In this highly regulated industry, there has been some recent debate as to if dealership salespeople should be allowed to establish and control their own personal branding.

In the past, personal branding by salespeople was geographically restricted, simply because the technology didn’t exist to go much further. Salespeople would find strategic places to…

This Week in Social Media and What it Means to You

News for the Week of July 13, 2015

Facebook News Feed Controls…

It has often been said that if you don’t know where you are going the chances of getting there are not very good.  This is certainly true for someone who is seeking to set goals for their life and to make a plan on how to achieve them.  Unless you have a vision for what you want to accomplish in this business, you will probably follow a path that leads to the status quo.  This is often the cause of failure; not the lack of ability, but failure to formulate a…

The July 4th weekend has passed, and summertime travel is in full swing. It’s a busy time for your women customers, but also the best time for them to have a safety and service check-up. Here are 4 tips for bringing your women customers into your service center.

Did You Know?

The #1 requested item from women in the service drive is a courtesy vehicle? Be sure to provide this and delight your…

Welcome to this week's edition of Black Book Market Insights, with in-depth analysis of used car and truck valuation trends and insights straight from the auction lanes. Click here to download the full report.

In this week’s report, the Black Book editors saw data that showed a brief change in car retention in early July before car patterns quickly returned to a more “summer normal” rate of depreciation this past week.…

For training to be effective three elements need to be present; you need to have:

1. Education

2. Simulation

3. Accountability

Education, simulation, and accountability! Let me just expand on this. If I want to train in golf, I don’t just watch golf on TV. While watching golf on TV I may become educated in golf, but then I need to train through simulation. I would need to go out and hit bucket after bucket after bucket of balls to get…

Digital Marketing plays such an important role in a business’s success today that it is easy to forget how young this medium truly is.  It has, in fact, experienced a growth explosion that is historically unparalleled.  A new innovative marketing product seems to emerge almost on a daily basis. And everyone promises that if you use this new “insert buzz word here,” then you…

We just finished a 30-day, full (email, phone and text) internet sales mystery shop of 21 dealers for a 20-group presentation I’m delivering next month. Of the 21 dealers we shopped, only five sent an auto-response to the inbound e-lead. Five! This means more than 75% of the dealers did not use an auto-responder.

The 20-group I’m addressing is a mixed group with mostly GM dealers; and it’s interesting that only one of the General Motors dealers used an auto-response. This…

(This is an excerpt from our 2015 Mystery Shop Study which provides lots of free best practices and other great advice for dealers.)

OEMs, dealer groups and even Dealer Principals expect much more from their internet sales efforts today than…

There's so many new things everyday, it's easy to get overwhelmed! 

With all the new flashy technologies being developed everyday, we get caught up in the hype and miss the basics. This week on Think Tank Tuesday, I'm focusing on what you may have missed that's costing you leads and sales.…

Whether you’re in PR, linkbuilding, or other forms of digital marketing, one part of your job might be reaching out to bloggers with requests for coverage or links. As a veteran blogger, I’ve been sent thousands of pitches and replied to only a small percentage of…

A recent article in Automotive News relayed the story of Obi Obeke and how he had sold 39 cars to world-famous boxer Floyd Mayweather. The article explains how Okeke has been willing to do whatever it takes for his client to keep him…

Welcome to this week's edition of Black Book Market Insights, with in-depth analysis of used car and truck valuation trends and insights straight from the auction lanes. This edition also includes the monthly Specialty Markets report. Click here to download the full report.

The Black Book editors saw a few interesting changes during the July 4^th holiday week, especially with large declines in the Crossover segments as…

According to Black Book® data, the average price of a used vehicle for model years 2009-2013 declined -1.6% in June, compared with -1.2% in May. Domestic cars changed -2.8%; import cars changed -2.4%; domestic trucks changed -0.8%; and import trucks changed -1.0%. Average pre-recession annual depreciation was continually recorded between -15% and -18%, and Black Book expects 2015 depreciation near -14.5%.



Entry-Level Cars felt the strong post-tax season slump, falling -4.7% in…

There have been several studies in the automotive industry that have conclusively answered this question with hard data and compelling reasons why it is the way it is. Unfortunately, these "conclusive" studies often point in opposite directions and always seem to be conducted by companies that lean in one direction or the other.

Which is better for search PPC,…

Over the years I've seen many dealerships terminate employees for various reasons. Most states today, state in their labor law claim, they are a right to work state. Interesting part about that is this means you really don't have to have a cause to terminate someone's employment at your dealership. Let's look at this in more detail, together we will analyze these…