Increases in• Sales & Profits

• Customer Satisfaction

• Processes & Stability

There’s A New Sheriff In Town

“Stop horsing around

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and trainers with no track record.”

For more information: 1-800-726-0510

www.ZieglerSupersystems.com

SALES MANAGER FORUM:Motivating your Sales Team to

Higher ProfitabilityTaught By James A. Ziegler

Atlanta, GA . . . .Oct. 5 - 6, 2004Las Vegas, NV . .Oct. 7 - 8, 2004Atlanta, GA . . . .Nov. 16 - 17, 2004Atlanta, GA . . . .Dec. 16 - 17, 2004

THE COMPLETE F&I MENU SELLING

Present 100% of your products 100% of the time!

Taught By Mike Lee

Sponsored By James A. ZieglerAtlanta, GA . . . .Oct. 12-14, 2004Atlanta, GA . . . .Nov. 9 -11, 2004Las Vegas, NV . .Dec. 7 - 9, 2004

Dates and locations subject to change

With Chrysler Financial, what you get is aWith Chrysler Financial, what you get is a

relationship. One that includes personalized,relationship. One that includes personalized,

attentive, one-to-one service that representsattentive, one-to-one service that represents

our dedication to your automotive financeour dedication to your automotive finance

needs. To learn more about our commitmentneeds. To learn more about our commitment

to your increased profitability and success,to your increased profitability and success,

contact your Dealer Relations Manager.contact your Dealer Relations Manager.

Forty years of finance.Forty years of finance.Forty years of relationships.Forty years of relationships.

Chrysler Financial’sChrysler Financial’s on call.on call.

When your lender’s closed for the night,

A member of the DaimlerChrysler Services GroupA member of the DaimlerChrysler Services Group

Financing your investment.F inancing your investment.

Friday,9:10pm

America Must Have Strong, Principled Leadership Russ Darrow

There�s Magic in Enthusiasm Zig Ziglar

Put Yourself in Front of Three to FiveOpportunities Every Day Jim Adams

Developing W-Like Leadership Adam DeGraide

Retention of Staff, Part II Carol Martin

The BIG Sale Ben Elliott

How to Get Sales and F&I on the Same Team George Jackson

Ways to Become Uncommon Michael York

Keep America Safe and Secure Fran McAllister

LandersToyota.com New Website Generates600-700 Leads a Month With a 18.2% Closing Rate Steve Landers Jr.

Find Your Hidden Wealth Mark Tewart

Eliminate Common Headaches, Drug Free Jerry Teplitz

Five Ways to Make More Money Mark Proctor

Paragon Acura Improves 179% in One Month Patrick Luck

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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.

Hebrews 11: 1-3

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old receive divine approval. By faith we understand that the world was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made out of things which do not appear.

756 South 1st Street, Suite 202 Louisville, Kentucky 40202! Toll Free: 877.818.6620 " Facsimile: 502.588.3170

Patrick Luck, Editor & Publisher Thomas Williams, Creative Director• pluck01@autosuccess.biz • twilliams03@autosuccess.biz

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Congratulations to the men and women�s US Olympic Teamsin the 2004 Summer Olympics. USA all the way!

Success Driven Solutions

In reference to Harry Wolfi ngton and his entire staff at the Wolfi ngton Group, I would just like to say that it is always a great pleasure to work with them. Their honest and professional approach is very refreshing. Everyone from the group leader to the lot attendant is very polite, friendly and knowledgeable at their individual jobs.

More importantly, the customers could not be happier. The entire atmosphere they create just continues to enliven the customers and the purchasing atmosphere. We are consistently amazed at how happy our customers are and how they are rushing home to bring their friends and relatives or even coming back with their second car to trade that one too.

The Wolfi ngton staff is very concerned with the customer and the CSI. Our CSI has certainly not suffered as a result of these sales. All weekend long the customers are amazed at the professionalism of the staff.

The staff is set up for all possible customers, whether the best credit scores or the least, they will continue to strive for every possible sale and every possible source of income. The incomes are evenly spread between front and back end and are considerably better than our average deals.

I look forward to our next sale, as does my staff. We all work long hours, but the time passes quickly.

If anyone has any questions, I would be pleased to discuss them at any time.Paul McLaughlin, Dealer Principal

THE BEST KEPT SECRET IN THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY!

ASK YOUR 20 GROUP!toll free 800.331.9361

McLaughlin Chevrolet, Inc.741 Temple St., PO Box 230Whitman, MA 02382

Belinda Wortherspoon,Wolfi ngton Group Call Center Operator

MCLAUGHLINC H E V R O L E T

Phone: 781.447.4401Fax: 781.447.3614

Toll Free: 800.649.4401

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Differentiate Your Dealership for Success & Greater Profi tablity!

In today’s ever increasingly competitive automobile market, dealers need to separate themselves from the competition.

Customers are better educated on the true manufacturers invoice, available rebates, dealer holdback, and other once

sacred information due mainly to the internet and private buying services. Furthermore, nearly 70% of all new

customers are having their vehicles serviced at non-dealer service facilities. To remain competitive and profi table, it is

imperative to look “outside the box”!

A dealership that has done this successfully is Lustine Toyota/Dodge/Scion in Woodbridge, Virginia. A little over

a year ago, Lustine began to offer Auto4Life, a Lifetime Powertrain Service Contract/Warranty provided on every

vehicle. “The results have been amazing” quotes General Manager, Jim Giddings. “We have always wanted to

separate our dealership from the competition and Auto4Life has defi nitely given us a huge advantage.” After only three

or four months of promotion on both the radio and in print advertising, the results began to show-and in a big way.

Auto4Life is a product that truly allows dealers to generate more fl oor traffi c. It’s not a gimmick or a fad. It’s a proven

value added customer friendly product that creates a sense of security among a dealership’s cliental. “After customers

started hearing about Auto4Life at our store, the numbers started to increase,” says Giddings. Lustine increased

their year over year sales by 26% - and their service retention nearly tripled! “Tripling your service retention

may seem great, but it also brings with it some challenges. We were not prepared for the huge increase in service.

The vast number of clients coming back was a challenge with scheduling…a good problem to have” notes Giddings.

Mr. Giddings states that the customer readily accepts the fact that they must return to the selling dealer for all of their

routine maintenance in order for the Powertrain Service Contract to be valid. The F & I department has been selling

Pre-Scheduled Maintenance at a 60% customer acceptance level and this has created an interesting growth/focus area

for his service department. The initial result was a drop in the average RO fi gure, but with a little ingenuity the average

RO bounced back due to the implementation of up selling training in the service department. And the more costly

service intervals at 15K, 30K and 45K come more frequent because the customer was now “trained” to bring their car

to the dealership for all service work.

Asked to summarize his experience with Auto4Life Giddings replied, “The statistics are great, but the most important

aspect of Auto4Life is that it truly gives our salespeople a differentiator. This helps us sell more cars and most

importantly hold more gross profi t! It is truly a win – win for the dealership and the customer.”

For more information on Auto4Life, please call 800.668.5603 or visit www.Auto4Life.com

www.autosuccess.bizsubscribe today at8

RussDarrow

This November, dealers across America have a tremendous opportunity to make a real difference on behalf of our

employees, our customers and our families.

We have the opportunity to support, and vote for, Republican candidates who share our common philosophy of the need for a strong national defense, lower taxes, affordable healthcare and tort reform.

Under President Bush’s leadership, Republican candidates across the nation have demonstrated their commitment to these beliefs and willingness to do everything in their power to further improve our economy to allow our industry and our businesses to fl ourish.

America must have strong, principled leadership capable of defending our freedom while protecting our way of life.

