When you’re at low water mark in your life, people try to rescue you by saying that the failure you’re experiencing doesn’t “define” you. And I get it; the idea is to try to isolate the failure-to treat it as a one-time event and not a life without the possibility of parole kind of sentence.
You had no…
ContinueAdded by Marsh Buice on September 27, 2018 at 8:34am — No Comments
The sheer volume of leads many dealerships receive can be overwhelming. And, not only do they have to respond (hopefully quickly) to any new leads, they are also expected to follow up with those leads with a “buy or die” mentality. I can guarantee you that whoever is responsible for following up with leads can quickly be overwhelmed by their to-do list in the…
ContinueAdded by Brett Sutherlin on September 19, 2018 at 10:07am — No Comments
Many consider Michael Jordan one of the greatest, if not THE greatest, basketball player who ever lived. He also made some thought-provoking statements. One I find really interesting and words from which we can all learn is this:
“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, I’ve been trusted to…
ContinueAdded by Steve White on September 17, 2018 at 8:59am — No Comments
At one point in time or another, we’ve all heard someone in our lives tell inform us that money doesn’t grow on trees. And they would be right. Technically.
The facts are, however, that the phrase started because sometimes there is money (revenue) that is simply waiting to be taken by businesses. There are a lot of revenue sources in dealerships and while those sources haven’t changed much in a century, the way in which dealerships can harvest…
ContinueAdded by Todd Smith on September 13, 2018 at 9:57am — No Comments
With the fourth-quarter in sight, now’s the time to be planning for ways to end the year strong and insure you maximize your dollars and their effectiveness. One way is to make sure you evaluate how you maximize OEM reimbursements and move more inventory. Co-op funds can substantially improve a dealer’s ROI by reimbursing up to 50% of your marketing spend. Think about…
ContinueAdded by Chris Martin on September 7, 2018 at 10:18am — No Comments
Henry Ford was once asked why he visited his executives rather than having them come to his office when problems arose or he needed questions answered. “I go to save them time,” said Ford. “I’ve found that I can leave the other fellow’s office a lot quicker than I can get him to leave mine.” Ford knew the necessity of gaining information.[1] He also knew…
ContinueAdded by Todd Smith on August 30, 2018 at 10:02am — No Comments
Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently tweeted that he wanted to take Tesla private, which has garnered a lot of attention. Hey, I realize that Tesla as a company can be a polarizing issue in our automotive industry. But this is something you may want to pay attention to.
Here’s…
ContinueAdded by Ujj Nath on August 28, 2018 at 10:00am — No Comments
Let me start by saying that I love to surf. Back in my younger days, I was able to qualify and had the opportunity to compete on the pro tour. At one point, I surfed Mavericks in Northern California which has waves in the 30 to 40-foot range. To illustrate, the waves are so big and heavy that you can’t just paddle out. I take this boat out and paddle to ride my first…
ContinueAdded by Todd Smith on August 23, 2018 at 9:54am — No Comments
The automotive industry is changing with self-driving cars, companies such as Uber entering the field and the decline of oil-dependent vehicles.
To that point, I am sure many of you are familiar with the shocking stories and downfalls of three highly successful companies: Blockbuster, Kodak and Xerox.
So, what lessons can be learned from…
ContinueAdded by Ujj Nath on July 24, 2018 at 9:56am — No Comments
Department Managers have an enormous impact on your Dealerships Profitability. That impact can either be positive, or negative. The choice is really up to you. We would never let the coach on the field without a playbook and a strategy, yet as an industry we let our managers “play” every day without the skills and support to manager their teams. Ask yourself “do I have a…
ContinueAdded by Andy Church on July 13, 2018 at 10:42am — No Comments
Today’s customers visit around 24 touchpoints during their car-buying journey, including your website, and get loaded up with information during this research period.
Those consumers have, more than likely, already narrowed your dealership down to one of only a couple that they plan to visit. And, while your website may be spot-on and easy to use, with the…
ContinueAdded by John Wingle on July 3, 2018 at 9:48am — No Comments
If you have been paying attention to industry trends I am sure you have noticed the ever-increasing gap between the size of smaller dealerships and large auto groups. Groups are swallowing up smaller dealers left and right as they continue to grow.
Of course, size matters when it comes to many things in the dealership world and the consolidation of the…
ContinueAdded by Ujj Nath on June 11, 2018 at 9:35am — No Comments
As an industry, we’re witnessing the largest shift and money grab in history -- from the likes of Carvana, Blinker, and Fair, to the possible entrance of Amazon into car buying.
And now, another huge retail company has decided to jump in… but in a way that dealers may be overlooking.
Walmart recently launched a used-car buying service in…
ContinueAdded by Ujj Nath on April 17, 2018 at 9:39am — No Comments
If you’ve been in the retail automotive industry for any length of time, you’ve seen how inaction is thought to be the best course of action. With today's evolving retail world where consumer’s can order oil and battery changes on Amazon, I’m sure there are many more changes that Amazon is hatching for the automotive industry. If your attitude is that you are making money…
ContinueAdded by Ujj Nath on April 11, 2018 at 9:27am — No Comments
Marketing is an incredibly complicated and convoluted field which involves everything from direct marketing, to brand management, customer communications, social media, public relations and on and on. Whether you call the person responsible for your digital marketing efforts the “CMO,” or delegate these tasks to an Internet Manager at your dealership, the fact remains that…
ContinueAdded by Steve White on April 10, 2018 at 9:38am — No Comments
The buzz today among vendors in the automotive industry is all about making the car buying transaction faster and more convenient for the consumer. I get it. Consumers think it takes too long to buy a car, so technology companies are inventing ways to trim down that transaction time. Sure, it may make car buying an easier and more convenient experience for consumers which,…
ContinueAdded by Mike Gorun on March 27, 2018 at 9:07am — No Comments
Rewards programs are indisputably a staple in common society. Most retailers have them and consumers have come to expect them.
The problem is that most retailers view rewards programs as an expense, rather than a revenue generator. Sure, there are discounts and other things that come along with rewards programs – and those are the “expenses” some retailers…
ContinueAdded by Mike Gorun on March 20, 2018 at 9:54am — No Comments
The never-ending question is… what does it take to earn customer loyalty? Of course, the answer changes all the time and that is what makes loyalty so confusing and difficult.
As technology continues to develop and improve, consumers have more access to information and aggressively compare prices and services. Businesses are constantly on their feet…
ContinueAdded by Mike Gorun on March 13, 2018 at 9:54am — No Comments
A ‘tentpole’ event at your dealership is one of those big-deal events that you really want to be successful. It could be a sale, holiday event, new product promotion or a community event that you’re sponsoring.
Tentpole marketing is a strategy that generates social buzz around your event that drives traffic to your dealership or to the event you’re…
ContinueAdded by Scot Eisenfelder on March 7, 2018 at 9:56am — No Comments
Does anyone remember when some car dealers didn’t think websites were valuable? It really wasn’t that long ago. Now, every car dealer from the largest to the smallest independent has one.
Even some manufacturers didn’t feel like they “needed” to own their own name on the Internet. Take the epic battle Nissan had with a gentleman who owned a computer company…
ContinueAdded by Ujj Nath on March 6, 2018 at 9:56am — No Comments
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