Savvy dealers are turning to low cost alternatives like Facebook and Twitter and other social media outlets as their alternative. Not only is it free, but it can help you interact with your future and existing customers in real-time. It's no secret that Dealers will do just about anything to gain new customers by any means necessary. Radio, Print and TV ads…

Late last year I was reading the Sunday paper and came across a story that was a collection of quotes from Nelson Mandela, who had passed away the previous week.  Reading those quotes made me very reflective both personally and professionally. One of his quotes that really struck me…

As a marketer, I’ve got my eye on two battles at this Sunday’s Super Bowl. Of course, there’s the action on the field - Super Bowl XLVII, a gladiatorial war waged between mountainous men in an arctic Jersey winter. A clash between Seattle’s young talent and Peyton Manning’s legacy. Many Americans care about this game, and they are called “gamblers.”

But…

The importance of ensuring a customer has all the information and resources they need when making a big decision is crucial to turning a stand-offish prospect into a smiling cornstomer (We are in Iowa, of course we use corn references. Keep reading to learn the meaning of cornstomer). Patience, tact and logic seeds are key. 

Occasionally, OK, OFTEN we hear from our prospects about sad news that is keeping them from moving forward…

Exceed The Expectations -portion of original blog on our website.

At Auto iLead, the most important task we perform each day is helping people. To help people we must first understand them, their needs, and how to truly HELP. Our commitment to help drives us to enhance the relationship a customer has with a dealership prior to arranging their appointment to inspect or test drive a vehicle. Keep in mind that our leads originate as an email to our dealer clients. Email is often our only means of communication which means we have to be the best! In…

For every one on this board that didn't get to make it to Internet Sales 20 Group in LA.....Shame on you! Once again, Sean V. and his band of industry phenoms blew it out of the water! Every once in a while I will catch my wife off guard and I'll say, "I can't wait until…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

(November 19, 2013) - Broomfield, CO. Today DealersLink®, the creator of the country’s first dealer-to-dealer wholesale marketplace, officially launched its California marketplace.

With over 40,000 combined units in California and the Western U.S., the DealersLink® Marketplace now boasts over a hundred dealer trading partners in California, offering them unlimited trading with no auction…

DealersLink®, the creator of the first dealer-to-dealer marketplace in the United States, today launched their new FastBook® Mobile VIN Scanner App and cloud-based booking tool.



With the newest release of FastBook® Mobile, dealers now have the fastest and most reliable VIN scanner and vehicle valuation tool in the industry. Using…

In my career in the automotive industry, I got involved in conferences fairly early. I’ve attended many conferences in my life as an Internet Director, as a vendor employee working a booth to helping with marketing and organization for the conference itself. I’ve done everything from being wined and dined as a dealership employee to doing the wining and dining for dealership…

Written By: Dennis Kane

 I have seen a significant number of high value claims as a result of contractors or subcontractors not carrying insurance or inadequate limits of insurance.

Examples of high value claims against dealerships include:

• Claim against a dealership’s workers’ compensation carrier or general liability carriers due to an injury of a subcontractor’s employee and the subcontractor doesn’t carry workers’ compensation…

Written By: Garry House

Last month I published a blog focused on the difference between good and great automobile dealers, and I promised to follow that up by discussing what we, at the NCM Institute Center for Automotive Retail Excellence, have learned about the differences between some of the good and great processes employed by these dealers. This is the first of those follow-up articles.

Most every dealership manager…

This is less than ten minutes long, and will help you make sense out if our crazy world and even crazier business.  Enjoy!

This concept is so aligned with the the direction of our entire business culture.  Please comment!

A quick look at the current state of auto retailing would suggest that things are good. Tough times (and a couple of notable bankruptcies) have thinned dealer ranks. Although pressures are mounting, the manufacturers are still demonstrating discipline around production volumes. Most importantly, customers are returning to showrooms.

Add all factors together and the result is that volumes and margins on both new and pre-owned vehicles are strong. So strong, in fact, that many…

Written by: Steve Hall

Dealers know you must provide fast, convenient, and competitively-priced service in order to retain your customer base. They also know that oil changes and light maintenance are the most requested service items by customers. Knowing this, why do dealers continually fight express service?

I’ve heard all the excuses: it hurts my hours per repair order; it hurts my gross profit percentage; it hurts my effective labor rate; I can’t make any money in express…

Written by: Rebecca Chernek

EMBRACE CHANGE

The glass ceiling for women’s acceptance in the finance industry was shattered over a decade ago.

According to the 2012 Catalyst Census of Women Executive Officers and Top Earners, which counts the number of women in upper management in Fortune 500 companies, women comprise over 18% of all executive officers in the finance industry, and 19% of board directors in the finance and insurance industries in…

Sometimes going behind the analytical data or numbers just is not enough! We tend to seek or want more answers! We try and find answers by trying to connect to allies , peers , friends or other dealers! We need to instead connect to Wisdom!  Seek it....and you shall find!

Mentors are those who brings wisdom into play! Their wisdom…

Written by: Thomas Bear

Realizing the dealer/general manager’s day is full of interruptions, if you could wave a magic wand and create the perfect day, what would you do during this day?

Which activities do you wish you did every day? Which activities are the top ten for you to do every day?  Here’s an exercise we use in our 20 Group meetings from time to time that might be helpful for you to realign your daily priorities.…

I ask myself this often: What are we really trying to do on the internet?  Let’s start by looking at an extreme. Say a Dealership like that one in Northern, Idaho.  Here’s a dealership that is in a mountain town (2400 pop.) they advertise in those magazines you find in the pouch behind the seat in front of you on the airplane when you fly anywhere. They hardly have…