HOUSTON — Dealer consulting services provider Next Generation Dealer Services (NGDS) has announced a series of training seminars to show dealers how to build business by utilizing social media.
The agenda for the seminars will include interactive presentations of how to properly use the most common social media marketing tools. The latest trends and technology will [...]

Used car departments have always been the key to any dealership reaching its maximum profitability. In these current economic times with inventory cost up and grosses down, you need to very smart about your inventory practices.
When was the last time you looked at what is selling for you on your used car lot? I don’t [...]

The car business has become increasingly harder over the 17 year that I have been in it. I have had the luxury of seeing some great times and some great changes! The current state of the economy has created a need for outside the box thinking.
The car business in general is typically five years or [...]

We all know the power of first impressions. How people perceive us during the first few seconds of an encounter has a major influence on whether they will trust us, be attracted to us, or want to do business with us. [...]

Join me Wednesday May 13th at 11am PST for the first edition of Coach’s talk, a free radio call in show dedicated to the continuing education of special finance and BHPH dealers across America. For more information, click on the link:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Special-Finance-Coach

The number to call to have your questions [...]

I think it is very important to understand why sub prime customers do some of the things they do. Why are tools like 800 credit hot lines and internet leads so popular? It is because the customers are embarrassed because they have been turned down some place else or they know how rough their credit [...]

Wow, another one bites the dust. GMAC has decided to close this portion of their business due to a lack of money to fund contracts. Even though GMAC received $6 billion dollars, there were stipulations that this money only be lend to customers with 621 or higher credit scores. This eliminated the need for a [...]

January 2009

BHPH and Rent-to-Own Panel

Clockwise from upper left: Kevin Day, Rob Hagen, Laura Nidelkoff and Jerry Tarbell

At the F&I and Special Finance Conference & Expo, our panel of experts weighed in on the positives and negatives of BHPH and RTO, as well as the differences between the two.

On Sept. 16, 2008, Master Dealer Services’ Kevin [...]

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — A new report from Edmunds.com highlights trends of the automotive industry in 2008, which saw the collapse of the financial industry and the decline of car sales to levels not seen since the early 1990s.
Used-car sales were down only 8 percent compared to 2007, and certified pre-owned (CPO) sales were flat. [...]

I am sure I am not saying anything that you guys don’t already know when I say that I am happy 2008 is in the rear view mirror. Having been in the special finance business for 15 years, 2008 was by far the hardest year of my career.
So how do we make that a thing [...]