Sales of single stores in China's auto dealers are declining, while the marketing cost of bicycles is increasing. Recently, one was from J. D. Power's investigation report shows that in 2009, the sales volume of single stores was 1562 units, and the marketing cost of bicycles was 985 yuan; in 2010, the sales volume of single stores was 1727 units; the marketing cost of bicycles was 818 yuan; in 2011, the sales volume of single stores was 1394 units, 2011 Cycling marketing costs 1074 yuan. The reversal of single-store sales declines and the spiralling cost of bicycle marketing are supporting the fact that auto dealers' marketing costs are getting higher and higher, and competition is fiercer.

Status Quo: Service and performance are promoted by “money” For this report, the dealers who are in the front line have a very deep understanding. “Now it is much more difficult to sell cars than before. From the moment the customer enters the door, we have to continue It took money.” In Dongguan, senior professional manager Li Weidong told reporters before and after the increase in the cost of car marketing.

First of all, in terms of publicity and promotion, there are few advertisement carriers in the past. As long as dealers advertise in newspapers and radio stations, customers naturally come to the store to see the car. And now there are so many media outlets. Apart from traditional media, there are internet, outdoor, LED, and mobile phone text messages. When a dealer considers a combination of promotional platforms, these media must be used, and the money spent is naturally more. Now. Then enter the exhibition hall to prepare a variety of drinks and snacks for customers. In the context of rising prices, the cost of this kind of showroom layout is also rising. “These services are now launched to allow customers to stay longer in the showroom. Time, increase the success rate of the transaction.” In addition, the dealers also need to track visits to customers according to the requirements of the manufacturers, in this case to produce the customer test drive when the fuel costs and test drive depreciation, presented to the customer when the vehicle is small Gifts, communication costs due to return visits, etc. Wei Weidong said that the above is only a very simple example of the costs incurred in the process of selling cars, and when manufacturers conduct marketing activities because of brand promotion or impact on sales, such spending is even greater.

“The cost of buying flowers at our shop for a month of moonlight has reached 20,000 yuan.” A Guangzhou-based luxury brand car dealer told Nandu that luxury brand 4S stores are pursuing ultra-five-star consumption environments and service levels, and spending more naturally.

The Guangzhou Auto City reporter found that in the first half of the weekend, there were many kinds of store activities. After June, related activities have obviously dropped sharply. For no other reason, the purchase restriction policy disrupted the normal sales rhythm of the auto market, and car dealers no longer have to rush for sales tasks, and they do not need to conduct marketing activities more frequently.

However, despite the traditional off-season period, Zhuhai dealers are extremely busy. In addition to doing storefront activities every week, they also try outreach and engage with other industries. Last weekend, an independent brand held a “zero-profit” group buying meeting in Zhuhai. However, two days passed in the weekend, but with little success. “Also there was an arch hanging in the door of the 4S store, but the transaction was still only a few early accumulations. Intention of customers, customers have little interest in such things.

Marketing tactics: dominating form and less innovation Although car dealers are eager to reduce marketing expenses all the time, “marketing normalization” is already a major feature of the auto market. Not to mention the warmth of the Dragon Boat Festival, Father's Day, Mother's Day, the car dealers will provide customers with a variety of car gifts, that is, during the European Cup can buy cars to participate in quizzes, draws, lucky will also have surprises. Many people in the industry deeply appreciate that the car dealers' marketing methods are mostly old-fashioned, such as group purchases, general manager days, and sales, but these have greatly reduced the attractiveness of today's car owners.

Test drive is a very important part of the consumer before buying a car, which also makes the manufacturer pay great attention to the customer's test drive. However, some brands are often in the form of test drive activities, and do not stand in the perspective of consumers to design the process of test drive activities. Not long ago, the marketing director of a certain Japanese brand in Dongguan complained to the reporter that the factory organized a large test drive meeting and asked each dealer in Dongguan to invite their own customers to attend the test drive base in Guangzhou. In the event that the customer is unable to do so, in order to cope with the manufacturer's inspections, the activity site is not allowed to cool off, and even some car carriers are invited to make up for the situation. “Although the distance from Dongguan to Guangzhou is not far away, customers are not willing to spend a day just for a few minutes.” said the market director. This kind of activity not only costs a lot of organizational expenses, but if you do not do a good job on the customer's service, you may lose the order.

Last weekend, an independent brand held a "zero-profit" group buying meeting in Zhuhai, but two days later on the weekend, it has had little success. "The deal is still only the intended customers accumulated in the previous period." However, at this time, you have to be busy with the auto market. First, you do it to the boss and say, "We are working hard." On the other hand, it is also to maximize the attraction of consumers.

Countermeasures: Optimizing the management process The solution to rising operating costs year after year is indeed a test of wisdom in the eyes of dealers. In J. D. In the Pow er report, from 2009 to 2011, China’s auto sales increased from 13.684 million vehicles to 18.5051 million units. In 2009, the number of single-store sales was 1,562 units. In 2011, the number of single-store sales was 1394 units. Based on this data, the 4S in 2009 was calculated. The number of shops is 8735. In 2011, it was 13,275, an increase of 51%. According to the plan announced by the manufacturers, the network points must be doubled in the future by 2015, which means that single-store dealers are increasingly saddened.

