Trending Auto Retail News
How Car Sellers Can Use Free Data from Their Store’s Website to Make More Money
When it comes to finding ways to make more money, Good Car People understand the power of utilizing data to minimize waste. Good Car People are the ones who plan, measure, monitor, and focus their efforts - and their spending - on the specific things that reliably...
A Fresh Look at Valuing Reinsurance Cash Streams
Finance and insurance (F&I), and associated reinsurance programs, have long played an important role in the profitability of the dealership model. These service lines provide a consistent flow of gross margin (often routed outside of the dealership P&L...
What Ever Happened to the Sales-to-Service Introduction?
A college buddy of mine relocated to the Deep South many years ago. We’ve stayed in touch with each other and in a recent phone conversation he was telling me about his car-buying experience earlier this spring. Let me tell you at the outset that he is not a...
Make It Happen, Watch It Happen, Wonder What the Hell Happened! (You do have a choice)
“Learn how to control and manage service department work input or pay the consequences – don’t end every work day wondering what the hell happened.” Two of the most expensive weaknesses I encounter in dealer service departments are pre-loading planning and dispatch...
12 Questions to Answer for Social Media Success
Put 20 people in a room and ask them, "What is social media success?" With the overabundance of social media "information" supplied today, chances are you'll get 20 different answers. Some people will say vanity metrics such as the number of likes or followers you've...
Dealer Magazine Interview: Brian Benstock, GM and VP of Paragon Honda, Paragon Acura
Brian Benstock is the General Manager and Vice President of Paragon Honda and Paragon Acura. Since 1982, he has held many positions within the dealership including sales consultant, sales manager, assistant to the assistant manager, finance manager, general sales...
Your BRAND is Either Growing…or You’re Going!
Eleanor Roosevelt is credited with the quote: “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery and today is a gift; that’s why they call it the present.” Tomorrow, in the automobile retail business, may be a mystery but here are a few simple facts. You are either building...
Great Possibilities Occur When Your Team Members Become Engaged
My past few articles have focused, for the most part, upon the development, retention and the engagement of your employees. The care and concern we place on our team members is the most powerful initiative you can do to raise the bar on your corporate growth....
Out-Think, Don’t Out-Spend Your Competition
In the new car business, it’s conventional wisdom that bigger is better. Dealers with the biggest ad budgets, biggest inventories, biggest showrooms, and the biggest discounts will be the biggest winners in the market place. Based on the most recent NADA Dealer...
Increasing Leadership Effectiveness: It’s Simple (But Not Necessarily Easy)!
Think of the most effective leader you’ve known or read about? What characteristics made that person come to mind? Pick up any magazine, journal, or periodical and you’ll probably find one or more articles that talk about desirable leadership best practices and/or...
Learning from Bad Examples
A benefit on one’s journey to growing as a leader is that there will never be a shortage of opportunities to learn lessons from others in leadership; both from those doing leadership well, and from those who fall short. The purpose in recognizing bad leadership...
Black Book Insights on Impact from Hurricane Harvey
As the city of Houston and surrounding regions continue to cope with the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey, I wanted to provide you with several updates and insight from Black Book, which is actively tracking any impact on the region’s automotive industry. Black...
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