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Old 08-25-2009, 03:29 PM   #16
Slo
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I hated doing the sale events with outside road crews. They came in, skated every deal, promised everything under the sun, powerbooked almost every car, tried to sell only the freshest stuff, put way to much in trades just to get a deal, took care of the road people first, etc. The poor slob who actually worked at the dealership got stuck with all of the fall out and very rarely made any money at the sale itself, but the people that came in the next week with problems or promises that no one knew about, and had no written documentation on, they didn't care that the salesman was at down the road motors. It was the fault and responsibility of the idiot at the dealership that day.

Last year, the dealership lost money on the last 6 sales when you figure in the extra advertising and overhead costs, and the negative image and ticked off, never buy from this bunch of liars and cheats again, customers were just an added bonus. The managers would work every deal to death and then beyond, then when things fell apart the next week in funding, it was never the fault of the road show, they still expected to get their commission even when the deal unraveled....
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Old 08-26-2009, 11:42 AM   #17
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Last year, the dealership lost money on the last 6 sales when you figure in the extra advertising and overhead costs, and the negative image and ticked off, never buy from this bunch of liars and cheats again, customers were just an added bonus. The managers would work every deal to death and then beyond, then when things fell apart the next week in funding, it was never the fault of the road show, they still expected to get their commission even when the deal unraveled....
Great comments. A dealer really needs to evaluate whether the extra sales are worth all of the aggravation.

I worked at a store where the former GSM put together off-site sales with four or five dealers all at one location. The dealers had a "buy-in" which was used to promote the sale. The sales were a big success.

The one thing I really liked is that any salesperson could sell any dealer's vehicle and each sale paid a $300 flat commission.

Not surprisingly, the salespeople had ZERO loyalty to their stores and were just trying to find the easiest way to make a sale and collect their $300. We went into the sale with our inventory priced aggressively and told the salespeople that all they had to do was get the customer excited about the car and get them in the tent - we'd take care of the rest.

It was a fun, high energy weekend and we ended up selling a lot of vehicles that we probably would have wholesaled because they didn't fit our market demographic. (We sold a really nice Saab sedan that would have sat on our lot for a year otherwise.)

Has anyone else had some success with an off-site sale?
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Old 08-26-2009, 01:09 PM   #18
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Originally Posted by Slo View Post
I hated doing the sale events with outside road crews. They came in, skated every deal, promised everything under the sun, powerbooked almost every car, tried to sell only the freshest stuff, put way to much in trades just to get a deal, took care of the road people first, etc. The poor slob who actually worked at the dealership got stuck with all of the fall out and very rarely made any money at the sale itself, but the people that came in the next week with problems or promises that no one knew about, and had no written documentation on, they didn't care that the salesman was at down the road motors. It was the fault and responsibility of the idiot at the dealership that day.

Last year, the dealership lost money on the last 6 sales when you figure in the extra advertising and overhead costs, and the negative image and ticked off, never buy from this bunch of liars and cheats again, customers were just an added bonus. The managers would work every deal to death and then beyond, then when things fell apart the next week in funding, it was never the fault of the road show, they still expected to get their commission even when the deal unraveled....
Had the same thing happen at a dealership I worked at years ago, what a crock.. Same things happened to a T... A bunch of Gypsies...

I got an advertisement from one of them recently, says they promise everything in writing and have both the customer and Gm sign off..I guess they didn't get alot of bookings because of that.

They really bought nothing to the table, and when my boss at the time asked why it didnt go so well, they blamed it on the demographic, which was a bunch of bs... said we didn't advertise it enough...

