Jody DeVere, founder of AskPatty.com, presented the award to the Hoehn family, of Hoehn Motors and Hoehn Adventures for their spirit of leadership in the automotive industry.

Here's a really AWESOME fact: Of the Hoehn group's 49 executive positions, 20 of them are held by women. BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE: 2 of the most senior executive-level positions are held by women.

Kudos to the Hoehn family on fostering a culture that supports, uplifts, and empowers women.

One more fun fact, shared with us by Johanna Hoehn: The initial loan for the first Hoehn dealership came from two women:  Mr. Hoehn's aunts! 

Melody Lee, Global Director of Book by Cadillac, and WIA 2017 Keynote Speaker
#WomeninAuto2017 #womeninautomotive #WIA2017

Some powerful insights about the growth mindset from Cynthia Hiskes, Chief People Officer at Cars.com and opening keynote at Women in Automotive 2017 conference:
 

• Don't feel guilty about investing in yourself. The return on the investment you're making in yourself goes far beyond you.
• Becoming is better than being. Becoming is moving, changing, adapting, rolling. Being is standing still -- and as women in the automotive industry, standing still is not an option.
• Don't let who you are stand in the way of who you can become.
• Successful people don't think outside the box; they live outside the box.
   

#WomeninAuto2017 #WIA2017 #growthmindset

#WomeninAuto2017 #WIA2017 #growthmindset

Kicking off #WomeninAuto2017! Stay tuned -- lots of photos and insights to come!

These days, everywhere you look, individuals, businesses, and communities are “going green.” - but should they be "going blue?"

“Blue Zones” refers to Dan Buettner’s best-selling book by the same name. In the book, Buettner details and analyzes the commonalities among five communities throughout the world where people live until age 100 about 10 times more frequently on average than in the United States. These communities are called "Blue Zones," and the common factors that run through each of them are what Buettner refers to as “The Power 9”:

1. Move Naturally.  People in Blue Zones rarely go to gyms or “work out” in the way that generally comes to mind for us; rather, they incorporate physical activity as a natural part of their daily routine, including activities such as gardening or using walking as their primary means of transportation

 2. Know Your Purpose.  According to Buettner, this all boils this down to a simple question: What is the reason you wake up every morning?

3. Downshift.  In the Blue Zones, rest and relaxation, such as meditating or napping, occur daily, and often several times each day.

4. The 80% Rule.  Those living in Blue Zones don’t “diet.” They just live by this rule, which says to stop eating when you feel 80% full.

5. Plant Slant.  Blue Zones diets are plant based; they consist of more legumes and nuts, and less meat.

6. Wine at 5. 1-2 glasses of wine per day, contributes to physical health in the Blue Zones.

7. Family First.  In Blue Zone communities, loved ones are a top priority.

8. Sense of Belonging. The healthiest people, and the ones who live the longest, belong to spiritual communities (the denomination does not make a difference).

9. The Right Tribe. This emphasizes the impact of socializing with others who share and support healthy behaviors. 

A major aspect of creating Blue Zone-certified communities involves incorporating the Blue Zone principles in the workplace. Now, maybe some of these don't and can't necessarily apply for dealerships (I don't recommend providing your employees with wine). But many of them can be implemented on some scale to improve your dealership's culture and make it a great place to work (which, of course, leads to higher employee retention rates).

Because adults in the United States -- and especially in the auto industry -- spend a massive percentage of their lives at work, creating Blue Zones at the dealership is key to fostering them in the community. “To become a Blue Zones official work site required committing to Blue Zones initiatives offered on a program ‘menu,’ which includes options such as ensuring employee vending machines offer healthy food options, offering employees a place to lock up bicycles, or adopting a policy that supports employee volunteer days, in addition to having at least 25 percent of employees to take the Blue Zones pledge.”

But you need not be certified in order to reap the benefits of the Blue Zone principles; incorporating simple changes into your dealership is a great way to make health and happiness an integral part of your employees’ daily routines, thus naturally increasing productivity, engagement, and, of course, retention rates.

You might, for example, provide fresh fruits and veggies for your employees to snack on throughout the day. You could start up a fitness tracker program to get your employees engaged. We all know the average salesperson or service tech does an enormous amount of walking throughout the day, so why not have some friendly competitions to see who can take the most steps in a day, a week, or a month? You can also go out of your way to make sure you support your employees putting their families first. Invite employees' entire families to the Christmas party, or have a picnic just for the purpose of meeting one anothers' families. When someone in an employee's family experiences a tragedy, rally around that person as well as their family.  Allow your employees to leave early now and then so they can catch their kids' sports games. If your employee feels you value them and their family, they will be much more likely to be committed to you in return.

What are some other ways we could apply The Power 9 to improve dealership culture?

