On the line
YOU NEED TO MASTER YOUR PHONE SKILLS TO PROVIDE SUPERIOR CUSTOMER SERVICE You interact with your customers every day in many ways to review and resolve their concerns, whether it’s via a personal meeting or using email, text or even …
Category: Columns
Looking to the lounge
WAITING IN A PLEASANT ENVIRONMENT CAN ENHANCE CUSTOMERS’ EXPERIENCES AND ENCOURAGE THEM TO SPEND MORE In this column, we hope to bring up facility-centric ideas that are generally off the radar and can have a positive return on investment, customer …
Changing times, changing names
OUR COLUMNIST’S ASSOCIATION HAS ADOPTED A NEW TITLE — THE GLOBAL AUTOMAKERS OF CANADA Earlier this spring, our association announced a name change from the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers of Canada, abbreviated as AIAMC, to the Global Automakers of …
Certified strength
VALUE AND NOT JUST PRICE CAN BE A MUCH BETTER PROPOSITION WHEN IT COMES TO SELLING USED VEHICLES Depending on who you talk to, the term certified pre-owned conjures up many different associations, definitions and reactions. To a consumer the …
Effective evaluation
DRIVINGSALES’ RON HENSON SAYS THAT ASSESSING YOUR OWN PROCESS IS CRITICAL WHEN IT COMES TO ESTABLISHING AN EFFECTIVE INTERNET LEAD MANAGEMENT STRATEGY A Google search of the term “Automotive Internet Lead Management” returns 27,000,200 results in .32 seconds. Suffice it …
The two solitudes of automotive retailing
AS TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES, IS THERE A RISK OF THE IN-STORE EXPERIENCE NOT LIVING UP TO CONSUMER EXPECTATIONS FOSTERED ONLINE? In a number of articles over the past year, I have addressed the rapidly changing purchase funnel and what this means …
Hollywood McDreaming
ACTOR PATRICK DEMPSEY RACES MAZDAS AND DRIVES MERCEDES. He plays heartthrob neurosurgeon Dr. Derek Shepherd on ABC’s hit medical drama, Grey’s Anatomy. Better known as “McDreamy,” actor Patrick Dempsey has also starred in Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Sweet Home …
Back to the future
ALTHOUGH SOME ASPECTS IN OUR INDUSTRY HAVE ADVANCED, OTHERS HAVE HARDLY CHANGED. An old hero of mine, Sir Winston Churchill; once said and I quote: “the further backward you can look, the further forward you are likely to see.” So …
No more business as usual
MAINTAINING 24/7 CONNECTIVITY IS NOW AN EXPECTED FUNCTION OF AN AUTOMOBILE. With auto sales rebounding strongly last year and holding up well in 2013, we might be forgiven for thinking it’s back to business as usual, now that we’ve weathered …
Cultural connectivity
UNDERSTANDING AND DEALING WITH CUSTOMERS FROM VISIBLE MINORITY BACKGROUNDS. Connecting and communicating with customers from different cultures is important when conducting business in an increasingly diverse community. In many cases, your customer database is comprised of people with different personalities …
More F&I scrutiny
IN THE SECOND PART OF HIS ANALYSIS AT HOW F&I PAY PLANS CAN NEGATIVELY IMPACT THE BUSINESS OFFICE, CHRIS SCHULTHIES FOCUSES ON THREE MORE ASPECTS THAT SHOULD BE ANALYSED. In the last issue, we laid out five criteria dealerships need …
Preparing for the unexpected
CHUCK SEGUIN SAYS THAT WHILE HAVING A PLAN FOR THE FUTURE IS ONE THING, EXECUTING IT SUCCESSFULLY CAN BE ANOTHER. We often complain that not enough dealers engage in succession planning.There is an implicit assumption that if you plan, it …
