Innovative Used Vehicle Acquisition Strategies for Maximizing Dealership Sales
As a seasoned product professional with a diverse background spanning the automotive industry and business-to-business payments sector, I have a unique perspective and a track record of success in driving business growth and delivering innovative solutions that meet market demands.
Acquiring vehicles beyond the dealership’s inventory opens a new revenue stream and enhances profitability. By expanding the range of available vehicles, dealerships can attract a larger customer base and increase sales volumes. Offering a diverse selection of vehicles can lead to higher margins, as customers may be willing to pay a premium for unique or hard-to-find, highly sought-after models that meet their specific needs. (i.e., Used 2018 Toyota Camry with less than x miles)
By developing a way to acquire the fast-selling vehicles in their market, customers can use a vehicle wishlist to acquire those vehicles from the service drive or direct communication with the customer.
There are multiple ways dealerships can take advantage of AutoAlert’s enhanced Wishlist capabilities:
Carlos Fernandez
Senior Product Manager
Customer Centric Requests
Customers expect a wide selection of vehicles tailored to their specific preferences, budget, and lifestyle. Dealerships must expand their horizons and adopt a more proactive approach to inventory management by actively seeking out vehicles that may not be readily available on their lots.
By actively listening to customer feedback, understanding their preferences, and sourcing vehicles that meet their needs, dealerships can demonstrate their commitment to customer satisfaction and earn the loyalty of repeat buyers.
With our “Lead VOI Requests,” dealers can receive tasks on anything that comes in through the Service Drive, such as when customers come in with a trade-in, dealership acquisitions at auctions, or as soon as your inventory hits the lot.
Dealership-Specific Demands Based on Market Trends
Dealerships must monitor the growth trajectory of specific market segments. They track trends such as the rise and fall of electric vehicles (EVs) or the increasing demand for SUVs or trucks. This allows dealerships to adjust their inventory acquisition strategies accordingly and capitalize on emerging opportunities.
Dealerships can now identify popular vehicle models, features, and specifications that align with their target audience’s preferences and when those specific vehicles are brought to the dealership.
Creating Vehicle Groups to Differentiate Where the Tasks Go
We know that inside a dealership, different users work with different sets of factors when acquiring vehicles.
Used Sales Managers might want to get tasks associated with vehicles they are interested in based on their market research and what is currently the most profitable in the pre-owned world.
Fleet Managers might want vehicles with fuel-efficient engines, advanced safety features, and customizable configurations to suit the needs of fleet operators, and there are specific users they want to target to reach out to those customers.
Service Managers might want to be involved in acquiring used vehicles for their service departments’ loaner or courtesy car fleet to provide temporary transportation for their customers.
Whatever the reason, dealerships can now create unlimited groups and workflows that create automated tasks. Targeted users can follow up on a specific set of vehicles instead of a set of people who receive a task that they have to figure out.
Enhanced Reporting
Dealerships need reporting to ensure they can forecast, plan, and help optimize their stock of the right mix of vehicles to meet their customers’ demands. They must adjust their acquisition strategy to reduce carrying costs and improve inventory turnover.
Allowing dealerships an easy way to see their customer prospecting capabilities, showing current inventory availability, and understanding current customer demands will enable them to concentrate on the most important things in one place.
In an era where adaptation and innovation are key to survival, dealerships must embrace the concept of enhancing their Wishlist capabilities and explore new avenues for growth and expansion by using our newly enhanced feature. By doing so, they can stay ahead of the curve and thrive in an ever-changing marketplace.
Ready to start acquiring the vehicles you need and conquest customers on your service drive? Explore how AutoAlert’s Wishlist features can eliminate auction costs and streamline your vehicle acquisition process.
