jimreidvehicle

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Everything posted by jimreidvehicle

  1. jimreidvehicle
  2. jimreidvehicle
    At last a recognition of faulty DSG gearboxes from VW
  3. jimreidvehicle
    Are you fed up paying huge online classified costs? How would you feel about a classified website 50% owned by us the dealers? I'm sure the answer is yes! with so many classified portals now available wouldn't it be great just to use one? There are changes a foot! How about taking a 5 minute survey to help research www.automatch.pro Your thoughts please!!
  4. jimreidvehicle
    I think any reputable dealer will want to help a customer that they have sold a car too, surely? The problem here is that the law is very heavily weighted towards the customer but that is because of the stance that the motor trade used to take, that's why a law had to be utilised, so we are currently in this situation because of the bad guys (the Arthur Daleys) 0f the past! Even if we didn't HAVE to offer a warranty we would! Not only does it protect our customer but also our company from any unexpected problems, which is why they are normally called 'mechanical breakdown warranty'. If you don't loo after your customers, you don't get referrals and repeat business , without these you are dead in the water!
  5. jimreidvehicle
    Agree Umesh they are missing a trick, however all these adverts will get a huge following as normal. Wonder how much it costs to film and market these adverts and what return they have on investment? Talking about adverts, who hasn't seen this one..... Satsuma Loans , now I'm not condoning loan companies but the marketing company who did this gets 10 out of 10 from, me, check it out!
  6. jimreidvehicle
    Our sales team always wear jeans and a nice shirt (no tie) with brogues or dress shoes, so 'smart casual'. Since I started 10 years ago I have always done this as it breaks down barriers straight away, as long as your clothes are clean and well ironed and your appearance is clean and tidy (hair etc, well hair doesn't really apply to me!!) customers don't even notice what you are wearing! At weekends we were smart logo'd black polo shirts and have branded/logo'd quality fleeces and winter jackets too. It's important to look smart, but for a customer visiting an independent car dealer outside the city, to be greeted by a sharp suited an booted 21 year old , just don't know if that would do it for our customers........I maybe wrong!
  7. jimreidvehicle
    Have you been affected by this? Only last month our local MOT station had 4 Cat's stolen and local car dealer 6 stolen (all from 4x4's) this is because the road clearance makes it much easier for the thieves to crawl under wither specially designed cutters! Seemingly the whole illegal de-cat takes around 2mins but the cost to replace can be upwards of £500 per vehicle. So how can we stop this from happening? BBC News - Catalytic converter thefts double as metal prices rise http://bbc.in/HFMVrg
  8. jimreidvehicle
    There is a place for everyone in the motor trade, however any used car selling from a dealer(of any description) for £100-£1000 is scrap! Yes , I agree that most of these cars will come from dealers part exchanges via the auctions houses and they do help generate a few more coppers for the main dealers, however unless the buyer is a qualified mechanic they should not buy any car at this price! The difference between the £100 scrap car and the £1000 car sitting at the road side for sale is the profit margin that the 'dealer' has , less of course the margin VAT, did I say VAT????? Yes, the buying public have to take responsibility, would you buy a boxed unlocked iPhone 5 from a guy you don't know in the pub for £100? If the answer is yes, you understand that you have to deal with the consequences if the the iPhone 5 wasn't actually his mothers unwanted birthday present! We pride ourselves in doing our job right! But due to the fact that a used car , is exactly that ...a 'used' car and has worn mechanical items on it, we also have our share of problems after the sale, however it's NOT about what happens to the car that matters, it's how we deal with what happens that really matters!
  9. jimreidvehicle
    Interesting view about SEO on this article, take a look.....http://www.inc.com/erik-sherman/seo-is-dead-audience-optimization.html What do you believe?
  10. jimreidvehicle
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24777273 This article on the BBC website gives the example of the girl who buys a Micra for £1000 only for the clutch to fail within a few weeks and then to find out later that's been an insurance write off!! However she was given a replacement car but the brakes failed on that when her mum was driving it home! Now I'm not condoning the actions of this dealer (if in fact it was a licensed dealer, which I doubt) but I'm sorry it's maybe just me, but what quality of car can you actually buy on the market for £1000? Customers must realise this! What do they expect to get for £1000? Some services &MOT's cost more than a £1000 so how do you expect to buy a reliable car for this type of money? If you have only afford to spend £1000 on a car my advice would be, keep your money and don't buy a car or if you have to have one, expect it to let you down, expect it to cost you money to run, expect it break down when you are least expecting, that is the life of the £1000 car!
  11. jimreidvehicle
    eh. ME!
