When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves – Viktor Frankl

The news is full of major disruptors; if you follow the headlines you might think that a world filled with autonomous vehicles is imminent (it isn't), or that new owner and retail models will soon put dealers out of business (they…

Salespeople, Managers and Dealers:  Stop losing time and money because it’s easier to say…

Do you know your customers’ lifetime value (CLV)? CLV defines the monetary value of your customer relationship by how much gross profit they have generated for your dealership.

If you divide your customer database into quintiles, you’ll discover that the top 20 percent is responsible for 79 percent of your gross profits, while the bottom 20 percent are net…

In the past, customers were willing to bring their vehicle into a service department and wait patiently. However, with the rise of convenience and the promise of speed in the form of express independent chains such as Jiffy Lube, regular service customers began forsaking the dealership and started defecting to these chains. Manufacturers took notice and started initiatives…

There’s little doubt that the experience provided by auto dealerships in the past has jaded consumers into a stereotype and perception that isn’t necessarily accurate any longer, yet continues to persist. Because of this perception, companies such as Beepi, Carvana and more are creeping into the automotive space and threatening to snatch sales away from dealerships. (how? by…

NEWSFLASH: Consumers are tired of wasting 3-5 hours of their lives buying a car.

The average prospect today has done more than 19 hours of research before they ever set foot on your lot; so they know what they want to buy, they just don’t want to spend an entire day buying it from you.

Recognizing the need for speed, some dealerships have done a decent job of abbreviating their Road to the Sale for many customers: getting them from the Meet & Greet through the…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t9b3VAm_pQ

The biggest problem(s) with sales training is the lack of it being implemented in the store. Managers think they don't need it and consequently it is not supported. The video above is evidence of this problem.

Another BIG problem is that the trainer's attempt to pack too much into their programs. The goal of training from the perspective of dealers and GM's is that…

Well its been a long delay in the series but here is the next installation, Working the Deal...

I honestly hesitate to even include this in the series as often it will clash directly with the process that sales managers want to follow when desking deals.  However, the whole point of this series is to address those management teams that actually do hate internet sales and see it as a bottomless h*** of red ink.  If you do fall into a category that this rubs the wrong way, I…

It's always a pleasure to write a post about Success and we have some Great News! Rountree GM/Nissan in Florida hit the 200K Club! Congratulations to the entire Team!

In this picture from l-r Tom Dallett Fixed Operations Specialist, Dan Shelly General Manager, Donnie Rosbury Service Manager and Gary Halter Parts Manager.…

Here is a simple way to make more every month. 

It's called the "6 Steps to Happy Bank Deposits" and it goes like this.

1st, write down what you make per month…

Do it on Purpose!!

Another part of relatedness and trust is the signals you send out about your

similarities (trustworthiness). This is real documented stuff. Pick up any book on

NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming). You can get even better relatedness

through matching the clients’ breathing, posture and speech tempo. You can

listen for cues about how they get information, which will ensure that yours goes

“in.” For instance when they are a slow talker and use a…

Get Relatedness

Finding connected-ness through sameness.

This step overlaps Steps 1 through infinity. One thing that frustrates me more

than just about anything when coaching a salesperson is this: We’ll be into the

deal and something is going wrong. The customer all of the sudden wants to bolt

just before or a few minutes after we serve figures. I ask where the client is and

get, “Oh she left already.” The first thing I’ll do is to ask about how the…

STEP 1)

Generate a Client

When I started selling at a little mulch lot after school, I read everything I could get my

hands on. One of the first books I picked up was Joe Girard’s “How To Sell Anything To

Anybody.” Boy was I excited! I was 17 and I was going to somehow magically be able to

select any object, pick out a random person and sell it to them! Well, although there were

some good philosophical points in the book, unfortunately I didn’t ever get the…

Hi I'm a vendor....in the digital space. That's my job. And I love it. I love it because I'm a 27 year retail car guy who's Father was a dealer, Grandfather was a designer for Ford and Step Father designed assembly line equipment. Yes I'm from Detroit...  and I love dealing with car guys and gals. Sure I like it when they buy my product. I like making a difference and I like making sure my company is healthy and our staff can take care of their families. But what I love about the job, really…

Increase Gross Profit, Increase Net Profit, Control Expenses, Increase Sales.

Chances are you have been living those four financial principles since you became the owner or GM. And if you are a service manager reading this, you have been the willing champion of the preceding 4 financial cornerstones to dealership success.

Can I ask you a question?

How does it make you…

Resignation Letter

To: Dealer Principal

Reference: Fixed Operations Gross Profit Resignation Letter

Dear Dealer Principal,

It has come to my attention that Fixed Ops Gross Profit has resigned effective immediately. Without the continued support of Gross Profit I cannot continue to be effective in the performance of my duties while adding funds to your Profitability. (not to mention your bank…

Resignation Letter

Date: Effective Immediately

From: Fixed Operations Gross Profit

To: Dealer Principal

Dear Dealer Principal,

It is with great regret that I must submit this letter of resignation effective immediately.

Although we have worked together over the past few years I don’t feel I can contribute to your bottom line anymore. It has been a great experience and I wish you and all of your dealership team the best.

I am quite…

According to Rand Fishkin, Founder and CEO of SEOmoz.org, *there is an increase in blog readership as of late but a dramatic decrease in the amount of people blogging. This sets the stage for a powerful…