Using Sales-Based Analytics to Sell More Cars
Today's dealerships have the advantage of using advanced software when making business decisions.
Sales-based analytics offers a data-driven perspective that can give your dealership several advantages. Learning more about this technology could make your dealership more profitable by increasing sales and helping you invest money wisely.
Find Out What Marketing Works Best
Cars are big business in the United States. In December 2015 alone, consumers purchased over 656,000 cars, 987,000 light duty trucks, and 622,000 crossover SUVs.
Given the large interest in cars, it's no wonder that cities have so many dealerships. Those dealerships, however, have to compete with each other to attract buyers. That's not an easy thing to do in such a crowded industry.
Dealerships use a variety of marketing techniques to get potential buyers to their lots, but it's difficult to tell which techniques work well. Sales-based analytics makes it easier for dealerships to determine whether their marketing worked or they just happened to have a few good weeks.
Google Analytics lets marketers evaluate their campaigns so they know which ones are effective. If a certain keyword phrase brought 100,000 hits to the website, then it's worth investing in rather than the keyword phrase that only brought in 10,000 hits.
It's also fairly easy to track conversions (the number of people who actually purchase products after visiting a website). When you compare your site's activity with purchases made in the showroom, you can see trends pretty quickly.
Predict What Vehicles to Keep Stocked
Few things are worse for a salesperson than letting a buyer go because you don't have the right product. Instead of taking your commission to the bank, you watch a sale walk out the door.
With sales-based analytics, dealerships can make informed predictions about which vehicles they need to keep in stock. If there has been an increase in convertible sales during the last two summers, then you can make a good guess that those sales will increase this summer, too.
Without analytics, you're just guessing about what people want to buy. When you have the data, you're reasonably certain that you have the vehicles customers want.
Make the Most of Your Sales Staff
Most dealership managers are savvy enough to know that there are certain times of the week or year when it's best for people to buy cars. It isn't a big secret that people who shop for cars during the workweek are likely to get better deals because the sales reps don't have as many customers as during the weekend.
What's not often obvious is which salespersons are suitable for specific times. Joe might make great sales during the evening, but his numbers are pitiful when he works mornings. Angela might sell a ton of cars during the week, but it's nearly impossible for her to make a deal on a Monday.
Sales-based analytics makes it easier to see when you schedule employees to get the most out of their unique talents. More and more dealerships are realizing the benefits of sales-based analytics.
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