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

It is amazing to me that the vast majority of dealerships continue to pay sales consultants on gross profits.  Straight commissions comp plans no longer make sense.  Don’t dealers who pay sales people on the gross realize that there is this littl

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

Don’t Fall For the Bluff Car manufacturers have made a habit in recent years of using the expiration of a dealer’s sales and service agreement as a threat to non-renew the agreement unless the dealer agrees to certain things. Those “things” h

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

People (pee-puhl) noun 1)    Human beings 2) The followers or subordinates of a leader or manager   Processes (pros-es-iz) noun 1) A systematic series of actions and operations directed to an end 2) a series of changes  taking place in a def

The National Football League is fining players up to $50,000 for helmet to helmet hits. The government recently fined Barclay’s Bank to the tune of $176 million for violating the OFAC requirements. Some dealers have a fine system in place in which

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