For those of you who agree that people won't come to buy a car from you if they don't know you exist- it follows that you should advertise. It is possible that you execute your own advertising plan, just as you can perform your own brain surgery and write your own legal agreements. We don't recommend you do any of these things yourself for obvious reasons, but we also recommend that you concentrate on selling cars and running your dealership. Knowledgeable ad agencies employee people who have the experience and education to successfully market your dealership to the public. The challenge is to differentiate between the ad agencies that have the qualified, capable people, and the agencies that don't. The following is a quick checklist that will help you choose the best agency for your auto dealership.

When you interview agencies we advise the following:

1. Interview at least four agencies. Ask them to show you what they have done for other auto dealerships in the past. You'll want to see creative (TV and radio spots, newspaper ads, etc.) Request a past ad plan and media buy. Have them explain why they did what they did and how it worked.
2. Ask the potential agency to explain how they feel about brand advertising versus call to action advertising. It's important to know whether they plan to work on targeting the long-term awareness of your dealership or the traffic this weekend. If they say, both have them explain how they will accomplish this.
   
   Develop expectations of what you want from your advertising. Remember that if your new ads say, We have been in business for 20 years, we are honest and trustworthy, and we care about our customers. - You are doing brand advertising. Brand advertising does not typically bring customers in this weekend. It has long-term goals. If you want customers this weekend, you need a call to action commercial: This weekend only, it's the Red Tag Sale and we're offering zero percent financing! Everything is marked down!
3. Check each of the agency's credit with the stations and newspapers in your market. If they are consistently 90 days out on bills and have trouble keeping up, you may end up paying them, but they may never pay the media.
4. Ask the potential agency for a list of their current and past customers. Call some of them and ask how they enjoyed working with the agency. Sometimes you will find that the advertising seldom works, or that the past customer had a bad experience.
5. Ask them what they think your advertising budget should be. See if you think they are realistic or simply trying to get as much money as they can. Ask how they get paid. The traditional payment for an agency is 15% commission on the media and a production budget. Agency commission is paid by the TV or radio station in the form of a discount. They buy $1000 worth of airtime for you, which you pay, but they only have to pay the station $850 for it. The agency keeps the rest as their compensation. Some agencies work on retainer. Some work on a reduced commission. Find out what your commercials will cost. Does the agency recommend that you shoot on video or film? (Film is expensive but beautiful.)
6. Do they have experience with direct mail? Ask for some examples and get their pricing for design and layout, and what they will charge to buy a mailing list and mail it.
7. Find out what other auto dealers they handle in your market and then decide if this will be a conflict.
8. Get a sense of the chemistry between you and the potential agency. Do you feel you will get along? Do they listen or just talk? Will the person that is pitching you be handling your account or will they send in someone else once the account is won. How can you be assured that you'll like the account manager assigned to you?
9. Define how often you will want to see them and what kind of lead-time they need to do display ads or commercials. Remember that the factories change incentives quickly. Make sure they can move as fast as you need them to, and that there are no rush charges when you make a change.
10. Finally, ask to see their agency agreement. Make sure it is not a long-term contract. You should be able to fire them at will with no more than 30 days notice. Make sure their compensation in the contract is what you have agreed to.

Answering these questions will give you a clearer idea of which agency is the most qualified, best fit for your dealership. Remember that the agency you select is responsible for helping you communicate your dealership's message to your customer-potentials. Your bottom line depends on it. Don't trust just anyone with this crucial task.

Your ad agency's job is to make the consumers aware of your dealership and drive traffic to the dealership. Once the traffic is there, it is your job to turn the traffic into sales.