The cold winter months are finally behind us, marking the beginning of peak RV season and optimal weather for camping and other outdoor activities! During this time, we tend to see heightened consumer demand for RVs and their associated accessories, creating an opportunity for your dealership to increase interest in your products and services. But are you fully equipped to make the most of the season? Let’s break down a few ways you can prepare:

Enhance Marketing Efforts

This time of year is filled with outdoor appreciation celebrations, and you can get in on the fun to drive engagement for your business! Leverage your online platforms to show how your dealership and employees plan to celebrate various events. Here are a few nationally recognized dates in mind for future marketing purposes:

• June 1-30: National Great Outdoors Month
• June 8: National Go RVing Day
• July 8-14: National Forest Week
• August 4: Anniversary of the Great American Outdoors Act
• September 28: National Public Lands Day
• November 19: National Camp Day

Leading up to these events, begin curating and posting relevant content to generate interest and attract potential buyers to your dealership. For example, share how your dealership and employees plan to celebrate National Great Outdoors Month! In addition, you can offer promotions and discounts on some (or all) of those particular days. This will entice customers to stop at your dealership before the time-sensitive deals run out.

On top of everything, you can share tips with your customers to promote or enhance the RV experience. Post helpful information to your online platforms or print flyers for customers to grab in person. Going the extra mile to transform the customer experience from good to great will help establish a long-lasting, strong relationship for the future. Here are a few topics to cover for your RV customers:

Pro Tip: While planning your online marketing efforts, you’ll want to keep social media marketing best practices in mind to help optimize your content and increase consumer engagement.

Optimize Inventory Management

Effective inventory management is essential for running a smooth RV operation — especially during periods of high demand. If your employees have trouble finding a specific unit or your information isn’t up to date, it could result in lost business and chaos behind the scenes. To prevent this scenario at your dealership, you’ll want to adopt an advanced inventory management system that streamlines inventory processes and keeps track of every unit on your lot.

With this technology, you’ll be able to meet more of your customer needs in less time. Instead of wasting manpower on fixing data errors or making manual updates, you’ll have more opportunity for increased productivity and profitability.

Train and Prepare Staff

Your operations are only as strong as your workforce — making proper employee training crucial for success.

One of the best ways to drive continual improvement for your dealership is to encourage employees to embody an “always learning” mindset. When staff members consciously seek improvement for their own performance as well as overall dealer operations, growth will inevitably follow.

Here are a few ways you can inspire this collective mindset:

• Incorporate team discussions regarding operational strengths and weaknesses into your weekly or monthly agenda
• Participate in exclusive training events to enhance the use of your technological tools
• Encourage staff members to stay in-the-know through industry newsletters and blogs

Through these learning opportunities, employees may refresh their memory on efficient procedures they forgot, or discover a new technique altogether. Your workers will feel more confident and better prepared to carry out their responsibilities effectively, and your dealership will save money along the way.

Streamline Dealership Operations

Disconnected departments result in wasted time and missed opportunities, so it’s important to streamline as many functions as possible. One fundamental innovation that many dealers choose to implement is a robust dealer management system that seamlessly connects every department and transforms your operations from end to end. With all your information housed on a single platform, your dealership will operate more efficiently, and your employees will have more time to focus on delivering high-quality customer service.

Expand Service and Maintenance Offerings

Even after a final sale, the consumer experience is far from over. Continue to bolster customer interest and loyalty by providing unmatched service and maintenance offerings. Make your customers want to visit your dealership for their vehicle upkeep.

For example, you can maintain customer connection post-purchase by providing educational pamphlets or webinars covering maintenance tips or long-term unit care. Your customers will appreciate your efforts to mitigate their risk of future RV repairs, increasing the likelihood that they’ll trust you to take care of problems when they arise. Going the extra mile will show you truly care about your customers’ RV experience — inside and outside your dealership walls.

You can take this a step further by increasing your service bandwidth. Since your service bay will likely have a queue of jobs waiting during peak season, you’ll want to be well-staffed. Whether this means requiring technicians to gain additional training or certification, adding extra hands on deck, or slightly increasing service hours, you can embrace methods that will improve your dealership’s Repair Event Cycle Time (RECT).

Peak RV season is your dealership’s time to shine, and if your business is fully equipped, your employees, customers, and profits will all reap significant benefits. With these tips, you’ll be able to empower your dealership and make the most of the busy season.