Think your shot at living like an Olympian ended after your high school or college athletic career? Think again. Successful Olympic athletes employ a set of traits and techniques that you can still use to help market your car dealership. The elements that work together to create popular medalists, with thousands or millions of people rooting for them, can similarly elevate your dealership in the eyes of your customers. Marketing Profs put together a slideshow relating winning Olympians’ behavior to marketing, and it applies perfectly to the way your car dealership wins by adopting the same focus. Still don’t believe it? Here’s how you can use what works for the gold medal winners:

• Share your story. The personal story behind the winners often creates massive support for one athlete or another, or sometimes an entire team. You weren’t dropped onto this earth running a successful auto dealership, so go ahead and share what it took to get there. Every dealership began with a lifelong love of cars, a careful plan or a less-than-direct route that included far-flung adventures. Whatever the story, knowing it helps people identify with you. Understanding the journey builds support for current success.
• Deliver on your promises. Actions count for more than words, so prove what matters to you with every engagement, every customer and every sale. The claims you make about what distinguishes your dealership carry a lot more weight when they’re backed up in the interactions that happen minute by minute.
• Use the right tools. A diver can’t use a pommel horse and a gymnast doesn’t get any mileage out of a pool. Make sure your marketing messages go to the audiences who can use them best. Your brand and your message should be consistent, but it’s smart to craft and deliver the relevant points with laser targeting.
• Details, details. Try to think about the dealership experience from a customer’s perspective. The little details of each phone call or visit are critically important in shaping the impression visitors take away from any contact.
• It’s all connected. Authenticity matters everywhere your dealership has a presence. The customers that seem to disappear are still making waves and influencing your reputation long after they’ve left the premises. What happens on the showroom floor and in the finance department today will assuredly be reflected someday, somehow, in a conversation online or in person where you don’t hear it.
• You can only run today’s race today. Letting go of the past, wins and losses alike, is the best way to free up energy to focus on today’s challenges. Learn from what worked and what didn’t, but greet each new customer with fresh and full intent to create a lasting asset.
• Remember the team. Good sportsmanship is appealing. Acknowledging all the people who make your dealership successful is as relevant as the cars and deals themselves. From the manufacturers to the service personnel, your team merits respect and appreciation. They will appreciate the recognition too. Happy employees will work harder and are more loyal.

While you may never stand on a podium and proudly listen to the national anthem while your fans cheer wildly, you can certainly enjoy strong popular support and the loyalty of customers who see you as a winner. Follow these strategies and go for the gold!