As a sales manager, I hosted a daily sales meeting like every good sales manager should.  Like all good salespeople do, the sales team would come to the meeting with their list of “should-haves” and “could-haves” if only “blah-blah” was true.  This would often take the wind right out of my sails and tarnish the…

Social Networking has transformed from a way that college kids could keep in touch to a main stream tool for capitalism.  Social Media is one of the newest tools available to the global economy as more and more businesses are adopting Social Media Marketing Plans.  With an audience of over 500 million users, Social Media has become the platform for engaging with clients and prospects on a real time and…

Coaching…or should I say…continual coaching… is THE… most important ingredient in running a successful business….

But with so much time…effort…and money being spent on coaching …why isn’t it more effective??

Let’s take a look at coaching as a whole…

It goes without saying…that coaching …as with…

How can this be? How can success and failure be one in the same? That doesn’t make sense. Does it?

Professional Baseball Player- Gets up 5 times in a game and strikes out, all 5 times. One would agree his performance was a failure. He is a professional, which makes him successful. Right?

Professional Golfer- Has a round of 80. Eight shots over par. A very bad day, for professional golf…

The biggest mistake salespeople, sales managers and BDC staff make is that they let notes in their CRM or on paper convince them not to call customers back. As I always say you need to get the consumer out of you before you make the call. Someone is going to be sold and the question is who. How can you expect to re-motivate customers to visit the dealership if you are not convinced when you call them. The question is are you selling them or are they selling you?…

I recently asked Dealer Elite Members what they thought of using Groupon to sell cars- no matter what we all think the idea seems to have fallen flat.  REad the complete article at…

Nicki Allen of Classic Mazda and Classic Chrysler Dodge Jeep of Denton gives new perspective to some traditional ideas in the automotive business.  A focus on new technology defines a new attitude for these Texas dealerships. Click the image above for the full feature.

I popped open my DealerKnows email this morning and saw that Google Analytics sent out a Benchmark Newsletter.  (See below).  If you recall, when signing up for your Google Analytics account, you were offered to "opt-in" to anonymous data-sharing with Google.  Well they've consolidated the data and are making some modifications to their standard benchmarking report.  The information is revealing, but how does the…

Do you remember the ad you answered for your first sales job at a dealership?  What was the minimum education level they wanted?  PhD?  Masters?  Not likely.  Most have listed that you need a high school diploma for consideration.  And, as I recall, no one ever really checked.  If that's the minimum, what if they told you that to be really successful you'd need the equivalent of five college educations? …

Have you ever heard someone say …

“it’s not MY job”

Or….

Finger point at another employee,……..

thus blaming them for the shortfall??

Or better yet, make up an elaborate story to simply cover their butts??

These people suffer from “victimitis”….

They feel they are the victims in every situation. They never hold themselves accountable and everyone else is…

Create Your Own Positive Path

Your attitude influences your world and everything you do in it.

It defines the energy you send out and, in turn, takes shape and color in your circumstances.

If you…

The Penske Automotive Group is catching up to AutoNation in the total revenue department. A few years ago, AutoNation was generating about $20 billion in annual revenue, while Penske was at about $8 billion.

Penske has narrowed the gap considerably generating $10.6 billion last year to AutoNation's $12.4 billion ($12.5 if you round up). And now Penske has added about $257 million worth of revenue with today's acquisition of Crevier BMW in Santa Ana, CA. Crevier is the fifth…

“What is the number one challenge most dealers have with improving profits?”  1) Employee Turnover, 2) Capital, 3) Inventory, 4) Process, and 5) Recruiting Talent.  Of those polled, 30% answered “Recruiting Talent”.

It is not rocket surgery (it is easier to build a rocket than trouble shoot and repair one) as to how talent affects the dealership’s bottom line.  What puzzles me is why…

Our recent poll, "What is the number 1 challenge most dealers have with improving profits?" shows that RECRUITING TALENT and PROCESSES are the #1 challenge to improving our profits as dealers. The question now becomes:

• Are RECRUITING TALENT and…

Both automotive management and…