Do you shy away from giveaways and win-a-prize type mailers? If you’re like most dealers, you probably do. Giveaways are frowned upon for fear of attracting customers who are more interested in winning a prize than buying a car.

Customers come into your dealership daily. When asked if they need help, the normal response is: “No, I’m just looking.”…

Great leaders and organizations inspire people because they are good at explaining why they do what they do. Their why gets people motivated. Their why makes people want to work for that company. Their why makes people want to buy their products.

For auto dealerships, your purpose is your “why buy” or “value proposition” message. The goal of this message is…

Most companies view content marketing as a means to rank higher in search engines, establish thought leadership and engage with their audience. Content, such as newsletters and blogs distributed via email and social media channels, enables businesses to stay top-of-mind with clients and prospects. It can be used to educate existing customers and any prospects investigating a…

How to Find and Convert More Car Buyers with Digital Marketing

Most consumers today head to the internet to research their next car and the dealerships they will visit. And most dealerships have an online presence to connect with these consumers such as a website and a few social media sites. For most car shoppers, your online presence will be their first…

There’s a big push in our industry right now to bring as much of the car buying process online as possible. Startups are entering the space believing that consumers want this ability and automotive vendors of all sizes are creating products to facilitate that.

However, some dealers are afraid to adopt these solutions for fear of loss of control and decreased…

In most dealerships a dispute inevitably arises between salespeople over a sold customer. Perhaps it’s because one salesperson initially assisted the customer and a second closed the deal and delivered the vehicle while the first was off for the day. And what happens when a customer visits multiple times and perhaps a third salesperson is involved?

Most…

A recent article in Automotive News reports that the three-year employee retention rate at dealerships reached a new low, dropping by 2%. In fact, the study showed that only 1/3 of sales consultants stay at a dealership for 3 years or longer. The…

Does your dealership brag about your reputation? Do you constantly explore new ways to improve your interactions with customers and employees?

Brag Boards

Women rely on reviews 50% more than men and especially like reviews by other women. Reviews act as your 24 x 7 brag board by letting others hear the voice of…

This industry will go extinct in 10 years. Can you guess which industry I'm talking about?

Students right now are so excited to graduate and get involved in this field, but they’re having trouble getting a job. Why? The jobs in this industry are few and far between. 

It’s such an exciting and fast-paced environment for millennials to join into. It’s something that we’re actually excited about. It’s given us…

In my many discussions with dealers, the one question that invariably comes up is “What is online retailing, really?” They’ll then begin to tell me how consumers can already buy a car online from them. They have a widget with which a consumer can get their trade value. They have an online payment calculator. Customers can submit a lead, get a quote online and even correspond…

Albany, N.Y. – September 27th, 2016 – Auto/Mate Dealership Systems announced today that its National Customer User Summit was its largest yet, spanning two full days and offering many new events, classes and workshops for the auto dealership employees and managers who attended. This year's User Summit was held September 19-21, 2016 at the Hilton Chicago/Oak Brook Hills Resort & Conference Center.…

As we’re helping people with some of their biggest investments, it’s our moral duty to be there for our customers by following up on services they’ve initially declined. Ethical practices in the car business go a long way in retaining customers and increasing referrals. 

You won’t be setting yourself up for disappointment. It’s not a lost cause. Here’s…

Have you ever tried to call a dealership – whether it’s to inquire about a vehicle or schedule a service appointment – just to get placed on eternal hold or thrown into someone’s voicemail? Many consumers have and, just like you, they don’t like it.

People are busy. When they pick up the phone to schedule a service appointment, or try to get information about…

Since 2015, Google has been using something called RankBrain, and it was used to process and deliver more relevant and organic search results. How? It was even a mystery to Google!

Rankbrain not only understands language semantics, but also complex search queries, which gives it the ability to think similarly to humans.

What does this mean for you? Find out by watching this week's Hard Facts.…

Women-Drivers.com is excited to bring you this white paper on how you can generate up to $6,000,000 in annual sales to women. Now is the time to strengthen your position and turn your dealership into a destination for the fastest car buying segment. The headlines are reading how business is only getting tougher. Is it really going to finish up at another 17.5 million unit year? How will your store stack up?…

Watch out! Your blog site can be hurting your business. This week on Think Tank Tuesday, Paul tells a story about why he started his blog and what changes he made to improve it over time. Watch more to learn which strategies will help your blog become more successful.

We’d love to hear…

Millennial Car Shoppers Are Ready to Buy – What Your Dealership Needs to Know

When a millennial steps onto your lot, chances are that they are ready to buy. In fact 48% of 17 to 24-year-olds intend to buy a car on their first visit to a dealership according to research by …

The landscape of sales and promotion at car dealerships is changing rapidly. Advances in technology, the rise of social media, and a shift in cultural values all have an impact on how your dealership interacts with customers. Many companies are currently grappling with learning to effectively market to different generations and cultures. It is likely that your target audience includes a generational mix of everyone from millennials to baby boomers, as well as people from different…

The landscape of sales and promotion at car dealerships is changing rapidly. Advances in technology, the rise of social media, and a shift in cultural values all have an impact on how your dealership interacts with customers. Many companies are currently grappling with learning to effectively market to different generations and cultures. It is likely that your target audience includes a generational mix of everyone from millennials to baby boomers, as well as people from different…

Albany, N.Y. – September 19th, 2016 – Auto/Mate Dealership Systems announced today that its dealership management system (DMS) is fully integrated with QuickScreen from 700Credit, a prescreening tool that allows auto dealers to instantly access customers' credit profiles, right from within their CRM. Auto dealers using Auto/Mate's Automotive Management Productivity Suite (AMPS) and 700Credit's…