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Dealer Synergy is HIRING! We are Growing and Expanding!!!
We just bought a BEAUTIFUL building in Audubon NJ (Over 5,000 square feet). We are growing and expanding the company. Moving out of Philadelphia after all of these years was a hard decision but the best one for the evolution of Dealer Synergy.
We are currently seeking qualified candidates for the following positions:
- Website Design
- Graphic Design
- Search Engine Optimization Specialist
- Social Media
- Content Writing
- Customer Service
- Office / Administrative Assistant
Please contact Orlando at orlando@dealersynergy.com or call him at 215-338-3600.
Thank you-
- Happy Memorial Day 2012!
- "It is, in a way, an odd thing to honor
those who died in defense of our country
in wars far away. The imagination plays a
trick. We see these soldiers in our mind as old
and wise. We see them as something like the
Founding Fathers, grave and gray-haired. But
most of them were boys when they died, they
gave up two lives -- the one they were living and
the one they would have lived. When they died,
they gave up their chance to be husbands and
fathers and grandfathers. They gave up their chance
to be revered old men. They gave up everything
for their county, for us. All we can do is remember."
-- President Ronald Wilson Reagan
Remarks at Veteran's Day ceremony,
Arlington National Cemetery November 11, 1985
- "For over two centuries, brave men and women
have laid down their lives in defense of our great
Nation. These heroes have made the ultimate sacrifice
so we may uphold the ideals we all cherish. On this
Memorial Day, we honor the generations of Americans who
have fought and died to defend our freedom.
- "On this solemn day in which Americans unite in
remembrance of our country’s fallen, we also pray for
our military personnel and their families, our veterans,
and all who have lost loved ones. As a grateful Nation,
we forever carry the selfless sacrifice of our fallen
heroes in our hearts, and we share the task of caring
for those they left behind." President Barack Obama
May 27, 2011 Memorial Day Proclamation
- "I, a humble citizen of this great country USA,
proudly salute the men and women of our Armed
Forces all over the world! Thank You for securing
our freedom, and providing us unmatched safety,
peace, and making USA the greatest democracy
in the world! - "I moved to USA from India in 1987 to study.
I became a U.S. citizen in 2008, and voted for the
first time - this was a terrific experience. I am
very grateful to USA for providing me great
education, fantastic work experience, freedom,
entrepreneurship, and success!! Above all, I am
very thankful and grateful that I have been able
to raise a wonderful family and grow here.
- "As U.S. citizen, I am particularly proud of
the constitutional first amendment:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of
speech, or of the press; or the right of the people
peaceably to assemble, and to petition the
Government for a redress of grievances."
The fourth amendment:
"The right of the people to be secure in their
persons, houses, papers, and effects, against
unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not
be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but
upon probable cause, supported by Oath or
affirmation, and particularly describing the
place to be searched, and the persons or
things to be seized."
The fifth amendment:
"No person shall be held to answer for a capital,
or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a
presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury,
except in cases arising in the land or naval
forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service
in time of War or public danger; nor shall any
person be subject for the same offense to be
twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall
be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness
against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty,
or property, without due process of law; nor
shall private property be taken for public use,
without just compensation."
Finally, the fourteenth amendment:
"All persons born or naturalized in the
United States, and subject to the jurisdiction
thereof, are citizens of the United States and
of the State wherein they reside. No State shall
make or enforce any law which shall abridge
the privileges or immunities of citizens of the
United States; nor shall any State deprive any
person of life, liberty, or property, without
due process of law; nor deny to any person
within its jurisdiction the equal protection of
the laws"
source: http://creativityandinnovation.blogspot.com/2012/05/happy-memorial-day-2012.html
The rules have changed in automotive SEO. In fact, they've changed for the entire search engine optimization world. It's no longer a function of quantity that determines rankings. More content, more links, more social signals - that's fine, but it won't help you as of April 24, 2012, the way it used to.
Today is the world of SEO quality over quantity. These changes have been anticipated for some time but only now are they really becoming apparent. Some dealers are dropping in rankings based upon their (or their vendor's) SEO efforts. As a result, others are moving up. Which side of the fence do you want to be on?
Here are some best practices to help you get on the right side of the fence. Click to enlarge.
How many times as a manager have you looked through a deal that one of your salespeople just dropped on your desk and you asked yourself. "Who filled out this credit application? Or who filled in the blanks? Why are there crossouts? It sure looks like my salesperson did this. I have a complete deal in front of me. Ok let's call it in. " That's the norme in most dealerships. We wag the dog, push the paper, let's spot the car. This is a major problem. Dealers we have got to get out of this old habbit!
