Why is it in this country everything takes so long and has to be so much aggravation? I know there is a trend towards blaming health and safety and pointless bureaucracy but I sometimes wonder whether we are just a nation of awkward sods. For example if you compare our car industry with our American cousins there are fundamental differences in … [Read more...]

Continuing the theme of sales execs in the modern world, it is interesting that whilst looking at how effective they are in terms of producing for their companies we often overlook how the customer really view today’s crop of sales people. In my role I get to observe many different sales execs across the board, both in a main dealer … [Read more...]

Although it’s not quite carrmageddon at present there are certainly some serious concerns in the used car market with many dealers holding ageing stock which they cannot achieve a satisfactory margin on. These things are not new and there are always periods of slack trading and lacklustre sales but the fusion of the euro crisis with the time … [Read more...]

Whilst chewing the fat (which was mostly contained within a particularly greasy bacon roll) down at the auction recently I got talking to a couple of sales managers I recognised from way back when who were taking a day out to check prices (and take advantage of the free breakfast on offer). We got onto the subject of the modern day sales exec … [Read more...]

The process of building trust in a business relies on having the right people coupled with a great vision statement. It entails setting out the stall and having all staff engage with delivering the same consistent message and level of service at every level of the business. With the increase in the utilization of social media within the motor … [Read more...]

Valuing cars in the trade is again proving a challenge when the market is so uncertain. We are again witnessing massive disparity between the two trade heavyweights Glass and CAP only they seem to have completely crossed to the other side compared to the values they were publishing earlier in the year. Without getting into the specifics there … [Read more...]

As we move into perhaps the most challenging time of the year for car dealers, it is perhaps worth considering that this is probably a very good time to actually be buying a new or used car. The reason being that dealers will look to thin down their inventories in anticipation of re-stocking for the inevitable December and January sales, so they … [Read more...]

If you listen to some people you would probably end up believing we are entering meltdown. Although I have to admit things are pretty tough out there, if you do the job correctly and work hard there are still rewards to be earned. If there are fewer customers around and enquiries are scarce then how do car dealers keep the kettle … [Read more...]

In car buying, whether new or used, habits have certainly changed for today’s consumer. This has largely been driven by the net but also by change itself; from the perspective of how car dealers wish to be viewed by their customers. The days of putting a few lines in the classifieds and having a half page spread in the motoring section of the … [Read more...]