Until recently you either had to create a custom website from scratch which is both time consuming and expensive especially if you do not possess the necessary programming skills or you were forced choose from a library of pre-built cookie cutter designs (templates) that don’t offer the design flexibility needed to keep you ahead of the competition.

Autoxloo is proud to announce a new feature unique to the automotive industry that empowers the dealer to take control of the look, feel, content and layout of their website all without the need for any programming knowledge.

Its called Make-A-Page and it will give you full control of your website.

MAP (Make-A-Page) gives you the ability to design your website.  You can customize the layout of each page.  Choose what features you want to display like news, featured vehicles, different search variations and many more.  Now you can place these features in different areas of the page.  We have also created widgets that will make your website more user friendly.  If you ever run out of space for all your content just make a new page, in fact make as may as you  would like.

Everything in MAP is editable.  This means the sizes and colors can be adjusted to your needs.  You can change your websites look for any holiday or sale.

If you are thinking that this may be too difficult than you may be surprised.  MAP is designed to be very easy to use.  Anyone can use it with no experience necessary.  This means that you don’t need to wait for anyone to make changes to your website, since you can do it all.

If you want to see and try MAP, give us a call or contact AutoXloo today.

]]> http://www.autoxloo.com/home/blog/how-to-customize-your-website/feed/ 0 http://www.autoxloo.com/home/blog/the-webs-growth-and-the-strain-on-auto-dealers/ http://www.autoxloo.com/home/blog/the-webs-growth-and-the-strain-on-auto-dealers/#comments Thu, 17 Feb 2011 22:37:18 +0000 artem http://www.autoxloo.com/home/blog/?p=1071 Growing Internet traffic is straining dealers’ abilities to keep on top of it, and some experts advise dealers to establish a dedicated Internet sales staff. Since 2007, the percentage of dealerships with dedicated Internet sales staffs has stayed steady at just over half, says the National Automobile Dealer Association’s 2010 Dealership Internet Survey. Some dealers handle Internet leads with customer service employees who set up appointments for customers. Others may empower the entire sales force to field Web inquiries.

Autoxloo’s Dealer Management Systems simplifies these problems that dealers face in our constantly advancing technological world. With our services, dealers can have an interactive website that provides most of the required services to customers like inventory, credit requests, schedule test drive and sales, links to manufacturers’ Web sites, and contact information of every department. This greatly simplifies the work load on dealership staff and increases sales. In addition, our CRM provides the all the necessary tools to manage online leads, and our Live Help gives our clients the ability to contact Autoxloo’s support team any time of the day.

Craigslist is constantly updating their ghosting protocol.  If your ad is similar to other ads or if you post too often then your ads may become ghosted.  This becomes very frustrating.  To find a successful formula for posting can take a lot of time.  Craigslist likes unique ads, but to create a unique ad for the same vehicle will also take time.  This is exactly why we created a solution for this problem.  Our solution allows you to successfully post your vehicles within craigslist terms of use.

Our new module allows you to post your vehicles directly from the DMS to craigslist.  There are also new features like Custom Random Text.

This feature stores a list of random phrases that you provide and then uses them randomly in the body of your ads.  This way your ads will always be different.

The random title phrases feature makes your titles different for each ad.  It stores phrases that you added and uses them randomly.  This will help make sure that your ads are always unique.

These are just a few of the features that are offered with this module.  You can fully customize your entire template.  This includes the title, body, different colors, different layouts, gallery and much more.  Our goal is to help you take advantage of craigslist’s massive traffic.  Just because its not easy to make your ads stay on craigslist doesn’t mean you cant do it.  Call AutoXloo today and get your ads to stay.

With several companies completely dying and a few that are going to be discontinue but a few that might be able to be saved. It seems that the small compact car is just not really holding on now that gas is no longer making all of us sweat bullets. The Toyota Yaris and Scion XD have seen a substantial loss in sales as well as the Smart for two. The Mazda Tribute which seems to not be able to find its own niche in the crossover marketplace is not doing as well either. Two cars that really shocked me that are on this list are two sports coupes. The Mazda Rx-8 and the Porsche Cayman have seen a loss in sales as well. The rx-8 was released as a family sports car. It has 4 doors and a comfortable back seat. Porsche is on the verge of releasing the Cayman S which should help them boost some sales.

With Autoxloo’s Market IQ you can see what price a vehicle is selling at around the world and know just where you stand with the price of your vehicle.  Hopefully with a new year just around the corner, car companies are looking to be able to reinvent their automobiles that are on the fence will hopefully fall on the profitable side. With sales starting to rise, all of the automakers are looking up to get out of this hole that has been dug.

