As a dealer, it can be tempting to blame weak trade in leads for weak sales numbers. Selling cars is difficult, and it can be hard to get customers to commit when so many of them are, well, so noncommittal!

This perspective would surely get you chewed out by Alec Baldwin in Glengarry Glen Ross. According to the consumer insights team at think with Google, at any given moment “one-third of Canadian adults are thinking about, actively researching, or in the process of buying a car.” Your sales team should be salivating, not making excuses!

(NSFW: Language!)

The most successful salespeople are the ones that adapt to the modern landscape of auto sales. Customers have more options than ever, and most of them (as many as 9 out of 10) are using the internet as a source of researching information.

Do you know where your customers have been before choosing you as their dealership?

They’ve been to the website of the OEM.

They’ve searched your ratings on Google, as well as the ratings of your competition.

They’ve visited your dealer website — both on their desktops and on their mobile devices — to see what you’re all about and why they should pick you.

So why should they pick you? Why is dealing with you better than dealing with your competition? What do you have for sale, and how much is it and how much can they get for their trade-in?

If you want to talk trade-ins and wholesale valuations, or how your dealership can improve your customer experience, visit me on LinkedIn or give me a call at 506-874-7355.