How have your dealership’s sales been this year? If you said “better than expected”, you’re in the same boat as many dealerships in the country.
Industry experts predict that U.S. auto sales per dealership may climb to a record in 2012. Annual sales per dealer will increase to an estimated 805 vehicles from a previous estimate of 785, with an annual sales estimate of 14.3 million vehicles. The previous record was 784 per dealer in 2005.
What is the reason behind the numbers? One is that automakers have kept their networks relatively flat, meaning that existing dealerships have the opportunity to take advantage of increased sales volumes. Dealers are making a profit for the first time in more than three years without having to rely on their service departments to do so.
Another element that’s fueling sales is an increase in pickup truck sales. Experts believe that people who are buying trucks need them, and have put off buying them for a long time.
NADA points to new-vehicle incentives and rebates as well as declining prices on used vehicles as a couple factors that will contribute to this increase as the summer comes to an end. Reports show that August sales thus far matched July’s pace and could go even higher.
To make sure that your dealership is cashing in on the uptick in sales as much as your competition probably is, use your advertising to push not only manufacturer incentives, but also your used car inventory.
Having trouble getting your message out there? Contact us – we know exactly how to get the numbers you’re looking for!
By: Yasmine Syed
Information and communication technology users are as diverse as the range of technology available today. The Pew Research Center’s “Internet & American Life Project” divides technology users into two core groups: “Motivated by Mobility” and “Stationary Media Majority”.
The “Motivated by Mobility” group comprises 39% of the adult population. Their frequency of online use is growing as their reliance on mobile devices continues to increase. This group is made up of individuals who hold positive and improving attitudes towards mobile access and how it facilitates their availability to others. The “Stationary Media Majority” group is comprised of the remaining 61% of the adult population. These individuals are not enamored by the “always-connected” lifestyle. They are characterized by low-level usage of mobile apps and experience difficulty acclimating to new gadgetry.
Hallmarks of the “Motivated by Mobility” group are varied and are broken down into five sub-categories including: Digital Collaborators (8%), Ambivalent Networkers (7%), Media Movers (7%), Roving Nodes (9%) and Mobile Newbies (8%). Digital Collaborators are mostly male, in their late-thirties, affluent and educated. They enthusiastically use their tech assets to share and connect with others. Ambivalent Networkers are primarily male, in their late twenties, and are ethnically diverse. They use their tech assets to text, participate in social networking and for entertainment. At the same time, they fear that their devices may become increasingly intrusive and feel that it is necessary to take periodic breaks from online use and digital consumption.
Media Movers are mostly male, in their mid-thirties, have children and are middle class. Their online and media habits are varied and they share digital content (i.e. photos). Roving Nodes are the female counterpart to Digital Collaborators; they are mostly women, in their late-thirties, affluent and educated. They use their mobile devices to manage their social and work lives, they use a wide-range of mobile apps, send email, send texts, and use their mobile devices to enhance personal productivity. Mobile Newbies are mainly women in their late forties and early fifties who have lower education and income levels than Roving Nodes. They don’t have very many tech assets and cite that their most used asset is their mobile phone because it helps makes them more available.
The “Stationary Media Majority” group can also be broken down into five sub-categories including: Desktop Veterans (13%), Drifting Surfers (14%), Information Encumbered (10%), The Tech Indifferent (10%) and Off the Network (14%). Desktop Veterans are mainly men, in their mid-forties, affluent and educated. Because this groups skews older, they are content to use their desktop computers and high-speed wired connection to explore the web, connect with friends and family via social media, while allowing their mobile phones to take a backseat. Drifting Surfers are primarily women, in their early-forties, middle class and have average education levels. They have desktop computers and mobile phones but are infrequent online users. They use technology as a basic information-gathering tool and could forgo using the Internet entirely if given the option.
Information Encumbered individuals are two-thirds male, in their early fifties, have an average education and are middle-lower income level. Most individuals in this group feel that they experience information overload on a daily basis and although, they have cell phones, feel that technology is becoming increasingly intrusive. They are largely indifferent to technology and could easily dispense with it altogether. Off the Network individuals are, largely, low-income senior women and are predominately African American. Members of this group have neither cells phones, nor computers or internet access.
The project findings imply that many Americans are deepening their relationship with and dependence on digital resources and tech assets, while others stay stagnant in their consumption of digital resources and tech assets. Both of these groups will undoubtedly ask themselves and others, ‘How did I ever live without a cell phone?” A small percentage of Americans are content to keep technology on the periphery of their lives. They stand in stark contrast to the ever-increasing “Motivated by Mobility” group, whose demand for more and more online content is palpable.
