Hello Dealer Elite Members,

I hope you had a wonderful weekend! I as always have been doing a lot of reading, thinking and spending time trying to solve the major problems in the Automotive industry today!

One of the most common and largest problems that I see on a daily basis in addition to "Poor Customer Service" at Automotive Dealerships is their…

Hello Dealer Elite Members,

First of all I am sorry I have not been more active this week. I have been burning the candle at both ends lately and it has been catching up to me. I have also had the opportunity to read several books on retailers who are the gold standard in their industry. One of them is Nordstrom’s and one of them is Apple Computer.

I was able to learn a great deal about why both of these retailers have not only a great reputation but also…

The largest Redfish caught on record is a massive 94lbs; if you’re looking for a fight, a “Bull Red” won’t back down. Even a Redfish one tenth of the size caught on record will give you a memory your shoulders and forearms won’t soon forget. Imagine arriving early to find the right spot, bravely basting in the sweltering sun, casting and…

As I travel around North America I hear it again and again, the service at the dealership I went to was the problem.

I was on a plane yesterday and had a chance to speak with quite a few "real" car customers and I asked them what there experience has been the last time they were at their local car dealership. Here is what they had to say.....

One: The first person I spoke to said he had called his local Honda Dealership and asked if…

I just finished a meeting with one of my long term clients toady and wanted to share some details on how powerful "Accurate" information really is at a dealership.

First of all let me give you a little of the back story on this dealership and the challenges they faced before we started working with them.

This dealership had a service BDC with no process and was essentially a second switchboard handling thousands of calls with limited results.…

The Right Process is the key to success in every industry period.

Most business professionals already know that process is what drives success. most if not all of the worlds most successful companies depend on it. Companies like McDonalds, Starbucks, Disney, Hilton to name just a few. The big challenge facing the automotive industry today is not the "Road to the Sale" it's all the other things we do that are not process driven.

Simple things like…

There is an old saying carpenters use. "Measure twice, cut once."…

We are developing a sales process for Truecar customers and thought we'd share it with the community.…

Our recent poll, "What is the number 1 challenge most dealers have with improving profits?" shows that RECRUITING TALENT and PROCESSES are the #1 challenge to improving our profits as dealers. The question now becomes:

• Are RECRUITING TALENT and…

How can car dealerships all over the world get more appointments that show up at your automotive dealership? In order to determine the answer to this fantastic question, we need to look at the problem first.

The problem is: salespeople, managers, service writers, even BDC representatives are not giving customers a reason to return the dealership. They may be calling the customer back, but best intentions rarely get you to the finish line.

The question is what are they…

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I love reading Jim Ziegler’s articles there is a lot of hard core truth in what he writes, most of all you can bet he is passionate and believes and lives every word. While reading this latest article “Coffee’s for Closers” it floored me that we still see this connection between the “PRICE” and the "Close". What’s even more ironic is that is that what actually “CLOSES” a car sale is as old school as it…

Landmark Training Blog Sight

“Our industry needs more nurturers and fewer managers.” 

What does that statement mean to you?

The trend in our industry is to hire people based on tenure and experience rather than talent and skills.  How many sales people and…

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As I mystery shop automotive dealers on a weekly basis, I am amazed at the lack of follow up phone skills that are still out there.  Even more, I am amazed at the lack of follow up attempts that most Internet and BDC departments have.  This is either lack of training, lack of motivation, or simply way too many…

THE IMPORTANCE OF A TRAFFIC LOG

I was at a Dealership the other day that had laid-off the receptionist. She was also the person that managed The Traffic Log. So I asked the Sales Manager, “who is taking care of the traffic log ? ”... “I am”, he said. .... “Well, when you step out, who manages the log?” ... “The salesmen”, was his answer.…

In the world of Professional sports, teams will spend hours researching how their opponents will react in any given situations. They watch film, update themselves on individual player’s conditions and personal lives and proclivities and look to extol any benefit possible from any information gleaned.…

I’ve just spent 6 of the last 9 days working with 2 very professional sales teams; both from high volume and very profitable Honda stores in the SE; profitable because of their fixed operations and used car departments. 42 different sales team members, consultants and managers alike, went on videotape to…