I would be interested in reading other dealer's comments on how they effectively handle trade-in's completely over the Internet
------------------
Dean Swindler
Internet Manager
The Rowe Dealerships
Handling Trade-Ins Over The Internet
8 posts
• Page 1 of 1
Handling Trade-Ins Over The Internet
by markrouleau » Tue Sep 26, 2000 6:19 pm
My philosophy is that you will not get very far by trying to force a customer to come to your dealership in order to get a price or a trade-in value. I therefore try to give them as much information as I can during the initial and follow-up phone calls. While this does occassionally backfire, it works surprisingly well.
Trade-in evaluations need to be done on the phone. You need to be able to ask questions and get answers, otherwise you are just shooting blind.
I use kelly blue book for trade evaluations. One nice thing is that we have a link to kbb on our website, so the customer can follow along if he is near his computer.
My script goes like this:
"Mr. Customer, I can do an interactive trade-in evaluation over the phone, or you can bring the vehicle in to our dealership. Which would you prefer?"
Believe it or not, more than half of our customers will choose to bring the vehicle on our lot. Don't ask me why... they may feel that they can get a better number if we can see how nice their trade is.
I then start walking them through the kelly blue book site. Asking questions about miles, equipment, etc.
It is critical to have customers evaluate condition. Most of them will of course, say that their vehicle is in "excellent" condition. At this point you need to qualify "excellent." Using the kbb to define excellent, good, and poor-- and remind the customers that this is an absolute rating, not "excellent for a 1977 Granada." Rust and damage bring the vehicle down to a fair or lower rating, no matter how nice the customer believes his vehicle to be.
"Mr. Customer, the value I am going to give you is a "cash value" number-- it is the price that our used car manager is going to write a check for. Many dealerships might give you a total allowance which would include both the cash value and a discount from the vehicle you are buying. Because I have already discounted our vehicle, the number I will be giving you will be the cash value of our vehicle. If you want to calculate the total allowance, simply add this number to the discount that I provided you with earlier."
"Mr. Customer, based on the information you have provided me, your vehicle has a cash value of X, less any reconditioning that may need to be done to prepare this vehicle for sale."
Depending on how they react to this news will dictate how you proceed, but the bottom line is to set an appointment to bring them in. If you are too light, it is easy to suggest that you might be able to get more for the vehicle if we can visually inspect it. Likewise, if you think that kbb is higher than what your used car manager will allow, it is easy to qualify your appraisal based on exact condition, regional market conditions, etc.
A lot of used car managers don't like this method of appraisal (it makes it harder to try to steal a trade), but I have found it to be accurate and fair. Keep in mind though that if the customer comes in and you need to write the trade lower than what you quoted, you need to have logical reasons to justify the lower number.
Mark Rouleau
Internet Sales Coordinator www.marinadodge.com
Trade-in evaluations need to be done on the phone. You need to be able to ask questions and get answers, otherwise you are just shooting blind.
I use kelly blue book for trade evaluations. One nice thing is that we have a link to kbb on our website, so the customer can follow along if he is near his computer.
My script goes like this:
"Mr. Customer, I can do an interactive trade-in evaluation over the phone, or you can bring the vehicle in to our dealership. Which would you prefer?"
Believe it or not, more than half of our customers will choose to bring the vehicle on our lot. Don't ask me why... they may feel that they can get a better number if we can see how nice their trade is.
I then start walking them through the kelly blue book site. Asking questions about miles, equipment, etc.
It is critical to have customers evaluate condition. Most of them will of course, say that their vehicle is in "excellent" condition. At this point you need to qualify "excellent." Using the kbb to define excellent, good, and poor-- and remind the customers that this is an absolute rating, not "excellent for a 1977 Granada." Rust and damage bring the vehicle down to a fair or lower rating, no matter how nice the customer believes his vehicle to be.
"Mr. Customer, the value I am going to give you is a "cash value" number-- it is the price that our used car manager is going to write a check for. Many dealerships might give you a total allowance which would include both the cash value and a discount from the vehicle you are buying. Because I have already discounted our vehicle, the number I will be giving you will be the cash value of our vehicle. If you want to calculate the total allowance, simply add this number to the discount that I provided you with earlier."
