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AutoSuccess Best of the Best Companies NADA Map, Page 4

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©2007 AutoTrader.com, LLC. All Rights Reserved. “AutoTrader.com” is a registered trademark of TPI Holdings, Inc. used under exclusive license.Source: 2006 Prospect Close Rate Study, MORPACE International, Inc.

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AutoSuccess Magazine is published monthly at 3411 Pinnacle Gardens Drive, Louisville, Kentucky, 40245; 502.588.3155, fax 502.588.3170. Direct all subscription and customer service inquiries to 877.818.6620 or [email protected]. Subscription rate is $75 per year.

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Six Steps to a Great Presentation at Your Next Meeting, Part 2

How to Increase Your High Quality Lead Volume

The Four Factors of Risk

Marketing to Women: Female Consumer Power

Four Characteristics of Top Sales Producers

The Interview

The Higher Road

Hillside HondaLimited Space, Unlimited Talent and Success

Success or Failure?

Background Music Drives Showroom Sales

What Happens Here, Does Not Have to Stay Here

Educate and Train Your CustomersCustomer Pay Labor and Parts Profit Training

Being Aware of Unique Cultural Needs

Would You Believe You?

Targeted Web Video and Your Ad Strategy, Part 2

SeanWolfington

PhilSura

BrianTracy

DirkZeller

DeliaPassi

MarkTewart

SteveLaPenta

JesseBiter

PatrickLuck

HeatherConary

PattiWood

DavidKain

PatrickLuck

MattHolden

TonyDupaquier

God is the source of all supply

TeresaBordenet

E-Volution

DixonJudd

Tuning Your Web Site for High-Performance:Using Key Performance Indicators, Part 6

EricMélon

Psalm 23:4 - Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Brian Ankney, Sales-improvement [email protected]

Brian Balash, Sales-improvement [email protected]

Toni Stephens, Sales-improvement [email protected]

Cori Frye, Sales-improvement [email protected]

3411 Pinnacle Gardens DriveLouisville, Kentucky 40245

toll free: 877.818.6620 facsimile: 502.588.3170 web: www.SellingSuccessOnline.com

Patrick Luck, Editor & [email protected] Susan Givens, Vice [email protected] Thomas Williams, Creative [email protected] Dave Davis, Creative Strategist & [email protected]

helping to promote...

Getting the Picture: A Setting That Works

TomHopkins

Voyages of the eCRM Dealers of the YearHow They Did It

1212

To BE or Not to BEThe Answer is in the Becoming

MichaelYork

Change Your Life by Setting Goals JeffMorrill

You

The Four Factors of RiskBrianTracy

sts fos ls ms sf fi s

sales and training solution

8 www.sellingsuccessonline.com

The critical factor in selling today is risk. Because of continuous change and rapid obsolescence, the risk

of buying the wrong product or service becomes greater as change intensifi es. Our greatest single need is for security of all kinds, and any buying decision that puts us out on a limb triggers the feeling of risk and threatens that security.

There are four main factors that contribute to the perception of risk in the mind and heart of the customer. The fi rst is the size of the sale. The larger the sale, the more money involved, the greater the risk. If a person is buying a package of Lifesavers, the risk of satisfaction or dissatisfaction is insignifi cant. But if a person is buying a computer system for their company, the risk factor is magnifi ed by hundreds or thousands of times. Whenever you are selling a product that has a high price on it, you must recognize that risk enters into the buyer’s calculations almost immediately.

The second factor contributing to the perception of risk is the number of people who will be affected by the buying decision. If you go out for lunch alone to a new restaurant, the risk is very low. But if you

invite a group of business customers to a restaurant to discuss a large transaction, the risk factor can be very high.

Almost every complex buying decision involves several people. There are the people who must use the product or service, the people who must pay for the product or service, the results expected from the installation of the product or service, and the reputation of the person making the fi nal buying decision. If a person is extremely sensitive to the opinions of others, this factor alone can cause him or her to put off a buying decision indefi nitely.

The third factor contributing to the risk perception is the length of life of the product. A product or service that, once installed, is meant to last for several years generates the feeling of risk. The customer thinks, “What if it doesn’t work and I’m stuck with it?”

How many times have you bought something personally that turned out to be the wrong item and you were stuck with it? You couldn’t replace it with something more appropriate because of the amount you had already paid.

The fourth major risk factor is the customer’s unfamiliarity with you, your company and

your product or service. A fi rst-time buyer, one who has not bought the product or service before, or who has not bought it from you, is often nervous and requires a lot of hand-holding. Anything new or different makes the average customer tense and uneasy. This is why new products or services, or new business relationships with your company, have to be presented as a natural extension of what the customer is already doing.

Now, here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action:

First, demonstrate and prove to your customer that the people affected by this purchase will be happy and satisfi ed. Tell stories about other happy customers.

Second, show the customer that this purchase, even if it is new or unfamiliar, is a logical extension of what the customer is already doing. Show the customer it makes perfect sense.

Brian Tracy is the chairman and CEO of Brian Tracy International. He can be contacted at 866.300.9881, or by e-mail at [email protected].

Being Aware ofUnique Cultural Needs

TomHopkinssts fos ls ms sf fi s



If you do business with people from cultural groups different from your own, you would be wise to invest some time understanding

their cultures, as well as their needs in terms of your vehicles and services. You may not necessarily be doing business with people in another country, but with those from other countries who have relocated to your community. If you want their business, you have to understand their needs on many levels.

This isn’t diffi cult to do. There’s a vast array of information available for free online about nearly every culture on the planet. Set aside 15 minutes to look under the topics of “protocol,” “diversity” or “cultural awareness.” If you pick up just one key point that makes your next client from another culture feel comfortable with you, it is well worth your while.

Depending on how much business you might be doing with clients from cultures unfamiliar to you, a good source can be found at www.usaprotocol.com. This where you’ll fi nd the handbook for U.S. diplomats on proper etiquette and protocol for meetings with people from diverse cultures around the world.

There are many other good books written on proper protocol for doing business with people of different cultures. With a quick call or visit to your local library, you can have a wealth of information to review while waiting for clients to come into your dealership.

Take a moment now to consider what cultural groups are represented within a 50-mile radius of your dealership. If you’re not sure, call your local Chamber of Commerce. They’ll have demographics of the population in the area and be able to provide you with good information.

Once you have that information and begin

studying a culture, you’re creating specialized service for a niche market in your area. Don’t just learn how to sell vehicles to these different cultures; learn how they like to be served after the sale. Providing courteous contact and consistent follow-up will cause them to send their friends and relatives to you for their vehicles, as well.

The most important aspect of doing business with someone from a culture other than ours in the good ol’ U.S.A. is to beware of the words you use. Some American words and phrases just don’t translate well. They don’t have the meaning that you may wish to impart; thus, they are likely to confuse potential clients. Or, worse, the translation may be something offensive. So, when speaking to folks from other cultures, watch your words. Speak at your highest level of language rather than using casual or slang terms.

You may also want to stop periodically and ask if the potential clients understand what you’ve just told them. If they don’t, assure them that’s okay and that you’re there to help them to understand so they can fi nd a vehicle that best serves their particular needs.

A Few Other Things to be Aware of:• Be patient when building trust and

establishing relationships People from countries other than

the U.S. generally need more than a handshake to build trust. It is important to observe a greater degree of formality when becoming acquainted than you would use with a client who was born and raised locally.

• Speak more slowly than you normally do, but don’t raise your voice because you think the other person can’t understand you

Volume doesn’t usually increase comprehension. Also, don’t speak down to them as if they are children. Simply speak clearly and include appropriate gestures to ensure they’re following what you’re pointing out.

• Avoid slang, buzzwords, idioms, jargon and lingo

These can all be easily misunderstood by those who may not speak your language as their primary language. Just use simple language until you can get an idea of what level of your language they understand.

• If you’re using an interpreter, make sure the interpreter meets with the people for whom they are interpreting before you actually begin to sell them

This will allow the interpreter to determine if there are any dialect challenges between what they speak and what the client is most familiar with.

• Pay attention to nonverbal interaction cues

The word “yes” or an affi rmative nod often means “Yes, I hear you” in Asian cultures, not, “Yes, I agree.” If you see a nod and move on to closing the sale, you may frighten them off with what appears to them as over-zealousness.

Culture is as much an infl uence on people as their personal experiences, so knowing about your clients’ customs and traditions only makes sense. That way, neither you nor your client will be made to feel uncomfortable and selling can be done.

If you’re in doubt about how to properly work with people of another culture, don’t be afraid to ask them. Ask as you would with any client what their past experiences have been when purchasing a vehicle. Ask what they liked and disliked about the service, the folks they dealt with at the dealership and the vehicle itself. This is all a normal part of qualifying during any sales process.

World-renowned master sales trainer Tom Hopkins is the chairman of Tom Hopkins International. He can be contacted at 866.347.6148, or by e-mail [email protected].

12 13

fs feature solution

www.sellingsuccessonline.com

PatrickLuck

Their Mission: To seek out new leads; To explore innovative new marketing worlds; To boldly go where no dealer has gone before.

The VoyageLast month we announced the Top 10 eCRM Dealers of the Year for 2007. In reviewing the data from the recipients of the award, I refl ected on the tremendous phenomenon the Internet has become as a marketing medium. I was reminded of the science-fi ction-based series Star Trek which debuted in the 1960s. In its fi ctional universe, humans were able to overcome many boundaries and limitations to improve the quality of life. This fi ctional vision of the future had a huge impact on our culture, most notably on the development of technology. The series is believed to have motivated the design of many current gizmos including the mobile phone, Tablet PC, and other personal digital devices, and set the bar for developing technology such as “virtual reality.” An entire subculture has grown up around the show. Trek fan or not, we fi nd ourselves – 40 years later – utilizing similar, previously unfathomable, concepts to break through marketing barriers and improve

the quality of customer service available to the new-frontier, generation-tech auto consumers.

In this issue, we will share with you how the award-winning eCRM Dealers of the Year achieved their phenomenal results, selling from 70 to 700 additional units per month, through exploration of the innovative technology of eCommerce. By unleashing the potential of the Internet, these dealers have discovered an ingenious solution to promote all profi t centers within their dealership (New, Used, F&I, Subprime, Service, Parts) while improving customer satisfaction. Success like theirs is possible for all dealers who have the desire to implement it; however, as with any industry, new technology always presents challenges within the dealership. In an effort to share the knowledge gained and lessons learned, we’re publishing a compilation of the top 10 pitfalls commonly hindering today’s eDealers. By avoiding and correcting these common pitfalls, your dealership will save valuable time and money while improving results and sales.

Charting New TerritoryOur industry has successfully navigated into new territory by leveraging the power and technology of the Internet. In an effort to share best practices with our readers, we have compiled a consensus of various best practices and strategies from this year’s award-winning dealers:

• Consult a ProfessionalNine of the 10 top eCRM dealers agreed that the constantly evolving technology of the Internet requires the knowledge and experience of professionals who constantly monitor state-of-the-art technology and, most importantly, know the auto industry.

Many have been exposed to companies that offer marketing tools and CRM technology, but are unable to provide valuable expertise on industry trends. Gloria Williams at Harvey Autos adds this for consideration, “Because our site was created by experts who

understand the car business, it builds value in our dealership. As a result, our Web site has consistently converted fi ve to six times more visitors into leads over our previous site.” When seeking a consultant, ask for references and referrals of current clients to fi nd out about their satisfaction and results.

• Build a Detailed StrategyAll of the top eCRM dealers shared the belief that a good Web site is important, but won’t generate extra sales without a detailed, innovative marketing strategy, detailed processes to turn leads into appointments, well-trained people to turn appointments into sales, and a solid pricing policy to protect a fair profi t to hold it all together. Dave Smith, founder of Dave Smith Motors, developed a one-price system in the early 1980s and successfully continues today to offer this “hassle-free” buying philosophy.

