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| As selected by Activengage |
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Mobile web surfing is growing incredibly fast and the automotive industry needs to embrace these shoppers. This great post will get you thinking about how to improve your mobile strategy.
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Delivering the WOW factor at your dealership has continued to become more difficult as dealerships continue to raise the bar. This post is a great idea starter.
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The Good News: Selling Isn't Dead. The Bad News: Your Dealership May Be. Read on to learn why this is, and how to keep from becoming a victim.
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| How-to’s by industry experts |
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 Don't Leave Your SEO to Amateurs
Your success online hinges on that coveted first page. It has been proven that a large majority of click-throughs from search engines start from the first page of search results. If your SEO strategy falls short, chances are your customers will never get to your website. Work with an experienced SEO or website provider to develop the best strategy for your dealership.Here are a few of the variables that SEO professionals consider when evaluating the SEO-readiness of your website: • Page Titles: Also called meta titles or title tags, some believe these are one of the most important factors from a search engine perspective. These tags are a string of keyword-rich words that best describe the contents of a page. • Descriptions: Also called meta descriptions, these are the phrases or words used to describe your business, product, service, or operation that are sometimes seen when your search results are posted. The description is important, as could be the first item viewers see when their search results appear? • Content: Quality content is what attracts your customer, calls them to action and retains their attention. It is one of the key ways to bring your prospective customer to your website and turn their leads into sales. • Linking: When writing content it is important to keep in mind link viability. Quality inbound links are what tells the search engines that your content is relevant. Ray Fenster, President, RayFenster.com LLC and can be reached at RayFenster@RayFenster.com.
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Jerry has personally trained well over 10,000 dealership personnel during the last seven years. While visiting dealerships, Jerry will often get on the phone and start scheduling appointments with customers, thus earning him the nickname, "The Phone Ninja."
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Daily clicks to increasing dealer revenue & profits
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 Experian Automotive Offers VIO Info for Dealers
Consumers are keeping small vehicles, but still desire luxury, recently released Experian data shows. Although the mix of vehicles on U.S. roads is moving more toward small to midsize vehicles,, according to Experian Automotive’s just-released analysis of its AutoCount Vehicles in Operation (VIO) data as of March 31, 2010, consumers still want premium/luxury amenities in those vehicles. Learn more by visiting www.experianautomotive.com.
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 Infomedia and Toyota USA sign Superservice Menus Agreement
Infomedia, leading supplier of electronic parts catalogues for the automotive industry, announces a 3-year agreement, on a non-exclusive basis, with Toyota Motor Sales USA to market its service quoting and selling system, Superservice Menus™ to the TMS dealership network. Infomedia's electronic parts selling systems have become the global standard for the automotive industry, used by more than 50,000 users in over 160 countries. For more information visit infomedia.com.au.
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 AutoTrader Partners with Executive Auto Group
As part of AutoTrader's Trade-In Marketplace program, Connecticut-based Executive Auto Group now offers its cstomers a predetermined guaranteed value offer on a trade-in that can then be applied to the purchase of a new or used vehicle at one of their Mazda, Honda, Jeep or Nissan dealerships. Accessible on any computer, offer is based on real data and customer receives a printed voucher with the guarantee. For more info visit www.autotrader.com.
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| How-to’s by industry experts |
 Call Tracking Will Put Your Dealership on Sales TrackDealerships across the country are implementing call tracking solutions to optimize the performance of their advertising spend. By assigning a unique phone number to each advertising or marketing campaign, a business will be able to track all of their phone calls back to the campaign that generated the call. This will allow sales managers to see exactly which advertising campaigns are generating car sales. This knowledge gives dealerships the opportunity to improve marketing ROI and produce more quality leads. Click here or click on the image for some up-to-the-minute information on implementing the best call tracking system in your dealership!
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| auto dealer sales & marketing |
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 It’s 2 pm on a Tuesday, Do You Know Where Your Sales Staff Are?
By Stephen Cravens As inbound call tracking has become popular among the automotive community, managers have been amazed at the insight it offered on their staffs' productivity. Often times, employee performance improved simply because people knew that their calls were being monitored. Managers sought to install the same level of accountability to the telephone calls that were being dialed out, so we developed a solution that brought call tracking to outbound calls. Recently, we had a couple of customers that used over 30,000 minutes through our outbound system. Since it would be nearly impossible for a single manager to analyze that many calls individually, we rolled up our sleeves – building out additional reporting modules to provide a nice overview of activity by each employee. The new charts show a breakdown of how many calls each employee handled and how many calls each employee placed. You can now observe whether sales associates are going through on Friday afternoon and trying to place an entire week's worth of calls. This new functionality was built at the request of an auto dealership in North Carolina who was looking for a quick and easy way to summarize whether or not its sales staff was hitting quotas. As always, we appreciate suggestions and requests from the industry on how to better take advantage of the telephone! Stephen Cravens, Director of Marketing Century Interactive, can be reached at sc@centuryinteractive.com.
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| bringing sales into service and service into sales |
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 New Toyota Position on Reinforcements
Toyota has recently issued a revised position on the repair of high-strength steel and ultr-high-strength steel cabin reinforcements and, as a result, I-CAR is offering a new class entitled "Collision Repair of Toyota, Lexus and Scion Vehicles" (TOY01) starting in July. In a recent interview with I-CAR, James Meyer, Senior Technical Training Administrator for Toyota Motor Sales stated Toyota’s position on limited repair of occupant cabin reinforcements and indicating that any of these parts that are HSS or stronger cannot be repaired. Click here to read more. Then click on the image for more information on how to sign up for this important class.
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| driving technology in and around the VEHICLE |
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 Updated Ford SYNC Commands For 2011 Vehicles
Ford and Nuance AVR make SYNC faster and friendlier
When Ford first introduced SYNC® in 2007 it was basic and a work in progress. Ford then added the MyFord Touch™ driver connect technology with in-car voice activation, but it still needed tweaking. Working with voice technology pioneers Nuance Communications, SYNC has advanced to a much higher level, moving from 100 commands to more than 10,000 first-level commands to be available on 2011 models. Some of the more advanced features include:
• Fewer steps and more natural language
• More direct voice commands such as "Call John Smith," "Find ice cream" and "Add a phone"
• "Samantha," the voice of SYNC, has smoother, more natural speech patterns
• Destination commands like "Find a shoe store" or "Find a hotel" puts users into the navigation system menu
"Ford is committed to making voice recognition the primary user interface inside of the car because it allows drivers to keep their eyes on the road and hands on the wheel," said Jim Buczkowski, director of Ford electronics and electrical systems engineering. READ MORE...
For more exciting features and a personal demonstration visit the SYNC website now!
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| how to make & keep your DEALERSHIP environmentally responsible |
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 Government Stimulus Program Aids in EV Infrastructure Robbie Diamond, president of the Electrification Coalition (EC), says the government is on the right track by using stimulus money under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to promote electric vehicles, components and infrastructure, but more can and must be done. The White House report outlines what is being done thus far. According to Diamond, the numbers put out by the government indicate we're on the right track, but we can't stop here. Building and selling EVs is only part of the answer. More responsible legislation on both sides of the aisle in Congress are needed. You'll want to read more!
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