When I look back on my years as an employer I thought of tthese two things first-

1. Took me 10 minutes to count how many people who are  current business owners, General Managers or Leaders in other industries who worked for me.     17

2. What would I change?  I would have gone to the bank much earlier. Stubbornly wanting to do it all with my own money early on made it harder later on. Didn't learn to do it with other peoples money until I was older. 

Other than that, I wouldn't have changed a thing!!!

1995 USAX

SHOWROOM Prep.

1992 New England Auto Show

Met so many awesome people that week!

21st Century Word of Mouth

Amy has just graduated from college and she is looking to buy a pre-owned BMW but, she has no idea which model or where she should go to purchase it. She posts on her Facebook page that she is looking for a car and asks her friends if they know which she should buy and from where. Her friend Mike comments; “You’d look sweet in a 3 Series”. Many of her other friends leave similar comments and she is steered toward that model. But, the question still remains as to where she should procure the car. As she has the habit of doing with Spring Break Vacations and buying anniversary dinner gift certificates for her parents she then heads to Google to search for good options. She creates a Google search with the following information in the search box; “Pre-Owned BMW reviews”. Amy represents one of the 88% of consumers these days who search on line prior to ever calling a dealership and that % is growing every day.

Bill has just started a landscaping business and his partner suggests they buy a pick up rather than a dump bed. Because time is money to him now, he researches on-line to find it. He too visits Google. During his search he notices a listing for a dealer at the top of the search page that includes the word “reviews” in its listing. He clicks into the information and reads what others have had to say about interacting with this business. He calls and made an appointment with that one store and buys the truck. After delivery he goes back to the web and posts his review outlining his experience.

Mary is expecting a child and needs a minivan or midsized SUV. Because it’s easier than driving around to different businesses over the weekend, Mary tweets out her need and gets involved in a long conversation thread filled with suggestions from her friends and family. With so many suggestions she gets confused and resorts back to how she found all the baby supplies, furniture and other amenities she will need for her soon to be arriving child. She goes to Google to find out what others in her same situation had to say. As with Bill from the above example, she finds what she feels would work for her but, two dealerships seem to have the near exact Honda Pilot. However, one of these dealers has reviews listed on their Facebook and Web page and the other does not. Feeling more comfortable after having read the reviews posted she calls and arranges time to visit the one with the reviews. The feeling of comfort Mary gains from reading about other customers experiences outweighs even the advice from her sister, girlfriends and neighbors.

In each case the first thing these folks did was talk about it. Odds are that most of if not all of that conversation will take place on Facebook or Twitter. They each involve themselves in consumer behavior which entails reading reviews. Amy, Bill, and Mary engage in 21st Century word of mouth.

Reviews Matter-

The meteoric rise and growth of web sites such as Angie’s List, Trip Adviser and Rate My Professor indicate the growing number of those in our country who value user reviews. Relaying personal experiences is not a trend; it has become common place. Smart, innovative businesses who seek long-term growth are keen to pay attention to these reviews and in many cases use them to shape improvements in products which best fit the trends they observe in what consumers have to say. Bottom line, if you are not paying attention to what is being said about your business on the web than you are not doing all you can to succeed. It’s that cut and dry. Those who do will prosper; those who do not will wallow in the way side. You owe it to yourself, your employees and those who depend on your ability to manage your business successfully to pay attention to this news. The hotel, restaurant, academic, technology and franchise car dealership worlds have adopted “review centric” mentalities. It is high time that those in your end of the automotive market do as well.

As mentioned in CBT News in May of this past year: “Consumers are 90 percent more likely to visit a dealer’s website and 5.3 times more likely to convert to a lead after reading positive reviews or seeing an above average rating for that dealer online” Become one of the dealers that has done what it takes to stay current. Recognize that buying trends are evolving and have been riding a tidal wave of change which will not stop. Give yourself and your business all the advantages available and you will be glad you did.

Become one of the dealers that has done what it takes to stay current. Recognize that buying trends are evolving and have been riding a tidal wave of change which will not stop. Give yourself and your business all the advantages available and you will be glad you did.

Balloons never sold a car

Balloons don’t sell cars, people do.

It’s an age old saying but people really do buy from people and the more human you can make the buying experience for a consumer the more successful you and your store will be.In this world of on-line marketing, social media blitzing and web site dazzle we tend to get away from the personal touch. People buy from people, we need to remember that, always.

So, that being said how can we get back to a human touch and how can we more personalize the interaction? Here are five tips that will make your customers feel warmer, feel more trusting of you and in the end be a less combative and easier to close consumer.

1. Put a face and add personalities onto your web site. If you don’t have one already create or add a “Our Staff” page or “Meet our Staff” page. This is very effective in breaking down walls and building a bridge of emotional connection with prospective customers. In fact, a well-known Review web site will allow you to do this so you may be able to utilize that feature instead. This leads us into the next tip…
2. Get reviews and spread them wide and far. It has been proven that over 80%of the buying public read and trust reviews. In fact, they trust them more than the words of advice from family and friends. Consumers trust other consumers so having a review culture in your dealership is very important to building trust.
3. Buy and use thank you notes. In my past some of the best sales advice I was ever given was to treat everyone as if they were your Grandmother. In the home and businesses I was raised in thank you notes were written after every birthday or Christmas. The art of hand written notes or letters needs to be reawakened. You may not choose to send one to each and every customer but, keep in mind those whom you worked with in your store who you feel would appreciate it and send them one. Just a quick note will do: “Thanks for your business, it is much appreciated” is all you need to write inside—it’s the action that will be most remembered.

If you are so inclined, track the results from those who you send them to. I will bet you a dollar that these are the folks who will send others to you to work with personally.

4.  Add your photos to your email signature. Not all formats will allow this but, adding this image has been seen to have great effects. There may be the odd time that someone will need to right click on the box to see it but, they will look. They will see your smiling face and they will have the “I like this person” chemicals start to flow in their brains.

5. Be social. Send out invites to your customers and prospects to join in on your various social media avenues. Here again, this may not be something you want to do with everyone but for those whom you do it will prove to be a great idea. We are communal by nature, we are interested beings and the majority of us want to belong to something. Inviting them to join will allow you to build a greater bond with your client base. Not all will accept, but again, as with the thank you note it is the effort that will be remembered.

These may seem to be very basic ideas and they are but, in the day to day grind; trials and tribulations of commerce and making deals happen we usually get away from the basics. We need to get back there, we need to find ways of making the on-line linear interactions feel and be more personal…Try it you will like it and you will turn more of your prospects into buying customers-Good luck!