Business person reputation branding within team synergy will not only prove to brand the entire business better than ever, it will be the single most significant asset going forward in sales, service, every department, marketing, prospecting, communication, relationship, and retention world of every dealership business.

The Goal is '10'

Without a…

I had the pleasure of watching a very informative webinar last night that really brought home the importance of having a robust dealership presence online.

I truly enjoy studying the shift in advertising from the traditional way of doing business to the modern way of doing…

We teach,closing, if i could would you, build value, demo demo demo!, Well they are going to take what they are told and apply it in the least painful way for them. We need to make sure that they are well rounded and skilled at all of the steps in the sale not just certain sections. The rah rah meetings are not building skills.....and Skills make the dealership profit, Good CSI, and make life much easier for them and us!

Most of them are good people who really try hard, but in…

In light of recent developments, it seems that local Marketing Using Facebook is only going to keep gaining significance, so how can other services keep themselves relevant?

You may remember earlier this week, we wrote about Facebook announcing …

I just wanted to invite you all to join my new Automotive Marketing Community on Google+

This will be a place for folks to share ideas on Google+ for how they've been creative connecting with customers.

In January we'll be running a contest for the most creative ways Dealer's have had success with marketing. The top 3 winners will win a FREE month of AutoCapture ($399 Value).

Join today at …

After seeing the tremendous success that my last series of blogs "Transforming the Dealership" has brought in terms of visibility and feedback I have decided to start a new series to focus strictly on the BDC.  As a dealership trainer and consultant I am sure having an amazing fall and winter season this year because I am working with dealerships on extended full time projects.  I am talking about wrapping up my sleeves, putting in the hours, creating magic, and not…

I knew this was coming, Video trumps everything!

Having already ticked off many users in late 2012 with photo-licensing changes, sharing limitations, and an end to policy voting, Facebook plans to insert video ads into users’ News Feeds in 2013, according to a report.

Facebook plans to unveil 15-second video ads by April…

Is Bad Advice Costing You Money?

Watch this message on how to avoid Bad Advice.

Ed & Lon Safko Speak To Social Media For Auto Dealerships from Lon Safko on Vimeo.

If you've been in the business for a few years, you have plenty of stories to share with customers.  The best of the best combine their sales skill, product knowledge, and the ability to tell a good story.  People relate to a good emotional story, a similar situation that happened with one of your customers etc.   When I'm in a client store and take a turn for a sales person, I have about 30 seconds to get rapport with the customer.  I always start out with a good story instead of…

This time of the year was always interesting to me, I would get to sit back and watch the salesman cruise through December because they are all convinced that everyone is on vacation or they aren't buying cars becuase they are out Christmas shopping and that this was a month to just get what you can get and move on. Well I changed all that by  taking the philosophy that they will not work on GOALS anymore. Instead we implemented a system of monthly Expectations. The difference being that…

The answer, of course, is an Instagram. Listen, I’m not going to tell you that’s a great joke, simply a relevant one, because the social picture sharing and food-photo-filtering site has been making waves this week with their announcement that all your photos will soon be theirs. Everywhere, millions of voices are crying out against the image of Instagram CEOs…

I have the honor and privilege of traveling this great country of ours and working with all types of BHPH dealers on a consulting, training, and 20 Group basis. I am a firm believer that we learn more from our mistakes than our successes. When I first started to put this article together, I made a list of the most prominent mistakes I see BHPH dealers make. Problem was, the list was about 1,001 mistakes long. Most if not all of which I had made as a dealer myself.

After looking over…

Do you hustle? I mean really hustle. As a kid growing up I was a huge fan of the Big Red Machine, Cincinnati Reds baseball team. Pete Rose became my favorite athlete. Forget about Pete Rose as a man and all his personal shortcomings, Pete Rose gave it his all every time he stepped on a baseball field. Pete truly earned his nickname Charlie Hustle.” If you want to be successful, no matter your looks, talent, connections or anything else have going for you, you have to learn to…

When Instagram decided to block Twitter from being able to post the images directly onto the platform, we all knew it was a matter of time that Twitter would have its own variation. We didn't realize that it would only take a few days. We also didn't expect it to be such a useful portion of the app.

As it…

vAuto Genius Labs announces plans to release AutoVisor, a solution to build confidence for dealers and customers in every used vehicle opportunity.

AutoVisor will officially debut at the National Automobile Dealers Association conference in February. The product is the second offering in the new vAuto Genius Labs line, which the company launched last month.

“Dealers constantly worry that their sales teams miss opportunities because they don’t consistently put every used vehicle…

Centreville, VA, (December 18, 2012) - Carfax and ActivEngage, Inc., the most trusted provider in automotive live chat, have teamed up to help dealers provide Carfax Vehicle History Reports™ to online shoppers through live chat. Carfax-subscribing dealers can make extensive vehicle history data available to used car shoppers in real-time during a live chat conversation, therefore creating an elite consumer experience on…