indeed a loyal customer and not someone gaming the system.

Charity Deal

A Charity Deal is a powerful tool that can be used to reach a broad audience. For instance, some people wouldn’t specifically shop at your location just because of a small monetary gesture like a $5 discount. But they would be willing to consider your establishment if that $5 was going to charity.
Take the recent disaster in Japan as an example. Everyone is touched by the post tsunami disaster they are enduring. This would be an excellent time to offer a deal where you will donate $5 to the Red Cross for every check-in. The customer, who previously did not distinguish between your service center and your competitors, now has an added incentive to choose you. Additionally, you can publically display your commitment to charity.

Tweak your Deal Settings for Maximum Control

Regardless of the type of deal you select, you can dictate the start and end date of the offer. You can also specify how many deals you are willing to honor. For example, can set the maximum number of redemption’s to 500. Setting a cap is important if you are offering a steep discount or high dollar promotion. Limiting redemption’s will ensure you won’t lose your shirt if the viral nature of the campaign grows too fast. Finally, you can keep people from gaming the system by restricting the frequency of redemption. You can allow a customer one Deal redemption every 24 hours. Or, you can restrict it even further to one redemption per person for as long as the offer exists.

The Art of the Mobile Deal

Now that you know how to use each Deal, you can customize it for for your specific needs. If this is your first Deal, go with an Individual Deal. Friend Deals and Loyalty Deals require more leg work to administer. Finally, make sure to time Charity Deals for maximum exposure and the amount of good you can do for the cause.
The mobile phone is a powerful tool in the social media marketing space. Using Facebook Places is just one way to harness the power of mobile devices and social networks to drive real customers to your door. Companies that embrace this technology will have a clear advantage over the competition. The ability to reach a socially connected on-the-move customer base should not be underestimated. A person can reach out to the entire world from any place there is cell phone coverage. Give that person a reason to talk about you. Offering a Deal on Facebook Places is a great way to start.
If you would like more information about leveraging social media for mobile devices please contact TheDigitalCarGuy.com .

Thank you,
Thomas Ieracitano
229.251.2462
Thomas

TheDigitalCarGuy.com

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Saturday, April 16th, 2011 Before your teen asks you about getting a driver’s license, parents can feel more comfortable addressing the issue if you consider the following six ways to know if your teen is ready to drive.
1. Good judgment is important. – Is your teen generally responsible? Does he or she show good judgment? This is important because of the necessity to make sound decisions during unpredictable situations that occur while driving – either from other drivers, passengers, pedestrians or other sources. If your teen lacks good judgment, experts recommend that you delay your teen getting a driver’s license until he or she shows more signs of maturity. If you can delay your teen’s driving until 17 or 18 instead of 16, this can make a huge difference.
2. Ability to resist peer pressure. – Can your teen resist peer pressure? Statistics of teens drinking and driving should be enough to frighten you. This is all the more reason why you want to ensure your child is able to resist challenges to drink and drive, to drive fast, take chances, stay out past curfew, and do other things that put your child and others in danger. Check out your teen’s friends. Do they have good standards? Are they responsible? Do they behave well around your teen? If so, your teen probably behave in a similar manner. These are positive indicators that your teen may be ready to drive – if all other factors are appropriate.
3. Willingness to obey state driving laws – and your rules. – How receptive does your teen seem to be about obeying state driving laws? What about your rules? If your teen pledges to abide by the driving laws and your rules – and you believe he or she is sincere – that’s a good start. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death in teens. Each year, nearly 6,000 teens are killed and approximately 300,000 are injured in crashes. Become familiar with your state’s graduated licensing system, one of the few things that have been proven to save teen lives.
4. Comfortable behind the wheel. – No doubt your teen has sat behind the wheel already, pretending to be driving, or asking if he or she can back the car out of the garage. The question is does your teen seem comfortable behind the wheel?

