There are so many places where the automotive sales have rebounded since the depths of the recession and the buyers are less in car purchasing. It becomes a problem and inflation of several business. For dealerships located in these markets, success often comes down to the ability to diversify. Diversification isn’t a new concept in business, but it’s one that many dealerships haven’t thought much about. After all, you’re in the business of selling cars — and you’ve already got plenty on your plate. But in the right circumstances, diversifying into other businesses that complement car and truck sales can boost your dealership’s revenue.
Some examples of a diversity in businesses.
When a company plans its advertising campaign, it should strive to fairly represent the diversity and inclusiveness, in order to increase their sales, revenue and profits.
- Get tired of dropping sales. A dealership in the rural South had seen its sales volume fall as the population of its market area slowly declined. When the owner saw that a local tire dealership franchise was up for sale, he decided to buy it and diversify into the tire sales and service business. He opened a separate building right next to his car dealership that included all of the national tire franchise’s branding and signage, just adding his dealership’s name to the store’s name to tie the car and tire dealerships together. The move has provided a significant boost to the owner’s overall revenue and gross profit.
- Get pumped up. A dealership located in the North East decided to install self-serve gasoline pumps and start selling retail gas to customers. The business even offered thier car-buying customers to receive a 10-cents-per-gallon discount on gas for three years after they buy. The gasoline sales aren’t highly profitable, but this move has resulted in other benefits for the dealership. For example, it has increased dealership foot traffic tremendously, as well as improved the loyalty of customers who buy cars.
What are the valuable additional tools and accessories your dealership can offer your clients? They can run the scale from inexpensive items like air fresheners to more expensive profit-boosters like custom floor mats, seat covers and wheel covers.
Of course, your parts and service department is one of your best diversification tools. The key to maximizing the sales and profits of parts and service is to actively manage this valuable dealership property. For many dealerships, the parts and service department is little more than an idea of growth.
Instead, you should be actively marketing parts and service — including promoting the department to non-car-buying customers. Stress in your marketing and advertising that you can service any vehicle brand, not just the brand of vehicles that you sell.
Ford has an incredibly strong culture of diversity and inclusiveness, which is a source of pride to all of them. They believe that diversity and inclusion are critical to their success. They all are working together as one team, levering skills across the globe, valuing, including and respecting each other and, in doing so, achieving profitable growth for all.
