Kimberly Long
Assistant Editor
ADT Magazine
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It’s not unusual for a visitor to Jennifer’s Auto Sales and Service, an independent dealership in Spokane Valley, Wash., to find Dealer Jennifer Johnson in her facility’s fully-equipped kitchen cooking up a pot of spaghetti or baking cookies for her staff and customers
Read More →Kimberly Long - If you ask some dealers, the purpose of a dealership’s business development center is to manage leads and set appointments. However, that’s not quite the approach taken by Copeland Toyota in Brockton, Mass. The dealership operates on a customer service philosophy of full disclosure, and while one of the functions of its BDC is indeed setting appointments, its primary purpose is to operate as a buyer’s advocate ...
Read More →Kimberly Long - It’s no secret, with so many woes in the world of new car sales, dealers are focusing even more energy on areas like fixed ops and used vehicle sales. In many cases, with the loss of franchises, used vehicle sales have become matter of life and death for their dealerships ...
Read More →Kimberly Long - While credit for a sale and issues with the pay plan were problematic, Rimas cited a bigger concern: “The biggest reason [for integrating the departments] was customer rapport.” A customer submitting an Internet lead could be contacted by an Internet manager, a salesperson and possibly a business development representative (BDR) before ever visiting the dealership. “There may be three or four people that touch that customer before we even actually see them at the door,” he said.
Read More →When he was growing up, Matthew Haiken had no doubt about the career he wanted to pursue. “I wanted to be a car dealer from a very young age … I love the business, every aspect of it. I love the competitiveness, the entrepreneurial spirit,” he said. In fact, he started attending 20 group meetings at the age of 16. “I loved being around car dealers; to me they were ...
Read More →During the many years he’s been selling cars, Don Owen has most definitely seen some ups and downs. “More ups than downs,” he stated. “[Last year] was the worst year I’ve seen in the car business in the 60 years I’ve been in [it].” However, he pointed out, “It was also a learning year.” The store went from selling 50 to 60 units per month in 2006 and 2007 to selling ...
Read More →Much of the talk regarding the slowdown in car sales and the recent difficulties in special finance has come from the viewpoint of either the dealer or the finance company, each looking back at the other. However, there’s another unique viewpoint to consider ...
Read More →The mortgage meltdown, the shrinking of the subprime credit market and the tightening of credit across the board have been bad news for many in automotive retail. However, buy here pay here dealers seemed to be in the perfect position to reap some benefits from the effects of the credit crisis.
Read More →Otis has always believed special finance could be a lucrative profit center at Ideal Auto, despite not seeing much success with previous efforts. A few months ago, he made the decision to hire an outside SF consultant to help Ideal restart a department that never truly made it off the ground...
Read More →When it comes to what vehicles to present to a special finance customer, Richards takes a somewhat different approach than others in the business. He believes in allowing the customer to look at the vehicle they are interested in, rather than restricting them to only a few options selected for them. He reported having success with this method, ...
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