Marketing How-To: Event Marketing
In this “how-to” video, we are going to try and tackle one of the most challenging tasks dealers face in the marketing space. Event-based marketing. Planning sales events is not exactly the forte of most car dealers. For many, placing a “Red Tag” in a car windshield and dropping the prices a bit constitutes a sale. There is a process to planning and managing a successful sales event that starts with three basic questions. What are you selling? Why is it special? And, how is it all going to work?
There is a business concept popularized by Simon Sinek that basically takes the “what, how and why” of a business, and places them in what he calls the Golden Circle. Essentially, what he's saying, is “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”
It can be a difficult concept and a bit of a leap of faith, and the reality is most businesses don’t stop to think about why they do what they do, except perhaps to make money. Believe it or not, most businesses are not all that altruistic, so when motivational types and soothsayers start saying you should be asking yourself why you do what you do it kind of goes in one ear and out the other. But those businesses are entirely missing the point.
Most businesses don’t stop to think about why they do what they do, except perhaps to make money.
The “why” of a business and marketing is not really about any set of values, although I suppose it could be. Thinking about the “why” has more to do with the connectivity between the business and the prospect that the business is trying to reach than it is about finding some underlying cause or mantra. It’s not a mission statement.
The answer to the question “why”, as it relates to business and brand, is simply, “Why should the prospect do business with you?” It is the logic that brings the prospects that need your product or service to you. It is the reason people buy from you. If it’s branding, it’s the reasons you’re in business. These reasons form the basis for branding your business into the minds of consumers so that they know what you sell, how you sell it, and “why” they should deal with you.
Now I would like to take that concept one step further and apply it to event marketing and demonstrate how you can create solid sales and marketing events that get results. So many car dealerships put up a bunch of tags on car windshields that say “sale”, run an ad with a bunch of pictures of vehicles, prices and payments and think well… that’s a sale. But it’s not. It’s a lack of forethought and preparation resulting in more consumer noise. A big nothing-burger. Sinek was right. People connect with the “why” because they need to know why. Why is it a sale? Why is it special? Why should I go there now instead of somewhere else? And saying it’s a sale is just not enough.
People need to know “why” it’s a sale.
The three core anchors to creating a successful sales event remain the same. What are you selling? Why is it a sale? How are you going to do it? The how represents your plan for the sale, from the marketing to the customer experience and beyond. All of the answers to how your sales event will unfold are all driven by the one answer to “Why is it a sale?”
Your sales event plan starts with two simple steps. First, what is the product that I am selling? Is it an entire inventory event? A truck event? Perhaps it’s a luxury vehicle sale, ex-daily rental sale, or even a finance event. Maybe even a “Special Purchase” type event where you have purchased a bunch of additional inventory outside the normal course of business.
Second, why is it a sale? This question is extremely important to the success of your event because it is what will make your event believable or desirable to the public, or your target prospect. The answer to why it is a sale will form the foundation of all the structural elements needed for a successful sales event. Ultimately, it boils down to what is the story of the sale. A description of what the sale is and why it’s a sale.
Once you’ve decided what you're selling, and created the story behind the sale, it’s time to deal with the structural elements of the sale. It’s time to ask yourself, “How is it going to work?” To discover this, think about the customer journey. What is the prospect seeing, hearing or reading in the marketing? What is the prospect hearing from your salesperson when they connect about the event? What happens when the prospect hits the showroom? How do you land on a vehicle? Obtain selection? Create urgency? Generate an offer? Close a deal and maybe even upsell some extras in the business office? Answering all those questions forms the basis for your event plan.
Once you’ve decided what you're selling, and created the story behind the sale, it’s time to deal with the structural elements of the sale.
You really need to focus on the question, “Why?” I repeat that saying it’s a sale is just not enough. Consider for a moment the classic old appliance sale. The Scratch and Dent Sale. You could put out an ad that says you're having an appliance sale and have good prices, but nothing. Empty store. Say it’s a Scratch and Dent Sale, and kaboom, you’re rolling, because the logic to the consumer makes sense. “I can get a deal because there are dents and scratches. I don’t care about dents and scratches; I just need it to work.” The price becomes irrelevant because they assume it's lower because it's damaged. Think about that, the story is more important than the price.
