The service slowdown caused by the pandemic hit Woody Buick-GMC in Naperville, Ill., hard, says General Manager Jerry Roberts.
Repair order counts were down about 35 percent, he says. "We had to go out and attract more business to keep people employed."
The dealership's service marketing budget is still modest, but it grew by 70 percent after the pandemic began.
As part of those efforts, Roberts says the dealership is now spending $2,500 a month on highly targeted social media and SEO efforts. It also spent time and money setting up better Web landing pages to capture leads when customers click through the dealership's website.