Richard Keith Latman - The Blog

How Many Car Dealerships Will Continue to Buy Awful Websites After October 1st?

Isn't it time that automobile dealer websites have true, accountable conversion ratios against closed and unsold prospects?

Isn't it time that car dealership websites have native SEO that draws relevant traffic and not just to pad the technology companies bragging?

Isn't it time that dealer websites are clear, concise and use the latest technology to make them easier to use AND deliver a better quality of interaction with consumers?

Isn't it time that car dealer internet managers don't have to pretend to be website experts?

Isn't it time to lift up the curtain and bring prices down to what the rest of the world pays for websites?

No, it's not time yet: www.dealersite.com

iMagicLab to Acquire Higher Gear - Industry Old Guard to be Absorbed into Fast Growing Auto Dealer CRM Leader

For the past 7 years I have dreamed about that headline, dreamed about the promise and, well, it's still just a dream. To fully understand you have to transport yourself back to 2004.... transporting....

In 2004 iMagicLab was iCarMagic (until the good folks at i-car.com got a little testy) and we were the golden boys of Internet Lead Management. Our first customer was Rafi Hamid at the Napleton Auto Group (who are still customers) and some of their stores used the Cadillac of CRM's at the time: Higher Gear. Now Higher Gear, or HigherGear or The Higher Gear Group or whatever they are called, had no Internet lead capacity to speak of. They were, and are to the best of my knowledge, server based and brilliantly designed to monitor the showroom with ease. Higher Gear in my estimation didn't (and doesn't today) do anything else but the showroom floor well, but at the time they were the best in town. So I, being the enterprising mind, sent their CEO Robert C. Gruen an email that said, and I am paraphrasing here, "lets work together and merge our ILM with your CRM to rule the World!". Well after feigning interest for a bit to both Rafi and I, Gruen sends an email which kills the integration and announces he has a "web based system in beta". Has anyone seen it yet? Sorry, I digress

So lots of time passes, iMagicLab builds the strongest CRM technology on the planet, completely web-based and Internet/Service/Pencil enabled and we literally convert Higher Gear clients at will. 2010 relegates Higher Gear and AutoBase to the old guard (pioneers none the less) and companies like iMagicLab, VIN Solutions and DealerSocket take the mantel. There is really no contest here, iMagicLab and DealerSocket compete for every deal while VIN, well, VIN, um, help me lawyers, well, VIN kinda is creative in its outright lies (with Doug Kinney gone maybe Sean Wolfington will bring honor back).

With this background I see a press release, pinged to me from my old friend Troy Smock over at izmo cars, that Higher Gear has just received an investment from a VC. Yes, you heard that right, an "investment" from a VC. After reading this I instantly have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and email the VC "what are you thinking?". OK, bad move, I apologize and move on.

My next email is to my old friend Robert C. Gruen who is the newly installed CEO of the company he founded (how does that work?). I say "Robert, let's get busy: your client list with our technology and we own the market". I can feel the dealers collectively sing a joyous hymn while they throw out the old and move into THIS century's technology. Oh, it will be win/win/win/win and even the VC will be happy.

Um, No, you kidding? Here's the response I get: "your technology SUCKS" hahahahaha

I could go on to tell you the rest of the email exchange but besides calling me a criminal and scum bag many times in his best Blagovich impression (with bad grammar I might add) its not worthy of much. I, of course, ended up challenging him to a CRM Bake Off for $50,000 and the line went dead. 

However many dealers they still have in their declining roster are out of luck for now... My dream is not dead though, I just have to wait another 7 years or until the beta Higher Gear promised us in 2004 gets released: Whichever comes first (bet on the 7 years)

How Do You Know You Build Good Technology? Who Cares?

Today was the kind of day that every entrepreneur hates: System hardware failure by fire, massive usage and some frayed overworked nerves combined to produce chaos. My life experience really benefits me here because there is very little that can unnerve me. For those of you trying to get a clue how to build companies just remember my living creed: At the core of every technology, every complicated system and each chained process is the foolproof system that can fix any problem: Your patience.

I always design and engineer systems to push the envelope and to make complicated problems seem easy. No doubt that folks who work with me understand the rule is to find solutions, not problems, and on days like today it really shows. ANY other small company would have wilted on the vine and died today with the challenge of rerouting tens of thousands of users, rebuilding a data center and moving 12 TB's of mirrored data in 9 hours. Team iMagicLab did not flinch, we saw what needed to get done and we got it done.

Oh, so back to my original question: How do you know when you build good technology? Who cares, it's the team that supports the technology that matters. Any problem can be solved with the right team and the right team can make the impossible seem easy. Today I am proud to lead iMagicLab, proud owner of the best technology team in our business.

