How can your dealership make the most of Q2?
As we say goodbye to March and the last-minute rush for the plate change, it is time to look forward to Quarter 2 and see how we will make the most of the opportunities ahead of us.
I think that the automotive industry has the ability to thrive in Q2, with the UK becoming a treasure island for car manufacturers once again.
Why?
First of all, we have had a semi-conductor shortage. This has inevitably limited the stock and supply of new cars for dealerships.
As we push through and come to the end of the shortage problems there will be much more new car stock available in the coming months for new car dealerships to really take advantage of. Okay, the Suez Canal blockage may have slowed things a little. But that is very short term.
To counteract that, we have April the 12th to look forward to.
Everyone is eagerly anticipating the date the government are allowing non-essential businesses to open again.
Now that has been confirmed showrooms will re-open and test drives will become much more accessible again, releasing a huge amount of pent-up demand that had been building up since the beginning of this third lockdown.
Even now, 40% of people do not want to buy a car online according to research by AutoTrader. Even with all the guarantees under the sun, most people still want to go and buy a car the traditional way - viewing it in person before buying it.
What can you do?
Make the most of your new car customers. Of those that are unwilling to buy online, make sure you are generating appointments with them sooner rather than later.
Make sure to check up on your customers that are due finance renewals. This way you guarantee a steady supply of appointments to boost your revenue in Q2.
Used cars – Start with your database
One thing I think we have benefitted from, both in sales and servicing during the pandemic has been the willingness of people to accept and stick to appointments. We should encourage customers to stick to this – it gives a much better chance of attentive customer service and upsells.
We really don’t want a flood of customers coming in, we want a steady supply so they can be dealt with properly and respectfully and abiding by the social distancing restrictions that are in place.
Consumers are now much more willing to accept that “timetabled” approach to a business than they were previously. There’s also the opportunity to schedule more test drives as we approach April, May and June.
Servicing is slightly different. There is likely to be a bit of a “black hole” of vehicles that weren’t serviced last year on time due to service departments being shut. Hopefully, this will be covered by an increase in pre-delivery inspections on new cars and prep work on used vehicles as the retail demand increases.
Act now
Get your diary full – with our lost leads and QuickFix tools we can help dealerships do this. Don’t miss out on those opportunities to make the most of this spring.
Our lost leads solution helps dealers by chasing down those lost enquiries, so you don’t have to. Find out if they are still in the market to buy and why they didn’t the first time.
Need an event booking up? Need your finance customers contacting? Our QuickFix tools can help you out with admin tasks that take up too much of your valuable time. Our team of experts are trained to speak to your customers on your behalf. We can get you the results you need for a fair price.
If you want to make the most of Q2, get in contact with JudgeService today to see how we can help jump-start your dealerships.
Did you enjoy this blog? Sign up to our free blog mailing list to be updated on when we upload new content!
