DealerTalkX Toronto hosted by Kijiji, took place Tuesday, September 20th at the Allstream Centre. Hundreds of dealers and marketers alike visited the former Automotive Building at Exhibition Place to network and listen to presentations surrounding the theme of the event, “Digital Collision”.

The conference now travels to Montreal for a stop on September 28th and closes in Calgary on October 6th.

If you couldn’t attend, the event was also streaming live on the Kijiji for Business Facebook page. Weren’t able to catch that either?

Don’t worry, here’s our recap of DealerTalkX: Digital Collision in Toronto.

A Golden Opportunity

Jon Montgomery, Olympic skeleton gold medalist in Vancouver 2010, kicked off the event with an inspiring discussion about desire, passion and pushing your team forward with empowerment and the right tools.

Jon reminded dealers, “We have control over nothing, but the attitude we choose to have everyday”.

After his keynote, he stuck around for photos and we were able to catch a photo of his gold medal – what a beaut!

Social Selling Secrets

After the kickoff keynote with Jon, DealerTalkX broke off into workshops. Alan Dickie‘s valuable presentation titled Create, Cast & Capture: Social Selling Secrets was fittingly streamed live on Facebook while offline Chuck Seguin and Niel Hiscox discussed and debated key topics facing dealers.

Alan shared an energetic presentation encouraging dealers to create digital ecosystems using their social media pages. He stressed the importance of video content which is easy to consume and presented real ways to create a successful video.

Alan put a big focus on shifting dealership marketing philosophy from “push marketing” to “pull marketing”. What he meant, instead of pushing consumers towards the dealership through advertising, pull them towards the dealership through a community fueled by relevant, valuable content.

Takeaways:

Empower your sales representatives to be marketers for the dealership too.

Create engaging video that lives on your dealer social platforms to pull consumers towards your dealership.

An Ever-Growing Market: Millenials & Women

The second round of morning workshops featured Susan Seto, whose presentation was live streamed on Facebook and focused on engaging car buyers of tomorrow. Offline, Mark Baltazar of Brandspark presented the first annual Kijiji Dealer Pulse study.

With plenty of data to back up her insight, Susan shared valuable information about car buyers in Ontario and examined the challenging markets of millenials and women.

Here’s what we learned about Ontario car buyers:

– 39% of Ontarians are recent car buyers or future intenders

– 27% buy a new car because their prior vehicle is becoming unreliable

– 56% choose new, over 44% who choose used

– 38% are buying/intending midsize SUV/crossover

– Average budget: $32,300

Here’s what we learned about women car buyers:

– 4 in 10 are recent car buyers or future intenders

– For women, practical needs are key – aspirations are secondary

– 31% of cars purchased by women are compact cars

– Average budget: $23,500

– Women buyers want a pressure-free environment, support and affordable selection

Here’s what we learned about millenial car buyers:

– Millenials account for 22% of the auto buying population

– 29% buy a new car as a result of a significant life change

– Average budget: $22,000, 3 in 4 need financing

– 54% buy used, versus 46% buying new

– 62% begin research online and 4 in 10 consult family/friends

– Dealer needs to be a trusted friend, be online and be understanding of concerns and limitations

Data Marketing: A Reality Check

After a delicious lunch, Rohn Jackson started the afternoon with his piece “Customer Centric” Data Marketing – In Reality which streamed online. Offline, Janis Showers and The Car Girls shared fun and informative advice about customer service, marketing strategy and keeping women as employees in the dealership.

Rohn’s presentation spoke to the importance of analytics and data in marketing. To take it a step further, he explained how these numbers can be analyzed and turned into actionable marketing.

He also stressed the importance of asking specific questions regarding your data. Instead of asking, “what is our market share in this particular demographic?”, ask “do the majority of new parents buy a minivan”?

Takeaways:

There is no typical; Market vehicles based on data insight, instead of marketing by vehicle type based on our presumption.

The problem with big data – you sometimes don’t get the answer you were expecting. Let the data speak to you.

Place users at the core.

Digital Collision Meet Digital Disruption

To round out the workshops, Kyle Costa finished the day on Facebook live from the dealer POV and Rick Johnston rounded out the offline presentations with a look at how to leverage changing consumer buying habits.

Kyle’s presentation emphasized the importance of leveraging a CRM tool to respond to customer inquiries quickly regardless of the communication platform. Futhermore, he stressed the importance of effective email communication when it comes to lead management.

Kyle also showed a unique way to respond to customer inquiries using a video response. This response is more friendly, personal and creates an audiovisual human interaction not possible through email, text or phone call.

The presentation highlighted how digital disruption is effectively changing the auto sales industry. Kyle commented on companies like unhaggle and Vroom who are attempting to cut B2C auto sales right out of the equation.

Takeaways:

Use CRM tools to respond to inquiries efficiently.

Examine your competitors, learn from them.

Adapt quickly to avoid disruption.

Sales Culture

Kevin Graff closed DealerTalkX 2016 with an empowering keynote with the goal of teaching dealers how to create a sustainable sales culture at their dealership.

Kevin offered dealers systems to put a culture that works into place and believed such a culture is the difference between selling a little, and selling a lot.

His keynote focused on raising productivity, morale and as a result of doing so maximizing sales too.

Takeaways:

Empower your sales force with the right mentality and tools.

Build a sales culture where everyone wins, especially the customer.

The Finish Line

Matthew McKenzie, General Manager at Kijiji closed the day at DealerTalkX: Digital Collision. He touched on the themes of the day and encouraged dealers to keep buying into digital and adapting to consumer needs to avoid disruption.

DealerTalkX makes stops in Montreal on September 28th and closes in Calgary on October 6th.

We’re already looking forward to next year!

Photos by: Blake Bradley

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