http://blog.wardsauto.com/dealer_dialogue Tue, 22 Sep 2009 18:20:56 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en On the hunt for used vehicle inventory? Here are some tips from Consultant Tony Albertson, a used-car specialist with NCM and Associates, that he provided for a story in our Ward's Remarketing 150. Hire an offsite buyer to beat the bushes for vehicles. It's OK to pay the buyer anywhere from ... http://blog.wardsauto.com/dealer_dialogue/2009/09/22/tips-for-finding-used-inventory/ A Minneapolis Business Journal Reporter called me the other day to tell me Twins catcher Joe Mauer had just bought the land on which Denny Hecker's Southview Chevrolet (now closed) sits. Once his story printed, Mauer's brother Bill called the reporter to say he had bought the land, not his ... http://blog.wardsauto.com/dealer_dialogue/2009/09/18/athletes-and-dealerships-more-strikeouts-than-homeruns/ After Kelley Blue Book's relationship with AutoTrader.com ended prematurely this June, it immediately devised a strategy to take on the industry behemoths, AutoTrader and Cars.com. Read the entire story here. KBB is launching a pay-per-performance model (also called pay-per-lead) directly contrasting with the subscription models of Cars.com and AutoTrader. It's a gutsy ... http://blog.wardsauto.com/dealer_dialogue/2009/09/17/kelley-blue-book-wants-to-change-how-online-leads-are-bought-and-sold/ Recently, I've heard several comments alluding to the fact that CRM (customer-relationship management) is dead, or at least is at a point where people are tired of talking about it. There is a notion among many dealers that vendors have over-promised and underdelivered. It might be dealers are expecting too ... http://blog.wardsauto.com/dealer_dialogue/2009/09/16/crm-dead-not-a-chance/ William "Skipper" Beck died Friday, September 11, when his Cirrus SR22 crashed at the Rock Hill/York County Airport in North Carolina. Beck was the only one on board. The plane apparently had engine trouble at takeoff, prompting Beck to return to the airport when the plane went down. Beck, 49, was a ... http://blog.wardsauto.com/dealer_dialogue/2009/09/14/william-skipper-beck-dies-in-plane-crash/ A conversation with a dealer in Texas drives home the importance of paying attention to contracts you have with your vendors. This dealer says she now is instructing her staff to give her all vendor contracts to review. She recently caught a uniform vendor raising prices 8% when the contract clearly ... http://blog.wardsauto.com/dealer_dialogue/2009/08/25/pay-attention-to-your-vendor-contracts/ Cash for Clunkers is now over after generating nearly 707,000 direct sales, along with countless other sales for customers not eligible for the program. Now what? Most analysts are afraid September sales will experience a downturn without the popular government financing. Many of you have stories of crowded showrooms and of customers ... http://blog.wardsauto.com/dealer_dialogue/2009/08/25/be-creative-and-improvise/ Kelley Blue Book released a statement last week that got a lot of play in the media -- including Ward's. KBB is cautioning dealers to watch their used-vehicle inventory closely because the Cash for clunkers incentive program could create a bubble of inventory prices that could deflate suddenly once the ... http://blog.wardsauto.com/dealer_dialogue/2009/08/12/a-used-car-bubble/ Last week, I wrote a column urging the U.S. Senate to continue funding the Cash for Clunkers program. (Read the column here:No Vote on More Cash-for-Clunkers Funding is Declaration of War on Small Business.) I've since received numerous emails from people accusing me of being a socialist. A friend even ... http://blog.wardsauto.com/dealer_dialogue/2009/08/11/cash-for-clunkers-column-touches-a-nerve/ Dealers tell me often one of their biggest challenges is trying to find good salespeople. One would think it should be easier today with the flood of salespeople on the hunt for a job because their dealership closed. Dealers might be getting more resumes, but how do they know if ... http://blog.wardsauto.com/dealer_dialogue/2009/08/11/yeah-but-can-he-sell/