Content marketing and exposure are becoming increasingly important in digital marketing and today’s race for eyeballs. In the automotive space, there are many companies that do great jobs marketing and optimizing exposure for dealerships through websites, search engine optimization, social media marketing, pay per click ads, newsletters and more. While these companies do an…

(The following post was written by a respected colleague of mine in the automotive industry. The author, who shall remain nameless, is one of the brightest, most energetic, hardest working and truest “team players” I’ve ever met. His/her frustrations are far too common in most industries; but are especially common in automotive. His/her words should be heeded by OEMs who’ve enjoyed moderate success despite their shortcomings. Pricing transparency and other threats to virtually all OEMs’…

Anyone can have a dream, but why do some succeed and some fail? Find out what you need to reach your goals this week on Think Tank Tuesday.

Best Practices in Fixed Operations—Implementing Call Monitoring

The Profits of Service

In today’s competitive marketplace many dealerships will rise and fall on the revenue generated by the Fixed Operations division. Additionally, the future success of the Sales side is directly related to the service experience your callers receive. About two out of every three callers reaching your dealership will ask to speak with someone in Service or Parts. Unfortunately, 20…

ALBANY, N.Y. – February 18th, 2014 – Auto/Mate Dealership Systems (http://www.automate.com) announced today that TimeHighway has completed integration of its service scheduling solution with Auto/mate's Automotive Management Productivity Suite (AMPS) dealership management system. Auto dealers using both Auto/Mate's DMS and TimeHighway's service scheduling solution will benefit from real-time data exchange between the two…

You Need More Than One Trash Day

It’s a sickening feeling to be awakened by the faint rumblings of that heavy-duty truck. Blinking your eyes fast, trying to get your senses about you and trying to figure out what day it is, you hear the truck drawing closer. As the driver mashes the accelerator, the thick, throaty sounds of the truck’s power cause your windows to vibrate and the pictures on your wall come alive with chattering.

Seconds later, the engine’s growls are…

I was rather appalled to read an industry article today that included a suggestion by a digital marketer that dealers should combat showrooming by blocking the URLs of their competitors while shoppers with smartphones and tablets are wandering their own showroom or lot.

Additionally, one dealership GM said that he gave all his sales people an iPad so that they could find shoppers that were comparison shopping from their smartphones, look over the shoppers' shoulders, go to the same…

In my last post about making the internet department good for gross, not just volume I talked about having the right people in the Internet Sales department.  The most important part of that was this (you will see this again too!)...

The internet salesperson should be an experienced salesperson, who can quickly and easily function as the salesperson, finance manager, and sales manager.  They need to be able to quickly answer any question, and overcome objections with…

Getting Started: App Downloads

Let’s start at the beginning.  Dealers cannot have the “If we build it, they will come” mentality when it comes to having a dealership branded mobile app.  The first thing to consider when planning your mobile marketing strategy is acquiring downloads.  This is extremely important as the success of your mobile app implementation hinges on this critical step.    

Companies worldwide are investing mega-cash to ensure…

If our natural state is joy why are there so many unhappy people out there? We can talk about state of mind all we want,  the bottom line is we are what goes into our mind. What the heck does that mean? It means if your watching the news what kind of information are you sending to your brain. What do you expect to hear on the news? Everytime I listen it seems to be negative. What goes in your mind comes out your mouth. First thing in the morning, last thing at night you take in the negative…

A message to all Automotive STARS!

Did you ever wonder how to determine who would be good at selling cars in today's market... Or if the sales applicant in front you has the traits needed to succeed at your dealership? dE members,now have an opportunity to find out by using a scientifically proven effective simulator…

Recently I finally was able to eliminate a 1980's internet mgr. from my dealership(sorry to be so crude), he was from the 80's and aside from knowing CRM's and the fundamentals of round robin, there was nothing else he knew to do or wanted to learn, he has now added marketing to his title to increase his ? to make up for this inability. We all should re-title our Internet department leader to Digital director, because if he or she do not know the importance and do not have the…

http://www.dealersynergy.com 856-546-2440

Introducing Geno Kyle, Chevrolet Automotive Sales Manager Of Andy Mohr Chevy - Indianapolis,…

What is your challenge this week? Is it working towards a long term goal?

I find it to be like writing a book.…

Century Interactive call tracking announces a partnership and reporting integration with VinSolutions.

Century Interactive, a leader in call tracking solutions and phone call analytics, and VinSolutions, the marketplace leader and developer of internet-based customer relations management (CRM) and Internet lead management (ILM) for the automotive industry, announced Thursday a partnership and reporting integration. The partnership empowers users on…

Sales letters are important tools for interactive marketing, lead generation and nurturing sales opportunities.  In the age of digital marketing, usually one of the earliest experiences a potential consumer will have with an organization is some impersonal written for the masses word format.

Selling is like dating.  Imagine you are on a first date; would…

In recent articles by both CNET & Automotive News, it’s reported that U.S. regulators are looking to institute…