RVBusiness November/December 2024
Incredibly, 2024 is already coming to a close. And as tough as this year has been for many dealers, it’s time to start thinking through what 2025 might look like.
As I travel from 20 group to 20 group, a very common prediction from dealers is that sales in 2025 will likely look a lot like they did in 2024. I agree. Given the amount of excess and aged inventory in the dealer base, it seems very likely that a lot of the sales pressure that has made the last two years so difficult will still be with us in 2025.
But that doesn’t mean that you need to plan for the same results. Many clients have recalibrated their processes all over the dealership and are in fact looking at 2025 as a year of improved profitability even if sales remain about the same as 2024.
Are you?
Have you cleaned out much of your most troublesome inventory? If so, plan for an increase in margins in 2025 and hold your sales team accountable to it. Naturally, you’ll still be faced with a lot of online discounting pressure, but make 2025 the year you recommit your team to building value in your company and the products you sell – rather than pitching price alone. Discount aged merchandise as you must, but in 2025 make sure your staff re-learns all the sales fundamentals that they may have slacked off on in the years of COVID and the never-ending spiff programs since.
If you delivered slightly fewer units over the past few years, have you converted any freed-up tech time to customer-paid hours? If not, why not? What processes have you put in place in the service drive to make sure that your service writers have every possible advantage when it comes to up-selling labor? Do you have a scorecard for service department employees – writers, warranty administrators, and technicians – that rewards additional billed hours with additional pay? Does your shop consistently net 15%+ of labor sales? If not, what adjustments can you make now to make sure 2025 is the year that it does? (Hint – we can help!)
How finely-tuned is your digital marketing skillset? Do you have processes and accountability measurements around customer engagement, appointment setting, and closing ratios with all your digital leads? If not, why not? If you don’t see every digital lead – from your website, from your manufacturers, or from your other advertising sources -with the same urgency that you see your walk in lot traffic – change that mindset for 2025!
What does your aftermarket sales process look like? What automatic processes do you have to make sure that every sold customer is provided at least one, and hopefully more, opportunities to outfit their new RV in your shop prior to delivery? In 2025 commit to a process of creating additional sales and labor revenue by implementing an organized menu-driven up-selling system for every delivery, every time. The results will surprise you!
For most dealers, the market may well continue to be tough in 2025. In fact, you’d be pollyannaish to think otherwise. But that has nothing to do with the actions you can take internally to improve your operations and profitability. The examples above are just a few – there are many other internal processes that all of us can improve on if we focus less on the outside market, where we have little to no influence, and more on our inside operations, where we have full control. If you’d like any assistance implementing any of these ideas, or building a quality budget for 2025, give us a call at 800.756.2620.
My Checklist for 2025
- Clean out my troublesome inventory
- Make sure my sales staff re-learns sales fundamentals
- Convert freed-up tech time to customer-paid revenue
- Implement up-selling in my service drive
- Make sure my service pay system rewards techs for additional billed hours
- Fine tune my digital marketing
- Set up an aftermarket sales process