Soon after President Bush took offi ce he was forced to endure the perfect economic storm. The dot.com bubble burst, corporate corruption and our country was attacked.

In response, President Bush signed into law the largest tax cuts in our nations history, sweeping legislative reform aimed at curbing corporate corruption and demonstrated the courage and conviction to stand up to the terrorist threat that threatened our way of life.

As a result, our country has not endured another attack, unemployment is down, our stock market has come back and retail traffi c has continued to grow.

Tax cuts help to stimulate the economy and create more jobs. High taxes are job killers. Our industry was one of the fi rst to experience this economic recovery. In my own business, we currently have fi ve construction projects underway as a result of these tax cuts. Those projects help to create jobs and those jobs help the working families of America to live better lives.

It is critical that we re-elect President Bush and send more Republican legislators back to the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate to continue the fi ght to further cut taxes.

While lower taxes are critical to our economic recovery the further well being of our industry rests on the ability of our leaders to protect our country from future terrorist attacks.

President Bush and the Republican leadership in congress have done this. Shortly after the attacks of 9/11, President Bush and the Republicans in Congress passed the U.S. Patriot Act and created the Department of Homeland Security that provided our law enforcement offi cials with the necessary tools to fi ght the War on Terror.

We must remain vigilant. The future of our country, the future of our economy and the future of our industry rest on our ability to re-elect these leaders.

While I have focused on issues of importance to our industry as a whole, as employers, we know that satisfi ed employees are the key to our individual success. From personal experience, I know that a satisfi ed workforce has been the key to my ability to grow my business from eight employees to over 1,000.

Doing this takes work and takes some help from the federal government. Specifi cally, as it relates to our ability, as employers, to provide healthcare benefi ts for our employees. In the recent years, soaring healthcare costs have made this very diffi cult.

While this problem will not be corrected overnight, there are some simple steps that will go a long way to helping curb these costs.

President Bush and the Republican leaders in Congress have proposed increasing the size of Health Savings accounts to allow our employees to take pre-tax dollars and make their own decisions with regards to the care that they receive. These portable accounts will help to put more choice and competition into the equation that will result in decreasing costs.

President Bush has also proposed creating Associated Health Plans that would allow groups of small businesses to pool their risk and their resources to improve their purchasing power. These plans would allow dealers to cross state lines and join with others with the end result being coverage for their employees.

The third leg of the stool that President Bush and the Republican leaders in Congress have proposed is the need for some serious and meaningful tort reform. This would go a long way to decrease the number of frivolous lawsuits that drive up the costs of healthcare premiums.

It is imperative that you, and your employees, join in the fi ght to re-elect the President and Republican candidates across the nation.

By volunteering three to fi ve hours a week you and your employees can play an integral role to ensure that our industry and our businesses continue to prosper under President Bush’s leadership.

In fact, that is why I decided to run for the United States Senate here in Wisconsin. I was tired of politics as usual and wanted to use my 38 years of knowledge and experience to serve the people of Wisconsin. I wanted to make sure that our kids and grandkids have the same types of opportunities that we have had to live the American Dream.

While I still need the support, and votes from the people of Wisconsin to get through the September 14, Republican Primary election, I am looking to join President Bush on the ballot in November 2.

Together, we can make a difference for our industry, our businesses, our families and our customers, but you have to take the fi rst step. You have to get involved.

To fi nd out more about how you can get involved in the President’s campaign I encourage you to visit the President’s website at www.GeorgeWBush.com, or if you live in Wisconsin I encourage you to get involved in my race for the U.S. Senate. To discover how, visit our website at www.TheRightRuss.com.

I hope you will accept this challenge and work to further our industry by supporting President Bush’s re-election and Republican candidates across the country.

Russ Darrow is the Chairman and CEO of Russ Darrow Group, Inc. He can be contacted at 800.723.2135, or by email at rdarrow@autosuccess.biz.

sts ms ls fi s lr

leadership solution

America Must HaveStrong, Principled Leadership

september 2004 9

There�s Magic in Enthusiasm

ZigZiglarsts ms ls fi s lr

sales and training solution

Nothing great ever happens without enthusiasm.

Enthusiasm is the difference between

competing and winning.

When a word is overused, it can lose its power and its meaning. Enthusiasm can be just that type of word. However, when we study enthusiasm, we can capture its true meaning and therefore, re-capture its power. Enthusiasm has nothing to do with jumping and shouting. That’s hysteria and

it’s giving enthusiasm a bad name. The origin of enthusiasm comes from the Greek root words en theos. This means “the god within.” This powerful word is really an internal feeling. There is the power of the last four letters of enthusiasm: I Am Sold Myself. With “God within you” and being sold on yourself, you are well on your way to being enthusiastic. This leads you to an outward expression of inner feelings. When this happens, you become a very effective sales professional. Here is a magic formula for leading a more enthusiastic life. When you implement these action steps, you will feel the magic.

First, ACTIVATE your motivators. Why are you in the world of sales? Why are you making contacts, phone calls, and all those prospecting activities? Remember what motivates you and activate those motivators.

Second, ANALYZE what you need to do, or what you need to learn, in order to become more successful. Realize that you never graduate from selling, you need

to invest and improve in those areas that will assist you in performing your sales activities more effectively. Once you develop those skills, you will act more confi dent and more enthusiastic.

Third, take ACTION! Remember, logic will not change an emotion, but action will. Successful people make a habit of taking action on those things that unsuccessful people fail to do.

So, there you have the magic of enthusiasm: Activate your motivators; Analyze what you need to improve upon; and take Action.

Yes, you are absolutely correct. This is certainly not magic. It gets back to following the steps necessary for success. I enthusiastically encourage you to “go get ‘em today!”

Zig Ziglar is the Chairman of the Board of Ziglar Training Systems in Dallas, TX. He can be contacted at 866.873.0026, or by email at zziglar@autosuccess.biz.

Successful people make a habit of taking action on those things that unsuccessful people fail to do.

www.autosuccess.bizvisit us online at10

Put Yourself in Front of Threeto Five Opportunities Every Day

sts ms ls fi s lr

sales and training solutionJimAdams

Take a look at fi ve sources of business and what can be done to increase sales.

1. Fresh ups:A way a sales person can maximize walk in traffi c is to be up mentally and physically. Be ready for your opportunity. Do not get distracted by things that seem to be important. Clear your mind and a part of your day to get up. Every morning for 30 minutes, listen to CDs and tapes, read, role play and practice word tracks. Get ready and give every opportunity your best greeting, your best presentation and demonstration, and your best closing effort. This separates the professionals from the average.

2. Follow Ups:Remember 33 percent of your opportunities that leave the store without buying will

come back with follow up. Follow up every day until they buy or tell you to quit calling. Why? Because 67 percent of the prospects you get back in the store within 72 hours will buy. There are several great scripts to follow up showroom traffi c. Email me and I will send you examples of what we use.

3. Repeat owners:This is your best source of business. These customers like you. They bought a vehicle from you. Every customer should be contacted at least every 90 days by phone and at least every 60 days by mail through a monthly newsletter, thank you card, birthday card, etc. You should know how many drivers live in the home, how many vehicles they own and who will be in the market next. Thirty percent of your customers know someone that is in the market or they themselves are in the market right now. Most customers can’t remember the sales person’s name that sold them their

car the previous year. If you give them a reason to remember you by honoring your commitments, they will buy from you.

Facts to remember about owner follow up:• 99 percent will buy more cars.• 30 percent know someone that is in the market right now.• 90 percent own more than one vehicle.• 24/30 months is the average trade cycle.• 50 percent is the average closing ratio on a repeat owner, compared to 10 percent on a fresh up.

