A decade ago we fought through an economic recession that drove an automotive depression. Dealers across the nation refashioned their business models as Internet departments developed into Internet dealerships.

Much time, energy, and teeth-gnashing abounded as old-school met new-school and an industry that can be decades behind in technology…

The time is now. Spring selling season is upon us. When your inventory, personnel and plans are in the right spot on February 20th, your 2019 is set up to work to your maximum advantage. Five of the best six seasonally-adjusted sales months over the years happen between March and August.  Working the details and making sure that you’re taking care of them…

At NADA many exhibitors hyped their digital retailing solutions to support online vehicle transactions. While no one has cracked the code for a complete, seamless online transaction, there are several great solutions that provide enough functionality to meet consumer demands. After all, consumers are not asking for a 100% “digital…

Mason City Iowa, February 5, 2019 -- DealerBuilt, a leading provider of automotive Dealer Management Systems (DMS), today announced that it has expanded its integration with Channel Partner Spiffit to help auto dealers improve operations in sales, service, and accounting, and to drive more…

A key to implementation and execution in Google Ads’ space is to secure no less than 80% impression share for your name in the geographies where you sell and service vehicles.

Many dealers ask what would happen if I didn’t buy my name. Or better yet what would happen if I didn’t spend any advertising money or, more often than not, what if I…

$5 million for a Super Bowl spot in 2019. That’s what the big brands are paying for huge visibility. There is arguably no better way to reach 100+ million people.

All in, there were 5 automotive OEM’s in the mix.  Audi delivered details…

San Francisco is famous for fog. The city’s given a nickname to its fog - Karl. Karl the fog even has an Instagram account with 243k followers.

As I traveled back from the NADA Show 2019 held in San Francisco, I’m reminded that our industry resides in a fog of Digital…

The concept of common currency is such a great idea. Except that for the most part, people want their own currencies. Dealership employees want their own pay plans. 180 currencies are used in 195 countries across the world. And even Bitcoin is trying to establish a different currency at some level.

The common currency for marketing metrics for…

When your customers decide to trade in their current vehicle, you know exactly what to do first: make sure they get an appraisal as quickly as possible, since that’s the number one priority for most buyers. Right?

Not so fast.

AutoLoop recently surveyed 1,000 recent car buyers and analyzed over 100,000 leads from various…

Conference season is upon us. As dealers go from seminar to seminar and presentation after presentation, it can cause mass confusion about what data really matters. As a dealer, you may well be asking yourself, “what data should I really be watching at my dealership?”

Well, let’s keep it simple! Over the years I have found it boils down to two…

Of all the recent changes made by Google, Impression Share bidding is one of my favorites. And its importance can’t be understated.

Especially so if you believe in the common currency of CPM’s (cost per thousand impressions). Sure, Google’s helped us bid on time of day, type of device and geography for the longest. All of this tells us where…

Heading into the New Year, even the speed of speed seems to be picking up speed.

Commercials compress. Attention spans shorten. Faster is better. Learn it quickly. Make the adjustment. Get to where you are going sooner.

Significant business strides will be made with Over The Top (OTT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) and…

 Next generation tools enable dealers to contact customers

in under 6 seconds, converting leads into sales

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calf., January 7, 2018 - fusionZONE Automotive, LLC, the…

Have you ever eagerly awaited the release of a great new movie? Anticipation mounts as release day approaches. Then you go and see it, only to leave disappointed. I’m sure I can name plenty of box office bombs which were initially hyped up and expected to be box office blockbusters. If you look at the factors involved in what makes a “bomb” versus a…

I’m sure that most managers are familiar with the frustration that comes with discovering a salesperson decided a sale was not to be made without really working the lead, letting a perfectly good customer leave the lot. Perhaps the salesperson pre-qualified them and decided they…

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calf., November 5, 2018 - fusionZONE Automotive, LLC, the automotive industry’s highest-performing dealer website solution, today announced that company founder and popular speaker, Brett Sutherlin, will present a session titled, Increasing Online Conversion is not as Hard as You Think!”  at the upcoming…

In the race to make a sale, dealerships often rely on templates in CRMs. These templates – including autoresponders – can hurt a dealership’s chances of communicating effectively -- or at all.

The response rate for leads is very low in the automotive industry. How much time do your salespeople or BDC agents spend calling a new lead, or sending an email, fail…

Facebook Marketplace, while new on the scene, has quickly turned into a valuable sales channel for dealerships. Many dealers are finding great success in engagement as well as sales with consumers. Not just another third-party listing site, Facebook Marketplace has capabilities many other platforms don’t have. Chief among them is the ability for interested car buyers…

In our industry, conversion rates are horrible. A great dealer “might” convert at a higher rate, but many are missing the boat on the majority of their website visitors. There are many reasons why this is true. However, the sad fact remains that it is.

Imagine making some simple tweaks to your website which produce an immediate increase in the number of…

The good news? To date, automotive sales have remained stronger than many analysts originally predicted, with customers of all ages continuing to buy both new and pre-owned vehicles. Considering some of the earlier ominous forecasts, it’s no wonder numerous retailers are breathing a collective sigh of relief.

The not-quite-so-good news, at least for those…