Marketing to your existing customer base is critical in today’s shrinking auto industry where new customers are few and far between.  Unfortunately, the auto industry has a well deserved reputation earned over many years by fast talking car salespeople who relied on buy or die selling systems that ignored the importance of relationship based transparent negotiations to earn - and keep - a customer.  Experience has proven that if you make a friend you are more likely to make a sale.  More relevantly to this post, if you plan to market to your existing customer base it is critical that they are more than customers.  If you hope to earn their future business in sales and service they must be friends, not just previously sold leads.  After all, what are friends for!

Human nature drives every aspect of our lives - especially when buying a car - so it always amazes me when auto dealers implement a selling system or design an automotive advertising plan that doesn’t consider it.  This post will provide some insights from the customer’s perspective that must be addressed before you can presume to market to them as a long term customer vs. only a single sale. Read the rest of this entry »

The auto industry has always reflected the economy that supports it and most auto industry insiders agree that the recent consolidation of new car dealerships was necessary to maintain the equilibrium between supply and demand.  Unfortunately, the sensitive balancing act between new car supply and consumer demand was thrown off by the “success” of the Cash For Clunkers Program which artificially depleted new vehicle inventories.  Auto dealers had already cut back on new car orders to accommodate reduced sales volumes, and floor plan limits capped by shrinking working capital reserves limited the amount of new and used cars that auto dealers could keep in stock.  As a result, car dealers have not been able to timely replenish their sold inventory to maintain sales momentum and preserve profitability.  More urgently, dealers are scrambling for a way to stay ahead of fixed expenses that have already been cut to the bone.

Many automotive advertising agencies predicted that the Cash For Clunkers Program would produce an artificial wave of business with the associated “peak” in new vehicle sales during August followed by the “valley” in September that could continue through the balance of 2009.  Recent SAAR statistics project an adjusted annual sales rate of 8.8 million new vehicles in September proving that their worst fears have been realized.  Successful auto dealers focus on solutions rather than problems.  As a result, used cars have taken on a new importance with a number of creative techniques being applied to acquire used cars with a priority of selling used cars vs. new cars that are in short supply. Read the rest of this entry »

A lot of bubbles burst over the past two years besides those on Wall Street, the Banking Industry and Real Estate.  Auto Leasing companies absorbed losses in off-lease vehicles due to overly optimistic residual values, (the guaranteed amount that they agreed to buy back the vehicles for at the end of the lease which was factored in when the lease was originated), when the auto industry shrank along with the economy.  The resulting losses in the wholesale market and lack of ability for auto dealers to retail out of the lease returns forced domestic manufacturers and independent leasing companies to either cancel their leasing programs completely or to reduce their residual values so low that the payments were more than conventional financing.  Basically, for most lenders and customers, leasing effectively died last year but it is staging a recovery of sorts that shows some life in the option that might interest payment buyers and automotive advertising agencies anxious to find ways to offer more for less - per month that is.

Chrysler, for example, has announced that they will be putting their toes back in the troubled leasing waters with some sub-vented leases, (subsidized residual values above expected resale at lease end and reduced money factors), that will offer competitive payments on some of their new models.  All of the details haven’t been released but the story has been announced in the mainstream media and you can expect factory marketing campaigns to start mid-September. Read the rest of this entry »

A shrinking economy has been the catalyst for reducing the amount of “brick and mortar” auto dealerships compounded by the consolidation brought about by the reorganization of General Motors and Chrysler.  The growth of the Internet Superhighway could not have been timed better, as 92% of the people buying a car are driving onto the Internet Superhighway in favor of the reduced number of car dealers on their local car row.

The car buying public will always take the path of least resistance and the Internet was already growing as the information resource of choice when selling a car or buying a car.  People selling new cars and/or used cars will naturally gravitate to where people looking to buy used cars and/or new cars are shopping, however the abrupt closing of thousands of auto dealerships across America has increased traffic to dealer websites at a faster rate than anticipated.  The result is an explosive need to improve the technology and the associated applications to enhance selling processes to facilitate buying cars and selling cars in a more efficient and cost effective manner. Read the rest of this entry »

Everyone knows that Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles are late model used cars or used trucks that have the same - or even better - warranties than new cars.  Car dealers are responsible to inspect certified cars to confirm that they have not been in an accident, have no body damage or paint work, are within established year and mileage limits set by the factory that is sponsoring the certified used cars program and that the dealer has reconditioned the vehicle to look and perform like a new car.  Special auto financing terms are offered on many certified vehicles and customers who want to buy used cars with all of the benefits of buying a new car have found that certified used cars represent the best of both worlds for the car buying public. 

