When you first read that question, your first glance might precipitate a reaction of “Huh?”, but let’s start by considering what both environments have in common.

Both are places where people want to be educated towards making buying decisions. Another very important component of both is that it is where people come together to find people who can answer questions. Establishing productive relationships between people is the absolute fundamental function of both environments. Once this is clearly understood, the objective of establishing functional environments that facilitate those relationships should be what drives the tactical executions that support a communications strategy.

An effective trade show booth should stop a visitor first, so anyone manning the booth can establish a relationship with a capacity to support. An effective automotive dealership environment should do the same thing.

With the paradigm shift of consumers doing most of their automotive research on-line; the value of the environment they ultimately choose to do business becomes much more important. They already know what they want. They need to now choose and establish a personal relationship with a consultant they can trust. The graphic enhancements within the dealership support that critical issue. Bombarding a customer with sell, sell, sell is not conducive to making them want to buy, buy, buy.

Communicating the “value added” that a dealership offers is that point of differentiation that allows for why they should choose your dealership over a competitor, both alternative brands and same. Understanding what your fundamental principles are and illustrating them clearly, while not stealing the thunder of the product is a balancing act, that when successfully executed, puts the emphasis of allowing the personal relationship to grow.

This applies to any retail environment. Use interior signage with a softer approach of communicating lifestyle benefits your customers can relate to, so the ground troops have a more receptive audience who are open to reasons to buy. That’s what closes deals in a trade show booth, or on the showroom floor of an automotive dealership.

Who is BPI? Big Picture Imaging is led by  Brian Spiteri  www.gobpi.ca . Brian’s background in consumer packaging marketing, combined with action oriented sales management, drives ideas associated with finding that balance of motivating action with an effective aesthetic. BPI converts ideas into the concrete applications including production and installation. Contact me at: brian@gobpi.ca  BPI is also a partner in the Dealership Design Group where we partner with JMPort Design in creating effective automotive environments Dealership Design Group