Price Plus What?

I had a very candid conversation with a dealer last week. He asked me, “What else can I do to promote my brand?” He understood the importance of advertising the price per item. But he wanted to know how to convey to the market to shop at his own store over the competition.

I told him that if he wanted to advertise anything other than the best price or an event then he had lost his mind. He sat there in silence as I explained why this was true.

There is nothing else you can do to further your brand. The whole world is focused solely on who has the best price for the item you want to buy. Aside from price, the public only wants SELECTION. Have you ever wondered why there isn’t an empty parking space except for the handicap spaces at Costco on the weekends? The American public has been conditioned to think he who has the most will probably sell it for the cheapest.

Dealers tell me every day about how hard it is to get good inventory. They complain that there isn’t enough of the good stuff to go around. They are speaking the truth in most cases, but the ability to have more cars than anybody comes from the ability to risk more than anybody. You’ve got to go for it all when it comes time to order and take your merchandise. It also comes with a commitment to sell your cars cheaper. This way you can turn them faster. The end goal is to catapult your business to a different size operation in the years to come.

There truly has never been a better time to stock more inventory and sell volume than right now. With the market coming back stronger than ever for the retail automotive dealer, now is the time to either up your game or settle for the same share of market that you have always been getting.