Misdirection – Deflecting the real issues.

Zig Ziglar puts it best when he asked, “Are you a wandering generality or a meaningful specific?” The issue has always been sales or the lack there of, so regardless of the product the primary topic at just about every business meeting is how to get more. The tendency how ever to deal with the urgent vs. the important is a real one especially when your livelihood…

I learned in differential calculus, that problem solving is easier if your start with the solution and work back to the problem.  At first, this is an awkward testament to a person’s ability.  We do not often spend time going backwards in life.  In this case though, I found if I focus on the desired resolution, the pathway to resolving the problem becomes clear.  

Once I have the pathway…

(Part 2 – Find them)

In the first part of this 4 part blog, we reviewed how to “assess” what would be your “perfect Pre-owned inventory mix”.

Now that we know what vehicles we are looking for, the next step is “finding” them!

There are many places we can search to find these…

  The power of disappointment is a fine line that separates the Winners from the Losers...    

    The strong minded from the weak minded...

If  harnessed properly it can be a monumentally productive tool that taps into your inner core and unleashes and fuels and even greater drive or desire to rise…

There’s been a lot of talk recently about the death of the Internet Department and the birth of the digital dealer. I certainly agree with this in principle as the Internet and digital technology have essentially become part and parcel to most retail industries. However in car dealerships, at least, there are issues that can’t be glossed over or treated lightly. These are issues of implementation.…

Recently, a new client of mine was surprised that the first thing I did when I came into his dealership was to familiarize myself with the manufacturers Policy and Procedure manual - and by familiarize, I mean that I read it cover to cover.  This has been a process of mine since I first entered into the automotive field almost 20 years ago.  If there has ever been a publication that is released by a manufacturer, which outlines pretty much every expectation they have for each of the…

(Part 1 – Assess them)

Pre-Owned vehicles are the life blood of any successful automotive dealership!

For some dealers, that don’t floor plan pre-owned vehicles, this is where a LOT of cash can be found!

So why is it that some dealers feel that the Pre-owned department takes a “back seat” to the New vehicle…

Good morning automotive dealers, Internet Sales Managers and Marketing Guru's,

First of all thank you for taking the time to take a look at my post this morning I appreciate it. The BDC experts work with a large number of dealerships all over the world and when I see something that works well I like to share it with the automotive community. I will be doing a more comprehensive post later this week. Here are some tips, which will help you Crush It on Craigslist, or other…

Do you know the one thing that happens before 100% of the closes salespeople succeed at?  If you discover that secret, you'll see an increase in your own closing ratio, or in your ability to drive your sales staff to repeating successful months over and over.  The real beauty is, once you discover the secret, you have it.  It becomes yours to use any time you need it.

This powerful secret will also work to help you improve yourself, increase your skills and develop your team…

Today, the average corporate user sends and receives over 110 messages daily!  With all that email, even the world’s greatest message will fall victim to “right click / delete” without a subject line that inspires a reader to open it! 

Here are a few quick tips to help you write a subject line that will get your customers’ attention:

1)      Be clear – With so many emails and so little time let them know why they should open yours. 

2)      Be…

"Negotiation is the art of reaching agreement by trust while lying."  -- Keith Shetterly, 2011

Wow!  My friends have pointed out that I needed another article for "trust-eroding" words and phrases--spoken or written--that can kill sales, so here comes Part 2 of what is now a series.  What do I mean by "trust-eroding"?  Well, that's best explained by going…

Want to make more sales or maybe just sound smarter?  Then learn which words make lots of people--from your peers, to your bosses, to your CUSTOMERS--cringe.  Spoken or written, these words lose you sales!

Irregardless.  It's a common word now that is most often misused as a synonym for "regardless"--and it is not.  It's a double negative of…

I'm prepping for a big strategy meeting with a dealer group. So I decide to verify my hunch that there is big opportunity in training the call handlers for better Appointment Set, CSI, Retention and all that good stuff. I decide to listen to a bunch of calls from some of the top performing dealerships in the country, to help identify the skill differences and training opportunities.

Then it hit me......How could I have missed this for so long?? 

The…

http://fixedopsnews.blogspot.com/2011/08/was-last-month-defined-by-two-simple.html

Was your last month defined by these two words…”If only”?





“If only…”



The Dealer Principal



“If only” I had asked my Managers “What is your plan for increasing Profit this month?” and held them accountable for their replies.



“If only” I had…

About the 1st Automotive ZMOT Study

I've been profoundly impacted by a free book called "Winning the Zero Moment of Truth" by Jim Lecinski.  As a result of reading this book, I have created training materials, online workshops, and planning materials for car dealers on this…

I've been in the car business for almost 30 years, many of those years spent in Oregon. There aren't very many big cities in Oregon, but three of the bigger ones that I have worked in were Portland, Bend, and Eugene.

Portland is in the northwest corner of the state, Bend is about 160 miles southeast of Portland near the center of the state, and Eugene is about 110 miles south of Portland, and 120 miles southwest of Bend. The three cities form a large triangle, each city being about…

There are many retirement vehicles available in the market today, 401K’s,

IRA’s, Roth IRA’s, Social Security.  I looked them up and they are all boring,

limited and restrictive. So, what’s a dealer to do? Real Estate, Stock Market?

Both are unpredictable and use already taxed dollars.

What if you could take something you are already doing, tweak it and turn

into the best retirement program out there?

First let’s get something…

Mark Zuckerberg and others announce revolutionary and supercool changes to Facebook.

According to Zuck in his introduction to the keynote:

• A record 500 million people used Facebook the same day. We’re connected now. The next era will be defined by the social apps that use these connections.
• PROFILE: The profile is the heart of the FB experience, and people invest a lot in their profile. The old 2004 profile: how you introduce…

When I hear in a retail environment those magic words I am so fond of, "I am just looking" I have learned to get excited. I believe that so many fear it and/or ignore the customer after hearing it....to me this is an opportunity to do business.

If we are going to be sucessful we have to learn to listen to customers objections. Then respond pleasantly, professionally and in a fashion that allows us to move to the next step.

Customers first off would not come…