Hunters and Gatherers

The number of buyers in any given market is pretty much set by the simple fact that only a certain number of people are looking to buy a vehicle at any given time. You could incentivize additional people to join in by offering late-model Escalades for $3000 and Camrys for $1500, but there aren’t a whole lot of dealers out there who could afford to do that. So, you’re stuck with what the market provides.

You can Gather:

Gathering is getting your message and inventory in front of people in places that they are already looking such as Cars.com, newspapers and lead providers in general. You win when a buyer sees your message and/or inventory at the right time.

You can Hunt: Hunting will cost more than Gathering.

Direct marking fits into this category. On one hand, there is mass marketing where you just hunt with an atomic weapon and figure that everyone in the market area will hear or see your message at one time or another and they will happen to be in the market at that time. This is extremely expensive and totally unaccountable. The more specific the marketing is in finding buyers who are in the market and when they are in the market, the more cost-effective it becomes. If you can also compare the manifest (marketing list for either email or postal) to your actual sales to see if you have targeted the right people and produced quantifiable results, then you really have something.

See yesterday’s blog on Moving the Needle#1.  as well as my blog on cannibalizing the Market.  There are only so many buyers.  The success stories are sustaining and gaining market share in a supportable, cost efficient and consistent fashion.