We’re coming up on a three day weekend thanks to Labor Day, America’s 3rd favorite holiday! Behind Christmas and Memorial Day, Labor day excites most Americans with its end of summer celebrations and an extra day off of work.

According to wallethub, 25 percent of Americans will travel for the last holiday of summer. Seven percent will fly, and the rest will travel by car to their preferred destination. On average each person will spend about $58! But, that doesn’t count the thousands of people that will buy cars this weekend.

Starting on the Friday before Labor Day, August 31st, Drive Motors predicts between two and three cars sold every working hour, “Based on current growth trends, we predict dealers will sell more than 3 cars per hour on the Friday before Labor Day and more than 2 cars per hour throughout Labor Day weekend (Friday through Monday).”

Answering our questions over email, Aaron Krane, CEO of Drive Motors isn’t really surprised by the large numbers of cars that are expected to be sold.

“It’s one of the biggest sales holiday because it also happens during peak summer sales,” Krane wrote. “Labor Day is a big sales event, because the extended holiday allows buyers to progress through the whole “click-and-mortar” cycle: visit dealer website to browse inventory, visit the showroom to get the fit and feel, and either complete the deal there or complete it back at home.  This is turbocharged by the fact that it’s at the end of a month, which means even steeper discounts layered on top of OEM promotions.”

August 31st really seems like the day dealerships should focus on. If you take a look at the stats of the last few years on Labor Day, the Friday before presents big numbers.

“Last year, sales spiked +47% the Friday before Labor Day compared to the September 2017 daily average. In fact, the Friday before Labor Day was the biggest day for online car orders in September, with more than two cars sold every hour. Sales continued to be strong through the weekend. Many consumers may be ordering online so they can save time in the dealership when they pick up their car on Saturday or Monday.”

Krane also says every dealership will NOT see these numbers. Only dealerships who have a working online sales tool will reap the benefits of this great American holiday, “Online sales are critical; 85% of modern car buyers prefer to visit the dealership that has transparent online checkout,” He said. “Dealers can skip the flashy kiosks and microsites. They should invest in “native” technology that leverages their own sales team and website.”

Check out Drive Motors' prediction on the 2018 Memorial Day sales. Does it reflect your dealerships sales??
 

Technology is always changing…. Google analytics is no different. There are always new programs and certifications coming out.

Chris Leslie started a forum on a new certification that more intensely measures your audience.

Learn more about the certification and join the discussion on analytics by following the link below!

Click here to read more.

Need help with your Search Engine Optimization? Drew Bettiol Digital Marketing Manager at the  Sterling Auto group shared one of his free secret weapons that helps him with his SEO. He also explains how it helps in him his everyday workflow!

Check it out here!

Kristen Tepper of IncentiveFox talked about how to achieve your referral goals by passing on the duties to the marketing team!

She says companies are 3x more likely to achieve revenue goals when the referral program is handled by marketing.

Join the conversation and learn more about marketing handled referral program by clicking here.

This next forum post is an oldie but a goodie and started picking up steam again this week.

It’s based around email templates and what works best for each dealership.

The comments flow into 17 different pages with dozens of dealerships working together to create the best marketing email template.

Join the discussion here!

Anybody can post a forum discussion. Just make sure you aren’t pitching or link building. Then join the dozens of discussions happening everyday!

Who knows, you might end up on one of my weekly recaps!

It’s time for another weekly blog recap. Today I’ll be recapping blogs about where to spend your marketing budget, Millennial problem solvers and tips on how to be a great salesperson. Check them out below!

Marketing tells customers who you are, and tries to convince them to walk into your store. But where is the most important place to spend your marketing money? David Bowman, Owner of Bowman Auto breaks down his costs for marketing and what works best his dealership. He says Email Campaigns and SEO together pack the strongest punch.

Read his blog to learn the ins and outs of his campaigns here!

Next up the dirty “M” word… Millennials.

Nicolle Lamb SVP of Client Services at Dealer Inspire says Millennials are often talked about in a negative way. So, Instead of focusing on pitfalls (that more often than not have affected every other generation too…) focus on the positive aspects Millennials bring into the workplace... Like being incredible problem solvers!

