My last post on the blog talked about everything I know about the OFA GM Program.  At that time we were in the peak of the 2018 model year.

As we enter the busy spring selling season I’ve had a lot of questions about if this partnership will continue with the 2019 Sierra and Silverado 1500’s.

I mean it’s a completely redesigned truck so maybe we won’t be as fortunate with the 2019 model year trucks, right?

Well, at the time of writing this I’m pleased to inform you that O.F.A. members can still take advantage of big savings on both the light duty (1500) trucks and of course the might HD’s (2500 + 3500).

Why don’t you publish the discounts on your site?

Unfortunately, we are not allowed to publicly post this.  But put it this way…. If the deals weren’t worthwhile why would we be doing so many

Inventory levels on 2019 Heavy Duty Trucks are getting LOW!!

If a nice 2500 Duramax Diesel is something you’ve been putting off purchasing until the late summer I strongly suggest you reconsider.

The 2019’s have been built out for almost a month.  This means what you see is probably what you get.

We had 15 Heavy Duty trucks on our lot at the start of April.

Sold 6 in April.

This means we have 9 2019 HD trucks to do us for the rest of the year.  

Now I know some of you are waiting for the brand new redesigned 2020 HD truck BUT I highly doubt you will see discounts and rebates like we have on 2019’s for a long long time.

Can you Quote me a 2019 O.F.A Deal?

My team of truck pros can provide you with options, availability, and of course numbers.  Please provide as much information as you can in your initial inquiry.

Remember that you need an O.F.A. membership to qualify for this program.  Please call 1-800-668-3276 to receive your official letter.

Please use this contact form to get started.

The post O.F.A. Program Continues on 2019 Silverado and Sierra first appeared on The Dealer Geek.

One of the best partnerships General Motors has secured is definitely with the O.F.A.

That stands for the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, not the Ontario Farmer’s Association which is what everyone (including myself) had initially thinks.

I can’t tell you how many customers walk through the doors of Truckville (Ernie Dean Chevrolet) who are clearly farmers and know nothing about the O.F.A. program.

Which is a shame because they could’ve missed out on MASSIVE savings if they were not informed.

I decided it was time to write about my experience with the O.F.A. program at the dealership I manage.

Ernie Dean Chevrolet Buick GMC is located right smack dab in the heart of Farm Country….Alliston Ontario.

Heck, our annual festival is called the Potatoe festival.  Most of the guys I grew up with and am still good friends with are local potatoe farmers.

A lot of them had no idea about this deal or how it worked.

So here is the jist……

The O.F.A. is the largest general farm organization in Ontario.   That claim was made right here on their website.

They have over 37,000 farm families across the province!!!

There is definitely power in numbers. 

Think about what kind of discounts you could negotiate from GM if you were able to bring 37,000 strong to the table.

This is basically treated like a fleet program.

A majority of GM vehicles are eligible for the program (sorry no Corvette’s).  Our store probably sells 95% trucks when it comes to O.F.A. deals.

You first will need to prove you are an O.F.A. member.  If you are not a member but want to join you can do that on the O.F.A. website.

Ok so you’re ready to buy

First off let the dealer know you are an O.F.A. member.

Why play games?

It just wastes time and confuses everyone.

I would call the O.F.A. ahead and make sure they send you the O.F.A. letter with all of the credits for each eligible vehicle.

You can get this before even stepping foot inside a dealership.

Here is the number:  1.800.668.3277

Email: info@ofa.on.ca

Now this is where I’ve seen some members get things confused.

The MSRP of a vehicle is what you see on the window sticker.

A lot of times customers think the price is MSRP minus the O.F.A. credit.

And in some cases, it may be.

However, every deal I’ve ever been involved with goes more like this:

MSRP minus Dealer Discount minus O.F.A. credit.

You follow me?

Make sure you ask the dealer what (if any) the dealer discount is and then use your O.F.A. credit summary to verify you are getting the right amount.

Can you finance an O.F.A. deal?

Yes and No.

An O.F.A. deal is treated the same way a Fleet deal is.

Cash.

Now if you want to arrange financing for the full amount OR portion we can do that but you won’t be able to combine your O.F.A. discount with GM’s sub vented rates (0% etc;).