4. Referrals:Consider all the people that you meet on a daily basis. You meet people at the gas station, soccer game, bowling league, PTA meeting etc. Virtually everyone you meet owns a vehicle. Thirty percent of them are in the market or know someone that is in the market right now. Professional sales people ask for referrals. It’s simple, if you ask just 10 people a day for a referral and only got one, that would be seven referrals a week, 30 referrals a month or 365 referrals a year. The average closing ratio on referrals is 50 percent. This means 15 sales per month and 180 sales per year. Make a commitment to ask everyone you meet for a referral. Would you ask everyone you meet for a referral if you could make another 7.5 sales per month and 90 sales per year? What would that mean to your income? What would it mean to your quality of life?

5. Phone ups:Be ready and helpful. Clear your desk and your mind. Your goal for a phone up is to get them to come to your dealership. Create desire and excitement about your product and dealership. Focus on the customer. Ask questions and listen. Make sure the customer has your name and number. Set a fi rm time to get together with the customer.

Opportunity generation is a daily activity. Without it you are average or below. Build your daily plan around how to put yourself in front of three to fi ve opportunities every single day, no exceptions. Plan your work and work your plan.

Jim Adams is the General Sales Manager at Roper Kia in Joplin, MO. He can be contacted at 800.905.0627, or by email at jadams@autosuccess.biz.

Registration Form on next page

The AutoSuccess Best Practices Summit tickets are now available.

Seating is limited and open to Dealers and Managers only. This event will

be held at the Venetian Hotel & Resort in Las Vegas, Thursday and Friday,

November 11 & 12, 2004. Early bird registration $495 per person through

Oct.15th 2004, and $695 after. Fully transferable, no refunds. To register,

please Þ ll out the following information and fax toll free: 866.665.7936, or

mail to AutoSuccess Magazine (address at bottom of page).

If you choose to pay with a check, please mail this form along with

your check to: AutoSuccess Magazine 756 South 1st Street, Suite 202

Louisville, Kentucky 40202. If you have provided us with your credit card

information, fax this form to the following number:

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september 2004 13

AdamDeGraide

Developing W-Like Leadership

sts ms ls fi s lr

leadership solution

What does it mean to truly be a leader? A leader is someone worth following, emulating and giving honor and respect to.

It has been my goal to continually and daily develop the leadership abilities that I believe God has given to me. It has been said “to whom much is given, much is required.” I have been blessed with many great people within my organization and I am constantly reminded in my quiet times of the awesome responsibility I have to lead and serve the people put in my trust more effectively each day. I owe it to them to be the best leader I possibly can be and help them to become the best that they can be in return.

When I look at this comparatively to leading a country, especially the United States of America, I am at awe with President George W. Bush’s unwavering leadership in the midst of diffi cult times and challenging situations. So often the temptation is there to follow the popular idea and give up on your principles. However, when I look at George W. Bush, whether you agree with him politically or not, I can not help but notice that he is focused, consistent and relentless in his leading this country in the direction that he believes it should be going. He believes in fi ghting the war on terror, before the terror reaches us. He believes in lower taxes and the fact that we should keep as much of our own money as possible.

George W. Bush also believes in strong traditional families and strong small businesses that have made this country great since the founding of our nation. When the family is strong, our community, companies, states and our country is strong. When the family begins to breakdown so does life as we know it. With all of this being said how can we as leaders develop more consistency like George W. Bush?

It all begins and ends with strong principles that guide our thoughts, actions, attitudes and choices. So many times we can be tossed to and fro because we have failed to think through our principles as leaders. For example, a principal of GeorgeW. Bush’s is your money is your money and you should be able to keep more of it. That principal guides his thoughts, actions, attitudes and choices on legislation that will reduce the tax burden on the American people.

Principles are the compass that you will use to make sure that you are staying on the right path as you seek to reach your vision and mission on this earth. You can press all of your decisions up against your principles and if it doesn’t line up to the principle you just don’t do it. These principles take all of the guesswork out of the decision making process. Defi ning your principles will make the decision making process so much easier. Instead of trying to fi gure things out as they come, think through them before they arrive so you are better prepared to handle the potential diffi cult decisions when they arrive. A principle in my life is that “I don’t know what I don’t know.” Therefore, as a leader I know my strengths and my weaknesses. As a result, I focus my leadership activities on my strengths and fi nd others to fi ll in my weaknesses. That is exactly what the President’s cabinet is for.

George W. Bush operates in his strengths and then fi lls in his weaknesses with others strengths. That is how a good team and a great organization is built. Strong leaders show their wisdom when understanding that alone we are not as strong as we are together. There is a propensity as leaders to try and do it all. When this happens we are not empowering those around us to step up and fi ll in the gaps. Delegation is the secret to having a healthy life and energized employees. A good barometer for how well you are leading is how well you have developed the other leaders around you and how well you have staffed your weaknesses. The test of a true leader or anyone is in the results that they achieve.

Although George W. Bush is not perfect, he has been a great model of strong committed and consistent leadership. It is a good lesson for all of us to learn. If we expect others to follow us it is important that we are someone worth following and not just a paper castle waiting to be blown down when the fi rst storm arises. So thank you George W. Bush, for giving me a great example to live up to. My prayer is that everyone, who reads this article, will be challenged to take their leadership to the next level and to lead by example. Remember, “To whom much is given, much is required.”

Adam DeGraide is an Owner of BZResults.com. He can be contacted at 800.526.9804, or by email atadegraide@autosuccess.biz.

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This means that the position requires being assertive or even aggressive, as would be the case for a sales position.

Work Demands BenchmarkWorkplace Realities BenchmarkBut if the workplace is a conservative and highly service-oriented one, job and workplace Columns 1 are reversed. Here we see the most common and yet the most overlooked cause of employee turnover. The Workplace Demands Benchmark has only one box checked and we do not want to change the Work Demands Benchmark. Therefore, we need to add one or more boxes to Column 1 of the Workplace Realities Benchmark to align the work and workplace benchmarks.

We add boxes to the Workplace Realities Benchmark by using the suggestions written in Column 1 of the Align Job and Workplace template (see chart below).

Align Job and Workplace templateFor example, to increase the Workplace Realities Benchmark Column 1, you need to do things such as “increase commissions, make goals career relevant, create a competition, opportunity, challenge, a contest” to your work environment.

While the improvements to the workplace may take some weeks or months to appear,

1

Retention of Staff, Part II

CarolMartinsts ms ls fi s lr

leadership solution

Last month, we graphed the job demands and the work environment benchmarks in order to size up a potential

candidate for employment. The next step in both employee selection and employee retention is to align the job and workplace benchmarks.

Aligning the vocationaland environmental benchmarks.Here you may copy your job demands benchmark and your workplace realities benchmark results from last month.

The two benchmarks should be similar, that is, work and workplace columns should not differ by more than one box. If columns differ too much, turnover will result because either the employee will perform the work well but not fi t in with the workplace, or the employee will perform poorly while fi tting in with the workplace well. We need to align the job and workplace benchmarks.

It is possible but diffi cult to change job demands. A sales person must have initiative; we cannot drop that from the job benchmark. Similarly, a bookkeeper must be detail-minded; detail-mindedness is fundamental to the bookkeeping job.

Yet we need to change something when the demands of the job and the realities of the workplace are out of alignment. And what we change are either the workplace realities or the employee’s perception of workplace realities.

Let’s take the example of three boxes of Column 1 being fi lled in the job demands.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Win

ning

Securit

y

Inß u

ence

Analys

is

Nimble

Fixed

Self-D

Excel

lence

Job Demands

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Win

ning

Securit

y

Inß u

ence

Analys

is

Nimble

Fixed

Self-D

Excel

lence

Work Environment

you may adjust the Workplace Realities Benchmark in anticipation of the results of the realignment.