Read her blog here.

Occasionally the way a car looks might just sell itself. But more often than not salespeople are needed to drive home that sale.

Jennifer Livingston gave four awesome tips on how to become a better salesperson including being VERY aware of your body language… and practice practice practice closing.

Read her blog here

The California New Car Dealers Association is fighting for more dealer rights when it comes to manufacturer mandated rules. They are the main sponsor of bill AB 2107.

The hope is to protect the California franchise system and new car buyers by strengthening franchise laws, addressing inappropriate treatment of dealers by manufacturers and enforcing manufacturer accountability for unlawful actions against dealers.

There are nine main points to the bill, but one of aspect of AB 2107 that addresses vendor usage is creating quite a stir on social media.

It’s no secret OEM’s limit the types of vendors dealers can select to use for websites, dealer management systems and other digital services. AB 2017 restricts the manufacturers ability to select specific vendors for a dealers digital service, and allows dealers to select their own digital service vendor.

New Car dealers seem to be on board with this Bill. However, consumer advocacy groups are worried that parts of the bill will be bad for consumers. Mainly the Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety and the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers agree this bill would decrease consumer choices in car options and increase car prices. BUT the California New Car Dealers Association says that will not happen.

What do you think of this Bill? Does it seem like something you could support?

Let me know in the comments below!

This is a guest blog by  Nicolle Lamb, SVP Client Services at Dealer Inspire.

She is speaking at the DrivingSales Executive Summit on Millennial Problem Solvers : How to Lead the New Generation to Their Success and Yours

Most of what you hear about working with Millennials is not positive. What I observe at conferences is that sessions about Millennials usually focus on their lack of drive, fickle nature, and lack of loyalty. But truly, couldn’t that be said about every generation? There are many examples of these characteristics in each generation through the years.

What we aren’t giving them credit for is their desire to make a difference, problem-solve, and be a trusted member of the team along the way.

The success of Dealer Inspire has relied heavily on Millennials, and our team is hard working, dedicated, and loyal. Our average age is 27 years old, we went from 30 to 480+ employees in less than 4 years, our employee retention rate is 99%, and our client retention rate is 99%. Are you wondering how we made that happen with a generation most people misunderstand?

We are doing some key things that engage Millennials, and it’s important for us to take ownership of how we are managing them. When things aren't working it's on us. It's not on them.

At DrivingSales Executive Summit 2018, I want to help our dealer partners change the way they hire and train their staff. I have been asked many times by my clients, “how do you do it?” “How do you hire these amazing people?” This session will give them all of our secrets to success. And with these few changes, they too can have an amazing loyal, driven team! Let’s work to solve the most important challenge of your dealership: hiring and maintaining driven, loyal employees.

It’s not difficult, but it does require a change of mindset and management style.

My session will review where to start, and where most companies go wrong when it comes to Millennials.

● Start with a culture

● Create a clear path for growth

● Hire the right people | Seekers

● Ask them to share their feedback | Measure anonymous feedback through software

● Give them the questions, not the answers

● Then, trust them, encourage them, and support them

What are our most profound pitfalls?

● Treating them like a rookie

● Telling them they need to earn their stripes

● Bossing them around

● Giving them the answer and never asking them to solve the problem

This is the most important part: you have to be prepared to listen! Many times I hear, “I didn’t have anyone handing me the keys”. Well, that’s not a great way to look at it. Was how you were brought up in the workforce the right way? If you peel that back, can you see that this is the right way to do it? Through encouragement, recognition, coaching/mentoring, and fostering a good work environment, we can build the most dynamic team and carve out success for your business.

These employees are not afraid to tell you exactly what they need to feel good about their role and be loyal to your company. All you have to do is listen. Don’t you often wish your spouse came with a manual that would tell you exactly what they needed? So many times you didn’t know what they were thinking or what they needed, and you’re left saying, “I wish you would have just told me!” Well, this generation will tell you. And if you are listening, you are winning!

