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Zig Ziglar passed away today after a short bout of pneumonia. Physically he may have departed, yet his spirit will endure for generations to come.  No matter where we were spiritually, personally, or professionally, we could always be assured that Zig had an encouraging word for us-the appropriate quotes coming just when we needed them most. Steve…

Threatened by boll weevils and parched land, George Washington Carver set out to discover another crop that could be planted in the place of cotton; the lowly peanut was all he could come up with. Heeding his advice, peanuts were planted, yet no one knew what to do with the peanuts once they were harvested. Faced with the quandary, Carver smashed, cracked, and peeled…

Univision in English? Finally It Gets in Step With the Hispanic Market

Trends Show that Spanish Is Not the Best Way to Reach Most U.S. Latinos

It must not have been an easy decision for Univision, the Spanish-language media giant, to join ABC in creating an English-language TV network and digital…

There will be complaints. I can already smell the onslaught of, "what about Blogger" and "Typepad is much more powerful". There will be others that say, "but Tumblr's not really a blogging platform". Let's put all of that to rest quickly...

For business blogs, Wordpress and Tumblr are the best options out there.…

In the second quarter of 2012, the NCM Institute (NCMi®) formed a training partnership with Automotive Internet Management (AIM). After personally auditing two of these sessions and receiving client-dealer feedback from all of the sessions, I’ve become convinced that dealers and their sales management teams need to “raise the bar” on their expectations for Internet closing ratios.

At NCMi, we have always believed and…

The traditional dealership is dead but some have not had their funeral yet. It seems as though as much as some things change in the auto industry, as many things stay the same. Every week our trainers observe things in dealerships that look and feel like the 1960’s.

Let’s take a look at some things still commonly observed in dealerships that are outdated and should be changed.

1) Manager Towers – High towers built for…

Are You Selling or Are You Buying?

Have you ever had this conversation?

You: “Hi Mr. Customer, it’s me John from ABC Chevy and I just wanted to follow-up with you to see if you are still in the market for that 2010 Chevy Silverado that you e-mailed me about yesterday? I have a 2PM appointment slot open just…

SureSale technology expands dealer autonomy in the sourcing, certification, and marketing of certified vehicles

Venice, CA – November 27, 2012 – SureSale^TM, the certified pre-owned (CPO) marketing program that is changing the way used vehicles are bought and sold, today announced the launch of its new mobile and…

Today,  Orlando Business Journal, recognized ActivEngage as a 2012 Outstanding Small Business.  This year Orlando Business Journal received 87 nominations and nine local firms were honored for rapid growth and community…

When you aspire to BE MORE, make a COMMITMENT and don't quit, the money (have more) takes care of itself!

Today I'm at one of my client stores and, as an example of commitment, four of the sales people made a commitment about 15 years to leave the corporate life, take control of their own personal destiny and SELL CARS. All now sell an average of 40-60 cars a month earning between $250,000 and $300,000+ a year.  They chose to "be more", commit, and the money has taken care of itself!…

Dealers decide the best dealership vendors of the year at DrivingSales.com, helping their peers choose and spend wisely in 2013

Salt Lake City, UT – November 27, 2012 – Eligible and verified reviews and ratings that determine the 2012 DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction Awards will close on December 31^st, DrivingSales announced today. The Company encourages dealers who have not yet rated their vendors…

Are you taking advantage of Social Media for Referrals?

Have you ever looked up your dealership at www.socialmention.com? If you have never done this, pause and take a moment to do so now. Now that you have looked up your dealership does it come…

Change. Change can be a scary and powerful word. A word that many of us say that we embrace yet when it comes down to the brass tax we end up putting off the decision that brings about change. You often say, “I’ll wait till after the first of the year,” or “ We will try something different in a few months.” Does this sound familiar too you? Everyone sometime or…

There is a privacy notice that seems to surface from time to time on Facebook, usually when a new security update is rolled-out.  I’ve been seeing it all over the place the last few days, and while it seems that most people are posting it just to be safe, others seem to believe that this will truly protect their content. Facebook users, especially businesses,…

This is Part 4 in a 5 part series. Please read the previous posts first or none of this will really make any sense.

• Part I: The Key to Search and Social in 2013 and Beyond…

Just because it’s mobile doesn’t mean that advertising laws and regulations don’t apply! The need for a prominent disclosure of terms and conditions and a privacy policy in mobile apps is rapidly evolving, and dealers are at risk if they are using an app that doesn’t comply.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the state of California are…

Fisker Automotive has hired former GM Marketing boss Joel Ewanick to be chief of global sales and marketing for the maker of Fisker's luxury plug-in hybrids.

Ewanick, 52, will replace Richard Beattie, 58.

NEWS FROM vAUTO:

The Provision Suite: We’re renaming Live Market Suite to the Provision Suite (Pricing, Appraising, Provisioning and…

Author James Allen wrote, “Circumstances do not make the man, they reveal him;” although the essay was written in 1902, it remains a timeless proverb 110 years later. If circumstances could be grown in a garden, it would be harvested on the blacktop. In sales, we are inundated with circumstances-both personally and…