As one who launches three to four e-mystery shops per week, I get to see the marketplace from a perspective far different than the one I had when I worked at a store.  I’ve learned that a lot of what, in my selling days, I thought was good material actually contains a message far different from the one intended – and that the message that comes across is not always a good one. 

Judging by some of the follow-up emails I get from dealerships today, many stores still have the…

[as featured on CarChat24's blog]

We’re a live chat company. Just in case the name of the product (CarChat24) didn’t give it away, I just thought I’d state the obvious. What do you think about us?

Be honest.

Let’s say 100 people claimed we…

Last night, I had the urge to blog. I didn't have a set topic in mind. I just knew I wanted to talk about the car biz. I didn't search the web for the newest, greatest news. I didn't crawl other automotive blogs to see what they were talking about. I simply wrote. It wasn't about our product. I didn't even mention the benefits of having Automotive Live Chat (even though, guys, totally worth it.) Social Media was on my mind so that's what I wrote about. It's what I know.

I…

How it works

Gmail Motion uses your computer's built-in webcam and Google's patented spatial tracking technology…

Print classified ads are one of the main tools auto dealers use to advertise their vehicles and service but as more and more people are turning to the internet for information, online classifieds are significantly and steadily outperforming newspapers and periodicals in providing ad spaces and lead generation.

Craigslist alone, as an established leader among local online classifieds, boasts over 20 billion page views each month, besting online retail giant Amazon and multimedia empire…

I work in sales during the day. It's not car sales, (I know, right?!) but we do sell a service to folks who are interested. We get leads, they are called by the representatives.

I received an incoming call today from an angry student (I work at a bartending school), who was irate that we had withdrawn him from classes because he was out of time. 

We spoke in circles:



Him: "I didn't know I was out of time"

Me: "Because you never called."

Him: "Well, if…

Are you tired of hearing about Charlie Sheen, yet?  I definitely am. I do have a confession to make: He was having a contest for someone to be his social media intern, and I applied. I made it to the 2nd round and then they canned me. I knew from the beginning that I probably wouldn't get the position. But I never thought that I couldn't.

In his famous interview where he drops his now branded words like "Tiger Blood" and "Winning", Charlie Sheen said something that was both head…

Baseball season is back in full swing. (See what I did there?  Yes, very cheesy, I know). And spring training for the teams is coming to an end.  They’ve spent well over a month preparing themselves and their minds for the day-to-day responsibilities that go along with a season of baseball.  Trainers, managers, and coaches get together to evaluate their personnel and to get them ready for action.  Several dealers do the very same when they seek out training for their team.



Dealers…

Five years ago Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter, sent out the first tweet launching a new form of communication that became a revolution in 140 characters or less. This year, Twitter posted a blog reporting that it only takes about one week for users to send 1 billion tweets and last February an average of 460,000 accounts were opened per day. In the automotive industry, we should all ask ourselves, are we utilizing the fundamentals of Twitter to best engage current and potential buyers on…

Top 7 Words to Avoid (if you want to make the sale)

Many salespeople use words every day that convey the wrong message, or minimally an unintended message, and wonder where the prospect is went. When we learn to sell, often we learn through ‘On the Job Training’ which means we practice trial and error on our clients. This practice is very expensive and leads to bad habits.

If you want to improve your closing ratio, take action…

I'm working on a white-paper to present at the Automotive Marketing Boot Camp that compares the choices dealers have to advertise their used car inventory. One of the elements of the white-paper is to document how Vehicle Detail Pages (VDP) are designed and presented to consumers.



From a dealer perspective I have a problem with…

Franchise lawyers say the franchise laws have changed little in response to the increasing

business being done online.

While some franchise experts say the relevant market

area hasn't changed--that dealers still do business within about a 20-mile

radius--the factories are stepping into a regulatory vacuum and policing

Internet sales. One example is that Honda allows service contracts to be

promoted but not sold on…

Hi DealerElite members:

Only 21 days left until the Digital Dealer Workshops.. 22 until the 10th Digital Dealer Conference & Exposition!



We have some great stuff lined up for this year's event. I've mentioned the SCVNGR promotion. We have some really cool prizes! The grand prize is an Apple MacBook Air (courtesy of…

How often have you asked a customer, ‘when are you looking to buy’? 

If you are like most car salespeople, probably a lot.  But how often do you get an honest answer?  I’m guessing the answer is ‘not very’.

Genuine buyers tend to hide the fact that they are looking to change.  They’ll tell you it’s “early days,” or “I’m just looking”.

Different approach

So perhaps we should phrase the question differently as we certainly want to…