The Senate approved the “Cash for Clunkers” program yesterday, so now the bill goes to the President for his final approval… This is exciting news for all the dealers out there, as it is expected to produce a huge influx of business. If you’re a participating dealer, here’s a list of important preparations to make that will help maximize your potential sales from the “Cash for Clunkers” program:

1) Prepare your website - Potential buyers are already hitting the Internet to find out more information about the program.  You should create a custom page on your site to help educate potential buyers about the program… explain the qualifications and the difference between the $3,500 vouchers and the $4,500 vouchers.  Not only will your site benefit from featuring fresh content, you’re more likely to snag a few extra visitors who are looking for information on the program. Most consumers out there don’t even know what vehicles will qualify, so providing that simple information can result in significant increases in web traffic.

2) Prepare your staff - You’re bound to get a lot of calls from potential buyers who want to know more about the program.  You’ll also have a lot of in-person questions to answer, and you want to be sure that your staff is fully up to speed on all of the program details.  Don’t lose any sales because your employees can’t answer a potential buyer’s questions!

3) Prepare your inventory - Since the program will award vouchers based off of gas mileage, make sure you’ve got window stickers prominently displayed on all of your inventory with better gas mileage.  You might even want to order special window sticker stock to use for the 3-4 months that the program will run. Get your staff ready to showcase all of the available inventory to potential CFC buyers.

4) Prepare your strategy – The program is only slated to run for a few months, so you need to be able to hit the ground running.  You’ll want to be sure that you get the most out of the program, so it’s all about short term profitablilty – there’s no long term plan needed here – just prepare your staff and your inventory to ensure maximum effectiveness.

As always, comments are encouraged – if you’ve got any other ideas that will help maximize the results of the “Cash for Clunkers” program, let us know!