Build a Repeat Customer Base to Build for the Future
Bill Stasek Chevrolet, located in Wheeling, Illinois, is the largest Corvette dealer in the Midwest as well as a Chevrolet Business Elite dealer. Brothers Bill and Bob Stasek have worked together for years to achieve this. They have developed dealership processes and have built a dedicated team who pays special attention to every customer’s needs
FIVE TIPS TO HELP SPEED UP YOUR TIME TO MARKET IN USED VEHICLES
As dealers plan their used vehicle department performance goals for the coming year, I’d suggest focusing on reducing the amount of time it takes to get vehicles retail-ready and online. This suggestion follows recent studies that show it takes dealers an average of 10 days, from the time they acquire an auction vehicle and
Five Steps to “Turn Up” that Vehicle Turn
You’ve no doubt been there — that time when you had to move a lot of a particular vehicle, fast. Maybe you wanted to take advantage of a manufacturer spiff, or needed to clear out slow-moving inventory or unexpectedly got stuck with some less-than-desirable vehicles. Whatever the reason, the pressure was on. At the time,
A Lesson In Accountability In Best Buy
If you’ve followed my columns about reconditioning best practices, you know my drumbeat is time-to-market (TTM) frontline readiness, workflow and accountability, all which describe nonnegotiable processes for turning recon operations into a profit center for the dealership. Dealers using reconditioning workflow software to reduce their TTM or cycle time to three to five days
Customer Retention Doesn’t Just Happen
Have you noticed how “customer retention” is the new buzzword? For many years, it was “improved CSI” that manufacturers pushed for via incentives. Dealers quickly complied and, after a while, realized that improved CSI scores were good for the manufacturer (which is why they are willing to pay incentives), great for the customer (thanks to
Virtual Reality: What’s the Big Deal?
The auto industry is evolving rapidly, but no innovation has as much potential to move buyers faster to a purchase with a unique and compelling presentation as virtual reality. We’re just at the beginning of what this exciting new technology can offer dealers.
Now Open, The Automotive App Store: The Open App Approach to Uniting an Industry
What makes the Apple brand indestructible? There are a million valid answers to this question. Is Apple’s technology more advanced than Google’s? Not necessarily. Are their smartphones more intelligent than all other smartphones? Probably not. But no one can dispute the fact that they are the simplest devices to navigate for the vast majority of
Change Management: The “Upward Climb” With New Dealership Tech
Adopting new technology in a dealership is an important business decision that requires a process to ensure success. A comprehensive, user-friendly technology platform can be extremely advantageous and profitable to your dealership. It makes collecting data easier, provides the ability to mine existing customer information, and even helps integrate sales, service, inventory acquisition and other
Click or Treat: Three Ghoulish Tricks for Better PPC Results
All advertising inspires additional online research. The challenge is how to influence consumers as they enter keywords and navigate through search engine results. Text ads are just one of the many moving parts in a successful PPC strategy — but they are an important component. A combination of PPC best practices and creativity will lead
Vehicle E-Commerce: Why Would Today’s Dealers Stay Relevant in the New Sales Dynamics?
Barath Ashokkumar & Anand Sethuraman The biggest revolution currently underway is taking place neither in the manufacturing plant nor in the innovation labs, but in people’s living rooms. What started off as a demonstration of online shopping systems in 1979 has now exploded into a world of e-Bays and Amazons. With every kind of retailer