One of my very good childhood memories is Mom writing Granny (her Mom) letters and Mom also getting letters from Granny.  Mom and Dad had moved us to Ohio for the better life that came then from factory work, so at the time we were far away from Granny back in Tennessee.  The telephone was still expensive and unreliable way back then, and Granny's phone was also a…

The newest keeping up with the Jones’s marketing trend is Social Media Marketing.  Social Networking has found a home in American Capitalism as the twenty-something crowd has become a strong demographic in today’s enterprise.  Business hours have been replaced with 24/7 virtual access to your dealership.  Social Media Marketing has become a channel for customer support, service and satisfaction. …

Social Media is not kids play any longer.  Social Networking has found a home outside of the college dorm and into main stream capitalism.   More and more businesses globally are adopting Social Media Marketing Plans.  Social Media is one of the newest tools available to the global economy, but how does it affect your business?  Why should you invest some of your marketing resources in the…

10)  We were all born of women, consider the pain, anguish and toil endured for you to just be here; in other words, if nothing else, do it for your mom dummy

9)  You can't just buy every female customer and co-worker roses and jewelry to make up for stupid things you say like you do with your wife or girlfriend- get it right

8)  Girls stopped having cooties a long time ago, it is safe to treat them as human now

7)  Every woman is somebody's daughter

6)  Women…

If a General Manager had 50% of new or used car inventory aged at over 7 months without a sale, life would not be pleasant. Many dealerships have this concern in their parts department and are not even aware of it. Let’s look at some operational guidelines that will improve your parts department in every aspect. Every month end should generate a parts summary report that is given to the parts manager. This report contains some valuable information most General Managers never see. An…

There are a number of good reasons for operating an ethical and legally compliant dealership, not the least of which is staying out of a courtroom.  Perhaps the most important - and most often overlooked - reason is increased customer satisfaction.  There are times when an employee may feel that he or she came out the winner by bending the rules a little, but what about the dealership’s reputation?  What about the customers who were mislead?  It seems like there might be some losers in the…

1) Hire some women!  Women buyers will, on average, prefer to buy a vehicle from another woman when they can--and women salespeople are awesome.  By the way, women salespeople will do a great job with male buyers, too.



2) Smile and understand their power.  Lots of women are on their own and…

The following is an except from the book “Influence: How Women’s Soaring Economic Power Will Transform Our World for the Better” by Maddy Dychtwald with Christine Larson.



Start Your Engines: Transforming the Automotive…

A vehicle is more than just a machine that gets you from Point A to Point B, especially when you have passengers along for the ride. There are a lot of factors that determine which vehicle fits your family’s needs the best.

How can you find the right vehicle for your family? The first and most important step is to examine your needs, and prioritize them over your wants. This will help you to keep costs lower by focusing on the most important aspects of the vehicle…

It’s natural to be scared when your child reaches legal driving age. Not only will you stay up at night worrying about their safety, but you’ll also probably worry about the process of teaching them and how they’ll behave once they’re out on their own.

Per mile driven, teenage drivers age 16 to 19 are four times more likely to crash than older drivers. According to the CDC, the teens at the highest risk of crashing are male, have teenage passengers with them and have had…

Below is one of my favorite tales of two dealerships. It is a favorite story because I believe both dealerships had the best of intentions, just one made a positive impact and the other a not so positive impact on how one woman in a vast world of consumers experienced buying her first brand new car.

The ink on the divorce decree was nearly dry and I was out to make some big changes in my…

 

It’s 2011; is your dealer website holding its own? Everywhere you turn in the digital automotive marketing world, technology is evolving at a rapid clip. Search engines are going…

Kids are expensive.  I know, tell me something I don't know.  But, I thought it would get easier as they grew.  WRONG!  As I set my daughter up in her first apartment at college, the bare necessities had me hoping for a lot more book sales and training assignments.  But, we went shopping anyway.  She needed everything from bedding to pots and pans.  Furniture to picture frames.  For those of you with college age kids, you know what I mean.

So, after many trips to stores,…

In the auto business life gets pretty hectic.  Monthly deadlines, sales quota's, closing ratios, and heat cases are all part of our daily routine.   If you are a trainer or vendor have you ever called a manager at a dealership who said, "Sure I have lots of time to speak with you about your service."   Nope, they never have time, they are too busy whatever it is that keeps them busy.  

I came across this article that I wanted to share with dealerelite members.  It has some…

The Role of On-Page SEO Content: Relevance, Not Rankings

People love to talk about the ways that search engines determine their rankings. I always advise our clients to stay away from trying to find "the edge of the algorithm" or any practices that are manipulative because of the risk these tactics carry, but the search engines continue to have many limitations on what they can do, and how they interpret what they see.

Therefore it is prudent…