So your automotive sales are down, and you lay awake at night praying that you make this month’s budget just so you do not have to put all of your possession in the provided cardboard box and take the walk of shame out of the dealership.  Does this sound familiar to you?

Anyone who has spent any time in automotive management has experienced this anxiety.  For that matter anyone in sales management has had this same gut wrenching stomach turning feeling at one time or another.  There have been self-help books, sales seminars, and always that colleague who seems like they don’t have a worry in the world.  Everyone envy’s their confidence and many secretly despises their success in sales management.  You know the type!  They are the manager who never sweat in 100 degree weather, never has a hair out of place (on their full head of hair), and always has a solution (the right solution) to any situation, can walk on water, as well as turn it into wine.  They have found the secret to success or know how to find the “Next Big Idea”.

Here is a fact that may help you from popping the Ambien every night just to get three hours of sleep and start the stressful cycle the next day.  They always find the “Next Big Idea”, because they are not looking for it.  That individual uses common sense.

Let’s talk about common sense for a moment.  If someone arrives on your dealership lot and is looking for a car.  All you have on your lot are red cars.  Are you going to ask the customer if they like red?  I will get a little more basic.  If a potential customer is perusing your lot looking at your vehicles.  Are you going to approach them, and ask them if you can show them a vehicle?  How about this to make it really simple?  A customer would like to take the vehicle for a test drive.  Will you make that happen?  I’m sorry for the sarcasm, but I have to make this very simple for those of you looking for the “Next Big Idea”.

That manager who is omnipotent when making decisions in the automotive industry is not looking for the “Next Big Idea”.  They know it does not exist.  The “Next Big Idea” has already been found.  This concept was founded when Adam and Eve were created.  Adam wanted to make Eve happy one night, so he could go fishing the next morning.  However, he did not want to be hassled the next day by Eve for taking some time for him to relax and fish.  Therefore, Adam spent the entire day letting Eve enjoy herself with what she wanted to do.  He picked fruit (not the apple you are thinking of- that is another article for another day), he straightened the hut up and made it look real nice so when she woke up from her nap she was pleasantly surprised.  He then went a step further, and picked a nice bouquet of flowers and gave it to her with a nice note saying he appreciated everything she did for him.  He made her feel like she was the most important woman on earth (I know she was the only woman at that time).  When they laid down that night to get some sleep he leaned over and asked her if she would mind letting him take some time to fish in the morning.  Without hesitation, Eve said, “yes”.   The story doesn’t end there.  As the earth began to populate, Eve told the other women of the world about all of the nice things Adam did for her.  Today we have mother’s day, Valentine’s Day, Birthdays, and Anniversary’s that man is expected to do all of those nice things that Adam did for Eve.

You want more sales just like Adam wanted to go fishing the next day.  So what are you going to do about it?  Customers want to buy from you.  If they didn’t, they would not be looking on the internet for your vehicles.  They would not be talking to their friends about where they should buy their next vehicle.  They would not become an “UP” on your lot.  How is your dealership going to capitalize on this fact?  Keep it simple.  Stop looking for the “Next Big Idea”, and start using the idea that has worked for hundreds of generations.

Do you really appreciate your customers?  I’m not talking about the “sign your name to a thank you card” or the “I’m not making any money on the sale, so you can drive away happy” approach.  I’m talking about truly making the sale an exciting experience.  I’m talking about reminding the customer over the next couple of years about the time you created this exciting experience.

Would you agree that if you truly rolled out the red carpet during the whole sales process to your customer that they would be more likely to purchase that vehicle from you?  Would you agree that if you provided them an opportunity to write a review before they left finance that they would probably write a great review about the actual sale?  What would you say, if you captured that moment when the customer grabs their keys and is about to get in the vehicle to drive off of the lot that you have captured the happiest time in the whole sales process.  Now, what if you created an opportunity for the customer to market that experience through Social Media as well as followed up with that customer over the next couple of years.  Would you say they are more likely to tell all of their friends and family?  How would that help your CSI Scores?  How would that help your sales?  How would it help your repeat business and referrals?  The “Next Big Idea” you are looking for already exists.  It just isn’t executed correctly by all dealerships.  If it were, then we would not have a dealership rating system.  We do because some managers understand how to take care of their customers, and some managers lay awake at night praying that sales will fall in their lap the next day.

If you don’t agree with this article then try to go fishing the day after a Valentines, Mother’s Day, or Anniversary when you did not recognize the women in your life.

DeliveryMaxx can help you turn a “one-time customer” into a “Life-Time Customer”.  DeliveryMaxx has a program that will increase store branding and exposure, provide published positive reviews, raise CSI scores, explode sales and referrals, dramatically increase fixed operation revenue, and improve employee retention.  What is great is that DeliveryMaxx allows you to manage the dealership while they do all of the little things that truly create a customer for life.