Stan Sher's Posts - DealerELITE.net2024-03-29T13:10:25ZStan Sherhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/StanSher83https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/11029774652?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1https://www.dealerelite.net/profiles/blog/feed?user=0ts5geosok0ge&xn_auth=noWhat Automotive Retail Industry Topics Would You Love To Read About?tag:www.dealerelite.net,2023-04-18:5283893:BlogPost:13718402023-04-18T17:33:54.000ZStan Sherhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/StanSher83
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I am looking to get some ideas and thoughts from industry professionals about what topics you enjoy reading about.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It's no secret that many of our peers are often writing books about specific topics that are designed to help the industry. My goal is to write a book…</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I am looking to get some ideas and thoughts from industry professionals about what topics you enjoy reading about.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It's no secret that many of our peers are often writing books about specific topics that are designed to help the industry. My goal is to write a book that is relevant to the automotive retail professional. I will cover dealership operation topics that include sales, service, BDC operations, recruiting, culture, management, and vendor management. The book will be written from my point of view where I will share my own personal experiences working in various retail positions as well as being an executive manager for some dealer partners and owning my own national training & consulting firm,</span> <a href="https://dealeretraining.com/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dealer eTraining</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For example, there is an ongoing discussion about BDC.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Do we need a BDC department in-house or should we outsource?</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Can't we just have our sales consultants handle leads?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Another thought process is about Digital Retail.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Do we start to embrace how our customers are shopping for vehicles or do we continue to focus on just "getting them in" like we have always done?</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">How do we maximize gross profit if we embrace digital retail?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When it comes to service departments, how do we improve our communication with customers so that they do not hurt us on surveys when asked about status updates and their engagement in the service drive when they arrive?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When it comes to vendors and technology what is the best trade appraisal tool and how do we make it a part of our culture?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When it comes to recruiting people, how do we do a better job of searching for talent and what kind of programs should we implement in the dealership to maintain a mentorship program?</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">These are just a few thoughts that I have. I am currently writing the first Chapter of my book. There is no name yet for it. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I would like to invite you to give me some ideas on what you think dealers will want to read and what will keep their attention. If you want to collaborate on this project I am open to the idea as well. </span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">By the way, if you have not met me or heard of me my name is <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/stansher83/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Stan Sher</a>. I just celebrated my twentieth year in the automotive industry. I have many years of experience in retail and consulting where I have moved between both roles. You will find that I keep it real and tell it like it is. To start my journey as an author I published my first book less than two years ago called, <a href="https://a.co/d/3TFvbDX" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“Social Sher’s The Skills That Pay The Bills”</a> which is designed to ignite a fire to motivate people to understand that anything is possible no matter what obstacles stand in their way!</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I look forward to connecting with you and earning a new friend in business and life!</span></p>Stan Sher of Dealer eTraining Talks BDC on Sunday Night Life by Dealer Vendor Matchtag:www.dealerelite.net,2022-04-10:5283893:BlogPost:13673302022-04-10T19:00:00.000ZStan Sherhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/StanSher83
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<p><span>Paul Meijer interviews some of the best minds and experts in the world of automotive business development center operations. Watch as Stan Sher talks about the HUGE opportunity for auto dealers to work leads Smarter Not Harder! The time has changed and we are living in an era where engagement counts. We spoke about operations and…</span></p>
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<p><span>Paul Meijer interviews some of the best minds and experts in the world of automotive business development center operations. Watch as Stan Sher talks about the HUGE opportunity for auto dealers to work leads Smarter Not Harder! The time has changed and we are living in an era where engagement counts. We spoke about operations and different ways to do things.</span></p>Auto Sales Text Message Communication by Dealer eTraining - Stan Shertag:www.dealerelite.net,2022-04-05:5283893:BlogPost:13673292022-04-05T19:00:00.000ZStan Sherhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/StanSher83
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<p><span>How to effectively communicate with prospects by text after they opt in. How to write a message and send it. Converse like normal. Stan Sher talks about the HUGE opportunity for auto dealers to work leads Smarter Not Harder! The time has changed and we are living in an era where engagement counts.</span></p>
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<p><span>How to effectively communicate with prospects by text after they opt in. How to write a message and send it. Converse like normal. Stan Sher talks about the HUGE opportunity for auto dealers to work leads Smarter Not Harder! The time has changed and we are living in an era where engagement counts.</span></p>High Level High Energy Automotive BDC Rep Grinding Internet Sales Dealtag:www.dealerelite.net,2022-04-02:5283893:BlogPost:13673282022-04-02T19:00:00.000ZStan Sherhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/StanSher83
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<p><span>High-Level High Energy Automotive BDC Rep Grinding Internet Sales Deal Here is a BDC rep working hard to bring a difficult customer into the dealership. She is high level and high energy. It is no wonder why she was promoted into a managerial role not long after. This is an example of the powerhouse BDC (business development center) reps…</span></p>
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<p><span>High-Level High Energy Automotive BDC Rep Grinding Internet Sales Deal Here is a BDC rep working hard to bring a difficult customer into the dealership. She is high level and high energy. It is no wonder why she was promoted into a managerial role not long after. This is an example of the powerhouse BDC (business development center) reps that get created from the Dealer eTraining program.</span></p>Phone Sales Calls Gone Bad & Tips - Prospecting - Buildingtag:www.dealerelite.net,2022-03-29:5283893:BlogPost:13673272022-03-29T19:00:00.000ZStan Sherhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/StanSher83
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<p><span>I was prospected by a cold caller just a minute ago. They had a tough accent which was clear they were outsourced to a third-world country. I can understand companies do this to keep costs down. However, here is how poorly trained the caller was. They were a robot with no care about having a personality and finding a way to win me…</span></p>
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<p><span>I was prospected by a cold caller just a minute ago. They had a tough accent which was clear they were outsourced to a third-world country. I can understand companies do this to keep costs down. However, here is how poorly trained the caller was. They were a robot with no care about having a personality and finding a way to win me over. They were selling texting and lead handling program. This is what I love and do. Right in my wheelhouse? But I had zero interest and they did nothing to engage me. Personality is the most important factor in succeeding in these roles.</span></p>Stan Sher of Dealer eTraining - Factory OEM Certification - Product Knowledgetag:www.dealerelite.net,2022-03-27:5283893:BlogPost:13673262022-03-27T19:00:00.000ZStan Sherhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/StanSher83
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<p><span>Stan Sher of Dealer eTraining talks about how important it is to take the time to learn about the product that you are selling. Spend the extra hours to take the tests and become factory certified. Not only does it pay more money in spiffs but it also makes you better at selling. Customers will like you and appreciate…</span></p>
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<p><span>Stan Sher of Dealer eTraining talks about how important it is to take the time to learn about the product that you are selling. Spend the extra hours to take the tests and become factory certified. Not only does it pay more money in spiffs but it also makes you better at selling. Customers will like you and appreciate you. On a Zoom call hosted by Stephany Escobar training about car sales, I was invited to speak up about what I did to get successful in the business. I used to take tests, write down my answers, fail and retake the test until I passed. It would allow me to be better at presenting the vehicle and do better walkarounds. Do not just pay someone $100 to take tests for you. Professionalism in automobile sales is important!</span></p>Stan Sher Car Sales Confessions Part 4: Honda S2000 Trouble Making Storytag:www.dealerelite.net,2022-03-25:5283893:BlogPost:13672002022-03-25T18:00:00.000ZStan Sherhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/StanSher83
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<p><span><a href="https://dealeretraining.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Stan Sher</a> Car Sales Confessions Part 4: Honda S2000 Trouble Making Story</span></p>
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<p><span>So here I was test-driving cars with my new buddies as we start our careers as Honda sales consultants. We got to the final car. The ultimate car. The Honda S2000. A…</span></p>
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<p><span><a href="https://dealeretraining.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Stan Sher</a> Car Sales Confessions Part 4: Honda S2000 Trouble Making Story</span></p>
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<p><span>So here I was test-driving cars with my new buddies as we start our careers as Honda sales consultants. We got to the final car. The ultimate car. The Honda S2000. A few young 20-year-olds. My friends had car racing experience too. We punished the Honda S2000 and took it to limits. If there was ever a time to get pulled over, get arrested, and even lose our new jobs, this was it! Huge regrets that I never owned that vehicle since today the value is insane!</span></p>Stan Sher Car Sales Confessions Part 3tag:www.dealerelite.net,2022-03-24:5283893:BlogPost:13674192022-03-24T18:00:00.000ZStan Sherhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/StanSher83
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<p><span>Stan Sher Car Sales Confessions Part 3 <a href="https://dealeretraining.com/" target="_blank">Stan Sher</a> talks about how the team of new hires at the dealership were driving cars every day. We got to learn about the Honda brand and how to truly appreciate what we were selling. These were fun times.</span></p>
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<p><span>Stan Sher Car Sales Confessions Part 3 <a href="https://dealeretraining.com/" target="_blank">Stan Sher</a> talks about how the team of new hires at the dealership were driving cars every day. We got to learn about the Honda brand and how to truly appreciate what we were selling. These were fun times.</span></p>Stan Sher Car Sales Confessions Part 2tag:www.dealerelite.net,2022-03-23:5283893:BlogPost:13672612022-03-23T18:00:00.000ZStan Sherhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/StanSher83
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<p><span>Stan Sher Car Sales Confessions Part 2 <a href="https://dealeretraining.com/" target="_blank">Stan Sher</a> talks about starting in the automotive sales field again just a month after starting at a different dealership. It was a period of working for a massive corporation with rules, regulations, and a different style of selling cars. It was…</span></p>
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<p><span>Stan Sher Car Sales Confessions Part 2 <a href="https://dealeretraining.com/" target="_blank">Stan Sher</a> talks about starting in the automotive sales field again just a month after starting at a different dealership. It was a period of working for a massive corporation with rules, regulations, and a different style of selling cars. It was a time when learning products was important. What a great experience this was.</span></p>Stan Sher Car Sales Confessions Part Onetag:www.dealerelite.net,2022-03-22:5283893:BlogPost:13673242022-03-22T18:00:00.000ZStan Sherhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/StanSher83
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<p><span>Stan Sher of <a href="https://dealeretraining.com/" target="_blank">Dealer eTraining</a> Tells Stories Of Coming Up In The Automobile Industry! Starting a career in auto sales at 20 years old and coming up over a 19-year career. He talks about getting hired, training, and selling the first few cars to get hooked with this career.…</span></p>
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<p><span>Stan Sher of <a href="https://dealeretraining.com/" target="_blank">Dealer eTraining</a> Tells Stories Of Coming Up In The Automobile Industry! Starting a career in auto sales at 20 years old and coming up over a 19-year career. He talks about getting hired, training, and selling the first few cars to get hooked with this career. Stan sold two cars on his first day after training. It was certainly memorable.</span></p>Congrats You Opened A Dealership Now What?tag:www.dealerelite.net,2017-04-11:5283893:BlogPost:4983372017-04-11T06:48:21.000ZStan Sherhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/StanSher83
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<p><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></br>Congrats You Opened A Dealership Now What? </p>
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<p>To be in the automotive retail, training and consulting business for 14+ years one would tend to pick up some important business life lessons. At Dealer eTraining I have always kept an open mind when it comes to seeing how a dealership operates. I was fortunate to sell…</p>
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<p><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"/>Congrats You Opened A Dealership Now What? </p>
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<p>To be in the automotive retail, training and consulting business for 14+ years one would tend to pick up some important business life lessons. At Dealer eTraining I have always kept an open mind when it comes to seeing how a dealership operates. I was fortunate to sell thousands of vehicles in my day and manage multiple dealerships. I was also very fortunate to work with great Owners/GMs and not so great Owners/GMs. One thing that has always baffled me is seeing the difference between a solid, profitable operation and a failing, money losing operation.</p>
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<p>Here are some of the things that <strong>I WOULD NOT</strong> do if I opened a brand new dealership.</p>
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<li><strong>Drop $100,000 foolishly in monthly advertising expense:</strong>I have seen this happen and it is painful to watch. The brand new dealer has relationships with vendors and advertising agencies that have never truly looked after their best interest. However, these agencies have made a ridiculous amount of money from them when they were a GM at other dealerships. How about dropping $35,000 on a radio commercial? Talk about burning through money.<br/><br/>You build a very weak website. You start with a weak social media marketing plan. You do not invest in getting quality photographs of inventory. You sign up for TrueCar, Edmunds, CarGurus and rely on getting 20 leads a month off your website and the scraps that the OEM gives you. Now you wonder why you are not converting. Hmmmm....<br/><br/>You do not need an advertising agency. You need to sit down and create a reasonable budget of $15-20k to start to drive traffic. There are so many great sources out there. Right now you need traffic without putting yourself into a huge financial hole.<br/><br/></li>
