--- title: Blog | Right Idea Media & Creative | Clark Rutledge (2) description: Clark has been working in the Automotive Industry for over 8 years working both on the floor as a salesperson and manager. He understands the specific needs and fast paced customer service required of Automotive Dealers. Following in his father’s footsteps, his goal is to help other dealers see the same growth and success he has seen using the tools offered by Right Idea Media & Creative. (2) ---  [![Right Idea Media and Creative Logo](https://info.rightideacreative.com/hs-fs/hubfs/rimc_logo_2017_vertical_no_bulb_white.png?width=120&height=90&name=rimc_logo_2017_vertical_no_bulb_white.png)](http://rightideacreative.com) - [Work](http://www.rightideacreative.com/work/) - [Capabilities](http://www.rightideacreative.com/capabilities/) - [Us](http://www.rightideacreative.com/us/) - [You](http://www.rightideacreative.com/you/) - [Contact](http://www.rightideacreative.com/contact/) # Bright Ideas The pursuit of knowledge is a noble quest. Start your journey here. ## Clark Rutledge Clark has been working in the Automotive Industry for over 8 years working both on the floor as a salesperson and manager. He understands the specific needs and fast paced customer service required of Automotive Dealers. Following in his father’s footsteps, his goal is to help other dealers see the same growth and success he has seen using the tools offered by Right Idea Media & Creative. Find me on: ### Recent Posts ## [Your Dealership Has a Sales Problem](https://info.rightideacreative.com/your-dealership-has-a-sales-problem) Posted by [Clark Rutledge](https://info.rightideacreative.com/author/clark-rutledge) on 8/12/16 8:00 AM - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) [![](https://info.rightideacreative.com/hubfs/Blog_Images/Dealer_Sales_Problem_761x315.jpg)](https://info.rightideacreative.com/your-dealership-has-a-sales-problem) Selling vehicles is a tough job, you hear one yes after multiple no’s. Or a couple you thought was interested in a car was only window shopping. Each day takes thick skin and the desire to strive for that yes; you know this, your salespeople know this. However, occasionally your team just can’t seem to bounce back from that no. It’s been a tough week on sales and it’s affecting most of your sales team. You’ve hit a slump at the dealership — they are underperforming and you need to turn that around ASAP. Whether it’s low morale, high turnover, or they’re in need of a refocus on motivation, something needs to change. If your sales department is experiencing some issues, here are four tips to fix those problems. [Read More](https://info.rightideacreative.com/your-dealership-has-a-sales-problem) 0 Comments [Click here to read/write comments](https://info.rightideacreative.com/your-dealership-has-a-sales-problem#comments-listing) Topics: [Automotive](https://info.rightideacreative.com/topic/automotive), [Automotive Strategy](https://info.rightideacreative.com/topic/automotive-strategy), [Retail Automotive](https://info.rightideacreative.com/topic/retail-automotive) ## [Automotive Series: How to Evaluate Your Marketing Plan](https://info.rightideacreative.com/how-to-evaluate-your-car-dealership-marketing-plan) Posted by [Clark Rutledge](https://info.rightideacreative.com/author/clark-rutledge) on 7/20/16 3:30 PM - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) [![](https://info.rightideacreative.com/hubfs/Blog_Images/EvaluateAutoMarketing_761x315.jpg)](https://info.rightideacreative.com/how-to-evaluate-your-car-dealership-marketing-plan) “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it,” Peter Drucker. These are words to live by when dealing with an automotive media budget and marketing plan because evaluation is one of the most important aspects of advertising. Your media budget includes, among other things, the funds allocated to print, broadcasting, digital, and other forms of advertising for a dealership — known as the marketing plan. Without the marketing plan, many dealerships would be out of business. A dealership with a large chunk of media budget to work with and no marketing plan could see the same fate as dealerships without a marketing plan all together — no business. The process is simple: determine a marketing plan, evaluate that marketing plan, and make changes where needed, repeat constantly.   [Read More](https://info.rightideacreative.com/how-to-evaluate-your-car-dealership-marketing-plan) 0 Comments [Click here to read/write comments](https://info.rightideacreative.com/how-to-evaluate-your-car-dealership-marketing-plan#comments-listing) Topics: [Automotive](https://info.rightideacreative.com/topic/automotive), [Automotive Strategy](https://info.rightideacreative.com/topic/automotive-strategy), [Automotive Marketing](https://info.rightideacreative.com/topic/automotive-marketing) ## [Automotive Series: The 5 Most Common Sales Team Mistakes](https://info.rightideacreative.com/the-5-most-common-dealership-sales-team-mistakes) Posted by [Clark Rutledge](https://info.rightideacreative.com/author/clark-rutledge) on 7/14/16 1:42 PM - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) [![](https://info.rightideacreative.com/hubfs/Blog_Images/MostCommonDealerMistakes__761x315.jpg)](https://info.rightideacreative.com/the-5-most-common-dealership-sales-team-mistakes) Most people don’t include going to a car dealership in their idea of a perfect Saturday afternoon. It may be because the local dealerships are making mistakes in critical areas of the sale. Every dealership has their own way of doing things, but the foundation of skills are the same across the board. Your dealership might be making some of these mistakes when it comes to sales; below are five of the most common mistakes. Check them out then be sure your dealership sales department isn’t making these mistakes, too! [Read More](https://info.rightideacreative.com/the-5-most-common-dealership-sales-team-mistakes) 0 Comments [Click here to read/write comments](https://info.rightideacreative.com/the-5-most-common-dealership-sales-team-mistakes#comments-listing) Topics: [Automotive](https://info.rightideacreative.com/topic/automotive), [Automotive Strategy](https://info.rightideacreative.com/topic/automotive-strategy), [Automotive Marketing](https://info.rightideacreative.com/topic/automotive-marketing) ## [Automotive Series: is Your Marketing Firing On All Cylinders?](https://info.rightideacreative.com/is-your-automotive-marketing-firing-on-all-cylinders) Posted by [Clark Rutledge](https://info.rightideacreative.com/author/clark-rutledge) on 6/17/16 2:18 PM - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) [![](https://info.rightideacreative.com/hubfs/Blog_Images/auto-marketing-assessment_761x315.jpg)](https://info.rightideacreative.com/is-your-automotive-marketing-firing-on-all-cylinders) “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it,” Peter Drucker. These are words to live by when dealing with an automotive media budget and marketing plan because evaluation is one of the most important aspects of advertising. Your media budget includes, among other things, the funds allocated to print, broadcasting, digital, and other forms of advertising for a dealership — known as the marketing plan. Without the marketing plan, many dealerships would be out of business. A dealership with a large chunk of media budget to work with and no marketing plan could see the same fate as dealerships without a marketing plan all together — no business. [Read More](https://info.rightideacreative.com/is-your-automotive-marketing-firing-on-all-cylinders) 0 Comments [Click here to read/write comments](https://info.rightideacreative.com/is-your-automotive-marketing-firing-on-all-cylinders#comments-listing) Topics: [Automotive](https://info.rightideacreative.com/topic/automotive), [Automotive Strategy](https://info.rightideacreative.com/topic/automotive-strategy), [Automotive Marketing](https://info.rightideacreative.com/topic/automotive-marketing) ## [Automotive Series: 3 Tools for Sales Training](https://info.rightideacreative.com/3-tools-for-auto-sales-training) Posted by [Clark Rutledge](https://info.rightideacreative.com/author/clark-rutledge) on 6/6/16 4:01 PM - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) When thinking of people that are constantly working at their profession to get better, stay ahead, and win, professional athletes easily come to mind. They have one job: to constantly work at their particular sport to improve; whether training for a big game or the Olympics, they are continuously training and training hard. [Read More](https://info.rightideacreative.com/3-tools-for-auto-sales-training) 0 Comments [Click here to read/write comments](https://info.rightideacreative.com/3-tools-for-auto-sales-training#comments-listing) Topics: [Automotive Marketing](https://info.rightideacreative.com/topic/automotive-marketing) ## [Direct Mail - The Ultimate Automotive Sales Team](https://info.rightideacreative.com/a-new-way-to-share-video-youtube-rolls-out-360-degree-feature-0) Posted by [Clark Rutledge](https://info.rightideacreative.com/author/clark-rutledge) on 2/26/16 1:30 PM - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) [![](https://info.rightideacreative.com/hubfs/Blog_Images/direct_mail_sales_team_761x315.jpg)](https://info.rightideacreative.com/a-new-way-to-share-video-youtube-rolls-out-360-degree-feature-0) Imagine rounding up a six person sales team each day and sending them door to door. That seems like a slow way to reach customers and not very cost effectively, right? But, what if that sales team was able to reach hundreds of homes each day without losing steam? Now that seems like a worthwhile investment. Sending a direct mailer does just that. One envelope packed with the right pieces can be just as