Key Giveaway in the News

Many of the mailers doing the best right now feature keys. As most of you know they are for attention getting purposes and don't actually do anything at the sale as the Marketvision kiosk tells customers what they've won. Just wanted to share this story of a man who tried the key in the winning vehicles engine and actually STARTED the car. Check out the story and use it as a reminder to let the kiosk notify the winner, not the KEY :)

Click here to read the news story.

PS: Yes, this was a Tri Auto mailer.

Phone Tips for Event Sales

One of the other Marketing Consultants here put together this document to help her dealers when they are preparing their sales staff for an event. It may seem like common sense, but depending on how the calls go that you listen in on--you may need it!

Phone Tips for Event Sales Most people who call will start the conversation by saying, “I got this flyer in the mail, and my numbers match.” You should say, “Great, come on in and we’ll check to see what you’ve won.” They may ask what they have won…. And this is very important You say, “Well, if your numbers match you have won something in the prizes listed on the flyer---It could be the car! We won’t know until you bring your flyer in and scan it here at the dealership.” They may ask if this is a gimmick. You say, “No someone has the winning # for the car—just like someone has the winning number for each of the other listed prizes. If your numbers match, you have definitely won something!!” Do not say—they have to scratch the sticker at the dealership. Scratching it at home is what gets them excited about coming in. Do not say—everyone is a winner or everyone wins something. How special will they feel if they think winning means nothing? AND they truly may have won the car!!! Do not say—“Are you interested in buying a car?” They may get in the car buying mood when they get on your lot, but they most likely will not be on your lot if you ask this question! Just tell them your name and offer to help them scan their flyer when they come in. Think of yourself as a fisherman. You have a baited hook, but if you move to fast, you’ll scare off the fish and never have the chance to set the hook. Good luck and happy selling!!

Automotive Event Sale Tips #3

After Your Sale

• Calculate your traffic. This should be true of any advertising. If your ran your process during the sale, you should know what media brought in each person. MarketVision will do this for you on the mail--but if you ran TV or Radio spots, or some print to support the mailer hopefully those ups were tracked via registration forms & you can see what kind of traffic each media produced.
• Calculate your ROI. If given access to your database, we can take a look at your recent sales and compare them to your sale data quickly to see how many units you sold off the mailer. I can even help you take a look at the other media outlets as well, or it's easy to do this on your own if you've kept good track of the traffic.
• Do your homework for next time. Now that you have your traffic and ROI calculated, figure out what worked and what didn't. Just imagine if every dealership did this every month for all their advertising. Naturally they'd quit doing what wasn't working, and invest more in what was--and be able to keep improving the ROI of their marketing. Right now, while this sale is fresh in your mind start thinking about what you'd do different next time.
• Follow up, Follow up, Follow up! You just had a lot of new traffic to your store. Why not add them to your database so they'll receive future emails & mailers from you? Many dealers also put together final lead lists and pass them out to their sales team. Have a contest to see who can close the most residual business off the event. Make the most out of your initial investment--these are YOUR leads--you paid for them!
• Be on the look out for come backs. The week after every MarketVision sale we send out follow up letters to every person that came in during the event. Be on the look out for these letters to pop up the week after the sale.

Automotive Event Sale Tips #2

During Your Sale

• Follow your process. Whatever that means to you. Whether it is making sure each customer is registered via MarketVision, or it is having the sales people fill out up forms for every person before taking them to the prize board. Making sure all customers have the same great, uniformed experience is so important--and you are sure you're doing all the tracking needed to have successful future events.
• Keep up with the leads. With credit websites, personal websites, phone call logs and MarketVision real time reporting there are up to four different ways for you to be collecting and following up on leads. Many dealers print everything off in the evenings and hand them out to the sales people the following day for follow up if there are down times. Be sure to check out the best ways to follow up with people from each lead source.
• Take the time to train. Heard something you didn't like on the recorded call ins? Notice on your MarketVision report that Sally Saleslady had talked to 24 ups and hasn't moved a unit? Use these concrete examples to help nudge along sales people that have some room to grow.
• Call if you sense something is wrong. Especially with mail delivery. We're on the phone with your local post offices before and during your event. If you feel one market isn't responding or something is off--call sooner rather than later!
• Keep stock of your gifts/premiums. If you are giving something away and realize your supply is dwindling, be sure to call by noon the day prior to order additional gifts. If it's too late we can also provide rain checks so customers don't feel let down.
• Keep the energy UP! Use games, spiffs, and contests to keep the morale up to handle the carnival atmosphere that typically is involved with an event sale.
• And finally, communicate. If you have questions, are having trouble logging in or working the MarketVision kiosk, or really anything at all please call me or Katy so we can help you through it.

