Let's face it. In the real world, big corporations have an advantage. They have more money for national television ads. They have armies of people marketing and advertising their products and services. They have name recognition and branding. None of this matters (as much) on the web.

The internet gives a venue for small businesses to have more equal footing with the larger…

BlogHer.com and J D Power asked both men and women to describe their range of emotions while going through the automotive purchasing cycle.  Both genders listed “excited” as the primary emotion with men at 71% and women at 74%. Women were also more nervous (53%) during the process than men (42%) and less confident (30%) than men (37%).

However, when we filtered the same question results through those who had used either blogs or social networks to help with car information prior to…

1) No Dealer shall allow access by any Vendor to their business data (DMS, CRM, etc.) without restrictions to specific data needed and on the use of such data by the Vendor for only providing a clear and very strong business advantage to the Dealer.…

I decided to write this post after a comment I left on my Facebook Profile, it stated:

The Law Of Profitable Returns: As long as the value of your goods and services exceeds what was paid for them, then the profit received will always…

You’re always One Choice away from changing your life…

Think about this for a moment…

one choice, just one, can change your life forever.

Simply put, your life today is what your…

Every customer that walks into that door should be greeted with a smile and a welcoming statement. You never want a customer to feel ignored. No matter how busy you are, it only takes a few seconds to stop and let them know you aknowledge them and will be with them in a minute. You want them to feel good about the decisions they are about to make in sales or service. Customer's want to know they are investing their money in the right places. There is nothing worse than buyers remorse. If you…

I used to think the word "IF" was one of the most ambiguous words, I know now that it is now definitely the word "FREE" .

We got things for Free so We gave away our data in exchange for Free.  I'm not going to throw stones at anyone or any entity but without a doubt my dad was right when he said, "pay now or pay later, nothing is free".  I'm sure we've ALL heard…

DealerOn.com, the premier auto dealer website provider is expanding its executive team to further accelerate the steady growth trajectory of its business.  DealerOn, Inc., a leading online marketing company serving the retail automotive industry – today announces the appointment of Gerard J. (Jerry) Petrotto to the newly-created position of Chief Sales Officer.…

A lot of discussion about whether one lead type is better than another or whether a lead generator is hurting the car business is actually a bunch of bull.  Who cares, in the trenches it is all about taking care of customers and building relationships.  Carfax made a bold move a while back and got a lot of push back from vendors, speakers and dealers.  What they were trying to do is be CUSTOMER CENTRIC, something we all talk about but rarely accomplish.  The same thing with ZAG, their…

Is yelp business friendly or are they doing what would be called legal "BlackMail"?  I had five of my personal customers go on yelp to give a review, good or bad, I just wanted their input and post.  Yes, I asked them because the service was awesome, but real people, with real ratings sent to archive, Why?????

A study released in September shows how Ratings and Reviews has an impact on consumer shopping decisions.  They seek out what experiences other consumers had before they make their own decision.  This of course is different from general "social media" where they seek out commentary from their friends.

Some excerpts of this study include:"Data from “The 2011 Social…

Digital marketing veteran to focus on delivering unbiased actionable business intelligence to Tier 3 retailers

SALT LAKE CITY, Dec. 1, 2011 -- DrivingSales announced today that it has acquired consulting, training and research company Revenue Guru.  As part of the acquisition, Revenue Guru founder and veteran automotive digital marketing expert…

If Google's pilot to sell cars in San Francisco is successful, how will it affect Autotrader,Cars.com and

 TRUECAR/ZAG?

What would they need to do to compete with Google?

What have you heard about the pilot program in San…

pas·sion·ate - expressing, showing, or marked by strong feeling; having, compelled by, or ruled by intense emotion; fervid. 

I recently wrote an Up To Speed blog post about vehicle personalization. In it, I implored dealerships to take advantage of the potential profitability in “personalizing” the new and used…

Transparency is supposed to cure the excess profit that dealerships make on selling a “commodity”. We’re discussing a platform that promises “upfront pricing” as the “new world order” but cautions “its arrival heralds a bona fide tipping point in automotive retailing”. Transparency offers the customers an “upfront pricing” that is “non-negotiable in an environment defined by net margin compression”

Some say, we don’t want transparency suggesting instead that we prefer deceit and…

During MARKIT Group social media training sessions, we discover that in an effort to be efficient, training classes often have a wide range of participants - some very experienced, others totally new to social media.  On that note, we will be posting weekly social media tips in an effort to provide some quick and easy tips that users of all experience can utilize.

Friday Facebook Social Media…

Anything that helps you sell cars long term is a good thing,short term not good.As far as TRUE CAR goes I encourage you to get your salespeople to go to the site and try it. At least they they will know what the consumers are seeing. Paying 295.00 for a new car lead and 395.00 for a used car lead doesn't say much about the dealership. Low gross and no gross does not help a salesperson or a dealership. The consumers should see the TRUE CAR presentation to the dealers. They remind you of all…