Start your new year right with a trip to The Motor Trend International Auto Show-Baltimore which opens on New Year's Day!  Yes, the show will open at noon on Thursday, January 1, 2015 and runs until Sunday, January 4th.  We look forward to seeing you there!  For further details visit the Auto Show website.

MADA's office in Annapolis will be closed for Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday, November 27th, and Friday, November 28th.  We will reopen for business on Monday, December 1st.  We wish all of our members and their families a safe, healthy, and happy Thanksgiving!

MADA reminds our dealership staff to remain aware of the FTC requirement that a Buyers Guide must be posted on a used vehicle before it is "offered" for sale. There are numerous detailed requirements as well-double-check that your business is meeting the guidelines for how to post and provide the guides to customers.   Fines are as high as  $11,000 per violation.   Some examples of how to proceed with the Used Car Buyers Guide are below:

• A vehicle is offered for sale when it is displayed for sale or a customer is allowed to inspect it for the purpose of buying, even if the car is not fully prepared for delivery.
• On the back of the Guide, fill in the name and address of your dealership. You must also fill in the name (or position) and the telephone number of the person the consumer should contact with complaints. You may use a rubber stamp or preprint the Guide with this information.
• If a used car transaction is conducted in Spanish, a Spanish language Buyers Guide must be posted on the vehicle before it is displayed or offered for sale.

For further information, please visit the FTC's section covering the Used Care Buyers Guide.

MADA reminds all dealers to contact any purchaser for whom you were required to file a Form 8300 (Cash Reporting) in FY2014. Each purchaser should receive notice, by January 31, 2015, that your dealership has filed the Form with the Internal Revenue Service. The statement must show the name and address of the dealership, the total amount of reportable cash received and indicate that the information was provided to the IRS. Don't forget to keep a copy of the correspondence for your own records.

We have provided the following sample language which you can use to counter the "surprise" some customers may have in being informed of your cash reporting responsibilities:

Dear Customer:
We are required by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to report transactions involving more than $10,000 in cash and "cash equivalents," under the provisions of 25 U.S.C. 60501. We have filed a Form 8300 with the IRS on (month, day, 2013), indicating that you provided us with (dollar amount) in connection with the purchase of your (year, make, model). We wanted you to know that we have complied with this federal reporting requirement. Again, we thank you for your patronage.

Dealerships should make sure they are using the most recent Form 8300 (Revised August 2014).  For further information, please review the IRS website. 

MADA regrets to report the passing of Judge Edgar Silver, a co-founder of MADA Associate member, Rifkin, Weiner, Livingston, Levitan & Silver LLC on Tuesday, November 11, 2014.  He was 91 years old.   Contributions to his memory can be made to the Aplastic Anemia and MDS International Foundation, 100 Park Avenue, Suite 108, Rockville, MD 20850.

New Webinars Announced from DealersEdge 

     

An alarming number of Internet prospects, up to 95% by some estimates, never make it into the showroom. Some aspect of the experience turns them off to your dealership. All too often it is the e-mail-to-phone transition that is the dead end to the sale.  Converting online shoppers to showroom customers requires specially-designed processes and a well-developed skill set.  This webinar will cover the following:

• The Steps for Setting a Showroom Appointment
• How to create and use professional scripts to support your game plan
• The Essential Elements for building your value story over the phone 
• Methods for staying in control of the call

It's a cardinal rule of F&I selling, you must present every product to every customer every time! But, forcing customers through our selling process to facilitate these presentations often just makes them angry and sorry that they did business with you. And it's not so much the presentations as it is the delays in just getting on the road in their new vehicle.  The bottleneck created by a structured F&I process is the problem.  To help you overcome the bottleneck, this webinar will cover the following:

• How to create a smooth transition from sales to finance...meeting the customer on their terms
• How a better transition can help reduce resistance once in the F&I office
• How to gather quick and reliable credit information and credit history to speed the process
• How to establish a common bond with the customer early in the engagement