Since joining Convertus back in April of 2017, it was my goal to rapidly ramp up my knowledge about the automotive and digital marketing industries, plus how they intersect. It's been a steep learning curve this past half-year where I picked up the ins and outs of the local dealership's interests through to the OEM's.
I was fortunate to attend the DealerTalkX Calgary event put on by Kijiji earlier this month. There I connected with many of the brilliant minds in this space. As a relative newbie to any subject matter, I always pay very close attention to the industry jargon used by the wizened and hardened veterans of the space. Through the many conversations and presentations, I noted up more than fifty acronyms used. Some are industry-specific while others have wider usage. Still, talk about insider language!
Here they are, in alphabetical order. Do you know them all?
- AI
- AMVIC
- AOR
- AR
- B2B
- B2C
- BBB
- BDC
- CAD
- CADA
- CASE
- CDK
- CEO
- CPA
- CPO
- CSI-LT
- CTR
- CX
- DMM
- DP
- EV
- F&I
- FB
- FLOW
- FOM
- FTE
- GM
- GSM
- GTM
- ICV
- IIHF
- ISM
- KPMG
- ML
- NCDA
- NCM
- OBD
- OEM
- OMVIC
- PMA
- SM
- SMIQ
- SRP
- UCM
- UI
- US
- USP
- UV
- UX
- VDP
- VHR
- VR
- VSP
- VVR
One key takeaway, which I feel compelled to share since I'm writing about DealerTalk anyway:
You are not your customer
This is a trap that I've seen so many business owners/operator s fall into. One's attitude sometimes gets narrowly focused in thinking that something is not valuable for their customers because it falls outside their personal preference or value set.
Personally, I've fallen into this trap many times over the years. As somebody of an extremely analytical mindset, I used to rely solely on the data to make a decision, even at times when it 'felt' wrong. Now, after many lived experiences, I realize that the data is essential to inform a strong foundation, but the emotional gut-check is just as important for that final push to create meaningful buy-in.