Giving your customer more control during the F&I process might seem risky, but it can reap big rewards CONSUMERS ARE WELL ARMED with information when they walk into the dealership to “validate their research” and select their model. We’ve written …
Car shoppers are looking for you. Are you hiding in the weeds? DON’T YOU MISS the days when improving your sales numbers meant simply booking an extra page in the local paper, creating or re-running an innovative marketing program, propping …
Angry customers are part of any retail experience. Assessing and defusing their concerns requires a deft hand OCCASIONALLY, WHEN A CUSTOMER becomes extremely angry or frustrated and their temper reaches a boiling point, they may threaten to take serious action …
The Canadian auto retail industry continues to thrive in a uniquely challenging marketplace THE PERIOD BEGINNING in late 2008 and ending today can be split up into three distinct economic periods: the immediate crash and recession; its subsequent lukewarm recovery, …
Weighing the pros and cons of the bullpen layout A FEW MONTHS AGO, my column on “tables for tablets” looked into how technology could alter the layout of a showroom. The argument was that mobile devices like tablets could become …
A flurry of auto investment announcements is good news for Canada. But are we getting our fair share of the investment pie? IF THERE WAS NO SUCH thing as the Internet or any other form of news or awareness of …
Dealerships have measurement tools to record customer feedback. But are they really listening? THE AUTO INDUSTRY is probably one of the most avid users of “voice of the customer” data. We use surveys of one type or another to measure …
Vehicle safety features are contributing to declining crash fatality numbers EVERY YEAR, MORE TECHNOLOGY is added to new cars and trucks, much of it in the name of safety. Once exotic technologies such as ABS (anti-lock brakes) and ESC (electronic …
In the third part of our special series, we look back at the Great Depression years and the impact they had on automakers and dealers THE ROARING TWENTIES had been good to the auto industry. Post-WW1 prosperity and mass production …
When it comes to dealership software systems, be wary of slick promises of a comprehensive “out of the box” solution that solves all of your problems. It’s not quite that easy ANYONE WHO IMPLEMENTS a Dealer Management System (DMS) sets …
A new approach is needed to sell to millennials. They are better informed, have different needs, and are a target group worth understanding. ARE MILLENNIALS STAYING AWAY from car ownership? Yes and no. A J.D. Power and Associates study says …
New services make tire storage a smarter option for some dealers — and customers love it FOR MANY CONSUMERS, having their dealership store their tires is an added bonus, not a huge cost. For some, it’s as simple as not …