Today, I am the Senior VP of Client Services at Dealer Inspire, and as you would expect I manage a dynamic team of Millennials! My current team is made up of 78 team members, of which 90% of them are Millennials. Investing my time into the leadership team and the performance management team has always been my focal point and it is a key driver of the team’s unprecedented success.

I find and hire overachievers — that’s one of the core characteristics I look for — but you cannot hire overachievers and then tie their hands behind their backs. Put the problems in front of them and encourage them to find the answers — you will be amazed at what you find!

Every Wednesday I’ll be posting a recap of our forum discussions! This week three forum posts with some good back and forth caught my eye.

First, Drew Bettiol Digital coordinator for Sterling Auto Group posed a question about Google Analytics. Recently certified Drew wanted use his new skills to make money for the dealership but wasn’t sure how.

The community chimed in, giving him ideas. One idea was to continue getting certifications, another was to download the Google My Business app. How do you take advantage of google analytics? Chime in by following this link.

Aaron Evans, Digital Marketing Coordinator at DrivingSales started a conversation about dealership marketing Keywords and their effectiveness (or lack thereof).

Many great insights were written including different short term and long term strategies to narrow down your dealerships most successful keywords.

Not quite sure how to find those keywords?? Follow this link and join the conversation.

Amanda Gordon started a deceivingly insightful discussion about what digital vendors are working and not working. The conversation started out with talks about cars.com and Facebook merging, and transformed into a conversation around how to best do email targeted ads with specific strategies.

How are your email campaigns going?? Get some tips and insight by clicking this link.

Discussions can be started by anyone for any reason.

The only three rules are that it has to be related to the automotive industry, vendors can’t call out other vendors with ill intent, and vendors… remember… no pitching!

This a guest blog written by Dave Druzynski, Chief People Officer, Auto/Mate.

He is a breakout speaker at the 2018 DrivingSales Executive Summit under our Fixed Ops category.

The unemployment rate is the lowest it’s been for 10 years, which is great unless you’re trying to hire skilled and experienced employees—especially technicians. To overcome shortages, service directors often resort to poaching from the competition, which ultimately drives up local wages and shrinks your profit margins.

The reality is, technicians are like any other employees. One more buck per hour isn’t what motivates them in their job search. What they want is what every other person wants: autonomy, mastery, purpose and recognition. They want to work at a dealership where they know management cares about them and has their back. They want to learn how to be the best at what they do without being micromanaged. They want to feel like they’re a part of something bigger than themselves. They want more than a job; they want a fulfilling career and the knowledge that their career goals will be supported.   

At the upcoming DrivingSales Executive Summit, I’ll be teaming up with my cousin Tom Druzynski, Director of Service Operations at New York’s largest dealer group, West Herr, to present “How to Win the Fixed Ops Talent War.”

In 2017, Tom successfully hired more than 100 technicians without poaching. He’ll share the strategies and programs he uses, including partnering with schools, internships and a five-level mentoring program that’s been key in helping to fill the technician void.

I’ll also give tips for recruiting in the digital age where help wanted ads no longer attract talent, and employment brand marketing is king.

In our presentation, we’ll discuss the importance of building a culture where employees love coming to work every day. Additionally, we’ll share best practices and tips for creating professional development programs designed to retain employees and grow their careers.

To win a war, you need to be armed with knowledge. We promise this session will be jam-packed with information and actionable strategies that have proven to work in the real world.

See you in Las Vegas!

Every Friday I will be doing a weekly recap of the best blogs … get ready for 90 seconds of information!

Subi Ghosh, Senior Director of Dealer Strategy at Stream Companies and Founding Board Member of Women In Automotive wrote a blog about culture. She described internal and external culture, and outlined the five pillars of culture:

1. Strategic Hiring and Placement

2. Internal Processes

3. Websites

4. Social Culture

5. Retention Marketing

Read the full Blog here!

Jason Volny, DrivingSales National Training Manager gave us a DrivingSales Success Tip about the correct timing a service walk. Hint: he says to do it before you ask the customer to buy the car.