• Implement ProcessesTop eCRM dealers tell us that having the dealer and general manager heavily involved in initial planning, strategy sessions, and decision making process is crucial to successful implementation. Continued support and involvement determines the success or failure of any eCRM initiative. Andrew Walser, owner of Walser Auto Group sums it up: “We understand the importance of process and execution. We have centralized a consistent process in all of our 12 franchises, and as a result have built a great foundation in terms of percentages and closing ratios. Currently we are setting appointments on 32 percent of our leads with an 80 percent show-up rate.”

• Automate ProcessesThe top eCRM dealers agree that with the right technology, you can handle more

leads with fewer people. Brian Benstock, of ParagonHonda.com explains, “Automation makes it easier to follow our process, allows us to handle more leads with fewer people and allows our sales specialists to focus on what they do best: sell cars. It’s a big part of why we’re selling an additional 200 cars a month. Today we have more than 80,000 e-mail addresses and if we were attempting to manage that database without automation, it would be overwhelming.”

Tony Rimas, from RedMcCombs.com echoes the sentiment that automation allows you to do more with less, “Our CRM tool automates so many of our phone and e-mail processes that we can manage thousands of additional leads without adding staff.”

• Generate Traffi c Web site: All of the top eCRM dealers defi ne a great Web site as one that generates leads. They are reducing their dependency on hard-to-close third party leads and costly traditional advertising and are relying on their state-of-the-art Web sites as their lead generator. Dealers know that a Web site will get results if it is simple, easy to use, quick to load, and has highly engaging content

that can work fast even on a low-speed connection. Dealers with award-winning sites offer innovative features like Virtual Test Drives, Online Auctions, Online Credit Applications, Trade Appraisals and more. Effective Web sites entice the customer to submit a lead, pick up the phone, or drive straight to the dealership. Rick Case offers information on their site, “RickCase.com is more than just a web site; it’s a Virtual Dealership which serves as our own regional buying service. Our site, along with innovative Search Engine Marketing (SEM) strategies, drives more quality traffi c to the dealership which increases leads, reduces reliance on third-party lead providers, and lowers costs.”

E-mail Marketing: E-mail marketing is the most cost-effective, measurable method of advertising. Brian Benstock, of ParagonCars.com explains, “We sold 36 vehicles in three days with one of our campaigns and it didn’t cost me a dime. We have collected over 100,000 e-mail addresses and we send out a minimum of one multi-media e-mail campaign a month. We’ve had a lot of success with our e-mail marketing

Our Virtual Test Drives are excellent tools that are great for populating our e-mail databases. Customers love receiving these interactive multi-media tours loaded with information.

– Ralph Paglia, HouseofCourtesy.com

Continued on page 14

Tasca.com

Walser.com

Sheehy.com RickCase.com RedMcCombs.com ParagonHonda.com HerbChambers.com HouseofCourtesy.com DaveSmithMotors.com HarveyAutos.com

campaigns, so we focus on gathering e-mails from our parts, service and sales customers to fuel the e-mail database for future digital marketing.” Bob Tasca III of Tasca.com gives another powerful example, “If Ford comes out with an Explorer incentive, I can send an e-mail to everyone who has been in on an Explorer, and I can select just our lease renewal customers who are currently in an Explorer or even customers who were in to service their current Explorer. There’s no limit to how I can target my campaigns.”

Search Engine Optimization: Search Engine Optimization (SEO), also known as “organic,” is fundamental to any digital marketing strategy. Through a process of including key words and phrases, dealers are able to better position their Web site ahead of the competition. Roy Reutter, from Sheehy.com tells us, “Search Engine Optimization combined with our multimedia e-mail campaigns has enabled us to increase traffi c and sales at a lower cost than ever.”

Search Engine Marketing: Most dealers with eCommerce Departments have marketing strategies that encompass the art of Search Engine Optimization; however, we have

found that award-winning dealers are also capitalizing on the more immediate and measurable benefi ts of Search Engine Marketing to maximize placement in search engine results. As Tony Rimas of RedMcCombs.com tells us, “Our Digital Marketing System, complete with an advanced Search Engine Marketing strategy, allows us to dominate search engine results in our region, continuing to provide us with consistent results, increased sales, and customer satisfaction at a lower cost per sale.” Many of the top eCRM dealers concur that Search Engine Marketing generates a higher return on investment by boosting traffi c and increasing sales. These dealers are doing a great job integrating their online and offl ine marketing strategies to maximize the return on all their advertising. • Prepare and Train Even though the Web and CRM have made an incredible impact on the automotive industry, this still is - and always will be - a people business, so nothing is more important than quality people who are well-trained.

All dealers express the importance of having a well-trained, dedicated staff to handle

incoming leads. Bob Tasca III is passionate about people, “We have a recruiting, hiring and training process that we use whenever we’re hiring for any position in the dealership and we like to say that we hire out of inspiration, not desperation. That means that we’re always on the lookout for energetic, talented people with a good work ethic and an eagerness to learn. A new candidate doesn’t necessarily need to have automotive experience because our new hire training program and on-going training are so extensive. We have a training company that we bring in for two days every month to help with our training needs.” • Track & MeasureTo truly maximize the profi tability of every customer relationship, you need a marketing automation solution that supports your entire marketing team and provides management with crucial metrics to improve effi ciency and effectiveness at every stage of the marketing process. Jay Gubala of HerbChambers.com asserts, “Our Virtual BDC Manager is fully automated. We measure everything and hold regular meetings to discuss our progress and to fi nd ways to fi ne-tune our processes. The customized reports give us the information we need, the number of leads by source, response rates, appointment percentages, show percentages, closing percentages and cost per sale.”

Captain’s Log:The Internet will shortly be under the care of another generation. To them and their posterity will we commit the future of our digital marketing. They will continue the voyages we have begun, and journey through all the previously unexplored lead generating possibilities; boldly going where no man - where no dealer - has gone before.

Congratulations to the Top 10 eCRM Dealers of 2007, and thank you for sharing your insight on what it takes to effectively leverage the technology of the Internet and CRM to increase profi ts and create loyal customers in the process. As Mr. Spock would put it: With results like these, to not continue to explore the limitless opportunities of eCommerce would be...illogical.

If you have any questions regarding any of the best practices discussed in this article, please feel free to visit the dealers’ Web sites or send me an e-mail.

Patrick Luck is the publisher and editor for SellingSuccess Magazines. He can be contacted at 866.239.3698, or by e-mail at [email protected].


Continued from page 13

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Four Characteristicsof Top Sales Producers


sales and training solutionDirkZeller

People who craft a fabulous lifestyle and are also fi nancially successful share four common traits.

First, They Are the ExplorersThey explore everything and question

everybody who could help them to reach the next level for direction. The next level is not always a fi nancial level. It could be a better relationship with a spouse, a higher level of physical fi tness or deeper spiritual convictions. The truth is there are many things more attractive at the next level than money. These things also carry more meaning

than money. The ultimate accomplishment is to be an explorer who explores for the joy that growth and creation bring.

Jim Rohn had a wonderful saying: “It’s not the money that makes the millionaire, it’s what that person had to become.” That millionaire could lose the money tomorrow. The money carries little importance in the long run. What matters is how a person had to change to become the person who had the value of a millionaire.

The opposite of an explorer is a cynic. The cynic looks for reasons why it will not work, for ways to maintain the status quo and continue to do nothing. The explorer is seeking new information and ideas that will lead to the next level.

Second, the Successful Producersare InvestorsSuccessful producers invest in their most important asset: themselves. Realizing your true value requires that you invest in yourself. You need to work continually to fi nd the best path to achievement, and then put in what it takes in order to start down that path. Investors buy the best deal, the best book and the best tape series. They are the people who are constantly reading, who are listening to CDs in their cars. They look for others who have been where they want to go, or who are going in their direction but are farther down the path. They stop and ask for directions when they get lost in life.

The opposite of an investor is an excuse maker. Excuse makers are always looking back and covering their tracks. Their vocabularies are littered with “if only” and “but.” Being successful is far more rewarding than achieving mediocrity while having a good excuse. We all have the choice to have what we want in life, being all that God created us to be, or to spend our lives coming up with excuses for having fallen short. The choice is up to you.

Third, the Most Successful Peopleare ImplementorsExploring and investing do not produce success without implementation. Implementation draws the bold line between massive success and failure. We all have found great ideas and done nothing with them. We have all implemented a few small changes

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17february 2007

and seen staggering results. Resolve today to implement one idea that you have been thinking about, researching and evaluating. Do it now. The implementor is the only one who achieves massive success. How many ideas or thoughts have you had in your sales career that would have been windfalls if you had just disciplined yourself to implement them?

Finally, the Most Successful People Spend Less Time to Accomplish MoreMany sales people invest too much time and too little urgency in their businesses. They commit well over 40 hours to the job, and they put themselves on call seven days a week. They spread themselves thin, and then, in order to sustain themselves over this endless schedule, they dilute their intensity. No other professional works so many hours; even doctors have a lighter on-call schedule than most sales people choose to accept.

Commit right now to become more effective in much less time each week. Try this:

• Set Aside at Least One Day a Week to Recharge and Refresh Yourself:

Before you say you can’t afford the day off, realize this truth: Work expands to fi ll the time you give it. Reduce your work hours, and you’ll automatically squeeze more productivity into shorter spans of time.

• Increase Your Productivity by Increasing Your Intensity:

Give yourself deadlines with no procrastination options. If you know you need to accomplish a lineup of goals over the course of a fi ve-day workweek, your focus will automatically zoom in. You’ll sweep away distractions, and you’ll get the job done in the time allowed.

I watched my own focus and productivity intensify as I went from a seven-day workweek to a six-day workweek to a fi ve-day workweek. The largest production increase I experienced, though, was when I moved to a schedule of four days of work followed by three days off, with no correlating reduction in my income or success objectives. Given my goals, I knew I had to work with incredibly high intensity and no options for procrastination. What’s more, I couldn’t change my mind and add a work day to my schedule because my wife, Joan, and I were constructing a

vacation home some three hours away in Bend, Oregon, and we had to be on site every Friday to check the progress. Joan was the general contractor, so there was no reneging over the eight-month construction schedule. The amazing outcome? Once the home was done, I saw no need to revert to a fi ve-day workweek.

• Take Away Your Time-Wasting Options:

Commit to time off and force yourself to work during established, reasonable work hours. Automatically, you’ll force yourself to eliminate time-wasting activities.

• Give Yourself No Option to Add Hours Back to Your Workweek:

If you allow yourself the option to add time back to your workweek, you leave yourself open to time-wasting choices.

Begin to treat time as your most valuable asset. The most successful sales people are not casual with their time. This leads to career, relationship and bank account abundances by treating time as the most precious resource in life.

A resource is something that is available in a limited or fi nite supply. Money and energy are among your personal resources, but time is your most precious resource of all. You can judge your resource supply in all other areas. You know or can easily learn how much money is in your accounts. You know or sense your energy levels and what you have left to use. But there are no guarantees on the 86,400 seconds in each day. I defer absolute control of my time to the guy upstairs, and, in the meantime, I increase the probability of longevity through healthy eating, physical exercise and adequate amounts of rest, and I increase the probability of productive use of my day through careful time management.

You may need to commit right now to a new path, or you may need only to commit to following your current path farther toward implementation. In either case, begin by making the commitment now to explore, invest, implement and spend your time wisely. If you do these things daily, your life will never be the same.

Dirk Zeller is the CEO of Real Estate Champions. He can be contacted at 866.883.9314, or by e-mail [email protected].


DeliaPassi

Getting the Picture:A Setting That Works



You have probably heard the old saying, “Perception is everything.” Well, I would bet that insight was most likely

written by a woman. Women tend to notice more details about their surroundings - and they draw important information from these observations. Meanwhile, men, focusing on goals, keep surroundings on the sidelines.

