First, I’ll preface by saying I have great admiration for managers, upper management and dealers.  They are usually very intelligent, courageous, and have worked hard all of their lives.  They are usually great stewards of the money and got where they are making a lot more good decisions than bad.  Read further…

Is data your best friend or your worst enemy?

Why do I ask? Well, if you work in a dealership, chances are good that you either review or are responsible for creating reports on a regular basis. For principals and managers, reports reveal important information such as how many units your dealership has sold this month, how many customer-pay ROs you've…

[With the on-again/off-again debate about Third Party Providers currently on (again), it seems appropriate to present this excerpt from our 2015 Online Automotive Leads mystery shop study.]

A high percentage of dealership desk managers still look at the Internet and their own internet sales teams as the enemy. For these shortsighted managers, the elimination of e-leads in their dealership might likely be viewed as a blessing.…

[Photo: Used North - Edmond, Oklahoma - 2004 ]

When I worked at Bob Howard Auto Group from 2004 to 2008, it was like dog years in regard to learning, as there were two new car managers and two used car managers under every rooftop and our Internet Department represented all 14 new car brands. So you can imagine picking up the phone and helping…

I'm very proud of the study our team just released that tracked and graded over 400 Automotive Mystery Shops for 30 days. In the study, we read every email and listened to every voicemail. Also, we graded dealers' REAL response time: that is, the time it takes them to actually pick up the phone and call the prospect. Since we used a valid, working…

I'm relatively new to the car business. There are certainly a lot of situations that are new to me and so much to learn about the pretty much every aspect of my job. Despite all of that, I have found that my inexperience is one of my biggest assets.…

Written by: Keith Shetterly



We talked for years in automotive retail about “The Road to the Sale,” and I’m clearly one of the many supporters of that path to sales success. However, too many of us are still on "The Road Less Profited." Why? Because we are not getting more sales (and profits!) from "The Road to Retention”!



Retention sales link the positives of variable and fixed operations together, and their teaming allows each part of the dealership to amplify the other.…

If you haven’t already done so, it’s that time to review your 2012 performance in detail. In what areas did you fall short of your goals and why? Where could you have generated greater gains and how? Don’t allow January to slip by without these facts in writing and a discussion of how you can best move forward in 2013.

A common F&I pay plan in the automotive industry is known as the grid. It compensates managers based on their per vehicle retail performance and products sold…

I have the honor and privilege of traveling this great country of ours and working with all types of BHPH dealers on a consulting, training, and 20 Group basis. I am a firm believer that we learn more from our mistakes than our successes. When I first started to put this article together, I made a list of the most prominent mistakes I see BHPH dealers make. Problem was, the list was about 1,001 mistakes long. Most if not all of which I had made as a dealer myself.

After looking over…

Technology has a double edged sword and equally can be "our killer" as much as it can be our "life savior". It also holds opportunity and our success at hand.

The biggest and most important problem I see for many car dealers is that most fall into being a "follower" and not "leader". Our concern and effort to what others are doing has much time, money and focus invested…

Recently, I’ve been busy out in the field doing what I love most—rolling up my sleeves and working on-site with client-dealers, which is something I don’t have much time for in my position as director of the NCM® Institute. Recently, though, I’ve had the opportunity to work with two exceptional dealership groups who are committed to going “from good to great.”   

I know I’ve been remarkably fortunate, over my 25+ years in training and…

Not riding along on the demo is without a doubt the most damaging part of the sales process. If you read my article titled “Trade In, The Secret to the Sale” and you are following those guidelines I give you props!! If you have not read it I would suggest that you read it and make it a part of your process for it tends to help with…

Everyone I talk to seems to have their own conception of what the 80/20 Rule is all about, but very few people in the retail automotive business fully understand its dominant principles and how they should be applied to our business. Nonetheless, I’m a believer that the 80/20 Rule can and should be used by every sensible person in their daily life. The successful utilization of this principle can multiply the profitability of auto dealerships and the effectiveness of any…

It’s time for a continuation of the mini case study focused on the objectives established and challenges faced in building processes to develop, measure and manage OTDBs in the operating departments of an NCM client automotive dealership group. In our article titled OTDB Measurement and Management – Part Two, published on March 20, 2012, I discussed the structure of the vehicle sales department and the general expectations that we defined and communicated to the members of the sales…

I am again continuing the mini case study focused on the objectives established, and challenges faced, in building processes to measure and manage OTDBs in the operating departments of an NCM client dealership group. Today, my focus is on one of the greatest vehicle sales opportunities that most dealers enjoy, but fail to capitalize on.

At one point during this engagement, I had asked the dealer principal if he was satisfied with the strategies being employed to develop vehicle sales…

http://www.automotiveinternetsales.com 

Automotive Phone Sales  - Process &…

It was in late 1987, and I was conducting an in-dealership workshop focused on financial and operational planning and controls. I was describing an F&I process that I had recommended to increase service contract penetration, when the general manager said, “We used to do that.” In response, I asked, “Did it work?” “Absolutely,” he answered. I was tempted to say, “Then why did you stop doing it?” but I was new to the consulting business and didn’t want to risk offending one of my few…