All too often what we think are strategies are mere tactics and are driven by technology vendors want to sell us. I put together this 2.5 day class for our clients and perspective clients on Strategies to help them better define their own strategy online & off.

This is a 2hr version of a 2.5 day class.

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Last month I posted a discussion, "When's the Last Time you saw an Evidence Manual", I was delighted to trigger some positive discussion.  

Are you having your customer sign a "Release Form" to use their photo, image, testimonial and / or video?  I have attached a pdf of a generic form I used to use and have signed in the Business Office.  Please have it reviewed by your counsel or advertising agencies.  It is always wise to exercise due…

Alexander H. Leighton says..."morale is the capacity of a group to pull together persistently and consistently in pursuit of a common purpose.

Something that has always been apart of the automotive industry is the group of tough love managers and owners... you know the ones that pull the team together for a meeting and all hell breaks loose, Screaming and Yelling and demoralizing the group like that is going to get them pumped up? I know everyone in the industry has seen it…

(Originally published on Dealer magazine)

How can you solve ANY problem that you might have???

There is a very simple process…to solving any and all problems…

The process… is basically 4 steps…

And you are going to need to write out your answers…to every step of the process…

So get yourself some paper and a pen…or type it out on your…

 I don't understand why other guys don't get it Doug said. What ever I do at work has to be a benefit for me or I don't waste my time. I know I have to help others to get where I want to go, that's a given. But I have a plan.  Don't get me wrong I help people all the time but I know good things will come back to me because of this. I expect the return some how but will never ask for any thing when I help someone.                                          I do more mailers, phone calls and…

     Being a GM for an automobile dealership has it's normal everyday responsiblities, One of which is my routine of sitting in on daily sales training. It amazes me ( i don't know why after 19 years) that i have salespeople who sit through training and act like we are wasting their time and that they could be doing something better. These are the same people who want to be treated like pro's, paid like pro's and they honestly feel that they have nothing more to learn!

 We…

Benjamin Franklin once said, “He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.” We make excuses why we can’t squeeze another task into a day, especially when it comes to learning. We treat learning like we do exercising; we’ll get to it when we can. Eventually, a lack of learning, like exercising, will lead to the terminal illness of your career.…

Google has just bought Zagat, a company that provides ratings and reviews of restaurants, entertainment venues, and travel locations.  Known primarily for their yearly restaurant book guides, they have been doing quite well with their online subscription based site and community.

Google plans for Zagat to be the "cornerstone of our local offering", helping them  to compete directly with Yelp and other online review sites.  Think it was a coincidence that Google recently…

I was once the bride of an enlisted sailor, who during the course of our marriage made the transition from enlisted to officer by finishing his college education.  Once he had become an officer; he tackled the challenge of completing flight school to become a Naval Aviator.  When he graduated from flight school and to represent his accomplishments, I had a pewter tankard engraved with these words,…

  Due to the high market demand for speed, strategy and execution, Mudd Advertising is launching Mudd TV as an interactive tool to help auto dealers quickly get solutions today for their marketing efforts. This creative solution will premiere nationally “live” Thursday, September 8th at 10:30 a.m. CST on MuddTV.com. Viewers may interact with the live webcast via email, phone calls or social media chat.

Mudd TV will be accessible via live web streaming and…

Be very careful about giving anyone at your dealership admin access for your Facebook page.

So warns Sophos. The security company pointed out today that anyone you give admin rights to could delete the page creator from the list of administrators.

While Sophos implies that Facebook would do well to add another security layer to the addition and deletion of page administrators, we think that’s unnecessary. Current admins need to…

If you find yourself caught up in a consultative review or a full blown corporate audit, you will be amazed at one area where you will lose a great deal of money:

YOUR PDI REPAIR ORDERS!

That's right!  If your PDI checklist forms are not filled out properly - WITH the appropriate management signatures, or there are mileage inconsistencies, or untrained techs performing the service, the auditors will simply debit the PDI.  That will equal around $100 per repair…

1. The Development Of Relationships,
2. The Creation Of High…

The boss drives men, the leader coaches them. The boss depends upon authority, the leader depends on goodwill. The boss inspires fear, the leader inspires enthusiam. The boss says "I", while the leader says, "We". The boss fixes the blame for the breakdown, while the leader fixes the breakdown. The boss knows how its done, while the leader show's how. The boss says, "Go." and the leader says, "Let's Go."

A friend of mine posted this little quote on his Facebook and I wanted…

When you are in car sales, and sales in general your job is to keep your attitude up,  build on your professional reputation with your customers, and grow your business. So when you walk into work in the morning, Walk into the dealership to sell, and only sell.

Get Right To Work

The minute you walk in the morning, preferably early and before everyone else, get yourself situated, everything turned on and booted up, and get organized. Focus on one task…

Google is at it again.  According to the Google Operating System Blog, an unofficial source of news and tips about Google, the search engine giant will soon be launching Google Trusted Stores.  This new service is designed to make it "easy for online shoppers to identify stores that provide an excellent online shopping experience."

I have to wonder how closely this will be tied to the reviews a…

There is an enormous difference between training the people in your organization and actually developing a culture within your organization!

Training simply formulates the process from A to Z. But if ALL employees don’t understand the entire picture, you are doomed for failure!

While building a culture…..well…that takes a lot of time…

Of all the things present in our society that might have a negative effect on our future generations and their ability to relate to one another; social networking (I don’t have to ask you, “How was your day?” I can just look at your facebook page), texting (I don’t have to live with the consequences of what I say because you can’t respond immediately), etc… one of the things that is more disconcerting than any of these is that this ability to relate without relationship is creating a…