Tri Auto Tutorials from the Direct Mail Diva

Over the past month or so I've begun posting "tutorials" on all the little extras we include with our marketing. If you have questions over any of the pieces of your campaign, you can find some of the answers here. Of course, call any of us on the Diva Team to get details. Here are links to each post on the different topics, or click on tutorials to view them all at once. Toll Free Tracking Phone Numbers Credit Websites Ultimate Prep Pack (lot outfitting kit) MailPlus Mail Delivery Tri Auto Sweepstakes Marketvision Personal Websites (PURLS)

MarketVision

I reference Marketvision quite a bit but it's been a while since I blogged on it. Here's some quick info-for those of you who haven't experienced this technology yet.

What is it?

Marketvision is a computer kiosk that comes with every mailer we provide. It's delivered a few days before your sale in a black crate, then picked up a couple of days after your sale. Setting it up is as easy as: 1. take it out of the crate, 2. put it on top of the crate, 3. plug it in & turn it on.

What does it do?

Quite a bit actually.

On the front end it:

*Tells customers what they won (replaces the prize banner) *Collects customer data (phone, email, trade in, etc)

*Helps manage traffic *Provides a final closing tool with a voucher with additional trade in money

*Gives salespeople an easy way to collect email addresses

On the back end it:

*Links in real time to our website-you can log in 24 hours a day to view up to date data

*Provides reports on zip code response, lead contact lists, leads by salesperson, and an easy format of all leads to export to your CRM.

*Shows you exactly the response rate you received off the mailer and/or other advertising

*Allows you to capture not only ROI but missed opportunities

Why should I use it?

All the reasons above are many of the reasons our dealers choose Tri Auto. The largest gain we see from clients using Marketvision is our zip code analysis. After 3-4 sales with the technology Katy is able to perform an in depth look at what areas are performing best, we can then narrow in on those zip codes eliminating the ones that don't do well. This has allowed us to double response for the same (or less) budget with several of our clients.

Current clients-why do you use MarketVision? What should other dealers know about this program?

Are You Going Soft?

I'm fortunate enough to work with Bryan Neale at Caskey here in Indy. Caskey is a sales training firm. We were meeting together a couple of weeks ago and he was asking me about business, I was sharing with him the inventory struggles, tight credit and Clunkers ups & downs my clients have been facing as of late. He listened and finally said "are you going soft? It sounds like you've lost your edge Steph." And that got me thinking-was I starting to let everything going on around our industry affect my attitude and determination? Maybe a little--I can see now that I was starting to challenge dealers less on if what they were doing was working, starting to accept the notion that maybe the market couldn't be moved, basically stopped doing my job. What about you? I think we've all gone down that path a little this year. I see it changing in many of you though! Cash for Clunkers has reminded dealers what a full showroom is like-and given them hope that people are in the market to buy, they just have to have the right incentive to do it. So here's the real question-what are you going to do to keep from "going soft" again? ...and here's where I do my job. I can provide you with traffic, brainstorm new incentives to drive even more people in, and perhaps best of all, I can show you REAL DATA from hundreds of sales to help you determine what mailer would get you the results you are looking for.