But women see the setting as an integral piece of the pie; it is not peripheral. They develop a picture about you and your business, noticing almost every single detail possible.

In the negotiating and selling process, it is the picture that really speaks a thousand words. Since a woman buyer is likely to consult with at least two sales people before a major purchase, you want to make sure your surroundings “say” the things she needs to hear. Are you telling her you are disorganized and lack focus? Or that you are:

• Smart • Knowledgeable• Helpful • Understanding• Considerate • Reliable• Trustworthy

Your Offi ceStarting from the front door, you need to think of your offi ce as a refl ection of you; she certainly does. Is the entry clean, safe, well marked, well lit and easy to negotiate? Is the waiting area warm and welcoming, or worn and cluttered? Are there any magazines or brochures for her to look at? Is there anything that adds color or a sense of attention to the area? How about the fi rst people she sees - does a receptionist make her feel that everyone is glad she came in?

Your Meeting Space There are two proven set-ups that provide for ease and success when engaging in business with women. Remember these options: “round” and “90 degrees.”

A round table with chairs suggests equality and unity. Nobody sits at the head, so nobody is dubbed as the talker while the other is

relegated to the role of listener. Rather, this set-up says the conversation is meant to “go around” - everybody is equally positioned for participation. A round table also promotes a sense of collaboration.

A sofa and chair at a 90-degree angle is another good play - that is, if you play it right: She gets the sofa; you take the chair. It is important that you never sit on the sofa with her. That tends to be a little too close for a woman’s comfort, especially on a fi rst encounter. Also if she comes with a partner, colleague or her husband, they should be able to share the communal sofa space.

Your Desk You should consider your desk as the heart of your workspace. Is it ready and waiting to focus on her, or is it in disarray, piled high with distractions and baggage? Keep your desk neat, clean and ready to do business with her. Do not put your clutter behind you where you can’t see it… and she can.

Yourself You do not have to look fancy while conducting business transactions with women, but you do have to look professional and put together. Your professionalism makes a woman feel more respected, and therefore more at ease. The overall goal should be to look like someone she wants to talk to, and most importantly, wants to work with.

Keep your hair neat. If you have a beard or mustache, keep it trimmed. Do not go to work with missing buttons, spots on your clothes, or dryer wrinkles, even if you think that they will probably be hidden underneath your jacket. If there is a fl aw to be seen on your clothing, somewhere, somehow, she will spot them.

But whatever you do choose to wear, wear it well. Hey, even older clothes can be freshened up with a new shirt or tie and clean or polished shoes. When in doubt, do what it takes to just dress nicely. If you fi nd yourself having trouble defi ning this, consider a trip to a department store that offers personal shoppers. They can help you develop a style that works. For personal grooming, consider

at least one visit to a higher-end salon, where you can develop a good look for yourself—and then learn how to maintain it.

The Finer Points: Attention to DetailWomen notice all the little things. Women notice those simple touches that bring an offi ce together: a plant, a rug, a photo. These may seem like little niceties, but they have substantial value and meaning to many women customers. In the end, these small items can help create a warm environment that makes a woman feel secure and comfortable enough to move forward. Even a low-maintenance cactus will lend some warmth to your workspace.

Bathrooms are a key area for women. Dirty bathrooms will hurt your sale and will generally send a woman heading towards the exit sign - immediately. For men, bathrooms register near zero on the signifi cance scale. Your restroom should always be clean, well-lit and kept up. “Empty” should be for the garbage can—not the toilet tissue.

Local Color: Show Your Personal Side Women want a connection whenever they do business. If you put yourself out there as a person who cares about your overall personal and surrounding presentation, more than just business, you will set a tone of collaboration and establish a connection that will inspire her to buy. And that is the ultimate goal.

Start by placing some sort of decoration on your desk or an end table in the meeting area. Something that speaks, something that is yours. Perhaps you have a trophy or something your child made. It is always effective to display family photos or a picture of yourself with friends. These bring you to life beyond business in her eyes.

To sum it up, it is all about making her feel comfortable. You want to be able to meet her in her comfort zone. That will facilitate the sale and get you on your way to building a relationship.

Delia Passi is the president and CEO at MedeliaCommunications. She can be contacted at 866.883.4953, or by e-mail at [email protected].

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Targeted Web Video and Your Ad Strategy, Part 2


marketing solution

Last month in AutoSuccess, we looked at ideas for driving customers to your Web site using Search Engine

Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM), as well as moving customers from a passive position to an active party using video content. This month, let’s take a look at using video to drive customer loyalty.

Once a customer visits your operation, what then? Do you send a thank-you card or an e-mail? Why not send a video message from the owner thanking him/her for the visit? The same approach can take place when a customer buys a car. E-mail addresses of customers are gold. This database of e-mail addresses can be used to maintain contact for future events. Dealers have the ability to include video links on these e-mail campaigns. Video e-mail campaigns are more effective than the campaigns without video content. Dealers have enjoyed as high as a 15 percent click-through rate when video content is added to an e-mail campaign. Your results will vary widely depending on the quality of the list you use, but it is clear that video content should be included in at least some of your e-campaign efforts in the future if you wish to get the most bang for your marketing buck.

Some dealerships have struggled with how to get customers to provide their personal

e-mail addresses. A customer’s biggest fear in releasing an e-mail address is that they will receive an e-mail every week from the dealership. If you commit to only sending relevant information that could include service specials, you are more likely to be successful in collecting these addresses. Other relevant information would include manufacturer recalls, dealership specials and key events. Every dealership cashier, service advisor, sales person and fi nance manager should be trained on getting customer e-mail addresses. E-mail addresses are gold.

So, summing up, here are some key points to look for when interviewing Web hosting and video streaming companies:• The key when interviewing a video-

streaming company is to work with a nationally recognized company.

• Make certain that the company hosting and streaming your videos can deliver on a national basis, not just to your local market.

• Work with a video-streaming company that has the ability to reach a wide audience of users. Over 30 percent of online users still connect on a dial-up connection (not because they don’t want to connect faster, but because often, even on a broadband connection, the bandwidth pipe is full and the actual connection is only at a dial-up speed). Can the video streaming company reach

this percentage of the market? Don’t take their word for it; test it out yourself on a dial-up connection.

• Find a company that will perform individual connection diagnostics. Make it as easy as possible for the customer to view the video in order to serve the best possible video viewing experience for each user. Don’t use a company that makes your customer answer questions or select a video speed themselves since often their selection will be the wrong speed for their actual environment at the time. Never use a company that forces the customer to download a certain type of media player to watch a video.

• Work with a company that provides online reporting (number of streams per video and the average viewing time).

• Finally, work with a video company with people who understand the retail automotive space.

Video streaming, SEO, SEM and video e-mail campaigns have become a key focus of most national dealer groups and many progressive dealerships.

Phil Sura is the vice president of the automotive division of UnityWorks!Media. He can be contacted at 866.647.0468, or by e-mail [email protected].


800.861.5461 www.jandlmarketing.com

J&L Marketing knows that every dealership reaches it’s potential in a diff erent way. Th at is why we off er three diff erent roads to success - all with intense benefi ts!

1Events

Case Study: Missouri Chevrolet Dealership

• 3-Day, high impact sales promotion (no outside sales teams).

• As an appreciation of past business, previous customers were invited

to the dealership to take advantage of year-end savings.

• Dynamic website created for each customer.

• Increased response rate

• Gathered valuable data for future mailings

• Built credibility and provided additional information

• Produced instant internet leads with qualifying

information

• E-mail blast

• Increased response rate

7,500 mailed

93 respondents (1.24% during three days)24 sold (25.81% during three days)

Numbers do not include additional responses and number of vehicles sold from the

Internet and phone prior to event dates.

Contact one of our Business Growth Strategist at 800.861.5461 to discuss how each of these programs and others can be used in your dealership to produce amazing results!

23

Weekly Campaigns

Hybrid Events

Case Study: Pennsylvania Hyundai Dealership

• Appointment-based sales strategy where customers call to set a

60- minute presentation with a member of the sales team.


• Allowed customers to schedule appointments on their own

time, increasing response rates

• Built database with customer information for future

mailings

• Produced instant internet leads with qualifying information

• Drives quality appointments into the dealership during the slowest

times of the week.

1,501 mailed

25 respondents (1.67%)10 sold (40%)

• Pre-registration program for previous customers that utilized direct

mail and personalized dynamic websites.


• Captured customer’s buying interests

• Follow-up postcard

• Used as a reminder to customer of appointment.

• Follow-up 3D mailer

• Used as a reminder to customer of appointment.

• HTML E-mail confi rmations

• Used to repeat customer’s information back to them

and remind them of appointment.

11,267 mailed

108 respondents (.96% during three days)21 sold directly from mail piece, prior to event date (19.44%)60 sold during event dates (55.56%)81 total sold, not including follow-up

Case Study: Tennessee Honda Dealership

John Lennon once wrote a beautiful song. It is called “Imagine.” Please do that for a couple of minutes.

Just imagine – imagine you could deal with a direct mail company that was the best in the world.

Imagine that this direct mail company was so good that:

• It was able to pinpoint at the touch of a button exactly what produces the highest response, the most traffi c

and the most sales for your dealership. More importantly, it could pinpoint what does not work (I mean

know exactly what does not work) so you could remove “the unsuccessful elements” from all your ads.

• It took this information and invested more time researching your advertisements (what works and what

does not) so you produced more consistent results and did NOT just watch your return on investment

decline with every promotion.

• It attracted buyers – NOT a bunch of “Gift Seekers.”

• It created a process to guarantee your sales staff talks to the most motivated buyers thus assuring their

attitude was always positive. Because of this, they maximized their potential and sold more cars.

And fi nally, imagine the company was so good that:

• It increased your showroom traffi c by 50%! Th at’s right, this incredible new program was run through

two years’ worth of pilot tests with various dealers around the United States.

Well, IF there was a company that did that, it would make sense to use them, wouldn’t it? Or at least hear what they

have to say, right?

Th ere is one. And it’s called J&L Marketing.

Call Sarah Amburn now at 800.861.5461 or e-mail her at [email protected] to fi nd out more about

this exciting new program.

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P.S. We are so confi dent you will see the value in this program we are willing to pay you $100 on the spot just

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The InterviewEricMélon


leadership solution

Here are some guidelines for interviewing that may help you in making the best selection.

When Conducting an Interview, Have a Logical Sequence:

1. Make the Applicant Feel Comfortable:One of the keys to an effective interview is getting the applicant to open up. Do everything possible to make the applicant feel very relaxed.

Make sure you have a private place in which to hold the interview. Don’t sit behind a desk. Don’t cross your arms or sit back in your chair. If you’re going to be taking notes, let them know. Don’t make the applicant wait too long. If he or she showed up on time, you at least owe the applicant the courtesy of seeing him or her at the agreed time. Don’t have the attitude that if they want the job, they’ll wait.

2. Get the Applicant to Talk:As a general rule, your end of the conversation should only take up about 25 percent of the time. Use open-ended questions to avoid “yes” or “no” responses. If the applicant gives you short responses, ask for details. Talking about the job and its requirements should not be the only topic of conversation. Find a non-business related topic to talk about. What interests did the applicant list on the application? When you get applicants to talk about non-business related topics, you’ll see the real person.

Occasionally you’ll run across an applicant who is more interested in asking you questions than letting you do the interviewing. If this happens, just say, “I appreciate your questions, but fi rst I’d like to know more about you. Then I’ll address any and all questions you have about the job.”

3. Sell the Company:Tell the applicants how long your dealership

has been in business. Let them know what your company philosophy is, whether there’s room in the company to grow, etc. You need to give a brief outline of what the job has to offer. People are interested in benefi ts, vacations, employee discounts, working hours, pay schedules, etc.