What does this mean for your dealership? In terms of marketing, it means that it’s still important to maintain traditional avenues of publicity, such as radio and television commercials and newspaper ads. These are necessary to reach the portion of Americans who shun technology or still use traditional media to gather information. However, the growing number of people who seek information digitally means that a failure to provide online content is more costly than in the past. Soon, a lack of digital presence could spell disaster for your dealership.
By: Jenn Mayer
I have to admit I am late to the foursquare game. Although the app was first launched in 2009, I have only recently joined. After moving away from my hometown earlier this year, I was forced to learn the ins and outs of a new state, new city, and a new neighborhood. foursquare became my ultimate tool for discovery.
foursquare (that’s right, it is not capitalized) is a free app that allows you to share with your friends where you are, tips about your favorite places, and helps you discover new places in your area. foursquare gives you personalized recommendations and deals based on where you, your friends, and people with your same taste have been. The app has also recently undergone a makeover, giving it a simpler look and making it more user-friendly.
foursquare allowed me to discover coffee shops, restaurants, nail salons, and more. If it was lunchtime and I was hungry, I would simply type in “lunch”, and foursquare would search the tips and check-ins that had been logged around my current location to suggest places I should try for lunch. This is different, and possibly more effective then using Google, because foursquare was able to more accurately search around where I was, and also took into account how popular the places around me were. Now, I am addicted to checking into my location on foursquare. Not only do I get points, badges and mayorships that encourage me to keep using the app, my past check-ins help to shape my recommendations.
So, how can your dealership use foursquare to enhance business and marketing? First, you must encourage people to check-in when they visit your dealership. One way to do that is to offer a deal. Many businesses offer discounts to patrons who check in at their location. You could offer a free oil change, or even a discount for someone who checks in and signs a purchase agreement on a new vehicle that same day. People will be encouraged to check in and thus make your dealership a more popular place in the area.
You can also encourage employees and customers to leave a tip, or some advice, about your dealership. For example, you can post any specials you have going on, whether you offer free refreshments in your waiting area, or even the best sales people to work with. When people search for your dealership using the app, they’ll see the great things about shopping there and will be more likely to stop in.
As with all advertising and social media campaigns, foursquare must be interacted with regularly. If no one has checked in recently, or if the last tip is from six months ago, the value is lost. Encourage your employees and customers to download and use foursquare and watch its positive effect on business! Take it from me; I’m the mayor of Potratz on foursquare!
“Branding” is a term heard all over the advertising industry, but what does it mean? Simply put, it’s the way you want others to view your dealership. It’s providing potential customers with the understanding of what you represent. Branding is important because it’s an opportunity to provide an image of your dealership; it’s what can help make you recognizable.
This sounds simple enough right? Not exactly. It’s not just enough to come up with an idea of what your brand means, it’s developing a complete campaign that resonates this brand image to viewers throughout everything you do. You must ensure that the image you provide remains a constant through all forms of media – traditional, digital, social, and so on.
Websites, especially social media sites, provide a great opportunity to tell your customers who you are. Provide these details in web panels, status updates, tweets, blogs, etc, keeping in mind that each of these elements should reflect your dealership’s “personality”. You might think that this is distracting from your efforts to sell cars, but in fact this a tried and true way to increase sales. It’s important to showcase more than just current vehicle specials. Show visitors how you helped the local school raise money in a food drive, or how you volunteered at the local humane society. This helps make you more than just another dealership to potential customers, and therefore makes you have a deeming quality that makes you more memorable. Why would you want to be memorable? I think the answer is obvious, don’t you? If you’re memorable, when someone thinks ‘I need to buy a new car’, they’ll think of your dealership, and possibly buy their next vehicle from you. If you don’t stand out, they might not remember you and might not go to your dealership for their next car.
Are you ready to stand out in your local community as more than just a dealership? Contact us now, to get the ball rolling on branding your dealership!
By: Matthew Klein
In the last installment, I discussed the importance of pre-production and how it, when played out effectively, positively plays into the rest of your production. This time, I’ll be discussing what it’s like to actually be working on a production set. I’ll go over some of the quick dos, don’ts, tips and tricks about the exciting life on set.
DO’S and DONT’S ON SET and HOW TO MAKE THE CREW LOVE YOU:
I’ve been on a bevy of sets, and it’s always funny to me how, despite the fact that everyone always seems to have their own little of bag of tricks to employ, there’s a quiet syntax of behaviors that are widely appreciated across any crew on any production. Below is a small list of the things you should probably be doing if you’re working on a set, no matter what your job may be.