A lot of my O.F.A. customers will have a trade-in so when you finance the difference it’s not that much.

Can I buy a truck from you if I don’t live close?

Well of course you can.

I’ve sold trucks to O.F.A. members all over the province.  In some cases, we even delivered to their doorstep.

If you have a trade it makes it a bit trickier but as long as you know how to email or text photos I’m sure we will figure it out.

Last spring, I created a pretty awesome O.F.A. frequently asked questions video on our YouTube Channel.

However, I had to take it down because I communicated the actual credits.  This is not allowed and I’m sorry.

Below is a screenshot of what I looked like on film!

Feel free to contact me if you would like any O.F.A. questions answered or a quote on a truck.

This contact form is the quickest and easiest for me to manage – I WANT AN O.F.A. QUOTE

Sun shining on my bald head on the set for my O.F.A. video that was removed

The post Everything I Know About The O.F.A. / GM Program first appeared on The Dealer Geek.

In this video I take a trip to the 2018 Toronto Auto Show on my quest to explore the new 2019 Chevrolet Silverado, which will arrive at our dealership August/September.

Since close to 60% of all of our sales are Chevrolet and GMC trucks, we are beyond excited for the arrival of this vehicle.

Unfortunately, they wouldn’t let me inside the truck to showcase the push button start, big ass back seat, super secret compartments in the back seats, and of course the upgraded High Country trim.

Boo.

I was fortunate enough to catch a 4 minute presentation on some of the highlights of the new truck.

Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube Channel if you want updates when new videos go live.

What’s different on the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado?

Here is an article I published on the Ernie Dean website – 10 Reasons to Love the New Silverado

Thanks to my driver and camera man Brian for helping out with this VLOG.

The post VLOG#001 – 2019 Chevrolet Silverado – Trip to Toronto Autoshow first appeared on The Dealer Geek.

Marcus speaking at our Toronto event

After 3 years of hosting Kijiji’s annual DealerTalk conference in Toronto it’s time to GO WEST!

Following up on our 3rd sold event in Toronto we decided to take the show to Calgary on October 1st and showcase some of the best speakers on the circut for our Western Canadian dealerships.

Alberta consists of some of our most loyal and progressive dealers on Kijiji so it was a no-brainer to host the event in cow-town.

What you need to know:

When: Thursday October 1st

Where: Arts Common, Calgary, 205 8th Avenue S.E – Visit Website

Time: 8am Registration.  Event Duration 9am – 130pm.  Half Day event

Food? Of course!!! Breakfast and Lunch is provided

How Much?  Only $99 per ticket.  $89 if you buy multiple tickets.  Buy tickets here (only 150 available)

Marcus Sheridan to headline again!!

So after hosting 3 of these conferences I haven’t been moved as much by any speaker as I was by Marcus Sheridan.  Okay, that’s a lie.  Theo Fleury was unreal last year but it’s pretty hard to compare those two topics.

I’ve been following Marcus for the last few years and his story about turning his swimming pool company around back in 2008 using content marketing is one of my favourites.  Marcus brought some real interesting perspectives to what he though was wrong in the car business.   If you aren’t reading his Sales Lion blog you need to start.

Basically customers want transparency and our industry is still having a real hard time with this.   However, there are a few good examples out there and Marcus is sure to sprinkle those real life examples into this talk.

Marcus is going to be super high intensity.  Don’t be surprised if he doesn’t spend more than 5 minutes on the stage.  Instead, you can find him wandering around the audience getting right into the thick of things.

I chopped up his Toronto presentation into 5 minutes to give you an idea of what you’re going to experience.

You can the entire speaker line up and agenda on the Dealer Talk website — DealerTalk Website

Look forward to seeing you all there.  Be sure to let me know if you’re attending but tweeting at me @ryan_dealergeek and use the hashtag #dealertalk2015

Thanks to our sponsor CarProof for all of the support. Definitely couldn’t have put this on without them.

The whole Kijiji crew won’t be able to make it but thought I’d share this picture of the best team in the business after our Toronto event.

