Black Book® announced today that it has promoted Jared Kalfus to Senior Vice President of Sales where he will expand his current role overseeing Data Licensing and Lender Solutions to now include the sales team of Black Book’s Activator Division. The promotion further   solidifies Black Book as the leading provider of data and insight to the broader automotive industry, which relies on data-driven solutions to serve customers across every aspect of the automotive supply chain.



With…

All-new Scion Showroom digital newsletter offers new way for brand to communicate with dealers and staff

Chapel Hill, N.C., December 8, 2014 – Building on proven experience in consumer-focused branded messaging, 3 Birds is honored to announce its selection as the exclusive provider for Scion’s internal dealership and staff communication…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ALBANY, N.Y. – December 8th, 2014 – Auto/Mate Dealership Systems (http://www.automate.com) announced today the addition of rates, residuals and rebates information to its Automotive Management Productivity Suite (AMPS®) Desk/Mate module. Dealerships that use Auto/Mate's desking solution now have access to real-time lease rates, residuals, manufacturer…

Maybe you think you're disciplined...

Hello and welcome to this week’s Used Car Market Report, with insights from Black Book. As we just celebrated Thanksgiving and also just completed the first week of December, and the results of the market study show a level of change not familiar for this time of the year. The activity strength of the new…

Let me start off by stressing the word social, these are going to be topics, events and days of interest that you can use to be conversation pieces with people in your online communities. None will be car specific but instead topics that might stimulate two-way conversations and recognition. People are pretty smart, they know ABC Toyota sells Toyota’s, you don’t have to tell them every day.

These topics will fall into the fun section of my 4-3-2-1 Rule of Facebook Posting. Each month,…

In this high tech age, there are numerous tasks that an Internet or eCommerce Director has to tackle in order to correctly market their dealership and its inventory. In the past, you were doing a great job if you were writing custom detailed vehicle descriptions and taking multiple photos of your pre-owned vehicles. You were a superstar if you were also doing these things…

Question: How much money is sitting in your Dealership Management System (DMS) right now?

Well, let’s break it down. The average-sized dealership has tens of thousands of customer names in its DMS. Since each name represents a customer—either sales or service—whose ownership of their current vehicle will ultimately come to an end, they make great prospects…

It’s no secret that the FTC has been monitoring brand usage of social media. The hammer finally fell when the FTC ruled last week that companies and agencies utilizing social media must include disclaimers. This is regardless of the social media platform and whether or not the account is a brand account, an agency account, or company employee’s personal account – and yes,…

Just how successful are the “December To Remember” campaigns? Swapalease.com analyzed vehicle search and consideration patterns from the 2013 holiday season to gauge which luxury brands see a rise in consumer consideration during the holiday season. Lexus saw the biggest increase in search and consideration patterns, but only by a slim margin.



Swapalease.com is the nation’s largest online lease marketplace, processing tens of thousands of lease exchanges each year for today’s most…

Forgive me for saying this, but from where I now stand, it is quite apparent to me that there is way more opportunity for improving profitability than most dealership managers are aware of. I certainly know looking back on my career (and I thought I was very pro-active) that there was so much more opportunity to be realized than I was able to completely grasp at the time.

Most people agree that there is more upside potential left on the table, they are just not…

When I read these questions on the Careerbuilder site http://personified.com/faq (Frequently Asked Questions) this is what I see. Their FAQ section should stand for Frequently Averted Qualities!



Question:

Why doesn't Source and Screen offer a guarantee on a hire?

Answer: Because if you don't hire the people…

If I've heard this once I've heard it 1,000 times. "We've tried all the traditional means to find techs, from dangling 'We're hiring Techs' banners out front, to newspaper ads, to radio spots, to online job postings, to auto specific job boards. We've even tried offering finder's fees to our internal employees, but we JUST CAN'T FIND ANY TECHNICIANS AND NOW we just…

Calling all OEM Field Factory Reps, 20 Group Leaders, Dealer Group Platform Executive Managers, Dealer Counsel Members, National Training Directors, Regional VPs, Distributorship District Managers, Fixed and Variable Ops Directors!

Don't abandon your dealerships when it comes to recruiting. THEY need your help and YOU need their focus on selling and…

Do you remember the AT&T ad slogan “Reach Out and Touch Someone” from the early 1980s?  It may have been thirty years since that slogan reached its peak in popularity, but it still has a similar meaning today. Our high-paced, digitally driven world has made it even easier to stay in touch with our friends and family. A few typed words on a smartphone, or the sharing of a…

The answer to the question everyone asks about marketing & advertising.

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Feeding America's Text-to-Donate Program! 

Now is the time to show your support by making a donation to the Feeding America Program and Route 23 Ford will donate $10.00 to your Owner Advantage Card for every $10.00 donated.…

Womens-Drivers.com, the leading dealer ratings and review site for Women buyers, conducts ongoing research through our Women’s Satisfaction Index (WSI®) report to provide dealers with important insights into buying habits of women.

Women-Drivers.com asks women to complete an optional 25 question survey about their dealership experience after completing a dealer review. An amazing ninety-two percent of women complete this extensive survey primarily to share their experience with other…

According to Black Book® data, the average price of a used vehicle for model years 2009-2013 saw slightly less depreciation in November (-1.9%) compared with October levels (-2.0%). Domestic cars changed -2.2%; import cars changed -1.8%; domestic trucks changed -2.2%; and import trucks changed -1.6%. Average pre-recession depreciation is historically between -1% and -2% monthly, and Black Book expects overall 2014 depreciation of -13.5%.



Truck segments saw some of their largest…

Are You Selling in the Zone?

Recently, I came across some old notes I took at a Half-A-Car training meeting about twelve years ago. The notes were centered around being focused and prepared to sell, a state of mind that some call being “in the zone.” There are some concepts that are timeless, and, even after more than a decade later, these stand the test of time.

Being in the zone is about more than just focus and experience, it is actually a different…