July 2012 Blog Posts (182)

Prior Planning Prevents Poor Gross Profits

Today, it is more important than ever to have an ongoing action plan concerning your pre-owned inventory. I'm going to share with you the differences between the dealers who consistently gets 30%+ net to gross compared to the dealer who is just breaking even? The difference is the dealer who gets 30%+ net to gross has better market knowledge, has set themselves apart from their competitors, has a very well trained staff in all…

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Added by Shawn Clos on July 21, 2012 at 9:55am — No Comments

Automating your PPC can boost revenues

Most Internet Managers bite off more than they can chew, including managing a PPC campaign.  Paid search can be an effective way to increase revenue, but the actual process of managing PPC campaigns can also be very labor intensive. Using software to automate some of the overall effort is one way to help manage and track paid search.

Know that keyword expansion and bid and budget management are kind of the two priorities in paid search management.  Understand the manual process will…

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Added by Larry Barditch on July 20, 2012 at 4:01pm — No Comments

New Jersey Digital Marketing and Technology Seminar with Don Graff Automotive Consulting

INFOGRAPHIC:
Your Dealership's Digital Assets: Are They Serving Your Customers Right, Before They Come Into The Showroom?
Dealership Digital Marketing Infographic
As the tastes of the social generation and their shopping behaviors change, so must the areas in which retailers promote themselves in order to make the most of their advertising dollars and bring in new business.
Potential customers have started to evolve from simple website browsing to using mobile. With 18% of…
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Added by DON GRAFF on July 20, 2012 at 1:47pm — No Comments

VinSolutions Announced as Platinum Sponsor of AutoCon 2012

VinSolutions Announced as Platinum Sponsor of AutoCon 2012

Automotive CRM vendor will also exhibit the latest CRM technology, sponsor a cocktail reception and present a keynote address.…

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Added by DealerELITE on July 20, 2012 at 1:41pm — No Comments

NCM Benchmarking for Success Workshop Added To AutoCon 2012

NCM “Benchmarking for Success” Workshop Added To AutoCon 2012

 

AutoCon 2012, the automotive industry’s newest and most exciting fall conference, is pleased to announce that Robin Cunningham, NCM® Institute faculty member, will be…

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Added by DealerELITE on July 20, 2012 at 1:18pm — No Comments

How Do You Tune Up Veterans?

In our business helping veterans improve can be a challenge.  

They know what they are supposed to know.  Usually they think they are actually doing it.

Poke around in the cupboards of the average dealership and you will find training cassettes from the 70's, training videos from the 80's and 90's and DVD's from the last 15 years.  You could reforest Colorado's wildfire area with the trees that made the workbooks from seminars that are…

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Added by Michal Ann Benedict Enders on July 20, 2012 at 10:30am — 4 Comments

Help wanted?

Service manager needed. Last one quit over pay. Candidate must have proven record of poor CSI and lack leadership ability. Poor selling skills a must.



Did you ever get to the point while reviewing resumes and doing initial interviews, that an ad like the one above was the one you actually posted?



When I began the service drive part of my career at a dealership, the prevailing idea was that you can either sell or be good with customers. I started as one of 11 advisors at a… Continue

Added by Jim Mahoney on July 20, 2012 at 7:43am — No Comments

This Is The Way Your Dealership Needs To Do It...Maybe.

When I was last on the "front lines" in automotive retail, I was fortunate to be a Sales Manager for a Dealer Group that was implementing radical changes to its sales process, marketing, merchandising and customer experience. We adopted VAuto as our merchandising and appraisal tool. We went to a "best price first" concept and we revised the Sales Person compensation plan to reward unit levels and CSI. I will outline the experience from the guest walking into the…

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Added by Joe Pistone on July 19, 2012 at 3:00pm — 1 Comment

Engaging on Twitter the Right Way!

Fellow Tweeps! Are you using tired of using Twitter and not seeing the engagement you would like? I’ve found some statistics to help you! Between December 11, 2011 and February 23, 2012, Buddy Media analyzed user engagement on more than 320 Twitter handles of the world's largest brands to determine what works and what…

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Added by Ketty Colom on July 19, 2012 at 9:21am — No Comments

Trade-In "The Secret To The Sale"

As I travel and talk with managers and dealers I am frequently asked to review and analyze different dealerships sales map's or processes to the sale, it is amazing to me how many overlook the power of the trade in. My opinion is that the trade in is in almost every case the number one secret to the car deal. In all cases, I have always trained sales consultants to look at and review the trade in with the client right after the…

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Added by Shawn Clos on July 18, 2012 at 10:06pm — 17 Comments

People Chess!

