Next Day Traffic

Signs of the market coming back are to take a look at the “new housing starts” in your area. Population growth and census department growth calculations are something everyone who works with Strong, LLC, is pretty familiar with from our market analysis and reporting. The information shows the growth rate now projecting 2006 – 2011 for where the population is both growing and declining. What you can do to drill down further is inquire through your local city or county planning commission at the number of new housing starts year to date on a monthly basis. Compare what you are looking at this year to identical months to date from previous years and this will be a very good indicator of how soon your so called market will be back.  
 
This isn’t the only indicator and I don’t want you to think it is but in a week when we are going through a positive news cycle, you need to check the facts and this is one way that you can do so.

Internet Advertising
 
As noted in Automotive News – March 16th 2009 – page 30. Web sites now need to be compatible and designed to convert to sizing for iPhone and Smart Phones. With more and more people shopping on weekends, the need to pull out a laptop or go home to check another price is over. You could even have people checking another dealers inventory and getting a price quoted to them online while standing in your dealership! Just makes you sick to think about, you spend the advertising money to bring traffic to your lot, to your dealership and they are shopping you while they sit their taking your salespersons time and effort.  
 
So here is the solution: 

Make sure that your website provider has apps that allow your site to be compatible for a iPhone / Smart Phone in order to make your site most accessible to all who surf the web. That way you are more likely to have people shopping you from another dealers lot than vice versa.  

Internet traffic seems to drop off on the weekend in most stores because that is when people who have been shopping all week are out doing their legwork. Make sure you are doing everything you can to catch all web traffic as possible and make everything they find easy to navigate.

 Call John Paul Strong today:  205.908.9200
 Email John Paul Strong today:  johnpaul@strongthinking.com
 Visit Strong’s website:  www.strongthinking.com

Automotive Advertising – Change Your Thinking 


After reading so much about ‘mall anchors and stores’ closing down, I am of the opinion, “all of the hype and pressure to take people to websites may have played a role in developing a shopping pattern that kept people at home on keyboards.”
 


I think dealers need to keep an eye on where they direct their shopper.


There’s no doubt about the success of the internet at dealerships that know how to work it, but many in our industry are settling for “that’s just the way it is.” Now I don’t know what percentage of vehicles are delivered to ‘homes and offices’ for shoppers to test drive, but I would think it is minimal at this point. The majority of vehicle sales will still be completed at the dealership.

My suggestion to complete this thought is ‘Dealership Directed’ creative:

Direct mail where coming to the dealership is an absolute must, there is no advantage to shopping online. Advertising that pushes pricing so low it will not be shown during this TV commercial or online… “Dealership Direct Pricing on a special shipment of new Toyotas that takes savings to the highest level in the history of this company, as 48 Camrys and 39 Corollas have been parked in a separate display area.” 
 
 

This is not new thinking, but may be right thinking for what is going on – how do you get people to the dealership? Subtle, not a sell-out of Internet advertising at all, but blatant effort to bring people to the lot with something ‘too good to be true”!

If internet business is now being called the low hanging fruit, then in order to grow and grow fast, you are going to have to set your sights and reach a little higher. Demand people come to your dealership for a once in a lifetime opportunity and at least 1% of them will probably show up. If your advertising is being placed properly – then this percent should be enough to see a sizeable return on your investment.

 Call John Paul Strong today:  205.908.9200
 Email John Paul Strong today:  johnpaul@strongthinking.com
 Visit Strong’s website:  www.strongthinking.com

They say EVERYTHING’S BIGGER IN TEXAS and I believe they are right. Dealerships are BIGGER, the trucks get BIGGER, even the people look BIGGER. But the one thing that stands out are the dealership signs, and point of sale materials at some of these ginormous showrooms.  
 
Neon signs, streamers, banners from one end of a front lot to the other. Painted URL addresses on the side of a body shop, larger than life posters in a showroom, light pole signs. This is the territory for promoters and like none other you see in the country.  
 
Kind of a wakeup call to all in our industry (and to the guy who still has a Toyotathon Banner in his showroom from December, or a Chevy Presidents Day Sale Banner up from February). Dress your physical space for success and success may come knocking.  
 
People like to do business where business is being done. Make sure you look like you are open or business may pass you by.

 Call John Paul Strong today:  205.908.9200
 Email John Paul Strong today:  johnpaul@strongthinking.com
 Visit Strong’s website:  www.strongthinking.com

An individual Chevrolet dealer decides to order heavy in pickup trucks 
and create exclusive options packages that cannot be found at the competition. 
...some people have forgotten the old school tactic of creating vehicles 
that have a higher perceived value based on the fact that these are exclusive 
to a particular dealer and cannot be found elsewhere.

Sure some people will shop you and get a better price on a less equipped vehicle, but what about those customers who turn their mindset away from price and immediately start imaging their new vehicle and their own customization of it.

The great thing about this is it generally happens while they are standing in the showroom and that euphoric state of buying a vehicle takes over.

The other great thing is you drive more parts business by selling and installing these option items.

“Kill Two Birds with One Stone” – 
create something exclusive which separates you from other dealers and increase your parts sales.

Makes sense to me.

