The COVID-19 pandemic has forced several governments across the world to lock their jurisdictions completely. There are a number of reasons why this is bad for the auto and auto dealership industry.

Firstly, auto dealerships are not “essential services” which means that your business is going to stay shut till the threat from the pandemic subsides. The lockdown is going to severely hit your profitability for this year - job losses are not out of question and so is the very survivability of your business.

In addition to this, people are not driving as much as they used to; and this is going to continue for a few more months. Less people are going to have the money to buy new cars in a few months’ time.

Figuring a wise strategy to tide over these next few months is critical for your business. Here are a few things you consider working on right now.

Book orders while you can

Your dealership may be closed and prospective customers may no longer be able to take a test drive. That should however not stop you from booking orders. Consider offering impressive discounts on orders made today. This is very important for two reasons. One, it keeps your sales teams at work and allows them to be productive, albeit remotely. Two, with recession looming, people are not going to be able to afford their favorite cars a few months down the line. Giving them an impressive discount today to secure a deal is a good way to book orders while your customers can still afford it.

Work out new partnerships

A lot of companies today are bleeding money due to the lockdown. Consequently, they are going to be looking for ways to improve revenue streams over the next few months. This is the time to get out there (virtually, of course) and network.

One way to approach networking would be to reach out to businesses that are both upstream and downstream of what you offer and look for synergies. For instance, you could partner with fellow dealerships in your region to negotiate a better price for spare parts from your supplier. If you are a dealer that sells entry-level cars, you could also consider working with businesses that reach out to first-time buyers. This could be partnerships with companies that offer driving tests, license preparation, and so on.

Make your processes remote-friendly

This does not seem like a long-term necessity, but trust me, it is. Dealerships have very limited catchment areas and this poses a risk for businesses in this space. Even a road work in progress in front of your dealership could bring down business for several months or even  years. 

Building a sales process that can operate remotely is thus critical. This way, you can reach out to prospective customers even without them having to step into your dealership. You may, for instance, launch a door-step test-driving campaign so that customers can test their favorite cars from the comforts of their home. You can also train your salesmen to communicate effectively via email and video conferencing tools like Zoom so that all the negotiations and discussions can happen online without having to meet your customers face-to-face. 

A remote-friendly strategy increases your catchment area and consequently your customer base as well. You may go even further and partner with other dealerships in your city or state that offer other brands of cars. With such a partnership in place, you can house your cars at their dealership (and vice versa), and this makes your catchment area virtually limitless.