There’s a real human talent in arranging the right pressures (positive and negative), at the right time, on to the right people, to get a desired result.  It’s a hallmark of effective leadership, in fact, and the name “People Chess” is an easy way to summarize this talent.   And we all know its uses in relationships of all kinds, really, both to us by others…

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Added by Keith Shetterly on July 18, 2012 at 7:30pm — 6 Comments

So why does upper management think social media marketing is not important?

It all starts at the top, the decision makers, the shot callers, the check signers. Recent study shows that these managers, presidents and CEO's don't engage in social media leading to the non-understanding of why it is important.

Using the Fortune 500 list the following was discovered; 70% of all CEOs have no social presence. The percentage that do part take in…

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Added by Joseph Little on July 18, 2012 at 4:01pm — 4 Comments

Used-Car Prices See Largest Decline Since February

Following is the latest used-car pricing report from Ricky Beggs at Black Book USA. For the full report visit their data and videos center.



Even though the activity increased week over week, there were some interesting changes within the market values for the week. The softening in values continues as only 11% of all adjustments were…

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Added by John Sternal on July 18, 2012 at 1:10pm — No Comments

Were you busy today? Building a Business within a Business V

So were you?  Many people I have discovered over the years come to the dealership, work their shift taking ups... and are upset at the end of the day if they have not sold a car... There really is no surprise is there?  Standing around all day and shooting the breeze with each other.... I mean, what sales person is going to buy from you?

There really is so…

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Added by Craig Darling on July 18, 2012 at 12:25pm — No Comments

Can Facebook & Social Media Help GM Sell more Vehicles

On May 22, 2012 I wrote a blog asking the public if GM made a wise choice dropping its 10 million dollar advertising spend from Facebook.  (For the entire blog visit: http://deliverymaxx.wordpress.com/2012/05/22/did-gm-make-a-wise-decision-dropping-facebook-as-an-advertising-medium/ )  My position then as it is now is that GM and many automotive dealerships are…

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Added by James Schaefer on July 18, 2012 at 12:14pm — No Comments

DrivingSales 2012 Best Idea Award: Call for Entries Now Open

Prizes totaling $10,000 to be awarded to the auto dealers who develop the most innovative strategies in 2012

 

Salt Lake City, Utah – July 18, 2012DrivingSales  today announced the call for entries for the 2012 DrivingSales Best Idea Contest which recognizes the most innovative auto dealership strategies of 2012. Five auto…

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Added by Crystal Hartwell on July 18, 2012 at 10:01am — No Comments

DrivingSales Wins Innovation and Outstanding Company Awards

Company receives UVEF Top 25 Under Five Award for second year in a row; wins Silver Stevie® Award for Innovative Company of the Year in 2012 American Business Awards SM

 

Salt Lake City, Utah – July 18, 2012DrivingSales today announced that it has received two prestigious business awards: a 2012 “Top 25 Under Five” award from the Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum…

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Added by Crystal Hartwell on July 18, 2012 at 10:00am — No Comments

The Importance of Sub-Accounting for Auto Dealerships from NCM

At the conclusion of the NCMi webinar on “Finding the Missing Pieces to Improve Service and Parts Gross Profit,” one of the attendees questioned our recommendation as to the necessity for sub-accounting for automotive dealerships. Robin Cunningham, the NCM Institute faculty member who presented the webinar, suggested that our next Up To Speedarticle attempt to clarify this recommendation. So, here we go!

A meaningful sub-accounting process is a primary ingredient of…

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Added by Garry House on July 18, 2012 at 10:00am — No Comments

Strathcom Media Chooses ActivEngage Live Chat

Orlando, Fla – Strathcom Media, Inc., a leading online automotive solutions provider, has selected ActivEngage, Inc. as their preferred provider of automotive live chat and business intelligence. As one of the largest automotive marketing companies in Canada, Strathcom has provided its…

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Added by Stephen Jackson on July 18, 2012 at 9:33am — No Comments

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