Sometimes miracles really do happen...like when Elvis appears on your toast!
Do you have a washer and a dryer at your house? How long have you had them? Do you remember the last time you replaced them? Why did you replace them? Did the old ones break? Did you move into a new house?
Usually the purchase of a washer and a dryer (and many other things in life) revolve around events…like a break down, an accident, moving into a new house. Nobody really WANTS TO replace their washer and dryer. They replace it because they HAVE TO. Same goes for hot water heaters, roofs, carpet and a thousand other mundane items required in life. People replace these items for logical reasons. Usually because they have to.
Imagine for a moment you’re sitting in a soft, leather recliner one Sunday morning, sipping coffee, flipping through the paper. Out falls a flyer for an appliance sale. Pictures of high-tech washers and dryers adorn the pages, with prices and interest rate promotions and free delivery offers popping off the page in starbursts. Now…since your current washer and dryer are working just fine…would you pay any attention to this flyer? No. Why not? Because you’re not in the market. And no matter how good a deal that ad promises, you’d just toss it aside, or put it in the birdcage. It’s invisible to anyone who isn’t shopping for a washer and dryer at that moment.
Now compare that appliance ad to a typical car ad. Pretty similar, really. Pictures of product, starbursts with prices or payments, interest rate offers, fine print. But to somebody who isn’t shopping for a car, that ad is invisible. Just like the appliance ad was to you. Prices, payments, features, selection, rates, rebates…these things only matter to shoppers.
The Difference Between The Car Business & Other Businesses
THANKFULLY, there’s a big difference between cars and appliances. But most dealers haven’t considered this difference and aren’t using it to their advantage. Consider this: Do people wait until their old car is broken down or in an accident before they buy a nicer, newer car? Not usually…otherwise there would be no used car market. Do they wait until they HAVE TO get a better car? No way! So what motivates somebody to buy a nicer, newer car, if not logic or necessity?
The answer is simple, but very important. People buy cars because of emotional reasons. They want to feel safer, more important, more comfortable, more cool. They want to change the way other people look at them and think about them. Ultimately a car is an extension of our ego. Your washer and dryer are not. In fact, nobody has any idea what kind of washing machine you have – because it’s hidden away in your laundry room.
But a car is parked right outside in the driveway, or in the parking space at work, on display for the whole world to see……..and judge you by. The reality is: EVERYBODY WANTS a nicer, newer car than the one they have right now. But 98% of the population ISN’T ACTIVELY SHOPPING. So typical car advertising is completely invisible to them.
All The Customers Are Hiding In Plain Sight!
But all the dealers in your market are scrapping over the 2% of the population that is actively shopping. It’s a contest to see who can buy the most ads, who can scream the loudest, who can offer the lowest price, who can dream up the biggest gimmick. It’s a battle for the attention of the shopper. The BIG problem is that when the shoppers show up, the profit goes down. These days shoppers are arming themselves with tons of information. Many of them have stumbled across a web site that’s told them exactly what you pay for car, minus holdback, minus dealer cash. And they’re prepared to leave you without a dollar in profit. No fun.
The BIG Secret
Herein lies the biggest opportunity in the car business. While everybody else is screaming and fighting over the 2%, you can peacefully, efficiently and easily speak to the 98%….the people who aren’t shopping, BUT REALLY WOULD PREFER to drive a nicer, newer car than they have now. In most cases, there’s just a simple problem standing in their way, which you can easily overcome.
And voila! You’ve created a customer out of a “non-intender” (someone who had no intention of buying a car right now)…and these are the best customers, because they haven’t done all that research, they haven’t shopped 8 other dealerships and they’re primarily interested in having you solve their problem —- not give them the lowest price.
By letting all the other dealers beat each other to death and busy themselves merchandising vehicles, you can retire from the commodity game and become a respected and trusted advisor, a problem solver, a hero. And make a healthy profit in the process. And have an endless pool of buyers to draw from. You’ll never run out of the 98%.
