Maximizing Off-Season Profits: 10 tips for Dealer Success

When the busy season winds down, it’s time to start thinking about how to stay occupied and keep your business flowing during your slow season. Here are ten tips you can apply to improve your business and improve cash flow during the slow season:

1. Encourage customers to have their equipment serviced now.

The off season is the perfect time to service equipment. With a Dealership Management system that integrates with mailing connecting with your customers during the off season is easy. Start first by creating a list of your customers and categorize them by their units purchased. Next you can create a mail merge with your DMS and invite them to have their equipment serviced. 

“I sent out 3,500 letters to customers that bought equipment from me in the last seven years. I used Ideal’s mail merge to create the letter and the list. The mail merge feature made it easy, I offered to tune up their equipment, pick up, and deliver it.

As a result, I had 1,100 pieces of equipment in my shop during my slow season and grossed $150,000 in sales!”

Mike Grollmus, Al Joe’s

TIP: Create incentives! Offer your customers a special discount or gift for having their unit serviced during your slow times. Motivate them and give them a reason to do business with you now. 

2. Pick up an Off-Season line.

Introducing a new line during your off season is one of the best ways to earn money during the off season. This is of course, If the new line works within your current budget and if you have the time.

“One of the things that helped increase sales during that time was a boost in our motorcycle sales. We added Honda powersports to our business in 1997 and in the beginning we experienced a slow start in sales. Our motorcycle business didn’t really take off until 2001, but it has provided a big boost in sales ever since.”

Jason Anderson, Andersons’ Sales and Service

TIP: Start with research. Make sure there is a need for an additional product line in your community. Also make sure you have the time, effort, and resources to make the line profitable. 

Read next: 3 Questions to Ask Before Bringing on a New Line

3. Get rid of items that are tying up money and shelf space.

For many businesses, their biggest downfall lies in their inventory management. Because of this reviewing your inventory and liquidating low profit items can help save your dealership a lot of grief. The last thing any dealership wants is to leave money sitting on the shelf. 

 

Read Next: How to keep money from going out the door

4. See what items haven’t been picked up.

The off season is also the perfect time to review items that have not been picked up by customers. Using your downtime to comb over your Dealer management system for forgotten items allows you to maintain your dealerships momentum. This also helps you plan your future stock through reselling items customers no longer want.

5. Do a thorough cleaning of your entire business.

Finding the time to organize during the busy season can feel impossible. Take some time during your slow season to clean all the nooks and crannies of your business. Re-organize the items on your inventory shelves that are out of order. 

Replace light bulbs and upgrade ceiling tiles, furniture, landscaping, etc. You invest a lot of money into promoting your business. After this you can take the time to invest into its physical condition. 

You’ll be surprised at how just a few simple changes can boost the public appeal of your dealership. 

Read Next: Best Practices for Effective Inventory Counting

6. Provide additional training for your employees.

Knowledge is power! Keeping your technicians and salespeople up-to-date on all the latest information boosts your dealerships customer experience. Your slow season is also the perfect time to educate your employees on how to properly use your Dealer Management Software. 

Take time and go through your DMS with your employees and make sure everyone knows how to use all applications correctly. It’s also a great opportunity for you to look through your system and clean out any unnecessary data. 

Read next: 5 Steps to Improve Employee Efficiency

7. Update your service codes or put together new service packages in your DMS.

Your off-season is a perfect time to go through your computer system and evaluate your work order module. in this time you can determine if all of the service codes you’ve created are working efficiently for your business. It’s also a great opportunity to identify any additions or changes need to be made. 

8. Add/update flat rates and warranty codes in your DMS.

Your off-season is also a great time to review flat rates and warranty codes. By taking the time to review these you can optimize your dealerships operations. Check to make sure your codes match up with codes issued by your manufacturers. 

9. Check all of your computer workstations and determine if you need to upgrade any hardware.

It’s important to ask the following questions when reviewing your hardware: 

 

• Do my computers run as fast as I need them to?  
• Are my monitors easy to read? 
• Do all of my keyboards work properly?  
• Do my printers function properly and print clearly?  

• Do I need any new cash drawers or scanners?  
• Do I need any additional workstations? 

 

Your busy season is the perfect time to assess your hardware without service disruptions. 

Read Next: 6 Signs You Have Outgrown Your Current System

10. Establish Goals

Regularly pulling reports from your DMS allows you to build your dealership history. This helps you analyze how your sales trends, labor efficiency, inventory turns, etc.  

You can use this data to establish goals for the upcoming years. The more prepared you are for the busy season the better. The hard work and preparation you do now will pay off in the long run in both time and profits! 

Read Next: How to Establish Inventory Goals That Work

Download the e-book: 

Download this eBook for free to keep these tips on hand during your dealerships slow season.