“If you have to feed it you lost money” That was my Grand Pa’s saying, he was a cattle trader in West Texas for his entire life.
Everyone is hyped about acquiring used inventory right now, snapping up cars from the public, locking in trade-ins, and grabbing off-lease gems. That’s the “ingestion” side of the business according to Danny Zaslavsky of VINCUE, and yeah, it’s important real important. However, if you don’t have an equally solid plan for moving that metal—aka “digestion”—you’re just stockpiling a parking lot full of unsold potential.
Turning inventory, every 15 days is a finely tuned engine that buys smart and sells smarter. You need both halves working together—because what good is acquiring the hottest cars if they just sit on your lot collecting dust, and if you’re waiting for it to “Be Found” online well many times you’re too late and your fate is left to the market, not a great spot to be in.
Step 1: Ingest Like a Pro—But Be Selective
Want to win at inventory management? It starts with strategic acquisition. Just grabbing cars left and right isn’t going to cut it. You need a targeted, strategic data-driven approach. Here’s how:
BUY what’s selling. I know it sounds ridiculously obvious—acquire vehicles that are actually in demand but too many times we get caught up in what the cars are worth vs WHAT WE CAN SELL THE CAR FOR. Stay on the market if the car moves, bid it for what you can sell it for NOT WHAT IT IS WORTH WHOLESALE YOU’RE NOT GOING TO WHOLESALE IT, study local trends, and be laser-focused on high-turn models and pay what it takes to get the unit.
Use multiple acquisition channels. Trade-ins, auctions, and off-lease units are the usual suspects—spread out your sourcing so you’re never stuck depending on just these pipelines.
Source your sales staff – as they see units for sale ask them to take a picture and text back a photo of the license plate and contact information on the for-sale sign.
Source with local repair shops for customers who are looking at a high bill. Tell them they will still get the repairs at retail if they finish at retail time.
You should have a constant campaign reaching out to your existing customers from your CDP to purchase high-value vehicles customers can trade or sell.
EVERYONE is your acquisition dream team. Incentivize the entire staff to promote vehicle acquisition wherever they are. When someone unsuspected makes an acquisition connection and you win make it a really big deal.
Play the long game with customers. Start engaging owners the day they buy to trade in with your dealership and have a “Vehicle Upgrade Program” or “Vehicle Buy Back Program”. Build relationships so that when they’re ready to sell, they come to you first. Get an example of a Vehicle Buy Back Program here.
Step 2: Digest That Inventory—Sell Like a Beast
A dealership that’s great at acquiring but bad at selling is like a chef who buys premium steak but burns it on the grill. If you want fast-turning, high-margin sales, here’s what you need to do:
Train your sales team like elite closers. People can always find cheaper somewhere else, not just price. Articulating value isn’t just about the car, your dealership is in this too. NOT JUST WHY BUY THIS CAR, BUT WHY BUY IT HERE. If your dealership doesn’t have USPs (Unique Selling Propositions) get some. If you’d like help click here you can download our list of top 10 dealership USPs that will drive leads, separate your dealership, and help hold gross profit.
Use data to drive sales. Smart pricing, personalized offers, and market-based strategies should all be part of your playbook. HOWEVER YOUR BIGGEST DATA STRATEGY IS YOUR EXISTING CUSTOMER BASE. Before the car even gets out of recon the customers who are in your customer base that have been looking for that vehicle type, make or model should have already been contacted, it should already be in your featured units on your website. The time to focus on selling the unit is before it ever hits the lot.
Make trade-ins easy and profitable. A streamlined appraisal process and a fair, transparent trade-in offer turn "maybe" into "let’s do this.”
Train on the trade-in walk around – This seems to be a lost art but if you want to be able to justify what you are giving for a trade you better have the customer see you have looked over their vehicle carefully and that you are a professional. Walk around the trade-in touching every dent and ding. Run your finger down the seams of the hood and quarter panels *Pro Tip if it feels rough it’s a repaint, ask “Has this been painted?” and you’ll get a reaction. You cannot justify a car’s value if you haven’t taken the time to know the car.
**Another Pro Tip – never give more for a trade-in WITHOUT giving a reason why you are giving more. Here are a few word tracks you can use…
“Do you have the manuals and maintenance records for the car? I can give you more if you have them.”
Does the vehicle have a full-size spare?
Did you have an extended warranty or maintenance contract on the vehicle? That can show our buyers that you likely kept the car up and they will give more in many cases. *** Also helps set up finance for the warranty or maintenance contract sale.
Recondition strategically. The right fixes can skyrocket a car’s appeal. The wrong ones just drain cash. Know the difference.
Set up buy centers. Some people want to sell their cars but aren’t looking to buy. Go to them to help them offload it make it effortless to sell—and expand your inventory pipeline in the process. Your buy centers are not just places to sell cars they are monetized billboards for your dealership. DO NOT GO FOR THE CHEAPEST RENT! Place your buy centers in strip malls where there is a popular grocery store! Have your buy center staff up the customers that are walking in the grocery store and apprise their car while they shop! Place flyers for a free car wash and appraisal while you shop.
THE OPPORTUNITIES ARE EVERYWHERE TO ACQUIRE VEHICLES BUT YOU WILL HAVE TO MAKE THEM THEY WILL NOT FALL IN YOUR LAP!
Why Balancing Both Matters
Here’s the hard truth: a dealership that’s great at bringing in inventory but struggles to move it is a sinking ship. And a dealership that sells fast but can’t source the right cars is setting itself up for disaster.
The ones that win? They balance Intake to sale like pros. They acquire it strategically, which means they know how they are going to sell it before they ever buy the car. They sell intelligently, and they use data to fine-tune every step and their customer base to accelerate the turn.
If you get this right, you’re not just running a dealership—you’re running a money-printing machine. Higher turn. More profit. More customer loyalty. And best of all? You leave your competitors wondering how the hell you do it.
Time to step it up step in and make it happen.
