Guest Blog

Mobile browsing has officially eclipsed desktop browsing. According to a recent comScore report, smartphones and tablets combined now account for 60 percent of all online traffic up from 50 percent a year ago. This doesn’t mean you don’t need to stay after your full site, because the other half is still browsing via their desktops and the hardcore purchasing and ...

It’s easy to roll your eyes and moan about the state of business communications. Everything from incomplete, inaccurate and confusing emails and memos to meeting minutes and reports that don’t make sense. Ineffective business letters, most of which are peppered with the first person singular pronoun, are fodder for the recycling bin. All this results in errors, causes confusion, wastes ...

It’s been too long since my last blog for Boating Industry. I can easily say I have been slammed with work and projects with retailers. Retailers that are on the gas are keeping me busy using my eyes and designs to create a new kind of in store experience. I love it; they love it, and wow, the industry is ...

“Embrace the fundamentals like the closest of friends, for they will be the foundation of your future success.” — Chris Murray It’s not an easy task to open a new dealership, buy an existing dealership, or to operate a dealership, for that matter. The costs associated with along with OEM requirements are not something that most folks can comprehend or ...

It was an early morning meeting chaired by the SVP. There wasn’t any reason to anticipate fireworks this particular day so the atmosphere was, to say the least, rather relaxed. A sales manager was the last to arrive, whispering to the person next to him as he sat down, “All I want to do is sell.” The meaning was clear. ...

One seminar leader opened a workshop for property and casualty insurance agents by asking this question: “Why do people buy insurance?” After the participants offered a variety of responses, he says there’s only one right answer: “To take care of claims.” What seems rather intuitive to most consumers may not be quite so clear to insurance salespeople. How could they ...

I have two passions in life: Boating and motorcycling. I fell in love with boating as a teenager when my dad bought his first 19-foot wooden sailboat with a small trolling motor; we used to sail for hours all around the waterways of Northwest Florida. I had friends whose folks owned a ski boat, so when dad and I weren’t ...

“Just remember,” my mother reminded me more than once, “You can’t turn a sow’s ear into a silk purse.” Perhaps not, but over the past 50 years, the marketing, advertising and public relations industry has been highly successful in doing just that. But no longer. At least that’s the view of Alex Bogusky, the former CP&B agency executive who had ...

Online prospects expect immediate access to accurate and helpful information designed to eliminate options – i.e., choose what they perceive as the right product and dealership for them. In this context, the first expectation is a prompt, relevant response. If you don’t jump on that lead, another dealer – often located less than a few clicks away on the Internet ...

By Christopher Kourtakis, director of sales and marketing, 360° Industry Solutions — It is hard enough as a business owner to keep up with the day-to-day tasks of running your business.  Add in new sales and marketing practices and there is not enough time in the day to do everything.  Now, with digital profiles and social media, you need to ...