Once the benchmarks are aligned, you have a clear target of exactly what your dealership is looking for. Now that you have a target profi le you are ready for recruiting and selection.

Six Steps to Selection.

1. Make a solemn commitment to never take the best of a bad lot. Wait, and improve the pool of candidates to get the best.

2. Generate a list of viable candidates. Use language in your search that refl ects your target profi le benchmark. Sell service people on the stable benefi ts, training and security of their jobs; challenge the sales candidate with words that say, “Show me!”

3. When you have a clear target benchmark and a commitment to excellence, you can confi dently pre-screen someone’s telephone style, cover letter, résumé and initial

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

always

usually

50/50

sometimes

rarely

FREQUENCY

WINNING

Increase commis-

sions, make career goals

relevant, create a

competition, opportunity, challenge, a

contest

SECURITY

Decrease commission/

incentive pay.

Increase beneÞ ts, decrease acrimony/

confrontation

INFLUENCE

Decrease accountabil-ity, decrease goal speciÞ c-ity, engineer

in regular stroking

ANALYSIS

Increase speciÞ c-

ity of goals, ensure boss is tough, no-nonsence, practical

NIMBLE

Increase frequency of feed-back,

provide variety and

change, minimize

bureaucracy

FIXED

Decrease sudden or rapid

change; boss should be a Coach, team

goals pre-ferred, longer time-tables

needed

1 2 3 4 5 6

september 2004 15

continued

punctuality and appearance.

4. When you have a clear target benchmark and a commitment to excellence, interviewing takes on an entirely new form. You know what you are looking for.

5. Conduct personality profi ling, references, and background checks.

6. The fi nal step in selection is critical to retention: orientation and training. They need to be oriented into the dealership and its culture. And all new hires need to be trained to do things your way, regardless of experience.

Just as the fi rst step to employee retention is selection, the most critical step to employee retention is management. And the most critical element of individual management is interpersonal communication - not just what we communicate, but the way in which we communicate.

And that is the topic of the fourth and fi nal installment in this series.

Carol Martin is a Senior Consultant with The Omnia Group. She can be contacted at 800.601.3216, or by email at cmartin@autosuccess.biz.

Make a solemn commitment to never take the best of a bad lot. Wait, and improve the pool of candidates to get the best.

SELF-D

Increase employee autonomy, increase

employee decision-

making au-thority, boss is resource,

management system is informal

EXCELLENCE

Increase speciÞ c-

ity of goals, increase

rules, struc-ture, control.

Formal feedback, �hands-on� manage-

ment. Boss is controller

7 8

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How to Get Sales andF&I on the Same Team

GeorgeJacksonsts ms ls fi s lr

f&i solution

Sales Department.Sales people can take detailed credit applications to help with the lender approval process. A

complete, thorough, and legible application can help F&I to better communicate with the lender and also save time in the approval process. It will also help the customer receive a more favorable call because there is more information available on the vehicle and the customer.

F&I Managers should do their own introduction so the only thing that a sales person is responsible for is the timing of the introduction. It should be done at the time of the sale, because the sales person is the fi rst to know when a sale is made, it is his/her responsiblity to make sure the customer gets a professional introduction to the F&I Manager.

Another way sales people can help is to fi ll out all paperwork properly and complete. The process gets slowed down for everyone when F&I has to stop and track down a sales person for a missing stock number, trade mileage, insurance verifi cation, or something similar. This creates a bottleneck in F&I for everyone, and it can be easily avoided with some attention to detail.

F&I DepartmentAlways be professional. A customer should never be offered products in a manner that will generate revenue but lose the customer in the process. All products should be offered in a professional and legal manner. Take specifi c steps to maintain high CSI ratings for F&I.

F&I mangers need 100 percent turnover to convert cash and credit union customers. F&I managers need to make sure there

are no deals pending before taking lunch and that they are available for every opportunity. They also should develop a sense of urgency about a delivery.

A productive and cohesive relationship between sales and F&I is essential to the success of both departments. Policies and procedures are necessary. Once each

department realizes its part in making the other successful, everyone will benefi t, especially the customer.

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.

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MichaelYork

Ways to Become Uncommon• Get excited, about something! Excitement is an emotion that fi res our fuel and something we need to feel once

in a while.

• Make time for life, not just work. Some cliches are true, like the one about “all work and no play” making you dull. Life and work are much better when your tools are sharp.

• Experience isn’t everything. It’s good to a point, but change demands that we be better today than we were fi ve or 10 years ago. New procedures, tools and techniques are no better than the old ways if we don’t use them. And experience can’t be something we refer to as how good we used to be.

• Become the CEO of YourLife, Inc. Give value to all the divisions of YourLife, Inc. including your family. How are things in the personal recreation division, or the continuous improvement division? Call it balance or whatever you like but don’t miss this part of life’s treasures. Once it passes you by, there’s no getting it back. (And regrets, or I’m sorry, or I wish is a poor memory to be left with.)

• Take time to think, really think. Take quiet time and creative time. You could be struck by the lightning of an idea. Expose

yourself to creative time and places. If you search, you will fi nd. It’s an ancient wisdom that has been proven over and over.

• Use the law of inertia to your advantage. That means “DO SOMETHING!” Get your body in motion and it will remain in motion, taking you in the direction of completing any task no matter how diffi cult. Just begin, and the law works for you.

• Embrace new technology. Learning, not just training will make your life easier and better.

• Become a continuous learner. Always be in the process of learning something that improves your skills and makes you better. Learning says, “If I really want, I can get better today.”

• Take a vacation. You’ll get better results, at home and at work, when you take the time to re-charge your battery and get a fresh mindset. Never sell your vacation time or let it expire. It’s worth more than money...it’s your life.

• Be above playing politics. Don’t lie, pander, pout, put down or try to have the biggest something by making anyone else look small. It’s temporary positioning and does irreparable harm to your reputation among customers and co-workers.

• Treat all work as a project. Make everything have a beginning and an end.

We should know when we are fi nished so that we can celebrate and then begin a new project.

• Communication doesn’t prevent miscommunication. Strive for understanding. By its very defi nition, understanding prevents misunderstanding. Keep it simple.

• Be uncommon by association. Ever notice how the people around you who have nothing to do always seem to want to do it with you? You will be known by the company you keep.

• Be Gracious, it becomes you.

• Do something impossible. The impossible is done every day. Light, fl ight, and the four-minute mile were all said to be impossible. What radical dynamic improvement are you working on?

• Life is short, love what you do. If you don’t love what you do, do something else. Or at least begin planning for the day when you can do something you love to do. The common thing to do is just complain. Be uncommon.

• Treat everyone with respect. Not with respect for their job or position, but respect for them as a person. It will gain you much more respect than you can ever give away.

• How often does change happen? Right now. Make sure it happens in you as often as it’s happening around you. Embrace change. Keep up the learning curve.

• Leaders are wherever you fi nd them. They may be anywhere in an organization. Some receptionists will make great leaders. And some managers couldn’t make it as a receptionist. Don’t say, “If I were a VP, I’d make some changes around here.” Start where you stand and make changes that show your leadership qualities and abilities. Someone might notice.

• Big is available so go get it!

Michael York is an Author and Professional Speaker. He can be contacted at 800.668.5015, or by email at myork@autosuccess.biz, or visit www.MichaelYork.com.

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sales and training solution

The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino • Las Vegas, Nevada

Thursday & Friday • November 11 & 12 2004

For more information, please see pages 11 & 12

BESTPRACTICES

september 2004 21

Keep America Safe and Secure

FranMcAllistersts ms ls fi s lr

leadership solution

Fighting terrorism is the responsibility of all Americans, now that terrorism has been brought to American soil.

