In this podcast, our lives are becoming more digital, and the car business is no exception. Consumers spend an average of 7 hours doing online research and shopping in their car buying journey. For most shoppers, the media carousel is the first place they click when on the VDP – over 60% of VDP visits on dealership websites include engagement with the photo carousel. However, most dealers do little to nothing beyond providing high-quality photos to “sell” the vehicle or their dealership within the carousel. Dealers are wasting a prime opportunity with a captured audience. vAuto Intelligent Promotion helps achieve this by making it efficient for dealers to transform the media carousel experience so they can engage shoppers and win their business online.

Get your demo of Intelligent Promotion here: https://cloud.e.vauto.com/IntelligentPromotion

In this vAuto podcast, Dominick Gagliano, Social Media Director and Sales Manager at Lexus of Las Vegas, joins host Micah Tindor, Senior Director for Kelley Blue Book Instant Cash Offer, to discuss the playbook Dominick uses to execute a successful social media strategy for his dealership (@lexusoflasvegas on Facebook and Instagram). Dominick shares how he selects, pays and equips “social media ambassadors” to create sales- and service-oriented content that drives customer engagement and sales. Dominick addresses how he coaches and monitors ambassadors to ensure they consistently promote and protect the dealership’s brand, and how their efforts improve in-store culture and produce popular posts (like the weekly Coffee Run segments) that drive new business. The episode’s a must-listen for dealers and teams looking to sharpen their social media strategy and more effectively connect with customers.

Hear from Brian Finklemeyer, Sr. Director of Business Development at vAuto, and Mike Stanton, CEO and President of NADA, as they discuss what’s ahead for franchise dealers in 2022. Find out why Stanton is betting on the future of the franchise system, as evidenced by record-setting buy/sell activity, and the resilience of dealers as they’ve adapted to inventory shortages, the rise of direct-to-consumer EV startups and the shift to digital retailing. Stanton also shares where NADA will focus its lobbying efforts in the year ahead, including LIFO and tax relief for dealers and EV incentives. Finally, get sneak-peek of what is to come from the NADA show in Vegas as the organization goes big to reconnect the industry.

In this vAuto podcast, vAuto founder and Cox Automotive executive vice president Dale Pollak shares five take-aways from 2021 that will drive success in the year ahead. As dealers continue to face constrained used vehicle supplies in 2021, they will need to continue selling more cars from smaller inventories and acquiring vehicles directly customers. Dale also discusses how customer-centric appraisal processes will help dealers compete for customers cars with larger, digital retailers, and why investment value-based used vehicle pricing helped some dealers out-perform competitors in sales volume and profit. Dale also believes the wholesale market will offer opportunity for dealers who follow a holistic assessment of each vehicle’s optimal exit strategy as they acquire inventory.

In this vAuto podcast, Patrick Janes, Sr Director of Business Development for vAuto’s Stockwave solution, shares that used vehicle wholesale supply is down 22% from normal levels and how these current market conditions have spurred a shift in the way dealers source inventory. Patrick details how dealers should not only use local auctions for inventory but can benefit by sourcing from the service lane, dealer to dealer trades, private party listings, and more. Also, some used vehicle managers are stealing a page from new vehicle sales by “taking orders” to proactively find vehicles for customers in the wholesale market. Patrick also details why he believes the wholesale sourcing challenges dealers faced in 2021 are likely to persist in the new year and possibly beyond.

In this vAuto podcast, Greg Palmer, inventory and marketing director at the Ron Marhofer Auto Family in Clinton, OH, shares how a firmer commitment to managing inventory as investments has helped the dealer group achieve even better gross profit and volume outcomes. Greg details how the commitment has helped the group resist the temptation to reduce prices on vehicles with high investment value to juice sales volume and hold out for gross on vehicles that started out with little or no investment value on Day 1. He also discusses how ProfitTime pricing recommendations help him achieve optimal gross/volume outcomes for every retail unit and how the system’s precious metal grades help appraisers and managers bring in vehicles with a crystal-clear understanding of each vehicle’s investment potential.

In this vAuto podcast episode, Brian Finkelmeyer, Senior Director of Business Operations at vAuto, and Colton Ray, Chief Marketing Officer of Walser Automotive Group (MN), discuss sales and marketing strategies to get ahead on the new car business. Colton shares how Walser has navigated through the inventory shortage by moving to a more progressive sales model that includes preselling incoming inventory, a “price-the-product” strategy, and rethinking the customer sales experience.

In this vAuto podcast, Mike Boyd, director of business development for vAuto iRecon and Micah Tindor, senior director at Kelley Blue Book® Instant Cash Offer, discuss take-aways from their recent Digital Dealer workshops. The conversation covers how customer emotions and expectations should shape the processes dealers use to acquire more inventory from customers across different sourcing channels. Mike and Micah share the reasons they believe dealers should use sales associates rather than managers to lead engagements with customers interested in selling their vehicles, and why a “hit low and walk down” strategy for appraisal offers no longer works. In addition, they discuss how dealers should align compensation plans to drive behaviors that build transparency and trust in the appraisal/acquisition process, ensure collaborative assessments of a vehicle’s condition and provide an positive experience that leads to profitable vehicle acquisitions and happy customers.

In our third "Straight from the Source" podcast episode, Micah Tindor, Sr. Director, Kelley Blue Book® Instant Cash Offer has a conversation with Glenn Carroll Dealer Principal, Custom Cars West. Glenn shares how he and his team about their acquisition anywhere strategy and their successes.

In our second “Straight from the Source” podcast episode, Micah Tindor, Sr. Director, Kelley Blue Book® Instant Cash Offer has a conversation with Jonathan Hakes, Used Vehicle Director at Bob Johnson Auto Group.

Jonathan shares how he and his team use tools and data and a consistent processes to build customer confidence and to win the right vehicles.