The past few months have kept phones ringing — just not for the reasons we like. In my 20-group, Dealer Development, many members are asking each other, “Is your business as slow as my business has been?”
If we’re being honest with ourselves, it’s been quite some time since we’ve seen this measure of consumer pullback.
Hopefully, you’ve made the most of the last three to four years and have recently dusted off your notes and the playbook you used a few years ago to keep your business healthy. If a recession hits, you’ll likely need to employ some of those strategies.
We’ve long been considered a stable sector of the retail and service industry and we’ve had a few very healthy years. Miles driven have continued to increase, the average age of vehicles continues to climb, tires have been available, the auto parts availability issue never got too serious and consumer spend for repairs in our segment has been up. It’s been a solid few years.
A few months into 2025, however, and it’s clear that the market has changed yet again and in a significant way.
Consumer credit usage is at an all-time high. The economy has failed to settle into the soft landing that economists have forecasted and inflation is back on the rise again. Consumers are fatigued and are holding onto their wallets.
Over the years, any combination of those factors has been palatable. But the comfortable landscape the last few years have afforded us is now gone.
Consumer confidence is a critical economic indicator, directly reflecting your customers’ perception of the economy’s health.
When confidence is high, they’re more likely to spend. On the other hand, when confidence drops — as it has in recent months due to factors such as unstable environments, inflationary pressures, rising interest rates and economic uncertainty — your customers curb their spending, prioritizing other essential needs and deferring non-urgent purchases.
So given the current reality, what can you do? In periods of economic uncertainty, the role of a business goes well beyond just selling a product or service, regardless of price. In challenging times, the way we interact with our customers and the experiences we create for them make all the difference.
The difference I’m referring to is the difference between struggling to survive and flourishing.
This is exactly why inspiring, guiding and motivating ourselves and others within our industry to create truly exceptional customer experiences is so crucial.
By doing so, we not only increase our chances of outpacing the competition, but we also contribute to reshaping the public’s perception of the entire industry.
If the value of the dollar in your pocket was less, how would you choose to spend it?
When consumer confidence is low, people become more cautious about how they spend their money. They question the value of every purchase and their decision-making process is more heavily influenced by their emotions, directly related to their current or previous experiences.
This is where the importance of making customers feel valued, heard and satisfied comes into play.
More specifically, these are times your customers are looking for something special.
When people are tightening their wallets, we need to offer more than the status quo.
We need to offer experiences that inspire positivity and trust. We need to offer experiences that have them providing super-positive feedback the moment the transaction happens — feedback that lets you know you’re on the right track.
By inspiring your team and fostering a culture of exceptional customer service, you’re providing a unique experience — an experience most can’t or won’t provide. This experience becomes an opportunity to change a consumer’s entire perception of an industry.
If you’ve ever been interested in capturing lightning in a bottle, this is it — especially in depressed times.
For this to work, the true lightning will be unique to you and your business.
The magic dust you spread is yours. Just make sure you have magic dust. And I hope that dust is discernibly different than that of your competitors.
In times like these, you need the confidence of your consumer to be high or at least higher with you than with your competition.
Those who have and are positioning themselves towards a uniquely consumer-focused approach will have stronger staying power if things get worse.
