Automotive service and repair is a $215 billion a year industry.  Change is either an obstacle or an accelerant to getting your fair share.  Or rather, your response to change is the determining factor.  Change at the local level as well as global shifts may be out of your control, but you can respond and adapt.

Lay of the Land

The…

To those of you who need something to wake you up, always remember, you have to put the effort out if you want to be the best. You can't just talk about it, you have to do it! Being #1 isn't a sometimes thing!!! 

As we reach the mid year time, many of us make decisions.  Some even make commitments to change certain aspects of their life and their profession.  Unfortunately, far too many change absolutely nothing because they believe that their career is subject to the mercy of the markets.  They boast about how they were a top producer during the market high points, and continue doing the same things they did when customers simply showed up with checkbooks in hand.

     Case in point.  A good…

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Sales Training:

Traditionally we train our salesmen to act on rather than act with the customer. Say the right lines, the the right word track, and the customer will buy. If the customer doesn't buy then we didn't say the

right thing. Right words, right outcome. I have been to numerous sales trainings over the years and usually it starts with loud music and a man yelling at the attendees trying to pump them up. Nothing wrong with building excitement and confidence, but the focus is…

I was visiting a dealership repair center recently, and while sitting in the customer lounge working on my laptop, I couldn’t help but identify with some of those “waiters”, who during my 30+ years in retail, I referred to them as just that…”waiters”. I watched and recognized emotions of restlessness, uncertainty,…

Attitude is a key factor in high sales performance.

Regardless of the number of years spent selling, or level of understanding one has in regards to sales techniques or strategies, without a strong conviction in oneself, the prospect's conviction in moving…

Have an "orphan" list from a prior salesperson...Have the intro letter to send out loaded with incentives to send people in or come in them selves...The Company picks up the postage...How sweet is this?.... If your "seasoned" salespeople aren't doing this, ask them "Why NOT"?

With the exception of your home security system, success is not predicated on a “set it and forget it” mentality. 

Pilots don’t just set a Boeing 767 in the air and then go have a drink with the passengers until it’s time to land, nor do coaches design a game plan for tonight’s game and head…

You have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to build or beautify your dealership.  Your advertising budget equals or exceeds that amount.  Your inventory has been posted online, and there are plenty of choices for potential customers to make a great selection.  CSI scores have never been higher at the dealership than they are right now!

So why are your salespeople standing around wondering why there are not any customers to sell a vehicle to?  Is there grumbling going on in the…

Another Way To Make More Money Selling Accessories

As another way to show our commitment to help you make more by selling accessories Insignia Group provides easy to use word track…

If you MANAGE ACTIVEY, you CONTROL RESULTS. Sales people AND Managers must manage activity and inspect it throughout the day to ensure the work plans are executed.

Remember the Kevin Costner movie a few years…

To all Dealer Principals or General Managers reading this post, "Are you tired of having a dozen+ stand alone reports to review each month?  Are you challenged to know how to leverage vendor reports to make business decisions?"

How many reports are generated each month by dealership vendor partners? My quick list of potential monthly reports…

Why order prints, when you can print on demand? The recent development of a location-based printer called Instaprint created by a company called Breakfast, works with Instagram, the latest mobile photo-sharing application. This rented printer will allow users to instantly print Instagram photos taken at a specific location or marked with a specific hashtag.

Photos…

Your dealership customers aren't just using their mobile devices to find your car dealer website, they are also using them to read the emails you send.  A recent report from the marketing agency Knotice found that more than 27 percent of emails were opened on a mobile device during the second half of 2011.  This is a 36 percent gain from the end of 2010.

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It was in late 1987, and I was conducting an in-dealership workshop focused on financial and operational planning and controls. I was describing an F&I process that I had recommended to increase service contract penetration, when the general manager said, “We used to do that.” In response, I asked, “Did it work?” “Absolutely,” he answered. I was tempted to say, “Then why did you stop doing it?” but I was new to the consulting business and didn’t want to risk offending one of my few…

Part one of this topic was published here on January 19, 2012. In that article I discussed the four no-cost or low-costactivities that, when executed flawlessly, will increase a service department's customer R.O. count by at least 10%. Today I’ll address several other proven strategies to increase your customer-paid service…