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Want to differentiate your store from others and grow your top and bottom line numbers? Women are now buying 45% of all cars at new car dealerships, which translates into an average of 620 new and used vehicles combined annually.

What processes can be implemented for ups, guests, and women shoppers to optimize their experience at your dealership, especially the ones who walk in and say they’re just looking? Do your front-line people think these guests aren’t serious and ignore them or does your store have a process to engage these shoppers after a few minutes?

A simple action like taking the time to upsell the dealership by offering a 3-minute tour of the facility, explaining that your service hours are the best in the area, can make a big difference. Give guests a coupon for a free car wash and explain that overnight cars are provided in your service area. All of this demonstrates that you care, that you’re selling more than cars, you’re selling futures.

Download the Dealership 2020 white paper and get the insights and real-case scenarios about how your dealership can begin tapping into more sales to women.

DOWNLOAD THE WHITE PAPER NOW

Never miss a chance to sell your dealership—get 8 steps to have your business be The Destination Difference™ in your area or region. Start implementing shifts now and get ahead of the trend.

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Reshaping The Industry’s Economy
The millennial. Individuals born between 1980 and 2000 comprise ‘one of the largest generations in history’. In a recent article “Millennials Coming of Age”, by Goldman Sachs, millennials are not only poised to reshape the economy, but are about to move into prime spending years. Millennials overtook Baby Boomers, ages 51 to 69, as the largest generation according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Women of all age groups are buying 4.5 out of every 10 vehicles. However, of those millennial buyers, 53% are women. Honing in on what factors contribute to car purchases made by millennial women can help dealerships step into a larger market share.

How Millennials Stand Out From The Crowd
What makes millennial women stand out from non-millennial women? According to Women-Drivers.com, millennials ranked price, style, brand, color and warranty as top factors for car purchasing. Trustworthiness and respect ranked as the top two reasons to buy from a sales advisor. Additionally, millennials who are adept at using reviews in many product categories, use car dealer reviews readily to help them locate what dealerships to do business with.

Millennials Are Digitally Engaged with Dealers
Since millennial buyers have grown up with the internet and smartphones, they are highly connected with social media. Goldman Sachs states that 44% of millennials text message, 16% blog, 38% instant message, and 38% are engaged in social media. For example, Women-Drivers.com reports that social interaction is critical:

• 44% of millennial respondents viewed a dealership’s Facebook page, an average of 10% higher than non-millennials.
• 67.5% of millennials furthered to “Like” a dealership’s Facebook page, an average of 10% higher than non-millennials.

One takeaway would be that millennial women are more evaluative that non-millennial women. Additionally, millennial women are open to using dealer’s social communities.

Social Selling Sales Advisors
Connecting with this group means engaging a generation that places effort to find answers within an electronic style of communication. A style that’s silent but not soft-spoken, educational but not elusive, and often promotes multitasking. Their energies are to be reigned in with true and genuine interest.

Millennials interact with Instagram, Twitter and Facebook as social media mainstays. What are sales advisors doing to grab ahold of a portion of engagement? Smart sales advisors build leads off their successful sales relationships. They ask for the referrals and reviews, and the satisfied customer happily provides. Behind the scenes lay electronic connections ready and waiting. “Friend” or “Follow”, those requests and actions taken upon referred names create a plethora of potential customers. Social profiles built by sales advisors with the intent of building leads is becoming a new system of lead generation.

Be Personable and Prosper
Our data reports that millennial women travelled further to visit showrooms and are less likely to shop the nearest dealership. Goldman Sachs points out in its article that millennials have less money to spend, while industry reports show that younger buyers have little interest in negotiating the purchase price. Sales advisors could capitalize on their discussions with millennial women and secure a more decisive market.

Does your advertising speak to this segment specifically, and not just have a women spokesperson on a sports TV or weekend ad? Listen to the millennial woman and bring the showroom tour into a vision of comfort, longevity, service center and multitasking lounge that serves as a hub for the busy woman scheduling around work, school and personal time. Become the dealership that cares about the millennial women buyers and prepare to excel in your sales across the board by applying the principles of being personable, relatable, and interactive.

‘Buying a car’ versus ‘shopping without buying’ emits a varied set of emotions for women car buyers.

