Adam Robinson is the co-founder and CEO of Hireology.

He sat down with DrivingSales to tell us how much weight you should really be placing on a job candidate's experience when you're looking to hire for your dealership.

We sat down with powerhouse millennial entrepreneur (and DSES 2017 keynote speaker) Kristen Hadeed. Here's what she told us about the management-employee-customer "ripple effect."

Do you treat your employees the way you want them to treat your customers?

We asked CallRevu President Michael Markette how dealers can leverage the training power of recorded phone calls. Here's what he had to say:

Do you use recorded phone calls to help improve your process and train your staff on phone skills?

Shari Fitzpatrick, founder of Shari's Berries, and keynote speaker at #WomeninAuto2017

No entrepreneurial experience but a whole lot of passion, inspiration, and faith = a thriving global brand. You don't have to be an expert to be a huge success in whatever business you're in. 

A key insight from Shari today is that you are going to go through difficult times. When her business hit a major road bump due to a soured business partnership, she held to this statement:  "Unforgiveness does more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than the object on which it is poured." 

A few other key insights that helped Shari get where she is today:
-Get your priorities straight
-Love what you do and be passionate about it
-Put out the absolute highest-quality product you possibly can
-Treat your employees right; the way you treat your employees = the way your employees will treat your customers!

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!

At DSES 2017, we interviewed Mark Conner, Senior VP of Channel Strategy at LotLinx, on the top challenges dealers face (and the most common mistakes they make) when it comes to their data.

What are you biggest data challenges right now?

I received this excellent summary of Rob Leary's DSES breakout session, and had to share it with y'all!  Thoughts?

Leary began by explaining that automotive retail is in a mini-recession, with new car sales declining over the last five to six months. New car sales are projected to drop by as much as 13 per cent by 2019. Leary explained this declining projection in new car sales is because approximately one third of all new vehicle sales are leases, which are coming due between now and 2019. A flood of high-quality CPOs are coming into the market place and will cause used car prices to drop. He also mentioned sales margins continue to shrink on the front-end of the dealership. Although this info is bleak, Leary said, it opens many opportunities for growth in fixed ops:

According to the Car Care Council, 84 percent of vehicles will fail an inspection. That means more than eight out of every 10 vehicles that enter service drives will fail an inspection. This allows for more opportunities for upsells, but the status quo must be challenged with improved processes and behavior.

Dealerships show up in less than three percent of search results in Google when “service and repair” is searched. There are huge fixed ops SEO opportunities for dealerships. Leary encouraged dealership executives to make the investment and put quality fixed ops content on their websites and push more customers to book appointments online. Another huge opportunity according to Leary is text messaging customers. Only two percent of customers are receiving an email or texted regarding an estimate, status of repair and bill. Eighty-seven percent of all calls to a smart phone go to voicemail. Leary encouraged attendees to start texting because 98 percent of texts are read within three minutes of receipt and usually only take five seconds to read on average.

Leary closed his presentation by sharing a list of top 10 fixed ops best practices to drive more profits and increase efficiencies:

1. Appointments – 1st, 2nd, 3rd – all online.
2. Greet Customers with digital greeter board and greet every customer by name.
3.  Write-up your customers via mobile and follow a forced march process.
4.  Automate your dispatch process.
5. Electronic multi-point embedded with labor and parts pricing that keeps people accountable and drives results.
6. Electronic estimates for your customers that include pictures and/or video of actual repairs.
7. TEXT your customers – they prefer it.
8. Review and approve estimates electronically, review final invoice electronically, and pay online.
9. Follow-up on any declined services.
10. Next appointment – every customer leaves with their next appointment like the dentist’s office.

Anything you'd add to this list?

If there's anyone else who summaries from DSES presentations, we'd love to have you share them!