autosuccessMay05

.biz.biz.biz

May 2005

Read this month�s and previous issues online at www.AutoSuccess.biz

How Are You Being FoundHow Are You Being FoundWhy Dealers Are Moving Their Ad Dollars

Into Search Engine Marketing

Mark BonÞ gli

Why Dealers Are Moving Their Ad Dollars Into Search Engine Marketing

Mark BonÞ gli

Photographing Vehiclesfor Online Listing

How to Pick ADocument Destruction Vendor

Tips for Hiring theRight Internet Sales Manager

Lead Generation = Dollar Creation



Tips for Hiring theRight Internet Sales Manager

Lead Generation = Dollar Creation

BEFORE YOU SPENDANOTHER DOLLAR ON THENEWSPAPER CLASSIFIEDS,

READ THIS.

©2005 AutoTrader.com is a trademark of TPI Holdings, Inc. and is used under license.

Still using the newspaper as your main vehicle to reach car buyers?It’s time to partner with AutoTrader.com. For more information, call 1-888-249-6860.

Only 7% of newspaper readersare looking for a used car.A lot of people advertise in the newspaper simply

because they have for years. But when you really look at the

number of newspaper readers who

are actually looking for a car, it’s

not very impressive. In fact,

newspaper circulation continues

to decline, and the Internet has

surpassed the newspaper as the number-one source

people use to fi nd a car. At AutoTrader.com, virtually all

of the nine million monthly visitors are looking to buy a

car within the next 60 days. Also, the majority of

AutoTrader.com users are looking to

buy within 25 miles of their home. When

you consider all of this, you’ll realize that

you can list your car in the newspaper,

or you can sell it on AutoTrader.com.

45722_AT5_246.indd 1 4/6/05 5:51:20 PM

www.jandlmarketing.com866.856.6782

Secrets of Dealerships Who Overachieve –

No One Else Will Tell You:

� What the best �response generating�

ads all have in common.

� The three most important goals you

will ever set for your dealership.

� How to condition your current

customers to buy from you

more often.

� How to create advertising that

attracts quality customers who

negotiate less.

� How to out-market your competition

and dominate your market.

� What the ultimate goal of marketing

should be today.

� How to create advertising that actually

increases your closing percentage.

Special Free Offer: Call 866.856.6782 now and ask for Sarah to receive your free copy of the J&L Marketing Ultimate Growth Strategy, featuring an actual case study of Johnson City Honda.

You’ll discover the exact growth strategy and marketing plan created by J&L Marketing and used by Johnson City Honda and read how, in just their fi rst four months, they increased sales by 65 units per month and their gross averages by over $1,300 per vehicle!

move the crowd. crush the competition. count the money.

Which New Car Lead Provider Is Used by More of theWard’s e-Dealer 100 than Any Other?

Quality Leads | Superior Service | Dealer Control FeaturesSM

"Dealix has been fundamental inhelping Penske achieve this level ofsuccess. We use Internet leads because weare very aggressive with our sales goals, andour Internet department is helping drive thegrowth for the entire dealership."

Scott Haynes, Internet director for Penske Honda of Indianapolis, IN, one ofthe Ward’s Top 100 e-Dealers.

Learn how Dealix can help you become part of this prestigiousgroup of high performance dealers next year.

Call us at (800) 717-8079.

Or visit www.dealix.com to get an immediate estimate of the numberof leads in your ideal sales territory.

A Division of The Cobalt Group, Inc.2002

Quality and Service2003

Business Generation2004

Dealer Satisfaction2005

Platinum Winner

The Best Dealers Rate Dealix Their Lead Provider of Choice.

2001-2002

2001-2003

2001-2004

2001-2005

140%

120%

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%

-20%

Ward's e-Dealer 100

North America Auto Sales

Source: Ward's Dealer Businessand Automotive News

Auto Sales Growth

Source: Ward’s Dealer Business, April 2005* Tie

Dealix

CarsDirect

Autobytel

AutoUSA

#1

2

2

4

*

*

Rank Lead Provider

THURSDAY, APRIL 21ST 2-4 pm Eastern “Legal and Regulatory Issues Facing Dealers Today”• Broadcast before a live studio audience in Columbus, Ohio. Our host Keith Whann will answer some of the

biggest questions facing the automobile industry today.• Email us your questions at [email protected].• Rebroadcast on April 23rd and 26th beginning at 9:00am for 24 hours.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8TH 1-4 pm Eastern “2005 NIADA Convention General Session”• This is your chance to see the opening session of NIADA’s 59th Annual Convention and Expo, broadcast live

from the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia.

FRIDAY, JUNE 10TH 8-10 pm Eastern “NIADA 2005 National Quality Dealer of the Year Awards”• Tune in and get a front-row seat to the National Quality Dealer awards ceremony, live from the Peachtree

Ballroom in the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia. This is one night you won’t want to miss!

SATURDAY, JUNE 11TH 12:30-2 pm Eastern “Ask the Car Counselor”• Broadcast live from our booth at the 2005 NIADA convention in Atlanta, The Car Counselor Keith Whann will

answer questions from the expo floor, as well as email questions from around the country.• You can email your questions to The Car Counselor at [email protected].

MONDAY, AUGUST 29TH 3-7 pm Eastern “F&I: The Key to Increased Profitability”• NIADA.TV will be live in Albuquerque, New Mexico to bring you this three-part series in which Keith Whann

takes a look at the major F&I issues that could make or break your business.

Live events are free and open to everyone who logs onto www.niada.tv during the scheduled broadcast times.

INSI

DE

AutoSuccess Magazine is published monthly at 3411 Pinnacle Gardens Drive, Louisville, Kentucky, 40245; 502.588.3155, fax 502.588.3170. Direct all subscription and customer service inquiries to 877.818.6620 [email protected]. 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, 3411 Pinnacle Gardens Drive, Louisville, Kentucky 40245.

3411 Pinnacle Gardens Drive Louisville, Kentucky 40245

! Toll Free: 877.818.6620 " Facsimile: 502.588.3170

Patrick Luck, Editor & Publisher• [email protected]

Susan Givens, Vice President• [email protected]

Courtney Hill-Paris, Sales-improvement Strategist• [email protected]

Brian Ankney, Sales-improvement Strategist• [email protected]

Thomas Williams, Creative Director• [email protected]

Corinthians 5:7We live by faith, not by sight.

We are so often sidetracked by diffi culties because we expect to see barriers removed before we even try to pass through them. If we would only move straight ahead in faith, the path would be opened for us.

Psalms 18:32It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.

8

9

10

12

13

14

16

18

20

22

23

24

26

28

30

31

32

BrianTracy

Photographing Vehicles for Online Listing RobChesney

How to Pick A Document Destruction Vendor StaceyDiPiazza

MarkBonfi gliHow Are You Being FoundWhy Dealers Are Moving Their Ad Dollars Into Search Engine Marketing

AnthonyHallReß ection of One�s Self is One of the Best Training Tools

JimAdamsTake Your Time and Be A Professional

MichaelYorkHappy Customers: To Be or Not to Be

How to Get Your Ideas Across

Tips for Hiring the Right Internet Sales Manager DavidKain

CarolMartinShould You Promote Your Top Sales Person to ManagementSometimes the Most Obvious Person for the Job is Not the Right One

JeffFishelFive Steps to Maximize A Jingle Campaign

PattiWoodCan�t Touch This

DaleCollieFive Easy Ways to Show Employees How Much You Care

TonyDupaquierWhat Dealers Should Know About A Service Contract Company

SeanWolfi ngtonFour Keys to Integrity Selling, Part 4

MarkTewartLead Generation = Dollar Creation

ScottJosephGet More SpeciÞ c in Your AdsAbout the Valuable BeneÞ ts You Offer

Tasca Uses Training to Manage Growth, Increase ProÞ ts and Reduce Turnover

BobTasca

God Bless America

www.autosuccess.biz8

How to Get Your Ideas Across

BrianTracysts ms ls fi s sf

sales and training solution

Fully 85 percent of what you accomplish in your career and in your personal life will be determined by how well you get your

message across and by how capable you are of inspiring people to take action on your ideas and recommendations.

You can be limited in other respects - by education, contacts and intelligence - but if you can interact effectively with others, minute by minute and hour by hour, your future can be unlimited.

I am going to share with you some ideas, techniques and skills that you can use to accelerate your progress toward power

communication. But fi rst, there are two major myths about communication that must be dispelled.

The fi rst myth, which many people believe, is that because they can talk, they can communicate with others. Men especially, according to the research, think that by speaking louder and faster, they’re more effective in dealing with people. Many people think that because they have the gift of gab, because they have no problem talking to others on any subject that comes to mind, they’re good communicators.

Often, exactly the opposite is true. Many people who talk a lot are often poor communicators - even terrible communicators. Many people in sales and business think that being able to string a lot of words together in a breathless fashion makes them excellent at getting a message understood by others. However, in most cases, those people are seen as boring or obnoxious, or both.

The ability to talk is not the same as the ability to communicate. The ability to communicate is the ability both to send and to receive a message. The ability to communicate is the ability to make an impact on the thoughts, feelings and actions of someone. Many people who consider themselves excellent talkers are not very effective at all in this regard.

So let’s dispel the fi rst myth, the myth that talking is equal to communicating. The ability to talk to one or more persons is only the basic requirement for communication. It’s the starting point. It’s the jumping-off place.

The second myth about effective communication is that it’s a skill that people are born with. Either you have it or you don’t have it. If you’re not extroverted, gregarious and outgoing, you don’t have what it takes to be a good communicator.

Again, nothing could be further from the truth. Communication is a skill that you can learn. It’s like riding a bicycle or typing. It takes time and practice, over and over. But if you’re willing to work at it, you can rapidly improve the quality of every part of your life, as you will soon see.

Communication requires both a sender and a receiver. The process of communication happens rapidly, and this same process takes place whenever two or more people exchange ideas. First, the sender thinks of an idea or

continued on page 34

A PROFESSIONAL SALES TRAINING AND RECRUITING FIRM

www.rjwa.com

Dealers today need a partner with the focus, knowledge and experience to obtain asales force with the potential to produce. Outsourcing your recruiting and fundamental sales training to Williams & Associates, an accredited training firm, istoday what establishing the F & I department was 40 years ago — a money maker!

If you are not on a plan with a proactive recruiting program then you probably experience high turnover of sales people without the strategies and motivation needed to create sales and maintain profit over a long lasting career.

