For those of you who…

Recently an auto dealership experienced an all-too-common security breach. An employee in the accounting department received an email from someone who he thought was the dealer asking him to initiate a $30,000 transfer from the dealership's bank account to another bank account. The accounting employee complied with the request and it was discovered later that the email was a scam. Unfortunately, there was no way to retrieve the funds.

This dealership has a state-of-the-art…

Our industry does a lot with gimmicks. You’d be hard pressed to drive through an auto mall or other area dense with dealerships and not see balloons, giant inflatable gorillas or wavy tube men. On nice days, we attempt to lure shoppers in with hot dogs and sodas. We incentivize test drives. We offer televisions, iPads and Playstations with purchase. There’s always a gimmick…

Walmart sells a bag of M&M peanuts for $.50. If you’re at a service station the price of that same packet of peanuts jumps to one dollar. If you’re at a five-star hotel and that bag of peanuts is sitting in your room the price jumps dramatically higher to six dollars. Understand it’s the exact same product, yet the prices are distinctively different. Let’s use this information and consider what…

This week, hot-off-the press, we’ve got the 2016 U.S. Women’s Car Dealership Report, showing how progressive car dealerships make a difference in the experiences of women and families. This national report shows what is important to women when shopping, buying and servicing their vehicles.

The information in this report is drawn from over 4,000 women’s reviews and opt-in surveys. Using the reviews, Women-Drivers.com generates a Women Satisfaction Index® (WSI Score),…

Swapalease.com, the nation’s largest car lease marketplace, has new data that shows that Scion vehicles were performing adequately on Swapalease.com, and in some cases had better performance than certain Toyota models and other peers. The analysis was conducted following Toyota’s decision to wind down production of the Scion brand.

Toyota declared that Scion, a division of Toyota Motor Corporation, will be discontinued as of August 2016. The upstart brand was launched in 2002 in an…

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…

Do you want to be truly inspirational leader for your team? The leader, who is happy to lead the other people. Then our material is for you.

We bring you the Top Habits of emotionally strong leader. These habits will help you succeed and be more efficient for employees.…

I’m sure that every management team sits down on occasion to discuss ways to improve dealership operations. Whether that improvement has to do with sales goals, employee satisfaction, or simply lot appearance, typically what happens is that everyone is gung-ho about it and it kicks off great. Then, slowly that momentum dies and all of a sudden nobody is making an effort…

How You Can Go Live Today!

Are you a salesperson or a business owner who wants a new way to market for free? Then watch this week’s Think Tank Tuesday.

This new strategy includes:

• The next tool to market for free: Facebook Live Video.
• How to use this new streaming service to sell more.
• Why it’s better than any other streaming service.

And the best comments get a free membership to our Coffee Mug…

Austin, TX - February 09, 2016 -Vast, the data-as-a-service platform for autos and real estate, today announced a $14 million investment from Capital One Growth Ventures. Vast connects buyers and sellers of cars and homes through…

It’s getting more difficult to earn and keep loyal customers. Consumers these days have so many choices for their shopping needs that it only takes that deep discount, or shiny bauble, to lure them to your competition.

As businesses scramble to create positive customer experiences by ensuring superior customer service, consumers increasingly realize they are…

Do you think about the opportunity to break out of the mold?  Do you see more for yourself than what is contained within the four walls of a retail auto dealership?  Perhaps helping others gain knowledge and skill development through hands-on training sparks a real interest within you.

Have you ever thought about…

A tire-puncture in the middle of the highway can be plain catastrophic.  Therefore, before buying a rig, the discerning motor home buyers should take note of the fact that it’s the owner’s lackadaisical attitude toward tire-checking that causes majority of the blowout incidents. In most cases it is not the over-inflation, but the low tire pressure that causes your RV tires to burst.…

Make sure your site is accessible and resourceful to your clients.

Many dealers aren’t taking advantage of using content as a way to generate sales. On this week’s episode of Hard Facts, Samantha is covering how you can start implementing action items that will not only increase the resourcefulness of your site but will increase your SEO as well.…

Today’s cars come with very sophisticated technology, including live navigation with traffic and obstacle reports, collision avoidance systems, cell phone integration and wireless connectivity. Automakers are now investigating how they can leverage this technology to communicate any vehicle issues to vehicle owners. The OnStar system already reports vehicle concerns. These…

News for the Week of 2.4 

Snapchat Add Me URLs

Snapchat recently rolled out Add Me URLs to make adding people even easier. Users are now able to copy their own unique URLs and instantly share them via apps like Twitter, as well as add them in places like signatures.  When the URL is…

There is a constant stream of advice from industry experts concerning customer loyalty and retention. While most of the advice is on point, a large piece is typically missing in the bigger picture. In order to increase market share, businesses must be aware of what their competition is doing. Turning a blind eye to pricing and marketing tactics of the dealership down the…

In the decades I’ve been in the automotive industry, I’ve rarely seen a dealerships compete on anything other than price.  After all, it’s pretty easy to compare pricing, especially with the advent of the internet.  Today, more than ever, the consumer has the ability to shop faster, further and with all the tools that strip leverage away from the dealership.  Frankly, we’ve…