The Driving Sales Executive Summit is on in a BIG way Oct 9-10 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. The industry is currently in a very dynamic yet super profitable state, but for how long? Change is just a supply chain kink or governmental policy away. Innovations are being introduced all the time, and now is the time to decide which ones are worthy and which ones are half-baked. Bottom line, it all comes down to people.

Is your dealership culture a positive, winning one, and are you and your team prepared for the next market phase that’s on the horizon? No one saw the Covid crisis coming let alone that it would usher in an era of unparalleled profit…we may not be so lucky next time…but we’ll be ready. This summit is focused to help you handle whatever is next.
Reg here and use Kelley100 to save $100:-): https://bit.ly/3RI7E0b

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The Driving Sales, Three Day Executive Retreat in Q4 designed to study retail innovation with world-leading experts, to help you write your business plan for next year. Save $100 by using code Kelley 100

For: Executive Teams, Owners, GMs, Marketing, GSMs, Fixed Ops

When: Oct. 8-10, 2022

Where: The Bellagio, Las Vegas

The post Driving Sales Executive Retreat is Oct. 9-10 at the Bellagio – It’s Gonna Be Big Time! appeared first on DealershipNews.com.

It’s commonplace for the children of successful business owners to run the business into the ground. They inherit the business but don’t inherit the struggle and learning curve it took to build the business in the first place and move it forward. According to Inc.com, 60% of 2nd generation owners, and 90% of 3rd generation business owners tank the business. Steering the ship isn’t the same as building it and knowing how it runs. This is not unusual to the car business and Mr. Robert Voltmann, CEO of NIADA, understands that there are many such owners in his membership body that need the guidance, coaching, and proper direction that his organization is willing to give. This video series gives you insight into the unique leadership skills that Mr. Voltmann exudes as he takes the NIADA into unchartered waters in the hyper-competitive, “Era of the Used Car.”

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ACERTUS, an omnichannel automotive logistics platform, today was named the preferred vendor for vehicle logistics by the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association (NIADA). This new, strategic partnership brings ACERTUS’ comprehensive technology to thousands of NIADA members nationwide – giving independent automobile dealers access to enhanced services to seamlessly move, store, recondition, title and home deliver vehicles to compete in today’s market.

Providing necessary technology to small and independent dealers is paramount to leveling the automotive retail playing field, allowing every auto dealer, no matter the size, to easily sell vehicles nationally and meet customers where they are without logistics or title and registration being a roadblock. The new dealermallUSA by NIADA provides association members access to a range of affiliated products and services supporting the needs of small and independent dealers, including ACERTUS’ proprietary Transportation Management System (TMS), VINlocity. Through ACERTUS’ platform, members can instantly connect to capacity of more than 7,400 carriers, 1,000 drivers, 66 hub and home delivery prep locations and title and registration processing capabilities in all 50 states, as well as get quotes, place and manage orders.

“Automotive retail has a long tail of small and independent dealers critical to meeting the current unprecedented demand for inventory,” said Trent Broberg, ACERTUS CEO. “Through this strategic partnership we can deliver technology to thousands of dealers, empowering and enabling them to expand the markets in which they can sell and acquire inventory, meet expectations for faster fulfillment and upshift the customer experience all on our logistics platform.”

The partnership kicks off during the 76^th annual NIADA National Convention and Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada bringing together independent dealers to learn the latest strategies, best practices, and emerging trends from the industry’s top minds, subject matter experts, and peers.

“Independent retailers are disproportionately feeling the effects of industry disruptions and inventory challenges,” NIADA CEO Bob Voltmann said. “NIADA members are calling for a solution to navigate these challenges and address the current gap between the independent dealers and the top 150 dealers and large digital retailers. ACERTUS provides a unique blend of technology, infrastructure and experience to empower our members to remain competitive.”

The post Acertus Ties the Knot With the NAIDA to Best Serve Indies and Others As Well appeared first on DealershipNews.com.

