Right now, the entire country is in a state of flux. Dealerships are struggling to get people in the door, and it’s a stressful time to be in car sales. What’s worse, nobody knows what’s going to happen next and how it’ll continue to impact this industry.

We know you’re probably doing everything in your power to keep the lights on, but we wanted to make sure you’re also doing everything you can to ensure you’re able to hit the ground running once this storm has passed.

Despite all this craziness, here’s some good news: eventually this thing is going to blow over and the economy will snapback. Nobody knows exactly when this will happen, but we know that when it does, you’ll want your dealership to be ready for the comeback. And making the most of any extra time you have right now is the best way to prepare.

Here are the top 11 things you should be doing right now to prepare for the snapback:

  1. Don’t stop advertising—you don’t want people forget who you are.
  2. Keep following up with leads—even if your dealership is closed for sales right now, reach out to leads, build relationships and give value first to keep your pipeline full for when things get back to normal.
  3. Take extra time to complete additional or advanced training with employees.
  4. Spruce up the showroom—try a fresh coat of paint or updated signage.
  5. Hold a dealership vision meeting with your leadership team—brainstorm goals for your organization.
  6. Retool your customer experience process—evaluate and revamp the experience from the moment customers walk in the door until they drive away.
  7. Work with employees one-on-one to develop specific skills in their role.
  8. Beef-up or create your dealership’s social media presence.
  9. Clean out or organize old filing cabinets, drawers and offices.
  10. Finish any projects that kept getting put off due to previous time constraints.
  11. Find low cost ways to continue being a contributor to your community. This will keep you in the public eye and position you as a supporter of the people when things get back to normal.

Things might be slow right now, but they won’t stay slow forever. Soon things are going to start moving toward some semblance of normal and your dealership will pick back up. You may even be busier than before if you play your cards right.

Do yourself a favor and take advantage of this extra time to get some tasks done and set your dealership up for success.

If you’re looking for even more ways to survive this slump, you need our free, updated Dealership Coronavirus Survival Guide. Get it here.