One of the best things about traveling is experiencing how other people run their businesses. 

It also allows you to have many different Sales presentations from many different people. This story is about how one motivated, knowledgeable and especially friendly Salesperson made a banana into a bbq pork sandwich.

I was training at a dealership in Ohio and one of my favorite things to do is to ask the people who live there “Where is the best place to eat?” I have had many memorable meals in great places from asking this simple question.

On this particular day I asked an even simpler question “Where is the closest place I can buy a little fresh fruit like a banana for lunch?”

The service…

Would you write a review for a hairstylist while he or she was cutting your hair?



It's not enough to be against something; one must offer an alternative. 

 

I am known to be against in-store reviews. I believe they create a feeling of pressure to the customer regardless of your actual actions. Once you have created a great buying experience where the customer feels he or she has…

Automotive Advertising agencies recognize the value of consumer generated content to extend the reach and frequency of their messages.  The challenge is how to deliver it in such a way that their customers will read it and hopefully forward it to a friend.

Customers prefer audio and video over the written word so one solution is to provide the content through podcasts or webinars.  These platforms apply to both B2C and B2B social marketing initiatives.

I used my blog talk radio platform - WAAOL, All Automotive Advertising News All The Time - to represent an example of a B2B venue that has…

Last month, I wrote an article on how Jimmy Fallon announced during “The Tonight Show” that he was in the market for a truck. Manufacturers immediately took to social media in attempts to convince the popular talk-show host that he should choose them, including Ford, Dodge, Chevrolet and Nissan. Fallon announced last week that he had chosen to purchase a 2015 Ford F-150 King Ranch. He then further announced that, while he had chosen the truck, he had not decided who he was going to buy it from. A cooperative effort between Ford and “The Tonight Show” conjured up a contest they named “Fingers on a 4x4,” in which 10 salespeople from around the country would participate for the opportunity to sell Mr. Fallon a truck, by putting their hands on a Ford F-150 located on the aircraft carrier…

Having a hard to time selling your car in New Jersey?? Sometimes it can be a tough process can`t it? Who really wants strangers knocking on your door to look at the vehicle your selling nowadays??? We can make a real simple & buy your vehicle immediately! So if you are in New Jersey and are having a difficult time selling your car, truck or SUV, give Rich Gaul a call TODAY!

*Created by Ken Beam

With Big Data and analytics having been the hot topic over the past couple of years, many dealers are recognizing that they can increase the effectiveness of their marketing. Many dealers, however, outsource much of their digital marketing to vendors that sell them on the use of their data to achieve this. The problem is that most vendors don’t really use it as they say they will. Let me explain.

Dealers realize that sending the same message shotgun-style to their entire database is a bad idea. Many don’t have time to do their own data analytics so they rely on vendors to do it for them. Most vendors actually practice segmentation vs. deep analytics. They will separate service customer versus sales customers and create separate lists. They may even go a little deeper than that and add…

It’s been widely reported by social media experts that organic reach for Facebook pages has plummeted in the past 6 months; from as high as 15%, to the current 1-2%.  As a public company, Facebook has a need to appease its shareholders by monetizing its platform as much as possible. Facebook knows that there is a fine line between delivering relevant content that users want to see, and paid ads.

Many brands are obviously upset with these changes. One in particular has had enough. Last month, Eat24, a popular food site with 70,000 Facebook likes, wrote a public letter to Facebook. The letter accused Facebook of luring brands into using their platform, then slowly reducing these brand’s exposure to fans and making it a ‘pay-to-play’ model. Eat24 argued that their…

In a recent announcement by Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, it was revealed that Yahoo will soon stop allowing its users to login using their Facebook or Google credentials. This move is an effort by Yahoo to better control its content and services. On the surface, the move makes sense and doesn’t seem as if there would be significant backlash from consumers. Facebook and Google log-ins have become very prevalent over the past couple of years, accounting for 80 percent of consumer social logins. Consumers have widely adopted these because they allow easy access to many sites using one…

On March 14, 2014 the Federal Trade Commission, put on it's big kid parachute pants on and took it back to the 90's- "Stop- It's Hammer Time!" They announced that they were charging the Abernathy Motor Company, and two of its principals.

Abernathy Motor Company wasn’t the first nor the last to suffer from the scrutiny of the FTC. Back in January of this year, the FTC took down 10 Dealers with ‘Operation Steer Clear’. Failing to display a “Buyer’s Guide” on used vehicles for sale according to the FTC’s Used Car Rule, proved to be a pricey mishap- to the tune of up to 16k for each violation in a civil penalty. OUCH!

So often,…

Both automotive management and sales staff struggle with vendors, prospects and/or clients that fall out of communication after a dynamic conversation.  Usually after three attempts, the manager and/or salesperson will give up without success.  Hence, the Three Strikes, You Are Out Rule.…