A new Women-Drivers.com study reveals that when there is money in the game, emotions dial up with the heightened sense of commitment. The data reported by women in the 2017 US Women’s Car Dealership Report shows that is it only natural when buying a big ticket item that the buyer's excitement level escalates.

But there’s more than that.

When Purchasing, women report:

• Confidence wanes by 9 percent
• Nervousness goes up by over 10 percent
• Feeling Overwhelmed increases
• And, more.

5 Ways to help Position the Value of your Dealership and Bolster Women’s Confidence
The chances of an under-confident woman recommending your dealership to friends or family is not very high and, in fact, her negative emotion(s) could result in an unfavorable review. Buying a car is a big decision for anyone, and the sales process includes a series of emotions that can be positive or negative and can be greatly influenced by your sales team. Learning how to turn an apprehensive shopper into a happy, satisfied buyer will pay off now and in the future.

Women are buying 4.5 out of every 10 new cars. Business is competitive.

Make Selling, Advertising, and Marketing to them a priority.

DOWNLOAD WHITE PAPER NOW

Industry experts tell us that car buyers go to 1.6 dealerships to buy a vehicle.

From the Women-Drivers.com 2017 US Women’s Car Dealership Report, we find that number to be true for half of women car buyers. The other half report a very different answer altogether. An amazing forty-six percent of women car buyers are going to twice the industry average, or 3.2 dealer visits.

Which begs a few questions:

1. Are the industry experts talking to enough women when conducting their research?
2. What evidence do you have that the women coming into your store are buying from you? Do you track guests that are overlooked and leave? Do you measure these lost sales and put new behaviors and practices in place to re-capture them?

In the “How Many Car Dealers Are Women Buyers Visiting” white paper, learn that 60% of women who leave a dealership without buying, do not return. Understand what the top 5 reasons are for not buying at a dealership – do any of these sound familiar when women leave your store?

Discover what top dealerships are doing to earn her buy-in and create the right conditions for the sale on the first visit. Sixty-two percent of women report that they return to the dealerships where they first purchased their vehicles to then have them serviced. This highlights the potential to grow value among this critical market segment.

Download your copy of the report

http://www.BradleyOnDemand.com/ 856-546-2440

Make Money Mondays with Sean V. Bradley - BDC Prior Customers & Orphan Owners

In this week's Episode of Make Money Mondays Sean V. Bradley, President of Dealer Synergy, explains the importance of orphan owners at your dealership. NADA says dealerships have a 70% attrition rates. When these sales people leave, their previous customers do not have a resource at your dealership. This is where you should want to adopt every previous customer and make them into your own. You should look as these orphan owners as a possible lead and should be proactive in trying to work with them.

To visit all of our Make Money Mondays in one place visit: http://www.MakeMoneyMondays.net/

If you like Make Money Mondays, you will love Bradley On Demand: http://www.BradleyOnDemand.com/
856-546-2440

For more information about Dealer Synergy, visit http://www.DealerSynergy.com/

Sign up now for the next Internet Sales 20 Group!
http://internetsales20group.com

If you have any questions, call or text Sean on his cell 267-319-6776.

Sixty-two percent of women report that they return to the dealerships where they first purchased their vehicles to then have them serviced. This highlights the potential to grow value among this critical market segment.

Changing family dynamics have put women squarely in the driver’s seat with an estimated one-half of all cars sold being purchased by women who are then directly responsible for decisions involving vehicle maintenance and service appointment scheduling.

This makes offering post-sales service on her terms a value proposition worth embracing.

It All Adds Up
From our 2017 US Women’s Car Dealership Report, game-changing data offers a new view of the Top 15 service drive brands rated and ranked by 4,653 women when at their dealerships.

Dealer Satisfaction Scores – High trust and comfort levels are must haves for women.
Fixed Operations Income – Service alerts and courtesy vehicles keep her coming back.
Future Purchase & Referral Rates – Listening without interrupting earns repeat business and valuable referrals from her.

Service, Please!
Becky Nixon, an industry authority and Director of Fixed Operations Training for David Lewis & Associates, offers the following:

“Psychologists tell us that women are generally detail-oriented and inquisitive by nature. Convenience being the key, all recommended repairs or maintenance must come with an honest and definitive timeline attached.”

Women who buy from Women-Drivers Certified Trusted Dealers confirm this. They want their questions answered, cars serviced in a timely manner and a service experience that makes them feel good. Making women feel heard, appreciated and understood goes a long way toward earning their repeat business—and referrals. And, very positive reviews.

