Sharpen your pencil. How you appraise a car hasn’t changed, but you need to lean heavier on actual transactional data v. a cost-plus strategy that is going to be distorted in our current market. At the curb or at the block, your acquisition strategies are changing as well, with full access to markets online. Merchandising is more important than ever for digital visibility. Tim Scoutelas and Patrick McMullen share what smart dealers are doing to survive the current downturn and thrive on the other side.
Watch the interactive session, including the live polls below.
https://youtu.be/CKXKz4Eno3A
Forty-seven percent of the audience reported that their inventory value was down twenty percent.
Sixty-eight percent of attendees shared that they were not at all confident in their books right now.
Tim and Patrick shared the recap below and encouraged the attendees to take this time to get back to the fundamentals of inventory management and leverage the market and sales data available.
Appraisal
- Slow down and analyze the data
- Get the customer involved
- Create a remote appraisal process
Pricing and Merchandising
- Is there a new person doing these two things now? If so, are they properly trained?
- Shorten your cycle on how often you analyze your pricing
- Aggressive pricing and stay lean
- Customize your online descriptions
Day to Day
- Trade and lot walks
- Watch aging inventory – get sales associates to walk this inventory and find out what’s special about it
- Utilize your vendors – We’re here to help
They also shared that new features are available in FirstLook to make it easy to see adjustments in total inventory value and alerts at the vehicle level are coming soon.
Let us know how we can help your team.
Related Content: Coronavirus Resources | Inventory Management | FirstLook