1) Be Aware – BE VERY AWARE: Safety is a #1 priority on any set, and usually the key grip is considered the ‘Sheriff of Safetytown”. But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be doing your part to make sure you don’t end up tripping over a cable, or getting your eye poked out by a C-Stand. So stay alert and be sure to pay attention, as things can get rather hectic.
2) Coil-ing All Cables: In an age when everything wireless – the film/video set has yet to make this leap. This becomes apparent when one takes into account ALL of the pesky cables that get left all over the ground during a shoot (your light cables, power strips, extension cords, sash-rope, ratchet straps and bungie cords – man, it is a JUNGLE out there). All it takes is one P.A. to stumble over an extension cord and down a flight of stairs into the basement furnace to end the whole show for everyone. A great way to prevent this is coiling cables! If you’re standing around, and you notice that the floor is riddled with random cables/wires all over the place, help wrangle those suckers! You can use the over-under method of cable-wrapping (http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/flipcoil/howto.html) or simply tidy them up as best you can! If you’re a best-boy grip, P.A., or anyone authorized to do so, you can also use gaffer’s tape to tape the cables to the floor so people are less likely to trip over them. This simple act greatly reduces risk, and is totally worth the effort.
3) Put Things Back: The larger your shoot, the more things you need to bring with you. Props, costumes, equipment, office supplies, computers, printers, paint, your camera lenses, de-glossing spray, sound blankets, batteries, coffee, coffee, more coffee, lots and lots of coffee and things related to coffee. As you can see, the sheer magnitude of ‘stuff’ that gets brought to set can be staggering. It can be seemingly endless. In the fast-paced world of production, organization is crucial, and more than often the most innocent of mistakes or misplacements can RUIN a shoot. One example: a tripod plate. You know, the little plate that holds the camera on the tripod? It’s this teeny little thing, but guess what? If someone loses that, NO MORE TRIPOD! And if you don’t have extras around, guess who is holding the camera for the next six hours? You got it, an infuriated camera operator who wants you fired – stat. So, moral of the story here is, if you use an item, ALWAYS return it to where it originally was. Simple lesson, but often ignored.
4) Stage Your Equipment: Many people don’t realize that when a crew gets to a set the first thing they do is unload and ‘stage’ their equipment before doing anything else. Basically, ‘staging’ is when you prepare every item of equipment as much as you possibly can without actually using it. That means every single light stand gets set up. Mic packs are fitted with new batteries. A charging station is set up for all of the walkie-talkies. Gels are set out and labeled. Each camera is prepared and rigged. Dolly tracks get lubricated. For the best way to tackle how to stage equipment, I would recommend researching how grips prepare their equipment for a production day! There are tons of videos on the web about this. Even C-Stands have a particular way of being ‘soldiered’ (large nuts on the right, small on the left, and stack them right next to each other so the larger legs overlay the smaller legs). This might seem rather silly, but when the sun is setting and you’re going to lose thousands of dollars in budget if you don’t get this ‘ONE LAST EPIC SHOT’ taking five seconds to grab a properly staged C-stand as opposed to taking two minutes to find and then stage one makes a world of difference to your crew.
5) Mission – Make Everyone’s Job Easier: In the end, you’ll notice that a reoccurring theme of the previous 4 tips has been ‘look out for your crew and try to help things move along as smoothly as possible’. This brings me to the most important thing I was ever told while working on a set, by the Key Set PA for the movie Unstoppable. He told me that with any job on set the point should be ‘to make everyone else’s job easier’. Adopting that policy translates to the people around you, and your crew will surely notice when you’re going out of your way to help, do your job, and lighten the load for them as well. Surely, they’ll be doing the same for you.
So there you have it! There are many more tips I could provide, but I find that these basic five are the most important and effective when working on a production crew. Blunders are avoided, and progress is influenced. Plus, the crew will love you.
In the next installment, I’ll be going over the basics of post-production. Until then, thanks for reading!
By: Nick Yocono
You may have heard that you can’t have your cake and eat it, too. But that may not be true, at least when it comes to your new car’s engine.
With gas prices continuing to rise, manufacturers have shifted away from the big engines in favor of smaller engines that produce improved mileage. At the same time, consumers don’t want to lose the power they were accustomed to getting from previous models. So, how do manufacturers give consumers the best of both worlds?
