.biz.biz.biz

January 2004

Get your own personalized Louisville Slugger Baseball Bat free! pg.15

a division of Systems Marketing, Inc.

756 South 1st StreetSuite 202Louisville, KY 40202

PRSRT STDUS POSTAGE

PAIDLOUISVILLE KYPERMIT NO 879

Herb Chambers Sells 600Vehicles Online

You Are the CEO

How to ForecastYour Success

Demo Drives for Success

success

drivens

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revenue

auto

mobile

sale

sdeale

rm

anager

pro

fit

team

pro

fessio

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opera

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invento

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The Art and Science of Managing Your Managers Steve Hiatt

You Are the CEO Mark Tewart

Demo Drives for Success Brian Ankney

Sales From the Internet: Search Engine Optimization Dennis McDonough

May the Forces Be With You Brian Manzella

Implementing Change Within Your Sales Team Terry L. Isaac

eDealers of the Year: How They Did It Patrick Luck

Herb Chambers Sells 600 Vehicles Online Sean Wolfi ngton

How to Forecast Your Success George Jackson

The Effectiveness of Jingle-tising Jeff Fishel

A Word From the Coach, Part 1 Joe Verde

Managing Your Time Brian Tracy

Now Is the Time to Plan Fran Taylor

AutoSuccess Magazine is published monthly at 756 South First Street, Suite 202, Louisville, Kentucky, 40202; 502.588.3155, fax 502.588.3170. Direct all subscription and customer service inquiries to 877.818.6620 orinfo@autosuccess.biz. Subscription rate is $75 per year. AutoSuccess welcomes unsolicited editorials and graphics (not responsible for their return). All submitted editorials and graphics are subject to editing for grammar, content, and page length. AutoSuccess provides its contributing writers latitude in expressing advice and solutions; views expressed are not necessarily those of AutoSuccess and by no means reflect any guarantees. Always confer with legal counsel before implementing changes in procedures.© All contents copyrighted by AutoSuccess Magazine, a Division of Systems Marketing, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part is prohibited without express written consent from AutoSuccess. AutoSuccess may occasionally make readers’ names available to other companies whose products and/or services may be of interest; readers may request that names be removed by calling 877.818.6620. Printed in the USA.Postmaster: Send address changes to AutoSuccess Magazine, 756 South First Street, Suite 202, Louisville, Kentucky 40202.

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Web: autosuccess.biz

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Psalms 37:3-5Trust in the Lord, and do good; so

you will dwell in the land, and enjoy security.

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.

In God We Trust Succ

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Driv

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Patrick Luck, Editor & Publisher• pat@autosuccess.biz

Susan Goodman, VP of Operations• susan@autosuccess.biz

Lindsay Porter, Copy Editor• lindsay@autosuccess.biz

Courtney Hill, Advertising Services• courtney@autosuccess.biz

Kelley Humkey, Advertising Services• kelley@autosuccess.biz

Thomas Williams, Creative Director• thomas@autosuccess.biz

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Cover Image: Herb Chambers, featured this month on pages 16 and 18

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The Art and Scienceof Managing Your Managers

Steve HiattBy Steve Hiattsales and training solution

See us at NADA ConventionBooth # 5463

To get your team on the right track you have to set the course with your managers. As an

owner, GM or GSM, you have to be willing to be involved in setting the course if you want to have specifi c results.

The people you hire for sales management and fi nance are often self-starters, that is why you hired them in the fi rst place. These team members are often not interested in correction, they are usually giving it, which makes coaching them harder. It is your job to get everyone on the same page.

Steps to keep your team on track:

Have a plan.Have any plan, as long as it is written down and measurable. Know what you want from the team management, and be prepared to tell them specifi cally what you want. Your managers will run their own course without you having something specifi c for them.

Express it.Let the management team know what you expect from them. Give them results you will demand. Whether units, gross, or employee retention, if it isn’t written for them don’t expect them to know.

Adapt and adjust.Don’t just accept the results or the feedback. Use it for change. Figure out what is going right or wrong and then plan activities to change the results. Have a consistent tool for measuring; it can be the statement, a daily operating control or fl oor log, just check it on regularly scheduled intervals.

Praise.Give positive feedback. Be genuine and sincere. You don’t need to do back fl ips on the showroom fl oor, simply fi nd something they did and tell them. Don’t just say “Good Job!” Address something specifi c so you don’t sound trite. Try something like, “Sue, I watched how you handled Mr. and Mrs. Johnson’s objections in fi nance, and you did a good job of building value.” This way your employee knows you are sincere, because you sited the situation.

Have a forum.Get together with your managers on a regular and planned basis. Pick a day, set time aside, hold phone calls and interruptions. You need time to communicate and

these meetings are designed to do that. Once these meetings become normal, your managers start to speak up and ask questions or even challenge. Some of the best ideas and management strategies can come out of these types of forums.

You can also hold people accountable publicly for what they agreed to or their assigned goals. Many times other managers

take care of this for you. They want the team to succeed. We aren’t always too subtle in these meetings and the managers really get into keeping everyone accountable.

Steve Hiatt is the General Sales Manager of Hiatt Pontiac GMC, Hiatt Outlet and Hiatt of Auburn. He can be contacted at 866.265.5616, or by email at shiatt@autosuccess.biz.

7january 2004

Mark TewartBy Mark Tewartsales and training solution

You Are the CEOAre you the CEO of your company? If you’re a sales person, and you answered no to this question, think

again. To be successful you must have a CEO mentality. All successful sales people view themselves as a business within a business. Never forget that the company you work for writes and signs your check, but you fi ll in the numbers. Always take responsibility for everything. You are the CEO.

What does a CEO do? First of all, a CEO designs a marketing strategy. How do you get your business? Walk-ins, in-bound phone calls, repeats, prospecting, networking, referrals, be-backs, affi liate marketing programs, database mining, database swapping, niche marketing, seminars, websites, email responses with auto responders and sequential auto responders. Do you have at least one strategy for utilizing each one of these? Many people may not even know what many of these items are. The bad news is that you are way behind the top businesses in the world, but you can catch up and even pass the most productive sales people with dedicated strategy and smart actions.

Top sales people gain and maintain their results through many avenues beyond walk-in traffi c. When you are new, you spend 80 percent of your time gaining new customers and 20 percent maintaining them. As each month goes by, your goal will be to reverse the time used to 80 percent maintaining current customers and 20 percent gaining new ones. To do this, you must develop a marketing web with multiple streams of lead generation. Lead generation = dollar creation.

If fl oor traffi c dries up, you will have an excuse not to sell vehicles. From now on, excuses are not allowed. What is your strategy for walk-ins? Do you have a process? Does anyone besides you follow up with unsold customers? If you TO in person why not TO on the phone? Are you utilizing monthly planners or productivity software that allows you to automate your follow-up of sold and unsold customers by phone, mail and email? Do you have a monthly newsletter or, better yet, an email newsletter that reaches your customers unobtrusively and at zero-cost? There are companies that will set up auto responders with pre-set messages to be sent at certain intervals to your email list. This automates some of your

follow-up to the point that it is being done while you sleep or are on vacation.

Have you set up affi liate programs with other businesses to share customers and provide an introduction to one another? Example, “Who does business with whom I want to do business with?” Ask that question fi rst to think of businesses that you can set up reciprocal agreements with to provide a value proposition to their customers with enough leverage so they will want to call, fax or email you to get what you sell.

