Henry Hartman once said, “Success always comes when opportunity meets preparation.” Opportunity doesn’t always just come knocking on your door, so here’s the big question:
Have you properly prepared your environment to provide you with the best sales opportunities possible? – Or are you still hanging up signs and playing elevator music?
Out with the old.
It’s not uncommon for a dealership today to spend $60,000 a month on advertising to bring people in the door; in fact, it seems that potential customers are constantly bombarded with TV and radio commercials, billboards, e-commerce, and direct mailings. Studies show, however, that the returns on this type of advertising investment are less than 2% because the people receiving these forms of advertisement aren’t in the market to buy a vehicle. The hard truth is that these customers are not relevant: They aren’t in the position to buy or the timing simply isn’t right.
Wouldn’t it be nice to think outside the box and steer away from traditional forms of advertisement that tend to fall upon deaf ears? With this thinking, you can exchange wasted money on useless advertising for higher sales due to in-store messaging that is relevant. You need to put your energy into creating relevant advertising for the people who will buy. Now more than ever, it is important to seize the opportunity to entertain, inform, and engage the most important potential customer: the one standing in your showroom, sitting in your service lounge, and waiting on hold. These guests know you, like you, and trust you. Will they do more business with you?
Some of the best dealerships will have up to 70% of their floor traffic originate over the phone, and once there, they have a closing ratio of merely 20%. This leaves thousands of guests leaving your showroom, service lounge, or hanging up their phones each and every month. Did the 80% who left your store leave entertained, engaged, and informed?
In with the new.
Google released a study showing that viewers are seven times more likely to pay attention to “rich media marketing” as opposed to “static” text… those traditional forms of advertising that we see so often. The same thought process applies inside your walls. Progressive dealers around the country believe that leveraging audio and digital technology within the dealership to increase revenue opportunities by providing relevant content to the relevant audience at a relevant time will bring you results much higher than a 2% response rate for fractions of the cost.
Setting up your own private radio network is easy, with the right vendor. Keep in mind, they aren’t all created equal and just a music provider is not a solution. Listening to just music in the showroom or on hold provides no benefit to your business. I don’t care how cheap it is! The value is in the messaging. Its about relevant messaging at the ZMOT (Zero Moment of Transaction). When your guests are in a purchasing position.
