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…

Tell Your Story

A story can separate a business from its competition by establishing a unique identity customers can relate to. This week, I'm analyzing the difference between a business with a real story and one that simply pushes price. 



Watch this week's Think Tank Tuesday to learn how you can create brand loyalty for your business with a unique story.…

In this age of always-connected consumers seeking instant gratification 24 hours per day, consumer engagement and the customer experience are more important than ever in order to earn that elusive thing: Customer Loyalty. Consumers are more independent than ever before. They’re tired of chasing automated phone systems and having to tell their story multiple times as they get…

The Challenge

 

No matter who you are or what you do, one thing we all have in common is challenges in life. It might be your finances, your health, your family, or it may even be the workplace. Challenges never come into your life at a convenient time, and they can’t be scheduled. Your approach and…

Without a doubt, data has become the currency that fuels competitive advantage in today’s economy. The concept of data-driven marketing has become an integral strategy across a broad range of industries, and the automotive industry is certainly no exception. Consumers expect relevant messages delivered across the channels they prefer and at the timing they choose.…

Black Book, a division of the Hearst Business Media Corporation that provides new- and used-vehicle valuation services and custom data licensing solutions, today announced an exciting, collaborative partnership with DRIVIN that will deliver real value to their extensive network of over 10,000 active dealerships. 

Black Book will be the exclusive vehicle valuation service provider to DRIVIN’s proprietary, inventory trading platform that analyzes over 2M VINs every day to source,…

Urbandale, IA--March 14th, 2016--Flick Fusion announced today it has recently produced its 10 Millionth vehicle inventory video. The video originated from Gibson Truck World, the #1 used truck dealership in the world. Gibson Truck World creates and uploads its inventory videos using the Inventory Online Vehicle Marketing Suite from HomeNet Automotive, a leading vehicle merchandising and online distribution company, and a preferred vendor for…

Timonium, MD – March 14th, 2016-- Helion Automotive Technologies, a leading provider of information technology (IT) solutions to auto dealerships, announced that its president, Erik Nachbahr, was recently appointed as a new member of the Automotive Resource Network (ARN) Auto Retail Committee. The committee is charged with delivering auto retail educational programs and in-house customized training to auto…

Albany, N.Y. – March 14th, 2016 – Auto/Mate Dealership Systems (http://www.automate.com) today announced new features in its dealership management system (DMS) Accounting Suite. The updates are designed to streamline processes that typically involve countless hours of labor by accounting personnel. New features include inquiry screen data entry, automated inter-company accounts payable, automated inter-company general…

It’s time for a reality check. I’d like to begin with pointing out the fact that more often than we realize, the correct solution to a problem is both obvious and…

The car business is a people business. Because of that, dealerships see customers from a variety of backgrounds, income levels and credit histories. And, for a salesperson or manager, there’s nothing more disheartening than to spend a lot of time with a customer just to discover that they are credit challenged. Despite that, many dealerships will do their best to land the…

Digital dealership system

When a customer comes to a dealership to have the car serviced, they need something to do. Most of them will grasp for their phones to kill the time, but you can use the advantage of having them in your waiting room by offering them content. Content can be displayed on your dealer TV using the amazing technology of digital signage.

How…

I left a 35 year career in automobile retail management eight months ago. I worked as a GM at Dick Hannah, one of the greatest dealer groups in the country, and I loved every moment of it.

I have had many mentors in my life, (grateful every moment for all of them) but I was told by a specific mentor to constantly look in the mirror. To take a look at our…

In video marketing, many people think that to simply start making videos is enough. While it’s certainly a great start, there’s actually a lot more to it. In fact, I’d even go so far to say that simply beginning to make video at your dealership is more like showing up for your first day of football practice. The coach didn’t simply split everyone into two teams and have a…

Here is an excerpt from my new book:

"I’m always amused when I get around a bunch of car guys and they start talking about “gross average”. Most of the time, they are omitting pack from this discussion. The reason is that it’s assumed that a dealers pack only affects gross when it’s too low. Who is making more money, Tom Turner or Gary Grossman?

Tom has a $500 pack and a $1500 front end gross

Gary has a…

One Price Selling – What Are You Waiting For?

Most Dealers are closer to a One Price Selling sales process than they may realize. If you’re an excellent pre-owned dealer you’re basically not negotiating. You must price your cars to market to get leads. On the new car side, the customer is setting the prices. With new tools that allow prospects to literally buy the car from home, negotiating power is shifting to the consumer.

The number…

Syd Micheal started a new group for sales professaionals, it is free to join and you can win prizes.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/cardawgsauto/

check it out and ask to join

Dealership valuations skyrocket; Van Tuyl, Berkshire Hathaway acquisitions have major impact; new entrants outpace publics by over 4 to 1

Irvine, CA, March 9, 2016 – U.S. dealership buy/sell activity reached record highs in 2015[1], with activity by new entrants outpacing public company acquisitions by over four to one, according to The Blue Sky…

Are you distracted?

 

One thing you can accept as certain is that our lives are full of distractions. You might be so determined to accomplish your to do list and yet at the end of the day not much is been completed. Let’s look at some logical ways to control the largest time waster that we all…

If you love cars, you would certainly have come across terms like speed, torque, power, acceleration, RPM and so on; a car’s performance is assessed using these factors. Among all the car related technical terms one stumbles on, speed and torque are the most…