Media Sales: Paul Weyland Communication Strategies

Dealing with Dealerships

It is never easy to convince an automotive group to advertise in traditionally slow months. If you succeed in doing so, that is great.

Even if the client perceives that business is slow, we KNOW without a doubt that "X" percent of your listeners or viewers WILL buy what your dealer is selling from SOMEBODY this week, providing your client does not have MARKETING PROBLEMS. But how can these buyers, who are ON for a new vehicle RIGHT NOW, buy from YOUR dealer if they're not thinking about WHO he is, WHAT he does or HOW to get in touch with him? See, we're not trying to reach EVERYBODY in an advertising campaign...just a minute PERCENTAGE of your thousands of listeners or viewers who WILL buy a vehicle from SOMEBODY this week.

And, all you have to do is get the attention of a small percentage of your weekly listeners or viewers in order to have a successful campaign for your dealership. Now let's see...I'm just willing to bet that virtually every single auto dealer spot on your station sounds or looks just about the same...screaming disc jockeys and rediculous actors...infested with cliches, props and sound effects...confusing financing and horrible disclaimers. These spots are just crapmaster WALLPAPER.

Use the blank sheet of paper example with your dealer contact. Hold the blank white sheet of paper up to a white wall. "Mr. Client, if I were trying to sell you this sheet of white paper, would it make logical sense to hold it up against a white background? Of course not. That would be camouflage. And nowadays, camouflage is SABOTAGE. We need a commercial that does not sound or look like a commercial. That would be easy to do since all of your competitors are using WALLPAPER for spots."

Then you come up with a more creative commercial...one that breaks through the CRAPOSPHERE and makes it easier for people who are ON right now for a new vehicle to hear or see that commercial. I would use a testimonial from satisfied buyers. I would get these people into my studio, give them a tour of your station, make them feel at ease, turn on a microphone or camera and start asking them provocative questions about what they love about their new vehicle from __________ Dealership. Believe me, people become EVANGELISTS about products that they bought and you can bring out the EVANGELIST in your testimonial. NEVER have the testimonial person READ ANYTHING. Let them talk, laugh, make a mistake in their speech, JUST LIKE REAL PEOPLE DO IN REAL CONVERSATIONS. All the announcer needs to do in the spot is repeat the name of the dealership and the dealership's location. LET THE CUSTOMER DO THE SELLING. He or she will EXUDE ENTHUSIASM, which will create DESIRE in other people.

Promotions and other "added value" situations are time consuming, they cost your station money, they clutter your station and unless they're unbelievably unique and the client is really giving away something of value, they drive very little qualified traffic to the dealer. I've always believed that spots alone should be enough to drive a campaign.

Then...calculate RETURN ON INVESTMENT for the client. Make him understand that what you are offering is LOGICAL and that it's a GOOD CALCULATED RISK.

Use the Mediator (download FREE) and do the calculation. Remember that an auto dealer's upside, downside, all-around side net profit per vehicle is average 800-1,500 dollars. And that's 100-percent GROSS PROFIT MARGIN. This is true with any dealership. This is true whether it's a new or used car. NEVER FORGET...$800-$1500 PER UNIT average, and that's pure profit. That means 100-percent gross profit margin.

Let's say your dealer's 100-percent gross profit margin averages $1100 per unit. Assuming your station reached say, 50-thousand listeners or viewers per week and your average cost per spot was $50, you might visit your dealership and say, "Mr. Client, let's just say you were spending two thousand dollars a week with us. That would buy you 40 spots and you could OWN a few days on our station with 40 spots. If we ran that schedule, you would need to sell TWO vehicles to arrive at a 10-percent return on advertising investment. That's TWO people out of the 50-thousand listeners who tune in to our station in an average week. It would be impossible to reach all of them, but it seems like it would be a good calculated risk that with a logical schedule and with a unique commercial that breaks through the CRAPOSPHERE of all of the cliché car dealer spots out there, we just might land three new customers...which would represent .004 PERCENT of our weekly audience.

If we made THREE new auto sales (POINT OO5 PERCENT OF OUR AUDIENCE) with the same number of commercials and with the same unique commercial, that would represent a 38-percent return on advertising investment for you. Gee, I don't know, but I think I'd take 38-percent on my money any day, wouldn't you?"

See? It makes logical sense. It appears to be a GOOD CALCULATED RISK. By discussing advertising with your dealer this way, you accomplish the following:

Manage the client's expectations about results on your station,
Little to no rate resistance,
It makes no difference if you're number one or number 20 in your market,
The client may double or triple the amount of money he THINKS he should be spending with you in a week,
NO ADDED VALUE. The spots alone should do the trick.