Dennis McLaughlin

Assess, Identify, Add - Assess your environment, identify the bottlenecks, add value via processes or simplification. Break records, then rinse & repeat! #perspective

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Days like today with the crisis that CDK Global endured putting most car dealers without their main resource is literally tragic! eLEAD not working almost put the BDC out of commission! The DMS not working was another massive problem. While crisis can happen at any time to anyone we understand the severity of it and are dealing with it! I recognized immediately when I got on board a few weeks the importance of partnering with a lead engagement solution that offers AI and text marketing. We partnered 🤝with Dealer Funnel and went live a little over a week ago. Immediately traffic improved in the store. But today on a day filled with crisis we sold 10 units with 7 coming from BDC. We ran a test campaign and answered leads using the system with no email. It worked! I want to thank this partner for being here when we needed them most! #cardealers if you are not looking at this company you are really missing the boat. While having a CRM is important it’s even more important to have an effective tool that can do even more for you! #ai #leadengagement #crm #automotive #automarketing #autodealers #partnership Troy "Turbo" Spring Matthew Kelly Dan Moore

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Don't Panic! Wholesale Used car prices dropped 8.9%. June reports are in and it's swinging down. Is it really though? CDK went down 3 weeks ago. Are the numbers real? No. Get ready for the July snap followed by the September sell off and the November bubble. My used car manager asked me if I thought CDK being down would impact us. It did, not much. I was more worried about inventory not posting and that I thought it would take a couple of weeks to catch up before we saw the impact. July is here and surprise, used cars are going back up. I'm not worried because this always happens. 2 years ago a pandemic threatened to wipe us out. Everyone was convinced that selling cars on the internet was the only way to exist. So convinced that Caravana skyrocketed in Stock prices and public held retail dealerships popped up online buying almost overnight. Brick and Mortar business was done. Not so fast. This lasted for almost 3 years. CDK lasted for 2 weeks. Surprise! Brick and Mortar is stronger than ever. Hold strong, stick to the basics. This was a blip. There is no need to go into panic mode.

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FACT 8 out of 10 people who walk on your lot will buy – period. When you find out what’s important to each particular customer (it’s not price), and then give them a ‘Targeted’ Presentation & Demonstration on those Hot Button Features and Benefits, you’ll deliver 50% of them a vehicle.

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A shout out to all of the Hyundai Dealers for a very successful June. There are some outstanding numbers, prior month gains and YOY gains. As a former Hyundai GM I will say this again the PRODUCT is OUTSTANDING. While CDK might have created a few obstacles, one thing for sure is the RDR machine has ZERO to do with CDK or any other DMS - Fact! Here's an exercise for the Stores that didn't hit their Objectives or did not experience any increases in Sales - Pay close attention not only to your nearest Hyundai Competitors but the all of your Competition - Not only do you want to dominate the Hyundai Market but you want to dominate the overall Market Share in your area - That should be your objective - Set the objectives and define what it will take to move your needle - If you are moving the needle you are succeeding - Keep moving forward.... Once you think you hit a plateau, great news is you have more incremental growth - Keep moving forward! On the Sales side you should never lose a customer because of Price - If they are in YOUR showroom and they don't buy - find the nearest mirror and start the discussion with the reflection - PEOPLE and PROCESS will overcome all obstacles - Commit Improve Maintain Cheers Hyundai World!

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We are midway through 2024 and while our motto has been "normal is nice" in the auto industry as trends have stabilized, there is rising uncertainty in the market. Check out our Mid-Year Review for my insights on the impact of the elections, as well as thorough industry updates from my colleagues, Jonathan Smoke, Charles Chesbrough, Stephanie Valdez Streaty, and Jeremy Robb. Thank you Mark Schirmer and Dara Hailes for your tireless efforts to get this content out! Great job Vanessa Ton on the election study that helped guide my analysis. #automotive #coxauto #industryinsights

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The CDK outage is said to impact around 50% of automotive dealerships across the U.S. and Canada. I've been reading a lot about how some are unable to function due to not having a back up plan. It's very easy to have a back up of your inventory that is run daily and kept up to date. Having a backup excel file of your inventory and then having an invoice template to hand type out invoices can keep you in the game. You can hand type an invoice and link your inventory to the part number column and have it pre fill the cost/list/sale/bin etc to help keep on pace. You then can plus or minus your inventory file based on sales and inventory replenishment also keeping your inventory as close as possible. it may not be perfect but it keeps you operational and once your system is back up you can easily start the process of billing out invoices from your copies and updating your inventory as needed. Have a plan and hope you don't need to use it. #parts #partsdepartment #partsmanagment #dealership #cdk #cdkoutage