Well, if you were one of the few that didn’t know about Certified Pre-Owned Cars you do now! Now that we are definitely all on the same page, let’s discuss why certified pre-owned cars are the best way to go for consumers who are buying cars and for auto dealers who are selling cars. Read the rest of this entry »

Buying cars and selling cars are two sides of the same coin.  If you are buying a car the odds are that you are also selling a car; unless you walked to the car dealership, you just got your driver license or you live in Manhattan where a parking space costs more than a small country!  The point is that the car buying public is usually also selling used cars either to car dealers as a trade-in or to another consumer who prefers buying used cars rather than new cars.   In all cases the answer to “How Much Is My Car Worth” can’t be found on most dealer websites - although a multi-franchise / multi-dealer website like everycarlisted.com will prove to be an excellent guide.  The fact is that the value of used cars and used trucks can only be determined by the market.  If you are a car dealer selling sports cars or Pre-Owned Certified Cars, or a consumer selling a car that has been a loyal member of the family, all you need is to do a little home work so you can negotiate using facts vs. emotions.

As a former auto dealer and author of a book, “How To Buy A Car” followed by another one, “How To Sell A Car,” I have developed a unique respect for both sides of the negotiation table.  Add the time that I have invested as the host of an automotive advertising resource / networking site - http://AdAgencyOnline.Net - to those experiences and I am confident that I can help both sides of the negotiation table wind up with the right deal.

To simplify matters I suggest that you refer to the following list of relevant observations before you jump in your car with your trade-in keys in hand, hit the World Wide Web with your credit card at the ready or presume to price your new car or used car for sale: Read the rest of this entry »

Branding in the retail automotive industry used to be the manufacturer’s job but times and consumer brand loyalties have changed.  Automotive advertising is broken down to three complimentary tiers.  Tier I is maintained by the O.E.M.s to build awareness of the brand.  Tier II is coordinated by auto dealer advertising associations to provide leveraged marketing messages to promote regional sales for the brand and the auto dealer members.  Tier III is provided by individual auto dealers challenged to promote their deal of the day with a call to action for today’s new car buyers.  Technically, Tier I, Tier II and Tier III still exist but reduced sales volumes have limited national and regional budgets.  Individual auto dealers are also limited in their ability to promote their own daily specials with a call to action and a strong retail message built on the brand recognition that was supposed to be developed by Tier I and Tier II advertising.  As a result of their limited budgets, the O.E.M.’s can’t effectively develop top of the mind awareness of their brand to place their products on the short list when a customer is ready to buy a new car.  Similarly, local auto dealer automotive advertising associations can’t afford to promote their brand value to supplement Tier I and support Tier III advertising.  Finally, since the auto dealers always depended on Tier I and Tier II to provide a “branding” message they never prioritized it in their advertising.  In today’s troubled auto industry auto dealers can’t afford to shift focus away from their own retail sales to build a brand for the O.E.M.s.  The result is that factory branding messages have been reduced which has contributed to the deterioration of their customer brand recognition and loyalty. Read the rest of this entry »

Before you can learn how to market your auto dealership utilizing video you must first understand why you want to!  The automotive advertising industry has always been driven by technology.  The retail auto industry that it serves has similar ties to technology with the Internet representing today’s most relevant example.  Given the economic and government mandated consolidation of the auto industry, the World Wide Web is hosting the next generation of “virtual auto dealerships” and video has proven to be the most recognizable address on the Internet Super Highway.  Today’s new car buyers visit three to five virtual showrooms before they venture out into the “real world” to purchase a new vehicle.  Used car buyers search auto dealer’s used car inventories online in even greater numbers with many turning to third party inventory based websites - like http://www.everycarlisted.com/ - offering free “For Sale By Owner” postings to add to their shopping list along with the auto dealership inventories linked to the sites to extend their online presence. Read the rest of this entry »

I attended and chaired a round-table on social media marketing to women car buyers at the annual M2W-Marketing to Women conference recently where the brightest and greatest minds on how to reach women spoke, networked and discussed the latest trends and strategies. It was invigorating and a nice change of pace for me to spend time mostly in the company of women who like me understand the “Power of the Purse”. I am very committed to speaking and training mostly men in the auto industry that women are not a diversity or niche market and how to improve results with women. Women are the majority of car, tire and service customers, yet at M2W it was the like singing to the choir, very few men attended the conference and ZERO men from the auto industry in attendance.

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