Matt Lasher: Mistakes OEMS Make Going Direct
Transcript
Matt : So I think thatu2019s one of the mistakes that some of the OEMs are making right now is looking enviously at say Tesla, from a direct to consumer perspective, and aspiring to do that, right? Now, maybe that works if you simplify your product line, and Tesla doesn’t have that many options, right? But go configure an F-150, or a Silverado or something, right? Like, not only are there supply constraints, you might be able to build a car a certain way on a website, but you can never go get it because they’re not making them that way. Right? Now, you need a human being to translate some of that.n
nSean : Yeah, that’s such a great point. And you know what, too, I’d like to speak to the dealer side of that Reid, because, you know, on the other side, I think dealers can make some mistakes as a related I’m not saying West Herr by any meansn
nMatt : We make lots of mistakes. We try to own up to them. But yeah,n
nSean : No doubt, but like, you know, I think one of the biggest mistakes as it relates to OEM marketing partners, and I’ll just use WebBuy as an example, right? You mentioned digital retailing, retailing, it made me think of that. It’s like sometimes though, OEM will be pushing something that may not be a good solution, or it may be something that your market or your dealership might be able to use. But it’s, you know, shopping, other partners, right shopping, other partners that do the same thing might make sense. Sometimes, like, maybe the WeBuy on the OEMs deal is 500 a month, I mean, maybe 4000 a month, you could get three times the ROI. So I think one of the biggest mistakes dealers make is just, you know, taking that OEM, you know, for face value, and they’re saying add this thing to your site or whatever. And without seeing what else is out there, because man there is, if you look at if you take one tool, whether it’s digital retailing or anything else and shopping around sometimes, I mean, there’s a big difference between vendor partners. Do you ever agree with that?n
nMatt : I would say it’s a nuanced conversation. Because single point dealers are a lot different than regionally dense groups like Westar. And we’re a lot different than national groups that might be a couple stores per state, or they might have a real regionally dense presence or whatever. But we all have sort of different needs within that, within those ecosystems. If I’m a single point dealer, it’s very unrealistic to expect that I’m going to be able to manage, create, update, innovate my website better than maybe the OEM. I don’t even know why the OEMs make us do that. n
nI’ve been a longtime proponent of actually, I believe, the OEM site toyota.com or ford.com, whatever is the best place for a consumer to go to configure their new car. What do I even need my dealer website for? The packages are described better? The pictures are better through the mountains and emotive things at the lake fishing and whatever you know, and the website overall can be AB tested by some sophisticated people and it’s one website not 700 through the dealer network. So I think sometimes the dealers are like, lobbed this problem of like, Hey, you have to use vendor XYZ, but oh, hey, by the way, your website sucks. Well, no shit, it sucks.n
nSean : Yeah, that’s such a great point. And you know what, too, I’d like to speak to the dealer side of that Reid, because, you know, on the other side, I think dealers can make some mistakes as a related I’m not saying West Herr by any meansn
nMatt : We make lots of mistakes. We try to own up to them. But yeah,n
nSean : No doubt, but like, you know, I think one of the biggest mistakes as it relates to OEM marketing partners, and I’ll just use WebBuy as an example, right? You mentioned digital retailing, retailing, it made me think of that. It’s like sometimes though, OEM will be pushing something that may not be a good solution, or it may be something that your market or your dealership might be able to use. But it’s, you know, shopping, other partners, right shopping, other partners that do the same thing might make sense. Sometimes, like, maybe the WeBuy on the OEMs deal is 500 a month, I mean, maybe 4000 a month, you could get three times the ROI. So I think one of the biggest mistakes dealers make is just, you know, taking that OEM, you know, for face value, and they’re saying add this thing to your site or whatever. And without seeing what else is out there, because man there is, if you look at if you take one tool, whether it’s digital retailing or anything else and shopping around sometimes, I mean, there’s a big difference between vendor partners. Do you ever agree with that?n
nMatt : I would say it’s a nuanced conversation. Because single point dealers are a lot different than regionally dense groups like Westar. And we’re a lot different than national groups that might be a couple stores per state, or they might have a real regionally dense presence or whatever. But we all have sort of different needs within that, within those ecosystems. If I’m a single point dealer, it’s very unrealistic to expect that I’m going to be able to manage, create, update, innovate my website better than maybe the OEM. I don’t even know why the OEMs make us do that. n
nI’ve been a longtime proponent of actually, I believe, the OEM site toyota.com or ford.com, whatever is the best place for a consumer to go to configure their new car. What do I even need my dealer website for? The packages are described better? The pictures are better through the mountains and emotive things at the lake fishing and whatever you know, and the website overall can be AB tested by some sophisticated people and it’s one website not 700 through the dealer network. So I think sometimes the dealers are like, lobbed this problem of like, Hey, you have to use vendor XYZ, but oh, hey, by the way, your website sucks. Well, no shit, it sucks.n