AUTOMOTIVE ADVERTISING & MARKETING

Auto Shopping Experience

Today’s Auto Shopping Experience is Different

JKRAdvertising / Uncategorized /

March 7, 2016

The auto shopping experience of today is dramatically different from the way it was one decade ago. How so? The car shopper in 2016 visits less than two dealerships prior to purchasing their vehicle; whereas 10 years ago, they would visit an average of five stores.

Further, today’s shopper takes more than a month to make a decision – and about half take up to three months to pull the trigger on a car purhchase! People are simply doing more online research on their own prior to making any plans to go to an automotive showroom – and they are no longer as eager to walk in and “kick the tires” on every vehicle in which they might have interest.

With this in mind, it’s imperative that you continue to advertise all the time. If an average customer’s auto shopping experience includes in-person visits to only 1.6 dealerships, they must already be aware of you before they ever begin the car-buying process; otherwise you’re already at a disadvantage … and they will probably end up making those 1.6 visits to competitors’ stores.

A recent article in Dealer Marketing magazine said it best: “They need to know who you are, where you are, and what you can do for them before they need to know it; before they get that promotion and decide to splurge; before they find out they’re pregnant with Number Three and it’s time for three rows and more DVD players; before they discover the neighbor’s new brick mailbox with their radiators.”

FREE Advertising Review

How would you like to find out if your advertising budget is being spent as efficiently as possible? When you contact JKR Automotive Advertising, you’ll receive a complimentary Advertising Review. We’ll take a close look at your current advertising efforts and those of your competitors; then we will provide you with our expert feedback. Call Eric Tigner today at (321) 397-0777 to get the ball rolling.

JKR Automotive Advertising: We Move Cars.

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Post-Pandemic Dealer Gross Profits are Down – But They Don’t Have to Stay There!
March 13, 2024
It is no secret that dealer gross profits per vehicle are down sharply in the post-COVID automotive world. According to a recent article in Automotive News, gross profits of the six largest publicly traded dealership groups plunged significantly from Q4 2022 to Q4 2023. One of them was actually down 35% per vehicle!

The article explains: High interest rates, more expensive vehicles and a steadier post-pandemic supply chain continue to soften demand and bring it closer to pre-pandemic levels. Still, new-car buying has remained strong overall …

This means that, while sales volume is similar, overall bottom lines are lower for many dealers due to the reduced gross profits. What about your dealership?

Being Realistic
It’s time to turn the page! The time for dealers to simply be order takers for people willing to pay MSRP for a vehicle (and in some cases more) has passed and dealers have to work hard once again to achieve acceptable gross profits.

Selling a high volume of cars doesn’t control gross profits, no matter how much you wish this was the case. Correct processes and menu pricing – and strict adherence to them – do!

What kind of processes?
∙ Slow down the transaction! Your sales staff has to once again sell the customer on the features and benefits of every new and pre-owned vehicle on your lot.

∙ Your salespeople and managers should devalue the customers’ trade-in value (politely, of course) as much as possible. After all, if the customer expects you to lower your price, shouldn’t you be able to do the same on their trade? Remember, you’ll have to fix it up, put your name on it and resell it to someone else with all the tenacity you would a brand-new car. So make sure you buy it right … because the profit is made when you buy it, not when you sell it!

∙ To that end, management should be ready and willing to leave the desk and do thorough walk-arounds on each trade to ensure the best outcome for the dealership.

The Cure for Low Gross Profits
If you are like a lot of dealers these days, you could use some good news. Here it is: while you may not have the capability to achieve profit margins similar to those you enjoyed during the pandemic, they could likely be improved. JKR’s clients enjoy the benefit of attracting not only more customers, but better ones, too!

If meeting and exceeding your sales goals (and increasing gross profits at the same time) sounds great to you, you need to call us. Don’t settle for reduced gross profits when help is out there to get you closer to where you’d like to be.

Want to know how we do it? Reach out to Senior Partner Richard Brauns (407) 701-4233 or Partner/Vice President Jon Albert (407) 718-2494 today.

JKR Automotive Advertising: We Move Cars.

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