Executive Order 13224 is to reduce money laundering and squash the fl ow of dollars to anti-American organizations overseas. The executive order required the Offi ce of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) to make available to fi nancial institutions (which includes car dealerships) a list of blocked persons known as Specially Designated Nationals (SDN). The order, among other things, prohibits U.S. citizens and business entities from entering into any transaction or dealing with individuals or entities who have been linked to terrorism and appear on the list of blocked persons. This order is designed to work in conjunction with the US Patriot Act.

Some industries, such as banks, automobile dealers, and insurance companies, have increased exposure due to the nature of their perspective businesses. Complying with the regulation is not an option, it is mandatory for every industry. There is no minimum dollar threshold. The restrictions prohibit dealers from entering into a contract with a prohibited person for an oil change just as they prohibit dealers from entering into a contract with a prohibited person for the purchase of a vehicle.

Penalties for non-compliance can be severe and are twofold. Your dealership could be responsible for criminal penalties which can include fi nes from $50,000 to $10 million while imprisonment for individuals can range from 10 to 30 years for willful violations. Civil penalties can range from $11,000 to $1 million for each violation and can be applied to the owner of the company, as well as any individual involved in the transaction. These individuals could include any employee of the company.

To fi nd out who is on the terrorist list, companies can visit subscription based sites available on the web where name searches can be performed. These sites maintain the terrorist list, commonly known as the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, directly from the U.S. Department of

Treasury. These sites are updated daily to ensure that the list always matches the current list at the Department of Treasury.

Keeping America safe and secure should be a priority for all Americans. Complying with Executive Order 13224 is a step in that direction.

Information regarding the US Patriot Act and Executive Order 13224 is available through the U.S. Treasury Department. Visit their website at www.ustreas.gov.

Fran McAllister is the Vice President of Sales at Integra Systems. She can be contacted at 800.668.3107, or by email at fmcallister@autosuccess.biz.

www.autosuccess.bizsuccessful solutions at22

SteveLandersJr.

LandersToyota.com New Website Generates600 - 700 Leads a Month With a 18.2% Closing Rate

We initially got involved with the internet because like many other dealerships it was trendy. We took all

the steps necessary of having a good site and having a person designated to oversee the daily needs. Our fi rst strategy was very simple, have a site, answer the leads and hope to sell some vehicles. Our fi rst website was a Cobalt based site recommended by our manufacturer. It was a good site with some good standard features, but it failed to produce the extra sales we were looking for. As a result, we began seeking out providers who not only sold websites but had a clearly defi ned and well thought out system that would help us attract more customers, sell more customers and ultimately automate a lot of processes to help us keep the customers we have.

After studying what some other dealers were doing around the country we recognized the huge opportunity we had in

our market. We felt our needs were to fi nd something that was comprehensive enough to accelerate, teach, and grow our thinking into this ever growing part of our business. It is our goal to ultimately have the website as the central communication device for all of the profi t centers in our dealership. With this in mind we choose a company that had a proven track record of generating results and when we fi nally launched our new site LANDERSTOYOTA.COM we saw an immediate and dramatic increase in not only our leads but our closing ratio as well. Our website is now providing 600 to 700 leads a month, with a closing ratio of 18.2%. We believe both the technology and the interactive features of LANDERSTOYOTA.COM keep the customer on the site longer. This in-turn increases the odds of them actually converting to an opportunity either via phone or email. Our new website has many features that have quadrupled its results. Features like, virtual test drives, bulk e- mail buzzmail campaigns, plus a myriad of value building multimedia pieces that promote all of our profi t centers. This helps the website stay in front of the customer during initial contact and post sale activities and is helping us create customers for life.

This new digital marketing system has created enough excitement that people talk about it and they can even forward a virtual test drive to a friend...right from their email or our website. Our process for handling the leads is continuing to improve and in only our third month on this system we sold an extra 71 cars through the Internet. A secret

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marketing solution

of our system has been the automation and the ability to also personalize our messages easily. The automation is so robust we can easily market to our customers by sending them mini commercials directly into their inbox. This has increased our traffi c to our website dramatically. Plus, we are also making LANDERSTOYOTA.COM a big part of our traditional marketing as well which has also helped in our increase of traffi c to our website.

Our new website has many more functions that we’ve only begun to discover their potential. We will be able to allow our customers to track there vehicle through service and make there service appointments by e-mail. In a nut shell, it’s our opinion that the Internet is very much like what fi nance departments were 15 years ago. We believe that our Internet department is in the same phase and growing each and every day. Those who embrace the Internet will be miles ahead and will reap the rewards for being open and aggressive towards this new market of high profi ts, high volume and lower costs per sale. Visit LANDERSTOYOTA.COM and see for yourself.

Steve Landers Jr. is the Dealer Principal at Landers Toyota. He can be contacted at 800.723.2136, or by email atslanders@autosuccess.biz.

Our new website has many more functions that we�ve only begun to discover their potential.

MarkTewart

Find Your Hidden Wealth

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leadership solution

What is hidden wealth? Hidden wealth is an unused, dormant or under utilized part of your business that contains

great value. All businesses have at least one hidden wealth. Even the best businesses in the world contain hidden wealth. The key is to determine your hidden wealth and begin to mine the potential gold that lies therein.

All businesses are different. Each business should require their leaders to conduct a concerted effort of introspection and egoless honesty to determine what their hidden wealth may be. One way to begin is to ask deeper and better questions about your business than you ever have before. What is the story of your dealership? How is that unique and more importantly, how does that benefi t the customer?

Begin a journey to determine what your business does best. What does your business do better than anyone else? Then ask yourself these questions about that one thing, “How”, “Why” and how can I prove it to my customers in a way that benefi ts and motivates them? Once you determine the one thing that you do better than anyone else, then ask your customers why they think you do it best? See if what you feel and they feel are the same. If your business does something great but your customers don’t know, it won’t matter. If you customers don’t hold the same value in what you think you do great, it won’t matter. Better questions lead to better answers and better businesses.

Ask yourself, what do you have that others don’t have? What do you have that is better than what others may have? Is your sales staff better? Is your service better? Is your location better? Is your inventory better? Is your pricing structure better? Is your process quicker? Is your facility better? When you determine what you have that’s better, you must ask yourself, why is that true?

You must also ask yourself, how can I

explain what we do and how it’s better in very specifi c terms that the customer cares about? You can’t say you have a large inventory. It doesn’t mean anything. But you can say you have 500 vehicles worth ten million dollars in inventory and that no one comes close to your selection and because of that it takes the hassle out of shopping. What ever you decide is your strong point, ask yourself this question, “Who cares?” If you can’t tell your customer in a way that benefi ts them, they won’t care.

Some dealerships have a large database of untapped business. Some dealerships have a great location with many possible synergies with other local businesses that could be explored. Many dealerships have community relationships that could be utilized. Many dealerships have talented but untrained people. Many dealerships are either sending the wrong or mixed message to the market or sending a good message to the wrong market or utilizing either the wrong medium or not enough mediums to reach their market. Each dealership has assets that contain vast riches if they can be explored and tapped.

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

september 2004 23

But you can say you have 500 vehicles worth ten million dollars in inventory and that no one comes close to your selection and because of that it takes the hassle out of shopping.

profi t solution scott josephBy Scott JosephADVERTISEMENT

www.jandlmarketing.com

Amazing marketing “tool” helps Dealers and General Managers who use direct mail increase

their net profi ts 30% to 100%!Are your direct mail promotions producing consistent and improving

results or are they falling short of your expectations and declining with each promotion? Most dealers who use direct mail are still searching for the elusive combination that produced record-breaking results like their Þ rst direct mail promotion.

