Hey DR community.. an ironic update:
My father passed away in April of a heart attack -- aside from health issues that were known, he was stressed to sh*t running this used car dealership. While my mother is grieving, getting used to being independent and going through corporate ownership change, I'm currently administrating the dealership as opposed to doing the internet marketing. I'm pretty much only taking photos of cars, uploading them, making Craigslist templates, pricing vehicles, the usual spotlighting, etc. I haven't really turned back to the Internet Dept full-time since, as now I'm collecting money and yelling at my F&I manager about waiting 4 weeks for a deal to get funded. People left and tried taking advantage of the dealership. Some management quit. A strong staff, but lead ratio is weaker, and our customers just get sh*ttier. Had plans to go all out with a full internet marketing strategy in April and then he died that weekend we discussed it.
Now I see why my dad flipped all the time. The money is there, in some ways, however, it doesn't seem like it's worth the health risks. Waiting on deals to be funded, titles my father never had of cars we recently sold, mistakes made by the mechanics, sales tax every month, check after check after check out and when you think you have a break its payroll day, etc....
We're buying better cars that sell to our demographics, in-housing some wholesale cars, and things seemed to pick back up (the first couple of months were going through a full week of being closed, figuring out what the hell me and my family are going to do with the business, not buying cars, trying to sell our bhph deals, employees bolting). But sales have dropped by 10-12 cars per month since he passed, and I'm starting to feel that my fulltime 40 hour a week internet marketing position was beneficial to getting more units out.
RIP One Man Internet Department
I trust the value of the DR community. Every merchandising tips, every SEO microsites, every reputation management strategy, every email marketing campaign, I have utilized and applied, and that pulled those extra units per month. Now i'm struggling with even uploading inventory because of the timing.
Time to learn the art of delegation and automation. Any consulting advise or referrals are appreciated. Thank you all.
My father passed away in April of a heart attack -- aside from health issues that were known, he was stressed to sh*t running this used car dealership. While my mother is grieving, getting used to being independent and going through corporate ownership change, I'm currently administrating the dealership as opposed to doing the internet marketing. I'm pretty much only taking photos of cars, uploading them, making Craigslist templates, pricing vehicles, the usual spotlighting, etc. I haven't really turned back to the Internet Dept full-time since, as now I'm collecting money and yelling at my F&I manager about waiting 4 weeks for a deal to get funded. People left and tried taking advantage of the dealership. Some management quit. A strong staff, but lead ratio is weaker, and our customers just get sh*ttier. Had plans to go all out with a full internet marketing strategy in April and then he died that weekend we discussed it.
Now I see why my dad flipped all the time. The money is there, in some ways, however, it doesn't seem like it's worth the health risks. Waiting on deals to be funded, titles my father never had of cars we recently sold, mistakes made by the mechanics, sales tax every month, check after check after check out and when you think you have a break its payroll day, etc....
We're buying better cars that sell to our demographics, in-housing some wholesale cars, and things seemed to pick back up (the first couple of months were going through a full week of being closed, figuring out what the hell me and my family are going to do with the business, not buying cars, trying to sell our bhph deals, employees bolting). But sales have dropped by 10-12 cars per month since he passed, and I'm starting to feel that my fulltime 40 hour a week internet marketing position was beneficial to getting more units out.
RIP One Man Internet Department
I trust the value of the DR community. Every merchandising tips, every SEO microsites, every reputation management strategy, every email marketing campaign, I have utilized and applied, and that pulled those extra units per month. Now i'm struggling with even uploading inventory because of the timing.
Time to learn the art of delegation and automation. Any consulting advise or referrals are appreciated. Thank you all.
