Digital Dealer - December 2017 - 39

DISRUPT YOUR BUYING CYCLE TODAY WITH
EVENT-BASED, TARGETED MARKETING, AND
START TURNING MISSED OPPORTUNITIES IN
SERVICE INTO BETTER QUALIFIED PROSPECTS,
HIGHER CLOSING RATIOS, AND IMPROVED GROSS
PROFITS."
dealership is a different
scenario: Dealers perform
a costly service job on a
vehicle and the customer
pays the bill, only for a
salesperson to reach out
a short time later with an
offer on a new vehicle at
a lower payment.
Now the customer is
annoyed. They may not
have even been considering buying a car, but
now the dealer has made
a compelling offer with
really poor timing, and
demonstrated a lack of
communication between
service and sales.
What's the difference
between this fumbling
mistake and event-based,
targeted marketing? The
proper utilization of data
from the DMS.
Qualifying that sales
opportunity against
specific criteria before the
service work happened
would have prevented a
mistake that alienated a
customer and may have
cost you future loyalty
and business. Instead,
the sales team could
prepare a customized vehicle offer and approach
the customer in the Service department.
Having the capability
and know-how to hand-

pick leads from your
customer data is critical
to the success of eventbased, targeted marketing. There is a whole host
of criteria dealers can
look at to make sure prospective leads are worth
the resources necessary
to reach out.
Equity position, transaction type, payment,
interest rate, model -
these are just some of the
ways to sift the data to
the best possible leads.
The mistake some retailers make is looking at equity position alone which,
given rebates, incentives,
dealer cash, etcetera, can
be misleading.
Besides creating a
new potential for sales
revenue out of the service
department, consider the
additional ways in which
this approach, employed
creatively, could indirectly
boost activity on the sales
floor itself.
Used cars make up
over 40 percent of a dealer's retail4 - how do you
move that nagging, aging
inventory quickly?
With event-based,
targeted marketing, you
could create a pre-owned
campaign, targeting specific makes and models

and matching customers
who are eligible for upgrades in similar vehicles.
Now, you've not only
boosted sales, but you've
rid yourself of vehicles
that have been on the
lot for four months and
stayed head of your turn
- freeing up space for the
well-maintained vehicles
you want on your preowned lot.
Finally, as lead generators go, event-based,
targeted marketing
is perhaps the most
economical, because
the leads it provides are
already in your dealership. What you've done is
make them detectable for
the first time by matching desired criteria from
your data with specific
event triggers; in other
words, letting preexisting
information you already
have go to work for you in
a profitable new way.
CONCLUSION

A reliable marker for
success has always been
an individual's ability to
adapt creatively to changing circumstances and
challenges.
In the same way, today's dealers are adapting to a maturing market
by seeking out new ways

to generate revenue and
boost the bottom line
- often by leveraging existing tools and solutions
in new ways or to new
effect.
One such profit-center
is readymade and waiting
in every dealership's service department, its sales
leads hiding in plain sight
in your customer data.
Disrupt your buying cycle today with
event-based, targeted
marketing, and start
turning missed opportunities in service into
better qualified prospects,
higher closing ratios, and
improved gross profits.
1 Bloomberg
2 Digital Dealer
3 Auto Alert
4 Automotive News

CHRIS WALSH is Vice
President of Sales at
Naked Lime Marketing.
His knowledge of market
strategy, competitive
analysis, and the sales
process fueled his success
in previous positions with
the company, including
regional sales director
and vice president of
business development.
Walsh holds a bachelor's
degree in business from
Ohio University. EMAIL:
CWalsh@nakedlime.com

D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

DECEMBER 2017

39
http://www.DIGITALDEALER.COM
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Dealer - December 2017