"Mr. Customer, based on the information you have provided me, your vehicle has a cash value of X, less any reconditioning that may need to be done to prepare this vehicle for sale."
Depending on how they react to this news will dictate how you proceed, but the bottom line is to set an appointment to bring them in. If you are too light, it is easy to suggest that you might be able to get more for the vehicle if we can visually inspect it. Likewise, if you think that kbb is higher than what your used car manager will allow, it is easy to qualify your appraisal based on exact condition, regional market conditions, etc.
A lot of used car managers don't like this method of appraisal (it makes it harder to try to steal a trade), but I have found it to be accurate and fair. Keep in mind though that if the customer comes in and you need to write the trade lower than what you quoted, you need to have logical reasons to justify the lower number.
Mark Rouleau
Internet Sales Coordinator www.marinadodge.com
- markrouleau
Handling Trade-Ins Over The Internet
by swindler » Tue Sep 26, 2000 7:25 pm
Thank you for your response, Mark. That is how I have been handling trade-in evaluations over the Internet as well. I also have the KBB web site embedded within my dealer web site and have found it to be very accurate. If my Internet customers have access to the Internet while on the phone, I walk them through the entire evaluation.
To date we haven't had too many conflicts using this system. The main problems we have come across is the trade-in values for Ford Taurus's, Mercury Sable's, and other vehicles which the market value has dropped considerably on due to program Taurus's and Sable's. When it's a repeat customer that bought a vehicle from you two years ago for $18k and the KBB trade-in value is only half of that..., they tend to fly-off-the-handle.
What solutions have worked for you when faced with this type of conflict?
------------------
Dean Swindler
Internet Manager
The Rowe Dealerships
To date we haven't had too many conflicts using this system. The main problems we have come across is the trade-in values for Ford Taurus's, Mercury Sable's, and other vehicles which the market value has dropped considerably on due to program Taurus's and Sable's. When it's a repeat customer that bought a vehicle from you two years ago for $18k and the KBB trade-in value is only half of that..., they tend to fly-off-the-handle.
What solutions have worked for you when faced with this type of conflict?
------------------
Dean Swindler
Internet Manager
The Rowe Dealerships
- swindler
Handling Trade-Ins Over The Internet
by markrouleau » Wed Sep 27, 2000 12:11 am
well, lets face it. Its no fun telling a customer that their vehicle is worth only a fraction of what they paid for it regardless of whether it is an internet customer or a walk-in customer. This is a problem facing all domestic and even some import dealers. Using logic,reasoning, and empathy are our best tools in softening the blow for the customer. Also, qualifying questions before giving a trade value are critical. Three great questions I can think of right now are:
1) have you had your trade appraised anywhere else? (surprisingly, they usually tell me where they shopped it and what numbers they got-- things they are usually reluctant to discuss in person!) This also gives you a feel for what stage the customer is at in the buying process. You also have an opportunity to discuss the difference between trade allowance and cash value.
2) Have you appraised your vehicle yourself at any online websites or through any pricing guides? Because if they've been to edmunds or to a retail pricing site or book, you may need to slow down and talk about the how some sites give better information than others, about the difference between wholesale and retail, and a dealers' cost in advertising and reconditioning a trade for sale.
3) is there a buyout on your trade, and how much? Because of course they always want what they owe+++. This lets you clear up misconceptions about trade values and closeouts before you start talking about $$.
Plus if they are $7000 "upside-down" and have no money down, quite frankly I don't want them coming in the door and wasting my time and their time.
Of course, there are some situations that I feel KBB (or whatever guide you use) should not be used, such as the very old car with low mileage. If I feel that kbb is going to give false results (as it sometimes does with cars that are at extremes of mileage or age) then I will feel more comfortable getting a number from the UCM and calling the customer back, rather than walking the customer through a pointless excercise.
I'm basically rambling at this point, but I guess my point is that you CAN give trade-in values over the phone and you can get appointments and sales off of it. And, as a side phenomenon, our customers often EXPECT us to give them less than what we quoted them by phone-- especially when their conscience starts bothering them about that slipping tranny, or that dent they forgot to mention, or the dog hair in the back seat...