Most businesses utilize one-stage marketing. This requires running an ad and asking someone to buy. For many sales people, this is expensive and not effective. A better strategy is to form two or three stage marketing techniques. You are asking a customer to respond that they are interested and want more information. Here are some examples: Give a be-back cd to every customer who does not buy and ask them to play it on the way home. The cd should have two to fi ve minutes of information that thanks them for the opportunity and provides them with specifi c reasons why they should buy your product from you, at your dealership. Give the customer an incentive to call you back. Arrange with a local restaurant that you will provide a coupon to every customer who shops or services with your dealership, an offer for two-for-one at the restaurant. In return, ask the restaurant to also reward their customers by giving each customer a coupon with their bill that provides a special offer from you, with enough leverage for the customer to respond for more information. Provide seminars for local groups on the subject of, “How to buy a vehicle and not get ripped off.” Do you know where the last 10 customers who have bought from you work and how you can set up automobile buying programs with their employer? If you let your mind expand, your wallet will follow.

You have two choices, you can use excuses like, “My managers won’t let me do anything,” “I don’t have the time,” “I have to make money right now,” or a million other excuses. Or, you can think of your business as a business and become the CEO with a long-term, committed strategy to grow expeditiously.

Mark Tewart is the President of Tewart Enterprises. He can be contacted at 866.429.6844, or by email at mtewart@autosuccess.biz.

10 www.autosuccess.bizvisit us at

Demo Drives for Success

Brian AnkneyBy Brian Ankneysales and training solution

In the November issue, we discussed added value for your customers so that they can feel good

about buying at fair gross profi ts. Now we will cover how to add value for your customer during the demo drive.

The demo drive.Your customer is in the passenger seat, and you are in the driver’s seat. You pull out on to the street and quickly accelerate. Now is the time to use the information your customer gave you during step two, the qualifying step. Demonstrate the features your customer told you that they wanted in their next vehicle. Show them the dual climate control, rear air, louder stereo and/or seven-passenger seating. Prepare them to experience the intense acceleration, award-winning braking distance and turning radius. Pull your customer into a parking lot and stop the car. Finish demonstrating the bells and whistles and then rapidly accelerate to 15-25 mph and hit the brakes. Use statements like,”feel that acceleration,” and “it’s great to be able to stop this quickly in an emergency.” Cut the wheel all the way, and drive the car in circles. Comment to the customer on the vehicles impressive turning radius.

Your customers are looking for a vehicle that will fi t all of their children and get them to work and pull their fi shing boat. Lots of vehicles fi t these needs. Some cost more and some cost less than yours. Some have better leases and lower incentive rates. Some have access to lenders that buy deeper than those you work with.

Desire will sell this car today. Desire will get the higher payment, longer term or additional $1,500 down. Desire will get your customer to call their grandmother into the store tonight to cosign. Acceleration, braking and turning will create this desire. You have demonstrated each during the drive. Now exit the vehicle, and invite your customer to drive with a statement like, “Alright, I guess my turn is up. Now it is your turn to drive. You are going to love the way this car drives.” Have your customer accelerate rapidly and brake. Have them cut the wheel to see the incredible turning radius. Ask your customer, “What do you think?” Get them excited. Now instruct them

through your test drive route. Encourage your customer to hit the accelerator and take turns quickly. The test drive builds the desire that will get this deal today.

If there is a spouse, get the spouse to drive also, insist, “I would not be comfortable selling your family a car that you, yourself, don’t feel safe and confi dent driving. Just try it out and make sure that in an emergency you would be okay driving it.” Once the spouse has driven, get the main driver back in the driver’s seat. Get them excited, again. Solicit four or fi ve positive statements from them and move on to the trial close.

The trial close.Every sales person must design their own personal trial close. It should look and feel natural. You must be confi dent in your words, and never forget this step. This is where you get your customer’s permission to sell them a car today. Reiterate your customers needs and wants and how this vehicle fulfi lls and exceeds each and every one. Use, “You said,” statements like, “You said that this stereo is exactly what you want and that trunk will defi nitely fi t work stuff. You said that the driver’s seat moves and sets up just the way you want and that this is defi nitely the color. I agree with you. I think that we have found your next car. There is just one thing left to do. I guess the only thing standing between us doing business today is price…like it is with most people…Right?” Your customer will either say yes, with some small stipulation, “Well your manager is going to have to give me $5,000 for my trade,” or give you a fi rm objection*.

Take your customer’s yes and their stipulation and turn them into a second trial close statement. “So if we could get all the fi gures, including your trade, agreeable, YOU WILL TAKE DELIVERY OF THIS CAR TODAY?” You need a yes here. Your customer will say sure or give you a fi rm objection*.

The service walk.As your customer drives back into the dealership, direct them to park in the sold row. Exit the car and say, “Follow me.” Walk ahead so that your customer must hold on to the keys. Show your customer into the service department. Walk your

customer through service. Sell your service department. Mention the exceptional quality of work and continuous training. Now as you pass the service writers, introduce your customer to their service writer. Get a card for your customer and explain that their service writer has different days off than you, so they will always have someone they know to help them with any of their needs.

The trade appraisal.After the service walk you should return with your customer to your desk. If there is a trade, collect the information needed. If your customer wants to go with you to get the VIN and miles, do not insult their car. Everyone wants to get the most for their trade. Make statements like, “Boy this is a nice car. It has gone a lot of miles for you. You sure got your moneys worth on this car.” Let them feel good about their old car so they can buy their new car from you.

Now you have all the information needed to desk a deal and a customer that is ready to buy a car. Remember that a sale is like a tower. Every step is built on top the previous steps. If you do a weak demo and don’t sell a certain car, your customer will fl op out of negotiations and go home to think/shop your competition because any payment is too much for a car that is not the one. The same is true of the trial close. If you do a weak trial close, your customers will want to think it over and leave. Your manager needs a strong trial close to set them up for the T/O. Ask for help in the areas you feel weak. Your managers can role play and help you improve your income.

* Firm objections are objections that mean that even if a deal can be reached that it cannot be done today or tomorrow. If you believe you can’t get it today…you are right, no matter what the objection. You need help, so fi nish the drive and service walk and go to desk for help. We will discuss fi rm objections further in an upcoming article.

Brian Ankney from AutoClick can be contacted at 866.247.9587, or by email at bankney@autosuccess.biz.

11january 2004

marketing solution Dennis McDonoughBy Dennis McDonough

Sales From the Internet:Search Engine Optimization

There are many things you can do to help your website be listed among the top search engine

rankings.

Search engines include Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL, All the Web, Find What, Alexa and Teoma, to name a few. These sites fall into two classes, spiders or directories. Spiders use programs to search the Internet to fi nd sites through links. Directories take submissions, taking only the sites that ask to be listed. Most directories require you to pay a subscription fee to be listed in them. Most spiders are free, but you have to get the spider to fi nd your site. Google is the biggest spider, and Yahoo is the biggest directory.

Google is the most popular search engine. It is a spider and does not cost to be listed. Google provides the results for over 75 percent of the searches done today on the Internet. Yahoo, AOL, MSN and others use Google for some of their results. Google has special rules to be followed for an effective listing on their site. These rules change on an irregular basis and should be reviewed regularly.

The time to start thinking about search engine optimization is when your site is being developed. A good website developer will understand Google’s rules and incorporate them into the site design.

