Today, using the “free” social media platforms as a marketing tool without spending money on them is about as useful as playing the first level of the freeware version of iPad game.

It used to be so exciting to think about how to market a business on social media. We would read articles, watch videos, go to conferences, exchange ideas, try things out, and come…

For a decade now, businesses and marketers have attempted to decipher the jumbled mess of social media and turn it into a true ROI generator. Hundreds of thousands of Ponce de Leóns have explored the social media countryside in search of the ultimate prize - tangible benefit from social media marketing.

Thankfully, it's not as mythical as the Fountain of…

This article was written byJoe Basil and was originally published on the NCM Institute Up to Speed blog. 

As the great recession started to unfold in 2008 and 2009, gasoline prices rose above four dollars a gallon, the banking and housing industry began to collapse, unemployment rose and auto sales fell off the charts. Those dealerships that came…

Millions of years ago dinosaurs became extinct. They became extinct for one reason only, a failure to adapt to a changing environment. Not all dinosaurs became extinct. Many, according to scientists evolved and became the birds that soar in our skies today.

The theory is a massive meteorite struck the planet, changing the environment dramatically. This new environment made it difficult, no impossible to survive without adapting.

Metaphorically…

Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of Beggs on the Used Car Market, with data and analysis from Ricky Beggs of Black Book. 

Another month has passed and the overall movement this past week took pretty much the same direction as the previous four weeks. About the only difference is the level of declining amount continues to get larger week over week.

Looking at…

Using Guerrilla Tactics to Combat Declining Vehicle Sales Gross Profit

By: Alan Ram

Recently I saw a study that said that one of a dealer’s biggest concerns moving forward was declining gross profit per unit sold. As this question is debated at automotive dealerships and 20 groups across the country, we always seem to arrive at the same solution: Sell the value of the vehicle, don’t…

Trust is your business's biggest asset today. With the ability to easily publish reviews of businesses, products, and services, customer satisfaction is more important than ever before. Because one of the first things a potential customer does before visiting you in person is search for reviews…

Differentiate - Differentiate -Differentiate

It's essential to give your customers good reasons to come to you rather than going somewhere else.  You must differentiate with something that matters to your market, product and your customers. You might offer a…

This article was written by Robin Cunningham and originally published on the NCM Institute Up to Speed blog.

I think it is safe to say that every business operator is planning, forecasting, or at least hoping to increase their sales and profits in whatever business he or she is involved in.

In the retail automobile business, that growth can come in many forms, such as:

• Selling more new or used…

You dedicate at least an hour of your day on your dealership’s Facebook business page. You chime in on posts about the auto industry, you change your profile and background photos, you post 8 times a day - YOU ARE COMMITTED. So why aren’t people liking your page?

The most successful businesses follow these 6 easy steps to ensure they aren’t sucking on Facebook:

1. When it comes to posting, less is more.

Facebook is not Twitter…

The end of month is here and if you’re excited and ready to embrace it chances are you are having a good month.  If you are on the other end of the spectrum, well then most likely you have already given up.

If you have been trying to find the “secret” to massive success by “hoping” that it will arrive on your “someday ship”…                           

What…

When writing content – whether that content is a short, social media post or blog article, or a full-length feature article – form is just as important as the content itself. Proper spelling and grammar can dictate whether your content is received well or not. It’s not uncommon for readers to start reading an article or social media post that initially grabbed their…

In a class action lawsuit filed on June 21, 2011 against AutoNation (Santa Clara Superior Court, entitled Lilly v. AutoNation, Case No. 1-11-CV-203569), attorneys are claiming that AutoNation is in violation of the California Labor Code by misclassifying commissioned sales reps as exempt from overtime and, in addition, issuing deduct vouchers post-sale for losses in commissionable gross due to repair or…

Welcome to this week’s edition of Beggs on the Used Car Market, with analysis from Ricky Beggs and Black Book. As the calendar is closing out the month of July the market is indicating a variety of actions. The smaller and more fuel efficient models are getting some attention again after softening for just over a month once the tax season expired. Even some of the six to eight year old…

I am sure many of you have heard about the recent customer service debacle involving Comcast over the past week. In case you aren’t familiar with what happened, a customer called into their service center attempting to cancel his service after almost a decade. He was transferred to a customer retention…

What?

It is time to talk about the F&I department in the dealership and how the BDC (GRC) department can help improve product penetration. The typical discussion with regards to business development is always about lead handling and appointments. The BDC discussion is one that can go on for hours and even days because it is interesting to hear different…

One of the most disturbing trends we're seeing on dealer websites is when they use chat areas as another contact form. It's true that chat is a way to generate leads, but when collecting contact information is the primary goal, the whole point of chat is missed.

Here are some things that we have found to be true with chat that dealers should keep in mind when…

Today's Women’s Wednesday we are focusing on the new top reason women are buying from their sales advisor. Trust has always trumped price when it comes to buying from a sales advisor, but now, in our latest mid-year #bigdata report directly from women's reviews, “trust” no longer has the top spot.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T! Aretha Franklin couldn’t define it better. Respect is now the #1 prerequisite to trust in the formula to selling to women.

The top 5 reasons women buy from their sales…

Just what does a 10% increase (in any KPI you choose) really mean to your dealership?

Greetings Friends,   

The price of your services is not what keeps your customers coming back to your dealership. It is the amount of care you give them. When we are directed by the discounted price alone, we are developing the wrong kind of culture.

Click the link below to find out how to develop a caring culture in your dealership.

 …