Keith

P.S. Did I mention websites were coming soon? First look at http://www.nissan1.com for the product of the largest website company in our space. See stuff that needs to be fixed? :) Oct. 1 baby... Oct 1...

Wow... Dealer Website Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a Popular Topic for Auto Dealers

So I post a little note about website SEO and a firestorm of responses and emails appear. You would think that I attacked a house of worship or maybe even criticized the Red Sox. Look, there are plenty of fine SEO experts that I believe in but my question remains: Why do car dealers get fleeced by website companies for Search Engine Optimization or SEO?

I already mentioned the basic tenants of what I consider good SEO in my previous post so I don't feel the need to repeat it. What is fundamental is that any company claiming to be a website company should provide these services at NO additional charge. Heck, as long as I am at it, let's go over what I feel any legitimate reputable website company should provide included in the lowest priced offering they have:

1. Embedded Google Analytics with the Username and Password. Without independent metrics and without the administrative password how do you know what you are REALLY buying? I'm not saying folks inflate the numbers of visitors you get (or am I) but since this is a free check and balance why should you not have it? Also if you run ANY paid AdSense program YOU should own the account and see the exact bids etc. It just common sense

2. Complete integration with your CRM tool.It's your website isn't it? You need one pile of data when this is all said and done so your website company cooperating with your CRM company is critical. If I have to hear one more time that a website company won't frame in a form or send traffic data to a place where it can be best used....

3. Dedicated Mobile Versions.It's cool to standardize for 1024x768 and a normal desktop screen but mobile devices come in all shapes and sizes. Maybe just maybe your website company, who makes a living doing this, should include mobile versions that play well on the small screen?

4. Realtime Chat and Profiles.The website is the front door to your car dealership on the web so it needs to be knowledgeable about the customer, his service history and her buying needs. A web site without intelligence is just, well, it's just dumb. Make sure your website company connects all the dots without any additional charges.

5. A Dedicated Person to Make Changes for You.In 1999 it was cool to make your own changes to a website from the dealership. In 2010 you need that done for you, professionally and quickly. Don't give me some complex backend with scripting and a PHD required, give me a person to do it for me.

6. Deliver Results. Need I say more? Random visitors are not results, sales are. If that company can't track it end to end and show measurable results you should find another Dealer website company. This isn't magic folks...

More to come folks, send your emails :)

Richard Keith Latman

How Long will Website Companies Fleece Dealers with Fake SEO Products?

So as many of you know iMagicLab is about to enter the car dealer website business and as expected I surveyed the landscape pretty hard. There are many companies that "build" auto dealership websites like Dealerskins, Reynolds and Reynolds, ADP, Buzz Trak, TKCarSites, DealerFire and others. Notice I put the word "build" in quotes? Well, thats because most are just templates that masquerade as custom sites and there is really nothing unique.

Nevermind that, I am on my soapbox about SEO, or Search Engine Optimization products that dealers pay huge dollars for and get virtually nothing. There, I said it, Dealers are getting ripped off again by technology companies selling SEO features that should be standard on any product claiming to be a website. I am not saying that all companies in our space rip people off for SEO, but most provide nearly NO measurable value for the money they charge.

For free, no charge, I am going to give away my 3 point secret to better search engine performance. Just do these three things (which will be included in our website product for free) and I PROMISE you will get more real measurable sales from better leads:

• Keyword-focused text. Use the words and phrases that your target audience types into search queries.
• Information architecture and page layout. Give both search engines and searchers easy access to content while providing a sense of place and clear scents of information.
• Link development. Increase the number and quality of objective, third-party links pointing to a Web page.

Can't believe I just did that, I just gave you the secret sauce of just about every credible SEO expert in the World. Don't trust me? Call anyone outside of the car biz and ask, ask them the way to get better SEO and ask them if I am right. It's not hard, it's not expensive and it's just a lot of common sense.

Now I know a lot of people are gonna say "oh Latman's a Felon, he doesn't know" but the truth is difficult to hide. Oh, wait, these companies can't actually provide complete end-to-end reporting so that you can measure real ROI from these SEO "programs" (there I go with the quotes again)? All they can tell you is how many leads or how many "hits" you get? Keeping you in the dark is the best way to sell this kind of smoke and mirrors...

The veil is about to be lifted folks... stay tuned

ObamaCare Finally Revealed - Amazing Reality

Four months after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi famously declared "We have to pass the bill so you can find out what’s in it,"a congressional panel has released the first chart illustrating the 2,801 page health care law President Obama signed into law in March. 

