Not all products are created equally.

Just because it looks like a duck, or quacks like a duck, doesn't always mean it is a duck..

There are companies that have a lot of dead weight...

If you have a real flashy site, but it doesn't convert visitors to prospects or if you have a sub-sufficient ILM/CRM or if you aren't making a profit but have a lot of "cool" technology... chances are that you have a Frankenstein department.

Don't feel bad, there are a lot of "mad scientists" running around in our industry. What you need to keep into perspective at all times is the simple fact:

Sell more cars, more profitably, more often and have all of your customers completely satisfied. That is what it is all about... the bottom line.

We recently came a cross an amazing dealership, Rivergate Toyota, in Madison Tennessee. It seems that they went through a complete change of power. The owner recruited a very talented GM from Las Vegas that had a proven track record, a little unconventional but showed a lot of results. The first thing that the GM did when he got to Rivergate was set up a BDC. The most units ever to come out of the Internet or BDC was around 35-40 units (total). Within the first 30 days of execution of the new strategy the dealership delivered over 105 units out of the Internet/BDC averaging over $2,500 front and back. The first month of implementation was a record month for this dealership, they broke records for volume and gross!! When asked what was the factor? It was all in the set-up. Instead of going with the Frankenstein strategy or with throwing as much @#%#$% against the wall and seeing what sticks, they decided to go with an out sourced agency that specializes in that field. It makes sense... You wouldn't go to a nuero-surgeon for a tooth ache, nor would you go to a medicine man if your $80,000 Porsche Cayenne was having engine problems! There vendor/consultant built the department the right way... they customized the program to fit their dealership specifically, no cookie cutter BS.

They went with a simple 3 step program:

• Resources
• People
• Process

Before the training team ever set foot into the dealership they made sure it was equipped with an amazing website... a site that was created to generate not only traffic but also to convert traffic to a viable lead opportunity. They also implemented an Internet Lean Management system, networked with the proper lead source providers. Once they had their resources in place it was time to put the people in place to work and manage. Finally, when all resources and people were in place then and only then did the trainers come in and do a thorough training program (1 week). Because they had a solid plan... put all of the resources and people in place and created a standard operating procedure Rivergate was able to truly maximize the opportunity of the Internet and BDC. The company they chose was a true turn-key solution. They set up everything in the dealership for Rivergate and gave them the support they needed to follow through to execution and beyond.