Promoting your dealer auction is very important. Just because you have a great auction location and wonderful wholesale managers running it, does not guarantee that anyone will visit your auction viewing day or  your online wholesale site. These are some basic steps to get wholesale customers to show.

Maintain a Wholesaler List

Have the accounting office provide a list of wholesalers and independent buyers who bought from your dealership in the past. Make sure they include sales made at other off site auctions. This wholesaler list can be a precious commodity for future marketing. If it includes email address it is even more valuable.

Postal Invite and Registration

Mail wholesalers a nice invitation to your next event. A post card will do, but a personal letter from the owner works best. Ask  them to register on your site or on a wholesale marketing site like AuctionSimplified.com you can then convert them over to email invitations for future events.

Get your BDC involved in Wholesale Marketing

I recommend that your BDC includes 25 to 50 calls per week in their action plan to invite wholesalers to your weekly dealer bid sales.

Broadcast Email Invites

Once wholesalers begin to register, you will have a nice collection of email addresses. You software like Mail chimp.com to send weekly broadcasts to your wholesale base.

Send invitations regularly because people forget.

Continuing to send  form letter invitations and post cards  to remind independents and wholesalers about your online marketplace is also recommended.

Hold the event style auctions.

Some successful dealers run specialty Auctions when they have a glut of similar trades, like trucks. The call would sound like this:

“You’re invited to our wholesale lot for a very unique 4th of July truck auction this Monday at 9am-3pm, final bids by 4pm online.

Lunch is noon, we hope you can join us.”

Make wholesalers feel truly welcome.

If you spend a little effort on making your wholesalers feel welcome, by providing donuts and coffee or pizza and wraps at lunch time, they will come back each week and make your viewing day part of their schedule.

Some of our more successful dealers offer $10 gift cards to the local coffee shop or grocery store as a special thank you for attending the viewing day.

If you can think of any other ways of bringing wholesalers to your bid sale, Please add comments below.