Social Networking: Should it be More About Relationship Building than Selling Cars?

Posted on October 08, 2009 by Mary S. Butler

While car dealers on Facebook and Twitter are nothing new, an increasing number of those retailers are using their status updates to list inventory. There is now software that can automatically update Twitter, Facebook and other social-networking websites to include a dealership’s entire inventory. Rather than treating the status update as a classified ad, the real value in joining these social networks may be in the opportunity to create relationships with both customers and colleagues alike.

However, what is the best way to go about this? That is something that we will be covering during the Social Networking panel at next week’s J.D. Power and Associates 2009 Automotive Internet Roundtable in Las Vegas.

J.D. Power Automotive Internet Roundtable
The J.D. Power 2009 Automotive Internet Roundtable will take place on Oct. 14-16, 2009 at the Red Rock Resort and Spa in Las Vegas.

The Social Networking panel, which I am moderating, will cover:

• OEMs and dealerships who are using social networks effectively

• Opportunities to build relationships with current customers and potential rewards (increased visits for service, referrals, etc.)

• Advantages of connecting with fellow dealers (information sharing/collaboration, etc.)

Joining me on the panel will be a number of thought leaders and practitioners in the digital automotive space. They are:

  • Christopher Barger, Director of Social Media, General Motors (@cbarger and @GMblogs)
  • Jared Hamilton, CEO and Founder, Drivingsales.com (@drivingsales)
  • Tom Chisholm, Midwest Sales Director, Facebook
  • Eric Miltsch, IT-Web Director, Auction Direct USA (@AuctionDirect)
  • Ralph Paglia, Director of Digital Marketing, ADP Dealers (@ralphpaglia)

Are there any other related topics you think this panel should cover? Please share them in the comments here or tweet @SocialDealers. During the panel, which takes place between 10:15 and 11 a.m. PDT on Thursday, Oct. 15, we will be taking questions sent via Twitter. If you can’t attend the conference next week, look for followup coverage here or on the J.D. Power Online Automotive Review site.

Related links:

Image credit:
2009 Automotive Internet Roundtable image appears courtesy of J. D. Power and Associates
Posted in Social networking on October 8, 2009
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Comments

4 Responses to “Social Networking: Should it be More About Relationship Building than Selling Cars?”

  1. October 9th, 2009

    Mary brings up an issue which is closer to the “old school” way of doing business for car dealers than many people might initially believe… As most people who have ever sold cars for a dealer will attest, the older generation of car sales professionals seem to always advise newbies to focus on building relationships with customers first, then earning the trust necessary for the customer to feel comfortable buying a new or used vehicle from them. Even in more recent years, while installing, training and operating Internet Sales Departments, many of us in the car business have lamented the lack of relationship building that the very prospect of responding to an RFQ lead involves… No exchange of non-pricing information, no establishment of trust and no conveyance of the human aspects of customer service… Just Deliver the lowest possible price by email and may the dealer willing to lose the most profit win! One of the reasons that I like the use of social media marketing and various reputation management strategies is that for some dealers it can provide a means of “getting to know” people in a dealership’s community in a way that is far enough in advance of them coming “into market” that the objectives around building relationships are much more attainable than what we have done with digital marketing to date…

  2. October 17th, 2009

    Mary Butler did an excellent job of moderating the panel session at the J. D. Power Automotive Internet Roundtable by this same name. I was one of her 5 panelists and have participated in many such sessions at previous events. Mary’s organization and preparation of each panelist was superior than any previous session moderator I have worked with. because of her excellent directing, the session was a huge hit at the J. D. Power event and generated many kudos and more written audience submitted questions than I saw at any other session during this year’s event.

  3. October 18th, 2009

    Thanks for putting together a great panel Mary. IMO it was one of the best at this years #JDPAIRT for sure!!

    Social is huge and dealers have many questions about it.

    My question via a tweet for the panel that didn’tt get answered due to the lack of time…

    Q for #JDPAIRT – Is Social scalable for dealers or does it need to be done at the “personal” dealer level? Who should to be the “voice”?

  4. October 18th, 2009

    Mary,

    Incredible job putting together such a diverse panel; I look forward to the transformation of the social activities within the automotive segment.

    Relationships and trust are two important themes that everyone’s social effort should be focused around.

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