2012 is here……and your dealerships soft little underbelly is showing!!!

It is time to modernize your thinking and TAKE CONTROL!!

The time has come to take control of your dealership, your departments, your data and yourselves!!

It’s time to mold “old school basics” with “new school” tools and…

The holiday season is a great time to combine “giving” and your dealerships social media presence!

While I am sure you and your dealership have your own charities that you give to during the holidays, a sure fire way to expand your social media footprint is to contribute to the charities of your customers!

A great way…

How can you make sure that the processes you have throughout the dealership are executed every time….. and with every customer?

This has been and still remains one of the toughest things to get accomplished in the dealership.

Every dealership throughout the country has their own processes and procedures when it comes to selling and…

There is a rather simple formula when it comes to getting the MAXIMUM return on your investment in Social Media.

It’s so simple…..it might overwhelm you!

And while the formula is simple…..the actual implementation is the hardest part!

The formula???????................”Embrace it”…….

That’s the ENTIRE…

Customer satisfaction and customer retention are paramount for a dealerships long term success!

So…..how can you make sure that your entire team understands this and performs at its highest level??

You HAVE to build a culture!

Here is a link to a blog that I wrote about building a culture:

Are you just training them…

I am asking everyone in the DealerElite community for their assistance!

I am looking to make my return to retail with a Dealer or Dealer Group that could use my expertise.

It has been difficult getting my consulting business off the ground. It was much more difficult than I originally thought it would be.

So I am…

Every single time you go to the Doctor’s office, it happens.

They take your “vitals”

They check your pulse, your temperature, your blood pressure and they weigh you.

Your vitals are an indication of how your body is doing “health-wise”.

If any of the “vitals” are outside of the normal parameters, it may…

Today’s customers have access to an abundance of knowledge.

They can get on their computer or smart phone and see what the cost of a New Vehicle is.

They can appraise their own trade.

They can see what the lowest interest rates are.

They can do side by side comparisons with vehicles they are looking…

I know…….it’s a pretty strong title for an article.

BUT….it’s true…..

It pertains to a vast majority of car dealerships around the country!

Your own employees MUST hate doing business with you!

They take their own personal vehicles and get oil changes, tires, tire rotations, alignments,…

“At first people refuse to believe that a strange new thing can be done.

Then they begin to hope it can be done.

Then they see it can be done.

Then it is done………. and all the world wonders why it was not done centuries…

(Part 4 – Sell them)

In the first part of this 4 part blog, we reviewed how to “assess” what would be your “perfect Pre-owned inventory mix”.

In the second part of this 4 part blog, we reviewed how to “find” your “perfect Pre-owned inventory mix”.

In the third part of this 4 part blog, we reviewed how to…

(Part 2 – Find them)

In the first part of this 4 part blog, we reviewed how to “assess” what would be your “perfect Pre-owned inventory mix”.

Now that we know what vehicles we are looking for, the next step is “finding” them!

There are many places we can search to find these…

(Part 1 – Assess them)

Pre-Owned vehicles are the life blood of any successful automotive dealership!

For some dealers, that don’t floor plan pre-owned vehicles, this is where a LOT of cash can be found!

So why is it that some dealers feel that the Pre-owned department takes a “back seat” to the New vehicle…

Baseball is America’s game. It provides thrills, strategy, suspense, heroics and athleticism all in one.

As of the writing of this article, (September 22, 2011) the batting average for ALL Major League players stand at .255.

That translates into 255 hits for every 1000 at bats.

The player that has the highest batting…

Are you trying to decide what your Social Media process should look like?

Are you trying to decide where to begin and what to do?

One of the easiest and most effective ways to use social media to enhance your dealership’s presence is to utilize video of your happy customers either taking delivery of their New or Pre-Owned vehicle, or video of their experience in your service department!

You first have to understand, social media is…

Kelly Blue Book, the self proclaimed “The Trusted Resource” is used by consumers every day!

According to KBB’s own site stats, “Over 13+ million visits generate more than 35 million pricing reports every month”

THAT is a lot of visits!

Have you ever had a customer come into the dealership with…

In (Part 1) of this blog, we talked about the experience you receive when you go to a restaurant for lunch.

In (Part 2) of this blog, we talked about the “Level of Expectation” process in your Sales Department.

In (Part 3) of this blog, we talked about the “Level of Expectation” process in your F&I/Business Manager’s…

In (Part 1) of this blog, we talked about the experience you receive when you go to a restaurant for lunch.

In (Part 2) of this blog, we talked about the “Level of Expectation” process in your Sales Department.

Now….lets talk about setting the “Level of Expectation” in your Dealership’s F&I/Business Manager…

How can you solve ANY problem that you might have???

There is a very simple process…to solving any and all problems…

The process… is basically 4 steps…

And you are going to need to write out your answers…to every step of the process…

So get yourself some paper and a pen…or type it out on your…

There is an enormous difference between training the people in your organization and actually developing a culture within your organization!

Training simply formulates the process from A to Z. But if ALL employees don’t understand the entire picture, you are doomed for failure!

While building a culture…..well…that takes a lot of time…