Even before Covid, the sales process was changing to keep up with consumer demands. Consumers are doing more research online than ever before, and more customers are using online tools to start their sales process. Customers use website credit applications, trade value estimators, chat services, and BUY NOW buttons to initiate the sales process. Internal … Read more
As the U.S. infrastructure bill works its way slowly through Congress, I thought it would be good to look at what this could mean for rural customers and their dealerships. Internet speeds in the urban areas have been well over 100mps for years while many rural areas are 10X slower (10mps) and close to old … Read more
A sale doesn’t happen until you have a transaction, which in most cases means an approved and funded loan or lease is accepted by the customer. The modern shopping process is disrupting the traditional flow of when and how dealers reach a sale. Technology lets customers think they can do a lot of the sales … Read more
How do your customers perceive your dealership and dealer group? Do you fit the customer’s desire for how they want to buy a vehicle? If not, how is that affecting your brand image? Millennials, the first technologically focused generation, are now the most significant vehicle buying segment. They are primarily digital natives and experts at … Read more
Helping customers ‘see’ the equity they have in their vehicles is far better than using a standard trade tool that only shows market value. Customers entering the market may be unaware of the shifts in trade value the chip shortage has created. They may be excited about upgrading their vehicle but historically have had to … Read more
The world automotive industry is expected to lose $110 billion in sales in 2021. With the U.S. being the #1 auto sales country globally, that is a significant sales loss for dealerships. Although the dealership industry held gross much better with the limited available inventory, they need to start looking beyond front-end gross to keep … Read more
When rates and reserve are about equal on an F&I deal, it’s critical to understand your ancillary product maximums per lender decision. Ideally, you want to select the lender decision that allows maximum profitability on any sold protection products. However, you also want to ensure that the lender reserve allows an adequate profit based on … Read more