For years I have been telling my salespeople. "The customer fills out the whole credit application! Not half, not some, but the whole thing! ' Would you let a mortgage broker fill out your mortgage application? So why would it be acceptable for are salespeople to fill out a customers 2nd biggest purchase application in their lifetime?
My article below is enough to scare anyone out of the bad habits of allowing a salesperson or any level of management to be filling out a credit application in there own handwriting for the dealer to save time.By having the customer
complete his or her application own reduces the chances of your sales staff from giving customers unnecessary pay raises, fake jobs, or even inflated investment income for a senior citizen so that they will qualify for a loan or lease with their high credit score. All of these scenario's are BANK FRAUD! Let's face it times are tough, and without proper process in set in place, as dealers we are wide open to lawsuits!
Automotive News reported on an informal online survey of F&I managers last month in which 29% responded that salespeople or sales managers fill in credit applications for customers at their stores. "Oh well they’re just trying to move the deal along quicker and help the customers fill them out the right way. What could go wrong?"
What happens if a customer claims that the income or time on the job shown on the application does not reflect the truth? How can that come up, you ask? How about a customer’s lawsuit over a deal that was rescinded when the customer’s financing was denied because his income could not be verified randomly by a Prime bank two weeks after being funded? Look at your dealer agreements with these banks. They can contact the customer the moment you send them a deal and request just about whatever they want to support the application that was submitted to them. Just because your funded, doesn't mean you won't get charged back!
What if the customer was at another dealership and the income you stated doesn't match the application that another dealer sent in the week prior? Red Flag. Now you need POI, that's if your lucky enough that the annalist or banks computer doesn't turn it down because they see it as a flam. In the world of computers banks are sharing more and more information to protect themselves by leaning on each other. In the end ultimately they are the ones who will get the car back when the customer stops making the payments. As dealers most of the banks that we use have zero recourse unless it is a sub prime bank that is for extreme risk. In cases of contracts with recoarse smart dealer makes sure the customer makes the first few payments right at the dealership. Or until the recourse period is over. Until then the car has a tracking unit in it, and the dealer has a spare key for easy recovery, and we have no worries. This is quite common in the Gulf Coast Region being that it is such a transient marketplace.
Or how about a claim against the dealership arising from a repossession where the customer claims that he could not afford the vehicle because his income on the credit application was falsified by the salesperson? To make matters worse the equipment that was stated on the book out sheet was also falsified. Now the dealer has REAL trouble. When matters like this become issues in litigation, it is easy for the customer to claim that he knows nothing about what was entered on the credit application if it is not in his handwriting. He will claim that the amount of income, the time on the job, and any of several other important facts were made up by the salesperson. Sure, he signed the application, but it was just another in an endless line of documents he was told to sign as part of his deal.
So where does your dealership stand if this happens? Where it leaves the dealer is basically in a position that he has to write a check and buy this vehicle back from the lender + any fee's the lender has incurred along the collections, and repossession process. Now you have an angry customer, without a car and destroyed credit. In light of the situation you as the Dealer have been deemed WRONG. Hopefully the customer doesn't look for a payday and proceed with a civial lawsuit. Unfortunately in this situation almost every dealer who has been forced to buy the vehicle back from the lender due to fraud, by a dealership employee a settlement has been rewarded. Oh and let's not forget what will happen if the State Attorney General decides to get involved. Whoever filled out that application may be paying fines, or even worse spending some time in prison. I don't know about you folks, but I'm way to cute for prisson
Not that it makes any sense? We get sued, or prosecuted for selling a car.The customer came to us. They begged and pleaded to get approved, and asked for our help. We did our job and sold them a car. But were the bad guys in the systems eyes to begin with. We are car dealers! "Us the big dealer vs the poor trusting customer." Who does the arbitrator or Judge rule in favor of? The little guy... Everybody's had a bad car deal including the arbitrator.
Certainly, dealers want credit applications to be legible and complete.They want salespeople to work with customers so that all of the required information is filled in. But a salesperson who is filling in the credit application for the customer makes it easy for the customer to claim that the salesperson made up the information. Here is the answer. Using blue ink pen. (Black ink can be accused as copy) Have all information on the credit application filled in by the customer. Have a seasoned salesperson, sales manager, or an F&I person work with the customer to develop all the pertinent information. Then have the customer sign the application, and initial the income and time on the job. The information on the credit application will be transferred into an electronic screen anyway "Dealer track, your DMS, etc." Even when the application is not legible, it should be handwritten again by the customer in the most legible form they can and signed again by the customer,. Along with the customer’s original handwritten application attached to the legible application, along with the printed copy of the application from the DMS system your dealership uses. Make sure you retain all original copies in the deal jacket with the orginal signatures. Doing otherwise is just being lazy, and you are not protecting the Dealership and it's Principal's best interest.
