Serious work going on at vAuto

10.30.2009

Sometimes you may wonder who the characters are behind the curtain at vAuto. We took this picture this morning to give you a rare inside look at a few of our special and talented contributors.
 
Working from left to right:
Krista is a smokin’ hot cowgirl that helps us wrangle in new staff members. As [...]

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vAuto goes Green

10.29.2009

Thanks to the leadership of Nancy Pollak, Krista Lyons, Michelle Black and Susan Taft, yesterday our company kicked off its green initiative. We’re on a path to achieve our Earth Flag.
To this end, we have undertaken an aggressive initiative of conservation and sustainability. We’re in the process of transitioning all of our cleaning chemicals [...]

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10,000 What?

10.27.2009

On October 20th I posted Incoming wake up call. In this posting I spoke about dealer Keith Kocourek’s impressive jump in used car market penetration relative to his competition.
Just in case anyone thinks that improvement happens by accident, below I am posting another communication that I received from Kocourek yesterday. In Kocourek’s latest note [...]

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Another one from my inbox

10.23.2009

I would appreciate thoughts from anyone that uses money-back policies. How effective do you think they really are, how much do you charge the car, how much does it really cost?
Dale – could you please forward me contact information on Dealers that are successful at implementing a return policy. If you have any sample language [...]

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A letter from my inbox

10.23.2009

Today I received the below email from a new customer. Please read his message and my response. I welcome any input you might have on this subject.
Dale – upon return from my recent 20 group meeting, I sent an email to our GM’s with a new plan to kick into gear and I would like [...]

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Two old-timers teach the industry a new trick

10.21.2009

Every day I become more convinced that the ability to source used vehicles is and will continue to be the core competency of a successful used car operation. Simply waiting for trades or going to the local auction won’t get the job done.
As many of you know, I’ve been running stocking analyst training classes around [...]

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Incoming wake up call

10.20.2009

Last Friday morning I received an unexpected wake up call at 6:30am from dealer Keith Kocourek of the Kocourek Auto Group in Central Wisconsin. Keith was all sorts of excited to inform me that the last quarter’s state registration had just come out, and all four of his dealerships achieved significant additional market penetration, while [...]

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Dinner and conversation with author Michael Lewis

10.16.2009

Yesterday I had the privilege of spending time with Michael Lewis, the author of Liar’s Poker, Blind Side, Moneyball, and other fascinating books about business, sports and life. It was Lewis’s book Moneyball that inspired me to start vAuto.
In Moneyball, Lewis describes how Billy Bean, General Manager of the Oakland A’s, managed to beat [...]

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What is the biggest challenge for used car operations in the coming year?

10.14.2009

Without question the most important challenge for used vehicle operations in the coming year will be sourcing inventory. Simply stated there will not be sufficient quantities of used car trade-ins, nor will the local auction alone be the solution. As dealers, we had it so good for so long with respect to the plentiful availability [...]

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What makes Brian Benstock run?

10.12.2009

Last Sunday, on a cold and gray morning, Brian Benstock, the Vice President and General Manager of largest new and used Honda dealer in the world, triumphantly crossed the finish line of The Chicago Marathon. He finished with an impressive time of, 3 hours, 21 minutes and 18 seconds. So what makes Brian Benstock run? [...]

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