July 2012 Blog Posts (182)

Help Your Dealership Go for the Gold

Think your shot at living like an Olympian ended after your high school or college athletic career? Think again. Successful Olympic athletes employ a set of traits and techniques that you can still use to help market your car dealership. The elements that work together to create popular medalists, with thousands or millions of people rooting for them, can…

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Added by Jim Fitzpatrick on July 27, 2012 at 10:40am — No Comments

Improve Your Facebook Marketing With Facebook Insights

Facebook has had their analytics tool called, Facebook Insights, for a while now, and since its conception it has grown more and more complex. Insights are now able to show Facebook Page Admins all kinds of useful information which can be a huge help when trying to hone your…

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Added by Timothy Martell on July 27, 2012 at 9:24am — No Comments

"Let's have a meeting to discuss today's meeting"

Sounds redundant, but if you have ever worked for an automotive group, you've probably actually heard those words. Meetings after meetings. The sad thing about it is the meetings usually involve only management. Walk up to any tech and ask them how many hours they have for the week and they'll tell you up to the minute. Ask them what your gross profit objective is for the month, you'll probably get a blank stare. Usually the first tech meeting I have after coming into a store, I ask "What…

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Added by Jim Mahoney on July 27, 2012 at 8:10am — No Comments

The 7 Habits of a Strong Internet Sales Process - Part 2 of 2

The “7 Habits” of a Strong Internet Sales Process

Why our Internet Sales Process matters more now than it ever has, and the seven key points we must execute to be successful.

By: Henry Staniecki

 

Advanced customer-attracting tactics like SEO and Social Media Marketing are a big focus in the retail automotive industry right now. A great many tools are being developed by every vendor imaginable to take advantage of the latest…

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Added by DON GRAFF on July 26, 2012 at 9:00pm — No Comments

The 7 Habits of a Strong Internet Sales Process - Part 1 of 2

The “7 Habits” of a Strong Internet Sales Process

Why our Internet Sales Process matters more now than it ever has, and the seven key points we must execute to be successful.

By: Henry Staniecki

 

Advanced customer-attracting tactics like SEO and Social Media Marketing are a big focus in the retail automotive industry right now. A great many tools are being developed by every vendor imaginable to take advantage of the latest…

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Added by DON GRAFF on July 26, 2012 at 8:30pm — 7 Comments

Excellent auto paint sealant called "Quantum" with its five years warranty

My name is Jeff Suggs owner and operator of Paint Overspray Removal of Texas International Services.  I specialize in repairing vehicles from all sorts of paint damage for major dealerships around the country.  My company just repaired 300 hundred vehicles form industrial paint overspray damage for Joe Holland Chevrolet & Imports.  This was over 9,600,000 million in inventory on 2012 vehicles of several different makes and models.  I ran into a product called "Quantum" backed up with a…

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Added by Jeff Suggs on July 26, 2012 at 7:00pm — No Comments

Google Announces, and Releases, Latest Panda Update

It's not often that Google announces when they are going to make changes to their algorithm in advance, but they did just that on Tuesday.

The latest update under the Panda name went into effect Tuesday night, Panda 3.9.  Panda was originally released in February 2011 as a way to remove low-quality content from Google's search results.

Google…

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Added by Ali Amirrezvani on July 26, 2012 at 3:50pm — No Comments

Keep Your Fans Excited from Beginning to End

This summer has been a series of ups and downs for the hockey fan in me. On July 4th, I got to see my hometown Minnesota Wild pick up the 2 best free agents on the market, along with a few solid core players. In the weeks that have passed, I’ve gone from figuring out where the championship parade would begin, to accepting that the NHL may be cancelled this year.

That’s classic Minnesota sports luck for you: Fans get hopeful and excited about a great team, then something gums up the…

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Added by Will Michaelson on July 26, 2012 at 2:00pm — No Comments

"Welcome. Oh and by the way, your advertising budget is $0! Good luck!"

Those words were actually said to me but I'll get to that in a little bit. 

Well the dog days of summer are upon us. The showrooms are filled to capacity and your next available service appointment is in two weeks! Every marketing piece you've done has been a home run. Your biggest problem is where to park all these customer cars and all the managers can think of is how sweet their commissions are going to be. Some are even thinking that, at this rate, I can retire in a couple of…

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Added by Jim Mahoney on July 26, 2012 at 11:47am — No Comments

Only You Can Prevent Preventive Maintenance

OK – you don’t TRY to prevent preventive maintenance, but occasionally you may get in the way.  An illustrative story first: on July 3 someone poked their head in the door of our management meeting and told me my wife called and said that the mountain behind our house was on fire.  That was about 3 o’clock.  I was home 20 minutes later.  The fire had started around 2:15 at a…

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Added by Lance Boldt on July 26, 2012 at 11:38am — No Comments

The 2012 Canadian Digital Dealer Conference is Coming!

