Are you really okay writing checks to countless vendors, settling for meaningless reports and questionable results? If you’re paying them month-after-month you need to hold them accountable. In the coming weeks, I’ll give you the complete playbook, as well as a number of FREE tools, dashboards, and reports. But first, I’ll define Vendor Accountability, identify which vendors you should be holding accountable, call out the risks if you don’t, and lay the groundwork for the entire process. I’m Angus Fox. Get ready to think better.
What is Vendor Accountability?
Vendor accountability is the alignment, execution, measurement, and refinement of a set of expectations with one or more of our vendor partners. It’s making sure that we’re getting what we pay for. Historically, in automotive, vendor accountability has been a problem; but by using a simple, repeatable framework you too can hold your vendors accountable, and make sure that you’re getting what you think you’re getting for your dollar.
What kind of vendors do you need to be holding accountable?
All of them. Your 3rd party inventory providers, your website vendor, your pay-per-click vendor, your SEO vendor, your chat vendor. Anybody that you’re spending money with, you want to make sure that they’re delivering on the promises that they’ve made.
What are some of the risks that can happen if we’re not aligned with our vendor’s expectations?
We could think we’re paying for leads when all we’re paying for is impressions. We could be paying for out-of-market shoppers when we think we’re buying in-market shoppers. We could have a used car SEO strategy when we really need a new car SEO strategy. Ensuring that your vendor’s performance is aligned with your expectations is the foundational principle of vendor accountability.
Vendor accountability doesn’t need to be scary.
You can use a simple, repeating process to ensure that you’re following the same steps every month to continue to refine your expectations and the way that you measure your vendor performance. Following along with any number of our Thinkbetter guides can help you with your pay-per-click provider, SEO provider, 3rd party inventory vendor, and many more.
The most important thing is to have a repeatable process that you conduct every month to ensure that your marketing dollars are doing what you expect them to do. I know you’re hearing the word ‘repeatable’ and you’re getting scared. “Angus, I don’t have an extra couple of hours every month! How am I going to do this?” You’re going to do it through a series of repeatable checklists, spreadsheets, guides, and industry best practice; and I’m going to provide all those to you for FREE.
So, be sure and tune in over the next few weeks so you don’t miss a thing. And while you’re at it, be sure and connect with Wikimotive on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube to get more high-quality like this designed to help you think better…and SELL MORE CARS.