Next Day Traffic

The first half of April 2009 has been one of the stranger ones that I have ever seen. There are some dealerships that are doing exceptionally well and enjoying solid momentum built through the first 17 days of the month. Most of those who have done this have had at least one week of advertising or direct mail in the first two weeks. Now Easter did slow things down a little bit, but sales and traffic logs show that Good Friday was rare this year and actually produced great traffic and results in 75% of the dealerships that Strong, LLC works with.  

There are some exceptions however, and don’t feel bad if your April has not gotten off to a rocket start. You have time to make up ground and we all know the last 10 days will be just as good as the first 20. Most cases of slow starts in April are regionally located and have been impacted with some stores coming off a solid and more profitable month of March than they have seen in the last 6 months. Hang in there, we are close to May.  Schools will be out and so will buyers. 

The best sales leads generally come from shoppers who provide precise information to the dealership. Good leads are crucial if you intend to contact and sell your product.

A continuous deterrent to success occurs by a lead source anxious for profit setting a low bar and gathering leads of casual shoppers, then passing the information along to dealerships.

Speak to the source representative to learn the origins of the information acquired by your dealership.

Request they demonstrate the site, and discover what inspired the customer to submit the information request.

Most new-vehicle leads come from a mixture of consumers of varying economic statures. Insist your representative only provide the most promising.

Analyze your lead management or customer-relationship management system 
and establish that most of the leads have working phone numbers, correct email addresses and other accurate information.

Once you have contacted some of the prospects, you may learn that the lead was of good quality. Usually, pleasant survey formatted calls are well-received by the consumer.

Automotive Direct Mail

While dealers enjoy getting a discount on their mail and making vendors bend over backwards to have the lowest cost. Strong subscribes to a little different of a theory. Cheapest is not always the best – and you know this. Everyone reading this blog knows you get what you pay for, lesser people bring lesser quality in their work. Having the lowest cost per piece will not create the greatest return on investment in the form of traffic.

Consider this:

• Giveaways – they cost extra, but having a $25,000 cash giveaway or a Bass Pro Shops gift card can create more traffic out of existing owners which does what mail is designed to do. Get Them Back In The Store. 

• Service Offers – pay a few cents more to have 4 color service offers printed on the back side of a letter or to add a loose insert that sits inside the envelope.Driving Service Business Still Gets Them Back In The Store.

• Envelopes – manufacturers logos, live stamps also creates more perceived value when received by customers. This will create a higher open rate which generates more impression that can Get Them Back In The Store.

• Paper Quality – again cheaper is not always better, letters from general managers that include a picture of the GM and actual signature are more personalized and have a greater feel. This leaves a better and more recognizable impression on the customer that can lead to Getting Them Back In The Store.

Email address collection and relevant messaging are the two most important factors to creating a great strategy that yields long-term success in regards to email marketing.  

     1.  Address Collection – be sure that you include all current prospects, not just your “sold” customers in your email groups for sending out news, information and offers. The only item to watch with this is customers that you have quoted a price to can get edgy if you send out a specific “ad price” or “lost leader” on a similar model to what they are buying. Nevertheless, all current prospects and logged customers need to be made a part of your outbound email communications.

     2.  Relevant Messaging – be sure that your message “fits” your audience. For instance, if you are having an offsite event or sponsoring a local charity, notify all your customers so they can be informed. However if you are sending out a $9.95 oil change message to your sales and service customers, go ahead and remove all your trucks (3/4 and 1 ton trucks) that do not apply to this offer. Keeping your message relevant and with a twist of factual information is the key to sustaining low opt out rates.

Used Car Inventory is a lot like being popular in high school. The coolest kids always have the most followers; the same is true in regards to inventory on the used car lot. The following list shows the Top 10 Best Selling Used Cars on eBay Motors over the last 6 months:

1. Ford F Series – all models
2. Ford Mustang
3. Chevrolet Corvette
4. Chevrolet Camaro 
5. BMW 3 Series
6. Jeep Wrangler
7. Honda Civic
8. Ford Econoline Van
9. Cadillac Deville/DTS
10. Honda Accord 

eBay definitely attracts niche buyers so do your homework if you plan on spending any ad dollars on eBay to drive used car traffic.

