We have received several complaints this morning about a weird email that has been sent to several readers here on DealerRefresh.

We are doing our best to try and pinpoint the problem. We have never had an issue like this before and we always keep our security applications updated to try and prevent this from ever happening.

We believe this issue has been isolated to here on the blog only.

We truly apologize for Miss Nadine’s actions and again, we are doing out best to figure out the issue.

Here is a copy of the email some are receiving.

————-

Hello Dear,

How are you and how is your work hope all is moving fine. my name is Nadine
Ntanjah I’m in search of an honest friend when i saw your mail on the internet via dealerrefresh.com, & it caught my eye so I decided to send you a friendly mail, i will like to know more about you, I will be very glad to read your mail soonest. it will be nice to meet you and also read from you. please do honor my invitation so that we can exchange our pictures and maybe become better friends, i hope to share an idea with you.

Remember the distance does not matter what matters is the love that is
shared with each other.

i wait to hear from you soon.

Miss Nadine.

How you recruit and hire your dealership Sales, Internet and BDC professionals, sets the performance “tone” for your entire dealership. A few months ago I wrote “Change Please – Who We Hire and How We Hire“. In that article I introduced to you the concept of an effective Employee Life Cycle System (ELCS) – something very few dealers have in place to consistently refer to when recruiting, hiring and managing their employees. An ELCS is a systematic objective process that once implemented will help you to:

1. Attract better qualified job applicants
2. Decrease your recruiting time
3. Conduct more effective interviews
4. Effectively motivate, develop and manage your dealer employees (in less than 2 hours per year per employee!)
5. Decrease the cost of your recruiting
6. Decrease your turnover and the high costs associated with it…….

My four part series will provide you a comprehensive Employee Life Cycle System you can implement in your store immediately. In this first article I will address Recruiting – how to attract qualified sales and customer service professionals to YOUR jobs!

Lets get started!

Recruiting for your Dealership

Consistently recruiting top talent does not depend solely on luck. It takes planning. To “plan” a more effective recruiting campaign there are four key areas that need to be followed to dramatically improve your likelihood of attracting a higher caliber job applicant. These areas are:

Why does buying a vehicle have to be such a disappointment? My last two car shopping experiences have been less than pleasurable.

Three years ago my Acura TL was coming off lease and it was time to start shopping for a new car. Since my previous two vehicles had been Acura’s, I was ready for something different. My experience with Acura had always been top notch, so I guess you could say I was spoiled.

I had the itch for a convertible and decided one Saturday morning to stop by a Ford dealership. I told the salesman who greeted me that I was interested in checking out a GT convertible. He proceeded to walk me outside where he pointed out several on the lot. I informed him I would like to drive one to get a feel for the car and see if it was something I really wanted. We went back inside and he ventured off to the sales tower. When he came back he informed me that they did not have any to drive since the three they had were sold. I told him it didn’t have to be a convertible; a hard top would at least let me get a feel for the car. Back to the sales tower he went, when he returned I was informed the GT’s were sold out as well. I told him, “thanks anyways” and left. Needless to say, I was not happy about that experience.

Macs don’t belong in car dealerships! PC’s are where it’s at y0!

I beg to differ. I’m making it work.

Using a Mac in the dealership is not for everyone, but for those who do use one there is something about that innovative Apple interface that makes daily computing much more enjoyable. Of course, your mileage may vary.

If your patience is low and you don’t like figuring stuff out, then don’t get a Mac.  Moving from a PC to a Mac can be frustrating for a week or two – it was for me.  There is one key thing to remember when making the switch:

When you get stuck on a Mac, think about how your grandmother would do it and the solution comes right up.

In many ways you’ll have to unlearn PC.  But the learning will actually open your mind a lot more and you may discover that it helps you to better communicate with your vendors when working through process and feature development.

What are you going to need in your dealership Mac?

What do you think? Any truth in this??

NADA 2010 Convention & Expo in Orland Florida

–This is a dual post by myself and Alex. Mine is the following and Alex’s is below.

Attendance this year was low – - dealers and vendors.

Parties were at a minimum

The sessions were good, the ones that I was able to attend (not many). The dealers attending this year seem to be more in tune; not just looking for new shiny objects but also looking for some substance. Looking for features and benefits of a solution/vendor can provide.

When speaking to traditional car people they make analogies of the Internet being a pesty animal that crawled in through the back door when nobody was looking. The funny part about this critter was that it didn’t come alone.  It didn’t just walk in through the back door either.  It came through every crevice in your house on the back of every individual on this planet!  To continue calling it a creepy little pest is just sad.  If you’re one of these people I feel sorry for you.

