The RV show season has finished, and you now have a few weeks before prime selling and deliveries. After the hectic schedules, stress and long days needed to produce great shows that generate sales, it’s nice to take a deep breath, allow your team to relax, and enjoy a more leisurely pace for a few days. But action you take right now – before the season reaches its full momentum – may well determine whether it will be an acceptable one or a full-blown, bonus paying, over-the-top year of growth and profit. Here are five suggestions that could make the difference in your business.
Co-Author of the book NEEDS Selling Solutions, Gary McGugan helps companies grow profitably, drawing on his experience with financial services, automotive and power sports industries across the globe. He publishes articles regularly at http://www.needssellingsolutions.com/needs-selling-solutions-news/
FOLLOW-UP ‘LEADS’ FROM THE SHOWS
Surprisingly, every year, some RV dealers fail to convert considerable consumer interest at shows into actual retail deliveries after the show. Why? There are a few reasons, but a frequent failure relates to follow-up with prospects who demonstrated some interest but didn’t buy. Many sales people still consider ‘follow-up’ to be a telephone call after the show to see if a prospect is still interested. Some produce sales, but many prospective buyers only respond that they are still thinking about it or have changed their mind.
Progressive dealerships know the main purpose for following-up is to get prospects into the dealership. And they have a strategy to encourage every show visitor to make a trip to the dealership — where chances of closing a sale increase dramatically. Every dealer needs to determine its own strategy, but examples might include events such as a ‘Show Visitors Evening’ with refreshments and entertainment, a special incentive just for visiting the dealership within a defined period, or an invitation to come and meet dealership staff. Ideas to get prospective customers to the dealership are limited only by your creativity. The benefit is clear: You attract people who already had enough interest in RVing to visit you at the show. If you and your team made a favorable impression there, the chances are good that prospects will visit your store. On the lot, your salespeople can sell even more effectively and increase their probability of converting interest into sales.
TAKE A HARD LOOK AT YOUR INVENTORY
Units that will soon celebrate a birthday on your lot need attention now. Consider shifting them to prime locations where prospective buyers will see them more easily and create a sales-person incentive to move such slower turning units out before the prime selling period starts. You might want to calculate the amount of interest you are paying monthly, and consider paying the equivalent of 1 or 2 months’ interest costs as a salesperson incentive. If you sell the units quickly, you free up space on the lot, free up space on your credit line, and reduce financing costs. You’ll also have a more motivated salesperson going into the prime selling period.
It’s equally important to review factory orders on-hand and production schedules with your suppliers in light of the improving economy in many areas.
On a macroeconomic level, it appears growth is accelerating in the USA. This improvement is already leading to improved momentum in some parts of Canada. As economic growth improves, consumer confidence strengthens and retail opportunities increase. Demand for products like RV’s always accelerates as consumers become more confident about their economic prospects.
From an industry perspective, demand for RV’s in the USA is already increasing. Over the next few months, large and powerful US retailers will be exerting more pressure on their sup-pliers to deliver products they need to meet growing demand. Unless you are an equally strong and powerful dealer, you may find production capacity limiting timely availability. Now is a good time to re-assess your order pipeline for those models and floorplans that sold most quickly during the shows.
“Action you take right now may well determine
whether it will be an over-the-top year
of growth and profit.”
GROW SALES WITH MONTHLY FEATURED ACCESSORIES
Promoting favorite accessories is good for business… and great for profits. Consider selecting a different popular accessory to highlight each month of the prime selling season. Choose products that every RV owner can find useful, and offer each month’s feature product at attractive prices. Then, highlight one item each month in your advertising, in your service department, at the parts counter, and in the show-room. Be sure every member of your staff knows about the promotion and the featured product benefits.
With such a strategy your dealership can win three ways. First, you’ll create more awareness about the featured products and sell more. Current RV owners will have repeated reasons to visit your dealership, creating opportunities for service and parts revenue or perhaps a new unit sales opportunity. You’ll also give your people a talking point they can use to start a sales conversation with every visitor to the dealership.
HIRE A STUDENT FOR THE SUMMER
Some dealers tell me that hiring a college student is the best investment they make each year. Why? A friendly, out-going, responsible student can bring a multitude of skills at a crucial time of the year. And students’ availability corresponds precisely with most RV dealers’ prime selling months. How can your dealership benefit from a student employee?
Start with the idea of installing the helpful young person in the showroom or at the parts counter. There they can greet arriving prospects and customers and guide them to the resource best able to help as quickly as possible. They can create a welcoming environment by offering refreshments and chatting with a waiting prospect or customers during periods of peak traffic.
When not greeting customers, some dealers use students to tidy up the showroom, stock accessory shelves or build creative displays. Others use students to enter computer data for inventory control or creation of mailing lists when they’re not welcoming customers. Still others use personable students to telephone parts, accessories and service customers to survey customer satisfaction and encourage return visits. Some even use creative and tech-savvy students to create advertising copy, posters, price cards or to manage social media sites for the summer.
The most progressive RV dealers treat students as an excellent resource with a fresh perspective. Have the student report to your sales manager – or even the owner – and spend a few minutes each day with them. Coach your student on the most effective ways to interact with customers. Ask for suggestions about improvements they would make to the showroom. Seek input on ways that dealership processes might improve with technology.
Students bring youth, enthusiasm and new ideas that can significantly benefit the culture of any RV dealership. Remember; several provincial governments offer business incentives for hiring college students to defray much of the added cost.
EARN EVERY DOLLAR OF INCOME AVAILABLE
The days of thinking about financing and protection products as outside services that occasionally help to close a sale are long past. Progressive dealers know this may be the most important profit center for their business. Buyers usually need both financing and protection. Skillful business managers use the resources of independent providers to train their teams and realize the optimum amount of income and profit for every RV delivery. A bonus, ancillary services are a great way to earn and maintain customer loyalty.
Yes, the activity may already be increasing at your dealership as you prepare units sold at shows for delivery, stock your Parts and Accessories departments for the spring surge, and watch the flow of service jobs increase every day. Every week will probably become busier and more demanding of your time and focus. Now is a good time to consider these 5 suggestions. Action on each right now can help you generate more sales, more profits and more customer satisfaction. Make it a great season!