Interview QuestionsThe following list will provide you with some ideas:

1. Tell me about your last (current) job?2. Why did you leave (want to leave)?3. What previous job have you enjoyed

the most? Why? 4. If you had to pick one, what previous

job did you dislike the most? Why? 5. How did you feel about your last

supervisor or boss? 6. How do you think previous employers

would respond if asked to identify yourstrengths and weaknesses?

7. Why do you think you might like to work for our company?

8. What types of people seem to rub you the wrong way?

9. What do you want in your next job that you are not getting now?

10. What aspects of your last job did you like most? Least?

11. What do you think might set you apart from other candidates for this job?

12. What has been your biggest failure? Your biggest success?

Here are four key questions to ask that do not usually draw out pat answers:

1. Do You Make Mistakes?If the applicant answers “no,” beware. Everyone makes mistakes once in awhile. People who can’t admit to making a mistake are probably people who don’t take responsibility for their mistakes either. People who admit that they make mistakes are more likely to learn from them, as well.

2. Are You More Interested in Money or Doing a Job Well?This is a tricky one. When asked, most applicants will try and second guess that you are looking for someone who takes pride in doing a job well. Certainly you want this type of person, but you must also remember that you are in the sales business and you need people who want to make money. If money isn’t important, why would someone want to be in a sales position? You will always be better off with someone who wants to sell and make money than someone who takes more interest in doing operational tasks.

3. What Do You Think Determines a Person’s Progress in a Good Company?Think about the information this question can get you. The applicant may respond with things like, “doing a good job,” “dependability,” “work well with customers,” etc. Those things are all well and good, but you’re looking for the performance-oriented person with this question ... the type of people who respond with answers that ring of accountability for sales performance.

4. This Application Tells Me a Great Deal About Your Work Experience; What Isn’t on the Application That You Would Like Me to Know in Order to Make a Final Decision?This is a great question. With all of the limits put on an interviewer legally, in terms of what you can and can’t ask, this allows the applicant to tell you just about anything he or she wants ... and sometimes, the responses are quite interesting.

There you have it, with all things in life, the more you do it the better you are at doing it. Let’s have a great year.

Eric Mélon is the vice president of First Dealer Resources LLC and corporate trainer for Millennium Automotive Protection. He can be contacted at 866.652.3969, or by e-mail [email protected].

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If you plan to sell more vehicles online, your initial goal should be to generate the best-quality leads. Statistics provided to me by

dealers support the fact that leads generated by a dealership’s own Web site close at up to three times the rate of leads purchased from third-party sources. Therefore, progressive Internet dealers should actively engage in navigation strategies and technologies to convert as many Web site visitors to leads as possible. Focus on building the best-converting Web site possible, because if you develop an effective marketing strategy inclusive of an effective search component, and your Web site does not convert, then you have wasted your money on your strategy to drive Web site traffi c.

Before we review some of the latest and greatest technologies, let’s discuss what is a good conversion rate goal for a dealership Web site. A Web site conversion occurs

when a customer completes a Web site form requesting personal data and submits the information to a dealer. Typical Web sites today convert at a rate between one and seven percent. Let’s look at a comparison. (See Chart 1)

This part is obvious and when you couple the sales with gross you will see the benefi t in dollars and cents. (See Chart 2)

The ability to grow sales and profi ts through an effective Web site is quite extraordinary which makes me wonder why a large percentage of dealers rarely participate in the building of their own dealership Web site and turn it over to the site builders and their Internet managers. If I were operating a dealership today, one thing I can assure you is that I would focus on every aspect of our Web site and make it as productive as possible. At the very least, a dealer should select a Web site builder that can demonstrate their Web sites have historically high conversion rates.

If your current Web site is not converting

at the rate you desire and you are burdened with a long-term agreement with a company that cannot solve the riddle of improving the conversion rate, you may want to try some of these add on features:

Online ChatThere are two approaches, and I can recommend both. One is a do-it-yourself model, whereby visitors who click on “chat” cause your computer to ring just like a telephone. Some dealerships rotate this chat feature to the sales fl oor and only those sales people qualifi ed to chat are allowed to work with these prospects. A different approach to this is a “video rep” service, whereby the dealership representative talks live to the customer via video while the customer responds in a chat format. The second approach to chat is the outsource model. This service allows a dealer to benefi t from a professional team of chatters in an outsourced call center who chat on behalf of the dealership. Chat is a great way to turn casual shoppers into meaningful leads.

continued

27february 2007

All of these tools can be up-fi t to most any dealership Web site.

Pop-up CouponsWeb site pop-ups have been criticized as intrusive and not effective at generating dealership leads. Clients I work with have experienced quite the opposite as their statistics demonstrate that Web site pop-up coupons offering a $100 - $500 discount provide considerable lead volume. Easy add-on tools are available that continue to deliver consistently good lead conversion.

Online Trade EvaluationWith a large percentage of consumers needing to dispose of their current vehicle to purchase a new or used vehicle, it makes good sense that the dealers who offer trade evaluation tools on their Web site have a leg up on their competition. These are tools widely employed on manufacturer sites and are seen more and more on individual dealership sites.

Customer-created PagesAn important way to increase your Web site conversion rate is to provide a tool that allows your current clients to create their own car page for vehicles they currently own. This add-on tool is particularly effective at maintaining owner loyalty, which lowers your overall marketing costs. In addition, these tools have been proven to increase parts and service sales.

More and more Web site builders offer the following techniques as features that enhance conversion rates:

Search by PaymentThis clever tool allows your Web site visitors to type in their desired payment range and determines which vehicles in your inventory meet their payment criteria.

Fresh-start Financing Web site visitors to new vehicle franchised dealership Web sites feel much more inclined to provide personal data if the dealership mentions their ability to assist buyers looking for a fresh start.

Whether you have a site that needs a boost, or are shopping for a new site you should make certain your site provides an excellent experience for your clients so your dealership

can receive the best possible leads.

For a list of recommended companies to fulfi ll the services described in this article, please e-mail me.

David Kain is the automotive Internet training specialist at Kain Automotive, Inc. He can be contacted at 800.385.0095, or by e-mail at [email protected], or visit www.kainautomotive.com.

Web site visitors 1,000 1,000Web site conversion rate 1% 7%Sales leads 10 70Kept appointment rate 30% 30%Kept appointments 3 21Kept appointments sold % 50% 50%Average vehicles sold monthly 1.5 10.5

Vehicle sales 1.5 10.5

Estimated average sales gross $1,500 $1,500

Estimated monthly gross $2,250 $15,750

Estimated Web site monthly cost $850 $850

Monthly return on investment $1,400 $14,900

Annual return on investment $16,800 $178,800

Chart 1 Chart 2

Marketing to Women:Female Consumer Power

TeresaBordenetsts fos ls ms sf fi s

marketing solution

Women purchase half of the vehicles sold in the United States each year - spending more than $80 billion. It used to be that the

dealer recognized that decisions were at least infl uenced by the women, but now women are the primary purchasers of products that used to be left strictly to the men, and this includes cars and trucks.

The marketing days of old thought that a woman’s decision-making process was based on emotion - that we were “falling in love” with a certain product before we would buy. We know that these days we are spending our own money, not someone else’s. And it’s not just emotions that drive us to buy. It’s emotion and reason that dictate what we buy. Will my purse stay in the passenger seat when I take a corner? Can I reach it if it’s on the fl oor? Where will my PDA go? And how about navigation? I am not afraid to ask for directions.

I still see ads for trucks that are climbing rugged mountains, and have heavy duty loads being dropped into the back. Did the manufacturer forget that when my husband gets ready to buy his new diesel truck that I will test drive each model fi rst to ensure that I can get the smoothest ride possible? And I’ll be looking in the back of the truck too; I want to know how much dirt he can fi t back there for the yard…but I also want to see if I can heave in the vintage desk that I fi nd at a garage sale that will look great in our den.

So what is a dealer to do?

First, one must address the basics, like end-of-year fi nancing or factory incentives. But they also must show us women the convenient features like the electronic rear hatch closer on a Lincoln; if you are the one that is doing the grocery shopping, you know how convenient this is. Or what about a DVD player for the kids? This is a win/win situation.

And let’s not forget about our single sisters out there. Whether it’s a diesel truck that will pull a horse trailer or a sports car for the speed factor, a dealer must take the recipient of their marketing message into consideration. A convertible isn’t just for the male mid-life crisis anymore.

And then there are your accessories. Women buy 68 percent of new cars in the U.S. and 65 percent of new tires. Every new car I buy gets new wheels and tires as soon as I drive it off the lot. It isn’t just the guys that want to get away from the stock look.

Since women also account for at least half of all sales at Volvo, Honda and Toyota, and for about half of all sales of the newly redesigned Ford Mustang - why wouldn’t your marketing plan include some components that speak to half your customer base?

So do take your message into consideration, but don’t forget to include your method of delivering your message. Women now represent 85 million Internet users – about half of the people that are online, and they use it for just about everything, including researching new vehicles. And 82 percent of online buyers have made at least one purchase based off of an e-mail promotion.

So as long as you can ensure that your marketing campaign includes content that appeals to women, has an e-mail component, and, also has the basics, you’ll be amazed at the ROI on your efforts.

Teresa Bordenet is the vice president of strategic initiatives at MarketView 360. She can be contacted at866.452.7022, or by e-mail [email protected].

...it’s not just emotions that drive us to buy. It’s emotion and reason that dictate what we buy.


Would You Believe You?DixonJudd



To truly make progress and move from where you are right now begins with an honest assessment of your current situation. This

is true from an individual perspective all the way up to a company perspective.

So many times I get called in to give specifi c advice and create a plan for sustained growth with individuals and high-ranking company offi cers. It is always a realistic opportunity for those who are willing to take an honest inventory of their strengths and weaknesses. Let’s face it; everyone wants to be at the top. Everyone in the business world wants to wake every morning with the largest market share and profi t margins. For those who have truly paid the price to work their way to the top, it is probably good news that it does take more than merely waking up and wishing, to get there.

We live in a fast-paced world that tempts every person and every organization to be an overnight success, to cut corners and embellish the truth. We see and read about it every day in sports, government and business. So I ask you again, on any given day whether you are by yourself or in a sales meeting, would you believe you? We know that we would all like to answer “yes” to this question. Let’s examine what really underlies this topic and see how we can improve, no matter where we currently fi nd ourselves. Any self-respecting individual or organization would agree that the real issue here is credibility - credibility to ourselves, our customers, our team members and the communities in which we serve. One key point to remember is that it is an irrefutable law: Credibility, trust and respect have to be earned. No matter what may change in the external world of business, whether it be technology, products or global markets, true credibility will remain as a key ingredient to long-term success.

Dare to be different. In a world full of claims

and empty promises, my challenge to you is to be the one to undersell, under promise and over deliver. Think back to the last time you were the recipient of such uncommon service - chances are you will never forget it. Be one of those memories. Give that stand-out performance that your clients will remember for a lifetime. Your perspectives on how to improve yourself and the organization around you will improve as you pay attention to this principle. The world actually rewards those who are willing to start from their current position and follow a plan to earn their right to claim market dominance. In fact, somewhere along the way the roles shift. Many times we can speak to someone who is genuinely recognized as a leader in the market place and, instead of stretching their success, they often times understate it slightly.

If you are ever tempted to take a shorter road to success or you are sure one of your competitors just got away with it, remember history is full of those who were ultimately discovered to be less than credible. In fact, most of the time when an individual or a company comes out of nowhere, people are very wary as to the legitimacy of the situation. Somewhere down the road, the truth always

comes out. Even if it were possible to get away with it, we cannot escape our own awareness. The True Legends, the Hall of Fame Members, the shining examples through out time were all faced with the same decision. As Shakespeare once said, “To thine own self be true.”