To make matters even worse, you’ve lost control of everyone because of the Internet.  Your customers are free to say what they want to hundreds if not thousands of people in as little as 140 characters.  Your employees are friends with all of your customers while displaying photos of themselves smoking a cuban cigar and drinking rum on a vacation in Costa Rica.  What a Public Relations nightmare!

How do you get everyone back to the good old days? You don’t.

Without control we’re scared little business people, but we’re missing the bigger picture.  It is a new world where the rules still have not been defined.  Sure, we can write company policies that prohibit employees from using facebook at work or stopping them from participating on blogs, but what does that really gain?  People are always going to find a way to do what they want.  I say nurture it!

Instead of throwing the Fourth Reich at people, why not implement the Second Declaration of Independence.  Teach your staff the best way to communicate online.  Help your happy customers find the review sites and facebook pages that best let them tell their great story about you.

We are very fortunate in the automotive business to have sites like DealerRefresh and companies like GOSO, DealerRater, Pasch Consulting, and many others who will help us find the best way to nurture people into advertising machines for our business.

If you think you’ve lost control, this is how you get some of that control back.

Date: Friday, Feb, 2010
Time: 12pm to 1 p.m. (Eastern)
Location: Your Computer
Cost: FREE – Register Here

With the new year underway, are you working your plan for a profitable 2010?

Do you know how current industry trends and emerging technology will drive your business and fuel your success? Each year, the NADA convention is a hub for new ideas, tools and tactics that can help drive your business. Join Cars.com and a panel of industry experts as we recap the hot topics and trends raised at this year’s show and discuss how they can boost sales and the bottom line at your store.

In this session, we’ll discuss:

• The state of the new- and used-car marketplace and sales projections for the year ahead
• Emerging technologies that help you reach internet shoppers and fully merchandise your inventory
• New sales processes that engage car buyers and encourage them to purchase from you

Panelists:

Steve Finlay
Editor of Ward’s Dealer Business

Jeff Kershner
Founder of DealerRefresh.com

Ralph Ebersole
Cars.com Automotive Consultant

Follow Select Attendees of NADA 2010 & the Digital Marketing Bootcamp

If you are an attendee of the NADA 2010 Convention and/or Digital Marketing Bootcamp — use the comments below to request to be added to the list (if you are not already on the list).

Restrictions: You must be attending NADA or Digital Marketing Bootcamp and tweeting LIVE to be added to the list. No RSS feeds and automatic updates from other sources!

Enjoy!!

UPDATE: List has been closed until next year. Don’t forget Cars.com DealerAdvantage did a great job with video interviews on the mood and “Buzz” of NADA 2010 — check them out.

A recap of the first day of NADA’s 93rd annual convention & expo in Orla…   more

A recap of the third day of NADA’s 93rd annual convention & expo in Orla…   more

In this video, Eric Miltsch, internet director for Auction Direct USA, d…   more

What was the Dealer Mood at…

In this video, Ralph Ebersole, a Cars.com automotive consultant, describ…   more

You can always search the #2010NADA on Twitter to follow any and all tweets that included the hashtag.

–-In this video, Ralph Ebersole, a Cars.com automotive consultant, describes the optimism at this year’s NADA convention and the opportunities for sales growth dealers have in 2010.   less

DealerRefresh welcomes new sponsor – PCG Digital Marketing

The Pasch Consulting Group (PCG), a new sponsor of DealerRefresh.com, announces a change in their corporate identity and branding strategy. The company will be known as PCG Digital Marketing with their new logo and automotive marketing products to be unveiled in Orlando at the 2010 NADA Conference. All of their forthcoming marketing elements will also be branded with their new tagline, ‘Strategic Digital Marketing’.

According to CEO Brian Pasch, the rebranding of his formerly self-titled company reflects their rapid growth in the marketplace as well as their ability to provide a comprehensive team approach to digital marketing solutions for a very diverse range of clients. As PCG has grown to over 30 employees, the company has expanded its staff with talented digital marketing professionals.

“When we reviewed our business growth over the past four years, Search Engine Optimization and Website Design are just two of the services we provide. The term ‘digital marketing’ better reflects the scope of services we can implement for our clients that includes social media, paid advertising, branding, reputation management and strategic digital marketing services,” adds Pasch.

According to Pasch, each strategy is custom tailored to the client’s goals and budgets. “We are a partner at the marketing planning table to see which digital strategies can bring the most benefit to the client and that have a strong ROI.”

Coinciding with the name company’s rebranding is the promotion of Matthew O’Such to VP of Sales and also the addition of Tom Cowell as VP of Business Operations. The name change and shift in staff is consistent with CEO Brian Pasch’s commitment to providing excellent customer service and support as their clients leverage the ever-changing opportunities that exist today in digital marketing.

More information can be found online http://www.pcgdigitalmarketing.com