Are you a master or a student?

Do you know everything that you need to know to pass on your knowledge to others?

Recently, I spent four days on site at a dealer group consulting and training a brand new BDC Manager.  This BDC Manager is a remarkable individual with many college degrees and a lot of business world experience.  He was brand new to the automotive industry but not a stranger to call centers.  In…

"I want you to get 200 people to like this new page." he said to me, and he walked away.

I gave it a few minutes and I followed him to his office and sat down at his desk. 

"How?" I asked

"How, what?" he said.

"How do you want me to get these people to like the page?"

"Just get them to..."

I walked out of the office with no more information than I walked in with. I…

I recently helped a friend celebrate his retirement by choosing which new car to purchase for his next chapter in life. As it turns out, his purchase mirrors a national trend that shows ‘baby boomers’ are purchasing more new cars than younger buyers. According to a study by the…

When you strip away your bricks and mortar, Website, CRM systems, inventory and everything else, what really matters? It’s your people. The bottom line is, people make a business successful or unsuccessful.

If you are a dealer or a leader of a dealership, what are you doing to recruit, hire, train, motivate, educate and retain good and even great people? If you truly want to see what is most important to you, then all you have to do is review where you spent your time…

If you are not hosting a blog on your website start one. If you are not posting relevant information and blogs to draw in potential customers do it.

Bring the traffic to you and become a destination resort for updates and information so you can reap the benefits and attention that this personal form of content…

I couldn’t help but notice all the doom and gloom in several blog posts, especially in regards to Starbucks closing 600 stores. Yes, the economy is tough, but the most important economy is between your ears. If you keep reading about the bad economy and you keep telling everyone how bad it is, you’re allowing yourself to have a bad economy and to perpetuate that it is okay to struggle. The media will do enough of that — don’t help them. Bad economies come faster and stay longer because of…

According to this article in last week’s Detroit Free Press, the average age of vehicles owned in the U.S. continues to be on the rise. With the average now being 11.4 years, it’s becoming more important than ever for dealerships to re-evaluate their service…

What you did five or 10 years ago is probably more important than your 30-second visit to some e-commerce site that’s now bombarding you with cookie-fueled retargeted ads.

That’s why looking to the past – not to the future – is the key to success in the world of data.…

Everything IS Connected: 

The world is changing. Marketing is no longer defined by lip-service promotions. Instead consumers are flocking to the Internet, seeking information about their favorite brands and products. They want the immediacy of networking; they want the ease of web site posts;…

There are only five ways to increase the bottom line of a business: Sell more vehicles, practice price elasticity (get more gross profit per sale), create more repeat customers, increase the speed of the buying cycle for your current customers, and create continuity programs by getting the customer to continually do business with you (service, add-on selling etc.). Although all are important, one can be obtained instantly and with a huge impact - price elasticity and the ability to increase…

Recommended Workshop Guide for Fixed Ops Managers

AutoCon 2013 welcome Fixed Operations Directors and Service Managers to participate in the rapidly changing world of automotive retailing.  Fixed Operations staff are often "left home" when employees are picked to attend automotive conferences. This pattern has to stop.  

There are many opportunities to…

Yelp Director of National Marketing Presents “Local, Social, Mobile: Leveraging Converging Trends to Drive More Car Shoppers Into your Dealership;” joins keynote line-up that includes Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Land, former U.S. Navy SEAL Officer Leif Babin, and The Walt Disney Company^®

Salt Lake City, UT – August 19, 2013 – DrivingSales today…

Clicks and ‘LIKES’ are only the beginning—engagement leads to sales

On Facebook it doesn’t matter how many ‘LIKES’ your brand has if those fans don’t engage with the page. Engagement is what sticks in a consumer’s mind and leads to future sales. People ‘LIKE’ things all the time without giving that brand or item another thought. Make real fans…

A recent study by Barclays Bank revealed interesting statistics about consumer behavior as it relates to small and medium-sized businesses. The study included the retail behavior of 2,006 consumers and also surveyed loyalty business…

Today I talked about the importance of keeping track of specialty tools in dealerships. We had a participant on the call that has a great system in place at his dealership. This system is the best I have ever heard of! Click on the link below to find out what he does to track his specialty tools.…

All sales people need to have a monthly sales goal for themselves. They also need to know how they arrived at that specific goal. Many times, these goals are based upon their past sales performance, but past results may not be indicative of performance.

You can increase your sales by 25 percent or more. Identify what causes mental barriers that produce limited results and how to overcome them. Many barriers are caused by conditioning, circumstance and emotions. Many people…

In a recent article by our very own Praveen Tamvada, the pros and cons of the various mobile tablets are examined; and we give some tips on how you can determine which one may work best in your service department. Android vs. Windows vs. iPad? Your favorite may not necessarily be the best fit for your fixed ops needs.

We also explain how the tablets should integrate with your DMS and give some advice on how to design your service lane to get the most out of your…

This week's Think Tank Tuesday dissects Service Retention, and reveals to you the 6 key touch points discovered to raise your Service Profits and keep your service bays full.

Our industry, much like those of construction, technology, national politics and sports (amongst others) are notorious for being dominated by the male species. Why is that? Is it the old aged theory that women simply “don’t grasp the complicated machines known as cars”? Or is it that we just aren't macho enough? Whatever the reasoning, it simply just doesn't make any sense.…