Who wants to be more like a car dealer?
We sure do!
You probably hesitated to respond just now, and we can understand that. Very likely, the image that your brain conjured up was one of a red-faced used car salesman in a checkered suit trying to sweet talk you into a deal. That’s the old-school car dealer however. The new ones have been forced to adapt and change with the times and they look very different. They’ve become less salesy and more tech savvy.
Despite popular belief, car dealers are selling on slimmer margins than ever before and often times sell cars at a loss because of fierce competition. Those that have survived have had to maximize their use of digital and relationship marketing to continue to find more and more sales, and today we’ll share everything that you as a small business owner can learn from them!
5 Lessons we can all learn from car dealers:
- Adapt to what’s new: When your industry gets turned on its head by an economic collapse, you have to adapt to new models and new markets. You have to take time to understand all of the ways that people find you and adopt those channels. This is how dealerships have shifted away from radio ads and TV spots to a digital-first approach via e-commerce stores, eBay and Craigslist listings, online review sites, and digital ads.
You’ll know that you’re in danger of falling behind if you catch yourself saying, “I don’t believe in this (insert new technology here) thing.” The internet was also once just a flash-in-the-pan trend, but look at it now!
- Use your Google business listing: Local advertising is all of the rage because when consumers look for local services, they type in a keyword like “plumbing, roofing, or painting” along with the name of their city. Google now responds to those queries with a map and a list of local businesses as the top result. As 91.5% of people never look beyond the first page of results, you should create your Google page to be listed there! Car dealers know this and spend plenty of time on their Google Business profiles.
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Manage your reviews: Car dealers know that today, word of mouth means something different than it did twenty years ago. We’ve moved beyond simply asking for recommendations from close friends and family members and 88% of consumers trust social recommendations from mere acquaintances. Car dealers thus know that the best way to build trust (and that’s been plenty lacking the public perception of car dealerships) is to deliver great service and actively ask happy customers for great reviews! The Better Business Bureau (BBB) will even let you respond to and resolve complaints to clean up
your history!
Here are a few of the top ones to pay attention to:
- BBB
- Yelp
- TripAdvisor
- Direct Mail Reminders: Top car salesman know that it’s still all about the relationship and the most lucrative deals are from repeat customers. A young couple buying a car isn’t a one-time win: it’s the potential to also sell a minivan and then several used sedans when the kids are old enough to get behind the wheel. Savvy car salesman also know that they can fully automate this process of keeping in touch so that they can focus on prospecting, which is why they rely heavily on digital direct mail which sends automatic postcards on people’s birthdays or the “birthday” of the car. It keeps you top of mind for little additional effort.
- Go for the referrals: Even in this day and age, car dealers still focus on referral business. They know that the quality of any given lead varies dramatically depending on its source and the highest quality ones are still direct recommendations. Good car dealerships do more than just provide a business card: They close out their transactions (whether you buy or not) by asking if you know three people looking to buy car and ask for an introduction. If they provided great service and can offer a deal, that’s something you can pass along to a friend to help them save money. It’s a winning cycle of value, and you should be doing this with all of your customers. Always ask for three referrals!
Learning to deal like a dealership
The car dealers that are thriving are leveraging more than just one of these tactics: they’re using all of them! They are listening carefully to how customers are finding them so that they can optimize their online profiles, they’re curating their reviews, and they’re asking for referrals to maximize the value of each customer interaction. All of these are equally potent for your business and they’re great reminders of what you should be doing to get the word out and attract more sales!
Ready to begin on the easiest and quickest wins?
Go to Google to open your business listing, log into the BBB’s website to register your business and see your reviews, and set up automatic postcard reminders for your client’s birthdays and holidays to keep in touch and leverage the long-term relationship!
Need help getting up to speed?
Nobody can get you from 0 to 60 faster than Opportunity Knocks – they’re a top-caliber agency that’s like adding turbo-fuel to your marketing mix. Just tell them how many new customers you want and watch
them work!