Am I supposed to memorize the used Car inventory??

[MauricioVincenzo]

We have between 160-200 used cars in our inventory. A customer came in the other day that wanted to lease a new car, but didn't have stellar credit. My manager suggested they look at something used......He told me "Put 'em on something around $11,000 with under 50,000 miles on it".........when I pulled out my phone and looked at our website he says "Every time one of you guys pulls out your phone I wann take it throw it against the $%^$ wall!!".......and I was like WTF??......I'm supposed to, off the top of my head, say "Well, we have 4 vehicles that fit your criteria perfectly".......does anyone have that good of a memory??.........

 

[Chris Cachor]

We have between 160-200 used cars in our inventory. A customer came in the other day that wanted to lease a new car, but didn't have stellar credit. My manager suggested they look at something used......He told me "Put 'em on something around $11,000 with under 50,000 miles on it".........when I pulled out my phone and looked at our website he says "Every time one of you guys pulls out your phone I wann take it throw it against the $%^$ wall!!".......and I was like WTF??......I'm supposed to, off the top of my head, say "Well, we have 4 vehicles that fit your criteria perfectly".......does anyone have that good of a memory??.........

I think he means put them in the used Corolla Just kidding - no, I think it'd be hard for anyone to keep stock of odometer and price range, but I think he meant put them in crappy car if they have crappy credit.

 

[Jlewis74]

Should have asked him to pull you a used car report sorted by price then by mileage!

 

[SPeters]

Should have asked him to pull you a used car report sorted by price then by mileage!

That what we do and it doesn't appear to an issues for any of the salesmen. They get a list about every other day of all our used inventory (~400) sorted by price with key information on it. Most of them just keep it folded in their back pocket for a day or 2 until they get a new one.

 

[SeanWoodruff]

The point is that you're supposed to know where your inventory is. You should be walking the lot and knowing where the switch cars are, the cars under $10k, the cars that are certified, etc. It's important to take the customer out on the lot and let them land on a vehicle. Pulling up a list just let's them say "no I don't like anything!" Be a salesperson and put them on a vehicle that they love. While you're walking the lot you should be investigating, qualifying, asking the right questions, building rapport, etc. You gotta sell sell sell! You're not an order taker.

 

[jay.lynch]

The point is that you're supposed to know where your inventory is.

"Back in the Day," one of our stores was in a subprime market and our process for this store dictated that the sales person properly qualify the customer and bring them inside the store before landing them on a car. In our desking tool we would plug in max PTI and select the front end advance and "poof" a list of units would appear. We would select 4 or 5 units that best fit the customers needs, PTI and advance parameters, and, importantly, maximized gross or launched an old age unit. The desk would print a list of unts for the sales person and customer. This was/is a good example of a win win.

There are a number of good desking tools in the market and if you put the processes in place they can be a tremendous benefit. Having said that, there is no substitution for doing a daily inventory walk. After "save a deal" I made sure everyone did one together and discussed new units and untis changing age buckets.

 

[Jerry Thibeau]

Poor management skills in my opinion. He should have given you a few cars to choose from. Lazy manager not wanting to be a manager. I do encourage walking the lot on a daily basis to become familiar with your inventory. Knowledge is power!