Customers never buy things based on price alone........

If you don't believe me take a look at Starbucks or Apple computer. What dealerships need to realize is customers can buy vehicles anywhere and most brands have great product lines as well. The question is what are you doing to attract new customers and maintain your existing customers by creating an amazing customer experience. Think about your local high end hotel, that dry cleaner or grocery store that…

We put a spiff on today.  10/10/10/10.  The salespeople were challenged to have all of their appointments in the CRM by 10am.  Any logged appointment who shows is good for $10.  If that same appointment writes, another $10.  If that same write Spots, another $10.  As of 2pm we had 16…

I have been reading about truecar over the last week or so. There have been strong opinions on each side of the issue. The reality is truecar is here for now and probably will not be going away for quite some time. I don't have time to wait. I need to sell cars right now.

Question: A sales call comes in and the customer says they have a truecar certificate to a dealer that is 50 miles away. Then the question from the customer is "will you honor the truecar price?"

How would you…

When computers first started making their way in the 80's, I abolished it, including my college days during floppy discs. Then came "The Worldwide Web' Still in retail mid-20's and still the youngest selling Bick/Isuzu as NCM, still blown off. I moved all the Buicks to the back & drove all the Rodeo's & Trooper's up to the front....guess what? That's right, it worked...what a miracle. Tired of being tapped on the head like a little boy, I left! I did govt. work, counted beans, all…

Centuries ago, before elaborate bottling processes and wineries, wines were transported in wineskins. It was advised to never pour new wine into old wineskins because old wineskins were contaminated with fermented bacteria. New wineskins lose their pliability as they age and burst when the new wine is poured into old skins, the skins no longer have the…

Here's the second in an ongoing series of weekly social media tips:



Social Media Tip #102~ Be Real.



Your Facebook fans have 'liked' your page voluntarily - and they can just as voluntarily 'unlike' your page if you do not maintain a positive, interesting, engaging presence. One very simple yet effective way of retaining fans is to just be yourself.

Here's how: ask yourself, 'What would I like to read about, look at, get involved in, if I were a fan viewing my page?'…

Benjamin Franklin once said, “He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.” We make excuses why we can’t squeeze another task into a day, especially when it comes to learning. We treat learning like we do exercising; we’ll get to it when we can. Eventually, a lack of learning, like exercising, will lead to the terminal illness of your career.…

Often customers that bring a vehicle in for service purchased it somewhere else at another dealership. There are many causes for this however let's look at this example in more detail. First understand the purchase has already been made and will not be up for discussion. You cannot change the past. That being said there is nothing to gain for your service department to show this customer anything but your best. With a positive service visit it is likely when deciding to purchase their next…

Facebook is free to join and build a page, but it's definitely not free to use effectively. Time is money. Advertising is money. This infographic by our partners at Column Five Media for Flowtown breaks down the true costs of Facebook marketing. Click to enlarge.…

What does it take to succeed in today’s automotive environment?

It takes a strong leader that combines experience, knowledge, determination and a positive attitude to make a huge difference!

It requires the ability to hold everyone in the dealership accountable. Employees need to understand that it is EVERYONES RESPONSILBILITY for the success of the business!

It takes the understanding of technology and how to utilize it to maximize growth and…

You know the old saying, "throw everything up against the wall and see what sticks?" I probably don't need to tell you this, but that shouldn't really be your mantra when it comes to creating an automotive marketing campaign.

Still, and…

Sucker Punch

When I arrived in Atlanta in 1982 with my mattresses tied to the roof of my 'buy here- pay here car', you might say I was 'street tough' and 'world wise'... certainly not the warm and fuzzy, cuddly, kinder gentler Ziegler you've all grown to know and love. I used to say we couldn't have a class reunion till all of my friends got out of…

pas·sion·ate - expressing, showing, or marked by strong feeling; having, compelled by, or ruled by intense emotion; fervid. 

I recently wrote an Up To Speed blog post about vehicle personalization. In it, I implored dealerships to take advantage of the potential profitability in “personalizing” the new and used…

So I was searching on True Car for a model in my area and look at the pricing data.

So correct me if I am wrong.

True Car grabs pricing data based on transactions. These transaction prices are based on SOLD vehicles. After I added the Seven Cars in the example for the highs and lows, the "Good Price" does average out close to $37,794. …

Making the decision to have auto dealer chat on your website is considered by many successful dealers to be a great one. It enables you to interact with your website traffic and get a feel for what your customers are looking for. It isn’t enough to just have the software on your website, however. In order to generate high quality car sales leads, you have to know how to use auto dealer chat.

 

First and foremost you have got to have a website. This seems…

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http://www.linkedin.com/in/stansher83

http://twitter.com/stansher

 …

http://www.facebook.com/dealeretraining

http://twitter.com/stansher

http://www.linkedin.com/in/stansher83

As I work with various dealerships all over the nation, I am still amazed at the kind of attitude that I find sales…

http://www.dealeretraining.com

http://www.facebook.com/dealeretraining

http://www.linkedin.com/in/stansher83

Does your sales and business…

The NCM Institute just posted this article on the Up To Speed blog.  Written by NCM Institute Director and retail operations specialist, Garry House, you'll find a good, basic plan for how to start a personalization program in your store... 

Since the 2011 Specialty Equipment Market…