<li><strong>Hire too many people: </strong>Let's hire 2 sales managers, a finance manager, 4-5 sales people, a BDC manager and a GM. Let's hire a service director with 2 service advisors, a parts manager, parts advisor, 3 techs and a detailers. The dealership is not turning a profit but staff has to get paid so now the payroll is through the roof naturally. Does this make any sense?<br/><br/><p>No one knows that your dealership exists yet. Your marketing and advertising has not quite stirred a buzz yet. Your traffic is slow. Your product may or may not be hot in the market. Yet you take on this crazy expense. How about managing the people to do their jobs. No one is going to stress out about success or failure of the dealership more than the owner that has to cut a check. <br/><br/>I get it. You want to build Rome in one night. But hey slow down a bit. Do you have disposable pockets? Can you really afford to fail?</p>
<p><br/>Maybe start with 1 sales manager, 1 finance manager, 2-3 sales people, a CRM, NO BDC Manager, NO GM, 1 service manager, 1 service writer, 1 working parts manager, 2 techs and 1 detailer (or outsource a detailer to save money on payroll). Imagine how much bleeding you will stop right away. Hmmmm...<br/><br/></p>
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<li><strong>Buy exotic used cars from OVE that are not selling anywhere else: <br/><br/></strong>Like the song by Prince "Let's Go Crazy" you are about to really do something nuts. Take a facility that needs a lot of work with a low line new car franchise and try to cater to upscale clientele by putting 30+ exotic vehicles online. You do not even have Starbucks coffee, a comfortable customer waiting lounge and other amenities. This is fair since you are brand new and with growth you will get those things. Yes the calls will come in and some will sell quickly (maybe). But are you managing your floor plan? Do you really think that you will be able to turn some of these cars in 15-30 days? <br/><br/>We are talking $100,000 cars @ 30 = $3,000,000 in used car inventory.<p><br/>Call me crazy but think of how much inventory you can have for $3,000,000 that can turn very fast and move a respectable profit of about $2000-2500 per unit. If an average used vehicle median price is $20,000 you can have 150 in stock. But wait...there is no room for 150 units in stock. There is only room for 50. <br/><br/>How much money can I save and not have to pay for floor plan? Looks to me like $2,000,000. Now you create a turn strategy with solid merchandising and you will sell 30-40 right away. Your biggest worry will be to replace the inventory. There are many solutions for that. Your investment is $1,000,000 not $2,000,000. You can now drop $10-30k into the right long term tools like <a href="http://www.vauto.com/">vAuto</a> (or similar tools), quality staging and photography and maybe even more advertising sources. Still not $2,000,000. You sell 40 cars in your first month at $2000 per unit for an $80,000 profit. Respectable way to start.<br/><br/></p>
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<li><strong>Handle an abundance of new car inventory:<br/><br/></strong>Let's assume that you have a new car franchise which typically is not very popular and does not sell many vehicle. However, the OEM does not care about your struggles. They want cars on the road and big numbers. They gave you a rooftop to grow their brand. They also gave you way more new inventory than you should have in the first 30-90 days. What do you do?<p>You do whatever it takes to advertise these vehicles. You are on a highway with massive competition which means that you need to do heavy conquest marketing. Remember that crazy $100,000 advertising spend? Let's take $10-15k and go heavy on email marketing campaigns with companies like <a href="http://cactusskydigital.com/our-services-2/email-marketing/">Cactus Sky</a> or <a href="https://www.citytwist.com/">City Twist</a>. I would also go heavy with direct mail in some cases. You want your local demographics to see the brand awareness and really welcome you to the area.</p>
<p><br/>I would go hard with social media with blogging and press releases to promote the dealership and the new cars so that people understand why your brand deserves a chance. I would also start an employee pricing sale promotion to all local businesses (Hospitals, Fire Fighters, Police, Board of Education, Retail Businesses and Professional Services). This involves getting creative and contacting HR departments of businesses. They will gladly let their staff know about the promotion as an added benefit. You will get UPs and phone traffic from it. The investment is just a few hours of your time and creativity.</p>
<p><br/>Make a plan to sell 20 new cars your first month. With all of the advertising mentioned in this section there will be enough traffic to sell at least 20 cars. So let's say you sell 20 @ $1,500 (remember it is new cars) you will only make $30,000. Add that in with the $80,000 you made with used cars now you sold 60 cars and made $110,000 from sales. Hopefully you did not drop more than $25-30k into advertising.<br/><br/></p>
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<li><strong>Completely Ignore Service Operations:</strong>You overstaff the department. No one does any work all day. You have no advertising plan to drive traffic. You are lucky to see 3 customers per day. Your service department is barely grossing $20,000 per month. The number one profit center in the dealership that should cover your expenses is failing you. Your service director is not willing to come up with a solution or ask for help. Personally, I would fire them and get someone that will turn it up. <p><br/>Again, get involved in the community. Offer some aggressive deals on oil changes, wheel & tire work and other basic services. My solution is to do direct mail, email marketing, social media marketing and get involved with sites like <a href="https://www.groupon.com/">Groupon</a> (especially if three of your local competitors are on it). You will make minimal profit on some ROs and take a small loss in the beginning. However if you treat the customers right they will come back. </p>
<p><br/>Initially the service director and 1 service advisor should handle the job. Only 1 person should work parts with the service writer helping out in the beginning. Make a goal for the first month to get an average of 10 customers in the service drive every single day with a goal of $2,000 per day. This should earn roughly $50,000 for the first month.<br/><br/></p>
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<li><strong>Hire a BDC right away:<br/><br/></strong>Naturally you will have leads from your advertising sources that sales people need to be working and following up. That's right I said "Sales People". Now is not the time to staff people to do the job that your sales people are not willing to do. Think expense control! Think about that $4,000-5,000 that you will spend on an additional employee.<p><br/>Eventually when the store is moving 100 units and service is making six figures consistently every month you can build a BDC department with a goal of taking you to the next level. The next level means going from 100 units per month to 150 units and service revenue going from $100,000 a month to $200,000 month. In fact, if you get some solid people to sell cars and work in service you might not need a BDC. If you do go with a BDC think of making it the GRC (Guest Relations Center) as a support department for sales and service. They will be responsible for appointments.</p>
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</ol>
<p><strong><br/>Let's talk facts and figures. </strong></p>
<p><strong><br/>Now you have $110,000 + $50,000 = $160,000 Profit</strong></p>
<p><br/>Keep your costs lower by not employing too many people, having proactive staff that actually works, investing in the right advertising tools and managing your inventory properly. The worst case scenario should be that in the first month you will break even. This is how you can start to see what the potential is and how you can move the needle. With every new month you want to grow the profitability 10-20%. You can now start doing other things to sell and service more cars because the budget can increase. When you look back in 12 months you will be amazed at what you have accomplished. </p>
<p><br/>Think about what happens when you are doing $150,000 in sales and $200,000 in service. $350,000 per month affords you expansion for facility improvements, more staff, a BDC (GRC), better tools, more advertising and more inventory. This is all positive and real world stuff I am talking about. This is a sure way to build a $1 million a month store at some point.</p>
<p><br/>But here is the scary parts of what I have seen. I have seen dealers that sell 30 cars per month barely cracking $50,000 in profit. They do $20,000 in service. They have an expense of $200,000. Is that insane of what? How many months of losing $130,000 can you go before you lose everything? This can happen to anyone.<br/><br/></p>
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<p><br/>The key is to really open a new store by being patient and managing the current available reasons. There is nothing scarier than opening a brand new dealership. I have been a manager and director in a brand new store. My owners were smart and broke records every month. In only 9 months our store was doing 250 cars per month.</p>
<p><br/>I sincerely hope that this has been eye opening and entertaining to read. If you are interested in discussing this article please <a href="http://dealeretraining.com" target="_blank">contact me</a> or comment on here. Thank you.</p>Automotive Digital Marketing Firm Auto Ad Builder Provides Auto Dealers Quality Marketing Servicestag:www.dealerelite.net,2017-03-01:5283893:BlogPost:4962312017-03-01T10:38:13.000ZStan Sherhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/StanSher83
<p><b>The fast growing automotive digital marketing firm Auto Ad Builder has been serving auto dealers with the marketing services that truly sell more cars.</b></p>
<p></p>
<p><b>SOMERVILLE, N.J.<span> - </span>March 1, 2017<span> - </span><i><a href="https://www.prlog.org/">PRLog</a></i><span> --</span></b> The retail automotive industry has been growing tired of marketing services providers that offer very little to no value. This includes offering cookie cutter services and rarely every…</p>
<p><b>The fast growing automotive digital marketing firm Auto Ad Builder has been serving auto dealers with the marketing services that truly sell more cars.</b></p>
<p></p>
<p><b>SOMERVILLE, N.J.<span> - </span>March 1, 2017<span> - </span><i><a href="https://www.prlog.org/">PRLog</a></i><span> --</span></b> The retail automotive industry has been growing tired of marketing services providers that offer very little to no value. This includes offering cookie cutter services and rarely every being there for the dealership client when help is truly needed. This is finally changing with the help of Auto Ad Builder. "When I worked in retail it used to disappoint me when I needed help from my vendors and rarely got it" said Stan Sher, managing partner at Auto Ad Builder. He added "if I got the help it would take a long time to schedule and the meeting ended up with a webinar conference call."<br/><br/>As Auto Ad Builder merged services with the top automotive sales training and management consulting firm, Dealer eTraining the proper process for managing dealership relationships started to take place. The partnership has allowed Auto Ad Builder to pick up three new clients fairly quickly. "These dealers are getting the full treatment from redesigned websites, social media management with lead generation, press releases, content management, video production as well as training and consulting for sales and management" says Stan Sher, a fourteen-year automotive executive and president of Dealer eTraining.<br/><br/>What makes Auto Ad Builder completely different from these typically large and more established automotive dealership marketing services providers is that the three founding executives make themselves available to clients at all hours of the day. Stan Sher oversees the operations; digital marketing content management, training and consulting side of the business while the other two partners oversee the development and support team as well as video production. Nick Gouvouniotis, the president of Route 9 Mitsubishi in Freehold, NJ says "Auto Ad Builder is the most hands on business partner that I have ever had the pleasure of working with in my nineteen year career in the car business."<br/><br/>Another dealer client, Car Link in Morristown, NJ said, "Auto Ad Builder is the real deal and the proof is in the numbers." He added "We were selling around thirty cars per month and just came off of a record month with seventy cars sold." Auto Ad Builder has just signed a new dealership with multiple locations in Jersey City, NJ. In a matter of five days the firm has more than tripled activity on Facebook and Instagram. A brand new website is about to be launched for the new client and Stan Sher will be working hands on with the Business Development (BDC) department to create an improved culture with improved follow up processes.<br/><br/>Auto Ad Builder has a growth plan to be a unique boutique agency that services a limited amount of clients in order to personalize services for the clients. "We do not want every single Honda dealership in the market. We just want one Honda dealership per state so that we can do things on a more personalized basis and better than these huge companies do it. In short, we want to work with dealers that truly want to dominate their competition. If you want to be just like everyone else then you are not the dealership for us" said Stan Sher.<br/><br/>One of the Auto Ad Builder partners said "We want Stan Sher to be the face of our company because he has great business, sales and marketing skills while we stay behind the scenes and focus on producing results for our clients." The partnership is solid between the Auto Ad Builder team because each partner brings a specific skill that complements one another. Auto Ad Builder has been serving car dealers since 1995 while Dealer eTraining has been providing training and consulting services since 2010. The firms have multiple office locations throughout New York and New Jersey.<br/><b><br/><span>Visit Dealer eTraining (</span><a rel="nofollow" href="http://dealeretraining.com/" target="_blank">http://dealeretraining.com/</a><span>)</span><br/><br/><span>Visit Auto Ad Builder (</span><a rel="nofollow" href="http://autoadbuilder.com/" target="_blank">http://autoadbuilder.com/</a><span>)</span><br/><br/></b></p>
<div><b>Media Contact</b><br/>Auto Ad Builder / Stan Sher<br/>7329258362<br/><a href="https://www.prlog.org/email-contact.html#12623296">***@dealeretraining.com</a></div>The Evolution of the BDC: Has your dealership evolved?tag:www.dealerelite.net,2017-01-16:5283893:BlogPost:4929842017-01-16T09:11:44.000ZStan Sherhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/StanSher83
<p><img alt="Evolution of the bdc" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-3432" height="225" src="http://www.dealeretraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Screen-Shot-2017-01-16-at-3.30.47-AM-300x225.png" width="300"></img></p>
<p>Evolution Of The BDC: Has your dealership evolved?</p>
<p>A few years ago I performed speaking sessions at multiple conferences including Internet Battle Plan and Digital Marketing Strategies Conference. I even was a guest on a webinar for Dealers Edge. This was and still is a very hot topic. Year after year I find the same car dealers talking about embracing this part of this business. They say that it is the most important part of their business and that they invest more…</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-3432" src="http://www.dealeretraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Screen-Shot-2017-01-16-at-3.30.47-AM-300x225.png" alt="Evolution of the bdc" width="300" height="225"/></p>
<p>Evolution Of The BDC: Has your dealership evolved?</p>
<p>A few years ago I performed speaking sessions at multiple conferences including Internet Battle Plan and Digital Marketing Strategies Conference. I even was a guest on a webinar for Dealers Edge. This was and still is a very hot topic. Year after year I find the same car dealers talking about embracing this part of this business. They say that it is the most important part of their business and that they invest more into advertising. What they do not say is why is they continue to replace people in the Internet or BDC department of their dealership. They <a href="http://www.dealeretraining.com/stop-lying-dealership-turnover/">lie to themselves</a> and point <a href="http://www.dealeretraining.com/blaming-internet-bdc-manager-automotive-sales-2/">the blame on the lack of quality of people</a> that they hire. They do not admit that they do not understanding the real function of this department.</p>
<p>It is the lack of understanding that leads them to <a href="http://www.dealeretraining.com/car-dealers-drastic-business-development-changes/">make drastic changes</a>. I decided to record a segment of my presentation to share with automotive industry professionals to better understand the concept. It is my hope as a <a href="http://www.dealeretraining.com/training/">training services provider</a> to educate and provide proper guidance to dealers and general managers across the retail automotive industry with this important topic. What this video describes might be very eye opening but it may open lots of horizons. Here is the video...</p>
