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Car Buying Tips

5 Critical Mistakes Dealers Make With Lender Participation Rates

Back in the 1980s, when dealer financing was still a Wild West operation, participation rates weren't really a thing. Dealers either financed the deal themselve...

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Mystery Shop Drama: 7 Common Mistakes Dealers Make Handling the Results

Mystery shopping audits catch about 40% of dealerships completely unprepared. Not because they lack a good sales process—but because they panic when the report ...

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The Weekly Sales Meeting Trap: Why Most Dealers Are Wasting 45 Minutes Every Monday

The Weekly Sales Meeting Trap: Why Most Dealers Are Wasting 45 Minutes Every Monday Imagine it's Monday morning. Your sales team shuffles into the conference r...

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6 Common Mistakes Dealers Make With the Long-Term Salesperson Follow-Up Book

Back in the 1980s, when the Rolodex ruled the showroom, a salesman's follow-up book was his most prized possession. It was leather-bound, worn smooth by thumbs,...

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What is Trade-In Overallowance, Actually?

Most dealers are bleeding money on trade-in overallowances because they've never actually measured them. You think you know the problem. You don't. Not really. ...

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8 Mistakes Dealers Make When Overcoming Payment Objections

Why Your Sales Team Keeps Losing Deals to Payment Objections Picture this: It's mid-afternoon on a Saturday. A customer walks into your showroom, falls in love...

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Six Critical Mistakes Dealers Make With Vehicle Presentation During the First Pencil

Sixty-three percent of dealerships report that their first pencil presentations miss critical details about the vehicle on the showroom floor. That's not a manu...

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Your New Sales Hire Is Going to Fail Without a Real Ramp Plan (Here's Why)

Your New Sales Hire Is Going to Fail Without a Real Ramp Plan (Here's Why) You hire a sharp salesperson on a Monday, throw them a product walkthrough on Wednes...

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The Attribution Trap: Why Most Dealers Can't Track Where Showroom Traffic Actually Comes From

The Attribution Trap: Why Most Dealers Can't Actually Tell Where Their Showroom Traffic Comes From Your sales manager swears the Facebook ad spend is working. ...

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Why Your Deal Desk Is Too Slow (And How to Fix It)

In 1985, a dealer in Atlanta could walk a buyer to the finance office, sit down with a single F&I manager, and have a deal approved in fifteen minutes flat. The...

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The Up-List Rotation Problem That's Costing You Deals (And How Most Dealers Get It Wrong)

The Up-List Rotation Problem That's Costing You Deals (And How Most Dealers Get It Wrong) You've got a solid up-list rotation policy written down somewhere. It...

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7 Phone-Up Conversion Mistakes Killing Your Dealership's Showroom Traffic

How many phone-ups this week did your BDC actually convert to showroom appointments? If you don't know the answer off the top of your head, that's the problem....

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