Running an auto business is always a challenge. Whether you’re an experienced entrepreneur or somebody starting a small auto repair shop, the weight of the challenge is almost the same — a startup business will find its way on top, while a successful car dealership will always continue looking for ways to grow.
This means a business owner can’t just relax and expect his profit to increase by itself. He should relentlessly find ways to elevate his game and keep up with the tight competition.
We’ve asked a couple of successful car dealers and this is how they’ve grown their business:
Continue finding cost-efficient processes
This can be a bit tricky for many. Some may immediately resort to cutting heads or reducing marketing efforts to significantly lessen operating costs.
Actually, your best friend in finding cost-efficient processes is your dealer management software (DMS). Like a magic ball, you can use the DMS to scrutinize your current sales processes.
For example, you can examine each of your salesperson’s performance. If he’s simply waiting for the next prospect without doing anything, he’ll likely not meet his target of 15-20 sold cars per month. Instead, implement key performance indicators (KPI) such as the number of prospects he should be talking per month, the lead-to-negotiation ratio, closing ratio percentage, and a lot more.
By setting some high sales and service goals, your employees will become more motivated. At the same time, they’ll feel more accountable for their actions.
Strategically lessen marketing costs without compromising sales
Examine which car dealer marketing efforts are getting you more leads. It won’t make any sense having a viral advertising campaign if your car dealership is not getting the expected number of leads. Using again your DMS, determine the best marketing strategy and spend more on that. If you’re getting more leads from your website, you might want to improve it by adding videos and high-quality blogs.
Do a better job of finding talented employees
This is self-explanatory. Employees do the work, thus the success of a car dealership would also depend on their performance. It’s, therefore, important that you hire the best people available.
This can only be done if you have a sound recruiting and hiring strategy. Take extra steps such as doing background checks to determine if a candidate is indeed a good fit. Otherwise, you’re likely to hire mediocre and incompetent employees.
Make your employees happy
Your employees are the people behind your car dealership’s success. It’s important that you keep them motivated and inspired to work. Most of all, it’s essential that you keep them happy in what they’re doing. Happy employees will take care of your customers, while satisfied customers will likely become your loyal clients.
The most effective way of finding out if your employees are happy or not is through an anonymous survey. For example, you can join a “Top Car Dealerships to Work For” competition. Expect both positive and negative comments and use them to improve your company as a whole.
Conclusion
There’s no definite formula to success. Each car dealership may face unique challenges so it’s important that you act on them appropriately and in a timely manner. The recommendations above may sound simple, but, in reality, they’re not. They may take a time to fully implement but their reward will be enormous. That’s what makes running a car dealership fun and exciting.
Let’s discuss ways to step up your game in business through our auto dealer marketing. Call Drive Traffic Dealer today at (888) 375-3058.