There were a few companies rolling around the countryside some years back running these “sales events” at car dealerships all over the place. They may still be around, I don't know, but I friggin’ hope not. Their deal was, that you pay for the marketing using their creative, they send a team of closers to your store for the weekend to run the sale and you give them a cut of the gross. If they don’t generate X amount of gross, you don’t pay their cut. It was a gong show, and just in case you don't know that reference maybe the term clown circus is better. They would run an ad that basically said every car was a bank repo, and customers could come and look and just take overpayments. It worked. It was a total scam, but it worked. Because people read two things. One, "They are bank repos so I can get a deal." Two, "I am just taking overpayments so I don’t need credit approval." Then they had a whole sales process designed around that story and presto, a bunch of massive gross deals from their target client, someone who is a payment buyer not focused on price and potentially unsure about their credit. Customers would sit there all day waiting to get approved and then drive home in a vehicle the dealer just grossed them 8K on.
The story is more important than the price.
Basically, the point is this, the “why” to a sales event is the key to the success of the event because first, it creates that emotional and psychological connection with your target prospect, and then it answers all the questions about how to create and manage the sales event.
The how now becomes the final piece of your puzzle.
Marketing is going to communicate to your prospect everything that is important and relevant to your event. What are you selling? Who are you speaking to, and where are they? How much will you spend on marketing? What is the story you are telling? And why should the prospect take action now?
What about scripting? What will your staff say to prospects when they call, text or email? What will your staff say in the showroom? On the lot? At their desk? Provide your sales team with a clear explanation of the sale. Give them copies of the ad. Provide them with talking points to use with prospects. Take the time to create well thought out email and text templates that are specific to the event.
What is the sales process for the event? What are the steps for vehicle selection? Numbers presentation? Objections? Generating an offer? Closing?
What happens in the business office after that? Don’t forget to leverage the event in your business office with special offers tied to the event. Special offers on warranties, environmental products and accessories.
The prospect should be able to see or hear an ad, and immediately know why it’s a sale.
The point is this, sales events are much more than window hangers and ads. They should be well-thought-out, well-planned events that appeal to a customer’s emotional side. The prospect should be able to see or hear an ad, and immediately know why it’s a sale, why it’s unique and why they should take advantage of it and not wait. Otherwise, it’s just more noise and a waste of money.
Beyond that, getting them to connect and then having no plan for what happens when they do is leaving a little bit too much to chance, wouldn’t you say?
Next, let's run through one example that will demonstrate the strategy of what, why and how when planning and rolling out a successful sales event.
I’m just picking one example from thin air here and I’ll try not to break any laws.
First, I need to sell some used cars so I’m going to have a sales event that targets my entire inventory. That’s the ‘what.’ The entire used car inventory is what will be sold as part of this event.
Now, why? What is special about the event? What is the story or justification for the event? We know all the standard ones like “Inventory Reduction Sale!” or “Inventory Blow Out!” How about “Push, Pull or Drag?” That’s a good one. If you want to have a great sale you need to try and think of something creative. Something with the element of truth and legitimacy. Something that makes sense to someone looking at or listening to an ad. A little more depth than just another Spring or Fall sale.
If you want to have a great sale you need to try and think of something creative.
For this event, let's call it the “Annual Auction Sale Event”. The title draws attention because the word auction says something to the customer. It evokes the images of bidding and low prices. Now we need a story. The explanation for the Auction Event. Customers may think you're auctioning off inventory and that in and of itself will generate interest even if not actually the case.
Now it’s time to make it more interesting. “Andy’s Car Store is having an annual massive Auction Event Sale! Three days only, this Thursday through Saturday.” Then the story. The why. “Rather than taking vehicles to an automotive auction for dealers only, Andy’s Car Store is putting reduced Auction Sales labels on every vehicle for public viewing, but only for three days. Members of the public will be welcome to walk the lot, view the inventory, choose the vehicle they like, even test drive the vehicle and place a bid which will be accepted or declined on the spot. You will not be bidding against other purchasers! This is your once-a-year opportunity to get an amazing deal on a pre-owned vehicle.”
