How do you draw a crowd into your car dealership? One of the best ways is to hose dealership events. Here are ten that you should host this winter.
It’s important that your car dealership does more than just sell cars. This means finding ways to engage with your community through activities meant to either draw a crowd to your location or give shoppers a look at how you engage with your local area. Using these events, you’ll draw a crowd which could put your location at the front of the mind with many customers when it’s time to buy their next car.
1. Host New-Model Showcases
You know when the new models are arriving at your location. If it’s time for an exciting new sports car that should sell extremely well, or you’re about to receive some new SUVs that give your shoppers more of what they want, the arrival of these new models can be showcased. Create a buzz around them and offer door prizes for the first 100 people that come in and take a personal tour of the new vehicle. Have a few models on hand for visitors to sit in and enjoy.
2. Give Prizes for Test Drives
If you’ve noticed many tire-kickers at your dealership, it’s time to host an event that gives your shoppers a voucher for taking a test drive. This is one of the most popular dealership events you can host, and it makes it easy to get more car sales. People who test drive a car are more likely to buy a car than those that don’t. Offer gift cards, free oil changes, and car washes for test driving. For shoppers that engage in the sales process, offer a small discount.
3. Show that Your Location Supports the Ride-Share Community
There’s an entire community of drivers that ferry people around town using the Uber and Lyft apps. Sometimes these drivers feel they are left out of the mix by many car dealers. Show them you care with some incentives and events for these drivers. You could give them discounts on tires, service vouchers, free car washes, and free tanks of gas. These freebies could translate into sales the next time they’re ready to buy a car.
4. Every Holiday is an Important Event
Holiday-themed dealership events are a no-brainer. Every holiday during the autumn and winter can be great for you to have an event and offer some incredible sales and deals to your shoppers. When you look at a calendar, you’ll quickly find holidays all year, which can make hosting events a monthly feature for you. The winter holidays should bring a big push if shoppers who are looking for remaining models and new models to give as the biggest gifts of all.
5. How Are You Taking Care of the Kids?
Parents drive kids around to various events every week, and they might be looking for new cars. Host events that allow the kids to spend time at your dealership doing something fun while the parents browse the vehicles on your lot. This is a great way to take away one of the excuses that many parents have. This is an easy way to make friends with parents who could turn into repeat customers for your dealership.
6. Free Gas or Free Car Wash Events for Your Loyal Customers
Offer vouchers for customers who have both purchased vehicles from your dealership and come to you for service. These vouchers could be invitations to one of the most successful dealership events you host throughout the year. Your loyal customers will appreciate some free gas or a free car wash. Keep these events separated from others. If you don’t have pumps at your dealership, partner with a local gas station to make this event a success.
7. Host a Car Seat Safety Check Event
New parents face tons of obstacles and new decisions. They’re suddenly responsible for a new life, and one of the most important things they need to handle is ensuring car seats are securely fastened into their vehicles. You can help with this by hosting an event where new parents can come by and have their seats checked, Bring the police and firefighters to your dealership to show parents how to put seats in and make sure they are properly secured in the vehicle.
8. Get Your Team and Customers Active in the Community
Your community has food pantries, homeless, and people that need clothes. One way to help these downtrodden is to host community support events to be as a collection site for canned goods, a 5K run to raise money or a used clothing collection site. During the holidays, your dealership can also be a place to collect toys for the Toys for Tots campaign. This is a great way to get your dealership associated with community support and help those that need it as well.
9. Host a Freebie Event for Your Loyal Shoppers
Separate this event from the car wash and gas events by offering a full car detail as a door prize, free oil changes for several in attendance, and free snacks and coffee for everyone. This is a great way to bring in customers that have shopped with you before. Offer special prizes if they bring a friend that buys a vehicle from you. This could be one of the best dealership events to grow your customer base and give back to your loyal shoppers at the same time.
10. Prepare for Tax Return Time
As the holidays come to a close and winter end, the next big time for car sales will be when tax returns begin to be processed. You could offer to use the returns as down payments for new vehicles or give vouchers to shoppers who visit your location with their tax returns. Some tax companies set up remote processing locations. See if your dealership can be one of those locations. This is a great way to bring more traffic to your dealership and potentially sell more cars.
Which of these dealership events will be part of your winter activities this year? Use these great ideas to drive more sales at your location.
