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Marketing Strategies for a Profitable Dealership

Marketing Strategies for a Profitable Dealership

The PEER Strategy | Digital Marketing | Loyalty Bound | ADI AgencyI can’t take credit for the following analogy but it is something that gets a point across as well as something that you need takes into consideration TODAY if you are in the distribution business for heavy-duty trucks or construction equipment.  I would be very curious to see your results and in fact, if you feel inclined, please post your results via comments to this post.

Driver, Driver, What Do You See?  I See A Driver……..

I have learned in the last several years to become a very cautious and vigilant driver.  I like to get places just like any of you but quite frankly am scared silly by what is transpiring around me these days.   One thing that is apparently obvious as to why I am this way…Drivers no longer pay attention to the road.  If you look at the driver next to you on the highway, I would be willing to wager that the driver is either talking on the phone, emailing or texting.

Why does this matter?

Marketing Strategies for Profitable Commercial Truck DealersMy point is simple, today’s dealerships and OEM’s need to change their thought process of how to attract their next contractor or owner-operator leads.  No longer can they post a billboard way up high in the sky off the highway and expect a driver to pay attention to it. For heaven’s sake they aren’t even paying attention to the road let alone your advertisement. In order to develop your brands’ awareness and gain market share you need to offer potential buyers a compelling reason to ENGAGE with you. The day is gone where we can push content onto people and expect them to react.  In fact, as buyers, we have become very adept at tuning out traditional marketing techniques.

Think this is far fetched? Answer these questions and tell me you adamantly disagree:

  • How many of you read through every single piece of mail that you receive? Be honest do you really?
  • Do you answer every phone call which shows up on your caller id that is a number that you’re not familiar with (even if you recognize it, that call may still find its way to your voice mail, let’s face it we are all busy these days)?
  • Do you respond to every email that comes across your inbox (or even look in the SPAM folder regularly to make sure that you didn’t miss anything)?
  • How many of you read a magazine cover-to-cover and still take the time to look at the print ads and more overreact to those print ads?

The fact of the matter is that more often than not, you will find that technology has made it very convenient for us as buyers to only accept the content and offers that we want to.  We have people who open our mail throwing away advertising, voice mail and caller id to pre-warn us of the person on the other line trying to get a hold of us, a no-call list which we can add our numbers to, the option to “Junk” an email address or block that sender from sending any unwanted solicitations to our inbox’s  iPhone’s and iPad’s (or Droids) which deliver the trade magazines we would like to see (AEDNews, CEG or ATD Insider to name a few).  The list could go on.

How Do I Get The Attention of Potential Buyers?

Wow, what does a company have to do these days to get attention?  The good news is this is not all doom and gloom but an emerging opportunity for you and your company, whether you are a heavy-duty trucking or construction equipment distributorship (Dealer or OEM). Simply put, its a matter of learning to EVOLVE and modernize your marketing strategy.

It’s no well-kept secret that the web is beginning to dominate the way we consume in today’s global economy.  What you may not know is that, by taking the time to PREPARE a web strategy as a participant in the construction equipment or heavy-duty trucking industries, you can set yourself far apart from the competition.  The key for dealers and OEM’s is to partner up with a team who knows their industry and can assist them in the implementation of that web marketing strategy. By doing so, the learning curve for getting measurable results will be significantly reduced and your profitable dealership or OEM can realize faster Marketing ROI. Take a look at what others in your industry have been doing, in fact, give them a call.  As a Daimler Trucks NA Elite Support Dealer would say, “Share openly and Borrow Proudly!”

I will leave you with this, as a participant in both the heavy-duty trucking and construction equipment industries inside of a dealership, I believe there is a tremendous opportunity for the early adopters to really take a hold of their AOR’s and gain that first-mover advantage.  Will you be one of those first movers?  I certainly hope you will. Stay tuned for more information regarding how taking action will help you and your company to attract more market share in the following posts.

 

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