Williams & Associates recruiting and training programs provide:• a proven, professional approach to interviewing, recruiting and training in basic

automotive skills to inexperienced automotive sales personnel• salespeople with the strategies they need to help you reach your objectives• salespeople with a higher level of commitment, loyalty and customer satisfaction• salespeople who have paid for their own training and are motivated to succeed

With the right sales people, and enough of them, you’ll see profits rise!

Don’t lose another day. Call today for information. Various cost effective plans available, including but not limited to, no up front training fees to the dealer.

NEED SALESPEOPLE?

We will help you increase your driving force. There are qualified

candidates in your area.

1.866.842.1492 Ext 412

may 2005 9

RobChesney


When selling vehicles online, it is important to provide prospective customers with as much information

as necessary in the listing to make an informed decision since they are not able to physically kick the tires. A best practice for having strong online listings is including quality photographs to accompany the written description. Although the written description of the vehicle is important, good photographs of a vehicle are critical as they lend credibility and verify product attributes highlighted in the listing. Vehicles with high-quality photos usually sell for higher prices then those without images.

It is recommended online sellers start with at least 12 photos to show the following areas:

Exterior:

left sideright sidefrontreartopclose-up of wheel

Exterior

When photographing the exterior of the vehicle, think of the buyer fi rst approaching the vehicle and taking in its overall appearance and style. It is important to provide a full exterior view so the buyer can have a full perspective of the vehicle. It is best to provide four separate images showing each side, the front and the back. The front and back of the vehicle should be clearly visible because these are the areas that most often distinguish makes and models. A close-up wheel shot will allow the customer to see the type and customization of the wheel and wheel covers. You may even include the tread to show the amount of wear.

Interior

In your interior photography, document all the important details that the customer will fi nd inside the vehicle. A shot of the dashboard will inform the buyer of the available analog or digital instruments as

well as the type of sound system with which it is equipped. The odometer close-up will verify your statement of the vehicle’s mileage. Shots of the seats can give the buyer an idea of the trim and comfort level of the vehicle as well as the condition of the upholstery. An image of the seating controls also can point out power risers, heating buttons and other special seat features.

Vehicle damage

In providing vehicle photos, it is essential to offer close-up pictures of any visible damage. For your own protection and for enhancement of your reputation as an honest seller, the potential buyer must be cognizant of any known problems with the vehicle prior to the sale. Include a clear photo of the damage and accompany it with an accurate and straightforward description of the problem. Typical problems that you should point out in your photos include dents, rust, faded paint, scratches and damage to the interior, including rips or tears in the upholstery or headliner. Honesty about vehicle damage to a potential customer gives them confi dence in knowing the true condition of the vehicle and comfort to purchase the vehicle online.

Engine

Potential buyers like to know that the engine has been maintained. Moreover, a photo will confi rm that the engine’s type, style and condition are as you describe them in the listing. The best shot is one showing the entire engine bay. Be sure to throw extra lighting into the area under the hood to bring out the details and overcome shadows.

Photos are the closest thing to a test drive that your buyer is likely to experience. Give the customer a feeling of assurance and satisfaction through an array of pictures that fully describe the vehicle and its special features. Your photos will drive sales, and customers will bid with confi dence in the vehicle.

Rob Chesney is the director of autos at eBay Motors. He can be contacted at 866.210.2211.

Interior:front seatback seat

carpettrunk

dashboardodometer close-up

sts ms ls fi s sf

marketing solution

Juvenile Diabetes

affects millions

and causes long-

term complications like blindness

and kidney failure. Not to mention

pain and worry no kid should have

to live with. But we’re closer than

ever to a cure. Your help makes

life-saving research possible. Call

1.800.533.CURE or visit

www.jdrf.org.

we’re this close to a cure

Mary Tyler MooreInternational Chairman


Tasca Uses Training to Manage Growth, Increase ProÞ ts and Reduce Turnover

BobTasca

Whether you’re adding franchises to your dealer group or tightening your belt in an effort to

remain competitive, nothing will make or break success quite like people. At Tasca Automotive, we’ve grown from a small, family-owned, single-point store to a multi-franchise auto group operating out of three locations and, shortly, four. We’ve grown substantially while maintaining CSI scores that are among the highest in the nation and customer loyalty above 63 percent. Throughout the growth process, we’ve naturally needed to add people. When adding to the team, you run the risk of watering down your culture and dropping people into positions before they’re fully competent. For anyone who’s cringed at observing an unprepared, unskilled and untrained employee deal with a valued customer, you know what I’m talking about. Sending a new hire into a training room with a stack of video tapes before pulling a trial by fi re is a training strategy that will put you at a competitive disadvantage in no time. An ill-conceived training strategy is not fair to the dealer, it’s not fair to the customer, it’s not fair to the employee and possibly lies at the root cause of excessive turnover.

At Tasca Automotive, we’ve always believed that our most important asset is our people and that we owe it to our customers and ourselves to invest in the development of our team. We’ve hired an outside training and consulting company to improve our strategy for recruiting, hiring and training our people. With this help, we’ve been able to manage growth, increase profi ts and reduce turnover. We created a recruiting, hiring and training system to ensure we hire the right people for the job, baptize them in the Tasca Way of doing business and give them the tools and skills they need to get off to a strong start. We build on that foundation with weekly in-house sessions and monthly training meetings with our consultant. Here’s a quick overview of our new hire orientation:

Part 1 - Welcome to the Tasca Family: Overview the dealership’s history, vision, mission and principles.

Part 2 - Welcome to the Dealership: Overview each department and the new hire’s role within the entire ownership experience.

Part 3 - Dealership Tour: Tour every department within the dealership.

Part 4 - Department Internship: Spend time in each department to better understand the customer experience.

Part 5 - Job Training: Highly interactive training designed to give the new hire the knowledge, skill and confi dence to execute their job responsibilities and to be successful.

Part 6 - Mentorship: Every new hire is assigned a mentor who is responsible for helping him or her on the job for the fi rst 120 days.

Part 7 - Certifi cation: To ensure each new hire is ready to go face to face with our customers, we have them complete a certifi cation process to demonstrate they are capable of delivering the Tasca Experience. If you’d like to know more about our certifi cation process or any of these components, e-mail me.

The goal is to see that all of our graduates leave our orientation excited about their career and confi dent with the skills and process needed to get results. In building this training system, we’ve discovered the need to get our leadership team on the same page so that the training message we delivered was consistent and easy to implement. Nothing unwinds new skills faster than

mixed messages from the leadership team. By taking our leadership team off-site, we were able to defi ne our goals and our plan of action for achieving those goals. Our consultant led the team in talking about how we can develop a world class team of employees who are passionately committed to serving our customers. Involving every member of the leadership team in our vision and the creation of our playbooks to carry out that vision has helped us bring to life the idea that people support what they help create. Because they were involved from the start, they do a better job motivating the rest of the team and holding them accountable.

We followed this same method when we were ready to set up a customer relationship center. We used insight and best practices from successful dealers around the country while making sure that everyone’s voice was heard. We were looking for a better way to handle inbound Internet leads, and after fast success, we expanded the department to handle inbound phone, outbound sold, service, renewal and unsold follow-up. We crafted a playbook to detail each of our processes, and we were doubling, tripling and quadrupling the results from our CRC.

Whether we’re preparing a new hire for a career with Tasca, keeping our staff motivated or launching a new profi t center, on-going training and education is the key to continuous improvement. Will strong leadership and a comprehensive training system shape the evolution of your team, or will your people evolve on their own? If you’re interested in learning more about any of the modules included in training system, e-mail me. The modules include: Sales Process, Management and Coaching, Phones, Internet, Unsold Follow-Up, Sold Follow-Up, Service, Lease and Retail Renewal and more. With training and vision we can help ordinary people get extraordinary results, and if we treat our people well, they will treat our customers well.

Bob Tasca III is the dealer principal of the Tasca Automotive Group. He can be contacted at 866.210.1254, or by e-mail at [email protected].

... we�ve been able to manage growth, increase proÞ ts and reduce turnover.

sts ms ls fi s sf

leadership solution

888 2 TEWART (283.9278)

Are you tired of struggling to recruit, hire and train salespeople?

Burned out from chasing sales candidates everyday?

FREE REPORT reveals how revolutionary training system:

�Puts Recruiting and Training on Auto-Pilot So You Can Go Play Golf!�

�I went from a brokesalesperson to owningmultiple successful dealerships. Mark Tewart gave me the information and roadmap to get there.� Chad Hawkes, Dealer,Hawkes Motor Co., Pryor,OK.

As a salesperson, Mark�s ideas have been huge in increasing my sales with unique marketing ideas.� Chris Hanson, Salesperson, Hibbing Chrysler, Hibbing, MN.

�By following Mark�s ideas, we have increased our sales by 20 units a month and have increased gross proÞ t by over $200 per car.� Seth Silgar, General Manager, Ward Chrysler, Carbondale, IL.

Would you like to have a predictable

ß ow of interested high caliber candidates

calling YOU and working hard to

convince you to accept them? Dream

candidates who you would never get to

see in a million years.

If you�d like to have complete control

over your recruiting and training process,

Regardless of the economy or any other

marketing condition and put an end to

the endless grunt work you�ve become

resigned to, please keep reading.

Getting candidates calling YOU is easy�

If You Know the Best Kept Marketing

and Training Secrets!

Maybe you to have found that recruiting

and training is getting tougher. You run

ads that bring derelicts and then struggle

to Þ nd the time to train them properly.

Maybe you are in the minority who have

hired the right candidates but don�t have

the time to train them or the materials

and information to train them with that

works for the price conscience, educated

buyer. Maybe you are sick and tired of

taking crap from loser, unproductive,

bad attitude salespeople you currently

have because you are having a hard time

replacing them. You would love to get rid

of their bad attitude but you keep them

because they are warm bodies.

You see, success at recruiting and training

has a lot more to do with learning the

secrets of direct response marketing and

having the right information than it does

with running more ads that already don�t

work. So often, even when you get a good

candidate, they fail because they

don�t get trained properly.

Whether it�s your Þ rst year in

management or you are a thirty year

veteran, you will love to never again talk

to anyone unless you want to. Recruiting

should only be done when you want to,

not because you have to! Don�t let your

competitors steal all the good salespeople.