I would really love to be able to implement interactive trade eval's with the rest of the sales force. I think that used correctly it is a strong way of getting qualified customers in the door. It took me a long time to get the UCM to get used to doing things this way, but it has definitely helped our internet sales tremendously. As one last aside, this really really really requires the cooperation of your UCM. Otherwise its virtually impossible to explain to a customer why his $7000 trade dropped to a pair of nickels when he finally came in.
1) have you had your trade appraised anywhere else? (surprisingly, they usually tell me where they shopped it and what numbers they got-- things they are usually reluctant to discuss in person!) This also gives you a feel for what stage the customer is at in the buying process. You also have an opportunity to discuss the difference between trade allowance and cash value.
2) Have you appraised your vehicle yourself at any online websites or through any pricing guides? Because if they've been to edmunds or to a retail pricing site or book, you may need to slow down and talk about the how some sites give better information than others, about the difference between wholesale and retail, and a dealers' cost in advertising and reconditioning a trade for sale.
3) is there a buyout on your trade, and how much? Because of course they always want what they owe+++. This lets you clear up misconceptions about trade values and closeouts before you start talking about $$.
Plus if they are $7000 "upside-down" and have no money down, quite frankly I don't want them coming in the door and wasting my time and their time.
Of course, there are some situations that I feel KBB (or whatever guide you use) should not be used, such as the very old car with low mileage. If I feel that kbb is going to give false results (as it sometimes does with cars that are at extremes of mileage or age) then I will feel more comfortable getting a number from the UCM and calling the customer back, rather than walking the customer through a pointless excercise.
I'm basically rambling at this point, but I guess my point is that you CAN give trade-in values over the phone and you can get appointments and sales off of it. And, as a side phenomenon, our customers often EXPECT us to give them less than what we quoted them by phone-- especially when their conscience starts bothering them about that slipping tranny, or that dent they forgot to mention, or the dog hair in the back seat...
I would really love to be able to implement interactive trade eval's with the rest of the sales force. I think that used correctly it is a strong way of getting qualified customers in the door. It took me a long time to get the UCM to get used to doing things this way, but it has definitely helped our internet sales tremendously. As one last aside, this really really really requires the cooperation of your UCM. Otherwise its virtually impossible to explain to a customer why his $7000 trade dropped to a pair of nickels when he finally came in.
- markrouleau
Handling Trade-Ins Over The Internet
by swindler » Wed Sep 27, 2000 4:25 pm
Thanks again Mark!
I guess when it comes right down to it..., we're on the same wavelength. We do get our UCM involved with any questionable trade-in. What I prefer to do prior to walking my customers through the KBB web site is to review their trade-in myself first. This way I have a head's up as to which direction to take with the customer.
We both ask basically the same questions about the trade-in, and whether or not it has been appraised else where, or researched on the Internet. These are all must do's. The KBB walkaround feature gets a lot of use by my customers as we are interactively appraising their vehicle while on-line. This creates a lot of trust in the dealership and what they are doing to meet the needs of today's consumer.
------------------
Dean Swindler
Internet Manager
The Rowe Dealerships
www.roweauburn.com
I guess when it comes right down to it..., we're on the same wavelength. We do get our UCM involved with any questionable trade-in. What I prefer to do prior to walking my customers through the KBB web site is to review their trade-in myself first. This way I have a head's up as to which direction to take with the customer.
We both ask basically the same questions about the trade-in, and whether or not it has been appraised else where, or researched on the Internet. These are all must do's. The KBB walkaround feature gets a lot of use by my customers as we are interactively appraising their vehicle while on-line. This creates a lot of trust in the dealership and what they are doing to meet the needs of today's consumer.
------------------
Dean Swindler
Internet Manager
The Rowe Dealerships
www.roweauburn.com
- swindler
Handling Trade-Ins Over The Internet
by Andy » Thu Sep 28, 2000 4:40 pm
I think you guys have covered everything that is pertinent. I have been doing it pretty much the same way only I also have an appraisal form that I fax to the customer. It is pretty lengthy..asking questions from dents to frame damage and mileage problems but it works very well. I then run a Carfax and take it all to the UCM to give me a number. This is actually even better than just the phone appraisal because most people don't tend to lie if they have to sign there name to it. It also gives you something to go back to if the customer did misrepresent the car. I haven't had to use it yet,thank goodness, but it is there if I need to.
