Today, the average corporate user sends and receives over 110 messages daily!  With all that email, even the world’s greatest message will fall victim to “right click / delete” without a subject line that inspires a reader to open it! 

Here are a few quick tips to help you write a subject line that will get your customers’ attention:

1)      Be clear – With so many emails and so little time let them know why they should open yours. 

2)      Be…

"Negotiation is the art of reaching agreement by trust while lying."  -- Keith Shetterly, 2011

Wow!  My friends have pointed out that I needed another article for "trust-eroding" words and phrases--spoken or written--that can kill sales, so here comes Part 2 of what is now a series.  What do I mean by "trust-eroding"?  Well, that's best explained by going…

Want to make more sales or maybe just sound smarter?  Then learn which words make lots of people--from your peers, to your bosses, to your CUSTOMERS--cringe.  Spoken or written, these words lose you sales!

Irregardless.  It's a common word now that is most often misused as a synonym for "regardless"--and it is not.  It's a double negative of…

I'm prepping for a big strategy meeting with a dealer group. So I decide to verify my hunch that there is big opportunity in training the call handlers for better Appointment Set, CSI, Retention and all that good stuff. I decide to listen to a bunch of calls from some of the top performing dealerships in the country, to help identify the skill differences and training opportunities.

Then it hit me......How could I have missed this for so long?? 

The…

http://fixedopsnews.blogspot.com/2011/08/was-last-month-defined-by-two-simple.html

Was your last month defined by these two words…”If only”?





“If only…”



The Dealer Principal



“If only” I had asked my Managers “What is your plan for increasing Profit this month?” and held them accountable for their replies.



“If only” I had…

About the 1st Automotive ZMOT Study

I've been profoundly impacted by a free book called "Winning the Zero Moment of Truth" by Jim Lecinski.  As a result of reading this book, I have created training materials, online workshops, and planning materials for car dealers on this…

I've been in the car business for almost 30 years, many of those years spent in Oregon. There aren't very many big cities in Oregon, but three of the bigger ones that I have worked in were Portland, Bend, and Eugene.

Portland is in the northwest corner of the state, Bend is about 160 miles southeast of Portland near the center of the state, and Eugene is about 110 miles south of Portland, and 120 miles southwest of Bend. The three cities form a large triangle, each city being about…

There are many retirement vehicles available in the market today, 401K’s,

IRA’s, Roth IRA’s, Social Security.  I looked them up and they are all boring,

limited and restrictive. So, what’s a dealer to do? Real Estate, Stock Market?

Both are unpredictable and use already taxed dollars.

What if you could take something you are already doing, tweak it and turn

into the best retirement program out there?

First let’s get something…

Mark Zuckerberg and others announce revolutionary and supercool changes to Facebook.

According to Zuck in his introduction to the keynote:

• A record 500 million people used Facebook the same day. We’re connected now. The next era will be defined by the social apps that use these connections.
• PROFILE: The profile is the heart of the FB experience, and people invest a lot in their profile. The old 2004 profile: how you introduce…

When I hear in a retail environment those magic words I am so fond of, "I am just looking" I have learned to get excited. I believe that so many fear it and/or ignore the customer after hearing it....to me this is an opportunity to do business.

If we are going to be sucessful we have to learn to listen to customers objections. Then respond pleasantly, professionally and in a fashion that allows us to move to the next step.

Customers first off would not come…

I have spent more years than I would like to remember working in car dealerships. From starting as a sales person in a very large multi line store to running finance departments to a step or two backwards as an "internet manager" I have done most every job that a retail dealer can offer.

I have always been surprised at how blind and deaf some senior managers and owners can be. When the Internet first hit the scene, with it's different kind of advertising, pricing disclosure and…

OK.... here it is....  the vast majority (and I know you may be the exception!) of talented Sales Reps, and Sales Managers flat out suck on Sales Calls. Don't throw rocks at me yet....

The most common successful Sales Rep is a great influencer.... super at helping customers make good choices and delivering units. In fact, if it weren't for the common disease we seem to share (and I come from the floor), A.D.D., we would all be lawyers. If it weren't for our other…

Last week I was busy leading a class of new salespeople through our 21st Century Sales Program(c) and as with all of my classes, one or two students always emerge as leaders but, not always the ones you'd think.  There are the ones who are eager to participate, but they aren't necessarily the leaders.  Others seem to know the answers to all the questions, but that may not mean leadership.

The ones that stand out are often in the background.  But, if you recognize them, you…

Baseball is America’s game. It provides thrills, strategy, suspense, heroics and athleticism all in one.

As of the writing of this article, (September 22, 2011) the batting average for ALL Major League players stand at .255.

That translates into 255 hits for every 1000 at bats.

The player that has the highest batting…

 I am looking for the best products dealers are selling today as an upsale..In todays market we all need to sharpen our skills with customers. Does anyone still have a great aftermarket department ? Who trains the people to upsell ? Let me know ...

VinSolutions, a leading provider of automotive dealership software, is growing its Sales Team and needs a Territory Manager for the North East and Mid East regions of the United States. This is a great opportunity to put your sales and communication skills to work. Daily, you will be prospecting for new business and helping close sales with dealerships. Previous sales experience to automotive dealerships is highly desired or experience in the automotive industry is a plus. As the…

Facebook is an ever changing medium for social discourse with more than 750 million active users. On September 21st, the Facebook algorithm changed to no longer broadcast the most recent posts of friends and groups an individual is associated with. Instead Facebook now displays the most recent posts in response to an individuals search terms, interests and…