Team after Dealer Talk Toronto

The post DealerTalk Conference Is Heading to Calgary October 1st first appeared on The Dealer Geek.

Unfortunately my man Robert Wiesman had a conflict so we were faced with a hole in the speaking line up.   Hopefully we can get Robert up to the great white north in the future.

I don’t remember exactly when or where I discovered Laura Madison.   I’m thinking it was around 2013.

Right away I could tell that she was bringing some new heat to the auto biz that very few had a real grasp on.

Personal Branding is something I’ve always bought into.  Once upon a time when I was working in the dealership,  I often wondered why the local realtors had billboards, websites, and flyers.

Why didn’t this happen in the car business?

Both professions are 100% commission and I know (from experience) that you can use some of these marketing/promotional expenses as a tax deduction.

I thought you were supposed to treat the car business as your own business.  That was always the pitch in the interview right?

I guess car salespeople have been conditioned to expect a non-stop flood of new customers walking through the showroom door.

Good luck with that!

Ok back to Laura.

I spent 20 minutes speaking with Laura via Skype last week and we talked about her journey in the car business.

Here are my notes (I’ll Laura go into more detail on May 8^th):

• Laura started working in Manhattan at a high end clothing store managing a book of clients
• Non-stop flow of customers meant that she never had to really worry about the next “up”
• Moves to Montana and starts working at a Toyota dealership
• Previously had a challenge getting a job in a car dealership due to age and experience
• Tsunami hits Japan and effects parts and inventory in the U.S. (2011)
• Lack of vehicles to sell and customers forced Laura to thinks differently
• Uses Social Media to find new prospects
• Starts blog Lauradrives.com to answer customer questions on buying cars
• Creates engaging video walk-arounds
• Receives national recognition for her process and strategy – Ad Age Article

Want to check out Laura @ this year’s Dealer Talk conference?   Get all the details right here

A taste of what I'll be speaking about for #DealerTalk2015: http://t.co/UiI3Z0t6wN pic.twitter.com/H2jfhQI9ng

— Laura Madison (@lauradrives) April 19, 2015

The post Laura Madison added to the 2015 Dealer Talk Line-Up first appeared on The Dealer Geek.

This event is key for anyone in the car biz that wants to up their digital game and get some inspiration from some of North America’s best speakers.

Why I couldn’t resist the Four Seasons….. Again

• One of the coolest main rooms in the city.  Every speaker I have talked to absolutely loves presenting on this stage
• Big venue but feels intimate, perfect for 300 people
• Unreal food
• Lot’s of extra rooms to use for charge stations (phone), media, and of course mingling
• Sweet cocktail area for the happy hour… or happy two hour

The only thing we had complaints about in the past, was the price of the Four Seasons rooms for our out-of-town guests.  This year we have set up a deal with a close by hotel that is going to provide us with a special DealerTalk rate.

Sign up for the Insider’s List to get updates on hotel specials

Since the event is on a Friday this year, why not stay for the whole weekend!  Maybe the Leaf’s will be in the playoffs.

Probably not.

I promise there will not be snow in May.

Why did you move it from March to May?

• Less conference competition
• Too close to March Break
• No more competing with the annual Mining Conference in Toronto.  I’m being serious.  It was impossible to book hotel rooms in Toronto when 5000 miners from around the world flock to the big smoke
• May is much nicer to make a weekend out of than March. Let’s be honest

I will be publishing multiple blog posts leading up to the event so keep checking back in.  I’ve also setup this Insider’s List for anyone that wants alerts or updates

Sign up for the Insider’s List

Anything different you want to see at this year’s DealerTalk Conference?

Chime in below in the comments.

The post DealerTalk is back at the Four Seasons May 8th, 2015 first appeared on The Dealer Geek.

I’ve decided it’s time to give my website a full makeover so your experience while visiting my site will be much more enjoyable

Starting with the completion of this post, the makeover will begin!

For those of you who are geeky about WordPress, I’m switching from the Thesis framework to the Get Noticed! Theme.

If you’re not familiar with Get Noticed! it’s the theme that was originally developed by Michael Hyatt for use on his own website.

You may have also seen the theme in action over at DealerRefresh or on MarketPunch.com.

