How To be the Preferred Car Dealer of Choice

Being popular is one of the best secret marketing techniques deployed by 37 ‘media tycoons’ in Forbes Top 400 Billionaires List.

But how can you as a car dealer become more popular and profit from owning your own media… and what are the multitude of benefits by doing so?

First, let us explain the term media.

 “The concept of mass media is complicated in some internet media as now *individuals have a means of potential exposure on a scale comparable to what was previously restricted to select group of mass media producers. These internet media can include television, personal web pages, pod casts and blogs.” (Source. Wikipedia.org).

To give you a hint, let’s have a look at one of the early media tycoon's… Lord Beaverbrook.

Over time, he turned the dull newspaper into a attractive, witty journal, filled with many dramatic photo layouts and in 1918, he founded the Sunday Express.

By 1934, daily circulation reached 1,708,000, generating huge profits for Aitken whose wealth was already such that he never took a salary.

Following World War II, the Daily Express became the largest selling newspaper in the world, by far, with a circulation of 3,706,000.

How To be THE Preferred Car Dealer of Choice

Let me deconstruct my first above underlining.

*individuals have a means of potential exposure on a scale comparable to what was previously restricted to select group of mass media producers.

Cost, circulation and distribution warded off others who understood that owning your own media has many, many advantages.

Now, the flood gates are open for all to dominate, persuade, influence, educate and be THE preferred dealership of those who are drawn into to your slick media.

Owning media is and can be the difference between being a "hero" or "zero".

Or maybe you are quite happy running with your daily numbers, but wouldn’t you like to dominate your geographical area?

Let me show you how…
….First, decide which media you want to control.

This is where those who understand the media’s power often fail.  For example…you may have decided you want to be the preferred choice of Baby Boomers (55 plus).

There are national magazines, and there will also be local media that targets this profitable market segment.

It may be a web site, or an association, or a political party, or a complementary business such as a hair dressers. You can either buy the media for its readership or start your own. I often get asked which is the best media to use.

My response…” there is no good or bad media.”

You have to decide and test which works best for you and your dealership. A major flaw is being reliant on only one.

One is a Dangerous Number

It is advisable to have a stable of successful media all working at the same time and never relying on just one.

The smart Car Dealer will have many diverse and stable media’s to draw from.

And the same goes for income.

Diversity = Stability. And The Number 1 Is A Dangerous Number. Anyway, start with one media and see what your return on investment will be.

If I were a car dealer in today's economy, which media would I chose?

Start with your skill set first. If you are a reasonable writer then assemble articles/ press releases to be published in the local media. This technique alone will position you as the ‘Celebrity Dealer.’

If you are comfortable being in front of a camera or speaking…then it has to be Internet video such as You Tube or Pod casts.

Since the mid half of this century, TV has been the mass media of choice for a most every North American.

You can use the Internet as the spring board to larger TV networks.

Or who do you think a person is going to go to when they search on Google and find a car delaer who has his own TV Show?

It does not matter how professional you think you are or how well your TV show is put together.

What matters most is this: “In day-to-day commerce, television is not so much interested in the business of communications as in the business of delivering audiences to advertisers. People are the merchandise, not the shows. The shows are merely the bait.”

Have a great, profitable week!

How To Be The Expert In Your Auto Industry

There are many "so called" experts when it comes to marketing your car dealership.
The independent solo/freelance consultant, coach, or solo-professional.

What makes us different than any of our major competitors?

I cannot say for sure. But, I can tell you that I rarely see or hear it from other consultants. I think the major difference is, I confess to being a ‘former’ struggling consultant.

When I started out I had read & studied marketing from the ‘best of the best’ for more than a decade before

I decided to ‘jump in’ the business world as an Automotive Marketing Consultant.

Do YOU have any ideas on how the "real experts" do it?

The most successful professionals in the world are the ones that position themselves as experts in their fields of expertise.
They may  not actually be an expert (in the eyes of a few), but they position themselves as such with their highly-targeted markets.  They also position themselves as an ‘authority’ on the subject for which they serve.

(Have you every heard of "Tony Robbins”,”Dr. Phil" or "Dr. Oz?")
What do these successful experts do what we don’t do that makes them so successful?

• They specifically serve a highly-targeted niche
• They write books, and special reports that focus on the problems of their niche market and provide solutions 
• They create programs that specifically address and solve the problems of their niche market. 
• They speak to the groups that this highly-targeted market belongs to 
• They use publicity to their advantage to gain visibility to their highly-targeted market 
• They let the media know they are available when they need an expert for news items 
• They create synergistic profitable relationships with other types of businesses that cater to their target market 
• They use testimonials from happy and satisfied clients in all their marketing materials, and use endorsements from well-known influencial businesses 
• They provide unique and dedicated services to their clients 
• They communicate with their target market on a regular basis and treat their clients like dear and valued friends

The most distinct advantage of positioning your dealership as THE expert or authority in your field of expertise is:

You don’t have to ask for business. Business comes to you.

