I hate internet sales!

My internet department s_ _ks!

Internet is all give-aways!

Internet salesmen are order-takers, not salesmen!

The internet department is just for volume.

 

How many of us have had to deal with Sales Mangers, GSMs, GMs and Owners who say this regarding the internet department in our store?  I've been…

During the analysis and evaluation we conduct prior to starting a training program the question of ethics and standard business practices we train on usually requires some explanation. In other words, Dealer Principals and General Managers want to hear from us that we conduct our training programs ethically and professionally.

If I were to stand in a room full of Dealer Principals and ask "Who in here believes that the best way to take care of a customer is to sell extra or un-needed…

I was watching football Sunday and I got to thinking about the job of a receiver. I decided a receiver has three jobs:

1.        Catch the ball

Nothing positive can happen until the receiver completes the catch.

2.        Try to make additional yardage after the catch

For football fans, this is…

Helpful…or Professional…which of these sound better?

If you are like a lot of Dealers and General Managers hiring “helpful” people always seems to be the right call. The belief is that you can develop someone into becoming a Professional. While I don’t disagree with this practice, what I find all across the country is the opposite of helpful or Professional.

Because we train all across the country, we have exposure to every make and model of vehicle in every kind of Dealership,…

Most companies are using a sales process that dates back several decades. It was probably wrong then and it most definitely is wrong now. Now, don’t get me wrong. It’s not the process I object to; it’s some of the things you’ve been taught to do in it.

Let’s look at some of the bad advice you have been given over the years:

Find Their…

Hi I'm a vendor....in the digital space. That's my job. And I love it. I love it because I'm a 27 year retail car guy who's Father was a dealer, Grandfather was a designer for Ford and Step Father designed assembly line equipment. Yes I'm from Detroit...  and I love dealing with car guys and gals. Sure I like it when they buy my product. I like making a difference and I like making sure my company is healthy and our staff can take care of their families. But what I love about the job, really…

Articles are continuously being written in hopes of dissecting and duplicating the Apple Store experience for other businesses. I’ve even seen sessions at industry conferences that revolve around how to duplicate this in car dealerships. While I agree that it should be every dealership’s goal to achieve the level of loyalty that Apple has, an interesting thought occurred to…

As a salesperson, there are a thousand different theories on how to talk with your customers to help them find the right vehicle. Entire books have been written on the subject, but the overwhelming majority say that the most important task is to know your customer. And the best advice I’ve heard on this task–learning about people I’ve met for the first time–comes from the classic sci-fi series Babylon 5. Confused yet?…

There is a saying in the medical field, “Prescription before examination is malpractice”. If you were a doctor examining a new patient who complained that pains in their abdomen had become intolerable, you would not simply prescribe a painkiller and send the patient home. You would perform a careful diagnosis that included bloodwork and tests, as well as a thorough physical examination.

A doctor must find out if the patient has an upset stomach, appendicitis or colon cancer…

Resignation Letter

Date: Effective Immediately

From: Fixed Operations Gross Profit

To: Dealer Principal

Dear Dealer Principal,

It is with great regret that I must submit this letter of resignation effective immediately.

Although we have worked together over the past few years I don’t feel I can contribute to your bottom line anymore. It has been a great experience and I wish you and all of your dealership team the best.

I am quite…

I came across an interesting article in Forbes the other day that examined why Apple has such loyal customers and how they plan to increase that loyalty. The article discussed how some of Apple’s products are inferior technology-wise to…

Are you a hunter or farmer For so many years, we have struggled as an industry when it comes to follow up. Then, companies like Clients for Life and came along and started sending our follow up letters for us. All we had to do was sign it and mail it. This gave us more time to focus on working with the customers who were on the lot and calling in.

Basically, it gave us the ability to focus more time on hunting for new business and the farming was something we were able to relax on,…

We all have listened to the untrained sales professional or Internet Coordinator spend half an hour selling the car to a customer over the phone; and the worst part about it is once he/she gives away all the info the majority of the time you never see the customer show up that he/she was talking to.  The sales professional or Internet Coordinator of today must have a…

The automotive industry is always evolving and with that evolution we must constantly adapt to the changes.

Question: When is the last time you thoroughly reviewed your CRM processes in your dealership?

Think about it.  A CRM in the dealership is generally setup for sales people to enter an UP and follow up with sold/unsold…

With all the competition in the Automotive World and so many websites, targeted ads and retargeting display ads vying for consumer attention it seems harder than ever to know whether or not your customer will remember you.

How do you set yourself apart from the competition and stay in the customer's mind?

USE COMMON SENSE AND THINK ABOUT USING MOBILE TO CONNECT WITH MOBILE! Niesen did a study in November about Mobile Auto Shoppers and it showed that 49% of…

Today’s world is full of review sites and social media- the epitome of information at your fingertips.  And because of this, reviews have become that much more important for customer retention and new client business. Search engines are becoming increasingly savvier by routinely displaying reviews (and review sites) very high in search results. Many dealerships are…

Dealer Synergy's Award Winning Automotive Internet & Phone Sales Process - "The 4 P's" - Internet Sales 20 Group from Dealer Synergy on Vimeo.

http://www.internetsales20group.com…

Have you heard?

“Automotive Sales Professionals are Terrible on the Phone”

..... Really??

So, I had yet another in a long series of epiphanies regarding the business I love as I continue to get older and more exposed to the wise….

Ask most anyone….you will hear that the better the sales representative, the worse they are at handling inbound and outbound calls effectively. And some degree that may be…

I watched a fun video on dealerelite this morning that had a fantastic message about ignoring when another salesperson says 'that guy's been here before' and having the confidence to go and serve that customer and sell them a vehicle in spite of the other salesperson's shortcomings. SO TRUE. 

Something about the video, and many other videos, bothered the hell out of me so I thought, what the heck, let's talk about it!…