Credibility is one of those few things that are not for sale, and money cannot buy it. One action item that you can practice to check yourself is, for the next week before reporting any statistics or efforts, consciously understate your position. Then watch the outcome. Watch others reaction to you, how you feel about yourself and a general state of forward progress. If you fi nd this to be refreshing and motivating, challenge yourself to continue. Lead by example and watch as others around you begin to react differently. If you are concerned that understating your position slightly will put you at some tremendous disadvantage, remember it is always easier to adjust or correct understated claims than it is with exaggerated claims. Chances are, you will not need to disclose the understated, and when you are not present or when you least expect it, the truth will come out and people will start to realize that you are the real deal.

The moment of decision is one of the most critical moments in the life of any top performer. Decide to compete at your highest level; decide to be the standard for credibility. When we do this consistently, then yes, we do believe in ourselves, and others do too.

To get a copy of “How to Increase Your Credibility to the Highest Level and Keep it There.” contact me at the address below.

Dixon Judd is a Partner in Your Success at Performance Resource Group. He can be contacted at 866.883.4916, or by e-mail at [email protected].


One key point to remember is that it is an irrefutable law: Credibility, trust and respect have to be earned.

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Hillside HondaLimited Space, Unlimited Talent and Success

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Tremendous.Phenomenal.

These are words that General Manager Joe Shuster uses when

describing Hillside, located in the Jamaica, Queens area of New York City.

Even though space is at a premium – no surprise for NYC – Hillside Honda has worked to make the best of things, and they’ve succeeded. “We’re situated on a small parcel of land, about 33,000 square feet,” Shuster said. “That has our service department, our parts department, our sales department, our PDI department – the whole nine yards.”

Even though the dealership has no room for things other dealerships take for granted – no customer parking and inventory lots spread across four off-site locations - Hillside Honda, which opened in 1972, still manages to sell an average of 330 new cars and 40 used cars a month.

“This year, for example, we’re up 11 percent for new cars,” Shuster said. “Our thought process is, like GE, if we can continue to achieve double-digit growth every single year, we’ll never have a problem. And so far, every single year, we’ve achieved that. Our goal is 10 percent every single year.”

The keys to this success are simple, Shuster said. “The No. 1 thing we’re doing right is we’re hiring the right people,” he said. “We have a phenomenal young staff with fantastic ideas that work well together. We spend a lot of time, money and energy in getting the right people. The second thing we are doing right is we have a great training program for young recruits, so when someone does come to the dealership, they’re not just tossed out

there on the lot and told, ‘Hey, go sell cars.’ We spend a lot of time and energy training them and making sure they’re ready to go out on the retail sales fl oor.”

The training process isn’t confi ned to those who are new to the sales game. “Our philosophy on training is very simple, actually: We train daily,” Shuster said. “It’s something that’s a religion in our store. I know a lot of people preach, ‘oh, train daily, weekly or whatever,’ but every single day at 9 a.m. at Hillside Honda, there’s a sales training meeting. These aren’t meetings where you go upstairs and just hang out or go over dead deals or ‘save a deal’ meetings, but they are specifi c training meetings on handling objections, how to switch a customer, how to present a lease, how to present numbers to a customer, how to handle specifi c objections, how to understand body language, how to greet a customer properly, the road to the sale, and so on. They’re very detailed and specifi c meetings that have done wonders for this store. Some of the ideas when we sit in meetings, they make me shake my head sometimes and say ‘Wow, that’s pretty impressive.’ I do believe when we put all of our heads together and we really think about whatever we need to accomplish, amazing things happen.”

Other departments have their own training methods. “For service, we actually videotape every transaction that the service advisor has,” Shuster said. “We go over with the service advisor what he or she may have done right and what he or she may have done wrong. We don’t beat anybody up with training. We try to show them the positives and what they can do to make it better.”

In order to keep momentum, Hillside Honda uses several motivational processes, including competitive compensation

packages for sales people (18 to 22 percent of the front gross on sales), letting top sales people operate with minimal management, and holding a motivational reading club. “We are fi rm believers in education as the key to solving all problems,” Shuster said, “so years ago we started the Book-of-the-Month Club. The sales staff is required to read a book per month, and after that month is over, the next week is spent discussing that book.” Authors have included Dale Carnegie, Vince Lombardi and Jim Collins; Donald Trump has become the dealership’s favorite author.

In addition to hiring the right people and training them well, making sure the processes involved in the sale are effective is another key move in creating a successful dealership. Hillside Honda’s Business Development Center is a case in point. “Our BDC, to me, is the pivotal point of the dealership,” Shuster said. “It’s one of the most important departments in the store, because it fi lters just about every call, and they touch about every customer that walks through that front door. On average, they probably fi eld about 700 calls a month. That’s incoming phone calls, on top of the outgoing phone calls they make. We have a BDC manager, Samantha Shaw, and her responsibility is making sure the girls and guys upstairs are answering the calls properly, setting the appointments, following their scripts, and making sure they have some excitement on the phone when they make that phone call. On top of that, her responsibilities include lease retention, showroom traffi c follow-up, and CSI.”

The dealership’s CRM is also a major focus. “I’m a big believer in the CRM,” Shuster said. “We have a computer on everyone’s desk, so everyone has access to Honda’s Interactive Network, the Internet, and our CRM. When a consumer walks into the showroom, it is

34 www.sellingsuccessonline.com 35february 2007

the sales person’s responsibility to put that customer into the CRM, so we have a trace or a log of that customer, and that’s helped us out tremendously. This way, we know exactly how many customers are coming in, the BDC can follow up with that customer and try to get that customer back in if we did not sell them a car. I think it’s a fantastic system, and I think every dealership needs a CRM. I think with a lot of dealerships, there is a CRM on one desk, and everyone has to run over to that computer, and put customers’ information into it. That might be cost-effective in the short term, but I think long-term that’s a silly plan, and that’s not really looking at the big picture. I like when the sales people have a computer on their desk; it looks professional, and when a customer sits at their desk, they actually have a monitor on their desk so they can go over certain things and they can set up the customer in the computer.”

The dealership has also taken ideas from Honda to make Hillside’s sales process as pleasent for the customer as possible. “We are an EXCELL Validated Dealer,” Shuster said. The EXCELL program, which stands for “Exceeding Customer Expectation Levels for Life,” is a Honda initiative that helps dealers

streamline their processes. “We have a facilitator, Phil Remy, and his sole job is to monitor our processes, develop fl ow charts and sit with employees to make sure they are working to their best level,” Shuster said. “It’s turned out to be a phenomenal advantage for us. If there’s a glitch or something’s not working correctly, he makes sure it does. We all get together, and Phil gets ideas from everybody, no matter what their position is here at Hillside. Everyone gets together in the conference room and we discuss it. We iron out whatever the problem is and we come up with a solution that makes sense. I think the EXCELL program is probably the best initiative Honda has ever come out with.”

While many dealerships have been slow to come to terms with how the Internet can help bring customers into the showroom, Hillside embraced the new technology from the start. “Our philosophy on the Internet is to treat every customer just like the customer

Continued on page 36

1; Hillside Honda, Queens NY

2; Philip Jean-Remy, EXCELL

Facilitator & Danielle Clementi,

Controller

3; Rob Robitaille, Dealership

Principle & Joe Shuster, General

Manager

4; Starting from the left: Peter

Petito, Sales Manager, Tyrone

Hill, Finance Manager & Jeremy

Abramson, Sales Manager

We hire people that come in with a smile on their face and a good attitude, with that fi re in their belly, and, to me, that sets us apart.


is walking through our front door,” Shuster said. “It’s been our experience that not only do Internet customers pay gross, they pay a tremendous amount of gross. When I talk to people and tell them that we’re running $3,000 gross per copy on the Internet, they look at me like I’ve got three heads. The thought process is that you don’t make money off Internet customers, and unfortunately, they haven’t fi gured it out yet. Fortunately for us, we have.

“If I get a customer in from the Internet a lead, the statistics are that if you make an appointment with a customer, 50 percent of them show up,” Shuster said. “If you can close about 60 percent of the half that show up, you’re doing a good job. If that Internet customer comes in, I fi rmly believe we have a great shot at closing that customer, versus the walk-in customer.”

To refl ect this, the dealership’s advertising is aimed at not only getting people in the door, but getting them to www.HillsideHonda.com. “I’m very proud of our advertising department,” Shuster said. “They’ve come up with some great ideas. It all comes down to basic and simple stuff and I think this store is all about basics, as silly and clichéd as that sounds. Our advertising is so simple. People laugh at us because there are no prices. There’s a blue background in the New York Post and it has a Honda logo up top and HillsideHonda.com at the bottom. We get a tremendous amount of Web hits from those ads. If you look at traditional advertisements, car ads or furniture ads or jewelry ads, whatever they are, nine times out of 10 they’re cluttered, and I don’t know that anyone reads them. Most of the ads in the car business, in my opinion, are horrendous. They don’t give you any information, they’re cluttered all over the place, and so that’s why we went a different direction.”

This philosophy of simplicity continues when a customer walks into the dealership. “I’ve seen a lot of roads to sales where they’re going to have a soda break, walk them through this or that; we keep it very, very simple,” Shuster said. “When the customer walks through the front door, they get a meet and greet from the sales person,

which is pretty simple. It’s ‘Welcome to Hillside Honda, my name is…, and your name is? Who’s the new car for?’ We walk them to a car, we show them a car, we take their information and put it into our CRM - that’s mandatory, even if the customer is here to get a brochure.”

Shuster said the next step is the qualifi cation stage, which is a skill often practiced at the dealership, and then it’s on to the vehicle. “We present the car to them, and we present the benefi ts and the features of the car,” he said. “We do a quick demo ride, even though it’s challenging in Jamaica, Queens to do that with all the potholes and traffi c. Then we ask them for the write-up. It’s very simple stuff.”

The owners of Hillside Honda are content not to interfere with success, Shuster said, which is a key to success. “The guys that actually own the dealership are phenomenal guys, and fortunately they give us the opportunity to run this store the way it should be run. Steve Finochio and Rod Robitaille are great guys to work with. Those two guys allow us to operate this store they way we see fi t, and they don’t meddle or get in our way, and I think that’s key. They hire someone for a job and then they stay out of the way. They really do a nice job of that.”

At the end of the day, after all the technology and processes, Shuster said the sale still depends on the sales person connecting with the customer. “No matter what you’re selling, no matter what you’re buying, there’s always going to be that personal contact,” he said. “I think the computer is just going to be another avenue to get customers in the door, and if you use it properly, just like the phone, you’ll make a tremendous amount of money, and if you don’t, you won’t. Our people are the bloodline of this dealership. They’re good people. They’re not your typical car representatives. They understand that the customer comes fi rst. They’re polished. They’re well-read. They’re educated. They look sharp. We hire people that come in with a smile on their face and a good attitude, with that fi re in their belly, and, to me, that sets us apart.”


special feature

Continued from page 35


What Happens Here,Does Not Have to Stay Here

JesseBitersts fos ls ms sf fi s

leadership solution

The NADA Convention and Exposition is truly the Main Event for the automotive industry. For some, it’s the

culmination of an entire year of preparation – the success of which can make or break innovative products, promising careers and even well-intentioned companies. For thousands more, it can be equal parts exhilarating and exhausting – as information overload battles seemingly unlimited distractions (particularly in Las Vegas) for attendee attention-span supremacy.

NADA is the must-have ticket for dealership principles, managers, and sales representatives hoping to bring home the industry’s latest tips and tricks to augment their respective competitive advantage. For the thousands of vendors whose livelihood depends on helping dealerships serve an increasingly fi ckle car-buying public, that must-have ticket ranks up there next to

oxygen. With so much riding on this annual event, it’s safe to say that the current Las Vegas advertising campaign simply does not apply. To truly benefi t from this opportunity, the experience and knowledge gained must not be left behind.

“Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning.”Proverbs 9:9

So how do you make the most of an opportunity that is so important? The fi rst step is to approach any opportunity to gain knowledge with an open mind. You simply cannot learn if you think you already know everything. It’s human nature to fall into a comfort zone, particularly in one’s professional life. If your career spans 10, 20, or even 30+ years, it’s not always easy to open yourself to personal or professional development. But those of us that achieve the highest levels of success in life are likely to acknowledge that true wisdom, in any fi eld of study, is a never-ending process.

Over the course of this long weekend, you will be inundated with a wide array of new ideas, along with fresh takes on old ideas. Although it may seem obvious, it’s important to note that not every idea will effectively serve your individual business. Part of having an open mind is the ability to process newfound information in an effi cient manner. Due to the sheer volume of opportunities facing you, this can prove to be quite a daunting task.

“He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them His way.”Psalm 25:9

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Which areas of your business do you feel are most in need of improvement? Of the opportunities available to improve these areas, which are going to have the most positive impact on your business? If you are not sure, look up for guidance. Faith doesn’t begin and end when the church bells ring on Sunday. Faith is a vital component of a well-balanced life every day, including Monday through Friday. Just as you may pray for guidance on personal issues, requesting guidance on business matters can prove to be a most-valuable resource. Remember, God wants you to prosper in all areas of your life. Humble yourself and ask for His guidance. He will help you to make the choices that are right for you.

Learning and faith are both perpetual processes that encompass all facets of our lives. When practiced in conjunction with one another, faith can improve one’s ability to learn while learning can help strengthen one’s faith.

Jesse Biter is the president and CEO of HomeNet, Inc. He can be contacted at 866.239.4049, or by e-mail [email protected].

IMN Loyalty Driver™ is a turnkey e-marketing service that drivesinterest, sales and customer loyalty. Customized, trackable emailcommunications provide tangible results for dealerships acrossthe country. A couple of examples:

• 15 test drives scheduled within the first hour after anIMN Loyalty Driver e-newsletter was sent.

• 90 phone calls in a month as a direct result of one IMNLoyalty Driver e-newsletter.

Looking for results like these? Call 866.964.6397, ext. 214 or email [email protected].

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Visit us at booth 3881C at NADA 2007

You simply cannot learn if you think you already know everything.

SeanWolfi ngton

The Higher RoadThe Higher Roadsts fos ls ms sf fi s

leadership solution

I think we’ve all, at some point in our lives, dared to dream the dream that makes America the great country of opportunity

that she is. We dream of prospering in our professional lives, or perhaps owning our own business, or maybe exercising decision making authority in leadership or managerial roles. Whether you utilize your strengths in either of the above scenarios, you will continually be faced with situations that require your discernment and best judgment. When you come to these proverbial forks in the road of life (and business), there are basically two options from which to choose: The high road or the not-so-high road.

Consider this situation: You’ve made the decision to add a new franchise to your dealership. You set your goals, line up fi nancing, hire additional personnel, and you’re on your way. You try to make the best decisions with regard to the quality, marketing and service of your units.

Initially, you are occupied with the details of implementing new processes and ensuring that each aspect of the business is tended to. Things start off well, and the family is excited about your newfound success. But, several months into the year, sales drop and you begin to feel concerned. The picture becomes clearer and you begin to feel the pressure mounting as you are struggling to fi nd the capital to repay start-up loans, you notice that your vendors are requiring CODs, and your accountant sounds like the host of “Let’s Make a Deal.” Adding to the pressure, you’re constantly reminded that your wife wants a new car, and your kids are whining because all their friends have new 80GB iPods.

Now comes the true test. With all of the mounting anxieties and pressure, ideas begin popping into your mind. Why not cut some corners and save a little money by cutting back on quality of service? Or, how about not disclosing a known problem with a hot little used car you are trying to turn? Maybe you could beef up your advertising return by changing your ads to shed a negative light on

a competitor? New but shady ideas just keep coming. Temptation is something we must face every day. Temptation is something we must resist everyday.

In business or everyday life, we are all faced with these enticements to compromise our honesty and integrity to grow our business. Taking the easy route, which may give us instant gratifi cation, will never produce fruit in the long haul. Those successful businesses which have grown, endured hardships and withstood the test of time have done so because they are solidly founded on core principles of honesty and integrity.

Let us resolve to always take the higher road as we navigate through our personal journeys and our pursuits by adhering to ideals rooted in the very fabric of our human spirit. Taking the high road is not only the better road; it is the only road to progress and growth.

Sean Wolfi ngton is the general manager of BZResults.com, an ADP Company. He can be contacted at 866.802.5753, or by e-mail at swolfi [email protected].

39february 2007

Success orFailure?

MarkTewartsts fos ls ms sf fi s


There are 24 hours and a total of 1,440 minutes in every day. Successful people just seem to get a lot more done in a day

than unsuccessful people. The main reason is successful people keep the main thing the main thing. Success is not an accident.

First, you must be honest about your strengths and your weaknesses. Spend your time in what you are strong at and delegate what you are not. A sales person reading this article may immediately think they don’t have anyone to delegate to. This is limited thinking. Find someone who is good at what you are not and make an alliance with them. Either pay them for their services, or offer them your services in exchange. If you go through your client list, you will come up with many people who can assist you in getting what you want. Keep this order: Be, Do, Have. The type of person you want to be, should determine what you want to do and have.

Before you begin to do anything, ask yourself these three questions:

1. What do I want to do? 2. Why do I want to do it? 3. How can I do it?

When the “why” gets strong, the “how” gets easy. A good exercise before you start a task is the Payoff Matrix Exercise. Draw four quadrants – The bottom left quadrant is titled “Quick Win,” The bottom right quadrant is titled “Waste of Time,” the top left quadrant is “Business Opportunity,” the top right quadrant is “Special Effort.” To the left of the quadrants put the word “Payoff.” At the bottom of the quadrants put the word “Effort.” When considering a task, measure the amount of effort you think it will take and then go from left to right until you think you have reached the correct measurement of effort and stop. Next, think of the amount of payoff you could expect from the task and measure it going upwards. When you stop, you will have an axis of measurement that will land in one of the four quadrants. This will tell you what the estimated bang for buck is for the task.

Successful people simply get tasks done that

reward them greater. When something comes your way use the 4Ds of time management: Do it, Delegate it, Dump it, or Defer it. Make quick but educated decisions on what is the correct action based upon the reward potential.

Unsuccessful people think backwards. They get caught up in the “When-Then” Syndrome. “When I get to here, then I will do that.” The problem is they never get there. Always start with the end in mind. Everything else is a mind game. Unsuccessful people work for wages to pay bills. Successful people work for profi ts and opportunities.

Successful people educate and motivate by reading, learning and practicing personal development; unsuccessful people watch TV. Successful people think big and live large; unsuccessful people think small and live little. Unsuccessful people hate change; successful people embrace change and create it.

Successful people play to win; unsuccessful people play not to lose. The root of scarcity is scared, success and money does not follow scared. Unsuccessful people believe in luck and lotteries; successful people make their luck and lottery everyday.

Unsuccessful people wish for success; successful people create it. Unsuccessful people quit easy; successful people never quit. Unsuccessful people fear failure; successful people know it’s a part of the process. Unsuccessful people talk about things and people; successful people talk about ideas and possibilities. Unsuccessful people think about today; successful people think about the future and live today.

Success or failure, it’s your choice. If you would like the Payoff Matrix, e-mail me at the address below and put “Payoff Matrix” in the subject line.

Mark Tewart is the president of Tewart Enterprises. He can be contacted at 866.429.6844, or by e-mail [email protected].


Educate and Train Your CustomersCustomer Pay Labor and Parts Profi t Training

SteveLaPentasts fos ls ms sf fi s

fi xed operations solution


A u t o m o b i l e dealerships, with the right program, can obtain 100 percent fi xed absorption, increase customer

retention and bring service and parts profi ts to the next level - and sell more vehicles.

Today’s automobile dealership customer defection rates are approaching record levels and there are reasons why this is happening. Marketplace competition is increasing with quick lubes, independent repair shops, mass merchandisers and tire and brake outlets. This atmosphere provides customers with more options to choose from, especially when it comes to having their routine maintenance performed. These establishments are experts with retail marketing strategies and promote full vehicle maintenance, rather than just specialty needs.

Vast majorities of customers would do their routine maintenance business with the dealership, if the service departments could do a better job of meeting their needs.

Automobile dealerships typically own the customer throughout the warranty period. After the warranty period expires, automobile dealerships retain around 20 percent of customers throughout the customer ownership lifetime cycle. There is a strong correlation between excellent service visit experience and the percent of customers who would repurchase a vehicle from that same dealership.

• 46 percent of customers do not return to their selling dealer for routine maintenance after the fi rst year of ownership.

• 59 percent of customer defect from their selling dealership by the third year of ownership.

• 80 percent of customers would consider repurchasing another new or used vehicle if their service department experience has met all their needs.

Automobile dealerships should be proactive and implement processes that will prevent customers from defecting.

This is a tremendous opportunity to increase retail labor and parts sales. Adjusting

your business model growth strategy plan should be an integrated process including participation from sales, service, parts and body shop departments.

The process needs to be customer driven with one goal in mind - preventing customers from defecting to quick lube outlets, auto repair specialists or mass merchandisers for routine maintenance needs.

Educate and Train the Customer During the Sales Delivery Process

• Create customer awareness and the need to have vehicle routine maintenance performed with your service department, and 75 percent of customers will do what you ask them to do.

• Every customer should be educated with this statement during the sales delivery process: “Our service department is your one-stop full maintenance provider that can meet all your vehicle maintenance needs, and we would love the opportunity to service your automotive needs”

• Promote dealership competitive pricing on maintenance items such as oil changes, tires and brakes.

• Implement and sell value with Express Service to expedite oil changes, tire rotates, alignments, wiper blades, fi lters, fl uid fl ushes and minor recalls or campaigns in a timely manner.

• Extended service department routine maintenance hours that meet your customers’ needs rather than your employees’ needs.

Introduction to the Service Department – CSI Question

• This step should be performed by the sales person every time, whether the service department is open or closed.

• During each test drive, have the sales person drive the prospect over to the service department lane or entrance door. The sales person can simply inform each prospect or customer that this is where all the vehicle maintenance needs will be performed.

• The sales person should also walk each customer to the service department and introduce a service consultant when possible.

• The sales person should attach oil

change inner windshield reminder sticker during vehicle delivery process.

Schedule First Routine Maintenance Visit During Sales Delivery Process

• Scheduling the fi rst appointment can take place either at the F&I offi ce, by the sales person or by the service consultant. Typically, most dealership sales and service managers choose the F&I offi ce to accomplish this task.

• Display and review the vehicle maintenance menu.

• Introduce the FREE vehicle inspection report and educate customers that this will be performed on every visit to the service department.

• Offer customers a no-appointment “pit stop” that includes a no-charge tire pressure check, fl uid check and top off washer fl uid.

• Ask customers if they prefer receiving a reminder by telephone or e-mail.

First Appointment Visit Reminder Process• This will increase service maintenance

visits and sales penetration.• Run daily appointment reports from

your DMS system.• Handle this process just like the dentist

or doctor’s offi ces do, either internally with a clerical person or use of an outside vendor.

• Because the appointment was scheduled during sales delivery process, it’s not necessary to speak with the customer, but only to remind them.

Measure the First Appointment Process• What gets measured gets done.• Monthly Metrics – how many vehicles

were sold during the month vs. fi rst appointments entered into the DMS system?

• Objective is to obtain 100 percent appointment penetration.

For free scripts on how to establish and implement a fi rst-appointment process, service appointment scheduling or express service, please contact me.

