- Dec 2, 2009
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- First Name
- John
Even more common this month: September can't end fast enough! I think the SAR is going to really tank when the reports hit next week.
Anyone having a good September?
I love what I do, but it is so f-ing stressful.
- Thread starter eag818
- Start date
Even more common this month: September can't end fast enough! I think the SAR is going to really tank when the reports hit next week.
Anyone having a good September?
- Jun 29, 2011
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- Dave
You may not be the same dealership as I'm guessing by putting your user name and used cars into google, but are you Empire Automotive Group in Manchester, NH? I ask because I thought I'd do a quick check on Yelp to try to get a feel for your dealerships rep as the work of your desk managers will likely be reflected there. I noticed only 2 active reviews, but there were a lot of negative filtered reviews claiming very shady pencils with many complaints about the dealership not honoring the online advertised price. It seems like you're doing a great job in generating traffic and interest, but something is happening inside the store when the deals are being worked. I may have this all wrong and am looking at the wrong dealerships Yelp page, but just in case I'm right I thought I'd throw my 2 cents in.
Nope, been a frustrating month John, coming off 2 other frustrating months. Hurricane Irene didn't help either. This year has been a roller coaster vs last year. And to top it off I hired a new ISM in June that was kicking some butt at a Honda store and showed a lot of promise and really is a great guy, but in 3 months the numbers have not moved!
- Sep 30, 2010
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- Bill
It has been the same here also Eley. We will beat last years numbers, but quite a bit off from the previous month. Even my service department is crying the blues this month. Lets get September over with!
"management pointing fingers at everyone and everything else rather than themselves."
I once told my Manager that I had messed up. He asked me, "what could you have done differently"? We then discussed several approaches to the same problem. He then told me that "people that don't do anything or unwilling to make a decision, don't make mistakes". In my early days, I don't remember this "blame others thing".
If I have a choice between two equally qualified people, I will hire a vet. They tend to have a strong work ethic, follow instruction and: "no excuse Drill Sgt."
Sorry, I was the one that thought you were a girl.
Excuse the late night rant from an old Cajun on the second glass of wine.
I once told my Manager that I had messed up. He asked me, "what could you have done differently"? We then discussed several approaches to the same problem. He then told me that "people that don't do anything or unwilling to make a decision, don't make mistakes". In my early days, I don't remember this "blame others thing".
If I have a choice between two equally qualified people, I will hire a vet. They tend to have a strong work ethic, follow instruction and: "no excuse Drill Sgt."
Sorry, I was the one that thought you were a girl.
Excuse the late night rant from an old Cajun on the second glass of wine.
- Dec 30, 2009
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- Yago
No wars here, I dont work for Craigslist nor we sell a tool to market price cars using Craigslist. I also said that vAuto works just fine.
My point was to Matt's comment that if you don't have vAuto you should use Autotrader.
Perhaps some of my examples were not perfect, but I was trying to show examples of how to do a search. Of course, Craigslist being free and vAuto not, some manual work and investigation needs to be done by the dealer when usign the "free" tool (free is not free after all).
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Yago, I said my last post would be my last. I guess I'm breaking my own rule, but I don't think you'll mind. I'm writing to apologize. I was in a bit of a bad mood and stressed myself at the end of the month. I can see I kinda took it out on you and that was wrong. You have my apologies and my best wishes!
- Dec 30, 2009
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- Yago
- Apr 6, 2009
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- Mitch
I love this thread, wish I woulda jumped in earlier.
There's so much I agree with and see everyday in our stores.
It's amazing to me that our management team is compensated at such a remarkable level for the actual output they provide. Then, like they're actually educated on how marketing works, they come up with the magic marketing medicine. As if marketing is the disease.
From top to bottom, I truly believe that dealerships are in need of an incredible increase of leadership capability. It's time for the "Old Boys Club" to be forced out or forced in.
As the people who live and breathe "Internet" on a daily basis it's our burden to lead the "old boys club" and sell the shit out of them on why they need to keep up. Hold them wildly accountable, especially if you've done the work to hold yourself accountable. Set lofty goals, turn them into detailed actions then turn your store into the place you want and need it to be to be successful.
Easy said... tough to do. My 2 cents.
There's so much I agree with and see everyday in our stores.
It's amazing to me that our management team is compensated at such a remarkable level for the actual output they provide. Then, like they're actually educated on how marketing works, they come up with the magic marketing medicine. As if marketing is the disease.
From top to bottom, I truly believe that dealerships are in need of an incredible increase of leadership capability. It's time for the "Old Boys Club" to be forced out or forced in. As the people who live and breathe "Internet" on a daily basis it's our burden to lead the "old boys club" and sell the shit out of them on why they need to keep up. Hold them wildly accountable, especially if you've done the work to hold yourself accountable. Set lofty goals, turn them into detailed actions then turn your store into the place you want and need it to be to be successful.
Easy said... tough to do. My 2 cents.
Happy I found this and raised it from the dead. Reading some of this quite literally calmed me and reassured the fact I am indeed doing everything I can. Lately things have been slow and somehow I end up taking incoming fire when all along our sales team closes at a lofty 5%.
"We need more leads!" is often heard bellowing in halls and I sarcastically think to myself 'yes three thousand phone calls is not enough'. I want to turn into Alec Baldwin's character in Glengarry Glen Ross and repeating his lines:
These are the new leads. These are the Glengarry leads. And to you they're gold, and you don't get them. Why? Because to give them to you would be throwing them away. They're for closers.
I've learned a lot working at store level. One thing I've learned is that for the most part (we do have 1 or 2 savvy folks) Sales and Sales Management have no clue about marketing. We get serious lead traffic, even on slow months. I know this because I've worked with dozens of dealerships before as a vendor rep (won't say who!). Luckily I've managed to bring in Jerry's team and can't wait for them to start. We've been using Socket now for a few months as well partly upon my recommendation.
Anywho I've digressed, thanks for the thread and happy marketing!