Being contextually relevant increases customer loyalty, according to Forbes. It’s like the old 1980s ad “When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen”; success today requires you to always be relevant. Relevance is a table stake across the entire life

This year’s NADA was a great success! Reflecting on the 2014 convention, I could not help but think how far our industry has come since 2009, the last time NADA was in New Orleans. Back then, Lehman Brothers had just failed and General Motors and C

As counsel for franchised and independent dealers across the U.S., I regularly get calls from clients about a bank “kicking” a contract back to the dealer due to default or lack of insurance. The first question the dealer always asks is “Can I

Dr. Merlot, my sometimes brash alter ego, and I were finally having a long-awaited meeting with a client, Jim, about the future of his dealerships. Over the last three or four years, Jim had been dealing with a variety of distractions (challenges) in

I’ve long advocated that dealers need to recognize the primacy of the used vehicle department as an engine of growth for sales volumes and profitability across the entire dealership. As a dealer friend puts it, “the used vehicle department is the

How Credit Soft-Pulls Can Save No-Sales and Turn Applications Into Handshakes Bringing a real-time soft pull credit pre-screen into your sales process can not only double your online conversion and dramatically increase your gross profit margins. If

If you’re still stuck in “kill mode” — blasting top-of-mind awareness ads on traditional media shotgun style, keeping up the barrage like you’re in an epic battle, it’s time to put down your weapon, soldier. Today’s marketing warrio

I have a friend that does friends’ tax returns… for free. It’s like Sudoku or a big crossword puzzle for him. And while I’m good at Words With Friends, there are some things (like Sudoku, filing my taxes) that I’d rather leave to the ex

This time, it’s all about trust. Trust contributes to customer loyalty, but how do you get there? How do you effectively build customer trust in your brand so that people come to view your company as an automotive dealership that values its cus