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Another shipment of my book has ARRIVED! Many of you thought this book is only if you are a hiring manager in a dealership. That is NOT true! This book is for anyone who has applied for employment in any industry, car business, or non car business. It also is for those who are searching for guidance both in your personal and professional life. PM me for a signed copy or get one by clicking the link https://a.co/d/3s3gOzx Here is an excerpt from Chapter 10 The Revelation of Employee Retention The national average for males to stay with the same employer is 4.3 years. For a female, it is 3.9 years. Those numbers drop to 2.9 years for Millennials and 2.3 years for Generation Z, respectively. Since 2018, the tenure of a salesperson staying at the same dealership went from 3.8 years to only 2.4 years, with a staggering 73% lasting fewer than two years and 30% quitting in the first ninety days. In sports, when you turn the ball over, you will lose. Your employees are the ball in the workplace environment, and you will not score without them! #GrowthGratitude #GOALLIN

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Consumers now have many options when it comes to purchasing a car, so how do we convince them to buy their car at a dealership? What effect did the COVID years and the rise of online sellers have on the way we look at customer service? Tonight on Lethal Sales, some of our industry's brightest minds will address the current state of the customer experience and how it can be improved. Don't miss it at 7 PM EST (4 PM PST). Tune in at https://lnkd.in/eADmuXQv.

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Dealerships need to sell their service department with perks such as a free MPI at the time of a software upgrade (Diamond Hyundai's trick) to compete with the aftermarket. My story for Wards Auto. #autodealerships #aftermarketcompetition #retailauto #servicedepartment

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While the upswing in 2024 isn’t likely to be as strong as last year’s, the wholesale vehicle market is showing a gradual rebound in volumes… Cherokee Media Group’s Joe Overby has more in this premium content from #AutoRemarketing. #businessintelligence #usedcarweek

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Cox Automotive Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke notes, “There is a lot of uncertainty in this market, leaving consumers and dealers alike unsure of the road ahead. In the auto business, uncertainty is the enemy – it negatively impacts sales, hurts consumer sentiment, and leaves auto dealers feeling troubled.” ….. but what if you’re creating a frictionless, personalized new car pipeline by pulling consumers ahead in their buying journey? Curious how CarSaver can navigate an uncertain market by creating Certainty, Loyalty and Driving Sales for our OEM and Dealer partners? Ask me How :) #automotive #carsaver #newcar #technology #adaptiveretail #upgrade #drivesales #increaseloyalty #letsworktogether

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The Challenge Of Selling To Car Dealers (Especially Now) So you want to sell some sort of technology solution to car dealers? I have been doing just that for decades (not saying how many) but it can be challenging. The important thing is to approach dealers from their perspective. I have attached all the various vendors that might be approaching dealers at any given time. Also, right now, CDK dealers might have something else on their minds. I know we all think we have a solution that dealers really need. We totally believe that at Gather of course. Protecting dealers in the world of insurance & identity is important. Most dealers we talk to really like what we have and of course many are signing up. But we also realize they do not go to sleep at night wondering what Gather will be doing for them. They have so many other issues to worry about that we know we are very fortunate to just be part of the overall conversation. So fellow vendors I suggest we all take a breath and appreciate what being a dealer is like right now and patiently understand that at any given time, we may not be foremost on their mind. But dealers, if you do have a spare moment, Gather is right here www.gather.technology for you. #insuranceverification #identityverification #insurancetransfer #Gather #automotive #dealerships

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🚚April Preliminary Used Trucks Update - Although the growth rate of preliminary Class 8 same dealer sales volumes slowed in March, it showed no signs of letting up (+3.7%). According to Steve Tam, Vice President at ACT Research, “The gain in retail sales volumes was not as robust as history suggested but came on the heels of stronger-than-expected growth. In typical fashion, auction volumes increased 50% m/m, and wholesale transactions swelled 13% from February.” Tam concluded, “March retail sales normally surpass the average month by around 9%, thanks to a 13-percentage point increase from February. Second quarter sales tend to be pretty average, with June as the epitome of average.” #UsedTrucks, #Trucking #semitruck #transportation #trucking, #ACT, #ACTResearch

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