Appraisals are the driving force behind any successful used-car program because of the substantial influence they can have on your bottom line. Losing a deal over an appraisal can leave you confused and disappointed.
Missed trades often mean missed deals, reduction of vehicles in inventory, and lost fixed ops revenue. Frustration or resentment is a common reaction.
The truth is, losing deals can lead to good things. There is never a better opportunity to analyze your appraisal process. Learn from the mistakes you’ve made and increase sales efficiency moving forward.
In another industry first, the Dealerslink appraisal manager, FastBook Pro now flags lost deals. If another dealer takes in an appraisal from one of your customers, the Lost Deal Indicator will flag it when that vehicle comes up for sale in the retail market. Allowing you to see who you are losing your deals to and when customers are no longer active buyers.
“A customer will rarely notify the dealership that they have purchased a vehicle elsewhere”, said Dealerslink Performance Manager, Matt Childers. “Having staff members continue to follow-up on customers that have already purchased is unproductive. The lost deal indicator can identify when a customer is out of the market and allow the staff to focus on other deals.”
Accurate Car Appraisals Make All the Difference
Finding out when a deal was lost is priceless information. If you are frequently losing deals it could be indicative of inaccurate appraisals.
Take time to look back through your notes, see what sort of condition the vehicle was in, what price the customer wanted, and the deal build as a whole.
Once you have identified any trends or variations, you can address concerns early and correct the path of a deal before it gets to the point of no return.
Tracking Lost Deals At Auction.
By tracking all the appraised units at the auctions, dealers can start to identify competitors that are outbidding them in the lanes.
“I recommend that dealers track all appraisals in the appraisal log, including auction transactions.”, said Childers. “Stores can see how the competition is pricing those units this way and can find additional opportunities that they could have taken advantage of.”
FastBook Pro makes it easy to determine the optimal price point for maximizing margin and turn. For a live demonstration or more information, click here.