Automotive Event Sale Tips #1

I'm starting a series today on tips for before, during and after your direct mail campaigns. Some of these will be specific to Tri Auto clients, but for the most part these should be able to translate to any mail campaign from any company. These tips are based on best practices from other automotive clients.

1-2 Days Before your Sale

• Rearrange the lot. Put your price leaders up front on the road--make sure the showroom is looking good!
• Double check that you received your Ultimate Prep Pack (if it's missing check the service department-it's a brown box with white and green tape that says "event material enclosed")
• Balloon & Hang tag your cars. Hang up all the banners, around the lot and balloon up the cars. Get a sky buster or two - make sure everyone that drives by knows something big is going on.
• Make sure your MarketVision kiosk has arrived. Find a central location in the dealership to get it plugged in and set up.
• Have a meeting with your sales team & reception desk staff. Let each sales person try out the kiosk with one of the sample mailers provided.
• Go over basic phone training so that everyone knows what to say regarding the sale and how to answer questions.
• Test your log in with the Tri Auto website. Make sure you can log in to see the MarketVision data as the sale is happening and to be able to get credit leads over the weekend and after business hours.

• And finally hire this guy to fly over in his balloon and park it on your roof for a few days :)

What else do all of you do to get your dealership ready for a big event? Comments?

To Give or not to Give Part 2

Yesterday we started on the topic of using premiums on your mail piece. This type of marketing isn't for everyone, however it could help a lot of dealers that refuse to use them. We'll address some of the common reasons I hear thrown around for not using premiums. Which are legit? That's what we'll find out! So why wouldn't you give gifts on a mailer? #1. Your dealership's image doesn't support that type of marketing What is it about gifts that doesn't support your image? A lot of dealers say they are 'straight forward, don't use gimmicks, rely on repeat and referral business...' they tell me this is the image they've created over many years and using gifts on a mailer will discredit this image and turn off their current customers. Fair enough. For certain brands this is definitely the case (more on that later), however, if you're trying to move pre-owned vehicles on any lot you are going after a different customer than you are with new car. The image of your dealership depends on how your salespeople treat their customers, how active you are in the community, if people feel they get a fair price, and if you don't use deceptive marketing. Putting a gift on a mailer is not deceptive. Save the brand awareness marketing for your current customers and general advertising. For a big weekend event there is nothing wrong with throwing a gift on a piece. #2. It costs more. ...than what? If you spend $8000 on a mailer that flops and $9000 on a mailer that brings in a showroom full of traffic which costs you more money? #3. The sales team has to deal with "gift getters" Yes they do, and for managers, owners and GM this might mean more work for you. If you haven't done a give away type mailer in the past the sales team will need some additional training. If you have a sales consultant consider this new type of 'selling' as their next topic. Think about using a (highly recommended) "Sales Team" for the first few events, the good ones include training as part of their package. Practice makes perfect so the first few sales may not go exactly as planned, but once the sales team realizes some of these "gift getters" can become buyers they'll jump on board. One last thought, a manager I had once used to say "Speed of the leader, speed of the team" ...the leader sets the tone. If a sales manager keeps talking about the "dirtbags" the mailer is bringing in, what kind of expectation does that set for the sales team? #4.It doesn't work for your brand or line. This can definitely be the case. If you are a high line dealer, or a higher priced import dealership these are most certainly not for your new car buyer, and in many cases not for your pre-owned prospects as well. If you're one of the big 3, or an import like Mitsubishi, KIA, Suzuki, etc. this type of marketing will likely work well for you. Regardless of the brand if you have a pre-owned inventory with a variety of low priced, quality vehicles it could still be a good move. One of my clients is a Mercedes dealer that uses give away direct mailers for his pre-owned events. #5. Your sales team is not effective at turning gift getters into buyers. Refer to #3. Has your sales team had training on turning the gift seekers into actual prospects, if not it's not their fault they struggle in this atmosphere. Many dealers turn to "Sales Teams" for this reason, others look to hire a few superstars that really excel at closing this type of prospect. #6. The legal issues are frightening! Yes they are! Especially if you are in one of the crazier states (New York, Georgia, etc). Make sure you are well informed on the laws in your state and that your direct mail consultant is also up to date. If you're really concerned have your legal counsel give the ad a good once over before sending it to press. As long as you do your due diligence on the legal side you should be in good shape, just be aware of the risks. That's more than enough for today! These are just things to consider if you're a dealer that hasn't used give aways with direct mail in the past.