Wheelin' and Dealin' - AutoNetSelling - Company Business and Marketing

Industry Standard, The, Dec, 2000 by Ben Hammer

To sell cars online, you have to abandon what works on the lot, says dealer Omnia Fowler. Forget about trying to close a deal quickly or to convince people that they're getting a special price. Instead, he says. be candid about pricing, answer e-mail within a few hours, and emphasize service by accepting trade-ins sight unseen.

Fowler should know. Last year he took in $1 million -- about 15 percent of his total business -- selling cars through his North Carolina-based online dealership. He also runs AutoNetSelling, an on-site program that has trained more than 600 dealers to peddle metal over the Net. For $1,500 apiece, students shadow Fowler's Net salespeople and take in two days' worth of lectures on topics such as how to build a successful Web site and which e-mails to answer first. (Hot tip: Those candid price quotes should only be given by phone. A dealer who supplies a figure by e-mail is giving customers ammunition to forward the message and shop around for a better deal.)

Selling cars online takes some getting used to, says Fowler, a fourth-generation car dealer. The Web makes it easy for customers to flood sales staff with inquiries, only a few of which lead to purchases. Fowler claims his salespeople receive up to 100 e-mails a day. Inevitably, just as a salesperson is ready to close a deal, their beeper goes off, alerting them to another electronic inquiry, It can be hard to stay focused. But Fowler's staff and students have good reason to master the art: Nationwide, cars sell on the Net for about $150 more than they would on the lot. And last year. Americans bought 17 million new cars.