-George Nenni, Generations Digital

Most dealers have heard of Google Analytics (GA), and they may know it is installed somehow on their website. They might even understand that GA gives them performance data on click-throughs, visitors, leads, etc. What many dealers don’t really know or understand is, who controls the administrative access to their analytics, and why does that matter? It matters because today a few unscrupulous automotive website providers and ad agencies are holding dealers’ Google Analytics access hostage and claiming the dealer does not own this data. When the dealer decides to switch websites or agencies, they are not able to access all of their historical data to do comparisons on past performance.

Let me try to draw a similar comparison: Dealers are certainly in control of their monthly financial statements, but what if a dealership were to lose access to their last 5 years of financial statements? What if the dealer were told they don’t own that data, and the person that owns it (or claims they do), won’t give them access? There would be an uproar, since the dealer could no longer do year-over-year P&L comparisons, or effectively manage their business.

Google Analytics is the free analytics package that is installed on nearly every dealer website across the country. GA allows the dealer to track key performance metrics on their websites. It tracks visitors, traffic sources, percentage of mobile traffic, bounce rates, VDPs, leads, chats, texts, all those wonderfully important web metrics. The more historical data you have, the more effectively you can do year-over-year comparisons to answer questions like, “Am I driving more mobile traffic vs. last year?”, or “Are my visitors more engaged than they were two years ago?”, and many more. Without historical data, you are essentially starting over every time you switch website companies. I educate and advise dealers to immediately secure admininstrative access to their GA (as well as their Google My Business and Google Tag Manager container, but those are for another discussion!).

So how do you find out if you have admin access, and if not, who the admin may be? Start with using the website www.GAchecker.com and find out how many GA instances are loaded on your website.

Write down the UA number for each GA instance (UA numbers are the unique identifiers for each instance of GA). You should then start asking questions. First, ask your website provider and your agencies who controls your Google Analytics? Once you determine who the admins are, find out which GA instance has the most historical information. When you’ve found the admin for your oldest and active instance, you should politely (but directly) ask for the admin access to be turned over to the dealership. You can then add the agency back as a user, but without admin privileges. This one seemingly small move will provide you benefits for many years to come. You will now be in control of your GA data, and never again be held hostage.

Of course, once you get this admin access, make sure you assign it either to the dealer principal or owner, or to a very trusted manager at the store. Keep in mind, if that manager someday leaves, you need to make sure you secure these logins. You do not want to lose the access to your GA, since those are the keys to viewing your historical website success metrics. Once you’ve taken this important step, the next step is to begin educating yourself more on the power of Google Analytics so you can put it to use in holding your advertising agencies accountable for campaigns such as paid search, paid display, and paid social.

I hope this explanation has not seemed too overly technical. If so please reach out as I am happy to help walk you through this process. If you are an automotive retailer, I would love to help you better digital marketing performance with a complimentary audit, including analyzing your paid search and social media spending. I can help you greatly improve your return on ad spend and gain more transparency with your digital marketing investments. Details here: generationsdigital.com

You can also follow me on these social networks:
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/georgenenni
Facebook: facebook.com/generationsdigital/
Twitter: twitter.com/generationsdig

Auto shows are one of the best marketing tools available for small share marketers. Why?  Because the exposure achieved by auto shows is many times greater than the brand’s US sales.  So for example, FIAT sells about 35,000 vehicles in the U. S. market, and Foresight Research estimates that over 1.1 million auto show attendees recalled visiting the FIAT display.  For Mitsubishi it’s a similar result – 100,000 sales and 1.1 million visitors.   Of course the luxury brands and the high volume brands benefit more, but small share brands have a huge opportunity to expose their product on a near level playing field.  Despite display floor size differences, location on the floor, competitive glitz and glamour, competitive media buzz, potential consumers can explore all brands, experience the new vehicles in a hands-on-way, and connect with experts and fellow fans.  All this provides an opportunity to discover brands for the first time.  With this discovery can come making the consideration list, for any brands at the show.

For the 2017 – 2018 season, 12 month intenders added an average of 1 brand per household to their consideration list.  Of course the luxury brands and the high volume brands gained the most but small share brands expanded consideration the most on a percentage basis.   We asked auto show visitors, ”as a result of attending the auto show, have you added any brands to your consideration list that you weren’t previously considering”.

When we compared the results to pre-show consideration, the lift for these brands is huge.  FCA was the big winner – Maserati up 78%, Alfa Romeo up 48% and FIAT up 41%.  The average for all brands was 22%. Even in the digital media age, the likelihood that a person would click on a Mitsubishi website as frequently as Ford, Toyota or Chevrolet is remote, but the auto show provides a more level playing field.  So, as brands consider taking a pass on auto shows, consider the consideration that will be lost and the consequences in the dealer’s showroom.

This information was gathered from an annual study produced by Foresight Research.    In 2018, a total of 16,111 interviews were conducted in 55 markets and results published in “2018 Auto Show Season:  Attendance, Attendees and Results”.

For more information, contact:
Bob Longstreth, VP
Foresight Research
248.608.1870 x 18
blongstreth@foresightresearch.com
www.foresightresearch.com

By Tillman Coffey

No doubt last month’s Navarro ruling in the Supreme Court was a big win for retail automotive. That decision affirmed that the same federal overtime exemption that applies to a “salesman, partsman, and mechanic” also applies to service advisors who are engaged in selling. In other words, service advisors who qualify for this federal exemption are not entitled to overtime pay. 

The Navarro decision, however, does not relieve you of all of your obligations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). You still need to maintain accurate time records for persons eligible for the exemption and to ensure that these employees receive at least minimum wage for all hours worked.

Time Records

Under the FLSA, employers are required to maintain accurate records of all hours worked for every employee not specifically exempt from the recordkeeping requirement. Since the exemption at the heart of Navarro is for overtime only, you are required to maintain accurate time records for service advisors, just as you must for the other job positions eligible for the exemption (salespersons, mechanics, and parts counterpersons).

The majority of dealerships now record time electronically (if they can get employees to use the system). Most of those systems allow managers to override or change entries or input missed “punches.” Be aware that excessive use of the override feature could raise suspicions about the accuracy of the records. The absence of accurate time records not only violates federal law, but also creates an avoidable dispute were an employee to challenge pay practices.

Minimum Wage

The FLSA also requires dealerships to pay most employees at least minimum wage for all hours worked. Dealerships make this determination by dividing the employee’s total compensation earned in the workweek by the total number of hours worked. If, using the current federal hourly minimum wage of $7.25, the calculation reveals that the employee earned at least that amount for all hours worked, your dealership is in compliance with this federal obligation. 

If the test reveals that the employee did not earn at least minimum wage, your dealership must make up the difference with supplemental pay. Remember: in states with a minimum wage higher than the federal minimum wage, most dealerships substitute the state minimum wage when running this compliance “test.”

For purposes of satisfying the federal minimum wage requirement for employees otherwise eligible for the overtime exemption, the type of compensation paid does not matter. You can pay employees eligible for this exemption on an hourly basis only, or commissions only, or a salary only, or any combination of these. You also can include other incentive payments, such as bonuses, in determining whether you have met your minimum wage obligations. All that is required is that the employee receive at least minimum wage for hours worked in the appropriate period. 

Conclusion

Ensuring compliance with the FLSA’s recordkeeping and minimum wage obligations reduces the risk of compliance issues. A thorough FLSA compliance audit should further reduce those risks. And, with all the recent attention on dealership pay issues, there may be no better time than now to conduct that compliance audit.

For more information, contact the author at TCoffey@fisherphillips.com or 404.240.4222.