In anticipation of a “Fantastic 5 Saturday June,” we are discussing the importance of staying in touch with your market. We discussed trends in Part 1 which emphasized the importance of knowing what the most popular used vehicles across the country and in your home town are. I also stressed that the bottom line should be having the most popular vehicles listed on your “Vehicle Specials” website page.
Unique circumstances can best be described as good will come from bad. The country has seen incredible weather systems this past year, from Sandy in the Northeast to the recent tornado outbreaks in Oklahoma and flooding in the Midwest.
I mention these three situations because of our involvement with dealers in the affected areas. In each case dealers were afforded the opportunity to provide extra courtesies such as deferred payment or immediate vehicle replacement through insurance vouchers to the victims. You have to applaud the factories when they step up to assist as they have time and again. Your challenge is to get the word out to your own customers and the market as quickly, effectively and tastefully as possible. Whether it was painting the message on windows for dealers who had lost power, an email or broadcast media, this presentation requires delicate wording conveying you are there to help.
Mother Nature will continue to have a hand in shaping the market and you need to have a plan for a prompt reaction whether it is an EF-5 tornado or hail damage. If done effectively, you will position yourself as a community supporter while getting your fair share of business that these scenarios generate.
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John Paul Strong
John Paul Strong combines his two decades of automotive marketing experience with a team of more than 150 professionals as owner and CEO of Strong Automotive.
