In real estate it is location, location, location.  In the retail sales world, it is perception, perception, perception.  Every one of your consumers wants to have a individualize experience when doing business with your organization.  I like to call it the “Disney” experience since Disney has set the benchmark in customer service.  It might be a…

When I'm not obsessively checking in over here at Dealer Elite, I have a side hustle during the day. Well, for now

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As I've mentioned in blog posts prior, I call leads, talk to people, and set them up on appointments for interviews. Basically exactly what I did in the BDC for the 4 years I was there.

The script at my current job is..... well, lacking to say the least. I've tried to sit down with management and tell them that it doesn't allow…

Hey folks!  I have recently been asked to be the sole member of our new "service sales team".  The concept sounded great, and I was all for it, until it actually was put into action. For many and most dealerships, I fully support the idea. We use the angle of having equity in your current vehicle, so getting a brand new vehicle for no money down, and we can lower your payments. Good idea right?

Heres where I run into a snag...we used to be a Saturn dealership. Now we are Buick/GMC. …

Social Media is not kids play any longer.  Social Networking has found a home outside of the college dorm and into main stream capitalism.   More and more businesses globally are adopting Social Media Marketing Plans.  Social Media is one of the newest tools available to the global economy, but how does it affect your business?  Why should you invest some of your marketing resources in the…

10)  We were all born of women, consider the pain, anguish and toil endured for you to just be here; in other words, if nothing else, do it for your mom dummy

9)  You can't just buy every female customer and co-worker roses and jewelry to make up for stupid things you say like you do with your wife or girlfriend- get it right

8)  Girls stopped having cooties a long time ago, it is safe to treat them as human now

7)  Every woman is somebody's daughter

6)  Women…

There are a number of good reasons for operating an ethical and legally compliant dealership, not the least of which is staying out of a courtroom.  Perhaps the most important - and most often overlooked - reason is increased customer satisfaction.  There are times when an employee may feel that he or she came out the winner by bending the rules a little, but what about the dealership’s reputation?  What about the customers who were mislead?  It seems like there might be some losers in the…

1) Hire some women!  Women buyers will, on average, prefer to buy a vehicle from another woman when they can--and women salespeople are awesome.  By the way, women salespeople will do a great job with male buyers, too.



2) Smile and understand their power.  Lots of women are on their own and…

The following is an except from the book “Influence: How Women’s Soaring Economic Power Will Transform Our World for the Better” by Maddy Dychtwald with Christine Larson.



Start Your Engines: Transforming the Automotive…

Below is one of my favorite tales of two dealerships. It is a favorite story because I believe both dealerships had the best of intentions, just one made a positive impact and the other a not so positive impact on how one woman in a vast world of consumers experienced buying her first brand new car.

The ink on the divorce decree was nearly dry and I was out to make some big changes in my…

In the auto business life gets pretty hectic.  Monthly deadlines, sales quota's, closing ratios, and heat cases are all part of our daily routine.   If you are a trainer or vendor have you ever called a manager at a dealership who said, "Sure I have lots of time to speak with you about your service."   Nope, they never have time, they are too busy whatever it is that keeps them busy.  

I came across this article that I wanted to share with dealerelite members.  It has some…

F&I Compliance always gets attention in a dealership but making sure you also are in compliance with the numerous human resources, safety and enviromental regulations is equally important.  There are no less than ten federal laws and regulations that impact  hiring (not to mention state laws) and that is only the start. The federal Department of Labor (including OSHA and the…

It’s good to be nice. Nice works, especially with women.

Of course whatever you do to meet the needs of women, will delight your male customers! That’s actually a fact based on a Wharton School study in partnership with WomenCertified. So in short aim for what makes her happy and you will win with everyone.

Sometimes we have to remember that we are customers too and treat them the way we would want to be treated. Kind of hard sometimes when we become robots in how we sell and…

Google doesn't always get things right the first time but eventually they do listen to their user community.

One of those "Amen!" moments came recently when Google decided to allow multiple users to share Google Webmaster Tools data for a single website.

This is a BIG opportunity for car dealers who often have been told by their web hosting company that Webmaster Tools Data was off limits to their staff. It…

Womens Month

February 08, 2011

Overland Park, Kan., May 2, 2011 ― NCM Associates, a leading provider of retail automotive 20 Group services, Education, Retail Operations Consulting and the originator of the NCM Benchmark® for Success program for automobile dealers, today announced that Helms Brothers Mercedes-Benz has tripled its gross profits through the implementation of the Mercedes-Benz Pre-Owned Profit Improvement Program under the guidance of NCM…

All the Lot’s a Stage 

All the lot’s a stage and the men and women merely the players:

There’s nothing like butchering some Shakespeare to make a point, huh?  Not bad for a car-guy.  In the excerpt from “As You Like It” Shakespeare breaks down the seven “roles” people play through their lives.  Let’s take a look at them and compare them to the life of a car-guy.

The Infant: mewing and…