Andy Patton
Internet Manager www.Haltermans.com
Andy Patton
Internet Manager www.Haltermans.com
- Andy
Handling Trade-Ins Over The Internet
by machado » Thu Sep 28, 2000 8:55 pm
Hey guys,
I like all of your Ideas and have used many of them myself.
But, one of my ISMs showed me something that all of my stores have since implemented. It is a KBB Price Link it's different than just www.KBB.com. It is a closed link that walks the customer through the appraisal process. It has several benefits to it:
It is a closed link that keeps the prospect on your site.
The client can go through all of the key points of his/her appraisal just like you would if you could see it.
When it is on your sight you can frame it with your navigation bar and header.
By offering this information to the client you seem much more eager to help.
It adds an element of stickyness to your sight (visitors will refer other people to your home page).
It only cost $500.00/year
The defaults are set to fair condition.
Anyone can use it and it will not allow you to add duplicates accessories.
The ACV estimate adjusts regionally.
My stores all pick up 2 to 4 extra sales because of this feature. It also has helped us with our Internet Influenced Sales by helping to keep customers real.
Here is the URL of the store that told me about it so you can check it out.
http://www.texasdodge.com
------------------
Greg Machado
E-Commerce Director &
Independant Consultant
http://www.gMACgroup.com
machado@gmacgroup.com
210.710.8456
I like all of your Ideas and have used many of them myself.
But, one of my ISMs showed me something that all of my stores have since implemented. It is a KBB Price Link it's different than just www.KBB.com. It is a closed link that walks the customer through the appraisal process. It has several benefits to it:
My stores all pick up 2 to 4 extra sales because of this feature. It also has helped us with our Internet Influenced Sales by helping to keep customers real.
Here is the URL of the store that told me about it so you can check it out.
http://www.texasdodge.com
------------------
Greg Machado
E-Commerce Director &
Independant Consultant
http://www.gMACgroup.com
machado@gmacgroup.com
210.710.8456
[This message has been edited by machado (edited 09-28-2000).]
- machado
Handling Trade-Ins Over The Internet
by swindler » Thu Sep 28, 2000 9:20 pm
Hello Greg & the rest of the Auto Retailing on the Web Gurus out there!
We have the KBB "Price Link" embedded within our web site as well as the Chrome Car Book, too. We even utilize the New Car Test Drive Reviews the same way. That is definitely the way to create a well thought out web site. If you have to send someone off your web site for information that they feel is important to them, and when they get there, there are all kinds of advertisements designed to lure them in..., you may never see them again. I design and create and manage all of our dealer web sites in Maine, and I have sent out questionnaires to every customer that has submitted some for of request to us. I have given them everything they want and more and it has increased our sales from 3 to 5 per month to an average of 30+ now.
My hat is off to all the Internet managers and salespeople that have invested themselves in what the Internet has to offer us. It's definitely not a fad, and it's not going to go away. With the typical bricks and mortar way of selling, they can't see through the walls the same as we do. It's good to hear that those of us that are successful on the Internet all are looking at the Internet as an unbreakable glass house. We can see where it's going and we're not afraid of what can be thrown at us.
Good selling to all!
------------------
Dean Swindler
Internet Manager
The Rowe Dealerships
www.roweauburn.com
We have the KBB "Price Link" embedded within our web site as well as the Chrome Car Book, too. We even utilize the New Car Test Drive Reviews the same way. That is definitely the way to create a well thought out web site. If you have to send someone off your web site for information that they feel is important to them, and when they get there, there are all kinds of advertisements designed to lure them in..., you may never see them again. I design and create and manage all of our dealer web sites in Maine, and I have sent out questionnaires to every customer that has submitted some for of request to us. I have given them everything they want and more and it has increased our sales from 3 to 5 per month to an average of 30+ now.
My hat is off to all the Internet managers and salespeople that have invested themselves in what the Internet has to offer us. It's definitely not a fad, and it's not going to go away. With the typical bricks and mortar way of selling, they can't see through the walls the same as we do. It's good to hear that those of us that are successful on the Internet all are looking at the Internet as an unbreakable glass house. We can see where it's going and we're not afraid of what can be thrown at us.
Good selling to all!
------------------
Dean Swindler
Internet Manager
The Rowe Dealerships
www.roweauburn.com
- swindler
8 posts
• Page 1 of 1
Return to Digital Auto Marketing
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest