A "twenty something" couple came into the dealership on Tuesday.  Great kids...I follwed the steps of the sale and landed her on the perfect car.  We negociated and came to an agreement.  My finance manager was off that day, so the desk manager ran the credit and decided that my customer needed a cosigner and sent them packing!  I thought about it all night long.  On Wednesday, I went to the desk manager and asked him if I could have a look at the deal jacket.  He said, "Did you get the…

Arthur Ashe, Muhammed Ali, Elvis Presley and Free Booze

It was 1966. A group of West Point cadets was taking a PE class, volleying tennis balls on the courts in the south east corner of The Plain, opposite the old stone library. A skinny, black second lieutenant moved among them offering words of encouragement…

Hi again,

I wanted to post another article, in regards to the partnerships we develop. Paul Long wrote this a while ago, and I wanted to get the opinions of the community. 

Ok, we admit, the subject line is a bit high-minded. And that's not a bit surprising considering the source of it is Dr. Emmett Murphy, New York Times best-selling author of 

"…

vAuto announces the release today of Provision, a powerful used vehicle inventory management engine that will eliminate the pain of finding used vehicles and optimizing inventories for profitability for auto dealers.



“This is a business intelligence break-through for the automotive industry, made possible through our alliance with AutoTrader.com and Manheim,” says Dale Pollak, vAuto founder. “Provision brings game-changing insights and tools to help dealers efficiently and…

Even trainers have days when the message is not about how to sell a car or increase gross.  There are plenty of things much more important than that.  While the passion for training is what drives my colleagues as well as myself, today is different.  Monday morning I will be in a dealership helping hire and train, but today is a day to step back and acknowledge those who contribute so much more.

As a veteran who served as Viet Nam was winding down, I am so much happier at the respect…

For the amount of time spent and effort wasted on finding the magical 3rd party lead provider, the one that nobody has, the one that converts high, the one that is free of charge and the one who will give you ALL exclusivity– have you forgotten about your current customers?  Were they left out of your Digital Marketing Strategy?  Did they even make your budget this month?

Your current consumers are yours, you have gained their trust and business already, you did all of…

So here you are, smiling from ear to ear waiting for that special moment in your day when the be-back bus finally comes!  The…

I recently read an article written by Charlie Polston who works with BG Products Company. In this article he cited a recent JD Power study that rated when the best time to offer additional services. The study found that 37% of the customers would say yes at the time of setting the appointment. This number jumps to 47% if recommendations are made in the service drive or customer walk around intake process. It jumps even higher all the way to 56% if asked during the status call after the…

How can you make sure that the processes you have throughout the dealership are executed every time….. and with every customer?

This has been and still remains one of the toughest things to get accomplished in the dealership.

Every dealership throughout the country has their own processes and procedures when it comes to selling and…

We are not doctors, but I love the idea of “First, Do No Harm” for working with dealers.  Even though that phrase is the common, but incorrect, quote of the Hippocratic Oath for Physicians, it still conveys a lot for the proper doctor/patient relationship—and it also means a lot for vendor/dealer,…

After more than a few weeks on the road, I needed a haircut.  I've been blessed (or cursed) with a full head of hair that grows very fast.  I am not all that keen on having my hair cut in spas, salons, etc.  But I do admit that going to the franchise Sports Clips is fun in a manly way.  You get to watch ESPN and they give you a massage after your cut.  And, I really like the hot towel on my face.

Because it's my birthday this month, I received an email from Sports Clips reminding me…

Rockville, MD--DealerOn, the premier auto dealer website provider, announces that two of their auto dealership customers have been awarded Dataium Website Performance Awards for October 2011.  Dataium uses various performance metrics collected from participating dealership websites to recognize auto dealerships and their website providers for their online performance.  Volkswagen of Lithia Springs was awarded the…

In the effort to make a sale some sales approaches can lack some very serious ingredients. Pushing a customer without qualifying their needs and not providing honest feedback is like covering a wound with a temporary bandage.

Definition of BAND-AID: offering, making use of, or serving as a temporary or expedient remedy or solution

It is a salesperson’s job to sell, but quality selling always…

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My new post covers "Duck Hunter's"

You may wonder what does duck hunter's have to do with the automotive business. 

Well, I see more and more employees and even managers hiding in the weeds till pay checks come out, and guess what?  All of a sudden you see your employees and yes even managers stand up out of the weeds and say,…

I had a customer yesterday that was very hot for a 2011 Prius V.  I demoed them, test drove and wrote them up.  All was settled until we got to the value of thier trade.  He had an 2001 Crown Vic with 98000 miles on it...could not get over the objection of HIS opinion and value of his trade.  I tried everything.  Talked about the 11's being gone by the time he came back and having to pay MSRP for the 12's..etc.  Finally my manager kicked me off and sent in the "big guns" salesmen and HE…