Auto/Mate is conducting its third annual survey about online information resources. As auto dealership employees, where do you get your industry news? How do you rate the various trade publications, social media networks and industry trade shows as information sources you can trust? We want to know!

This survey has fewer than ten questions and can be completed in less time than it takes to finish your cup of coffee. Participants who complete the survey will be automatically…

In today’s fast-paced world, new technology is constantly being developed that provides auto dealers with new and innovative ways to connect with customers. The days of index cards and Outlook as a CRM are long gone. Now we have robust technology that makes it a simple process to connect with customers on many levels, including e-mail, text, chat, video and social…

The Problem



We are getting calls from dealerships all across the country and they are increasing by that day regarding their need for technicians. Unfortunately, the solution to the concern doesn't have an immediate reward and is generally not the answer that they want to hear.



The Solution



The…

Welcome to this week's edition of Black Book Market Insights, with in-depth analysis of used car and truck valuation trends and insights straight from the auction lanes. Click here to download the full report.

This week’s Market Insights report includes data, trends and insight showing a broader decline for the majority of car segments, and even many of the truck segments. Smaller cars are leading the weekly…

Want to Boost Your Sales? It's Easy

Knowing the difference between social media and social media advertising will save you thousands and help you sell more cars. On this week’s Think Tank Tuesday:

• Learn the difference between Social Media and Social Media Marketing.
• Optimize ROI by using social media the right way.
• Develop a comprehensive…

Type-A Personalities Versus Type-B Personalities

Most people who work in automobile sales have Type-A Personalities.  They are generally very competitive and career driven and often come across as aggressive and forceful.…

It’s no secret that dealerships have been in a crazy race to the bottom in terms of profit per vehicle. Consumers are always looking for the best deal and automotive Internet resources are providing them with more ammo to negotiate with. Dealers have been complaining for years about decreasing profit margins on vehicles, blaming manufacturers for lowering margins and…

Brian Benstock pushes the use of equity-mining software at Paragon Honda because each time it succeeds in getting a leased vehicle back early, nearly every department in the store benefits, especially finance and insurance.

Equity-mining software, sometimes called data-mining software, enables dealerships to spot current customers who are in a good position to get out of the vehicle they have and into a new one for about the same monthly payment.

The software looks at a number…

Last week, Automotive News published an article called “Auctions Focus on High-Quality Vehicle Images”, which emphasizes the importance of providing customers with a better online shopping experience. The article discusses Manheim’s new Enhanced Vehicle Imaging (EVI) system, which includes pan & zoom technology, a condition heatmap, and up to 15 high-res images. Using this more robust merchandising technology, Manheim saw a 26% increase in bids and received $132 more per…

All dealerships get leads that originate from the Internet. Not all dealers, however, are equal when it comes to how they handle these leads. Ever wonder why some dealers are able to close Internet leads at 12+ percent, while others struggle to reach 6 percent? The reason has everything to do with how these leads are handled – from speed of reply to the content in the reply…

Making a strong sales presentation is crucial to closing more sales. Here are 10 tips to help you improve yours:

1. Acknowledge your customer’s requests and expectations.

Make sure they know you heard them. If it’s not appropriate to answer a question at that moment, thank them for the question and assure them you’ll answer it in a few moments. Never react as if they are interrupting your “pitch”.

2. Offer what they ask for, not what you…

In a nutshell, the best auto leads are contacts for a high profit, high conversion vehicle shopper, with the highest profit margin. Part of defining the best car leads for dealerships, however, is also determining what they are not.

Quality Auto Leads Are Productive…

YouTube is giving their customers the opportunity to go ad-free. But don't worry! On this week's Hard Facts, learn why this WON'T have a huge impact on your video strategy

New car shoppers have once again recognized Honda as the "Best Value Brand" and "Best Overall Brand" in Kelley Blue Book's 2015 Brand Image Awards, based on the company's Brand watch study. This is the third consecutive year Honda has been recognized as "Best Overall Brand" by non-luxury car shoppers on KBB.com

How do you see yourself when you consider your future? Do you have a dream for your life that you would like to achieve, but don’t know how to get there from where you are?  Are you stuck in the same rut producing the same results every month no matter how hard you try to…

A 2014 study by Autotrader showed that consumers are visiting fewer dealers in their car shopping than ever before. This is certainly a by-product of the availability of information. No longer do consumers have to visit multiple dealerships to find the right vehicle. They simply sit in front of their computers and browse a dealer’s inventory on their website or, more commonly,…

GeoFencing is a feature that allows you to set a geographical boundary or virtual barrier using GPS.

Once you set a barrier of your choosing you can then create a Push notification that will get delivered to a customer’s phone instantly when they enter that barrier.…

No one doubts the average age of vehicles on the road has gone up. The current average vehicle is 11 years old and trends in consumer purchases indicate this statistic isn’t going to change any time soon. In fact, indicators suggest average vehicle age might increase.

 …

Selling cars to women takes a confident equipped sales person with a high level of communication skills, personal engagement and EQ. Women visit 30% more dealerships and may take a longer time in the shopping funnel than men. Patience is another key aspect to making a sale. Understanding when to stop pitching ideas and pull back is extremely important. Going overboard can be perceived as annoying or assertive an end up being a deal-breaker.…