The Last Word – Distinguish
There already exists a time frame for women to return to their original dealership for recalls or mandatory service visits associated with vehicle warranties. To keep them coming back after those years have passed, it’s imperative to offer relationship-building perks which distinguish your brand, like:

• Free car washes or annual ‘we-appreciate-your-business’ detailing offers.
• Comfortable seating in lounge areas, Wi-Fi connectivity with nearby power outlets, entertaining play areas for children, and clean restrooms.
• Refreshment stations stocked with quality coffee, tea, water and healthy snacks.

Adopt marketing strategies that speak to women’s concerns. Your website and e-newsletters are the avenues for targeted messages and selling strategies when they shed light on service offerings of benefits and provide a deeper understanding of maintenance procedures.

Women rely on these resources for links and data that help them assess a potential need for repairs (i.e. worn out windshield wipers, squeaky breaks). Educational content that is aimed at ensuring their families’ safety can boost a dealership’s brand image and trust among women.

Note: Women’s #1 requested concierge item is a courtesy vehicle. What lasting impression are you leaving your female clients in your highest gross margin department?

Today we will preview a CBT News interview where dealers get the inside scoop on interesting data collected from the 2017 U.S. Women’s Car Dealer Trends & Report about the buying experiences, preferences and habits of women.

In the video, the following questions are discussed:

1. What dealers can learn about their female consumer experiences by working with Women-Drivers reputation and rating platform?

2. What are top dealers doing right with women buyers? [3:20]

3. 46% of women report that they went to an average of 3.2 dealerships before buying a car. Why is this? [5:04]

4. The #1 reason women report buying a car at a particular dealership is... [7:20]

5. The #1 digital resource women reported using is the dealer’s website, #2 is the manufacturer. Anne discusses ways to capitalize on this. [9:30]

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

Representing 45% of all car purchases, women are buying 8 million new cars this year, so catering to them is a must. How will you evangelize that your brand is the destination dealership with women+families? It’s time to stoke demand and convert more women shoppers to buyers.

In today’s competitive marketplace, women buyers are crucial for auto dealer’s success.
The all-inclusive 2017 US Women’s Car Dealer Report shares trends, behaviors, preferences and experiences women have when Purchasing, Shopping and in the Service Drive.

It’s not enough to just ‘know’ women’s habits when purchasing a vehicle at a dealership. ‘Knowing’ doesn’t make a difference.

Dealers that are taking action to market, to engage and to set forth a plan of adding value when selling to women are the ones winning their business.

We measured Certified Trusted Dealers satisfaction scores. In this year’s report, we share best business practices to elevate the client and guest experience to assist you in getting out of your comfort zone. It’s up to you. Stay the course, or apply new ideas, practices and methods to achieve a higher market share, retention and loyalty.

DOWNLOAD 2017 US WOMEN’S CAR DEALERSHIP REPORT HERE

Is there such a thing as a million dollar strategy or a one-size-fits-all strategy for your digital advertising?

On this episode of Think Tank Tuesday, Paul, Ashley, and Juliana discuss brands that have attempted to utilize a million dollar strategy and whether or not it could be repeated for your business. 

We’d love to hear what you have to say. Comment below and follow us on Facebook.
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http://www.DealerSynergy.com 856-546-2440 

New research shows that being there and useful in consumers' initial auto searches leads directly to dealership visits. The brands that want to win sales on the lot need to first win these early micro-moments.

Customers increasingly rely on digital, and especially mobile, to help with their auto purchase journey—to research, find deals, and get real-time auto advice. For example, 1 in 3 adults in the U.S. watches auto content on YouTube once per month.1 Today, these digital interactions influence shoppers' decisions as much as (and potentially even more than) the salesperson on-the-lot. And because we're not yet able to start and finish an auto purchase online, it's critical for brands to win early micro-moments to drive people to the lot.

Be there in early moments to accelerate dealership visits

We conducted a study looking at individual micro-moments and their impact on dealership visits. We found positive correlations between searches in all five of the key auto moments and a visit to the dealership.2

For moments later in the purchase journey it should not be a surprise if a consumer turns up at your lot—for example, when someone searches for where to buy a car.

