One of the many byproducts of training in so many dealerships is that you get to observe all the different ways people do things. Like how they answer the phone or talk to a customer in the service drive.

Over the years, I’ve made it a point to take note of some of the ways Advisors and Managers blow their customer up in the service drive and I thought I would share with you my observations and my Top 5.…

You could have the most talented team on paper, but how can you know they're the right fit? Many businesses struggle with this issue when hiring new team members and promoting current employees. …

Is this a reasonable concern with dealers?

Targeted re-marketing to existing DMS contacts is a issue most dealers leave to routine, email and letters generated daily from dealership level.

Is the ROI measured? 

Can the dealer do a better job?

LIVE MARKETING is a new automotive forefront player in the data space, concerning DMS data mining. The company has been in development of a brilliant strategy to use multi-channel media -- and -- to roadmap the process of re…

The expanding role internet plays in marketing has made online marketers to evolve useful strategies for marketing their products and services online. Contents play vital roles in creating information about any product or services for internet users. Video marketing helps create powerful contents about any product and…

This article was written by Steve Hall of the NCM Institute Center for Automotive Retail Excellence. 

Is it a Knowing Issue or a Doing Issue that is holding you back?

Have you ever thought about what keeps you from becoming the best you can be? Hopefully, not only have you thought about this in the past, but you think about it on a regular basis. Though this thought…

ATTENTION CARS.COM CUSTOMERS: If you received an email asking you to update your account credentials it has all the marks of a "phishing" scam. (For you neophytes that is when a fake site is published that looks real but is only there to steal your logins and passwords.) I would avoid logging into any Cars.com dealer portal sites without checking with support first. It will ultimately be less of a headache than having your dealer account temporarily compromised.

At the risk of being lambasted by my more distinguished and experienced colleagues, I'm posting one of my responses to an internet lead.  My goal is, first and foremost to get a response; and secondly, to see if the possibility exists to make a sale.  While it's unconventional, I feel that it stands out from the bland, scripted responses that consumers usually get from other salespeople.  Because I want to learn from others in this business, I welcome your comments and constructive…

Study of 307 dealerships nationwide shows that for every 1,000 app users, a dealership receives, on average, $144,000 in incremental service revenue

Daytona Beach, FL – August 19, 2014 –DMEautomotive (DMEa) today released new research proving that mobile app users become more frequent visitors to a dealership’s service department after they download the app. The study looked at 307 dealerships nationwide that offer a…

AutoTrader releases groundbreaking statistics on the future of the automotive shopping experience.

Millennials have the pedal to the mobile metal and are shaking up the automotive…

Las Vegas, NV – The Third Annual AutoCon reinvents the automotive conference with a new and innovative format unlike any other industry event, which is attendee driven.  The majority of AutoCon’s speakers and trainers are actual dealer…

We all think we know what clients want but do we really? Recently a good friend and client shared some interesting research regarding our service customer’s opinions.  I find this research invaluable because it was done by Google instead of someone in the industry. They surveyed between 200-2000 people age 18-44 on many critical topics.  The quotes and statistics…

So you've created your dealership's Google+ Brand Page in preparation for the move from Google Places to Google Plus Local...but now what?  Here are some tips for optimizing your dealership's Google+ page:

Keep SEO in Mind: When putting information into the "About Us" tab, use relevant keywords. Also use these terms when adding content to your page to help search engines (especially Google) understand what your page is about.  Use "Recommended Links" to send…

I've written a lot about the importance of having a mobile friendly auto dealership website given the increase in smart phone usage, but when your dealership sends emails, are you also taking mobile into consideration?

A recent study by Knotice, an on-demand marketing software and agency, shows that 36% of emails were opened on a mobile device (tablet &…

ADP Announces Post-Spin Name of its Dealer Services Business 

HOFFMAN ESTATES, IL – August 19, 2014 – ADP Dealer Services, Inc., a division of ADP®

and a leading global technology solutions provider dedicated to helping dealerships and manufacturers drive

measurable results, is pleased to announce that Dealer Services’ new company name will be CDK

Global, Inc., once the…

One of my biggest complaints about some vendors in our industry is that they make reputation management seem like it requires extremely specialized talents in order to make it work for car dealers. They would have you believe that you cannot manage, monitor, or influence your own reputation and that it takes extreme talent and a complex strategy to make it…

Welcome to this week’s edition of Beggs on the Used Car Market, with insights from Ricky Beggs and Black Book. We trust each of you had a busy and profitable week. Our team of editors, analysts and survey personnel were on the lanes and online gathering market data and studying loads of actual transactions, while reporting the current market.

By the end of the week the summaries of data showed us a…

As a sales and marketing professional, you probably learned a long time ago that the best way to present your products is by using words that paint a picture. Not just any picture, a picture that puts each shopper in the picture; helps them visualize owning your product; and then mentally experience the emotional pleasure that results from that…

Article from October 2004, Ward's Dealer Business highlighting the Launch of the Car Sales Simulator

Last month there was such strong interest in our mid-year report “Dealers Websites are #1 with Women Buyers” we have decided to follow it up with more nuggets regarding your site, engagement and women shoppers.

As competition rises, it’s the right time for dealerships to focus on areas of improvement, engagement, and delivering a…