How Should Independent Dealers Navigate Through 2021? By Kenny Atcheson Dealer Profit Pros
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will cause consumers to be less trusting in general. • Service has suffered. Many companies have used the pandemic as an excuse to offer substandard service. If you can still offer great service in spite of the challenges, you win.
fter one of the strangest years ever, how have you
prepared for 2021? Election years are usually off the wall, but 2020 was ridiculous. Uncertainties that linger affect how a dealer plans for and navigates through 2021.
• Google introduced more machine learning and artificial intelligence. This does not have anything to do with the pandemic. Some companies have missed it. This matters because it can assist but not replace the person who runs your Google Ads if used properly.
To write off 2020 as an odd year that can’t be analyzed and decide to “just go with the plan from the end of 2019” would be a mistake. There are some things to consider for this year that were not necessarily part of the plan heading into 2020: • Some changes and issues from 2020 will linger into 2021, changing the way you do business. • Some companies have focused more on digital marketing, communication, and sales because people don’t want to be around too many others because of COVID. However, we are still humans and there are people who want to see the car in person, talk to the salesperson faceto-face. How you do both concurrently needs to be considered for 2021. • Americans will trust the industry even less. The pandemic, the election, corruption, the media, have caused confusion again and
• Google and Facebook no longer allow narrow geographical targeting for industries that offer financing, due to past redlining and discrimination. To make every dollar count for our clients, when using Google Ads we target high performing ZIP codes rather than a larger area. We have a different plan for 2021 for our clients due to Google’s new rules. The savvy dealer will prepare for 2021 using all or most of the methods explained here. Brainstorm and mastermind
Albert Einstein was a big fan of regular masterminds. He was pretty smart. Your 20 Group is a form of a mastermind group. Utilize it. Get
18 | the Front Row | wsiada.com | March/April 2021
your 20 Group members together to consider new ideas for 2021. Although we all hope it is not like 2020, it will still be a unique year — and unique ideas are needed. You can also use your team to brainstorm as you navigate through 2021 — not just the management team but everyone. For a brainstorming session to be effective here are a few things to do: 1. Someone (a moderator) has to be in charge at the front of the room, but it doesn’t have to be management or ownership. Keep in mind that some employees may feel nervous sharing certain ideas in front of management. They may feel like you have shot them down in the past or they may be embarrassed. The person running the brainstorm session should have experience doing so. They should know how to “run the room,” engage everyone in the room and encourage participation and open sharing. 2. Contribute first but stay in control. Everyone spits out ideas and the moderator writes them down. No ideas are stupid. The list gets narrowed. The moderator helps the team determine the pros and cons of each idea. How to do something is important but also who is going to do it. Continue on page 20
