How did Kim Kardashian become so famous? Ten years ago, she was a regular Los Angeles socialite, just like hundreds of other socialites. She wasn't the most beautiful socialite, and she wasn't an actress or model. She didn't invent anything. She didn't have any noteworthy talents to speak of. Her only claim to fame was that she was friends with, and a personal assistant to, Paris Hilton; so in 2007, a leaked sex tape featuring Kim attracted some minor media attention.

Kim's manager and mother Kris knows a thing or two about branding. The Kardashians leveraged the friendship with Paris and the leaked sex tape to build a social media following for Kim and get as much publicity as possible, which soon after led to a reality television show. The rest is history. Today Kris is still largely in control of the Kardashian brand and rules it with an iron fist. The Kardashians are brilliant brand marketers.

I realize that auto dealerships are nothing like celebrities. You sell cars, while the Kardashians sell themselves. But the fact is, it doesn't matter what your product or service is. You are marketing a brand, so what can you learn from the best?

These three branding tips are taken straight from the Kardashian playbook, and if followed, can only benefit your dealership:

1) Be Authentic. In an interview earlier this year, Kim Kardashian was asked what she thought the one essential value was for building a successful brand. Kim replied promptly, "Authenticity." Never underestimate the ability of your customers to sense fakeness. The Kardashians' style is "slightly trashy" and they're good with that. They don't try to be sophisticated, and their fans love them for it.

What is authentic in the way your dealership does business? What do customers like about you? If you are the low-price leader, don't try to gouge customers. If you are the family-owned business that cares, don't expect your employees to work long hours. Your customers can see through a fake brand claim. Make sure your brand is authentic to the way you do business.

2) Do One Thing Well. In the bestselling book, The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding, this is also called the Law of Singularity. Don't try to be everything to everybody. Not everyone "gets" the Kardashians. Do you think they care?

As an auto dealer, find your Unique Selling Proposition and promote the heck out of it. Either you have the widest selection, or you're the low-price leader, or you're the family-owned business that cares, or you offer the best service in town. Don't try to be all of these. Pick one. Kim Kardashian recently said, "I used to take on too much and got involved with too many things because I wanted to be everywhere. I have whittled them down and now I just do what's right for me." That's not being picky. That's good branding.

3) Connect With Your Customers. Kim Kardashian has over 36 million Twitter followers and she constantly communicates with them. She re-tweets her fans' tweets about her, posts numerous personal photos of herself and her family, and shares her thoughts on life. She never asks her fans to buy her stuff (although she does charge companies up to $1 million to endorse their products, but that's a different story).

Social Media and email are very powerful communication tools, but too many auto dealers are still using them as a way to promote themselves. Effective communication is not about you; it's about your customer. Connecting with your customers does not mean try to sell to them. Connecting with your customers means listening to them, helping them and interacting with them, which increases your 'likability' factor and helps to build a strong brand.

The Kardashian name remains a strong brand, and not by accident. The most important takeaway for dealers is that building a strong brand name requires commitment, time and planning. You should always be the one who is defining and controlling your brand. Otherwise, your customers will define and control it for you.

Anyone can buy a white Chevy Malibu from any dealership, so how do you get people to buy from your dealership? If you think you must offer the best price, think again. According to marketing gurus Jack Trout and Steve Rivkin, co-authors of the book Differentiate or Die: Survival in Our Era of Killer Competition, the most successful businesses differentiate their brands, but not on price.

I know many dealers out there will disagree with me. When I was a General Manager I had this argument with the owner all the time. "If you treat the customers better, whether it's in sales or service, they will pay more for the car." The owner believed we had to be more competitive on price, but I saw it time and time again. Customers bought from us because they liked the way they were treated, not because we offered them a rock-bottom price.

So, how do you decide what your dealership's differentiator is? Here are key tips from experts Trout and Rivkin:

Don't Differentiate on Price, Quality, Customer Service or Breadth of Product Line. I know many dealerships create marketing campaigns around these familiar attributes, and that's exactly the problem. There will always be a competitor who can promise a better price, more product choices, better quality this or that, and better customer service. These attributes are considered too weak and too generic to make compelling differentiators.