Developed by the Joint Economic Committee minority, led by U.S Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas and Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, the detailed organization chart displays a bewildering array of new government agencies, regulations and mandates.  

"For Americans, as well as Congressional Democrats who didn’t bother to read the bill, this first look at the final health care law confirms what many fear, that reform morphed into a monstrosity of new bureaucracies, mandates, taxes and rationing that will drive up health care costs, hurt seniors and force our most intimate health care choices into the hands of Washington bureaucrats,"said Brady, the committee’s senior House Republican. "If this is what passes for health care reform in America, then God help us all."

Brownback, the committee’s ranking member, added, "This updated chart illustrates the overwhelming expansion of government control over health choices and the bewildering complexity facing everyone affected by this law.  It doesn’t take long to see how the recently signed health care bill causes a hugely expensive and explosive expansion of federal control over health care. Personal choices that should be between a doctor and a patient will quickly be strangled in a never ending web of bureaucracy."

Senate Steering Committee Chairman Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) called Obamacare "a bureaucratic nightmare. The Democrats’ takeover of health care creates a byzantine network of 159 new federal programs and bureaucracies to make decisions that should be between just the patient and their doctor. It should concern everyone that at the center of this regulatory web is the new CMS chief, Donald Berwick, who has championed rationing and European socialized medicine. Americans were rightly outraged that this big government bill was rushed through Congress before anyone read or fully understood the bill’s consequences. Republicans will fight to repeal this reckless takeover and to ensure health care freedom to American families."
 
In addition to capturing the massive expansion of government and the overwhelming complexity of new regulations and taxes, the chart portrays:

• $569 billion in higher taxes;
• $529 billion in cuts to Medicare;
• swelling of the ranks of Medicaid by 16 million;
• 17 major insurance mandates; and
• the creation of two new bureaucracies with powers to impose future rationing: the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute and the Independent Payments Advisory Board.

Brady admits committee analysts could not fit the entire health care bill on one chart. "This portrays only about one-third of the complexity of the final bill. It’s actually worse than this."

Download Obamacare_Chart

Obama's 9/11 is on the beaches of America - Where is the Leadership?

Enough said? Mr. President you nationalized the car companies, bailed out the banks with China's money and then let the worst oil company in America handle the worst national disaster in our history all alone. Now that's change I can believe in.

Don't worry America: We get to vote in November

America has just witnessed an unconscionable abuse of power. President Obama has betrayed his oath to the nation — rather than bringing us together, ushering in a new kind of politics, and rising above raw partisanship, he has succumbed to the lowest denominator of incumbent power: justifying the means by extolling the ends. He promised better; we deserved better.

He calls his accomplishment “historic” — in this he is correct, although not for the reason he intends. Rather, it is an historic usurpation of the legislative process — he unleashed the nuclear option, enlisted not a single Republican vote in either chamber, bribed reluctant members of his own party, paid-off his union backers, scapegoated insurers, and justified his act with patently fraudulent accounting. What Barack Obama has ushered into the American political landscape is not good for our country; in the words of an ancient maxim, “what starts twisted, ends twisted.”

His health-care bill is unhealthy for America. It raises taxes, slashes the more private side of Medicare, installs price controls, and puts a new federal bureaucracy in charge of health care. It will create a new entitlement even as the ones we already have are bankrupt. For these reasons and more, the act should be repealed. That campaign begins today.

iMagicLab's Richard Keith Latman Challenges VINSolutions Sean Stapleton to a CRM Showdown!

Guess what? As of this posting it looks like VIN and Sean Stapleton are wimping out on the challenge. See what I mean about smoke and mirrors? Sean, who has a great history of over-promising things his companies don't have (as in Visible Customer) posted his team was "years" ahead of everyone else on Dealer Refresh:

"Sean Stapleton

February 25th, 2010

Guys – We are the lucky ones! To have a person like Sean Wolfington join VIN is an honor. I can tell you personally I love working with this guy! His energy, passion, and idea’s are awesome! Today VIN is 24 – 36 months ahead of all companies in our space. Just setup a product overview via the web and see for yourself. Now with Sean Wolfington in the mix, everyone is going to see it, hear about it, and understand it better! Keep up the great work DealerRefresh! This is the only MUST read blog in automotive.

Godspeed!

Sean Stapleton"

To which I replied:

Richard Keith Latman

March 8th, 2010

Hey Sean I’d love to know as well how you feel so far ahead of the pack. Maybe you’d be open to a joint presentation on video for the fine folks that read DR? Maybe you against me on video for all to see how far you are ahead?

