As I watched the twitter stream from Denver and Arizona, most tweets are trying to sell Manning on why he should be QB1 for each respective city. Manning and your customers are FREE AGENTS. When Manning arrived in Denver, he was properly greeted after his appointment was set.  What.... I thought all customers arrived on private jets? He was led to the team's head quarters at Dove Valley were I am confident Manning was shown around the Denver Broncos facility (Service Walk and Demo). After that, I can only guess Mr. Bowlen President and John Elway placed Manning in Write Up. During his time in Denver, there was SELLING going on about why Manning should be in Orange and Blue. Knowing he was going to Arizona either way, as a Bronco's fan, I hope the team made sure Manning knew we would love to have him as QB1 before he left.

Your customers are Free Agents and can shop and buy from anywhere. After setting appointments and during your customers' visit, are you giving them reasons WHY you want them to be your QB1? Show your customers around and give them reasons YOUR dealership is a great place to do business. Have fun during the demo and write up even if they leave to Arizona (other dealers). Be confident in what you do and how you do it.

DO NOT make it easy on the next dealer that your customer visits. I'm sure the Broncos didn't.

I wonder if the number of "likes" the Broncos (1,155,811) and Cardinals (434,696) have will sway Manning?

As I watched the twitter stream from Denver and Arizona, most tweets are trying to sell Manning on why he should be QB1 for each respective city. Manning and your customers are FREE AGENTS. When Manning arrived in Denver, he was properly greeted after his appointment was set.  What.... I thought all customers arrived on private jets? He was led to the team's head quarters at Dove Valley were I am confident Manning was shown around the Denver Broncos facility (Service Walk and Demo). After that, I can only guess Mr. Bowlen President and John Elway placed Manning in Write Up. During his time in Denver, there was SELLING going on about why Manning should be in Orange and Blue. Knowing he was going to Arizona either way, as a Bronco's fan, I hope the team made sure Manning knew we would love to have him as QB1 before he left.

Your customers are Free Agents and can shop and buy from anywhere. After setting appointments and during your customers' visit, are you giving them reasons WHY you want them to be your QB1? Show your customers around and give them reasons YOUR dealership is a great place to do business. Have fun during the demo and write up even if they leave to Arizona (other dealers). Be confident in what you do and how you do it.

DO NOT make it easy on the next dealer that your customer visits. I'm sure the Broncos didn't.

I wonder if the number of "likes" the Broncos (1,155,811) and Cardinals (434,696) have will sway Manning?

I went to the Morehead State vs. Louisville game at the Pepsi Center in Denver for the opening round of the NCAA basketball championship. The game turned out to be a great basketball game with it coming down to the last seconds. While at the game, I was not aware of what Morehead State coach said in there last time out in the huddle.

In an interview with Dan Patrick show, Morehead State Coach Donnie Tyndall presented a play that came to him the night before. He went to his notes and plays at 2:30am the day off the game and run through his mind; “Down one what are we going to run. Down two what are we going to run?” He said if they have the ball down two, we are going to shoot a three for the win. They are going to put it in Harper’s hand because he is 6’3 and the two defenders that could defend him are 5’11 or 6’0. Morehead State's Demonte Harper dribbled patiently and watched the clock tick down. Then, he stepped up behind the 3-point line and swished the shot with 4.2 seconds left Thursday for a 62-61 victory over No. 4 Louisville and the first big upset of the NCAA tournament. (full interview available on Dan Patrick Podcast 3/18/2011)

What is great about this story is the coach had a plan. He knew how he was going to win and planned his day before he arrived to the stadium. He relied on his player’s ability and the only thing left was execution.  

Would you rather work hard for a coach or be managed?

I went to the Morehead State vs. Louisville game at the Pepsi Center in Denver for the opening round of the NCAA basketball championship. The game turned out to be a great basketball game with it coming down to the last seconds. While at the game, I was not aware of what Morehead State coach said in there last time out in the huddle.

In an interview with Dan Patrick show, Morehead State Coach Donnie Tyndall presented a play that came to him the night before. He went to his notes and plays at 2:30am the day off the game and run through his mind; “Down one what are we going to run. Down two what are we going to run?” He said if they have the ball down two, we are going to shoot a three for the win. They are going to put it in Harper’s hand because he is 6’3 and the two defenders that could defend him are 5’11 or 6’0. Morehead State's Demonte Harper dribbled patiently and watched the clock tick down. Then, he stepped up behind the 3-point line and swished the shot with 4.2 seconds left Thursday for a 62-61 victory over No. 4 Louisville and the first big upset of the NCAA tournament. (full interview available on Dan Patrick Podcast 3/18/2011)

What is great about this story is the coach had a plan. He knew how he was going to win and planned his day before he arrived to the stadium. He relied on his player’s ability and the only thing left was execution.  

Would you rather work hard for a coach or be managed?

On the way to the airport with Jody Devere (@askpatty) and Gary May (@imacsweb) after the Innovative Dealer Summit in Denver, Jody asked me a great question after any event; “What was the one thing you got out of the event?” My response was that dealers continue to go to these events and get new information and do not act on it. As DD9 starts and next weeks Driving Sales Executive Summit begins, more dealers will gain new information and fail to act on it. Dealers: Just Do It.

If you continue to attend these events and you turn to your General Manager, Internet Manager or you are one and say “That was great information. We should do _________ (that)” Go back to your store and start to place “that” into action. It is difficult to start a project unfamiliar to most dealers. It does take work, but be patient and start off slow. Open the communication in the store to get feed back from the departments. It’s ok to get the “why are we doing that” from employees. Why are we on Twitter? Why do we have a dot org site? Just Do It or at least Just Try It.

On the way to the airport with Jody Devere (@askpatty) and Gary May (@imacsweb) after the Innovative Dealer Summit in Denver, Jody asked me a great question after any event; “What was the one thing you got out of the event?” My response was that dealers continue to go to these events and get new information and do not act on it. As DD9 starts and next weeks Driving Sales Executive Summit begins, more dealers will gain new information and fail to act on it. Dealers: Just Do It.

If you continue to attend these events and you turn to your General Manager, Internet Manager or you are one and say “That was great information. We should do _________ (that)” Go back to your store and start to place “that” into action. It is difficult to start a project unfamiliar to most dealers. It does take work, but be patient and start off slow. Open the communication in the store to get feed back from the departments. It’s ok to get the “why are we doing that” from employees. Why are we on Twitter? Why do we have a dot org site? Just Do It or at least Just Try It.

I spoke to a good friend Friday night who is with Hyundai. His store is part of a developed Auto Group and added a new Hyundai point. He was telling me about how great Auto USA leads are for new and how few AutoTrader leads he gets for Used. My leads are just the opposite. We did not find the same success with Auto USA and no longer with them and get great leads from AutoTrader for Used.

So my question is if your store said you can only keep one “Third Party” lead source, which one would you keep and why? Please reply and support Used “I’d keep ______” and New “I’d keep_________” or if you are weeding them out all together. Please also include the Make your dealer supports and the main city you sell from.

I spoke to a good friend Friday night who is with Hyundai. His store is part of a developed Auto Group and added a new Hyundai point. He was telling me about how great Auto USA leads are for new and how few AutoTrader leads he gets for Used. My leads are just the opposite. We did not find the same success with Auto USA and no longer with them and get great leads from AutoTrader for Used.

So my question is if your store said you can only keep one “Third Party” lead source, which one would you keep and why? Please reply and support Used “I’d keep ______” and New “I’d keep_________” or if you are weeding them out all together. Please also include the Make your dealer supports and the main city you sell from.