Showing posts with label blogs as news. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blogs as news. Show all posts

Sunday, January 27, 2013

My Mother: My Locator

"Mom! Mom! Mooooooommmm!??!.......Babe....Babe.....Honey....Where's my-?" How often do we hear these words? As moms, it seems we are often the keepers of tissues, car keys, eye glasses, wallets, kids stuff and more. Over the past few weeks I've been working with my 11 year old on him keeping track of his own basketball bag when we are at tournaments and games. This has surely been an undertaking. I can't even convince him to bring his own water bottle without me reminding him 500 times! 


He is still the sweetest boy ever. And, with Marcus about to start traveling   (he is heading to N.A.D.A. School this year), I'm having a hard time keeping up with him and all of his stuff. (*Fingers Crossed we will have our new big superstore soon!!!*)

We have scaled back our retail operation while my husband and business partner, Marcus, completes General Manager training. Our hope is to have bought or opened a New Car Franchise by 2014. Bob Stallings Auto Group has already put a store under contract. In the meantime, the Used Car Dealership needs to be smaller and more manageable. So, yes, I'm back to doing more locates.

What is a "locate"? It's me being crazy trying to take on the job of finding MORE THINGS for OTHER PEOPLE! Actually, it is fulfilling my passion for finding the best luxury or budget vehicles. When we told our VIP clients that we were not carrying cars in stock anymore most of them were disappointed. Marcus has such a passion and talent for finding the best used cars available. Even though we aren't going to keep our warehouse stocked, we are deciding to keep our resources available to the public. 

Just this week, I was contacted by an old high school friend named "Daniella" asking if I can still help with credit problems. Once we were able to submit her credit application to our Specialized Lenders, we were able to find just the car that she needed. We were able to get her approved on a late model, reputable brand with a manufacturer's warranty and less than 40k MILES! 

This is what makes us different! This is a "locate"! Sure, our specialty is Mercedes Benz AMG, BMW M Series and other unique luxury cars. But, my favorite thing to do in business is to help out friends with financial struggles. How awesome! I know that if "Daniella" went to another dealership or 'tote the note' lot, she either wouldn't be approved or her down payment would have been way too high. We were able to keep her payments around $250 with just $1,000 down! 

Ask me to:
Locate Your New or Used Car
Appraise Your Trade In or Buy Your Car
Get You Approved or Visit The Payment Calculator
Just Talk (E-mail Me)
Connect on LinkedIn
Join My E-mail List


*The Dirty Deets of Our New Company*
I know some might be visiting this blog just to find out "an inside secret" of what's going on  with our new business. Marcus is in General Management training, working hard for a new manufacturer's dealership. We can't announce anything publicly other than that. In the meantime, we are still open at BobStallingsCars.com. The majority of our retail operations have stopped. But, we are still carrying a small amount of specialty cars in stock. And of course, if you read the above, we are still doing locates. All of our relationships are still in tact with lenders, banks and financial institutions. We are still ready to provide our talents to our clients! As soon as we can say more, we will! 



Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Car Dealer Influenced News: Sales and Blogs Portrayed as Viable News


Car Dealer Influenced News
Sales and Blogs Portrayed as Viable News

Have you ever read an article on a reputable news website? Ever noticed the links to the brands or companies that the stories are about? I am not sure about this but, it frequently looks like paid blogging to me. Paid advertisements are perfectly acceptable on websites. However, paid ads mixed into what appear to be editorials or news reports are not.


I recently watched a bonafide news story on msnMONEY which plugs an auto dealer sales website by a CNBC correspondent. Mixed in among the April 2012 Auto Sales data, is a plug for this 'website'. The website advertises itself as a compilation of market data for consumers to use as a tool to buy their new or used vehicle. It is portrayed as a special new service that exists to help consumers. But, the truth is that it is a dealership advertising source like all of the popular websites. It's fine to be an ad site but, not if it's veiled as something entirely different.

I had never heard of this company or website. When I went to their site, I saw multiple big box dealers as well as a list of their board of members on their Dealer Council. Many major brands and auto dealers are represented. Upon researching, I discovered that this is just another website for auto dealers to use to sell their cars. The market data that is supposedly for consumers does not reflect the comparables that are traditionally used in the car business. In fact, it really isn’t disclosed where they get their data.

Customers are encouraged to look cars up based upon if they are priced as a “Great Price” listing. The scary thing is that what is touted as a “Great Price” does not give any actual comparable listings so that clients can judge this on their own. On top of that, customers of this website are then encouraged just to call these big box dealers and not negotiate. This is the biggest scam I’ve ever seen.

What’s worse, is that a major news organization is either crediting this company with valuable and honest information or being paid to plug them.

For honest price comparables, call BOB STALLINGS AUTO GROUP. We will look up comparables on Cars.com, AutoTrader.com and even eBay and explain why our vehicles are priced the way they are. Sometimes being the cheapest BMW online is a strong indication of a problem. However, sometimes we steal a car. When we steal a car, we gladly pass our savings on to you.

For more information on our pricing, call Client Services at BobStallingsCars.com (972) 248-2277.facebook.com/bobstallingscars