So why is it so hard to recruit and train

good salespeople. Marketing and training

incest! Everyone runs the same ads on

Sunday saying the same things as twenty

other frustrated dealers. Next, you take

a loser candidate and train him with

Þ fty year old sales training drivel from

material created from a sales trainer

who hasn�t sold a car in twenty years

AND�didn�t sell much when he was a

sales person. STOP THE INSANITY!

With constant inbreeding of recruiting

and training methods it doesn�t take long

before everyone gets stupid.

Breakthroughs come from going

outside the box and bringing new,

proven, process back in. Imagine having

qualiÞ ed candidates and having them

trained properly. How would your life

be different? You can be the greatest

manager in the world, but that won�t do

you a bit of good if you can�t attract the

right people and train them properly.

Getting rid of these problems is not a pipe

dream.

FREE REPORT TELLS ALL!

So, if you are ready to discover the

astonishing secrets of getting qualiÞ ed

candidates and training them properly,

Call Now!24/7 Hotline 866.432.2468 or go to

www.tewart.com/specialreport


StaceyDiPiazza


sts ms ls fi s sf

leadership solution

On June 1 2005, dealers will need to have in place a method of destroying consumer credit information that is

in compliance with the Fair and Accurate Credit Tranaction Act (FACTA). They’ll have six months before they are subject to serious fi nes and penalties under FACTA.

The rule requires that dealers destroy all consumer information before it is discarded. The information must be disposed of in a confi dential waste program, where it is securely destroyed.

Many dealers have already set up relationships with document destruction companies to make sure their confi dential consumer information is being handled properly.

If your dealership hasn’t done this already and you’re not sure how to pick such a vendor, here are a few tips to help you make the right choice:

• Ask about employee hiring and screening. If you are entrusting confi dential records to the drivers and other employees of your vendor, they have to be trustworthy. The vendor should use a third party to check their employees’ driving records, perform drug screening, carry out credit checks and do criminal background checks. Employees should be bonded for a substantial amount. Make sure your

vendor performs extensive employment history verifi cation on all employees, from drivers to plant personnel. Also, make sure their employees are required to sign a confi dentiality agreement not to disclose any information they see.

• Make sure your documents will be part of a closed system. Such a system safeguards the documents from the time they are discarded to the time they are destroyed and disposed of. Before a document is destroyed, it should be locked in containers that prevent unauthorized access. When it’s being transferred out of your dealership it should be in containers to prevent loss from wind or other atmospheric conditions. In addition, these documents should only be handled by employees of the vendor who are easy to identify with uniforms and picture ID badges.

• Check vehicle security. Most shredding vendors offer both mobile and plant-based destruction services. Trucks should be equipped with state-of-the-art alarm systems and tracking devices.

• Expect the document destruction vendor to value security whether utilizing an off-site or mobile service. Your vendor should be anxious to share information about safety measures. If your documents will be shredded off-site at a facility, fi nd out about the security at the plant. Visit the facility before you choose a vendor and make periodic visits

to make sure security is maintained. Also, make sure your vendor allows you to witness the destruction of your materials if you wish. When you visit the plant, check to make sure no one is able to enter that facility without having his or her identity verifi ed and without signing a confi dentiality agreement. No non-employee should be allowed to move around the facility without being accompanied by an authorized employee. The facility should also have an advanced alarm system and should be continuously monitored. The vendor should also guarantee when your information will be destroyed.

Here are a few questions that will help you qualify a vendor:

• How many years have you been in business?• How many employees do you have?• Can you give me references, a certifi cate of insurance and proof that your employees are bonded?• Are you certifi ed by the National Association of Information Destruction?• Do you supply a Certifi cate of Destruction once the material is destroyed?• Can you provide a list of your security features?• What is your employee turnover?• How do you train new hires?• How many trucks do you have?• Can we tour your facility?• Do you mind unannounced visits? • How quickly can you respond to an unscheduled need?

The right vendor for you should be anxious to supply you with answers to these questions. Use them to compare vendors before you make your choice.

June 1, 2005, is the day everyone who deals with consumer information needs to change their tunes. Make sure you are prepared for it.

Stacey DiPiazza is the owner of Infoshred LLC. She can be contacted at 866.826.8434, or by e-mail [email protected], or visit www.infoshred.com.

Go FISH!Ask about a la carte advertising solutions for Dealers and Ad-Agents.

1-866-521-FISHCall Jeff at:

www.FishMarketingOnline.net (3474) Creative. Media. Fulfi llment.®

may 2005 13

Take Your Time and Be A Professional

JimAdamssts ms ls fi s sf


How long it should take for a customer to make a $20,000 to $30,000 buying decision? How many

times are we shortcutting the sales process to the point that from the meet and greet to the initial presentation of numbers, we have spent less than 30 minutes with the customer? Time spent with the buyer obligates the customer to the sales person, yet we rush the process to the point that we have very little chance of closing the sale. Take the time necessary to build rapport, investigate wants and needs and give a professional selling presentation and demonstration.

Do you have a professional sales process? Tex Prichard, the author of Control Selling Systems, described a professional sales process as, “A bendable, not breakable, way of handling clients and buyers to insure the total effort with every single opportunity.” Take a look at your sales process. Do you have a great system in place to insure your total effort with every buyer or do you do it a different way with every opportunity? How much time do you spend with every customer on each step of the sales process? Let’s take a look at the minimum time that we should spend.

• Initial Greeting: This should not take long. When you’re up, be up. Mentally ready to greet the customer promptly. A warm smile, a welcome word. (One minute.)

• Rapport-building and fact-fi nding: This step starts and never ends. Start with an exchange of names and fi nd out where they are from. Find out who the vehicle is for, how it will be used and what equipment is important to them. (Five to 10 minutes)

• Product selection: Once you have some basic information you can begin to move the customer through the inventory helping them select the least expensive vehicle that best suits their wants and needs. Test their buying motivations by asking investigative questions that help you crystallize their

wants and needs. Select a product and isolate it from the rest of the inventory. They will not buy a row of vehicles, they will only buy one so get it away from the rest of the inventory so they can start developing pictures of mental ownership. (10 to 15 minutes)

• Product presentation: This includes a great customer participative walk-around presentation that includes the features and advantages that are important to your customer. (At least 10-15 minutes.)

• Product demonstration: This is a well-planned demonstration drive that includes city and highway driving and allows the sales person to ask controlled closing questions to move the customer closer to the sale. The sales person always goes on the

demonstration drive. Remember, if you do not go on the demonstration drive all you can say is, “So how did you like it?” A controlled product demonstration is the key to the sale. Ninety-nine percent of all customers tell us that they have to drive it before they will buy it. (15-25 minutes.)

So let’s look at the numbers. If we just take the minimum steps necessary to close the sale today it should take 45 minutes to an hour before we even have an opportunity to present initial numbers.

Take your time, and be a professional.

Jim Adams is the general manager at Roper Kia in Joplin, MO. He can be contacted at 800.905.0627, or by e-mail at [email protected].

JEFF RAMSEY & CO�SInternet/Marketing/Travel Incentives

If you are spending $20,000 or more on current media products, I will show you how to spend 1/3 of that, put more automobiles on the street

and put the difference back in your pocket!

I know these programs work and I am willing to put my $money$

where my mouth is!

• 50,000 Piece Solo Mailer• Internet Credit Web Site

• Call Tracking System• 25 to 50 3 day/ 2 night mini vacations

(you can purchase together or separately)

• Guaranteed Results

call me for details

866.842.1712e-mail: [email protected]

Only $7995.00


MichaelYorksts ms ls fi s sf


This is a tale of two cities … and your customers. Actually, only one city and how it affects customers

in several places, even where you live. It’s a matter of policy, principle and being true to your school - or just giving the customers what they’re asking for today. Which group are you in?

The city is New Orleans. Cajun, bayou, gumbo, hot, spicy, N’awlins. I do enjoy a trip there from time to time.

A few weeks ago my wife and I went to dinner at a restaurant in my city, Charlotte. It was a place we’ll call King Creole (not the restaurant’s real name). King Creole is committed to serving genuine Cajun dishes. And apparently to the extreme, even if it means disappointing the paying guests.

After ordering something hot enough to suck the breath right out of my lungs and give me that acupuncture feeling around my mouth and lower face, I asked for iced tea with my meal. Not just any iced tea, but sweet tea, a genuine southern specialty.

“We don’t serve sweet tea,” I was told by Brandon (not his real name), “just unsweet.” As my eyebrows began to simmer from the shrimp and secret spices, I thought for just a second and then asked Brandon how long he’d worked here. “Almost fi ve years,” was his answer.

“Is there a day that goes by when you’re not asked for sweet tea?” “Well, we get asked about it a lot,” Brandon replied. I’ll just bet. “If so many customers ask for it, why don’t you serve it?” I continue the quiz. “Best answer I can give is they don’t serve sweet tea in New Orleans.”

True, but I’m not in New Orleans, I’m in Charlotte, where people drink sweet tea every day of the year. Brandon just shrugged. By now, I’m somewhere between disappointed and cajun-hot at this “letter of the law” delivered by my New Orleans

wanna-be. So I had water (lots of water). I leave puzzled and disappointed. Over something as simple as sugar in tea.

Last week, I’m off to dinner again in Port Orleans: The resort Orleans of Walt Disney World. My wife and I take the riverboat cruise to Downtown Disney and back to Port Orleans just for the ride, then decide to have a real sit-down meal at Boatwrights (yep, I’m using their real name cause they’re about to do something uncommon).

It’s Cajun cuisine and southern country cooking all rolled into one. Shrimp creole, red beans & rice and skillet cornbread and more. Real N’awlins fl avor, real Disney service.

Tired of a day of soft drinks and water, I pose the sweet tea question, reminding myself of the fact that I’m no longer in Charlotte or even the south … at least the part that’s known for sugaring their tea.

“Absolutely!” was Katie’s reply to the question I had mentally already answered in the negative. “What … you have sweet tea here?” I asked almost shocked by my server’s response. “Sure do,” she said. “Would you like some? It’s ice cold.”

But I didn’t answer. I still had another

question. “How is it that with a genuine Cajun menu and here in the middle of Florida, you serve sweet tea?” “Because our customers ask for it.”

What’s the best reason for you or your business to do something you’re not doing now? Because your customers ask for it! Good answer, Katie. How sweet it is! Because if you’re really listening, you know they want it.

How do you win in this marketplace? In the NOW economy? Pay attention! If the customer’s asking for it, why not give it to them if you possibly can? Instead of showing them a map, or quoting your policy, or protecting the sanctity of a far-away city; all the while disappointing the customer. When in Rome … give the Romans what they ask for, if you can.