In fact, starting from the sluggish market conditions last year, many dealers have already proposed the business ideas of “recruiting troops with good governance” and “striving for internal strength.” However, under the background that the necessary expenditures cannot be reduced and the competition intensifies while there are certain requirements and pressures on sales, Marketing expenses can be reduced by a narrow margin. In this regard, Zhou Hong, general manager of Dongguan Hongbao believes that under the modern enterprise management system, standardizing and optimizing internal management processes will be the best way to reduce marketing costs. Zhou Jian said that the future automobile market will show two trends: the change from the buyer's market to the seller's market and a large decline in the price of automobiles. This requires manufacturers to make full use of modern information technology to reduce procurement and marketing costs for enterprises. Reducing inventory, optimizing inventory structure, expanding sales channels, and improving service efficiency are also aspects and goals for the future development of dealers.

At the same time, in the specific marketing form, many car dealers have chosen to act in concert to save money.

Take Foshan as an example. In the past, there were often fierce competitions among different distributors of the same brand in Foshan. In the past, most of the situations were individualized, so that various marketing activities such as new car listing, test drive, and fuel-saving competition between the same brands were held. A period of time emerged. Now many brands have started to cooperate in brand promotion activities. Zhou Hongling, deputy general manager of Dongfeng Nissan Zen Motors Franchised Store, stated that the 8 stores jointly organized activities that can save a lot of human resources, materials and site fees, and can also achieve the effect of publicity. But the only drawback is that the location is hard to find, and every event needs to find a public place. Zhao Fang, general manager of Vauzeda Zhongda Junda Store, analyzed that together with the event, manufacturers need to coordinate, and all dealers seek common ground while reserving differences and linkages. They can increase revenue and reduce expenditure, and jointly fight against competitors at the same level. Tacit understanding.

Successful case Jiangmen: Touring the wedding ceremony put on the annual lunar calendar in October, they enter the traditional wedding season. In November 2011, Dongfeng Yueda Kia Jiangmen Lilong 4S Store teamed up with a well-known wedding photography shop to launch a two-month "Kia talks with you about 'drive'" activities: Customers who buy any one model from the store, You can enjoy the wedding services provided by the shop—professional wedding photography packages, the latest wedding dresses, professional make-up and photography on the wedding day, and the Dongfeng Yueda Kia wedding team headed by K 5 . As a result of this move, many local car manufacturers have followed suit. The responsible person of Lilong Kia told reporters in Nandu that, on the surface, it was the main attack on the subdivided market, essentially injecting new ideas into the regular exhibition activities. Through joint marketing, the cost of activities can be reduced to a minimum. “We provide 6 or 8 wedding cars and drivers, and the fuel costs are borne by the customers themselves. The activity radius is controlled as far as possible in Jiangmen City and Xinhui District.”

Dongguan: Trolley Show Takes Large Orders Because Dongguan's administrative divisions are grouped by 32 towns and streets, like satellite cities, they have shortcomings in the spread of radiation capacity and coverage of media, and go to various towns and streets. Exhibition is the best marketing method. Generally, each outreach takes thousands to tens of thousands depending on the scale and location of the exhibition. The rewards the dealers receive from them are real orders. “If you are in a more economically developed town, and the outreaching place is a business prosperous place in the town, there will be at least 2 or 3 orders, if it is a large auto show, A few days of outreach can even be worth our half-month sales. In addition, through outreach, we can also harvest a large number of interested customers. This is also relative to moving our showroom to our customers."

Asked the manufacturer whether the "prescribed action" is inflicting harm on people?

"In the first two years, when the auto market was booming, dealers would certainly not be paralyzed in marketing. However, the problem is that the entire market is still flying and there are several dealers who will scramble for money in market activities." A Japanese car brand in Zhongshan The reporter told Nandu that due to the rigid KPI performance appraisal of the dealers' marketing, the weak dealers could only swallow their breath. “It is not reluctant to invest in marketing. The key is that the input-output ratio is no longer the same. The car dealer told the Southern Reporter that some time ago the manufacturers spent about 20 million yuan to carry out a national car owner driving tour activity, "Although the cost of the customer's participation in the event does not require the dealer to bear, but the landing docking costs of the event should be The dealers don't doubt that the activities have a certain increase in the brand, but there is no direct help to the distributors' marketing. Isn't it more reasonable to assign this tens of millions to each distributor in the country?”

Why is there less and less support for "free movement"?

A general manager of a US-based brand distributor in Zhongshan told reporters from Nandu that, overall, manufacturers have given distributors support in marketing in tandem with previous years, but there have been subtle changes that are difficult for the latter to accept. Market activities, manufacturers and distributors share half the cost, but now dealers have to bear most of the cost.If dealers submit a marketing activity, manufacturers will be encouraged to say support, but pay more attention to the results of activities ( Whether there is a significant increase in sales, traffic, etc., and the related rebates are also extremely meager, the ideals are full, and the reality is very edgy.” The person in charge pointed out that the problem most dealers are facing now is that the sales volume and bicycle gross profit are decreasing. Under the circumstances, the strong manufacturers do not downgrade their sales tasks in order to protect their “political achievements”. At the same time, they require dealers to attack the market as always, and the most injured is the dealers who “work for work”.