Power Past ‘Get in Your Head’ Headlines

You read state-of-the-industry headlines nearly every day, it’s that time of year. 

“A LOOK BACK AT 2024…” “A LOOK AHEAD AT 2025…” “WHICH SEGMENT IS GROWING, WHICH VEHICLES ARE IN TROUBLE…” and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.  Whether good news or doom and gloom, they all have one thing in common – a writer’s opinions, reasons, or excuses for what has occurred or is yet to come.

Control the Controllable

Two meaningful comments for year-end consideration.  The first is of unknown origin, but it’s true:  ‘When you can’t control what’s happening, challenge yourself to control the way you respond to what’s happening.  That’s where your power is.’  This is a clear path for a store’s decision-makers – realize what you can control, calculate the response, and your power to implement it.

The second comment came sitting in with a dealership’s General Manager and a factory rep.  The GM was not happy with the store’s performance.  When the rep responded that the entire market was down,  the GM leaned forward and said, ‘I don’t get paid on how other stores’ perform.’  Meeting over!

Thriving Through Change

After every monthly client meeting, our team members summarize Meeting Notes detailing everything discussed.  Here are items from various November meetings that to me,  illustrate dealerships taking control in regards to evaluating competitive and in-store opportunities for growing sales, planning for production needs, adjusting to physical market shifts and above all, reviewing every marketing action.

• Need to consider a 72 Hour Sale for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (competitors closed on Saturday) 
• Dealer thinks there is a big opportunity in Service, particularly within marketing to their own databases.  Service to Sales is a challenge currently; added budget for Mail
•  Grow Used Cars across the group
• Schedule an updated Drone Shoot… this will include Customer/Employee Testimonials
• The focus discussed was highlighting used vehicles under $20,000. Based on their demographic and economic factors, this is their sweet spot
• Future Messaging: we have a vehicle for everyone – EV, Luxury, Sedan
• Internal changes seem to be working.  Managers are now taking all phone calls and handling leads.  GM commented that it has really helped.
• How can we better message and merchandising the stores to make sure we are putting the right offers and Why Buys in front of the right people?
• Need POV to shift location geo
• Reviewed the impact of removing Autotrader, and looked at site traffic analysis which showed very little loss of traffic. Used car VDPs are up MTD across all channels.

Do not let distracting headlines get in your head. Dealership decision makers must focus 100% on what you can control within your store, and calculate each response.

The prudent decisions made today will be your profitable reward tomorrow…you’ve got the power!