Recently I had my car serviced while performing a follow-up visit. I had the oil changed and tires rotated with the Technician suggesting replacement of my air filter. I was proud the Technician took the time to show the filter as everyone knows how important the visual is for selling. At lunchtime I left to get lunch and noticed a noise from the front end of my car. As I pulled out on the highway the noise became worse and I slowed and…

Too many dealerships seem to practice as “faith-based” businesses—not faith in a higher religious power (which might actually help!), but faith that their GM, GSMs, salespeople, marketing, etc. will work as they always have.  That they can somehow resist modern business changes from sales to processes because they have magical faith in people who don’t even know that they…

I am concerned about the radiation they are finding in food and there Automobiles. How are we going to protect ourselves from the radiation they good sending over here when they ship their cars? Is there a plan being put in affect yet, or do we don't care. I am concerned on how they plan (our government) to check for radiation on any item thats coming from Japan, now or in the near future. Can someone help me with this? I have been in the Automotive Business over 30 years and we never had to…

     “There are two reasons people fail in the car business; they’re either lazy or they’re stupid.”  Those were the words of wisdom and inspiration I was given in a letter by my mom's second husband, Phil  when I first got into the business.  He was in his fifth decade in the industry, a dealer principal/owner on the East Coast.  I was a green-pea in the Pacific Northwest.  No pressure, if I fail, I’m either lazy or stupid.  I guess of the two, stupid would be…

OK, the title of this story is intentionally cheesy, but rest of it is real.  I mystery shopped some Dallas Region Ford-Lincoln eCommerce Elite (Top 100 stores in USA for new Ford-Lincoln Internet sales) stores recently and was surprised to discover that their response processes are similar.  This piqued my curiosity, so I called my DMC teammate in southern California to ask him how the  #1 new Ford Internet sales store in the country does things.  Turns out they work much the same as the…

I was fortunate to sit in a dealership advertising planning meeting. Participants included the Dealer Principal, GSM, Internet Manager and representatives from the ad team. All of whom are good folks. However, I have been a bit critical about the efficacy of recent cable ads. This most recent planning meeting did nothing to change my opinion.

After the primary agenda items were addressed, I had the opportunity to engage the ad team members. Although I am definitely not a…

A Car Dealer Call to Arms

 

Sales managers: help your sales staff to gain customer commitment!



When was the last time a salesperson came back from a demonstration drive and told you (the sales manager) that he or she has gained commitment from the customer, so you stacked up a 4Square presentation (or whatever it is that you use) – only to see the prospective customer walking out the door a couple of minutes later?



Do you find this happens quite a lot or even some of the…

Just a quick update for everyone!

The agenda for the 10th Digital Dealer Conference & Exposition has been posted. You can check it out by clicking here! This is a great time to start planning your sessions! What speakers do you want to see? What times and days are they speaking at?

Still cooking up some fun challenges for our…

I have always taught that seeing is believing and it is a must to involve customers visually. Seeing is also buying and when customers see their issues they buy more often than not. It is also retaining the customer this will improve trust and never allow the dealership to have integrity questioned. I have been asked how to do this with drop off customers and now believe Chris had a…

In today's Potratz online workshop, Dan talked about ways to enhance the look and features of your auto dealership's Facebook business page. One way to give a page a true "custom" feel is to add custom tabs with branded images, content, etc. In our experience with automotive advertising on social media, we find that the more customized the page, the more people like…

It is easy to give up at times - easier than most things in life. NO its NOT too late!! NEVER say NEVER!! You deserve to be SUCCESSFUL!!!

Your level of success in terms of your happiness, emotional well being and anything else you desire is a direct result of how you talk to yourself. The most important relationship you-ll ever have is the one you have with yourself. In order to motivate yourself to success, to the levels of happiness and joy that you want, you have to understand that…

7 Habits of Completely Useless Managers

Due to the overwhelming response to The 7 Habits of Largely Ineffective Salespeople I was compelled to write a follow up piece on Sales Managers. These 7 habits will be beneficial to those already in a management role as well as those aspiring to become to be managers. If you are a Largely Ineffective Salesperson these additional habits will put you on the fast track to the abyss of poor management…

Your website is your online Sales Department.  From that perspective, what does your dealership Sales Department do with a new potential customer? 

• Welcome them to the store.
• Find out what they’re looking for – sales, service or parts.
• Help them get what they need.

Your website can’t “talk”…

Last Wednesday a marketing employee from New Media Strategies, Chrysler’s former marketing company, mistook the Chrysler Twitter account for his personal account and posted on the Chrysler Twitter page, ““I find it ironic that Detroit is known as the #motorcity and yet no one here knows how to drive.” Between “to” and “drive” was an unfortunate word. The impact was felt immediately when followers began to retweet the post. Chrysler quickly responded by posting “Our apologies-our account was…

The Calgary auto show I visited last week probably has the same format as other auto shows across the country.  It provides a great opportunity for manufacturers to strut their stuff - lots of glitz, some glamour and plenty of consumer interest.  After all, this is one of the few events where consumers pay for the privilege of being qualified and sold to.

I’m not…