The LA Times reported this month that, in an interesting move, AMC Entertainment, the owner of over 300 movie theaters including 25 of the 50 highest grossing theaters…

In the October 2013 edition of Dealer magazine, I examined a phenomenon that occurred last Christmas. Partnering with luxury shopping site Gilt.com, Starbucks offered an ultra-exclusive steel metal loyalty card for sale on their site for $450. The loyalty cards came pre-loaded with $400 in Starbucks credit…

In the past, the right mixes of traditional and media buys wrapped up in the bow that is your demographic was all it took to catch consumer’s attention and bring them into your dealership. Then Al Gore invented the Internet and everything changed. Not all at once, mind you, but it did and still is. Attracting attention to your business today is more difficult than ever. It…

Would your customers get a tattoo of your brand?

A recent article on Forbes told the story of Swiftwick, a sock company that had such a fervent following that customers had been getting their logo tattooed on themselves. According to the article, this company does little to no…

I am sure many of you will have heard the saying “If you love something, set it free. If it comes back, it’s meant to be.” While this may be good advice for relationships, it’s certainly not good advice for business. A recent whitepaper examined how many companies focus too much on share-of-market and the resulting damage. Market share has always been the leading measurement of success. The article examines why using only…

Anyone who gambles – whether they are a casual gambler or a professional gambler – realizes that casinos aren’t in business to lose money. In fact, casinos must generate a ton of revenue just to keep the Las Vegas strip lit up 24 hours a day. It really doesn’t matter which game you choose to play. Every game is designed to be in the house’s favor; although some offer a…

I’ve written many articles about the different types of loyalty and how each can affect your business’ growth and revenue. However, I’ve never written an overview of how all these components fit together in a holistic manner. Hopefully, this blog article will help put the pieces together so that you better understand these concepts more globally.

Internal…

I came across an excellent blog article recently that discussed the different forms of loyalty that exist in the car business. In this article, the author described three levels of customer loyalty: Brand loyalty, dealership loyalty and salesperson…

There are countless articles on how hard it is to create a truly loyal customer and how easy it is to lose one. Creating customer loyalty is a challenge that all businesses face. There are many techniques and strategies that can assist you along this path but, at times, we’re presented with opportunities that can accomplish this instantaneously.

Earlier this…

The Ritz-Carlton hotel chain has an exciting customer service policy that empowers every employee with $2,000 to satisfy any guest without approval. This isn’t a one-time power but it’s per incident. Some business owners like the general idea but express concerns about…

Articles are continuously being written in hopes of dissecting and duplicating the Apple Store experience for other businesses. I’ve even seen sessions at industry conferences that revolve around how to duplicate this in car dealerships. While I agree that it should be every dealership’s goal to achieve the level of loyalty that Apple has, an interesting thought occurred to…

What was the last restaurant you ate at? Did you tell anyone about it? Why? What prompted you to do so? Did you get good service, bad service? Was the food great or horrible?

What these questions all have in common is that they all answers the fundamental aspects of what type of customer experience that restaurant provided. You’re certainly more likely to…

A new benchmark report published last month by RSR Research, provides some interesting information about retailers and the shifts in focus and importance from 2012 to 2013.

According to the study, 61 percent of retailers feel customer retention has become more difficult, and…

One challenge all businesses face is creating loyal customers. As business owners, we try to analyze our customers to figure out what methods we can use to build that base of customers which is so important to future growth. Without loyal customers, your efforts at customer acquisition quickly go from growing your business to replacing defecting customers.

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Life lessons typically come when you least expect them as software coder, Ted Dziuba, discovered. He and his friend went to a bar that served Pappy Winkle’s Family Reserve Bourbon Whiskey that is widely regarded as the world’s best bourbon. While drinking, they talked to the bartender who explained to…

There are many benefits to having an automotive loyalty program at your dealership to increase business and customer retention. You must be mindful, however, of some dangers that exist if the program is not implemented and administered properly.

Loyalty programs seek to reward behaviors. For dealerships,…

As football season approaches, I am reminded of a story that was widely publicized last spring. Joe Flacco, having just signed a $121 million contract with the Baltimore Ravens which made him the highest-paid player in the NFL, decided to celebrate by…

A recent study by Barclays Bank revealed interesting statistics about consumer behavior as it relates to small and medium-sized businesses. The study included the retail behavior of 2,006 consumers and also surveyed loyalty business…

A brilliant and successful businessperson recently shared why he loves his angriest customers. Phil Libin, CEO and co-founder of Evernote, wrote an article for Inc. where he explained that customer feedback is essential to the growth of any business. All companies solicit…

I came across an article recently by Jeffrey Gitomer that really hit home. In essence, he said that there are countless awards given out for levels of “customer satisfaction” by many companies including the likes of JD Powers, and Consumer Reports. The winners of those…