New leads pour into your CRM.  Used car leads flow in as well.  Some customers are submitting their information to get a value for their trade-in.  Others are interested in financing information.  A few ask to schedule test drives.  The majority of customers expect info about price and availability.  Before every form field there is [...]

I was speaking to friends at a New Year’s Eve party who had recently purchased a new car.  I asked about their experience.  They said it was “good”… just as they had expected.  They had researched the vehicle online (OEM, Edmunds, KBB and finally the dealership site) before heading into the store.  Everything had gone [...]

We have grown up with a different concept of advertising.  The way we have marketed ourselves over the years has been far too ‘push’ and not enough ‘pull.’  So when a new medium such as social media presents itself, many believe it is just a new platform we should deliver ‘push’ advertising through.  Understand, though, [...]

This has nothing to do with drinking.  You may not have consumed a drop of alcohol or stayed up past your bed time once while attending the recent 11th Digital Dealer Conference and Exposition in Las Vegas.  But you are still feeling the effects over a week later. Your head hurts.  Your eyes are bloodshot.  [...]

We’ve all received these emails of ridiculously too-good-too-be-true, obviously false declarations from spammers around the globe.  They fill our email inboxes and are quickly dismissed.  They are filled with foolish calls to actions and requests to contact.  Allow me to say that the emails firing from your CRM system are likely no different. I’ve always [...]

After mystery shopping countless dealers over the years, some of the glaring needs we see are a basic process for handling leads.  Over time, we’ve been able to determine a few of the basic steps your dealership must take when properly managing ongoing follow-up with your potential clients. Step #1:  Give them what they asked [...]

Ten years ago, we used to say that customers preferred submitting email leads rather than walking into the store because it gave them instant gratification.  They could have their questions answered immediately. Nowadays, we all know this was a joke because the average response time took forever and still to this day in the industry [...]

I was on-site training a new dealer client’s BDC team last week when I heard the most disturbing thing.  The phone rang and the BD agents began a discussion that went something like this… “Who’s turn is it?” “Not mine.” “Not mine either.” “Well I just had one, like, two minutes ago.” “So did I.” [...]

Right before my 15th birthday, in the year 1990, I went and saw a movie at the local cinema.  Until that date, I would have considered myself just a lover of movies.  Most of my time growing up was spent either outside playing sports or inside watching movies, at home or in the theater.  And [...]

Easily one of my new favorite lyrics floating around on the music charts, “a kiss with a fist is better than none” can easily be translated to the idea that contact, even with a negative attached, can be better than no contact at all. One of my weekly routines is to mystery shop the internet [...]

One reason study abroad programs are so popular for today’s youth is that they can open one’s eyes up to new experiences and cultures. Often, some of our fondest memories in life stem from our vacation and travel experiences.  They expand our thinking and change our beliefs about how we fit into our world.  Very [...]

When a lead arrives in your inbox, do you quickly send out a response based on the type of vehicle they inquired about?  If so, you may be going about it all wrong.  While I agree that time is of the essence, the quality of response far outweighs the speed of the response.  Why?  If [...]