A couple of hours ago, I made note of a photo that Brian Pasch posted of empty shelves at his local grocery store.  That photo reminded me that I’d meant to cover a back-to- the-basics concept that I struggled with while doing some research last week.

First off, let me tell you that I LOVE CARS.  I have loved…

For grins, and to help me get started with this post, I Googled “Customer Expectations”. 

Of the 13,900,000 returned results, a link to an interview with Richard Branson stuck out because, well, he’s fabulous AND he’s someone who has apparently figured out how to do a lot of things right.  Sir Branson says: “Pricing your product or service is only one way to exceed expectations. The other is through your front-line employees -- everyone who works with customers.”  He goes on: …

By Autumn 2003, I had (a meager) seven years of Internet Automotive success under my belt.  I was managing a nine-franchise Internet Sales Department that encompassed five rooftops in Portland OR and Vancouver WA.  New Car sales were really starting to get brutal.  Every other conversation…

The Challenge: The automotive industry is recovering from the most massive business contraction in its history. While the playing field has been cleared and offers competitive opportunities, the reality is that dealers face many challenges to growing their business and competing effectively in this new marketplace.

• Traffic is down
• Sales are down
• Ad dollars are misdirected and ineffective
• Inbound sales calls are poorly…

I remember sitting in my office at Robberson Ford in beautiful Bend Oregon a couple years ago. It was a day not unlike today, clear but cold. I was having a terrible conversation with a

gentleman who had submitted an inquiry on a pre-owned vehicle. He’d been a mortgage broker for the previous 25years, and, like so many of the real estate affiliated customers I’d been talking to…

What would you rather do?

A. perform at a higher level (ie: close more deals or generate more gross profit) from your current opportunities to do business.

OR



B. generate more opportunities to do business.

For me, the answer is obvious. Unfortunately, many of the dealer contacts I’ve been making don’t seem to respond as well to offers of methods for doing better with what they have as they do methods for…