NEWARK, N.J. — Containerized ocean imports moving through U.S. seaports in June declined 1.7 percent year-over-year, but were still up 6.3 percent in the first half of the year, reports The Journal of Commerce/PIERS. The year-over-year drop to

The growth of technology and particularly the Internet has made it possible for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), like car dealers, to accomplish much of their marketing and advertising without outside assistance. For example, every dealer sh

Once, service and parts were considered as one… Back when our industry began, a little more than a century ago, most dealerships were primarily repair shops or custom coach builders. service, parts and body repairs were all together and the busines

When I started in this business those were the only three things you needed to succeed: asphalt, octane and a Cross pen. It was an interesting time September 1971. I had gone to several new car dealerships in my little home town of Columbus, Georgia.

The area code on the caller ID was the same area code where the week’s consulting engagement found me. I assumed it was someone from one of the dealerships calling about something. To my horror, the voice on the other end started out with “Mr. Va

A few years back I authored an article for Dealer magazine exploring the two basic types of customers considering the purchase of a vehicle. The ‘Wanna Buys’ who are interested in trading up for no other reason than they just ‘want to,’ and t

A few times each year, I ask one of my law partners to prepare a guest article for this column. BSM partner, Robert Bass, has graciously provided an article addressing an important but often forgotten aspect of any franchise sale transaction – valu

Phil Cash believes that a good Internet sales manager is more likely to sell 16 units a month if he’s working 65 leads than if he’s working 120. How can that be? Why doesn’t more leads turn into more sales? Phil, the Internet director at San Ta

  Customer satisfaction is a big deal at Rich Ford. It’s such a big deal, when one irate customer threatened to drive her Expedition through the window of the dealership, Dennis Snyder, Rich Ford’s president, convinced her to come work for t