Steve LaPenta is a fi xed operations consultant and owner of Dealer Automated Systems, Inc.. He can be contacted at 866.652.3968, or by e-mail at [email protected].


Background MusicDrives Showroom Sales

MattHolden

When potential customers walk into the showroom at Coastal Ford, they are greeted not only by

a friendly receptionist, but also by sounds from SIRIUS Satellite Radio’s Super Shuffl e channel. “Adding music to my showroom was a no-brainer,” said Janet Bending, the owner of the Mobile, Alabama dealership. “Customers develop an image of our sales people as more friendly and a little ‘hipper,’ and that makes them more comfortable with the whole encounter.”

Research supports Bender’s observations. Over the past six decades numerous studies have established that music can have powerful effects on human emotions and behaviors. Researchers have uncovered an astonishing number of benefi ts derived from listening to music. Music has the power to energize, soothe and even change emotional outlook.

It is not by chance that today’s showrooms are lighter, brighter and perceived as more customer-friendly. It has been proven that effective showroom design increases car sales. Owners of dealerships are now hiring interior designers and space planners to design their showrooms so that they make the customer more comfortable, and more likely to buy. Music can also play a critical role in this effort. Auto dealers have begun to recognize that they can derive immense benefi t, in terms of customer satisfaction and employee morale, from playing the appropriate background music.

“Not only have I noticed that our customers are more friendly when they interact with our sales staff, I have also heard them comment that they like the atmosphere that the music creates, and actually enjoy the time they spent

in the showroom,” said Andrea Lindsay of BMW of Macon, Georgia.

While the benefi ts of playing background music are tangible, dealerships must be aware of the legalities of doing so. In general, federal copyright law requires the payment of “public performance” royalties whenever music is played in a business. Failure to pay these royalties can be expensive and embarrasing, with penalties of up to $150,000 per song played.

In order to play music in a dealership’s public space, licenses must be obtained from three separate music royalty agencies (ASCAP, BMI and SESAC), which together can cost between $1,200 to $6,300 per year, based on the facility’s gross square footage. These fees must be paid whether the source of the music is a local radio station, purchased CDs or satellite radio. In addition to the licensing cost, dealerships need to consider other drawbacks to a “homegrown” music approach. Radio music obviously contains ads, and since radio advertising is heavily used by auto dealers, a dealership is likely to end up playing ads for the competing store down the street. Additionally, even the largest CD collection or iPod mix eventually gets monotonous, annoying the staff as well as return patrons. Keeping the music refreshed with new tunes adds another layer of cost.

An alternative solution is to subscribe to a background music service. Muzak is the oldest and most well-known example. The monthly fee they charge includes the required music royalties, which Muzak remits to the royalty agencies on behalf of the customer. A service like Muzak greatly simplifi es the use of recorded music in a place of business, and reduces the risk of penalties. Unfortunately, the price of this convenience and security

has traditionally been high. Monthly fees can be as high as $100 or more, and typically companies must sign a contract for fi ve years. For decades, Muzak has had a virtual monopoly in the business music arena, so dealerships had to accept the price and terms offered. Additionally, because Muzak suffers from reception problems in bad weather, dealerships may experience frequent interruptions of their music.

Fortunately, the business music arena was dramtically altered with the advent of satellite radio, which has presented Muzak with its fi rst meaningful competition. New York-based SIRIUS Satellite Radio is the most active of the satellite radio providers in the business subscriber market with SIRIUSBusiness. Satellite radio provides a huge variety of near CD-quality music, at a markedly lower price and without a contract.

In a competitive market where auto buyers are becoming more savvy and demanding, dealerships are constantly striving to make themselves stand out. Providing a relaxing environment, one conducive to both conversation and commerce, is essential. The right background music can play an important role toward achieving this goal. However, playing music without proper licensing can create substantial legal liabilities. Fortunately for dealers, the options for background music are more varied and more affordable than ever before.

Matt Holden is the team lead of public relations and sales support of Applied Media Technologies Corporation. He can be contacted at 866.431.3593, or by e-mail at [email protected].


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Six Steps to a GreatPresentation at YourNext Meeting, Part 2



Last month in AutoSuccess, we went over three simple steps to take to make sure you get your point across. This month,

we’ll take a look at the fi nal three.

4. Speak to be Understood,Not to Look Smart Your No. 1 job as a speaker is to be the conduit to connect your presentation to the audience.

We know you are smart. You may have expertise no one else in the room has. And you are likely to have more information on the topic than anyone else in the room, as well. You may believe that showing the audience how much you know and how smart you are about the topic will make you look your best as a speaker. It won’t. When your goal is to look smart, you tend to give your audience too much information - showing them that you know everything about the topic.

Actually, the best way to show you know a lot is to use your knowledge to edit down the material for your audience. Use your insights on the topic(s) to choose the most important information for your audience. Because you know so much, you may also use all the technical terms or speak with a condescending voice, instead of simplifying concepts and using jargon-free speech. Go with your gut. The best presenter speaks simply and from the heart.

5. Are They With You?You have seen it; you have been there in the audience. A speaker is droning on and on, serenely oblivious to the fact that the audience is not listening. They keep going

from point to point or clicking from slide to slide, their eyes focused on their material. If the speaker does not have the group’s attention, they are wasting everyone’s time. It actually is disrespectful. As a speaker, you need to feed your audience what they need.

Imagine giving a dinner party and instead of serving your guests a delicious meal you seat them at the table with empty plates and start talking about the details of your recent gallbladder surgery. When you are speaking and the audience is not with you, you may be giving your “dinner guests” information that they didn’t expect or want, or that is indigestible.

Your audience deserves something tasty.

6. What Is Your Conclusion? The speaker often spends a lot of time writing all the big points of the presentation and forgets to create the most important part of the presentation - the conclusion. Give them an overall impression or summary in your speech. The audience needs you to pull everything you said in the meeting together, wrap it up and put a bow on top. That is not just saying, “Well, that wraps it up. I am done,” or “Are there any questions?” It is actually summarizing what you have covered, going over the most important points, reviewing anything that was diffi cult or tricky to understand or that they must remember, and then telling them what to do with what you have said.

Football coaches know how to end a presentation so that all the information they shared is followed through on enthusiastically. When the coach gets all the team in the locker room for the big game, he doesn’t give them the plays and then say, “Well, that about does it.” He tells the players what plays he wants them to remember, and how he wants them to follow through on certain moves. And, in the fi nal statement of his conclusion, he tells them what he wants them do to: “Now go out there and win this one!”

Follow these steps and then go out there and win over your next audience, even if it’s an audience of only one or two car buyers.

Patti Wood, MA, CSP is a professional speaker, author and coach at Communications Dynamics. She can be contacted at 800.849.3651, or by e-mail at [email protected].


As a speaker, you need to feed your audience what they need.

TonyDupaquiersts fos ls ms sf fi s

f&i solution

E-VolutionAn electronic menu provides numerous advantages that go beyond disclosure and 100 percent PPT (100 percent of the products

are offered to 100 percent of the people, 100 percent of the time). These are two very good reasons to have an electronic menu. An electronic menu should offer additional benefi ts to the dealership and the business offi ce.

For starters, look for who designed the system – it can make a great deal of difference for dealership personnel. There are a few systems that were designed by computer companies, and these tend to be more diffi cult to use. The options available on these menus are vast, but their diffi culty may aggravate business managers to the point of not using them. Instead, there are many menus available that were designed by people familiar with the retail auto industry, which are often much more user friendly.

Another factor that impacts a menu’s ease of use is whether it is Web-based or not. The best part of Web-based menus is the opportunity to go back and change information instantaneously. If a menu does not utilize Web-based technology, the user may have to start over or wait when a correction is needed.

It is also important that a menu works with a dealership’s dealer management system (DMS). More importantly, the menu should allow a user to push and pull information to the DMS.

One of the most impressive items I have seen in electronic menus is the option to conduct a full VIN explosion. This becomes especially signifi cant in the selling of vehicle service contracts (VSCs).

For example, chargebacks are detrimental to the success of business managers and dealerships. Quite often, chargebacks stem from a business manager who forgets to provide required information. With all the diesels, four-wheel drives, turbos, and superchargers available on the market, it is nearly impossible to remember what surcharges should be included on a VSC. Electronic menus that do VIN explosions eliminate this scenario from happening. There are menus that have the ability to recognize a pre-owned vehicle and only allow the appropriate VSC available for that vehicle to be sold.

Flexibility with the use of drop-down menus is another important feature. If a menu lacks this feature, the user will have to keep referring to the paper rate guides to get the information needed. With some menus, all of this product information is pre-loaded into the system. Having this information pre-loaded along with the appropriate retail price ensures legal compliance, eliminating the chance of a business manager discriminating in the business offi ce.

Are you currently selling vehicles on EBay, or through some other Internet avenue where you don’t have the opportunity to see the customer? This is the fastest-growing trend in the auto industry, and if you are not selling vehicles this way, it probably will be an integral part of your business sometime in the near future. All electronic menus allow you to print a menu in the business offi ce; however very few offer the ability to create a menu that can be sent directly to the customer via e-mail. In today’s e-commerce world, this is defi nitely an important feature.

The single most signifi cant feature to look for in an electronic menu is the ability to print a waiver. The best menu system produces a waiver that is compliant in all 50 states, gives full disclosure of what benefi ts customers purchase, and, most importantly, lists the benefi ts customers decline, detailing their monthly cost. Recently, I worked in a store that had this menu, and the feature made it very easy to sell additional products. All of the information the customer needed was in writing and printed directly from the e-menu. The printed waiver lends credibility that most consumers trust.

In conjunction with electronic menus comes the availability of electronic pencils for the sales desk. Electronic penciling systems will have the same advantages as the electronic menus. Using both types of systems will increase sales and profi ts and increase your ability to control the legality of your process.

If you do not have an electronic menu, you need one. If you currently have one, look around, as there may be better ones available that are easier to use. Life and selling success are easier with electronic menus.

Tony Dupaquier is the director of F&I Training for the Automotive Training Academy. He can be contacted at 866.856.6754, or by e-mail [email protected].

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Tuning Your Web Site for High-Performance: Using Key Performance Indicators, Part 6

HeatherConarysts fos ls ms sf fi s

marketing solution

In previous issues of AutoSuccess, I’ve addressed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and what they mean to you and your

dealership. (In case you missed it, KPIs are gauges you can use to determine how well your Web site is performing.) We’ve also discussed techniques to use to determine how well various segments of your Web site, as well as particular campaigns, are doing. There has been a lot of information thrown out in these articles, but what do you do with this information?

Now What?To get the most out of your KPIs, you need to implement a process. Generally, this involves determining what KPIs you are going to track, as well as who is going to be responsible for managing, tracking, and distributing information based on the KPIs. Also remember that it is up to you what KPIs to use and track. They can and do vary greatly between different dealers and different regions, so track the ones that mean the most to you.

Best Practices for Keeping Track of KPIs

Stay on ScheduleHow often do you want to review your KPIs? Daily, weekly, or monthly? As discussed in a previous article, this depends largely on how much traffi c your site is receiving, as well as the resources and time you have available to work with the data. Once you decide how often you want to review the information you have collected, stick with this schedule. Reviewing the data collected is the only

way to make improvements from it, so a set schedule is the best way to maximize the return on your time invested.

Never Miss a ReviewOnce you’ve selected how often you want to review your KPIs, don’t miss a tracking period of KPIs, because you’ll lose out on tracking your performance for that period of time, and it’s extremely diffi cult to improve your processes if you don’t know what you’re trying to improve from.

Get Buy-InImplementing any new program requires buy-in. One of the best ways to get buy-in from key people is to get and keep them involved. Explain what you’re planning on doing, why it’s benefi cial to the dealership, and what it means to them. Share your knowledge by making copies of these articles on KPIs for them. Keeping people in the loop will ensure that your plan will get buy-in, if not at fi rst, in a short amount of time.

