We can learn from Non-Automotive Merchandising

Many of us interact with Dealerships on a daily basis and try to convey how best we can help them save money and acquire new business during these difficult times… however, many of us get so technical with dealers that it’s very easy fly over the heads of our audience with techno-babble and statistic after statistic.

I’ve personally found that when attempting to convey complex theories to those that aren’t exposed to them all the time, it helps to remove ourselves from the dealership world and talk about how folks interact with the internet on a daily basis outside of the microcosms they are in every day.

For example, I was working with a dealership the other day and felt that I wasn’t getting through when talking about Inventory Merchandising. It was a dealership that felt convinced that giving little to no information would prompt website visitors to “call”. We all know that those days are long gone, but the mindset still persists out there…

The point is that there’s really no difference between let’s say a digital camera and a vehicle. Sure, the digital camera is much less expensive, but a consumer will find it on the Internet in generally the same way they will a vehicle and the merchandising that revolves around it is essentially the same.

I asked the dealer about what he had recently researched online for purchase and the answer I got was real estate. I thought to myself…. Perfect!

Since I knew he was researching real estate I asked him did he ever call on a property without a list price? The answer I got was yes, he had done that once. Go figure... I then asked him, has he ever inquired about a property without seeing any pictures? No. Has he ever called on a property without getting any information on the condition of the property? No.

I then asked… what’s the difference between that property and a car? If you wouldn’t act on a property with limited information surrounding it, why would someone inquire about your vehicles? Shouldn’t your customers see a fair price online? Shouldn’t they see multiple photos of the car they are interested in? Shouldn’t they be aware of other similar cars that they might want to check out in your inventory? Yes… of course they should.

Just a quick thought that when it comes to positioning our products in our space as vendors I believe we can learn a lot from those outside of automotive. Sometimes taking cues from others can be a great way to expand our ultimate goal, which should always be helping dealers understand why we build our products the way we do and how they can sell more cars and maximize their fixed operations as well when they are used properly.

Thanks!