AUTOMOTIVE ADVERTISING & MARKETING

Silent Majority

The Silent Majority Rules

JKRAdvertising / Automotive Advertising Advice /

July 7, 2015

You must satisfy the silent majority! After you count the 5% of people who will be your strongest advocates no matter what, and the 5% you just can’t satisfy regardless of what you do, what’s left is the silent majority of 90%. The first 10% are the most vocal; typically, these people go online and post their comments, positive or negative. While you certainly want to say “thank you” to your biggest supporters and quickly address the concerns of the unhappy crowd, what about those other 90 percent who, in most cases, don’t reveal their feelings online?

Believe this … even if they aren’t posting their comments online, the silent majority is commenting! They’re simply using ways to communicate that aren’t track-able via social media, using vehicles such as text messages, e-mail, private messaging, and even good old-fashioned face-to-face conversations.

Don’t Ignore the Silent Majority!

Here’s the point: A car dealer should not make the mistake of only paying attention to the more vocal 10% of his audience. Why? There are many, many more people out there who are similarly passionate about your dealership; they just don’t post their feelings online, for whatever reason. The “quiet” silent majority are not quiet at all, so whatever you do, don’t think they’re apathetic or irrelevant to your dealership. Oftentimes, the vocal 10% doesn’t represent the opinion of the silent majority.

You can’t know exactly how large your overall online audience may be, or know who they are. Until technology comes along that gives you this info, you should never subscribe to the “no-news-is-good-news” theory and just assume they’re happy and satisfied.

It’s of utmost importance that you and your staff should be on your toes … every minute of every day, just as we talked about in yesterday’s blog about the Mystery Shopper. You simply never know when your biggest advocate (or potential detractor) will walk in – and you may not ever be made aware they set foot in your store. But you can bet they’ll be telling their friends and loved ones about their visit.

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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