In today’s retail environment, why are so many dealerships still playing games with customers? Sales Managers and salespeople dodge questions and push hard for appointments. They’ll also play bait and switch with website offers. Are you among them?

Playing games ruins your reputation and costs you sales —I know this from a personal experience. On the day before Christmas, I was going to buy Dodge Charger for my daughter. I went to the website of the closest Dodge dealership…

Most consumers have a built-in fear of communicating with automotive sales professionals.  Many of the "new age" automotive retailers are trying to play on this fear by running negative ads that make automotive dealerships (and sales professionals) look like high-pressure evil people.

When a consumer does finally reach out to your dealership, using…

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When handling objections in car sales, it’s important to understand the reasoning for objections, and show empathy and agreement for a buyer’s position. Not only have they been raised to be wary of the car buying process, but this is also a huge purchase for them – perhaps the largest they’ve ever made. As such, objection handling needs to be approached with understand and a good attitude.

Moreover,…

Despite the pandemic, consumers are still in-market for vehicles. Manufacturers, at one point, were forced to slow production due to local and state regulations. As a result, some dealers have been struggling to maintain a full inventory of vehicles to offer car shoppers. Of course, dealerships cannot control when (or how many) new vehicles they receive from…

Our video series, Be Aware of Your Business, has been taking you on a journey of self-discovery. It’s all about awareness, folks! And that presence in every moment, that goodness that you bring to the lives around you, that ease in who you are is going to move your business to that next level.  Let’s continue our discussion from last week, and really press in on that apple…

Kenwood Dealer Group is 15 dealerships in the Cincinnati, Ohio market. Dan Kommeth joined in early 2020 to fill a newly created position, Group Sales Director, assigned to strengthen the stores’ competitive advantage.

Convinced that positive customer experiences begin well before a lead or walk-in arrives, Kommeth started his new assignment by investigating processes that flow into profitable car sales.…

According to Stanford economist Nicholas Bloom, the “working-from-home” economy is likely to exist far beyond the pandemic. Employers are enjoying decreased expense in office space and increased employee productivity, while employees have more freedom with the luxury of no…

It’s an understatement to say this year has been unpredictable. In the last few months, showroom traffic has recovered due to pent-up demand and stimulus checks, but there’s no guarantee these levels will stay consistent. Dealers are reporting higher volumes of internet and phone leads due to changes in customers’ daily lives, e.g. people working from home and resistance to going out unnecessarily. How is your dealership keeping up with these shifts in traffic?

During the…

Right about now I’m sure you’re saying, “What in the world is Damian talking about?” Well, don’t you worry friends. I’m so grateful to be able to tell you all about it. Let’s begin by focusing on YOU. To build your best business, you’ve got to find awareness in every step of your process. You’re going to have to…

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…

Ever walk into a McDonald’s and just watch their process at work? If not, take the time to observe next time you visit one of these iconic fast-food chain restaurants. You’ll witness employees, who average just $10.12 per hour*, move with the brisk pace, tempo, and synchronicity of a well-trained team as they interact with each other and their…

Ever walk into a McDonald’s and just watch their process at work? If not, take the time to observe next time you visit one of these iconic fast-food chain restaurants. You’ll witness employees, who average just $10.12 per hour*, move with the brisk pace, tempo, and synchronicity of a well-trained team as they interact with each other and their…

If there's one thing we're obsessed with in our industry – it's our CRM workflows. We live and breathe by the workflow; everything from our daily reports, reviewing them multiple times a day and using them as the “benchmark” for success to judging people’s worth based on them. While I am a fan of having a historical reference of past performance metrics and believe it's essential to have consistency in follow-up and a score card, the fact is many CRM's workflows are flawed. Flawed to…

Top-of-the-line Environmental Protection Product company recruits fixed ops director with 26 years of experience to lead expansion team.

Columbus, OH – October 5, 2020 – ZipDeal, a streamlined, post-sale, pre-F&I vehicle delivery system for automotive dealers, today announced…

Top-of-the-line Environmental Protection Product company recruits fixed ops director with 26 years of experience to lead expansion team.

Columbus, OH – October 5, 2020 – ZipDeal, a streamlined, post-sale, pre-F&I vehicle delivery system for automotive dealers, today announced…

In this era of transparency, consumers can gather more information than ever before. In the past, they relied upon the dealer to provide it to them. Now, however, they can visit multiple websites in order to gain the information they need before even contacting a dealership. Once the consumer decides they are ready to buy (or close to it) and start to take…

What’s the real cost of training? What’s the real expense?

If you’re like most answering this question, the answer that rolled off your tongue instantaneously was “nothing” then you supported that answer with a statement along the lines of “we pay managers a salary, and they handle it.”

Stop for a second and think about the above statement; while it’s true, they receive a salary, how many managers, when asked to write out their job description, include “training” on…

Many people over time have gone on blind dates. Sometimes those dates were set-up by friends and scheduled for one person to meet the other with the two having no knowledge of each other. Sometimes the one being set-up by their friends has some information about who they will be meeting and sometimes both parties have some prior knowledge of each other. The…

Fast-growing company taps industry innovator to head up its national expansion…