Call me - Maybe
Call me - Maybe
Dealership Communication ToolsDealership Operations & ProcessesIndustry News & Trends

Hey, Mike Jackson: So Call Me, Maybe

So Call Me, Maybe (Author’s Note: While the title of this post might lead you to believe this is all about AutoNation, it is not. The issues addressed here are common across nearly every large dealership group I encounter – publicly traded or private.) … Hey Mike Jackson, is it true you wrote the following …

Read more…

#DSES '16 Recap
#DSES '16 Recap
Best PracticesDealership MarketingIndustry EventsIndustry News & Trends

Recap of 2016 DrivingSales Executive Summit and AutoVentures

For three days in the middle of October in the far reaches of the Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas – the Conference Center – nearly a thousand of the auto retail industry’s more savvy dealers and thought leaders assembled to attend the industry’s most progressive dealer executive event – the 7th Annual DrivingSales …

Read more…

The War for dealer customer data ownership
The War for dealer customer data ownership
Dealership Communication ToolsDealership Operations & Processes

Who REALLY has Ownership of YOUR Customer Data?

Who owns the customer data, in your dealership’s DMS? “I do, of course!” and depending on your perspective, you may be right. Dealers could emphatically answer that question, but what about DMS providers? From their perspective, they might feel they have data ownership since their systems warehouse it. If you live on the OEM side, you may feel you have …

Read more…

Engaging with customers from Third-Party Automotive Sites
Engaging with customers from Third-Party Automotive Sites
Best PracticesDealership Marketing

How to Turn Shoppers from Third-Party Automotive Sites into Buyers at Your Dealership

This is a great time in the auto industry for dealers looking to capitalize on technologies that drive leads and grow sales from third-party automotive websites. Consumers have evolved and continue to command more and more seamless and transparent digital engagement with dealers, forcing companies and dealerships to evolve as well. One such emergence over the years as …

Read more…

Businessman in a field with newpapers blowing around him hitting him in the face.
Businessman in a field with newpapers blowing around him hitting him in the face.
Best PracticesDealership Marketing

Assessing the Limitations of Print Advertising for your Dealership

Remember waking up to the Saturday morning newspaper and racing to the comics section? Mom and dad going through, clipping the coupons for the afternoon grocery run while reading up on the week’s newsworthy events. It was a perfect collation of everything you needed to know in one broadsheet wrapper. The daily and weekly newspaper …

Read more…

Beware of Massaged Data
Beware of Massaged Data
Best PracticesDealership MarketingDealership Operations & Processes

BEWARE of Companies that Massage the Data

Dealership owners are becoming more and more progressive and data-driven. Like leadership at Fortune 500 companies, they make executive decisions based upon internal results and exterior data to improve their stores’ fortunes. However, I’m issuing a stern warning when making changes to your policies, processes, and personnel: Beware of Companies that Massage the Data Unlike …

Read more…

Texting Customers: The Three "C's"
Texting Customers: The Three "C's"
Best PracticesDealership Communication Tools

The Three “C’s” of SMS Compliance for Auto Dealers

If someone had told you 10 years ago that people would be ordering everything from groceries to cars on their phone without actually speaking to a store representative, you probably wouldn’t have believed them. But today we do all that and more with our smartphones, and the evolution of text message (or SMS) communications and customer …

Read more…