Over at Automotive Digital Marketing, there's been a long discussion started by Jim Zieglerabout Carfax and its place in the…

A few months back I attended Autocon 2012. There I learned a lot of new techniques and processes to help bring my dealership to the next level in automotive internet sales. But instead of running home and writing a review right away about the courses I attended and what they spoke about, I decided to wait about writing about what I heard and implement it…

Does Your Dealership Have a Good Incentive Based Marketing Program?

By

Jason Parman

Incentive based marketing can in large be defined as the use of motivational devices such as competitions, games, premiums, and special pricing to promote the sale of a particular…

There's a trend in the automotive industry that is alarming. We hear this scenario played out almost every day and it normally manifests itself into one of two stages:

• Stage 1: The Fresh Tech Hunter - When a dealership is tired of the limitations of their various vendors, they…

Do you feel like you are missing out on something? Are you confused as to what the next step is in making your dealership successful? It’s a different ballgame than it was even just a few years ago. The traditional dealership is dead and you must bury it to prosper in the future.

For years, the car business could be a forgiving business. There was room for a lot of error in a dealership, and yet a dealership could still be profitable. Those days are gone. Dealerships…

     1.13.13.  I’m counting down the days. 

    If you know what I’m talking about, then you’re probably a Chevy Man -- or Gal.

     1.13.13 is the reveal date for the seventh-generation Corvette.…

Small businesses, especially ones that operate locally or regionally, need to be on social media. I don’t think anyone disputes this anymore; it is so true that it has become axiomatic. The problem comes from businesses not knowing what to do once they’re on social media. We’ve published guides here and you can find hundreds (heck, probably thousands) of others…

ActivEngage was honored with another award earlier this week, the Tech 200. Each year, information services company Lead411 compiles a list of the top revenue-producing startups in technology. This year’s list ranks companies…

Brand You: Never Trash Your Competitors

So many of the things that are important are pretty darn simple-minded truisms. And I’ve 

spent the last 35 years of my life stating and re-stating, often in very high volumes, the

obvious.

And so, here goes another one: Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, regardless of the

circumstance, regardless of your personal experience, never…

Our industry and all businesses lost a great innovator and motivator on Wednesday with the passing of Zig Ziglar.Zig was one my "Motivational Mentors"and an individual who could change your thought process with one simple saying or quote.His first book,"SEE YOU AT THE TOP" was one of my first reads in my infancy in the automobile business in the mid-seventies.His simple approach to mental "cleanliness" and daily positive mental attitude helped shape my career and kept me on the right track…

It May Be Time To Kill Your Business Model Before Your Business Model Buries You

Think about this….How often do you readjust your business model? Unfortunately, there are some dealers that are still living off the same business model that they have had twenty years ago. Not to say this is a bad thing but tends to lead to missed opportunities.  

This raises a key leadership question: Why do leaders wait too long to modify or abandon their business models?…

They say timing is everything. In social media, quality of content is almost everything. The rest of it does come down to timing.

This is Part II of the series on timing. Please read…

Facebook makes us smile, shudder, squeeze into photographs so we can see ourselves online later, fret when no one responds to our witty remarks, snicker over who got fat after high school, pause during weddings to update our relationship status to Married or codify a break-up by setting our status back to Single.

- TIME, May ‘10

Source:…

Robert Gruen, CEO of Higher Gear Speaking At The Internet Sales 20 Group In Chicago On CRM Best Practices from Dealer Synergy on Vimeo.

Today, some excellent training from Steven Resell on how to research and write a blog post quickly.

We have have featured Steven several times on this site and while he is not one of the best known internet marketers out there, I have always considered him one of the best teachers.

In fact, I love the fact that he doesn’t come at you with all…

Welcome to Part 4 of a live dealership case study.  This is the final chapter of a 6 week project.  You can catch up by reading part 3and previous chapters as well.  In this chapter we will discuss what the dealership is now doing and what they have accomplished in the 6 weeks that I have spent working with…

Webinar on Tuesday, December 4^th, at 2 p.m. EST provides a crash course on the rules of compliant customer communications, including education on state and federal regulations

Daytona Beach, FL –November 28th, 2012 – DMEautomotive (DMEa), the science-inspired, results-based automotive marketing leader, announces its upcoming webinar hosted with WardsAuto on…

In the ever changing auto world, the one item that does and will always remain a constant is the necessity of quality people. This of course begs the question how do I get the most qualified and professional individuals?

Now don’t go beating yourself up looking for an answer to that question. Instead spend some time finding an answer to the following; why do I not have a file of qualified candidates to choose from already in my possession?

Does your reputation precede you? Do…

As a manager, and a business owner I am constantly amazed at how people hold themselves back.   One thing I noticed recently and I think is probably an epidemic in this country, is that people get very very caught up in their comfort zone.  I have developed a speech for these people and have had much success with it. ( especially sales managers)   Simply take your employee that is living in COMFORT and tell them that what you want them to do for the next 30 days is just focus on getting…