New Dealership

[joe r]

Have any of you ever opened a new dealership? Are there any unique ideas or promotions you have used to bring in service and parts business until you were able to build your own through car sales?

We have been open three months and the business is growing but at a slower rate than we expected. We have done service mailers and I have done wholesale visits but I'm looking for something out of the ordinary that has worked for someone.

Thanks,
Joe R

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[PROUSER]

ONE DEALER I WAS AT HELD SERVICE CLINICS FOR NEW CAR CUSTOMERS ONCE A MONTH. NEW OWNERS WERE INTRODUCED PERSONALLY TO EMPLOYEES -HOW TO SCHEDULE APPOINTMENTS -OUTSIDE DROP INSTRUCTIONS -ONE MECHANIC WOULD BE PAID TO STAY AFTER AND SHOW HOW TO CHANGE A TIRE - WIPER BLADE CHANGE -UNDERNEATH OF A CAR ETC.- ***THE CUSTOMERS ATE IT UP*** ! AND SERVICE BUSINESS FLOWED IN ! MADE A BIG DIFFERENCE !

[gmpartsmen@aol.com]

We moved into a new building 13 yrs ago,some 10 miles from our old location.We were suprised to find a lot of our customers did not follow us for service. We tried a Free Service Clinic.We had the flat rate techs do the inspections and whatever was sold at a discounted price was rescheduled and given back to that tech.It was a very soft sell to the customer,we advertised it as a factory sponsored event and invited our GM reps and some of our vendors,local car clubs and did a radio station remote broadcast to promote it,we even served hot dogs and popcorn,It was such a hit after running this a couple of times we had more work than we could handle.

[Matt Parsons]

I agree with the idea of service clinics. I supported 100's of these when I was a field rep on the East Coast and was always amazed at the amount of business that they brought in. The key is to make it a real fun/family event with food, ballons, etc. It was not uncommon for a medium size GM store to bring in 200 vehicles within a 2.5 hour period with appointments being scheduled on in excess of 50% for repairs to items identified during the clinic. It also directly contributed to the sale of normally 2-3 cars for vehicles that were past their prime.

Good Luck.