What happened to Crazy Saturdays?

What happened? Not long ago, you could come into work on a Saturday and expect to see 4 or 5 customers per salesman. Now you are lucky to see 1 or 2. I remember way back 2 years ago, I would be able to juggle 2 or 3 customers at once. The internet is changing our business every day. Instead of people looking in the paper Saturday morning and going lot to lot, they are hopping on the computer.

Customers will do all their homework and make a shortlist of the 2-4 cars that they want to look at in person.

How can you get on that short list? There are a few thing to help you in doing that.

1. Have great pictures. Make sure you are using a good camera and all of your shots are consistant. Have at least 12 on a used car. If you don’t, people may just scroll by your vehicle.

2. Have a great description. Don’t just have the options on the description. Think outside the box and be original.

3. Don’t price yourself out of the market. Try to make sure that you are in the top 10% of like vehicles in your area. There is a tool that we use and it’s called Vauto. It will not only make sure that you are pricing your vehicles to market, but will also make sure that you are utilizing your inventory dollars effectively.

4. Make sure your sales staff is sharp on the phone. Customers are calling to know the availability of the vehicle and may want to try to negotiate over the phone. They can see everything else on the internet. (See previous blog post on phone up skills.). Just set the appointment and sell them.