Encourage Your Sales People to Differentiate: Have you heard about the "Pickle Man?" He gives a large jar of pickles to every customer who buys a vehicle. It sounds ridiculous but he has become a branding sensation! He has two billboards on a nearby interstate, paid for with the help of his supplier, the Gedney Pickle Company, and his dealership. He also gives away pickle hats, footballs, frisbees and pickle coloring books to kids. Of course not everyone can be the Pickle Man, and not everyone has to be a sensation, but salespeople should be aware of why customers like them and buy from them, and promote that as their differentiator.

Your Differentiator Should Be Unique to Your Dealership. Every potential customer should know what particular benefit they will get when they buy from your store, and it should be a benefit that none of your competitors can offer. Examples may include your family heritage or touting your leadership in one particular area; such as being #1 in used cars sales, having the most certified technicians in your service department, or offering a no-pressure sales experience. The most successful companies don't try to be everything to everybody; they focus and excel in one area.

Once Your Claim Your Differentiator, Walk the Talk. There's no surer way to break someone's trust than to fail to deliver on a promise. For this reason it's important to choose a differentiator that you can deliver on. Ensure that everyone on your staff knows what the new differentiator is and why it's important. One way to accomplish this is to literally throw a 'launch party' and training for the differentiator to make sure everyone gets the message.

Communicate Your Differentiator. In today's competitive and transparent market, customers largely decide which dealership to buy from before ever walking onto a lot. For this reason you have to differentiate your dealership ONLINE and communicate it loudly; in your advertising, in email marketing, on your website and on review sites. In your dealership, make sure your differentiator is visible on posters, POS materials and in brochures; and that your staff verbally communicates it to every customer.

If you're still not sure what your differentiator should be, ask your customers. What qualities are important to them when it comes to choosing a dealership? From their perspective, it may be important to buy from a dealership known for its integrity, good reputation or a great service department. Other strong attributes to differentiate on include being a leader, being first or best in something or being the most popular choice among customers' peers. Brainstorm and involve your employees so they want to take ownership of the differentiator, too.

A strong differentiator is a proven contributor towards a company's long-term success. A weak differentiator will keep your dealership firmly in the middle or bottom of the pack. So differentiate--or die!

On September 15th, Auto/Mate Dealership Systems celebrated Hawaiian Day! Many of our employees tell me Hawaiian Day is one of their favorite company events. The day started out with myself and Ken Rock, Corporate Training Manager, wearing a grass skirt and "coconut shell" bra, greeting employees with flower leis as they arrived at work.

Employees were encouraged to wear island wear and festivities included a catered lunch and virgin pina coladas. Later in the afternoon, a Kona Ice truck arrived to serve shaved ice treats.

So, what's the point of sharing this? Because there's more happening here on Hawaiian Day than just eating and the shaking of coconut shells. The reason I love Hawaiian day is because I view it as an opportunity to strengthen our company's core values, and to show our employees an appreciation for what they do every day.

Core values are important because they are the essence of a company's identity, and also the essence of the individuals who work at that company. You can see a list of Auto/Mate's core values here, but the purpose of this blog is not to promote our company's core values.

Today I want to talk about the essence of core values in words. In our society today we don't talk much about the importance of words and their meanings. Too often people use words in a glib manner, and in the workplace they are often used to one's advantage: to sell, to promote, to brag.

Recently I spent some time in Hawaii. If you learn just two words in Hawaiian, learn these: 'aloha' and 'mahalo.' They are two of the most important words in the Hawaiian language, representing paramount Hawaiian values.

In Hawaiian thinking, words have mana [pronounced: mah' nah], meaning spiritual or divine power. Aloha and mahalo are among the most sacred and powerful words.

On a spiritual level, aloha is an invocation of the Divine and mahalo is a Divine blessing. Both are acknowledgments of the Divinity that dwells within and without.

Aloha is the most Hawaiian word. In the Hawaiian language, it can mean hello or goodbye. It also means love and affection.

Aloha is a Hawaiian symbol. Its meaning goes beyond any definition you can find about it in the dictionaries. In Hawaii, you hear aloha all the time and you are treated with aloha everywhere.

The literal meaning of aloha is “the presence of breath” or “the breath of life.” It comes from 'Alo,' meaning presence, front and face, and 'ha,' meaning breath. Aloha is a way of living and treating each other with love and respect. Its deep meaning starts by teaching ourselves to love our own beings first and afterwards to spread the love to others.

