July 2010

Cover Stories

- 2 ratings

New Tools to Build Your Dealership's Success - Must Read

Peter Salinas - page 10

It’s Convention time for us at the Leedom Group, and that means an uptick in the energy level. There are ads to create and place, marketing materials to mail, e-mail campaigns to create, events to schedule and on and on. We look forward to this 16th annual Leedom BHPH National because it’s time when we get to see most of our clients and many new faces all at once. We bring together the best dealers, best vendors and top industry experts all in one place. For us car people, this is a blast!

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- 3 ratings

NIADA 2010 National Quality Dealer—Paul Claborn - Must Read - Featured

Peter Salinas - page 16

LAS VEGAS — Albertville, Ala., automotive retailer, Paul Claborn, has earned his industry’s highest honor, the 2010 National Independent Automobile Dealers Association Quality Dealer of the Year Award, during a ceremony at the NIADA Convention and Expo here last month.

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Stop Loss ARM Online

- 3 ratings

Vacant Lots Pose Great Risks - Must Read - Featured

John Krivacsy - page 38

Vacant properties impose a greater risk to owners and can come at a higher cost to the owner in the event that a loss does occur at their location. Everyone should take a look at their property insurance policy and view the vacant property clause if there is any risk that the insured property could become vacant. Most insurance companies state in the policy that if the location has been vacant for a set amount of time that the policy will become void.

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Our Point of View

- 3 ratings

Congratulations Paul! - Must Read

Peter Salinas - page 6

The other day I heard some great news. One of the dealers in Chuck Bonanno’s Leedom Twenty Group had earned the title of 2010 NIADA Quality Dealer of the Year—Paul Claborn of Albertville, Ala.

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Online Best Practices

- 2 ratings

Dealer to Dealer: UCMLink.com Launches Web-Based Communication Network for Used Car Managers - Featured

Peter Salinas - page 30

If you’re not using all the tools — electronic and otherwise — at your disposal to market and sell vehicles from your lot, you’re a dinosaur roaming the earth.

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- 3 ratings

DBJ New Product Review: Nowcom Debuts DealerCenter 7 - Must Read

Peter Salinas - page 34

Busy dealers look to technology to make their lives easier by thinking for them, freeing up valuable time and being able give them real-time, decision-making information. That’s a pretty tall order, so when a new dealership management software comes along they are generally and, rightly so, skeptical.

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Corner Office

- 3 ratings

The Awakening - Must Read

Chris Leedom - page 4

I am just back from a long road trip that included two Twenty Group meetings and a stop at the NIADA Annual Convention. I must say I am re-invigorated and encouraged.

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Financial Insights

- 2 ratings

Convention? Why Should I Attend? - Featured

Dr James Garvin - page 14

The Leedom Group is having its annual Buy Here-Pay Here National Convention in Las Vegas Sept. 20-22, 2010. That’s the fact, but the question is why should you attend?

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Buy Here - Pay Here

- 7 ratings

The Three R’s - Featured

Chuck Bonanno - page 6

The subject of this month’s article is. “The Three R’s of Buy Here-Pay Here Collecting.” The R’s are not reading, ’riting and ’rithmetic but they are similar and they are that fundamental. I can tell you that without the three R’s, you will never maximize collections of your notes. The three R’s of Buy Here-Pay Here collections are Read, Review and Respond. As an owner, collection manager, supervisor or team leader you must adhere to these three rules if you want a successful collection effort.

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Guest Columnist

- 4 ratings

Hey, You’re in the CAR Business! - Featured

Tom Brandis - page 36

I have many conversations with other dealers regarding the future of the car industry. It didn’t matter if we were talking about inventory sources, marketing ideas or employee problems, the topic always seemed to turn to the buy here-pay here (BHPH) industry. Every dealer wanted to know what it took to be successful in BHPH.

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- 2 ratings

Self-Promotion: Sales People Have an Inexpensive Way to Snag Leads - Must Read

Staci Striegnitz - page 32

Lead generation doesn’t have to rely on luck. When the summer months warm up and customers are abundant one day, and non-existent on others, some extra self-promotion as a salesperson can make a big difference in number of sales at the end of the month.

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Hudson Cook, LLP

- 2 ratings

That’ll Be the Day - Featured

Thomas Hudson - page 26

Last Sunday, my wife hauled me off to a neighborhood arts center. It was her birthday, and she wanted to go see a Buddy Holly concert. Well, not exactly Buddy his own self, since he hasn’t been with us since The Day the Music Died in 1959, but rather a guy in a pink sport coat, black slacks and heavy-framed glasses, backed by a drummer, a bass player and a guitar.

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Compliance Corner

- 3 ratings

Color Inside the Lines - Featured

Nicole Frush Munro - page 28

It seems that there are some lessons that dealers have to learn over and over again. And usually the hard way.

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Learn to Lead

- 5 ratings

‘Allan’ Got Fired - Featured

Dave Anderson - page 12

“Allan” was a competent performer for our company, but we fired him anyway. Why? His competence didn’t compensate for his compulsion for violating our core values. Our company has five core values that make up the centerpiece of our culture. I outline them briefly below with our definitions of how they apply in the workplace:

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