I’m really excited to have GetNoticed! installed on TheDealerGeek.com because of the benefits it will offer to you on the front end and what it will do for me on the back end of things.

The end result will be that my website will have a simple, elegant and professional design that will allow me to truly showcase my content to you.

So before I roll my sleeves up and start the makeover, could I ask you for a quick favor?

As the switch is being made, a bug or two may pop up along the way. If you notice anything that looks a little wonky, would you mind sending me an email or tweet so I can address the issue? I’d certainly appreciate it.

Ok, well enough talking, it’s time to get to work.

I’m looking forward to introducing you to the all-new TheDealerGeek.com soon!

The post A Dealer Geek Makeover: Time to Get Noticed! first appeared on The Dealer Geek.

After meeting up for lunch with Sach Raja from Autodome and hearing about his latest idea, I asked him if I could share the concept right here on The Dealer Geek.

Being the all around nice guy that Sach is, he said “of course”.

It’s rare that I get this excited about new marketing strategies from car dealers…..

So let’s get into it.

Sach and Chad from Autodome surprise random drivers with an ARK card

We’ve all heard the stories of receiving a free coffee at the Tim Horton’s drive thru from the random stranger in the vehicle in front of you.

It’s never happened to me personally, but my cousin worked at Timmie’s when she was a teenager and said it happened all the time. This gesture really took off after the movie Pay It Forward she explains.

As of last week, the crew @ Autodome decided to spread some random love throughout the Greater Toronto Area by surprising random strangers with one of their ARK packages.

I love this kinda stuff. Total grassroots.

Someone just got #ARKd! Giving back in #toronto #mississauga #projectARK #payitforward #autodomeARK #randomkindness pic.twitter.com/RcWYMJSWPe

— Autodome Ltd (@autodome) August 21, 2014

What happens?

• Autodome prints off a bunch of ARK cards with Autodome logo and explanation of what they are doing
• Attach a Tim Horton’s gift card to the ARK card
• Tapes on random car window.  Driver’s side preferred
• Random dude walks up to his car and thinks WTF?
• Random dude looks around to see if he/she is on camera? They aren’t , Sach and friends are long gone
• Recipient sits down in driver’s seat and feels something that no free hot dog or inflatable gorilla can produce…..  hope

Why are you doing this?

I asked Sach to give me some insight on their new idea

“Many people may ask, why are we doing this? This is to give back to those in our community, to hopefully bring a smile to someone’s face.

Whether or not it brings customers to our door is irrelevant. We at Autodome simply want to have an impact in the lives of the people in our communities. The best result we hope for, is that someone who receives a gift card through ARK, Pays it Forward to someone else.” – Sach Raja, Autodome.

Sach In action

Notes:

•  Autodome Website
• #autodomeARK
• Follow Sach on Twitter HERE

What do you think about ARK? Sound off in the comments below.

The post What is ARK’ing And Why Is Mississauga Dealer Autodome Doing It??? first appeared on The Dealer Geek.

Laura Lowe and Lynette MacLeod from the Alberta Motor Vehicle Industry Council put together this great webinar to educate dealers on what they need to take into consideration when placing ads for their dealership.

Video Length – 30 minutes

Please contact AMVIC directly if you have any questions — AMVIC WEBSITE

The post AMVIC Advertising Update APRIL 2014 – Alberta Dealer Webinar first appeared on The Dealer Geek.

And now it’s time to sit back and hear some feedback.

Conferences are a lot more work than they look like, let me tell you.  This blog post will highlight the day itself and a brief summary on the speakers.

Karbaum wins an Apple TV

**Disclaimer – This is a friggin long post.

After the inaugural DealerTalk conference last March I really thought it would be almost impossible to “one up” the event this time.

First off there was no Grant Cardone this year.

I received many tweets, emails, and phone calls saying we had to have Grant back.

“That’s the only reason we went” – was some of the common feedback from dealers.

Now I love me some Grant Cardone, but I really wanted to put a fresh line up in place and expose Canadian dealers to some fresh faces.  Grant Cardone 2015?? Who knows?

Last summer…….

