Trending Auto Retail News
Don’t Write It in Sand, Carve It in Stone
Every time I do a 20 group, dealer state association meeting or anything where a group of dealers are gathered without their managers, I start hearing what used car managers will not do or adhere to, or what they want as policy. I have some recommendations for that so...
Preparing for Change – Don’t Lose Data or E-mails
Changing DMS or CRM providers is hard enough. Your employees don’t like change and it seems like you never get all your data from your old system into the new system. Two things that you might not have expected during the change is a loss of archived data and customer...
Voicemail – the Forgotten Tool
In past articles I’ve shared my belief that the best way to immediately improve sales is simply getting better at what you do with existing leads, particularly interacting with customers. Statistics show that well executed communications with the car shopper drive...
The Power of the Word
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 minutes. But what...
A Story of Lost Loyalty….and How to Regain It
Polston_Fixed Operations August10 The following is a true story. I took delivery of my new vehicle in January 2009. It was a smooth process and overall a pleasant buying experience. The salesman thanked me for my business and then he stuck his hand in my face,...
Would You Be a Fan of Your Dealership on Facebook?
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 automotive dealers....
The Battle for the Right Lead Mix
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 it. If it had a...
Do you Have a BDC or a BCC?
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 communicating with...
Chris Fousek, E-commerce Director, Village Automotive Group
The Village Automotive Group in Massachusetts first jumped on the Internet wave in 1999. They were even posting inventory online as early as 1999. E-commerce Director Chris Fousek recounts some of those early days, and shares with Digital Dealer what he thinks the...
Charles Oglesby, Asbury Automotive Group
A 40-year veteran of the retail business, Charles Oglesby has worked in every area of the dealership climbing his way up from the showroom floor to becoming the CEO and president of the Asbury Automotive Group. Asbury, one of seven publicly traded dealer groups...
Hyundai’s Equus Requirements Ignore Many State Franchise Laws
Hyundai is the latest import manufacturer to insist that dealers provide a number of specific items at dealerships before the dealer will be eligible for allocation of the new Equus luxury vehicle. In particular, Hyundai requires dealers to meet the following...
The True Measure of a Leader
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alexander Solzhenitsyn spent eight years of his life in prison for making a few disparaging remarks about Joseph Stalin. He went into prison an atheist and come out eight years later a Christian. The first words out of his mouth -- I...
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