(This is part 1 in a series)



Recently a student asked me what attributes compel an individual to be a great salesperson in the retail automobile business.  As I pondered the question I inquired of the student how he would describe a "Great Salesperson."  He immediately answered, "One whose sales production always leads the board, whose grosses…

“It only takes one bug in the potato salad to ruin a picnic,” according to one of the little old ladies I went to church with as a child.  As I move further away from a precocious child and closer to being a sweet little old lady, I am realizing that she was not registering a complaint about church picnics but planting a seed of wisdom that would develop as I grew older.  One little bug can ruin the…

When I started my retail automotive consulting practice in 1987, I chose to state as my unique value proposition, "Guaranteed 1,000% Return on Investment." During my first few years as an independent consultant, I was shocked to learn that very few of my potential dealer clients had a clue about what this meant. So I would explain that, for example, if the dealer would invest $2,500 in professional fees with me, I would provide a money-back guarantee that I would assist in increasing the…

By Autumn 2003, I had (a meager) seven years of Internet Automotive success under my belt.  I was managing a nine-franchise Internet Sales Department that encompassed five rooftops in Portland OR and Vancouver WA.  New Car sales were really starting to get brutal.  Every other conversation…

After hearing all the hoopla over true cars Ive seen nothing from a dealer, writer, or a contributor on why they dont warn about the factory as they are about TRUE CARS. First in my opinion would you give anyone or any company access to your DMS system allowing them to have access to your customer data???? Most dealers service departments are gold mines for sales and there best inventory of customers are there best service customers. Thats because in most cases 50-75% of there service…

One morning I was shaken from my deep sleep by the deep growling of the trash truck’s engine followed by the skidding sounds of my neighbor’s trash can coming to a screeching halt in their driveway. Realizing I did not push my overflowing trash can to the road; I valiantly sprung out of bed and barreled out of the door hoping it was not too late. I stood…

     When I got into the car business some 21 years ago it was easy for a consumer to save some money by purchasing a used vehicle.  Unfortunately, that isn't the case any longer. So, what happened? The used car market began to change dramatically in July of 2009 when President Obama signed the "Cash for Clunkers" Bill.  Normally when someone trades in a vehicle that vehicle is either kept by the dealer and resold or the vehicle is…

Ok, let’s get ominous…

True Car – is going to eat us all. Oh, they are coming alright, they look nice enough but they are already RICH with profits that dealers refused to earn  themselves. I intercepted some emails from TrueCar (*not true) and these…

Check it out folks...

Just hit the newswire folks… 9:00pm PST

TrueCar Launches National Compliance Campaign and Pro-Industry Product Changes

Sweeping changes include a more balanced advertising approach, revised billing model in some states, consumer membership program, and formation of a Dealer Advisory Council

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jan. 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — TrueCar, Inc., which is devoted to bringing innovation to the car buying…

In a recent blog post Jim states that the "Data Police" have arrived. I have to admit that while I had an overview type idea as to what he was talking about just by the title of the article, I must say that you have GOT to read…

Most recently there has been a bold new wave washing over the automotive dealership landscape. Beginning with TrueCar, whose CEO bragged about using data to eliminate dealerships and  lower profits below True Cost. He arrogantly taunted us with claims of "Transparency" which has become the "Buzz Word" of every vendor using our own data to virtually put us out of business, to steal our customers information, and sell it, pass it on to their affiliate companies, and otherwise resell it to…

  I have never met anyone 30 years or older that has bought every car and went back for service 100% of the time to the same dealership. Once we face the this fact we can  figure out ways to get them back the majority of the time. Do the sales reps do a service walk every time? Do the sales reps call customers on there birthday. Does everyone really roll out the red carpet like the old days? This is a start.

The great thing about LinkedIn is that there's always something more you can be doing to promote your business, find connections, and drive traffic to your profile. The LinkedIn community is diverse, intelligent, and constantly growing. Successful business professionals are working to leverage their presence in this network to learn from their peers and succeed in their own business endeavors.

In that spirit, here are three easy yet effective ways to have a voice on LinkedIn in order…

In Google's latest attempt to make Google+ the biggest social network, they've integrated it into your search results.

Of course, this hasn't been done across all Google search results.  In order to see this integration, you must be logged into Google+ (though some have seen it simply logged into Google) and be using their secure search portal at https://www.google.com.  The company is calling this search update "Search Plus Your World" and…

Since we initiated the Up To Speed blog, I’ve received numerous emails that suggest that one of the biggest road blocks to retail automotive success is the dealership (or department) culture. Because this is our first newsletter of 2012, I decided it opportune to tackle this thorny issue. “Culture” can be defined as the shared values and practices of the company’s (or department’s) employees, and it’s important because it can make or break your dealership. Business cultures…

Mercedes, Dodge, Lexus, Lincoln and Chrysler are Top Leaders with Women Buyers

Women-Drivers.com has released its 2011 report showing the top car brands as rated by women. Each year, Women-Drivers.com tracks thousands of consumer reviews with regards to women’s…

Over the last fifteen years I’ve conducted numerous dealership sales meetings, at which we perform an interactive exercise called “Who Do You Know?” I ask each salesperson to write down just one name of someone they know in each of about 75 categories that I read to them over a twenty minute period. After the exercise is completed, I inspect the pages and pages of names that they’ve written down and I normally say something like, “Don’t talk to me about not having enough…

Man you’ve got a big ole’, good lookin’, juicy But!  To get a But like that, it must’ve taken many years of hard work to get that kind of But.  You’ve made excuses, exceptions, reservations, and countless other adjectives of limitations in an effort to border why you can’t do something. In short, you’ve allowed your But’s to render your…