There are two main ways to grow your auto dealership. The first is through growing your brand and getting it recognised in your local community and state-wide. The second and most obvious way is to increase your sales. After all, sales are the bread and butter of any dealership. The more vehicles you sell, the more revenue the dealership brings in, the more your brand gets recognised and the bigger you will grow. Here we look at five of the most effective strategies to get your dealership more sales. Some of these strategies you may already have implemented in your dealership but some you may not. These are proven methods to help you realise what areas your dealership is currently excelling in and which areas it can improve.
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Offer Added Incentives
Traditionally when someone was in the market for a new vehicle that is all they would expect to receive for their money. However, the auto dealership market has become so competitive that it’s not unusual now for dealerships to throw in extras to seal the deal with a customer. If your dealership doesn’t yet have a scheme like this in place this could be the reason why your sales aren’t growing. Some ideas for incentives that you could add to deals include free protection on aspects of the vehicle such as paint or tyres. Or even a free annual service which will increase loyalty with the customer at the same time. Adding these incentives can make the difference between a potential customers choosing your dealership over one of your competitors.
Always Revise Your Pricing
Market values for vehicles can fluctuate from week to week. The price that may seem reasonable for a vehicle one month may seem a little on the steep side the next. Each month at the very least you should spend some time with your team analysing the market to see if any of the vehicles that you currently have in your dealership need revising. The last thing you want to do is have someone who is after the exact car that you have in your showroom but they are put off immediately because your prices are not up to date or competitive. A lot of people also make decisions when buying cars by looking online so you’ll want to ensure that your pricing is always up to date on your website and social media channels and that you are constantly making sure that you are ahead of the curve and stocking cars that are in demand. This also ties in nicely with the last strategy on this list which is to keep an eye on your inventory of vehicles and to streamline the procurement/selling process.
Expand Your Availability
There is no set date or time where people will decide to go out shopping for a new vehicle. Being open from just Monday to Friday can hinder your ability to increase your sales. With many people working office hours from Monday to Friday you are limiting potential customers being able to come down and check out the vehicles that you currently have for sale. Instead, ensure that your dealership is operating 7 days a week. You may even find that you have an increase primarily on weekends when the majority of people will be off work and will be using this downtime to go and have a look for their new vehicle. You may not need the full staff roster that you usually have during the week however, it may be worth having a few sales reps on board to accommodate the needs of any prospective customers that happen to come into your showroom during this time.
Entice People into Your Dealership
You want your dealership to look welcoming and engaging. You don’t want it to look and feel like a corporate office. You want it to look like a place people want to come into to have a chat with you. It’s for this reason that you should review and prioritise the décor and ‘comfort and welcoming factor’ of your showroom. Attractive promotional decorations for your dealership such as windshield numbers, flags, and balloons will help create a welcoming environment that will entice those either driving or walking past to come in and have a look. Setting the foundations for potential customers to be able to browse comfortably in your showroom and having designated comfortable and private areas where customers can get their questions answers and talk about more sensitive issues like price, finance and the package itself is essential to closing the sale. If you are in need of high quality, promotional décor and supplies to enhance the look of your dealership, check out MBR Marketing at https://mbrmarketing.com.
Always Revise Your Inventory
Take a look at the vehicles that you’re stocking in your dealership. Those that hang around for ages with minimal interest may point to the fact that you’re not stocking the right vehicles. It may be worth carrying out some consumer market research to find out exactly what the public wants or what’s ‘on-trend’. Also, pay attention tothe vehicles that are going out of the door before they’ve come in. Is there a trend? Do they share something in common? Taking the time to perform this market research means that you can accommodate the needs of potential consumers and it also saves you wasting space in your dealership with cars just gathering dust.
In Summary
You need to transform your dealership into a place that members of the public want to come into- open, welcoming and engaging. The days are gone where the trend was to have an environment looking purely like a corporate sales showroom. You also need to utilise the tools at your disposal such as the ability to analyse both the market and your competitor’s pricing so that you can stay ahead of the curve. You may also want to start expanding the number of services that you offer to your customers so that you turn yourself from a dealership that only sells and buys vehicles to one that is a one-stop-shop for any vehicle-related needs.
