NAVIGATING THE CHALLENGING MARKET
For anyone trying to run a business, automotive dealers included, these are tricky times we’re living in.
Consumers are tightening their belts, and as a result, there has been a notable reduction in the number of in-market buyers, leading to an industry-wide drop in the number of enquiries being logged.
Although new and used vehicle sales have continued, the volume of the market has shrunk considerably. Dealerships have gone from having insufficient stock and plenty of cashed-up customers to an abundance of vehicles sitting on their lot, with no one to buy them.
Over the years, we’ve weathered many a storm with our dealership clients between the pandemic and lockdowns, and low stock availability. What we’ve learned from these experiences is the importance of understanding your customer base, and knowing how to reach and engage them as soon as they are in the market for a new vehicle.
The current economic downturn is another one of those challenging periods. Yet there are a number of dealers with whom we work, who, despite the conditions, are continuing to drive new opportunities into their businesses.
They are achieving this by establishing solid marketing strategies that recognise the intricacies of a consumer’s path to purchase and that target potential customers with the right message at the right time, to encourage engagement. Such an approach enables these dealerships to win a larger share of the leads and therefore more effectively withstand difficult market conditions.
If you, like many, have been hit hard by the changes to the economic landscape and are struggling to claim your share of the enquiries, don’t despair. It is not too late to establish new practices to improve sales performance.
A key to capturing a higher portion of in-market buyers is the delivery of a modern, performance-driven website. It is here that the more successful dealers are engaging and capturing the highest volume of customers. By investing significantly in this area, they are also future-proofing their business, regardless of changes to the market.
Nowadays, in order to attract customers, a website needs to be more than just an online branding piece. It is a digital extension of your dealership. A potential buyer’s decision to engage your business in the real world can be heavily influenced by the experience they have in your “online showroom”.
With the vast majority of customers visiting a dealership website through the course of their vehicle purchasing journey, it is vital that when they land on your site, they have a positive experience and find what they are looking for. Consumers are spoiled for choice, so won’t waste time on a website that isn’t meeting their needs.
First and foremost, a high-performing website requires a clean, modern design that is intuitive and meets customer expectations. It also needs to perform well from a technical point of view: loading quickly, adjusting to the type of device it is being viewed on, and offering clear, relevant navigation.
A dealership website must provide the information a customer wants, in as few clicks as possible. The inclusion of offers pages and homepage banners help them navigate quickly to find a great deal. A high-performance stock locator enables them to search your available inventory. And when they have a question or are ready to buy, they shouldn’t need to look hard to find their preferred method of contact, be it live chat, a form, or a click-to-call button.
If you haven’t reviewed your digital footprint for a while, and are feeling the impact of the tightening market, now would be the perfect time for an audit. Be it the performance and user experience of your website, or the type of advertising you are running, you may find that just a few minor tweaks to your online presence could help you increase your share of the in-market buyers, and set you up for greater success moving forward.