Marketing without Selling
Providing value without a sales pitch is a stronger form of persuasion than any well designed marketing campaign. It shows competence in what you do and people will seek out your services. It is the strongest form of permission based marketing.
Marketing without leading with a sales pitch is a strong testament to your ability and that message is lost. Telling people to do things without showing them is a lopsided marketing paradigm. With the current state of the car business people on the ground need to learn how to expand their business without relying on the dealers to prop up new initiatives financially when they could use free time to build their own marketing portfolio that is transportable if they change dealers.
Much of the stuff that is repackaged in our industry as cutting edge comes from outside our niche and are not novel ideas. It is presented to dealers and their department managers through slick marketing and gee whiz presentations. We all know that the easiest person to close on something is a salesperson. That is what makes dealers very gullible.
“When you use old-school marketing techniques you immediately raise suspicion. It’s pushy and you come across needy. Your intent is assumed to be a self-serving one way street.” – www.tribalseduction.com
Since I am no longer employed with a dealer and really have no desire to reenter that aspect of the industry in the near future I am changing the direction of this site. I will be providing content on how to leverage mediums, d-i-t-y SEO techniques and brutally honest product reviews Hopefully building a tribe along the way.
Look forward to some big site changes in the near future and value added content that will help you build your business. My cards do not have to be played close to my vest I really have nothing to lose!!
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Paul,
You are right on target per usual. While I still work for a dealership, I agree with you; however, I don’t think the fact that you do or do not work at a dealership should impact your opinions.
I have been called brash, egotistical, overbearing, and many other not so flattering names. I firmly believe that to succeed in business (any business) you have got to be able to tell a highly believable story that people can buy into. You have to become an expert (like you have).
I get a bazillion phone calls a month from vendors promising top billing, increased sales, more traffic, etc. Very few of them understand that success is very simple – provide a quality product and service you are proud to stand behind. The days of interrupting consumers is over. Permission marketing is the new truth.
What does this mean for us? We need to start talking about making viable impacts on our customers that bring real benefits to them. This means (in not certain order):
1. Payplans need to change e.g., stop paying salespeople commissions (commissions don’t align with consumer expectations).
2. Get rid of F&I departments – consumers hate this business model and it’s the single biggest detractor on SSI/CIS scores nationally. Just because it’s a profit center doesn’t mean that it’s the right thing to do.
3. Start a Conversation – Ask what your consumers want. They will appreciate the fact you are asking, and you will learn more than by hiring a Ziegler, Cardone, Cummings, or other so-called expert.
4. Look at what everyone else is doing and do the exact opposite – let’s face it, the car business is in trouble. Definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over, and expecting a different result.
5. Hold your vendors accountable – if you gave a salesperson a $5000 guarantee and he sold three cars a month, would you keep him? Why would you do the exact same thing with a vendor that you spend thousands more with? Does this make any sense?
6. Your attitude controls your altitude – Make a decision today that you are not going to buy into all the doom and gloom. Our dealership is 7 months old, we are the fastest growing dealer for our franchise since that time, and we are selling cars out of a mobil home. Why? We DECIDED we could and would.
7. Hire from outside the Car Business. My guys kick ass in a down economy because they don’t know any better. I don’t employ one co-worker that has ever sold cars for anyone else. Does it take longer to get them up to speed? Yep. Do I have to deal with all the old-school car guys telling stories in their dope rings about how good it used to be? That was a rhetorical question…
8. What got you here isn’t going to get you where you want to go. It’s tough out there. I know it and you know it. I don’t have all the answers (obviously). I simply wanted to change the conversation to start talking about the things that REALLY matter to our business.
I love your site and appreciate your friendship…
As always, my two cents (a bit on the long-winded side)…
Tom
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