It's Time for a Cabin Fever Reliever
March 20th is just around the corner and I’m beyond ready for the first day of Spring. Going on 25 years in the Powersports Industry and I still get grumpy with the cold, dark, wet, days of winter and the inherent seasonality of this business. Powersports customers truly are solar powered, and Cabin Fever is a real thing.
This year, March has five Saturdays in the month and that only happens a few times a year. In my dealership days I loved those months because I knew I had roughly 20% more opportunity to have a record-breaking month and/or smoke the numbers from the same month last year.
What’s more fun than being invited to and attending a party with likeminded people who share similar interests?!
Most dealerships start thinking about selling with the product features and benefits at the forefront of their strategy, as opposed to the deeper desires of what the customer is truly looking to accomplish.
When you dig into a buyer’s motive (in our industry), the majority of sales happen because the customer is looking to escape the day-to-day grind and have some fun. I know you can use an ATV or UTV for work, but that’s still a fun and exciting tool to have on any job site.
The benefits of selling results <i.e. Fun> versus just selling the product can be - higher closing ratios, increased margins, more referrals, etc.
The challenge with focusing on the product - year, make, model, color, etc. – is that when comparing apples to apples there is very little opportunity to illustrate the advantages of doing business with you versus your competitors. This is a commoditized approach, just as pizza is pizza.
Once the consumer is 100% product focused their natural instinct is to next focus on how good of a price they can get on the chosen product.
This is what made Domino’s Pizza founder, Tom Monaghan’s, original unique selling proposition (USP) so brilliant. He didn’t sell pizza. He sold a fresh hot meal delivered in 30 minutes or less, guaranteed.
This is exactly what his target audience was looking for at the time, as meal delivery options were minimal.
Events allow you to separate you and your team from your competitors by selling the results of what your customers are really looking for – a good time, and a reason to visit your dealership.
Dealers that don’t believe in, or regularly execute, events usually have one of the following perspectives.
“They’re too much work.” Well, events do require effort. But, anything worthwhile does. As Thomas Edison famously said, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it’s dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
A simple event planning checklist and a meeting with your team can have you well on your way. And the cool thing about events is that when you begin to have them regularly you develop systems and the team gets trained and your events become more and more scalable.I’ve also had plenty of dealers tell me: “Events are too expensive, and I don’t have the parking and staff anyway.”
No. No. No. I was totally missing the point. Those types of shindigs aren’t practical and do cost too much and are impossible to staff for and have parking.
And lastly, I’ve heard, “I’ve done events before and we didn’t sell anymore units than a regular Saturday”.
You’ve not only created a pipeline of future sales from those who’ve responded to your marketing, but you’ve also created future bank from those who haven’t responded.
Contact us today at www.psmmarketing.com/sharp-shooter-program or at 877-242-4472 for more information on our done for you Sharp Shooter campaigns.
