Minding Your Business

 

One of the characteristics I’ve seen in some people is that they enjoy seeing other people struggle. It might be a person that they know is going through a divorce or financial concern and they feel the need to talk about it to others. At times this even affects a…

Early dealer results show 36% closing ratios, higher customer satisfaction and a 1- to 2-hour reduction in traditionally lengthy sales process

Foothill Ranch, CA – March 30, 2016 – eLEND Solutions™, today announced that its popular ID authentication program now instantly and automatically converts a driver’s license scan into a consumer consented soft pull credit pre-qualification application, without…

Consistency in Branding is Everything!

What does your brand say about your company? Is there a consistent look, feel or message that your customers see when they first interact with your business? Believe it or not, a strong brand can mean the difference between a sale and a missed opportunity.

On this week’s Think Tank Tuesday, I'm discussing what makes a strong brand and explains the steps you need to take to make sure your brand is engaging your customers…

Welcome to this week's edition of Black Book Market Insights, with in-depth analysis of used car and truck valuation trends and insights straight from the auction lanes. Click here to download the full…

Former VP of Product for Chrome charged with further innovating Vast and CarStory’s data and analytics offerings

Austin, TX, March 29, 2016 – Andrew Lumsden, the former Vice President of Product for Chrome, has joined Vast, as Vice President of Data Products, the Company announced today. Lumsden, an automotive data veteran who has lent his innovative vision…

It’s a well-known fact that retaining customers is less expensive and can be more profitable than acquiring new ones. The reality is essentially, customer churn keeps your dealership stationary. Many dealers blast sales messages across every medium possible – traditional, mailers, and digital; hoping that someone, somewhere will see it and decide to buy a car from them.…

Black Book announces its latest innovation called Bullseye Prospecting, a comprehensive, all-in-one solution designed to help dealers and their marketing agency partners automate customer campaigns. During initial tests Bullseye Prospecting was found to deliver a 30 percent reduction in cost per car sold.

Powered by data from Black Book, Bullseye Prospecting is designed to reduce and consolidate the many different touch points involved in the development and execution of a customer…

Planning for Tomorrow, Today

I apologize in advance, as this column is going to upset a number of sales managers.

The biggest challenge most dealerships face is recruiting the Millennial generation who have the right skill sets to become true salespeople. 

There are a ton of qualified Gen Y’ers who could sell cars but choose less lucrative positions because they don’t like the traditional sales process and aren’t provided enough…

 Study shows new automotive domain improves over 50% of search rankings

Santa Monica, CA – March 28, 2016 – A new dealership case study conducted by independent SEO experts GlobeRunner reveals that new automotive-specific domain names, .Cars, .Car, and .Auto (“.Cars”), are lifting search rankings, conversions, and traffic.

Since launching in…

Timonium, MD -- March 28th, 2016-- Helion Automotive Technologies, a leading provider of information technology (IT) solutions for auto dealers, announced today the release of a free eBook. Five Technology Musts to Drive Auto Dealer Sales & Service Revenue reveals the five most critical information technology (IT) priorities for auto dealerships today, and how to optimize these technologies to increase…

Swapalease.com, the nation’s largest car lease marketplace, reports car lease credit approvals are beginning to bounce back after a dip in the numbers in late 2015. Auto lease credit approvals for the month of February finished at 70%, an uptick from the January mark of 63.6%.

As a whole, the automotive industry is continuing to thrive as it did last year. Increasing numbers in lease credit approvals may aid in ensuring that 2016 follows closely in 2015’s footsteps, yielding…

In a transparent, information-rich world where showrooming is commonplace, a pricing tactic used by many retailers seems strangely shortsighted. For lack of a better term, let’s call this shortsighted pricing practice “Duplicitous Pricing” or DP for short.

Simply put, DP occurs when a retailer posts one price in their store while maintaining a different price somewhere else – like the Internet. Interestingly, the practice of DP didn’t originate with the Web; as it was fairly…

With Google's new robust analytic platform, you'll be able to handle all of your tracking needs.  By watching this week's Hard Facts, you'll have all the information you need to succeed with Google Analytics 360.

Samantha will cover all 8 tools that are included in the entire suite.

How will you use them to benefit your business?…

Black Book® and Fitch Ratings, Inc., today released their latest joint vehicle depreciation report, showing that overall vehicle depreciation for two- to six-year old vehicles is expected to reach 15% in 2016, an increase from the 13.2% level experienced in 2015. Click here to download the full report. Click here to download the report.

The projected level of depreciation will mark the first time in the previous five years that…

In an effort to gain exposure and effectively reach Facebook fans, one of the obstacles dealerships face in social media marketing is the continuous battle against Facebook’s algorithm. Facebook rolled out its ad platform attempting to monetize its platform and satisfy shareholders. As a result, businesses experienced an extreme decline in reach and were forced to either pay…

Implementing Corporate Benefits Programs (CBP) to employees of small/large corporations is nothing new. Manufacturers have been doing it for some time -- Ford’s X-Plan pricing, for example. But, typically, these corporate discount programs are isolated to large national corporations with which the OEMs have successfully partnered. What if you could increase your market share…

In my last blog I discussed micro-moments – the critical moments, as defined by Google, in a customer’s car buying journey. I also covered the importance of having a strategy that caters to and attracts a customer’s attention at each touch point.

The 5 moments Google defines as important are: Which car is best? ; Is it right for me? ; Can I afford it? ;…

Welcome to this week's edition of Black Book Market Insights, with in-depth analysis of used car and truck valuation trends and insights straight from the auction lanes. Click here to download the full…

Are You Listening?



One of the most important skills our dealership team needs to develop is the art of listening. I am confident all of us at one time or another had our significant other question if we were listening. Many of the times my wife has asked me that question and I answered no. This just illustrates that it is an area…