Brian Pasch takes a break from writing his next book and training industry leaders to sit down with CBT Automotive Network about digital retail and whether or not it is here to stay. Regardless of where the technology is going, it’s safe to say that no two people shop the exact same. According to Brian, it’s crucial for your dealership spend some time mapping out a welcoming and trusting shopping experience for every scenario from behind a screen to in the store.
Pasch has seen a consistent reaction where customers like only dealing with one person from start to finish. Surprisingly, the back end gross is not decreasing but instead, it steadily continues to go up. Many could find this shocking as they were not sure what digital marketing and shopping would do to the F&I leg and the process of the transaction.
When we asked Pasch his take on third-party lead providers and if he owned a dealership would he use them to attract leads and bring consumer in sales? His response, yes and he explains, “Recent events are opening dealer’s minds, for 
example, the Facebook data privacy issues. Dealers were able to target consumers pretty granularly because of third party data overlaid with Facebook… Now that that is stopping, think about the value that a Cars.com, Autotrader, or CarGurus has.” Pasch continues to say that it’s within their markets and audience where you can be more successful finding the right buyer for a car on your lot. After all, when shoppers visit their sites it’s because they are actually shopping and that a major factor according to Pasch.
It is difficult to compete with the cost per engaged shopper on dealers owned website. Pasch Tells CBT News when he further discusses why third party classified are strong platforms for dealer’s digital strategies. Again causing him to make the point that you need to be present on the sights where people go shopping, not because they ended up there after looking for floor mats but because they are the market that is in the market to buy a car.