Use these seven steps to achieve a good ranking on Google:

1. Identify the words and phrases that your customers would use to fi nd you. A single word does not usually work well; there is just too much competition.

2. Check the phrases for popularity, and select the top fi ve most searched.

3. Enter phrases on the search engines to see if they return sites for companies like yours.

4. Select specifi c pages to feature each phrase. The pages you select should have static content. Use the home page and directly link from the home page. Check these pages for their load time. They should load in less than 15 seconds on a dialup line.

If they are slow to load, either modify the pages to be faster, select another page or look for a new host. Speed is very important to your Google ranking.

5. Work these top fi ve phrases into the website titles, ‘meta’ tags, ‘alt’ tags and content. Really look at the content. A good search engine optimization fi rm will make copy suggestions to you.

This optimization needs to be done on a page-by-page basis. Do not repeat a phrase just to get it used, if it is too frequent in the content your ranking will suffer. Do not try to get all the phrases in one page; that does not help either.

6. After completing the modifi cations, submit each modifi ed page to Google.

Do the home page fi rst and then each additional page. Getting listed in the Google database usually takes four to six weeks but can take over three months. Be patient, don’t submit your site pages every day, only submit individual pages every thirty days.

7. Monitor your words and phrases on the Google site. Do monthly checks to see where your site ranks.

Search engine optimization is not a one-time fi x. Monitoring and updating your site pages as the ranking goes up and down should at least be done on a quarterly basis.

Dennis McDonough is the President of Bit-Concepts. He can be contacted at 877.354.1998, ext.202, or by email atdmcdonough@autosuccess.biz.

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Brian ManzellaBy Brian Manzella

May the Forces Be With You

golf solution

There are many movements that a player must perform in an effi cient golf swing. But there

are only two forces that the golfer has to create. They must create a downward force and a rotational or, what I like to call, an ‘around-ward’ force. Poor players add directional forces such as forward and upward in a vain attempt at making the ball fl y toward the target. If you can learn to create the “Two Forces” and eliminate the unnecessary other forces, you can simplify your swing and maximize your distance and accuracy.

Let’s start with the downward force. Doesn’t there have to be a forward force? The answer is no. If you put a golf club against a wall, horizontal to the fl oor, and drop it, it falls straight downward due to gravity. The same happens if you pull it down the wall or push it down the wall. It falls straight down. But, if you had a pin in

the the grip end of the shaft, into the wall, the clubhead would go down the wall and forward toward the ball and target (pic 1).

Dropped, pulled or pushed STRAIGHT down, the clubhead will go forward also if there is a pin at the grip end of the shaft. The key is that there is only a downward force at work in this ‘pinned’ example. In the golf swing there are two pins: the primary one at the left shoulder where the left arm attaches, and a secondary one at the left wrist. So with or without wristcock, the golfer gets two for one with the correct application of a downward force. The clubhead will go downward and forward.

The ‘around-ward’ force is necessary for two reasons. One reason is transportation. Transportation? Yep. If you make a ‘normal’ backswing and let the arms/hands/club unit just fall from the top, the clubhead will hit the ground several inches behind the ball (pic 2). But if you

pivot forward, around your spine, you can ‘drop’ the club right on the ball (pic 3). Or drag it down on the ball. Or push it.

The second reason you need the rotating ‘around-ward’ force is for speed. Simply, the faster you unwind (RPM’s) the faster the clubhead will go.

The ‘around-ward’ move most closely approximates a left-handed frisbee toss. Just go out to the store and buy a basic model frisbee and practice throwing it left handed. Just stand 90 degrees to the target, like your golf stance, unwind and fl ing that frisbee. Just like in the golf swing, ‘over-acceleration’ of the left arm, by the left arm, is a disaster. Allow your torso to drag your left arm around and fl ail your left arm off of your chest (pic 4).

The only difference in the frisbee pivot and the golf version is the plane. The frisbee plane is horizontal to the ground, and the golf plane is on an incline. You

1 2 3 4

could throw the frisbee toward the ground, on the target line, a few yards forward on the ball, to get the feel. The change in planes necessitates the tilting of your spine both more over and slightly to the right, just like in the golf swing (pic 5).

The combination of the downward force and the rotational force can be exercised by skipping rocks. Rock skipping includes the right arm throw (downward on plane) and the ‘around-ward’ pivot with a titled axis. So many golfers have trouble with this all-important detail. The golfer must be able to create this throw without ‘un-

tilting’ as the release occurs (correct pic 6, incorrect pic 7).

This ‘around-ward’ rotation of the golfer, called the pivot, creates a resultant outward force, just like the one created by twirling a rock on a string (pic 8). It should be obvious that poor players, with their upper body forward lunges and lifts, disturb the orbit of the clubhead, much as any non-rotating force would disrupt the twirling of the rock on a string.

With just a frisbee, a hand full of rocks and a piece of string, you should be able

to understand the two forces in the golf swing and you should be able to apply them to your swing effectively. Just as important is the elimination of the forces that are not either downward or ‘around-ward.’ The reason the great players look like they are doing less than you are, is because...they are.

Brian Manzella is a PGA Teaching Professional. He can be contacted at 866.873.0036, or by email at bmanzella@autosuccess.biz, or visit www.brianmanzella.com.

13january 2004

continued

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14 www.autosuccess.bizcontact us at

Terry L. IsaacBy Terry L. Isaac

Implementing ChangeWithin Your Sales Team

sales and training solution

The goals that you set will result in the game plan you put into action. Most of the goals you set

will require change. For example, if your goal is to improve CSI, it will require a change in how you handle your customers and will need to be evaluated to put a new plan of action in place. After the plan is laid out, you must coach your sales team to implement the plan, it must be clear so the team can understand the procedure to follow.

Many people resist change because of their comfort zone. Without change your goals will be impossible to achieve, if there is no change then you will only repeat the same results. Communication is key for getting your team to change. You need to make sure you clarify the changes. The more clear the change, the more likely your team is to respond. Change is a process and it takes time to change peoples ways.

Allow your team to have some input on the new goals, it will give them a feeling of being a part of the goal, and they need to buy in. This business is full of self-starters and bringing a team together might not be easy. One way to get your goal across to your team is to break it down into two phases. Start with the objective of your goal. If your goal is to increase sales, start with the fi rst phase of a sale. The fi rst phase is a lead, all sales made start with leads, ups, sales calls, factory leads, etc. As you start, form your fl ow chart, this is a good way to structure your plan. Show how leads are currently being handled and better ways of handling them, whether it’s sales calls with a new word track or handling ups. This will increase leads.

Take one step at a time. People can’t handle a lot of change at once. It takes patience and time to get people to change but never stop trying, always believe it will happen. Explain the importance of the change to your organization and the rationale for it.

Test the process you’re changing, you will gain all the support you need when you show them how the change will benefi t them and the dealership.

Set the standard, it’s your job to make changes as needed for the improvement of operations. Management is leadership, and leadership is leading the way, not asking for directions. Change is a good thing; it keeps your team growing and prevents complacency. Sales people get into a routine and don’t increase their production, change their routine and change their results.

If a sales person sells below average and you do nothing to adjust their performance, the next month the same result is repeated. Implement ongoing training and coaching to improve the production.

An excellent goal is to implement an ongoing training program for low performance, this goal of improvement has two benefi ts.

