In my last blog article, I discussed the importance of building rapport with leads through the use of “Why Buy From Me” and “Lead Response” videos personalized for each customer. Now I would like to take this one step further -- Building rapport should in fact start much earlier than simply upon the receipt of a lead.

Think about the first contact a customer…

Her’s was a 7. She told me it’s what she would rate it. Now it was up to me to convince her mine was a good solid 10. I knew it shouldn’t be too difficult because she told me it was what she was wanting soon after we met.

It was a new F-150 she was after. Not just any F-150. She wanted a 4X4 Supercab with a long bed. That wasn’t impossible but it may as well be since less than 2% of production was Supercab Long…

I conduct follow up training classes for salespeople that deliver less than 8 units for the month. Out of some 130 salespeople in our organization last month we had 28 that missed the mark. In previous classes I’ve conducted training on various parts of the steps to the sale, overcoming objections, and closing techniques.

This month I decided to drill down to…

Regardless of how hard you work to ensure that your customers have an excellent experience, mistakes happen. No doubt you’ve had customers complain about something – it took too long for their vehicle to be serviced, there was a miscommunication in pricing during the sale, or a general failure to deliver on promises (big or small). Whether the…

http://autosuccessonline.com/news/blog/625-spotlight-joe-clementi

Dealing with today's informed customers is as challenging as any time in history. Information is readily available as dealerships around the country lean on the Internet to compete for market share.

Third-party Websites acting as consumer advocates continue to compete for the attention of the Web-savvy…

Just read this great blog post on Linkedin.  

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/article/20141114143018-52594-ten-stupid-rules-that-drive-great-employees-away?trk=pulse-det-nav_art

One example is 

Bell Curve Performance Reviews

Performance reviews in general are a…

http://www.googleopolybook.com ;

Pre-Order "Win The Game Of Googleopoly" Book & Unlock The Secret Strategy Of Search Engines

Over time technology keeps improving.  From hardware (TVs, computers, smartphones, etc) to software (games, apps and utilities) things just get faster, thinner and better.  Technology makes things more efficient and adds convenience to our lives.  The fact remains that there is no going back and it is part of all of our everyday lives.  Businesses use technology to attract new customers and retain their existing customers.  It is impossible to ignore its impact.  But with so many choices…

WHEN THE HECK SHOULD I HIRE MORE PEOPLE AND HOW MANY?????

Let’s look at the Law of Diminishing Return as a measuring tool to use in the decision to hire more people, regardless of the department in your dealership.  I would certainly search Google and read as many examples as you possibly can on this…

Today, our Women’s Wednesday focuses on the road to ultimate business success. This is powered by a growing customer base, increasing loyalty and customer retention. Here are some innovative marketing ideas to increase your competitive edge by delivering more value to women customers.

A name without an email address is a wasted opportunity. For every 10,000 contacts pulled from dealership management systems, on average only 3,000 have deliverable email addresses. This means that most dealers are unable to send emails to 70 percent of their past, current and potential customers.

That's money left on the table, folks. Email is probably your…

So I have a friend who called me up in late June and asked me for some help.  His daughter, who had graduated college the year before, was having trouble finding a job.  He knew I’m in the automotive industry and wanted to know if there might be an opportunity for his daughter. Knowing Tammy, I was thrilled to think that this bright young woman would have an interest in an industry that I love so much. 

Although her college had been paid for, Tammy, not one to be idle, worked…

Way too often we see dealerships handing over databases to vendors to facilitate a mass email campaign to an entire unfiltered list of customers. Vendors certainly have a stake in larger email campaigns since the odds that a dealer obtains business from the campaign increases - due to sheer numbers. A smart dealer will analyze their open rates and have tools set up to track…

You Don't Need A Million Dollar Budget



When your competition is spending large sums of money on advertising, you can either try to outspend them or try to outsmart them. Spending your ad dollars on the right channels will prove more effective than trying to go dollar-for-dollar with the big spenders in your market.



On this episode of…

For years, dealers have been inundated with technology. Salespeople from every vendor in the automotive space are continuously calling to present the latest and greatest product that is going to supercharge your sales. Great salespeople can convince a dealer or general manager to try products. Some of these products are excellent and could actually help … if you understand…

Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of Beggs on the Used Car Market, with insights from Ricky Beggs of Black Book. It is the time of the year where I love the crisp cool mornings, the recent changing of the color of the leaves as they go from green, to yellow, red, orange to brown and finally fall to the ground. It is also that time of the year that I don’t get too warm and…

A few years ago, car dealers across the nation were caught in the net of a struggling economy. Fewer sales compounded by budget conscious customers caused many car dealerships to restructure their corporate operations, reduce staff and tighten their wallets. Many dealership owners, along with their manufacturers, were faced with downsizing or total elimination. In the midst…