The retail automotive industry is a lot of things, but boring is not one of them. Dealerships routinely need to deal with a shifting landscape that can fluctuate between economic downturns or, more recently, a global pandemic. Currently, every dealership is dealing with an inventory shortage of new models. This has placed a premium on reliable used cars, trucks, and SUVs. The most successful dealers have figured out how to get more trade-ins at the showroom. People have vehicles they might not be using, and they just might not know what to do with them. Take a look at a few tips that could help increase your inventory.
Let people know about their options
There are several reasons why someone might have an extra vehicle or two in their driveway. Maybe they are working from home permanently and don’t need it anymore. Perhaps it belonged to one of the kids who went off to college, and now it’s just attracting the attention of every bird in the neighborhood. Regardless of why it’s there, they need to know that they’re leaving money on the table by letting it sit unused. Whether you take out traditional media ads or utilize available digital marketing options, people should know they can come to your website to sell their car to you.
Read More: Utilize Paid Advertising To Get More Dealership Inventory
Get a process ready to go
Your dealership handles trade-ins as a course of regular business. Adapting that process to end with someone leaving with a check in their hand shouldn’t be a problem. Work with your F&I team to eliminate pain points and keep things moving as efficiently as possible. A blog or landing page on your website could be helpful. Giving people the information needed to ensure critical documents aren’t forgotten will make a difference.
People may be more apt to bring you a trade-in if they know how much you’ll be offering them. If your main website doesn’t provide a trade-in calculator, this would be a great time to have that tool added. Most of these calculators will come with the stipulation that a final appraisal will happen at the dealership.
Box out the competition
As if the dealership down the street wasn’t enough to contend with, online-only dealerships have popped up all over. One of the things that these operations offer is personalized at-home services. Several automotive sales consultants continue to suggest that dealerships continue offering door-to-door services like sending a qualified appraiser to the customer’s home or office to draw up an offer. This solves a few problems at once. Again, this requires letting people know they have this option available.
Who knows what the future of the retail automotive industry will hold for dealers. The only sure thing is that there will be another challenge to overcome as soon as the current one is surmounted. Phantom Copy offers several solutions to keep your online presence agile and ready to pivot on short notice. Reach out to one of our representatives today.
Don’t Cancel Your Dealership Marketing While Inventory is Low