Today we live in an instant society.  We want instant answers to all of our problems, concerns, career moves, etc.  Thanks to the Internet, a lot of information can be instantly in front of us.  Because of ATMs, we have access to our money - "Instantly."  And, too many of your customers are in a bad way because of instant gratification.…

"Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein

"Practice: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting BETTER results." -  Mike…

Once again, another dealership ruins it for the rest of us.  Recently, a customer in Anchorage Alaska was the winner of a 2009 Nissan GT-R on eBay Motors with a bid of $55,100.  Now, the dealer (Honda of San Marcos) is refusing to sell the vehicle to them.  The bugaboo:  It was a No-Reserve Auction.

This is another shining example of how a dealership participates in a platform without knowledge, training, or guidance, and gives our industry a black-eye.  The dealership is…

     If you had to pick a group of favorite failings, you’d be hard pressed to keep the list small.  Failing is generally what precedes massive success.  In fact, its’ difficult to name a significant invention, person, or other creation, without discussing the failing that occurred right up to the moment of success.

     However, in an attempt to share with all of you, the importance of risk, and the necessity of failing, I present my favorites.  These are my top five from…

I'm a baseball man.  I could give up watching all other sports if the season went all year round.  It's a great sport to watch because on any day, someone could literally come out of nowhere and change the season.  As a Lifetime Yankee fan, being around when Bucky "Bleepin'" Dent took the Yanks past Boston to win another series was incredibly satisying.  Seeing it again with Aaron Boone two decades later brought back those same feelings.  Yet, neither one of them will ever be considered for…

Staying Dumb is the Smartest Thing You can Do

While working the desk here recently I handed a proposal (pencil) to one of our senior, veteran, strong salespeople.  It was the first proposal so it reflected a retail price with shorter terms and an average A.P.R. (we hadn’t run credit).  The trusty, crusty veteran looked at the proposal and said, “Here’s what I think we should do…” and proceeded to tell me how we should discount the vehicle, stretch the term…

Dealerships everywhere are looking for ways to cut themselves to a profit. Let me save you and your accounting team some time. The only way to change things is to start capturing more of the business you are loosing and generate traffic and sales for your dealership.

Sales

Even the best automotive salespeople close only 15% to 20% of the people they speak to in a given day or month. In addition most stores don't have a…

Years ago in dealerships all over the world, the dealers were to only way to get pricing. Customers did not have access to invoice pricing, shipping cost, etc. The simple fact is that today this is just not the case any more. I hear dealers all the time talk about the "good old" days when customers did not know so it was easy to make money.

I also hear a great deal of blame as well being tossed around. It's the manufacturers fault, it's my competitions fault, it's the salespeople etc.…

At The Dealer Resource Group our goal is to provide the highest level of service to our dealer clients.  Our 21st Century Selling System(c) teaches ethical sales skills for the curent market.  Our goal is to lead by example, practice what we preach, and really walk the walk.  Doing so often attracts the best of the best.  This announcement is just that.

Here are our newest additions to the DRG Team:

Gene Diehm

Gene Diehm has been…

Training.  It's an important element to any successful department.  While it's my livelihood now, when I was managing dealerships, I think I missed a lot of opportunities to be a better trainer.  Standing in front of a room for an hour or less delivering a technique or other instruction, just didn't create the improvement I was looking for.  Later in my career, many managers confirmed that belief with their own experience.  While multi-day training programs, with notebooks and class…

Everyone has worked with Negative Nellie and Cantankerous Craig and seen how they can poison the waters of progress with their hater-aide.  Their less than inspiring attitude spread like a cancer through what was once an optimistic and forward moving team.  To managers and fellow peers, it is easy to identify the Nellies and Craigs and see the impact they have on team success.

There is…

As a automotive industry professional with lots of years under my belt, I must say I have heard a lot of tactics, techniques and the spin of course. I have been hearing Sales Managers, trainers and others for years talk about taking control of the customer.

Talk is cheap and just saying “take control” of your customers does not make it happen.

Here are a few tactics that not only make logical sense they actually help you “take control” and sell more cars….

 …

Price cutting is a self-inflicted wound. Nobody holds a gun to your head and makes you cut your price. I know that many of you are thinking right now: "There is so much competition today that you can't maintain profits," "Everybody is giving everything away," "The salespeople can't negotiate," and "Everybody knows our pricing from the Internet..." Blah, Blah, Blah. Stop whining about price!

Only about ten percent of buyers buy on price alone. For that ten percent, you can…

In the movie classic, “The Wizard of Oz”, the character Dorothy, upon seeing the impending storm yells out…..”Auntie Em, Auntie Em…it’s a twister…it’s a twister!”

This is how most Automotive Dealers and General Managers feel about social media marketing. The social media storm is coming on fast, and spinning in directions that no one can predict where the future will go!

I have personally been in the retail automotive industry for 30 years,…

When salespeople get to work in the morning, what's their goal for the day?  As managers plan the week or the month, what outcome are they focusing on?  When dealers set their sites on year end, what do they see? Usually, in each case, whatever it is, it's not enough.  Sales people want a sale, or a commission.  Managers focus on total volume or gross.  And dealers see that they ended up above water. 

Unfortunately, with visions like that, even if you accomplish what you set…

Sometimes your biggest weakness can become your biggest strength.

 Take, for example, the story of one 10-year-old boy who decided to study judo despite the fact that he had lost his left arm in a devastating car accident. …

Great leaders understand more than anything that it is ALL about the people…..

The people… are the driving force of any organization…..

Don’t believe it???

Go ahead and hire some bad ones and let me know how that works…