If you're like many dealers today, what you’re doing to attract customers is not working the way it should be—or the way it once did. Haven’t you been wondering what’s changed?

The lack of buyers has two main causes:

1.       The traditional model is broken and the old way of doing things is worn out and ineffective.

2.       Automotive marketing incest is rampant. Dealers tend to copy what other dealers are doing, often with no regard for the effectiveness of the pilfered strategies, creating stale, unoriginal marketing, and lackluster sales.

If you are a dealer that wants more…more prospects…more sales…more gross and more net, you can have it all no matter what the economic conditions. The caveat? You must be willing to do things differently.

So what can you do today to make a difference tomorrow without breaking the bank?

Here’s a sure-fire approach anyone can take immediately to make a dramatic impact on the bottom-line:

1. Stop thinking media.

Most dealers jump right to asking, "Where should I place my ad?" Then when the chosen media doesn't perform the way they think it should they state triumphantly, "______ doesn't work." Then that media gets crossed off the list of possible choices and you're one step closer to finding the magic media. Or so you think.

If you continue this trend and this way of thinking, you will quickly be left with only bus benches and match book covers. With every other media crossed off your list you'll be forced to come to the conclusion that marketing doesn't work. That's certainty not the case. It just doesn't work…the traditional way.

Stop thinking about where the ad should go and start thinking about whom the ad is for and what they want—It's not necessarily a car.

2. Stop selling cars.

What? Perhaps we should say, stop marketing vehicles. Whether you're selling one brand or another, most consumers could care less about what you offer and have a thousand options about what to buy and where to buy it. So why should they pick you?

If you fail to create a compelling reason for people to buy from you, you will wind up right in the middle of the commodity market where logic dictates the sale and you’re left with no option but to compete on price and selection. That’s when your lead flow dries up and your profit suffers.

3. Start selling outcomes.

Start talking about the specific reasons a prospect should choose your dealership. Declare to the world, “I am the obvious choice! Doing business with anyone else would be foolish.” And tell them why that's the case.

You want to make concrete offers and tie those offers to powerful benefits. What are the big obstacles your customers are facing? What do they have gain by working with you? What do they have to lose by not working with you? What are your competitors missing? What do you do potentially better than anyone else? You are selling dream fulfillment! Make your claim, back it up with a promise, and a guarantee and tell the prospect exactly how and why you will make their life much, much better.

The wise person who takes this information and runs with it will be in striking distance of dominating their market, making their competition impotent and ending up with a lead producing machine so powerful that they're actually able to take a few days off each week to spend with their family, because the marketing is so effective. It will make your life and business what we call, ESP—Enjoyable, Simple, and Prosperous.

Jimmy Vee and Travis Miller are the nation’s leading experts on attracting customers, the coauthors of Gravitational Marketing: The Science of Attracting Customers and founders of The Rich Dealers Institute. To discover how your dealership can stand out and sell more without spending more sign up for a free Market Rater Market Analysis atwww.MarketRaterReport.com.

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