How would you like Kim K to be working for your store?

Leverage your employee’s sphere of influence to increase sales:
Whether you a fan of Kim K or not its impossible to ignore that she has grown a huge audience and has quite the power to influence! Almost completely through Social Media she has grown an empire, wouldn’t it be great to have that kind of following for your dealership? Please keep in mind I’m not saying I have a ‘magic bullet’ that will create millions of loyal followers for your dealership that would only buy from you however, you can expand your stores influence in much the same way as Kim has and who knows how big it could get!

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Take a look at your dealerships Facebook page, if you have 150 followers and your dealership has 200 employees THAT is an issue! Before going out to conquer the entire web shouldn’t you at least start by gathering ‘Likes’ from your own people? A short note attached to the payroll would be a great way to encourage and invite your own employees to go to the dealerships Facebook page and Like it, many may not know or have even looked to see if your store has a Facebook page! Ask your self why wouldn’t all of your employees be following the dealership page? Better yet, how can you get them to be actively involved with growing it? Try posting pic of your employees cars that are the brand you see ie; “even our employees drive cool Ford/Honda/Chevy’s etc!” Why not create an “Ask a Service Pro” page and invite your tech’s to answer service questions fans write in? While working for a So Cal Honda dealer two years ago I had a few of our staff attend a very large car show in the South Bay and ask participants if they could take pics of their really cool Hondas, who would say no at a car show(?), and then tell them that they would be posted on the dealers Facebook page and to have their friends and family go Like their car because the one with the most likes would win and iPad. The dealers Facebook page grew by over 1900 followers and in addition to three new Honda’s being sold that we were able to track to the campaign, the Parts Dept at the store saw an increase in Honda Factory Performance parts too! It was an easy way to grow the page with actual people that liked the product, having been drawn to the page by involvement with someone who had a Honda and would likely remember that the dealer supported the custom import scene. Recently a customer brought in his really tricked out and lifted truck for service; I snapped a quick pic of it and created a contest around it. Riding on the tails of the national campaign from Ford for Built Ford Tough month I posted the pic and asked our fans if their truck was as ‘Built Ford Tough’ and encouraged folks to submit pics of their own trucks. We will post them and the truck with the most likes will get a free detail to make it nice and shiny, an easy low cost way to encourage involvement and fun! Lets face it, people that go to your Facebook page KNOW that you sell cars! They don’t need to be blasted to with low prices and great interest rates! Ask your self why would someone pay attention to your page, give them good, relevant information and let them have some fun. Build a community and they WILL remember you when its time to buy their next new car I assure you!
Until next time; Sell Something!