Do you consider yourself a progressive dealer?  Is it something innate, or learned?  I consider myself a pretty successful guy…or at least strive to be one, but I know people who still sit around watching COPS all day playing the lottery and eating Long John Silvers.  With major companies crumbling because of bureaucracy, stubbornness, fat-dumb-and-happy-syndrome…or all of the above , wouldn’t you assume that dealers more than ever would focus on bettering their processes to push themselves out in front for the new generation of car buyers?  You would assume.  As do I.

I want to talk about my favorite dealer to-date.  His name is Brian Hoskins…from Brian Hoskins Ford in Pennsylvania.  Why do I like Brian so much?  Aside from the fact he’s a super likable guy, Brian Hoskins is Brian Hoskins, yes the owner.  And he is INVOLVED.  Brian Hoskins cares about his store and shows concern about the future, and has genuine ambition to be the best regardless of how big or how small his store is.

Before Brian came to us, he had one of those OEM “Here, Use This”  Dealer Websites.  The site was convoluted, hard to navigate, outdated, mundane…and worst of all it had zero rankings on Google - even when you searched for “Brian Hoskins Ford”.

I was introduced to Brian after he took a demo of our software and was interested in a website.  Then he wanted to learn more.   He asked the right questions about SEO and Paid Search and even Press Releases and microsites.  He didn’t know much, but he knew he needed to learn if he was going to be the best.  He saw the writing on the wall….whether he was a successful dealer with his old website company or not, he still wanted to better himself.  And better he did.

Within a month, we got Brian Hoskins setup with new Inventory Management Software, a great looking Website with dynamically piped-in specials, an SEO program and a Paid Search (SEM) program to bring in immediate traffic while the SEO took effect. Currently his site visitors are up 55% month over month, his bounce rate on his website well below average, his average Time On Site is huge and his SEO rankings have increased 1,250%…and yes, he is #1 AND #2 on Google for “Brian Hoskins Ford”.

Brian called me on his way out the door to the beach for the 4th to learn how to read Google Analytics and his monthly SEO ranking report.  He asked questions that were productive and absorbed all of it like a sponge.  He set his own expectations, and set them correctly.  He knew that he was going to be involved, and that eCarList, as good as we are, still offer dealers TOOLS to make themselves better.

So why is Brian Hoskins different again?  Because he’s the owner who cares.  He represents everything the Auto Industry should be and every reason why GM is in the position its in now.  He didn’t task some Internet guy (who may or may not be there in another 3 months) with the job of finding a better web solution, or convince himself that Ford buyers don’t use the Internet, or believe the economy would turn itself around in his favor.  He picked up the phone, found the best web solution, and made sure he understood what he was investing in…which just so happens to be his future.