<p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/A2DrYpppOAA?wmode=opaque" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<p>Does this make sense? Do you understand the evolution of the BDC and why it should be practiced a certain way? Please leave some comments and share this with the industry. Keep in mind that having a BDC is not for every dealership. There are dealerships that want to make their sales people do BDC work. This is actually a great idea assuming that they set it up the right way. Let's help our business grow instead of fall.</p>
<p></p>Kelley Blue Book Finally Matters To Car Dealershipstag:www.dealerelite.net,2017-01-05:5283893:BlogPost:4925842017-01-05T09:03:58.000ZStan Sherhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/StanSher83
<p>Remember those days when customers would come in to the dealership saying “Well Kelley Blue Book is saying my trade in is worth $xxx” after you opened them up at $2,000 below that KBB figure? Sure you do. You cannot forget how many times you wanted to say “No problem. Call …</p>
<p>Remember those days when customers would come in to the dealership saying “Well Kelley Blue Book is saying my trade in is worth $xxx” after you opened them up at $2,000 below that KBB figure? Sure you do. You cannot forget how many times you wanted to say “No problem. Call <a href="https://www.kbb.com/car-news/all-the-latest/this-week-in-car-buying-kelley-blue-book-offers-instant-cash-for-cars-jeep-branches-out-volvo-to-spiff-up-showrooms-higher-loans-more-leases-in-store/2000012773/">KBB</a> and see if they will cut you a check for that figure.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>How many sales consultants get flustered and do not know how to respond? How many would get upset or offended because they felt that the customer just turned up the heat on them?</p>
<p></p>
<img class="wp-image-3424 size-medium" src="http://www.dealeretraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/face-extreme-1554895-1279x959-300x225.jpg" alt="Angry Sales Person Kelley Blue Book" width="300" height="225"/>http://www.dealeretraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/face-extreme-1554895-1279x959-768x576.jpg 768w, <a href="http://www.dealeretraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/face-extreme-1554895-1279x959-1024x768.jpg">http://www.dealeretraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/face-extreme-1554895-1279x959-1024x768.jpg</a> 1024w, <a href="http://www.dealeretraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/face-extreme-1554895-1279x959-200x150.jpg">http://www.dealeretraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/face-extreme-1554895-1279x959-200x150.jpg</a> 200w, <a href="http://www.dealeretraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/face-extreme-1554895-1279x959.jpg">http://www.dealeretraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/face-extreme-1554895-1279x959.jpg</a> 1279w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><a href="http://www.freeimages.com/license">http://www.freeimages.com/license</a><br />
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<p>In all my years of selling cars and managing dealerships I remember using a great rule of thumb. In most cases if you took the <a href="https://www.kbb.com/">KBB</a> value for a trade in vehicle in fair conditioned and deducted around $1,000-1,500 you would pretty much be right on the money for what the trade in value really is according to Galves or auction data. I have tried this hundreds of times and was always in that range. Back in the old days we would tell the customer that “KBB is a research site that takes provides average figures but they do not actually buy and sell vehicles.” This was very true at one point in time. But as <a href="http://bobdylan.com/">Bob Dylan</a> once sang, <a href="https://youtu.be/e7qQ6_RV4VQ">“The Times They Are A-Changin”</a> and yes they are.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>My business partner, Peter at <a href="http://autoadbuilder.com/">Auto Ad Builder</a> the other day and I had a disagreement about how KBB operates. I talked about how Kelley Blue Book took over <a href="http://www.autotrader.com/">AutoTrader</a> Trade In Marketplace just this time last year. I also discussed how they now promise to buy the trade in vehicle if the dealer is not willing to accept the Trade In Market value. But we took it even further. I told Peter that KBB trade values are shockingly very close by give or take a few bucks to the data that a manager or used car manager is using when appraising vehicles. He disagreed with me and told me that it was not true. He logged into MMR by Manheim too compare values to five vehicles that I was looking up on KBB. Peter was very shocked, surprised and impressed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>My next statement was “Do you know why that is?” to which he responded, “Not at all but it is interesting”. I explained how powerful each and every single one of Cox Automotive companies is with their data. The data integrates so that all of their systems whether it is <a href="http://www.vauto.com/">vAuto</a>, <a href="http://vinsolutions.com/">VinSolutions</a>, <a href="https://www.homenetauto.com/">HomeNet</a>, KBB, Manheim and even <a href="http://www.dealer.com/">Dealer.com</a> understand how the industry is selling cars. These systems are built so intelligently that they are setup based on consumer behavior. I first realized this a few months ago when VinSolutions was being installed at one of our client’s stores. These sites and systems share data as part of being a division of such a massive company like Cox Automotive. I even explained the game changer that took place when <a href="https://us.dealertrack.com/">DealerTrack</a> became a part of it.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter wp-image-3425 size-medium" src="http://www.dealeretraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/AR-308089984-300x176.jpg" alt="Cox Auto Companies Kelley Blue Book" width="300" height="176"/>http://www.dealeretraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/AR-308089984-768x451.jpg 768w, <a href="http://www.dealeretraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/AR-308089984-1024x601.jpg">http://www.dealeretraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/AR-308089984-1024x601.jpg</a> 1024w, <a href="http://www.dealeretraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/AR-308089984.jpg">http://www.dealeretraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/AR-308089984.jpg</a> 1400w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></p>
<h3>HOW DOES THIS HELP YOU SELL MORE CARS?</h3>
<p> </p>
<p>Please understand that these companies provide tools for dealers to be able to sell cars and some of the tools are provided to consumers to be better educated. Since they own all of these powerhouse companies and share the data of what is going on in the business the data is almost accurate. The data can be used to help close more deals. In fact, one of the things that make Dealer eTraining so unique with our <a href="http://www.dealeretraining.com/service-view/live-virtual-training/">training</a> method is that we train our dealers <a href="http://www.dealeretraining.com/technology-assisted-objection-handling/">how to leverage the technology</a>. We have created and trained word tracks to Internet, BDC and Sales Consultants as well as helped managers understand how to work deals smarter.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In the car business change is very difficult to grasp because we are all use to making a significant income doing things a certain way. In some cases our egos stop us from moving forward. Thanks to technology and multibillion dollar data companies our business is able to evolve and change for the better. The sales process must be more efficient, professional and customer centric thanks to tools like Kelley Blue Book. So stop saying that it is just a consumer friendly research when in reality it is now your sales assistant.</p>Orchestrate Sales Departmentstag:www.dealerelite.net,2016-12-28:5283893:BlogPost:4917552016-12-28T01:42:23.000ZStan Sherhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/StanSher83
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545168610?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545168610?profile=original" width="300"></img></a></p>
<p></p>
<p>Imagine that you attend a classical music concert. This concert has a 90 piece (90 musicians) orchestra and a conductor (the leader or guide) that communicates to the orchestra on how to play the next note(s). Now take a look at the sales department of an automobile dealership. The department has managers that usually consist of a general sales manager, one or…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545168610?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545168610?profile=original" width="300" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<p></p>
<p>Imagine that you attend a classical music concert. This concert has a 90 piece (90 musicians) orchestra and a conductor (the leader or guide) that communicates to the orchestra on how to play the next note(s). Now take a look at the sales department of an automobile dealership. The department has managers that usually consist of a general sales manager, one or more sales managers and a team of sales consultants. Much like the orchestra conductor it is the duty of sales managers to guide and lead their team of sales consultants to success. Let's talk about how to "Orchestrate Sales Departments".</p>
<p></p>
<p>In some cases a conductor is also the musical director in which case they take on a bigger role than just to guide the orchestra. The musical director is responsible for choosing the program for the orchestra, manage the orchestra and even be involved in auditioning musicians. This is much like a general sales manager that is involved in recruiting for the sales team as well as manages all advertising for the sales department.</p>
<h2>So how do we orchestrate sales departments?</h2>
<p>The sales managers properly manage a well-orchestrated sales department. The sales management team in this case is very hands on. They are dedicated to constantly making sure that their sales people are always working when at the dealership. This includes making sure that they are following up with their customers and utilizing the CRM. Sales managers are also responsible to be around the showroom to monitor sales people. This is because sometimes they may have to jump in on a TO depending on what is happening in the deal.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Another aspect of a well-orchestrated sales team is how the team setup. For example, some dealers are staffing the sales department according to skill set. The automotive retail industry has increased focused on customer retention through data mining. One of our clients at <a href="http://www.dealeretraining.com/">Dealer eTraining</a> built a five person sales team to just work a system called <a href="http://autoalert.com/">“Auto Alert”</a>. This team specifically works all data mining opportunities that include lease retention, refinancing, vehicle upgrades, selling to customers that visit the service department and more. This is a five person team does the whole process from start to finish.</p>
<p></p>
<p>The sales department still has a five person BDC to handle the 1000+ leads and incoming calls. They still have fourteen sales consultants on the showroom floor that takes UPS. The idea of having different people in different roles of the department is to have everyone bring something important to the table. The BDC will focus on having 10-20 appointments daily and 40-50 appointments on Saturdays. The sales consultants will focus on working with the incoming traffic and selling cars. The <a href="http://autoalert.com/automotive-data-mining-lead-generation-tool/">“Auto Alert”</a> team will focus on following up with the dealership’s database and selling cars to those customers. An orchestra in the same way has people in place to play certain instruments, harmonies and sections in the music that the conductor communicates to them.</p>
<p></p>
<h4>How do we make it “well orchestrated”?</h4>
<p></p>
<p>It starts by evaluating what we are working with. What are the skill sets of the people that are working at the dealership? What kind of tools is the dealership using? From there we setup small teams within the general sales department to handle what they can handle best. This is where the BDC or Internet department is created. This is also where the retention or data mining department is setup. Now we take our core sales consultants and train them to properly handle customers by understanding how customers are coming in and how to properly sell them. In some cases depending on the size and budget of the dealership there may even be an in-house digital marketing or social media team too. </p>
<p></p>
<p>The GSM (conductor or musical director) must be fully hands on by guiding; coaching, leading and helping the sales team to be successful. What managers forget is that their individual success and incomes comes from how well their sales consultants perform and deliver. This is why proper leadership is important to the success of the dealership. The goal should be to effectively orchestrate sales departments in dealerships.</p>Stop Lying To Yourself About Dealership Turnovertag:www.dealerelite.net,2016-12-20:5283893:BlogPost:4912752016-12-20T06:23:56.000ZStan Sherhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/StanSher83
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545167072?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545167072?profile=original" width="640"></img></a></p>
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<p>There is a lot of talk going on about car dealership turnover. It seems that everyone has an opinion about it but not a whole lot of solutions. I am going to do some "REAL TALK" in this post because it is time that the sugar coating stops. I have spent a great deal of time between consulting dealers and working for dealers on a case by case basis over the last…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545167072?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545167072?profile=original" width="640" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<p></p>
<p>There is a lot of talk going on about car dealership turnover. It seems that everyone has an opinion about it but not a whole lot of solutions. I am going to do some "REAL TALK" in this post because it is time that the sugar coating stops. I have spent a great deal of time between consulting dealers and working for dealers on a case by case basis over the last six years after spending eight full years in retail sales and management positions. It is no secret that turnover has been an issue for ages in dealerships but only has become a HUGE topic of discussion in recent times.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>So, what's the problem?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>1. <strong>Management</strong><b> </b><strong>(or Lack of Proper Management):</strong><b> </b>Managers get put into managerial positions without understanding the concept of what management is. I have noticed people get put into management positions that are willing to hold the title for half of what a good manager should be earning. Dealers need to have mandatory management training for managers that are being promoted and managers that are being hired into the organization. </p>
<p>2. <strong>Poor Recruiting / Interviewing Skills:</strong> In order for any business to be effective there needs to be an appropriate process for recruiting. This includes asking a specific set of questions, testing and evaluating a candidate's personality, giving everyone a fair chance to interview that applies so that a proper hiring decision is made and most importantly, setting proper expectations from the very beginning.</p>
<p>3. <strong>Training (or Lack of Training):</strong> It is very sad that dealers will hire new employees or start a new department (like a BDC) without investing some time and money into training people the right way to do the job. Why do we hire sales people and throw them out on the sales floor to figure it out for themselves? This is because the "lack of proper management" does not consider it their duty to build a strong team for themselves. Is it pure ignorance or is it the fear that training costs too much money? Dealers, I got news for you! Every time a traditional company hires someone for a position they always train the new hires on everything from company policy to how to do the job properly. Why are we not doing this? Do you think that a <a href="http://www.dealeretraining.com/">training</a> problem can help retain and grow good employees? <a href="http://www.dealeretraining.com/service-view/live-virtual-training/">Training</a> does not have to be expensive but it needs to be effective. </p>
<p>4. <strong>Poor Work Environment:</strong> This goes back to "Lack of Proper Management" because that is the only way that a work environment can be poor. There are managers that bully or belittle their sales people. There are dealer principals that love to make employees feel scared that they might lose their job by constant warnings or threats. I have seen dealers interview managers behind their current managers back just to test the waters and sometimes make a rapid change with hopes that they will soon sell more cars. 9 our 10 times that miracle never happens. A poor work environment is generally the product of all of the aspects of turnover that I am discussing in this article. </p>
<p>5. <strong>Pay Plans:</strong> Stop trying to cut corners and save a couple bucks. Let your people come to work, train them, motivate them, help them, mold them, PAY them fairly for their performance. Keep the pay plan consistent. Everyone should have the same pay plan and opportunity to earn a decent living as long as they perform. Do not cut pay plans, as it does not add to your bottom line. It does hurt your business in the long run.</p>
