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.
Issue link: http://autodealermonthly.epubxp.com/i/79640
dealership operations / crm What You're Thinking is Really Gross! Alan Ram began a career in the automotive industry at what would later become the nation's second-highest volume Nissan dealership. In 1991, after realizing the tremendous need for high-quality automotive sales and management training, Alan launched Proactive Training Solutions, Inc. Alan@ProactiveTrainingSolutions.com number-one concern among car dealers in the United States was the trend of declining gross profit. At 20 group meetings across the country, you'll almost always find a conversation relating to gross profit on the agenda. So let's play a little bit of car-dealership "Family Feud." A couple years ago, I remember seeing a study that found the Top four answers on the board; what do dealers think are the most effective ways to increase gross profit? Survey says: • Sell the value • Under-allow on trades • Don't let your people take shortcuts in presenting the product • Encourage your people to not Need a key control solution? Electronic Key/Tag Control Systems • Mechanical Key/Tag Systems After Hours Systems • Asset Vaults long-term contracts monthly fees license fees one-year warranty Why upgrade to KEYper? "Te reliability of our KEYper System is unsurpassed." - Eric Levinson, Garcia Automotive Group "I've been doing business with KEYper since the early 90's … would not even consider another key machine … I currently have five systems in three stores." - Jeffrey A. Abel, Miller Toyota-Scion, Warrenton Toyota-Scion "Customer service at KEYper is amazing." - Robert C. Oteri, Center Auto Group Call Us Toll Free: 800-399-7888 Visit Us Online: www.keypersystems.com Tere must be a reason we're now serving 7 of the top 10 Auto Dealer Groups for key control. 46 So your people don't talk price on lot? They just end up wait- ing a little longer to find out the customer has been stocking their toddler with every color of car-dealership balloon for the talk price on the lot Now, don't get me wrong. These are all very nice answers and exactly what has been repeated at meetings across the land for decades. Everybody shakes their heads up and down, agrees those things are what need to be done, then the conversation shifts to something else. Unfortunately, those answers all ignore a basic reality—the reality that the majority of customers we end up spending most of our day with have, in many cases, been shopping for days, if not weeks, for a vehicle. Those answers would be absolutely correct in a world where people weren't shopping your 16 closest competitors in three states before they hit your lot. Selling the value is great. I'm sure your customers all appre- ciate the thorough demonstra- tion and demo drive between Dallas and Oklahoma City. But at the end of the day, you'll still hear this as your salesperson or manager is presenting num- bers: "We love the car, but we know what we're willing to pay for it. We already have quotes from three other dealerships." What about under-allowing on trades? "Nice try, but we already know what our car is worth. We've made a hobby of having it appraised for the past month." past three weekends. So here's the answer you've been waiting for: The key to increasing gross profit and, in fact, making a fair gross profit because really that's all we're after hereis getting to customers before they've had an opportunity to shop all your competitors, before they've been high-balled, low-balled, misled and misinformed by everyone in town. Who are those customers? I'm sure there are thousands of them currently residing in your CRM. They are people who you sold to previously, who aren't yet thinking about replacing their current vehicle, but given the right incentive, are very likely to do just that. When I was in the U.S. Marine Corps, immediately following boot camp I attended infantry training school at Camp Leje- une, N.C. I'm pretty sure in the class about ambushes, there was a discussion that it is much better to be the ambusher than the ambushee. In other words, you want to get to them before they get to you. That puts you at an advantage. This is the exact opposite of what we see at most dealerships as sales- people wait to be ambushed by customers at the front door. Get to them before they get to you! Let's proactively motivate and draw people into the market just a little bit before they're even thinking about it. Don't just wait and hope that you're the last dealership a customer eventually comes to. That's not good enough. You want to be the first and last dealership they visit. NO NO NO FREE