As I travel and talk with managers and dealers I am frequently asked to review and analyze different dealerships sales map's or processes to the sale, it is amazing to me how many overlook the power of the trade in. My opinion is that the trade in is in almost every case the number one secret to the car deal. In all cases, I have always trained sales consultants to look at and review the trade in with the client right after the…

There’s a real human talent in arranging the right pressures (positive and negative), at the right time, on to the right people, to get a desired result.  It’s a hallmark of effective leadership, in fact, and the name “People Chess” is an easy way to summarize this talent.   And we all know its uses in relationships of all kinds, really, both to us by others…

It all starts at the top, the decision makers, the shot callers, the check signers. Recent study shows that these managers, presidents and CEO's don't engage in social media leading to the non-understanding of why it is important.

Using the Fortune 500 list the following was discovered; 70% of all CEOs have no social presence. The percentage that do part take in…

So were you?  Many people I have discovered over the years come to the dealership, work their shift taking ups... and are upset at the end of the day if they have not sold a car... There really is no surprise is there?  Standing around all day and shooting the breeze with each other.... I mean, what sales person is going to buy from you?

There really is so…

On May 22, 2012 I wrote a blog asking the public if GM made a wise choice dropping its 10 million dollar advertising spend from Facebook.  (For the entire blog visit: http://deliverymaxx.wordpress.com/2012/05/22/did-gm-make-a-wise-decision-dropping-facebook-as-an-advertising-medium/ )  My position then as it is now is that GM and many automotive dealerships are…

Prizes totaling $10,000 to be awarded to the auto dealers who develop the most innovative strategies in 2012

Salt Lake City, Utah – July 18, 2012 – DrivingSales  today announced the call for entries for the 2012 DrivingSales Best Idea Contest which recognizes the most innovative auto dealership strategies of 2012. Five auto…

Company receives UVEF Top 25 Under Five Award for second year in a row; wins Silver Stevie® Award for Innovative Company of the Year in 2012 American Business Awards ^SM

Salt Lake City, Utah – July 18, 2012 – DrivingSales today announced that it has received two prestigious business awards: a 2012 “Top 25 Under Five” award from the Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum…

At the conclusion of the NCMi webinar on “Finding the Missing Pieces to Improve Service and Parts Gross Profit,” one of the attendees questioned our recommendation as to the necessity for sub-accounting for automotive dealerships. Robin Cunningham, the NCM Institute faculty member who presented the webinar, suggested that our next Up To Speedarticle attempt to clarify this recommendation. So, here we go!

A meaningful sub-accounting process is a primary ingredient of…

Orlando, Fla – Strathcom Media, Inc., a leading online automotive solutions provider, has selected ActivEngage, Inc. as their preferred provider of automotive live chat and business intelligence. As one of the largest automotive marketing companies in Canada, Strathcom has provided its…

The Automotive Industry has been posting and engaging on Facebook on the wrong days at the wrong time. According to Buddy Media, the automotive industry should be posting on Facebook on Sundays stating, “Engagement rates spike significantly for Posts made on Sunday, but the automotive industry is slow to capitalize on this trend, with less than 8% of all posts being made on this day.”

Don’t get discouraged dealers! I’m here to tell you how…

Update:  July 19th - The partner that CarWoo! has selected is NOT Yahoo Autos rather they have selected AOL Autos.  Read the full story:  AOL and CarWoo! Partnership 

On July 5th, Jason Stein Editor at Automotive News broke…

http://www.applehonda.net

Congratulations to Eric Nichols, Internet Sales Manager in Riverhead Long Island! 

Eric is Delivering 52+ units per month in a 2.5…

Do You Want More Leads From Your Website? from Potratz on Vimeo.

3 Reason Your Delivery Coordinator holds the Keys to Your CSI Scores

Your delivery coordinator is the resource who will help yourcustomers through the delivery process. This person will work hand in hand with customers to make sure…

The 2012 AutoConnections Conference & Exposition (aka AutoCon 2012) is brought to you by Automotive Media Partners, LLC. (AMP). AMP is a company led by Ralph Paglia, Chris Saraceno and Mike Myers who represent the largest online communities for Automotive Professionals.



The conference will start on September 5, 2012 at …

I visited a couple of restaurants in the last week and was not particularly happy with the service.  These are places I have been to before.  I had a particularly difficult time getting a server’s attention in both of these visits. Off and on in the past I had good service and/or good food but was not as impressed as I had been before. It made me less likely to eat there again.

Ask yourselves, how do companies produce customer loyalty if there is not a consistent basis on…

In the automotive sales industry, we sometimes get so wrapped up with adjusting/tweaking our own approach to the sales process (internal critiques) that we often forget to look at how our customers are approaching us with each potential sale.

The cliché, “…it takes two to tango...” comes to mind.

What kind of research or tips do they look for before coming to the car lot?…

Good morning Dealer Elite Members,

As i visit retailers of all stripes I find an interesting problem happens again and again. Simply put it prevents the sales, service and part department from creating happy customers and generating more sales service and parts sales as well.

Here are the details:

One: No customer really cares about why a request is not possible.…

It can be a challenge to keeping track of every visit, contract in transit, trade appraisal and every follow up call due. While technology improves our ability to manage these processes, nothing takes the place of a well structured save-a-deal meeting.

Here is…