The 2012 Canadian Digital Dealer Conference is coming, and the event is shaping up to be the educational event of the fall! Keynote speakers include Tim Wilson, a Google marketing guru, Rod Black, CTV and TSN sportscaster, and ActivEngage CEO Todd Smith!

Todd will be giving a keynote address at the second annual CDDC entitled Inbound…

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Added by Stephen Jackson on July 26, 2012 at 10:30am — No Comments

The Game-Changing Google Program Auto Dealers Can’t Afford to Ignore

Google’s online ventures are usually anything but under the radar. Yet recently, in what may be a game-changing play, the search engine giant quietly entered the third-party lead provider business for car dealerships.

The beta version of Google Comparison Ads for Autos (which is unofficially being referred to as “Google Cars” within the industry) was launched to very little fanfare a few weeks ago in the San…

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Added by Arnold Tijerina on July 26, 2012 at 10:01am — No Comments

Social Media Rules SEO!

SEO is a like a clock, always shifting, and kept true by machinery fathomless to the general population. Even people who make a living learning these intricate machinations are, at best, constantly battling to stay relevant. The hidden algorithms utilized by search engines like Google keep us on our toes, demanding constant vigilance and supreme dedication to the craft.…

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Added by Timothy Martell on July 26, 2012 at 9:42am — No Comments

The Always-Connected Digital Lifestyle: Friend or Foe?

The Always-Connected Digital Lifestyle: Friend or Foe?

Check out this latest blog by Yasmine Syed of Potratz, as she talks all about the variations of technology users.

Information and communication technology users are as diverse as the range of technology available today. The Pew Research Center’s “Internet & American Life Project” divides technology users into two core groups: “Motivated by Mobility” and…

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Added by Paul Potratz on July 26, 2012 at 9:08am — No Comments

Don’t Ask Don’t Sell July 2012

Newsletter July 2012

Without question every dealership wants to improve customer satisfaction and retention. With fixed operations gross profits more critical than ever we must look at ways to insure results. Simple as it seems it all comes down to the process.

Don’t Ask Don’t Sell

This might make you think of a military program no longer in use but let’s place some attention on way this is a solid truth in today’s dealership…

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Added by Rob Gehring on July 25, 2012 at 3:49pm — No Comments

3 Common Mistakes Salespeople Make

The 3 Most Common Mistakes Salespeople Make That Cost The Dealership Money!

The good news: They are all Preventable! Read below for the latest in how you can prevent Lost Sales!

#1-NO INTERVIEW!

An interview is the most important part of any sales…

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Added by Leonard Buchholz on July 25, 2012 at 2:18pm — No Comments

"What do you mean I can't get an oil change on a Saturday?"

Recently, Chrysler announced that they reached their goal of having 80% of their stores opened on Saturday. In the pre-Fiat days, the number was closer to 60%! How exciting! What are the other 20% of their stores doing being closed? How can you NOT open your service department at all on Saturday? Even if they are there to support the sales department, they need to be open. Unless of course you have a CBA saying you must be closed which, in that case, the person who negotiated the contract,…

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Added by Jim Mahoney on July 25, 2012 at 1:40pm — No Comments

Which Used-Car Segment Dropped More Than $100 Last Week?

Following is the latest used-car weekly report from Ricky Beggs of Black Book USA. This data is for the week ending July 21, 2012.

Even though the overall market continues to move down at increasing dollar and percentage levels, the number of adjustments at 1,941 per day throughout the week was the 3rd lowest amount over the past 11 weeks. The average price…

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Added by John Sternal on July 25, 2012 at 1:30pm — No Comments

Social Selling: Building a Business within a Business VI

Becoming involved in your community, church or civic organization will bring rewards far beyond a pay check or a few more car sales.  Those that engage in these organizations for the betterment of their communities will receive great satisfaction for their efforts.

At a local services center, our car club was using money that we had raised to tile and carpet…

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Added by Craig Darling on July 25, 2012 at 1:27pm — No Comments

My $20,000 showroom Kiosk doesn’t ask the question

My $20,000 showroom Kiosk doesn’t ask the question

In order to promote products and services in the dealerships many dealers invest heavily in elaborate displays like a kiosk.  Those things often look very cool, but as a stand-alone display it lacks the valuable influence of a trained sales person.

kiosk

Here’s the…

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Added by Ashley Poag on July 25, 2012 at 12:56pm — No Comments

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