So many blogs lately on the processes of top producers, selling 20-40+ cars a month, best practices, does anyone really grow up to be an automotive sales person, etc.

From back as far as we can remember, we are "programmed" by parents, friends, school buddies, work associates, bosses that many "things" are either impossible or just can't be done.

Remember the 4 minute mile?  EVERYONE said it couldn't be done yet Roger Bannister didn't believe it and was…

Do You Know Where Your Business Is Going?

Do You Know How To Get There?

Written by: Randolph S. Lofgren…

When an Internet customer asks for a quote through Edmunds or Cars.com they get five to six new best friends. The Internet Sales Managers say the same stuff with the same quotes and whoever how the lowest price wins. Not really. The battle is won by how you, the ISM, distinguishes himself from the rest. This is the art of our job, this is the most fundamental selling there is: selling yourself.

Listen to Lead: This is about the first thirty seconds of a phone…

OK, that’s not fair.  Most people like you.  At least according to a recent Consumer ReportsAnnual Auto Survey in which 73% said that they were either completely or very satisfied with their repair shop.  I thought it interesting to look at the 5 reasons most often cited for dissatisfaction.

Before we dive in, let me give you a quote: “Truth is universal. …

Today, I joined a friend of mine for some shopping at Ikea, Lowes, and Target. I'm not a traditional female. That is, I don't know a lot about gardening, color combinations, or, I hate to admit, about cooking. I've made do with pasta, rice, and cereal for longer than I care to admit.

With experience, I've learned to navigate the twists and turns that is Ikea.…

Be the Person You Were Meant to Be

You can be all the things you dream of being,

if you’re willing to work hard and if you believe in yourself more.

Learn from the mistakes of others –…

In this blog post I reference two published research papers that cover a very important topic: Identifying fake online reviews. The two research papers I reference below, start to shed light on how online communities and the search engines will…

Your Customers are Mad as Hell, and They Won’t Take It Anymore!!

Conquest and Retention are both driven by the Caller’s Journey

Great new is...we are clearly in recovery. The risk is, as Jack Jackintelle, President of the Rick Case Automotive Group, recently stated in his presentation to the Automotive Leadership Roundtable, is that we go back to reading our financial statements from the bottom up. There has…

We all use traditional methods -- and now increasingly digital methods, such as Craigslist, Cars.com, and Autos.com -- to scout for used cars. Getting the best results can be a challenge, especially in today's economy: it takes consistent monitoring and persistent effort to find quality used vehicles.



Are any of you leveraging alternative methods to add used cars to your inventory? Most auto auction houses have evolved to now offer online auctions, and during a recent search for a…

Add up the number of hours you’ve spent waiting for doctors, dentists, a restaurant table, haircuts and auto service, etc.  That’s a lot of time with nothing to do.  Smart businesses try to keep you occupied while you wait – really smart businesses try to keep you occupied with something that helps them make more money and increases CSI.

I was reviewing customer…

I like you guys. A lot.

What I love about all of us is that we're all from different areas of the automotive biz. We all have one other thing in common (other than the obvious connection to the automotive realm), and that's the desire to help and…

One thing I've learned in my twenty-some years on this earth is that everyone I can meet either "Can do something so incredibly well" or "Can't do THAT, it's too out of my realm."

"I can do that! It's incredibly easy!"

"I can't do that, I never learned how"

"I've done this a million times before.'

"I've never done anything like this."

My answer is always: "Prove it."

Not that I don't believe what people…

Many months ago I hired a BDC rep who proved to be one of the best I've ever had. Her name is Trish Keller, and is a dE member. She possessed very good writing and communication skills, a great personality, and excellent phone skills. But that later changed when she was plagued by something unforeseen and debilitating.

You see, Trish had woken up one day, before we ever met, with a tingling sensation in her left arm. The next day it was completely numb. She since had multiple…

                                                               It was January, 2011 when I first wrote about how $220 Billion Global King Kong GOOGLE goes offline with direct mail. Now, $100 Billion Global King Kong Jr FACEBOOK followed…

When a new Internet Sales Manager is hired there are usually too few leads in his queue. Mostly he gets a few "fresh" leads and then gets the last guy's old stuff--the dregs. But if he goes through the old leads a few might come to life. A few turn into deals--maybe 1-2%. How did that happen? It happened because the last guy "cherry picked" his leads; he concentrated on the few instead of the many. The last guy had a weekly strategy rather than a thirty to sixty day plan.  

Here's an…

Check out this new blog post by one of our Graphic Designers Nicole Rothenberger as she talks all about the importance of QR codes and explains how to use them.

You all know how important an online presence is. But what about a mobile way to connect…

Look for the "Yes!"--as "no" can find you without any help!

Do you often find yourself locking into what is wrong about something rather than what is right?  Both wrong and right are good to consider, certainly--however, what are you looking for?  A way to say "yes" or a way to say "no"? 

 

Looking for the "no" first is really…

Mom used to say, rather emphatically, “Don’t watch so much TV, you’ll ruin your eyes!”  That was back in the day of 3 channels when I would watch a ½ hour after school.  Fast forward to today when the average American spends 33 hours a week watching video on their various screens.  That’s like a full time job. 

Nielsen reports that internet video viewing is up 22%…

When someone says something to you, do you listen? I don’t mean do the words pass through your hearing canal, but do you listen to them? Do you allow the words to enter your brain and form a clear vision of what is being said to you? If you haven’t put this much thought into this, then there is a very good chance you aren’t listening to the things…