<p>6.<b> </b><strong>Scheduling:</strong> Give people a fair work life balance. Stop operating slave shops. I noticed that there are huge dealers in Michigan that are open shorter hours than most of us and still they do huge numbers. I personally think dealers should close at 8:00 pm during the week, 7:00 pm on Fridays and no later than 6:00 pm on Saturdays. Sunday’s all dealers should be closed. Great employees enjoy coming to work, produce and make you a lot of money when you give them a chance to breathe.</p>
<p>7: <strong>Lack of Patience:</strong><b> </b>Stop panicking every 30 days! Start thinking about your whole year in general. There will be record months and sometimes there will be slower months. We have all seen it. It is the circle of life. We need to keep the momentum going by making sure that we doing everything we can in order to be profitable and maintain a great staff. The people that you employ are the backbone of the business. If you are not happy with someone is performing then train them, coach them and guide them before you fire them. Give people a chance to prove what they are capable of doing. Turning over a manager every 3-5 months is INSANITY! If you do not provide tools and training you cannot expect a replacement to do much better. Drop the ego. Stop being greedy. Start thinking about the people that work hard every month to help you stay profitable and how you can help them make you even more profitable. </p>
<p>8. <strong>Poor Communication:</strong> If you are not happy with something then start communicating. Create an action plan with meetings to discuss what the problems are and how the team should work to fix it. If you want to command everything and take full control of dealership operations it is important to start communicating. Stop dropping $10,000 on direct mail and wonder why your BDC department is not converting these sales calls into appointments or why your sales people have no clue what the customer is talking about when they show up with it. Successful dealerships communicate well with each other and in turn operate like a well oiled machined.</p>
<p>9. <strong>Investment vs. Expense:</strong> Stop treating legitimate and important business expenses (which by the way you all write off your taxes) as an unwanted or unneeded expense. You want to build a BDC? Hire the right people with the right expectations in the beginning and invest in the right training program to get the department off the ground. After the department is set up invest in an <a href="http://www.dealeretraining.com/service-view/dealer-support/">accountability</a> partner that will continue to help the BDC stay on top of their game. Do you have a reassurance company that works with your F&I department every month? How much do you spend on that service every month? If that makes sense, consider investing in Sales, Internet, and BDC training for the same exact reasons. After everything, is the BDC still an expense in your mind? If it is then take a look at what your sales people are doing at work on a daily basis. Are they following up on leads? Are they making calls? Are they standing by the door waiting for UPs? Could they be doing the job of the BDC? It may very well be so that they can. If you will eliminate a BDC department then invest in training the sales people to do their job. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>This is "REAL TALK" so take it for what it is. There is no magic formula for how to be a successful dealership. There is only common sense, a great attitude, well planned out business practices, a smaller ego, excellent training programs / methods and a general respect for the people that you employ. This is how your dealership can at least lower turnover by a minimum of 50%.</p>
<p></p>Too Many Hands In The Cookie Jartag:www.dealerelite.net,2016-07-22:5283893:BlogPost:4832652016-07-22T19:00:00.000ZStan Sherhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/StanSher83
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545165352?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545165352?profile=RESIZE_180x180" width="176"></img></a></p>
<p>Hi,</p>
<p></p>
<p>It's me again. Me who you ask? Stan Sher, founder and President of Dealer eTraining. Yes, I know it has been a while since you have heard from me. But I am still here. I never left and I never will. I just enjoyed my peace and quiet for 2 years while working and doing my thing. But guess what...</p>
<p></p>
<p>I am here to tell you that there is a…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545165352?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="176" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545165352?profile=RESIZE_180x180" width="176" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<p>Hi,</p>
<p></p>
<p>It's me again. Me who you ask? Stan Sher, founder and President of Dealer eTraining. Yes, I know it has been a while since you have heard from me. But I am still here. I never left and I never will. I just enjoyed my peace and quiet for 2 years while working and doing my thing. But guess what...</p>
<p></p>
<p>I am here to tell you that there is a huge possibility that in your dealership there are too many hands in the cookie jar. What do I mean? You really want to know? Well here it goes...</p>
<p></p>
<p>There are dealerships that operate in a very organized fashion with tight but effective processes while other dealerships operate under mass chaos. The chaos happens the culture of the store is not properly set and managed. So what happens is that you have an owner that does things without communicating with everyone. The things include giving certain people secret pay plans, signing up for vendors and letting certain managers know about it last minute or having multiple people involved in solving one basic problem. The other problem with this setup is that everyone has a brilliant idea that they want to try but no one wants to execute it properly. In fact if it is executed the person that set it up ends up no longer being employed at the store. I am talking about mass chaos to the fullest potential.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Why does this drive me absolutely insane? As a business consultant to automotive dealerships I often get hired into dealerships to find their problems and create a solution for them to follow. Sometimes I get hired to be hands on to solve the problem myself. The most frustrating thing in the world is when you try to fix something while other factors are working against you. This makes you wonder...</p>
<p>Is it me? <br/> Is it the quality of people employed at the store? <br/> Is it the processes or lack thereof?<br/> Is it ego on the part of the decision maker?<br/> Is it a time management issue on all sides of the store?</p>
<p></p>
<p>As you read this you may feel like this post is written in a very unorthodox fashion. If this is how you feel then GREAT because this is my whole point of writing this. I have been reading a lot of great posts on here about dealership culture because it seems that too many stores have a problem in that department. I talk about my old days at Teddy Nissan and how beautiful our culture was built in the first year of business. I look at dealer groups like DCH (where I started my career), AutoNation (where I sold many cars) or even how Brian Benstock operates Paragon Honda and I think back to a positive culture and how process oriented these stores have always been. The processes are all documented and practiced as needed. I am here to say that leadership in dealerships have to sit down and take a look at the chaos that goes on in the stores. The key to success is a simple sounding 10 step process that requires time and effort.</p>
<p></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">1. Evaluate the problems in the store.</span></strong></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #008080;">2. Outline the problems.</span></strong></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">3. Outline ideas for solutions to the problems.</span></strong></p>
<p><strong>4. Hire the right people and fire the wrong ones.</strong></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #333399;">5. Get everyone on the same page.</span></strong></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #993300;">6. Setup a process for everything.</span></strong></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #666699;">7. Invest in ongoing training programs for Internet/BDC, Sales, Finance and Fixed Operations.</span></strong></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #993300;">8. Manage the process and training.</span></strong></p>
<p><span style="color: #99cc00;"><strong>9. Reevaluate how things are working every month.</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #800080;"><strong>10. Enjoy the profits and success. Repeat these steps.</strong></span></p>
<p></p>
<p>The other thing that is most important for everything to work is that everyone treats each other with respect and professionalism. It is incredible how many problems and liabilities can be avoided when these steps are taken. Let's go out there and have some fun selling cars!</p>Driving Sales Executive Summit First Timertag:www.dealerelite.net,2015-09-21:5283893:BlogPost:4632512015-09-21T21:20:43.000ZStan Sherhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/StanSher83
<p><span><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545149490?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545149490?profile=original" width="318"></img></a></span></p>
<p><span>I am seeing a lot of social media activity from automotive professionals being concerned about what to expect from the Driving Sales Executive Summit in Las Vegas next month. This post is a little bit different coming from since usually when I write about conferences I write from experiences. I have been to most automotive industry conferences and…</span></p>
<p><span><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545149490?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545149490?profile=original" width="318" class="align-center"/></a></span></p>
<p><span>I am seeing a lot of social media activity from automotive professionals being concerned about what to expect from the Driving Sales Executive Summit in Las Vegas next month. This post is a little bit different coming from since usually when I write about conferences I write from experiences. I have been to most automotive industry conferences and for odd reasons have missed each and every DSES event (scheduling conflicts or work related projects). Well this year I adjusted my schedule to go to DSES.</span></p>
<p></p>
<p>I am beyond excited to attend DSES this year because of the impressive line up of speakers and educational opportunity. I have attended most of the big conferences as a guest and even a speaker so I know quite a bit about the automotive conference. I have noticed that Driving Sales Executive Summit was one of the first conferences to have keynote speakers from other industries. One year they had Gary Vaynerchuk and another year they had Billy Beane as keynote speakers (boy do I regret missing those events). </p>
<p>This year the DSES conference continues to deliver "outside the box" keynote presentations with big names like David Amerland, Frank Cespedes (Harvard Business School Professor), Robert Rose (best selling author) and many others. Additionally, there are some great automotive industry related speakers including Justin Brun and Ben Koller (Dynamic Beacon and Acton Toyota), Joe Chura (Launch Digital Marketing), Shaun Raines (DealerOn), Dennis Galbraith (Dealer eProcess), Joe Orr, Dale Pollack (vAuto), Eric Miltsch, Joe Webb (DealerKnows), Brian Armstrong and many others. Just look at these names and do some reasearch of their successful backgrounds and make the decision for yourself if this conference is worth the trip.</p>
<p>I am personally looking forward to attending and learning from some of the brightest minds in the business. Automotive industry conferences all offer quality education and networking opportunities (speaking from my experience) and this one will be just as great. Generally, after each conference I write a review so follow me on social media and on here to get my review. I look forward to seeing you at the Driving Sales Executive Summit this year. If you are interested in meeting up to discuss strategy and make a new friend in the business please feel free to reach out to me by emailing me at Stan@dealeretraining.com.</p>Shiny Objects and Technologytag:www.dealerelite.net,2015-02-20:5283893:BlogPost:4460242015-02-20T07:51:01.000ZStan Sherhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/StanSher83
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545144847?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545144847?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"></img></a></p>
<h3 class="lead">Tools to Increase Your Business Aren’t Worth Much Without Follow-up and Training</h3>
<p>The recent NADA Convention is over. As always, there was plenty of information to gain and a lot of shiny objects being displayed. Dealers and major executives were out with their checkbooks looking for ways to increase their business in 2015. There were countless…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545144847?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545144847?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<h3 class="lead">Tools to Increase Your Business Aren’t Worth Much Without Follow-up and Training</h3>
<p>The recent NADA Convention is over. As always, there was plenty of information to gain and a lot of shiny objects being displayed. Dealers and major executives were out with their checkbooks looking for ways to increase their business in 2015. There were countless vendors that offered websites, digital marketing (reputation management, SEO/SEM, social media, etc.), CRM, equity mining, mobile, <a href="http://www.automotivephonetraining.com/" target="_blank">training</a>, <a href="http://stanthedealerman.com/" target="_blank">consulting</a>, and much more.</p>
<p>What shiny objects did your dealership sign up for? How will your staff use these shiny objects? These are important questions that need to be asked before deciding on signing up for products and services. In fact, when signing up while on the convention floor, there should be a way to get a real testimonial from the vendor’s current clients. The reason for this is because it can be overwhelming to meet so many companies in a short three-day span.</p>
<p>Technology is constantly improving, and more vendors come out of the woodwork offering new solutions every year. The biggest discussions in the industry continue to include mobile, equity mining, reporting dashboards, and improved sales process techniques. In fact, there are even books being released to discuss digital marketing and sales expertise. While each technology solution offers great benefits to dealers, it is important to consider how the information can be used. Consider the level of commitment that it will take to be successful with a certain product or service.</p>
<p>It is also very important to consider the money that is being invested. It is no secret that every year dealers have expenses that do not generate return on investment (ROI). It is the basic cost of doing business. When buying the next latest and greatest shiny object, dealers need to budget time to get everyone at the dealership on board.</p>
<p>It all comes down to two of the same things: buy-in and training. There is a lot of talk about more units being sold in 2015, but there is very little talk about the training that it will take to be efficient enough to maximize those opportunities. Training needs to be conducted for every single technology product and service that a dealer commits to. This includes CRM, inventory management, websites, appraisal tools, phone techniques, and sales tools. Absolutely everything. Every item that was showcased at NADA was a shiny object marketed to promise ROI. However, very few products committed to offering a hands-on approach to help each dealer move the needle.</p>
<p>Even though NADA 2015 is over, there will be vendors with the shiny objects doing follow-up and continuing to try to sell dealers on their solutions. It is important to take every call and evaluate each opportunity. It is equally important to get valid testimonials and discuss with the management team how business can be improved.</p>
<p>Do not be the kind of hands-off owner or executive that signs up for a service because it looks nice to them but they will never even log in to use it. Each and every decision must be formed as a team effort to increase the success that this new shiny object will bring.</p>
<p>Stan Sher is the founder and president of Dealer eTraining, an automotive sales training and consulting company focused on internet, BDC and showroom sales operations. Stan is a millennial himself with over 11 years experience in the automotive industry. He can be contacted at ssher@dealermark.com.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.dealermarketing.com/shiny-objects-technology/" target="_blank">As published for Dealer Marketing Magazine – Shiny Objects and Technology (January 29, 2015)</a></p>Automotive Internet Sales and BDC Training Firm Dealer eTraining Celebrates Four Years In Businesstag:www.dealerelite.net,2014-11-29:5283893:BlogPost:4379972014-11-29T04:59:32.000ZStan Sherhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/StanSher83
<p><b>Dealer eTraining founder, Stan Sher is excited to celebrate the four year anniversary since launching this national training and consulting firm that specializes in automotive internet sales and business development success for car dealerships.</b></p>