5. Understand what safe driving means. – Allstate Foundation research found that teens differentiate “good” and “safe” drivers. Teens consider a “good” disconnect in what teens think safe driving really is. Teens consider a “good” driver one who can handle a car at high speeds, while they believe a “safe” driver obeys all the rules. Which does your teen believe? Far too many teens are killed each year because they drive recklessly. Before you permit your child to get a driver’s license, you should know if he or she understands what safe driving really means.
6. Ability to handle stress. – Along with good judgment, ability to resist peer pressure, willingness to obey driving laws and your rules, understanding what safe driving means and being comfortable behind the wheel, your teen also needs to be able to handle stress. How well does your teen handle anger or fear? These events elicit quick responses that can tell you whether or not your teen is ready to drive.
After going through these six ways to know if your teen is ready to drive, you should have a better idea if now is the time – or if holding off another year or so may be the wiser choice.

Thank you,
Thomas Ieracitano
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Thomas

TheDigitalCarGuy.com

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re-posted from ;
http://blog.iseecars.com/2011/04/16/six-ways-to-know-if-your-teen-is-ready-to-drive/

by Anne Fleming on Apr 13, 2011

So a woman has stepped onto your lot and is looking to purchase a vehicle. What happens next and the direction the visit goes is largely determined by how the dealership, specifically the salesperson, engages and influences her experience. Research shows that 45% of women feel apprehensive and 34% are intimidated when shopping at new car dealerships. The factors that lead to whether she stays or goes to the competition can be summed up with several factors that are fundamental to converting a female visitor to a happy and long-term customer:

1. Treat her fairly and with respect, as the front negotiator. Be willing to work with her without any intimidation tactics, pushiness or condescending attitudes. If she is with her husband or a man, treat her as the front buyer and keep consistent eye contact with her.
2. Maintain a relaxed and no-pressure environment, allowing her to feel cared for and listened to.
3. Build trust by ensuring she understands the safety standards and warranty information. Appreciate that she may likely have children passengers. Answer all questions in a way she feels listened to, and make sure all her questions get addressed. Don’t use words like ‘always’ or ‘never’ – she will stop listening.
4. Make her experience enjoyable and educational, so she can drive away with more knowledge and awareness. Be the go-to knowledge provider and treat her with respect, which she will almost certainly share with her friends and family.

Women account for 54% of new car purchasers, and influence 82% of the purchases for the family. Successful women-friendly car dealers know how to have all their sales and service team members work with women buyers with finesse and respect.

http://www.drivingsales.com/blogs/automotivepr/2011/04/13/4-things-smart-dealerships-do-when-women-buyers-visit-?hq_e=el&hq_m=983222&hq_l=3&hq_v=c240df170a

Investing in tires generally is difficult to understand. It’s so hard to know where to start, and especially if you’re new to buying tires you might not know where to begin. I’m sure this asset will help you purchase your next set of tires. This is the kind of guide we wish we would of had the first time we bought tires.

Step 1: Closely examine the tires you have on your car at this time. Examine the volume, brand, model #’s etc… All this information is easily read off the sidewall of the tire. If you don’t understand what it all means, that’s ok. Be sure you jot it down on a piece of paper for reference though. You should also confirm that you actually need new tires.

Step 2: Call up our featured tire shop or the tire shop of your choice and say: Hi, I own a 2003 Honda Civic and I’d like to see what you have in stock that would fit my car? (replace your make and model obviously) Make sure you have pen and paper handy, and copy down everything they say. Get the exact pricing information including installation, and all the detailed info on the tires. If they don’t tell you,get an idea of the mileage the manufacture expects for the specific tire. NOTE: There are shops that won’t be able to tell you what tires fit your vehicle. That’s exactly why I had you copy down your current tire information. Give them this information instead and they should be able to help.

Step 3: Call around to a few other tire shops and compare the prices, mileage, and other factors of the tires.

Step 4: With all this information in hand, narrow your choices down to 2-3 potential tires. Look up the details of your tire possibilities in a search engine and see what the experts say about each tire. Read customer comments, trade blogs, anything you can find.

