Personalizing Customer Experience with Intelligent Advertising

Get to Know Your Customer

Consumers put an endless amount of information online about themselves, often daily. However, several marketing strategies don’t use that information to their advantage. If online users are taking the time to educate brands about their behavior, likes, dislikes, wants, habits, etc., it…

Stay Ahead of the Competition with Google's Latest Changes

Google has made more changes that affect how people find your dealership. The competition is getting tougher but Hard Facts is here to help. Watch now and discover why you need to step up your Google ranking to continue getting traffic.

While consumers regularly patronize independent repair facilities, dealers have always been able to rest assured that any recall repair work would remain in their hands. However, according to an article in Automotive…

Generation Z : Digital Natives

Understanding Why the Youngest Car-Buying Generation is so Important

You’ve heard quite a bit about millennials, Gen Xers, and earlier generations. Now it’s time for Generation Z to get some time in the spotlight. Gen Z is generally made up of individuals born between the years of 1995-2012, and for automotive dealerships, that means this generation is just barely starting to scrape the surface of buying. However, they are a group to watch for…

Welcome to this week's edition of Black Book Market Insights, with in-depth analysis of used car and truck valuation trends and insights straight from the auction lanes. Click here to download the full report.

 

The Black Book Market Insights report this week looks at the continued effects the price of gas is having on smaller cars and entry-level cars, which are showing some of the largest declines of the year. Interestingly, even…

The multiple ways businesses can communicate with customers are constantly expanding - from telephone, to e-mail, to text messaging. With today’s technology, communication methods continue to evolve at unprecedented speeds. As smartphones have gotten smarter, the rise in the development of apps has introduced yet another way to communicate: push messaging. In…

I have been in the automotive Management and consultant business for longer than I care to admit. Since I have had the pleasure of being a GM/GSM and consultant to dealers I feel that I have a pretty good idea of how to approach a dealer or GM/GSM if I was trying to sell them something. I have been back managing now for over 2 years and very successful as always. However I am amazed at the total lack of professionalism of vendors calling me daily trying to sell me something. My favorite…

News for the Week of November 2 

Google Play Music Introduces Podcasts

Google recently introduced a podcast portal which allows podcasters to upload their shows to Google Play Music. According to Google, contextual recommendations will be…

Search Engine Optimization has been hanging around as an industry buzzword for several years now. FordDirect websites claim to have a strong SEO base. Several vendors are out there selling their own SEO services to Ford and Lincoln dealers. Dealers often ask me how they’re doing and complain when they don’t show up at the top of the SERP. But what does SEO mean and what contributes to improving it?

MOZ recently released their…

Women buyers have different reasons than men for choosing where they finalize the deal. Understanding the nuances of women’s buying habits can mean the difference of making a sale or losing it.

It's easy to make the assumption that price is the first priority. Price does matter, but it’s weighed along with more emotional priorities like…

Developing a winning culture is critical to achieving consistent success. It will never happen by accident and requires commitment from everyone on the team. Let’s look at a couple contrasting examples from Cleveland area sports teams.…

Increasing the Profit



“How do I increase profits in my service department?” This is a question that we often hear, so today we are going to look at three ways to increase profits in your service department!…

As an SEO, I've grown accustomed to frequent news about updates and other changes made to Google's algorithm. But today's news from the world's leading search engine took me for a loop.

Here at…

Creative investment opportunities recognized at auto industry’s first innovation and investor conference; SRO conference, packed with investors, dealerships & PE firms, reviewed over 20 start-ups representing the best of the auto industry’s future

Salt Lake City, UT –November 3, 2015 – Twenty-two of the top young companies shaping the future of the automotive…

There’s a new marketing tool that pinpoints where your customers live and allows you to target them with specific ads. On this week’s Think Tank Tuesday, I cover this new technology and what it can mean for your business.…

How Well Do You Know Your Consumers? 

Do you know their likes, dislikes, what content they’re most likely to engage with? If you don’t, you should. Knowing your consumers is the first step toward turning them into customers who will return time and again to your dealership. Whether you know it or not, consumers have been talking, and there are some things they’d…

In our industry, one universal sales practice is to tailor your techniques to the wants and needs of the customer in front of you. If you have a young male drooling over that sports car, you’ll probably be talking about performance specs, 0-60 times and horsepower. If you have a young family, you’re probably going to be reviewing all of the safety features of…

It Was Always Burning 

How Automotive Dealerships Can Win With Today’s Consumers

There’s not a dealership around that hasn’t noticed the changes today’s consumers have brought to the marketplace. The differences between shopping trends of the past and the way people want to do business today can be seen and felt on the showroom floor and the lot in every…

Driving home from the airport late last Thursday night, I switched on some good old’ talk back radio to keep me awake on for the journey… Bad idea most of the time…! But this night, a motor industry expert was on talking about his demise for a car brand and giving his thoughts on how people buy cars these days. 

He made a comment, "most people don’t need to test drive cars before they buy them these days because it’s more about the iPhone and Bluetooth connections and other…