We're continuing our closer look at our new eBook, "Special Finance Quick Start," this week with a peek at the checklist we've developed with DealerStrong for reviewing your operation's process.

Read through this list to see if your process is optimized for SF demand. The more elements you can check off, the better off your store is.

• Dedicated staff to work with SF consumers
• Tools to support consistent follow up: ILM or CRM; email marketing
• Focused on selling the appointment before selling the car
• Waiting to pull credit until the consumer is in front of you.

If you're not where you want to be, at least you'll know where you are.

Sound like something you'd like to take a closer look at? Download the new eBook here!

We're continuing our closer look at our new eBook, "Special Finance Quick Start," this week with a peek at the checklist we've developed with DealerStrong for reviewing your operation's process.

Read through this list to see if your process is optimized for SF demand. The more elements you can check off, the better off your store is.

• Dedicated staff to work with SF consumers
• Tools to support consistent follow up: ILM or CRM; email marketing
• Focused on selling the appointment before selling the car
• Waiting to pull credit until the consumer is in front of you.

If you're not where you want to be, at least you'll know where you are.

Sound like something you'd like to take a closer look at? Download the new eBook here!

We've collaborated with the executives at DealerStrong to put together a new eBook for you about working in Special Finance, all with the goal of helping you to SELL MORE CARS!®

The guide will walk you through the three pillars of a successful special finance (SF) operation to get you off to a fast start. The pillars are:

• Lending
• Inventory
• Process

We'll also take a look at what you can expect when you sign up for finance leads, as well as what a kickoff consulting session from DealerStrong looks like. And each pillar comes with a handy-dandy checklist for you to review your operation and check your progress.

If you're not where you want to be, at least you'll know where you are.

Sound like something you'd like to check out? Download the new eBook here!

We've collaborated with the executives at DealerStrong to put together a new eBook for you about working in Special Finance, all with the goal of helping you to SELL MORE CARS!®

The guide will walk you through the three pillars of a successful special finance (SF) operation to get you off to a fast start. The pillars are:

• Lending
• Inventory
• Process

We'll also take a look at what you can expect when you sign up for finance leads, as well as what a kickoff consulting session from DealerStrong looks like. And each pillar comes with a handy-dandy checklist for you to review your operation and check your progress.

If you're not where you want to be, at least you'll know where you are.

Sound like something you'd like to check out? Download the new eBook here!

Every dealership has one of these personalities. So why not dress them up?! Costumes that are sure to entertain the guys and 'ghouls' - moohahaha

Persona: The Slasher
Quote: "slashing prices left and right!"
Ideal candidate: your sales reps on the floor
Personality traits: this person is a customer pleaser. They go above and beyond to please the customer and make the sale.

Persona: The Sleezy Sales Guy
Quote: "bada bing bada boom, fa'get about it!"
Ideal candidate: your sales reps on the floor
Personality traits: This guy can either be a real smooth talker or make you feel very uncomfortable. Either way you won't forget him.

Persona: The Race Car Driver
Quote: "I wanna go fast! (Ricky Bobby)"
Ideal candidate: Finance manager
Personality traits: They want to get you in a car and on the road ASAP. They take charge and make it happen. 

Persona: An Angel
Quote: "making your experience heavenly"
Ideal candidate: your sales manager
Personality traits: They want to make your dreams come true by getting you in the car of "your dreams." They are sweet, friendly, and somewhat... angelic.

Persona: Paparazzi
Quote: "It's all about you baby!"
Ideal candidate: any staff member
Personality traits: They are going to make you feel like Lady Gaga! Give you the VIP all-start treatment and treat you like royalty. You're going to walk out of the dealership feeling the urge to sign autographs.

Any other cool ideas for Halloween? Share them below!

Every dealership has one of these personalities. So why not dress them up?! Costumes that are sure to entertain the guys and 'ghouls' - moohahaha

Persona: The Slasher
Quote: "slashing prices left and right!"
Ideal candidate: your sales reps on the floor
Personality traits: this person is a customer pleaser. They go above and beyond to please the customer and make the sale.

Persona: The Sleezy Sales Guy
Quote: "bada bing bada boom, fa'get about it!"
Ideal candidate: your sales reps on the floor
Personality traits: This guy can either be a real smooth talker or make you feel very uncomfortable. Either way you won't forget him.

Persona: The Race Car Driver
Quote: "I wanna go fast! (Ricky Bobby)"
Ideal candidate: Finance manager
Personality traits: They want to get you in a car and on the road ASAP. They take charge and make it happen. 

Persona: An Angel
Quote: "making your experience heavenly"
Ideal candidate: your sales manager
Personality traits: They want to make your dreams come true by getting you in the car of "your dreams." They are sweet, friendly, and somewhat... angelic.

Persona: Paparazzi
Quote: "It's all about you baby!"
Ideal candidate: any staff member
Personality traits: They are going to make you feel like Lady Gaga! Give you the VIP all-start treatment and treat you like royalty. You're going to walk out of the dealership feeling the urge to sign autographs.

Any other cool ideas for Halloween? Share them below!

Call me old fashioned... but I still prefer hearing a voice as opposed to reading text.

I read an article called Nissan: Facebook may replace phone banks.  The article basically touched on how, although any changes have been proposed, Nissan could start shifting some of its employees from the call centers to the web. This trend is not just being picked up by Nissan but by other companies as well.

