At the beginning of a new year comes your plan for the next 12 months. With your plan comes a review of the plan you had last year. The new plan may be the same plan. If it is, you have to do something differently. Begin by asking yourself if you are going to let the next twelve months happen, or if you are going to make them happen.

When you are talking about new opportunities, such as the rapidly growing Hispanic market, you need a plan. The Hispanic market is growing and will continue its growth for several years. It is a vast opportunity and a valuable niche for your business.

The Hispanic market is loyal. If you do it right, they will always do business with you. For success, you need the right plan.

To assist you in taking your first step in the right direction, here are the top points you need to include in your plan.

• Identify how much business you conducted with the Hispanic market through 2006.

• Identify the heritage of your Hispanic community, i.e. Mexican, Colombian, Puerto Rican, Cuban, etc.

• Set a goal for how many vehicles you want to sell each month.

• At a minimum, have one Hispanic salesperson for every twelve vehicle sales. (If your forecast is for less than twelve vehicles, the salesperson would sell to non-Hispanic customers as well.)

• Ensure that the entire sales force receives cultural training for selling to non-Hispanic cultures as well. Additionally, backend operations should have adequate training to ensure the customer receives a consistent message and solidifies the relationship.

• Go back to point one and determine the mix of vehicles sold to Hispanics. 

• Establish weekly control forms for:

  • Prospects

  • Test Drive

  • Sales

  • Time

• TIME – this one is extremely important, since Hispanics tend to take more time when making decisions. The two most critical times:

  • Time from viewing advertisement to showroom visit.

    • Newspaper

    • Radio

    • TV

• Time from initial showroom visit to transaction close.

• Measure – Measure – Measure

If you are currently conducting business within the Hispanic market, review the measurements of the past year to develop benchmarks you can apply to your plan.

In the coming months, we will continue to discuss topics relevant to finding new opportunities in the Hispanic market, and how to succeed in those opportunities.

Vol 4, Issue 1