EdgeRank. It’s a mythical beast in many ways, not because it isn’t real but because it is very misunderstood by many. It’s one of those things that makes total sense once…

Content is the SEO method of choice in 2013. Spam and content spinning are way, way out, and original content that has value to the reader is in. It's not enough to just create the content though. Even if it's amazing and insightful, you still need to market your own content, at least a little bit, to get it off the ground. There are a lot of great ways to do this, and today we're…

No More Sharing Leads With Your Competitors…

Albany, N.Y. – April 29^th, 2013 – Auto/Mate Dealership Systems (http://www.automate.com) announced today that the company has been recognized with a “Top Workplaces in the Capital Region” award by the Albany Times-Union newspaper for the second year in a row. Auto/Mate was featured in the “Small Workplaces” category for companies with 35-149 employees.

“One of the best ways to create a successful business is to…

The Social Media Statistics for 2013 across Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest provide us with an interesting opportunity to review where we may want to spend our social media dollars and time in the coming year. Quicksprout recently published the below infographic outlining the major differences between the three…

We live in a society where we always hear sayings like: “black and white”, “cut and dry” and my personal favorite, “either you’re in or you’re out”.

Another popular one is “what have you done for me lately?”. Whether it is at work, school, home or whatever you are in to, you are usually judged or managed based on the most recent action or development. At work, you get a pay check based on your sales for that week. At school, you get a report card for that last semester. At home, you…

“Are You Aiming at the Right Target?” presented by Chris Reed of Cobalt, is named 2013’s Most Valuable Insight at Sold-Out DrivingSales Presidents Club

Salt Lake City, UT– April 29, 2013 – DrivingSales today announced that “Are You Aiming at the Right Target?”,  presented by Chris Reed, CMO of Cobalt, has been named the 2013 DrivingSales Most Valuable…

Research indicates that buyers will only visit about three dealerships IN PERSON before taking delivery of their new car, but they may shop dozens online. How do you make sure your store is one of the few they visit? Connect with them using a live chat support software solution 24 hours a day, seven days a week.…

Dangerous Adwords Marketing Advertising SEM Strategies and Stats…

Negotiating can be done in a professional manner that can increase customer satisfaction while helping to protect both parties’ interests.

Let’s first look at some of the problems that give negotiating a bad name and then look at the solutions. A lack of training in negotiating in the automotive industry has put sales people at a disadvantage. Usually, a sales person is taught how to negotiate in a learn-as-you-go method. Although all learning must be accomplished by doing,…

The NFL draft just started, but for 254 young men, it happened long ago because it was what they did without, recovered from, and pushed through that got them to the position of where they are today. While the masses played, a select few practiced and perfected their craft- paying today’s admission of sacrifice for a ride on tomorrow’s abundance. Some needed a ticket…

Marketing to referral customers is the most sure-fire way to build your sales today. It's much cheaper than advertising to cold prospects, referral customers are generally more satisfied with your services, and the closing ratios are much higher. But most importantly, IT'S EASY TO DO!

Follow these 5 tips to increase your referral business:

1)…

April 2013, American Fork, Utah – Even as technology under the hood and in the shop has taken huge strides in recent years, so has technology in front of the counter.  AutoNetTV^TM Media, Inc., producer of award-winning automotive service and repair content and cutting edge content delivery systems, reports its best sales quarter in the company’s history. 

The Utah based company had 742 product installations in the first quarter of 2013.  Bobby…

Customer: “Is my car ready?”

Advisor: “Let me check…. I’m not showing that its ready yet, ma’am.”

Customer: “Do you know when it will be?”

Advisor: “I’ll have to check with the technicians. We’ll be sure to call you when it is, however. It should be done by the end of the…

Did you ever perform this calculation for your dealership Service Department? Whenever we do this exercise, either in the field with one of the NCM Retail Operations clients or in the NCM Instituteclassroom, the result always knocks the socks off the dealership management team. Here’s how the math works:…

The 2013 Automotive Boot Camp is just three weeks away and we're proud to announce the third Training Exercise in this series of special webinars. We invite you to attend "Facebook Changes & Enhanced…

Writing a well-constructed press release is a challenge in and of itself. There are many reasons you should be writing them and using them in your company’s marketing plan. Simply writing one isn’t enough though. To maximize the exposure your organization can get through press releases,…

Written By: Steve Hall

When we ask service managers how important technician efficiency is to profitability, they most often say that “it goes hand-in-hand” or “if they aren’t efficient, you won’t make money.” I agree with their comments, but am constantly amazed with how they quantify “efficient.”

It seems that we have become accustomed to thinking a technician is efficient if they hit our flagged-hours goal for the week. At times this is true. Everyone can have a bad day, or…

When you have a first encounter with a customer, they are usually wondering one simple question. Can I trust you?

There are three stages of buying:

1. Character and Trust

2. Emotion

3. Logic

I don’t know that one stage is more important than the other but I do know that the trust stage usually happens first. When you build a house and the foundation is weak, no matter how nice a house you build it comes crumbling down…