AutoSuccess – June 4, 2021
THE BEST OF TIMES
By Dennis McGinn
Hasn’t this been a remarkable run in retail automotive? Profits are huge. Demand is something else, and
customers have been more flexible than ever.
So, what’s the worry?
This best of times won’t last. As new-vehicle production gears up and new cars flow to dealer lots, tradein
activity will flow used cars into recon and sales lots, and customers will again have a choice, but the
market will be different:
- Opportunities will be fewer
- Inventory levels will increase
- Consumer interest will wane, and dealerships will fight for customers and profit
- How do I protect and strengthen the future of my business?
- How can I enhance customer presentations and stickiness?
- How do I develop a culture of efficiency to meet demand?
- How can I best leverage digital reconditioning and digital retailing to build value and trust with
customers from the very first contact?
The questions one needs to ask, then, should include:
The pandemic taught the importance of digital retailing; the chip shortage sharpened attention on
supply chain vulnerabilities. Dealers who meet next-market dynamics with a best of times attitude intact
are those leveraging five performance edge fundamentals.
At the core of managing for success from now on is best described by the idea we call speed to sale,
which I discuss in my forthcoming book, my third, on an enduring auto dealership’s crucial Key
Performance Indicators. So, writing my latest book now is to share proven ideas to help dealerships
focus on essential metrics for success in any market.
For example, dealers do not recognize that digital reconditioning and speed to sale are foundational to
digital retailing. Most dealerships now employ digital retail technology and services to improve
customer engagement. However, that expense and effort will not deliver its fullest when sales can’t
locate the vehicle a customer asks about or answer questions accurately when vehicle details aren’t
reachable on the desktop, smartphone, or text-accessible. Savvy shoppers increasingly ask for further
information about the reconditioning done on the car they’re considering. If you can’t show them
inspection and repair details from a smartphone, they’ll walk.
Because we created reconditioning workflow software more than a decade ago – and have now
processed 15 million cars through our technology – we know how to dial in your performance edge.
Everything in the car dealership must be measured and measured. The KPIs known as Average Days in
Recon and Time to Line gives you tools to monitor, manage and adjust speed-to-sale touchpoints, from
vehicle acquisition to final delivery of the car to the customer, at your store or his or her driveway.
Experts agree – whatever the market, rapid reconditioning serves the needs of the dealer and interests
of the buyer like no other process in digital retailing. Speed-to-sale workflow software is the industry
champion in eliminating time delay, identifying time gaps and reducing costs in the reconditioning-tosale
approach.
Speed to sale is holistic, meaning the whole dealership. This culture understands how its attention to
KPIs contributes to dealership efficiency. You can look for any number of business tools to lean on going
forward, but only by building a culture of speed-to-sale efficiency do you position your dealership to
thrive in the months and years ahead.
Dennis McGinn is the founder and chief executive officer of Rapid Recon, the world’s standard in
vehicle reconditioning and speed-to-sale inventory turn improvement, and the industry’s leading
expert in time-to-line (T2L) reconditioning. Click now to schedule an instructive demo. www.rapidrecon.com