Jim McNatt has been in the automotive business for over 40 years. He has created extremely successful car dealerships and sold them for record breaking amounts. I chose the owner of the McNatt Auto Group for this interview because he is shockingly Internet savvy for his age group (not saying he is old; just advanced for his generation).
Jim McNatt’s dealerships focus on providing superior service and they have received several awards. His Honda dealership has won several awards including Honda’s President’s Award. His Toyota dealership is unique in that it offers free Internet and coffee…If I lived in Texas I could go there instead of Panera Bread. Mr. McNatt gets it. He knows what consumers want and he gives it to them.
Jim McNatt has sold several dealerships the last few years and has five very successful dealerships left: Honda, Toyota, Scion and Dodge are located in Denton, Texas, just North of Dallas and his Chevrolet is located in Sanger, Texas. He also created a very successful community support effort.
Asking an Automative Expert Some Serious Internet Marketing Questions
I asked Mr. McNatt some questions that I thought other business could learn from. Whether your business is small or large it is important to pay attention to what works for the larger companies.
How important do you think it is for companies to adapt their marketing strategies and incorporate the use of the Web?
We, as an automobile group with separate locations, started this process to retail units outside of our market area. That has now changed to the fact that 50% of our new automobile sales are coming from the Internet dept. This is especially true with our import franchises
Do you feel traditional marketing strategies such as newspaper, TV and radio advertising are working today? Have you cut back on these forms of advertising? Do they still have a place?
We have a policy of using the newspapers for basically pre-owned units. Newspaper funds have been cut by 75% in the new car areas. Radio is hard to judge and you are unable to cover all the stations so we concentrate on a given segment when we do use radio.
I have watched you study Internet marketing options for years. You personally analyze data and study the monthly analytics. Typically, a company has their tech department review these reports, but you as President and owner take a special interest in them. Why do you feel it is important for Presidents/CEOs to analyze this data personally?
Yes, with the use of computer desking processes in the sales area every customer is logged into our business development centers and we monitor the source of what brought that customer into our stores. We buy Internet ups from wholesalers such as Dealix/Autobytell/etc. We are now able to measure accountability with the results of each of these vendors.
By paying attention to the analytics we can see the advertising cost per car. We can see what is working and what doesn’t work and with these results we can determine if the wholesalers are doing what they promise to do. With these results we are able to hold the wholesalers accountable and contact them with measured results which allow us to say you are or your not doing what you are suppose to do.
You have always been careful spending money, but you always invested in the latest technology for your dealerships and other businesses. Why?
You must be careful, as there are a lot of companies with stories better than their results, like any other business. We are limited in most cases to the fact that our technology is limited as all stores are tied to the Reynolds system and they are currently stronger in accounting than they are in the marketing areas. We concentrate on the use of advanced technolgy with our customers in measuring their satisfaction and also the routing of the large amount of cars that come thru the service departments each day
Everyone is coming out with a way that will help you accomplish things you couldn’t before. Often the compatability of computer systems don’t match up and problems occur. You have to understand technology and how things work because people come in that are great at sales. They want a lot of money and long contracts, but they often can’t deliver. They want to feed off people. I recommend you stay with people that are accountable. We have had some come in and their main business number and fax number don’t work. Pretty clear sign to avoid them.
How has the Internet changed the way car dealerships sell cars and has it improved sales?
The Internet has improved our customer’s knowledge of the product they are considering. The customer, in most cases, prefers not to deal with the traditional hassle associated with buying a car and the Internet has been a great vehicle to improve our communication with customers and also offers a more professional method of communication.
How successful do you feel your businesses would be doing without using the Internet for advertising and marketing?
40% of the sales from our import stores orginate through the Internet. Domestic makes drop off and pre-owned are in the same range of imports due to the fact that they can see every aspect of a pre-owned units on our web sites. As I said before, in total 50% of our new automobile sales are coming from the Internet deptartment. We would be selling a lot less cars without the Internet.
Do you feel only large businesses can benefit from Internet marketing?
No. If you are going to communicate with your customers, with a business large or small, we must depend on technology to help preserve our time and efforts. We need this and it is appreciated by our customers
Ok, a delicate question. You are older than 60, we can say that, right? Why do you think you have a better grasp on Internet marketing and the need for Internet marketing than many that are much younger that you? And let me comment and say that you are more Internet savvy than 90% of the people I deal with on daily basis.
My competition forces me to get an understanding, Either get in or get off. If you want to do well today you have to keep up. The Dallas market is so competitive you must keep up. I still work 12 hour days, but you have to find what works and outsmart them. If you aren’t going to what us necessary than you won’t do well. I feel I am computer challanged, but I surround myself with people that understand what needs to be done. I have a team of salespeople, managers and Internet departments; when you work as a team you get great results.
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Mr. McNatt mentioned Reynolds Solutions in one of his answers above. They have been falling behind, way behind, in regards to SEO for some time. Example, site-specific meta tags. Reynolds hired Al Carl in February who is revamping the system. I spoke with him for about an hour and this guy gets it. Soon all car dealers that use Reynolds will see some significant changes that will allows companies to optimize and market their sites more effectively.
A big thanks to Mr. McNatt for his time. I hope all businesses can learn something from this information. I still have people tell me marketing on the Web is not important. Internet marketing is a necessity. A Web site is necessary. As Mr. McNatt said, “Either get in or get off.”
Melissa Fach- SEO Aware
