Simple improvements that contribute towards success and profit

This article was originally published in the Autofile Magazine - Nov 2017 issue. 

Simple matters make a difference

The reality is some basic business planning and instilling processes just require you to pause and think about aspects of your business where improvements could be made, or a better understanding obtained.

Remember a business plan is not just about top and bottomline goals. It’s about how you get there and realise them.

There are some other important areas that form the foundation of your business’ long-term success and contribute in a much more organic way to its profitability.

Here are some key areas to start the thought process.

1. Using technology and system tools at your fingertips: 

Are you currently utilising everything that is available and complimentary to your business? Hands down, you’ll be more efficient and able to achieve significantly more than what you realised you could if you are.

Don’t be afraid to ask for a review of what you are currently using and then suggestions on what areas of your business could benefit from further utilisation. The best place to start here is with your dealer management software provider.

2. Dealership processes and procedures: 

It pays to review your process around the car, dealership, prospective customer, sale, delivery and after-sales service.

The most important area to ensure effective deployment of any process changes or refinement you may have decided on, is that everyone in the dealership is clear on the path forward. Not just verbally, but also ensure it’s documented for ongoing reference for existing and new employees.

3. Learn more from your data:

By leveraging your dealership’s information to combine what your business data is telling you, with your own experience and expertise, will set you up to make informed decisions about the direction to take.

4. Don’t worry about what others are doing, understand what you are doing. Think about:

• What do we do well, what don’t we do well, what are the areas of importance we need to focus on? Ask your employees for feedback. It will give you great insight. However, it is crucial you respect the feedback and embrace some aspects you may not like hearing.
• What vehicles are the best to buy, which are the worst?
• Where do my customers come from and what is my advertising investment per vehicle, per medium?
• What are my conversion ratios? Enquiry to appointment, appointment to test drive, test drive to sale? How many leads do we need to sell our target number of cars?
• What do my customers think about their experience with my dealership?

5. Customer conversion, retention and referrals: 

What are you doing in these highly important areas of your business? Conversion is all about getting the maximum penetration into your customer inquiries and test drives for the month.

Retention is clearly about giving them a great experience, keeping in touch with them through friendly communication, and then having them think of your dealership as the first choice when the time is right to buy another car, or when upgrading an existing one.

Referrals are literally the cheapest form of advertising and give you the highest return. They are something you need to foster with the family and friends of your customers.

6. Dealership presentation health check: 

Ensure you are presenting your business, vehicles and staff in the best possible way when clients walk onto your dealership.

Remember these days most customers are on your yard to specifically look at one of your vehicles they have already seen when doing their research online. The statistics out there tell us the majority only visit two dealerships. Therefore, it's critical you impress on every aspect and don’t give them reason not to do business with you.

These examples of areas to have a think about might seem simple and common sense. However, when you are in the daily grind of your business you will be surprised what you may not be noticing or maximising your opportunities on.

Need help? 

The team at Motorcentral are first and foremost great listeners. We can ask you the right questions to ensure we understand your dealership’s needs. If you would like someone who’s focussed on your success, then give us a call on 0800 623 687 or email supprot@motorcentral.co.nz.

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Disclaimer:
The Motorcentral blog is intended for educational purposes only. All writers opinions are their own and nothing published on this blog should be interpreted as a recommendation or advice in any way. Motorcentral is also not responsible for and does not verify accuracy of any of the information contained within this blog.
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