This past weekend my brother was in town visiting and the moment he walked into any store or bar he exclaimed, “Oh! I gotta check-in on Foursqaure! There might be deals!”  According to an Empathica survey, one in three consumers recently followed through with a recommendation made via social media. Foursquare is a valuable app that dealers can use to drive…

My first car which I purchased was a 1977 White 4-Speed Toyota Corolla.  It wasn’t the nicest looking vehicle anyone has ever seen.  As a matter of fact, it was what people today would call a “hoopty” or “jalopy”.  As soon as I made the purchase, I headed over to AutoZone to cover the steering column, replace the side mirrors, buy seat covers, and styled it up with the double windshield blades.  My taste in style has since changed.  It was ugly to say the least, but it was mine!

The…

Last evening, as I was thumbing through my April issue of National Oil and Lube News (NOLN), I began to reflect on why and how the folks in the independent automotive repair and maintenance business managed to take such a large chunk of service business away from the franchised dealers. Well, in truth they didn’t take it away…we gave it away…years ago…based on our focus on warranty work, our prices, and our indifference to the service…

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…

Part one of this topic was published here on January 19, 2012. In that article I discussed the four no-cost or low-costactivities that, when executed flawlessly, will increase a service department's customer R.O. count by at least 10%. Today I’ll address several other proven strategies to increase your customer-paid service…

Dealers United Introduces Member Deal for May: Lead Generation Services from HookLogic

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The Escape Hatch: (When you’ve closed all the doors…and they still get away.)

Objections – reasons or arguments that are offered in disagreement, opposition, refusal, or disapproval.

Every day of every week “objections” stand in the way of sales people reaching their goals…hitting their…

by Tamara Lischer

The following article is authored by, and reprinted with permission of, Kenneth Shilson, founder and president of the National Alliance of Buy Here, Pay Here Dealers. 

Franchise dealers enter 2012 with many of the same challenges they have faced for the last 24 months: a) excess facilities; b) needing more vehicle sales; c) declining credit scores of their customers; and d) tougher credit approvals from financing subprime sources. In response, many are looking at…

After hearing all the hoopla over true cars Ive seen nothing from a dealer, writer, or a contributor on why they dont warn about the factory as they are about TRUE CARS. First in my opinion would you give anyone or any company access to your DMS system allowing them to have access to your customer data???? Most dealers service departments are gold mines for sales and there best inventory of customers are there best service customers. Thats because in most cases 50-75% of there service…

The NCM Institute just posted this article on the Up To Speed blog.  Written by NCM Institute Director and retail operations specialist, Garry House, you'll find a good, basic plan for how to start a personalization program in your store... 

Since the 2011 Specialty Equipment Market…

Before the most recent explosion of internet marketing and technology advancements, car dealers would rely solely on referrals and word of mouth. Then, as the internet grew, online auto sales leads were born and changed the way business development worked. Many dealerships made the costly decision to create an internet department to handle these leads. Others paid their salespeople premium salary to work the leads when they weren't in the showroom selling cars.

Regardless of…

It is no secret that we are all experiencing some difficult times in our respective economies and that these times are causing many in the automobile industry to question their career paths. However, even in these challenging times, there are those that continue to flourish because they seem to know something that many or their counterparts do not.  These individuals continue to give themselves pay raises every month and every year.  They have figured out some time ago that they have to make…

Expectations – we will perform in direct proportion to the way we see ourselves and the way that those whom we respect see us.  The expectations of the individuals wearing the title of salesperson have been evolving as the reality of a new marketplace becomes apparent. The Internet has impacted a great many things about the world that we live in to include how we work.  Gone are the days when salesmen use to go door to door carrying their wares selling them to housewives. Now you have…

What if every person who shopped your vehicles on Craigslist were directed to view the same vehicle listing on your Facebook fan page with video?

Cargigi recently released a new Social Media package add-on to their Automated Classified Posting service for $299/mo. that enables dealerships…

For the past three years I have used my account at Compete, Inc. to monitor sites like DealerElite and ADM... The following charts and monthly traffic analysis is provided by Compete, Inc. which is the same marketing research company that Google frequently utilizes to measure and report on website traffic and engagement by Internet users.…