Click to do what?

OK – I just got back from Digital Dealer, and the conference was great. I did however see something that was really ridiculous. There’s actually two new companies out there that are introducing tools that allow dealers to negotiate with customers on-line.

Now maybe I’m crazy, but I’m sort of thinking that the fact that the customer is on-line might suggest that he or she isn’t interested in negotiating. Is this possibly the case? Well if it is, no one bothered to tell these guys. But it gets funnier.

One of these vendors proudly demonstrated to us their system that had a screen that listed the dealer’s vehicles and prices, along with buttons that read “click to buy now” or “click to negotiate”. Gee, I think that I might try the negotiate button. You’ve got to be kidding, how ridiculous could it be to ask a customer to choose between the options of buy now or negotiate? Why don’t we just put a bell in the showroom with a sign that says, “Ring to negotiate”. What in the world were these guys thinking when they designed this system?

Once the negotiating process begins, the customer is continuously given the option to “buy now” or “counter offer”. OK, I think I’ll counter offer!

When these guys come calling on your store and ask you to purchase this system for the low, low price of $2,500 per month, I would strongly advise you to “click” them out of your store.