'Aloha Spirit' is the coordination of mind and heart within each person. It brings each person to the self. Each person must think and emote good feelings to others. Aloha is the contemplation and presence of the life force.

Aloha is more than a word of greeting or farewell or a salutation.

Aloha means mutual regard and affection, and extends warmth in caring with no obligation in return.

Aloha is the essence of relationships in which each person is important to every other person for collective existence.

Aloha means to hear what is not said, to see what cannot be seen, and to know the unknowable.

Mahalo is a kind expression of thanks, gratitude, admiration, praise, esteem, regards, or respect.

Another Hawaiian word that to me, is just as important, is 'Ohana

The Hawaiian word 'ohana literally means family. However, the actual concept and examples of 'ohana are more complex. The mainland concept of family is a mother, a father and their children. Granted, many other types of families exist. In Hawaii, however, the "other" type of family is more the norm than the exception. Many families consist of parents, grandparents and children all residing under one roof. It's not unusual to see a child being raised by a grandparent or aunt while the parents live and work elsewhere. The Hawaiian family or 'ohana can also consist of others not related by birth. A valued friend can be a member of your 'ohana. An entire group of close friends or associates can be their own 'ohana. The late Hawaiian music superstar Israel Kamakawiwo'ole often referred to the friends he chatted with on the Net as his "cyber 'ohana."

So treat each other with Aloha and remember we are all 'Ohana....Mahalo.

(Sources: The University of Hawai'i, The Law of Aloha; Wikipedia, Mahalo; About.com/Hawaii Travel, Lilo & Stitch and the Spirit of Hawaii)

As a business leader, what motivates you to wake up and go to work every day? If you ask many people why they start a business or why they go to work every day, the answer is "to make money." But making money is the result of being in business; it's not the Why you are in business. To be a great leader or manager, you need to know your Why and you need to articulate it to employees and customers, so that they are inspired and motivated as well.

Apple Computers is one of the most successful companies in the world. In 1984 Steve Jobs introduced the first Macintosh computer and it's clear that his Why was to disrupt the status quo. To launch his new product, he ran this award-winning commercial during the 1984 Superbowl. The ad explains why Apple is in business and is as relevant today as it was then.

In his book Start with Why, Simon Sinek explains how great organizations align their Why, How and What:

• Your What is selling and servicing vehicles
• Your How is your unique selling proposition
• Your Why is your inspiration and belief in something greater than yourself

At Auto/Mate, we make and sell DMS software for auto dealers. But what is our Why? After discussions and meetings with our employees what came back to us was, "We have lived the dealership life. We understand what people in the dealership go through. We believe they deserve to be treated better than they are by many of their vendors and we are going to do that! That's why we come to work every day; to make and keep our customers happy."

The best way to define your Why is in your dealership's mission statement. Does your mission statement accurately reflect why you are in business? Does it contain a blueprint and vision for where your company is going? Does it define your core values on the basis of which all decisions are made?

Here are a few tips for creating a mission statement that defines Why you are in business:

Inspire. Your company's mission statement should inspire you, your employees and your customers every day.

Provide purpose. Mission statements guide and help unify organizations. They go hand-in-hand with the corporate culture.

Keep it brief. There's nothing more uninspiring than a long-winded paragraph about what the company does, how it strives to do this and that, blah, blah, blah. Keep your mission statement to one sentence. Focus on the Why, not the What or the How.

Think big. Sure, everyone needs a car to get from point A to point B. But what else can cars do for people? They offer a sense of freedom, a sense of empowerment, joy, pride, achievement...the sky's the limit. Well, maybe in this case the road's the limit...at least for now.

Be specific. The hugely successful shoe company Zappos' mission statement is simply "To provide the best customer service possible." Sometimes, simpler is better.

Examples of other great mission statements include:

Amazon.com: To be Earth's most customer-centric company where people can find and discover anything they want to buy online.

Chipotle: Food with integrity.

Virgin Airlines: To embrace the human spirit and let it fly.

Hubspot: To make the world Inbound. We want to transform how organizations attract, engage and delight their customers.

Microsoft: To enable people and businesses throughout the world to realize their full potential.

Coca-Cola: To refresh the world; to inspire moments of optimism and happiness; to create value and make a difference.

Google: To organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.

What is your dealership's Why? Does it motivate your employees? Does it inspire your customers? Do they even know what your Why is? Your Why should be clearly articulated and communicated on a regular basis.

