The Six Secrets to Accountability Accountability is a word that gets tossed around so much in business that it’s become a cliché or a punchline. It’s become meaningless! At the first sign of lackluster results, those at the top announce: “We need some accountability!” Or “We need to start holding our people accountable!” Great idea… […]
What the Auto Industry is Getting Wrong About the Carvana Experiment Many in the automotive industry are not surprised at Carvana’s downfall. (I’ve been writing about the reasons they would fail and the absurd comparisons to Amazon since 2017.) A few, like Jim Zeigler, were vocal about their doubts very early on. Many, however, are […]
The Truth About Micromanagement The candidate arrives for his in-person interview appropriately dressed, clean shaven, and upbeat. You’re impressed by his appearance, but you have a few questions regarding his work history. It seems he left his last place of employment after just six months. “Why did you leave your last job?” You ask. “I […]
Muscle Memory: The Key to Selling More Vehicles in any Market You’ve probably heard the term muscle memory applied to professional athletes. It describes those who’ve committed to their craft and practiced something so many times that their actions become automatic. The game “slows down” for them; they hold an advantage over their opponents; they’re […]
Turn Your Order-Takers Back Into Sales Pros Let’s be honest. Since about August or September 2020, your salespeople have had it pretty easy. Your cars, trucks, and SUVs have been selling themselves… often at prices above MSRP for new cars and at historically elevated prices for used. Most salespeople became order-takers. They quit making calls, […]
Digital Retailing: Lessons from the Winners Among my regular duties over the last several years, I’ve been working with OEMs and dealers to fine tune their digital retailing efforts. Throughout this time, I’ve seen everything from utter failures to smashing successes. The failures were most often due to a lack of buy-in and (believe it […]
It’s the Perfect Time to Start Leading Again Yesterday, I wrote about how the inventory shortages presented a perfect time to restart your sales processes. Because, of course, once inventories begin to normalize, you’ll want solid sales processes in place if you plan to grow market share and hold more gross than your neighboring dealers. […]
It’s Time to Revisit Sales Processes Congratulations! You and your team have likely enjoyed the greatest run of net profitability in the history of your store! Of course, so has every other (non-Carvana) dealer in America. What a great (and weird) time it was to be a car dealer. Tight inventories created discipline at the […]
Is Selling a Vehicle Above MSRP “Price Gouging?” (Don’t worry, you won’t have to read this entire post to learn how I feel about calling this practice “price gouging.”) Ugh. I am truly sick of seeing post after post about some new car dealer “price gouging” because they added a $6,000 “market adjustment” to a […]
Just Don’t Screw It Up: The Key to Delivering a Great Customer Experience in 2022 I’ve written before about how Chick-fil-A’s reputation for delivering a great customer experience is not about solving issues, it’s about avoiding issues in the first place. Add in some manners, speed, and efficiency, and you’ve got Chick-fil-A’s secret recipe for […]
Attack of the Karens: Irrational Humans and the One-Star Review Movement Perhaps it’s the result of lockdowns and restrictions; maybe it’s what we should’ve expected from social media; perhaps it’s the result of everyone getting a trophy; or maybe it’s an offshoot of screen addiction, where everyone now has a shorter attention span (and less […]
The Great Car-Buying Experience: Telling is Only Half the Equation Even before the pandemic, many dealerships were beginning to focus their marketing and messaging away from low prices toward providing a better customer experience. Certainly, the lockdowns and resulting (now fading) rush to at-home test drives and (still in its infancy) online buying sped up […]
What’s Your Plan When Inventories Normalize? Today (if you’re like most dealers) you’re selling everything you stock and you’re making the highest grosses on both new and used vehicles that you’ve made in years; perhaps decades; perhaps ever. Of course, while many sales managers will chalk this up to their superior desking skills, the truth […]
Managing Expectations: Going from Happy Customers to Raving Fans A 5-minute wait. Is a 5-minute wait short or long? Of course, the answer depends on the circumstances. Waiting five minutes for a waiter in a busy restaurant to bring the pre-dinner drinks to your party of six is nothing. Waiting five minutes for a hotel […]
What Does Real SEO for Car Dealers Look Like? Last month I published a post to urge automotive retailers that Now is the Time for Real SEO. In that post I detailed how a new client was being hoodwinked by a well-known SEO provider; and while that post alerted dealers what to look for to […]
(You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know is an annoying business term and is just one of the 212 Most Annoying Business Phrases Managers Effuse, Confuse, and Overuse detailed in the hilarious must-have guide for every workplace: The 30,000-Pound Gorilla in the Room. Available right now on Amazon.) You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know […]
(Wrap One’s Head Around is an annoying business term and is just one of the 212 Most Annoying Business Phrases Managers Effuse, Confuse, and Overuse detailed in the hilarious must-have guide for every workplace: The 30,000-Pound Gorilla in the Room. Available right now on Amazon.) Wrap One’s Head Around Physically impossible and impossibly annoying. This […]
(Work Smarter, Not Harder is an annoying business term and is just one of the 212 Most Annoying Business Phrases Managers Effuse, Confuse, and Overuse detailed in the hilarious must-have guide for every workplace: The 30,000-Pound Gorilla in the Room. Available right now on Amazon.) Work Smarter, Not Harder Why can’t we do both? Moreover, […]
(Win-Win Scenario is an annoying business term and is just one of the 212 Most Annoying Business Phrases Managers Effuse, Confuse, and Overuse detailed in the hilarious must-have guide for every workplace: The 30,000-Pound Gorilla in the Room. Available right now on Amazon.) Win-Win Scenario Allow us to overgeneralize a bit to introduce this phrase. […]
(Where the Rubber Meets the Road is an annoying business term and is just one of the 212 Most Annoying Business Phrases Managers Effuse, Confuse, and Overuse detailed in the hilarious must-have guide for every workplace: The 30,000-Pound Gorilla in the Room. Available right now on Amazon.) Where the Rubber Meets the Road Everyone knows […]