David Keeney - If we were to ask 1,000 new or used vehicle prospects whether they prefer to buy or lease their next vehicle, how would they answer? Most likely buy unless they have been presented both options. We as professionals realize that 80 percent or so of people’s thinking is based on attitudes and feelings, while only 20 percent is fact-based.
Read More →Kimberly Long - To the casual observer passing by DeBoer’s Auto in Hamburg, N.J., the dealership might appear to be a small, rather unassuming-looking used car lot. To be sure, DeBoer’s isn’t a gigantic operation – they stock about 20 used vehicles at any given time – but the area in which the store truly excels is its fixed operations.
Read More →RoadLoans is a combination of a lead program and a finance program. Dealers belonging to the program’s Preferred Dealer Network pay a subscription rate for a group of leads (no per-lead fees) to receive exclusive leads on near-prime and non-prime customers, and each lead comes with a built-in offer of financing from RoadLoans, a division of Santander Consumer USA.
Read More →Glynn Rodean - To determine what motivates a customer to buy a vehicle, we first must identify the different things that make customers tick. Each customer has a hot button, but combinations of the following motivators are usually present in each customer’s decision-making process.
Read More →David Keller - Review your year-to-date income statement as compared to the prior year, specifically whether vehicle gross profit percentages remained consistent or were lower than the prior year.
Read More →Greg Wells - Every dealer has a few great employees, but few dealers think of their CRM as one of them. I’ve always thought otherwise. There are 10 reasons you should feel the same way
Read More →Tom Herald - Customer relationship management (CRM) software and systems can be an incredible waste of time and money, and the resulting exposure to liabilities is an ever-growing concern for the small business owner. These systems can also be the most valuable tool available to stabilize revenue and grow your business, and the difference starts at the top.
Read More →Kimberly Long - During one of the worst recessions in the country’s history, many businesses abruptly halted any plans for growth. However, while 2009 may have been a risky year to launch a new dealership, Findlay Automotive Group took the next logical step in growing the company’s footprint by opening their newest store.
Read More →Richard Valenta - Analysts and dealers alike are saying this spring will be great for business. Traffic to dealership Web sites is up across the country. During the past year, reduced expenses affected many dealers’ marketing and advertising efforts, including their Web sites.
Read More →Thomas B. Hudson - When we do a dealer F&I compliance audit, one of the things we do is to go dumpster diving, or at least “trash can rummaging.” That’s because there seem to be an awful lot of dealers out there who haven’t yet gotten the word that we have laws protecting the privacy of their customers.
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