Richard Keith Latman
Chief Executive Officer
iMagicLab

http://www.imagiclab.com
klatman@imagiclab.com

Of course THEN it got out of hand and the fakers and VIN kiss butts got involved and took the conversation to my background and ANYTHING other than the topic. VINSolutions does not match up so they involked a smoke and mirrors campaign, what a suprise! They didn't even have the guts to sign the posts with their own company name, they used some no name who probably won't have a job in a few weeks to do their bidding... Read it:

Mitchell Brenner

March 10th, 2010

I for one had never heard of this guy, Richard Keith Latman, until this forum. I feel I can read people pretty well and I just didn’t like anything about this guy just from the entries on this page so I did what I usually do. I researched. I won’t get into the whole legal thing as I wasn’t there and I don’t know what happened but it certainly seems like it was more than hiding a ring according to the News Sources I read from 2007. What really struck me was his personal blog. If iMagic is the greatest CRM/ILM on the planet I wouldn’t do business with this guy. Everybody I’ve spoken to or communicated with whether on blogs or email or phone from Vin Solutions has been a complete gentleman. This guy comes across, on his own blog, as a complete A-Hole. I guess his glass house has been boarded up with sheet metal otherwise he’d have nowhere to live!

Richard Keith Latman

March 10th, 2010

And as usual when the heat gets too much try to take it off topic. You guys at VIN bragged about being years ahead, we all just want you to prove it.

Mitchell Brenner

March 10th, 2010

First off, I’m a dealer and not a Vin Solutions employee and I’ve never bragged about being years ahead. This whole thread reeks of self promotion and a lot of iMagic setting themselves up to win. Lets see:

1) Your customer runs the forum and will be a moderator.
2) You came up with the process for the “Bakeoff” and your customer agreed that that’s the way to do it
3) No suggestions by anyone else have been answered except to basically act like a two year old saying NaNaNaNa
4) The same customer will be hosting the whole thing on his forum

Come on guys this is not a contest. It feels like the old south with a hanging jury!

If I was Vin Solutions, and I’m not, I would NEVER get involved with this and I’d advise them to walk away and just continue to grow as a company and make the constant updates and changes we see on a weekly basis.

This tit for tat does no one any service and it should end.

How’s your glass house?

Richard Keith Latman

March 10th, 2010

Btw, I am happy to be the industry a-hole who tells it like it is and blows away all the smoke in our space. Too many people lie and fleece dealers, it’s time for accountability. We don’t need another BZ Results and I for one am going to stand up and educate.

My blog is http://www.microworkz,com and I hope you all read it. Now can we get back to what software is going to make you more money and truly help keep you ahead of the curve?

Alex Snyder

March 10th, 2010

Mitchell – we knew as soon as you got into this things would go off-topic quick. And once again you show where you have absolutely zero vision and a major hard-on for VinSolutions. If you care to respond, please do so in the forums – we can duke it out there.

Sean Stapleton said his company is 2-3 years ahead of anyone else on DEALERREFRESH. Keith proposed a bake-off on DEALERREFRESH, Sean Stapleton accepted. Keith proposed the rules to keep it fair. Jeff and I accepted and accepted to make it available to everyone on DEALERREFRESH. Jeff and I are on DEALERREFRESH. Both Jeff and I are professional enough to not show a bias. You’ll just have to wait and see the final outcome and make your own decision. Now, please stop commenting in this thread because you’re not helping.

The only thing that should be posted in this thread is VinSolutions saying which date(s) work best for them.

Richard Keith Latman

March 10th, 2010

Mitchell this board is Jeff Kershner’s and he is not our customer. Alex has opted to take a back seat on this. Get your facts right.

Look bottom line is if your VIN solutions hadn’t lied about being years ahead we wouldn’t have had this in the first place. I am done, it’s obvious your guy has no intention of backing his words up.

Oh yeah, you are a VIN customer and fanboy, stop hiding.

Mitchell Brenner

March 10th, 2010

Thank god for you! If we didn’t have honest people with your incredible integrity in this business where would we be? We should have a statue erected in your honor as the keeper of all things great and desirable! So what that you have a shady past? So what that you are a loudmouth, opinionated EC? So what if the Seattle Times article from 3/06 states that “In April 2001, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Karen Overstreet in Seattle told the Latmans’ lawyer that bankruptcy-court protection was intended for “honest debtors,” and that in her seven years on the bench she had never seen a case so permeated with “inconsistencies” and “excuses.”"

We don’t care about any of that. You are now the greatest living person that ever entered into the auto industry arena and we salute you for that.

