Written By: Russell Grant

One of the best things about my job is the fact that I get to talk to so many owners, GMs, dealers, sales managers and service directors about their dealership’s owner marketing strategy. Or, in some cases, need for one. That’s when I find my work the most rewarding, when I’m speaking with dealers who are ready to reap the benefits of developing and implementing a strong, sustainable owner marketing strategy.

Because remember, there are only three ways…

Recently, I traveled to New Mexico to consult with a dealership about their marketing strategy.  The conversation went a bit like this:

DeliveryMaxx: “What are you currently doing with advertising today?”

Dealership: “We are doing print (newspaper), TV, Radio, and I have a billboard two exits down.”

DeliveryMaxx: “How is that working for you?”

Dealership: “I can’t really put an ROI on it, but I think it is branding…

Everyone has an opinion about how to use Google+ and posting reviews.  We see the extreme from hoping your customers post a good review to allowing the “real experts to post your reviews”.

Those of you, who finish reading this blog, will receive information many companies don’t want to tell you or just don’t know how to do.  Furthermore, your sales both repeat and referrals will increase, your branding will…

Today’s educated consumer empowered by knowledge they acquired on the internet has little patience for a self-serving dealer message.  A click of their mouse will answer their questions and find a vehicle that fits their needs leaving little reason to visit a dealership. Truth be told, the brick and mortar auto dealership is not necessarily the most efficient business model for cost conscious consumers or profit driven auto dealers to achieve their respective goals.

Future solutions…

 Loyalty Is The Heartbeat Of Your Dealership

A few years ago I can recall a conversation that I had with a dealer whose dealership has been around since the 1920’s. He said you know what troubles me most Shawn? “Our customers just are not as loyal as they used to be back in the day, how can we make them loyal again? In this case the problem…

Like buying a car, your customer has a choice when it comes to service. Your odds of winning that business dramatically increase, if you are on the phone with your customer, at the point the need for service is created. AutoMBrace was created to fill this void.. Contact us through Dealer Elite.  

Fewer cars, lower margins – AutoMBrace understands that the dealerships profits come from the service department. Service revenue depends on selling service to your customers and,…

Today, more than ever, online reviews can make or break your month selling vehicles.  We can search for online reputation management companies and we will get hundreds if not thousands of opinions on how to manipulate the system of posting positive reviews.  Many of these companies state that they have a secret to help your dealership look like they are flawless.  This is done utilizing a lot of smoke and mirrors.

Studies by consumer behavior and search experts say that 7 out of 10…

It has already been established that the most exciting time during the sales process is the delivery.  A perfect delivery can erase a debauched meet and greet, poor finance service, and the arduous negotiation over a couple of hundred dollars.  After spending hours with your customer, how do you want them to remember your dealership?

Your customer will remember your dealership every month they have to make their payment.  They will think of your dealership each time they pay for an…

You have a 22 year old potential client ready to make the largest purchase of their life at this point.  They are one of the most technical savvy consumers you have ever faced.  These clients have friends all over the world, and talk with their network on a daily basis. They Tweet what they had for breakfast, they Yelp about their experiences, they RePin exciting pictures, and they have an average of 245 friends.

According to Pew Center’s Internet and American Life Project the average…

Would you go on vacation without planning your means of travel, travel route, booking a hotel, identifying points of interest or activities for you and the family, and the starting time as well as the ending date of your trip?  Unless you were free spirited with no cares in the world, and were part of the Brady Bunch Family, this was not you.  As a matter of fact, since you are reading this blog, you are a “Type A” personality that rarely will walk out of your office without a…

General Motors has long been a staple of the American automotive industry.  Facebook is the latest billion dollar IPO.  Why is GM pulling ten million dollars a year in advertising from Facebook?

On the surface, this looks like GM is retreating saving advertising dollars.  When you dive into the issue, many wonder if the government run company is staying away from investing in the publically traded company for other reasons.  GM states that the risk to advertise is not worth the reward…

So your automotive sales are down, and you lay awake at night praying that you make this month’s budget just so you do not have to put all of your possession in the provided cardboard box and take the walk of shame out of the dealership.  Does this sound familiar to you?

Anyone who has spent any time in automotive management has experienced this anxiety.  For that matter anyone in sales management has had this same gut wrenching stomach turning feeling at one time or another.  There…

DeliveryMaxx has been the industry leader in creating innovative solutions to help Automotive Dealerships converting the one-time customer into a life-time customer.  

However, never one to rest on their laurels, DeliveryMaxx has made it possible for dealerships to talk to the world utilizing the most up-to-date technology.  Just imagine, a dealership customer leaves finance and gives a review talking about how great the experience has been in purchasing a…

You have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to build or beautify your dealership.  Your advertising budget equals or exceeds that amount.  Your inventory has been posted online, and there are plenty of choices for potential customers to make a great selection.  CSI scores have never been higher at the dealership than they are right now!

So why are your salespeople standing around wondering why there are not any customers to sell a vehicle to?  Is there grumbling going on in the…

In today’s durable goods market there are two main factors other than the product itself that will ultimately influence the consumer’s purchase decision, regardless of the type of product. These two factors are quality of service and customer satisfaction. Turning the consumer from a potential customer to a loyal customer is a complex process. The business through…

At the Sonic Dealer Academy we used an article titled, “Simple Techniques to Grow Your Business,” as a teaching tool. This article was authored by Duane “D.J.” Sprague who, at the time, was the president of Dunning Sprague Marketing & Advertising, a full service agency specializing in generating and retaining customers for the retail automotive dealer. All of us that were exposed to D.J.’s metrics took them at face value. I think many of them, particularly those listed below, still apply…

Hi again,

I wanted to post another article, in regards to the partnerships we develop. Paul Long wrote this a while ago, and I wanted to get the opinions of the community. 

Ok, we admit, the subject line is a bit high-minded. And that's not a bit surprising considering the source of it is Dr. Emmett Murphy, New York Times best-selling author of 

"…

SAN RAMON, CA – June 27, 2011 – Auto retailers using a third-party loyalty program can achieve significant retention increases of 20 percent and more. MediaTrac™, a marketing technology company providing customized frequency marketing, customer loyalty, retention and media tracking programs for auto dealers, today released the new white paper “The Auto Retailer’s Ultimate ‘How-to’ Guide to Customer Loyalty & Retention Program Set Up,…