In a WardsAuto Q&A, a thoughtful, forward-thinking Mike Burgiss talks about where the auto-retail industry is and isn’t headed.

In a WardsAuto Q&A, DealerSocket’s new chief talks about where she sees the company headed, whether it will go global and more.

Get personal. “It’s not good enough to send e-mails to every customer saying, ‘We’re dealing through the ceiling,’” says Mark Vickery of VinSolutions.

“The cardinal sin of building a relationship is asking someone something about themselves that you already know,” says Scott Miller, CEO of Vision Critical.  

“In general, we see an increase in holiday-weekend shopping,” says James Grace, a senior director at Cox Automotive.  

Take customers from initial online research to final sale faster and more efficiently than ever before.

HelloCars, claiming to be Australia’s first online-only car dealership, says it rang up more than A$12 million ($9.5 million) in transactions during its first 12 months in business.

As many as eight touchpoints can take place before a viable sales lead is even created. 

“Successful dealerships realize they have to bring in technical expertise,” says Noah John of AutoScores, a predictive-analytics firm. 

“I tell students this is a game-changer for our industry and anything you can immerse yourself in to get prepared will be to your advantage,” Elgie Bright of Northwood University says of dealership e-commerce.