"Defining Your Why" is just one step in the eBook, The Auto Dealer's 10-Step Guide to Creating Customer Loyalty (No Customer Loyalty Program Needed). To get your free copy, click here.

What's the most important skill a great leader must possess? Above all, I believe the ability to communicate is critical to the long-term success of any business. Specifically, leaders who communicate effectively with their employees benefit from higher levels of employee engagement and morale. The more engaged employees are, the more motivated they become, providing more value to the organization all around.

As a leader, are you communicating effectively? Most leaders don't get to be in leadership positions without good communications skills, so your first instinct may be to answer in the affirmative. But the focus of effective communications is less about your style of communication, and more about what information you choose to communicate.

Here are recommendations for the type of communications that leaders should be sharing with their employees:

1) Share your vision. Every leader has a vision for their company. You know your organizational goals cannot be achieved without the help and dedication of your employees. To get them on board and help to make it happen, you need to share your vision. Tell your employees what kind of company you are, what kind of company you want to be, and lay out your plan to get there. And tell them often. Ensure that every employee knows their role and how they contribute to that vision, and how much their efforts are appreciated.

2) Hold monthly meetings. Similar to a "State of the Union" address, hold a monthly "State of your dealership" address to keep employees informed. In particular, if there is a challenge your dealership is facing, it's critical that employees hear it from the leadership first. If you don't share this information, guess what? Your employees will start making things up, and rumors and gossip are a death knell to employee morale. Also encourage managers to have a weekly meeting with employees to do this on a micro-scale.

3) Share numbers and goals. You don't have to share your profit numbers, but do share some of the revenue goals in each department and then share how close each department came to achieving their goals. It's also a great idea to set and share additional goals such as increasing sales closing ratios, or hitting a 95 percent vehicle inspection rate. Let employees set individual goals as well. If your employees understand the goals and are encouraged to talk about them in a public forum, they may feel more motivated to help their department reach those goals.

4) Celebrate successes. When goals are met, it's important to celebrate on a dealership-wide basis. Communicate and let everyone know when a person or department hits a goal. But don't make it all about the numbers. As an organization with core values, it's important to celebrate cultural successes as well. Do you have some employees that volunteered in a community event or an employee who handled a customer exceedingly well? Celebrate them.

At Auto/Mate, we have a booth-decorating contest around the holidays, and it's amazing how elaborate some of the booths get and how competitive the employees are with each other. The winner deserves to be celebrated because of the sheer amount of work and time that's put in. We also have "Matey awards" for recognizing exceptional employees, with categories like "The Energizer Bunny award for never slowing down," and "The ShamWow! award for an amazing ability to clean up messes." Company-wide contests that aren't revenue related are fun and boost employee spirits. What non-revenue related things are your employees doing that can be celebrated?

5) Acknowledge employees who do a great job. Do you know which employees are the hard workers and which ones are just coasting? It's really important to publicly acknowledge the ones who put in extra effort and have a great attitude. Many dealers still believe in spiffing employees when they reach a goal or go the extra mile. That's okay, but it's been proven that the "if you do this, then you get that," approach isn't motivating for most people. And what if an employee is in a position where spiffs don't apply to them?

When an employee is doing their job well, or does something that results in positive feedback from a customer, a leader should reward them with praise--and make it public. Let's say Jim the service advisor authorized a little extra something gratis for a customer who had a large repair bill, and the customer was so appreciative they called the General Manager to thank them. The GM or dealer should immediately drop everything, walk to the service department, put their arm around Jim's shoulders and say loudly, in front of everyone, "Jim, Mrs. Smith just called to let me know how you took care of her. I just wanted to say thank you for doing such a great job and taking care of our customers." Remember it has to be sincere and come from the heart. I guarantee Jim will be on Cloud Nine all day.

Communication is a Two-Way Street

So far we've talked about information that leaders choose to share with employees. But what about the information your employees want to share with you? Employee input and feedback is invaluable when it comes to identifying problems and developing solutions.

Your monthly meetings offer a good forum for getting employee feedback on many situations. But if there's a real problem, often employees are unwilling to share their opinions publicly. In this case, you may want to consider a good old-fashioned, anonymous suggestion box.