<p></p>
<p><b><i><a href="http://www.prlog.org/">PRLog</a></i> - </b><i>Nov. 28, 2014</i> - <i>SOMERVILLE, N.J.</i> -- It was just four years ago this week that the world would turn upside for automotive Internet sales and BDC expert, Stan…</p>
<p><b>Dealer eTraining founder, Stan Sher is excited to celebrate the four year anniversary since launching this national training and consulting firm that specializes in automotive internet sales and business development success for car dealerships.</b></p>
<p></p>
<p><b><i><a href="http://www.prlog.org/">PRLog</a></i> - </b><i>Nov. 28, 2014</i> - <i>SOMERVILLE, N.J.</i> -- It was just four years ago this week that the world would turn upside for automotive Internet sales and BDC expert, Stan Sher. This was the week where Stan decided to start <a href="http://www.dealeretraining.com" target="_blank">Dealer eTraining</a>, an automotive sales training and consulting company. “I evaluated the success that I had in retail and the things I did to get there. It made me realize that there is a need for quality, outside the box training solutions,” says Stan Sher, the 31-year-old founder and president of Dealer eTraining. He added, “Dealer eTraining is a combination of my training, trial, errors and successes combined together to create a success building strategy for automotive dealerships”.<br/><br/>Prior to starting Dealer eTraining, Stan spent six months working in a high level position at an another training firm which he joined after leaving a high level eCommerce and BDC director position at Teddy Nissan, a top performing dealership. The idea for Dealer eTraining came from the blueprint of how the BDC department at Teddy Nissan was built. It was a brand new dealership that was selling over 225 units per month with over 40% of the business being generated from the business development center. The success of the dealership was spotlighted in <a href="http://tier10news.com/teddy-nissan-boosts-sales-from-30-to-225-in-only-9-months/" target="_blank">AutoSuccess</a> magazine a few months after Sher left the dealership. Even before that Stan Sher worked as a sales manager and Internet director at a Honda dealership. Arwin Bharaj, a previous General Manager of Stan’s and a client of Dealer eTraining says “Stan is very process oriented and that helped him take the BDC from 35 to over 65 units per month in the first 60 days. I enjoyed watching him grow so much that when Caldwell Toyota needed help we hired Dealer eTraining to fix our processes”.<br/><br/>Stan Sher debuted as a speaker representing Dealer eTraining at the Innovative Dealer Summit in Denver, CO on March 30, 2011 where he spoke about incorporating social media follow up into lead management. He has since spoken at numerous Dealer Associations and automotive industry conferences including AutoCon, Digital Marketing Strategies Conference, Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association and New Hampshire Automobile Dealers Association just to name a few. Stan Sher has also been published in magazines including Dealer Marketing magazine and blogs such as Driving Sales, Dealer Elite and Automotive Digital Marketing. Over thirty dealerships as well as numerous corporations have hired Dealer eTraining over the last few years to provide training and business solutions.<br/><br/>The growth of Dealer eTraining includes partnerships with other companies that offer cutting solutions in digital marketing and recruiting. Dealer eTraining is currently taking another huge step by launching ‘Lead eXaminer’, a key performance indicator tool that evaluates how dealerships handle Internet leads and incoming phone calls. In addition to evaluating leads. Dealer eTraining is offering live coaching sessions to train best practices that increase return on investment immediately. Dealer eTraining offers a holistic approach to automotive sales and marketing by using strategies that fill in gaps that traditional methods offered by other training solutions just cannot do.<br/><br/></p>
<div><b>Media Contact</b><br/>Stan Sher<br/>732-925-8362<br/><a href="http://www.prlog.org/email-contact.html#12400349">stan@dealeretraining.com</a></div>Digital Dealer 17 Review with Stan Shertag:www.dealerelite.net,2014-10-01:5283893:BlogPost:4336522014-10-01T03:00:00.000ZStan Sherhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/StanSher83
<p>Anyone that knows me knows that I enjoy writing about our industry and reviewing conferences after I attend them. Well it has been 2.5 years since I attended my last <a href="http://www.digitaldealerconference.com/" target="_blank">Digital Dealer</a> conference in Orlando, FL. After 2.5 years of not attending I missed the vibe, the networking and the opportunities that this incredible conference provides to both dealers and vendor partners. From the moment I arrived felt at home, full of…</p>
<p>Anyone that knows me knows that I enjoy writing about our industry and reviewing conferences after I attend them. Well it has been 2.5 years since I attended my last <a href="http://www.digitaldealerconference.com/" target="_blank">Digital Dealer</a> conference in Orlando, FL. After 2.5 years of not attending I missed the vibe, the networking and the opportunities that this incredible conference provides to both dealers and vendor partners. From the moment I arrived felt at home, full of comfort and excitement to meet up with industry friends that I known over a six-year span.</p>
<p><strong>First night:<br/></strong> <br/> I arrived on Monday evening in my summer clothes enjoying this nice weather before the weather starts to get cold soon in my neck of the woods. After settling in at the hotel I went on my way to attend the <a href="http://www.theonlinedrive.com/" target="_blank">OnlineDrive</a>party that was hosted by Larry Bruce. However, as I was walking I bumped into many old friends and colleagues including folks from <a href="http://www.elead-crm.com/" target="_blank">eLead</a>, <a href="http://thenextup.com/" target="_blank">The Next Up</a>, <a href="http://www.drivedominion.com/" target="_blank">Dominion Dealer Solutions</a>, <a href="http://www.dealereprocess.com/" target="_blank">Dealer eProcess</a>, <a href="http://pgiauto.com/" target="_blank">PGI Automotive</a> as well as <a href="http://www.vinsolutions.com/" target="_blank">VinSolutions</a> and <a href="http://motofuze.com/" target="_blank">MotoFuze</a>. Let’s not forget the always popular, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/arnoldtijerina" target="_blank">Arnold Tijernia</a> who is everywhere. I never made it to the party but the party moved over to Beatles Revolution Bar. I also caught up with great friends, Kevin Frye, Alex Jefferson, Bryan Armstrong, Anthony Bartoli, Stan Thomas, Jack Behar (<a href="http://interactivetel.com/" target="_blank">Interactivetel</a>), Sean Stapleton (VinSolutions), Kendall Billman (Motofuze), Jim Jensen (<a href="http://www.cobalt.com/" target="_blank">Cobalt</a>) and Andy Warner (Cobalt). I finally met the incredible Bobbie Herron from Garber Automotive group, a <a href="http://www.autonews.com/article/20140714/UNDER40/307149983/bobbie-herron" target="_blank">top 40 under 40</a> automotive executive recently mentioned in Automotive News. The night ended and everyone was getting some rest to prepare for the big day, day of Digital Dealer 17.</p>
<p><strong>Checking In:</strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545141982?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545141982?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></strong></p>
<p>I woke up early, got my registration pass and planned out my sessions. As I stood in the line I realized that this was going to be an incredible event. I want to also give kudos to the Dealer Communications team for having an organized setup. The check in process was quick. I was fortunate to see Bear Goodman from Holmes Auto Group. Once I checked in I planned out my day as I met up with the incredible Mathew Koenig from <a href="http://konig.co/" target="_blank">KonigCo</a>and bumped into Kevin Frye where we took a picture together.</p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>Sessions:</strong></p>
<p>The sessions at Digital Dealer conferences can be incredible if you plan out what you want to learn about and know a little bit about the presenter. For example, I always enjoy seeing my friend Tim James (<a href="http://flickfusion.com/home.html" target="_blank">Flick Fusion</a>) speak especially at this conference. He dropped serious knowledge on video that was useful for beginners, intermediate and advanced level marketers in car dealerships in his session “Video Marketing Tips, Trends, & Practical Uses”. I remained in the room to see Mathew Koenig speak about “Mobile, Millennial & Minorities”. This was a hot topic for me because I am both a millennial and a minority. I also use mobile for every aspect of my life and business. Kevin Frye always delivers a killer session and his session “Do You Need 3rd Party Leads?” were no different. I respect and admire Kevin because he is out there working on the retail side of the business and is always bringing knowledge from the front lines.</p>
<p></p>
<p>As always I enjoyed my friend Sean Stapleton speak on “The Evolution of Relationship Marketing”. This session was a kick in the pants to everyone because it was a lesson in going back to basics in building loyalty and relationships. He even used his grandfather as an example. The granddaddy of presentations was the keynote speech by the Wolf of Wall Street, <a href="http://jordanbelfort.com/" target="_blank">Jordan Belfort</a>. I have heard this speech numerous times by watching his videos on YouTube. However, watching it live was a whole other experience. The haters and the jealous were out criticizing and bad mouthing Jordan on social media just a few weeks ago. However, he had a packed standing room only session where he blew everyone away with his energy and content.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545159180?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545159180?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<p>On the next day I got to see a great session by Jim Dykstra of <a href="http://www.comcastspotlight.com/" target="_blank">Comcast Spotlight</a> where he spoke about “Legacy Customer Investment Strategies Limit Returns”. Jim provided great content with regards to customer service. I had to miss some other sessions because I had business development meetings with other vendors and dealers. However, I did catch Dr. John Mlinarcik (<a href="http://pcs-global.com/" target="_blank">PCS Global</a>) and Tom Taylor (<a href="http://www.calldrip.com/" target="_blank">Calldrip</a>) where they talked about “Calling Back Your Internet Prospects in Less Than 30 Seconds”. Dr. John shared some great scientific stats, which is something that I liked because BDC operations are one of my specialties. This was also my first time meeting Dr. John and it was a pleasure. The keynote by <a href="http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/about" target="_blank">John Jantsch</a> (Duct Tape Marketing) “Creating the Perfect Customer Journey” was just what every marketer needed to hear. He used some great examples of what other businesses are doing and how these practices can benefit automotive dealers. I missed out on other sessions especially since I did not make it the conference on day three. But I would image that my friend, Peter Martin of <a href="http://cactusskydigital.com/" target="_blank">Cactus Sky Communications</a> had an incredible session on “Increase Sales & Fixed Ops Without Getting Blacklisted”. In fact, I have clients following this strategy and we are seeing serious results.</p>
<p><strong>Exhibit Hall:</strong></p>
<p>There was some serious action going on with serious energy. I made it a point to visit every single booth in the first two days. I like to meet new people and more importantly learn about new products. The usual vendors that attend and exhibit were there including <a href="http://www.dealerrater.com/" target="_blank">DealerRater</a>, VinSolutions, <a href="http://www.dealeron.com/" target="_blank">DealerOn</a>, <a href="https://digitalairstrike.com/" target="_blank">Digital Air Strike</a> (where I got to catch up good friends Adam Bucci and Alexi Venneri), eLead, <a href="http://www.carxrm.com/" target="_blank">Car-Research</a> (where I got to hug my great friend Keith Shetterly as well as meet the famous Tammie LeBleu), <a href="https://www.dealertrack.com/" target="_blank">DealerTrack</a>, <a href="http://www.dealersocket.com/" target="_blank">DealerSocket</a> and others.</p>
<p></p>
<p>I noticed a lot of new companies that are making a big splash in the industry. In fact, just a few short years ago I watched Brian Pasch unveil his company’s product, <a href="http://www.roi-bot.com/" target="_blank">ROI-BOT</a> and realized that this was future of how progressive dealers manage reporting. While it was incredible too see my peers, Mark and Amber McGurren representing the product I took note that there are numerous other vendors coming out with a similar concept for the data and analytics category. I met with <a href="http://www.idashboards.com/" target="_blank">iDashboards</a>, <a href="http://www.c-4analytics.com/" target="_blank">C-4 Analytics</a> just to name a few. I also saw a lot of companies that specialize in fixed operations analytics such as <a href="http://www.eliteextra.com/" target="_blank">Elite Extra</a> and <a href="https://www.bgprod.com/" target="_blank">BG SmartVMA</a>. One of the coolest products that I saw was <a href="http://www.dealervault.com/" target="_blank">DealerVault</a> where my friend Russell Grant works. The product is designed to securely manage data.</p>
<p>I am also starting to see huge competition in the video email segment. We have been hearing about video utilization for a few years now. However, now there are plenty of vendors that offer some unique solutions. I met with Flick Fusion, <a href="http://www.tailoredmail.com/" target="_blank">Tailored Mail</a> and <a href="http://www.covideo.com/" target="_blank">CoVideo</a> among others. The tools are all great because they can help automate follow up better and provide better value to customers.</p>
<p><strong>Game Changers:</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.dealerinspire.com/" target="_blank">Dealer Inspire</a> is an up and coming company that has been doing tremendous things in digital marketing. I was impressed the direction that they are going in and the future for them. It is great to see my old friend Matthew Cole owning his own company and make moves.</p>
<p><a href="http://dealerfire.com/" target="_blank">DealerFire</a> has some of the nicest looking websites that I have seen. I met with Eric Hoopman and some of the DealerFire members. They showed me their analytics tool as well as the design of their sites. This company is gaining attention of some OEMs to be approved. Just take a look at what they are doing and it will wow you.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.mycustomerdata.com/" target="_blank">MyCustomerData</a> is making huge wave by offering a solution to help automotive dealers retain customers and generate additional profit while at the same time improving customer service. Our whole philosophy at <a href="http://www.dealeretraining.com/" target="_blank">Dealer eTraining</a> of treating visitors like a guest instead of a customer is outline exactly in what this company does.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.streamcompanies.com/" target="_blank">Stream Companies</a> came up with an app that literally takes some of the best practices that I usually install in dealerships and makes it seaming less. The mobile app lets dealership employees take pictures and video testimonials while also having the customer sign a waiver and also upload to social media.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.makemydeal.com/" target="_blank">MakeMyDeal</a> is a <a href="http://www.coxenterprises.com/" target="_blank">Cox Enterprises</a> company that is going to change the way that cars get sold. In fact I had this discussion with Sean Stapleton and even representatives of the company about how I envision this product being a hit. I made a discussion for how I would buy a dealership change the complete culture around. I would hire millennials and train them to be strong sales professionals. The dealership would be completely an Internet dealership similarly to the philosophy that many have talked about for years now. My sales people would be working through Internet leads and phone ups first and foremost just like I did when I sold cars. Sales managers would be trained not only to desk and TO but also manage internet leads or the CRM. It gets better. I would have a company like <a href="http://thenextup.com/" target="_blank">The Next Up</a> in my dealership. These same sales consultants would be on that Up system. If an appointment comes in that individual sales person would be taken off the rotation until they are back on the phones. It gets even better. I would have Guest Relations Center (BDC) with only 2-3 assistants that will make calls to previous customers, retention and help follow up on leads. The receptionist would be greeting guests and as a sales person works with a customer that walks in the GSR will help with follow up. The dealership would spend money wisely offering the best marketing tools and boosting a quality morale that would avoid turnover. This is all wishful thinking but again if I get the funds to own a dealership one day I have my vision and will follow it.</p>
<p><strong>Must Haves:</strong></p>