1. It will increase sales, which is an every day goal, and2. It will increase retention.

Remember to use the fl ow chart for all of your goals and to break them down to communicate to your team. Have a kick-off meeting/training session to get your plan into action. You will need to have your training set up over several weeks to teach the new process. Set up training materials to present your program in a professional manner. This will give you credibility with your team and make it easier for them to follow and understand the program.

After providing the training for the change you are implementing, you need to have feedback on an ongoing basis. Your sales people all learn at different speeds and might understand in different ways. Tracking the results of the new process is the only way to show progress and ROI. The information you track will be important for modifying your plan of action.

Management must take action and set goals from the top down. If everyone understands the new goals and why the changes are being made, the whole team will work together toward improvement.

Terry L. Isaac is the Corporate Sales Trainer for the Neil Huffman Auto Group. He can be contacted at 866.265.4680, or by email at tisaac@autosuccess.biz.

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16 www.autosuccess.biz

feature solution

Patrick LuckeDealers of the Year:

How They Did It

By Patrick Luck

Creating a successful website is a possibility for all dealerships. To have an award winning website, you must know how to accomplish it. The dealers award winning sites for 2004 sold 60-600 additional units a month, while driving revenue to all profi t centers. A great way to achieve this success is to learn from others that are already using their site to sell units and drive profi ts. The winning dealers were asked questions to show how they achieved these positive results. The interview responses are listed to help with successful website techniques.

Question 1: What type of website should a dealer build? What are the key characteristics?

Herb Chambers: Remember to build a website for your customers, not you. When evaluating content, do so with the eye of a consumer...not a dealer principal. Less fl uff than they get in the print ads but more content including product information, pricing, fi nancing, specials, etc. Tasca: The site must be simple and built around the customers needs. A key characteristic is information, not just price but information that builds value in your dealership and products. We also highlight the advantages of our dealership and our certifi ed pre-owned program.Red McCombs: Ease of use is the key. Engage customers with an interactive experience that encourages them to contact your dealership.Courtesy: Our goal is to create more leads, so we have many different ways to gather customers contact information to increase our conversation ratio to ensure more high quality leads for less cost. Our current conversion ratio is 21 percent.Sheehy: Searchable inventory, pictures of new and used vehicles, model reviews, payment calculator, MSRP and invoice price, comparisons, trade-in information, phone and location information.

Question 2: Is the Web a good marketing medium?

Herb Chambers: On a cost per sale basis,

it is our number one marketing medium. The Web is our number two or number one source for phone calls into our dealerships. We know because we measure it. We sell over 600 units a month, we drive revenue to service, parts, F&I and more.Tasca: Over 60 percent of our customers visit our website before they come to the dealership. If the majority of our customers research on the Web it makes sense for us to be there. Seventy-two percent of our phone traffi c is Web based on our phone traffi c reports. It is a critical marketing tool.Red McCombs: Absolutely. We sell an additional 260 units a month, generate more sub-prime business, create a lot of service appointments, and we sell parts online as well.Courtesy: The majority of our phone traffi c is from our website, and we sell an additional 84 units a month, not including the extra phone and showroom traffi c. Last month, we became the second biggest Chevrolet dealer in the country and the Web was a critical part of that success.Sheehy: Yes. We get a number of calls and walk-in customers who say they were on our site or they bring in our discount certifi cate. Overall, the Web is also directly responsible for 250+ incremental sales a month, and our cost per sale is less than $150 which is better than our other marketing mediums.

Question 3: How can you market your website?

Herb Chambers: Your URL must simply become part of all your other traditional forms of advertising. It needs to be on all print ads (including help wanted), radio, TV (if applicable), stationary, business cards, doors, etc. Everywhere, period.Tasca: We have included it in all of our traditional marketing: billboards, TV, radio and print. We also do online marketing including email marketing, banners on high traffi c sites, and we dominate the search engines. We also market to large companies by offering them our ‘fl eet purchase program’ and to OEM suppliers by emailing them about our ‘vendor

purchase program’.Red McCombs: Mass bulk multi-media emails and search engine placement services. We also put our URL on all ads and everything with our name on it.Courtesy: Search engines, email marketing, local markets newspaper sites and our traditional marketing.Sheehy: Make sure your website is on ‘all’ dealership material and that you’re on top of the search engines.

Question 4: What type of people do you hire? How do you train and pay them?

Herb Chambers: Sales people, not computer geniuses. I can teach a great sales person technology in a few hours, but it takes months to teach a computer programmer to be a great sales person. We have an in-house, nine-day training program. Pay? The same as showroom pay.Tasca: We hire people that are good on the phone. We use a company to help our strategy and train on the process, and we have them in two days a month to keep up to speed.Red McCombs: Experienced car sales people. The best on the fl oor, will be the best on the Internet. We have phone scripts and weekly sales meetings. They get paid 17 percent of total billed deal.Courtesy: People with sales experience in car sales, very hands on training and support for the fi rst thirty days. We train them on the process, phone scripts and objection guides. They get paid on units, gross, with higher percent when CSI is higher. Sheehy: We like rookies and train them from scratch on the Internet process for two days, then continue onsite training, and we work deals with them in the store. Basically, lead by example. We pay salary, commissions, plus incentive bonus.

Question 5: What is your process for handling leads? What is the most important part of the process?

Herb Chambers: Email, phone and showroom. The bottom line is to sell the appointment and follow up until they buy.

17january 2004

Tasca: We automate a lot of the emails for a 90-day period so our people can spend more time on the phone and selling cars. Our main focus is to set an appointment.Red McCombs: Internet sales force receives the leads and then makes contact within 30 minutes. Internet coordinators continue with phone calls until they set an appointment. Courtesy: I personally distribute them or automatically ‘round robin’ the leads in my absence. The most important part is the phone to sell the appointment and to follow up via email and phone.Sheehy: Speed and answering the questions leads ask.

Question 6: How do you handle pricing? What is your gross profi t?

Herb Chambers: We make our program more about the process and product than the price. Our average gross is higher than the showroom fl oor in the stores with Internet sales people in place for more than six months. Tasca: We have a menu pricing policy. We have a fair profi t built into every vehicle. Our pricing policy is the same for a showroom customer. We pay on CSI rather than gross profi t.Red McCombs: Mystery shop all of our competitors, and we ask for a fair profi t. Our average is $1,850 per unit. Courtesy: We don’t sell price. We sell our process, people and products. Also, our goal is to generate an appointment and then we sell the car on the showroom. Our gross is $2,200 a copy, which is the same as our showroom average gross profi t. Sheehy: We give the exact price of what they are looking for then below that give a lower price alternative. Our average gross is $1,700.

Question 7: How are you handling your phone leads?

Herb Chambers: We have a similar process for our phone leads. Our main goal with both types of leads is to sell the appointment and to follow up until they come in. We also capture their email address to automate some of the follow-up so each person can handle more leads.Tasca: All of our incoming phone calls run through our Customer Relationship Center along with our Internet leads. It is a very similar process, and it works great to combine them.Red McCombs: Not very well. They would probably improve if we handled

them as well as we handle our Internet leads.Courtesy: We handle our phone and Internet leads in our BDC/Internet department, and leads are logged into our CRM system, which automatically sends out multi-media emails over a 90-day follow-up cycle. The goal and the process are the same, to set an appointment.Sheehy: We are going to apply a similar process to our phone leads.

Question 8: Do you do any email marketing?

