AUTOMOTIVE ADVERTISING & MARKETING

Your USP

Your USP Makes You Stand Out

JKRAdvertising / Automotive Advertising Advice /

July 15, 2015

Your USP About 60 years ago, Rosser Reeves coined the now-famous term, “Unique Selling Proposition,” or USP. Entrepreneur.com defines USP accurately as the factor or consideration presented by a seller as the reason that one product or service is different from and better than that of the competition.

More About Your USP

In your current situation, think about what might make a customer want to come buy a car, truck or SUV from you. If you can’t immediately come up with at least one really good reason, it’s time to do some research so you can develop your dealership’s USP (or call us at JKR so we can help you). Here are specific questions you can ask yourself that might help you.

Does your dealership do anything that is truly specialized in your market? This is a bit of an extreme example, but think about what the Dollar Shave Club has done to make itself unique. First, the concept of the service they provide is new and innovative … but beyond that, the commercials also do a tremendous job of using comedy to emphasize how their system makes for an extremely stress-free purchase. While we’re not suggesting you have anything happening at your dealership as outlandish as this, you may have something that would make a prospective customer stand up and take notice of you.

Is there some way that your dealership has improved the customer experience? It could be in the showroom, in the service department, or a better buying process. But it has to be something that eliminates what would otherwise be a frustrating thing for a customer – and it must be important enough to be part of your USP.

Can you position your brand as being unique in your market? This time, let’s stay in the automotive genre for a great example. For nearly four decades, BMW has branded itself as “The Ultimate Driving Machine”. Even though there may be better cars out there, only BMW makes this claim. Here’s another example: M&M’s are certainly not the only kind of candy that melts in your mouth, not in your hand – but that’s one of the ways the product has differentiated itself. How can you do something similar at your dealership?

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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