Being a thorough sales consultant or manager will only get you positive results, and enhance your chances of promotion because of leading by proper example.Regardless of all our efforts a customer can always claim that he wrote what he was told to write by a salesperson. But if it is the customer’s handwriting that is 100% throughout the application, and we have matching typed and written applications with original signatures on each. It will be a tough sale to a jury, or arbitrator that we as the dealer did anything wrong. Happy Selling! And remember compliance matters;)
By: Carter R. Nies
http://www.dealersynergy.com
Sean V. Bradley is Training a HIGH LEVEL Automotive Internet Sales / BDC Director on "How to Identify LOST Opportunities" and how to EVOLVE her Employees
Be an individual
Autotrader HIRES Sean V. Bradley / Dealer Synergy to Train ALL 75 Van Tuyl Dealerships at Their Annual VIP Training Conference in Dallas Texas
While buying trucks from the market, there are few things that you need to be really careful about. The trucks cost a lot of money and you need to make sure that you are spending all your money at the right places. A wrong decision might cost you a lot of money. Price is the most important that you need to take care about. You must first decide whether you are buying new or used trucks. New trucks are expensive and you get all the modern amenities and features. On the other, the older trucks might not be as feature rich and you will end up saving a lot of money. However, you will get a vehicle that has been used before and this might not be welcome by some people. However, if you are on a limited budget, then buying used trucks might be the only option.
Quality of the truck has to be really good. The condition of the body and engine gives a good description of how good or bad the truck is. You need to check all the parts of the truck – major and minor and this includes stuff like the seats and rear. Also, you should see if the parts are found easily. If the parts are rare then you might have to struggle if there are any problems and if anything goes bad. The parts inside should be of good quality and they should improve the overall performance of the truck.
While buying trucks from the market, it is recommended that you get second hand trucks. You should take good note of the serial number of the truck and then you should get in touch with the truck manufacturer in order to confirm that seller is registered keeper. This should be done before you go ahead and purchase it. manufacturer should have database regarding the details of registered owners and this will help in reducing any theft. Manufacturer might have informed by police or original owner if trailer gets stolen.
While driving the truck on the road; it is recommended that the truck shouldn’t be overloaded. It will effect the driving experience and you won’t be comfortable in driving it for long distances. There are specific limits about how much you should load up the truck and you should adhere to these rules while loading up the truck. If you go beyond this limit; then you are breaking the legal law and hence you might get in trouble later. Also, the safety of the other vehicles on the roads will get affected due to this.
While buying the truck, you should check the re sale value of the truck. If you are going to exchange or sell the truck in the future then this will help you in the future. You should take a note of the re-sale value and depreciation before you go ahead and purchase the trailer. Finally, customer support and warranty too is important. All this should be included while you buy the truck.
Ok... You saw that video. Now watch the previous video. I am SO proud of this team. They went from Not feeling comfortabel, not being able to clear the whole 10 steps to CRUSHING it.
But that is STILL Not enough... I want my team to know the phone process inside and out, forwards and backwards. They will get there!
I recently came across a case study from the folks at BoldChat, and in it, they discussed the impact and implementation that their Live Chat program has had on NorthFace's business.
Before we dive into the key points in the case study, here's a question you need to ask yourself:
- Does your dealership website incorporate some variation of a LiveChat program?
If your top priority is customer service, it should. Here are a few benefits that were pointed out in the Case Study:
- You will see an increase in customer engagement
- If a customer is not sure what type of car they're looking for, chances are that they'll much prefer a live chat to a phone call. They might not want to get on the phone until they're absolutely sure what they want.
- This also falls under the category of ZMOT (Zero Moment of Truth). Customers are going online first before hitting the store/dealership. You must be there during the Zero Moment of Truth and Livechat can give you that advantage.
- After implementing Live Chat for their website, NorthFace saw a rise in chats/month from 4,000 to 17,000
- It will benefit your customer service team!
- Participating in live chat with customers will require your CSR's to become experts and more well versed in the product (i.e. vehicles) you're selling
- Before implementing chat, you'll want to vett your CSRs to ensure they're product evangelists.
So, does your website have some sort of Live Chat program? Why or Why not?
Automotive Sales Objections, Rebuttals, Expectations, & "What Ifs" for Interent / BDC Department
Carter Nies, Dealer Synergy National Sales Director & 17 Year Automotive Sales Veteran - General Sales Manager
