Articles - Auto Dealer Today

How to Expand Your Pre-Owned Market Area

Jim Rucker - You have the cars. They want them. How do you bring them to you? How can you stand out from your competitors? With marketing budgets being cut, many dealers are looking to the Internet to “spend smarter.” There are still obstacles. With hundreds of vendors and marketing firms flaunting their products, it’s possible to spend more online than offline. Luckily, there are only three areas you have to cover to make sure you’re geared for success ...

Copeland Toyota's BDC Puts Customer Service First

Kimberly Long - If you ask some dealers, the purpose of a dealership’s business development center is to manage leads and set appointments. However, that’s not quite the approach taken by Copeland Toyota in Brockton, Mass. The dealership operates on a customer service philosophy of full disclosure, and while one of the functions of its BDC is indeed setting appointments, its primary purpose is to operate as a buyer’s advocate ...

The Best BDCs Win with Shared Leads

Glynn Rodean - My favorite part about working shared leads is that a shared lead gives you the opportunity to set yourself apart from everyone else who is calling these leads. Effectively working shared leads is more about selling the appointment than setting the appointment, and your phone skills are just as important as a quick response. You won’t set yourself apart with a hard sell. Instead, with shared leads, you set yourself – and your dealership – apart with very subtle influence and pers

Time is Money in Used Vehicle Operations

Kimberly Long - It’s no secret, with so many woes in the world of new car sales, dealers are focusing even more energy on areas like fixed ops and used vehicle sales. In many cases, with the loss of franchises, used vehicle sales have become matter of life and death for their dealerships ...

The Essence of a Team

Tom Herald - Have you ever noticed the differences between really good companies that stand out among the competition and those others that just seem out of step? How about sports teams? Why did the Bruins dominate the Canadians during the first round of the Stanley Cup? Why do Roger Penske and Rick Hendrick routinely field championship racing teams? And, why is Richard Branson so successful? The one common difference that all successful businesses, sports teams or organizations share is r

Cash is King

Brent Carmichael - Availability of cash is definitely not as prevalent as this time last year. The good news is that it is still available in the BHPH industry unlike some of the other unfortunate industries. It’s just not as easy to find or secure, not to mention afford, since the rates we enjoyed a year ago no longer exist ...

Improving Used Vehicle Management

Harlene Doane - Technology is giving today’s buyer the same information dealers have, creating what some people say is an efficient market. This efficient market is causing dealers to change the way they inventory and market their used vehicles. For years, dealers have been working towards a 60-day turn policy, some even had a 30-day policy for used vehicles, but in today’s inventory market, those policies might be outdated ...

Mastering Buy Here Pay Here

Ben Donnarumma - To say the least, BHPH is in high demand today. More and more customers need alternative financing to replace the void left by several non-prime finance companies that have changed their programs over the past year. As the market continues to evolve, several dealers also are looking to BHPH or LHPH (lease here pay here) as a new source for sales and revenue. So, if you are a dealer who is thinking about financing subprime customers yourself, let me give you some words of advice

Gentilini Motors Focuses on Internet Sales

Jennifer Murphy - Almost a decade ago, the owners of Gentilini Motors in Woodbine, N.J., began to notice traditional advertising trailing off and the Internet catching on. “The Internet was becoming more of a craze. It was becoming more prevalent in everybody’s household,” said Paul Gentilini, co-owner. In 2000, Gentilini Motors’ focus shifted to building an online presence ...

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