Transparency! Buzzword or Way of Life? Part – 1
Many people seek anonymity in their online dealings, that is why we get leads with bad phone numbers, real names are not given and our email replies go unreturned only to find out that the lead has hit the showroom and purchased a car using the information we have given them as a negotiating tool.
I have also seen this work the other way around too. A prospect that was worked in our showroom leaves and continues shopping and the internet department winds up with the lead after customer continues to shop online, usually through a third party vendor. To save that customer is a formidable task.
The consumer is placed in a bad position if it is discovered and may even decide to shop elsewhere or completely remove themselves from the market. A bad proposition for all parties concerned.
What does that have to do with “Transparency”?
Everything and nothing.
Almost daily the used car manager will request that I change prices on a car on the website or even delete it if the consumer has completed a transaction, which is done by default via the nightly DMS updates. Their is usually a huge disparity in the pricing online and those offered by the “lot lizards”.
Can this have long term effects on your business. Probably not!! It can have short term moments of panic for those the most affected by it. Long term it will push more consumers to the interwebs. Oh, that is already happening!
Not listing a price on an inventory item online, not giving the price of your service upfront and not worrying about others online conversation about you in your every interaction with a customer or potential customer is as antiquated as hiding behind “handles”, sending unsolicited emails and cloaked SEO tactics.
Eventually it all becomes known, so why doesn’t everybody get on the same page and become completely open in their dealings? The move is in that direction what are you doing to become more transparent at every level?
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Check out what others are saying about this post...[...] will need to be transparent on line to use the internet effectively. We have earner articles on transparency and transparency part 2 that you should check out so we won’t cover the same information [...]
[...] will need to be transparent on line to use the internet effectively. We have earner articles on transparency and transparency part 2 that you should check out so we won’t cover the same information [...]