Stop Controlling the Uncontrollable Part I: How to Put $300,000 a Year Back in Your Dealership’s Pocket
There’s a lot going on in the world right now. If you spend enough time on social media, you’d think the sky is falling. It brings to mind that time in 2008 when our country was knee deep in the recession. I was a sales rep walking into Mercedes Benz Manhattan, expecting to see the lobby empty, CNBC blaring, and a copy of The Wall Street Journal on each table.?
Instead? The place was booming. SportsCenter was on and People Magazine was out.?
That dealership wasn’t dwelling on the economy; they were focused on what they could control. Whether times were good or bad, they made customer experience and service a focus. They differentiated themselves by going above and beyond to take care of their clients better than any of their competitors.
And guess what? They thrived in spite of the recession.
Fast forward to today. Sure, we’re facing economic uncertainty. Consumer confidence is down, and layoffs are all over the headlines. You can’t control interest rates, nor can you control the GDP. What you can control is how you run your dealership.?
If there’s one area where dealers can immediately put their business on stronger footing, it’s used car acquisition.
Think about it. Everybody wants to cut auctions out of the used car buying process because auctions - even the modern-day digital kinds - notoriously take a big chunk out of the transaction. Between transport costs, recon, buy and sell fees, etc., the auctions are inflating the cost of the vehicle and reducing the sellers’ net by nearly $1,000.? That is serious money.
It’s time to consider tangible ways to disintermediate the auctions and put more profits back in your pocket on every deal.?
I’m talking about fleet direct-to-dealer purchases.
Right now, through our Remarketing+ platform, major fleets (Hertz, Sixt, Merchants, etc.) are selling thousands of vehicles directly to dealers in their own private and controlled wholesale stores, without the bidding wars or the endless fees that auctions bring. Every day, our dealer customers save upwards of $500 on each used car they purchase.
I’m talking about real math that pencils – potentially $300,000 or more in bottom line money every year.??
The COVID era was great for dealers, but that fever dream is over. It’s time to get back to work. It’s time to think about margins in every aspect of your business. Buying cars smarter is one of them.
I see some of the most successful dealers in the country using direct channels to take control of their margins and cut out inefficiencies. So, my question to you is:
Are you doing everything you can to make meaningful improvements to your business??
Direct message me here or email [email protected]. Let us help you make meaningful improvements to your used car acquisition strategy in 2025 and beyond.