Cash for Clunkers is over and that gave us a good boost. Do you have any suggestions on what to do now?
By: Gary May, dealer consultant
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The clunkers program helped a lot of dealers, but we all knew it was going to end and couldn't be surprised by the news that's it's done and that money has left town.
What will you do post Clunkers? How prepared you are, how well you communicate with prospects and customers alike, how creative you are and where you know your business comes from will dictate if tomorrow is satisfactorily busy or if it is just like another day before all the loads of Monopoly money arrived.
Most people we've heard from consider C.A.R.S. a blessing with all of the traffic and sales it generated, as well as a genuine pain in the butt. Of course! If you had the program to do for yourself, would you have done it any differently? You absolutely would have. So why are you going to be twiddling your thumbs now? What program you run is up to YOU, every day.
Now, that's not to say that you're going to be able to come up with $4,500 of "it'll get here someday" funds on nearly half of the deals you do next week or any other day. However, it's entirely up to you how to drive people off of their scared little (and big) duffs and into your business.
It's not up to the factory, it's not up to the million-dollar advertisements, it's not up to the region or your 20-group and gosh-forbid it's definitely not up to the government. Don't you want them out of your business...not in it? What happens in your business, positive or negative, is up to you, your brand, your staff, your effort and your planning.
So when the here today-gone tomorrow spigot of funds is finally turned off by someone making a lot more than you with nicer benefits than you have and a pension you can't even dream about, get back into the habit of making your business happen. Less business? Get a bigger piece of a smaller pie!
Can't figure out how to make it work? Ask someone for help or at least tell the receptionist that you're not "away from your desk all day" and that you'll start taking meetings again. Business doesn't happen from thin air, it takes a lot of work and some good consistency. And sometimes it takes outside ideas folks, as painful as that might sound to some 20-year plus veterans.
Besides, whether you call it natural selection, survival of the fittest or one of a myriad of other expressions that refer to 'business better than usual', it is always best when you're the master of your domain rather than waiting for the next shot in the arm.
You've got lots of new and traditional options available. Reach out to your network of vendors, trainers, consultants and marketing folks to see what might work best for your location. The most important thing is to keep the momentum going, maintain communications with prospects and customers and tap into your wealth of employee ideas too.
Gary May is the President of Interactive Marketing and Consulting Services. His website and blog are available at www.imacsweb.com and he can be reached at 310-377-6481.
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