Don’t let your sales team blame the weather. Be proactive to keep sales going in the winter months
I think we can all agree this has felt like a longer-than-usual Canadian winter.
On LinkedIn, many people were sharing more photos of giant snow piles on their dealership lots than cars.
During my visits to various dealerships this winter, the conversation often started with comments about how the weather was impacting traffic and sales in a negative way. While some dealers took pride in bucking this trend, the majority were quick to throw their hands up and write off months like February.
This brought back a memory from about ten years ago, when I was running a luxury-brand dealership in Saskatoon. It was February and we were behind target. My area rep (a Vancouver resident) called and asked if we were going to be able to pull off a miraculous turnaround for month-end. Instead of saying “no,” I invited him to fly out for a dealer visit.
The following week, on a -30°C day, I pulled up in front of the airport arrivals area. My rep friend emerged wearing what could only be described as a very light jacket. He winced when the severe wind hit his face and made a dash for my car.
As we drove away from the terminal, I pointed out the main, auxiliary, and overflow parking lots, which were full of snow-covered luxury vehicles. The case I was trying to make was that all these potential customers had fled the scourge of winter and were not currently available to buy cars from me until at least April. Suffice it to say, I thought I had educated my factory friend a little.
Ultimately, it was I who had to learn a valuable lesson, because when month-end arrived, the target did not change despite the climate shock my rep had experienced.
If your website is only doing the bare minimum, it’s like having an empty showroom. Review the site to ensure current offers are up and running, calls to action are working properly and positioned effectively, and that you have relevant service specials in place.
I often recall this experience when speaking with dealership team members about the sales funnel. Many think the sales funnel can only be entered by new prospects acting on their own.
It becomes a hurry-up-and-wait approach.
The first time I mention that a slow day in the car business is actually a great opportunity, I often receive blank stares. That usually changes once I explain the various ways they can influence the sales funnel and become creators of business rather than just receivers.
Turbocharge the digital showroom
If your website is only doing the bare minimum, it’s like having an empty showroom. Review the site to ensure current offers are up and running, calls to action are working properly and positioned effectively, and that you have relevant service specials in place.
I spoke with one dealer in January who mentioned how slow service bookings had been. We pulled up his website, only to find that not a single offer was listed under “Service Specials,” and there wasn’t even a main-page banner in place.
I showed him how quickly he could create a couple of offers around wheel alignments and declined work to drive clicks and bookings. It also gave him a great springboard for social media content and a relevant email blast.
Elevate your CRM processes
There are several reasons to finally address inconsistent CRM utilization, but the primary one should be tapping into that vast quantity of data for targeted outbound activity.
How many of your sales consultants know how to pull a curated list of mid-cycle lease customers? Does your CRM integrate properly with the service DMS so you can identify customers coming into the store who may be ready for an upgrade?
Not only will this help drive proactive sales, it will also provide a stronger database for marketing, while positioning your store to take advantage of powerful AI tools that depend on high-quality data sets.
Monitor engagement
The seasonality doldrums can quickly damage employee morale and motivation. If your team believes the weather can beat them, they won’t be confident about overcoming other challenges or receptive to positive change management.
Dealership leaders should look for opportunities to build team engagement, especially during slower cycles.
Grab a shovel or snow brush and show your team you are in it with them and willing to help break down any obstacle to furthering the business of selling cars, parts and service.
