I cut my teeth selling at an early age selling door to door. From delivering newspapers to Fuller Brush to Cash is Best, for which Ted Turner was a fugitive from the US holding offshore on his yacht in international waters for purporting a pyramid scheme, to selling the original wind up fire and burglar alarms for the…

I came across this story and just wanted to share it with you. It reminded me of a talented and successful pre-owned sales manager that I worked for. He used to tell me that "Pigs get fat and Hogs get Slaughtered".

The…

This is one reason that you need qualified personnel in your Special Finance Department. Your personnel must have an in-depth and thorough  knowledge of the entire operation of the Special Finance Department.



Whether or not your dealership interviews every customer, if you’re serious about Special…

I can relate to this as I had a colonoscopy in Bogota, Colombia and did not realize that I was not going to get anesthesia of any kind. I almost got up and left but I had been ill for 4 months so went through with it----------OOOOOUCH!

Two patients…

If you the Dealer think you could or should be doing better, you need an experienced independent Consultant.

If you the Marketing Company are putting your reputation on the line and driving traffic to a Dealer…

“Only the paranoid survive”

– Former Intel CEO Andy Grove

Things seem so good in the enterprise technology universe right now it is a little scary. The IT transition to…

 Attacking an issue is one’s way of defending their position. Personal attacks and deception are one’s way of attacking when one is uncertain of their position.

Let us remember as these issues unfold and we confront these important issues who the culprits are and keep a professional and objective approach in how we react .

"Remember-…

This will be my last post for a while and I must be careful from where I write from. I found out some things that will shock the Industry and be talked about for years to come. 

Jim Ziegler is being attacked but now it is spreading. This is why my son has made this video on my behalf at an…

This post will explore why all turnover is not created equal.  Measuring sales turnover as a percentage can be misleading.  A lower percentage isn’t always better.  Yet turnover is probably the most measured sales metric.  HR, sales leaders, and Sales o ps all measure it. 

Instead of focusing on an overall turnover percentage, focus on retaining ‘A’ players.  Many sales organizations are proud that they have a low turnover metric.  But they are…

"And Round And Round We Go"

There seems to be a great deal of commonality and consensus in the disconnect between the Sales Department and The BDC Department just to name two and…

• Peter A. Salinas is a career journalist who has been covering the used-vehicle industry for more than 12 years. He is the managing editor of Dealer Business Journal.

In terms…

Fix your sales problem in 5 easy steps – sounds great, doesn’t it? Formulaic approaches such as this are very tempting. Furthermore, they align with our fast food, quick fix mentality. Seem too good to be true? That’s because it is. Don’t get me wrong, I revel in an easy solution. Unfortunately, most quick fixes are band-aids as opposed to real solutions.

One…

First I want to thank Jim Ziegler and Manny Luna and others for their due dilegence in the Autogate affair that is currently unravelling and have made it possible for me to get some attention on a topic close to my heart.

I want to take advantage and seize the moment concerning all the controversy surrounding Cars, com among others with hints of more…

Understanding the “why buy” motivations in potential buyers can have a major influence on the methods your dealership may use to entice these buyers to buy from you and not from the dealership down the street.

Recently I viewed a number of YouTube videos presented by Simon Senek, a motivational speaker, Columbia professor of communications and author…

If you have read my blogs “Don’t Fall Into The Trap” or “Take Back Your Marketing” or the many comments I have made concerning this issue, you know that I have been against the large companies commoditizing approach they have been feeding dealer’s- And in particular I am referring to the small and medium size dealers- that you need change your business models and to sell more at a lower price to compete in today’s marketplace.…

After watching the podcast with Jim Ziegler and Tim Martell about this purportedly growing epidemic of deception and self-serving practices of the giants that historically seem to look out for their interests ahead of their constituencies we must take stock 

Today…

With all the noise about making the Industries more transparent you would think that the vendors that supply the those Industries and say they their purpose is to provide consumers more transparency would  reciprocate and be transparent with their client base before launching their new strategies.

When launching new programs that impacts the clients that you serve it…