Page 14 - GIADA-Jan-2018-Final

SALES

Old-Fashioned Salesmanship Keeps You

From Singing the Slow-Mover Blues

Advertising ridiculously low prices isn’t the best solution to unload aging

inventory

By Scott Toland

So, what does dealership inventory
management have to do with advertising?
A lot.

This is one of the most common triggers for
huge amounts of advertising dollars being
wasted. Your days’ supply of a particular
model is out of whack, and now someone
has decided it can be fixed by advertising.

It can’t. It will take pure old-fashioned
salesmanship.

It starts with somebody ordering too many
of a certain vehicle—or the wrong colors Create traffic by promoting the vehicles Also, print a colorful flyer featuring the
or the wrong equipment. Maybe it’s simply that already are in good demand. Then advantages of the car—include details on
that the model has gone cold in the market align your lot so every best seller is next to safety, performance, and technology. Make
or, sadly, your manufacturer pushed them a more aggressively priced slow mover. the assets tangible for the customer.
on you.
Next, you must do hours of extra training You can find these accolades by doing some
And now there they all are—in your and walk-arounds with your salespeople simple online research. Look for early press
inventory—aging at more than 120 days to help them be prepared to demonstrate releases, enthusiast magazine reviews, and
and counting. the positive benefits of the slow movers. auto show articles from when the model
With salesmanship, enthusiasm sells and first came out and everyone was truly
Solution: Advertise them! No, don’t. Well, confidence closes. excited about it.
there’s one exception.
Or, do this: Put the “show” in the showroom. Teach your “green pea” to sell the car as if it
If you’re truly willing to lose thousands of Focus your efforts on internal marketing was the hottest model on the planet, fresh
dollars per deal, selling way back of net, rather than external advertising. from the headlines and auto show. That
whereby no other dealer will come close to rookie salesperson will sell it. Just don’t let
price matching, then do it. In this one way First, take your newest salesperson, one your lot hounds talk them out of it! n
only, you may be able to create a market that hasn’t been deterred (yet) from selling
where there is none, simply because the a slow mover by the negativity of your Scott Toland has more than 30 years
price will be so ridiculously low. “sales pros.” of marketing experience with local
dealerships, regional associations, national
But remember this: Even steak at half-price Second, stage a special area in the showroom manufacturers, and media companies.
isn’t a good deal to a vegetarian. So price for that person to show customers this In 2003, Scott established The Marketing
alone won’t always solve your problem. model (the slow mover). Educate the Academy—then a four-day marketing
salesperson about all of the features of the workshop, today an online video platform
And spending money to lose money is not a model, and teach them how to do the best with more than 200 ideas, strategies, and
great business plan. Don’t fall into the trap. vehicle demonstration and test drive ever. solutions. Visit TheMarketingAcademy.com.
The best place you can put your advertising
money is on the hottest-selling models, not Third, add vehicle clings with the model’s
the slow movers. features and benefits all over the car. Aim
for at least 15 clings.
12 | GIADA Independent Auto Dealer JANUARY 2018