That’s the Disney difference. Listening and serving and delivering what makes the guest feel good or feel better, while spending money at your restaurant, store, city or resort.

I may not expect to get sweet tea in New Orleans. But I also don’t expect to be denied it in other places because they don’t do it like I want it somewhere else. Especially when I’m here. What kind of questions are your prospective buyers asking? Are you listening? What do prospective buyers want that might make them your next customer? Where are you when it comes to sweetening the deal for your customers? Pay attention and they will tell you how to win them over.How sweet it is. Happy customers talk about how you did it! And tell everyone they know. Now go fi nd your sugar.

Want Michael’s short list on how you can sweeten the deal for your customers? Go to www.autosuccess.biz and click on “Michael York’s Sweet List!”

Michael York is an author and professional speaker. He can be contacted at 800.668.5015, or by e-mail [email protected], or visit www.MichaelYork.com.

Happy Customers: To Be or Not to Be

What kind of questions are your prospective buyers asking? Are you listening? What do prospective buyers want that might make them your next customer?


AnthonyHall

Reß ection of One�s Selfis One of the Best Training Tools

sts ms ls fi s sf


Being your own coach can be one of the best training tools you have. Self-coaching takes time, discipline and desire.

There are many things you can do to improve your sales results such as reading sales books, listening to tapes or cds, watching product videos and practicing with fellow sales people. But since we are often on our own, one of the most important things you can do is to refl ect back and self-coach.

Self-coaching takes time but it is worth the effort. It takes discipline. Just as you wouldn’t dream of leaving the house without looking in the mirror, you need to develop the habit of looking into your skills mirror after each sales opportunity.

What to assess: Try using a variety of these areas of criteria to stream line the self-coaching process. Focus on the full sales process or one part of the sale, based on your level of focus.

Self-coaching check list (it is Þ ne to work on one thing at a time)

• Was I prepared with common ground skills?

• How was my product knowledge level?

• How was my competitor’s product knowledge level?

• How much did I know about my customer?

• Did I use work track knowledge successfully?

• Were presentation skills professional?

• How effective were my questioning skills?

• Were all decision makers present?

Relating (common ground)• Did I build rapport?• Did I connect?

Interactive client dialogue• Did I have 40/60 dialogue?• Did I talk less and listen more?

Client needs• Did I question to understand who,

what, why, when and where about my client’s needs?

• Did I maintain 40/60 talk/listen dialogue? Really?

Solution• Did I tailor my product presentation

to relate and satisfy the client’s needs?

Resolving Objections• Did I uncover objections?• Did I check if I satisfi ed the

objections?• Did I show empathy toward my

client’s needs?• Did I question to learn more before

responding?

Action Steps• Did I get a commitment to buy?• Did I accomplish my objective?

Sales Skills• Presence • Did I project confi dence?• Was my demeanor impressive?

Questioning• How effective were my questions? • Did I funnel down to get deeper

clarifi cation?• Did I acknowledge and preface my

questions with client’s benefi ts?• Did I ask need, decision-making or

competitive product questions?

Listening• Did I listen for more product needs?• What was the quality of my attention?

Eye contact? Note taking?

Positioning• Did I discuss my product, service

and ideas from my client’s point of view?

• Did I mirror my customer’s body language?

Checking• Did I keep the contact interactive?

• Did I ask for feedback throughout the sale?

Follow-Up• What is my follow-up strategy? Time schedule?

Other• Asking for referrals?

How to assess:• Ask yourself the following as you go

through the check list:

First, assess your strengths. Find something that you can feel good about.

• What did I do well? Be as specifi c as possible. You can learn a lot from assessing your strengths.

Next, identify your areas for improvement.• What could I improve?• Be honest with yourself.• Look for what you can do differently

next time.

Then get an outside view (we all have blind spots) ask yourself:

• Where can I go to learn more? We all need an outside view. Go to a manager or fellow sales person who you feel can add value. Say, “This is what happened … This is how I handled it ... What do you think?” Keep your comments and assessment brief. You are to listen. Be open to the feedback so that you can learn and apply.

Create action steps:• Set a game plan of what you will

improve. Work on that one thing in the next sales opportunity, continue to self-coach, and when you master that, go on to conquer your next area for improvement. The power of incremental growth is extraordinary. So take it one step at a time.

The better you get, the better you get paid.

Anthony Hall is a training consultant at Ziegler Supersystems. He can be contacted at 800.610.9047, or by e-mail at [email protected].


MarkBonfi gli

How Are You Being Found

fs feature solution

One of the most commonly asked questions is the hardest to answer. How many leads and sales did I generate from my radio, TV or classifi ed ads?

It is challenging to measure the success of traditional advertising since customers can slip through a variety of cracks by calling or e-mailing the dealership. For example, a small percentage of radio listeners will end up on the dealers’s Web site and call the phone number on the Web site or submit a form from it and the dealer would have no way of tracking it back to the radio ad unless every employee at the store asked every customer and every customer actually remembered how it was they heard about the dealership. So the dealer would never know if his radio ad was effective or not. Then the question comes up, “Is this customer a lead from traditional advertising?” It should be but the dealer would never know that. The Web site ends up being the key to attracting the customer further, providing key information on inventory, pricing and more, and is ultimately - and maybe wrongfully - given credit for generating the lead.

Lead management systems and phone tracking systems have made advertising ROI analysis more concrete, and it is still far from scientifi c. Some dealers have aggressive polling procedures in place that all employees follow. So the question lingers, “How can I brand my dealership locally, generate real leads for all my profi t centers and still track the success of my ads? One defi nite answer is Search Engine Marketing or “SEM”.

Curry Acura (www.curryautogroup.com) General Manager Michael Miele has been focusing attention to SEM over the past year. “We have found that several of our stores can generate high quality leads well below the going rate of the third-party lead providers

and dramatically lower than conventional advertising. Our store generated an extra 190 leads last month with $1,500 of SEM advertising. Because we can track every dollar spent and every call and e-mail lead from the search engine ads, we know exactly what we are getting, something we can’t get from radio or print. We have found a formula that really works,” said Miele. “By integrating the search engine advertising into our Web sites we know everything we possibly could and this has caused us to move more dollars into search engine advertising. The other main reason we have been so successful is the lead-generating power of our Web sites, our submission rates have been over 20 percent with our ad campaigns!”

What is search engine marketing? Why is it effective? Dealers and manufacturers are all moving more dollars into SEM every month, but why? Some important statistics to consider.

Dealers spend more than $500 per new vehicle sale with radio, TV, print and mail (NADA.org) while Internet advertising has averaged about half of that. What is more compelling is that many dealers are generating sales from SEM at less than $100 per sale.

More than 85 percent of all new visitors to a Web site used a search engine to fi nd it! (GVU Users Survey) And more than 33 percent of all search engine users believe the number one position in the search is the number one brand. (voter.com)

Search engine marketing is placement of ad sponsorships (links) that dealers can acquire for specifi c keywords that car buyers enter into search engines such as Google, Yahoo,

MSN or Verizon Super Pages when they are searching for a vehicle, a dealer, fi nancing, etc. Because these ads capture customers’ attention at the moment they are most interested (while they are searching) the quality of visitors to a dealer’s Web site is improved since the keywords are based on local terms and IP addresses. These keywords are purchased in an auction format where the highest bidder gets the best position on the search engine page. Since positioning is critical to the success of the campaign it can be very challenging not to get “bid up” by the competition or national car buying Web sites that are bidding on your local market keywords.

The keys of SEM marketing�

Some dealers using search engine advertising (pay per click) have completely fi gured out the solution to this problem and it is truly scientifi c down to the last phone call or e-mail. The key is that they focus on four major areas when using pay-per-click advertising on search engines such as Google, MSN, and Yahoo. These four areas are critical to achieving real success and will help you lower your overall ad spend by getting better ROI on your ads.

1. Don�t do it yourself.

Managing pay per click properly means monitoring the bids on every keyword all day long, and doing it yourself will be a full-time job. Find a well-known company that specializes on automotive search engine marketing. They should be very comfortable and well versed in dealer Web sites and lead management to help you design a campaign that truly works with your dealership. Remember this company will have to not only create the ads but work with your Web site company to create effective tracking. They also need to know the car business well to create powerful keyword lists on which to bid.

Why Dealers Are Moving Their Ad DollarsInto Search Engine Marketing

may 2005 19

2. Strategy is key.

Your online marketing fi rm should have four to six thousand keywords covering your competition’s names, makes and models you’re selling, fi nance and service terms, as well as local zip code and city names as part of the keywords creation. You will need to test your market before committing to any long-term contracts or big ad spends. The company that creates your SEM campaigns should be able to offer you a trial period whereby the dealer only pays for the clicks and visitors they generate to their Web site. This trial period should be at least two to four weeks in length to get a good idea of what your market opportunity is and how much you should be spending each month. Whatever the case, you should only be paying for the clicks on your ads that generate Web site visitors and maybe a small fee to the company that handles your ads.

3. Tracking is everything.

Your online ad fi rm needs to know how to integrate your search engine ads into your dealer Web site so that every phone call is tracking back to the search engine ad and every form and e-mail submitted is, as well. This is the key to tracking your success. In addition to tracking the actual leads that are generated from the ads you will need a sound sales process in place and an easy-to-use lead management solution, because you must effectively handle the new infl ux of phone calls and e-mail submissions.

4. Deploy automated Web site lead-

generating tools.

This traffi c to your Web site will only matter if your Web site is providing solid product information that also taps into the emotion of the buyer. Your site should be able to automatically notify customers when new arrivals enter the lot and send photos and details for any vehicles that interest them.

Additionally your Web site should have a wealth of photography for each and every car including virtual tours and extended data such as reviews, tech specs, warranty information and manufacturer rebates. Your Web site should allow you to create custom coupons and specials weeks in advance so they automatically appear and remove themselves on specifi c dates. Every department page on your site should be easily editable so you can keep the information fresh and valuable to every visitor. Some advanced sites now monitor the consumers’ actions and make specifi c offers based on the vehicles they are shopping and even track their shopping actions so the dealer can view at a later time. This behavioral monitoring allows a sales person to really understand what was of interest to the customer even before they call or e-mail the dealership.

What your search engine ads should

tell you:

• How many customers are exposed to your ad in all the search engines.

• How many visitors to your Web site were generated.