Yes you heard me right.  The summer of 2013 is when I started hashing out what this year’s conference might look like.

Who would speak? How much would we charge? Where would we hold the event? These were the questions that filled the whiteboard.

At the time it seemed crazy to me that we were worrying about this 10 months prior to DealerTalk 2014 but it paid off in a big way.  Check out some video highlights below.

DealerTalk, March 4, 2014 from Kijiji Autos on Vimeo.

New Website please

One thing that we did agree on was that DealerTalk needed a new website.

If DealerTalk was going to be a brand that we would continue to build on for years to come, we needed step up our image, and fast.

The original DealerTalk site was functional. You landed on it. You signed up. Or you didn’t.  In the words of Forrest Gump, “that’s all I have to say about that”.

I’m happy with how the website turned out but I do want to add a blog/news component that will allow us to publish updates, video coverage, DealerTalk webinars, and other cool dealer stuff.

More to come on that…..

Location, Location, Location

We ended up using The Four Seasons last year by a complete fluke.

Were you aware of that??? The original DealerTalk was supposed to take place at the Sony Centre.   Hey, it was our first one and we were shooting for the stars.

Have you been to the Sony Centre?

Let’s just put it this way, there would probably be a few empty seats.  The Sony Centre is usually reserved for Jerry Seinfeld doing standup or Broadway shows.

Anyway, we were in a bind and the wonderful crew at FFAM (agency that helps put this show together) came up with a few spots.

Royal York? Nah too old.

Westin Harborfront?  Have you seen the traffic on Queens Quay (pronounced “Key”)? No thanks.

Best Western in Mississauga, come on this is DealerTalk!!

What about the new Four Seasons???

Scott (my boss and partner in crime on this conference) and I agreed this could be a good possibility.  I was concerned it wouldn’t be large enough to accommodate 250-300 guests, maybe I was still smoking the Sony Centre pipe, who knows.

It was love at first site.  Modern, classy, and right in line with our vision of DealerTalk.

What was our vision?

I’m not entirely sure, but we definitely didn’t want the classic banquet hall and rubber chicken lunch for Chapter 2 of DealerTalk.

We signed on the dotted line and haven’t looked back since.

what a room

Twas the night before DealerTalk

Next year I’m not going into the office the day before the event. Trying to carry out a normal work day while my phone rings nonstop and my inbox catches fire is just plain silly.

We don’t need another hero, right Tina Turner?

It was cool that my friend Mike Haeg from Century Interactive flew in from Dallas, Texas and came to the Kijiji offices to see how we get down (Read his review on the day here).  He was so cold. Haha.  Oh yeah, he brought me this amazing seasoning salt that I added to a beef stir-fry.  C’mon Ryan stay focused.

I rolled up to The Four Season around 4:30 pm to check out the room.  I also had to do a sound check because I was going to be delivering the opening remarks.

Jason Craine was there nice and early making sure everything was perfect for his speaking debut the next day.

I did my thing, had a coffee with Jason and then back in a cab to get home and rest up for the big day.  I thought Jason seemed a bit nervous but I had complete confidence he would knock it out of the park the next day.

Speaker Reviews

Paul Potratz – “You could be wasting thousands”

Paul was our #1 rated speaker from 2013 and that is why he was asked back.  Canadian really do love Paul.  First off he totally blew my mind with his electric blue suit.  Is this guy the best dressed auto guy or what?

Baller Suits

Process , process, process, was what Mr.Potratz was stressing.  He showed us some insanely detailed flow charts that answered all the questions of “who should do what”?

I think I saw smoke come out of the ears of a few dealers that were sitting in front of me. Don’t worry you can download the entire presentation here.

My key takeaway was that dealers need to get out of the dealership for a day.

I’m being serious. Leave the store, turn off your phones, and start writing down the process how you do everything.

Chances are the processes you “think” you use don’t actually happen.  Take the GM’s, Internet Dept, and even some salespeople along for the ride.

How do you:

–          Handle a “give me your best price I’m shopping” inquiry

–          Measure the amount of appointments booked, showed up, and sold?

–          Ensure that sales follows up for up to 6 months after the initial inquiry (unless they tell you to beat it!)

