How confident are you that your dealership can withstand a cyber attack? In my experience, most dealers underestimate the threat of attack and overestimate their ability to withstand an attack.

When looking at your internal information technology (IT) strategy, it's important to understand where cyber attacks originate.

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When it comes to working conferences, there are many different thought processes. The first, of course, is that a lot of money is spent between the cost of renting the booth space, sponsorship, the actual booth itself, staffing, swag, prizes and travel expenses. Conferences are indeed a considerable investment, and everyone wants to see a return on their…

Albany, N.Y. – January 2, 2018 – In today's age of social media, Weinstein and the #MeToo movement, dealers can't afford to be passive about workplace harassment. At the upcoming NADA Convention & Expo, Auto/Mate's Chief People Officer Dave Druzynski will present the legal and monetary repercussions of a harassment claim, and offer best practices and training recommendations to prevent a claim from happening in the first place.

"Nowadays, harassment…

Attribution? Some Dealers Still Don’t Even Track Leads and Sales!

There’s been a push for over a year among some automotive digital marketers to shift dealers’ focus away from traditional return-on-investment measurements (like leads, calls and sales) toward something called multi-touch attribution.

While this isn’t an…

We have built Margin Plus from the ground up with only one purpose in mind. That purpose is to file Warranty Reimbursement Increases for new car dealerships! Start the year off right with more gross in your pocket!

New Year’s…

-by Sally Whitesell for Dealer Service Magazine

Every time I do a seminar I am reminded about how confused advisors, and even managers, can be about the true responsibilities of a service advisor’s position. We simply need look at the title “Service Advisor” to get a clear understanding that this job is…

Read the headlines and you see it everywhere: online used vehicle sales are booming.

Carvana is expanding into dozens of new markets and although it has yet to turn a profit, its vehicle unit sales more than doubled and gross profit nearly tripled in Q3 2018. The retailer just announced $2 billion in financing from Ally…

As the current year is winding down it’s a common practice for people to set goals for the upcoming Year. Everyone calls these goals New Year’s resolutions. It’s the time of year people evaluate what they desire to accomplish and write them down as a New Year’s resolution to tackle on January 1st. Although I love…

Have you ever eagerly awaited the release of a great new movie? Anticipation mounts as release day approaches. Then you go and see it, only to leave disappointed. I’m sure I can name plenty of box office bombs which were initially hyped up and expected to be box office blockbusters. If you look at the factors involved in what makes a “bomb” versus a…

In my experience, one of the top frustrations dealers have when choosing the best solutions from multiple vendors is how to get them to work well together. The problem is, whether it’s a DMS; CRM; service lane tool; or any other significant technology available; not all work together in harmony. And that is what dealers want.

I’m not suggesting…

While many dealerships agree that video is important and worthwhile, at the same time some think it’s time-consuming and lack the resources to put a video marketing strategy in place.

What if I told you that acquiring and scaling a well-planned video marketing strategy which leverages video content for shoppers throughout the entire buying…

According to a recent article in Automotive News, investors and car dealers have shifted their focus to the used-car space because dealers have more pricing and profit controls; something the digital retailing space is forced to focus on.…

2018 will be fifth consecutive year of over 200 buy/sells, according to The Blue Sky Report® released by Kerrigan Advisors; strong economy fuels robust market - sellers motivated by high valuations that may not last; increased consolidation, generational transfers and growing pool of investors also heat up market; concerns remain about tariffs’ impact on valuations

Irvine, CA – December 21, 2018 – Automobile buy/sell…

As car dealer principals look to transition away from operating a non-controlled foreign corporation (NCFC) due to the unknown outcome of the new tax law, many have set their sights on becoming a dealer-owned warranty company (DOWC). As part of this, dealers have been asking about the specifics behind the DOWC structure, and what a transition would look like.

The Federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) was signed into law by President Trump in December 2017 and is effective for the 2018…

Most people initially struggle in sales because they’ve been taking orders their whole life. When you were young, you did what your parents told you to do. Sure, you may have bucked up a time or hundred, but immediately you’d back down from rebelling once they slapped you back with one of those, “When you have your own damn place and pay your own damn bills, then you can do whatever the hell you want to do…but until then, you better do what the hell I tell…

This week, Jeff walks you through Part 2 of how to make 2019 your best year yet! You must evaluate where you are, how many customers you see per day, and if the things holding you back are reasons or excuses. Stay tuned to hear the simple tips to service drive success! Copyright 2018 Wm Jeff Cowan

Website: automotiveservicetraining.com

Click HERE to watch!…

Auto Dealers Increase Service Leads Over 200% With Mobile Text Coupons

PACIFIC PALISADES, Calf., December 20, 2018 -- In response to the rapidly growing number of consumers currently using the internet via mobile devices, fusionZONE Automotive, LLC., today announced a new tool for auto dealers, Mobile Text Coupons. With Mobile Text Coupons, customers no longer have to use their desktop…

Lease Approval Ratings Drop Slightly in November Following Slight Increase in October

Swapalease.com, the nation’s largest car lease marketplace, reports car lease credit applicants registered a 68.9% approval rate in November, a slight drop from the October rate of 70.9%.

The number of lease approvals is slightly higher than last year for the month of November, as 67.5% of lease applicants were approved in 2017, and 64.7% were approved in November of 2016.

The…

This has been an incredible year in many ways for our family. It has also been one of the most challenging as I nearly drowned in Lake Erie. I haven’t shared that experience with many folks however, today sharing some lessons learned might be valuable.

My first lesson was the importance of wearing a life…