• How many phone calls did the campaign generate including the time and date and callers’ phone numbers from all calls generated.

• What and how many form submissions and e-mails were generated. Example: 14 Trade-in forms, 63 test drive forms and 13 service request forms, etc.

• You should know what every dollar spent each day resulted in.

• The cost per lead calculation. Example: 150 leads for $1,500= $10/lead.

Mark BonÞ gli is president and CEO of Dealer.com Inc. He can be contacted at 866.876.6403, or by e-mail atmbonÞ [email protected].

Curry Auto Group, NYwww.curryautogroup.com

Cam Motors ChevroletNaugatuck CT

www.cammotors.com

Cush Auto GroupSan Diego, CAwww.cush.com

Colonial HondaLos Angeles, CA

www.colonialhonda.com

Lindsay Auto Group, VAwww.elindsay.com

Lia Auto GroupCT, NY, MA

www.liacars.com


Tips for Hiring the Right Internet Sales Manager

DavidKain

Your customers will use the Internet while shopping for their next vehicle at record levels in 2005. Your dealership needs to

be prepared to greet your Internet customers with the same level of consideration you give a person who walks into your dealership. As a result, it is time to get serious in hiring the right person to manage your fastest growing department. The person you select as your Internet sales manager (ISM) will either bring customers to your dealership or drive customers away depending on how well they understand their role.

A few minutes spent determining what you expect from your Internet Department and what you expect from your ISM can make all the difference and provide clear directions on how to get the best return on your Internet investment.

What Results Do You Expect from Your Internet Department?Answering the following questions upfront will allow you to select the right candidate with confi dence:

1. What are your current results? • If you don’t already know it is

important for you to fi nd out before you start recruiting. A good candidate will likely want to know this right off the bat to see if they are being offered a growth opportunity. If you are a franchised dealer your manufacturer should be able to provide this information and if you have a relationship with a lead provider they also provide monthly reports. Gather the information, determine your current status and be up front with your candidates about the challenge or opportunity ahead of them.

2. What is your dealership’s Internet marketing plan and expected return on investment?

• Identify your Internet target market (all buyers, used vehicle buyers, import buyers, specifi c zip codes, etc.)

• Identify your lead sources: Web site, lead providers, aggregators, database marketing.

• Determine your budget for this by effectively tapping this market. Keep in mind you are paying for a Web site, a lead management tool, any lead

providers, vehicle photos, etc.• What kind of return on investment

is necessary to make the effort worthwhile?

3. What are your performance expectations for the Internet department?

• What kind of operational standards do you require?

• How many vehicles do you expect them to sell?

• What kind of gross profi t do you expect?

• Be specifi c and communicate your expectations to your ISM.

5. What kind of Department Structure would work best at your dealership?

• Internet department reporting to GM?• Internet sales person reporting to the

GM or sales managers?• Internet sales team embedded in a

Business Development Center?• Other?

Selecting the Right CandidateCreating a job description for the Internet manager is the best way to communicate your expectations for the department as well as the qualifi cations necessary to do a good job. Consider the following while writing the job description and in selecting your candidate.

1. Candidates must be able to sell vehicles if your process requires them to work the customer from e-mail to delivery.

• Too often dealerships delegate the Internet management role to mediocre sales people that are just good guys who have not had much sales success on the fl oor. If they can’t sell cars on the fl oor they likely won’t fare any better online. The best results I’ve seen come from dealerships putting quality sales persons into this role and training them on the computer and the administrative functions. Keep in mind this role is to sell cars and trucks.

2. Candidates must be organized and able to handle multiple tasks.

• The Internet role includes managing leads, updating the inventory on the Web site, managing lead providers/aggregators, measuring results and many other activities. Most dealerships require the ISM do all these activities so it is important that the candidate realize this going in.

3. Candidates must be willing to put in the time necessary to make the department successful.

• The Internet is 24/7. Most customers shop online after traditional sales hours so responding to leads in the evening and on weekends should be part of your expectations. If a candidate is not willing to communicate with customers after normal business hours it is best to fi nd this out beforehand.

CompensationHow you choose to pay the Internet sales manager depends on what you ultimately create as their job description. As with all pay plans, where you focus the pay is where your results will come from. Consider the following when determining your compensation plan:

1. What is the structure of the department? Internet sales person, Internet Department, BDC, etc.?

2. If your structure is an Internet sales person, will the position be full-time or will the ISM take fl oor ups?

3. How much time will be spent working with administrative activities (Web site updates, photos, lead provider interaction, etc)?

4. Do you want to focus on volume or gross?

A variety of plans are in use by dealerships today and selecting the one that works for you should be well thought out.

SummarySelling online is a diffi cult task considering your customer must be motivated to talk to you on the phone and then motivated to visit the dealership. The time spent creating your dealership Internet Department structure, expectations and goals will be a valuable foundation to your Internet sales success. From this foundation, a well thought out job description and compensation plan for the Internet sales manager will give you the confi dence you need to choose the best possible candidate for the job. With the right candidate in place you can expect to increase your sales and profi ts. Aim high and the results will follow.

David Kain is the automotive Internet training specialist at Kain Automotive Inc. He can be contacted at 800.385.0095, or by e-mail at [email protected], or visit www.kainautomotive.com.

sts ms ls fi s sf

leadership solution


CarolMartin

Should You Promote Your Top Sales Person to ManagementSometimes the Most Obvious Person for the Job is Not the Right One

sts ms ls fi s sf

leadership solution

Dan, a manager, has made a decision to leave the dealership. There’s no talking him out of it. He’s vague about where he’s

going, but logic tells you it’s a competitor across town. Now you have a major dilemma: Who can replace Dan? He’s so good at what he does.

One choice would be to promote your top sales person. He or she has proven to be successful and already knows you, your policies and your staff, but the same traits that might make a sales person great may not be the ones you need in management.

In the auto industry, sales people who are competitive, friendly, multi-tasking, independent and cooperative, are usually sought. These traits enable a person to withstand the rigors of commission-based pay, approach prospects, work quickly, think for themselves and comply with procedures established by the dealership. They are assets when it comes to selling cars.

Depending on the specifi c measure of each of these qualities, your sales superstar may or may not be suited to management. Avoid moving a top sales person that is too socially

focused into a management position, because he or she is worried about losing the favor of the team, so rules get bent and mistakes overlooked.

There are times when promoting a top sales person is the right move, and the individual will lead effectively. One instance is when he or she clearly exhibits a highly assertive mindset along with strong people skills. Another instance is when managers are teamed; a warm, jovial superior may communicate better than a dictatorial partner might. The two can work in excellent harmony with one another.

A sales-oriented personality will also need to temper his or her competitive spirit. Working

toward individual goals and trying to move ahead of peers is an accepted practice on the sales fl oor, but playing cutthroat and not working in the best interest of the team can lead to a manager’s demise. Make sure the person you hire as a manager understands this and can make the shift from rival to motivational leader.

Tips for fi nding the right person:

1. Decide on your needs Put your ideas on paper or conduct

brainstorming sessions about future operations and strategies with colleagues. Have a very clear picture of the person you want.

2. Know the personalities of your existing team

Hold meetings and speak to each employee privately to determine individual work approaches and needs. This will help ensure cohesiveness when you fi nally select the team’s new manager.

3. Learn all you can about each job applicant

Look for evidence of leadership qualities. Ask for concrete examples of a determined, proactive mentality. Be sure you know how able your candidate is to tackle administration, use constructive criticism and get excited by challenges.

4. Give your applicant speciÞ c information about the job

Your potential new employee needs to know precisely what you expect from him or her. Being up front and forthright about your prerequisites for a manager will yield fewer surprises for both you and your applicant.

Personnel changes are inevitable in the workplace. However, the challenges that come when replacing an employee can be opportunities - opportunities to learn more about yourself and your staff. Make sure the person you hire is not only right for the job, but also right for you and the whole team.

Carol Martin is a senior consultant with The Omnia Group. She can be contacted at 800.601.3216, or by e-mail at [email protected].

Make sure the person you hire is not only right for the job, but also right for you and the whole team.

Five Steps toMaximize A Jingle Campaign

JeffFishelsts ms ls fi s sf

marketing solution

Is your dealership promoting events designed to drive traffi c to your dealership, or are you branding yourself in order to

improve your image in the marketplace?

There are effective ways to do both. One method is to structure your entire advertising paradigm to allow for both event promoting and brand advertising on a monthly basis, and you’ll read that method in next month’s article.

Another way to combine event promoting with branding is through using jingles.

According to the Dictionary of Business and Management, a brand is defi ned as: A name, sign or symbol used to identify items or services of the seller(s) and to differentiate them from goods of competitors.

Walter Landor, one of the greats of the advertising industry, defi ned branding this way: “A brand is a promise. By identifying and authenticating a product or service it delivers a pledge of satisfaction and quality.”

For brand advertising to be effective it must accomplish two things:1. Separate you from your competitors.2. Deliver a promise into your marketplace.

An effective way to accomplish these two goals is through the use of music. Nothing enters the minds of the buyers better than attaching specifi c advertising messages onto a musical melody. The musical melody becomes like glue in people’s heads and the words are stuck to the melody. What do these words consist of exactly? Lyrics describing your specifi c positioning statements and your specifi c promotions for that day, week or month.

Five steps to maximize your jingle

campaigns:1. Develop comprehensive branding

concepts that translate into real benefi ts to the customers in your marketplace.

2. Select the single, strongest branding concept that offers the clearest benefi t(s) to your customers at any given time.

3. Summarize the branding concept into simple statements or a concise tagline.

4. Attach the summarized statements or tagline into a quality musical production.

5. Produce jingle beds designed for maximum fl exibility in electronic advertising.

Jingles are an excellent way to lift your dealership’s messages above the dissonance

of daily advertising. They also distinguish you from your competitors while providing you with limitless elasticity in achieving your advertising objectives.

Jeff Fishel is the national sales director for FishMarketingOnline.net. He can be contacted at 866.827.6246, or by e-mail at jÞ [email protected].

may 2005 23

✓ FREE Follow-up every phone call, ß oor up, be-back. Stay in contact with ALL ups!

✓ FREE Drive website trafÞ c to your store and track Internet prospects with Total E-mail Follow-up!

✓ FREE Total Database Management, Data Mining, Targeted Direct Marketing.

✓ FREE DAILY Management Reports with REAL data you can use to manage your people, not your systems.

✓ FREE FTC �Do Not Call� daily Synchronization and Alerts to help you avoid receiving an $11,000 Fine!

