This Book is for You Stupid by Mat Koenig is now available for Amazon Kindle and Kindle Reader Apps (iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac and PC) for only $9.99.

Get your digital copy from Amazon at http://j.mp/stupidsalesbook or grab a paperback copy from Createspace at http://j.mp/stupidsalesbookorder

It’s on thing to have people like your business. It’s another thing to have them “like” your business, as in on Facebook. Your customers may like you, but there’s a good chance that they won’t like you on Facebook. There are two primary reasons for this: (1) some people simply don’t like very many brands at all on Facebook, and/or (2) the…

There is no way around it, you need a Facebook page. Now, far too many companies and dealerships fail to realize that simply having a Facebook page isn’t in and of itself much of an accomplishment. After all, there is a tremendous difference between having a sword, using a sword, and being a skilled and highly trained swordsman. Creating a Facebook page isn’t magic. Keep in mind that about 1 billion (yes with a “b”) people have sat down at a computer and created a…

What is for the good of the store is sometimes an unpopular choice for the employees. It requires them to do more than what they are currently doing.  It asks them to solve problems, take initiative, and complete more tasks.  It is very common that salespeople will care more about what is “in it for them” than what is in the best interest of the dealership.  At no point should a salesperson’s unwillingness to execute tasks supersede what is in the best interest of…

Recently, I conducted one of my sales seminars where I spoke about ideas that center around the following skill sets — sales, people, life and marketing. Some of the attendees at the program had been to three, four or more of my seminars in the past. In listening to the results of many of the repeat attendees, it struck me like lightening what the most important word I heard over and over in their successes: action.

In a series of recent sales meetings, I explained a…

Depending on your perspective of the month,  you either have 6 more or 6 days left. It is your choice to either take action and focus on the making the most of your opportunities or instead you can choose to stand around, in the ring of mediocrity, and explain to others what did, should, or could've happened the previous 20 days.…

At the NCM Institute Center for Automotive Retail Excellence, the training that we provide in our Service Management courses focuses primarily on strategies and tactics. However, we have discovered that the effective execution of the strategies that we teach is most often hampered by an important missing ingredient:…

Public Broadcasting Service PBS Premiere of American Experience Presents Henry Ford Tuesday, January 29^th, 2013 9:00 – 11:00 PM on PBS – A Review

Have you set your goals for the year?  I sure hope so!  With almost one month on the books and the rest to follow suit, it is so very important to have those goals set early and revisited often.  Maintaining that important path to where you want to be and what you want to accomplish is so imperative to your success.  Setting your goals up right away can be so beneficial to you and your surrounding staff wherever you may be.  It will help push the others that are in your environment to do…

In constant pursuit of keeping up with the Marketing Jones Family, I came across a book by David Cummings and Adam Blitzer called Think Outside the…

First Class Educators (FCE) has agreed to sponsor two Scholarship Awards for selected dealerELITE members. Shown below are the details, terms and conditions.

1. Scholarship Request Submissions MUST be from a car dealer, dealership…

Those who know me would likely agree that I am a massive data junkie. Don't believe me? My twitter profile even says it so it must be true! I'm not exactly sure when or how my…

It’s this simple. When given the choice between being ranked in the top 5 for good keywords or being ranked #1 for a great keyword, I will (after asking for further qualifications and some examples) almost always opt for the former. Search has changed dramatically in the last couple of years. As a result, above the fold for many is normally better than at…

The news broke this week about a Louisiana marketing company that has been permanently banned from automobile advertising and marketing in North Carolina. Since Arizona, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Oregon and Pennsylvania joined North Carolina in bringing the case, there will likely be repercussions for the vendor in other states as well.

On the surface, it looks like a…

Think of how much selling vehicles has changed in the last several years. Now think of what is being taught in most dealerships regarding the road to the sale. Considering the education and interaction that occurs before the customer ever gets to the dealership, most sales training is outdated. One key difference maker can be the customer’s trade-in.

I am not referring to the trade value in monetary terms, but in informational and relational terms. Let’s examine a few facts.…

I had an article published in the January issue of Dealer Marketing Magazine which has generated several emails, phone calls and text messages to me by dealerELITE members.  I thought it would be appropriate to post the original, unedited version of the article I wrote, which was cut down quite a bit to fit in the space allocated by the magazine. So here it is, a story about a leader in the auto industry who had a big and lasting impact on me when I was in my early…

Mary Kay Ash said, “There are three types of people in this world: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder what happened.” Today, you are standing in the hallway of Life; one hand is pulling the door of yesteryear,…

For those of us who have been in the automotive business for more than 30 years certainly have heard of Zig Ziglar, Joe Girard, and Jackie B. Cooper. For those of us who started in the automotive business within the last 10- 20 years have heard of Dave Anderson, Jim Ziegler, David Lewis,Grant Cardone,Tom Stuker and Joe Verde, Alan Ram.



But now with social media in full swing and the Internet being able to give every one of us…

In many dealerships, the thought of putting together a compliance program is similar to contemplating a diet and exercise regimen: you know it’s something you need to do or eventually it will catch up with you. Like getting in shape, keeping up with regulatory changes can seem like a daunting task – not to mention costly. Many compliance programs on the market are quite…