I went out for dinner with Paul that night and he the waitress messed up his order up.  Instead of some fruity margarita he ended up with a jalapeno margarita.

I thought he was going to wow the table that he could handle it but he politely asked the waitress to fix his order.  He’s so nice.

Jason Craine – Top 10 things to implement in your dealership

Craine definitely “brought the pain” to his DealerTalk debut.  His presentation was honest, funny, engaging, and really really……….. Real.

Jason started off his talk with “I have never sold a car” AND  “I have never bought a car”.   I knew I bet on the right horse when I asked Jason to be our local dealer presenter.

This was a no holds barred open book session on how he went from the dark days of losing Pontiac to being an Internet powerhouse by not getting caught in the “monkey see monkey do” trap those most dealers can’t resist.

Jason Craine has reshaped the org structure of the dealership as we know it by adding positions such as “content creators” and “vehicle merchandiser”.

Mills Buick GMC is the first dealer (I am aware of) in Ontario that takes actual photos of their new inventory.  Based on the stats Jason shared in his presentation it paid off.

I saw dealers scribbling notes like crazy hoping to steal some secrets.

Problem is you can’t steal Jason’s “secrets”.  Most of them aren’t actually secrets.  He is simply a master at seeing the big picture and being able to execute on these great ideas.  Face it, most dealers suck at ACTUALLY doing this stuff. It’s more fun to talk and tweet about it then get out the spreadsheets.

Download his presentation here – Speaker Presentations

EVERY dealer needs to take these steps! Thanks @JasonCraine! #dealertalk2014 #automarketing pic.twitter.com/ApIGvUfooq

— Sachin Raja (@sachinraja) March 4, 2014

Jay Baer – Youtility

I was so excited to find out that we had even landed Jay Baer to be our keynote speaker.  The majority of dealers in the attendance probably had never heard of him.  I’m positive that after DealerTalk they will remember the Baer.

Heck, he had had Beastie Boys as his intro music.  Intro music for a conference speaker is where it’s at.

If you teach better, you will sell more. Become a #youtility to better serve your customers @jaybaer #dealertalk2014 pic.twitter.com/O4ndTFeofH

— BourgeoisMotorsFord (@BourgeoisMotors) March 4, 2014

Jay talked to dealers about what YouTility is and why they should incorporate it into their marketing.  Youtility is making marketing so useful that people would actually pay for it.

Jay even dropped some Autodome love in his presentation by highlighting their customer testimonial videos.

Grab his book here – YouTility Book

There’s my friend Zahoor!

Theo Fleury – Don’t Quit Before The Miracle

I had tried to get Theo as our keynote last year but he was not available.  Man, am I happy we were able to bring him as our lunchtime speaker.

Theo talked about his troubled childhood, sexual abuse, addiction, NHL career, and how he has made the comeback of his life getting clean and helping other victims of abuse.

I saw grown men cry during his powerful 60 minute talk.

Theo is a standup guy.  He stayed for almost an hour afterward signing autographs and taking pictures with attendees.

I got to spend some time with him backstage talk about his 2002 Gold Medal and how stacked the 2014 team was on defense.

Thanks Theo!

Scott Neil, Theo Fleury, Me

What Happened To Jeff Kershner??

I have to say my respect for Jeff has reached a whole new level.  Jeff tried to get in to Toronto a couple of days early to do some sightseeing and probably get himself ready to rock.

However, the weather did not co-operate and he was delayed 3 days in a row.  Even on the day of, Jeff was desperately trying to get to T.O.   We made up for his miss with a special pane discussion with Paul, Jason, and Jay.

Time to debrief

So what happens now? Well, first off I have to sort through the footage that was shot during the day and get some video out there for you folks.

We will do a complete post – mortem in a week’s time and go over the survey results from the attendees, read all of the feedback, and get ready to plan another one!

Thank you to everyone that came out and the event so special!  Extra special thanks to Niel Hiscox for doing an amazing job as our M.C.

Feel free to share your reviews on the day and help me out with some ideas for future speakers for next year.

My awesome team @ Kijiji

The post 2014 DealerTalk Recap – Long one! first appeared on The Dealer Geek.