  12. jimreidvehicle
    Excellent reply GreenGiant Have a great weekend
  13. jimreidvehicle
    GreenGiant or is it #JOLLYGreenGiant ? Just joking! The fact that good old fashined face-to-face communication is the BEST form of communication was never in doubt, however to blame Social Media on the poor education system that faces our country is "like, soooo, like, last senchurry...." Like the telephone, the fax, the computer, the world wide web and e-mail, Social Media is here to stay, like or loathe it, ignore it at your peril! The benefits of using Social Media correctly far outweighs the negatives and let me tell you about these "youngsters who cannot look you in the eye (too busy checking status updates), cannot have a spoken conversation without using the word 'like' twice in every sentence, cannot spell anything with more than three letters properly (and don't know the difference between there, their and they're)" they are car buyers of the future! Also is it just me but is there a touch of irony in the fact that you are posting your view on an online forum that roots from Twitter, amazing! Were you one of the original doubters of the internet? BTW I have checked all my spelling and grammar before posting , just in case
  14. jimreidvehicle
    GreenGiant believe it it not we can manage to do both! Online and face to face , sometime we amaze ourselves ! Can I ask, do you use email?
  15. jimreidvehicle
    If you have ever had the pleasure of meeting or even speaking to Umesh Samani you will know that he is THE MAN! Completely passionate about customer care and the most active Car Dealer on Social Media in the WORLD! I think it's about time this man receives some recognition, and I'm talking about 5th on the Most influential Car Dealers on Twitter Poll but an award.... I noticed that Car Dealer Magazine has a new Award this year for Social Media user of the year, so you know where my vote is going! Twitter king! And well done again on being 5th on the 100 Most influential Car Dealers Poll and for the excellent feature in this month's Car Dealer magazine, great work Umesh To vote simply click on the link http://cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish/ewards
  16. jimreidvehicle
    We have just entered this years Car Dealer Awards for the first time ever! Anyone else entering? Anyone been in the past if so is it a good night? Can anyone from Car Dealer tell me if there is a SHORTLIST being drawn up before the evening so we can establish if it is worth booking tickets for some of our team? It's just a long long way to travel! Jim
  17. jimreidvehicle
    Ben, agree with Andy on this one, two different audiences. actually the way we work our Social Media Strategy here is, I Tweet, Phil (my sales manager) posts Facebook, and yes we cross pollentae as I do believe that works if you have an open Business Page for Facebook, but not if you have a personal style FB page as, potential customers on Twitter that don't have a personal Facebook Page (like me) can't see the content of the post! Don't if you knew that or not, but a fact! Also agree with Ben, we have much more industry and business type people on Twitter but FB is the place for the more direct route of sale and I do believe that if your business model is Busisness2Custommer rather than B2B then FB is exactly where you should spend your time and effort! But don't under estimate Twitter, because some people just watch and listen, they maybe don't engage, but they are watching you from afar and your business VOICE and Twitter reputation is one of the biggest influences.
  18. jimreidvehicle
    Hi guys, liking your new Forum which is nice and easy to use on mobile;-) As you know I run a similar Forum for car dealers called Twiiter Car Dealers which we built from scratch and I am happy that this forum can compliment ours! And I'm more than happy for you guys to join ours, mutual respect ;-) A little constructive feedback.....it would be great if you have started a discussion or even just put some input into it, it would be great to get some kind of prompt through email if someone has replied to your debate or commented, just a suggestion! Jim
  19. jimreidvehicle
    We use both Twitter and Facebook and although Twitter has brought us sales they tend to be from same industry or other business type people with the few exceptions! Facebook on the other hand is the place where (if used correctly) you can benefit from almost direct sales from FB! You need to have some form of strategy but most of all you need to persist, because persistence pays off! Trust me I know Jim
  20. jimreidvehicle
    James, Twitter certainly has been the catalyst for many sales over the last two years, but it is all about planting seeds, watering, feeding before harvesting! So there is a lot more to it than just posting a random stories or pictures on. What Twitter has helped with is growing our industry network , we have now a close number of dealers that we trust completely to business with and have done so! A quick calculation of Turnover in last 12 months which has come through Twitter in some form or another is approx £350,000! Now that is awesome ! And the best bit it's FREE & FUN
  21. jimreidvehicle
    Umesh at 5th, Philip at 6th, Caroline at 7th and little me at 8th! Makes 4 Independents mingling with the big boys in the top 10! And we are ALL placed above Sir Arnold , Marshall's & Vertu, so I think it goes without saying we will all be very pleased with this poll
  22. jimreidvehicle
    Yes, Andy much quieter up here in Aberdeenshire, the last two weeks has seen a downturn in business both service and sales, however still far from being our worst month! Any one else feel brave enough to comment?
  23. jimreidvehicle
    We are not party to why the decsion has been made from the rest of the board of Morgan Motor Group, and there must be an underliying reason why they have come to this decison however it will be a loss to the 'Morgan' brand because Charles Morgan has always been seen to being the 'Family' member that runs the organisation, now that he has been 'ousted' from his position in such a public & non agreeable manner it does call in to question their professionalism. it's always very sad to see the end to any family business
  24. jimreidvehicle
    Well done all of my fellow Car Dealers & Tweeters who have been included in the top 100. I am completely flattered and honoured to be included! Well done everyone. Please note I was one position above Sir Arnold :-) Jim Reid @jimreidvehicle