“What I’m trying to tell you in this tip of the week is that a lot of dealerships out there (including the one I came from), used to do the service walk after the customer made a decision to buy the vehicle. I’m here to tell you, THAT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE.”

Watch the entire DrivingSales Success Tip here!

MAX Digital hosted a great webinar describing the car buying experience your customers actually want.

In short they say the traditional 12-step road to success is out… and dealers should put their focus on the customers path to purchase.

"Using the Customers Path to Purchase is how you create the experience customers want. AND the sales and profit that you want in your dealership."

Watch the full story here!

Are you ready to start selling flying cars?? Germany has agreed to allow flying car testing on their roads!

Audi and Airbus signed a letter of intent with the german government. They will start “Air Taxi” testing in the town of Ingolstadt.

You know those tariffs President trump wants to impose on foreign made cars? Manufacturers are against them, and most new car dealerships are worried that the tariffs will increase the prices of their cars. That will decreasing the amount of cars sold. BUT, VP of Marketing for Automobile Technologies, ted gaines, believes the tariffs will be great for the Used car industry.

Read the full blog here!

What was your favorite blog this week? Let me know in the comments!

Baby Boomers are on their way out. That means Millennials are the next in charge right? WRONG. There’s an entire generation in between that often gets looked over.

DDI, a company that solely focuses on creating and training leaders published a study called, The 2018 Global Leadership Forecast.

The study has a dozen different sections. One section focuses on generational leaders including Gen-X. But who are they? They are the people younger than Baby Boomers but older than Millennials born between 1965 and 1981.

GenX-ers hold 51 percent of leadership roles globally and will continue to grow into high level positions. However not much is known about them when it comes to leadership. Today that changes.

When it comes to technology, 54 percent of Gen-X leaders rate themselves as digitally savvy. That’s only two percent behind millennial leaders. And according to DDI Gen-X uses social media more habitually than any other generation!

Generation X prefers external coaching rather than coaching from within their own company.

Of Baby Boomers and Millennials, Generation X leaders are the slowest to get promoted BUT are more loyal than other generations. You could call them the are the “Middle Child” of career advancement opportunities.

So what can you do with this information to help improve genx leaders?

DDI says to encourage genx to challenge the status quo. Allow them the freedom to try new approaches and challenge old thoughts.

Leverage technology! As Gen-X is digitally savvy, giving them and teaching them new tech will help them improve their leadership.

What do you notice about your Generation X leaders? What traits stand out to you?

If Generation Z-ers aren’t on your mind yet, they will be. By 2020 they are expected to make up 25-percent of the Nations population. And that means what cars are most popular are about to change.

Currently subcompact cars are what many young people are buying. But the Gen-Z and Millenials U.S. sales of subcompact SUV’s are expected to beat the sales of subcompact cars as early as 2019.

And according to a press release by Ford, Generation Z drivers, those born in 1996 and beyond, find that subcompact SUV’s are the affordable first-car option

For instance in 2017 nearly 3 thousand 18-24 year olds in the U.S. bought a subcompact SUV. That’s up more than 5-hundred percent in just four years.

Why does that matter? Well according to one study by KBB and Autotrader, although Gen Z-ers come across as a ridesharing-only generation, 90 percent say they already own, or plan to own a own car in the future. On top of that, to own that car they will give up social media, buying new clothes, events and eating out for a year, and one third would give up their cell phone completely.

So what are the most important aspects of the car for Gen Z? First are price and gas mileage, then comes style and safety, and the very last thing Gen Z thinks about when buy a car is the brand.

Merkle, a Ford U.S. Sales analyst believes everybody wants SUV’s and Gen Z is no different saying quote, “As more new small SUV’s like Ford Ecosport become available, you’ll see the subcompact SUV segment continue to climb…”

Generation Z is the first fully connected on-demand generation. Because of that these subcompact SUV’s will have everything Gen-Z buyers want in a car like in-vehicle wifi, multiple charging ports, and a smartphone connected info-tainment system.

What have you noticed about Gen Z car buyers?