Business has begun to pick up.  You've lost some people due to the previous year's slow down.  You've added a franchise.  You want more coverage.  All of these are legitimate reasons to begin a hiring campaign to add sales people to your team.  But, other than the cost of advertising, are you prepared for the "real hidden cost" of hiring?

There are two directions to take when beginning a campaign.  You can go for experience or you can train new salespeople in the style of…

When I'm not obsessively checking in over here at Dealer Elite, I have a side hustle during the day. Well, for now

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As I've mentioned in blog posts prior, I call leads, talk to people, and set them up on appointments for interviews. Basically exactly what I did in the BDC for the 4 years I was there.

The script at my current job is..... well, lacking to say the least. I've tried to sit down with management and tell them that it doesn't allow…

Hey folks!  I have recently been asked to be the sole member of our new "service sales team".  The concept sounded great, and I was all for it, until it actually was put into action. For many and most dealerships, I fully support the idea. We use the angle of having equity in your current vehicle, so getting a brand new vehicle for no money down, and we can lower your payments. Good idea right?

Heres where I run into a snag...we used to be a Saturn dealership. Now we are Buick/GMC. …

One of my very good childhood memories is Mom writing Granny (her Mom) letters and Mom also getting letters from Granny.  Mom and Dad had moved us to Ohio for the better life that came then from factory work, so at the time we were far away from Granny back in Tennessee.  The telephone was still expensive and unreliable way back then, and Granny's phone was also a…

The newest keeping up with the Jones’s marketing trend is Social Media Marketing.  Social Networking has found a home in American Capitalism as the twenty-something crowd has become a strong demographic in today’s enterprise.  Business hours have been replaced with 24/7 virtual access to your dealership.  Social Media Marketing has become a channel for customer support, service and satisfaction. …

Social Media is not kids play any longer.  Social Networking has found a home outside of the college dorm and into main stream capitalism.   More and more businesses globally are adopting Social Media Marketing Plans.  Social Media is one of the newest tools available to the global economy, but how does it affect your business?  Why should you invest some of your marketing resources in the…

10)  We were all born of women, consider the pain, anguish and toil endured for you to just be here; in other words, if nothing else, do it for your mom dummy

9)  You can't just buy every female customer and co-worker roses and jewelry to make up for stupid things you say like you do with your wife or girlfriend- get it right

8)  Girls stopped having cooties a long time ago, it is safe to treat them as human now

7)  Every woman is somebody's daughter

6)  Women…

If a General Manager had 50% of new or used car inventory aged at over 7 months without a sale, life would not be pleasant. Many dealerships have this concern in their parts department and are not even aware of it. Let’s look at some operational guidelines that will improve your parts department in every aspect. Every month end should generate a parts summary report that is given to the parts manager. This report contains some valuable information most General Managers never see. An…

There are a number of good reasons for operating an ethical and legally compliant dealership, not the least of which is staying out of a courtroom.  Perhaps the most important - and most often overlooked - reason is increased customer satisfaction.  There are times when an employee may feel that he or she came out the winner by bending the rules a little, but what about the dealership’s reputation?  What about the customers who were mislead?  It seems like there might be some losers in the…

1) Hire some women!  Women buyers will, on average, prefer to buy a vehicle from another woman when they can--and women salespeople are awesome.  By the way, women salespeople will do a great job with male buyers, too.



2) Smile and understand their power.  Lots of women are on their own and…

The following is an except from the book “Influence: How Women’s Soaring Economic Power Will Transform Our World for the Better” by Maddy Dychtwald with Christine Larson.



Start Your Engines: Transforming the Automotive…

A vehicle is more than just a machine that gets you from Point A to Point B, especially when you have passengers along for the ride. There are a lot of factors that determine which vehicle fits your family’s needs the best.

How can you find the right vehicle for your family? The first and most important step is to examine your needs, and prioritize them over your wants. This will help you to keep costs lower by focusing on the most important aspects of the vehicle…

It’s natural to be scared when your child reaches legal driving age. Not only will you stay up at night worrying about their safety, but you’ll also probably worry about the process of teaching them and how they’ll behave once they’re out on their own.

Per mile driven, teenage drivers age 16 to 19 are four times more likely to crash than older drivers. According to the CDC, the teens at the highest risk of crashing are male, have teenage passengers with them and have had…

Below is one of my favorite tales of two dealerships. It is a favorite story because I believe both dealerships had the best of intentions, just one made a positive impact and the other a not so positive impact on how one woman in a vast world of consumers experienced buying her first brand new car.

The ink on the divorce decree was nearly dry and I was out to make some big changes in my…

 

It’s 2011; is your dealer website holding its own? Everywhere you turn in the digital automotive marketing world, technology is evolving at a rapid clip. Search engines are going…