However, being there in initial moments matters too. Our study shows thatconsumers in their early research moments, such as which-car-is-best or is-it-right for me moments, are signaling intent to visit a dealership within a week.3For brands, then, having a digital presence across all the five key auto micro-moments is critical.

Format matters in driving traffic to the lot Equally important to being there in the initial research phase is being useful with the right content in the right format. For early micro-moments, video is great for engaging consumers. In fact, of people who use YouTube while buying a car, 69% are influenced by it—more than TV, newspapers or magazines.4

For auto consumers, our research shows that YouTube has the greatest impact at the start of the purchase journey. People using YouTube in which-car-is-best moments showed a higher correlation with dealership visits than people using YouTube in other moments.5 Some of the common search terms for shoppers in these moments include: "[brand/make] + reviews," "[brand/make] + specs," and "best luxury cars."

Once consumers have narrowed down their which-car-is-best choices, they want to know if their selection will fit their lifestyle and needs. They're curious about features, options, interiors, and exteriors. Increasingly, they're turning to Image Search to answer these is-it-right-for-me questions. Search interest for "pictures of [automotive brand]" is up 37% year-over-year,6 and 80% of these searches are now happening on mobile.

These image searches can drive consumers to the dealership. In fact, consumers who used Image Search in is-it-right-for-me-moments were more likely to head to the lot than those people using Image Search within other moments.8 In these moments, popular search terms include: "[brand] + sedan models," "[brand/make] + interior," and "[brand/make] + dimensions."

If you want to be one of the few visits that a consumer makes to the dealership, invest in mobile for those early micro-moments too. We can unequivocally say that being there across all five moments is important if you want to turn auto browsing into buying. But don't fall into the trap of thinking that buying decisions only happen at the end of the marketing funnel. If you want to be one of the few visits that a consumer makes to a dealership, invest in mobile for those early micro-moments too.

We can unequivocally say that being there across all five moments is important if you want to turn auto browsing into buying. But don't fall into the trap of thinking that buying decisions only happen at the end of the marketing funnel. If you want to be one of the few visits that a consumer makes to a dealership, invest in mobile for those early micro-moments too.

And don't forget to track the impact of being there in early micro-moments. Tools such as Google store visits or store sales can help OEMs understand the role of these moments in prompting dealership visits, and help your brand drive true business growth.

Re-post: https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/articles/dealership-micro-moments-auto-searches.html?utm_medium=email-d&utm_source=content-alert&utm_team=twg-us&utm_campaign=20170125-twg-us-automotive-alert-OT-SL-SV&utm_content=Auto-cta&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiT1RFeE1qZGtOR0UwTVRnNCIsInQiOiJyblBGTkhPUlBlMnVidjlYdjZlM3cwTkZ6cXZKb0htNStEM3dNekI3TTFMZENhNnpDSHdrczR0XC9jQWNiSTYwY0xBdjJmK29uaHg4Q2JIUWduRDBcL05qV1l6VWZrQ2lJXC9xM2RTc3lzNHJRYWUzQU92WHZIWllha2FnM2RaeGNXTiJ9

Digital Trends: Luxury Auto Shoppers July 2016
A data-driven look at the online behavior of luxury auto shoppers.
Read story
And don't forget to track the impact of being there in early micro-moments. Tools such as Google store visits or store sales can help OEMs understand the role of these moments in prompting dealership visits, and help your brand drive true business growth. Sources
1 Google/Ipsos Connect, Mobile Video Study, U.S., n=2503, among adults aged 18-54 who go online at least monthly, Feb. 2016.
2,3,5,8 Google Data, aggregated and anonymized data are based on a sample of U.S. users that have Location History turned on, 2015. Compared foot traffic to any auto dealership between users who searched for an auto keyword within 7 days and those who did not. Auto keywords included in the analysis are the top 500 keywords by auto micro-moment.
4 TNS Media Consumption Report, 2015.
6 Google Trends, September 2015 vs. September 2014, United States.
7 Google Internal Data, September 2015, United States.

In this week's Episode of Make Money Mondays Dealer Synergy's President, Sean V. Bradley gives advise for Managers to make sure your employees are using the CRM the right way. A lot of dealerships do not use their CRM properly by forgetting data or duplicating leads. Sean breaks down a method to make sure everyone in the dealership is using the CRM.