Ken Hill is the Managing Director of 700Credit, the largest provider of credit and compliance products in the automotive industry. During his 12 years with 700Credit Ken has been responsible for the leadership and growth of the company. In 2007, Ken started with 700Credit when they had a respectful 700 customers and 5 affiliate partners. Fast forward to 2019 and 700Credit is now the largest in the industry, providing credit and compliance solutions to over 11,000 automotive dealerships, and integrating with 150 affiliate partners.

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The Lewis Black of Almonty Industries Interview

Kelly

So let’s talk about the fun stuff. And that would be mining in the United States. And there needs to be a political will. But I would assume that there also has to be environmental impact studies that need to be annulled. And that’s got to take some time as well. Do they have the testosterone across both sides of the aisle politically here, the United States actually started doing this here in the US? What’s your take on that?

Lewis

No, I don’t believe it’s going to really be feasible for either side, you know, to really get behind this, because ultimately, neither of their bases are pro mining.  Mines had that day, and they’re now seen as a very 19th century kind of, you know, throwback to history. They, you know, there is no appetite to now push domestic mining, you know, yes, there’s regulations. Yes, they’re the, you know, this is normal in every democracy, but they don’t want it in their backyard. I read this thing the other day, about wind farms of Cape Cod, that you have an enclave of people who are very environmentally active. And yet they don’t want to look at the wind farms. 

So it is apparently, according to the candidates who were there, that it’s difficult to land your plane with a wind farm, which, you know, I suppose, is one rationale. But ultimately, you know, I think that really sums it up. There are some communities still in the Appalachians and some communities that are pro mining, but it’s not on a national level. And it’s I don’t think that I think that what we’re looking at, there’s a bill going through now called the Irie shore act, where it classifies say tungsten as a rare earth. And they’re basically saying that if you’re in the defense contractor business in the US, you can’t use Chinese sourced rare earths and that includes manganese, lithium and tungsten, and then all the rare earths 17 of them, that I can’t even pronounce the atrium and the opium and, and so on. 

But it also talks about stockpiling commodities, strategic minerals and government offtakes, and I think that’s the direction they’re gonna go. They’re going to basically say, Look, you know, you’ve got to build it, where we can see transparency. But we’re not going to say you should build it here. We’re just going to say, here’s a government contract, if you meet these conditions of ESG, we’ll buy for you. And I think that’s probably the most creative approach they can take.

Justin

Yeah, so Louis, a little bit lighter of a question, how much earth do you have to move to get enough tungsten to make, let’s just say, one semiconductor and I know you’ve already mentioned they’re very, very small.

Lewis

Well, I mean, to be honest, not a huge amount. Because we use, you know, the Tungsten is used in a semiconductor is crushed down to a nano sized fraction, which is then injected into a gas because you can’t smelt a tungsten. And then the gas is pumped into each semiconductor, the coat on a microscopic level, a coating of tungsten, because one it’s very conductive. And secondly, it dissipates heat. So you don’t have to worry about, you know, a cobalt in anodes, they combust you know, a battery can go up and it burns, what 48 hours, you put tungsten on that same anode, it’ll get as hot as the sun and it won’t smelt,the temperature of the sun, it will smelt tungsten, but noncombustible. So it can take the heat. So you don’t need a huge I mean, the entire planet, we only produce about 90,000 tons a year of tungsten. That’s it. So it’s very dense, same density as gold. But we don’t mind. We don’t move a lot of Earth.

Justin

When a mine is kind of fished out, so to speak. Is there a reclamation process that you guys do around the globe? I know you have mines elsewhere, and I would assume that that process would be different in the United States due to our regulation. Can you elaborate?

