The Toyota Recall – What Does It Teach Us?

Here’s the latest from Edmunds on the Toyota recall.

As small business people, what can we learn from this debacle?

Let’s see…

1) If you have a website some how related to the mess, then posting updates may get you a surge of traffic … be sure to “Digg” the article and use other social media to give it a boost.

2) But the question many fail to ask about such news is…. “How can my business serve affected Toyota customers”?

One Nashville auto dealer had a unique angle.

He’s NOT a Toyota dealer. But he sells lots of new and used cars. He is gambling on several things…

A. Many affected Toyota owners want out of these cars if possible.
B. Toyota WILL come out with a fix.
C. These cars do have a residual value down the road.
D. He is more willing to hold these cars until they’re fixed and profitable than many owners are to wait if it means they can’t drive a car for _________ weeks and need transportation.

So, he’s running television ads trying to work with motivated sellers of these cars. I call that service. Hopefully it won’t degenerate into scalping, but to be fair, he’s taking some risk. He’s assuming he’ll be getting the “fix” for free from Toyota and that he’ll be able to resell the cars for a profit in a pretty messy economy.

He may make a killing, he may break even or may lose his shirt… but it is creative. At least he’s thinking about ways to serve affected Toyota customers in the meantime.

How could your business reach out to affected Toyota customers who are looking for information, help, solace or solutions right now?

What could a Car Rental agency do? Offer a special discount if their rentals are down anyway?

Could a coffee shop, day spa, or other non auto related vendors offer “stress relief coupons” to attract new customers from these newly distracted masses?

How will you serve potential customers who could use a friendly marketing gesture from you?