There are few things that frustrate me more than hearing a client that made four to 10 times what they spent on marketing say that they can’t spend any more! What? You spent $2,500 and made $25,000 in gross profit, but the owners have given you a budget? This make no sense at all!

When you “budget” your marketing, you are apparently saying that your marketing programs aren’t working. In many cases, that may be true. That’s why it’s important to track everything you do in marketing. If it’s not working, you shouldn’t be doing it! If it is working, you should be doing more of it!

Step 1: Know Where the Money Goes.

John Wanamaker, one of the pioneers of marketing, once said, “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted, the trouble is I don’t know which half.” Advertising was hard to track over 100 years ago when Mr. Wanamaker made this statement, but in today’s world, there’s no excuse for not knowing which of your marketing programs are working. Today we have computers, tracking phone numbers, great CRMs, trackable websites, and many fantastic lead providers that will all help you track your advertising investment.

Yes, I said advertising investment! Great marketing is not an expense; it’s an investment, an investment that should always return multiples of the amount of money invested. It has been said that, over many years, the stock market has returned an average of 7% annually. Based on that, if you have $10,000 invested in the stock market, your return on that “investment” is about $58.34 per month. If you invest that same $10,000 on marketing and generate four to ten times the amount invested, your return will be $30,000 to $90,000 per month.

Granted, the gross profit made on sales doesn’t all go directly into your pocket, but I promise you, you’ll have a lot more left than $58.34. Let’s say you invest $10,000 in a marketing program. With the leads generated you sell 20 vehicles at an average gross profit of $2,500 for a total of $50,000. If you pay out 30% of that money in commissions that’s $15,000. Let’s say that there are other expenses that add up to another 10% or $5,000. So, you made $50,000, invested $10,000 in the marketing program, paid out $15,000 in commissions, and paid out another $5,000 in other expenses. That leaves you with $20,000! I’m a business owner too and I know that much of the profit from incremental sales goes straight to the bottom line and into my pocket. That’s the great thing about owning a business.

Step 2: Know Your Numbers.

Now that you have a better understanding of marketing as an investment, you must start treating it like you would any other investment. You must know your numbers! What gets measured, gets managed! If a department head wants to spend money on a marketing campaign, give it to them, but make sure they know that you will want the numbers after the campaign. And the most important numbers are the amount invested and the return on that investment. In other words, what did we spend and how much gross profit was created from sales to the leads generated. The cost per lead and the cost per vehicle sold is not important. The only important factor is the multiple of money spent to gross profit generated.

That brings up another important point: You invest money to generate leads. How well are those leads being worked? Are your people following up on every lead until they “buy or die?” Watch for future articles on how to best track these important items.

You should also realize that selling more vehicles using Investment Marketing will cause logistical challenges. You will need to buy more vehicles, you may burn out some of your people, and you will need to decide what to do with all the extra money you’re making. Some of that money should be invested in training your people. That’s another investment that will pay big dividends! Your lead providers likely have some great training material that is there for the asking.

Start treating your marketing as an investment and enjoy the dividends! Good luck and good selling!

By Denny Long - President - Credit Mail Experts

You pay good money for the leads you purchase. It does not matter if they come from direct mail, the Internet, television, radio, newspaper, or any other source. Unfortunately, most of the leads many dealerships receive get worked once and then tossed in a pile, never to be touched again, whether it is just one lead or 100 leads .I hope this is not the case at your store, but if it is, you need to read on.

This process is the one taken by David Basha, the owner of Carriage Nissan and Carriage Mitsubishi in Gainesville, GA. It is the most comprehensive and thorough working of leads I have found after 20 years in the industry.

Day 1 – The lead is sent directly to the appointment setter, either a salesman or the BDC. They immediately call the prospect to make the first attempt at setting an in-store appointment. We all know that you do not get through to 100% of the leads on the first attempt. The lead does not go into the “dead” file until personal contact is made and disposition (interested or not interested) can be made.

Knowing that hot leads must be contacted immediately, his team sends the first letter the same day. This letter acknowledges the prospect’s information has been received and this dealership seriously wants their business. It covers the basics of financing options and inventory selection.

Day 7 – If an in-store appointment has not been set and kept, letter #2 is sent out. This letter covers the reasons the dealership and the prospect may not have been able to get together yet and offers new and compelling reasons to call for an appointment today.

Day 14 – Most dealerships have long forgotten about this lead by now, and most prospects have started shopping elsewhere. But not David, because he and his team are just getting started working these leads. It is time for letter #3, which reminds the prospect that Carriage wants their business and even has a special gift waiting for them at the dealership. Not relying on just a gift, the letter also reminds the prospect why Carriage is the right dealership to help with their credit situation.

Day 30 – Letter #4 goes out on this day with an urgent message that now is the time to make that purchase. Special financing options and new inventory selection are discussed.

Day 60 – It is time for letter #5 to hit the mail. This letter offers a free oil change while the prospect is weighing the opportunity to explore options for replacing that vehicle.

Day 90 – You guessed it; it is time for letter #6. Fear of rejection is the main reason why people ignore offers of help for this long. In this letter, the dealership explains how easy the credit interview appointment is in an attempt to remove that fear.

Day 120 – Letter #7 offers the prospect automotive financing and the opportunity to get a nationally accepted credit card. The dealership again stresses that they want the prospect’s business and are willing to work for it.

Now that is how to work every lead to the fullest extent! At the end of each month, they take one more shot at the leads that they weren’t able to reach. In one month, that stack included 180 leads. From that she was able to set 20 additional appointments. If half of those 20 people keep their appointment and Carriage can deliver vehicles to half of those that keep their appointment, they will deliver 5 additional cars.

It’s time to stop allowing your leads to become orphans. Go for it and make more money.

Please contact us at experts@creditmailexperts.com or visit us at www.creditmailexperts.com if you would like free copies of the letters mentioned in this article