Ford has responded to this new demand with “Ecoboost”. These new engines boast the same specs in horsepower and torque as their bigger displacement opponents, but with much improved mileage and emissions. Ford is not the only one doing this either, other companies have also started utilizing this engine setup, under different names, for their new models. So what is the secret?
The answer is quite simple: turbochargers. A Turbocharger uses exhaust gasses to spin its turbine and suck more air into the engine. That, along with more fuel, will create bigger explosions in the cylinder and therefore more power will be generated. A Ford F-150 equipped with an “Ecoboost” engine has a twin-turbocharged V6 instead of the traditional V8. What the turbocharger allows the engine to do is act like a V6 and get mileage similar to one while driving around. Most of the time you don’t need full power from the engine, such as when you’re maintaining your speed or during deceleration. When you actually do need some power, the turbocharger can spool up and provide that extra boost in power to make the engine perform similarly to a V8. This equates to a engine that will get better mileage and perform the same as a bigger, naturally aspirated, competitor.
Engines similar to Ford’s “Ecoboost” are being used in various new cars. Dodge recently released its new Dart, which on certain models, comes equipped with a 1.4L MultiAir Turbo engine option. The Chevrolet Cruze is equipped with a 1.4L Turbo “Ecotec” engine option. Even luxury manufacturer BMW has switched out the inline six in their 3 series base models for 2.0L Turbo engines. These cars all boast similar performance with much improved mileage to their predecessors.
Fuel mileage is the name of the game when it comes to selling cars in today’s market. Each year more and more small engine turbos show up on the market. If you’re in the market for a new vehicle that gets better mileage than the one you drive now, be on the lookout for setups like these.
By: Felicia Mahabeer
Social media opportunities are everywhere these days, and they continue to soar in popularity. One social media trend that can benefit your dealership is location-based applications.
For anyone not familiar, location–based applications allow users to find and “check-in” at various spots and share that information with those in their network. For example, you could check in at a restaurant on Facebook. The people in your Facebook network could then see that you are there and “like” or “comment” on your activity. You could also include what you’re doing as part of your “check-in” (Dinner with family, for example) or post your opinion of the restaurant, i.e, “Appetizers were great”. In the case of your dealership, a user could check in when they are there shopping for a new vehicle, getting service, or ordering parts. Everyone in their network will see your dealership, and your customer could express how great their experience was for their entire network to see. When it comes to sharing your location information, there are many platforms equipped with built-in location features such as Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare.
Make sure your dealership is a part of the action by making it possible for customers to check in on their mobile devices from your location. For Facebook, that simply means claiming your Place page and others that users may have created.
You will also want to optimize your website to be easily explored on a mobile device, since that’s the tool visitors will be using for location-based social media interaction. The ease of navigating your mobile website can help to enhance the experience and boost participation rates. Another way to increase your interaction is to remind visitors to your dealership that they can check-in using strategically placed signs in and around your dealership. Create special offers to encourage your visitors to check-in at your dealership. For example, you can offer 10% off a service or a free car wash to anyone that checks in at your location. Special offers don’t necessarily have to be costly to work in your favor. It could be as minimal as offering a free key chain, baseball cap, or even a jelly doughnut. Research shows that the feeling of getting special treatment is more valuable to a customer than the actual worth of the freebie or experience. However, you can go with a bigger and more creative offer when trying to promote other areas such as your Service, Parts, and Collision departments or a big sales event.
The overall goal is to bring attention to your dealership. This can consist of feedback or comments about your business on your page, or extending your reach and brand awareness using your customers. To do this, you simply need to give your customers the tools they need to make their friends, family and other connections aware of your dealership. This allows you reach an “untapped” market of potential customers for virtually no cost by transferring a significant portion of your marketing burden directly to your customers. Is your dealership using location- based social media? If not call us here at Potratz, we can get you started in the right direction.
By: Kimberly Roselle
Simple fact: I take care of my cars. In the 17 years I have been driving, I have only had three cars. I am currently driving a 2005 Chevy Cobalt. I bought the first run of this car during Employee Pricing. Despite some issues with the fit and finish I have no serious complaints. But now after seven years and 120 thousand plus miles there are some issues. I can no longer ignore the fact that it’s time for a new car, and therefore the hunt has begun.
This weekend I test-drove three cars: The Chevrolet Cruze, The Ford Focus, and The Honda Civic. My experience at each dealership was as varied as the cars.
