For dealers, your store often tells the story of your life. This is especially true for those second- and third-generation dealers. Every day, your dealership puts on a show for the consumer. The customers are your audience and you are the director.

As many others, I was deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Bob Tasca Sr. this past January at the age of 83. I was shocked when I read Bob was 83 because the ad company I founded, CBC, worked with the Tascas when he was 56 years old. At that time

If you don’t it will be like an orchestra without a conductor Vehicle headlights only illuminate the road ahead for about 200 feet but you can, even with this limited vision, go from Maine to Florida in these incremental steps if you are willing to

Here is a stark but simple fact: for the past year, the marketplace has offered fewer active buyers than needed to sustain the dealer community.   A Darwinian fight for survival proceeded; over the past year an alarming number of dealers went out o

Creative merchandising of inventory improves sale chances We’re well into the first quarter, but it’s never too late to tweak our annual goals. At the very least we all can use a reminder of the basics that got us to where we are today. Think bac

By all accounts, as long as a supply of eligible vehicles is available, the growth in certified pre-owned (CPO) sales numbers is predicted to follow recent growth patterns of approximately 21% per year. Consumers are becoming more aware of, and confi

Imagine a dealership that only tracks closing ratios against write-ups. That team may or may not be doing a solid job. If the write-up percentage against walk in traffic is good, then the team is performing. If the write-up percentage is poor, the de

You have bad breath. It hurts you to hear that, I am sure, but someone had to tell you. I think it is better that you hear about it from me now, rather than from someone talking about you behind your back. God forbid you find out that all of your fri

About 10 years ago I wrote my first article in Dealer magazine on the concept of “spiral integration.” The objective is to utilize each advertising medium’s greatest strengths to complement and enhance the effectiveness of other mediums and pro