Clunkers Hangover

I'm so tired of blogging on Clunkers! Here's where we are: August is over & hopefully closed out at most dealerships. Many had a heck of a ride full of long nights, lots of deals & tons of traffic. Others didn't participate much in the actual government program but took full advantage of the buzz created throughout the industry the past few weeks. Now, traffic is starting to slow and dealers are "getting back to normal."

Is "normal" still good enough for you?

A dealer told me yesterday he supposed they were "still basking in the glory of last month." I should have told him "snap out of it!" but I didn't :) The bottom line is direct mail is working right now. I don't know if it's because a lot of dealers slowed down on it the past year, or if it's just that the products have changed a lot recently, whatever it is the days of a 1-2% response are very much here again.

Don't let the momentum die in your showroom or with your sales force-it's time to restart our engines and get things going again. Here are just a few of the products that are doing it for us at Tri-Auto right now.

• USED CAR Clunkers themes (or "cash for Junkers")
• Jumbo Postcards with keys or credit cards
• Half Fold 11x17 with keys or credit cards
• Mini 8 page magazines
• Buyback letters to year/make/model lists or your database
• Email blasts
• Service Mailers (making a comeback!)

If you're unsure of what direction to go in, give me a call and we can talk through some ideas.

PS: In case you actually had to ask...the picture of the cheeseburger is in reference to the title of the post today. In lieu of using Tri Auto direct mail to cure your hangover, head to McDonald's.