At Auto/Mate, every year we are nominated by our employees for the "Top Workplaces" competition that's sponsored by our local Business Journal. As part of the process, Workplace Dynamics gives our employees a detailed survey. These anonymous survey results have helped me identify areas with room for improvement. An anonymous employee survey conducted by an outside party is an invaluable tool I would recommend to every organizational leader.

Once you have your employee feedback it's critical to take their concerns seriously. Share results publicly and address all of the issues. If a suggestion isn't realistic, explain your reasoning. If you are open and honest about your decision-making process, employees are more likely to respect your decisions, regardless of what they are.

Effective communication promotes a culture of sharing ideas and solving problems. Employees who are "in the know" and feel like their opinions are valued are more likely to be engaged and motivated to do their jobs well.

In an informal survey of more than 100 dealership employees, Auto/Mate found that only 20 percent of auto dealerships use mobile tablets in the sales and service departments, and a mere seven percent use mobile tablets in the F&I department.

I believe these users are the early adopters in what is going to be a classic bell curve, with the end result (in five years or so) being widespread usage of mobile tablets throughout the dealership in all departments. The benefits are too clear to ignore. In our survey we asked the following question: What do you believe are the greatest benefits to using mobile tablets in the dealership?

Responses are ranked in order:

• Improves dealership efficiency/workflow/consistency in process (29%)
• Speeds up processes (25%)
• Makes dealership personnel jobs easier (19%)
• Increases customer satisfaction (14%)
• Reduces paperwork (7%)
• Increases revenue (6%)

I am not surprised by these responses, but I think survey respondents are focused on how the tablet benefits them versus how the tablet benefits the customer and the dealership. In my opinion, the single biggest benefit of mobile tablet usage is the increase in customer satisfaction, which has a close correlation to an increase in revenue.

Perhaps ignorance of these benefits is one of the reasons why more auto dealers haven't embraced the usage of mobile tablets in their dealership. Other objections include cost, resistance to change, and an undefined ROI.

Assuming that cost is a relatively minor objection and assuming the benefits and ROI will become defined over time, that leaves "resistance to change" as the primary reason why most dealers aren't currently using mobile tablets. Is anyone really surprised by this?

As business leaders, we have all been faced with resistance whenever we try to implement a new technology that requires a change in process. But as leaders we also know that resistance is NOT a good excuse to avoid the adoption of a new technology that has so many benefits.

In my experience, the best way to overcome employee resistance is to involve them in the creation of new processes. Here are three tips for creating a process that your employees will embrace, even if change is required:

1) Get buy in. Education is key here. Do your employees understand the benefits of using mobile tablets? According to the survey question, they clearly see how mobile tablets may help them be more efficient. But they may not understand how faster, cleaner processes benefit the customers, which in turn benefits the dealership and employees even more. As with any new directive, leaders must communicate with determination, persistence and enthusiasm to get the necessary buy-in from managers and employees.

2) Address the What's In It For Me (WIIFM) question.

Even if your employees do understand the benefits of using a new technology, the first question on their minds is, "What's in it for me?" The extra time and work associated with process change is not always met with enthusiasm. As a leader, it's important to acknowledge any extra efforts that a team member contributes. Sometimes this personal and public recognition and acknowledgement is enough. Offering an incentive may also help. It doesn't have to be huge. If the team creates a new process and it's fully adopted by a deadline, an incentive can be a nice dinner or even a hundred dollar bill.

3) Make resources available. The most significant cost associated with using mobile tablets is not the hardware or the software, but the infrastructure. There absolutely must be lightning fast Wi-Fi throughout the dealership, even (and especially) reaching to the darkest corner in the most remote bay in the service department. The last thing you want to do is get your employees on the bus and then drive them off a cliff. Make sure they have what they need to succeed.

Process change is only as difficult as you expect it to be. Mobile tablets offer many benefits that will positively impact your dealership's bottom line. Only one thing is for sure: by changing nothing, nothing changes. 

Anyone who runs a business knows that transparency is considered to be a good thing. Transparency is an important part of a company's efforts to improve productivity, boost employee morale and earn customer trust. Yet, to be transparent is apparently easier said than done.

It's a sad fact that auto dealerships are--still, today--repeatedly listed in the Better Business Bureau's Top Ten industries with the most customer complaints. Even if you're an auto dealer who works hard to create one of the most transparent, honest dealerships in town, fighting public perception can be like swimming upstream.

