Sorry for the rant but it needed to be said. RE: Vendor Education

Comment

Comment by J.D. Rucker on August 12, 2014 at 1:21pm

Carl - Thank you very much. It's important for more than just the dealers hearing the feedback. Some of the best innovations in our industry came from dealers leaving feedback.

Brian - I wholeheartedly agree and I think the two of us should organize it. Just tried to call Ralph as well.

Thank you Mike, Alex, Dan, and Dave!

Influencer Comment by Carl Maeda on August 12, 2014 at 12:28pm

I agree with you 100%.

Educating the dealers helps the vendors that really focus on performance.  I have learned a ton during these visits too....  about CRMs, about dealer processes, etc.  Its' a two way street and the more I learn about how dealerships are run, the more it helps us create better products.

Comment by Brian Bennington on August 12, 2014 at 12:17pm

Nice post, J.D.  Your heart is definitely in the right place.  While I believe "rants" aren't the most constructive way to communicate ideas, instructions, complaints, etc., I'd hardly describe your "mobile monologue" as a rant.  You were much too calm, cool and collected, and you didn't even raise your voice one time!  Really, I thought it was "teddybear soft."  But hey, you were in traffic and that's no place to "lose it."

Now that you've "talked the talk," I think it's time you might "walk the walk."  And, because "charity begins at home," whatsay you begin that "education" right here on ADM.  Last year, after I first joined (I say "first joined," because as you know, I recently had to "re-join" due to one of my ADM "friend's" unsuccessful attempt to "ex-communicate" me), I quickly realized nearly every post about anything technical was written "peer-to-peer," or in IT vernacular "P2P," with no consideration for those of us less knowledgeable.

I mentioned to Ralph how instructive it would be if there was a home page link to at least an IT acronyms definitions page.  He thought it was a good idea, but like many good ideas, it quickly found its way into "do it later" limbo.  I know you and you've got the chops to deliver something like that, and you could probably produce a great "fundamentals" page that would be an excellent primer for IT novices like me.  Now, that's education.  If you do move ahead with something like that, I'd volunteer to proof it for you, just to make sure you get an "idiot's view" of it.  And, an "idiot's view" is something I'm well qualified to give!  

Influencer Comment by Mike Elliott on August 12, 2014 at 11:05am

Thanks for the advice J D.

Comment by Alexander Lau on August 12, 2014 at 6:52am

Yes, I believe there are plenty of automotive marketing vendors out there with great intentions, but the reality is, if a vendor fails to examine automotive marketing best practices, successful external industry practices, etc., they're setting themselves up for failure.

Like anything else, without continuing education (CE) it will be difficult to keep pace with the best of them. We can sit around and talk cutting edge, all we want, but if those processes fail to deliver / convert, what's the sense in doing them in the first place?

With that being said, we're developing a customized, automotive web performance measurement tool, that blows the living heck out of Google Analytics. Should be done in a month or so... This will be my first public article.

Influencer Comment by Daniel Oliver on August 12, 2014 at 6:05am

Rant is spot on JD. Having been on both sides too one needs to be aware of the perception of the other. The Hard Sell  no longer works that well. The competition is keen but also plentiful. I try to educate my prospects but I have to pitch as well. Finding the right balance can oft times be difficult.

Influencer Comment by David Addison on August 12, 2014 at 5:00am

Nicely put J.D.