by sallen1 » Sun May 10, 2009 3:12 pm
Obviously, Ford and the foreign brands have different issues.
I believe the challenge ahead for GM and Chrysler dealers (the ones that survive) is to attract the orphans. This is more an advertising situation and I'm not sure if the factory will split up customer lists.
I suppose you could contact the local dealer who is closing and ask for the information but this probably violates any privacy covenants between the dealer and customer (which is why you should get the info from the factory).
In some metro areas this could represent a large increase in your customer base. Our shop is sized for our current base and we'd have to increase capacity if the dealer ranks thin out as rumor has it.
Right now, we are focused on our current base, using "work not sold" reports to make call backs, applying discounts here and there and lots of e-mail marketing. I have also instructed my managers to negotiate with service customers just like we do with sales customers.
Driving customers to the store may be relatively easy if we end up being one that survives. Handling them becomes a challenge (but a good one!) The trick will be to balance (or increase) capacity to the new demand.
This story will play out in the next 30 days.
s