Step 5: You’re all set, you’ve done your homework and are ready to make a tire purchase.
We really hope this guide helped you in some way. If you learn something you’d like to share during your tire purchase please leave a comment so others can learn as well. Thanks!
Learn more about tires and how to make an excellent tire purchase at our site http://howtobuytireskc.weebly.com/

Hi! I am emailing you because I just registered for the American Cancer Societys Relay For Life. When I registered online, I was issued my own personal fundraising web page. It explains what Relay For Life is and why I chose to get involved. My web page also has my fundraising goal and how much money Ive raised so far. Please visit my page, and while youre there….why not make a donation to the American Cancer Society? Your donation will help the American Cancer Society create a world with less cancer and more birthdays. The amount you donate will count towards my fundraising goal. Thank you so much for your help – I will keep you updated on my progress! Thomas Ieracitano

Copyright 2010/2011 © American Cancer Society
]]> http://thomasieracitano.wordpress.com/2011/03/24/i-am-helping-to-create-more-birthdays/feed/ 0 thomasieracitano http://www.youtube.com/v/I7xBIUtWZ9E&hl CTRL + Click to follow link PixelServer http://www.matchinggifts.com/acs/ CTRL + Click to follow link http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/Events/General?fr_id=9910&pg=tgreeting CTRL + Click to follow link American Cancer Society: Cancer Action Network http://thomasieracitano.wordpress.com/2011/03/23/firefox-4-is-here/ http://thomasieracitano.wordpress.com/2011/03/23/firefox-4-is-here/#comments Wed, 23 Mar 2011 14:58:08 +0000 thomasieracitano http://thomasieracitano.wordpress.com/?p=218 ]]>

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General Motors issued a press release in response to Bill’s comments, stating: “If General Motors had developed technology like Microsoft: we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics:

1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash twice a day.
2. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car.
3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You would have to pull over to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue. For some reason – you would simply accept this.
4. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to reinstall the engine.
5. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive – but would run on only five percent of the roads.
6. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single “General Protection Fault” warning light.
7. The airbag system would ask “Are you sure?” before deploying.
8. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.
9. Every time GM introduced a new car, car buyers would have to learn to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.
10. You’d have to press the “Start” button to turn the engine off.

Have a great weekend!

Thank you,
Thomas Ieracitano
Thomas

TheDigitalCarGuy.com

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From: Aaron Richardson
Sent: Thursday, March 03, 2011 4:40 PM
Subject: <i>Consumer Reports</i> releases 2011 list of American Top Picks, Ford again on top

Filed under: Car Buying, Etc., Ford

Ford Fusion Hybrid – Click above for high-res image gallery

For the second year running, the Ford Fusion has not only come out as the top family sedan pick in Consumer Reports‘ list of the 2011 American Top Picks, once again eclipsing the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry in reliability.

Topping the list in the budget car segment is the Ford Fiesta, though CR admits they aren’t sure how reliable the car will be, given that it’s a clean-sheet design. The Chevrolet Cruze takes the small car category.

Ford captures CR’s small SUV category with the Escape, and Chevrolet has nailed down the family SUV category with its Equinox 2LT. The funky Ford Flex takes the family hauler category, and the Mustang is the top pick among sporty cars.

The only non-Ford or Chevrolet product on the list is the Buick Regal, which takes top honors for CR’s sports sedan category. The Ford Fusion Hybrid (above) garners the American green car pick for 2011, and the Chevrolet Avalanche rounds out the list in the pickup truck category.

It should be noted that some categories in CR’s list only have a top-scoring American vehicle, not a top pick. In the budget car segment, the sports sedan segment and the small car segment, CR passes on picking a favorite because there are new models in the segment that haven’t had a fair chance at the prize yet.

Gallery: Review: 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid

Photos Copyright (C)2009 Chris Shunk / AOL

[Source: Consumer Reports] Consumer Reports releases 2011 list of American Top Picks, Ford again on top originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 03 Mar 2011 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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