Auto Dealer Monthly Magazine is the daily operations publication serving the retail automotive industry. This automotive publication serves dealer principals, officers and general managers with the latest best practices.
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DE A LERSHIP SPOTLIGHT From Virtual Ups To Car Sales... Client ConneXion Converts! Grubbs Infniti began embracing social media in 2009 when the dealership started experimenting with YouTube and Twitter. The operation also recently joined Pinterest, but Facebook is where Grubbs Infniti has had the most success. As of March, the dealership���s Facebook page had more than 3,800 likes. Isn���t It Time You Treat Your Online Ups Like Real Customers? Call Today For Your Free Demo d��������������������^������������ www.clientconnexion.com 877-888-5948 36 Te experience gave Grubbs a new perspective on the future of the highline segment. He believes luxury car buyers will have increasing demands. Some of them will never step foot in the dealership. Grubbs says he���ll respond by refecting on the lessons he learned watching his dad and granddad work. ���Te No. 1 thing about this business is that it���s all about relationships,��� Grubbs says. ���You need to meet people where their needs are. ���With the advent of the Internet, everyone thought shopping for a car would totally change and you would just pick one and it would show up at your front door like everything else that���s bought on the Internet,��� he adds. ���I think we���ve all found out that���s not how someone really wants to buy a car. Tey want to drive it, touch it and feel it, and it���s going to take someone to make them feel good about that purchase, that they���re making a good choice. Tat defnitely has not changed.��� THE GRUBBS WAY Te Grubbs family has been selling cars in Texas since 1948, when George III���s great-grandfather, Hubert Grubbs, opened a Dodge dealership in Dallas. Te senior Grubbs started out as a Volkswagen dealer in New Mexico and then moved into Texas; frst to Waco, then Dallas/Fort Worth. Grubbs II started out with Nissan predecessor Datsun in 1976. At one point, he and his father operated a total of 12 franchises at four locations. An uncle runs the original Nissan store located just three miles away on the Airport Freeway. Te family together has sold more than 120,000 vehicles in the Dallas and Fort Worth area. Over the past 30 years, Grubbs says he has seen marketing options come and go. All along, he has enjoyed the benefts of wise AUTO DE ALE R MONTHLY ��� M ARCH 2013 counsel from his family. When his father was running his own dealership, he chose between three television stations, fve radio stations and one newspaper to reach customers. ���It wasn���t that difcult to fgure out where to advertise,��� Grubbs says. ���He advertised on two television stations and cut his own commercials on the showroom foor.��� George Grubbs Jr. used to wear a tuxedo in his television spots. His co-stars were local celebrities and athletes, such as former Dallas Cowboys running back Herschel Walker. ���He and I talk about it now. He can���t wrap his head around all the diferent choices and what���s the best bang for the buck,��� Grubbs says of his father. ���I don���t have an answer, but the obvious choice is digital.��� EVENT MARKETING Grubbs Infniti abandoned newspaper and magazine advertising ���quite a few years ago,��� and its last TV spot ran two years ago. Grubbs��� father and grandfather were heavily involved in the community and served on various business chambers to help grow relationships and cultivate business. Today, Grubbs Infniti���s latest marketing eforts harken back to that idea. Te dealership is known for event-style marketing in which people attending local festivals and art events are offered a test drive tied to a charity contribution. ���It���s a no-obligation test drive that���s about a mile long,��� Grubbs says. ���Te total process takes about 10 minutes, so we pitch them to take 10 minutes to donate $10.��� Event marketing has been working. Twenty-fve percent of test drivers have requested contact from the dealership within the next day, and another 15 percent got in touch with the dealership within two months. Grubbs likens the practice to giving away free samples