The essence of escapism, True entertainment movie of the 70’s, Jaws, of the 80’s Top Gun. Rock groups like Aerosmith, AC/DC, Rush, U2. They have the ability to appeal to people decade in and decade out.

People can watch these movies and listen to these bands with passion, like time has the ability to stand…

I believe dealers need to look very hard at who is extracting data from their DMS systems. There are a lot of vendors out there today that will visit a dealer with the idea of sending zip code driven leads to the dealer and the payment for the lead is made after the vehicle sells. In theory, this makes perfect sense, except for one little hiccup. In order to match the lead and the vehicle sold the vendor requests access to the dealership's sales data in the…

In the Wizard of OZ, when Dorothy and the gang get to the gates of the Emerald City, they don’t have an easy time of getting down to business – the gatekeeper saw his job as keeping people out – not welcoming them in.  Personally, when I take my vehicles in for service, I appreciate being greeted right away, in the parking lot, at…

I am a vertically enhanced female which I normally see as a benefit, except when I am trying to buy clothing.  Most of the clothing options for women do not come with a choice for inseam or length.  This often leaves me in the dressing room wondering if I can pull of this dress being too short or do these jeans look like capris or a fashion faux pas.  I am stuck in a world in which one-height-fits-all…

For most organizations…the process of interviewing…hiring…and training a new employee…doesn’t last long…

Most organizations feel that they have hired a competent individual…and the individual will inspire themselves to learn and grow…

The sad part is…organizations expect ALL employees to come out of a pretty little gift-wrapped…

Manufacturers can debit a warranty claim if it is determined that the technician recorded excessive efficiency during the repair (typically +125%) - excessive efficiency is an indicator of cutting corners or fraudulent repair practices.  When a manufacturer reviews/audits repair orders, one of the things that they look for on the accounting copy of the invoice is the actual time worked vs the time flagged/submitted for payment.  When they see a repair order with…

During his fifteen year selling career, Joe sold 13,001 cars full retail, belly-to-belly, one car at a time.

When I was a teenager, I had to have some extensive surgery that landed me in a wheel chair for a few months.  Recently, one of my physical therapist from that adventure found me on Facebook and was compelled to share his story of that short part of my life.  He was a new therapist when he took on my case and had heard how hard teenagers can be in cases like mine.  He braced himself for a healthy dose…

Belly-to-Belly Sales Works

No sales techniques is as effective as sitting belly-to-belly, chatting, and liking who you are hanging out with. Think for a second… Have you ever created a long-term, highly profitable client via email? No. And, you never will.

The Internet is a great marketplace, a fabulous marketplace for connecting intent and offers.…

Once again we approach a milestone in the year that many consider one of the best times to buy a car. Huffington Post and The New York Times called Labor Day the best time to…

I've gone through tons of resumes for different positions that I've had.

At one point I was hiring someone to replace me. Others, I was looking for quality candidates to work in our BizDev Department. I'd have to say that about 90% of the applications/resumes had "Multitasking" under skills. 

While some hiring managers look at this as a real…

One of my mentors and fellow DealerElite.net member, Mr. Dave Anderson, started one of my favorite articles with this paragraph;

“This article will offend far more than it inspires and quite frankly, I could care less. Political Correctness has gone too far. It's run amok. It's draining our country's soul and debilitating corporate cultures.…

To Be

Focus less on what you need to do and more on what you need to be.

How many times have we talked about all the things we believe or want,

but deep down we were unwilling to integrate the…

Lazy is not a normal state of a person but one that is educated, encouraged and allowed.   Walk into any company with lazy staff and I assure you someone in the organization has educated, encouraged or allowed the behavior.  

I just wrote an article on this topic at Huffington Post- Lazy is the New Entitlement.  You can''t find a 2 year old on this planet that is…

It’s no secret that auto dealerships have frequently been forced to defend themselves against discrimination claims by employees and agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. As a result, many dealers have instituted comprehensive human resources programs to avoid potential problems. However, new technology brings new challenges.

As the use of social media grows, more and more dealerships are using the internet to screen potential employees. Many managers…

Sadly, I didn't write this, but it's incredible, so I had to share it:

The Things They Have No Right To Tell You:  --Chris Guillebeau - The Art of Non-Conformity

All of my relationships have failed, but here’s what you should do about yours.

I’ve never written a book, but here’s a list of everything that’s wrong with…

After writing my post on QR Codes Best Practices, I wanted to make sure those dealerships interested in starting a QR code marketing campaign knew to create QR codes in a way that will allow your dealership to track them through the Google Analytics on your car dealership website.

Here's how to create a QR code that is trackable by Google Analytics:

First, make sure you are signed into Google (in the account that houses…