Mercedes Benz has announced the details of its holdback incentive program which will apply to all dealers. The program involves payment of a 3.5% performance bonus where 1% is tied to a facility component. Of course, not all Mercedes Benz dealers are

I just finished up an initial round of service advisor training for a large dealer group and was surprised to see that not only did they not employ properly constructed factory based maintenance menus, they were not even aware of the benefits to both

Last month, my article focused on helping you hold your people accountable to your service processes. Odds are your dealership has sound processes in place, but is it time to do a process “makeover?” In other words, is it time to update and refre

It has been said that the arrival of a lead is the “moment of truth”. At that moment, the customer has put you on trial. The lead has been sent to you, but it’s also been sent to two to three other dealerships. Which dealer will respond first?

How it happened so quickly I don’t know, but it’s time again to reflect and make necessary changes to ensure a more profitable year. As I began the self assessment, I examined the obvious areas where change is warranted and completely necessary.

Many dealerships or manufacturers have a formal or informal policy with respect to “goodwill” or customer satisfaction repairs. Usually dealers perform these repairs because a problem is not covered under warranty, the warranty covering the vehic

If you asked 10 people what loyalty means you would probably get 10 different answers. Certainly many couples have a different interpretation of the concept of loyalty, as do business partners. Insurance companies invoke the need to be loyal, maybe m

I did a little research prior to writing this article on something I know a little bit about, bull riding. One of my cousins ventured into being a bull rider at a very young age. In a rodeo the toughest contender is the bull rider. I learned you know

A little secret. For almost 20 years, some of America’s best dealers have been writing these advertising columns, letting me take the credit. I’ve developed an informal roundtable of some of the brightest young minds as well as seasoned legends i