I hear this all the time, “If the dealer doesn’t buy in nothing happens.” Is it any surprise? The vendor or the manager inundates the dealer with all kinds of details he or she can’t process with everything else – and it takes a three-hour

While I was on a conference call with a dealer-client the other day, the Dealer Principal commented on the fact that his Internet sales manager had just reported that last month was “a record month for the BDC.” The dealer principal responded ver

In April, I attended the 8th Digital Dealer Conference and Exposition in Orlando. It’s a strong conference that’s held twice a year – once in the spring and once in the fall. I have noticed a definite transition from five years ago when the att

What is the impact of word choice on sales? In a word, dramatic. When a customer submits a lead to a dealership, it is best practice to execute a multi-vehicle price quote within 10 minutes. It is also best practice to follow with a phone call in 10

While there has been much written about every business’s need to dive head first into social media – and even a few articles recently that attempted to put a dollar value on a Facebook fan – nearly all of these discussions miss the mark for

I remember my first Consumer Reports customer. He came into the dealership looking for a used car, carrying a copy of the magazine and consulting it frequently. If a car didn’t measure up to the editors’ standards, my customer wouldn’t look at

BDC is one of the most incorrectly overused terms in the automotive retail environment. Far too often, the roles and responsibilities of the employees working in these “business development centers” are doing no developing at all. They are simply

The entire history of auto sales has been defined by the dealer’s quest to control the selling process. Pre-Internet, that was straightforward: the customer walked in the door, the music started, and the Four Square Dance began. Today, the customer

It doesn’t matter if your name is on the building or if you’re “just drawing a paycheck,” your dealership’s online reputation is quickly becoming the most important attribute of your long- and short-term marketing strategy. Even if you’re