I was recently retained to "clean up" an automotive group's warranty departments at a few of their locations - they were dealing with aging claims, manufacturer reduction of claim submission deadlines, bottom right hand drawer syndrome - the normal stuff.

As the days went on, I continued to find an amazing amount of infractions to the established warranty policy and procedure guidelines for claims compliance.  I presented my finding to the head honchos and the respective general…

Over the past eight-years I have read tens of thousands of emails.  I have written and setup over a thousand emails for clients in the auto industry.  When it comes to email marketing, I am very proud to be consider by most, an expert in the field.  My expert knowledge of email…

by Kathryn Carlson

What if you could spot engaged and ready-to-buy shoppers as they browse your dealership website in real-time?  How would that transform your Internet Business?

More and more auto dealers are …

Leaders are Mercedes, Acura, Honda, BMW and Lexus

Women account for about two-thirds of all dealership service visits, and many of these women have spoken. Women-Drivers.com captures reviews about their dealership experiences – and the company has just announced the 2011 top car brands as rated by women.

On the site, dealerships’ scores range from 1.0…

First and foremost, if you're not on top of your other marketing priorities, there's no need to even look at Pinterest at this point. Those priorities should be:

1. Websites
2. Search Marketing (SEO and PPC)
3. Classifieds (AutoTrader, Craigslist, Cars.com, etc)
4. Google Places and Reviews
5. Facebook
6. Other Reviews that Rank for your Name (Yelp, DealerRater, etc.)
7. YouTube
8. Twitter

If all of those are in order and…

The word Jade is a heteronym (a word with the same spelling, yet different meanings) that is used in one form or another in the arena of sales. When used as a noun, Jade is a beautiful, expensive gemstone. As a verb, Jade is worn out broken down worthless and dull. If the word Jade was used to describe your qualities as a sales professional, would you be described as…

An interesting report from comScore and I think some premonitions for retail automotive.

1. Could FREE shipping break open real eCommerce for automotive? I think it is certainly a big hurdle right now logistically and monetarily. Taking away the monetary factor may go a long way toward opening this up. Of course there are still some logistics involved and there is the tactile factor. The need to touch and feel the vehicle is diminishing slowly and…

After attending a very detailed week long training event, a group of new salespeople were starting their first day on the sales floor. They were full of energy, enthusiasm and excitement. The product is new, the environment is new and they’re filled with possibilities. Enthusiasm paired with a growing understanding of their product makes for…

There are two types of people in this world; those who tend to over think or those who tend to under think. Many people mistakenly apologize for over thinking situations. The act of over thinking is not bad, but when you over think could be-particularly in sales. Over thinking should be done in the preparation and practice stages of your sales career not…

Why does GM think they have to be so involved? They are like that friends parents in high school that are WAY too involved. Just get out of our way and let us sell some cars. I can't help but think that a majority of dealers have to be smarter than they let on to be. With GM buying Google ad words, and making us compete against ourselves, forcing us to have a Cobalt site, and now taking over our Yelp, Google…

“I don’t need another book on farmin’, when I ain’t farmin’ as good as I know how right now!”

I remember that statement like it was yesterday.  That’s what a dealer told me over the phone back in 1987, in the the early days of my consulting career.  It was right after I explained the services I could offer him. He made it very clear to me that he wasn’t interested in anything new and different. He knew that “magic bullets and shiny objects” wouldn’t provide the solutions he…

J.D. Power 2/3/2012

“Capitalizing on Market Momentum”

- North America should have an 8% growth in 2012. Here is the breakdown:

13.8 million sales in 2012, 11.5 million will be retail.

Why the increase in 2012?

1. Production and increased demand.

2. Aging fleet / pent up demand.

3. More new products over the next 3 years.

4. Rebound in leasing.

5.…

Warm congratulations to Kelly Automotive, winners at the state level of the prestigious Dealer of the Year award given by Dealer Rater! Chris Saraceno (L)  and his team worked tirelessly this year to go above and beyond their customers' expectations, and their efforts definitely paid off!…

By now, many of you have verified your dealership’s profitability for 2011.  As most dealers, general managers and controllers understand, until we perform a final year-end reconciliation of each asset and liability account, the YTD profitability displayed on our income statement remains an unproven number.  For some of you, this verification process will result in an upward adjustment to your 2011 profitability. However, experience tells me that most dealers…

Many professional sales and sales management trainers believe that you have not "maxed out" on a vehicle buyer until that buyer initiates one additional sale (additional household vehicle or personal referral) during his/her normal purchase cycle. Mathematically, here's how the "one additional sale" concept works:  

Assume that the normal customer purchase cycle…

Many dealerships today are focused on the quick fixes that will improve car deals and attract clients to service. What they are not recognizing is this is the end game not the beginning of what steps should happen to reach their goal. Have you checked your culture in your store lately?

Many people in General Management positions who come into a new environment are also making these mistakes in getting things started. Here are some suggestions for making the transition:

1) Get a…