Part 2...

Side Note: No Snake Oil here just a rapid change in how we market today....well not really that rapid since we have been selling cars the same way for over 50+ years. Facebook is the third most visited site in the United States as of this post and growing quickly.  YouTube is 4th and MySpace is 5th.  Source: www.alexa.com  
   
The snow has melted, the sun is shining and your feeling like it is a brand new year and you are not going to allow the negative Nancy's to hold you back since all they are trying to do is sell some newspapers or increase 5 and 10pm news ratings while in fact they are chasing their once loyal audience away with all the doom, gloom and negativity!  
 
The Fact Is...People want to be happy and worry free oh and they are still buying cars since buying a new car is a happy time so put a smile on your face and give the people what they want...a shiny new car!
 
So let’s get started,
 
...

Today is the anniversary marking your fifth year as a car sales guru.  You are walking around feeling proud to be working for one of the largest dealerships in the entire state.  You have just completed your product knowledge training on the Ford lineup as you gaze at the top performing sales plaque where your name is on that plaque 38 times in the last five years. 
Then you look at the sales board and you only have 3 units out and it’s the 23 of the month now you start to sweat and start wondering what has happened to all the customers that use to drive right on to the lot ready to buy.  You corner your sales manager in the sales tower and tell him the advertising is all wrong and that the ad agency needs help and you have the answers.  You go on to say “We need to run a page buster in the newspaper on Wednesday when people are getting the newspaper for the grocery store coupons and we need to run in the sports section on Monday with an ad of sayi...

Today I was meeting with a dealer and we were discussing how much advertising has changed in such a short period of time. 


We then started talking about traditional advertising and how the days of only radio, broadcast TV (before cable), direct mail, billboards, and Yellow Pages covered all the staples of advertising. 


He then proceeded to tell me that he canceled his Yellow Pages Advertising.
 
WHAT!!!!!  You are doing WHAT I said as I picked up my notebook that I dropped in all the excitement.


He said "yes we canceled it no one goes to the phone directory any  more"


You can't do that... canceling the Yellow Pages is like leaving Old Yeller on the side of the road and the Yellow Pages has been around since 1883.


He laughed and said come on Mr. Connected iPhone, Goog411, Google Map Gadget Guy.
I know many of you would agree with this dealer and this definitely not the first time I have heard a dealer make this statement an...

 Why is it every time I speak of Social Networking or Social Marketing as being part of a dealers marketing mix, the response I receive is a crinkled forehead and the conversation goes something like this...
Dealer: "ummm do you mean like Facebook or MySpace?"
Me: "Yes that would be an example but there are many others"
Dealer: "that's a bunch of kids not car buyers"
I think the answer is simple to understand why so many dealers think Social Marketing is  for kids.
1. They associate Facebook and MySpace with kids since they have seen their children on these sites.
2. They don't really understand what it is and how it works
3. They are making a big mistake by assuming everyone else thinks like them or has the same interest.

I want to start off by asking a simple question. Do people buy from their friends faster than they will from a stranger?  Of course they do!  
Social groups and clubs were huge years ago e.g. Rotary, Ju...

Saturday Morning, I was reading the news when I received an IM from a client telling me traffic was good today and it was already a good day... I asked what did he attribute the increase in traffic to and when he said his sales staff I was really pleased and reminded of a sales meeting where I was asked to speak to the sales staff and it went something like this:
I presented this question to the sales staff. "Are you the CEO of this Dealership"? When I looked around the room many looked confused and no one answered. So I started singling people out and each one replied "NO"...Think again I said!
I believe to be successful you must have a CEO mentality. All successful sales people view themselves as a business within a business.
Never forget that the dealer principal writes and signs your check, but you fill in the numbers.
Always take responsibility for everything!
You are the CEO of your own business! You do have control of your income and success if you are w...