How to sell more cars this Labor Day Weekend
Labor Day is a big time for car dealerships. While it can feel like the city empties out for the weekend as people head for cottages and one last family vacation before the start of the school, car dealerships are doing everything they can to convince people to buy a car that weekend. As the unofficial end of the summer season, Labor Day also tends to be the end of the model year. There’s pressure for dealerships to clear out the old inventory to make way for the new.
Savvy car buyers have caught on to the advantage of buying cars on holidays or long weekends and they know Labor Day can be a great time to get a good deal. Car dealerships enjoy a 33% increase in car sales on Labor Day compared to first weekends of the month that aren’t holidays. You need to be ready for the crush itself and use the time leading up to Labor Day to make it as easy as possible for your customers to come onto the lot, sign the papers, and drive away happy.
Advertise your discounts early.
Labor Day has become a major car shopping day because of the deals many car dealerships offer. All summer long, car dealerships are offering steeper discounts than in previous years. Today more than ever, you need to make sure your prices and your offers are available online. Software programs such as Gubagoo Live Chat include features like Publisher, which rotates through your promotions depending on what pages a customer clicks on your website. Make sure your Labor Day offers are on prominent display.
Start building relationships before the holiday.
As more and more customers go online to do research and talk to car dealerships, it’s more important than ever to build relationships before the customer comes onto the lot. Odds are, if a customer plans on buying a car from you on Labor Day, they’ve been on your website and know your inventory inside and out. Car dealer live chat software puts you in touch with these customers long before the holiday. Using car dealer live chat like Gubagoo lets you build a relationship one-on-one with the clients. While the chat is a fully managed, 24/7 live chat, their mobile app means that salespeople can easily take over the conversation and start building relationships with clients.
Talk about financing before they come onto the lot.
If someone’s planning to buy a car on Labor Day weekend, talk to them about financing before the day of. There are usually more salespeople than finance managers available. On busy weekends like Labor Day when every salesperson is heading into finance with a new customer, wait times start to get longer. Any customer who’s already been talking to you about buying a car on Labor Day should walk in with pre-approved financing. If your dealership offers competitive finance rates, there’s no reason not to talk about financing early on.
Book a test drive early.
How many test drives can you pull off in a single day? Book a test drive before the weekend rush. The more customers you can bring onto the lot for a test drive before Labor Day, the less they will all have to wait.
Planning ahead means you can get through more customers on Labor Day weekend. It also means they’ll be happier. Get them test driving before Labor Day and thinking about financing early. That way they can be in and out of the dealership in a flash on one of the busiest weekends of the year.
Rob Teitelman is an avid blogger and digital marketing enthusiast with years of experience creating content for businesses and brands. His work has been published on major publications and blogs across North America, covering a variety of niches from tech to real estate. Recreational guitarist, amateur photographer and avid fan of all things technology and gadgets.