For a few months now, I’ve been discussing the idea that local businesses should never fall into the trap of trying to be funny or interesting through the use of irrelevant pictures and memes. “No cat or dog pictures” has become a mantra of sorts with the concept being that businesses should try to stand out, not fit into the mix on Facebook and other social media sites.

As some have argued, there are definitely…

Unless you have been hiding in a cave somewhere, you have heard that the U.S. economy is doing poorly. Housing starts are down, the value of the dollar is down, car sales are down, real estate is down, retail is down, gas prices are up, food prices are up, bankruptcies are up and the sky is falling. What is a person to do?

1. Don't Drink the Cool Aid

The news is sensationalized and fear sells. Things are rarely as good as they seem and things are rarely as bad as they…

A few months ago, we confronted one of our dealers that had our website solution about why they were putting a watermark of their logo on irrelevant pictures and posting them to social media. Apparently, their social media vendor had a theory.

It was a process, really, and it went like this:

1. Find viral images on sites like Reddit, 9Gag,…

Despite NADA’s landmark victory in getting most auto dealers exempted from direct oversight by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), it looks like the agency has found a back-door way to make life more difficult for dealerships. The Bureau recently announced that lenders that offer auto loans through dealerships will be held responsible for…

Some say that a dealer doesn’t need overnight chat operators because some research shows that only 10 percent of dealership web traffic occurs between midnight and 8 am. They estimated that with a 3 percent chat rate that would extrapolate to only 15 chats per month with 5,000 visitors. Here’s why even if those figures are accurate,…

It’s Saturday! Blow up the Balloons, blow up the squiggly air man thingy, get your game faces on and get ready. Barely anyone will walk on to your lot today. Any ideas why?

Before you continue reading this article, do me a favor right now and go grab your local newspaper. Open it up to the first auto dealer…

From day one, owners Ted Rubin and Todd Smith built ActivEngage to be employee-focused. In addition to providing free medical, dental, and vision benefits, ActivEngage proves that it truly values its employees with free gym memberships to promote workplace wellness, an on-staff licensed massage therapist to relieve work-related stress, bi-monthly food trucks, and a lounge…

Look, I get it. I understand that it’s hard for vendors and OEMs to produce a social media solution for their dealers that scales properly while still bringing in good content. I do not, however, understand the concept of not even trying to mix things up. There’s an easy road and a hard road for automotive social…

Some infographics are long for the sake of being long. They take up way too much space to make very few points or to present data in ways that simply don’t make sense from an graphic perspective. Then, there are those infographics that are long for a valid reason. This is one of those.

Social media is ever changing.…

As social media gets more and more entrenched in our daily lives, it’s becoming the easiest and most visible place for one of the most important things your company can have but can’t buy – word-of-mouth marketing.

You can have your customer experience down pat, a loyalty program that rocks and customers lined up to do business with you; but does that mean…

This article brings up so good questions. For discussion here do you think that, excluding the Mega Dealers, the big data lies within the databases of most dealers? And that the main objective of most dealers should be to concentrate on their own market area for trends, Do most dealers have within their own market areas the keys to their marketing success?

Instead of focusing upon the concept of big data, organisations should…

I have been in the car business for close to five years now, and I still find it horrifying when I hear customers talk about previous purchases and visits to Car Dealerships. For anyone to really make a go at a career in the car business, The first thing for them to understand is that service is still senior! People who are making or considering making a purchase that size still deserve a certain level of service. And by what I have heard, it is also a great way to differentiate yourself in…

As a car dealer, you’ve been thoroughly trained on all steps of a sale from greeting through negotiation and final sale. And, you apply these steps well. But, it’s a good bet that even armed with all of your knowledge and experience there have been more than a few times when you found yourself wondering, "What happened? I thought everything was going well and yet the prospect walked out the door."

Here, you will learn unusual but highly effective tips to help you focus on signals that…

Think you know best? If your customers don't agree they'll leave. Convenience, Amenities & Information keep them close. Find out more in our article in the May-June Fixed Ops Magazine – page 20!…

This is less than ten minutes long, and will help you make sense out if our crazy world and even crazier business.  Enjoy!

This concept is so aligned with the the direction of our entire business culture.  Please comment!

A long time ago I read a book called "Death by Meeting" it was a great book written by Patrick Lencione.  Although the book was filed with great concepts and ideas, I remember taking away one thing from it; Don't meeting yourself to death. Instead, actually go do something. 

I teach everyone around me to actually ask themselves in any down time of the day at all "What should or could I be doing now".   Have the one minute manager meetings, get the heck out of them and go put…

HINT: Its appeal is rooted in a philosophy set forth by the vehicle's first…

I saw this great quote and had to share it with everyone. Our industry, Automotive, has had so many perception issues over the past 20+ years and we get really mad about most of the jokes right?

People say things like “that guy reminds me of a used car salesman” when they describe someone that they think is, well, less than honest.

For YEARS I would get so upset an debate these comments like “Hey, not everyone is like that stereotype from the 70′s movie….we’re people…

I'm "that guy." You know, the one who thinks that 4-stars is an amazing review coming from me, the one who hasn't rated anything a 10 out of 10 since my wife's Mediterranean pasta, the guy who wonders why his kid only got an "A" and not an "A+" on a test. There are more of us out there than you think, but there's a benefit to what I call…

http://www.internetsales20group.com

Make Money Mondays With Sean V. Bradley & Jim Ziegler (Special…