Lewis

You’re working in a democracy, that’s all pretty much the same thing. Yeah, yeah, it’s, it’s, you know, you have certain, you know, different like in Canada, for instance, now you have first nations as well and have to be consulted. In Australia, you have indigenous Aboriginal people. So you have these additional layers, but ultimately, in terms of reclamation, environmental compliance, the international standards are just that now that they’re pretty much across the board. I think the main difference in the US is that even if you comply with all of the regulations, and all the laws that exist, you can still run into trouble if the political will is against you. So there’s the legal framework in the United States, there’s also the emotional framework and that can also impact you so that’s something to also consider in the US.

Justin

Yeah. So which has more impact on the land is it oil drilling, strip mining? What what has more impact on the environment?

Lewis

Strip mining. I mean, you know, drilling for oil is your drilling drill, it’s a hole and they kept the hole after you finished and that’s the end of it. When you strip mine, I mean, we hard mine, we strip mine, the strip mine, you have to when you finish, you have to fill in the hole. It’s a big hole. But in that time where the hole exists, it’s very visible. The mining in South Korea is underground. And we’ve developed systems where we put all of our waste and all of our tailings back on the ground. So that we know evidence that we’re there. And that’s the future. But strip mining has a lot more of an impact on the environment. Well, optically, environmentally.

Kelly

Yeah. So that’s a big nay nay. So um, I, for one, I’m in favor of the bill. I’d like to see it actually increased the amount of money that we put towards some of the most absurd things that just defies logic. Our dependence on China is ridiculous. It’s costing jobs. It’s blowing up prices left and right. And if we have the ability to eat more of the semiconductor pie, we may as well open our mouths. That’s the way I look at it, though.

Lewis

You  in the United States are the biggest consumer of semiconductors? I mean, it’s a classic example of how globalization has put everyone sort of, you know, in a precarious position, the US consumes more semiconductors than anybody else. And yet, you really don’t produce any semiconductors. But that doesn’t really make an awful lot of sense. But then you can say that about many, many industries. I mean, the car sector in the in the Europe right now, they have problems with wiring looms that you know, they have companies that make the wiring looms and then ship them to the cloud plants have installed, they have problems because over the years, they’ve been pushing that the subcontracting that out further and further east because they’ve been following the cheap labor and then are done by Ukraine. Of course, now Ukraine is rather busy to be making wiring looms for Volkswagens. So you know, you have, you know, car plants that are sitting idle because there’s no other, they don’t have anyone else right away that can now replicate that job. So I think this is probably a good wake up call to say, You know what, globalization is a wonderful idea, but you’ve got to remember, sometimes chasing, you know, the cheap route can cost you a lot more in the long run.

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Yes, sticker price size matters. Yes, financing matters. Yes, credit availability matters. But what gets a person interested in a particular vehicle, and moving through the funnel, is what excites their eyes.

It’s the same reason why millions of people spend so much time on Instagram, or why they spend so much time making sure they have just the right set of photos for their Tinder profile.

Selling cars in an Instagram society

Just consider for a moment that there are over 1 billion active Instagrammers, and more than half of those users (500 million) are active every day. What’s more, 95 million photos and videos are shared on Instagram every day, and over 40 billion photos and videos have been shared on the Instagram platform since its conception¹.

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but it’s a good photo that gets their attention, and to buy a car.

So, other than the obvious (higher sales), why should dealers care so much about better photos? Because without them they’re literally flushing money down the drain. Borrell Associates expects auto dealers will spend roughly $9.4 billion this year on advertising and marketing² — up 8.8% compared with 2021.

Online technology makes the photo process different

That’s a lot of money for a segment of the industry notoriously careful about advertising expenditure. However, the problem dealers run into isn’t the decision on whether to spend on advertising, but rather “how” they go about that spending. Especially when it comes to vehicle photos, online technology has become extremely advanced, and you can’t pull out a polaroid, snap a few quick pics and expect to grab someone’s attention anymore. In fact, without understanding all of today’s technical nuances of photography, your photos may not even make it to Google.

Across the hundreds of dealership advertising campaigns, we observe and consult on each month across the U.S., we typically see about half of dealership vehicle inventory photos disabled and rejected by search engines after initially posted due to poor image quality, overlays, dumb text, etc. Educating dealers on the finer intricacies of acceptable photography today, and how that translates over to their marketing technology needs remains mission number one.

