I am sure that more vehicles will be sold this Memorial Day Weekend than last year’s. I am so excited at how receptive and pumped up everyone is about our Memorial Day Weekend 2008 Sales Event! Putting these sales together has been extra fun this year so I just want to say thank you to all you car dealers out there that signed up.
They told me that it was sheer genius how I wrote my new sales letter using our Title List Data to go after those old gas hogs and make purchase offers for trade-ins for something a little more economical. Many car dealers that called me for the first time did not know that I had access to massive lists of trucks, vans, SUV’s, etc. When they saw my sales letter they just about flipped!
Here’s my reasoning. Follow my thought process and see for yourself if this doesn’t make perfect sense. Everyone knows about the gas price problem (I won’t argue for that here). I attended a conference last month that had a session regarding the high demand for web developers and I.T. personnel in religious organizations (churches, ministries, etc.). Since gas prices are forecasted to reach $7 per gallon in less than two years, these religious organizations anticipate losing much of their commuter attendance (people that drive a long way to get there).
Many of these organizations have multiple gatherings on different days of the week (i.e. men’s groups, women’s groups, youth meetings, etc.). With the economical pressure being experienced by American families, many of them will need to “cut back” on attending except for Sunday, or whichever respective day. So the need for web developers and I.T. personnel emerges. Why? Because the plan is to accommodate those unable to attend by making services and meetings available online through streaming video and other interactive formats.
The point of mentioning all this is to direct your attention to when and how I got the idea. I thought, “If these large organizations see such an impact on their businesses due to gas prices, then that could be huge for my dealers!” (I’m always looking out for you guys!)
I got back to the office and pulled some counts in some suffering areas of the country (those most likely to be effected worst). I queried 1981 to 1999 trucks, vans, and SUV’s from Chevrolet, Ford, and Dodge (gas hogs) within 20 miles of a particular store I do monthly campaigns for. I came up with 185,000+ titles! This means that I can send a purchase offer to the owner that is relevant to his needs while making an offer for a gas-saver!
Plus, because I can use variable data printing, the letter can be made out to the owner’s name, regarding his exact vehicle (make, model, year, color, etc.), at his current address, from the sponsoring dealer. So it can say (sample, not actual direct mail offer):
Scott,
My name is John Greenleaf, Used Car Manager at ABC Motors and I want to make you an offer on your 1992 Chevrolet Suburban. With gas prices on the rise, I thought it would be worth a shot to write you because you may be interested in selling or trading now more than ever before.
To be sure I win your business I’ve hired three independent appraisal companies to compete for your trade-in, just in case you want to want to trade for a more economical vehicle. These appraisers will be at my dealership this Memorial Day Weekend only between 9AM and 6PM. Give me a call if you can make it…
Initially I thought that I would write this as an additional product for Memorial Day only. But now it seems that most dealers want to run this program till the end of the year. With over 100k titles in our database for most PMA’s, you can run 10,000/month till 2009 without mailing to the same person twice! This means that you can overcome the car dealer blues that this recession is causing. So stop crying (the blues, that is) and start selling!
Automotive Direct Mail has saved the car business once again.
Sincerely,
John Greenleaf (takes a bow)
Marketing Director
Hill Marketing Group
HILL MARKETING GROUP 