I heard this said Friday, “You can’t see value in something you know nothing about.”
It makes sense. Think in terms of the used cars you sell.
Customers shopping at your dealership know a lot about your inventory. Still, unless shoppers understand how your
reconditioning investment builds trust, confidence and value in the used vehicle they’re considering, how in the world
will they get a clear idea of how you differentiate your cars?
Typically, when customers ask what the dealer did to get that used car ready for the sale lot, salespeople – who don’t
have that information or know where to get it – mumble something that adds no meaningful value to the conversation
or the shopper’s confidence in them or the car.
Sales will close deals with customers who’ve educated themselves about these and other essential building
considerations you offer them along with your Vehicle Display Pages.
A dealer able to pivot to a speed-to-sale engagement with shoppers like this knows the sale starts from the store’s
ability to present online and in-store used cars of high quality. Such quality is the outcome of fast, efficient, and data-driven vehicle reconditioning.
If you operate by speed-to-sale as the driving culture of your store, then you must provide online shoppers the highest
level of vehicle-specific recon data-capture tools. This is a game for dealers who understand that maintaining thorough
work item details for each vehicle reconditioned is not an option – work items drive each VIN-specific reconditioning
report served up by the digital vehicle presentation tool.
For example, now you can share with shoppers VIN-specific information:
Recon Summary, which educates shoppers on the quality and integrity of you and your dealership
Original OEM MSRP Window Sticker
Brochure from when the car was new
CPO or In-House Warranty Docs
Rapid vehicle reconditioning in 2021 is truly a profit center for the dealership.
Now dealerships can take full advantage of their reconditioning investment in each car to convert more opportunities to
sales without relying on the sales process.
Dealers who continue to practice partial reconditioning can’t use a sales presentation tool like this. Consumers are
increasingly asking for details on how the dealer reconditioned the car they’re considering, which is too bad.
Dealers do well to ask whether their reconditioning investment is helping sell that car or is it hurting its saleability.
“Insist that your reconditioning and merchandising be transparent in the virtual world. Does your pricing strategy reflect
that the vehicle is reconditioned? If you did not fully recondition the car because you paid too much for it – and I see this
happening too frequently – that’s a problem,” suggests dealership performance consultant and used car specialist Ed
French.
“Showing a car that's 100% sale-ready is going to close at a higher transaction price,” said David Simches, Group Used
Car Director at Crown Automotive Group. “The whole idea of showing and representing cars, whether remotely, digitally
or in-person in your showroom, is that vehicles must be 100% ready to sell and looking like a diamond. We live by that
standard here. Why do some keep showing cars that aren’t?” Simches wondered. Now you can sweeten the value of
your used cars by giving shoppers access to the reconditioning details of the used cars they’re considering. Let them
know your investment in making your vehicles safe, reliable, and presentable. Your reconditioning data import into
consumer-facing online tools is a tremendous advantage for sales operations.
About Rapid Recon
Reconditioning workflow automation from Rapid Reconis the industry standard in time-to-line inventory turn and speed-to-sale vehicle revenue enhancement for automotive retailers. Benchmarking data based on 13 million vehicles processed uniquely positions Rapid Recon to advise dealers on how to improve their store’s profitability. Used by more than 2,000 dealerships, Rapid Recon ensures the accountability of processes, property, and people. Hence, dealers know answers quickly, find assets anywhere, and sell vehicles promptly to grow dealership profitability. www.rapidrecon.com CALL US: +650-999-0497
