In my sessions at conferences, I discuss the importance of measuring and holding employees accountable. Doing this consistently allows you to identify your top performers, check for consistency across areas of responsibility and identify employees and/or processes that may need improvement.

Speaker, author and accountability expert, Linda Galindo, recently…

If you were to follow around the most successful salesperson you know for a week and then follow a failing salesperson for the same amount of time, the differences would be glaring. It boils down to successful habits. What you do habitually in small incremental actions adds up to huge differences in results by the end of just one week.

Recently, I was visiting a dealership where some of the salespeople had attended a sales seminar I had conducted. One of the attendees of my…

 Ask most people to describe a sales person, and likely as not, you'll find yourself deluged by words like "huckster," "snake oil peddler," "fast talker," "con artist" and, of course, "untrustworthy," "arrogant" and "dishonest."

Those of us who work in sales and know ourselves to be fine, upstanding people may wonder exactly what we ever did to earn such an enviable…

Robert Cialdini is a social scientist who wrote the book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. In the book, Cialdini describes six different influences that get people to say “yes.” In this article, I would like to review those six influences and how that relates to selling vehicles, and add one more form of influence that will assist you in getting your customer to say “yes!”

Reciprocation — Human nature creates an urge to pay back debts. These debts can be in the…

When was the last time you heard of someone who had worked his or her entire live for a single company? Chances are these instances involved members of an older generation, specifically people born in the earlier part of the century. So why has something that used to be fairly common in the past suddenly become far less common?

A very interesting…

 “Work harder.”

“Work more hours.”

“Put your nose to the grindstone.”

“You have to pay your dues.”

“Climb the ladder of success.”

Do all of these sayings sound familiar? These common phrases often espouse ideas that become anchored as limiting beliefs in your brain. Here’s the shocking news; these phrases often put into motion a cycle of struggle and failure. These common teachings may have kept you from having the kind of success you desire. The…

ALBANY, N.Y. – September 23rd, 2013 – Auto/Mate Dealership Systems (http://www.automate.com) announced today that its AMPS Dealership Management System (DMS) is fully integrated with ELEAD1ONE (www.elead-crm.com), a leading provider of virtual BDC, CRM and retail solutions to auto dealerships. Auto dealers using Auto/Mate's DMS can benefit from having real time, bi-directional data update contacts in both the…

I was on an online chat with several friends and fellow trainers from the United Kingdom the other night. We were discussing Time Management, a subject that most of us provided training on. As we were chatting, the subject got around to the biggest time wasters we had each seen with ourselves and our clients. We decided to compile a list. I have included that list below.…

I’ve started a marketing company for auto sales people, and I already know it will fail.  Why would a company, dedicated to helping auto sales people be more successful be doomed to failure?

1.  Auto sales people don’t stay put, they believe they sell a product and are willing to move to sell the “hot” product instead of recognizing the value lies in the salesperson, not the product. 
2. Auto sales people keep lousy records. They rely on the dealer’s systems and processes…

Don’t you hate to hear your customer say no? You spend a lot of time and energy with a customer and when you get to the final stage of the sales process, the customer says the dreaded no word. You were all excited and hoping for a sale and then poof, the air goes out of your sail. The good news is that you can change from getting no answers to yes answers.

First, you must recognize that getting a no answer isn’t accidental or bad luck. When a customer gives you a no answer it…

              Although I could certainly give more than just one more thing, this report is based upon specifically on one thing and this is prospecting.  Top sales performers know that lead generation equals dollar creation. Top performers look to create more leads from more sources and to have higher productivity from each source.

               First of all, I would invite you to create a marketing web. Take a piece of paper and put a dot in the middle.…

     Many people in the auto industry have been talking about evidence of a softening market. Lately, I have seen fear in the eyes of several salespeople, managers, and dealers. Good times and overabundance tends to spoil all of us and leads us to bad habits and a reduced sense of urgency that kills our business when things get tougher. What are you doing at your dealership right now to cushion for an economic downturn?

     The time to prepare for bad times is not when they hit, but…

            I have a confession to make. I am old enough to remember rotary phones and black and white TV without cable, satellite or remote controls. I grew up in a house without central air conditioning and the first several cars I owned ran on leaded gasoline. As I look back its fun to remember those things but I certainly don’t spend any time or effort trying to relive those times with those circumstances. Times have changed and so have I. For you to change, you must first let…

I am posting this blog on behalf of Praveen Tamvada, Director of Marketing

Auto/Mate Dealership Systems 

Last weekend was my son’s birthday party, and I had the brilliant idea of providing him and his friends with water…

Most of all successful dealerships have a system or selling process that works for them. The system or process can vary according to the type of vehicles being sold, the demographics of the local marketplace and experience and personalities of the sales force. However, some of the more unsuccessful dealerships have strayed from their reason for having a system. Egos, over-control, lack of delegation and the dummying-down process of salespeople have given the retail auto industry a black…

ALBANY, N.Y. – September 3^rd, 2013 – Auto/Mate Dealership Systems (http://www.automate.com) announced today that its AMPS Dealership Management System (DMS) is fully integrated with Volkswagen Group of America’s ElsaPro, an electronic workshop manual that dealership service departments use to diagnose and repair vehicles. Volkswagen and Audi dealerships using Auto/Mate’s DMS will greatly increase efficiencies in the service department…

Recently, I competed for the National Title of Ms. US Forestry Queen and heard several times over the weekend, “You are an extraordinary woman!”  I am humbled and appreciative of any complement, but this one makes me giggle a little on the inside.  Why do I giggle?  Thank about…

A recent study that was conducted by interviewing employees from several industries found that only 15% of those employees felt empowered by their boss to make a necessary decision. To maximize performance, all businesses need clearly defined expectations, processes and job descriptions that include allowable limits to decision making.

In the traditional, heavy, control-oriented selling and managing philosophy that the automotive industry has been used to, employees tend to be used as…

Women make up over half of the population and workforce and they influence the large majority of purchasing decisions. So why aren’t women obtaining those same levels of success as men in the business world? Is a good-old boy network stifling women? Do women lack the skills, abilities or experience to reach higher levels of success in greater numbers? Women have the ability to reach the same percentages of business success as men, if they follow four politically incorrect lessons of…

ALBANY, N.Y. – August 26^th 2013 – Auto/Mate Dealership Systems (http://www.automate.com) announced today that its AMPS Dealership Management System (DMS) is fully integrated with Dealer-FX’s automotive retail marketing and software solutions. Auto dealerships using AMPS dealership management system (DMS) and Dealer-FX’s service customer retention solutions will now benefit from real-time data exchange between the two…