The fact is, people tend to believe what they read more than what they hear from another person. These days, most people read online via a computer or other device. This is where mobile tablets can help.

Incorporating mobile tablets into your dealership processes allows you to present visual information to the customer. Information increases transparency because the customers feel empowered to make their own decision. It's one thing for your service advisor to recommend a service. It's quite another to present the customer with a picture of a part that needs to be replaced and a video that explains why that part is important and gives safety precautions. Seeing really is believing.

Here are three ways that mobile tablets can be used to increase transparency in your dealership:

1) In the service department. Mobile tablets allow service advisors to greet the customer in the service lane, conduct a multi-point inspection, get the customer sign-off and complete the service write-up process on the go. Spending more time with the customer helps to build trust and pave the way for a better upsell process. Customers can view service history along with any recall that may be needed on their vehicle. When a customer sees a checklist of maintenance items with a gradual progression of green to yellow to red, they feel more confident about approving a recommended repair.

2) In the sales department. Mobile tablets shine as a tool that can present visual information such as inventory videos, dealership videos, online reviews and other information that may be used in the decision-making process. Rather than attempt a hard sell, engage your ups by asking them about their needs and then pulling up information on why that vehicle and your dealership are the best solution for their needs.

Mobile tablets can also be used by salespeople to combat showrooming. This is when savvy customers come in to your showroom with smartphones and start checking out your competitors' pricing. If you really want to be transparent, have your salespeople beat these price shoppers at their own game. If a customer starts showrooming, a salesperson could whip out their tablet and search along with the customer, all while guaranteeing the lowest price.

3) In the F&I office. Mobile tablets can greatly reduce the time involved in the F&I process. While your customers are waiting to see the F&I manager, hand them a mobile tablet that allows them to answer questions about their driving habits, view the menu, watch educational videos about products and drag and drop products into a customized package. Your customers will be thrilled because they will save time and feel empowered to make their own decision.

If your dealership hasn't integrated mobile tablets into your processes, now is the time. Increased transparency and customer trust are just two of the many benefits enjoyed by going mobile.

Heinous crimes are being committed, day after day in auto dealerships around the nation. Somehow the valuable data in your dealership management system (DMS) keeps ending up in other dealers' hands. How is it that your competition across town knows that one of your customers is six months away from coming off a lease? How is it that one of your most loyal customers who has purchased three Toyotas from you, has just received an email offer from a competing Toyota dealership?

What nefarious forces are afoot, you wonder, and well you should. Is someone stealing your precious data? Is your DMS provider giving your data away?  Before we start pointing fingers, let us follow the Chain of Evidence.

In a Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) the Chain of Evidence is a series of events which, when viewed in sequence, account for the actions or location of a person or entity during a particular period of time. I submit the following:

1. Mr. Dealer is required to sign up for a parts program with their OEM. Or, Mr. Dealer has decided to install a new software program from a third-party vendor. The agreement states the OEM or third-party vendor will be pulling or getting a push of the data on a daily basis from the dealer's DMS.
2. OEM or third-party vendor subcontracts the data push/pull duties to a data aggregator.
3. Data aggregator receives the data. In their agreement with the OEM or third-party vendor there is a tiny clause in the fine print that allows them to share, resell or trade this data with several affiliates.
4. Quite possibly, the OEM or third-party vendor is not aware of the fine print.
5. Quite certainly, Mr. Dealer is not aware of the fine print.
6. The data from Mr. Dealer's DMS is resold, traded or shared with one, several, or for all we know, dozens of the data aggregators' affiliates, and their affiliates, and so on.

From this Chain of Evidence, there is only one possible conclusion. The fiend responsible for giving your precious data to your competitors is none other than ...you, Mr. Dealer! (Cue dramatic music and shocked face)

Yes, you are the party responsible for signing an agreement without reading the fine print. You are the party who failed to ask the pertinent questions. Your third-party vendors are not doing anything illegal or even unethical. Your DMS provider is obliged to do what you tell them, which is to give a third-party vendor or aggregator unrestricted access to your data.

The good news is, I think you have a pretty good case for self-defense. After all, you don't know what you don't know. But now that you do know, you can avoid being part of this twisted, diabolical chain of evidence, by taking the following steps:

• Review all contracts with third-party vendors. Require the language to be very specific regarding what type of data is needed, how often and from which part of the system. This is where your DMS provider can offer the most help, by performing monthly audits and providing dealers with the above information. That way the dealer can check and see if vendors are indeed pulling the agreed upon information.

