Ohhh the dreaded transferred call. There are many times in business that streamlining a process is the best for the business and for the customer. But there are sometimes it is just not the case.

This is where the separation of Parts and Service comes in. I have mentioned how the parts department is its own animal in other posts, but I need to really drive it home here. The parts department is like a dictionary for everything brand “X” is. There are so many moving pieces and…

One of the fears dealerships have regarding digital innovations in the automotive industry is that the internet will replace phones. However, it is a well-known fact that phone leads close significantly faster than internet and social leads combined. And guess what -- fixed operations generates many of them. As a result, dealerships are placing a…

Customer experience can make or break a dealership. It is a term often used when making marketing strategy plans, but is it front of mind for every dealership employee; especially those who communicate with customers directly? If your sales and BDC staff are relying on old school phone and internet techniques, it’s not. The language salespeople use with…

Anyone in sales can probably agree that leaving dozens of voicemails a day that are never returned is the most frustrating part of automotive phone sales. The average voicemail return rate is 4.8 % and sales reps spend about 15% of their…

Up to 95 percent of today’s shoppers go online to research vehicles. But they still want a personal connection. According to the Local Search Association, 61 percent of new and used vehicle shoppers call a dealership once they’ve completed their online research. This number is likely to grow due to the prevalence of smart phones and click-to-call…

Today's customers expect and demand a fantastic experience. From initial research to the showroom visit, delivering a great experience at every touchpoint will give you a distinct advantage over your competition and help you win deals.

My last blog, 7…

More than ever before, customers are turning to the internet to research and shop for vehicles. This shift in behavior makes phone calls even more critical. Instead of visiting the dealership to ask vehicle questions, shoppers are turning to their phones. 

In my last blog, “…

While much has been written about how the “bots” are coming and will threaten to automate everyone’s job, the reality is that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is about automating mundane tasks to improve the customer experience and better scale human interactions for solving the complex and unique issues.

Machine Learning (ML) is all about feeding…

Shaping great customer experiences and setting more appointments begins with one of the first critical moments, the phone call. The first impression of a call is more important than ever. After all, it’s a lot easier for consumers to hang up the phone than walk out of a dealership.

To have a fighting chance of setting appointments and closing new…

When you consider the most valuable player at your dealership, who comes to mind? The dealer? The GM? The top-performing salesperson? What if I told you it's your receptionist. Yep, the person who is probably at the low-end of your pay scale. They are potentially working part-time, and maybe even new to the job, and you might even have a hard time remembering…

Every dealership wants to increase website traffic, that’s why they spend thousands of dollars per month on advertising agencies to run email marketing, pay-per-click advertising, and social media campaigns. Typically, agencies include search engine optimization in service packages to snag organic search traffic. Yet, organic search often feels like the…

You know to protect your dealership computer system from hackers, but what about your phone system? Phone hacking is common and often overlooked until you get hit with fraudulent charges. According to the Communications Fraud Control Association, phone fraud costs companies over $4 billion each year. The majority of that cost is due to toll fraud;…

Rising interest rates and stagnant incentives point to a slowing new vehicle market through the end of the year. NADA predicts new vehicle sales will decline at least one percent, and probably more. Used car sales are picking up. But not at a velocity to make up for the loss of new vehicle sales. What should a dealer do? Some may need to lean on the parts and…

Dealerships lose hundreds of sales opportunities every year because of missed or mishandled phone calls. On average, a dealership fails to connect with 33% of incoming calls. For every 100 calls, that means you’re missing out on 33 potential deals! Phone calls are three times more likely to convert than other types of leads. It’s crucial to fix your phone…

The shift from traditional advertising to digital advertising continues to grow. Today, it’s common for 90 percent of a dealer’s budget to be spent on digital channels. Yet, it’s very difficult for most dealers to directly attribute phone calls, appointments, and sales to that ad spend. Instead, you get metrics that don’t directly correlate to customer action…

One of the biggest obstacles many dealership service departments encounter is contacting and communicating with their customers. This is not only a problem with recall customers, but with all service customers in general. And failure to communicate can easily…

As countless studies will attest, the effectiveness of texting, email, social media, and multiple other digital…

It’s a well-known fact that people buy from people (or companies) they like. There are certainly many different ways to get customers to like your dealership, from providing a great customer experience to being active in your local community.

However, consumers are increasingly finicky when choosing where to buy or service their vehicle. In…

In the race to make a sale, dealerships often rely on templates in CRMs. These templates – including autoresponders – can hurt a dealership’s chances of communicating effectively -- or at all.

The response rate for leads is very low in the automotive industry. How much time do your salespeople or BDC agents spend calling a new lead, or sending an email, fail…