Closed Car Dealerships Can Still Stay Engaged

More and more car dealerships are closing on their own or by government order during the coronavirus pandemic.

In such instances, dealers and their employees should stay engaged, even if it is remotely, says Carla Nurse, director-sales at automotiveMastermind, a predictive-analytics software firm.

Here is what she recommends closed dealership people do during the public-health crisis:

1. Be available for virtual deal desking. Set the tone for how to handle various situations and trust the team to represent your brand.

2. Have regular morning meetings via webcam to help maintain normalcy.

3. Conduct virtual trade-in assessments for customers. A video can go a low way to show value. Additional assessments can be done later. 

4. Put everything through the lens of “is this relevant and helpful.” But don’t stop marketing; stay in touch with the community.

5. Be positive, empathetic and solutions-driven to continue helping the staff and customers.