Herb Chambers: Yes, regularly. It is results and cost effective if done properly.Tasca: We have hundreds of pre-packaged multi-media emails that we send for different times of the year. It is the same as direct mail except there is no cost for the mail and customers can build a car and apply for credit right from the email we send them.Red McCombs: Yes, lots. It is the cheapest way to reach the masses. Every week we run a different special and send it to all of our leads generated from the website and third party lead generators. Courtesy: Yes. It helps us attract more customers for a lot less cost than other types of marketing and within a few clicks thousands of people can know about our weekend sale. Sheehy: Mostly broadcast emails on specifi c incentives or rebates. We are able to capture some deals where people were not ready to buy now, and it does not cost us any money.

Question 9: What numbers do you measure?

Herb Chambers: Everything, it would be easier to write what we don’t measure. For example, we measure lead volume, response time, closing percentage, cost per lead and cost per sale. Tasca: Total leads, appointments, sales, deliveries, cost per lead and cost per sale.Red McCombs: Leads, closing percentage, sales: daily, weekly and monthly. Courtesy: Response time, appointment percentage, show percentage, closing percentage, average gross and CSI. Sheehy: We measure everything by source, by store and by sales person.

Question 10: What is your view of third party lead providers?

Herb Chambers: A somewhat necessary,

yet diminishing part of our electronic marketing mix. Our website is defi nitely our best source of leads, the manufacturers second and third party last. Tasca: We do not use any third party leads. They have a close percentage of two to fi ve percent. Our website leads cost a lot less and have an average closing percentage of 20 percent.Red McCombs: I would like to cut them out, but can’t as of now. We have reduced our dependency on them, and our website leads have a much higher closing ratio and lower cost per sale.Courtesy: I don’t like them, but we still use them. Our website generates the majority of our leads, and they have three to four times higher closing ratios. Eventually, we will probably get rid of all of them. We are our own buying service in our market.Sheehy: Our best source is our own site. We want to reduce third party leads to as few as possible, They cost more and our website has three times higher closing percentage.

Bonus Question: What do you think the future holds?

Herb Chambers: We have gone from selling 100, 200, 300 and, now, up to 600 units a month. If the trend continues the future looks great.Tasca: The dealers that sell a lot of cars and satisfi es customers will win. In order to grow and stand out from the competition a dealer needs to be successful on all fronts: showroom, Internet, phone, BDCs, service, parts and body shop. The Web plays a role in everything.Red McCombs: We have more than doubled our Internet business in the last 90 days and believe that more people are using the Web to do business. The future looks promising.Courtesy: Dealerships will start shifting more of their advertising to market where the majority of customers start their purchase process, online. Until then we will continue to take advantage of the fact that a lot of our competitors don’t. We use the Web to sell more cars for less money.Sheehy: Turning our Internet departments into BDCs where we have dedicated people and processes to handle all types of inbound leads along with follow-up, renewals and other marketing activities.

Patrick Luck is the Editor and Publisher of AutoSuccess Magazine. He can be contacted at 866.802.5603, or by email at pat@autosuccess.biz.

18 www.autosuccess.bizstop by

marketing solution

Herb ChambersSells 600 Vehicles Online

Sean Wolfi ngtonBy Sean Wolfi ngton

The following is a summary of a case study on Herb Chambers.

Herb Chambers sells approximately 600 units per month from their Internet department alone.

Digital marketing strategy generates the majority of their phone traffi c to their dealership.

Herb Chambers drives more revenue to the service and parts department through eMarketing.

1. The strategy: Herb Chambers began by getting together with their leadership team to create an eCRM business plan that outlined their goals and strategy. This strategy boot camp was facilitated by their digital marketing vendor, and it helped them create a detailed blueprint and action plan that outlined everything they needed

to do to reach their goals. Some parts of the strategy they created and what you may want to customize for your dealership are listed.

2. Technology: Herb Chambers implemented a complete digital marketing system which included a custom website that promotes all of their profi t centers and drives more foot, phone and Internet traffi c. The system includes a prospect management tool that automates a lot of the email activity so their team has more time to use the phone and to sell cars. The most important dynamic technology they use are the multi-media buzzmails that help drive traffi c through bulk email marketing and selling new prospects and by automating the follow-up of their customers throughout their ownership cycle. Lastly, they have offi ces equipped with a PC, printer and digital camera for taking pictures of inventory.

3. They purchased website addresses (URL/ISP): They purchased the URLs and purchased all of the names they thought customers might type into their browser to fi nd them. Here are some examples for you to buy: www.dealernamebrand.com, www.townbrand.com.

4. Marketing their website: Herb Chambers conducts bulk multi-media email campaigns, and they are ahead of their competitors on the search engines. They also add their URL to all traditional media. They put it everywhere their name is, including their current documents, TV, radio, print ads, dealership collateral material, business cards, repair orders, license plate brackets, billboards, etc.

5. Referral service: Herb Chambers goal was to reduce their expenses for third party lead providers and increase their leads/sales from their own site which costs less and have a higher closing percentage. They eliminated the providers that were not effective and replaced them by increasing their leads from their own site. In the end, they have more leads and sales and the majority are from their site, so they cost a lot less and the closing percentage is three times higher.

6. People: Herb Chambers has dedicated Internet sales people at every dealership who sell the appointment and vehicle. They recruited people with previous automotive

sales experience and with great phone and follow-up skills. They are on the same pay plan as the other traditional sales people.

7. Process: Herb Chambers defi ned their Internet process for handling opportunities by mapping out their process for turning leads into appointments and sales. They are selling approximately 600 additional units per month at a higher gross profi t than some of their showrooms because they do not sell price, they build value in the dealership, people and product, and, at the same time, they highlight the advantages of doing business with them rather than the competition.

8. Pricing: Herb Chambers realizes that selling cars on the Internet is not about giving cars away.

“The mistake some dealers make is that they sell the price rather than building value…in the end, if we do not ask for a fair profi t it is impossible to get one,” said Jay Gubala. “We put together a pricing philosophy that is competitive but that also preserves our gross profi t.”

9. Training: They partnered with a company that initially trained everyone in the department on the phone, follow-up and sales skills they needed to increase appointments, sales, gross profi t, CSI and loyalty.

“The key to the training was to develop their skill and confi dence and this is accomplished through repetitive practice, videos and hands on experience.”

In addition, Herb Chambers has a very successful nine-day training program for new hires.

10. Measure/manage: “You cannot manage what you cannot measure. We measure everything and hold regular meetings to discuss our progress and ways to improve. Reports give us the information we need, the number of leads by source, response rate and time, appointment percentage, show percentage, closing percentage, cost per lead, cost per sale, etc,” said Gubala.

Sean WolÞ ngton is an Owner of BZ Results.com. He can be contacted at 866.802.5753, or by email atswolÞ ngton@autosuccess.biz.

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There are only three ways you can grow your business in 2004 and only three:

1. Increase your number of customers

2. Increase the average gross per deal

3. Increase the frequency of repurchase � get more residual value out of each customer

Recently, we introduced a completely new direct mail strategy to our customers that focuses on all three and delivers an incredible return on investment. I�m talking about a growth strategy that increases your customer base, increases the average dollar amount each customer spends with you and increases the frequency your customers buy from you.

How does this unique J&L Growth Strategy work?

To grow your number of customers you sell each month the growth strategy does three things:

1. Increases the amount of quality ß oor trafÞ c in your dealership

2. Increases your customer retention rate

3. Increases your closing percentage

The growth strategy increases your average gross per unit because:

• It attracts trafÞ c that buys the way you sell. Therefore these buyers are more trusting and negotiate less.

