How does it go? As one door closes another one opens right?
But what if it didn’t need to be like that? What if you could consistently and predictively, know and understand your customers on a deeper, physiological level, to always keep that door open to more customers than you thought possible.
In this post, I will explain the #1 asset that any salesperson or automotive dealership needs to utilize in order to make repeated profitable sales every month and I will give you some tips on how to take your business to the next level and keep up with your competitors.
Your Most Valuable Asset
Statistics show that 96% of all businesses fail within the first 10 years, with 80% failing within the first two. But even the 4% that make it aren’t necessarily successful or profitable; it just means they’ve survived.
So then why do such few businesses grow and become profitable? The difference is the dedication and drive of the company’s leaders to sharpen and apply the skills that matter. And the number one skill? being able to produce revenue.
Now, I know you’ve heard this before. But the truth is that repeated, profitable sales are the lifeblood of your business. The oxygen. Without them, your business will die.
If you want to become a successful business person, you need to think like one. These high achieving companies only invest in assets that provide them with a profitable return.
And THE most valuable asset is that which is nonrenewable, our time.
The smart and wealthy look at how they can take more off their plate and invest their time into things that make them money referred to as “Highly Leveraged Activates”.
So, here’s the bottom line: Being busy is not the same as being productive. Our lives are full of distractions and it’s hard to stay focused when your business consists of hundreds of micro tasks and millions of voices screaming for your attention.
Let me ask you a question, and be honest: does your business suffer from the following symptoms?
- Do you wonder where your next customer will come from?
- Are you overwhelmed or overworked with trivial activities which aren’t making you money?
- Are you not focusing on high yielding revenue producing activities?
- Are you trading your time for money and not earning your true value?
- Are your competitors with inferior products and services seeing more success than you and stealing your market share?
If you answered YES to any of these, remember, the market does not pay you for creating the best product or having the best customer service, it comes your ability solve your customer’s problems. To understand your customer’s needs, desires, fears, hopes and dreams and to sell them the solution.
But how do you know your customer? Do you need to search their names in Facebook and see what their likes are and who’s photo they commented on? Do you need to ask your neighbours to fill out questionaries’ on what’s going on in their head?
NO! We just need to go to where our customers are.
The New Age of Attracting Automotive Customers
In today’s day in age we are seeing the biggest shift since the industrial revolution and it is that people are moving online. This is causing a fundamental change in where the attention is and where it is going.
For the first time in history, the internet is now the single source area in where advertisement targeting is happening.
“By 2020, Magna expects digital ads to make up 50 percent of all ad spending.” |
Source: MAGNA | Data for 2017 and beyond are forecasts
We just need to be where our consumers are congregating. There are now more people than ever using Facebook, Google, YouTube, WhatsApp, and Instagram.
Source: Statista and The Next Web
I know what you’re thinking… we are traditional dealership who has made things work in the past and don’t see why we need to adjust to grow.
And I’m sure you are, but times are changing and so has your audience.
In today’s market, customers are smart, well informed and in control. The days of old sales tricks are gone, buying customers want the resources to weigh their options and the knowledge to make the right decision.
Everybody is online so businesses need to converge their efforts to where their market is if they want to gain their customers attention.
This may be difficult to hear, but if you are doing everything in your power to close as many deals as possible yet coming up short every month, it may be your approach to attracting customers might need to be adapted.
Get Qualified Leads
There are several ways of growing your dealership so it is available to a new pool of customers. While walk-in’s, referrals and online traffic are a great way to develop good business relationships with customers and hopefully result in a sale, most businesses do not have the resources to grow off this customer base alone.
Automotive leads are customers that are targeted through online vehicle sales advertisements (generally on Facebook and Google platforms) who are looking for dealerships to help them solve their problems. Whether they want to sell or buy a vehicle, getting your dealerships hands on leads tailored for your business can be a great resource of interested customers who are in the market for a vehicle within your geographical area.
But not all leads are created equal. In a perfect world maybe. As leads can cost you from anywhere between $50-100/lead, getting your hands on qualified leads that fit your customer requirements is vital to maintaining a high Return on Investment (ROI).
Nurture the Deal with a CRM
While attracting the right kind of customer is a great way of increasing your chances of a sale, its only half the battle. As most customers take time to get to know your brand and trust you, any experienced car salesperson or finance manager knows how important it is to organize their business and follow-up with multiple customers so past conversations result in future deals.
A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software used properly will give you the tools to scale your business by increasing productivity and organization. While CRM features will vary depending on what business the CRM is designed for, a successful dealership’s managers should have full control over its sales team’s efficiency with performance tracking tools and analytics. Automating the sales process allows your sales team and managers to stop with consistent tedious tasks and invest more of their time into highly leveraged activates that make you more money, such as making sales calls with new leads.
If you are looking to grow the productivity and efficiency of your sales and finance team with a CRM specifically designed for dealerships using DealerTrack checkout the link here.
Conclusion
As times are changing and a global pandemic is upon us, our dealership sense of attracting business must adapt. The truth is buyers would rather buy a vehicle from the comfort of their home than risk the overwhelming feeling of the need to buy by a room full of salespeople. Investing in qualified leads managed by a CRM designed for your dealership can be the game changer you need to evolve your reach to customer’s and close more deals every month.