Autumn means colorful leaves, a chill in the air and the welcome return of football. This year, the auto business is experiencing some tough challenges brought on by daunting economic and industry conditions. Your dealership’s team has a job to do, and trade-ins can be part of a winning strategy for keeping your used car inventory stocked and your cash flow moving.
To lead your team to victory, you can take a cue from the inspirational pep talks football coaches use to help their players turn the game around. So, here are some encouraging words about how your dealership can utilize a digital solution to dig deep and overcome some of the obstacles you’re up against when it comes to trade-in titling.
The Need for A Clearer View of the Field
Let’s say you have a customer who’s ready to buy a vehicle – and they have a trade-in that you know is in demand. If they don’t have title in hand and you use a manual process to obtain one, it could be weeks before you can be 100% sure you’re in the clear and that there are no surprises like a former spouse as co-lienholder or wrong addresses to impede your progress.
Keep Deals from Getting Sacked
If you do encounter one of those payoff surprises, what you thought was a touchdown could end up being a costly sack. If you can’t gain a clear title for a trade – especially if you’ve already re-sold it – you could be facing a very unhappy customer and an expensive loss.
A better strategy is to beef up your defensive line with a digital trade-in titling solution that allows you to see full title details before you decide to take in a trade. That way, you have the information you need to anticipate anything that might tackle the deal so you can take the appropriate action before it’s too late.
Improve Your Inventory Game
Between car buyers’ understandable budget concerns and unusually low levels of new car inventory, used cars are having a moment in the spotlight for dealerships. Trade-ins play a big role in keeping a dealership’s used car inventory lineup solid, so it helps to optimize your payoff and title release process to not only avoid any payoff surprises, but also help keep trade-in inventory moving.
Outrun Cash Flow Interference
Manual payoff and title release takes an average of 18 or more days according to Dealertrack data. While trade-ins sit idle, you’re not yet realizing a profit on your investment. At the same time, holding costs add up until the title arrives, further impeding your profit opportunity.
Even if you’re planning on auctioning the vehicle, having the title in hand nearly doubles your chances of first pass sale at auction1 – and until the title arrives, your cash flow on the sale is held back while you wait.
Using a digital trade-in titling solution to expedite title release from key lenders can get your trade-in inventory in play faster by reducing the time spent waiting from weeks to days. That way you’ll get to the cash flow goalpost more quickly, regardless of whether you re-sell trades on your lot or at auction.
Want to learn how Dealertrack Accelerated Title trade-in titling solution can help you reach your dealership’s inventory turn goal lines more quickly? Visit our feature page for more information and to request a demo.
12018 (1.6X) Manheim Articles “Impact of Delayed Titles at Auction