Good vehicle photos aren’t just point-and-shoot

Dealers today have two primary areas of need when it comes to building the right vehicle image inventory – the right resources to take the photos, and the right training on understanding how to take good photos. Like many other areas of digital business today, there are plenty of apps and software available where dealers can upload their photos. But if they don’t have the right equipment and training, all of that software is like a shirtless guy on Tinder holding a fish – it’s useless, and it won’t get you paid. And training is important because dealership turnover remains a significant issue. Your best in-house vehicle photographer might be here today and gone tomorrow, so finding a partner with unlimited employee training is critical.

Once the photos are taken and uploaded, there’s one more key element that today’s apps and software won’t help with – professional editing. Vehicle images must offer the right angles, light balance, straightness and color corrections. These minor details can mean the difference between someone falling in love with their next BMW or moving on to see a Lexus.

The last thing to point out with photos today is quality control. Whether it’s used or new inventory, when it shows up on the lot the photos must be taken, and taken right. This is especially important today, where used and pre-owned inventory is just as critical as new. When vehicles come out of reconditioning, professional editors must catch every little detail, such as a photo of a vehicle with no bumper – it happens more than you think.

Understanding each of these photography best practice areas will be critical to not only meeting and surpassing monthly sales goals, but they will help ensure car shoppers remember the superior online shopping experience they had in your digital storefront. The right vehicle photography will keep them coming back, improve sales, and ensure that you’re not wasting digital marketing dollars each month on search engines. 

About The Author: Peter Duffy is the Founder/CEO of Dealer Image Pro, a professional photo, video & 360 software company based in California. Dealer Image Pro helps hundreds of dealers take their merchandising in-house by offering the equipment, unlimited training, and professional editing, and quality control for all of the dealers they work with. They are experts in-house merchandising and studio design for auto dealers. For more information visit https://www.dealerimagepro.com/.

Appendix:

1: https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2017/04/20/instagram-statistics

2: https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/370082/automotive-dealerships-poised-to-spend-94-billio.html

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CINCINNATI, OHIO (August 23, 2021) – Swapalease.com, the nation’s largest car lease marketplace, reports car lease credit applicants registered a 70.0% approval rate in July. The approval rate is an increase from the 67.6% rate in June.
 
The July number is also higher than the approval rate at the same time last year, when the approval rate was only at 65.1% after a few months of the pandemic setting in. The increase indicates consumer credit levels are also holding steady as more people are vaccinated from COVID-19. Additionally, households continue to save stimulus relief provided by the government.  
 
As opposed to consumer borrowing, many are utilizing their savings accrued during the pandemic toward paying debt. With consumers reigning in their credit usage as well as lowering revolving debt, Americans are now looking to upgrade their vehicles to a newer model but are searching channels such as Swapalease.com for inventory that may not be readily available at a dealership. 

 Swapalease.com believes many of its site visitors and vehicle customers have solid credentials available to take over a person’s vehicle lease. The stability to have more flexibility in leasing through economic uncertainly may contribute to an increase in shoppers looking to lease vehicles through the secondary market – where lease payments are much more appealing than what’s offered at a dealership. 

“Since credit strength is continuing to stabilize due to the figures maintained throughout the third and fourth quarters, lease credit approvals slightly decreased during the months of May and June,” said Scot Hall, Executive Vice President of Swapalease.com. “Since Americans were either saving or paying down debt with their government stimulus money, consumer credit confidence ultimately grew. This has led to an increase in credit approvals during the month of July – hinting at larger spending in future quarters.”
 
Swapalease.com matches a person wanting out of their existing vehicle lease contract with a car shopper looking to take over a short-term vehicle lease. The marketplace has thousands of cars and trucks available for transfer to anywhere in the continental U.S.

Sarah Caro
Merit Mile
scaro@meritmile.com 

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