• Insist on the removal of all language that relates to sharing or re-selling information. However, if doing so is required for the vendor to do their job, this won’t be an option. In this case, demand to know what type of data is shared or sold, and to whom – including the specific names of all affiliates.

• Request to see the agreements between data aggregators and their affiliates, and demand the same type of language be in their agreements, so they know what the affiliates are doing with the data.

• Insist you have the right to full transparency in terms of what purpose(s) the data is being used for, from both vendors and their affiliates.

• Review all agreements and ask who is actually accessing the data, then ask to see the agreements between the third parties and any vendors they sub-contract access to.

• Once every few months, enter in a false customer profile with a personal email address that you set up for the purpose of tracking what companies are soliciting to your customers.

• Daunting? Yes. One vendor may have half a dozen affiliates, and some of those affiliates may have affiliates. There may actually be up to a dozen parties involved in a single process.

• Worth it? Yes. The fact that your competitors can buy your customer data is beneficial to them and harmful to your business.

If you, the dealers, don't stand up for your right to know who is selling what to whom, then who will? Take a stand, ask questions and follow the Chain of Evidence until you are completely satisfied that nobody is sharing or selling your data. You are now released on your own recognizance.

For several years there has been some banter concerning the demise of the F&I Manager position. A focus on the need to speed up the car-buying process and improve customer satisfaction will inevitably lead to the demise of this role in the dealership, or so it's said. In the words of Mark Twain, I believe the rumors of the F&I Manager's death have been greatly exaggerated.

The reality is the F&I Manager's role is not a one-size-fits-all approach. In large dealerships, most sales departments have front-end gross and back-end gross, and a very clear definition of roles and goals for both. In mid- to small-size dealerships, it may make sense to combine roles and you can frequently find a sales manager working payment numbers and also selling service contracts and products. However, in these scenarios typically the contract and product gross is low.

The fact is there is a need for F&I products. Customers, whether they think they need or want them at the time, and regardless of how fast they want to get out of the dealership, really do need to have these products presented to them. Most customers will recognize and want the peace-of-mind that many of these products offer, if they are properly presented.

Instead of focusing on who should be doing the presenting, shouldn't the focus be on the F&I presentation itself? Regardless of whether an F&I Manager or a salesperson is in this role, the need for that person to be properly trained and the appropriate technology to streamline the process are critical.

These days there is no excuse for a long, drawn-out F&I sales presentation. There are many F&I menu solutions available that are both affordable and fully integrated with your DMS. Listening to the customer and assessing their needs is the most important first step. The ability to quickly create a customized package based on these needs is the second. Dealerships that take the time to create a series of "smart" packages of products designed for different needs have found this to be a successful approach.

If a turn over from sales to F&I is necessary, and a wait time unavoidable, give the customer something to do! This is where mobile tablets are not only a cool tool, but invaluable. While your customer waits, they can scroll through a questionnaire asking them how they use their vehicles. Then, based upon their answers, a series of customized recommendations are presented to them. If the customer doesn't understand a product, they can click on a description or an educational video that explains everything. Putting the information in the customers' hands empowers them, which, contrary to what some dealers might think, increases the likelihood they will purchase.

Another important revenue generator that's often overlooked is following up on lost F&I sales. In some cases the customer really does just want to get out the door as quickly as possible, so they grow impatient and decline everything. But that doesn't mean they don't have a need, or that they won't at some point be inclined to listen.

Once a week someone--the F&I Manager or the person in that role--should run a sales report to extract lost sales opportunities, including F&I. Then follow up with all the customers who left without purchasing, by sending emails or postcards or even phone calls. An F&I Manager with one of our clients does this quite successfully. Anchor Auto Group's follow-up efforts on lost F&I sales net a ten percent return and add approximately $10,000 in recovered revenue to the bottom line every month.

Additionally, the need for compliance now is greater than ever. Everything nowadays is about crossing your t’s and dotting your i’s. Your F&I menu solution should produce disclosure statements as well as a selected options report that shows what the customer is purchasing and what they are forfeiting. This is key as you never want the customer to come back and say they were not offered a certain contract or product.

