Missed sales opportunities could spell disaster for your dealership. Find out how to recognize and avoid them. Missed sales opportunities happen more often than we realize. Some of them we recognize only when it’s too late. Others come and go, and we never even notice.  There are numerous reasons, ranging from not having the right vehicles on your lot to poor customer service to higher prices than your competitors. Most of these are within our power to change. Of course, you’ll still miss a sale here and there, but even if you catch just a few of those otherwise missed sales opportunitie ..read more

If you’re worried that the car inventory shortage is going to slow your business, here are some ways to bring in more vehicles.  Auto dealerships have always had to manage that balance between bringing new vehicles onto the lot while moving enough out that the bank account held steady, the lot itself was full but not a mess, and making sure that, above all things, there was never a car inventory shortage. A half-empty car lot is not the most enticing to customers.  People want choices. They want to decide between the red Honda Civic or the black one. They want to sit and compare the ..read more

You already know car buying trends have changed a lot recently. Here are some of the numbers behind the trends. Since the beginning of 2020, you’ve seen some big changes in car buying trends. If you just skim the news, it seems like Covid turned every household in North America into a secret society of online used car buyers, and new car manufacturing was nearly wiped out. Indeed, national and local shutdowns and uncertainty played a significant role in auto industry changes, just as they did in the overall economy. However, we also know that new vehicle manufacturing has been a centerpiece o ..read more

The chip shortage impact isn’t limited to new car dealers and manufacturers. It’s hitting used auto dealers, too.  Rising commodity prices and a worldwide chip shortage impact franchise dealerships most directly. A slow down in manufacturing means fewer vehicles on the lot. Some large automakers had to temporarily shut down manufacturing facilities or shift production to more profitable models.  How does that impact used vehicle dealers? After all, you aren’t contracted to GM or Ford or Volkswagen or anyone else. No Hondas coming on the lot? No problem, you can sell more Toyotas. U ..read more

Upgrade your sales. Find out how to sell service contracts and keep steady profits rolling in. If you can sell cars, you can sell service contracts. And if you can sell service contracts, you can keep more cash in your tank while you’re helping your customers. A service contract takes the worry out of the later cost of repairs and maintenance for car buyers. For you, it’s an upsell that guarantees more revenue and more customer loyalty.  What’s important to remember here is that every car buyer is different. Some are happy to take care of oil changes and basic repairs on their own. Other ..read more

Your customers may soon ask if you sell electric cars. What will you tell them when that happens? If you haven’t yet, the time is now to think about how you plan to sell electric cars. As much as we all may love that Mustang sitting at the front of the lot, electric cars are the future of auto sales. That’s not going to happen next month or even next year, but it will be here.  It’s not just the fancy, niche automakers that are in the electric car market, either. You may never have a Fisker on your lot, but Ford, Chevrolet, Volkswagen, Nissan, Hyundai, and plenty of other big-name automa ..read more

You want to increase used car sales, but your inventory is low. Here’s what you can do.  Figuring out the best way to increase used car sales is a continual topic of conversation at dealerships. And there are always different strategies and approaches you can take. A lot of that depends on your customer base, your location, and what kind of vehicles are typically on your lot.  And, of course, there’s a fine line between having enough vehicles on your lot to entice customers and having too many vehicles taking up space that just aren’t moving. Ideally, your lot is a place where cars ..read more

In our digital-first world, you can’t rely on the old sales strategies that have been around for a century or more. You need some creative ways to sell more cars.  If you’re relying on in-person sales to keep your auto dealership afloat, you may already be losing ground to the competition. Take a quick guess as to how many people are making deals entirely online these days. We’ll share the answer shortly. In the meantime, however, if you want to keep your business doors open, you need new and creative ways to sell more cars.  Auto dealership competition has always been tough. And th ..read more

Do you have what it takes to be a successful car salesman or saleswoman? Take the quiz and find out. Car sales aren’t what they were a decade ago. The car sales industry has always been fast-paced, but new technology has turbocharged the sales engine. That means today’s successful car salesman or saleswoman has to be tech-savvy. But there’s a lot more to it than just the latest app or the fastest network, though that can certainly help.  Every successful salesperson, in any industry, establishes a set of habits that help them win clients, close deals, and put money in the bank. Some of t ..read more

The pandemic helped to popularize digital car sales, which may be tough on brick and mortar retailers. Here’s how to keep up with the competition. The days of traditional car-buying aren’t over, but the landscape has undoubtedly changed. Between COVID-19 forcing so many people to switch to digital car sales, as well as a boom of online retailers who were around even before the pandemic, traditional businesses have almost no choice but to make some changes. That doesn’t mean you have to go all-digital, but it does mean reevaluating the various platforms you may use to sell cars. Cons ..read more