Many dealers are hesitant to let their salespeople use Facebook because they expect employees to waste too much time chatting with their friends, playing Farmville, etc. This concern is understandable when you want your salespeople to be on the floor selling, following up to leads over email and phone, and making the most of their time. But you can’t ignore the fact that the majority of your potential leads are using Facebook and it is a legitimate tool for…

When a friend posted this picture on Facebook, first I laughed and thought back to those crazy college days with pranks and practical jokes involving duct tape.  Then my thoughts wandered into the humor of my adult life, where I joke about things being held together with duct tape and Popsicle sticks.  Then it dawned on me there is another meaning to…

A recently filed lawsuit against an auto dealership accused a sales manager of sexual harassment and sexual battery against a salesperson. According to the complaint, the employee was harassed continuously over a ten day period and ultimately quit due to the alleged behavior.  The complaint further stated that the dealership should have known what was going on and tried to correct it.

The dealership responded that the claims have no merit, that it has a zero-tolerance harassment…

I never question the freshness of a candy bar when I buy it.  If the candy bar is not up to my standard, I toss it.  It would “cost” me more in effort than what I spent on the candy bar to report my dissatisfaction.  When it comes to big ticket items, there is a lot more at “risk” and customer satisfaction becomes a turning point in the decision making process.  So how can a salesperson narrow the gap…

Much of what employees learn in the car business is from watching and listening to their co-workers.  This type of education can be invaluable in many areas such as sales presentation, demonstration, and closing techniques. Of course, it can also lead to picking up bad habits like pre-qualifying customers by appearance or shortcutting the sales process.

An area that is frequently learned more by osmosis than by formal training is legal compliance.  Dealers often assume that their…

Or QR?

As I was working on dealerELITE the other night, something occurred to me while playing with QR Codes... why do some technologies fail, and others prosper? Do we as a consumer/user have something to do with…

The Automotive Summit Series, hosted by Thought Leadership Summits on June 14th & 15th at the Ritz-Carlton Marina del Rey

Many past delegates requested continuity between Summits, so for 2011, Thought Leadership Summits (TLS) has added "Keynote Continuum" presentations as a follow-up to the 2010 keynote addresses.

At the Automotive Customer Centricity Summit on June 14th, Hyundai will return to provide an update on their Assurance, Blue…

While speaking to a 20 Group last month, I was asked if transferring leads to the sales floor is the best way to manage online opportunities.  Simply put, I prefer an Internet department still to this day. I understand many are saying "disperse leads to the sales floor because all customers are internet shoppers anyway and they should be able to assist them". Here is the flaw... constructing well-worded replies without spelling errors and well-thought out responses with grammatically correct…

     Did you know that over 80% of auto sales representatives leave the business within the first year?  Not just leave the dealership, leave the business!  Then, a large portion of the remaining twenty percent change dealerships.  How can we lose more than three quarters of our new-hires within the first year?  “They couldn’t handle it.”  You may say.  “Not tough enough.”  “Not cut out for it.”  Or as I have said before, “They’re either lazy or they’re stupid.” …

Last week, while at a dealer client, and while reviewing the mystery shop I had just done for them, I flashed on a story told to me last year by one of my teammates.  First know that this was a pretty typical mystery shop – the shopper received 2 emails and 1 phone call before the store stopped contact attempts.  Now the story:



Bob was 13 years old, in middle school for the first time, and faced with having to ask a girl to an upcoming school dance.  Like a lot of 13 year old boys…

Car dealers have an increasingly challenging task ahead of them as they have to continue to evaluate the latest digital advertising platforms, services, and related technology.

It is not uncommon for dealer principals to say that they are “sticking to what worked in the…

I have a post it note on my television.

I have a post it note on my bathroom cabinet.

I have a post it note on the car dashboard.

....in my purse.

...on my computer desktop.

It simply says…

I wish I could take credit for this, but I can't.

You know those days where you plan on getting up nice and early and taking a run in the park, the alarm goes off, and you think to yourself "Yeah, not going."

That same day you come home and you see the television remote in front of you and you think "Yeah, this is more like it".

Other than the relaxation factor, why is getting up and doing something productive harder than doing something non-productive?…

As people are getting prepared to depart for Orlando and the Digital Dealer Workshopsfollowed by the 10^th Digital Dealer Conference & Exposition, I thought some advice from someone who’s been to 6 of the 9 previous conferences would be helpful for those first-timers.…