Focus on digitalization - goal: bring customers into the car dealership

Focus on digitalization - goal: bring customers into the car dealership

Ask yourself the following questions: Where do I stand with my company in terms of digitalization? Where do my customers come from (email, internet, telephone, print advertising)? Do I even know? And how much do I spend on advertising every year? Just be honest with yourself. And don't worry, there are no wrong answers. We'll come back to this later.

“Most of the contact points before buying a car take place digitally.”MICHAEL LUIPERSBECK, CEO AUTOHAUS DIGITAL

HELLO NEW CUSTOMERS

There is currently a lot of talk in the industry about the “digital car dealership”. Everyone understands something different about it. One person thinks of salespeople with tablets in their hands. The closest thing to digital showrooms without real cars. A third is to web-based direct sales. Wolfgang Gschaider and Michael Luipersbeck did well to name their company “Autohaus Digital” – the name says it all. The marketing duo specializes in advising car dealerships as a digital agency and helping them implement their goals. What does a car dealership primarily want? More customers, more sales, more profits. Eh, sure. Only the path to get there is different today than it used to be, as Michael Luipersbeck explains:

"Most of the contact points before buying a car take place digitally. Customers are visiting the car dealership less and less often before buying. On average 1.3 times, then the car is bought. Our goal is to bring today's and tomorrow's customers to the car dealership." Sounds great. But how? Business partner Wolfgang Gschaider adds: "Many car dealerships today are trying to attract new customers like they did 20 years ago. This is inefficient because customer behavior has changed." A yes, now the insults about social media will surely come, right? No, because the duo has a number of examples to show that there are a variety of ways to reach tomorrow's customers today. You just have to know them and use them. “Advertising in a local newspaper today can work, but there are also other ways to reach your desired target group with less advertising budget,” says Gschaider. The catalog of measures includes email and newsletter campaigns, social media postings, a solid website, but above all a well-maintained customer database. “We are not an agency that builds websites, but we want to help customers come to the car dealership more often or win new customers,” says Luipersbeck. Even small things can help, such as an automated newsletter a few months after buying a car. A free wash serves as a treat, the customer comes back to the car dealership and the salesperson has the chance to make a deal. Doesn't work? According to Luipersbeck and Gschaider, yes. Of course they have to withstand a lot of headwind. Sayers like "Social media? There are only young people there, they don't buy a car." A classic. The answer from Autohaus digital: "We started a specially tailored, multi-stage social media campaign for a Jaguar Land Rover dealer. The son saw it, linked his father to the new Land Rover Velar and the dad bought his new Velar from the dealer a short time later. It works if you know how." Gschaider adds: “As part of his digital campaign, one of our customers sold a new car to a 65-year-old new customer who became aware of it while surfing on his cell phone.”

HOMEWORK AND RETHINKING

In order to benefit from the digital possibilities, many companies first have to do their homework: "In order to be digitally successful, internal processes must be explained, structured and implemented. This also ties up human resources. We can help with the implementation, advise, give ideas, initiate, but ultimately the company itself has to implement the goals - of course with our full support," says Luipersbeck. This means: Take and post photos of the new model XY yourself. The agency also offers photo and video courses for smartphones. “The industry has a huge need to catch up. Car dealers have a great, emotional product that is great to work with,” says Gschaider. Let's go back to the initial questions: Have you ever thought about such measures? If yes: congratulations. If not: don't worry, you're in good company. Time to make a change, right?