Like many retailers and manufacturers worldwide, the automotive industry was heavily struck by the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic. With national chip shortages, back-ordered products, late deliveries and dwindled inventory, dealers today were forced to rethink the entire car-buying process from online transactions to proactive vehicle acquisition strategies. However, like many surprise success stories, COVID-19 provided dealers with record-breaking results despite low and scarce new inventory.
So, what has changed in this “profitable dealer’s market,” and how can dealerships stay competitive and continue to reach record profits?
The answer is simple, vehicle acquisition.
Consumer demand is at an all-time high. As vehicle prices rise and inventory declines, over 60% of consumers have admitted to not adjusting their car-buying timeline. As delays in new-car production continue to grow, the market value on high-quality pre-owned cars has increased by almost 45%. To combat market conditions today, dealers can optimize their current car-buying strategy with increased integrated online and offline efforts to ensure they are acquiring new and pre-owned vehicles at the right time, to the right person.
“Even with record-low inventory, dealers’ profits have never been better,” said David Boice, CEO and co-founder of Team Velocity. “Buy smarter, not harder. Suppose dealers optimize their current marketing strategy to include frictionless customer experiences, hyper-targeted brand and same trade. In that case, they can double the results for their dealership, despite lack of inventory and shortages.”
“(With Apollo), my turn and earn rate is at 94.31%. Our next closest competitor in the country is nearly 50% behind us because we’ve earned more cars quickly.”
Brian Benstock
To stay competitive in today’s market, top-ranking dealerships are utilizing Team Velocity’s all-inclusive customer experience platform, Apollo. This state-of-the-art platform provides a suite of integrated applications that make, manage and measure frictionless consumer experiences, from the initial engagement to the final transaction. Apollo empowers dealers to own the entire customer journey by delivering hyper-personalized campaigns across every touchpoint, maximizing ROI and lifetime revenue.
As the market continues to change, many dealerships continue to utilize three traditional vehicle acquiring methods.
Auctions – Compete in local, regional and national auctions that give dealers zero control in pricing and selected inventory. Not to mention the uncertainty of vehicle condition and resale value.
Local and competitive competition – “We want your trade” and “We will buy your car campaigns.”
Third-party lead generation tools – Purchasing technology designed to generate “quality” leads but inhibiting the dealer to have any control in price breakdown and costs.
Although seemingly effective to the normal eye, these “solutions” all have one major thing in common — the dealer is not maximizing the profit potential, effectively losing some money in nearly every outcome.
Companies like Team Velocity and their all-inclusive customer experience platform are disrupting the status quo. Dealers who adopt and utilize their suite of integrated applications are empowered to manage, measure and own the entire customer journey for each individual buyer by delivering hyper-personalized campaigns across every touchpoint, maximizing ROI and lifetime value. With industry-leading products and services, they are changing the car-buying experience for the better.
With Apollo, dealerships like Paragon Honda and Acura were able to sell twice the amount of certified used cars, holding the largest margin victory to date. “My turn and earn rate is at 94.31%. Our next closest competitor in the country is nearly 50% behind us because we’ve earned more cars quickly,” says Brian Benstock, vice president and general manager of Paragon Auto Group.
By harnessing the power of real-time customer data and personalized messaging, some of the Top 10 Nissan companies in the nation were able to acquire over 140 vehicles each month.
“Adapting to consumer demands and inventory change are not the only efforts that need to increase to maintain a competitive advantage for today’s dealers,” says Boice. “Accelerated digital adoption, personalized customer experience and fully integrated technology can create the perfect trifecta in creating profit-driving opportunities for your team. Remember, vehicles are the second-highest product or asset we purchase today.”
“Adapting to consumer demands and inventory change are not the only efforts that need to increase to maintain a competitive advantage for today’s dealers.”
David Boice
“The results are what I’m talking about. What Team Velocity brought within the first 60 days was simply amazing. And what’s even more amazing … it even continues today. Our appointments for sales and service have more than doubled our sales. It’s more than doubled on a daily basis,” says Guy Winer, CEO and operator at Price Automotive Group.
“We partnered with Team Velocity for several reasons,” says Mario Murgado, president of Brickell Automotive Group. “Their technology and the level of expertise they bring is second to none. New car sales are up 40% and same brand trades are up 100.5%. On average, we have a 6.3% conversion rate. I enjoy my relationship with Team Velocity and really the success they have brought to us.”
As an added benefit, Team Velocity is the only end-to-end fulfillment and certified Equifax provider that can utilize exact case approvals from Equifax to target and market to individuals and households that meet a wide variety of credit and creative-based requirements. By harnessing the data goldmines within your dealership’s DMS and Equifax’s inclusive data, Team Velocity can provide every customer with a personalized and relevant customer experience, dynamically customized to their unique information, including vehicle history, equity position, shopping activity and more.
Dealers who go-to-market with Team Velocity’s customer experience platform and enhanced data mining capabilities are experiencing record highs in auto acquisition. Pre-owned sales were up by 78.3% and the same brand trades by 37.5% at Jenkins Chevy of Homosassa.
To stay ahead of the competition, companies like Team Velocity are encouraging dealers to actively acquire used vehicles to secure record profits and fill dealership lots using robust and integrated technology. Dealerships can’t afford to leave any opportunity on the table in today’s uncertain market.
Fortune favors the bold, and the brave reap the benefits.
For more information about Team Velocity and its unique capabilities in vehicle acquisition, integrated solutions and more, please visit TeamVelocityMarketing.com.
