Several times in my life I've had defining moments. These are times when you're shaken to your core, wondering about your future and questioning the importance of what you are doing. During these times it pays to review who you are and what do you hold dear. You might question many things in times like these however today let hope to prevail. Personally I found the greatest growth is in the times of deepest challenges. We can not choose what happens to us in life only our responses. Reading the news it doesn't take long to see views of negativity and despair. A respected author Zig Ziglar has a unique way to place a value on an individual. How much would your eyes be worth to a blind man? Would you sell your vision to this man for $100,000? What would you take for you to part with your liver or kidneys? The point is all of the pieces of us our unique and of great value! We can walk talk and chew gum so it can't be too bad out there. Our focus should be on creating unique ways to prosper and differentiate your operation from other dealerships.

Local small fleets have a huge opportunity in both service and sales departments. Consider developing a plan to market small fleets by choosing them as a business for the week. Include their employees to receive discounts on vehicle purchase and service specials. On sales coupons they could be instructed to cut the best deal and then receive an additional discount towards the purchase. With 52 weeks in the year marketing to small local companies is a very low cost way to promote your dealership. Local manufacturing operations can also be approached suggesting to a human resource manager your dealership desires to be a new employee benefit. Your dealership will provide an additional discount on the sale of the vehicle or consider the service department picking up employee vehicles and delivering them back at no cost. Reducing the payment amount to a daily cost instead a monthly total might be an advantage on a new or used vehicle purchase. Your customers would see ways to place themselves in the new vehicle with a small sacrifice such as packing a lunch instead of the extra value meal at a restaurant. Consider a local florist that needs a new delivery truck understanding the cost is less than a dozen roses per day.

Most dealerships are not collecting e-mail addresses from their customers on a consistent basis. Personally on the GM vehicle I drive OnStar is greatly valued. I receive a monthly e-mail from OnStar informing me the status of my vehicle needs and maintenance. One day I received an e-mail from OnStar stating the tire pressure was low in my left front tire. Upon inspection a nail was in this tire causing the concern. Instead being on the road waiting for a tow it was an easy drive to get repaired. If OnStar performed no other service than sending help after air bag deployment it is a profound difference the customer must be educated on. The fact is I will not own a vehicle without OnStar! Your dealership should ask for your customers to share their OnStar success stories with you. This would make a wonderful notebook to have the sales department share with prospects.

The dealership that collects e-mails from every customer is for the future. The formation of VIP clubs has been recommended to every one of my customers. The only requirement to be in the club is the e-mail address so they can be contacted on customer only specials. The suggestion to utilize your DMS system to aggressively develop this list is a must. Most systems have a prospect feature that mines your database providing customer contact information based on mileage. One system will allow the list to be developed by salesperson which is a nice feature. Sales staff should utilize their list to invite their customers to join the VIP club at no cost. On the same call it is suggested to offer a free fuel buster inspection to make sure the customer is getting the most out of every gallon of gasoline. Many companies now have wonderful e-mail programs that contact your customers with easy to develop sales events. An event to generate a lot of interest is the child safety seat inspection program. This event creates a strong local interest with flyers handed out to schools and other child care services. Be sure to inform local news agencies of the event as you watch interest continue to climb. Why not consider having a child safety ID seminar performed by the local police department in your dealership? This is another low cost public promotion that places your dealership in high local regard. Your dealership should utilize the open safety recall list in your area to determine if any customers are in need of these items. Every vehicle that enters into the service department should be checked for any safety campaigns open on their vehicle. The customer should be informed even if no issues are open. Everyone should be aware your customer safety is the primary concern. As you look at these examples of ways to aggressively approach the marketplace consider what you can do differently. Every day is a block of time that we cannot store or deposit into an account. Today's dealer must have its entire staff committed to get the most out of every minute. When the department is slow be sure they're doing something to improve that result. Encourage your employees to be involved in developing unique ways to market your company. It might surprise you how many new ideas your own people have been thinking about. In this defining moment lead your company to aggressively create new ideas and develop a marketing plan allowing your team to prosper. Nothing is ever achieved until it's first attempted! 

Rob Gehring is the President of Fixed Performance 
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