PRE-SELLING is paying dividends to those who focus their efforts on it, says autotrade-mail.com
Putting efforts into how they handle enquiries for vehicles not in stock is helping dealer profits, despite reduced footfall.
Dealers are using the site’s 4000-strong network of sellers to search and ‘hold’ cars for customers – something dealer’s willingness to provide full details of cars is key to.
Why are they so happy to pre-hold cars? Because they know they’ll get more, if it’s pre-sold, than they would if they traded it as general stock. What’s more, it avoids the recessionary risks of holding vehicles in stock, making for a much more dynamic, faster-reacting sales process.
It’s also evidence of mutual help from dealers helping the trade as a whole.
Autotrade-mail director, Kevin Watson, said: ‘Whilst lots of dealers have done this for many a year through our system, we have certainly seen a determined shift towards less speculation and more certainty that comes from buying to order.’
So what exactly are the mechanics behind it? Well, Jason Cleve, owner of JD Cleve Ltd, said that pre placing vehicles is much more efficient when in such a confused market. ‘It is certainly paying strong dividends to the more astute operators out there.
‘It is happening more and more frequently now – I know they have probably placed it at retail money, yet buying it behind book, but why not? Good luck to them; we all need every advantage we can get!’
CASE STUDY
Autotrade-mail explains: ‘Last week, The TT Centre told us they had a client of theirs wanting a specific Lexus. The sales manager decided to sit the customer down, do a full qualification of the needs then proceeded to search for a suitable vehicle.’
As a spokesman for the Centre takes over: ‘I found a Lexus on the system within minutes, and agreed a price I could buy it from the selling dealer, which was nearly £5000 behind Glass’s Guide. I then went back to my customer, showed him what it booked at Trade, and offered it to him for this figure.
‘The customer was delighted, as was the seller, and we made in excess of £4000 profit – a complete win-win situation all round. These deals are making such a difference to our business – with no stocking risk.’
