Are you making the most of your customer reviews?

A good customer testimonial offers valuable return on investment and can help push potential buyers through the buying process and into your dealership. 

Unfortunately, when we went to work to find out what makes a good customer testimonial, we found that most dealerships aren’t using the right strategies to…

How many brains do you have? Trick question, I know. Your biology teacher said you have one. However, according to Dr. Mark Goulston your brain has three layers that evolved over millions of years. There’s the reptile layer, the mammal layer, and the primate layer.  Let's take a deeper look into these layers and ways you can tap into these parts of the brain in your sales presentation, customer…

The purchasing of Twitter followers has become an extremely popular trend. It offers the instant gratification that many people and businesses crave. When someone sees you have a mere handful of followers, they arenʼt likely to believe you have much…

It’s probably because of my college training in industrial engineering, but I’ve always been fascinated and challenged by trying to define any meaningful relationships between “opportunities to do business” (OTDBs) and sales results. After a half-century of experience in the retail automotive business, I’ve concluded that there truly are consequential metrics associated with selling both vehicles and service at an auto dealership. 

For instance, do you know how many good vehicle sales…

A new study shows that a new breed of “digital test drivers” are completely skipping the dealership sales process. More than 10% of new-car shoppers are buying vehicles without even seeing them in person. To me, this seems like buying a…

As we have mentioned before, social media is not just a good way to keep in touch with your customers it’s now crucial to your SEO as well. But just how can you use your social media marketing to help your SEO? We’re going to talk about exactly that, how your social media and SEO can work together to grow your business. As is stands now social signals have already become an…

You have a problem.  You have a question.  You know a person who has the answer.  You even have their direct phone number.  You need a solution now.

You call.  No answer. Voicemail. You text message them. No response.  Irritation and frustration builds.

A few more calls and you’re moving on to the next person or resource to solve your problems.

Now, imagine if this is one of your customers trying to reach you?…

People generally don’t like hearing the word “no”.

“Is there any milk left in the fridge?” “No.”

  “Have you made these copies for me yet?” “No.”

  “I can see you really like this car.  Should we go into my office and get the paperwork started?” “No.”

A "no" can be a "yes" down the road.

The third exchange above is a…

In the automotive sales industry, we sometimes get so wrapped up with adjusting/tweaking our own approach to the sales process (internal critiques) that we often forget to look at how our customers are approaching us with each potential sale.

The cliché, “…it takes two to tango...” comes to mind.

What kind of research or tips do they look for before coming to the car lot?…

The truth is, I think, that www.AutoCon2012.com advertising is out of control.  Now, I *do* support www.AutoCON2012.com, but really that's because I strongly believe in the idea that dealers need great chances for education.  And I think the line-up is very, very…

Fixed Ops lessons for marketing tires from the financial services world:

About 35% of policy owners shop their car insurance in a given year.  Less than half will actually switch.  That puts customer retention in the mid 80% range.   When an insurance agent also writes a second line of coverage (home owners, renters, etc.), his client retention improves by…

We know the difference between empathy and sympathy right? To empathize with your customer means that you have a deep emotional connection to their feelings, situation, or problems. To show sympathy with your customer is more of general setback with them because you are not taking the time to acknowledge their feeligns. Given this case, we all want to empathize with someone, not just show sympathy. So why not apply…

New DMEautomotive survey reveals that prepaid or complimentary maintenance plans, combined with excellent service delivery, are among the best ways to win and retain consumer loyalty – especially ‘next-gen’ customers

DMEautomotive Survey Highlights:

• 56% of consumers with a prepaid or “complimentary” service plan are likely to continue servicing at dealership after expiration
• Roughly 1 in 4…

Pinterest has generally been ignored by the advertising world at large, but the site is making big moves to assert its relevancy. As of last week, the social media website has done away with their invite system.…

Overview

We often forget the best clients are the sold clients in our CRM's.

The walls are a physical barrier.  The walls also represent a conceptual barrier to many.  The walls, whether physical or conceptual, separate.   And, that is bad!   The           walls act like demarcation lines that shouldn’t be crossed lest you dare enter into foreign or perhaps even enemy territory.  The rules of engagement crossing into or between these walls may be an…

If you can't tell, I wrote this on an extremely empty stomach. But enough about me, let's talk about you and your success!

As a provider of dealership website solutions, it almost seems that there are two different categories of clients that I work with. Those that utilize the tools and resources made available to them to which…

If you have been following my latest articles discussing Google Adwords, you are well aware that Google is testing new ad formats for the automotive industry.  

I have recently discussed the Google Advisor For Cars program which is very controversial.  I recently documented that Google is testing …