 Call John Paul Strong today:  205.908.9200
 Email John Paul Strong today:  johnpaul@strongthinking.com
 Visit Strong’s website: www.strongthinking.com

When Strong, LLC, creative director Dennis Johnson proposed the idea of cost-cutting for a local Honda dealership – by putting the dealer’s two sons, Ben & Patrick Brannon, on TV as spokespeople, my first reaction was, “Yeah, right.” One of the hardest things to do in automotive advertising is launch a successful on-camera talent campaign. Maybe working with a few “bad” dealers in recent years has left a bad taste in my mouth – you know the type, the dealer who listens to his wife complain that he looks better in his black suit, not the blue one – or his hair looks grey in this month’s commercial… (Anyone who has ever shot on camera talent knows what I am talking about.)

After listening to Dennis for about 10 minutes and watching a video of Ben and Patrick that was shot with syndicated radio talk show hosts, “Rick & Bubba”, I thought more favorably of the idea. We had planned on launching a female spokesperson for their Honda Dealership here in Birmingham, Alabama, in the second quarter of ‘09, but I doubted the reality of this based on what it would cost them to hire such talent.

So then came the sale… 

In a mid-February advertising meeting, where the Rick & Bubba video was shown to them for the first time, I hit them with the idea: “Save money and launch the Brannon Brothers as the ‘face’ of the dealership.” After all, that is what I told them their dealership needed when I met them in May of ‘08. Tom Brannon (the dealer) thought the idea was great, while I believe the brothers were still a little skeptical. In the end we all agreed it was time to hit the airwaves and make some noise in the second quarter!

The creative planning began and the idea to use a “white psych” (white background) was the ultimate aspect of differentiation. This would give the Ben and Patrick separation from all the “bad on-camera talent” that has flooded the Birmingham market for years.

You have to tip your hat to two guys who can execute their first-ever commercial in the manner that that they do. Leadership in any You have to tip your hat to two guys who can execute their first-ever commercial in the manner that that they do. Leadership in any organization is the greatest commodity you can have. Ben and Patrick have definitely demonstrated it in theirs.

…The man, “Dr. J” (that is our creative director, Dennis Johnson) has done it in mine.

 Call John Paul Strong today:  205.908.9200
 Email John Paul Strong today:  johnpaul@strongthinking.com
 Visit Strong’s website: www.strongthinking.com

Toyota Dealer Advertising

Use your Parts & Service co-op dollars to good use. In the second quarter set a plan to mail all your customers both sales and service with the “Spring Specials” or some type of price leader offers in order to create service traffic in April, May and June.

Remember, April can sometimes be a slow starter of a month so sending out 10,000 to 40,000 cheap mailers to all your customers is not a bad idea. You stand to get more traffic off a $9.95 oil change than you do a $16,995 Camry and if you are prepared to upsell – you can make it rain (green rain) on your service dept.

 Call John Paul Strong today:  205.908.9200
 Email John Paul Strong today:  johnpaul@strongthinking.com
 Visit Strong’s website: www.strongthinking.com

Spring has sprung and you know what that means. Get ready for those pump passing, penny-pinching hybrid customers. Get the green machines frontline ready, don’t hide them on the back lot. Toyota has new hybrids coming with the new Prius in May, Honda has the new Insight, Ford has hybrid technology to display and so does Chevrolet.

Get ready for the Green on the Pre-Owned front as well and you will be ahead of most.

 Call John Paul Strong today:  205.908.9200
 Email John Paul Strong today:  johnpaul@strongthinking.com
 Visit Strong’s website: www.strongthinking.com

There has always been something that makes me wonder why Nissan customers are different than that of Honda and Toyota. Even though they are all import intenders – Nissan owners seem to respond directly to a dealerships advertising when targeting directly back through your owner base.

The 1st Quarter of ’09 is not a barnburner for any manufacturer – but Nissan has very aggressive lease programs and from our dealerships we are seeing great returns month after month in the form of direct contact either through mail and email.

Remember your customers are the core of your business – especially if you are a Nissan dealer.

 Call John Paul Strong today:  205.908.9200
 Email John Paul Strong today:  johnpaul@strongthinking.com
 Visit Strong’s website: www.strongthinking.com

Automotive Advertising
 
Without question there has been quite a bit of turn over in our industry, especially with dealership sales personnel. Several of my close dealer friends have asked and here is the best info I have on hiring more. 

Before I give you my list of “Do’s” for you to borrow for all time – 
here is the major “DON’T”:

“DO NOT PLACE AN AD FOR SALESPEOPLE
IN YOUR SUNDAY CLASSIFIED PAPER
AND EXPECT ANYONE UNDER 50 TO SHOW UP.” 
Avoid the overpriced newspaper like the plague, ‘oh captain of cost cutting’.

• Online Classifieds – maybe the local newspaper can cut a rate for a 30 day ad on their online network, should be much cheaper than printing in the paper – all major markets have these Houston, New York, Orlando, Atlanta, Charlotte 

• monster.com – packages for 30 days start just over $200

• AUTOjobs.com – packages available for 30-60 days can help find higher-level staff 

• careerbuilder.com – mostly will find younger / greener people but still well qualified 

If you are trying to run a cattle call and hire an enormous amount of people, put on a local job fair. Get help and sponsorship from local media outlets but herd them in – get the ones you want, and send the rest away.

 Call John Paul Strong today:  205.908.9200
 Email John Paul Strong today:  johnpaul@strongthinking.com
 Visit Strong’s website: www.strongthinking.com