A consumer action idea, but it comes with a pact

Would you rather be loved or hated?

I had to ask myself that as I pondered whether to provide what might be my best idea in some time. Only problem with this idea — it’s cause-and-effect.

See, you’ll love it. Your staff? They’ll hate it.

And as I’ve always imagined myself more as a hero (the loved) than a villain (the hated), your staff’s likely reaction is a little tough for me to stomach.

So how about we make a deal? I’ll give you the idea — and it’s golden! — and you promise to destroy the evidence when you’re done reading.

This idea stems from a study done by Dominion Insights, an industry business analytics provider, which examined consumer actions on CycleTrader.com. Because there are millions of motorcycle and powersports customers checking out that site monthly, the data from the study acts as a consumer compass for us. We can look at the data and then decide on which direction to go in order to draw the most eyeballs on your units.

Part of that study showed us the impact that multiple photos have on our listings. So you get a trade-in on a new unit deal, your staff prepares some information on that unit, snaps a photo of it and posts it all online. Then you wait for the leads to flow in, right? Well, what if your staff took additional time with each unit and snapped several photos — say five — and posted those online? Would there be a difference in terms of the number of consumer actions on that unit post — like additional clicks — because of the additional photos? In other words, does extra effort by your staff lead to extra benefit to your dealership?
Dominion Insights studied that question and through the mass of consumer data found that indeed a noticeable difference was gained if you posted five photos vs. just one photo. In fact, five times as many consumer actions were seen on listings that had five photos vs. those that just had one.

But that’s not all. The study also found that if you snapped 20 photos of that unit and posted all of those online, that the rate of consumer actions multiplied by even more. Twenty or more photos resulted in 10 times the number of consumer actions vs. the dealership that posted just one photo.

And this is where the golden idea comes in. See, most of you are much like your counterparts who I talked with at the recent Triumph dealer meeting. During an educational seminar discussing online marketing, I broached this subject and everybody looked at me like I was crazy — who has time to snap and post 20 photos of each unit on our inventory? That’s hundreds of photos! Maybe even thousands. Who has time to do that?

So brace yourself — here’s the idea.

At your next sales meeting, I want you to gather your staff and ask each one of them to pull out their smartphone. I’m imagining that nearly every one of your sales staff now has one. Next, assuming they have an iPhone, ask them to go online and download the PowerSports Network app. It’s free. This application allows your staff to take photos of units and post those photos online.
Finally, and here’s the important part, inform your staff that from this day forward, each time you see one of them using their smartphone in the dealership and they’re not helping a customer, that they have officially volunteered to use that app to take 20 photos of a unit and post those online.

It’s golden! Just think of the volume of unit photos that will suddenly make their way online. Think of the 10 times volume of leads pouring into those guys’ emails. Think of the additional sales and the impact to your bottom line.

But in carrying this out, don’t forget our pact. I provided the idea. You provide the muscle, and then destroy the evidence.

After all, heroes aren’t supposed to bleed, right?

Neil Pascale is the Business Development Manager for Dominion Powersports Solutions, a dealer service company that includes PowerSports Network, Cycle Trader, Traffic Log Pro, Ziios and Dominion Insights. He can be reached at neil.pascale@dominionpowersports.com.