In her appearance with Sam D’Arc on Daily Dealer Live, Katie Gattuso Duncan, General Manager of Mohawk Chevrolet, shared the dealership’s marketing strategy, which is built around using social media to connect with customers.
The details: Running a dealership in Saratoga Springs, New York, Duncan and the staff are dedicated to enhancing the customer experience. And that’s led them away from constantly chasing leads.
“Everyone in our business has a tendency to be looking for more leads, more this, more that, and we need to do a better job of looking at what we already have,” Duncan said. “Our dealership has really [been] dedicated to putting together cohesive marketing and advertising and looping social media into that.”
Katie Gattuso Duncan
What this means: Social media is a key part of Mohawk’s efforts. Duncan dove headfirst into using TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook as a cost-effective way to generate traffic. She says the results are sometimes near instantaneous.
“We had one of our sales managers posted a video literally yesterday doing a walk-around on a car and someone immediately commented, “Hey, I need a car,’” Duncan recounted. “It’s so powerful, and we’re just starting to scratch the surface of it on the individual level. That’s just another way to increase closing percentage because you’re bringing in people that want to buy from you.”
Finding a blueprint: Duncan admits they didn’t just try to reinvent the wheel with social media. Instead, she credits the energetic Russ Flip Whips for providing the right direction and training for their team.
From there, though, she knew she had to lead by example.
“We rolled that out to our team and even with the blueprint, it’s hard to get people to put themselves outside of their comfort zone to do it,” Duncan said. “That’s why I’ve challenged myself and our leaders to start getting involved as well.”
Continual effort: Training is an area that Duncan points out many people skip or don’t reinforce, as it gets lost in the hustle and bustle of business. That’s why her team continues to train with staff during morning meetings, and has quizzes to make sure to takeaways are top-of-mind.
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“Training isn’t always the most exciting thing because it’s a long-term play…You see training in the survey scores,” Duncan said. “A well-trained staff results in high reviews and high survey scores. These are people [who] are on the front line interacting with our customers.
She also points out that investment in staff, including retention, pays off with customers seeing familiar faces to deal with.
“They know the person they are seeing, and that’s better all around,” Duncan said.
Takeaway for dealers: Duncan, a former college athlete, found a home in the auto industry, working herself into a GM role at 33. She’s since found that social media serves as an outlet to share her passion for the industry and challenge the negativity toward the car business.
“I believe there are great dealers out there that are transparent and care about customer experience, and I just want to keep spreading that message,” Duncan said.
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