✓ Follow-up every sold/leased customer for 5 years. Increase repeat sales, CSI, gain referrals and increase service trafÞ c.

Easy to own - On-Site Training - No huge up-front charges! Limited Exclusivity. Call us before your competition does!

Increase Sales by20% in 10 Minutes

RO ESPONSER

After seven years with ProResponse I can still say it is the best investment we’ve ever made.-Larry Jones, Jones Junction

The Koons Automotive Group sold over 44,000 vehicles last year with the help of ProResponse.-Alex Hafer General Manager

ProResponse is the only system I have ever used where the sales people are actually motivated to use it. Our new car sales are up 21% in one year.-Jeffrey Abel President, Miller Toyota

Our closing ratio has improved 38% and our “be-backs” have nearly doubled. When we fi rst implemented ProResponse we averaged 160 cars a month, an average month is now 350!-Kevin Cohan General Manager, Jim Coleman Cadillac Infi niti Toyota

866.596.6889www.ProResponse.com � Available in Spanish


Can�t Touch This

PattiWood

Why touch? It’s something we now avoid at work. Our fear of miscommunication and even of being charged with sexual

harassment keeps us from making that simple and powerful human contact. As a result many of us at work, starved for ordinary casual touch are losing out on all its secret benefi ts. Other cultures touch more than we do. The great benefi ts to touch in and out of the work place, and knowing safe ways to touch for men and women could give us the opportunity to enjoy the gift of touch.

You may ask, “Is the lack of touch really a big deal or are Americans really not touching”? When asked who got the most strokes that is physical touch or signals to show I know you’re there, 44 percent of Americans surveyed said their pets got the most strokes, 18 percent said their children got the most strokes, and 18 percent said family members got equal strokes. We are touching our dogs more than each other. How do American rates of touch to each other per hour compare to other cultures? Couples in a coffee shop in Gainesville, Fla., touched on average of two times an hour, while in London, couples had no contact in an hour, in Paris couples touched 110 times an hour and in San Juan Puerto Rico, 180 times an hour.

But that is touch between couples. You may think touch at work threatens a sexual come on. Touch communicates, but it is rarely seen as sexual and threatening. In research where subjects were only to communicate with their hands, while a screen hid the rest of their body, the sender was able to convey fi ve different emotions with their hands: detachment, mothering, fear, anger and playfulness. Isn’t it interesting that the feared sexual and powerful meaning required more than merely touch? A former college student of mine was transferred to Paris. He had to kiss everyone at work hello and goodbye everyday, even his boss. At fi rst he hated it, then he saw its benefi ts. He said, “It’s hard to hate your coworkers when you have to kiss them at the end of the day. I am in charge

of human resources, I see less personnel complaints, absenteeism and illness in the Paris offi ce then in any American offi ce I have worked in. I think there is a positive touch link.”

What are the benefi ts of touch? Touch is a necessity. The need for touch is great in our lives. The overwhelming need starts when we are newborns with “gentling.” Gentling behavior involves the stroking and touching of a newborn baby and is essential to the growth and development of both and humans and animals. It is not just needed for growth; nurturing touch is required to give us the desire to live. In the 19th century, more than half the infants in their fi rst year of life regularly died from a disease called marasmus, or wasting away, also known as infantile atrophy or debility. It was later discovered that this was caused by a lack of touch. Babies who were not touched on a regular basis would literally starve themselves to death.

Dr. Mehl Madrona says, “In almost every study done on touch, there’s been a benefi cial effect.” Touch not only has been shown to benefi t our emotional and physical development but reduces our stress level, as well. Positive touch increases endorphins and decreases stress, lowers blood pressure and hormones such as cortisal and boosts the immune system. It has a benefi cial effect

on our perception of pain, from arthritis to chemotherapy treatment and the treatment of disease, including, autism, ADD, breast cancer and Alzheimer’s.

To encourage touch in the workplace, we need to know what is safe, non-threatening touch. Research on touch for sexual harassment has shown that the type and location of touch you give effects the meaning. Men differentiate what your intention is by the way in which you touch, more than where you touch them. Women differentiate what your intention is more by where you touch them than by the type of touch. Patting is associated with play, but you have to be careful where and whom you pat. Guys can pat other guys on the back and shoulders and women can pat other women in those same locations. But because women notice where you touch them, guys cannot pat a woman at the offi ce on the woman’s shoulder, because of the risk of it being misinterpreted.

Stroking, as in moving the hand across an arm, though associated with warmth and love is also associated with sexual desire. Though it would seem natural for a nurturing woman to comfort someone with this kind of touch it is not appropriate for her to touch a man that way in the offi ce as he notices type of touch and may think, “She wants me.”

What is safe touch? Men and women can touch someone briefl y on the lower arm, in the area from fi nger tips to elbow without that person feeling threatened. In face it has a positive impact. Research shows that a touch on the forearm that lasts a mere fortieth of a second, can make the receiver not only feel better but make them see the giver as being kinder and warmer. Another benefi t, the person touched perceives the environment as being friendlier.

So now that you know the positive benefi ts of touch and the safe way to touch at work, maybe it is OK to reach out your hand to a co-worker.

Patti Wood is the president of Communication Dynamics. She can be contacted at 800.849.3651, or by e-mail at [email protected].

sts ms ls fi s sf

leadership solution

Research shows that a touch on the forearm that lasts a mere fortieth of a second, can make the receiver not only feel better but make them see the giver as being kinder and warmer.


DaleCollie

Five Easy Ways to ShowEmployees How Much You Care

Workplace stress costs American businesses as much as 45 percent of after-tax profi ts, according to Foster Higgins Inc.,

a New Jersey insurance company. We see these expenses in things like absenteeism,

health care costs and accidents. Controlling workplace stress will improve productivity and boost the bottom line.

One of the causes of workplace stress most often mentioned by employees is the lack of appreciation. It seems strange that so many people feel unappreciated. You pay them

well. They have all of those fringe benefi ts -- health insurance, retirement plans, holiday pay and paid vacation. You might even provide free coffee and soft drinks in the break room. So why do so many employees feel unappreciated? Poor communication, that’s why.

Even though we spend thousands of dollars a year on employees, many don’t see it as a form of appreciation. Even if you list all of their benefi ts and show how these perks actually double their compensation, some employees will ask that you cut the fringes and put it in their paychecks.

Compensation doesn’t make people feel appreciated, but they know you care when you listen to them, ask about their families, understand what they are going through at home, at school or at work. They feel valued when leaders compliment them on a job well done, even if their accomplishment is simply always being on time.

The comments you hear at a retirement party are a good indication of what employees value. If the departing person is a dud, the remarks are going to refl ect their incompetence in a joking but revealing way. However, if people admire the honored guest, you’ll fi nd out that it doesn’t take much to make people feel appreciated.

Remarks like these tell you what is important:

“I remember when she visited my daughter in the hospital. That’s when I knew how important I was to the company.”

“I don’t know how he did it, but I saw him on the showroom fl oor everyday. He always came by and greeted me and asked about my family.”

“You know, the thing I appreciate most are the company picnics she started. She always served the potato salad herself, and she cleaned up when it was over. She’s just one of us.”

There might be some mention of a leader’s commendable management ability at the going away celebration, but the business achievements are typically left in the boardroom. What motivates and inspires people is the personal communication.

sts ms ls fi s sf

leadership solution

may 2005 27

Here are 5 easy ways to let people know how much they are appreciated:

A personal touch on the high-tech communicationsLeaders can use a personal touch in the high-tech tools needed to communicate with large numbers of people or with remote locations. Merging fi rst names into documents with short, personal notes can personalize sterile announcements. Everyone appreciates your attention to their welfare and your interest in their families.

Personalized follow-upPersonal follow-up by telephone means a lot to those involved in conference calls, bridge lines, or e-mails. You can make notes about individual input during the electronic meeting and follow up by phone to show employees that you were listening, that you care about their ideas or comments. Your calls to explore subjects in detail can motivate people for future input and develop some profi table ideas.

Handwritten notesSimple, personalized remarks written on the face of routine memos can make all the difference to employees who otherwise do their jobs and clock out at quitting time. Your “atta boy” remarks might be the only compliments some people ever receive. Many of these meaningful remarks will become souvenirs and kept forever.

Include fi rst names with your compliment, and you’ll be surprised how this short communication boosts morale and productivity. Write comments on items going home with people and impact the morale of the entire family. If staff size permits, write a personal note right on their paychecks, such as “Thanks, Bob. We couldn’t have hit our goal without your hard work this month.”

Sincere notes to your people pay big dividends. Some employees will even write you a thank you note for your comments.

Public recognitionRecognize superior achievement with awards ceremonies. Highlight daily involvement with framed certifi cates of appreciation, letters of commendation, public announcement of achievements, extra vacation days and documents recognizing the families’ volunteer efforts. Use these formal and informal ceremonies for emphasis and whenever possible, include family members so they can see how much their special person is appreciated.

Frequent contactShowing concern for ongoing work is just

as important as formal recognition. Make employees feel special and get a lot of information by asking things like: “How’s it going with the X project?” or “Is there anything I can do to help you get this done on schedule?”

Put your “walk-around” time on the calendar so you don’t feel pressured by other responsibilities. If you don’t have enough hours in the day to exchange remarks with employees, maybe you need to look at the stressors in your own life and delegate certain tasks to permit personal involvement.

These easy tips take only a few moments to make employees feel recognized for their efforts and show that you care.

Dale Collie is the president of Courage Builders International. He can be contacted at 866.210.2346, or by e-mail at [email protected], or visit www.couragebuilders.com.

DEALERS MUST BEDEALERS MUST BE ON TELEVISION!ON TELEVISION!

1-800-821-50681-800-821-5068

We produce nearly 4,000 commercials a year from our studios. We give you unlimited, high quality television campaigns and promotions FREE. With computerized media buying technology, we buy television as much as 30%-40% more effectively than any media buyer in the nation and give you

UNLIMITED TV CAMPAIGNSUNLIMITED TV CAMPAIGNS AND PROMOTIONS!AND PROMOTIONS!Call for a FREE demo tape and information.

See why over 100 dealers nationwide have INCREASED SALES MORE THAN 30% IN LESS THAN 90 DAYS WITH TELEVISION!