Lets start with Chevy Cruze. My husband and I drove onto the lot and quickly found the Cruze. We walked through and peeked in at a few. Then the salesman arrived. I will call him Junior Joe. He was full of energy and knowledge and was very excited; he actually reminded me of a puppy. I went for a test drive and I was honest that I was not looking to buy today. Today was all about test drives and gathering info. Junior Joe never pushed me, and before I left he gave me a brochure and his business card.
At the next dealership, we drove around and did not see a single Focus, so we decided to walk around and look at Fusions. While we were perusing, no one came over, so we walked next door to the Honda dealership. We barely stopped at the Civic when salesman Safari Sam approached. He was not overly knowledgeable about the car and barely knew any incentives. Before I left Safari Sam gave me a brochure and his business card.
While at the final dealership of the day, we found one Focus. We hadn’t even gotten out of the car when the salesman came over. I’ll call him Mafia Max. He kept pushing me to drive it and then during the test drive tried to insist that we stop so my husband could also drive it. This was problematic to me because I had made it very clear to Mafia Max that this was to be my car. We got back to the dealership and he tried to push for the sale but I stood my ground informing him yet again, that I am only researching. Before I left he gave me a brochure and his card.
We arrived at home and that’s when the true comparisons began. Of the three brochures. Ford was the worst, containing no specs and no details. Chevy and Honda were both comparable. As I was looking at the brochures I realized the Honda wasn’t for me and I quickly crossed the Civic off my list. Now it’s a duel between the Chevy and Ford.
As of now I have yet to make up my mind, but there are various factors to weigh before making my decision. Obviously this includes the features available for each of the vehicles, including fuel economy and safety. But, I have found myself also analyzing my decision based on the salesmen themselves and the experience they provided me while I was at their dealership. I have many factors to consider, but after reading this I’m wondering, which dealership would you choose?
By: Hayley Berger
When we think of intros we usually think of the song a baseball player walks out to, or a little :10 second clip before a TV show starts, but what about for car dealerships? What can an intro do for your dealership?
People buy cars from friends, not dealerships
You’ve heard this saying before, but think about it. Would you be more comfortable buying an ipod from your friend that works at The Apple Store, or through an online electronics store? Regardless of price, people like buying from someone they can trust. The product is the same, but we want to feel like we are getting taken care of, cared for, and of course “hooked up” with a deal. With any big investment, we want to feel like we’re getting a good deal, and that any future problems will be addressed. So why should our advertising be any different?
Center your advertising around “who” a customer is buying a car from, not about the product. They know your dealership, they know the cars. A car is a need. What a customer wants to know is who they are buying from. Rather than portraying your dealership as a big scary dealership that has no face, personalize your advertisements. All your advertisements, from TV commercials to print ads to internet ads should feature people – your sales staff or General Manager, for example. Have your BDC department send personalized emails with videos talking about why customers should schedule a test drive with them.
Don’t let technology fool you
In this day and age, most people find it much more convenience to send an email or text message rather than pick up the phone and dial. But when it comes to making a decision about buying a car, something that the average consumer researches more than a home loan, face time is essential. It’s crucial to realize how putting your face on digital and traditional advertising brands your dealership and can earn someone’s trust. Make the customer feel like a friend, show them your goofy side, your excitement to give them what they want and make them feel like they know you. It’s amazing to see the difference when someone walks in a dealership and feels like they know they guy in charge. Price no longer matters, they trust you and want to buy from you not another company.
Potratz is a pioneer in advertising strategy and has created countless success stories by personalizing our client’s ad campaigns. Need help with your strategy? Give us a call!
1. Set Goals
- When you think about your dealership, it might seem that the goal is obvious: to sell cars. While that is true, the important thing to remember is that a more specific goal and action plan is easier to obtain. Rather than the basic goal of “sell cars”, you have to develop a realistic plan and set specific goals for who is going to make these sales, what vehicles, when you need to meet this goal and how your going to meet it.
2. Track Your Progress
- Setting your goals is the first step. The second step is to make sure you are accomplishing those goals. It is important to track your progress to confirm whether you are meeting your pre-defined plan. This action is much easier said than done, but, you have to ensure that you are keeping an accurate report of which goals have been reached. Set a schedule of who will evaluate your progress and how often – then stick to it!
3. Evaluating Your Numbers
- The third step to effectively making sales is analyzing your data; is what your doing working? If not, your next step is deciding how to fix the problem. What efforts will you take to effectively meet your pre-determined goals? The important thing is to keep an open mind and remember to be willing to try various avenues to reach your set goals. It may seem like trial and error, but finding the right strategy will ensure that you meet your goals, and ultimately sell cars!
