LBS Auto Expert, John Tkac, takes LIVE broadcaster questions! In this session:

• My car dealer was getting inventory again last Fall… but it’s dried up again. They have minimal vehicles on the lot. How can I help them when they won’t push if they don’t have inventory?
• Is Tier 2 money ever going to come back to where it used to be? Ford has dropped dramatically and Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep has been non-existent for years.
• Would it be an effective auto ad with your four points in both a :30 spot and a :60 spot or is one better than the other?
• I have an independent used car dealer as a client. They buy their vehicles from the auto auction here in Montana. I currently have them on a digital package, but I am trying to get them into radio. Any suggestions on how to pitch them for both a digital and radio package?
• Can you please re-explain the dollar amount dealers should spend each month based on their inventory?
• Do you have any suggestions for how to get an ad agency to buy your station after they’ve taken over a dealer’s account?
• I met with a local Ford dealer this morning.  Last year they averaged a profit of $2,900 on each new Ford sold.  He said this year they are losing $400 per new Ford sold.  They are currently down over $500,000 over last year on new car deals.  He said they are basically giving cars away to people who qualify to reduce their inventory and hold down costs. He said the biggest problem is a $45,000 basic Ford truck is costing a customer $975 per month plus their insurance costs based on a 72 month contract.  Most products are now in the $65k-$95k range and he doesn’t see this changing in the near future. Any thoughts on how I can help this dealer?
• What is the best way to get an appointment with a dealer? What gets their attention?
• We are in a market where a large radio chain has more stations than we do, but we reach just as far as they do.  It’s hard for us to get an appointment as a locally owned station.  Any advice on how to get in front of a dealer’s decision maker?
• What do you think of approaching a dealer with a campaign that rotates spots between sales and service?
• I have two independent dealer clients. One is downsizing to a single smaller location and the other is already at just one location. Neither has done broadcast advertising in years and both feel it was ineffective in the past. What’s a good approach to just get them interested in giving radio another shot?
• How many ads per week does a car dealer usually need to run on a radio station to really be effective?
• Is there a guarantee that a smaller dealer will be sent more inventory from the manufacturer if he sells a large quantity of vehicles?