I get an email today from a dealer friend of mine today and he ask;     Do you know of anybody dropping AutoTrader all together? It’s ungodly expensive and we just haven’t seen the results.     My first response from the top of my head is, Yes there seems to be a lot of “chatter’ out there the last few years about reallocating dollars from AT and Cars to other digital advertizing. Then it hit me, I wonder “if” this was some motivation behind Autotraders recent spending spree. Diversify before losing more revenue?     Dollars started going down for Autotrader a few tears back, they sell a piece for cash to buy and diversify? I certainly no expert, I’m just wondering.     Getting back to his original Question, in my local market Rockford Illinois Cars.com closed that gap in the last 3 years. In the past Autotrader out produced cars.com by 25%. However, they w...

  3 Minute Management Course       Lesson One: An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing. A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, "Can I also sit like you and do nothing?" The eagle answered: "Sure, why not." So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it. Management Lesson: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.   Lesson Two: A turkey was chatting with a bull. "I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree," sighed the turkey, "but I haven't got the energy." "Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?" replied the bull. " They're packed with nutrients." The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, and found it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree. The next day, after eating some more ! dung, ...

  First impressions and famous last words are two very important statements in relationship building. When we walk up to the customer for the very first time we have one shot at a first impression. Famous last words are a little more forgiving. Our famous last words will be replace with the next visit, next last words.     One of the best ways that I've found to break the ice is with humor. When you start off a conversation with a saying that makes a person smile, you are headed in the right direction. Anything that causes the muscles in your face to lift is beneficial In this case, the pull of gravity is your friend. By not trying to build this light-hearted rapport, you may have to worry about their face muscles making a downhill journey. Want to know my goal? I love it when customers say they had fun buying their car from me; http://www.youtube.com/user/TomSparksBuick#p/u/36/SkNx3DjmB7w     So here are a few one liners that work well...

          I doctored this jpg up and created a Satisfied Customer Muli Player. I use this in my email signature. Hyper linking it to my Satisfied Customers Page. It gives the appearance like it is a multi player. I get quite a few click thrus. Enough that it is wort your time. Trust Me! Reputation Management is here to stay. Have at it! Hope it helps...... http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4059/4473527927_6ba03993ab_m.jpg...

    At this years NADA convention a group of us went to BB Kings for some Professional Networking, Eric Miltsch, Joe Pistell, Rick Chavoustic, Joe Webb and myself were out sharing ideas’.  I always find this to be to most valuable time at conferences and training sessions. When we arrived I had a terrible case of heartburn. I asked the server if she had any antacids, to which she replied no. I thought to myself, I would give $10 bucks to relieve this misery. I bought a round of drinks and tipped her well. I took my lumps and settled with putting up with the acid reflux for the night. Later in the evening I went to the men’s room and found a porter assisting in the washing of hands. Low and Behold a tall bottle of Antacids! YES! RELIEF! Then it hit me, I could have had relief 30 minutes sooner had the bartender knew what the porter had in stock. So I told the restroom attendant, the bartender needed to know his health care inventory. He politely said, &l...