<p>If I opened up a dealership and needed to find the right partners to spend my money with every month I would go back to the store with probably 8-10 different vendors from this show. This is because everything that I need to run a successful, profitable business is here. However, one product that I personally feel every dealership must have is <a href="http://www.uperator.com/" target="_blank">Uperator</a>. My friend of many years Adam Ross is the national sales manager of this company. I remember years ago in my market when I was selling Hondas the owner of Uperator, Carlos worked for a competitor and created InstaQuote changing the way internet leads get responded to. He has since perfected the system and it is a must in every dealership.</p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>Parties:</strong></p>
<p>I went to some of the major parties that included the VinSolutions party at <a href="http://www.madametussauds.com/lasvegas/" target="_blank">Madame Tussauds</a> museum, DealerOn/<a href="http://forcemktg.com/" target="_blank">Force Marketing</a> party by the pool at the Mirage and the DealerFire party. As always it makes for good times, reconnecting with old friends and creating new relationships. I wish I made it to the other parties but it was difficult to leave great environments. But I need to give shout outs to people like Cliff Banks (<a href="http://www.thebanksreport.com/" target="_blank">The Banks Report</a>), Veronica Dunford (<a href="http://dealerbuilt.com/" target="_blank">DealerBuilt</a>), fire-cracker Melissa Kagan (<a href="http://www.netsertive.com/" target="_blank">Netsertive</a>), Shaun Raines (DealerOn), Dennis Galbraith (Dealer eProcess), Tony Ly (National Positions Inc) and many other incredible people that I know.</p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>Overall:</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545161432?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545161432?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<p>Digital Dealer proves to be one of the strongest automotive digital marketing conferences in the industry. It is not a secret that there have been people that sometimes attack the event. The reality is that Digital Dealer was the first digital sales and marketing conference that paved the way for many successful people today including the ones that make attacks on it. My whole stance is that no one should ever forget where he or she came from. Good or bad relationship anyone that grew in their careers as a result of this conference should pay respects. I would like to thank Michael Roscoe, Kim DePalma and the rest of the Dealer Communications team for putting on a world-class event. I will be at Digital Dealer 18 in Tampa, FL and hope to see all of you there.</p>The Fall 2014 Automotive Conference Showdowntag:www.dealerelite.net,2014-09-09:5283893:BlogPost:4315112014-09-09T21:00:00.000ZStan Sherhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/StanSher83
<p>It seems that in recent years retail automotive conferences have gained momentum in popularity. In fact so many conferences are popping up that car dealers now have a difficult time deciding on where they want to go. The reality has become that some conferences duplicate one another while others bring true value to the industry by offering unique speakers and settings. Let’s talk a look at this fall’s conferences and discuss what makes them.…</p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p>It seems that in recent years retail automotive conferences have gained momentum in popularity. In fact so many conferences are popping up that car dealers now have a difficult time deciding on where they want to go. The reality has become that some conferences duplicate one another while others bring true value to the industry by offering unique speakers and settings. Let’s talk a look at this fall’s conferences and discuss what makes them.</p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="http://autoconconference.com/" target="_blank">AutoCon 2014 – September 3-5, 2014</a></p>
<p></p>
<p>AutoCon holds a special place in my heart. I did not attend this year or last year due to scheduling conflicts. However, I was honored to be a featured speaker at the very first AutoCon in 2012. The reason why I find it to be special is because it was the second time that I spoke at a major industry conference. The event has had some tremendous keynote speakers and was truly a first class event. I understand that the management of the conference has changed. In fact this year no one even knew if the show would go on. According to one of my sources, there were about 100 dealers at this event. I would say that is a smashing success considering that the event started to be promoted within 60 days.</p>
<p>I noticed that this year there were a lot of more dealer speakers. This makes it special because a conference that brings in top performing executives to train and speak really changes the game for conferences. You just cannot go wrong when you have people like Brian Benstock (Paragon Honda) or Richard Bustillo (Rick Case Honda) teaching other dealers how to be great. Let’s not forget the amazing Lon Safko as a keynote speaker. Lon is a social media marketing genius.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.industrysummit.com/" target="_blank">Industry Summit September 8-10, 2014</a></p>
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<p>I attended this event in 2012 and was impressed because of how different it was. This event has a focus on topics that are not discussed as much as they should. There is a tremendous amount of content ranging from F&I, Used Car Retailing, CRM and other management best practices. The vendors are slightly different too because it is not the same digital marketing vendors that go to every single conference. While not being in attendance this year I am hearing a lot of great news coming from the event. Bobit Business Media is a class act organization so I am not surprised that they are having a successful event.</p>
<p>When you have speakers like Greg Goebel, Kate Frost, Dennis Galbraith, Yago Paramo and Paul Potratz you are sure to get quality education from some of the best in the industry. Let’s not forget the legendary Jim Ziegler, the Alpha Dawg. While I may not always agree with him on certain things I have to say with full conviction that he puts on a quality workshop. He is constantly evolving and also doing everything to defend the retail automotive business.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.digitaldealerconference.com/" target="_blank">Digital Dealer 17 September 23-25, 2014</a></p>
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<p>This is the original automotive digital sales and marketing conference. You simple just cannot go wrong. For anyone that has never been to an automotive digital retailing conference I would suggest that this is the first one that they attend. This conference has traditionally been great for basic strategies just to start getting an understanding of automotive digital marketing. However, in recent years this conference has evolved into something more. It seems that the folks at Dealer Communications have studied other conferences and found a way to make Digital Dealer even more exciting.</p>
<p>I am personally excited to see the keynote sessions. Jordan Belfort, the Wolf of Wall Street brings some tremendous content. I know that he has a past and I also know the crazy controversy that other industry folks have started complaining that he speaking. However, I have watched his training and feel that he brings something very unique to sales. It is a style that no one in the automotive industry has ever been able to create. Let’s not forget his job is to motivate and inspire. He will talk about positive and legitimate things. People should never forget the past but they need to come into this with a positive outlook and walk away with some great nuggets to build their business further. Look the man generated $49 million in one year, crooked or not he developed a style. I say that every sales professional should expand their training just a bit further. I may catch some heat from haters on this. So let’s be clear I am not condoning what he did in the past. I am simply respecting his gift and talent to be a tremendous and sales and marketing expert.</p>
<p>I also want to see Jeff Hargett of Ritz-Carleton talking about giving the best customer experience. We all can learn a thing or two from Ritz-Carlton. In addition, I am looking forward to seeing old friends like Tim James, Russell Grant, Chip King, Mat Koenig, Paul Portratz, Kevin Frye, Sean Stapleton and many others. I am also looking forward to finally meeting Alan Ram, Dr. John Mlinarcik, and Tom Stuker after communicating on social media for years. Tom Stuker and Dr. John are partners and affiliates of one of Dealer eTraining’s partners, The Dealers Solutions Group.</p>
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<p><a href="http://drivingsalesexecutivesummit.com/" target="_blank">Driving Sales Executive Summit October 12-14, 2014</a></p>
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<p>I am so excited to announce that after five years of missing this exciting event I will finally be at this event this year. Every single year my schedule does not permit to make it out to Driving Sales Executive Summit. But this year I am committed. I have to say that Jared Hamilton is one of the most classiest business executives that I have ever met in the entire automotive industry. We connected back in 2009 and he gave me permission to write blogs on Driving Sales. We have been friends for all of these years and I have proudly watched Driving Sales grow. I hear rave reviews and after seeing this year’s agenda I am thrilled.</p>
<p>It is exciting to watch some experts from other industries present like Rand Fishkin of inbound.org and Moz or Mike Hudson of eMarketer, Inc. I am also looking forward to seeing Jeremy Anspach of PureCars as Dealer eTraining is a huge fan of this company and what they offer for car dealers. I am also excited to hear Eric Miltsch of Command Z Automotive Consulting because he has the latest pulse on technology. A dual session with my friend Shaun Raines (DealerOn) and Tom White Jr. (Subaru of Wichita( should bring an incredible combination of discussing brand identity. My friend Megan Barto (Ciocca Honda Hyundai) will be presenting with her General Manager, Andy Guelcher about dealership culture. Megan is the ultimate rock star and I have been a friend and fan for years. Also, my brother from another mother Mr. Bryan “Car Guy” Armstrong (VW Southtowne) teams up with the Bobbie Herron (Garber Automotive) to discuss one of my favorite topics, the BDC. Nothing like learning from people who are in the dealerships actually doing it everyday. I am also looking forward to seeing David Kain, Brian Pasch, JD Rucker and many others.</p>
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<p><a href="http://unfairadvantagemastermind.com/" target="_blank">Unfair Advantage Automotive Mastermind Group September 7-9, 2014</a></p>
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<p>Tracy Myers has been a great friend and supporter over the years. I consider him to be a class act and just an inspiration to everyone. He has partnered with the fabulous Troy Spring (Dealer World) to create this event. I have not had the chance to attend yet. However, I do a see some powerhouse players come together to create a family of automotive executives that are building a solid network. People like Bob Burg and Sean Moffett are part of the alumni. I notice that Subi Ghosh, Dave Anderson, Kate Frost, Glenn Pasch and Arnold Tijerina are just a few of the class act people involved in making this a successful event. The beauty of this event is that it is for everyone no matter how successful or unsuccessful they might be. It is great for large dealers and small dealers, franchised or independent. I hope to attend this event at some point in 2015 and believe that my friend Tracy Myers and Troy Spring have a home run here.</p>
<p>Final comments…</p>
<p>As you can there is so much to choose from and each one of these seven events has positive aspects to them. My advice for dealers is to really think about what it is that they want to accomplish. Do you want to network with other professionals? Well they are all great for that. Do you want to really learn outside the box, cutting edge information? Go to AutoCon, Driving Sales Executive Summit and Digital Dealer 17. Do you want to be a part of a true network and support team? Go to Unfair Advantage Automotive Mastermind Group. Do you want to focus on departments that generate revenue directly like retailing and finance? Go to the Industry Summit. Do you want to learn a mix of strategies? Go to Internet Sales 20 Group and Sales Management Super Conference. Regardless of what you choose you should bring back a whole notebook of notes and ideas to start implementing right away in order to be successful.</p>
<p>*All comments and opinions are made solely from personal experiences and knowledge of each event. Everything spoken in this blog is meant to describe the full truth a seen through the eyes of Stan Sher, President of <a href="http://dealeretraining.com/" target="_blank">Dealer eTraining</a>.</p>Increase After Sale Product Penetration Through Automotive Guest Relations (BDC)tag:www.dealerelite.net,2014-07-23:5283893:BlogPost:4280172014-07-23T18:40:14.000ZStan Sherhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/StanSher83
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545135701?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545135701?profile=original" width="225"></img></a></p>
<p>What?</p>
<p>It is time to talk about the F&I department in the dealership and how the BDC (GRC) department can help improve product penetration. The typical discussion with regards to business development is always about lead handling and appointments. The BDC discussion is one that can go on for hours and even days because it is interesting to hear different…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545135701?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545135701?profile=original" width="225" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>What?</p>
<p>It is time to talk about the F&I department in the dealership and how the BDC (GRC) department can help improve product penetration. The typical discussion with regards to business development is always about lead handling and appointments. The BDC discussion is one that can go on for hours and even days because it is interesting to hear different opinions. There are schools of thought that believe in the BDC and there are schools of thought that believe that sales consultants should handle everything from start to finish.</p>
<p>For the sake of argument we will call it the GRC or Guest Relations Center because of the Dealer eTraining philosophy. What happens when a brand new GRC department that in the beginning does not have enough leads as the dealership is making the investment to buy more advertising opportunities? What happens when after going through old, dormant, dead (or whatever you call it) opportunities as well as new ones there is still enough time to make more calls?</p>
<p>A GRC department that <a href="http://www.dealeretraining.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dealer eTraining</a> has recently installed has received an incentivized opportunity to help F&I increase product penetration. They were offered a little something extra if they bring the customer back for a second opportunity (they get paid an incentive based on the product and only if it gets sold). At first when the idea was presented to me I was skeptical because the goal is to generate traffic to sell more cars. However, I did a lot of thinking. I realized that Guest Relations departments should do proper after sale follow up. I also realize the importance of the profit that F&I generates for the store.</p>
<p>In fact, when considering how many dealerships sales departments remain profitable because of the “found income” (F&I) it makes sense to incorporate some follow up to increase product penetration. The reality is that not everyone will make an appointment and come back to hear a presentation. However, a few customers might consider it and come in and even buy something. Remember, we call them guests because we want them coming back to us and not customers (they just come and go). Consider offering the customer a small incentive to come back for an appointment. What business manager is going to refuse an opportunity to sell an extra warranty or insurance product?</p>
<p>Let's evaluate this and consider a dealership that sells 150 units per month. Out of the 150 units there might be a percentage that is leasing (the common thought is that we cannot sell them anything). There will be a percentage that is paying cash and refuses to finance (the common complaint is that it is hard to sell them something extra). Let's say out of the 150 deals there were 30-40 deals where extra income was not generated (for whatever reason). So now we incorporate a phone process to attempt to bring back these 30-40 customers. Maybe only half of them decide to come in (15-20). If we can sell half of them 7-10 a warranty or tire & wheel we now increase product penetration. If each deal averages out to an additional $300 profit per deal we are looking at an additional $2100-3000 profit.</p>
<p>Now just imagine taking these statistics in a high volume store that sells 400+ units per month. BOOM!</p>
