For years, the dog has been man’s best friend. He’s got a lot of things going for him; one of the best things is his dog nose. The dog’s nose is some 50,000 times more powerful than our human noses, and has some amazing powers.

Our dogs sniff out bombs, buried earthquake survivors, skiers buried in…

Written by: Gene Daughtry

In BHPH, like any other automobile dealer, you’ll start the sales process out with a meet and greet. From there you should go in a different direction from other retail outlets. If you have been on a franchise dealer sales floor I am sure you or your sales staffs have joked about wanting a screening machine that they could walk a customer through for an instant credit reading. Since that doesn’t exist, your sales process is probably similar to: 1. “up” your…

When the economy is down or people are trying to hold onto their money, they are less likely to dish out a large sum for a new car, and prefer to repair their current vehicle instead. They  may even prefer to purchase the parts and attempt more simple repairs themselves. 

Last year there was …

This article was written by: Dennis Kane

I see an increasing trend from auto dealers: slip, trips and falls are on the rise, particularly in the service department.

This uptick can be attributed to some or all of the following factors:

• Dealerships are simply more hazardous than previously, either due to changing weather patterns or because attention to safety has waned,

• Dealerships are servicing a greater number of cars because more…

Recently I received a emailed correspondence from a service advisor that was just fed up with all the added responsibilities piled on him and him peers in the service drive . He was asking me if the status quo has changed across the country.

Here is a snippet of that email:

“Many of the writers here feel taken advantage of because they have been asked to not only perform the functions of service write up but also cashiering and telephone answering and appointment…

You keep hearing that dealers are making good profits in Buy Here Pay Here. You have decided that you would like to pursue the business. What is your next step? After all you may have been in the car business for years. You understand buying and selling cars. You know how to run a compliant Finance Department and a profitable shop. Isn’t BHPH or LHPH just other ways of financing cars?

The answer is not as simple as it might seem. A BHPH or LHPH operation takes…

There are many lessons we can take from this Super Bowl this year. Important, crucial information like Beyonce has still got it, always pay your electricity bill before you have company over, and murderers can go on to do great things in life. Even more important though, are the lessons we can learn about Marketing with Twitter and Facebook. Let  us here at Wikimotive share some of these with…

For years, the social media landscape has remained largely unchanged. Sure, you have things like Pinterest and Instagram popping up, but the big things for business have consistently been Marketing with Twitter and Facebook. Google+ was designed to be the…

When it comes to Marketing with Twitter and Facebook, nothing is more important than the knowledge of how users interact with those services. Twitter hasn’t been making many major changes, but Facebook is constantly implementing new things and letting…

Marketing with Twitter and Facebook should be less about selling a product, and more about selling your brand. Some companies don’t understand this and that’s why they believe social media isn’t valuable, because when you only use it to showcase sales, it isn’t. Other brands have a firm grasp on…

Annnnd we’re back! I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas, a happy Chanukah, and/or a pleasant other seasonal holiday. Now that we’re all back to work, I figured we could ease into things by thinking about the future, namely 2013. It’s only a week away, and this is the perfect time to take a look at your strategies for SEO, …

The answer, of course, is an Instagram. Listen, I’m not going to tell you that’s a great joke, simply a relevant one, because the social picture sharing and food-photo-filtering site has been making waves this week with their announcement that all your photos will soon be theirs. Everywhere, millions of voices are crying out against the image of Instagram CEOs…

The SPCA has teamed up with Mini Cooper in New Zealand to teach three dogs how to drive. Why? The Auckland SPCA hopes to dispel the idea that abandoned pets are second-rate with the social campaign.The chosen doggies-- Porter, Monty, and Ginny -- are learning to drive in rigs with paw-activated accelerators and…

The election is over, political ads are removed from television, and we can all rest easy for four more years. WRONG. It’s time to vote again, in the Facebook Site Governance proposed documents. Voting started 2 days ago, but fear not, you can vote up until December 10th at 12pm (PST). You can vote here.…

People often times ask if they should schedule their social content posting when marketing with Twitter and Facebook. The short answer is yes, you should certainly schedule. For every…

Do you know the one thing you can do on your dealership's website to increase leads? In this week’s Think Tank Tuesday, I’m going to show you the importance of strong web panels and how they increases customer conversions on your website.

The questions “How do I drive more leads to my website?" and "How do I increase conversions?” are always asked. We’ve done the research so you can implement the strategy in your dealership. You can do it completely free and in house; create custom…

I was amazed to learn that, during the research phase, customers spend 17 to 19 hours, on the internet, before visiting a dealership.  Much of that involves vehicle comparisons but anyone is naive if they don't think that price is a chief consideration.  A recent Cobalt study stated that the average consumer visited eight dealership websites.  These customers tend to be at the bottom of the sales funnel.  At this point, they should have narrowed it down to a…

Over the past 20 years we have asked less and less of our salespeople. They don't handle phone calls,they don't handle internet leads,they don't network or prospect for new business and in some cases they don't even deliver the cars they have sold.

I feel the main reason for this is that the high salesman's turnover have left us with, at best nice greeters. We all know the old adege "you get what you pay for". A quality person who wants to try automobile sales leaves because he…

Did you catch the presidential debate this week? It was of the more intense events from any recent election. The candidates appeared as though they might drop the mics and go for blood any second. Luckily, it didn’t come to that, but there was another group waiting in the wings, poised to pounce at the…

5 Popular Aftermarket Accessories and How to Sell Them

If you are in a dealership that has an accessories profit center you already understand the revenue potential. The fact is consumers are constantly looking for ways to personalize everything from their electronic devices like…