• It brings in buyers who expect to Þ nance through your dealership � which increases your Þ nance penetration.

• Over 40% of the trafÞ c generated will have clear titles. This makes it much easier for you to Þ t the customer into the payment they want without giving up gross.

To increase your repurchase frequency, the growth strategy focuses on:

• Communicating personally

with your customers through direct mail to maintain a positive relationship and to motivate each customer to buy now.

• Running special events such as �closed door sales,� limited pre-sale prices and so on.

• Price inducements

Wow, look at what can happen when this growth strategy is

optimized!

Just look at the math. Let�s keep it simple and say you sell 100 cars a month - that equals 1,200 a year. Let�s say you average $2,000 gross per unit and your average customer buys once every three years (.33 times a year).

Increase

your # of

customers

Increase your

average gross

per unit

Increase the

repurchase

frequency

Total gross

per year

per customer

1,200

(current)

10% Increase

$2,000

(current)

.333

(current one car

every three years)

$799,200x x =

10% Increase 10% Increase 33.1% Increase

1,320

(10 more units

per month)

$2,200

($200 more gross

per month)

.366

(customers now buy

a car every 2.73 years)

$1,062,864

($263,644

in extra gross)

x x =

(what if)

15% Increase

(what if)

20% Increase

(what if)

33% Increase

(what if)

83.172% Increase

1,380

(15 more units

per month)

$2,400

($400 more gross

per month)

.442

(customers now buy

a car every 2.26 years)

$1,463,904

($664,704

in extra gross)

x x =

Scott JosephBy Scott Joseph

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What Is Your Growth Strategy for 2004?

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What�s the overall Growth Strategy philosophy?

The Growth Strategy makes use of a lot of simple ideas that are profoundly powerful and easy to use. This Growth Strategy philosophy is proÞ t enhancement through marketing leverage.

What is marketing leverage?

Marketing leverage is getting phenomenal better results for the same amount of money and effort you are currently spending. One list or offer could out pull another by as much as 5 to 10 times. The ad costs you exactly the same, but you�re getting much better results with a different list or offer. That�s leverage.

How testing will help you leverage your marketing?

You�ll never know if you�re maximizing your leverage until you test all the factors that matter:

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another.• One headline against another.• One offer against another.• One day of the week, month

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Testing, measuring and analyzing lets you determine with pinpoint accuracy, what your market wants and doesn�t want.

J&L Marketing is the only company who has the capability to test every element of your direct marketing efforts. We�ve invested a small fortune and developed a program to determine exactly what works best for you.

Where can you go to Þ nd mailing lists that generate a lot of quality trafÞ c and support this Growth

Strategy?

This Growth Strategy utilizes as many as three completely different lists. Because there could be several unique lists, managing these different lists and how they are used is critical to maximize your potential.

Because of the highly competitive nature of our business, I will not write today exactly what lists we use. However, if you call my ofÞ ce and ask for Lisa Wilson at 866.856.6782 you�ll discover exactly where we get these lists, how we�ll utilize them for your store and why they are so effective.

The dealerships that immersed themselves fully in my proprietary mindset and methodology stated it was the �deÞ ning experience� that transformed their business performance and wealth from that day forward.

This powerful growth strategy teaches people how to make the most out of their most valuable asset. They see Þ rst hand that if the mailing lists are accurate and effectively marketed, they generate more sales and make more money than any other advertising approach has ever done or will ever do.

Make the decision right now to do something for your dealership, your sales people, your managers and for you that will produce the �deÞ ning experience� our other customers have already encountered - the type of experience that will transform your business performance and wealth from this day forward.

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22 www.autosuccess.bizstop by

How to Forecast Your Success

George JacksonBy George Jacksonf&i solution

The best way to grow individually, personally and fi nancially is to set goals with a

complete and thorough F&I forecast. To say you want to do better and make more money than last year is not good enough. (Neither is saying you want to generate a certain dollar amount of F&I income.) A forecast should never be dollar based because it does not take into consideration the number of units sold, it is incomplete. Here are six simple steps to setting an annual forecast for the coming year.

Step 1. Find out how many units each sales manager is forecasting. Base your forecast on these numbers. This is the one way to predict total F&I department income and income per retail unit (PRU).

Step 2. Forecast penetration levels for fi nance and all F&I products sold in the department. Base credit life, disability and GAP on total fi nance units and all other products on total retail units.

Step 3.Calculate the number of fi nance deals, service contract policies, credit life and disability, GAP policies, etc. by applying the penetration levels from Step 2 to the forecasted units in Step 2.

Step 4.Establish or calculate the average income the F&I department earns every time it sells a product or fi nances a vehicle. For example, $100,000 in reserve on 250 fi nance deals equals $400 average reserve per fi nance deal ($100,000/250 = $400). $60,000 in service contract income for 100 policies equals $600 per service contract sold ($60,000/100 = $600). Do this for every product that you offer.

Step 5.Multiply the contracts or policies from Step 3 by the income averages established in Step 4 to get your total dollars for each

Every F&I forecast must be attainable, adaptable and easily monitored. Penetration levels and income averages can be monitored daily, if need be, and are the best means to measure the success of the department. If you are achieving your projected penetration levels and income averages, then it is mathematically impossible not to achieve your forecasted PRU. The only possible reason you would not reach the total dollar goal is because the dealership has simply not sold enough units. If the unit forecasts hold true, then department income will eventually take care of itself.

George Jackson is the Director of F&I Training for American Financial & Automotive Services, Inc. He can be contacted at 866.280.0301, or by email at gjackson@autosuccess.biz.

product. Add these together for your total F&I department income.

Step 6.Divide the total F&I department by the forecasted units in Step 1 to get the F&I PRU. This is the true F&I forecast, as PRU is easier to predict and control than total dollars.

Here is how you would apply these steps and complete an annual forecast.

Step 1: Forecasted units New Cars 1200 Trucks 1500 Used Cars 1300 Total Units 4000

The penetration levels and income averages shown above are simply for demonstration. Many factors can and will infl uence both for a particular dealership or state, so your numbers should and will be different.

Finance 70% (4000 x 70%) = 2800 $500 (2800 x $500) = 1,400,000Credit Life 30% (2800 x 30%) = 840 $200 (840 x $200) = 168,000Dsability 25% (2800 x 25%) = 700 $300 (700 x $300) = 210,000VSC 50% (4000 x 50%) = 2000 $500 (2000 x $500) = 1,000,000GAP 30% (2800 x 30%) = 840 $250 (840 x $300) = 252,000Etch 60% (4000 x 60%) = 2400 $100 (2400 x $100) = 240,000Maintenance 20% (4000 x 20%) = 800 $150 (800 x $150) = 120,000

$3,390,000PRU = (3,390,000/4000) = $847.50

Step 2Presentation

Levels

Step 3Contracts &Policies Sold

Step 4AverageIncome

Step 5Total F&I

Department Income

23january 2004

Jeff FishelBy Jeff Fishelmarketing solution

Whether you choose radio, TV, the Internet or print as your advertising medium, all

automotive advertising must fall under one or more of these categories: positioning, product, price and promotions.

Positioning (branding) differentiates your dealership from the competitors in your marketplace. Product and price consists of your merchandising efforts. Promotions include your advertising events or campaigns with ‘offers’ and ‘time-limits’ both designed to create urgency in your market.