A huge thanks to everyone who attended DSES this year! We would love to know your thoughts on this year's event, as well as what would make next year's event even better!

Please take a moment to complete a short survey about DSES 2017 -- we're already looking forward to seeing you next year!

 
Here's your rundown of October's most popular DrivingSales blog posts:
 

Here's your weekly roundup of the most popular blogs of the week. Have a successful Saturday and a relaxing Sunday!
 

5.	#bradswife: Why You Absolutely Need a Social Media Crisis Management Strategy
4.	Why You Should Implement Used Car Inventory Strategies on Parts Inventory
3.	Is Email Still the Preferred Way to Reach Customers?
2.	50 Creative Ways You Can Increase Your Sales
1.	The Truth About CarGurus

THE IMPORTANCE OF PERSONALIZATION IN THE DIGITAL DEALERSHIP

One of the many reasons today’s leading consumer sites have become so successful is the creation of a personalized customer experience. Every purchase, every search, every click, is logged into their systems and into your profile. The first time you use a site like Netflix or Pandora, it’s a blank slate. But every move you make leads to recommendations the next time you visit the site, leading to a personalized service and anticipation of products built up over time that presents options without you even having to ask.

Groundbreaking when it happened, it’s now expected for any and all consumer-facing sites online. And like other technological advances, the auto industry is finally joining the party now. More importantly, Cox Automotive’s media solutions brands have collaborated so that the personalized customer experience is integrated across all websites and pages.

Dealer.com’s Website Experience Optimization is a breakthrough for dealership websites. The product saves dealers time and money by deploying inventory and fixed ops marketing content, specials, and assets automatically on the site. This all happens in a consumer-friendly shopping experience that personalizes the content for car buyers.

With the integration of Cox Automotive company websites Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book, the Dealer.com’s technology automatically delivers curated inventory for each individual shopper based on their online shopping behavior. The technology is so advanced that this happens even on the customer’s first visit to the website.

So for example, if a shopper is browsing SUVs on Autotrader and looking for trade values on Kelley Blue Book, those searches and data are merged together into a dealer’s digital showroom so that the customer only sees the most relevant vehicles and offers when they visit your dealership’s site. The integration between Autotrader, Kelley Blue Book, and the dealer website, helps deliver a more relevant consumer experience and accelerates the path to purchase. Experience Optimization generally results in click through rates two to two and a half times higher on personalized content than on non-personalized content.1

The Dealer.com Website Experience Optimization technology will be featured at the Driving Sales Executive Summit Innovation Cup Product Showcase in Las Vegas, October 22-24, 2017.

Using this type of technology is essential for today’s dealer in today’s car-buying environment. Bringing today’s personalized experience to car-buying may not be revolutionary, but it is an essential asset that all dealers need to remain competitive.

1 Dealer.com Homepage Personalization Test, August 2017

Bob George is Senior Director of Website & Platform Products at Dealer.com.

SPEED IS THE NEW CURRENCY WHEN IT COMES TO DEALER PROFITS
by Russ Daniels

You can’t sell a car that your customer can’t see.  That’s a pretty basic truth. 

A unit acquired at auction can take up to two weeks to be transported and have assets processed, before it can be marketed online with detailed descriptions and high quality photos.  This is two weeks when your auction buy is accruing holding costs and simultaneously missing opportunities to attract interested customers. This math doesn’t add up to profits for your dealership. 

Speed to market is more important than ever in the post-peak era of margin compression.  Auto retailers are relying on technology to streamline dealer operations and accelerate turn.

HomeNet’s newly-enhanced Rapid Retail solution quickly markets auction buys from any Manheim location before they arrive on your lot, dropping online time-to-market for auction purchased vehicles from days to hours.  The product will be featured at the Driving Sales Executive Summit Innovation Cup Product Showcase in Las Vegas, October 22-24, 2017.

Rapid Retail syndicates auction data and photos to a dealer website and advertising platforms within hours of unit acquisition.  The accelerated merchandising also overlays specialized comments so an interested customer knows the unit is “in transit”.  The dealer gets a head start in the marketplace, and the option to refresh the unit with customized descriptions and photos once the vehicle arrives.  The speed and value associated with it is possible because of shared data integration between HomeNet and Manheim, both Cox Automotive brands.

Rapid Retail allows for lead generation and even the purchase of auction vehicles before they arrive on the dealers’ lot. As one dealer recently said: "My dealership benefits from auction to online speed to market because we're able to start conversations with customers early, making them aware of cars that will soon hit my lot. The extra days of exposure give us more interactions with customers.  Some even are calling my dealership before the car arrives."

Rapid Retail doesn’t only focus on speed, it’s goal is to deliver higher engagement on vehicle inventory earlier; driving views, leads, and profitable revenue for our dealer clients.

Russ Daniels is Senior Manager, Product Marketing at HomeNet.