Unprecedented, Yet Simple Tracking Worksheet Helps Build Your Business
There remains an untapped opportunity in your sales plan now to implement. This will make a huge impact just by tracking and measuring a few new metrics.

Follow this: While half of car buyers are women, and that percentage increases to 53% for millennial women. 1 in 3 women out earn their husbands.

But how successful is your dealership in converting women guests? How many guests actually buy? Are you aware how these buyers find out about your store? How can you grow what you don’t track and measure?

Tracking 5 Results to Analyze Success
Using our new worksheet*, track these 5 key stats each week and month:

1. Number of Female Guests: This statistic applies to a woman who comes into a dealership to buy a car for which she will be the registered owner. This applies to a woman shopping by herself, or with someone else, as long as the car is specifically for her.

2. Number of Female Referrals: Inquire at the beginning if the guest was specifically referred by someone else. This someone else could be a friend, a Facebook friend, a Women-Drivers Certified Trusted Dealer or a review by someone online.

3. Number of Female Sales: This is the number of sales to women each week and month.

4. Total Sales: Total ALL sales for your dealership by week and month.

5. % of Total Sales to Women: This is the percentage of sales to women compared to all sales for the week and month. This provides an at-a-glance view of how your store compares to the national numbers for sales to women.

DOWNLOAD THE TRACKING WORKSHEET TO MEASURE AND GROW YOUR FEMALE GUESTS, CONVERSIONS & BUYERS NOW

What You Put Your Attention On Grows
When you begin to track these numbers, several things will occur:

1. The attention of the sales team will be drawn to the figures being tracked. The numbers will be front and center. If your conversion numbers are low, you will implement strategies to raise them.

2. Focusing on the numbers elevates their importance. Understanding that the intent is to increase sales to women will increase your overall sales!

3. Tracking referrals helps you understand how well you are being perceived. It’s nice when a customer sees your advertising, but a customer who has been referred already has a positive outlook coming in.

Formal tracking of guest numbers and conversions is the first step toward capturing the valuable market segment of women buyers and becoming a destination dealership in your region.

Did you know subject lines framed as questions get fewer open rates and replies?

Most people assume you SHOULD ask questions in your subject line in order to get more open rates when that’s not the case.  You can also increase the success of your marketing campaign by dropping the exclamation points! 

We know it’s hard to break the mold, and that’s why we’re here to help. In this week’s Hard Facts, Samantha explains how you can optimize your open rates by tweaking just a few things in your email marketing campaign. Watch for more info!

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Search engine marketing is valuable tool when used correctly. But it's not the be all, end all of digital marketing. You need to be able to step outside of your comfort zone if you want to achieve digital marketing success.

If you haven't already begun experimenting with other tools; now is the time. The first tool you should start with is email marketing. Tap into your current database and gather more information about your customers.

On this episode, Paul explains how you can start utilizing the full power of email marketing in your strategy.

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Attention to detail can lead to fewer car accidents. In this week's Think Tank Tuesday‬, Paul explains how being dumped into an automated voicemail system can make it extremely difficult for customers to access your business.

What do you want to hear for next week? Leave your ideas in the comments below.

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Has your blog reached its greatest potential? 

Your blog can boost traffic to your website, create demand for your products and services, and position your business as a credible resource for information. If you’re not utilizing your blog properly, you’re missing out on awesome opportunities!

Watch this week’s Hard Facts to learn about some things you should know before hitting the publish button on your blog that will drastically effect its reach and performance.

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I'm re-launching my Think Tank Tuesday series next week.  Until then, I've been encouraging business owners, entrepreneurs, and dealerships to watch the last 4 episodes on branding.

How important is a brand? Critical.  Without a brand, your business will lack trust in its followers and won't gain loyal customers or increased sales.

Watch these episodes to help develop your brand and become a successful business!

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You have to be everywhere, but how do you maintain everything? Making sure your Yelp, Yellowpages, Facebook, Twitter, Super Pages, and YouTube are all up to date with your correct phone number, address, dealership name, and other important details can become an overwhelming task. Samantha will cover some tips to be everywhere.

If you want a copy of the Quick Tips Sheet, then email HardFacts@ppadv.com

I want to hear your ideas! Leave a comment here or connect with me on Facebook and share your thoughts.  You may get a free POTRATZ Coffee Mug Strategy!

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