Sell Car Online Guide Available for First Time
For Immediate Release – November 30, 2009
The First Comprehensive Guide to Selling Vehicles Online Just Released
Berkeley, California, USA – L. James Johnson has announced that his new book, HELP! I Gotta Sell My Car – New Rules for Selling Your Vehicle Online! has just been released for download at www.BayAreaCarGuy.com.
Johnson describes HELP! NOW! as combining his New Rules for selling vehicles online with time-honored Best Practices from the car industry. He developed the New Rules while an Internet Manager for a major car dealer. The New Rules were designed to help dealers and private sellers move beyond Old School sales and marketing tactics that hinder attempts to use the Internet effectively when selling cars, trucks, and SUVs.
Johnson says, “Dealers benefit the most from the New Rules because many simply don’t understand that a new approach is needed to use the Internet effectively.” He goes onto say, “Private sellers will use both the New Rules and the car industry’s Best Practices for pricing cars, handling inquiries, performing a vehicle walk around, staying safe during the test drive, and negotiating price, to name a few.”
L. James Johnson joined the car industry late in life after a successful career in radio and TV Journalism. He later owned and operated three businesses simultaneously. Within six months of joining the car industry he attained top sales status. He had one of the highest Consumer Satisfaction Index (CSI) ratings in the district - above national average. After advancing to Internet Manager, James drew heavily on his experience in both business and Journalism to perfect the New Rules of selling cars online, which led to the publication of HELP! NOW!
This is the first time that a comprehensive A through Z guide to selling a car or truck online is available to car dealers or private sellers.
Contact:
L. James Johnson
Owner, www.BayAreaCarGuy.com
Berkeley, CA 94702
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L. James Johnson’s new book, HELP! I Gotta Sell My Car NOW! New Rules for Selling Your Vehicle Online! is available for download at BayAreaCarGuy.com.
Future Ford’s Truck Expert Is A Girl!
Sherri Wicksten - Ford Truck Expert!
The world of trucks has been dominated by men and guy-talk since Henry Ford created the Model T over 100 years ago.
UNTIL NOW!
Sherri Wicksten is Future Ford’s truck expert with 12-years experience – and she is definitely a girl!
You’ll find her at Future Ford Hyundai of Concord off I-680.
WALK THE TALK
Sherri won’t let you make a costly mistake.
She’ll start your visit with a “Needs Assessment,” and apply her experience, knowledge, and training to match you with exactly the right truck after determining model, HP, wheelbase, accessories, payload, and personal factors like your body’s comfort.
Sherri is certified by Ford as a Light and Heavy Duty Truck expert. She graduated from Ford’s Truck School and has 12-years experience with Ford trucks.
FROM THE FRONT LINES OF TRUCK SALES
I have watched hardened truck buyers sink back in their chairs, slack-jawed, and amazed that the person sitting across from them (Sherri Wicksten, the girl) knew more than them about gear ratios, axle types, and standard versus HD payload capacities.
Sherri told me: If someone owns a contractor or landscape business and they need to carry additional payload I’ll work with them to make sure that their new truck is up to the task and won’t let them down. I need to know what the new truck will be carrying, how heavy the load will be, if they will be pulling a trailer, and if so, how much weight they plan to to tow.
She went on to explain: What payload package will they need? Which axle ratio is required? Gas or diesel? Do they really need to pay more for a larger engine, or can they stay will a smaller displacement, saving money upfront and over the long haul with increased fuel economy?
Need help calculating GVR? GVWR? CW? Ask Sherri. She uses the C.O.P. method to calculate. Still confused? Just call her.
TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES
Buying a truck these days is far more complicated than ever before.
Sherri agrees: Specifications – and especially the technology on our trucks - are constantly changing. It’s difficult for buyers to keep up. That’s why Ford spends so much time and effort TRAINING it’s top Truck sales staff – so we can identify and head off problems BEFORE they ruin your day!
Sherri Wicksten is tops in her field with a wide range of experience in the automotive industry. At Michael Stead’s Ford dealership in Walnut Creek she developed skills as Sales Manager, Fleet Manager, and Internet Director, guiding the company to expanded sales using that growing technology.
Her financial background also comes in handy:
I spent a few years as a loan officer for a major Bay area Credit Union and helped them develop their emerging Car Store business. I was as much a vehicle broker as a loans officer, working directly with a wide variety of auto dealers in the Bay area.
Sherri is now Internet Director at Future Ford Hyundai of Concord.
NEED A TRUCK?
For a Ford truck – light or heavy duty, talk to the East Bay’s Ford Truck Expert – Sherri Wicksten. She is not just a Truck Expert, she can help you with financing issues (something that is particularly important these days). And don’t forget: Sherri has a track record for some of the best customer service in the industry.
Sherri can be reached at swicksten@futurefordofconcord.com or 925-686-5000, extension- #150.
Transparency in the Auto Business?
We are coming out of a decade or more of toxic business practices where hidden motivations and shady conduct led to abuse and mistrust. Enron led the way – followed by the financial crisis, and subsequent economic meltdown.
Like a pendulum swinging in the opposite direction to counteract the imbalance, there are forces at work in government and business that are offering a new direction that includes the simple concept of transparency – what I think of as an eagerness to openly communicate instead of bamboozle, stonewall and deceive.
I joined an online seminar* yesterday and was pleasantly surprised to hear that transparency has been making its way into the auto industry for at least a couple of years. When I joined the industry just over 2 years ago I was appalled at some of the old school manipulation that was still being practiced. In fact, I continue to hear of car sales staff conveniently forgetting to return their customer’s driver’s licenses or vehicle registrations so their client is forced to return to the dealership before buying a vehicle somewhere else. To some, the end justifies the means.
Such practices have historically been driven from the top down. What I heard from Scott Mony, the head of Social Media for the Ford Motor Company, is that he and others in leadership positions in the industry are actively championing transparency in more and more aspects of relating to consumers and the public. Having top company officials regularly blog is one way that this is happening. And as Mony said, “…using real dialogue and not acting like a corporate shill,” is needed to have such blogs retain any significance with the reader. This is a welcome top down approach.
Mony said that social media – from Twitter to bloggers – are helping those in leadership positions change the way they communicate. The truth is, this is a process that will take time and effort before significant change manifests at the dealer level, which is where I work, and where most of my customers interact.
Yet, I am glad that transparancy has at least begun to unfold in such a dinosauresque industry as this. It’s a beginning, and it feels supportive to those of us who daily practice a different – and dare I say, transparent way of doing business.
*Why Your Company Can’t Ignore Social Marketing: Lessons Learned from the Auto Industry featuring Scott Monty, Sylvia Marino, and Christopher Barger hosted by Powered.com.