Larry John Wright, Inc.Larry John Wright, Inc. Automotive AdvertisingAutomotive Advertising

“America’s Premier Automotive Advertising Agency”

continued


What Dealers Should KnowAbout A Service Contract Company

TonyDupaquiersts ms ls fi s sf

f&i solution

A third-party provider may offer the dealership a supreme advantage over a factory service contract, not only in

terms of profi tability but also in its ability to help sell more products. Before working with one of these companies, it is important to ask a few questions.

The number one concern dealers must consider is how sound the company backing the contract is and to make sure the company is not a risk retention group (RRG).

An RRG is a company that operates under a federal charter and is exempt from state insurance laws. Under the Federal Liability Risk Retention Act, the role of state insurance regulators is very limited, and most state insurance laws are preempted. Not having state regulation requirements

generally results in lower premiums for the customer; however, this can result in a much higher risk for the non-payment of claims, as a result of extremely limited assets. Many service contracts written with an RRG are written as a dealer obligor. In the event the RRG becomes insolvent, the dealer is 100 percent responsible for paying claims.

Most RRGs in the service contract business have less than $20 million in total assets. Compare this to any of the large insurance companies, and an RRG has very limited resources. These limited resources eliminate any chance an RRG has to be rated by a company like A.M. Best or Standard & Poor.

It is also important to ask how the contract is insured. As is the case with most RRGs, the contract is re-insured through another source, some as low as 10 cents on the dollar. A dealer should want to have him or herself and customers insured dollar for dollar via a

true A-rated insurance company, preferably with one whose assets are in excess of $100 million.

The best option is to have the dealer agreement written with three parties: the administrator, the dealer and the insurance company. This is to ensure that all claims will be paid. In the event the administrator goes out of business, claims will be paid. If the dealership goes out of business, claims will be paid. When an A-rated insurance company with decades of history backs service contracts, fi nancial strength becomes an invaluable asset.

The second question to ask is how claims are paid. It is all about cash fl ow. If a dealership is not paid for 45 to 60 days on a claim, this can create not only a cash fl ow problem but also a greater risk of claims not being paid. It is the same problem a business offi ce can run into when contracts are in transit. It is important to know where a dealer’s money is and when money will be received. The best outcome is to work with a service contract provider that pays you immediately. When repairs or service work are performed in a dealership, it is expected that customers pay the invoice at the time of pick-up; expect the same from a service contract provider.

Service contracts offer a great service to customers. Dealers should receive the same benefi ts, as well.

Tony Dupaquier is the director of F&I training for American Financial & Automotive Services Inc. He can be contacted at 866.856.6754, or by e-mail [email protected].

CONSIDER THE IMPACTCONSIDER THE IMPACT

WLS Lighting SystemsManufacturing poles and fixtures since 1969.

WLS is the only COMPLETE SERVICE MANUFACTURER serving auto dealers nationwide with the finest technology and services available in the lighting industry.

The WLS Installation Program provides the auto dealer with all the construction services required for a complete site lighting system. Our comprehensive program from design to completion is the most cost- effective approach to your site lighting.

Services Include:• Site & Interior Lighting Design, Photometrics & Engineering

• Direct Sales to Dealerships

• Free Site Surveys For Upgrading Your Existing Site Lighting

• Turn Key Installation Program

• Service, Maintenance, and Extended Lamp Warranties

WLS can make a difference in your overall constructionbudget and we guarantee complete satisfaction.

4150 International Plaza Fort Worth, TX 76109

1.800.897.9517 www.wlslighting.com

Construction Services:• Project Management

• City Approvals and Permits

• Concrete Bases, Wire Conduit, Controls and Asphalt Patching

• 3 Year Lamp Replacement Warranty on All WLS Installed Systems

It is important to know where a dealer�s money is and when money will be received. The best outcome is to work with a service contract provider that pays you immediately.

Aren’tChildren

WorthInvesting In?

7148 Stonebrook Lane Lithonia Georgia 30058

toll free: 800.901.3057 web: www.besomeone.org

Orrin Hudson has developed several mentoring programs through his crime prevention program, Be Someone, Inc. He teaches children life mastery skills, using chess as a metaphor. Using his personal resources, dedication and passion for his dream, he has touched the lives of more than 15,000 children and their families. His programs have been taught in more than 30 schools in Þ ve states.

Your Dealership can sponsor a community

wide Be Someone Experience.

Call today and makea difference tomorrow.

“I am extremely impressed with your organization, especially

since our youth are desperately in need of leadership and guidance.

I admire your zeal, and your enthusiasm is contagious.”

Brian Tracy, best selling author, motivational speaker

“I salute you on your quest to develop yourself in order to make a difference in other’s lives. We are kindred souls in that I, too, have always had an insatiable hunger for knowledge and excellence. Live with Passion!”

Anthony Robbins, best selling author, motivational speaker


Four Keys to Integrity Selling, Part 4

SeanWolfi ngtonsts ms ls fi s sf

leadership solution

Welcome to the fi nal installment of the successful behaviors that fuel peak performance. This month we’ll wrap up

our discussion of the four simple keys to integrity selling that enable the superstars to distance themselves from the rest of the pack.

A Recap of Key Traits That Drive Successful Beliefs and Behaviors:

1. Achievement Drive 2. Goal Clarity3. Healthy Emotional Intelligence4. Excellent Social Skills

Achievement Drive is the power to beat the odds, to triumph over challenge and to tap into deep reserves of persistence, determination and a never-give-up attitude. If a sales person has low achievement drive, he may become complacent quickly, back down when faced with a challenge and as a result, rarely see his name at the top of the sales board. Goal Clarity brings focus to a sales person’s need to achieve and enables him or her to channel that energy with clear, specifi c, written goals that they truly believe are attainable and that they feel they deserve to achieve. Healthy Emotional Intelligence grants us the ability to understand emotions and how they impact behavior and Excellent Social Skills enable us to identify different behavior styles and adjust to them. These last two traits are important for CSI, customer loyalty and employee retention because they balance the driven and goal-oriented person’s “killer instinct” with the ability to connect with all different types of people. The extent to which our sales people possess these four traits determines their ability to excel in sales.

Contrary to what many people think, excellent social skills have little to do with talking or with the so-called gift of gab. Social skills are more about asking questions, listening, understanding, having empathy and a genuine desire to serve. In other words, a person with great social skills is able to interact with others in a way that makes them want to communicate. To accomplish this, great communicators must have the ability to identify people’s different behavior styles and adjust their own behavior accordingly.

They recognize the need to modify their own behavior from what’s most natural and most comfortable to what’s most effective. For example, a sales person with excellent social skills can recognize a customer who’s highly organized, logical, and rational, with great attention to detail. The sales person may notice the customer is more reserved, slower in thought, speech and motion, driven by facts and logic and in order to create an environment where the customer wants to communicate, the normally energetic, animated, fast-paced sales person may tone it down a notch and embrace the customer’s need for facts and information. They do this because they can see the world through other people’s eyes and adjust their own behavior accordingly. When we develop this kind of rapport with people, they trust and respect us more and will be more inclined to buy.

Ironically, ask any sales person what their strengths are and they’ll usually tell you, “I’m a people person, a great communicator and I can build rapport with anyone!” But the truth is that they’re not all peak performers. How do we differentiate a super-charged ego from truly excellent social skills? Real social skills are demonstrated when we ask questions and listen, when we understand and adapt to different behavior styles, when we understand the unspoken. It’s the ability to read body language, voice tones, infl ections and facial expression. It’s the ability to suspend our view of the world and understand another person’s beliefs and opinions.

Here’s a quick assessment:

If you rate yourself on a scale of one to 10 and your score is less than 50, you might benefi t from learning more about different behavior styles and brushing up on your communication skills.

Here’s a Quick Start Action Guide to building social skills:

1. Tune the world out and tune the customer in.2. Put others at ease by making them feel important.3. Put the focus on them; get them talking about themselves and their driving needs.4. Hold eye contact and watch and listen for indicators of how they feel.5. Ask open-ended questions to draw out wants and needs.6. Listen to and paraphrase all points – write them down.7. Lead in with a benefi t to the customer if you have a request of your own.

Incorporate these best practices into your greeting and interview process and you’ll notice an immediate increase in your closing ratio, because people are silently begging “Listen to me, value me, understand me and let me know you want to help me.”

Sean WolÞ ngton is the owner of BZResults.com. He can be contacted at 866.802.5753, or by e-mail atswolÞ [email protected].

1. I adjust to different types of people and situations.

2. I listen and respond sensitively to other people�s needs.

3. I�m effective at calming people in stressful situations

4. I�m intuitive and able to pick up on unspoken meanings.

5. I work well with diverse types of people.

A person with great social skills is able to interact with others in a way that makes them want to communicate.

MarkTewart

Lead Generation= Dollar Creation

sts ms ls fi s sf


All businesses are built on two areas of competency – people skills and marketing skills. Many sales people who are more

than adequate in their sales and people skills are struggling today. The reason is most sales people lack enough opportunities with customers. Lead generation = dollar creation

As a sales person you are in business for yourself. Having a mentality of being the CEO of your company is crucial to developing your business. The dealership signs your check, and you fi ll in the numbers.

You have a better opportunity than ever to be successful. The key to your long-term success as a sales person is the creation of a dynamite marketing strategy that dealers overlook and most sales people are too lazy to do.

Your fi rst step is to create a marketing web. Take a sheet of paper and list every way that you receive customers. The fi rst two ways you probably listed were from walk-ins and phone prospects. These are produced by the dealership and are therefore the ones over which you have no control. Begin to control your destiny and think of ways to produce customers from other resources.

What other sources of leads did you list? Here are some suggestions: referrals, service drive, service tickets, be-backs, affi liations, repeats, targeted phone calling, database marketing, targeted list mailings, orphan owners, lost customer marketing, coupon swaps, joint-venture advertising, community board fl yer, door-to-door fl yers, Web site and many more.

For each source at least one strategy of creating leads should be chosen. If you execute one strategy a day on 10 ways to create leads, your leads will grow exponentially over time. Your business will hit a period of critical mass and explode.

At that point, a sales person has the best job in the dealership. Your pay, hours, stress and job security will be better than the managers’. Your risk will be zero, your investment minimal and most everything is supplied for you.

Why don’t more sales people take this road of action to success? Usually, it’s a lack

of buy-in. If you haven’t begun to create a business of your own, it’s because your belief system doesn’t buy into the idea of a self-created destiny in sales. Either you have “Manageritis”, don’t believe you will be selling vehicles for a career, don’t believe you will be at your current dealership in the future, don’t believe it can be done or you’re lazy. The truth sucks sometimes.

