SEPTEMBER 28TH, 2011
By CONTRIBUTING BLOGGER
Bob McCann, Director of Education, ARI – We find that most new prospects who visit a dealer’s booth at a boat show for the first time aren’t ready to commit on the spot. In fact, most sales are closed with prospects that dealers have been working with for quite a while, even as far back as past shows. Boats are luxury purchases that often require a long-term research and buying process, so this first visit usually marks the beginning of the sales process rather than the sale per se. Read more >>
SEPTEMBER 12TH, 2011
By CONTRIBUTING BLOGGER
By Bob McCann, Director of Education, ARI — Boat show season is right around the corner and winter will be here before you know it. What plans are you working on to build your own display traffic? Read more >>
APRIL 13TH, 2010
By CONTRIBUTING BLOGGER
By Jeff Scherer, Associate Partner, Callbutton LLC – Many years ago, before the Internet was “cool,” I was the Internet sales manager for one of the largest automotive retailers. This was a very interesting time because prior to this, no auto entities had really stepped out to try to market vehicles through this new budding medium known as “the Web.” To say that many of the old-school general managers in our dealer groups were skeptical would have been a tremendous understatement. They said over and over that this Web thing was a fad, and would never work to sell cars. Our team was often looked at as the “geek squad,” (no offense to the Best Buy’s guys) and as competitors to the retail sales team. Much of this doubt and fear was understandable as we were jumping quickly into territory that was undefined and unknown. Read more >>
MARCH 19TH, 2010
By MIKE DAVIN
By Mike Davin, online editor, Boating Industry — One lesson at last year’s Marine Dealer Conference and Expo that I think surprised a lot of dealers was the importance of getting back to online leads immediately — within minutes if possible — when they ask a question. Read more >>
MARCH 19TH, 2010
By CONTRIBUTING BLOGGER
By Jeff Scherer, associate partner, Callbutton LLC – I’ve been involved in lead management heavily for some time and continue to work with OEMs, dealers, CRM vendors, ad agencies, and lead providers on a daily basis. Each one of them has a particular desire for how, where, and what they want to do to generate leads. Most of these businesses have a formal process for gathering these leads and most have a way to get the interested prospect’s information to the right party who can take action. Read more >>
