Millennials Want Brands To Be More Transparent. Why That Matters and How to Succeed.
By Eduardo Aragon
Being transparent is the second vital characteristic you can have to attract younger shoppers. (Speaking about things that matter to them being number one, see my other blog post titled “marketing to millennials” for that one).
An interesting stat by Autotrader shows that millennials are the most likely to rely on salespeople for information, and the least likely to engage with one on the lot.
Is it because they lack social skills? No.
Is it because they don’t trust what the salesperson says and don’t want to be pressured? probably.
So how do you inform your clients without being pushy and wasting your time?
Let’s take a look at how you can increase your brand recognition and better qualify your shoppers before they hit your lot.
Visibility
Being visible on social media is key to success. Not only will more people see your brand, they will see your brand interactions with your clients and your community.
Look at social media as your own free soap box. You can be as loud as you want, get seen everywhere, and show your warm and fuzzy side without spending a dime.
In fact, the better your posts are, the more they will be liked, commented on, shared and seen. For free.
So you can stop paying for all of your posts and instead start investing in posts that entertain, inform and inspire your prospects.
After all, before they buy, your shoppers have to see themselves behind the wheel.
Save yourself a couple bucks this month and ask yourself, ” would I share this post on my wall?” If the answer is “no”, nobody else is likely to share your content either.
Providing the requested information
“What’s my trade worth?” This page is on so many dealers’ websites, and it’s a great example of legitimate questions buyers have for you before choosing to do business with you.
So why don’t we give them the right answer?
Worse than not giving the information at all, we farm it out to a 3rd source lead provider, who does provide the information, gets the clients’ contact information in return, and then sells it back to us and to our competition.
Providing the client a well informed idea of what the trade is worth will contribute to higher customer engagement, more trust and higher conversions for your website.
I know what you are thinking, this won’t work for us! How can you under allow for the trade and make money if you give them pricing up front?
Well, that’s one of the things clients are looking to avoid have happen to them. That’s why they’re going online first. You would do the same.
Give them a fair and honest idea of what the trade in value could be, and leave them with the hope that it could be worth even more in person.
Also, give them this information quickly to make certain you are first and foremost in their mind.
Building trust is more important than selling at this point.
They’re going to get their trade value anyways. You may as well be the first to provide them with accurate information.
Set yourself apart by giving them a great experience. Control the conversation and make the appointment.
Here’s the benefit to you for doing so: You can pre-sell rare pieces much quicker, by getting your wholesale bids ahead of time; you might get multiple car deals by selling the trade to another customer; you save time; you can see if any of those vehicles would look good on your lot; you get more car deals; you turn deals over quicker and your clients are happier. Everyone wins.
Clear-cut financing up front.
Pre-approved financing is another huge area for improvement in our industry. Dealerships that provide the right information to their shoppers first have the best chance of converting that shopper.
The financing page of most dealerships is underutilized, unimpressive and unused by your shoppers, even when 72% of shoppers say they would be willing to do all their financing up front according to a 2015 Autotrader study shows.
“Financing Paperwork: Nearly three quarters of consumers (72 percent) want to complete the credit application and financing paperwork online. The key factors driving this desire are to save time at the dealership (reported by 72 percent of those who favor online paperwork) and to have less pressure while filling out paperwork (reported by 71 percent). A separate study conducted by Cox Automotive in 2014 showed that the time buyers spend in the F&I office averages 61 minutes, more than two thirds the total amount of time they want to spend at the dealership (90 minutes). Transitioning paperwork online and enabling consumers to complete it on their own time would greatly enhance the in-dealership experience and cut down on the time they spend in the dealership on the day of purchase.”
http://http://www.automotivea ventures/the-future-of-car-buying-and-consumer-trends/
Provide clients with enough information that they want to leave you their credit information.
Be informative, and be quick about it
Just suppose Google stopped giving you accurate information, or it took 3 days to get an answer, would you continue to use it?
Younger buyers have grown up with lightning fast information provided for them, for free, with no expectations of “owing them
something ” back in return.
So it’s understandable that they would want the same from your website.
Think of Google again for a second. They are free to use, sell no product and yet they are invaluable and make huge profits.
What makes them great is the service they provide.
One can find out just about anything on Google, for free, in less than a second. It’s what makes them so valuable.
Any information your website provides is held in higher esteem, and trusted more, than anything your salespeople could tell a client.
People are conditioned to accept that online information, especially from a retailer, must be fact based, or it wouldn’t be there.
So make sure your website is easy to navigate, has a very visible search bar, and provides the information a client is after.
Most webmasters could easily tell you what your customers are asking about most on your website. Start providing the answers and watch your conversations begin.
Be Honest
Millennials put greater importance on honesty than they do on the lowest price.
That’s a great opportunity to be a great corporate citizen and provide honest information.
Social influencers, 3rd party stats, client reviews and the strength of your brand’s involvement in the community will begin to build trust in you.
Once a client begins to get the information they need from you, they will keep coming back for more.
Not every website visitor that hits your site will buy that month, but they will buy eventually.
The more they come to you for advice, the sooner they’ll come to you for price.
Think of your website as a combination of super informed salesperson and a genie.
Whatever your client can think to ask, relevant to purchasing a vehicle from you, your website can answer better than anyone else.
Young shoppers, especially those between 18-22, are going to rely heavily on the opinions of their parents and peers before making a decision.
But what if those opinions are wrong?
People want to learn for themselves, and they are overwhelmingly turning to dealership websites first for information.
This gives you all the motivation you need to offer them valuable information, with no obligation, that they can use to make up their minds.
Is it wise to have informed clients out there, aren’t I just giving them a license to shop me?
Absolutely. Yes to both.
Knowledge is power and by giving them everything up front you do risk getting shopped around.
Let’s be real tho, you’re already getting shopped around. You just don’t know about it all the time.
At least this way you know who they are, what they drive, what they want, their buying power and how to get a hold of them.
Even better, you didn’t waste any time. Your website gave them all the information they needed.
6000 unique visitors per month, 72,000 per year. You should be selling at least 10% of those statistically. Right?
Think of the 90% you’re not selling right now. They’re buying from somewhere.
So if you could increase the amount of well qualified buyers looking to do business with you by being transparent, why wouldn’t you?
Eliminate ” I have to think about it “, because you have already given them the information ahead of time and they chose to come in to see you.
Write them and roll them the same day, faster than ever and with less hassle for everyone involved.
Get rid of long wait times in the showroom, free up your salespeople to handle more fresh ups on Saturdays, free up your business office’s time on busy days, decrease unwinding deals, increase CSI scores and Google reviews – there’s a ton of side benefits.
Plus millennials are amongst the most loyal shoppers and you’re bound to get a referral or two from them right then and there. They’ll even post a free ad for your store on their preferred social media platform if you treat them right.
Thanks for taking the time to learn how to improve your engagement of younger shoppers. Stay tuned for more great ways to attract, engage and inspire your next group of clients.
Connect with me on LinkedIn and twitter
References
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/millennials-want-brands-t_b_9032718.html
Eduardo Aragon 