Success and failure are all about belief systems and habits. You have to believe and live it everyday for it to work. Speaker and business philosopher Jim Rohn once was asked if you had to take successful actions everyday to be successful and he replied, “Only on the days you want to be successful.” Actually, if you only take successful actions every once in a while, you can’t even be successful on those once-in-a-while days. It takes sustained effort.

If you begin to execute a strategy of marketing and don’t have immediate success, you can’t quit. It’s easier to say something doesn’t work than it is to use the lack of success as a path to fi guring out successful actions. Marketing in itself is a series of miscalculations to fi gure out what works. The greatest marketers of all time have failed more than they have been right. To great marketers, all failures are just tests on the road to fi guring out the right formula.

As a small marketer in the Internet age, you can appear to be bigger and more successful than you really are. You can create a successful brand. You can be more agile and target more than larger businesses such as dealerships can do with traditional advertising. The over-hyped, over-competitive marketplace is perfect for the dedicated and creative sales person of today.

In next month’s article, I will discuss several low- to no-cost marketing strategies to begin a laser-like approach to creating new leads and converting them to customers. Remember, lead generation = dollar creation.

Mark Tewart is the president of Tewart Enterprises. He can be contacted at 866.429.6844, or by e-mail at [email protected].

may 2005 31


Your greatest marketing advantage of all comes from this simple truth – and yet few companies ever recognize it.

Offer honestly superior value and service to the customers your sales people wait on.

Remember, prospects care nothing about your interests or your decision to earn profi ts. They only want to know what superior service you can render them.

Failure to recognize this most basic of facts can be dangerous to your wealth.

Most advertising and sales efforts never go beyond the weak appeal of “buy our brand” or “buy from us instead of someone else.” Those messages have little or no impact on the prospect. Show the prospect what superior service, benefi ts, quality, bonus, discount support, follow up, you and you alone offer. The reality is – even if your competitors offer similar services or they probably do not advertise it. This means to you that prospects will view your dealership as the only store in town who offer such valuable benefi ts.

Human nature is predictable. It does not change.

Curiosity, for instance, is one of the strongest human incentives you can use in your marketing.

Cheapness, by itself, is not a good proposition. People want solid bargains with a full explanation of how you can offer them such genuine savings on quality products or services.

Limiting availability is a powerful marketing device to employ in both sales calls and promotional advertising.

Specifi city is crucial in all your advertising and sales efforts. The more detailed facts you can offer, the more specifi c case you can build over your competitors, the more successful you will be.

For example: Superlatives are meaningless. Like “the lowest prices” – a hollow, no-impact phrase. The company that makes specifi c, supportable and defendable claims gains people’s respect. A defi nite statement, with specifi c/actual fi gures, is generally believed.

Specifi c facts, stated by sales people or in ads, carry great weight and impact, in either written or personal salesmanship, or on radio or TV.

Salesmanship, whether personal one-on-one, ads, commercials, telephone calls or letters, is a very expensive investment.

Every word and phrase costs a small fortune. In a $10,000 ad, 1,000 words cost $10 a piece. In a $200 sales call, the 5,000 words your sales man uses cost you 40 cents a word.

To maximize a result, never dissipate the opportunity with generalities.

Specifi c, quantifi able claims, when made as a statement of fact, have tremendous impact, and are believable.

Always, always, tell a complete story.

Whatever way you use to get a prospect’s attention, you and your sales person should always tell a complete story.

Scott Joseph is the president of J&L Marketing Inc. He can be contacted at 866.429.6846, or by e-mail at [email protected].

ScottJoseph

Get More SpeciÞ c in Your Ads About the Valuable BeneÞ ts You Offer

sts ms ls fi s sf

marketing solution

Every word and phrase costs a small fortune. In a $10,000 ad, 1,000 words cost $10 a piece. In a $200 sales call, the 5,000 words your salesman uses cost you 40 cents a word.

SUMMIT IIBEST PRACTICES

Las Vegas, NV May 19 & 20The Venetian Hotel & Resort

Are You Going?

REGISTER NOW!Limited Seating

Dealers & Managers Only

Two days of intense learning. Improve your results no matter how well you are already doing.

ONLY $595fully transferable, no refunds

Call Now

800.849.4113or visit www.autosuccess.biz

for more information

CHECK VISA MC AMEX

FEATURED SPEAKERS:Scott Joseph, J&L Marketing

Dean Evans, DealixSean Wolfi ngton, BZResults.com

Chip Perry, AutoTrader.comDavid Kain, Kain Automotive

Brian Benstock, Paragon Honda & AcuraRad Weaver, Red McCombs

Angelo Chavez, Burt AutomotiveDarren Haygood, Lokey Automotive

Robert Revere, Courtesy Chev.Roy Reutter, Sheehy Auto StoresJeff Cowan, Jeff Cowan’s ProTalk

Randy Barone, AAXchangeEd Parkinson, Who’s Calling Inc.

Sean Gardner, The Joe Verde GroupSean St. Clair, eBay Motors

image that he or she wishes to convey to the receiver. The sender then translates the idea or image into a form, or words, either written or spoken. Those words constitute the basic message that is transmitted to the receiver. The receiver catches the words, like a baseball player catches a baseball, and then translates the words into the ideas and pictures that they represent in order to understand the message that was sent.

The receiver then acknowledges receipt and replies by translating his or her ideas and pictures into words and transmitting them to the sender. When the message has been sent and the receiver has acknowledged receiving it by transmitting a response that the sender receives, accepts and understands, the communication is complete.

If this sounds complicated, it is. Probably 99 percent of all the diffi culties between human beings and within organizations are caused by breakdowns in the communication process. Either the senders do not say what they mean clearly enough or the receivers do not receive the message in the form in which it was intended.

An enormous number of factors can interfere in any communication, and every one of them can lead to a distortion of the message in some way. Probably every problem you’ll ever have will be somehow associated with a failure or breakdown in the communication process.

Let me explain. According to Albert Mehrabian, a communications specialist, there are three elements in any direct, face-to-face communication: words, tone of voice and body language. Words account for only 7 percent of the message, tone of voice accounts for 38 percent and body language accounts for 55 percent. For an effective communication to take place, all three parts of the message must be congruent. If there is any incongruency, the receiver will be confused and will tend to accept the predominant form of communication rather than simply the literal meaning of the words.

Very often, you will say something that you feel is innocuous to a person and he will be offended. When you try to explain that you felt the words you used were inoffensive, the person will tell you that your tone of voice was the issue.

The third ingredient of communication, body language, is also very important. The way you sit or stand or incline your head or move your eyes, relative to the person with whom you’re communicating, will have an enormous effect on the message received.

For example, you can dramatically increase the effect of your communications by leaning toward the person with whom you’re speaking. If you’re sitting down, this is easy. If you’re standing up, you can accomplish the same effect by shifting your weight forward onto the balls of your feet and leaning slightly toward the person to whom you’re talking. When you make direct eye and face contact with the person, combined with focused attention, you double the impact of what you’re saying.

In fact, one of the easiest ways for you to break off a conversation, almost like knocking a needle off a phonograph record, is by just turning away from a person and looking into the distance when he is speaking. That will usually abruptly cause the person to stop speaking. He will feel that he’s just been abandoned in the middle of the conversation.

So your choice of words is important, but even more important is your tone of voice and your body language. The better you can coordinate all three of those ingredients, the more impact your message will have, and the greater will be the likelihood that a person will both understand it and react the way you want.

You’ve heard the saying that God gave people two ears and one mouth, and in conversation, you should use them in those proportions. The best communicators are excellent listeners. The worst communicators are continuous talkers. In fact, often the most important part of the message is the part that is conveyed by the pauses you make between thoughts and ideas. The message is conveyed in the silence that takes place during the lulls in conversation. All master communicators have learned to be comfortable with silence. Remember that a person can absorb only a certain amount of information, as ground can absorb only a certain amount of water. If you pour too much water onto the ground, it will form into puddles instead of soak in. A person’s mind is very much the same. If you don’t give someone an opportunity to absorb what you’re saying, by pausing and waiting quietly and patiently, he will be overwhelmed by the continuous stream of thoughts and ideas, and often will distort the message and miss the point.

One of the most vital requirements for effective communication, especially with important messages, is preparation. Preparation is the mark of the true professional. The late Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant of the University of Alabama football team was famous for saying, “It’s not the will to win but the will to prepare to win that counts.” In all communications, the will to prepare in advance of talking and interacting with people is the key to achieving maximum effectiveness.

Remember that in communicating, people do things for their own reasons, not for yours. Everyone’s favorite radio station is WIIFM, which means “What’s in it for me?”

The more important the communication, the more important it is to prepare for it. Think through where the other person is coming from. What is his or her point of view? What are his or her problems or concerns? What is he or she trying to accomplish? What is his or her level of knowledge or information about the subject being discussed?

The best communicators do not use a lot of words, but they choose their words carefully in advance. People appreciate straight talking. Avoid the tendency to dress up your message and sugarcoat it. When you have a question or a concern, or you want something, come right out and say it without confusion or distortion. You’ll be amazed at how much better you feel and how much more positively someone will respond to your message.

In getting your point across, perhaps the most important word of all is the word ask. The most effective people are those who are the best at asking for what they want. They ask questions to uncover real needs and concerns. They ask questions to illuminate objections and problems that people might have with what they’re suggesting. They ask questions to expand the conversation and to increase their understanding of from where people are really coming.

You get your message understood by getting out of yourself, by putting your ego aside and by focusing all of your attention on the other person. You get people to do the things you want them to do by presenting your arguments in terms of their interests, in terms of what they want to be and have and do. You prepare thoroughly in advance of any important conversation. You think before you speak, and you think on paper. You can say almost anything if you say it, or ask it, pleasantly, positively and with courtesy and friendliness.

The ability to communicate is a skill that you can learn by becoming genuinely interested in people and by putting their needs ahead of your own when sending a message or asking them to do something for you. When you concentrate your attention on building trust and on seeking to understand, you’ll become known and respected as an effective communicator everywhere you go.

Brian Tracy is the chairman and CEO of Brian Tracy International. He can be contacted at 866.300.9881, or by e-mail at [email protected].

continued

continued from page 8


Success StorySuccess Story

autosuccessMay05

Business

used car

car counselor broadcast

car buyers

new car lead provider

car counselor keith

wards dealer business

internet leads

pm eastern niada