Increased customer satisfaction and increased back-end gross are not conflicting goals. It's possible to have both, as long as the person doing the selling has the appropriate knowledge and tools. Every dealership is different but in my experience, a good F&I Manager is not only financially self-sustainable, but worth their weight in gold. Long live the F&I Manager!

I'd like to have a heart-to-heart with dealers and high-level managers at dealerships, because I am genuinely curious about something. You are all focused on customer loyalty these days, as you should be. It takes genuine effort to earn--and keep--a customer's loyalty. You implement best practices, train your employees, try to keep your employees happy and motivated so they'll provide great customer service, and you demand honesty and accountability when a customer is unhappy.

So why then, do you not demand the same amount of effort from your vendors to earn and keep your loyalty?

It seems to me that I hear dealers grumble about various vendors, products and services on a regular basis. Perhaps the product or service isn't right for them, or they're paying too much, or they have to sign a long-term contract they don't want to sign, or the vendor doesn't provide the level of customer service they want, or worst of all, they find out their vendor isn't being honest with them!

So why do you Mr. Dealer, when you have the ability to switch vendors, remain loyal to the vendor you have been complaining about? If a car shopper isn't happy with the experience of buying a car or getting their car serviced at your dealership, they will go somewhere else next time. And, if you, Mr. Dealer, aren't happy with value you are receiving from a specific vendor, then you should move to a different vendor. Your vendors should be working to earn your loyalty with every single transaction, every day.

I know what you're thinking. I've heard the objections before, but they really don't hold water:

Objection #1: I've been with (my current vendor) for so long, I owe them my loyalty.

Really? Since when does the amount of time you've been with a company have anything to do with how much loyalty you owe them? I've had a free personal checking account with the same bank for 20 years, but I assure you if they start charging me a $10 monthly checking fee, I'll leave and open a new account somewhere else in a heartbeat. Vendors should be trying to earn and keep your loyalty every day with every single transaction. Time has nothing to do with loyalty.

Objection #2:  The process of vendor selection, implementing and learning a new technology or system is hard and time-consuming.

Yes, it is. If you recall, nobody wanted to move from typewriters to computers either, but they learned and eventually realized they couldn't get along without them. Every once in a while, leaving your comfort zone is required in order to achieve better results for your company. Learning anything new requires time and effort, but if and when you do finally find a great vendor with a product or service that meets your needs, along with great customer service, you will be thrilled. The effort is worth the reward.

Objection #3: My employees don't want to change.

Employees need to be involved in the change process as soon as possible. They aren’t so much against change as they are against being changed. Talk to your employees about the change and see what their objections might be.  You will also need to ask employees for commitment. Once the change has been announced, it is important that you personally ask for each employee’s commitment to successfully implement the change. Once you are involved in the change you need to be committed and remain firm. It is of utmost importance that you see the change through to completion. Stopping it halfway through the process accomplishes two negative impacts. First, it destroys your credibility. Second, it tells every employee that if they take the stance of a dinosaur, this change, and possible all other changes you want to make, will pass by.

If you care about earning your own customers' loyalty, shouldn't you care about whether your vendors are trying to earn your loyalty? What are the attributes a vendor should have in order to earn your loyalty? Here are a few of my thoughts and recommendations:

1) Honesty. Do you have to review a vendor’s bill every month only to find that there is a mistake (and always in their favor)? Or when asking your vendor to resolve an issue or help you with a problem do they constantly refer to the contract you signed with them? A company should be honest and straight forward with you. You deserve it. You are the customer.

2) Great customer service. Your customers expect it, and YOU expect it in all other facets of your life. If you're paying good money for something, you expect the vendor will rapidly respond to your questions, concerns, complaints and suggestions. Perhaps it's because so many large tech companies don't even bother to give ANY customer service (i.e. Facebook and Twitter) that some companies seem to think it's not as important as it used to be. Yet, I guarantee the companies who do provide great customer service have higher customer retention rates.

3) Showing gratitude for the business you're giving them and not trying to sell you more stuff that you don't need. You know that if you start selling your customers service repairs they don't need, they will not remain loyal customers for long. It's one thing if you could really use or benefit from a product or service. But if the vendors goal is to just gain a larger share of your wallet the I would say for you to RUN the other way!

Dealers, what are you thoughts on customer loyalty and vendor loyalty? I'd really like to hear why you are loyal to your vendors and what you think vendors should do to earn your loyalty.