why you want to stand out from the competition
As inventory levels continue to rise, floor plan bills start coming in and price shoppers heat up, you have to be willing to make a move. You must stand out. At the end of the day we all sell the same metal. You can only win the battle two ways: 1) be the cheapest dealer in town or 2) be willing to tell people what makes you different and why they should by from you. A lot of dealers think that just because you know what makes you different that your customer automatically sees that as well. This is far from the truth. The consumer only sees what you show them. 99.9% of all shopping starts online. Whether you like it or not people are making their decision on where to buy before they ever walk into a dealership.
In order to stand out from the competition, you have to be willing to put yourself and your dealership out there for the world to see via social media. 99% of this battle is getting over the fact that you have to put yourself out there. I'm sure most of you have heard “fly under the radar” or “don't get too much attention”. The simple fact is that money follows attention. You need money to sustain your dealership and staff. Plain and simple. If you don't do what needs to be done to drive revenue into your dealership you will eventually go out of business.
Standing out from the competition in this industry is relatively easy right now because 90% of dealerships are doing absolutely nothing to promote themselves or promote what makes them different. In order to stand out from the competition you must have a content creator and the ability to run ads on social media platforms. This is an essential part of standing out from the competition. Showcase your dealership, your staff, and anything that sets you apart. Again, 99% of all shopping starts online. If you're willing to spend the money and put yourself and your dealership out there in front of the consumer early on in the buying process then you have a much larger chance of being the dealership they decide to walk into once they are ready to make a purchase. Remember how I said that consumers only visit 1-2 dealerships before making a purchase? That is why this part is crucial. If you can make a connection with consumers early on in the sales cycle and get them to walk into your dealership, you have a high chance of converting them and making a sale.
What does standing out look like? It means doing something different; not doing the “Status Quo”. You have to be willing to showcase the two things that makes your dealership different from any other dealership out there; 1) your staff and 2) the experience the customer gets when they walk in the door. Standing out means giving the consumer more insight as to what to expect before they go into your dealership. Think about it this way, if your going to take your spouse on a date you do your research, right? You want to see what others have said about the place you want to see pictures of the place and even a video so you know what to expect when you walk in. What about when you go on that family vacation to an all inclusive resort? How many YouTube videos and walk throughs do you watch before booking that trip? This is the same thing. Your customer is spending what may be the 2nd or 3rd largest amount of money in their life on a unit to go have fun with their friends or family. This is a MAJOR decision for them. It’s not all about the unit they are buying. Yes, some of it is but a lot of it is about the experience they are going to have during the process.
Be willing to showcase what makes your dealership different and what makes it better than the competition. Be willing to go the extra mile and create engaging content; post and promote it on social media. That’s where your customer is at. I guarantee within the next 12-24 hours you will be served an ad on your social media that’s engaging enough for you to click on and you will start browsing some company’s website. Digital marketing will increase your sales and profit margins and will change your business for the better, even in this environment.