Your database is the gold mine in your dealer company

How can you, as a dealer, use your database to sell more cars? One of the things you could do is send a DM or eDM to a certain part of your file to call the recipients right after. It sounds simple, but how do you do it?

Database of unsold cars

Let’s start with the ‘non-purchasing leads’ database. You know, those leads that you have paid for – direct or indirect – have put energy into a follow-up and all that without result. No sale. Annoying, of course, can happen, but it is not that bad. At least, if you use the data.

Imagine you are a Ford dealer and you take a look at your database of all the quotation requests for a Kuga that were handled by e-mail, telephone and a showroom visit four years ago, but where no sales have been made. For this example we set the number to 1,000 pieces. All prospects who have thought about a Ford, but have bought somewhere else or have opted for a different brand. You approach these lost prospects via a DM campaign from DTC Media, an eDM and upload the file and target the same message on Facebook. The content in the DM must be tailored to what they have requested four years ago. But tell them, for example, why the new Kuga is now better and different.

Before you start working on the whole file, you will try a test run. Take 10%, for example, 100 pieces.
Then you determine what the goal is. We will call for an appointment and aim for a conversion of 20%, 30% or 40%. Once we have determined this, the DM will be sent within four days for a 100% follow-up. If we reach the initial target of 20%, we scale up to the remaining 900 leads. If we do not reach the target on the test file, the DM is adjusted. Other content, other call-to-actions. And again we test with part of the database to see if the next 100 are achieving the target. You keep on doing this until the content, the DM, the eDM or whatever, you have found the way to go to achieve your target.

Appointments in the showroom

The intention is to create a consistent flow of showroom appointments from the database, so that all your sales staff have at least one appointment per day, and therefore five appointments per week. Your database has those leads that you would like to consistently achieve and target with targeted marketing. That’s why it’s such a shame, stupidly, that many dealers throw away the ‘non-purchasing leads’. The sales calls, e-mail contacts and physical leads have value, especially in the longer term. Do you want to lose the sale once, or again? The approach outlined here can be applied to unsold leads, but also to your own customers who have bought. Of course with other content and offers. And of course with another, read higher, conversion of DM by appointment. Sending a DM on a purchased address file has a different conversion than when you approach your own customers. Whoever you focus on, it is important to consistently test which DM works. And if you have found the right approach, call 100%.

Orginal article

About Paul de Vries

Paul de Vries became a Key Automotive Spokesperson at eBay (Marketplace) after selling Nieuweautokopen.nl to eBay back in 2015. Paul is the founder and CEO of the #DCDW Academy and the presenter of the #DCDW Podcast. He is also a by dealers and importers frequently asked speaker in the online automotive industry. Paul is the winner of the prestigious Lighthouse Award 2016 in the U.S.! `Lead the Way op de digitale snelweg’ is Paul’s new book, which can be used as a guide in the online automotive industry. More information is available at: DCDW.nl.