<p>It might not sound like a lot of money. However, the follow up is being done anyway (or at least is should be). Why not take a shot at an opportunity? The benefit to finance managers is they increase their spiffs from the product vendor and their performance is measured. The GRC representatives earn some extra money. But here is where that extra profit comes in handy. Dealers are always evaluating and concerned about the BDC (GRC) being a huge extra expense. This is what causes them to make drastic change and not have the right success in the BDC.</p>Progressive Dealer Management Guidelinestag:www.dealerelite.net,2014-05-12:5283893:BlogPost:4210612014-05-12T22:52:20.000ZStan Sherhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/StanSher83
<p>So it seems that the spring automotive conference season is over. This means that a small percentage of dealers have brought back valuable statistics and <a href="http://www.dealeretraining.com" target="_blank">resources</a> to potentially improve their businesses. However, one thing that no conference can teach is the importance of car dealers and where they stand with human resources practices. In addition to human resource practices most dealers have not begun to implement a proper…</p>
<p>So it seems that the spring automotive conference season is over. This means that a small percentage of dealers have brought back valuable statistics and <a href="http://www.dealeretraining.com" target="_blank">resources</a> to potentially improve their businesses. However, one thing that no conference can teach is the importance of car dealers and where they stand with human resources practices. In addition to human resource practices most dealers have not begun to implement a proper management style.</p>
<p>I was having a conversation with a friend of mine who recently changed jobs because the dealership that he was employed at as a GSM has been sold. He made a quick change because he suspected that he was going to lose his job if he had stayed. He also recognized the new GM/Management Partner and knows that the said person is known for demoralizing employees in Saturday morning meetings. Anyone who has ever been employed at a dealership that is going through a buy-sell knows that it is a stressful time since no one knows what the future brings. I can sit here and pick a part hundreds of things that dealers need to consider to improve but I want to make my point across fairly quickly.</p>
<p>Car dealers that are looking to make big improvements should focus on graduating to a management style that makes employees feel comfortable when they go to work. If policies need to be changed they need to be changed gradually and not instantly. Dealers fail to realize that as much as employees need their job to support their families they too have choices that they can make as to where they can go interview and land. I have witnessed and heard some serious issues that have been going on in a store more recently as new ownership and management takes power. While a few may sound familiar I am sure there is one or two that will boggle some minds. As we take a look at these, please keep in mind that a general staff meeting on the first day that the new owners took over they made a big exciting speech telling everyone that they are keeping everyone and they will make things even better. They also bought pizza and had one big celebration. This honeymoon lasted about 40 minutes. Let's take a look at nine issues that have occurred in just one week.</p>
<p>1. General Manager that has been employed for about 25 years in the dealership under previous ownership gets let go.</p>
<p>2. Sales process changes and store starts increasing sales numbers (positive change).</p>
<p>3. Owner and General Manager make agreement with the current Sales Manager about keeping them and setting up responsibilities. They even explain that they want this manager to be managing all digital operations (however they do not involve them in meetings with vendors). Within two days the owners secretly run an ad to replace the same person. Add three more days and they fire that manager.</p>
<p>4. The dealership makes changes that involve firing about 5 long term employees.</p>
<p>5. Saturday morning meeting is when the GM announces that the store will be open an extra hour on Saturday. However, when everyone leaves at the original time management gets very upset and takes it to another level.</p>
<p>6. Saturday lunch: The dealership used to buy lunch for employees on Saturday. However, this time the owner comes over and tells employees, "This is the last supper so enjoy as we will not be buying lunch on Saturday anymore. Bring your own lunch."</p>
<p>7. Manager runs an advertisement and interviews new candidates. However, when they want to introduce the candidates to the General Manager, the GM says, "here is how I do this". He explains, "I invite everyone to come back for a second interview. I want them to come in at 9am and it has to be during rush hour in the morning. If they are here on time I will interview them. However, if they are late I will tell them that the job is filled." (Ladies and gentlemen, please share your thoughts.)</p>
<p>8. General Manager is not happy that sales people are not "pounding" the phones. They get all of the sales people and tell them to pick up a yellow pages and start cold calling people.</p>
<p>9. The General Manager on Saturday asks about the a BDC representative before the morning meeting starts. Instead of asking about them by mentioning their name they mention them by the color of their skin. The GM proceeds to say that on Monday they are firing this person. </p>
<p>What is the point here? </p>
<p>The point I am trying to make is that there is no need to be try to be smarter then the average bear. As an industry there is too much pride and everyone thinks that their way is the best. In this case, management wants respect but is not willing their people. As my friend and I discussed this on the phone this morning we both agreed that car dealerships need to mirror the practices of major corporations. Major corporation’s employee proper procedures and have a process for managing HR as well as management in general. The reason that these major companies have set guidelines in place is because these guidelines prevent some huge liabilities and force team members to have humility in many cases towards others.</p>
<p>So why do car dealers continue to let egos rule the business instead of handling their people in a more professional manner? Do they consider the liabilities? Do they consider the costs that they incur when they need to replace people instead of motivate and <a href="http://dealererecruiting.com" target="_blank">train</a> them?</p>
<p>I am here to spread the positive message that dealers need to display more humility and start to possess a more professional. Stop doing things behind employee’s backs. Stop making drastic changes without properly making it a guideline. These changes will improve the work environment, longevity and profitability.</p>FTCS Automotive Sales Methodologytag:www.dealerelite.net,2014-01-13:5283893:BlogPost:4066812014-01-13T12:30:00.000ZStan Sherhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/StanSher83
<p>Have you ever had a customer play with their mobile phone while trying to work a car deal?</p>
<p>Have you ever needed to justify value in order to close a deal?</p>
<p>Do you use your mobile phone as a marketing and branding tool?</p>
<p>If this sounds like new and interesting information then chances are it is new for the improperly trained sales and marketing professional, that is. The Forward Thinking Consultative Selling (FTCS) method has been created to evolve the next generation of…</p>
<p>Have you ever had a customer play with their mobile phone while trying to work a car deal?</p>
<p>Have you ever needed to justify value in order to close a deal?</p>
<p>Do you use your mobile phone as a marketing and branding tool?</p>
<p>If this sounds like new and interesting information then chances are it is new for the improperly trained sales and marketing professional, that is. The Forward Thinking Consultative Selling (FTCS) method has been created to evolve the next generation of selling professionals. There is so much information online now that consumers come in to purchase vehicles ready to battle with full armor. The armor is the wealth of information that comes from third party sites like TrueCar, KBB, Edmunds and many others. In fact, many managers try to teach their sales professionals to stay away from these sites.</p>
<p>Enter the FTCS sales process. The process created to leverage these sites to build value, maintain gross and stop running back and forth to the desk asking for a discount every 5 minutes. The traditional “Road to the Sale” process plugs in the “Forward Thinking” to create a more transparent sales environment. Dealers using tools like “<a href="http://www.purecars.com/" target="_blank">PureCars</a>” or even “<a href="http://www.dealerrater.com/" target="_blank">DealerRater</a>” need to train their sales people to start using these tools as part of their sales process. This also includes all things “Google”, social media and video.</p>
<p>The FTCS process also incorporates powerful methods of meeting and greeting the customer, higher level negotiation tactics and objection handling strategies. These are some of the most important parts of the car sales process. It does not just end there. The FTCS method trains sales professionals to make better use of their time through personal branding, prospecting and CRM maximization. The smart phone is the number one CRM tool that any sales professional can have. There are so many free applications available that can empower a sales professional to build a book of business through digital marketing. The modern day sales professional should not only understand how to demo and sell a vehicle but also to market themselves constantly.</p>
<p>Dealers that are looking to recruit and train quality sales professionals need to consider introducing the FTCS automotive sales methodology to their dealership. This methodology lowers turnover, increases traffic, improves salesmanship as well as business culture. The FTCS recruiting and sales training program is only available through <a href="http://dealererecruiting.com/" target="_blank">Dealer eRecruiting</a> by <a href="http://dealeretraining.com/" target="_blank">Dealer eTraining</a>.</p>Is your dealership prepared for 2014?tag:www.dealerelite.net,2014-01-03:5283893:BlogPost:4055082014-01-03T08:20:51.000ZStan Sherhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/StanSher83
<p><img alt="14590497-doodle-de-style-2014-illustration-du-nouvel-an-au-format-avec-retro-annees-1970-la-toile-de-fond-pop" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-576" height="300" src="http://www.dealeretraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/14590497-doodle-de-style-2014-illustration-du-nouvel-an-au-format-avec-retro-annees-1970-la-toile-de-fond-pop-300x300.jpg" width="300"></img></p>
<p>Christmas is over and New Years just passed. They say the New Year brings positive change and opportunity. Since the big celebration, 2 days have passed and there are 363 days left in the year. So I ask the magic question, "Is your dealership prepared for 2014?”</p>
<p>Being that we are in such a competitive industry that changes by the month it is common for sudden changes to be made at the dealership level. These changes usually involve Budget (spending), Human Resources,…</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-576" alt="14590497-doodle-de-style-2014-illustration-du-nouvel-an-au-format-avec-retro-annees-1970-la-toile-de-fond-pop" src="http://www.dealeretraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/14590497-doodle-de-style-2014-illustration-du-nouvel-an-au-format-avec-retro-annees-1970-la-toile-de-fond-pop-300x300.jpg" width="300" height="300"/></p>
<p>Christmas is over and New Years just passed. They say the New Year brings positive change and opportunity. Since the big celebration, 2 days have passed and there are 363 days left in the year. So I ask the magic question, "Is your dealership prepared for 2014?”</p>
<p>Being that we are in such a competitive industry that changes by the month it is common for sudden changes to be made at the dealership level. These changes usually involve Budget (spending), Human Resources, Vendor Selection and the question of what to do with the Internet Sales or BDC department. It is no secret that changes are being made in the glorious New Year as evident by how many more job postings are out now as opposed to just a few days ago. While changes may or may not be made at the dealership it is still important to consider if these moves are really the right thing to do.</p>
<p>Let's evaluate the four things that I brought up in detail.</p>
<p><strong>Budget (Spending)</strong>: Will the dealership continue on the same path as last year just because business was good or is the dealership increasing/decreasing spending?</p>
<p>This is a very important factor to consider because the tools made readily available change, the incentives given by the OEM change monthly, OEM requirements may change, staff may change and even Google may make changes. The fact is everything around is changing with companies buying out other companies to bring better technology to the table as well as eliminate competition. There is even talk of 2014 being a big year for more dealerships to be bought and sold.</p>
<p>When we look at spending we need to look at the costs associated with employees. Some dealerships downsize management to save spending while others increase a budget to afford additional management with increasing business. A dealership is profitable when the right tools are in place and the right people are hired and properly trained. If 2013 was a bad year for your dealership then it is time to evaluate strategy right now.</p>
<p><strong>Human Resources</strong>: Are you planning on recruiting new sales people?</p>
<p>This is very important. Let's take a minute and think about the fact that each and every employee in the dealership is a human being that is trying to make an honest living. Each employee deserves the proper management, mentorship and training. In fact, if you are still hiring someone and launching him or her less then two weeks later then you really need to stop for a second and evaluate your situation. If you are not sure what you want to do with employees then do the dealership and the employee a favor and stop toying with emotions. When you hire someone to generate profit for your business it is your duty to provide him or her with the appropriate tools and training to help them maximize opportunity.</p>
<p>Sales professionals that get recruited and hired need to have proper training and guidance. Do not hire five people and get rid of two. Those two other people do not deserve to waste their precious time being treated poorly when they can find a normal career opportunity. Dealers do not like when people quit inappropriately and without notice. The saying of "treat others they way you wanted to be treated" applies here.</p>
<p><strong>Vendor Selection</strong>: Are you worried that your service provider was sold to another vendor? How is the support and training that your vendor is providing your people?</p>
<p>I urge all dealers to evaluate and <a href="http://www.automotivedealersnetwork.com/Articles/SSher/QualifyYourVendors.html" target="_blank">qualify your vendors</a>. Review what services you have and make sure that these vendors are providing proper support with training to your staff. As a matter of fact sit down with your management, service and sales staff to make sure that they are using the resources properly. If your dealership has marketing tools that should help make sell the cars simpler then make sure your staff knows how to use the tools. <a href="http://www.dealeretraining.com/technology-assisted-objection-handling/" target="_blank">Technology assisted objection handling</a> should be practiced at the dealership.</p>
<p>If a change needs to be made then make a plan. <a href="http://www.nadaconvention.org/nada2014/public/enter.aspx" target="_blank">NADA 2014</a> is right around the corner and there is no better way to look at opportunity.</p>
<p><strong>Internet Sales/BDC</strong>: Did you fire yet another BDC/Internet Manager? Are you thinking about what better ways your Internet leads and Phone calls need to handled?</p>
<p>Let's stop and take a look at what the problem is. If you had a BDC Manager working at the level of a Sales Manager and they were earning a six-figure income then everything should be fine. If that same BDC Manager was not worth what they made then take a look at what it was that made you unhappy. If a dealership employs a BDC Manager at $70k or less and they are not getting the proper results it is because they are getting what they pay for. Internet and BDC Managers need to be involved in training. There are so much more aspects to the job then most other positions in dealerships. The Internet manager has to constantly keep up with marketing trends and improving ways that the dealership is bringing in more people. Sales Managers do not have as much responsibility. In fact they desk deals, talk to customers and should be managing their sales staff.</p>
<p>My suggestion to dealers is to figure out what they want to achieve and how they want to achieve it. Once you know that, hire the right manager and create a process of managing that manager. The process should include reports and meetings to discuss what is going on. Do not just hire someone, throw them in the department and let them work without expectations being set. Automotive Internet Sales and Business Development is a fast changing aspect of the business. Dealers that have been avoiding the trend and the educational opportunities need to start taking advantage of them now in 2014. Again, stop hiring people without the willingness to properly give them a chance. Dealers that hire Internet and BDC Managers and make a change in 90 days or less never give themselves a chance to really evaluate ROI.</p>
<p><strong>- Final Thoughts -</strong></p>
