Few would debate the fact that there is a technician shortage for automotive dealerships in today's market and the problem is going to get worse in the future. There are many reasons for this shortage that will be reviewed in this article as well as the ways dealerships need to deal with this crisis. I believe that dealerships will be placed into two categories the have and…

As a dealership manager it can be difficult to get participation and buy-in from your team. During my many years as a general manager, I found that one of the simplest and most effective ways to get a team to work towards a common goal is through accountability. Accountability (when managed lightly) can create consistency, successful habits and pride in performance. I say…

Receta for a Relationship: 5 Special Ingredients to Help You Connect With Hispanic Consumers

As marketers, we are often guilty of planning, thinking, structuring—and then planning some more.  After all, it’s part of our jobs to analyze the consumer market and deliver targeted messaging in a way that will effectively resonate with a specific…

There's No Such Thing as Easy Money (But Here's How to Make Money)

Making money: it's easy when times are good. But what do you do when times are tough? I've helped many dealer principals pull out ahead when times look tough. This week on Think Tank Tuesday, here's the 6 principles to make money.…

Black Book’s latest white paper shows how lenders should be using collateral and residuals in the underwriting process. The paper, authored by Black Book’s Lender Solutions division, is titled “Vision 20/20: Using Residuals To Spot Portfolio Growth Opportunity” and can be downloaded for free by clicking here.



The paper illustrates the importance of how collateral and residuals can help lenders manage risk levels…

Welcome to this week's edition of Black Book Market Insights, with in-depth analysis of used car and truck valuation trends and insights straight from the auction lanes. Click here to download the full report.

In analyzing this past week’s market activity, Black Book is noticing that depreciation is picking up across the board for both cars and trucks. Especially for trucks, the average depreciation last week changed -0.46%, the…

Reports deliver direct engagement on VDPs, reducing lead leakage from dealer websites

Austin, Texas – September 22, 2015 – CarStory, the industry’s largest provider of search and inventory data and analytics on used vehicles, today announced that Dealer Car Search is making Inline CarStory Market…

There was a time when luxurious cars were only driven by royal, wealthy people. Not anymore! Today, anyone can taste the luxury and feel super special during an event or party. Limousines are luxurious cars that have high appearance and woo people in various occasions such as wedding, prom nights, corporate parties, birthday celebrations and many more. These aristocratic vehicles are a reliable form of transportation when you and your guests want to reach the…

I am seeing a lot of social media activity from automotive professionals being concerned about what to expect from the Driving Sales Executive Summit in Las Vegas next month. This post is a little bit different coming from since usually when I write about conferences I write from experiences. I have been to most automotive industry conferences and…

Companies have been applying game-like elements to achieve business objectives for decades. Just look at the Solitaire application that Microsoft included in its release of Windows 3.0 to familiarize users with the innovative “click-and-drag” functions of the mouse. Because many businesses are uninformed about…

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me, right? Wrong. Weak, or, wimpy words are an epidemic that needs to be put to rest.

            Respect is something we all want to gain within our every day lives and within our professional lives. Eliminating any aspect that could take away from that is essential. One of the biggest things we…

On September 15th, Auto/Mate Dealership Systems celebrated Hawaiian Day! Many of our employees tell me Hawaiian Day is one of their favorite company events. The day started out with myself and Ken Rock, Corporate Training Manager, wearing a grass skirt and "coconut shell" bra, greeting employees with flower leis as they arrived at work.

Employees were…

Student life can be very different. It can be funny and joyful during spring breaks and tough and difficult during exams. Although we all agree that we go to colleges and universities to gain knowledge, I think you will as well agree that student years are the best years of our life. We don’t yet have nine to five job and can allow ourselves to party all night long, of course, if there is no lecture at eight a.m. next morning.…

We sat down recently with our Social Media Manager, Tori, to find out exactly how she spends her day. Does she spend it on her phone surfing Instagram and Pinterest? Or, is she busy helping to build a brand, researching trends and changes?

            When asked what she finds to be a best practice and procedure for her job she informed us that ensuring the…

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Karen Bradley Training FranklinCovey's "Put First Things First" - 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Certified FranklinCovey Trainer and Facilitator, Karen Bradley is onsite at Route 4 Cars in NJ. Route 4 Cars is a 2 roof top…

Despite some recent negative press about security concerns, it’s safe to say that as the kinks are worked out Connected Cars will be the way of the automotive future. Connected Cars began as simply vehicles with in-car Wi-Fi and capabilities similar to a smart phone. Now, they’ve taken on much more in depth characteristics.…

Are you sick of hearing about social media? Is it because you secretly just aren't sure how to use it or don't want to invest the time in it? Well, you are not alone. There are plenty of other car salespeople who have been wondering if they need to jump on the bandwagon or just stick to their traditional method of acquiring new car customers. …

Today’s cars continue to become smarter as they “learn” and adapt to the behaviors of drivers. Cars “listen and learn” about the driver to provide the optimal driving experience.

How can your sales advisors learn to engage, optimize and convert women shoppers into buyers and provide the optimal sales experience? What changes can your…

We as a society tend to focus on instant satisfaction and accomplishing your goals, or, workflow as quickly as possible. This becomes so much of our focus that we often don’t realize that what we are trying to optimize really only saves us milliseconds of our day. This holds true for many job roles, including Website Developer and Account Manager.

A Website…

Recall campaigns can easily be one of the most lucrative service opportunities. Sadly, however, most dealers only reach about a third of the potential recall customers in their area. This is because they simply comb through their DMS and any information received from the factory for owners in their PMA. Personally, I feel this is a very shortsighted approach…