How To Set & Sell Owner Marketing Appointments – PART 1

 

How To Set and Sell Owner Marketing Appointments – PART 1

TRANSCRIPT: Today’s lesson: “How to set and how to sell owner marketing appointments”. Now, whether or not you use an equity mining tool, you can set and sell owner marketing appointments in your dealership.

Why do we want appointments? Why do we need appointments TODAY in automotive? The answer is that the ‘UP bus’ doesn’t arrive as often as it used to, right? It’s not regular, and when it does arrive, there are fewer prospects on it. So, what’s YOUR plan? In YOUR dealership? Are you going to work extra hours? How are you going to make a living? How are you going to make more money? There’s probably no more hours to work. Well, what about this? Do you want to get a second job? No. So, instead of standing outside with your hands in your pockets waiting on the UP bus, let’s get on the phone and start setting owner marketing appointments that not only show; but they buy.

Another reason we need to start setting owner marketing appointments is that consumers just aren’t that loyal anymore. We’re going to look at some stats in a moment that will show you that consumers don’t trade back into your brand the way they used to. There are just too many choices once they catch ‘new car fever’. Now, consumers are spending 19 hours online doing vehicle research before they step into your dealership. Once they do; once they catch new car fever and spend those 19 hours, there’s almost no guarantee they are going to come back to see you.

Right now we are competing on price and when we compete on price every deal becomes a mini. So what happens to your paycheck in this race to the bottom? When you are done with this session “How to Set & Sell Owner Marketing Appointments”, I want you to understand one thing – appointments are everything. If I fail to get an appointment that shows, I’m lucky to get the sale.

So, owner loyalty – does it still exist? The answer is no. We know it doesn’t, right? Right now, if you were to call all of the customers who bought new cars from you two or three years ago that are in your database, you’d probably find out that around 87% of them will tell you, “Yeah, I’m probably going to buy the same brand again”. The problem is once they catch new car fever, nationally, only 56% of consumers end up as repeat purchasers of the same brand. So ask yourself, “If 56% of the people who bought a car from me three years ago are going to buy the same brand again, is there any guarantee they are going to come to MY dealership to buy it?” No, there isn’t, really. Is there any guarantee that if they do show up at the dealership that they are going to have the presence of mind to ask for me? Someone who sold them a car three years ago and who, probably, has had zero contact with them since? You know the answer to that. It’s very unlikely that you are going to sell them another car.

The final reason we need to move to an appointment culture and to start setting these owner marketing appointments that show and buy is that the pricing transparency that’s happening in automotive today is killing your new car margins. Sites like Kelley Blue Book and Truecar are not telling consumers what they SHOULD pay for a vehicle, they are, basically, telling them what OTHERS paid for those vehicles and they are squeezing all of your commissions out of the deal.

And, so, your job with owner marketing appointments – your goal – is to get out ahead of the consumer. Don’t wait for them to catch new car fever; don’t wait for them to spend 19 hours online, looking at 20+ sites before deciding to come to your dealership or to go to another dealership.