Car dealerships have always prided themselves on being resourceful sales guys, always with new ideas on sales promotions to entice customers to their dealership.

Internet marketing offers endless opportunities for these smart and resourceful dealerships to stretch their sales skills online.  Low cost, immediate results, and measurable effects, and quality leads.  What could be more compelling? Every car guy’s dream.

Mike recognizes this utopic vision does require some nuts and bolts, roll up your sleeve work, determination, creativity, analysis and adjustment as he works to increase sales for ParkAutoMall.  AutoXloo is up to the challenge of going toe to toe with him and other dealers in helping them creatively leverage AutoXloo’s software solutions to support their local car sales.

ParkAutoMall.com does a great job of leveraging the AutoXloo technology to increase their local presence and connect with customers when they visit their website.  Look at the ParkAutoMall.com website and some of the proactive things they are doing:

• An active, engaging blog
• Pictures, video introductions, complete contact information of sales staff
• Detailed information about vehicles
• Customer testimonials
• Search friendly, relevant content
• Information to help car buyers make decisions

The time invested in their website pays off on a daily basis.  A large percentage of their floor traffic comes from their dealer website, and this number has been growing for several years.

Let’s list the six pieces of technologies here. First is Real-Time Search, for example, Google, Bing, Twitter, Facebook. Customers benefit is having access to real-time content which will help shoppers confirm a smart decision much faster.  Second, Geolocation Service which is GPS- style functions within mobile phones, social channels, and smart phone apps. Customers will benefit because they will have an opportunity to create better relationships with dealerships while having fun.  Third, Mobile Video, customers will benefit because it is very convenient. Shopping is what they want and where they want it. Forth, HTML5. Gives opportunity to improve online experiences, adding rich applications, video, animation, Flash, and Silverlight.  Customers will experience shopping online more robust as new content delivery methods emerge.  Fifth, Social centralization, direction of car dealer social networks and the value-added services they will provide automotive professionals.  Customers will benefit from the rapid increase in the sharing of best practices which is about to overcome the retail industry. Competition will increase as the bar is raised to prove a better, more impressive shopping experience. Last, Number six, is Social CRM.

The entire CRM segment will be shaken up in 2010.  Customer benefit will be greater communication and information flow with regards to items such as vehicle service and care care will become more important as ownership continues to increase.

Some of the best ways for dealers to stay ahead of the curve is to research their options online as well as visiting all of the popular trade shows like the NADA, NIADA and Digital Dealer to name just a few. There you will find the latest “best practices” and the most advanced technologies that allow the informed dealer to excel even in tough economic times.

Maintaining status quo is no longer acceptable; dealers need to embrace technology that will decrease time to market and the effort it takes to manage their current marketing campaigns. Now the decision is no longer, should I make a change, but choosing a company that will consistently bring leading edge technology and have the ability to adapt to changing market conditions.

Here is a hint – don’t go with a company that makes you sign a contract! Once they have you locked in for two or more years there is no motivation for that company to offer you anything new and innovative that will help you sell more cars.

AutoXloo offers a complete Dealer Management System that is second to none and at a price point that offers more bang for the buck than any other comparable system on the market today.

Call 727-475-4455 to schedule a free live demonstration today and discover for yourself why AutoXloo is an industry leader.

This is a great example of how technology can make your life easier at your dealership and reduce costs.

AutoXloo works with dealerships to leverage technology to help them cost effectively manage their Internet marketing program.

• Inventory management
• Financing
• Parts
• Service
• Customer support
• Online listing tools
• Website integration

In the same way you showcase your cars in your dealer showroom, why would you not make the same commitment to showcasing your vehicles online and on your dealer website. Take a look at a simple, innovative and low cost things you can do with the AutoXloo dealer management software, and consider how these tools might impact your sales.

Add customized text descriptions directly on vehicle photos easily and quickly! Engage your customers and make your vehicles stand out compared to your competitors’ listings! 

The Etch-A-Word tool, part of AutoXloo’s showcase suite of products can be a great differentiator for your vehicle listing, by allowing customers to visually assess distinguishing features, without having to read lengthy descriptions. And can give your listing increased visibility without having to pay premium placement fees.

Etch A Word is one of several AutoXloo tools that help you make your listings jump off the page. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. The Etch-A-Word tool enables you to speak volumes with your vehicle pictures.