by Eric Schmitz

The notion of a dealership’s employees having ownership of the organizations customer lists or communications is a frightening one. The question of ownership of work product, email and even actual customer lists is being called into question by BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policies being adopted by many businesses, including auto dealerships.

A 2010 US Supreme Court 9-0 ruling declared that employees are not entitled to privacy if they use an employer’s issued device. The…

As you get your 2012 marketing campaign underway, don't forget about LinkedIn, a powerful marketing and communications tool with over 35 million registered users.

Savvy business professionals use LinkedIn to connect with other industry leaders, exchange ideas, and participate in relevant groups. The following is a notice to all of you LinkedIn members who connect your…

by Kathryn Carlson

For the second time, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) postponed the effective date for posting its employee rights notice. The new date is April 30, 2012. Most private-sector employers including dealerships must post a new notice issued by the NLRB entitled, “Employee Rights Under the National Labor Relations…

• Over 80% of lost revenue on repair orders is due to the oldest 10. This program addresses this fact and places them as a target that cannot be ignored. The Target Ten open orders will be on a report from the DMS identifying the oldest 10 open orders. The information will be filled out every Monday and reviewed by the entire team during the week. The mission is to do whatever is necessary to close these orders. Most manufactures now expect warranty to be processed within a month so any…

The Spirit of Leadership Dinner at the Venetian Hotel on Saturday night helps to support the Women's Automotive Association International group and the work they do for our industry.  Keynote speakers are Edie Hand and Terre Thomas, daughter of Danny Thomas and supporter of St Jude's Children's…

Sound familiar? I’ve heard this several times during my travels the last few weeks and it didn’t matter what part of the country or what franchises.

I was at a long-time Ford client last week, started working with them in September of 1997.  They are coming off of another great profit year, but January had started off a little slow.

I noticed the Sales staff was a little down and in conversations the main topic was that there was very little traffic and that the Dealer needed…

http://www.eyesonsales.com/content/article/doing_business_or_doing_business_now/

If you have salespeople, that know how to sell, but the results are not up to the stores expectations, call them out on it!!! Case in point; Just recently, I had a salesman, good guy, works every day, tries very hard when he wants to and a positive attitude when he wants to have one. I just didn’t have that wow feeling with him on a…

A consumer comes to your dealership for a reason! They have a want! and a need! also a budget! It is your job as a sales consultants to figure those three things out. During a walk around you should be building report with your customer because you now know their want, need and budget, now going off of that you can show them why a vehicle is a fit for them. This makes your customer feel like they are in safe hands.Also that you understand and care about their needs.

It's also a…

(This is part 1 in a series)



Recently a student asked me what attributes compel an individual to be a great salesperson in the retail automobile business.  As I pondered the question I inquired of the student how he would describe a "Great Salesperson."  He immediately answered, "One whose sales production always leads the board, whose grosses…

“It only takes one bug in the potato salad to ruin a picnic,” according to one of the little old ladies I went to church with as a child.  As I move further away from a precocious child and closer to being a sweet little old lady, I am realizing that she was not registering a complaint about church picnics but planting a seed of wisdom that would develop as I grew older.  One little bug can ruin the…

When I started my retail automotive consulting practice in 1987, I chose to state as my unique value proposition, "Guaranteed 1,000% Return on Investment." During my first few years as an independent consultant, I was shocked to learn that very few of my potential dealer clients had a clue about what this meant. So I would explain that, for example, if the dealer would invest $2,500 in professional fees with me, I would provide a money-back guarantee that I would assist in increasing the…

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Good morning automotive world.......

As a performance consultant for Proactive Dealer Solutions I travel around North America helping dealerships contact their customer base and help them grow their business. These same dealerships ask my advise on a regular basic on CRM's and which one they should select to maximize BDC and make it easy for their staff as well.

This is always a challenging question, but I never back down from a challenge in my life. Here are…

Right now, automotive dealerships across the globe are seeking ways to sell more vehicles in a market that appears to be on the upswing.  2012 will see a majority of dealerships dedicating more resources to their …

The issue of deficiencies and production is NOT auto dealer specific it is BUSINESS specific. The answer FOR MORE itself comes down to checking testing and then rechecking execution process of the personnel. A leaders goals or objective should be to get their people to WORK daily to attain the goals or objective of the business.

1. Does the business owner have clear goal(s)?

2. Do the employees/departments know clearly what that is?

3. Are they empowered to solve the…

Car Research, a CRM company, takes an EXTREMELY strong dealer-protective and data-protective stance--essentially, they're first to take a strong public stand that they do NOT share data with anyone and only use the data as a dealer directs. No selling of data! No remarketing to your customers!  No condescension!  ON A DEALER'S SIDE RIGHT OUTTA' THE GATE FOR YEARS NOW AND STILL GOING FORWARD!  WONDERFUL!!!!  Here's their email announcement:

January 18, 2012

You…