Every small business in Canada is concerned about what post-lockdown means for their business. So given that reality, here are some of the activities I’m either doing for my clients or, suggesting you tackle on your own.
1. Review what customer data you currently have access to
- To determine what data you need to collect, as yourself a few questions
- What geographical area(s) do I sell into?
- What products do I sell the most of? (and in turn, compare this to as much industry data as you can find/buy).
- If I wanted to reach out to my customers, how would I want to do it? What is the quickest and most cost-effect way to do so?
- Can I identify the difference between a parts, service or vehicle sale
2. Develop more thorough customer data collection process
- Review where/how you get customer data currently. Talk to your team to see where there would be pushback/hurdles and where you could increase the opportunity to receive more customer info
3. Put in place a customer follow-up process
- 5-14 days after a purchase, someone should be following up with that customer to get their feedback on their purchase and their experience with your dealership.
- If properly crafted, this will become an opportunity to sell additional P & A, identify issues before they become a sore point and encourage positive reviews of your dealership
4. Review your 3rd party marketplace spend and its effectiveness
- The exercise isn’t to just see where you spend your marketing dollars. A spreadsheet will do that. This is to identify where you are getting value. This exercise alone can send you down a rabbit’s hole of data that may cause you to want to rip off your own face. That being said, it is worth a look to see, not only where you are today, but to go back a few years like I did for one of my customers here with this ‘quick’ analysis
5. Make sure that your website is working for you and is helping you be efficient AND effective
- This isn’t about how ‘pretty’ your website is. Although there is and element of this that needs to be addressed (but that is a topic for another day).
- Effectiveness: How effectively are you driving traffic to your website? What do users do when there? How much time are they spending there? How many users come but don’t do anything? The list of questions could go on and on.
- Efficient: How easy is your website to work on/in? Do you have control over the essentials? Is there an easier way to upload your inventory? Are specs included in your uploads? Can OEM promotions be easily uploaded? Do you not spend enough time on the one items that is selling for you 24/7 simply because you don’t know how OR it’s too complicated/slow/difficult to work within?
- Since I work on several different platforms via my customer base (and have sold 2 of the 4 largest platforms in Canada), I have a REALLY good idea of what each brings to the table – good and bad.
6. Plan a consistent customer & prospect outreach plan
- Okay, okay… so I don’t have a great handle on the consistency part this myself (considering I send out a newsletter ever 6-10 months!!) BUT… do as I say, not as I do! Truth be told, I JUST set up a new CRM which will make things WAY easier for me to do this!
- Remember that customers and prospects are different and need to have different messaging. Selling again/more to someone is different than selling to someone new. Think about it, ever try to hook up with an ex? You approach that way different than when you are meeting someone for the first time!