Old Fashioned MarketingEvery year we start seeing all the articles about what the new year will hold. Everything from politics to marketing is dissected and forecast. I like to take advantage of trends as much as anyone but you can’t let the new blind you to the tried-and-true.You may be considering adding podcasts, blogs and local search to your marketing matrix and that is fine, if you strategically think through how they fit with your business and your audiences.Blogging and podcasting are great tactics, but if your website has no traffic they are a waste of time, effort and resources.Let’s get back to fundamentals. I’ve had clients who were so ADD they couldn’t sit still long enough to even think about who their best custo
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WHAT STEPS DO I NEED TO TAKE?
1. Re-price the used car inventory, pencil every deal from sticker minus ACV
2. Talk the GM into increasing the ad budget to drive traffic
HOW DO I MEASURE THE Should You Hire a Professional Copywriter?The cereal box you scanned over breakfast today. The brochure on metal braces you poured over at your son’s orthodontist appointment. The real estate listing that first made you fall in love with that adorable cape on Main Street. Even the instructions on the bottle of pain reliever you reach for when you have a headache.What do all of these have in common? For starters, they were all written by professional copywriters. More importantly, they all go a long way in creating a sense of brand loyalty shared by hundreds, thousands, even millions of current and potential customers. Quality copywriting is the basis for business success; it is the true face of your organization and the products or services you offer.<
The problem facing you is selling more cars and making more gross. Here are some typical responses managers give. This should illustrate the point that we think we know what to do, but do we really? The important thing to learn is the process of problem solving and applying it to everything you do or are considering doing. By utilizing this approach not only will the problem get fixed, the cure will be long lasting because the things we identify as the problem aren’t always fixed by the obvious.
IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM
1. We are selling enough, the gross isn’t high enough.
2. We are making gross, we aren’t selling enough.
WHAT IS CAUSING THE PROBLEM?
1. We aren’t asking for gross while working the deal.
2. We ask for gross and get it, we need more customers.
HOW DO I FIX THE PROBLEM?
1. Mark the cars up (used cars), start every deal from sticker minus ACV (new cars)
2. Advertise more
WHAT STEPS DO I NEED TO TAKE?
1. Re-price the used car inventory, pencil every deal from sticker minus ACV
2. Talk the GM into increasing the ad budget to drive traffic
HOW DO I MEASURE THE How To Market To Construction IndustryThe dreadful events like Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita and Tsunami have eaten a large number of buildings and dwellings. Due to this, there are chances of gigantic growth in the construction industry. It is expected that the industry will grow to $1.1 trillion in 2006 and $1.2 trillion in 2007.Moreover, within this, the growth opportunities are great in the segments like residential, retail, office, hospitals and schools. Builders are looking for people who are responsible, sincere, punctual and trustworthy and can supply them efficient and quality products and services.Therefore, you area a contractor or material supplier or technology vendor, take advantage of the situation. Make money out of this simply
ocess of problem solving and applying it to everything you do or are considering doing. By utilizing this approach not only will the problem get fixed, the cure will be long lasting because the things we identify as the problem aren’t always fixed by the obvious.
IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM
1. We are selling enough, the gross isn’t high enough.
2. We are making gross, we aren’t selling enough.
WHAT IS CAUSING THE PROBLEM?
1. We aren’t asking for gross while working the deal.
2. We ask for gross and get it, we need more customers.
HOW DO I FIX THE PROBLEM?
1. Mark the cars up (used cars), start every deal from sticker minus ACV (new cars)
2. Advertise more
WHAT STEPS DO I NEED TO TAKE?
1. Re-price the used car inventory, pencil every deal from sticker minus ACV
2. Talk the GM into increasing the ad budget to drive traffic
HOW DO I MEASURE THE When Are You Coming Home? Five Practical Tips to Realizing Work / Life BalanceSo let's talk about over-used terms for a minute.If you've been in the business world since the mid 1990s you've likely heard your management espouse the desire for employees to achieve greater work/life balance. Many U.S. companies have adopted programs to help employees strike a better life balance by providing health club benefits, entertainment discount programs, and additional time off for events such as the birth of a child. Despite all this, Americans are of the most overworked and flat-out busy people on earth, recently surpassing the Japanese and long surpassing the Europeans. With all this discussion of work/life balance, how can we in the U.S. also be of the most overworked people in the world? The answe
xed by the obvious.
IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM
1. We are selling enough, the gross isn’t high enough.
2. We are making gross, we aren’t selling enough.
WHAT IS CAUSING THE PROBLEM?
1. We aren’t asking for gross while working the deal.
2. We ask for gross and get it, we need more customers.
HOW DO I FIX THE PROBLEM?
1. Mark the cars up (used cars), start every deal from sticker minus ACV (new cars)
2. Advertise more
WHAT STEPS DO I NEED TO TAKE?
1. Re-price the used car inventory, pencil every deal from sticker minus ACV
2. Talk the GM into increasing the ad budget to drive traffic
HOW DO I MEASURE THE Interviewing Candidates: 3 Ways to Avoid Snap JudgmentsHave you ever hired the wrong person? If so, perhaps you are an emotional interviewer?An emotional interviewer tends to make judgments on first impressions. In a matter of minutes, an emotional interviewer may decide if someone is competent or not. Not surprisingly, they often make poor hiring decisions.All hiring managers are susceptible to "emotional" hiring mistakes. Why? Because we are human and we like to hire people that we like or that may mirror ourselves.First impressions, good or bad, tend to skew the interviewer's evaluation of a candidate. Given the difficulty of overcoming first impressions, what can you do as a hiring manager to avoid making hiring decisions based on emotion?•
for gross while working the deal.
2. We ask for gross and get it, we need more customers.
HOW DO I FIX THE PROBLEM?
1. Mark the cars up (used cars), start every deal from sticker minus ACV (new cars)
2. Advertise more
WHAT STEPS DO I NEED TO TAKE?
1. Re-price the used car inventory, pencil every deal from sticker minus ACV
2. Talk the GM into increasing the ad budget to drive traffic
HOW DO I MEASURE THE The Power of Testimonials in Your BusinessIf marketing is the life blood of business, then testimonials are the oxygen. Testimonials are sincere satisfied customers praising your product or service to the world. They are better than any advertisement you could buy or any interview you can take part in. If you think about it, most people are pretty skeptical about businesses anyway. They are bombarded with big dollar ads all around them. Whether it’s some catchy commercial on television or radio or something they’ve read in a magazine or newspaper. Some companies have gone on to hire famous celebrities to endorse their products because it works. But we don’t have the million dollar budgets to pay celebrities to lie about our service.Yes, Americans are on infor
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WHAT STEPS DO I NEED TO TAKE?
1. Re-price the used car inventory, pencil every deal from sticker minus ACV
2. Talk the GM into increasing the ad budget to drive traffic
HOW DO I MEASURE THE RESULTS?
1. Simple answer here, look at your travel and gross and compare to previous performance
Some of your responses in this exercise may be close to these. It looks pretty simple. It might even cure your immediate problem. Until we learn to change our thinking, however, the cure will be short term and eventually we will be right back in this situation.
IF YOU ARE COMMITTED TO A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN WHAT IS HAPPENING YOU MUST ALSO BE COMMITTED TO A PROCESS THAT WILL ENSURE THE CHANGE IS BENEFICIAL AND LONG LASTING
WHAT IS CAUSING THE PROBLEM?
Is it your attitude about the competition, their pricing methods and advertisements?
Your mindset regarding what is going on in the market has an impact on how you pencil your car deals. Because you are in the car business you are more sensitive to and pay more attention to radio, television, billboard and print ads. Never make the
Rumours have been abounding all week that another major competitor has just bitten the dust spectacularly but, until it's confirmed – and maybe even afterwards – I think it's best to leave that alone.
Often, collaborating documents in a team or in a business can feel like a complex sports play gone wrong. The ball gets passed off to the wrong person, dropped, or even lost. In addition, most document collaboration happens electronically. We are always told to save and resave these electronic documents, but it gets to the point that we can’t even keep track of which draft we’re on. Not to mention our hard drive gets overloaded with so many similar document names that it blows the whistle on us until there are no longer “too many men on the field.” Huddle up! Let’s talk about 3 keys to making sure that every document we collaborate on is sure to score with our bosses, our clients, and each other.
How often do you get frustrated because your customer or coworker doesn't understand what you want them to do? Surprisingly, the problem could be your words! Fortunately you can do something about it.