Mark moved from Southern California to Northern Nevada in 1997 to start his dealership . “ Everybody thought I was crazy opening a trailer dealership , and I worked pretty much solo for first six to seven years , working six or seven days a week to get my business going ,” he notes .
Keeping his dealership ahead of the curve is something that drives Mark . “ I was one of the first dealers to have a website at a time when there were no dealer networks on the internet or manufacturer websites ,” he says .
In 2008 , Mark ’ s desire to stay ahead changed his life and business . As he tells it , “ It was the recession , a lot of dealers were tightening their belts . I decided to be bold and advertise on TV . I called the local television station and had a salesperson come out , and that ’ s how I ended up meeting my wife , Lisa .”
After marrying Mark and joining the dealership , Lisa applied her talent for sales and deep well of marketing ability to the business .
Given their location , advertising is crucial to their business . Lisa explains , “ We ’ re an hour away from all major cities , so we must convince people the drive is worth it .”
“ The market ’ s constantly changing in terms of where and how to advertise ,” Lisa explains . “ Buyers don ’ t just pick up the phone anymore . There are more steps to buying journey . You have to touch the customers more times through ads , texting , email , and web first . And there is a lot more competition for attention .” Huntley Motor World ’ s marketing mix is diverse . Lisa selects channels based on audience segmentation . “ Our demographic is mostly male , and we break down segments by age range ,” Lisa explains . “ You have to consider the consumer and how they get their information . For example , older consumers read more print media or watch the evening news , so we have that in the mix .”
She continues , “ Our main investment is in digital marketing , which helps us gain a wide reach . Our customers come from all over Nevada and California . We also get customers from Arizona , Utah , Hawaii , and Canada .”
When asked what advice she would give dealership owners interested in revving up their marketing and advertising , Lisa answers , “ In terms of budget , I recommend budgeting 3 % to 5 % of gross sales . But the number one thing that I recommend is that they have to have a good website and spend money on Google AdWords .”
“ It may sound surprising ,” she continues , “ But I do not count my website as part of my advertising dollars . With all the functionality dealer sites have today , you need to treat it as a second brick and mortar .”
The investment in marketing has allowed Huntley ’ s to support their status as a high-volume dealership , with an average of 250 units on their lot . Mark and Lisa continue to push the dealership forward . At the time of their interview , Lisa was integrating AI into their website and finishing the adoption of the technology to accelerate their online sales process .
It will be exciting to see what Mark and Lisa do next !
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