Trending Auto Retail News
Life in the Fast Lane – Get Your Store to Its Full Potential
Listening to my iPod while mowing the yard this past weekend, the Eagles song "Life in the Fast Lane" began playing. Hearing it, triggered an experience I had a few years ago and gave way to my thinking about the power of growth potential and the idea for this...
With History there is No Mystery
As all of you are aware for 28 years I have been teaching you in class that “every used car has a story, but if you can’t tell it, you can’t sell it.” The importance of having a customer involved in their trade in is vitally important to the sale of that vehicle once...
Four Steps to a Super DOC – and More Profit
I find that most disappointments in the monthly financial statement come from a lack of daily reporting. In fact, I’ve been a long-time hater of our whole month end process. We basically shut down all accounting operations for three to five days while we “close the...
What is Your Dealership Real Estate Worth?
What is your dealership real estate worth today? That is a very good question, and not one that is easily answered. Most dealers and their lenders order an MIA appraisal to determine real estate value. Unfortunately, during the recent real estate bubble and subsequent...
Wow! A Free Money-Maker
I discovered a well-written, easy to read, instructional paperback written by Gary Vann, the VP of Sales and Marketing for Mighty Auto Parts, a nationwide aftermarket maintenance parts distribution company located in the Atlanta area. Mr. Vann is obviously a sharp...
Moving from Stiff-arm to Hug
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 has taken control....
Pricing Guidelines for Fun and Profit
A friend of mine bought a vacuum cleaner and was proudly touting the features and benefits over a beverage the other night. To hear him talk, it was the Mac-Daddy of all vacuum cleaners. I think it even discards the junk it collects by itself. His enthusiasm was...
The New Reality of the Used Car Business
Every day I’m more convinced that dealers’ strategy for making money in used car operations is outdated and wrong. Have a conversation with any dealer or manager about used car operations and the words “gross profit” will be mentioned in short order. The problem is...
Eight Steps for Real Reputation Management
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 located in a small town and...
Take Out the Trash and Keep the CRM from Being a Garbage Dump
Please open up your wallet, pull out a $50 bill, walk over to the nearest trash receptacle, and throw away your money. What do you mean ‘no?’ Of course, it sounds foolish, but that is what your sales team is doing with your money right now. There is a financial cost...
Hagen Durant, Classis Chevrolet
In existence for only 20 years, Classic Chevrolet in Grapvine, TX, has been the number one selling Chevy store four consecutive years and is about to make it five. Much of that is due to the culture Owner Tom Durant created that his son Hagen, Classic’s general...
Joe Elsasser, General Manager, Golling Chrysler Jeep Dodge
Golling Chrysler Jeep Dodge in Bloomfield Hills, MI, was one of automotive retail’s early technology pioneers piloting some of the Internet’s first CRM solutions. Owner Bill Golling and General Manager Joe Ellsasser used technology to help create Chrysler’s top...
Join us for Digital Dealer Las Vegas 2021