http://www.dongraffautomotive.com

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One of the issues I hear about frequently from my client dealerships is that of sales staff retention. Let me venture out onto the limb to suggest that, just perhaps, the requirements for a sales…

To be convicted is to be found guilty and given a sentence of a specified time, with the chance of rehabilitation. When convicted, there is still hope; it means all is not forgotten; there is still another chance. This is not the case when something is condemned; being condemned means to be found incurable, lost, with no chance of being restored. When a home is…

 Yesterday, I went to a store with my wife to get 1 (one, ONE) thing. As luck would have it, I found myself standing behind my wife looking at an aisle full of little girl’s shoes. The choices were overwhelming; they should put an, “Enter at your own risk” sign up for men entering this aisle. There were all styles of shoes; styles called strapies, flats, sandals,…

I just discovered that in the past sixteen months I have launched more than 225 mystery shops.  Wow.  I didn’t realize there had been so many.



You’d think after 225+ mystery shops a guy should have some profound observations and conclusions to share about mystery shops, right?  I don’t know about the profound part, but, yeah, you’re right, it seems that a person should have some observations and conclusions to share.

So I’ve spent the last couple hours…

Many American’s believe Memorial Day is a day for family parties, or community gatherings to mark the beginning of summer vacations. To a veteran or member of our military it has nothing to do with parties or vacations, it is deeper and more personal; it is a day to remember those who have given the ultimate sacrifice in the name of…

1) Don't Forget to Still Answer the Sales Calls Correctly: An inbound sales call on average is much more valuable than an Internet lead. Studies show that nearly 8 out of 10 shoppers who contact us from our web presence call us for that first contact. Just because Internet Leads might be easier to…

Silly title, yeah, but here's my point:  Is Autotrader's purchase of VinSolutions the "death knell" for other Website/CRM/Digital/etc. vendors in automotive?  Do I need do no more study or market homework for tool selection, and so I just have to call Autotrader to get all…

http://www.dealeretraining.com

http://dealeretraining.tumblr.com

This is an issue that has haunted me on numerous occasions.  It has happened to me my first time as an Internet Director and most recently it happened to me when I decided to give retail another shot.  I had a dealership that I went into six months ago to try to land a consulting…

While training a group of experienced sales people, I posed a question.  "How much do you want to earn this year?"  I thought this was a direct question.  Simple and to the point.  I was amazed at the answers (which turned into stories) from these seasoned veterans.  Some complained about higher taxes.  Others were already adjusting their goals (downward of course) because they weren't on track.  But, they all had one thing in common.  It was someone else's fault that they weren't going to…

I’ll bet you when you got into sales, you didn’t think of yourself as a prostitute nor a jaywalker. I don’t remember putting the word “prostitute” as the position I was applying for. Morally, we are neither one; but professionally, we have characteristics of both. See if your recognize yourself:

• Prostitutes: Prostitutes are waiters; they wait for something happen. Normally prostitutes hang out with other prostitutes on the corner and are unwilling to look…

MORE EXCITING NEWS:

(dE will be interviewing Mike Dullea, CEO of Vinsolutions, to get more details about the partnership with Autotrader and the behind the scenes story.)

Here is the Dealer Magazine Article:…

     Got your attention didn’t I?  Some of you are offended, some are intrigued and others are just wondering what nonsense is being spewed by this dork.  In any case, you’re reading.  It was recently brought to my attention that one of the greatest sales books ever was penned by none other than “Dr. Seuss”.  I’m talking about “Green Eggs and Ham”.  It’s brilliant in its simplicity and the entire focus is on the tenacity of one “Sam-I-Am”.  To start, the un-named…

Father God, we come to you, first giving thanks for you handy work. It reminds us that you STILL have all power in your hand. We just want to lift up every family member, every individual, every community who has been impacted by the tornado. Father, heal them, restore them, renew their faith. Father give them hope, strength and favor during this time as they begin to…

If we're not friends on Facebook, we should be. (http://facebook.com/carchat24.katie). I tend to share lots of inspirational stuff that I find all over the internet. I like the status updates that you make that I enjoy. I comment on your statuses. I'm very textually active on Facebook. Twitter too. Moreso Facebook.

But you'll notice on the bottom of my default photo, there's a logo. A logo for CarChat24. I'm…

As I understand it the Comparative Sales Method is currently exclusive to the real estate industry. In a nut shell it's Comparative Sales that sets the asking price for existing homes. In Automotive the manufactures set the MSRP, much like a homebuilder sets the "starting from" price. In the end it is up to the buyer and seller to determine a mutually agreeable price to seal the deal. Instructing a buyer to comparison shop makes absolute sense to a real estate agent, as they have no ties to…