🔥 The “M” Word

TOGETHER WITH

We go through cycles as people and businesses. The best learn from past cycles so they can either learn from mistakes or capitalize on wins.

Take a moment today to look back at your last 9 months and see what the patterns you may be able to recognize are. Mondays seem to be great for a little self reflection!

Keep Pushing Back
-Paul, Kyle, & Chris

DEALERS

Maximizing Market Share

From precision merchandising tactics to pricing finesse, last week’s All Things Used Cars provided a solid roadmap to capturing more market share with marketing. Boost your customer engagement online and in-person by considering:

🗺️ Strategy —

• Ensure media strategies are aligned with business goals.

• Craft advertising messages that answer "Why buy?", "Why buy now?", and "Why buy from me?".

• Determine a marketing strategy for cars with no leads and less attention.

• Evaluate your marketing channels regularly for efficacy and inefficiencies.

📝 Listings —

• Write compelling descriptions with keyword descriptors for better searchability.

• Consider flat pricing/price rounding to capture the most relevant buyers.

• Keep quality inventory photos that are consistent and updated regularly.

• Maximize the number of photos allowed per listing and order them strategically. For example, present the most appealing pictures first that showcase the best features, and include a mix of interior and exterior shots.

🔎 Merchandising —

• Focus on engaging merchandising and syndications for an improved customer experience.

• Pay attention to details, especially cleanliness, ease of use, and organization.

💻 Digital Audits —

• Double-check (or even better, triple-check) all relevant links and listings for accuracy (404 errors, pricing discrepancies, typos).

• Establish a process for staff to report and correct issues promptly.

🤗 Trust —

• Use brand imagery and visual elements to demonstrate your dealership's quality and attention to detail across all digital channels.

• Provide clarity to your team and define standard operating procedures to ensure consistency and build trust with customers.

Telling it like it is — The art of marketing requires a delicate balance between research, finesse, and implementation. Crafting a consistent and exceptional experience can turn buyers into loyal customers. 🤝

TOGETHER WITH UPSTART

From Savvy To Superior

Data shows that the digital retail conversation is more important every day, but experience shows that it is a noisy one to navigate.

Cut through the noise with Upstart Auto Retail.

Unlike numerous platforms offering digitally savvy solutions that just turn out to be fancy ways of capturing leads, Upstart excels where the others tap out during the critical in-store and financing experience.

Their modern, connected retailing platform bridges the gap between online leads and in-store conversions, boosting your F&I opportunities.

Discover how Upstart transforms digital savvy into digital superiority in their latest blog post, “Advancing F&I opportunities through connected auto retailing.” Then contact them to find out how you can transform your business too!

AUTOMOTIVE

Motor Morsels: Kia Boyz, Trailhunter, and Indian Teslas

👩‍⚖️🤠🚓

Hyundai and Kia will pay a hefty $200M over the Kia Boyz trend. The settlement follows hundreds of thefts, 14 reported crashes, and the loss of 8 lives stemming from an easy-to-bypass security system in some Hyundai and Kia models. The companies have offered free software updates to extend the length of the alarm and require a key in the ignition to start the car, but it has been too little too late. $145M will go to consumers directly affected by the thefts.

In Wild-West terms, the Kia Boyz gang escaped to the hills, but the guy who built the flimsy bank vault is gonna pay. 🤠

🛻🗺️🤑

Toyota has redesigned its Tacoma to retain its US midsize pickup market leadership. The fourth generation truck will feature a new Trailhunter model for offroading enthusiasts or just people who want to look like offroading enthusiasts (money is money, they don't check referrals).

Since Ford and Jeep reentered the midsize truck market in 2019, Toyota's 60% market share has dipped to 40%. A little refresh on their best-selling model could reshift the balance.

Most of the people we know would buy a 20-year-old Tacoma right now, no questions asked. We can only assume, from a completely business standpoint, this is a dope-tastic move from our friends in Japan. 🌋

🇮🇳🔋🤔

India's deputy minister for technology says Tesla is serious about establishing a manufacturing base in the country. Last week the automaker spoke with Indian officials about incentives for car and battery manufacturing that left, at least the government officials, feeling pretty good about moving forward.

When asked if the minister expects Tesla only to make cars, he said, "You don't talk about cars alone. You talk about cars, you talk about energy, you talk about manufacturing technology. So, all of that figures in the conversation. What they will want to do in India, it's too far for me (to tell) and it's not for me to say."

It really makes you think: in bygone eras, India was the place to go to get spices, and now Mr. Spicy-Takes-On-Twitter himself is coming to build a new home there. 🌶️

CULTURE

Space Stuff: China, Disney, and Bezos

🛸 Landing! China's riding high on the cosmic roller-coaster, successfully landing a reusable spacecraft after a nine-month space dance. Despite the hush-hush around the craft's specifics, this celestial win places China in a coveted club with SpaceX, Boeing, and NASA — the reusable spacecraft elite. 🧑‍🚀

☄️ Crash? Meanwhile, back on terra firma, Disney's Galactic Starcruiser hotel is preparing for its final voyage. Operational turbulence prompts an early closure for the Star Wars-themed retreat, initially slated for a reduction in weekly bookings. In the same breath, Disney cancels a $1 billion development, citing "changing business conditions." ⭐️

🚀 Blast off! Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin has clinched a NASA contract worth $3.4B in another corner of the space arena.

The mission? Ferry astronauts to and from the moon. This lunar victory, following past disappointments, means Blue Origin is joining SpaceX in NASA's prestigious Artemis program. 👽

Telling it like it is - Something about space keeps us desperately curious. Maybe it’s because deep down, humans are lonely in a way no amount of people or things can ever completely fill. OR, it’s because every time we have ever gone somewhere new, there is some cool, interesting stuff to eat. It really could be either one. 🤷‍♀️🤷🤷‍♂️

Quick Hits

• Apple is expected to announce details about its upcoming headset at an event scheduled for June 5. 🍎

• A trailer for Prehistoric Planet 2 is out and showing off all sorts of feathery and terrifying dinosaurs. 🦖

• Two studies suggest seeing and hearing birds is good for our mental health. 🕊️

• Instagram’s new text-based app launching this Summer is pretty much just another Twitter. 🔁

History

• 1804: The Lewis and Clark Expedition officially begins as the Corps of Discovery departs from St. Charles, Missouri. 🛶

• 1906: Wright brothers receive a flying machine patent. ✈️

• 2010: Jordan Romero, a thirteen-year-old boy from the United States, becomes the youngest person to climb Mount Everest. 🏔️