Another end of the month has come and gone. Are you still preparing your numbers? Already turned them in? Have you had the conversation with your GM or Salespeople about how this month is going to be better than last month? I've had a ton of those talks with my superiors who expected me to do better than a bad month, or even better than a good…

The “Car Biz” an industry that made you reinvent yourself a little bit and step outside your comfort zone…

So I ask you… Why step back in?

I don’t know about you but I didn’t want to grow up wanting to be a car salesman…

But here I am and it’s been a good ride so far…

Growing up if you would have asked me what I…

Differentiation.   What is it?  I don’t know about you but I am sick to death of people throwing the word differentiation around with no specific, precise course of action.  It is essential that we accentuate specific differences between us and the stereotype of our industry.  From the outside looking in, all dealerships look the same and do the same things in…

Our jump from 30 Used per month to 130 was no accident.  A year ago we priced by gut or by rule.  "Add $3000 to our inventory price" is what many dealers continue to subscribe to.  We found religion with Dale Pollack and Vauto.  Of course there are other tools out there.  I like what Dale Pollack has to say and thus went with his product. (no, they didn't pay me to say this).  Our experience selling used cars is that we could spend any amount of money in the local "Auto Shopper", local…

Winter 1982.  I was the F&I manager for a Chrysler, Plymouth, Jaguar, Deloreon dealer. (One of my better career moves.)  It was also a time that was very troubling for Chrysler.  They had gotten their loan (bailout) from the government and had cut back on their field support.  We got the memo that some of each dealership staff would volunteer for the New York Auto Show.  Each of us would have to go to the city and spend two hours at the Chrysler booth. (And we still had to pay for our…

Doug Van Sach named vice president strategy and analytics; Robert Silberman heads CRM and product strategy for automotive marketing leader

Daytona Beach, FL – DMEautomotive, the industry leader in science-based, results-driven automotive marketing, today announced two key appointments to further bolster its expanding Strategy and Analytics team.  Consumer behavior and data…

Before the most recent explosion of internet marketing and technology advancements, car dealers would rely solely on referrals and word of mouth. Then, as the internet grew, online auto sales leads were born and changed the way business development worked. Many dealerships made the costly decision to create an internet department to handle these leads. Others paid their salespeople premium salary to work the leads when they weren't in the showroom selling cars.

Regardless of…

Some people have heard me say this in the past

“It’s not your website provider’s job to give you a working website. It’s their job to give you a functional one; it’s your job to make it work”

What does that mean…REALLY?

     • It’s Your Job – to know what keywords to rank for

     • It’s Your Job – to create good…

WINNING THE PRICE WARS

As most of you know, I have over 150 One Price Selling dealer clients. In talking to dealers who are interested in this selling process, I always hear, “My market is different. We have a number of dealers who just give cars away. How can I compete?” For starters, most markets aren’t that different - they are highly price competitive - therefore, you don’t want to compete solely on price. You want to create a differentiated sales…

Today in our sales meeting...the testosterone and jokes were so thick you coulda cut it with a knife....I decided a few weeks ago that I would use these opportunites to develop the "thick skin" skill in me...you know the one?  Where you don't let rude or mean customers that no matter what you say, they are going to be upset type?  It's been helpful to decide not to take things personally in this male dominated industry that is full of customers who decided a long time ago that car dealers…

I am a female salesperson trying to make a living in the Automotive Business.  I find myself doing well at disarming customers and now I'm working on holding gross in the deals I do.  I'm not afraid to ask for the sale but keeping control is a little more difficult with a dominant customer...any ideas?

Google, in an effort to help small business ensure they have an effective mobile website, has launched "GoMo".  This website (http://www.howtogomo.com) lets users learn about why having a quality mobile site is important, test how your site looks in its mobile version, and find resources to help if your mobile site isn't quite up to par.

 …

There is a rather simple formula when it comes to getting the MAXIMUM return on your investment in Social Media.

It’s so simple…..it might overwhelm you!

And while the formula is simple…..the actual implementation is the hardest part!

The formula???????................”Embrace it”…….

That’s the ENTIRE…

Time to change the way and cost that dealers pay for advertising!! No need to spend what you have been there is a better way. http://autosolutionstraining.com/dealership-advertising/

Good morning Automotive world.....

The BDC Experts have been training Automotive professionals how to drive traffic and create more business for dealerships across Canada, the United States and Australia for many years now. The question is does your dealership want more sales, service and Internet business?

The next question is do you have a plan to get to that next level or like most dealerships are you just setting a growth target without a "game-plan".…

DealerRater® Launches PrivateBuy™ in Association with CarWoo!

DealerRater and CarWoo! join forces to offer DealerRater consumer members PrivateBuy - an online service that provides auto consumers with the necessary tools for a positive, well-informed online car buying experience while remaining anonymous. 

Waltham,…

It is no secret that we are all experiencing some difficult times in our respective economies and that these times are causing many in the automobile industry to question their career paths. However, even in these challenging times, there are those that continue to flourish because they seem to know something that many or their counterparts do not.  These individuals continue to give themselves pay raises every month and every year.  They have figured out some time ago that they have to make…

I've started this discussion in a few different places online, and I wanted to get this forum's take on what constitutes a third party lead.

Sitting here writing in my office in Richmond, it never occurred to me that there might be some confusion around that term. I should have gotten a clue when DrivingSales.com eliminated the "Third Party Leads" category from their product listings and …

Powered By CarWoo!, DealerRater^® Premiers PrivateBuy™

Enabled by the CarWoo! MarketPlace, DealerRater releases PrivateBuy to consumer members offering an online service providing auto consumers the ability to get great market prices and a positive online car buying experience while maintaining…

DealerELITE's Exclusive Interview with Tommy McClung, CEO of CarWoo!

1. What is CarWoo!?

CarWoo.com is an online marketplace where car buyers say what car they want and dealers make online offers to sell them a car.  The experience is 100% transparent between the…