The number one objection we hear when prospecting for new dealer clients is that direct mail doesn�t work anymore. When we ask why most dealers say, �My market is saturated� or �It only attracts gift seekers� or �The people who respond are not buyers.�

I agree with all these reasons because if a direct mail promotion is not well thought out from start to Þ nish it will not work. This brings up a question! And the question is�

How can you eliminate all the elements of a promotion that do not give you the return on investment you need and at the same time improve on the aspects that produce exactly what you want? That�s the real question isn�t it? If you could invest advertising dollars only where you see great results and eliminate what doesn�t work, how many more cars could you sell? How much money would you make?

I�ve invested a small fortune to develop the marketing �tool� that will provide you the information that is necessary to produce the results you really want and could quite possibly increase your sales with each promotion from this day forward. J&L Marketing is the only Þ rm with this unique capability. It allows us to research and analyze your promotions from over 100 different perspectives and

gives you huge marketing advantages over all your competitors.

Now, you�ve heard the cliché� Information is what? Right. Information is power. If you could look back upon the history of thousands of promotions, examine the mailing lists, read over the direct mail letters, track what worked, what didn�t, who bought, who didn�t, and why� would this be powerful information to you?

The reality is every direct mail promotion produces both good and bad results. The problem is being able to easily recognize which is which. That problem is solved! Now you can have all the information you need to ensure success at the touch of a button.

Imagine being able to know immediately which market areas produce results that exceed your expectations and more importantly which ones to avoid. Simply asking the computer� �How do we generate more trafÞ c and sell more cars?� J&L�s proprietary Response Analysis System directs us toward those activities that bring success, and away from those that don�t. We reÞ ne the offers, prices, strategies, locations, and even the days of the week that bring the highest return.

Our analysis allows us to produce ever-increasing levels of success. Since the market is a lot smarter than we are, we don�t go by hunches, opinions, or gut feelings about how to improve performance. We rely solely on the numbers to tell us �where to from here.�

How can anyone make recommendations to you without the validation of facts, statistics and numbers? How can anyone implement a growth strategy based on hunches and guesses, rather than this powerful analysis program? It�s obvious�they can�t.

But J&L can, and J&L does. Our statistics tell us that for the last 3.5 million pieces of mail delivered, the Response Analysis has helped our dealer clients sell an average of 33 cars for every 10,000 pieces of mail delivered!

The Response Analysis is the most powerful marketing tool in automotive advertising today. Find out why J&L�s dealership response rates have increased 72% in the last two years. This combined with unequaled professionalism and customer support is why 94% of all J&L customers continue their relationship with us for years.

Just ask them for yourself. Rick Hillman from Hollingsworth Mazda says, �J&L Marketing�s direct mail program is the most cost-efÞ cient form of advertising that I have seen in the thirty years that I�ve been in the car business.�

Pat Fogerty from Classic Toyota says, �We have used J&L Marketing for years because of their continual support and excellent results. This is an invaluable service.�

Billy Gordon from Patrick Chevrolet says, �We have been running with J&L Marketing for four years, and we can attribute more sales to them than any other form of advertising. J&L is the most professional company I�ve worked with since I began in the car business 18 years ago.�

You too can start experiencing consistent results from the most professional marketing company right now by contacting my ofÞ ce at 866.856.6782 and asking for Lisa Wilson. Or e-mail her at: lwilson@jandlmarketing.com. As soon as you contact us we will begin to create a growth strategy unique to your organization, producing more proÞ t, more volume, and more satisÞ ed customers.

www.autosuccess.bizsuccessful solutions at26

can help you achieve at least

50% additional trafÞ c into your dealership

Would you like us to coordinate and execute a successful promotional campaign that increases

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�It�s like having a giant used car tent event without the giant cost! This promotion works!� - Daniel Sterkel, General Sales Manager

or visit www.showandtellsp.com for more information

If you call now and mention this ad, we�ll give you your Þ rst 25 signs for free!

JerryTeplitz

Eliminate Common Headaches, Drug Free

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leadership solution

This article will focus on the common headache and what can be done to relieve it, drug free.

The answer is Shiatsu, an old Japanese fi nger pressure technique. It is a safe and effective treatment. You don’t have to leave your desk. It takes just 90 seconds to do and it will get you immediately back to peak functioning.

Shiatsu is a 5,000-year-old Japanese healing technique that involves application of pressure to certain points on your body. Blockages in your internal fl ow are refl ected externally as discomfort, soreness, stress, insomnia, fatigue and many other symptoms, including headaches. A Shiatsu massage is done by applying a hard steady pressure to the point on which you are pressing. Regular Shiatsu massage therapy helps relaxation, improves circulation, and strengthens the

immune system. Shiatsu works very well on headaches, quickly and without side effects. The following are step-by-step instructions on how to perform Shiatsu to eliminate common headaches.

These instructions are written for doing the treatment on yourself. The instructions for doing it on someone else vary slightly. Sit in a chair with your feet fl at on the fl oor. Apply a hard, direct, and consistent pressure at each point for three seconds. If you feel pain, stop pressing that point immediately and move on to the next point. During your next sequence, you may be able to tolerate more pressure at that same pain spot by pressing softer at fi rst and then gradually press harder. In many cases the pain will have disappeared. If the headache persists after following these treatments, consult your physician.

Do each step in the listed sequence:1. Imagine you parted your hair in

the middle. This is the line you will be following. Start pressing at the middle of the forehead where the hairline begins. Apply a hard pressure with your thumb. Continue moving your thumb back (at one-inch intervals) following the part and applying a hard pressure. Each point is an inch apart and press your thumbs towards each other. Your fi nal point will be the hollow at the base of the skull where the neck and spine meet. It’s called the medulla oblongata.

2. At the crown or highest point of your head, put your thumbs next to each other and apply pressure. Follow an imaginary line down from the crown to the temples which is right in front of your ears. Finish by pressing three seconds at your temples.

3. With your thumbs, fi nd the back middle of the earlobe on both sides of your head and move in about one and a half to two inches toward the back center of your head where the medulla oblongata is located. Press toward the front of your body for three seconds. Move both thumbs halfway in towards the medulla and press your thumbs on both sides toward the front of your body. Now press one thumb in the medulla.

4. Drop straight down a half-inch from the medulla and place a thumb on each side of the spinal column. Pressing toward the front of the body, drop down an inch each time until you come to where the base of the neck and shoulders meet.

Three times should be enough to get rid of the headache on yourself. If not, do it once more. If your thumb gets tired from applying the hard pressure, place your middle fi nger on top of your index fi nger and press with both fi ngers. This will simulate the same level of pressure as you receive from just using your thumb.

Jerry Teplitz is the President of Jerry Teplitz Enterprises, Inc.. He can be contacted at 800.453.8216, or by email at jteplitz@autosuccess.biz, or visit www.teplitz.com.

MarkProctor

Five Ways to Make More Money

sts ms ls fi s lr

sales and training solution

1. Prepare, practice and give a proper professional product presentation and demo every time because that builds value in the

customer’s mind. Only four percent of your customers will buy a car without driving it. Negotiate and give shopping packages only to prospects that have received a proper demo and product presentation. Eight out of 10 buying customers list the product presentation as a determining factor in their decision. The steps establish a structure that will allow a sales person to slow a prospect down, establish a relationship, qualify wants/needs, present and demonstrate the product and ask for the sale.

2. One hundred percent management turnover. Nobody leaves the dealership without a professional introduction to a manager. The second face is one of the most powerful closing tools. A sales manager

must take a turn on every customer, sold or not. This will produce an additional 10 to 20 percent in volume.

