The car business is certainly a cyclical industry, and recent economic shifts have created new challenges. Political turmoil, international issues, and domestic strife may have driven many buyers to lots in Q1 and Q2, but as we head into Q3, the market is looking a lot shakier! However, any time the lot isn’t busy is an opportunity to focus on the key activities that generate business in the first place. This is the perfect moment to take a look at your messaging, merchandising, and communications flow, and update it in time for things to get busy again!
Revitalize Your Inventory and Online Presence: Making it Easy for Customers to Find Their Perfect Vehicle
To make it easier for customers to find their perfect vehicle and to give them a strong reason to engage, start by revitalizing your inventory and online presence.
Beyond Just Photos: The Power of Visual Merchandising
The easiest way to generate leads is to refresh the merchandising on older units. Do whatever is necessary to get the vehicle photo-ready (a step below deliver-ready), take new photos, and position it prominently on the lot.
When you take new photos of a vehicle, it can often trigger push notifications from third-party sales channels for customers who have previously viewed them. This is an incredible opportunity to re-engage with potential buyers who have already interacted with the unit but haven’t yet made a purchase. This means the customer gets timely updates on vehicles they’re interested in, making their search more efficient.
Crafting Engaging Vehicle Descriptions for Your Customers
Along with the new photoset, it is recommended to rewrite the sales copy for your aging inventory. Generic descriptions don’t sell. Neither do walls of text listing features, or AI-generated descriptions, which can actually be downgraded as content. However, compelling narratives that resonate with potential buyers do sell, and they sell every time!
Targeting the Right Customer: The Role of Geotargeting
We pair this with an intensive geotargeting campaign that analyzes the changing landscape of where and how people are searching for vehicles, for best results. Optimizing your organic listings in this way is the most effective method to win first-touch searches, for both new and used vehicles.
While ‘bunker buster’ is a trending term for all the wrong reasons, when you craft Vehicle Detail Descriptions (VDDs) effectively, you’re breaking through the noise to reach the customer. You are telling a compelling story about how a specific vehicle is perfect for the individual customer, proactively addressing potential objections through a combination of engaging written copy, extensive merchandising photography, and even video.
With our proprietary reverse search copywriting methods, you can ensure your message reaches the exact person looking for that exact car, maximizing your impact.
Optimize Your Sales Channels & Website: Streamlining the Customer’s Digital Journey
While your reconditioning and detail teams may be busy with a ‘reconditioning push,’ this is also an excellent time to re-evaluate your third-party sales channel strategy.
Strategic Spend: Maximizing Your Third-Party Channels
Where are you spending your online advertising dollars, and are they delivering the right return on investment? Do you have a good marketing mix for the inventory that you currently have?
These insights, especially when overall search volume is lower, provide the data you need to strategically reallocate your spend, negotiate better rates on your channels, and ensure your budget works most effectively for you.
Some dealerships may prefer an aggressive third-party sales channel strategy that retains every platform that at least breaks even, aiming for the maximum number of monthly engagements. Others will opt for a more focused and cost-effective strategy tailored to their current inventory. There are no wrong answers, as long as your listing quality is top-notch. If your listings are lacking, even extensive third-party spend won’t save you, because you won’t be able to attract clicks based on anything other than price.
Your Dealership Website: The Customer’s Digital Showroom
While analyzing how and why customers are coming to your website, you should also evaluate the website itself. Are the load speeds fast enough? Is it mobile-friendly? Are the Calls to Action (CTAs) clear, and are the lead forms optimized? What tools are integrated into the site, such as trade-in valuation tools, AI Chatbots, and appointment scheduling systems?
Understanding the Digital Lead Flow
What is the typical lead flow once a customer enters your site, and how quickly does your sales team or BDC respond? Understanding how your messaging and processes work is crucial for grasping what customers experience when they interact with your site. If your site is slow, clunky, or takes too long for a customer to submit a lead, you’ll know instantly. However, it’s a vital part of the process for dealers to understand fully. What are your current processes, and how effectively do they work?
A slow period is the ideal time to mystery shop your own dealership, both online and in-person if possible. If your messaging isn’t effective for you, will it truly resonate with a customer?
Master Your Messaging & Customer Relationships: Building Lasting Connections
Refreshing your messaging should be a quarterly-to-monthly process, regardless of lead volume. However, during slower periods, you have the opportunity to delve deeper into your messaging and tailor it precisely to the current market and customer needs. Providing clear next steps in your automated messaging can be a massive boon for your business, especially when followed up with an exceptional customer service experience.
Unlocking Your CRM: Engaging Your Existing Database
CRM Mining is a strategy that heats up when sales get slow. Properly mining your database and sending targeted messaging to former customers, existing leads, service customers, and those with lease maturities is an excellent way to increase foot traffic with familiar faces. Pairing this with clear sales funnels—such as financing tools, walkaround videos, finance appointment bookings, test drive appointments, or trade-in appointments—is a clear way to guide the customer into your process, regardless of how slow business might be. Tailor the experience to each customer, ensuring it’s a worthwhile engagement regardless of the immediate outcome.
The Power of Reviews: Building Trust and Visibility
Always ask for reviews, but during slower periods, those reviews carry even more weight. Search algorithms are constantly seeking a steady supply of human-created content that informs others about the quality of businesses. When the overall market is slow, proactively encourage former customers who haven’t left public reviews to do so, whether on the third-party sales channel where they generated the lead or, as a last resort, on Google Reviews, which significantly influence public perception.
Slow Month? Partner with Surfwrench!
Slow business periods present a genuine opportunity for proactive improvement, rather than just waiting passively. The importance of taking a holistic approach encompassing your inventory, digital presence, CRM, and communications cannot be underestimated, especially as a more digitally connected world enables more effective online shopping for customers.
We have a saying, borrowed from an Avengers film, that encapsulates our approach during slow periods. When Steve Rogers is brainstorming a plan, Tony Stark famously replies, “I have a plan: attack!”
Don’t let a slow month turn into a slow quarter. Partner with Surfwrench to revitalize your business and position yourself for solid, long-term e-commerce success. We’re an e-commerce tuning house that squeezes every once of power out of your website, inventory, and processes.
Contact us today at 877-653-5828 or email us at info@surfwrench.com to learn more about our digital marketing & merchandising solutions tailored for automotive dealerships.