effective as the sales team at or from your dealership. Each component of the mailer lines up with a part of the sales process: from the opening lines of the envelope aimed to strike a want in the customer, to the endorsement of a fellow customer in the lift letter, to the call to action in the business reply envelope. The purpose and voice of each different piece comes together to form a full sales pitch. Malcolm Decker, in the book “Million Dollar Mailings” breaks down the various components of a direct mailing piece that, when they work together, can only lead to success. [Read More](https://info.rightideacreative.com/a-new-way-to-share-video-youtube-rolls-out-360-degree-feature-0) 0 Comments [Click here to read/write comments](https://info.rightideacreative.com/a-new-way-to-share-video-youtube-rolls-out-360-degree-feature-0#comments-listing) Topics: [Direct Mail](https://info.rightideacreative.com/topic/direct-mail), [Tips From Right Idea](https://info.rightideacreative.com/topic/tips-from-right-idea), [Automotive](https://info.rightideacreative.com/topic/automotive), [Automotive Strategy](https://info.rightideacreative.com/topic/automotive-strategy) ## [8 Tips for Email Campaign Success](https://info.rightideacreative.com/8-tips-for-email-campaign-success) Posted by [Clark Rutledge](https://info.rightideacreative.com/author/clark-rutledge) on 1/6/16 7:59 AM - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) [![](https://info.rightideacreative.com/hubfs/Blog_Images/8tipsautoemail_blog.jpg)](https://info.rightideacreative.com/8-tips-for-email-campaign-success)   Automotive email campaigns are more important now than they ever have been. Email usage is growing each year and the ability to grab potential customers through an email campaign is better than ever! Car buying customers typically come in cycles so it is important to always be generating content and valuable information for your customers. Here are some tips to a more successful auto email campaign. [Read More](https://info.rightideacreative.com/8-tips-for-email-campaign-success) 0 Comments [Click here to read/write comments](https://info.rightideacreative.com/8-tips-for-email-campaign-success#comments-listing) Topics: [Tips From Right Idea](https://info.rightideacreative.com/topic/tips-from-right-idea), [Automotive](https://info.rightideacreative.com/topic/automotive), [Email Marketing](https://info.rightideacreative.com/topic/email-marketing) ## [4 Ways Your Internet Sales Staff Can Get better Customer Engagement](https://info.rightideacreative.com/4-ways-your-internet-sales-staff-can-get-better-customer-engagement) Posted by [Clark Rutledge](https://info.rightideacreative.com/author/clark-rutledge) on 9/29/15 1:37 PM - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) **1) Video Walkarounds** [Read More](https://info.rightideacreative.com/4-ways-your-internet-sales-staff-can-get-better-customer-engagement) 0 Comments [Click here to read/write comments](https://info.rightideacreative.com/4-ways-your-internet-sales-staff-can-get-better-customer-engagement#comments-listing) Topics: [Tips From Right Idea](https://info.rightideacreative.com/topic/tips-from-right-idea), [Internet Sales](https://info.rightideacreative.com/topic/internet-sales) ## [The Money Machine:  Sell More With Your Website](https://info.rightideacreative.com/how-right-leads-works) Posted by [Clark Rutledge](https://info.rightideacreative.com/author/clark-rutledge) on 3/12/15 9:22 AM - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) Over 80% of Automotive Shoppers use dealership websites to gather information as they do their research.  Take advantage of that web traffic and turn it into showroom buyers. Right Leads is our dealer lead generation solution that dramatically increases demand by incentivizing your most serious car shoppers. [Read More](https://info.rightideacreative.com/how-right-leads-works) 0 Comments [Click here to read/write comments](https://info.rightideacreative.com/how-right-leads-works#comments-listing) Topics: [Internet Sales](https://info.rightideacreative.com/topic/internet-sales), [Automotive](https://info.rightideacreative.com/topic/automotive), [Website Optimization](https://info.rightideacreative.com/topic/website-optimization) [Previous](https://info.rightideacreative.com/author/clark-rutledge/page/1) [All posts](https://info.rightideacreative.com/all) ### Subscribe to Email Updates ### Recent Posts ### Posts by Topic - [Automotive (16)](https://info.rightideacreative.com/topic/automotive) - [Digital Marketing (15)](https://info.rightideacreative.com/topic/digital-marketing) - [Online Presence (15)](https://info.rightideacreative.com/topic/online-presence) - [Social Media (15)](https://info.rightideacreative.com/topic/social-media) - [Automotive Strategy (11)](https://info.rightideacreative.com/topic/automotive-strategy) - 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