Some dealers and their advertising agents combine their positioning messages with their product and price merchandising and even with their promotional event offers. This combination of branding and retailing has become known as ‘brand-tailing’ and can be an ideal way to obtain successful automotive advertising results.

There are many ways to brand-tail including the select use of targeted tag-lines, uniform graphics, unique print design and logos. An especially effective way to mix the advertising paradigms is by using jingles. You can call this mixture of brand-tailing with jingles, ‘jingle-tising’.

Nothing will enter the minds of the buyers in any market better than appending your specifi c advertising message to a musical melody. For example, in your mind, fi nish the remainder of this branding message:

“PLOP, PLOP… FIZ, FIZ.....!

For those of you who fi lled in the above blanks with, “Oh what a relief it is!” you have just demonstrated the effectiveness of jingles. This positioning statement piggy-backed onto a musical melody will forever be etched into our collective mind’s-eye right along with the product it represented, Alka Seltzer.

This is a perfect way to get your message into the minds of the car buying public in your marketplace.

With jingles, the music does the work. The unique melody sticks in people’s heads, and the words come along attached to the specifi c melody. These words consist of lyrics describing your specifi c advertising

positioning statements, or more precisely, what separates you from the other dealers in your market.

With jingle-tising, however, the main positioning or branding messages are contained within the tags of the jingle, while the merchandising and event offers are inserted over the music bed, or donut segment. This is the reason jingle-tising is so effective as a means of delivering your various advertising messages. Its power stems from the fl exibility of the music itself.

Jingle-tising will supplement your merchandising campaigns and help to promote your one to fi ve day sales events. Regardless of the time frame or format of your jingle-tising campaign, its specifi c melody and message will virtually guarantee your dealership’s positioning in your marketplace and can, many times, linger in the minds of those who heard it for quite some time.

A full-sing jingle ‘sings’ your positioning statements right into the minds of your potential car buyers, leaving a message

The Effectiveness of Jingle-tisingthat is catchy and hard to forget.

Jingle-tising is an excellent way to elevate your specifi c messages above the cacophony of ordinary daily advertising. By design, jingle-tising can distinguish you from your competitors while simultaneously providing you with limitless elasticity in achieving your advertising objectives.

Jeff Fishel is the National Sales Director for FishMarketingOnline.net, FishMarketingOnline.com andIndependentAutomotiveMarketing.com. He can be contacted at jeff@Þ shmarketingonline.net.

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A Word From the Coach, Part 1

leadership solution

“I’m just a plow hand from Arkansas, but I’ve learned to hold a team together. How to lift

some men up, how to calm others down, until fi nally they’ve got one heartbeat together - a team. There’s just three things I’d ever say...

1. If anything goes bad – I did it.2. If anything goes semi-good – then we did it.3. If anything goes real good – then they did it.

...that’s all it takes for people to win football games for you.”Bear Bryant on management…from October MNL 2003.

Success in today’s market requires teamwork and great teams require great coaches. Without a great team that works together and without a great coach to make it happen, you won’t get your dealership out of the average rut.

There are tons of sales people who have worked hard to increase their sales. They’ve taken it upon themselves to succeed and it shows. But they’re just one member on their sales team. And at many dealerships, there are only a handful of sales people who are working hard to improve.

The bad news is the rest of the selling team isn’t as interested, doesn’t follow your game plan and aren’t selling nearly as many vehicles as they could. The attitudes of these sales people not only hurt their sales, it also hurts your top sales people, too, and literally can destroy your dealership’s chance of real, long-term success.

It’s the same in practically every dealership around the country. In a group of ten sales people, they usually have one or two good ones, one or two okay sales people, four or fi ve below average sales people and a couple who should be put out of their ‘selling’ misery right away.

What�s the missing link? Good coaches.Why is there no team spirit in so many dealerships across the country, no ‘esprit de corps’ and no common will to be the best group of sales people they can be? Unfortunately, it’s always management.

Most managers weren’t taught how to coach properly so they can lift some people

up or calm others down when things get a little out of hand. In most dealerships, the thinking is just the opposite of Bear Bryant’s.

In most dealerships.• When things go bad it’s always the sales people’s fault. There’s never even a thought that it could possibly be the coaching team. After all, you can’t blame management because Johnny can’t close a sale or Susie doesn’t do her follow-up.

And you surely can’t blame management when sales people aren’t motivated or when they’re working their own deals or when they don’t take a demo ride or when they can’t get the paperwork right.

In real life, of course, it’s management’s fault that the sales people can’t sell, nobody taught them how to sell properly. And they aren’t motivated if some of the things you do in the dealership de-motivate your sales people. Plus, management hires inexperienced people who’ve never been successful, who weren’t motivated to begin with.

Sales people are working their deals their way, because that’s what management has allowed to happen. It’s a lot of trouble to teach, monitor and require sales people to work their deals the right way, instead.

And sales people don’t do their follow up because management doesn’t require that every sales person do follow up with every customer. Besides, if they required follow up, fi rst they’d have to teach the sales people to do follow up. So management would have to learn how to follow up customers, too.

• Unlike the ‘Bear’, in most dealerships, when things go semi-good, average managers are the fi rst to let everyone know how great they worked those deals and about how many more sales they could have made if it weren’t for some of the worthless sales people they work with.

Let’s get a grip here, too, and try to remember who hired all those average and below sales people you complain about all the time.

• And, in too many dealerships, when things are going real good, management is so hyped on themselves they forget where the sales actually come from – each sales person talking with a customer. And, too, when a sales person starts being paid well for doing well it’s, “we pay these guys too much.”

When things are really, really good, too many managers try to steal all the thunder for that job well done.

One of the worst people managers is one that keeps repeating, “I pride myself on what I’ve done.” They never bother to ‘pride’ their sales people on doing the job. Maybe, if they did their dealership wouldn’t go from, say, the #8 store in the country to a recording that says “We’re sorry, this # is no longer in service, and there is no new number.”

In real life, managers in the dealership probably do make it happen when you have that great month or year, and you get the credit, at least when you look in the mirror.

But in that monthly kick off meeting, the best coaches turn all that around and say “Congratulations,” to those who followed directions and took the ball, ran with it and scored the touchdown.

Instead of doing everything the way the manager before you did it, why not make a list of the traits of a great coach. It’s really easy; just think of the top coaches in professional sports, what do the great coaches do to make their team the best?

Try this, put words like train, lead, motivate, patience, goals, practice, direct, require, proud, respect, fair, driven, loyal and consistent on your list. What else? Also, almost everyone reading this could use a few good tips on how to pull all this leadership stuff off, so get together with the other managers at your next meeting and discuss how to be a great coach – it will take your dealership to the next level.

Next month, we will cover more ideas for you and your management team to discuss.

Joe Verde is the President of The Joe Verde Group. He can be contacted at 866.429.6689, or by email at jverde@autosuccess.biz, or visit www.joeverde.com.

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Managing Your Time

Brian TracyBy Brian Tracyleadership solution

Perhaps the greatest single problem that people have today is ‘time poverty’. Working people

have too much to do and too little time for their personal lives. Most people feel overwhelmed with responsibilities and activities, and the harder they work, the further behind they feel. This sense of being on a never-ending treadmill can cause you to fall into the reactive/responsive mode of living. Instead of clearly deciding what you want to do, you continually react to what is happening around you. Pretty soon you lose all sense of control. You feel that your life is running you, rather than you running your life.

