Ever wonder how many customers are out there “on the fence,” or on the verge of buying from your dealership? According to Paul Potratz, chief operating officer of Potratz Partners Advertising, one of the keys to securing these leads is website chat. In the latest edition of Think Tank Tuesday — Portratz’ weekly video featuring […] [Read More]

Dealers looking to obtain higher quality used-car inventory could benefit from a new product announced this week by auto website MaxTradeIn. The new service allows participating dealerships to make “nearly-instant” offers for consumer trade-ins, rather than just estimates, the company said. Called MaxTradeIn DealerDirect, the service asks consumers visiting a dealership’s website to enter their […] [Read More]

On Tuesday, DealerSocket launched a solution the company calls Smart Reply, a tool that allows dealerships to send intelligent emails to customers with concise and accurate content tailored to their specific vehicle interests. “We’re really fired up about launching Smart Reply because this technology surpasses traditional CRM solutions that simply send a text heavy email […] [Read More]

As we covered in our last post, following the components of MARK in your listings creates maximum consumer relevance. The first element of this is “mission.” Mission lets the consumer know if your vehicle meets their needs. If a consumer is looking for a family vehicle, which vehicle attributes make it a great choice for […] [Read More]

Training dealers is nothing new to Ally Financial. That’s been a huge part of the near century-long history at the company founded as General Motors Acceptance Corp. in the 1900s. But the format in which Ally teaches dealers has evolved greatly, with the latest offering coming Monday. The company introduced the Performance Development Center, which […] [Read More]

When a customer leaves the showroom without buying, it’s the dealer’s job to find out why, and to re-engage him. A new product aims to help dealers do just that. CAR-ResearchXRM this week announced the launch of Showroom WatchDog, a service it says can help auto dealers sell their unsold customers.  Showroom WatchDog uses CAR-Research […] [Read More]

Autoshopper.com this week announced the release of a new and used inventory management tool that the company says can boost dealers’ social media efficiency. Rather than posting new and used vehicles to multiple social media sites, Autoshopper says its new Autopilot tool allows dealership personnel to post, network and communicate with social media customers eight […] [Read More]

Dealertrack Technologies released a couple pieces of news this week, announcing it is participating in the new Dealer Technology Assistance Program (DTAP) for General Motors (GM) dealers, while also revealing an upcoming webinar. As part of the GM DTAP — designed to support to certification of technology and services for use by GM and its […] [Read More]

Dealer.com and Jumpstart Automotive Group on Tuesday announced a new long-term partnership aimed at connecting dealerships with sought-after online auto shopping audiences.   The exclusive agreement leverages Dealer.com’s customer base of local-level automotive dealers (tier 3) and Jumpstart’s automotive audience to create targeted opportunities for dealers to access in-market car shoppers.   Terms of the […] [Read More]

Increasing your online footprint, welcoming shoppers to your dealership homepage, and enhancing vehicle listings are just a few ways dealers can use video footage today. But just how important is using video as a digital marketing tool to pre-owned dealerships? Shane Hambly, sales director at Canada-based e-dealer, says, “If you’re not already in the video […] [Read More]