You see now my Brooklyn is coming out! I’ve lived in NJ for 20 years but the Brooklyn stays forever!

You opened this mess. I suggest you stop now while you’re…

…well you’re not ahead but stop anyway!

Ed Brooks

March 10th, 2010

Let’s get this shooting match over so everyone can get back to complaining about AutoTrader.com. (And I still think pistols on the Weehawken Dueling Grounds would be a good time for all!)

Richard Keith Latman

March 10th, 2010

Hahahaha, old news little man that your VIN team tells every dealer before they lose the sale. Thousands of dealers have read the background and still signed up for the winning team.

The only thing I have to say is when will your new boss show up for the shoot off? He won’t? He wants to talk about racecars or girls? Haha…

BZ Results lives and it’s called VIN Solutions now. The only background that matters is what Wolfington and Company have done to dealers in our space in the last few years. Ask ADP how happy dealers are with his last company.

VINSolutions are you going to back up your words? I didn't think so...

oh, and to the VINSolutions FanGirl Mitchell you should focus on selling cars. I had my team put a few test leads into your store and the average response time was over 4 hours. Stop building my statue (although I must admit I like the idea) and maybe focus on where you'll be working next week...

 

Is Car Dealer Software A Scam? A Fraud? Smoke and Mirrors?

Most of you know about my background and how it has helped me become the man I am today. Microworkz was over 10 years ago and my competitors like VIN Solutions and DealerSocket continue to use it as why folks should pick their software over our obviously superior product. Forget the fact we've never been sued by a dealer and have a perfect record of performance in our space, the only thing they can talk about is me. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the fact that they are this nervous but why do they use this stale old issue to try and con dealers into buying their products?

It makes me wonder: Do they even have products to sell or are they peddling partial solutions and playing the "say anything to get the ink" game? Over the course of the past few months we've recorded their demo's and our dealer friends have written countless statements about the shady presentations and backroom fear mongering. For your own enjoyment I thought I'd do a top ten for ya of the funniest comments we've heard:

Top Ten Reasons to Not Buy iMagicLab DealerCRM Auto Dealer Software

10. They changed their name from iCarMagic because Richard Keith Latman was convicted of credit card fraud and the authorities just caught up with him. He's running so he had to change the name!

Truth is we changed because the folks at ICAR (http://www.i-car.com/) were getting our checks and we were getting theirs. Too close of an industry to have 2 ICAR's and we started later so we did what was right.

9. They will hold your data and sell it to your competitors if you ever leave.

This would not only be business suicide but funny as heck that someone dreamed this up.

8. iMagicLab/iCarMagic is a front for organized crime and they are actually money laundering.

Given my background do ya really think I could get away with this?

7. iMagicLab will steal your credit card information and charge thousands of dollars from Russian accounts to finance Richard Keith Latman's watch collection.

OK, I admit, I love watches but I think this would just to too hard for even me to conceive. iMagicLab has used the same credit card processor since the first day we opened. It's easier to dispute card charges than to order a Big Mac and we'd have been shut down years ago. I love the creativity though

6. Latman will try to seduce your employees and has no qualms about trying to sleep with wives and girlfriends

This one is true (kidding)

5. Trust me Bubba Richard Keith Latman is a guy you cannot trust because he's got a history ya know.

Well, lets see, EVERYONE watches me harder than anyone else on the planet so if anyone is gonna lie, cheat or steal it's not going to be me. Besides, unlike VIN Solutions or Dealer Socket (DealerSocket) we don't have to lie to win business (that felt sharp but good)

4. iMagicLab is really Microworkz and Latman is using the hidden millions he stole from Microworkz to fund it's operations.

Nah, we use something or competitors don't know about: Profit. Stop promising the sun and the moon for prices that are impossibly low and you guys might have some too. Either that or stop paying kickbacks to people who bring you into dealers as "references" haha

3. iMagicLab is not really a product at all and is simply a marketing machine designed to generate millions of dollars and then be sold off.

Wait, that describes BZ Results and now the guys who ran that pirate ship full of dealer complaints are in charge of VIN Solutions? Thats just fun

2. Richard Keith Latman is related to Bernie Madoff

Ya gotta love this one said by an AutoBase salesperson. Sorry, no Madoff blood here.

AND THE NUMBER ONE REASON NOT TO BUY IMAGICLAB DEALERCRM AUTO DEALER SOFTWARE IS:

1. Richard Keith Latman is not running the place, he's actually in Federal Prison!

OMG, too funny but I already blogged about what a DealerSocket rep told an auto group in MA

More to come... have a great day