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Salesmen Working for Multiple Dealers?
Though it probably won’t fly, Pennsylvania House
Bill 1472 would amend the rules to allow salespeople
to work for up to 3 (three) different dealerships at
the same time.
It is
DCS’s opinion that passage of this legislation would
be bad for the following reasons:
â–º Immediately it brings about a conflict of interest
wherein a salesperson could shift a buyer to another
dealership where his/her commission would be larger.
â–º It reduces employment opportunities for
salespeople.
â–º It produces a conflict of interest wherein buyers
lose confidence in a salesperson’s advice.
â–º In the long run, the reduced number of sales
positions is likely to reduce the overall commission
of sales staff.
Swine Flu
Update
Warm fall temperatures and vaccination of high risk
groups seems to have held Swine Flu in check for
now. That does not mean that it was much ado about
nothing.
Experts expect a third wave of the virus to spread
during the winter. In the past pandemics have done
this pretty consistently. The H1N1 virus that causes
Swine Flu is also highly unstable. A variety of
‘strains’ have arisen, some resistant to Tamiflu,
the general treatment to ease symptoms and severity
of viral diseases. Other strains have adapted to
going directly from lung to lung instead of the
normal nose, eye, and mouth entry points.
If you
haven’t gotten your swine flu vaccination, DCS
recommends that you, your family and your staff do
so. Unfortunately, a Swine Flu vaccination is only
effective for one year so you’ll need another
vaccination next year. The good news is that they
are considering putting the Swine Flu vaccine into
the regular seasonal flu vaccine. You’ll need only
one shot to protect you from both.
There
is some additional information in
The Inside Scoop.
Recalls
The Toyota gas peddle recall of four million
units brings up the subject of recalls in general.
It is a wise practice to do a check for recalls on
every unit before it goes on your front row. You can
do that through the NHTSA’s web site in the
ODI (Office of Defects Investigation)
Craigslist
You
have probably heard that 85% of consumers looking
for a vehicle go online to do their first shopping.
That means if you don’t have a web site, you are
already four steps behind the dealers who do.
The
recession has changed consumer habits and going
online for a unit often means going to Craigslist,
the free web advertising site.
Many
have grown accustomed to using the Craigslist site
for buying items, selling items and even for giving
away ‘stuff’.
Dealers who use Craigslist consistently tell us that
“almost every thing we put on Craigslist sells.†You
can’t beat that kind of advertising and it’s free
advertising to boot.
I have
looked at length for software to automate postings
to Craigslist. I have not found anything acceptable
and most of the software that appeared free
contained computer viruses. Let’s face it, you are
either going to have to do this manually or pay for
a big buck services company to do it for you. DCS
may offer to help you with Craigslist postings and
you should contact us if you are interested. Keep in
mind that posting to multiple locations or trying to
list more units in one day (about 8 it seems) that
Craigslist allows may get you banned from the site.
Once you are banned, you are really in trouble since
the site is free, and the owners are not motivated
to let you out of the banning or even respond to
your emails.
You can check out Craigslist in Pennsylvania
here.
The Inside Scoop
Dealer Consulting Services of PA has been
considering putting together a special newsletter
called The Inside Scoop. This newsletter would be a
pay service available only to dealers with an 86#.
The fee for this publication would be somewhere
between $40 to $60 per year. This newsletter would
give used car guys inside information on a variety
of business topics and practices which are out
there. DCS takes the position that we do not promote
these techniques or methods or vouch for their
ethics or legality. We are just informing you of
what is possible.
To
give you a preview of The Inside Scoop, we have
prepared one on Swine Flu. We have tried to present
the facts and some possibilities for using those
facts. How you use this information is up to you.
Dealer Consulting Services of PA takes no
responsibility for your actions on the information
presented in The Inside Scoop.
If you
are interested in signing up for The Inside Scoop
please contact DCS of PA to learn how to do that.
Click
here: The Inside
Scoop: Swine Flu to see a sample copy.
Compliance:
Business Hours
Signs
One of
the requirements before your dealership got approved
was the posting of a Business Hours sign. Dealership
requirements have changed, and you are not required
to be open a minimum of 20 hours any more. You are
required to post a Business Hours sign and to be
open and staffed by at least one person with a sales
license. Even a sign which states Open By
Appointment Only is valid. If you don’t have an up
to date Business Hours sign or would like to ramp up
yours from the tired old versions, check out what we
have to offer here: DCS Business Signs.
Add DCS to Your Toolbox: Crossloop
Ever run into computer problems that trouble you or
your office staff? Of course, most dealers have, car
dealers are in the car business not in the
techno-computer world. DCS can help.
If you have an Internet connection (preferably high
speed) download
CrossLoop, a program that will allow us
to access your computer from our offices. Once you
have downloaded and installed the program, give us a
call, and your CrossLoop access code. With your
permission, we access your computer while you watch
us fix the problem.
No, we can’t fix a dead computer with CrossLoop, but
we can handle lots of problems on Windows and
Macintosh machines. We handle software problems,
conflicts and IT work. We also do training for some
programs allowing you and your staff to do your work
better and faster.
If you want to get ready for the time that you will
need us, you can
download CrossLoop for free from the company
here.
(The link is in the top right corner.)
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