On a regular basis, you have to stand back and take stock of yourself and what you’re doing. You have to stop the clock and do some serious thinking about who you are and where you are going. You have to evaluate your activities in the light of what is really important to you. You must master your time rather than becoming a slave to the constant fl ow of events and demands on your time. And, you must organize your life to achieve balance, harmony and inner peace.

Taking action without thinking is the cause of every failure. Your ability to think is the most valuable trait that you possess. If you improve the quality of your thinking, you improve the quality of your life, sometimes immediately.

Time is your most precious resource. It is the most valuable thing you have. It is perishable, it is irreplaceable, and it cannot be saved. It can only be reallocated from activities of lower value to activities of higher value. All work requires time. And time is absolutely essential for the important relationships in your life. The very act of taking a moment to think about your time before you spend it will begin to improve your personal time management immediately.

Many people see time management as only a business tool, like a calculator or

a cellular telephone. It is something that you use so that you can get more done in a shorter period of time and eventually be paid more money. You must learn that time management is not a peripheral activity or skill. It is the core skill upon which everything else in life depends.

In your work or business life, there are so many demands on your time from other people that very little of your time is yours to use as you choose. However, at home and in your personal life you can exert a tremendous amount of control over how you use your time. And it is in this area that I want to focus.

Personal time management begins with you. It begins with you thinking through what is really important to you in life. And it only makes sense if you organize it around specifi c things that you want to accomplish. You need to set goals in three major areas of your life.

First, you need family and personal goals. These are the reasons why you get up in the morning, why you work hard and upgrade your skills, why you worry about money and sometimes feel frustrated by the demands on your time.

What are your personal and family goals, both tangible and intangible? A tangible family goal could be a bigger house, a better car, a larger television set, a vacation or anything else that costs money. An intangible goal would be to build a higher quality relationship with your spouse and children, to spend more time with your family going for walks or reading books. Achieving these family and personal goals are the real essence of time management and its major purpose.

The second area of goals is your business and career goals. These are the ‘how’ goals, the means by which you achieve your personal, ‘why’ goals. How can you achieve the level of income that will enable you to fulfi ll your family goals? How can you develop the skills and abilities to stay ahead of the curve in your career? Business and career goals are absolutely essential, especially when

balanced with family and personal goals.

The third type of goals is your personal development goals. Remember, you can’t achieve much more on the outside than what you have achieved on the inside. Your outer life will be a refl ection of your inner life. If you wish to achieve worthwhile things in your personal and your career life, you must become a worthwhile person in your own self-development. You must build yourself if you want to build your life. Perhaps the greatest secret of success is that you can become anything you really want to become, to achieve any goal that you really want to achieve. But in order to do it, you must go to work on yourself and never stop.

Once you have a list of your personal and family goals, your business and career goals, and your self-development goals, you can then organize the list by priority. This brings us to the difference between priorities and posteriorities. In order to get your personal time under control, you must decide very clearly upon your priorities. You must decide on the most important things that you could possible be doing to give yourself the same amount of happiness, satisfaction and joy in life. But at the same time, you must establish posteriorities as well. Just as priorities are things that you do more of, sooner; posteriorities are things that you do less of, later.

The fact is your calendar is full. You have no spare time. Your time is extremely valuable. Therefore, for you to do anything new, you will have to stop doing something old. In order to get into something, you will have to get out of something else. In order to pick something up, you will have to put something down. Before you make any new commitment of your time, you must fi rmly decide what activities you are going to discontinue in your personal life.

If you want to spend more time with your family, for example, you must decide what activities you currently engage in that are preventing you from doing so.

A principle of time management says that hard time pushes out soft time. This means that hard time, such as working, will push out soft time, such as the time you spend with your family. If you don’t get your work done at the offi ce because you don’t use your time well, you almost invariably have to rob that time from your family. As a result, because your family is important to you, you fi nd yourself in a values confl ict. You feel stressed and irritable. You feel a tremendous amount of pressure. You know in your heart that you should be spending more time with the important people in your life, but because you didn’t get your work done, you have to fulfi ll those responsibilities before you can spend time with your spouse and children.

Think of it this way. Every minute you waste during the waking day is time that your family will ultimately be deprived

continued

of. So concentrate on working when you are at work so that you can concentrate on your family when you are at home.

There are three key questions that you can ask yourself continually to keep your personal life in balance. The fi rst question is, “What is really important to me?” Whenever you fi nd yourself with too much to do and too little time, stop and ask yourself, “What is it that is really important for me to do in this situation?” Then, make sure that what you are doing is the answer to that question.

The second question is, “What are my highest value activities?” In your personal life, this means, “What are the things that I do that give me the greatest pleasure and satisfaction? Of all the things that I could be doing at any one time, what are the things that I could do to add the greatest value to my life?”

And the fi nal question for you to ask over and over again is, “What is the most valuable use of my time right now?” Since you can only do one thing at a time, you must constantly organize your life so that you are doing one thing, the most important thing, at every moment.

Personal time management enables you to choose what to do fi rst, what to do second and what not to do at all. It enables you to organize every aspect of your life so that you can get the greatest joy, happiness and satisfaction out of everything you do.

Brian Tracy is the Chairman & CEO of Brian Tracy International. He can be contacted at 866.300.9881, or by email at btracy@autosuccess.biz.

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Now Is the Time to Plan

Fran TaylorBy Fran Taylorsales and training solution

Everything starts with goals and a plan. Look at what you did last year, and dissect your

dealership in all departments. Look at how many vehicles you sold for each month. How many sales people did you have to sell the amount of vehicles you sold? How much did you spend on advertising each month and what kind of advertising did you use? Are you mixing your advertising up and doing a promotion each week instead of twice a month?

Advertising.It is easy to improve stores if you stick to the basics. For every sales person you have, spend $250 a car advertising or $2,500 a month for that sales person. To deliver 100 units you should spend $25,000 for the month and have 10 sales people.

Inventory.You must keep a mixed used car department for used cars. It is very crucial to get the vehicles ready within 72 hours. Dealerships should have at least one of the top sellers of different models sitting on their lot. Keep a model for 15 days then take it back to the auction. Make sure when you buy these models you can doctor or spiff them up with sport stripes, door edge guards, mud fl aps, bug defl ectors and other extras. You will not lose money doing this.

Sales people should be held accountable to sell at least 10 units a month each and have a certain average gross. Post your grosses around the dealership: front-end, back-end, new and used, and CSI, if possible. Sales people should be required to have an appointment a day and mark it down on an appointment board. The appointment board ensures that your advertising dollars are not wasted money.

Look at your past history and add 10 percent to everything: inventory, sales people, advertising and post grosses, make your sales people accountable with prospecting tools and require an appointment a day.

Your service and parts will automatically increase by turning used cars faster and more of them. Your sales people will

automatically sell more units by using prospecting tools with their name and the dealership’s name and phone number on them.

Training should be on a daily basis every morning. Plan the month on what you want to do. Make sure your sales people are involved and do part of the training. Post the monthly training schedule so everyone knows when it is their turn to

train and assign them a specifi c topic that they must train on.

This is easy to do. If you think that this is easy, it is. If you think it is hard, it is. Write down your plan and stick to it.

Fran Taylor is the President and CEO of Taylor Techniques, Inc. He can be contacted at 866.873.0041, or by email at ftaylor@autosuccess.biz.

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