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Let’s take a look at some things still commonly observed in dealerships that are outdated and should be changed.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

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!…

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…

I know it's the heart of football season and the beginning of basketball season, but baseball is the sport that truly helps to illustrate this particular post. On social media, not all times are created equal. It's important to know where and when to place your pitches to let your fans and followers hit home runs for you.

There have been…

The talk these days is all about “transparency”.  Since consumers are doing tremendous amounts of research BEFORE visiting a dealership, since they are so well-informed, since they know what they want, dealers need to be transparent about everything.  One cannot argue with the data.  According to studies by R.L.Polk/AutoTrader and Google/Shopper Sciences:

• The average car shopper starts the process online, spends
• 19 hours doing research, and
• References 18…

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…

I am going to cut to the chase here because your time is valuable and reading on and on....and on the ramblings of a “expert” is not really how you make money.  I will show you how to DOUBLE your business and it is no joke.  With no reservation I will tell you I have done it time and time again.  It takes two main ingredients and a commitment to the “success recipe”.  

The ingredients are the hardest to find really.  I have walked away from many a deal…

This Thanksgiving h oliday we traveled up to see relatives that we haven't seen in a long time.  What was most refreshing for me this trip wasn't the break from work and rest, as it normally is, but instead a conversation I had with my nephew who has just entered the industry.  We talked about all that he is learning and his goal to work his way up.  He's currenlty training…

#1 Korean singing sensation Psy has unseated pop idol Justin Bieber on the YouTube charts.

“Gangnam Style” officially became the most-viewed video in YouTube history Saturday, beating out previous record-holder, the Biebs’ “Baby.”

Clocking in at 805 million views, the video that spawned invisible horse dancing bests “…

Things HAVE changed!  Customer buying habits have changed.  The entire world has changed the way we do business and buy just about everything.  

ONE of the most significant things I've reinforced that's made a dramatic impact on sales is to discuss a customer's budget, NOT PRICE ON THE LOT, but MORE emphasis discussing budget during fact finding.  Some dealers are very emphatic NOT to discuss it (just show the customer a car…

Some people seem to have all of the luck, don’t they?  We read and hear stories of those lucky people who caught their big break because they happened to be in the right place at the right time. Seemingly overnight, “mis” no longer preceded their…

Photo sharing has been around a long time now and though the modes of capturing and sharing a photograph may have changed, the idea behind photo sharing still holds true. Photos spark an emotional connection in a way that text cannot. How many of you remember your family’s old photo album? It either lived on your living room table or resided on a shelf next to some other…

Five Important Benefits for Car Dealerships with High Performance Business Development Centers (BDC)

1. Accountability:

First and foremost and good, functional BDC center should be able to provide your dealership with accountability. Being able to accurately track numbers and statistics though not the primary role, is an…

There was a time not too long ago when it was hard to get dealers to post enough. The mythical beast known as EdgeRank (which Facebook technically hasn't used in a long time, but that's not important now) compels people to want to maximize the exposure of their posts by keeping a constant flow of positive engagement going towards their Facebook…

How to Setup Your Dealerships Pinterest Business Page

I think its safe to say that in the past couple of months Pinterest has been working diligently to increase their status as a powerhouse contributor to the social media community, with the release of the verification of Pinterest accounts, the…

 Is Front Gross $PVR Still a Relevant Metric?

One of our “poster” clients—with super market penetration, great customer retention, strong gross profit production, and excellent net-to-gross retention—doesn’t believe in focusing on front $PVR, at least in his new vehicle department. In fact, his business model is based on $-0- new vehicle “total front gross profit.” But please also understand the following:

• The New…

Have you wondered why certain things online go viral? Why do we share each other’s blogs, links, and video content? Think about it. Is it because you want to promote a brand? No. Is it because you follow a user religiously and want to share everything and anything they post? Nope. 

People share content because it makes them look…

There are many stores that demand "100% T.O." from their sales team,but do we share with them why we do this,when we should do this,and how we should T.O.? If we share with them the importance of not only doing it,but doing it correctly,they will have a better understanding of the financial benefits to them as well as the store.First, when do we T.O.?We should T.O. the deal when your sales rep has reached an impasse with his/her potential buyer and any further pressure may affect the rapport…

Google is constantly updating and revising its algorithms that affect search results. In fact, the only thing that stays the same is how critically important it is to your business to maintain a website that keeps up with the changes in search engine optimization.

One of the biggest changes in the past several years has been the increasing impact of off-site SEO. So, what is off-site SEO? How important is it in relation to on-site SEO? On-site SEO is the optimization that is done on…

Corporations as well as high profile individuals live and die by the messages they are sending. From a shocking scandal to a new fragrance, it is the job of a Pr (Public Relations) firm to spray the right message to its intended audience. In short, a great Pr firm monitors the heartbeat of its targeted audience. Sadly, salespeople’s careers are cut short every day…