True story – a newbie sales rep at Matt Bowers Chevrolet was sending out hundreds of digital brochures each month to every single lead to help them know as much about their vehicles of interest as possible. In 6 months he became the top rep at the dealership. Go figure, helping customers do all of their vehicle research with you keeps people focused on your brand and brings them into the dealership faster. 

With people spending 14+ hours researching their next vehicle purchase, and a mind-boggling array of places they can do that research, what role should a dealership play in helping them do that research, why does it matter, and what are your options? 

It’s no secret people spend A LOT of time researching their next car and won’t be ready to make that purchase until they have A LOT of information. 

If you want to turn those researchers into customers, you should be playing an active role in helping them do that research, but what does that mean, and what are your options?

Your fIrst option: Let the customers do research on their own. They’ll visit your site, CARFAX, AutoTrader, Cars.com, YouTube, other dealers, and all the other 3rd party listing sites. While this costs you nothing out of pocket, everytime a buyer can’t find what they’re looking for on your site, they’re leaving and have a higher likelihood of never coming back. 

Second, you could try to coach and train every sales rep to be an expert on every new and used vehicle on your lot. That’s a nearly impossible task, and you’d spend more time training than selling.

Your third option is a single point software solution for digital brochures. These are great at providing additional information about the vehicle beyond the table stakes of photos, videos, and text descriptions. They’ll include CARFAX reports, service records, window stickers and more. They’ll notify you when customers are engaging and re-engaging with that information. 

Your sales team also has access to the same research, making them instant experts on every vehicle on your lot. The downside is that the single point solutions do very little to guide buyers to next steps like valuing a trade-in, understanding financing options, or getting a guaranteed offer.

FAQs

How does the dealership track the effectiveness of sending out digital brochures?

Tracking the effectiveness of digital brochures typically involves analyzing metrics like customer engagement, click-through rates, and conversion rates. Dealerships may use specialized software or analytics tools to monitor how often brochures are opened, which content receives the most attention, and whether recipients ultimately make a purchase or visit the dealership.

Is there a process for updating vehicle information, such as pricing or availability, in real-time?

Dealerships ensure the accuracy and currency of information in digital brochures through regular updates and maintenance. This often involves integrating systems that automatically sync with inventory databases and pricing platforms to reflect real-time changes in vehicle availability, pricing, and features. Additionally, there may be quality control processes in place to review and verify the content before distribution.