HOW SATISFIED IS YOUR BUYER? AutoTrader released a study conducted by IHS Automotive that asked buyers to rank their satisfaction with the purchase process. Find that survey here: 2016 Car Buyer Journey. Consumers reported spending and average of three hours buying a car, and more than half of that time is spent negotiating and completing the…

ADVERTISING Be careful when advertising the prices of cars. Most dealers already know that it is a violation of federal law to represent a different Cash Price and a Finance Price. What many more do not know is that in most every state, if you charge a Sales Fee, this fee must be included in…

LETTING GO OF A RELIC OF THE PAST I have spoken for years against Dealer Fees. They are also referred to as Doc Fees, Sales Fees, Prep Fees, Closing Fee, etc. I’m here today to ask you to finally let it go. First, there is a bit of controversy about them. There have been multiple…

The question of the day is: What is your Policy? Policy for what? — Everything. How do we handle any given situation? Most things are common sense, but some things need to be addressed. It could be how you handle certain transactions in your accounting, to how you pay commissions, to how you resolve complaints. Point…

Looking Ahead to 2016: In our last visit, we talked about how to prepare for the end of the year. If you haven’t read that entry yet, go do it now, and get that part done. Go ahead, I’ll wait here. Oh, you are back. Good. Now that last year is set on course, let’s…

YEAR END MADNESSOK, Time to close this thing out. Are you ready?First, you have to ask yourself some questions, and this is a good time to do it.  Do my Transaction Reports match my Bank Deposits?  Is my bank account(s) ready to be reconciled?  Have I authorized all non-payment transactions? Voids Credits Other adjustments. Can…

KEY DEALERSHIP EMPLOYEESI talk to a lot of dealerships in my job. I would say the vast majority of them do not have a full staff. I told a guy one day to fire his sales people. “All of them?” He asked. Yes. Then the Buts started. But… they are the key to my business.But……

SALES TRAINING IS MORE THAN JUST “GO SELL CARS” To be honest, “One Size Fits All” is a load of unvarnished malarkey even in the clothing business. But we are here to talk cars, not clothes, so I am referring to your sales presentation, not your suit. We talked before about outfits. (In this previous post).…

This is by no means a complete tutorial on compliance. — You need to read and be familiar with the rules discussed, and interpret them for yourself, or contact an attorney for assistance.  The Federal Trade Commission’s guidelines for the Red Flags Rule includes this statement:  Each financial institution or creditor that offers or maintains one or…

Free. Oil. Changes. That’s your key to profits. Did I mention they should be free? Free? You may ask, and I say yes, free. Here’s the math: The average cost of an oil change is about $20-$25. This includes the labor to do it. You can get that cost considerably lower buying both oil and…