10)  We were all born of women, consider the pain, anguish and toil endured for you to just be here; in other words, if nothing else, do it for your mom dummy

9)  You can't just buy every female customer and co-worker roses and jewelry to make up for stupid things you say like you do with your wife or girlfriend- get it right

8)  Girls stopped having cooties a long time ago, it is safe to treat them as human now

7)  Every woman is somebody's daughter

6)  Women…

Womens Month

February 08, 2011

There are a number of good reasons for operating an ethical and legally compliant dealership, not the least of which is staying out of a courtroom.  Perhaps the most important - and most often overlooked - reason is increased customer satisfaction.  There are times when an employee may feel that he or she came out the winner by bending the rules a little, but what about the dealership’s reputation?  What about the customers who were mislead?  It seems like there might be some losers in the…

Below is one of my favorite tales of two dealerships. It is a favorite story because I believe both dealerships had the best of intentions, just one made a positive impact and the other a not so positive impact on how one woman in a vast world of consumers experienced buying her first brand new car.

The ink on the divorce decree was nearly dry and I was out to make some big changes in my…

In the auto business life gets pretty hectic.  Monthly deadlines, sales quota's, closing ratios, and heat cases are all part of our daily routine.   If you are a trainer or vendor have you ever called a manager at a dealership who said, "Sure I have lots of time to speak with you about your service."   Nope, they never have time, they are too busy whatever it is that keeps them busy.  

I came across this article that I wanted to share with dealerelite members.  It has some…

Google doesn't always get things right the first time but eventually they do listen to their user community.

One of those "Amen!" moments came recently when Google decided to allow multiple users to share Google Webmaster Tools data for a single website.

This is a BIG opportunity for car dealers who often have been told by their web hosting company that Webmaster Tools Data was off limits to their staff. It…

F&I Compliance always gets attention in a dealership but making sure you also are in compliance with the numerous human resources, safety and enviromental regulations is equally important.  There are no less than ten federal laws and regulations that impact  hiring (not to mention state laws) and that is only the start. The federal Department of Labor (including OSHA and the…

It’s good to be nice. Nice works, especially with women.

Of course whatever you do to meet the needs of women, will delight your male customers! That’s actually a fact based on a Wharton School study in partnership with WomenCertified. So in short aim for what makes her happy and you will win with everyone.

Sometimes we have to remember that we are customers too and treat them the way we would want to be treated. Kind of hard sometimes when we become robots in how we sell and…

All the Lot’s a Stage 

All the lot’s a stage and the men and women merely the players:

There’s nothing like butchering some Shakespeare to make a point, huh?  Not bad for a car-guy.  In the excerpt from “As You Like It” Shakespeare breaks down the seven “roles” people play through their lives.  Let’s take a look at them and compare them to the life of a car-guy.

The Infant: mewing and…

Overland Park, Kan., May 2, 2011 ― NCM Associates, a leading provider of retail automotive 20 Group services, Education, Retail Operations Consulting and the originator of the NCM Benchmark® for Success program for automobile dealers, today announced that Helms Brothers Mercedes-Benz has tripled its gross profits through the implementation of the Mercedes-Benz Pre-Owned Profit Improvement Program under the guidance of NCM…

Compare the automotive industry from only a year ago to today or from ten years ago to today and we all will have the conclusion and understanding that this industry is ever changing and evolving.  No longer is the car standing on the lot at a dealership a guarantee for a sale and no longer can you just stare out the window of a dealership waiting for business.

Digital shopping and digital living has created a very unique challenge for dealers. It now makes your…

) Be social:  Wherever two or more of your customers are gathered, so should your dealership be there also (to paraphrase), and that applies to social media.  And, if you're not there personally yourself, too, get on Facebook NOW--having a business page and not being on Facebook…

Release The Past

You can't change what happened in the past,

but you have choice over how you live NOW

Forgiveness is…

Appreciation: (n) an expression of admiration approval, or gratitude

I was sitting in my loft office (Yes, it's very necessary for me to call it this. It makes me feel pretty. Pretty awesome.), and one of my clients' relatives came into the office. He said, "You know, Joey really loves your…

Failure doesn’t mean you were dump to try; it means you had courage to explore and experiment to see what would work and what would not.

Failure doesn’t mean you don’t know how to make decisions; it just means you have to make another decision.

Failure doesn’t mean you’re a failure… It does mean you haven’t succeeded yet.

Failure…

     Vilified, customers petrified of an industry wrought with ne’er-do-goods;

Loathed and convicted of wrongs committed by others- perhaps we’re misunderstood?

What appears to me is an honorable, loyal sister and brotherhood.

Apologizing for the sins of others enduring the scorn and disdain;…