Pulling Together: Leadership and Employee Performance, Part 3
The potential for a new employee is practically limitless. Each new hire could be your dealership’s next superstar. Reality, however, soon kicks in and reveals the truth. Some new hires do indeed rock the lot and exceed expectations. Some, however, might not immediately live up to their potential or the hopes we had for them.
Success Story: First Team Chevy Becomes No. 1 in 2016
Leading the Hampton Roads Area with a New Strategy Located in Hampton, Virginia, Hampton Chevrolet is one of 12 stores in the First Team Auto Group.[…]
Your Customers Will Pay More
The best way to gain and retain customers is by providing services that other dealerships won’t, and making sure that the customers know you value their business. Happy customers not only continue to do business with you, but will often pay more if they value the relationship. In my years in the car business, I’ve
Staying Engaged and Planning for the Future
PEOPLE CAN BE RESISTANT TO CHANGE, SO YOU BREAK THAT RESISTANCE DOWN BY EMBRACING IT, UNDERSTANDING IT AND PUTTING FOCUS ON IT… When David Elattrache stepped in as the general manager of Huggins Honda in 2009, he knew that some changes would be inevitable to keep the dealership competitive for its future. After all, technology
Maintaining Your Positivity and Strengthening Your Career Track in Dealership Sales
Salespeople face a variety of obstacles in their day-to-day work, from customers looking to get the rock-bottom price to slow sales days to no-show appointments. The ability to maintain a positive mindset is crucial to finding success in sales. While the individual is ultimately responsible for his or her own attitude, management can help to
What Does Your Service Department Say About Your Dealership?
Is your service department as clean and well organized as your showroom? Would you like a live feed of your service department as the header on your homepage?
Help Your Dealership by Helping Your Customers in the New Year
It’s a New Year. Everyone is hoping to lose all that extra holiday weight, save money or become more organized. Or, if your customers are looking to incorporate their car needs with other goals they made, be sure to let them know your dealership is here to help. But now that it is already February,
Why Aren’t There More Women General Managers?
After a decade of progress of women gradually emerging as an important and recognized segment of contemporary automotive business, it is frustrating to see statistics from an NADA Workforce Study stating that only 8 percent of women occupy key positions in our national automotive dealerships. This study also reports that women still work in positions
How to Build a Public Relations Position to Grow Customer Retention
How would you create a ‘wow’ buying experience for the customer after they purchased their car? How would you set up a brand new profit center by developing a public relations manager? I have had a few calls from people about last month’s article about using the “Apple Experience” in your dealership’s service drive to
From Extravagance to Necessity to Customization and on to Organizational Personalization
Today, dealerships need a Website that provides a personalized shopping experience and allows the shopper to have a social connection and feel they know the people with whom they are planning to do business. How did we get here and where will we go next? Let’s examine the path we took to where we are
How You Can Take Care of Your Internet Leads the Smart Way
Sales leads are the lifeblood of the automotive industry – after all, it’s tough to sell your cars without having people to sell them to. So it’s important that auto dealerships are working as effectively as possible to leverage their sales leads. But are they? That’s the question the 2016 Automotive Sales Effectiveness Report on
Hope: A Magic Ingredient for Employee Retention
Today’s average car buyers go to 1.6 dealerships before they buy a car. They do not move on from that first dealership because they don’t like the brand. They move on because they don’t like the dealership. With a turnover rate for dealership salespeople of 72 percent, customers who want to become loyal to a dealership