By Greg Gerber on
10/10/2008 7:16 AM
So, now that oil is back down to its one-year low, why is the average price of gas still hovering around $3.48 per gallon? If gas companies could supply a gallon of gas for $2.78 a gallon one year ago when oil prices were the same as they are today, what accounts for the 70 cent per gallon difference?
In fact, if oil is down 44 percent -- and it's the chief ingredient of gasoline -- then I would suspect a market drop in gas prices of 44 percent, which should pull gas prices down to $2.37 per gallon.
As much as I would like to believe oil companies when they say the market regulates prices, not the oil companies themselves, I have a very hard time buying that argument.
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By Greg Gerber on
10/9/2008 7:35 AM
As Gomer Pyle would say, "Surprise, surprise, surprise."
RV mega dealer Dan Gamel officially announced this week that at least one of his "closed" stores in California will remain open. Gamel's competitors were telling me earlier this summer that his original announcement that he was getting out of the RV business was an elaborate hoax by a master marketer.
I am sure people will debate Gamel's intentions and try to discern his motive. However, one thing is indisputable. While his competitors were left scratching their heads and wondering what they were going to do to survive the downturn, Gamel turned up the heat with a "liquidation" sale that brought consumers onto his sales lots from all over California. Now his competitors are ripping out their hair.
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By Mike Whitty on
10/8/2008 8:44 AM
If you're like most Sales Managers, you came to this position because you had great success as a salesperson. But managing your own sales is not the same as managing your team. As a salesperson, you could easily measure your success through numbers of appointments made and units sold. As a Sales Manager, your success is measured by the success of others. That's not always an easy transition to make. However, it is ultimately a rewarding one. Being a Sales Manager provides you with the opportunity to share your knowledge and expertise, and to help others grow professionally and personally. As the saying goes, when you elevate the success of others, you elevate your own as well.<
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By Greg Gerber on
10/7/2008 1:31 PM
I've been giving the RV Industry Association a tough time over the past few weeks, but an incident today with another association outside the RV industry shows what a gem RVIA really is as a cheerleader for the RV lifestyle.
In working on a story about the virtues of community banking, I turned to the Independent Community Bankers of America as a source. My rationale being that they represent banks on Main Street USA rather than Wall Street.
Yet, after talking with the staff, there was nobody in the association who could speak on the pros and cons of small business owners working with community banks. Nor could their members.
If there has been a time in banking where the clouds of fear cast a pall on an entire country, you would think a trade association supporting local banks would leap at any opportunity to spread a little sunshine.
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By Greg Gerber on
10/7/2008 10:34 AM
This could only happen in America -- and only in America's bungled legal system.
A consumer in Nashville took his motorhome to Music City RV June 17 so that it could be sold on consignment. After learning the dealership had shut its doors, he drove his unit off the lot.
Last week, the trustee for Music City RV's creditors demanded that the consumer return the RV to that it could be auctioned to pay off the dealership's debts.
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By Greg Gerber on
10/6/2008 12:34 PM
A memo sent by the RV Industry Association to its members today shows just how precarious the business climate is in the United States today.
Business owners struggling to make payroll this fall must also figure out how to pay protection money to federal politicians.
Washington has become such a regulating, taxing, bureaucratic nightmare that business owners must fork over campaign "contributions" to elected officials (and those running against the incumbents just in case they win) just to ensure the government stays off their backs for the next few years.
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By Greg Gerber on
10/1/2008 8:07 AM
Several people approached me last week at the RV Dealer's Convention/Expo to ask if I had seen the latest bulletin sent out by the folks at the RV Industry Association who are orchestrating this year's National RV Show in Louisville, Ky.
Apparently, several suppliers were a little put out by the tone of the RVIA announcement, which does -- once again -- read like an official letter from on official government agency. Some suppliers feel the bulletin is a strong arm approach to penalizing the companies who supply the RVIA with the money it desperately needs to pay staff and fund programs.
But, when it comes to this year's National RV Show, RVIA is in a tight spot.
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By Mike Whitty on
10/1/2008 7:40 AM
Running a top notch Internet process involves far more planning than simply allocating a portion of your budget to the Internet and commanding your salespeople to “sell some RVs.” You need to give saleseople a solid process to follow that will accomplish your objectives. The process needs to make sense and, ideally, it will be mandatory. If the Internet sales process at your dealership is a matter of “just winging it” by picking up the phone and calling your leads, it’s safe to say that you are not truly maximizing the opportunities available to you. When you clearly define your agenda and apply a Standard Operating Procedure to get there, you can maximize your Internet team’s effectiveness.
Standard Operating Procedure: Communication
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By Greg Gerber on
9/29/2008 1:38 PM
If there is a sliver of conservatism still remaining in Washington, D.C., it can be found in the U.S. House of Representatives.
This afternoon, the House failed to spend $700 billion to bail out greed and mismanagement on Wall Street. Consider it a $700 billion tax cut because every American would have had to cover the debt to the tune of $2,325 in the event the stop-gap measure failed to work because nothing was being done to prevent the money from falling into the black hole of big business.
I don't know about you, but I am getting just a bit irritated that the U.S. government selectively comes to the aid of certain businesses and industries, and hands all of us the tab.
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By Bob Zagami on
9/27/2008 6:59 AM
Those are not my words folks, they came from a dealer that responsded to my Friends or Foe article that appeared in the August/September issue of RV Industry News. I wrote about this topic several years ago and was hoping for a different reaction this time around. After so many successful years one would think that manufacturer's would have invested some of their profits in training programs for the people they send out into the field to meet with their customers - the dealers! Based on the early returns, that came flying in on e-mails and phone calls from our readers, this is still a very hot topic, so - as one dealer suggested - let's carry it over to the blog and see what the rest of you have to say on the subject.
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