The Current State of Dealership Photography in the Current Market Environment
Transcript
Kelly : Let’s discuss the current state of automotive. And I’m going to pretty much just let you run with this one, we’re in a strange time we have been for the last couple of years, whereby used cars are the main revenue drivers. Imagery is crucial, break it down, what’s been going on.n
nPeter :nI’ve been fortunate enough to work with a team here with myself and our team here to be able to over the last two years really build Dealer Image Pro to the place we wanted to be, and service at a national or international level at this point. And we’re watching the competition at this level. Now, it’s starting to get where I said to my son yesterday, as I was, you know, we had some things to handle this week that were just like ups and downs, and it’s just business stuff. But I said to him, the sharks at this level are a little hungrier. And so we need to, you know, we need to fight the sharks. And I think as long as we do a good job, we will continue to come out on top. n
n nThat being said, there’s a lot of big conglomerates that still give their general managers autonomy to choose the merchandising companies that they would like, and so forth. And as you get to the top, there’s less and less of, and so you really have to be on top of your game. And it doesn’t just become at this level, because I know, any dealer that came on with us, as long as we follow our methods, we’re going to get them a perfect set of photos, we’re going to get them the perfect video, we’re going to get them the perfect 360. And we’re going to display it on their website for their customers. n
nnBut going back to 2009. And being on a property at a dealership in Southern California of 110 degrees and being responsible for getting 300 cars per month online, is not an easy task. And what we’ve done specifically by taking and moving our entire platform, so that dealers can bring their photos and video and 360 in house is that we’ve streamlined that so that anyone can do it. So with and I don’t want to go into our company or software, but basically in house solutions are making it so that the entry level person, the entry level worker at a dealership can or has the ability capability to be able to bring cars to market in with flattering angles and flattering photos and so forth. And we’ve done that exceptionally well, in my opinion. Of course, I’m biased to that, but it’s pretty evident. n
n nBut what’s happening at a bigger level, the Sonic the Lithia, the Penske but the big big guys that are out there are watching companies like ours and starting to pick up on who’s doing not only doing the best work, but how are they getting the best time to market? Are they streamlining operations? Is the end product, you know, look perfect, all eyes dotted T’s crossed and so forth. And more importantly, are our customers engaged because of it? So it’s a very big spectrum of items that needs to be handled. It’s not just about photos anymore. It’s about how, what’s the process to get to the photos. And at the end? Is the product perfect or not?nn
nPeter :nI’ve been fortunate enough to work with a team here with myself and our team here to be able to over the last two years really build Dealer Image Pro to the place we wanted to be, and service at a national or international level at this point. And we’re watching the competition at this level. Now, it’s starting to get where I said to my son yesterday, as I was, you know, we had some things to handle this week that were just like ups and downs, and it’s just business stuff. But I said to him, the sharks at this level are a little hungrier. And so we need to, you know, we need to fight the sharks. And I think as long as we do a good job, we will continue to come out on top. n
n nThat being said, there’s a lot of big conglomerates that still give their general managers autonomy to choose the merchandising companies that they would like, and so forth. And as you get to the top, there’s less and less of, and so you really have to be on top of your game. And it doesn’t just become at this level, because I know, any dealer that came on with us, as long as we follow our methods, we’re going to get them a perfect set of photos, we’re going to get them the perfect video, we’re going to get them the perfect 360. And we’re going to display it on their website for their customers. n
nnBut going back to 2009. And being on a property at a dealership in Southern California of 110 degrees and being responsible for getting 300 cars per month online, is not an easy task. And what we’ve done specifically by taking and moving our entire platform, so that dealers can bring their photos and video and 360 in house is that we’ve streamlined that so that anyone can do it. So with and I don’t want to go into our company or software, but basically in house solutions are making it so that the entry level person, the entry level worker at a dealership can or has the ability capability to be able to bring cars to market in with flattering angles and flattering photos and so forth. And we’ve done that exceptionally well, in my opinion. Of course, I’m biased to that, but it’s pretty evident. n
n nBut what’s happening at a bigger level, the Sonic the Lithia, the Penske but the big big guys that are out there are watching companies like ours and starting to pick up on who’s doing not only doing the best work, but how are they getting the best time to market? Are they streamlining operations? Is the end product, you know, look perfect, all eyes dotted T’s crossed and so forth. And more importantly, are our customers engaged because of it? So it’s a very big spectrum of items that needs to be handled. It’s not just about photos anymore. It’s about how, what’s the process to get to the photos. And at the end? Is the product perfect or not?nn