Now that you know what you’re selling and why you are selling it; it’s time to plan the whole thing out. How’s it all going to work?
All of the marketing needs to clearly include the title of the event and what’s being sold at the event, but most importantly must answer the question in the prospect's mind, “Why is it special? What is the story behind the event?”
With that story, you are now setting the stage for an appointment-driven sale, but there will likely also be a lot of walk-ins. You have the name of the sale and the story of why you’re having a sale and why it’s special. Even adding the word “annual” sends the message that it’s a rare opportunity while also giving it some legitimacy. If you have it once a year, it must be a thing!
Next, you definitely need to load the lips of your staff with talking points that they can repeat, and that you can include in the creation of email and text templates. Let's try some examples: We’ve decided to sell off our used car inventory and are offering it to the public rather than sending it to the auction. It costs money to send cars to the auction in transportation costs and auction fees. We would rather sell to the public if possible. We have put window tags with Auction Sale prices on all the vehicles with what we think the vehicle will sell for at the auction written on them. We are not permitted to disclose the prices on the phone because the prices will go back up when the sale is over. Similar pricing to what dealers pay. We have finance representatives on-site to arrange quick low-interest-rate financing on all vehicles. We even have special prices on extended warranties on all vehicles for sale.
You definitely need to load the lips of your staff with talking points about the sale that they can repeat to customers.
Next, you have to nail down your showroom process.
What the hell do we put on the tags? How do we price our inventory? What does the staff say when the customers land on a car?
In this case, I’m going to write my absolute lowest price on each vehicle. Like the price, I would be willing to dump it for on my worst day. Nice, sizable discounts. Was it $27995, Auction Sale Price was $24892?
The salesperson is going to say something like this: “Let’s find the vehicle that works for you, then I will get you the numbers. The price on the tag is what the dealership would expect to get at the auction, so don’t worry about that, we are taking every deal, let’s just make sure you test drive it and like it!” Note that you haven't described the price on the vehicle as the actual price of the vehicle — it's the price you would expect to get at auction, which is, by the way, also why you didn't disclose it on the phone. We just said it's the price at the auction. We didn't say it's the price you're actually going to get. But we'll circle back to that later.
So far so good. You have a sale, a story, traffic, and test drives, but what do you do now? Those auction prices are so low you can’t negotiate. How do you generate offers?
In this case, a little backwards negotiation is in order. The customer has driven the unit, is excited and is looking for a deal. What more are you looking for than a customer on a vehicle, at a salesperson's desk, ready to buy, waiting for numbers? All you need to do now is generate an objection, then an offer, and a deal. Right?
What more could you be looking for than a customer interested in a vehicle, at a salesperson's desk, ready to buy, waiting for numbers?
“Ok, Mr/Mrs Customer I will go get the numbers for you.” The numbers come back from a manager running the sale. You present like this: “Was $27995. The Auction Sale Price is $24892. We would like to make a profit of $1000, so your price is $25892! A savings of $2103 off our list price! How does that sound?”
What’s going to happen next? That’s right: an objection. A very predictable objection. “I thought the auction price was the price!” And there you have it, your basis for the offer, the Auction Sale Price. All you have to do is negotiate a little bit and you have a deal.
Then it’s off to the business office for some Auction Sale Specials on whatever it is you sell.
Whether this sale actually works or not is not the point. The point is that every step of the customer journey has been planned. The name of the sale sends a message. The story of the sale reinforces the name of the sale and adds legitimacy and believability. The sales staff know exactly what to say when they get a call or an email. It’s not just the same old, same old: it’s planned. When the customer lands, there’s a plan for that too. What is said by the salesperson? How to select a vehicle. How to disclose and discuss price. And finally, when the numbers presentation goes out to the customer, a built-in objection is designed to help generate an offer. And if your business manager's any good, that's where the real profit is going to happen.
It’s a total plan. Good luck and good selling.
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