Here are some of the highlights from Brian Sweeney, VP of Buick/GMC at NADA:

• Buick UP 49% from 2009-2010
• Buick had best year since 2007
• Last month (January), Buick OUTSOLD Lexus for first time in a decade
• GMC Terrain - 50% of those buyers were new to GMC…

This is always a topic that I believe has many different solutions and discussions yet to follow. How do we hire a sales team that can be motivated and inspired to achieve ultimate success? I believe that motivating the people you hire is not only challenging but a fine art. Not every owner or manager has the motivating personality or the inspiring attitude that sets the perfect example. This is just human nature but what can YOU do to really make a conscious decision to inspire and motivate…

I hate people. 

Okay, I don't., I work with people every single day, so part of me must enjoy them a bit. Truth be told, I often find it hard to tolerate people who speak slowly, or seemingly lack intelligence. I  dread the 10 phone calls a day that begin:



"Hey There, Katie Speaking, what can I do for you today?"

"Hi. I. Um...yeah...I was...um.... calling...to....I, Uh."

I feel my blood pressure rise in the moment the phone rings at this…

The 2011 NADA Convention is over, and now our industry should set its sites on upcoming educational opportunities. I would like to remind members of Dealer Elite of two special opportunities that need your attention to lock in savings on registration fees.

2011 Automotive Marketing Boot Camp…

This weekend, I was comparing website analytics for 2010 vs 2009 for one of our dealers, which got me to thinking about how 2009 compared to 2010. Before I knew it, I was digging into analytics for 2008 and 2007.

Limiting myself to just one dealer's analytics could taint my findings with the improvement of the website, lead generation, SEO, SEM, etc. So to ensure the most accurate…

Polk/AutoTrader.com Study Finds Online Vehicle Shopping Influences Dealership Choice

02/07/2011…

There seems to be just as much talk the day after the Super Bowl regarding the creative advertisements than the game itself. On top of the beer and Dorito commercials, the automotive industry plays a huge role during the game. What was your favorite automobile advertisement during the big game? 

This site has every car commercial from the 2011 Super Bowl -----> …

While watching your dealership's TV ads, people with smartphones are probably using their phones and more than likely are online. In fact, according to a recent article by Engadget, a study by Nielsen and Yahoo! found that 86% of mobile internet users are browsing on their phones while watching TV, whether using mobile apps, browsing the internet, accessing social networks like Facebook or Twitter, or…

I just wrote an article on the Super Bowl Chrysler ad.

To me is was probably the single most effective ad to come out of Detroit.  Didn't feel like two minutes to me and I watched it 4 times.

http://www.genconnect.com/career/super-bowl-ads-commercial-detroit-chrysler-eminem-grant-cardone/

What did you think?

Grant Cardone

Potratz, a full service automotive advertising agency is pleased to welcome Jordan Wolfe to its team as Senior Graphic Designer to help take auto dealer clients to a new level. With over 12 years in advertising, Jordan prides himself on the unique path where his career has taken him.

He has worked in the sign industry, trade show…

DealerElite's own Chris Saraceno reports back to Mike…

Social media campaigns for auto dealers should be designed to deliver performance and ROI for dealerships and dealer groups. Not all campaigns should be evaluated the same, nor should the same metrics be used. In order to track the success of a campaign, dealers should set objectives upfront to help identify key performance indicators.

First, dealers should determine what their campaign sets out to…

AdAgencyOnline.Net revealed this breaking news to their affiliated automotive advertising agencies in advance of today's press release announcing that SiSTeR Technologies was granted a patent for their Pictures-To-Video (Pic2Vid) Process during an interview that Philip Zelinger, the President of Ad Agency Online, LLC and host of AdAgencOnline.Net, conducted with Tomer Alpert from SiSTeR…

Recently I requested a room for a monthly follow up visit and was told no rooms were available for the entire stay. Then I went to a competitor and they were similar quality and more centrally located for my monthly three day visits. The new place I stay every month now gets about three hundred a month additional revenue. I wonder how many service and parts customers are thrown away because when they call they are told no. Instead of no why not state “I’ll do my best” or “At least we will…

I am giving away over $25,000 of my training materials.

1st place $10,000

2d Place   $5,000

3rd Place- Set of Steak Knives

There is one other way to win the 10k (see end)

Don't be ignore this, get involved and WIN this thing. By creating simple 20 second testimonial videos on any of my products you can easily accumulate enough points to win!

Contest ends after Super Bowl. With just 4 of the 'right' videos you could get yourself in 1st place immediately.…