I have been asked multiple times in my life how do I make every dealership I go to head in the right direction?  I think the answer is really simple and always hope it comes across as humble as possible.  Here it goes.

There are three key elements…

by Tamara Lischer

This new Generation of buyers 80 million strong are rapidly becoming the largest driving force in the market place. They require different selling interaction than previous Generations. 

NADA has a workshop and Booth at Digital Dealer that will talk to these points for anyone attending. We have compiled a great deal of data and done consumer research to help dealers better understand these buyers and their habits. 

Here are a few thought starters:

1. 1 in 4…

Teaching the “7 Habits” to a 4th grader? Yep, you bet! It’s not only about the progression of knowledge, but rather the integration and formation of a belief system.

It’s not just your ordinary curriculum and not just an ordinary school. Instead of sitting down for a typical parent-teachers conference, we were led on a student…

Definition: Ambition is the desire for personal achievement.

As dealer principals, general managers, sales managers, parts and service managers. do we truly understand  the meaning of this on a daily basis? Are we on the same page, with every employee’s, personal achievement? We are driven…

As some of you may know, I served as the director of ecommerce for the Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE: ABG) a few years ago. One of the most rewarding things about working for a publicly-traded MegaDealer Group was the ability to not only negotiate from a position of strength (we had over 120 franchises back then), but also the luxury of relying on a team of experts to help us always select the best of the best providers of any product or service.

While our process was exhaustive (we…

Should we be concerned that GM, Cobalt, and Google decided it best to create Google Places pages for all GM dealers?



Has anyone seen effects in organic search?



Is it all a little "Big Brother-ish" ?



Do these broad sweeping activities border on collusion when considered in the context of organic search and Pay-Per-Click advertising.



When vendors get that close to "Google" what are the unintended or intended consequences to the invisible hand of free…

Professional Service Advisors are Action oriented. They don’t spend a lot of time worrying about what is The Right Thing To Do because they already know what the Right Thing To Do is.

These Advisors have a sense of Empowerment and that leads to Empowered Action.

Empowered Action by definition is when one has the ability to do something with the Customers Best…

I wrote this blog post (CLICK THIS LINK) on ADM almost 2 years ago, titled, "We need to Re-Position and Re-Name The Internet Department," on AutomotiveDigitalMarketing.com, but the subject matter is more relevant than ever. An "Internet Sales department" will, sadly, no longer be sufficient for car dealerships going…

As a "3rd Party Vendor" Partner with a couple of dozen dealerships here in Central Florida, it is both a privilege and a frustration listening to recorded sales calls that my Company of employ produces for my Dealer Clients. The first bit of pain usually occurs when the call is answered at the dealership. If the caller has to navigate thru several automated options I can literally hear and feel the tension start to mount for the prospective buyer. When a real live human being answers "Thank…

Minute details can make major differences when it comes to having a successful sales career. It’s not the mountains that break your sales career; it’s the molehills- the tiny fundamentals you have let slide throughout your career. One such technique is the write-up; every dealership has an 8-10 step Road to the Sale program that literally walks a salesperson…

The car business is known for its loud and often over the top conversations.  In the dealership we pay attention to the loudest sales people, managers, etc.   The quiet employees in the background usually get ignored. 

How's that working for you?

I just came across a quote: …

Our colleague Stan Sher wrote a pretty good tear on the issue of searching for the Next Internet Manager to blame for sales failures.  I have to say I agree with his sketch there.  I think, however, that it is not just Internet Managers.  It can be nearly every manager…

The role of a car salesperson in selling a vehicle is enormous. Car sales is not just a sale of product but is a bouquet of satisfactions that you have to sell with it. It is the usefulness of the product for the buyer, the ego massage, how others look at your buying decision etc etc. This role can be played best by the salesperson as he interacts one to one with the customer and he can project the USP as per the preceptional requirement of the customer.

A salesperson from my…

In today’s economic environment the division between success and failure is as clear as it’s ever been. Having the right people, processes and products are essential for a dealership to be competitive. Being a single-point, family-owned business is no longer a unique proposition for consumers in today’s automotive climate. To stand apart from its competition, a…

But you couldn’t be more wrong about microsites!

I have had a few dealers reach out to me lately on Microsites being a bad idea and even one of the largest industry providers asking me if dealers using them will be “Black Listed” by Google…REALLY?! 

In this video Matt Cutts from Google explains his OPINION on microsites and calls out a post by Vanessa Fox “Microsites A Bad Idea Most of the Time”.

 …

Wouldn't want to get branded as sexist!

Recently Grant put up an article titled, "CNBC's Becky Quick Is Quick to Paint Car Salesmen as Sexist and Stupid."  In the article Grant calls Becky to task for making such a broad generalization and then calls her out…

Facebook Fan Pages are changing on March 30th - get prepared!

1. Start with your cover

Your cover photo is the first thing people will see when they visit your Page. The new Fan page resembles the recently launched Personal page “timeline” look.  Choose a unique photo and change it as often as you like. A horizontal image will work best.  Pick a unique photo to feature at the top of your Page timeline.  Note: This space is not meant for promotions, coupons, or…

 I never realized how good my manager was until years after I left the dealership. We had short 20 minute sales meetings every day. We actually did training. We did a lot of hooting, hollering clapping and some laughs . Always positive with some cash in hand to the performers.

Not every day was peaches and cream. When I did something wrong it was brought to my attention. Many times as a rookie I wasn't allowed to take another customer that day because of the same mistakes. I quickly…