The internet has changed our world. The concept of "business hours" has been turned on its head. People are buying things online at 2 in the morning. They're researching vehicles after the kids are in bed. They're planning out how to drop off their vehicle in your service department and still get to work on time at 4am.

When they have questions, are you there…

Agent, you've been recruited on a mission to activate your dealership’s website and convert more browsers into buyers. There are three immediate tasks you must complete in order to do so. There’s no time to waste.

1. The Bait

When your dealership’s website opens on a browser, what is the first thing customers see?…

The BMW M5 30th Anniversary!

Limited Production BMW M Series of the M5 to honor the first 30 years of producing the legendary BMW M5, one of the most powerful production BMWs ever. The 30th Anniversary packs a punch with a 4.4L V8 capable of 600 horsepower and 516lb-ft of torque and 0-60 times of 3.7 seconds with a starting price tag of…

A recent Wall Street Journal article titled “Car Sellers Refine Pitch to Women” revealed that more women are driving than men. In fact, there are 105+ million women on the roads today, as opposed to 104+ million men and more elderly women are holding on to their driver’s license (USA Today, Nov. 2012). As the relationship women have with their cars tightens, it’s time the…

Thanks for tuning into this week’s edition of Beggs on the Used Car Market, with data and insights from Ricky Beggs and Black Book.

The movement in the market continues, and pretty much as was expected. The average segment change for both the cars and the trucks was at -$73 and -$64 respectively, a greater decline for both pieces of the market than the prior week. For the cars it was a very similar…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Urbandale, IA--September 15th, 2014--Flick Fusion (www.flickfusion.com), the industry's leading video marketing provider, today introduced Timeline Marketing, a powerful tool that allows auto dealer personnel to update new and existing videos with dealership marketing messages in the form of banners and overlays. With a few simple clicks, inventory and dealership videos on both the dealer's website and on…

I recently read a fantastic article that an HR Professional wrote about her experience buying a MINI. The article itself focused on lessons in leadership she had…

24.9% of all car loans were 73 to 84 months long during the first quarter of 2014 according to Experian. This number continues to grow compared with just a few years ago. And while delinquencies are still at historic lows, how can auto lenders determine when vehicles entering their portfolio are expected to reach a position of equity?



Black Book is working with auto lenders to take a close look at comparative collateral data in order to spot this trend. The company recently…

There are many stories of young kids or teens starting successful businesses. And there are as well the simple stories of kids mowing lawns or washing cars to earn extra money while their friends are out playing. A similar story gained…

As mobile continues to emerge as the most important strategy component in digital marketing for savvy dealers, it's more than just driving mobile traffic and having a good mobile website solution. There's a psychology to it all that applies to the different way visitors engage with your web pages through mobile devices.

This is why the appropriate landing page…

They say that no good deed goes unpunished and great things will eventually be spoiled. This happened to microsites in recent years. What started off as a great strategy was overused and abused by some vendors to the point that now many dealers are scared to touch them.

Here's a brief timeline in case you're not familiar with the evolution of microsites. ADM…

Todd Morgan Beamer (November 24, 1968 – September 11, 2001) was an American software salesman passenger aboard United Airlines Flight 93 which was hijacked as part of the September 11 attacks in 2001. He was one of the passengers who tried to reclaim the aircraft from the hijackers, leading them to crash it into a field in Stonycreek Township near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.…

This article was written by Steve Hall and was originally published on the NCM Institute Up to Speed blog. 

Do you ever consider how many chances you get to sell to a service customer? What I’m talking about isn’t tactics, but rather the opportunities to gain a sale, or additional sale every time a customer reaches out to your service department.…

Auto dealers know how important their service business is to the bottom line. There’s no doubt that service absorption is vital to the health and livelihood of many dealer’s financial statements at the end of the month. Automotive News recently reported that Honda has…

The Automotive Advertising Experts show is hosted by Philip Zelinger, the President of Ad Agency Online. 

Philip will be joined by Ron Morrison, the President of iDrove.IT, on Friday, September 12th…

Greetings friends,   

No matter what we do, or where we are at, we have issues. What we need to do is stop looking at our issues as problems and start looking at them as opportunities for improvement. Once we have determined what our opportunities are, we must attack…

What if you could…

It seems that in recent years retail automotive conferences have gained momentum in popularity. In fact so many conferences are popping up that car dealers now have a difficult time deciding on where they want to go. The reality has become that some conferences duplicate one another while others bring true value to the industry by offering unique speakers and settings. Let’s talk a look at this fall’s conferences and discuss what makes them.…

Is it time the auto industry got serious about a used lease program that mirrors the effectiveness of the CPO programs? Scot Hall, EVP at Swapalease.com, who has been talking about the need for a used lease program, especially based on recent trends in the auto industry:

• The appetite for leasing is now past 25% of sales according to Experian and is nearing all-time high levels
• Industry insiders say…

Do you think your customers feel the same about your company as you think they do?  Think again, they probably don’t.

These days, car dealerships, try to express their individuality from their competitors through value propositions. Almost every dealership has some sort of template or message as to “Why Buy from Us” integrated into their communications with…