Credit Information Emerges as Important Informational Tool to Drive Incremental Sales
The auto industry has done well the past eight years. Since bottoming out at approximately 10.4 million in new vehicle sales in 2009, the industry has attained an average annual growth rate of 7.6 percent for new vehicle sales. The near-decade momentum, which culminated in approximately 17.46 million new vehicle sales in 2017, meant growth came much easier than normal for most automotive retailers.
Don’t Let the Modern Gold Rush Take Down Your Business
Historians credit Sutter’s Mill, near present-day Sacramento, as the epicenter of the 1849 California Gold Rush. The mill’s owner, a German immigrant named John Sutter, owned 50,000 acres in the area when one of his employees discovered gold in the river near the mill. Though Sutter tried to keep the gold a secret, word
The ROI of Relationships: Get to Know Your Most Valuable Customers
Dealerships that identify their most valuable customers immediately set themselves up for success. They know there’s power behind the relationships they build with shoppers, and the more they interact, engage and improve the customer experience, the more loyalty and trust they’ll gain. Relationships take work. In fact, building relationships can sometimes seem like a lot
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
Success Story: A Vision of Excellence
Delivering 30+ sales per month from the service lane through a vision of commitment to their team, a strategized marketing plan and a deep focus on data, Lithia Hyundai of Reno unveiled an innovative plan to profitability.
RING OF FIRE MANAGEMENT: Supply Chain Nightmares and How They Can Affect Your Dealership
So why should a new car dealer in Duluth or Toledo care about earthquakes in Japan? Supply chain disruptions, that’s why. April’s twin earthquakes that struck Japan’s Kyusho island — killing dozens, destroying buildings and displacing thousands of local residents from their homes — also disrupted parts supplies to a Toyota/Lexus plant and caused a
HIRE THE IDEAL MARKETING PLATFORM
Know the qualities you want in the products that come to work for you — and get the best candidate. The decision to bring in new hires for your business is almost always the result of growth: more tasks to accomplish, more locations to serve, more expertise needed. Once you’ve identified the areas requiring
WILL YOUR DEALERSHIP THRIVE, OR SIMPLY SURVIVE IN 2017?
Running a car dealership has been and always will be challenging; but several workforce trends in 2017 will make it even more challenging for dealers who insist on doing “business as usual.” An improving economy, changes in organizational structure and customer expectations are at the root of these trends. As always, the ability to embrace
Three Trends That Are Revolutionizing Automotive Internet Marketing
Marketers know that a shift in customer behavior brings challenges in targeting the right audience. According to a recent survey published in The Wall Street Journal, 2016 marked the first time that consumers bought more products online than in physical locations. Respondents said that 51 percent of their purchases were made on the Internet, compared
DATA MINING: A Goldmine for Your Dealership
What would you do if you knew you could trade keys with approximately 20 percent of the customers in your DMS right now? You’d contact them and make some sales. To put it simply, if you’re not tapping into the valuable data you already have access to, you’re actively turning down sales. It seems like