All Blog Posts (12,555)

The buzz is back!

After spending the last few days at the NADA Convention in San Francisco it was evident that while consumer spending remains cautious, vendors and exhibitors are positively optimistic about doing business in 2011.

And, as always, 'San Fran' didn't disappoint: cool cars, sensational weather and...the opportunity to pick-up on the Superbowl vibe, which as the whole world knows by now was won by the Green Bay Packers who thumped the Pittsburg Steelers 31 to 25.

Another…

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Added by charles bayer on February 10, 2011 at 7:12pm — No Comments

New News on Newspapers

Warren Buffet recently announced he is leaving the board for the Washington Post Co. after almost a 40 year run. On another note Rupert Murdoch's News Corp just launched the first i-pad only newspaper last week which it plans to charge 99 cents per week or $40 per year to read. There has also been talk that the New York Times, the most visited news publication on the internet, will also start charging for it's on-line paper.

Dealers and agencies both know traditional newspapers have… Continue

Added by Paul Potratz on February 10, 2011 at 2:30pm — No Comments

An end-to-end multi-solution Service platform: Request for Industry comments

The Pain

Nation wide, OEM franchised service centers continue to loose hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of revenue everyday. Some service centers may be letting go as much revenue as they are generating, without even realizing the enormity of the loss.

Through our market research and with a substantial number of Repair Order Revenue Gap…

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Added by Joe Tareen on February 10, 2011 at 12:00pm — No Comments

The Social Cause - In Search Of A Higher Social Media Calling

2010 brought with it main stream social media for the auto industry, some embraced it and ran with it while others (most) knocked their head against the wall wondering what they were doing wrong. 2010 was more or less a trial, a yearlong test in the field of relationship marketing, what did you learn from it? If you're like a lot of dealers you…

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Added by David Johnson on February 10, 2011 at 11:50am — No Comments

Microsite & Landing Page Insanity

This NADA was riddled with the Microsite buzz or at least where I was. I heard more than a few sessions on this topic and it amazes me sometimes that these “Experts” who talk about microsites and conversion still think that if you just throw a Microsite out there it will instantly get traffic or if you build a lot of them somehow visitors will just trip into them.

Just quit it…Please!

Don't ruin a good thing before it ever gets started with these crazy…

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Added by Larry Bruce on February 10, 2011 at 9:00am — No Comments

NADA 2011 Review – Stan Sher

http://www.dealeretraining.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/stansher83

"Like" Dealer eTraining on Facebook

What an event!!!

Incredible!!!

I just got back last night from spending a long week in the San Francisco Bay Area. I always like to…

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Added by Stan Sher on February 10, 2011 at 12:30am — 1 Comment

Buick/GMC Highlights of NADA

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…

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Added by DealerELITE on February 9, 2011 at 8:40pm — 1 Comment

Promoting Your Service Department with Location Based Marketing

Service department marketing is something that often falls by the wayside in most dealership's and dealer group's marketing campaigns. However, with today's location based marketing applications and social media networks it's easier than ever to give your back end of the dealership the attention it needs. Here are a few quick ways you can utilize these new media elements:

1. Set Up Facebook Places and Deals for your Dealership Business Page - We've just actually completed a webinar on… Continue

Added by Paul Potratz on February 9, 2011 at 3:53pm — No Comments

The 3 MMMs of Change

Ok. You are practicing the 3 Ws of Leadership and not getting it done.

Wanting.

Waiting.

Wishing.

Most definitely the 3 Worst strategies in Leadership when it comes to changing behavior.

If you want to make changes in behavior you need to turn your W into a M.

Measure

Monitor

Manage

The single most important element to effecting change is to Measure what it is you are trying to change. If you are… Continue

Added by Leonard Buchholz on February 9, 2011 at 11:17am — No Comments

Want to sell to women? First, just listen~

Want to sell to women? First, just listen

February 5, 2011 - 4:05 pm ET

Add a comment…

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Added by SUSAN HAIR on February 9, 2011 at 8:42am — 1 Comment

How do I motivate my sales people?

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…

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Added by Lizelle Landino on February 8, 2011 at 10:24pm — 16 Comments

How a Brand New Phone Taught Me Tolerance

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…

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Added by Katie Colihan on February 8, 2011 at 9:30pm — No Comments

Encourage Dealers To Invest In Education and Internship Programs

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…

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Added by Brian Pasch on February 8, 2011 at 9:07pm — 2 Comments

The Time is Here, and It is Growing at Mach Speeds

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…

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Added by Paul Potratz on February 8, 2011 at 3:00pm — No Comments

Polk / AutoTrader.com article I found very interesting.

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

02/07/2011…

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Added by Bill Goodfriend on February 8, 2011 at 12:45pm — No Comments

Best Automobile Super Bowl Commercial?

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 -----> …

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Added by Rob Gehring on February 7, 2011 at 5:10pm — 7 Comments

NADA 2011

My message of creating Revenue Management based software for Fixed Ops resonated well with some major players at the NADA. Never been so excited to be working on this project then I am now. Many dealers are not looking for bells and whistles they are looking for a solid end-to-end solution that not only improves their profits margins but also their internal operational processes. Isn't that the main objective of achieving total business optimization? Stay tuned for some great news and… Continue

Added by Joe Tareen on February 7, 2011 at 4:37pm — No Comments

Engage Mobile Users with Your Dealership's TV Ads

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…

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Added by Paul Potratz on February 7, 2011 at 2:16pm — No Comments

Chrysler Ad- Like It, Love it 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

Added by Grant Cardone on February 7, 2011 at 12:53pm — No Comments

Potratz Welcomes Jordan Wolfe as Senior Graphic Designer

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.