Automotive Advertising

Many people are talking about what great media value is available on the open market. Some numbers show that radio groups like Clear Channel are coming off their rates as much as 60%, just to get money on the books. In some markets, Comcast Spotlight is dumping loads of inventory as added value – bonus weight in addition to bonus spots on the same top tier programming that you are purchasing. Network stations are doing buy one get on free in some cases and offering no charge weeks to dealers who remain consistent.

So what does all this mean?
Is it a buyer’s market all the sudden?

The simple answer is yes, with one MAJOR disclaimer. You have to know what you are paying for. Spots can be bought cheaper, but you can’t always base the strength of your buy on number of spots alone. There is a reason that gross rating points, reach and frequency are included into a buy summary. The deals are real if you know the value of what you are getting.

Some people (even dealer friends of mine) are only interested in the spot count. How many spots do we have?

The question of today is – how much are we delivering with this buy?

If the media cost less and we increase our frequency for the same money, what do we stand to gain from these extra impressions?

There are some real deals out in the market in terms of media. Just be very careful as to what you are buying.

The following article is very enlightening. I do not gamble but would be willing to bet on the fact that 95% of all these stores had one thing in common: 
A weak to nonexistent Internet, or E-Commerce department.

Natural traffic you will get in your dealership simply because of where you are and what products you sell.

Owner Body Traffic exists because of the customer service and quality of work you have given to your owners.

Created Traffic is what you spend your ad dollars on (where people like me come into the picture for)

Capitalized Traffic is the number of people you are able to sell a new or used vehicle to that have begun their search either through the internet and the phone.

The dealership business model has changed forever. Customers are smarter and now better shoppers than ever. But if you aren’t thinking about the future, learn a lesson from the dealerships mentioned in this article.

WHAT IS NEXT???
 

Now is not the time to be behind the eight ball when it comes to handling internet business, or you don’t stand a chance of succeeding in tomorrow’s world. Tomorrow will be more complicated than today so you better be ready.

Read the article here:

Bad Times Chop Dealership Count
http://www.autonews.com/article/20090413/ANA06/904130347/1078

Cartoon courtesy of: http://www.aslinternet.com/support/dealer/article2.php

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. auto industry sales are expected to be equal to or slightly better in the second quarter than the first three months of the year, Toyota Motor Corp’s (7203.T) U.S. sales chief said on Wednesday.

“We will start seeing a gradual rise in car sales,” Toyota Motor Sales USA President Jim Lentz said in an interview on the sidelines of the New York Auto Show. “Recovery will be in 2010.”

Lentz said U.S. auto industry sales in April so far have been similar to March.

“We are not seeing an increase but we are also not seeing a drop-off,” he said.

Automakers reported sales approaching a 9.9 million vehicle annualized rate in March, a bump up from rates seen in the first two months of the year, but still far below the 15.1 million rate a year earlier.

The sales rate during the first quarter was 9.5 million units.

Auto industry sales could rise by at least 1 million vehicles in 2010, though demand could be boosted further in the near term if the United States adopts fleet modernization incentives, he said.

“All this will change if we see some kind of fleet modernization,” Lentz said of sales projections.

He also said that a German program that encourages owners to turn in older vehicles could be a good model for the United States to follow. The so-called scrappage program in Germany has driven that country’s sales up sharply in recent months.

In a wide-ranging interview, Lentz said Toyota has no plans at present to match the incentive programs of General Motors Corp (GM.N) and Ford Motor Co (F.N) which cover car payments in case of job loss.

“We are really listening to our dealers, and thus far they are telling us that it’s really not a discussion on the showroom floors,” Lentz said.

Automotive Direct Mail – Worked Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow

M A I L… Made An Impression Lately? From postcards to ‘desk of’ letters to multi fold newsletters, mail is performing just as well as it ever has.
 

eBlast – the ‘e’ is for effective when it’s done right. It’s time for dealers to look better than ever before and communicate in a way that does not offend and actually impresses their customers.

There are countless ways to communicate electronically and through the mailboxes of your customers. If you are not playing in either of these ways you are missing out.

The biggest word in any type of advertising right now is “REDUCTION.” From mortgages to credit card debt Americans are wanting to have reductions in their monthly payments and budgets.

As you look for effective ways to advertise and promote, you need to think about your customers and what goes through their minds when making major purchases in this economic climate. Also think about what could spur them into an accelerated buying cycle. 

REDUCTION.