As some of you may know, I served as the director of ecommerce for the Asbury Automotive Group (NYSE: ABG) a few years ago. One of the most rewarding things about working for a publicly-traded MegaDealer Group was the ability to not only negotiate from a position of strength (we had over 120 franchises back then), but also the luxury of relying on a team of experts to help us always select the best of the best providers of any product or service.

While our process was exhaustive (we…

It is a well-known fact that abbreviations and emoticons are often used in every day conversations. From texting to emailing, this lingo has become popular across all generations and forms of media – dating all the way back to…

The Seven Habits of Internet Buffoons

How to avoid the common mistakes that spell disaster for your 2012 e-commerce efforts

What can you learn from a pizza parlor, the Mercury-Gemini program, and a cat that will make you great at e-commerce? You will learn how in this entertaining and educational session that will show you that it is often not what you do that makes you great in your online efforts, but what you don’t do. Real-life examples,…

Should we be concerned that GM, Cobalt, and Google decided it best to create Google Places pages for all GM dealers?



Has anyone seen effects in organic search?



Is it all a little "Big Brother-ish" ?



Do these broad sweeping activities border on collusion when considered in the context of organic search and Pay-Per-Click advertising.



When vendors get that close to "Google" what are the unintended or intended consequences to the invisible hand of free…

     I know what most people are thinking. What in the world is attergy. I assure you I have somewhere I am going with this. The other morning in the sales meating, my manager was trying to tell us to greet every customer with enthusiasm and energy. What he said cought my ears. "Work every day with attergy"

     Of course he quikly redirected his statement to what he had orriginally intended to say, but I wrote the word down and have even come up with a…

Professional Service Advisors are Action oriented. They don’t spend a lot of time worrying about what is The Right Thing To Do because they already know what the Right Thing To Do is.

These Advisors have a sense of Empowerment and that leads to Empowered Action.

Empowered Action by definition is when one has the ability to do something with the Customers Best…

Is your Dealership concerned about retaining and growing your service business in 2012?

If so I have a question for you that you might not have thought of. How do you mange the service of your customers vehicles for them and retain more customers in your service department?

The answer is very simple, you start managing your customers like a dentist!

Do Dentists call you six months after your last visit to try…

I wrote this blog post (CLICK THIS LINK) on ADM almost 2 years ago, titled, "We need to Re-Position and Re-Name The Internet Department," on AutomotiveDigitalMarketing.com, but the subject matter is more relevant than ever. An "Internet Sales department" will, sadly, no longer be sufficient for car dealerships going…

by Motyka Johnson

As a "3rd Party Vendor" Partner with a couple of dozen dealerships here in Central Florida, it is both a privilege and a frustration listening to recorded sales calls that my Company of employ produces for my Dealer Clients. The first bit of pain usually occurs when the call is answered at the dealership. If the caller has to navigate thru several automated options I can literally hear and feel the tension start to mount for the prospective buyer. When a real live human being answers "Thank…

Minute details can make major differences when it comes to having a successful sales career. It’s not the mountains that break your sales career; it’s the molehills- the tiny fundamentals you have let slide throughout your career. One such technique is the write-up; every dealership has an 8-10 step Road to the Sale program that literally walks a salesperson…

The car business is known for its loud and often over the top conversations.  In the dealership we pay attention to the loudest sales people, managers, etc.   The quiet employees in the background usually get ignored. 

How's that working for you?

I just came across a quote: …

Our colleague Stan Sher wrote a pretty good tear on the issue of searching for the Next Internet Manager to blame for sales failures.  I have to say I agree with his sketch there.  I think, however, that it is not just Internet Managers.  It can be nearly every manager…

The role of a car salesperson in selling a vehicle is enormous. Car sales is not just a sale of product but is a bouquet of satisfactions that you have to sell with it. It is the usefulness of the product for the buyer, the ego massage, how others look at your buying decision etc etc. This role can be played best by the salesperson as he interacts one to one with the customer and he can project the USP as per the preceptional requirement of the customer.

A salesperson from my…

In today’s economic environment the division between success and failure is as clear as it’s ever been. Having the right people, processes and products are essential for a dealership to be competitive. Being a single-point, family-owned business is no longer a unique proposition for consumers in today’s automotive climate. To stand apart from its competition, a…

But you couldn’t be more wrong about microsites!

I have had a few dealers reach out to me lately on Microsites being a bad idea and even one of the largest industry providers asking me if dealers using them will be “Black Listed” by Google…REALLY?! 

In this video Matt Cutts from Google explains his OPINION on microsites and calls out a post by Vanessa Fox “Microsites A Bad Idea Most of the Time”.

 …

Infiniti of Lisle-Naperville's Internet Director Micah Basarich introduces himself to all dealership prospects in his own way. Every BDC/Internet department professional should use a method to communicate with their audience that best conveys their personality. Building rapport through video allows the prospect to review our dealerships offerings on their own timeline. We believe one-to-many short informative videos can be a great way to set yourself apart from the…

Wouldn't want to get branded as sexist!

Recently Grant put up an article titled, "CNBC's Becky Quick Is Quick to Paint Car Salesmen as Sexist and Stupid."  In the article Grant calls Becky to task for making such a broad generalization and then calls her out…

Facebook Fan Pages are changing on March 30th - get prepared!

1. Start with your cover

Your cover photo is the first thing people will see when they visit your Page. The new Fan page resembles the recently launched Personal page “timeline” look.  Choose a unique photo and change it as often as you like. A horizontal image will work best.  Pick a unique photo to feature at the top of your Page timeline.  Note: This space is not meant for promotions, coupons, or…