CrossCheck Blog

Membership in trade groups provides a type of safety in numbers that is achieved by being united with large numbers of people with similar business interests. With competition arising from every nook and cranny, GMs in the building materials industry can find professional security, increase sales and stay abreast of the latest trends by joining an association. CrossCheck reviewed a handful of representative orgs that support their membership bases while providing brief descriptions, links to upcoming conferences, and the means to join. We highly recommend seeking out and joining one in your region, so much so, that we wrote this successful article: Ten Reasons to Join an Association.

Helping service managers discover payment solutions for their auto dealerships is one of the most rewarding parts of my job. If I can address a dozen or so in one place, then I’ve increased the odds of finding personal satisfaction that many times. A recent meeting of the San Diego GM Retail Service Manager’s Club, a division of the New Car Dealers Association San Diego County, offered such an opportunity. A longtime proponent of trade associations, I wrote an article called "Ten Reasons to Join an Association" in 2012, explaining the numerous benefits (see inset).

As an auto dealer general manager, you have many expenses to consider: rent, advertising, employee wages, commissions, supplies… the list goes on. To keep your dealership running smoothly, you have to manage overall sales against these expenses – without going into the red. You often ask yourself if your sales and gross profits are increasing or decreasing. But are total expenses fluctuating proportionally? To that point, there are a few common expenses that can easily get ignored in your monthly accounting procedures – and one investment that can kick your sales numbers to levels you only dreamed of.

Car dealers worried about 2014 sales can relax – disappointing winter numbers were caused by record snow and cold, as it turns out, and not by the market. The market posted a robust 8% year-over-year sales increase for April, putting the industry back on track to sell at least 16 million new vehicles this year.

On average nationwide, auto dealerships saw their gross income increase a solid 5.7% between 2012 and 2013. Sales contribute more to profits today than they did two years ago, according to the latest figures from NADA, a trend that should continue through 2014.

Retailers rejoice! Black Friday is on its way and Cyber Monday will be around the corner, kicking off the holiday shopping season!

It is no secret that people love social media. We are flooded with messages all day, every day. "Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter..."

Auto dealer general managers oversee the day-to-day operations of their location. Many of the people in these positions have long careers in the automotive industry. Even further they have either a Bachelor or MBA in business or finance. Not to mention it is common to find past experience as a sales or finance manager, which means they are numbers-driven, play hardball in negotiations and understand the sales cycle of new and used cars.

Auto sales are up. Interest rates are down. Good news, right? Hmmmm... not so fast. Experian Automotive announced that along with increased sales, we're seeing an increase in subprime loans for new and used vehicles. In fact, according to their research, new vehicle loans to the "credit-challenged" are higher now than they were in 2007 and 2008! That means more loans with more risk. Maybe not so good. Experian's study, State of the Automotive Finance Market, revealed that because auto lending has eased up, more loans are being made to a wider range of customers including many that would have had a tough time getting a loan a few years ago due to not so great credit scores. These credit scores put them in the nonprime or subprime categories and are considered higher risk by the lender.

In our previous post, Top 3 Reasons Why Auto Dealership GM’s Thrive with Check Guarantee, we discussed the many roles of automotive dealership general managers. This position essentially oversees everything of the location. Often times they can be found on the sales floor, in the service department and outside representing the brand making sure the entire operation is running smoothly.