It has been said that the arrival of a lead is the “moment of truth”. At that moment, the customer has put you on trial. The lead has been sent to you, but it’s also been sent to two to three other dealerships. Which dealer will respond first?

How it happened so quickly I don’t know, but it’s time again to reflect and make necessary changes to ensure a more profitable year. As I began the self assessment, I examined the obvious areas where change is warranted and completely necessary.

The first word or attribute that comes to mind with “follow up” is tenacity, because to be successful in today’s market, more is needed beyond picking the low hanging fruit. I have developed and adopted my own practical application, helped thou

A little secret. For almost 20 years, some of America’s best dealers have been writing these advertising columns, letting me take the credit. I’ve developed an informal roundtable of some of the brightest young minds as well as seasoned legends i

Russell Blackstone, a former political consultant, enjoyed helping friends and family members with their car purchases so much he decided to go work for a dealership. Research led him to a small group owned by Don Hewlett in the Austin, TX market. It

John Eagle is a member of the PhD club – “Papa had a dealership.” He’s been in the business since age six when he started washing hubcaps and grilles on vehicles. What started as a bankrupt Lincoln Mercury store has turned into 13 franchises

As with nearly every New Year, I am looking forward to the challenges, successes and even failures that will come my way in 2011. These collective experiences are what define us both personally and professionally, and I welcome each of these with ope

The first suggestion I have is to mystery shop your competition. Most will start with “what’s your name and number in case we get disconnected?” Would you take that seriously? How many times have they heard that? Listen and learn, then compare

In today’s high-performing dealership, the web is the strategic center. What does it mean to be web-centric? It means that everything is built around web-based systems. These web-based systems help to: • attract customers • ensure rapid, high-q