I was watching football Sunday and I got to thinking about the job of a receiver. I decided a receiver has three jobs:

1.        Catch the ball

Nothing positive can happen until the receiver completes the catch.

2.        Try to make additional yardage after the catch

For football fans, this is…

This weekend I had the honor of attending the local elementary school basketball tournament. Though my daughter plays for Johnson Elementary School Eagles, it was nice to see pure competitiveness and sportsmanship at its core. We live in an age where College Sports, Professional Sports and even some High School teams can take a page out of the book…

How is your business using HD Video?

If you’re not sure what I mean, or know what I mean but are not utilizing the power of HD video on your social media and website, consider the following:

Ekaterina Walter, social innovator at Intel, predicted that “2013 will be the year of visual marketing”. Walter went on to say that “…visuals and video done right are highly effective in cutting through the noise.”

The video below is a video my team completed for All Star Automotive…

ALBANY, N.Y. – November 25th, 2013 – Auto/Mate Dealership Systems (http://www.automate.com) announced today that Superior Integrated Solutions (SIS), the industry's leading integration provider for auto dealerships, is now providing integration services to facilitate data exchange between Auto/Mate's dealership management system (DMS) and third-party systems in use by auto dealers.

"For our customers with software systems in their…

Swapalease.com, the nation’s largest car lease marketplace, reports average car lease prices for cars on the road rose 1.2% year-over-year according to October new listings. Monthly prices averaged $586.00 in October compared with $579.93 in October 2012. These prices compare to an average of $582.02 in September.



Among today’s popular leases, The Infiniti G37 saw the largest year-over-year increase, jumping 20.2% ($535.81)…

Have y'all seen this article in Automotive News?

The $1.5 BILLION valuation just astounds me. Would TrueCar going public bring more transparency to their business model and/or validate their "change of heart"?

"TrueCar said to consider IPO for next year"

"NEW YORK…

What kryptonite is to Superman is what “I’m not buying today,” is to a salesperson, debilitating.  If you want to decapitate the high hopes of a salesperson, just whisper those four words and watch him fall faster than Michael Spinks did when he fought “Iron” Mike Tyson (91 seconds by the way).

A customer may be shouting that they aren’t buying today,…

There are those who have been spreading (indefinitely, it seems) the thought that SEO is dead. It never ends, the thought (hope?) that search engine optimization has reached its conclusion. The main reason for these calls is, of course, when “experts” in search marketing start to find that their…

So once again I ask the question at the heart of the matter.... Mr./MRS…

NCMInstitute.com

Using Contests and Games in Your Marketing

Marketing your products in today’s world is tough. With so many competing messages on every media channel, simply putting an ad out just isn’t enough anymore. As a marketer, you’re constantly looking for new ways to get your customers interested and invested in your products, but that’s easier said than done.

You are probably using many forms of marketing that do a great job at increasing your brand…

In my last post, Advertising That is Priced Less and Priceless, I talked about the best form of advertising there is, word of mouth. You can read that HERE.

Word of mouth advertising can also be the worst advertising in the world if you don’t handle your customers properly.…

Most dealerships understand the importance of online reviews, in general, for their stores. Consumers are increasingly turning to the Internet to research dealerships before selecting one. This includes researching not only sales-related reviews, but also service.  Yet, most dealerships focus most of their attention on gaining reviews from the sales side and leave the…

AutoNetTV debuted collision center-specific content for its digital display platforms at the 2013 NACE show. 

This content is viewed by consumers as they wait for their estimate to be completed or on the collision center’s website and is designed to address the question “What should your potential customer know when you return to discuss their estimate?”…

Winter can be a challenging time for salespeople in the automotive industry. It’s easy to get swept up in the holiday season and lose focus on selling. Instead of losing productivity to lighter floor traffic and more distractions, it’s time to play Season Defense. The best sales teams use this time to circle their wagons, refocus on the basics, and keep improving.



Sharpen the saw

Take extra down time to educate yourself on new products, competition, and…

Due to the Huge Success of Tuesday's Webinar, we are pleased to announce an ENCORE Webinar Presentation of "5 Steps to Ensure You Are a TOP Manager" Hosted LIVE by Jeff Cowan! Register Today for this Free Training Opportunity on Thursday, December 12th at 8:00 am Pacific Standard Time | 11:00 am Eastern Time. Seats are Limited. Register Here: https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/350828351

Car commercials are unlikely to leave people indifferent. Although when they provoke a reaction, it’s not always the kind of reaction the brands had hoped for. Many car manufacturers mess up and some of them never learn from their mistakes. Honda, on the other hand, very rarely (if ever) make the top lists of worst car adverts. There’s just something endearing in how they’re building their brand awareness. Let’s have a closer look into how Honda achieves success.

Riding One Can be…

Swapalease.com, the nation’s largest car lease marketplace, reports credit approvals were relatively unchanged in October compared with the previous month. The year-to-date approvals for customer credit finished October at 72.8%, compared with September levels of 72.7%.



The current rate shows a marked improvement over last year’s percentage, when 64.4% of approvals were processed through the end of…

Hello, 



I am in the market for a cup of coffee. If you are receiving this message, it is because your coffee shop has been selected for the bidding process. If you wish to be considered as the vendor for my next purchase, read the instructions below carefully. Only fully complete bids will be considered. Please note that I am soliciting bids from many coffee shops in and around VA, DC, and MD.…

The holidays are quickly approaching. Do you have plans in place to make your dealership a stop on customer's shopping lists? Learn how to take your Black Friday and Cyber Monday strategies further. That's this week on Think Tank Tuesday.