3. One hundred percent follow-up. A name, address and phone number is required on all customers. Closing ratios as well as customer retention can be dramatically improved by professional and consistent follow-up. On average, only one out of 10 sales people follow-up with their customers. NADA says that people you get to come back to the dealership within 72 hours have a 67 percent close rate. Do everything possible to maximize each and every opportunity to do business.

4. Incoming sales calls must be handled so the goal is to obtain name and phone numbers and set appointments. Ninety-two percent of potential customers who are given a price over the phone call another dealership. There are two things you can accomplish by phone, obtain a (name and

phone number and set an appointment.

5. Most customers ask for your best price. This question is a defense mechanism. There are many factors governing the buying decision with price remaining in about sixth place in order of importance. A customer wants to be assured that he/she will receive the best price in addition to top trade values, warranties and fi nancing. You must create a positive experience, sell yourself, the product and your dealership as well as give the prospect reasons to buy, buy today and buy from you. Get leverage on the prospect to make a decision now.

Mark Proctor is the President of Preferred Dealer Services, Inc. He can be contacted at 800.453.8217, or by email at mproctor@autosuccess.biz.

september 2004 27

PatrickLuck

Paragon Acura Improves 179% in One MonthPaul Singer and Brian Benstock from Paragon Acura took a big risk and it payed off. Benstock left the paper for months to

shift his focus towards Internet marketing and CRM and as a result he has reduced his advertising expenses dramatically while dramatically increasing his sales, profi ts and CSI. “Our advertising expenses were increasing but our return was decreasing. It did not make sense to us. At the same time, customers have changed how they shop and two to three times more of our customers use the Internet to research their next vehicle than use the newspaper or other media. Therefore, we shifted our marketing to focus our advertising to where most of our customers are – the Internet,” said Benstock. This new strategy certainly paid off because Paragon Acura’s numbers have sky rocketed ever since. Here is a summary of Paragon’s accomplishments: (see charts below)

Everyone wants to know how Paragon has gotten the incredible results in such a short period. In this article Benstock has agreed to

share some of their secrets and best practices that led to their success. Paragon’s profi ts have sky rocketed while their advertising expenses have shrunk because they are changing how they market and sell cars. “The fi rst month after launching our new strategy we sold 64 additional vehicles,” said Brian Benstock, VP of Paragon. “80 percent of our buyers use the web to research before they buy their vehicle so it made sense for us to target our marketing to reach the majority of our customers. The best part is that we spent less on advertising to create more sales. In addition, it is almost impossible to measure the return on what we were spending. Today, I know the exact cost per sale of every vehicle I have sold online. The most important part is that our cost per sale is less than $150 per vehicle compared to over $500 a vehicle with our traditional advertising. In addition, our customers absolutely love our new website and I get customers raving about how much they love this new way to get a car and in the long term this is what will drive our customer satisfaction and loyalty,” said Benstock.

Dealers have been using the Internet to improve their sales for a while now but

Paragon’s strategy is a little different. Most dealerships rely mostly on third party lead providers to source their leads. Although many of these leads give dealers a better return than their traditional advertising it is not the only opportunity for dealers to use the web to generate more profi ts. “Our goal was to establish our own buying service for our region so we could generate more leads from our own website. The leads from our own website are less expensive and they have a three to four times higher closing ratio so our return is much better. At the same time, our website promotes all of our profi t centers and we use it to drive traffi c into the showroom, phone, service, parts the other parts of our operation. Overall, our website is our primary source of our leads and we continue to generate more and more sales from it every month,” said Benstock. Most dealers do not have enough leads from their own website so their primary source of leads are the third party providers yet a few dealers have fi gured out how to turn their website into a buying service that creates more high quality leads for a lower cost per sale. Benstock explains, “We have a blended strategy where we use leads from a few select third party providers alongside our primary source of leads – our website: www.ParagonAcura.com. We only use a select group of third party providers that give us leads that have higher closing ratios and a lower cost per sale.

Many dealers want to know how Paragon Acura transformed their website into a regional buying service and Brian Benstock has agreed to share with us how they did it. Below you will fi nd a summary of what he shared with us.

We started with a template website that Acura recommended but it was not working so we upgraded our website to something much better and to our surprise we still did not get the result we were looking for. After looking around to determine what the best dealers were doing I realized that there were many things I needed to have on my website that I didn’t have and that the website was only one part of the strategy we needed to have in place to get the results we wanted.

KEYS TO OUR WEBSITES SUCCESS:

Part 1: It is Simple & User friendlyThe reason our website is user friendly is because we do not overload the initial home

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August 2003 August 2004

CSI

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CSI

August 2003 August 2004Time

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Sales

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174% Growth100

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0

August 2003 August 2004

Sales

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68

Internet Sales: 68

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marketing solution

www.autosuccess.bizsuccessful solutions at28

Paragon Acura�s Accomplishments:- Paragon’s sales have increased 170% since the beginning of the year.- Paragon sells more than 60 vehicles a month online at ParagonAcura.com- Paragon is the most profi table dealer in their region- Paragon has the highest average gross profi t per vehicle of any dealer who sells more than 50 vehicles- Paragon increased their CSI from 64% to 96.8%- Paragon has accomplished all of the above in an outdated facility as they are preparing to move into their brand new facility- Paragon has the quickest and shortest inventory turn in their region

Paragon Acura increased their CSI from 76% up to 97% in only one year.

Paragon Acura has increased their sales by 174% in only one year out of an outdated facility.

ParagonAcura.com generates 68 additional sales a month.

page with too much content. The problem with most websites is that they have too many choices and the customer cannot fi nd what they want. For example, our old website had approximately 30 choices on the home page and we could measure that fact that more people abandoned the website on the home page than our current website because it was hard to fi nd what they wanted. Also, our website has all of the information our customers are looking for so they don’t have to go anywhere else to fi nd what they want.

Part 2: Market the Entire Dealership Our website markets every part of our dealership including our New Cars, Pre-Owned, F&I, Sub-prime, Service, Parts and every other department in the store. We realized that our website was our most powerful marketing tool because it was easier for customers to visit any time they wanted without driving a long distance. This accessibility has made it easier for our customers to start the process with us and we have used it as a bridge to bring them into the dealership. Our old ads would focus on trying to encourage our customers to call or come down to the dealership but now we are also encouraging them to visit our website because we know there will be a higher percentage of people who will take that step that may not want to call or come in at that time. In the end, our goal is to cast the largest net and to make it easy for customers to enter our sales funnel by foot, phone or Internet. The best part is that we know that once a prospect visits the website we have a much higher chance of getting them into the dealership to buy a car because the site is such a great marketing tool to drive people into our store.

Part 3: Appealing DesignWe get more comments about our new website than we do our new vehicles. It is amazing how many people go out of their way because they love our design. I

recently ate dinner at a beautiful white cloth restaurant and the ambiance defi nitely built a lot of value that justifi ed the cost of my meal and I am convinced that the credibility that our websites design creates helps us build value and makes people want to get their next vehicle from us.

Part 4: Engaging & Interactive WebsiteWe think that buying a car is an emotional experience and we have tapped into our customers emotions by giving them the information they want but also by giving them the inspiration they need. We engage our customers and keep them on your site longer by making their experience exciting and different from what they see at your competitor’s sites. For example, our customers love the fact that they can actually take a “Virtual Test Drive” on our website with out leaving their home. We get emails from clients all the time telling us how impressed they are with the experience they had online. In addition, we offer a lot of multi-media animation but it is designed in such a way that it is very quick and it can stream over a low speed 56k connection.

