Click’s Expert Tips For Faster Used Car Stock-turn Part One

Managing your stock effectively is straightforward in theory. Buy the right cars and sell them for a profit. Follow our advice and you can turn that theory into practice with the best possible results without breaking a sweat.

Every dealer at some point will have been stuck with a car that lingers on the forecourt a bit too long. Stock management plays a crucial part in producing profit for your sales department so mastering the art can help you keep your stock flowing through your dealership, rather than building up.

Casting a Wide Net

It will come as no surprise to that good cars sell quicker than bad ones. Think of buying the right cars for your dealership and customers as the integral clog in stock management. Remember not to fish in a small pond. Cast a wide net and visit more than just your local auction or one online car supermarket. You can not only get a better deal by shopping around, but you can also find a wider variety of cars that will stop you just buying for the sake of it. You only need to buy what sells in your area, so knowing your target market is also important.

How To Avoid Going Grey

No, I don’t mean your hair. Your overage stock needs controlling, or more importantly, removing from existence! Ideally, you shouldn’t have any overage stock on-site. Before they reach that point you should be doing what you can to get them sold. That could include an offer, making them featured on your website, do a video for social media, anything will likely help. Have a process for easily viewing the days in stock for each vehicle. It can not only help you with your buying patterns but also allow you to proactively market and sell the car before it stagnates.

Digital World

Franchises have taken their websites forward leaps and bounds, so this has put pressure on independents to follow. Making sure your website is up to modern consumer expectations is the bread, and having a strict process for advertising your stock online is the butter. You want to make sure your vehicles are shown off in the best way possible. This includes lots of photos or even better videos. We’d suggest…

• A minimum of 12 photos.
• Make sure the car is clean and damage-free.
• Make sure you don’t get your reflection in the picture by standing back and zooming in if necessary.
• Use a good quality camera – if your shots are blurred, overexposed or grainy then this just looks unprofessional.
• Take care when choosing a backdrop for your shots – at the very least make the area tidy, but if you want to really make your process special create an area specifically for photos that you can control and brand.

That’s all for now but look out for part two later this week! For more information on Click Dealer’s services, contact The Clickers on 01782 478 220. You can also reach us via marketing@clickdealer.co.uk or through our contact page.