For many dealers, margin compression in used vehicles has been a bit like a leaky water line. The truth is, the line’s been slowly dripping for years. But no one really noticed it until now—after a ceiling or wall has started to bubble, crack or

Last month, I introduced Part 1 of a two-part article series on a national Mystery Shop that Dealer Synergy conducted for a major OEM. We shopped dealerships across the country and evaluated them on communication KPIs. Part 1 focused on KPIs for phon

According to a recent study of young executives by HubSpot, one in two people say that they need to improve their work-life balance. One in two people are WRONG. Dead wrong. This idea that success is about “finding balance” is as flawed as it is

Would you agree that great people drive greatness and without good people, your business is just a sound check getting ready for the real show? I do and that is the message I wish to expand upon. There is a long-standing concept going around that sta

Some leaders excel at picking others for promotion and development while others lead their organizations into chaos or ruin with poor choices in this regard. Following are principles from two men who were, arguably, two of the best people-pickers of

F&I has been experiencing a tremendous amount of turbulence in the marketplace. Consumer advocacy groups, agents, vendors, and even certain lenders are challenging the roles and responsibilities of F&I managers. For many dealerships, F&I

It’s the end of the first quarter, do you know where your digital marketing dollars went? If you’ve been utilizing your best source of free information about your web traffic, Google Analytics, you bet your boots you do. Tracking performance metr

When you wake up in the morning, what is the first thing you do?  For me, I turn off the alarm clock, check my phone for news and weather, jump in the shower, and get ready for the day.  For others, they might have a different morning routine, but