Part 5: Build Value rather than Selling PriceWhen we fi rst started we thought of the Internet as a tool to generate volume and we were convinced that you could not make a lot of money with each deal. Today, our average gross profi t is approximately $2500. per vehicle sold online. The reason our volume and gross profi t have both increased is because we build value in our people and products and we don’t just sell price. In addition, we promote our advantages over our competition on our website and at every part of our process. For example, if you visit our website you can click on “Why Paragon” and you will get a multi-media presentation of the unique advantages we have over our competitors. In addition, if you look at one of our pre-owned vehicles you can click on a multi-media presentation to learn more about our “Paragon Certifi cation” process. In the end, the dealerships that build value rather than just selling price will sell more cars, make more money and also have higher CSI and this is our approach to our online and offl ine processes.

These are a few of the key elements that have made our website so successful and below is a list of some of the things customers can do when they visit us at:

ParagonAcura.com:- View a “Why Buy Here” Multi- media presentation- Research Product info and Reviews- Build a Car- View new & pre-owned inventory

- See a multi-media tour of the pre- owned certifi cation process- Take a Virtual Test Drive- See Specials- Get fi nancing, Warranty & Trade-in info- Learn about fi nancing, insurance and other buying tips- Learn about the dealership, service, parts and other departments- Make service appointments- Buy parts online 24/7- Sign up for a personal web site- Check Recalls- Get Point-Point Directions

There is no question that ParagonAcura.com has done a great job generating results but a website alone cannot guarantee the numbers Paragon is generating. “Our website is a critical component to our overall strategy but it is only one part of our holistic plan,” said Benstock. “We have a detailed strategy to market our website offl ine and most importantly online with search engine optimization and email marketing. We will send thousands of multi-media emails to our client list a month and the results are outstanding. In addition, we have the right people, processes and tools to turn our leads into profi table sales. Overall, we have achieved our goals by having every part of the strategy covered and we look forward to continuing to improve. Most established retailers are uncomfortable with the Internet, my partner has been fully supportive and an active participant in reshaping the direction and marketing approach of the organization.”

Patrick Luck is the Editor and Publisher of AutoSuccess Magazine. He can be contacted at 800.331.9507, or by email at pluck01@autosuccess.biz.

september 2004 29

“We have increased our sales and decreased our advertising expense by using ParagonAcura.com to grow 170%”

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888 2 TEWARTvisit www.tewart.com/specialreport for a Free Special Report or call

EXPOSEDAuto Dealer Speaks Out and Reveals the Raw Truth about That �Consultant �Trainer,� Mark Tewart,

Who advertises in this Magazine All the Time.

This guy, Mark Tewart promises all sort of things to us car dealers � sales and management strategies for our dealerships that he �promises� really pay off. Such as strategies that will increase sales without increasing your advertising. Ways to increase gross proÞ t by $200 a car minimum. How to reduce and eliminate water in used cars and so on. Every time I read one of his ads, I thought, �Who could be dumb enough to fall for this guy�s rap?� Now, I�m going to tell you the raw truth about this guy and his �success secrets.�

My name is Chad Hawkes; I live in Oklahoma with my wife and child. I went to college here and became a salesperson at a car dealership. I was a struggling salesperson with little direction and not much of a future if my results stayed the same. I didn�t know what I was doing and was frustrated everyday with the business. I needed a change and I needed it quick.

One day our dealer hired a consultant and trainer named Mark Tewart who ran all these ads with these big claims. However, our dealer told us he had known this Mark Tewart guy for several years going back to when he was a new manager at another dealership. Our dealer told us to hang on to our hats because this guy Tewart was a Þ reball with more real valid information on success in the car business than anyone he had ever seen and that he wouldn�t have become a dealer before he was 30 years old without Mark Tewart.

Most of what he taught us was so different from what we had ever seen, heard or been taught by other so-called experts. As we listened to Mark�s information, we saw a whole different way to develop a high income career rather than just make a sale here and there. We heard sales skills, people skills and life skills and found freedom from the cheapest price, roll around in the mud, bait-n-switch ugliness. Best of all we learned actual skills to reengineer our business (managers and dealer as well as salespeople). I even looked in the mirror and saw Chad Hawkes differently. So, skeptical and grateful at the same time, we left the workshop with a workbook and CD�s full of ideas.

The next day I began to implement 10 different Mark Tewart strategies. Over the next couple of weeks, as I got them up and running, they all surpassed my greatest expectations. Let me give you an idea of what I am talking about. My Þ rst year of implementing Mark�s strategies, I became the number one salesperson and my production tripled. I began to get my life in order as well. Every time Mark came to the dealership he taught me lessons that made my whole life change for the better. After a period of big increases, I was promoted to manager and attended Mark�s Management workshops. Once again, I was amazed at how much incredible information I got and how much it improved our dealerships sales and proÞ ts. Our little country dealership, located in an economically challenged area had improved from 40 units a month to over 325 units and we had become on many months the largest dealer of our brand in the state!

Personally, I went from struggling to winning. I became the General Sales Manager and then bought my own dealership and now own two dealerships before turning 30 years old. How, you ask, could such a thing happen? The answer, simply, is learning how real proven and effective sales and management systems work, from the �master�, Mark Tewart. In spite of everything you hear about business being slower and tougher, my business is booming. Just a couple of Mark�s strategies alone has allowed me to go from 40 used cars a month to over 120 a month operating out of a trailer! Thanks to Mark�s ideas, systems, inspiration and encouragement I have two dealerships and have bought the ranch of my dreams for my family.

What is important is that Chad Hawkes can sell a ton of vehicles, get plenty of referrals, is unaffected by competition and has �real� systems in place to realize a huge proÞ t every month. I knew Mark had it Þ gured out when after one consulting session he showed me over 40 ways to grow my business and make more proÞ t. He is brilliant. So here�s the raw truth about this Mark Tewart guy: Unlike most of the �pretend� experts, he is a bona Þ de trainer-consultant and money making genius, who can do anything from tweaking to transforming your business, so you not only make a lot of money, but you can make it a lot easier and more enjoyable than you can imagine.

Maybe you are already doing well already � but you could do better (some of Mark�s most ardent students make many millions per year). Maybe you just don�t want to be sold something that�ll be a waste of your hard-earned money. About that you can relax. Mark guarantees his stuff.

I�ve got over $1,000,000 reasons why you ought to investigate what Mark has to offer. What reasons do you have NOT to look at this? And here�s how easy it is: Mark has prepared a straight-talk, detailed report � �HOW TO RECRUIT, HIRE AND TRAIN A DREAM TEAM OF SALESPEOPLE,� which you can have absolutely FREE of cost or obligation. Get it, read it and decide for yourself whether or not you want to get in on Mark�s information. It�s that simple. To get your FREE Special Report go to www.tewart.com/specialreport or call our 24 hr. hotline at 1.866.432.2468. You will hear a brief, free recorded message and be able to leave your name and address, so your report can be mailed to you. Or write �report� on your business card or letter head and pop it in the fax machine or email it. Mark�s fax number is 513.934.4588 and his email address is info@tewart.com - Either way, you will get his eye opening report rushed to you, free.

By the way, I wasn�t paid a penny to write this about Mark. I am a car dealer just like you. I did this just as a way of saying thanks to Mark for everything he�s done for me. And I am not the only person who feels this way. With your report, you�ll get a book of actual comments from some of the over 10,000+ other salespeople, managers and dealers he has helped. Most like me are now making more money, with less hassle than ever before. More business that we handle ß ows in everyday� proÞ tably. All we can say is this, �don�t envy us. Join us�.

Chad Hawkes, Hawkes Motors, Pryor, OK.

P.S. Please don�t get my number and call me. The last thing I need is a zillion phone calls asking me about Mark. I�ve said what I have to say right here. What else could you possibly need to know? Instead, call 1.866.432.2468 and ask for your FREE SPECIAL REPORT today. You owe it to your business.

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