Like many small, hometown dealerships Matt Saxe Chevrolet in Belle Plaine, MN, he has a wall dedicated to the pictures of the dealership over the last century!  I love looking back at the old pictures, seeing how the towns have changed, the people in the pictures, the pride of the local car dealer... but one picture in particular caught my eye.  The date on the picture was August 1959.  It showed the dealership proudly displaying 8 beautiful Chevrolets outside and a large sign that said…

Dr. Neil Gale has started a subsidiary company of DrGale.com in order to focus on website marketing. The new company, Gale Web Marketing, concentrates on the SEO, SEM, and PPC side of lead generation for car dealers.

Additionally, Gale Web Marketing offers a unique approach to using search engine marketing to increase lead and sales generation.  Our Single…

Oh yes.  That scary world of social media.  How do I do it?  Seems like free advertising.... hmmm.  I can just set it up and let it go, right?

There really are no questions about social media that you have not already answered sometime in your career.  Social media is just an online version of what any successful business operator or salesperson has done for years.

Think about what you may have done with the Lions Club, Optimist Club, Boys and Girls Club, your church, your…

 VinSolutions Announces Lead Certification with Saab 

VinSolutions is currently certified with thirteen (13) Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) with new partnerships in development. 

Overland Park, KS – VinSolutions has announced their certification by Saab Cars North America (SCNA) as an approved lead management vendor. Benefits to the VinSolutions dealership customers of this (OEM) partnership include the guarantee of up-to-date…

Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov famously tantalized his dogs by ringing a bell to alert them that food was about to be served. The dogs, soon wise enough to associate the sound of a tinkling bell with a big juicy steak, began to salivate each time the bell tolled.

This associated behavior is known as “classical conditioning,” and the parallel between the doghouse and the dealership cannot be clearer. Obviously, the incoming…

Automotive Customer Centricity Summit - June 14th

Thought Leadership Summits (TLS) is pleased to feature a Keynote Presentation from Thilo Koslowski, Vice President & Lead Automotive Analyst at Gartner at the Auto Customer Centricity Summit.  Thilo's presentation will focus on the challenges and opportunities technology is creating for the automotive industry, and how effective collaboration between OEMs, Dealers, and Captives is the next step in the evolution of customer…

PCG Digital Marketing is pleased to announce that DrivingSalesTV.com will be live broadcasting the keynote speakers from the 2011 Automotive Marketing Boot Camp (AMBC) in Orlando which starts on Saturday April 16th.

The AMBC conference has attracted top dealers, industry leaders, educators, and motivational speakers for this two and a half day educational event.

The content from the 25+ workshops and…

THOUSAND OAKS, CA, APRIL 12, 2011 – IntellaCar, LLC announced today the release of IntellaCar™ 2.0, the next generation of the ground-breaking iPad/iPhone app that has proven to increase dealership sales effectiveness within weeks, revolutionizing the car sales experience for both dealerships and consumers. A mobile sales tool, IntellaCar empowers Sales Consultants with instant “anywhere” access to crucial information. From vehicle specifications to inventory…

As a business, you always want the great reputation that comes with great sales and service experiences for your buyers, and that always begins at your dealership with great customer service before, during, and after the sale.  However, before they get to a business, …

As car dealers start to test the effectiveness of Google Boost I just want to remind members of this community on an important fact about Google Boost. If you don't have an IRM process in place that gets happy customers to post reviews, you will not be…

Simply having a business page on Facebook is no longer enough to run a successful automotive marketing campaign on Facebook. With a number of companies and brands joining the bandwagon, Facebook has become a saturated market and unless you understand how the market behaves, you might be get lost amid all the noise.

Similarly, filling up your fans’ walls with advertorial posts will be useless unless you’re…

While enjoying the warmer weather with my buddies this weekend, I made a new car enthusiast friend out of a complete stranger.  The conversation got started when he asked me if I had ever heard of the Nissan GTR.  I looked at him and exclaimed, “Of course!  I have a near meltdown every time I see one.”  We both go on and on about where we…

We all have those moments of "This sucks", "Why am I doing this?", "This month is a waste", "Maybe I should just quit". It's human nature to doubt ourselves. Even the Dalai Lama has an internal negative nellie. I'd be willing tobet on it. 

In those moments of self doubt, what do you do? Do you push through those feelings? Do you swallow them? Do you…

When Ralph Paglia sees this blog post on DealerElite and the video at the bottom of the page, he will once again smile and reflect on his favorite Superbee that he once owned. I love my 1969 Superbee and as much as I enjoy the ride, there are a few things that give me reason to be careful when driving this classic.

Today we have grown accustom to air bags, superb braking and handling technology, surround sound stereo, iPod connectors, and the convenience of navigation systems. All of…

I don't find these expectations "harsh" at all.  The old saying is, "do the right thing because it's the right thing to do". 

It seems to me the Standards are set to do the "right thing".  What is harsh about that.  The "weak at heart" as you call them don't have a "Culture of Excellence".  They're…

Philip Zelinger, the President of Ad Agency Online, L.L.C. and the host of the automotive advertising resource / networking portal http://AdAgencyOnline.Net, has scheduled a follow up interview on his blog talk radio show with three principals from eVBDS, (Electric Vehicle Business Development Strategies), -- George Stellweg, Forest Williams and Carlos De La Guardia.  The trio…

Hey everyone!

Check out my Digital Dealer webinar being held April 14, 2011 at 11:30am EST!

“Deliver on your ideas.  Nothing silences critics like success.  Raise the bar for yourself and project a greater vision for those around you.”  When Tony Paragas shared this statement with me, I felt challenged to seize the moment and share a…

The Digital Dealer Conference & Exposition is rapidly approaching! Only 11 days until kickoff and only 10 days until the start of the Digital Dealer Workshops. The conference in Orlando will see record attendance for the Digital Dealer Conference. With 80 sessions and 100 exhibitors, people are really amped and getting excited.

We have all sorts…