A few of my dealer clients have been telling me that things are “just off” a bit with car sales recently. If you are experiencing this I’d like to offer some tips that may help you and I would love to hear some feedback on any tips you may have.
1-Make sure all your leads from all sources are hitting the CRM- Test every lead source with test leads
2-Do the same with the phones- every phone number you have test and be sure the phone rings at the right place in the store
3-Login and listen to your phone calls. How are your people handling the phones?
4-Look in CRM- Look at the notes or lack of with leads, unsold showroom visits..Is there a pattern? Credit issues, negative equity?, do not have the decision makers?
5-Might be time for some equity mining in your database and target these people with direct mail, email blasts, phone calls from your salesman with an offer to trade up to a new/better car and keep the payment the same or lower it..
6-Consider doing formal mystery shops. I can recommend a company to you if you need me to.
7-How are your lead sources performing? Deep dive in Google Analytics and other reporting tools may be helpful.
8-Are your cars priced competitively and merchandised correctly online? Do a digital lot walk and see how they look. Do a physical lot walk as well…Login to your 3rd party lead sources and see where you stack up on your pricing..