I think it is a great idea… as long as it’s in correlation with being able to call in and speak to a live person. For some situations I think Facebook and Twitter are good places to post comments and grievances such as:

• - Not all customer service calls are bad (although most people only call customer service with complaints) If I truly enjoyed your service I may tweet about it or post a comment to your Facebook wall to let you and all of your fans know how impressed I was and about my experience.
• - I am very angry. Your call center hasn't helped, I have been on hold for about 30 minutes, and you keep connecting me to different people. Now I want to take it to Facebook so that I can complain about the poor phone service. This may entice you to tighten up your call centers.
• - I need to vent. I had a horrible experience at your store or on the phone with you or while using your website. I want to address it in a way that others who may feel the same way can read about it and possibly share their thoughts.

Now on the flip side, there are certain situations where I would want to speak directly to a person right away! Some personal examples include:

• - My credit card was stolen! I want to speak directly to a representative so that they can not only cancel my card but fill me in on any transactions and what my next steps are.
• - My phone isn't working! I need technical support ASAP and I want to speak to a live person because I am not tech savvy and need to be walked through the process so that I can ask questions as I go.

Because dealerships now have an increased presence in social media outlets I think it is great that their customers/prospects want to interact with them online but they should also have the option to interact on a personal/private channel as well, such as in person or on the phone.

Can you suggest any other instances where you would prefer to speak with someone over texts, web chatting, tweeting, or posting on Facebook? Share your suggestions below!

Call me old fashioned... but I still prefer hearing a voice as opposed to reading text.

I read an article called Nissan: Facebook may replace phone banks.  The article basically touched on how, although any changes have been proposed, Nissan could start shifting some of its employees from the call centers to the web. This trend is not just being picked up by Nissan but by other companies as well.

I think it is a great idea… as long as it’s in correlation with being able to call in and speak to a live person. For some situations I think Facebook and Twitter are good places to post comments and grievances such as:

• - Not all customer service calls are bad (although most people only call customer service with complaints) If I truly enjoyed your service I may tweet about it or post a comment to your Facebook wall to let you and all of your fans know how impressed I was and about my experience.
• - I am very angry. Your call center hasn't helped, I have been on hold for about 30 minutes, and you keep connecting me to different people. Now I want to take it to Facebook so that I can complain about the poor phone service. This may entice you to tighten up your call centers.
• - I need to vent. I had a horrible experience at your store or on the phone with you or while using your website. I want to address it in a way that others who may feel the same way can read about it and possibly share their thoughts.

Now on the flip side, there are certain situations where I would want to speak directly to a person right away! Some personal examples include:

• - My credit card was stolen! I want to speak directly to a representative so that they can not only cancel my card but fill me in on any transactions and what my next steps are.
• - My phone isn't working! I need technical support ASAP and I want to speak to a live person because I am not tech savvy and need to be walked through the process so that I can ask questions as I go.

Because dealerships now have an increased presence in social media outlets I think it is great that their customers/prospects want to interact with them online but they should also have the option to interact on a personal/private channel as well, such as in person or on the phone.

Can you suggest any other instances where you would prefer to speak with someone over texts, web chatting, tweeting, or posting on Facebook? Share your suggestions below!

There's a quote floating around out there that says:  "May you live in interesting times." It's usually characterized as a curse, meaning that the most desirable state of things is to drift along without any dramatic turn of events. Status quo, without any surprises.

It's safe to say that we're all living in interesting times right now.

For the automotive industry in particular, the restatements of 2011 and 2012 auto sales estimates and drops in consumer confidence last week, coupled with the out-and-out acts of God that disrupted the supply chain out of Japan earlier in March, make it one of the most "interesting" years on record.

But there are some glimmers of hope.

Banks are still lending more freely, and interest rates are still at historic lows. What this means for consumers is that now they have the opportunity to shop around for the best rates to get into a car.

And even though they're starting to slow, used car prices are up 30% this year, so there's a huge opportunity out there for auto dealers to increase their inventory turnover and margins -- if they can connect with the right buyers.

Use these unusual market conditions to reassess how you're managing your lot. How are you making the best of these circumstances? Is there something you could be doing differently to bring more prospects to your store? How can you expand your reach? What does your inventory mix look like?

These are questions you should be asking on a regular basis anyway -- but now you have even more reason to.

There's a quote floating around out there that says:  "May you live in interesting times." It's usually characterized as a curse, meaning that the most desirable state of things is to drift along without any dramatic turn of events. Status quo, without any surprises.

It's safe to say that we're all living in interesting times right now.

For the automotive industry in particular, the restatements of 2011 and 2012 auto sales estimates and drops in consumer confidence last week, coupled with the out-and-out acts of God that disrupted the supply chain out of Japan earlier in March, make it one of the most "interesting" years on record.

But there are some glimmers of hope.

Banks are still lending more freely, and interest rates are still at historic lows. What this means for consumers is that now they have the opportunity to shop around for the best rates to get into a car.

And even though they're starting to slow, used car prices are up 30% this year, so there's a huge opportunity out there for auto dealers to increase their inventory turnover and margins -- if they can connect with the right buyers.

Use these unusual market conditions to reassess how you're managing your lot. How are you making the best of these circumstances? Is there something you could be doing differently to bring more prospects to your store? How can you expand your reach? What does your inventory mix look like?

These are questions you should be asking on a regular basis anyway -- but now you have even more reason to.