Want to earn more profits without having to work a lot harder? Call (866) 927-0437 to schedule a 30-minute  “Uncovering The Hidden Marketing Ideas” In Your Dealership and discover the new and overlooked opportunities within your auto store that could soon explode your profits!

"Hidden Marketing" Overlooked In Your Car Dealership - Mistake #10

How many of these exist in your Auto Dealership?
Take a good look and pay special attention.

• Past customers who haven’t been contacted in a while?
• Special knowledge or expertise?
• Unique products or services?
• Under-performing sales people?
• Advertising that doesn’t get results?
• A list of current customers?
• Relationships with other businesses?
• Lack of back end marketing?
• A community reputation?
• Prospective customers?
• A great location?
• Really Good/Poor staff expertise?
• Quality vehicle or services?
• Low sales closing ratios
• Competition?
• Marketing efforts that don’t work?
• Unique/poor "packaging" your vehicle sales / service?

These are just some of the “hidden marketing ideas” and overlooked profit opportunities lying dormant in just about every dealership. There are so many areas within your store to improve sales and bottom line profits… if you know where to look for them.

Want to earn more profits without having to work a lot harder? Call (866) 927-0437 to schedule a 30-minute  “Uncovering The Hidden Marketing Ideas” In Your Dealership and discover the new and overlooked opportunities within your auto store that could soon explode your profits!

No "Self Promotion Of Your Car Dealership" Mistake # 9

One of the things I have discovered after speaking to hundreds of dealer principals; is that every dealer thinks their particular dealership is different. Well, they do have one thing right.  In fact, every dealer out there has something different or special about their store. But the mistake you all make is keeping your "specialties"  quiet.  You all have a great opportunity to promote yourselves and your dealership and the best part is that you can do it for the cost of a stamp.

That’s right – learn how to write a simple 1-page release and send it out in a #10 envelope. Your local papers and media are hungry for your story.  But they can’t run it unless you give it to them. Making the mistake in your thinking that they will seek you out is simply – a mistake!  In fact, over 80% of all local news stories are a result of a simple press release.

Study Donald Trump…

Love him or hate him, there’s probably no one on the planet better at "Shameless Self Promotion" than Donald Trump

Not Understanding The Importance Of Marketing In Your Dealership - Mistake #8

This is a question that I ask many of my clients over the years.  And they really have no clue as the importance of properly marketing their dealerhsip.

The best way that I can describe the importance of marketing  is:

Develop marketing strategies - Determining exactly where your dealership wants to be in a say 1-5 years and developing a strategy that will help your dealership to get there. Marketing strategies need to be tailor made for your store and should be a simple document, produced in a manner that will allow your staff to implement all your chosen strategies
.
From my own experience, a good marketing strategy encompasses a wide range of subjects including identifying a business’ current:

strengths
weaknesses
opportunities
threats.

It makes recommendations on the business’ promotional material, advertising, corporate image, public relations activity, internet strategy and levels of customer service.

For information on marketing your own dealership, have a peak at

"52 Free / Low Cost Marketing Strategies Guaranteed to Attract New

Customers & Clients Into Your Auto Dealership In Any Economy"

Working ‘IN’ Your Dealership Rather Than ‘ON’ Your Dealership - Mistake #7

Dealer Principals, you started your business because you were good at being a sales man, orgainizer, financer or leader etc. Most every schoooling or college programs do not teach you how to properly market your dealership, so you have to learn it on your own; or find someone who does know marketing to help you.

The typical answer of  “I’m TOO BUSY to worry about marketing” is said by almost every Car Dealer in North America.  This is the worst excuse you could ever use.

As the owner of your dealership one of your most important duties is to properly market your store. This is in addition to leading your company. If you completely third-party this to someone else, or even worsel, ignore marketing completely, your dealership will suffer sales and high Retern-On-Investment profits. The real money is in the marketing of your dealership and not in the vehicles you sell or services you provide.

Take the time to gather an understanding so that when "typical" sales people are trying to sell you advertising you can choose to spend your dollars more wisely on higher ROI items.  This will also give you the knowledge to find the best companies to help your dealership out to achieve better profits.

MISTAKE #6: "Believe That You Are Your Customer."

Does the title make sense to you?  Far too many times business owners have told me their customers are "too smart" for "this" or "that" marketing or advertising.

This type of "thinking" in your dealership is very bad for your sales and profits.  In fact I have been a student of marketing for many long years now and the most successful marketing piece I have come across of was a simple hand written letter on yellow lined paper.  It has been used with all types of businesses and did not matter whether who the customer was....  Great reults came from every style of customer - including yours.

There is a lot more than simply using yellow lined paper.  There were proven strategies and techniques used.

What you should pay attention to is this - the simple fact that just because YOUR or YOUR STAFF might not respond to something, it doesn’t mean your prospective customers won’t.  You need to test new ideas all the time within your store.  There is no such thing as failed results - but rather testing until you see the results you are look for.

That is it.  Now go test, test test…