There's so much to do when you're running a car yard, and if you're old-school, you're probably laser-focused on customer service (among other issues). But car yard sales depend on inventory management, too. Is your used car inventory management system doing what it should? If not, it could actually be hurting your sales.
Quick! Answer these questions right now:
• Can you name how every make and model of car is performing in your yard?
• Can you explain how that same make and model is performing for your competitors?
• Can you move from a big-picture analysis to a drilled-down specific view effortlessly?
• How long has each vehicle on your lot been there?
• How many vehicles do you have at each location?
• How are your sales numbers comparing to those of your competitors?
• How, specifically, is your advertising campaign affecting (or not affecting) your bottom line?
If you're not sure how you'd answer these questions, then your inventory management system could use some work. Your software should allow you to answer these questions quickly and make fast, smart choices about advertising, pricing, incentives that will draw customers to your yard, and trade-in values.
You need to know what the competition is doing: you know that. But do you know all the places you should be checking to get information on the competition? Does your car yard management software allow you to see what competitors in your area are giving for trade-in vehicles? If you don't have a comprehensive look at trade-ins, auctions, private sales, and more, you don't have a truly big-picture view.
When you upgrade your inventory management strategy with the right software, you can not only access all the information you need but also manipulate it to allow you to make a decision. You can adjust the inputs for a certain vehicle, for instance, to see how the numbers fluctuate when you factor in an accident, take (or add) a couple of hundred kilometres, put on a new set of tyres, or have an unknown service history. If you don't have this power, you'll never be able to compete and move the kind of volume you need to stay competitive.
With the right car management software, you're poised to make smart decisions for inventory management based on actionable, up-to-date information. Imagine what you could do if you could instantly access all the statistics and specs on every single vehicle in your yard, and then compare this with the rest of the yard and what your competitors are doing.
You'll also be able to react to real-time fluctuations in the market (not to mention reacting to what your competitors are doing). When the car yard across town does something, you can adjust at lightning speed to keep your yard in buyers' eyes. Without this information, however, you're doomed to be one step behind.
Nothing will doom your car yard faster than poor inventory management, but used car dealer inventory management solutions can empower quickly. If your software isn't performing as it should, isn't it time to switch things up?