Car dealers are standing at a fork. The fork is deciding which path to take to bring their business the the next level of success and prosperity.
For some, this next level is new car sales and others it is used car sales. Yet for other dealers it may be accelerating their Fixed Operations revenue but let me suggest that all dealers are standing at a fork in the road.
The path to take at this fork in the road for many dealers is not clear.
In fact, many dealers are coming to realize that what they have been doing for the past 10, 20, or 30 years is NOT working any more.
The lack of clarity comes in many forms. One humorous theme, which is actually not funny aside from its commonality with dealers across the country, is that Dealer Principals are looking at their monthly CRM sourcing reports and wondering why their “walk-ins” and “drive-by” sales counts continue to increase while they move portions of their traditional media budgets to digital strategies.
Didn’t digital marketing promise greater accountability and tracking?
Can anyone same Amen to this phenomena? Is something broken here?
Dealers Are Standing At The Fork
If you don’t recognize you are at the fork in the road to success, can you identify with any of these statements?
- Is the car business not fun for you anymore and you are frustrated on how
to attract more traffic to your dealership without spending a ton of money. - Your website gets thousands of visitors but you convert a small amount
into leads and sales. - You can’t seem to reach the next level of Fixed ops and your not sure what
else to do besides direct mail. - You are not sure how to manage your reputation online or why it is so
important. - You’re not really sure what SEO, SEM or Social media is and you are not
sure how to implement any one of these. - You continue to buy more leads for a lot of money and you are getting very
few sales from them.
It’s Time To Make A Change
I want to thank Tracy Myers, CEO of Frank Myers Auto Maxx, for recommending Jimmy Vee and Travis Miller as keynote speakers for the 2011 Automotive Marketing Boot Camp.
Their presentation was the single most eye-opening messages that I have heard at any automotive conference in the past two years. Jimmy and Travis are the founders of www.Richdealers.com.
Their best selling book “Gravitational Marketing” should be a must read for all car dealers. But my accolades mean nothing if car dealers did not connect with their message. But they did.
Some of the most respected dealers in attendance at the Boot Camp were either clients of their firm or signed-up shortly after the conference. Why? Because these two thought leaders encouraged dealers to look at their business in a different way.
These two men made it very clear which path dealers should take for their business. At first I was not sure if their message was truly innovative but on further inspection they are truly brilliant marketers. You owe it to yourself to be able to make that judgement call.
How Are You Looking At Your Business?
- Are you a victim or a victor?
- Are you an authority on cars in your market or a just another car dealer?
- Are you leading your marketing strategy or is it outsourced to OEM approved vendors?
The message I have for dealers is to step back and be honest with their vision for their dealership. I believe the solution for deciding which fork to take is education. Dealers need to invest in education and consult with industry leaders to help guide their success, which means they have to set aside their egos.
Dealers need to feel comfortable with asking for help.
Dealers do not have to call me. They don’t have to call Jimmy or Travis. They need to admit that things are changing much faster than they can handle. They need to find people that they like and trust to lead them to the next level of success.
Outstanding Dealer Education
Where can dealers get the type of education that can lead them to the next level? Let me give you two suggestions:
1. DrivingSales Executive Summit – October 9-11th in Las Vegas.
- Premier event for Dealer Principals and Executive Managers
- The Conference Attracts World Class Thought Leaders
- Invaluable Networking With Solution Providers Not Bullshitters
- Details: http://drivingsalesexecutivesummit.com
2. PCG Pit Stop Conferences, with dates in these cities:
- June 11th and 12th Chicago
- July 9th and 10th Dallas
- July 16th and 17th Huntington Beach
- August 13th and 14th St. Louis
- September 10th and 11th Toronto
- September 17th and 18th Vancouver
To register for any regional Pit Stop Conference, visit: http://www.pcgpitstop.com . Special discounts are available for multiple employee registrations from same dealership.
The DrivingSales Executive Summit (DSES) and PCG Pit Stop conferences provide both education and access to industry leaders which is exactly what dealers need to succeed. If the ONLY input they get is from vendor sales professionals, they could be lead down the wrong fork in the road.
Closing Thoughts
- Regardless on how busy you think you are at your dealership, the MOST expensive decision you can make is limiting your direct educational exposure and getting your team out to high quality educational workshops.
- The MOST disastrous mistake you can make when creating a marketing strategy is to COPY what all the local dealers are doing.
- If running your dealership is not fun any more, call Travis and Jimmy and see how you can experience an Enjoyable, Simple & Prosperous (ESP) business once again.
You are at a fork in the road.
If you need advice on which path the take just ask. I’ll be the first to offer my personal assistance to gain that clarity that you need and there will be other on this forum that will offer assistance.
You just need to ask.
Brian
Brian Pasch, CEO
PCG Digital Marketing
http://www.pcgdigitalmarketing.com
brian@pcgdigitalmarketing.com
732.450.8200
