This time of year, plenty of people are looking to buy a new car. Memorial Day sales often seal the deal. Customers are spending the last of their tax refunds on a down payment. Because you know customers are out there looking to get into cars, you should take financing into consideration.
Financing is a Tricky Subject
Many dealerships refrain from mentioning too much about financing because they don’t want to scare off customers. Here are some myths and truths about the way customers perceive financing in your advertising materials. This applies to all sorts of dealer advertising, from digital promotions to automotive direct mail pieces.
MYTH: Mentioning financing at all is a turn-off.
You can bet that customers have the kind of car in mind they’d like – and are wondering about how they’re going to afford it. Not every trip to the dealership is unplanned. Sending out special promotions that mention certain types of financing can take you a long way. Remember, people who receive your automotive direct mail pieces may also be likely to pass them off to friends and family who are looking for a car. This is a good reason to include financial promotions in your automotive direct mailers.
MYTH: The cars should go front-and-center – customers will come in and find financing deals.
If you have something special to offer your customers, you should be upfront about what that is. Customers who are considering two different kinds of cars may visit the dealership with the better financing first. Tell customers what you have to offer them, and why they should visit your dealership first to walk away with the car of their dreams. If you hesitate on your promotions, this could give competitors a leg up on you. It’s a lot more difficult to sell cars this way.
MYTH/FACT: Don’t reveal numbers.
If you can guarantee your finance promos are the best in the business, that’s the time to reveal numbers. If you can’t, then anticipation works best. Try using automotive direct mailers to tell customers that you’re doing the best financing deals in the HISTORY of your business – but they’ll never find out what those are unless they come into the dealership.
Customers are looking for a deal. You can give them the idea that financing deals are available. Most customers know some promotions depend on their credit scores, so use terminology that assures them good credit scores will be rewarded with great deals – and that you can also work with bad credit.
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