You just interviewed a candidate for an open position at your dealership. You felt like the interview was a great success! The individual was very pleasant and conversations throughout the interview flowed naturally. Even though this person is your favorite candidate, should you really hire someone just because you like them? No. You're not picking a new friend on the…

Consumers have gravitated to the Internet for – well – just about everything. So, when it comes to digital marketing, it’s more important than ever for marketers to know what’s working and what’s not. Everything from SEO, to content, to social media and display ads contributes to the lure which brings consumers into dealership showrooms.

Currently, the single…

When it comes to customer loyalty programs, customers like to feel appreciated and recognized for their loyalty. And, if they are not, it doesn’t take much to turn them away from being loyal customers into brand advocates.

I recently came across an interesting story about an Uber customer who wrote an open…

What is your customer retention percentage? Are you asking for more incremental work when the vehicle is on the hoist? Are you using SMS to your advantage?

Problem

Industry data shows that dealer’s customer retention ranges from 35% to 75%. Customers are looking for trust, value, convenience and clear…

Welcome to this week's edition of Black Book Market Insights, with in-depth analysis of used car and truck valuation trends and insights straight from the auction lanes.…

Consumers have plenty of choices when it comes time to buy a used car – private sellers, independent used car lots and, of course, franchise dealerships. Each have their pros and cons, ranging from price, to quality, to reliability and safety. The one edge franchise dealerships may have over all other options is that consumers, in general, believe that a used vehicle at a…

Your Turn To Drive discusses Top 6 Things Car Dealers Do To Make Car Buying Difficult. Jim Dykstra of www.vinadvisor.net, James Raia of The Weekly Driver and Jaclyn Trop discuss what to watch for when buying a car.

#1

The single biggest reason 99% of consumers expect car buying (and…

Millennials are growing in number and their car buying preferences are vastly different than baby boomers or Gen X. There are so many conflicting reports and studies, so I recently read up on the subject and came across several interesting pieces of information that I thought I’d share in this blog:

1. Millennials drive more than any other…

We are a Independent dealer in Hawaii, and have been for the last 22 years. I basically don't have any franchise dealer experience or training. I've had to learn everything by the "seat of my pants", through webinars and through NIADA conventions, Digital Dealer conventions, and through attrition from peers and employees and our HR advisor.

I never really learned how to attract talented sales people. I have a couple of quality ones that have taken me years to attract.

I found…

ALR Panelist Opportunity:

Automotive Leadership Roundtable

Susan Scarola and the Automotive Leadership Roundtable need one more dealer panelist at on March 13th at the Fontainebleau in Miami Beach.

The Topic is "Creating stakeholder value: top down…

My 13 year old son has not had the best relationship this year with math. In short, math has kicked his butt so much so that he's almost given up. Last night I saw him sitting on the couch just staring at his math worksheet. Watching him out of the corner of my eye, he kept staring at it, but never would put pencil to paper. Noticing this, I sat down beside…

     Several years ago there was an article written about working for bad dealerships and everyone was able to post a lot of negative insights and experiences. Well it is time to look at the good aspects that the automotive industry has offered all of us! Let us post the good points and make each of us realize just how good we may have it!

When talking to dealers about measuring marketing results from their various vendors, I often hear them bemoaning the fact that they have to log into multiple dashboards, I refer to this as “ADD.” Perhaps not the ADD you’re thinking of – here it stands for “Another Damn Dashboard!” What dealer isn’t fed up with too many dashboards making it impossible to focus on the data?…

In today’s competitive marketplace, women buyers are crucial for auto dealer’s success.

As the #BigDataAuthority we are thrilled to publish the all-inclusive 2017 US Women’s Car Dealer Report that shares trends, behaviors, preferences and experiences women have when Purchasing, Shopping and in the Service Drive.

It’s not enough to just ‘know’ women’s habits when purchasing a vehicle at a dealership. ‘Knowing’ doesn’t make a difference.

Dealers that are…

Change is something that is critical to your business. If you’re not adapting to the change around you, you’re bound to fall behind the ranks of your competitors!

Join Paul and Ashley on this week’s Think Tank Tuesday as they give you tips and tricks on how to conquer your fear of change in the workplace and in your personal life.…

Today’s dealerships spend tens of thousands of dollars every month to reach new customers and get them inside the dealership doors. A large amount of these funds are spent on newspapers that end up as a floor mat the next day for a birdcage. I’ve seen thousands of dollars spent on service ads, that promote super low price oil changes to drive traffic that will spend nothing on suggested needs…

Based on our research, the average Internet Manager, Inventory Manager, Sales Manager, GSM, and or GM spend an hour a day checking out the competition. Sure, an hour a day doesn’t seem to be too long when it comes to understanding the current market place, but what if you have 3 sales managers, 1 Internet Manager, 1 inventory manager, 1 GSM, and 1 GM, you can see the amount of time that is spent each day adds up.

Also, you must consider the amount of information you can truly find by…

I will never forget selling vehicles online in the 80's.  After three years, I had my own advertising, my own customer base, my own phone pops, set my own hours, and got paid on everything.  Although most of my inquiries began online or with a phone call, I had the highest gross average in the store.

Just like your inquiries, phone pops and emails would be about…