First Contact & Follow Up. It's a simple ask of sales personnel, yet it's become one of the largest downfalls in the sales process. It's not the act of actually making contact, its the method that in fact creates the madness. By splattering phone calls, texts, and emails at random…

Isn't that the million dollar question? Trust me I was on the Dealer side of this conversation for 15 years. With my work schedule getting time off the last thing I wanted to do was look for things. I wanted the only time I had to be with my family. I hated the phone calls at the Dealership too. But they were necessary. If the conversation was engaging, the person was likeable and the product sound, I would give the right person a chance. Standing on the other side of the aisle now I…

The retail automotive world demands a lot, including long hours, working holidays and little flexibility in schedule. Most dealerships require 1 or 2 “bells” per week, (working open to close) and don’t include many weekends off, as Saturday and Sunday are typically busy days, when consumers have time to shop for a vehicle.

 A recent blog post on the…

Three Ways Mobile Technology is Changing the Auto Industry

Each day consumers spend a little more than 3 hours on their smartphones – and that’s not even making calls. The innovation of mobile technology has forever changed the course of history,…

It's hard to think about fall and winter when summer has just arrived. We have visions of backyard barbecues, family vacations, and an ice cold...well, you fill in the blank. But this is an awesome time of year; not only for fun in the sun, but for growing our business!

We can always count on being busy in the hot summer months as our…

This Week in Social Media

News for the Week of July 18

Improvements for YouTube Ads

Google recently announced improvements for YouTube ads, which will give retailers more control over the branding experience for viewers.  Available globally wherever TrueView for shopping is available, the new features will help shoppers pinpoint what they’re…

Auto Shoppers Are In Market Longer Than Ever – 5 Ways to Target and Convert New Customers

Today’s auto consumers are in-market longer than ever, with the majority of shoppers in market for 2 months or longer. These longer purchase…

Consumers are constantly flooded with messages everywhere they go, from billboards to direct mail, to websites, banner ads and email. Most of these messages are disregarded, ignored or, even worse, never seen, because, for the most part, the message itself is not relevant.

So, along came retargeting, which can continue to follow the customer around the…

People often ask me how my sales career began, so I thought I would share the back story with you. Between my junior and senior year of high school, a good friend told me about a summer job opportunity. I was not interested in the least because I played summer baseball every year and didn't want to miss the season. My first response to my friend Richard was a big,…

Batteries are basically portable storage points for pure energy. When a battery is activated, it causes a flow of electric current to be sent out. This is known as a discharge of the battery. These devices were made over 200 years ago by a physicist in Italy known as Alejandro Volta. He was the person who first invented the voltaic pile, a primitive rendition of a modern battery. The pile was basically a stack of paper that was soaked in a solution of silver, zinc and saltwater. One of the…

What are you doing on Facebook to provide value?

By creating a Facebook group, you'll be able to nurture the database that you already have, as well as increase the audience for your business.  Your new Facebook group will give you the opportunity to get feedback on products or services, engage with customers, and build top-of-mind awareness.…

So it’s been a long time since I wrote a blog (for myself, that is) but after attending Jim Ziegler’s Internet Battle Plan and watching a kid yell "I found a Pokémon!" then promptly walking into a wall then watching adult auto industry attendees, vendors and speakers choose to go Pokémon hunting rather than network with industry colleagues and dealers, it got me thinking.…

With any marketing campaign it is of utter importance to hit your customers where they are. Whether that be Social Media, Digital Media or Traditional Media. To brand your message you have to develop a trust in what you are marketing by making it familiar to your customer because they have seen the message enough to trust it purely from being seen. If you are marketing to them all around their digital footprint using Google and Facebooks Algorithms you…

These days, for most of us at least, the term “phone call” is now synonymous with “voicemail”. If we are having difficulty getting our prospects to call us back, it’s probably because our voicemail skills suck. Here’s a few quick guidelines to suck less. A lot less.

The basic voicemail structure is: 1) Introduce…

Company culture is a hot topic recently, and with good reason. Companies with a great workplace culture enjoy increased employee and customer retention rates, as well as higher profits.

But how do you know if your dealership's…

Assigning leads, a core responsibility of a sales manager. Simply put however, it can be a hassle. Lead assignment requires a great deal of time and energy by knowing the who, what, where, why, and how, for every prospect that funnels into the dealership. This will always, because of human error, have mistakes that occur. A groundwork of rules…

I was about to be introduced by Blair Upton, a Senior Executive with General Motors Canada, to deliver the keynote address to all their senior leaders and dealers. The room was packed with over 600 highly successful people. The energy and anticipation was high, and I knew it was going to be a very special day.

We had been contracted to write,…

Internet leads suck.  No one is calling me back.  All internet shoppers are grinders.  I can’t make any money in automotive sales.  I need to invent the next uber or snapchat if I really want to make it in the world.…

Communication and engagement go together like biscuits and gravy, like macaroni and cheese, like bacon and eggs. Most of the time, it’s pretty hard to have one without the other. (Who wants a dry biscuit anyway?) Now that everyone is hungry, it’s time to take a look at the many ways communication is at work in your dealership and how you can use it to boost employee engagement, in turn, boosting performance, improving profitability, and increasing customer loyalty.

“All that from…