<p>At this point you should know if you need to make appropriate changes at the dealership. If there is anything to take away from here it is the importance of expense control, vendor selection and showing the proper appreciation and respect towards the people that you hire. Think about these things as you operate your business and your business will not only be more profitable but also a better environment to be a part of in 2014. We at <a href="http://dealeretraining.com" target="_blank">Dealer eTraining</a> would like to wish you a Happy and Prosperous new year.</p>
<p></p>Automotive Internet Sales and BDC Management Supporttag:www.dealerelite.net,2013-12-20:5283893:BlogPost:4031772013-12-20T11:32:26.000ZStan Sherhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/StanSher83
<p><iframe frameborder="0" height="315" src="www.youtube.com/embed/GV6u_fyk8lc?list=UUOvn1W49BfD59LKS4zBUcxw&wmode=opaque" width="560"></iframe>
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<p></p>
<p><a href="http://www.stanthedealerman.com" target="_blank">Stan Sher</a> of Dealer eTraining discusses how sales management needs to properly work with the internet sales and BDC department. This includes understanding the functions of the department and what each person in the department does. While it is important to monitor and…</p>
<p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/GV6u_fyk8lc?list=UUOvn1W49BfD59LKS4zBUcxw&wmode=opaque" frameborder="0"></iframe>
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<p></p>
<p><a href="http://www.stanthedealerman.com" target="_blank">Stan Sher</a> of Dealer eTraining discusses how sales management needs to properly work with the internet sales and BDC department. This includes understanding the functions of the department and what each person in the department does. While it is important to monitor and communicate about sales appointments and deals it is equally important to show respect and appreciate this department. Too many times the two departments do not work together and a huge disconnect creates middle management politics.</p>
<p>If you have questions on how to handle similar problems at your dealership please visit the <a href="http://www.dealeretraining.com" target="_blank">Dealer eTraining</a> website <a href="http://www.dealeretraining.com">http://www.dealeretraining.com</a> and contact Stan Sher.</p>
<p>Automotive Sales Training - Phone Sales - Internet Sales - Business Development</p>Automotive Phone Training – Traditional vs. Progressivetag:www.dealerelite.net,2013-12-03:5283893:BlogPost:4012522013-12-03T03:00:00.000ZStan Sherhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/StanSher83
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545130633?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545130633?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="500"></img></a></p>
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<p>When is the last time your dealership had a <a href="http://www.automotivephonetraining.com/">progressive training solution</a>?</p>
<p>Is your dealership handling phone calls just like the “guy” down the street?</p>
<p>For generations automotive professionals have been provided automotive phone training with traditional ways of handling phone calls. These…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545130633?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="500" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545130633?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="500" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<p></p>
<p>When is the last time your dealership had a <a href="http://www.automotivephonetraining.com/">progressive training solution</a>?</p>
<p>Is your dealership handling phone calls just like the “guy” down the street?</p>
<p>For generations automotive professionals have been provided automotive phone training with traditional ways of handling phone calls. These traditional methods result in sales people handling objections the using the same terminology. Imagine spending $10,000 on a campaign (mailer, email blast, newspaper, special finance, etc.) and it fails because the call handlers (BDC, Sales People) in the dealership are not properly prepared. In fact they get thrown in to handle the calls but since they are not <a href="http://virtualbdctraining.com/">trained</a> and the campaign is not discussed they continue to practice telling the customer that “price is the easiest part of my job” or “we deal with over 20 different banks so we can get you approved”. If they are at least properly trained to ask for the appointment they say, “when can you come in, now or later today?”</p>
<p>Now a customer calls in on a mail piece and has common sense questions about how much money down is needed to get this advertised lease price it just so happens that untrained or traditionally trained sales professionals try to avoid the question instead of just telling the customer what it is. If the customer in return asks about what it would be with $0 down typically there it becomes an objection that cannot be handled because traditional training teaches automotive professionals to avoid price. Some of the most successful dealerships respect and understand the fact that consumers can get information and pricing everywhere which means that they empower their people to give proper information while engaging the prospect in order to generate the appointment. Consumers will gladly do business with straightforward dealers that make the car shopping process simpler. When it is said, “if we give information they will just call someone else” it is true statement but the fact is they will still call someone else and shop. The dealer that wins will sometimes be the one who offers the best deal and sometimes the dealer that handles objections better or gives proper information will win the opportunity.</p>
<p>The bottom line is that it is all about building trust through transparency. It is interesting to see how many people in dealerships always say how “we have over 400 cars stock so price is never an issue” or “we are the biggest selling dealer in the area and we did not get there by being the most expensive”. The best way to really understand this common problem is to spend one hour mystery shopping various dealers across one market and see how many of them are making the same mistakes or even saying similar things. After analyzing many phone calls all over the country we at <a href="http://www.dealeretraining.com/">Dealer eTraining</a> believe that call handlers need to have numerous ways to overcome objections and be trained in understanding what the customer is looking for. The most important aspect of being prepared for a campaign or any situation is communication and <a href="http://www.dealeretraining.com/training/">training</a>.</p>
<p>Think about it when making a huge investment in something the natural thing is to prepare for the outcome that it brings. So why are we sending mailers and running newspaper ads without preparing our people to handle those calls? Why do <a href="http://www.automotivephonetraining.com/automotive-bdc-training/">BDC</a> reps come into work on a Friday morning, take a phone up and have no clue what the customer is talking about? What if that campaign is unsuccessful and the one mishandled call was the only opportunity that came in through the phone? I encourage all dealers and general managers to improve communication and training efforts in the dealership so that profit leaks can be better monitored.</p>Why Automotive Call Monitoring Is Importanttag:www.dealerelite.net,2013-11-03:5283893:BlogPost:3943962013-11-03T22:30:00.000ZStan Sherhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/StanSher83
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545129002?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545129002?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"></img></a></p>
<p>Does your dealership have a call monitoring solution in place?</p>
<p>Does your dealership consistently train phone skills?</p>
<p>Chances are if the dealership has a large advertising budget and a proper setup for a BDC the answer is "yes". However, it is mind blowing to see how many dealerships in 2013 still do not pay attention to call monitoring. I look at…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545129002?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545129002?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"/></a></p>
<p>Does your dealership have a call monitoring solution in place?</p>
<p>Does your dealership consistently train phone skills?</p>
<p>Chances are if the dealership has a large advertising budget and a proper setup for a BDC the answer is "yes". However, it is mind blowing to see how many dealerships in 2013 still do not pay attention to call monitoring. I look at websites and see local phone numbers. Even worse I see dealers doing traditional advertising and still using local phone numbers. I later talk to these dealers and they complain that they do not get enough phone calls coming in or they are not making enough appointments. I ask them if they have a call monitoring solution and all I get told is that they just have what AutoTrader and Cars.com give them in their backend tools. I am not going to get into the importance of content and optimized websites to convert more lead opportunities. I will get into the importance of call monitoring. Every business needs to have a call monitoring tool. Every business needs to have management listen to phone calls for quality control, training, and measurement of quality of advertising.</p>
<p>I spoke about this topic at the Internet Sales 20 Group in October of 2012 as well as conducted a webinar for KPA about 8 months ago on this topic. </p>
<p>It can be viewed here: <a href="http://vimeo.com/59600280" target="_blank">Call Monitoring - Stan Sher</a></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Now here are</strong> some best practices:</span></p>
<p>1. If the dealership has a large ad budget and a very large call volume they need to hire a call monitoring company that will listen to the calls in real time and send alerts to inform managers rights away of any profit leaks. I know of many companies that provide this service. While it might be a $1500-2500 monthly investment there is a potential for an ROI of $30,000 or more when used properly.</p>
<p>2. Every single day a manager (BDC or Sales) needs to sit down and review reporting of all calls from the previous day and listen to 9 calls (3 morning, 3 afternoon, 3 evening). This will give an idea of what was done right and what needs training.</p>
<p>3. Take the good calls and the bad calls to review them in team meetings 2-3 times a week. These meetings should be 30 minutes and should be positive. Let the team listen and let them chime in with ideas for improvement. Do role playing exercises to provide quality <a href="http://www.automotivephonetraining.com" target="_blank">automotive phone training</a>. My advise is to have the team meet at 8:30 before the day gets started.</p>
<p>4. Some call monitoring companies send weekly and monthly recap reports. Review the missed opportunity reports and review them with the CRM to see what happened with that phone number. In the case when the call was not logged in have a process where one person gets on the phone to call those missed opportunities as a guest relations representative and see what we can make happen here.</p>
<p>5. AutoTrader and Cars.com reports. I love when dealers complain how little traffic they get and how expensive these sources are. Cars.com does a great job sending daily phone call reports detailing each call that came in the day before. Dealers and BDC managers that do not pay attention to them are losing out. I have been preaching this for years. Cars.com call reports show calls that come in before and after hours. I see dealers average 1-2 calls a day like this and they get missed sometimes. In some cases these callers call during hours and they are logged. But what about the calls that do not come back. They are not logged and the opportunity is missed. It is a simple 5 minute per day process that needs to be reviewed.</p>
<p>6. Every advertisement or campaign, digital and/or traditional, even special finance needs to be planned. A phone process needs to be created and trained a minimum of 2 days before the campaign hits. Monitor the calls daily and listen for profit leaks. Adjust accordingly by proper training. This is the most proactive way to manage a BDC or sales calls in general.</p>
<p>The bottom line is that that every dealership no matter what size needs a call monitoring solution. There are cost effective solutions for every dealership. It is the perhaps the number one ROI measurement tool in my opinion.</p>Technology Assisted Objection Handlingtag:www.dealerelite.net,2013-10-07:5283893:BlogPost:3907212013-10-07T23:29:35.000ZStan Sherhttps://www.dealerelite.net/profile/StanSher83
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545126982?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545126982?profile=original" width="275"></img></a></p>
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<p>Does your dealership have tools that should help your sales and business development people be more effective?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As consumer transparency becomes more important in the automotive industry dealers are hooking up with more vendors that allow for transparency. It is no secret that some of the most effective dealers are making it easier to retail…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545126982?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2545126982?profile=original" width="275" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p></p>
<p>Does your dealership have tools that should help your sales and business development people be more effective?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As consumer transparency becomes more important in the automotive industry dealers are hooking up with more vendors that allow for transparency. It is no secret that some of the most effective dealers are making it easier to retail pre-owned vehicles online by employing consumer driven tools. It is shocking to see how many people at dealerships do not even know that such tools exist. This is a common issue where a lack of communication between decision makers (Owners/GM) and middle management (Sales Management) happens. I am noticing this in dealerships all over the country where I review a dealership’s website, inventory, and other marketing aspects only to find tools that front line staff have no idea they can use.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>For example, there are so many dealerships out there using tools like <a href="http://www.purecars.com" target="_blank">PureCars</a>, <a href="http://www.vauto.com/provision/realdeal/" target="_blank">vAuto RealDeal</a>, or <a href="http://www.vauto.com/genius-labs/autovisor/" target="_blank">AutoVisor</a> in order to enhance VDPs and vehicle listings. These tools are meant for the consumer to learn more about the vehicle and see the value that they are getting. However, the buttons to these tools are usually only found in the listing and the consumer does not always know to click on it. At <a href="http://dealeretraining.com" target="_blank">Dealer eTraining</a>, I have recognized the importance of educating all management and front line staff to take advantage of these tools so that they can do a better job building value on the phone to secure more appointments as well as close more deals on the showroom floor.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There is nothing more disturbing then to listen to a phone call get mishandled because the customer takes control of the situation only to put fear in the call handler (BDC or Sales Professional). They say you do not need to know anything about the vehicle to make a solid appointment. While that may or may not be true, one thing is true and that is that these tools provide immediate product knowledge at your fingertips. There is no need to just rely on “old school” word tracks that get trained to every single dealership out there. Technology is created to help us become better professionals and not to replace us. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>These same strategies are important on the showroom floor. Why should sales people run back and forth to the desk to work the sales manager for a bigger discount when they can use these tools to sell, justify, and create value? It is important to learn how to be a better presenter of value and incorporate the old with the new.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>While the vendor might have some tools to train everyone at the dealership on how to be more effective it is very rare that management pays attention. Just a few weeks ago I was inside a dealership training sales people in the conference room and reviewing how they can leverage DealerRater as a closing tool. I also reviewed how they should be using AutoVisor (a tool they had). The bottom line is that dealers need to communicate the changes in technology and train their staff on how to use it properly. The proper use of these digital tools will increase ROI in the long run and create better sales professionals. I encourage dealers to evaluate the tools that are in place or are being considered and communicate with your people. It is also important to provide the proper training to inspire and motivate your people to adapt to these solutions.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Stan Sher is the founder and president of Dealer eTraining (<a href="http://dealeretraining.com" target="_blank">www.dealeretraining.com</a>), an elite automotive Internet sales and business development training/consulting firm.</p>