CallSource^® Aim Higher

Social Media: It’s Not Just for Sales – It’s for Your Bottom Line!

by Rob Hagen, July 16 2010

So far in 2010, I’ve conducted several Social Media seminars for auto dealers and there is a huge curiosity to learn but also some confusion. Social Media is being tagged as a sales tool when in reality it’s more about your bottom line!

Erik Qualman, author of Socialnomics, said “The ROI on Social Media is that your business will still exist in five years.” Harsh I know, but Social Media encompasses several major topics that every dealership has to focus on to ensure their continued success.  These include reputation management, community awareness, and brand development. All of these are affected by every profit source in a dealership and steer dealers towards the ultimate goal: Creating customers that create customers.

What is Social Media? It’s an old business tool used in a new way. Its networking squared.  Social Media allows you to network to the masses and create a much larger scope of influence.

A couple words of caution. Your Social Media efforts should not be an extension of your offline advertising. Also, do not be a shameless self-promoter or you will be viewed as spam. Here are some tips on how to put Social Media to work for you in your dealership.

Finance Department
Sales of F&I products have the added challenge in that a customer cannot touch or feel them and people in general hate to spend money on insurance. Having spent 15 years in “the box,” I have tried numerous methods to develop a mental justification to purchase VSC and other backend products.

Create a short video showing your customers the warranty claims’ process to let them see how easy it is. Since most customers think their vehicles won’t break, show a relatively new vehicle coming in for a repair in the video. End the video by asking the customer if they think their vehicle is 99 percent perfect since it’s a machine and machines do break from time-to-time.

Your business manager can convey to the customer this word track: “We believe your new vehicle is 99 percent perfect as well, but with over 5,000 moving parts in it, that means five things will break over its lifetime. You saw how easy the claims’ process is. Isn’t filing a claim easier than paying for it out of your own pocket?”

Special Finance Department
Special finance customers always have the fear of being turned down and embarrassed. Set-up a blog site and write blogs about credit and what lenders are looking for when they approve a loan. Blogs build authority. The more information you provide, the more people will look to you as an expert on a subject.

Also, this is a great area for testimonials and you can include them in your blogs.  For example: “This week at ABC Auto Loans (whatever you call your special finance department), Tom H. came in after being turned down by several other dealerships and we managed to get him approved for a new family car.” Then give a quick quote from your customer. Immediately, people reading your blog will start to have more trust in you and your ability to get them approved for financing.

Service Department
Have you ever sponsored a baseball or softball team in your community? What usually happens? You wrote a check and got a picture at the end of the season that you proudly hung in your service department for everyone visiting your dealership to see.

Well, most everyone that is visiting your dealership already likes you. Add Social Media to this scenario and create incredible community awareness. Ask the coach to take a couple of pictures per game and send them to you with a quick game recap. Post the pictures and recap on your social networking page and congratulate the heroes of the game. You’ll have proud parents engaging you and thanking you for the kind words. Plus, they will be bragging to all their friends and sharing the information.

Body Shop
Do your customers even know you have one? Every new car delivery has a salesman walk their customer through service. Why not your body shop too? Wouldn’t it make sense that a customer would prefer to have their vehicle fixed in a place they know especially since their insurance is paying for it?

Create a slide show that shows before and after pictures and place it on your website and all your social networks. If, for instance, you are a “Geico Certified” dealer, include that information as well.

A lot about Social Media is not revolutionary such as engaging your community and making friends, but it does take execution. When done properly, it can pay big dividends each month at the bottom of your monthly statements.

Rob Hagen is a Special Finance Coach and CEO of Next Generation Dealer Services.  He can be contacted by emailing him at: rob@specialfinancecoach.com or give him a call at: 225-938-0993