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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
Don Reed - A worthy goal for every dealer would be to sell a new or used vehicle today and keep that customer coming back to your dealership for life. You want them coming back for all their service needs, for parts, for body repairs, to buy additional vehicles for their family and of course, to trade in the vehicle you just sold them to buy another. Makes sense, right?
Jennifer Murphy - When fishing, a net will usually yield a better return than a fishing pole. At Rogers Auto Group in Chicago, Ill., David Ortiz understands and employs this concept to drive traffic to the dealership. Although he’s the BDC manager, he also manages the dealership Web site, which is where most dealership traffic is spawned.
Brent Carmichael - Is a CRM right for you? Maybe a BDC is what you need. Whether they realize it or not, all BHPH dealers have some form of both, or at least they’d better if they want to survive.
