Most folks in the automotive industry are all too familiar with the monologue Alec Baldwin delivers to a disheartened sales team in the classic film, “Glengarry Glen Ross.”

During his speech, Baldwin shares the “ABC” philosophy — which of course stands for “Always Be Closing.” He then goes on to explain the sales competition for the month:

“First prize is a Cadillac Eldorado. Anybody wanna see second prize? Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third place is you’re fired.”

While this type of approach to sales (and running a business in general) might have made sense in the past, it is outdated, irrelevant and downright risky in 2015.

Having a website isn’t enough, much like buying a stock car won’t win you the Daytona 500. You need to create a great marketing strategy and build a powerful brand to be successful. Today, a more relevant philosophy might be “ABB” — Always Be Branding.

The biggest challenge most dealerships have today is getting more people into their showroom. Over 70 percent of the vehicle purchasing process happens online, and that’s why your brand needs to clear, relevant and consistent.

By the time a customer reaches your showroom, the purchasing process is nearing an end. Because of this major pivot in the way people purchase vehicles, it makes sense to shift your focus to where they spend most of their time: the Web.

Running a successful car dealership has become increasingly difficult as time passes. Car shoppers have more options on makes and models than ever before. They can access nearly anything they want to learn about a vehicle without stepping foot in a dealership. Auto groups are buying up single-point dealerships, and leveraging their economies of scale.

So here is the million dollar question: How do you compete in this ever-changing and hyper-competitive market?

The bad news is that there is no silver bullet. The good news is that there is a proven formula of sorts, a combination of proven strategies that many dealers have leveraged to create powerful brands and high-performing stores.

Would you like to know the formula?

I’d be happy to share it with you. It starts with taking the time to determine what you want your dealership to be when it grows up.

What do I mean by this? For the last 100 years, many dealerships survived by virtue of being tied to a strong manufacturer, and having a large Primary Market Area (PMA), which was solely theirs to represent. Because of this structure, many dealerships survived and even thrived by the virtue of just being.

Without being challenged or pushed to adapt, these stores became complacent and were not equipped to deal with the introduction of the biggest game-changing element the automotive industry has ever seen: the Internet. The glory days have come and passed, and now we’re seeing a very clear division between the best-run operations and the ones that are still just floating along.

It’s no longer enough for your dealership’s brand to be Ford, Chrysler, Toyota or Honda — you need to carve out your own brand for your dealership. Just like a teenager deciding what they want to do when they finish high school, you have some tough decisions to make.

A big part of that is going to come down to your Unique Selling Proposition (USP). And what does that really mean?

It means, “why would anyone buy from you?” With a wealth of other options out there, why should a vehicle shopper come to your dealership instead of any one of the other countless options?

If you don’t have a great answer to that question, it’s something worth putting some serious thought into. The success of your business could hinge on it.

Attend my session at the upcoming Auto Remarketing Conference in Toronto titled “Your Dealership Has an Identity Crisis” on April 20 at 10 a.m. Bring a pen and paper, you’re going to want to take some notes — after all, “Third prize is you’re fired.”

Kevin Gordon is a co-founder of Convertus, a fastgrowing automotive digital marketing agency based out of Vancouver. Contact Kevin at kgordon@convertus.com or call 888.354.6441 to see how Convertus can help you craft a winning digital marketing presence for your store.