Keep ControlPutting one person, or a very small team, in charge of gathering, formatting and distributing the information is a key. If you distribute the responsibility too far across too many people, not only will you lose enthusiasm, but you will receive disjointed information back.

Keep it SimpleIt is much easier to start with a handful of key KPIs and grow, rather than to try to start tracking every KPI and fall short. Trying to identify, track and make changes based upon more than three or four KPIs is a recipe for disaster: you will get burnt out before you

see any positive changes being made. If you fi nd that you are comfortable with the KPIs you are using, you can gradually add more in the future. Or if you fi nd that the KPIs you initially selected aren’t as useful as you originally thought, don’t be afraid to eliminate the ones that aren’t useful to try some new ones.

Be PersistentWhen you fi rst start with a new process, it’s always exciting and fun to get started. After a while, you are bound to lose your initial enthusiasm. Always be persistent with this (and any new) process. They are well worth it in the end.

Maintain RecordsRemember: each time period, when you run your statistics reports, always keep a copy, whether electronic or in hard copy. Many Web site statistics providers only maintain past reports for a short amount of time. Also, always keep copies of any changes you make based on the reports, as well as your notes. In the future, it is always easier to look back and review your notes to remind yourself why you made a particular change, than to try to guess or remember.

Hopefully over the course of these articles, you’ve gotten some ideas to help improve your site, as well as your process. If you have any further questions or need any help, please feel free to e-mail me.

Heather Conary is a Web developer at Downeast Toyota-Scion-Buick. She can be contacted at 866.386.4914, or by e-mail at [email protected].


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Mr. Dealer I’m sure you have heard it all before, Blah, Blah, Blah. The same old sales pitches time and time again. Increase this or increase that with some sort of magic pill. I don’t have a magic pill, but I do have a real solution to dramatically increase key parts of your dealership and I’m willing to back it up with a $10,000 guarantee.

Everything I listed above will absolutely happen. It’s already happened for several dealers and you could be next. As a mater of fact if you sell an average of 100 ve-hicles a month or more the $250,000 can easily be $500,000 or more a year bottom line profi t increase. No magic pills, no fairy dust, no scams, no slam-bam programs, no old school hard-sell programs that alienate you customers. As a matter of fact, this will positively impact CSI more than anything you will ever do.

What is this Super-Duper Program I am talking about? It’s a somewhat new program that is delivering amazing results. The reason I say somewhat new program is that several dealers have now been on this New Program for about a year and half and have had the results I talked about earlier and several have had increases of over $1,000,000 in just one year! That’s No BS and is verifi able.

Our Blue Sky Program is designed to increase the Blue Sky Value of your dealership dramatically by increasing your income now while increasing key components that most dealerships continuously struggle with.

Please don’t take my word for it; I will let you talk to the dealers who have experienced these things fi rst hand.

What’s the catch? There isn’t one. I am not asking you to buy something, sign a contract or pay me one nickel up front. All I’m asking is a half-hour of your undivided attention.

Here’s the deal…

Not every dealer will be accepted for this program. I purposely don’t do business with everyone. I have found when you try to do business with everyone, you are just doing it for the money and you can’t be everything to everyone. In the long run you wind up making less money and doing business with people you don’t like or respect and that may not be able to be successful no matter what you do. I refuse to do that. Life is too short.

What I do is a personal interview with dealers, go over the program and then do an on-site analysis to see if it’s a good fi t for you and for me. Then if accepted, I let you decide. Although the More Blue Sky Program would benefi t every dealership, I am only looking for a few specifi c dealerships.

This program works tremendously but takes a great deal of work in the beginning by my staff at your dealer-ship to make sure it’s kicked off properly and everybody is moving in the right direction. I personally spend a lot of time, effort and money to make sure it works. Because of this, I have to be selective. In fact, we project only 25 dealers will qualify this year for the program. When we are full, that’s it.

What’s the next step?

I am speaking at this year’s NADA Convention in Las Vegas. I will also have a suite in Las Vegas and will be talking to dealers about my More Blue Sky Program as well as other services we offer such as training, distance learning, event sales, consulting etc.

I would like to set up appointments to visit with you if you are going to be in Las Vegas. If not I would like to visit with you on the phone. Either way, just call my as-sistant Jaclyn at 888 2Tewart (888 283-9278) or 513 932-9526 or e-mail her at [email protected] to set an appointment.

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As an additional value for you, any dealer who is accepted into the More Blue Sky Program will get my Distance Learning Program for FREE ($597 a month value)You can train your sales people over the Internet 24/7 and be able to track the learning and test them on each module.

The More Blue Sky Program is the most innovative program for a dealership’s profi ts, blue sky and customer retention that I have been around in 25 years in the car business. Let’s talk and see if this program works for you.

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888 2 Tewart (888 283-9278) / 513 932-9526 [email protected]

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“Mark Tewart helped our dealership grow from 30-40 units a month to 130 units and substantially increased our gross and net pro ts as well. Now that we are on the More Blue Sky Program from Mark Tewart I fully expect our bottom line to grow by an additional $500,000 or more this year.”

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To BE or Not to BEThe Answer is in the Becoming

MichaelYorksts fos ls ms sf fi s


I’m sitting on a plane waiting to take the return fl ight home to Charlotte when I can’t help but be drawn to a conversation behind

me between a little girl and a woman who must be her mother.

“I WANT TO BE…A Pilot!” The little girl announces loudly. “I want to BE…a Rock Star! I want to BE…an Artist!” As she continues with her list of “I want to BEs,” the woman tells the little girl, “You can BE anything you want to BE, but it will take lots of schooling, lots of practice and hard work, and ….”

True enough, and it’s good advice. Here’s the rest of the story. The reality of this exchange is in instruction that not only requires understanding for children, but for adults, as well. Before we can “BE” anything, we must commit to BECOMING.

Being is what many people say they want or wish for. “I wish I could be….” Why can’t you? How could you? Shakespeare’s question is one most all of us have heard, “To be or not to be...” Better question, “What am I prepared to commit to in BECOMING whatever it is I want to be?”

“Being” is great. Becoming is the process that takes us there. The fact is most people won’t do what it takes to be great, even when they know what that is.

Anyone who’s ever participated in, or even watched, sports knows about goals.

Hit the ball. Throw the ball. Catch the ball. Shoot. Score. Win!

Most of those “goals” would be in the immediate future, so they’re referred to as short-term goals. These are the most popular kind in today’s society. Only champions think about longer-term goals, like winning a championship, creating a legacy or designing a life.

While wanting and wishing are common, setting goals - I mean actually thinking about it, going through the process of writing down what you want, and continuing the process of achieving them - is most uncommon. The evidence of history bears it out.

In 1978, I was introduced to Zig Ziglar and goal setting. It would be 10 years later before

Jim Rohn convinced me that Zig was right and I really should set goals. And that if I did, my life would dramatically change.

I knew I should probably set some goals, that it would be a good idea…but did I really have to go to all the trouble of actually writing them down? Couldn’t they just be something in my head? Something I wanted to do or be or have? Wouldn’t that be enough?

The answer? No.

So how can you become an uncommon individual who sets goals? It’s easy to do – but, as always, easier NOT to do.

1. A Goal Isn’t Really a Goal Unless You Capture it on PaperAnd even in today’s computer society, I believe it should be hand-written. Something that you recognize as your own writing, and that it was important enough that once upon a time you wrote it down. Note to me, “Let’s do this.” Now you’ve got yourself a goal.

And somehow, at that very moment, you begin to be pulled toward that thing that you’ve now written down. You’ll fi nd yourself thinking about it at the oddest hours, and all during the day. Each time you read it, it compels you to answer “Are we there yet?” Or it should.

Zig’s plan for goals was simple enough. It was really just two basic steps:

1. Ask a series of questions2. Make a list

2. It Takes a Commitment to BEGINNINGThe really big problem I saw right up front is that he told me this process of beginning to set goals would take about 10 hours. TEN HOURS?

Actually, 10 hours is the minimum; it may take as many as 20 hours. TWENTY HOURS?

Well, that’s it then. I just didn’t have 20 hours I could pull out of a hat just to begin this goal-setting thing. Then he said, “That’s the main reason only three percent of the population have clearly defi ned their objectives in life.”

AHA! That proved my point, most everyone agreed with ME.

Is that your defense? The court of popular opinion rarely leads to BIG LIFE or big success.

3. In Matters of Top Performance and High Achievement, Don’t Follow the CrowdIt was only later in life did I begin to understand that in issues involving top performance, high achievement, getting the most out of a big life and so on, I did not need to be running with the 97 percent.

It’s been said to watch what nine of 10 people are doing, and don’t do that.

These goal questions were questions to ask myself. Once you put something on your goals list, then ask if that’s really your goal. Would it be right and fair to everyone? Can you really commit to it? Can you see yourself reaching the goal?

Other questions were about becoming happier, healthier, more prosperous, having more friends, peace of mind, becoming more secure and improving relationships with others. And only if I wanted all those things should I really become serious about setting goals. Hmmmm…

4. Life is BIGGoals make it bigger. And “Big” really is available. Goals are a part of the process of Becoming. Life is bigger than work; not everyone got the memo on that one. Don’t just have work goals - have life goals. And don’t let someone else set goals for you. You go fi rst.

Want to add direction and purpose and passion to your life? Want to think and act differently? Here is the law of inertia that propels you in a certain direction even though there are many unknowns along the way. It is the commitment to BECOMING that will one day allow you to BE.

What are you becoming? And what is it you’d like to BE one day? Make your life bigger by thinking about, and writing down your goals.

It is never too late to BE what you might have BECOME. Why not start today?

If you’d like to get going with your new life and work goals, e-mail me and I’ll send you my short list on “Uncommon Goals” and how they can work for you.

Michael York is an author and professional speaker. He can be contacted at 800.668.5015, or by e-mail [email protected], or visit www.MichaelYork.com.


Change Your Lifeby Setting Goals

JeffMorrillsts fos ls ms sf fi s



Why leave the most important things to your life to chance? Research proves that those who set clearly defi ned goals are more

likely to achieve their objectives. Here are tips for creating your goals:

Write Down Your GoalsThe process of writing activates your subconscious. Also, written goals make you accountable to yourself and allow you to review them often.

Make Them Specifi cExample: Rather than “I want to lose weight,”

identify a target: “Lose 25 pounds.”

Establish a TimelineExample: “Lose 25 pounds by the end of the year.”

Identify Specifi c Sub-Goals and Deadlines to Get You ThereExample: “Lose 25 pounds by the end of the year.”

• “See a nutritionist within two weeks to learn how to eat better.”

• “Take a 20-minute walk after dinner three times per week.”

Choose Achievable GoalsIf you want to start running, maybe you can aim for “10 miles per week” rather than “running a marathon within six months.” Don’t be afraid to aim high, but setting impossible goals just makes you feel bad when you miss.

Choose Goals That Mean Enough to You That You are Willing to Sacrifi ce to AttainI always wanted to be a major league baseball pitcher for the Red Sox. Problem is, I stink at baseball. And even if I were pretty good, I wouldn’t be willing to give up my career to train. Something that I might be willing to pursue would be the opportunity to throw out the fi rst pitch at a major league game.

Show Your Goals to Your Friendsand FamilyThey want to help you succeed, and if they know about your ambitions, they can support you.

Review Your Goals Often You refocus and energize your mind on your goals every time you read them.

Jeff Morrill is co-owner of Planet Subaru in Hanover, Mass., and Planet Chrysler Jeep Dodge in Franklin, Mass. He can be contacted at 866.872.8699, or by e-mail at [email protected].

...written goals make you accountable to yourself and allow you to review them often.

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