Articles by Tom Herald - Partner

Tom Herald - Let’s hope and pray that 2009 is better to car dealers than the last two years have been, but instead of just hoping and praying that business will turn around this year, take matters into your own hands and aggressively storm the market with a positive mental attitude, focused actions and ...

Tom Herald - It didn’t take much talent or effort to sell a vehicle to these credit-challenged consumers ... From my perspective, it was like selling water to a man dying of thirst. The real challenge of the sell was getting ...

Tom Herald - According to NADA, roughly 60 franchise dealers per month—that’s two per day—are closing their doors or downsizing to used car lots. They are literally being hammered financially by the economy, and many won’t survive. We stand to lose roughly 3,000 franchise and another 5,000 independent dealers by mid-2009. So, what is there to look forward to next year? The answer is ...

Tom Herald - It takes leadership to formulate a plan, bring it to life, unify the team, and “make it happen.” Strong leaders focus their teams and make them believe victory is within their grasp. Strong leaders cultivate, teach and mentor their troops. Strong leaders also put their fist down from time to time to solidify the unity of the team. Strong leaders develop a culture that expects to win.

Tom Herald - In special finance, the customer's buying power needs to be determined effectively and discretely long before ever presenting a vehicle.

Tom Herald - One of the most common reasons cited for the high failure rate of CRM Systems is poor data quality. It is also one of the easiest problems to avoid.

Tom Herald - Your Web site is the flagship of your business marketing plan, and it’s open 24/7, whenever a prospective customer wants to learn about you, your dealership, your inventory and your financing. By simply...

Tom Herald - Since many of your competitors are miserable at creating fantastic customer experience, this creates a huge competitive opportunity for you. Here are five simple starting points to create the greatest customer experience ever ...

Tom Herald - There are 3.2 billion cellular connections worldwide – 260 million in the United States alone – and with the iPhone’s launch last year, the concept of browsing the Web from a mobile phone has gone mainstream. The future is now and marketersare abuzz about this new trend and the tremendous opportunities it presents.

Tom Herald - There are five basic steps that will help keep your deals on track. Car dealers who follow these five steps consistently will be successful and maximize the gross profit on every deal, every time.