The last store i worked at almost did it, i talked them out of it...told them if they do they better have about 20k in reserves just in case...
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Old 08-26-2009, 03:51 PM   #19
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Xman, great post, several years back I worked for a dealer in S. Fl. and we did an annual event, but instead of multiple auto dealers, we teamed with Boat, RV, Motorcycle dealers and intertwined inventory to tie the sales together, everybody paid their share of the pot for advertising and everyone did extremely well everytime we did it...It's an idea that I would look into, great draw, but the competition really wasn't as it wasn't other dealers...(Just a thought as to something I've seen work)
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Old 08-26-2009, 07:16 PM   #20
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To be fair, part of the problem last year was that every dealership in the area was having a tent sale every time you turned around. I know that I recieved 8 mailers for sales in 1 week, all from dealers within a half-hour drive of my house, and I live in a rural area. The mailers were hot and heavy for three years, and the novelty wore off. The collapse of the sub-prime financing market had a huge impact as well, since that customer is really more prone to react to that type of advertising and environment.

Another factor that had to impact us was that our owner decided to have an event every month, in the same location, in a small rural town. When it happens 25% of the time, it's no longer special. Had the dealership done this maybe twice a year, that may have had a far more positive impact, and the advertising money spent on that one week a month could have been used throughout the month, instead of laying all your chips on the table and drawing a bad hand after going all in before ever seeing your first card.
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Old 08-27-2009, 08:46 AM   #21
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Originally Posted by F&I Pro View Post
Xman, great post, several years back I worked for a dealer in S. Fl. and we did an annual event, but instead of multiple auto dealers, we teamed with Boat, RV, Motorcycle dealers and intertwined inventory to tie the sales together, everybody paid their share of the pot for advertising and everyone did extremely well everytime we did it...It's an idea that I would look into, great draw, but the competition really wasn't as it wasn't other dealers...(Just a thought as to something I've seen work)
I think that's a great idea - I like the fact that you get to pool your advertising but you're not competing for the same customers.

The other thing I like is you bring more customers to the event and everyone gets to witness that people are buying. I'm convinced that shoppers are more likely to become buyers if they enter an environment that's busy and they can witness that other people are buying.

I think the reverse is true too. I always thought it was harder to desk a deal when the showroom was nearly empty and traffic was non-existant.
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Old 08-27-2009, 08:49 AM   #22
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To be fair, part of the problem last year was that every dealership in the area was having a tent sale every time you turned around.
Great comment.

In my opinion it you're doing more than four off-site sales per year you're probably doing something wrong. As you pointed out the sales lose their impact if they're repeated too often and it can be a source of burn-out for the dealership's employees.
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Old 08-30-2009, 06:48 AM   #23
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So we went out and bought a few truck loads of a little older higher milage units than we usually sell. We are about to have our very first 'Better than Clunkers" sale. Units will average 4-8k and are perfect for our BHPH. Can't wait. August is finishing strong and September is gonna be spectacular!
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Old 08-30-2009, 12:40 PM   #24
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BOL zohpy, I know you'll do well.....
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Old 08-31-2009, 01:02 PM   #25
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So we went out and bought a few truck loads of a little older higher milage units than we usually sell. We are about to have our very first 'Better than Clunkers" sale. Units will average 4-8k and are perfect for our BHPH. Can't wait. August is finishing strong and September is gonna be spectacular!
Good luck - I always thought there was money to be made in the $4 - 8K range but I've heard it's a lot of work.

I'd love to hear more about your BHPH - maybe start a new thread so we could ask questions?
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Old 08-31-2009, 01:50 PM   #26
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It's actually not a lot of work at all once you have a process in place. Our BHPH receivables are performing outstandingly well in this climate. Currently have a little over 100 units on the books (not bad for 3 years IMO) and hope to add another 100 or so in the next year. We've only had 4 or 5 repos in that streach so of course the boss says I must be missing some opportunities. IDK. I'm pretty consertative so I may be missing a few that someone else down the street will pick up.
At any rate feel free to ask away. Here to help.
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Old 09-01-2009, 12:11 PM   #27
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At any rate feel free to ask away. Here to help.
That's awesome - thanks for offering to share your experience.

I started a new thread in this Section and already asked three questions...
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Old 09-01-2009, 08:34 PM   #28
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Thanks for starting the new thread X-man. I have already posted some preliminary stuff and will get more in depth with my own experiences as questions arise.
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