Perfecting The Appraisal Process

We learned during last week’s All Things Used Cars how many of our dealer friends have perfected their appraisal strategies to ensure a win-win for both dealer and customer. Here are a few of their noteworthy tips:

🏁 Start the appraisal process right away.

•  From the moment the customer enters the showroom, make sure everyone in the dealership makes them feel very welcome. Provide a world-class meet and greet.
•  Over-offer them coffee, drinks, snacks. Nearly annoy them with how generous your dealership is.

🤝 Create favor rather than friction.

• The interaction should be overwhelmingly positive whether the customer is with you during the walk-through or not. Build them up and compliment their vehicle (even if it looks and smells like an actual dumpster fire).
•  Let the customer know that you’re on the same team. Adamantly convey that you want to get them the most money for their trade. You want your customer to feel they are in a better position at your dealership than anywhere else they’d take their car. 
• In the past, many have been taught to devalue a customer’s used car in order to offer as little as possible. This often creates tension with the customer who can end up feeling exploited and undervalued. You’re less likely to get a positive result from a negative interaction. 

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🛠️ Use tools to help you accurately calculate the value.

• Many factors can actually increase the value of a customer’s car such as an upgraded stereo or a high-demand paint color. Bring those to the customer’s attention first to help further convey that you want to get them the best price for their car.
• Always have and share your data with the customer. Transparency can help win the deal.

🔍 Be thorough in your inspection.

• This is not where you want to be cutting corners. Test all of the power features, look underneath, test drive, etc. Look over every inch. 
• ATUC also provided plenty more tips on what to keep your eyes peeled for during their 100th episode. You can check it out here.

🎯 Mitigate your misses to reduce your errors.

• Watch out for things like overpaid trade-ins and missed reconditioning costs. Keep track so that you can identify issues early and always perfect your process.

Listen to the full replay on Clubhouse here!