Last October, I gave the keynote presentation at the AICPA conference in Phoenix (going on today and tomorrow in Orlando). In it, I mentioned the OEMs' continued insistence on of "forcing" expensive facility upgrades on their dealers.

A luxury dealer mentioned after the presentation that his OEM was forcing another expensive and profit draining…

Lazy is not a normal state of a person but one that is educated, encouraged and allowed.   Walk into any company with lazy staff and I assure you someone in the organization has educated, encouraged or allowed the behavior.  

I just wrote an article on this topic at Huffington Post- Lazy is the New Entitlement.  You can''t find a 2 year old on this planet that is…

Today’s news is full of articles about the buying power and habits of the “millennials”, which has an estimated population of 78 million. This Women’s Wednesday is part of a multi-part series we are exploring about women buyers within this segment. Of millennial buyers, 53% are female. Understanding the nuances of selling to this new generation of women can put…

How to Turn a PR Nightmare into a Sales Dream 

Right now, the automotive industry is buzzing about Volkswagen and emissions testing. You may think this is a bad time to own a VW dealership, or you may be looking to jump on the bandwagon and grab some marketshare. Just stop and watch this week’s Think Tank Tuesday and I will show you why there is no such thing as bad PR!…

In life, not everything goes our way. Things happen. Planes get delayed. It rains during a wedding. Life intervenes. In business, the same holds true. If a situation is handled improperly, or is unaddressed, customers are likely to get ignored. With proper attention, however, customers can be forgiving.

Take for example,…

Glengarry Glen Gross

By: Alan Ram

Who remembers that scene in Glengarry Glen Ross where Jack Lemmon is pleading with Kevin Spacey for the “premium leads.” “I can’t work these weak, worn-out leads anymore! You can take all of them! Just give me ONE of the good leads and I’ll close them!”  In many cases, I imagine many dealers today as kind of a…

Sometimes knowing what not to do as an auto Salesperson is as valuable as knowing what you should do.   Here are the top 4 things you should NEVER do when selling cars:

1. Never ask the Customer a question that would cause them to tell you a lie

The old adage that “all buyers are liars” is…

Our guest blogger this week is Anne Fleming. She is the President & Car Buying Advocate of Women‐Drivers.com, the leading women's car dealer rating and review service, connecting women to Certified Women‐Drivers Friendly® Dealers. From reviews, data is mined and published about women's dealership…

Today’s consumers look to social media as a prime way to reach out to businesses for customer service needs. From requesting help with a problem, to simple answers to product questions, many consumers take to platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.

Recently, Facebook upped the ante for businesses with a new way to communicate with customers that…

Most business owners are aware that Google offers their business a free "yellow pages" listing, and some know that it is now called My Business. For auto dealers, the importance of an optimized My Business listing will become evident as you read this article but the concepts described here apply to all business owners.

Most every time a consumer conducts a search for an auto dealership, like Orange County…

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. …

Last year, Twitter partnered with the data firm Datalogix to study Twitter’s influence on sales transactions in the car industry. Twitter provided Datalogix with all the data they had about brand, dealership and consumer Twitter accounts. Datalogix then paired actual vehicle purchases by cross-referencing the Twitter data with data from Polk.…

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Your marketing needs to be consistent to make a sale. With every new offer, sale, and promotion, your marketing must feel the same throughout. Get all the details this week on Hard Facts.…

DIY recruiting campaigns can be cumbersome and time consuming, but it can also put a strain on your company image.  There is a growing chasm between company and candidate satisfaction with recruiting…

Social Update for the week of September 21st

Signal for Facebook and Instagram

News junkies, you’re in for a treat.  Facebook recently introduced Signal for Facebook and Instagram, a free and easy way to make Facebook a part of your news-gathering…

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…

Alan Wenkus, the screenwriter for the movie Straight Outta Compton (the story of N.W.A., the group that pioneered gangsta rap) was recently interviewed…

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…