Used Car Business Development

Used Car Stock Acquisition 101!,,,, 

The Business That Controls Access To Used Car Stock, Controls Access To Used Car Customers! 

Welcome to the third article in my series of articles further exploring and expanding upon the pieces of used car stock acquisition advice published in the article below, which was originally written for my Used Car Business Development Blog; 

Used Car Stock Acquisition 101! 

The second article in the series being; Used Car Stock Acquisition 101!,,,, Successful Used Car Stock Acquisition Professionals Are Not Buying Used Car Stock From Auctions!  Can be found here. 

Now the statement making up the heading of this article is another vital piece of used car stock acquisition understanding, one heavily linked to one of the other pieces of advice in the original list; Selling is not the most important discipline within your business, buying is! 

There are many used car business development benefits that your business will enjoy from fully understanding and embracing the importance of the statement in the heading. The main one being that you can transition the mentality within, along with the operational capability of your used car business, from one of “Finding Used Cars For Customers” (something that is a complete waste of time and verging on impossible in the used car markets of today) to one that “Finds Customers For Used Cars!” A huge operational and retailing difference. 

But there is a catch; you can only make this transition if you understand and embrace the importance of the statement above. And this is something I suspect the independent online (so called) disruptors (their description of their business not mine) understand; the likes of Cinch, Cazoo and Carwow. 

However, as much as I suspect that the companies listed above may have a deeper understanding of the importance of fully understanding and embracing the advice in the heading, (than manufacturers and their franchise dealer networks), there is a fatal flaw in all their business models; they don’t manufacture anything! So in effect they are reliant on the used car stock acquisition ignorance of manufacturers and their franchise partners, in order to have a business; the harsh truth being that none of the above should’ve ever had a business in the first place! 

Anyway, back to the importance of embracing the heading for the article; something linked to an understanding of customer behaviour, when they are looking for their next used car purchase. As much the internet has expanded the retailing reach of all used car businesses, it has also changed consumer behaviour, to the point where loyalty and obligation are hard to build, without that is, used car stock holdings large enough to generate increased enquiry levels. 

Unfortunately the internet age means that customers looking for a used car are unlikely to wait; they are blessed with easy to access market information so will find the car they want, and will only contact your business if you have the car they want in stock; or if their perception is that you are likely to have it. Ergo the more used cars you have in stock, the more enquiries you will generate and the more opportunities to do business. 

All used car businesses get the enquires (therefore the customers) they deserve and this is entirely dictated by your ability to acquire profitable used car stock holdings; and in volume. At the start of their purchasing journey used car customers have no loyalty other than the desire to purchase a certain profile of used car, and the modern world makes it easy to find examples from their smartphone. Therefore the business with the largest used car stock holding controls access to the majority of customers, because in the internet age, it is the business the customer is going contact. 

From there, and providing the expertise and acumen is available, this is the business that can then go on to generate increased levels of used car profitability; by taking advantage of employing highly advanced used car retailing and acquisition initiatives. Those that their used car business can go on to exploit via the leveraging of increased levels of data, in order to further grow their used car business. 

There is a snow-ball effect, where once you have control of the customer via the purchase of their used car, the initiatives required to retain the customer and their car during their lifetime can then begin. 

However, to deliver you need to have the used car stock acquisition expertise required to make it a reality; something less than 5% of the people reading this will have, so achieving this retailing Status Quo remains the mountain you can’t climb. 

So in the used car markets to come, those with used car vehicle parks of 680,000 less vehicles, (in terms of available stock), my question to everyone would be; how well set up is your business to survive? In truth the vast majority aren’t. It is the inconvenient truth of our times that you can have the best people and operational procedures imaginable, but if you don’t have the professionals required to secure used car stock holdings in the volumes and at the prices required to remain profitable? Well then it is all going to be for nothing. 

I have observed how the used car stock acquisition landscape has evolved during the last 12-24 months and I promise the vast majority reading this, you will not be ready for how the acquisitions landscape has evolved; to the point where all those relying on the initiatives and skills of the recent past will be left floundering. 

For these businesses, those reactionary businesses purchasing stock on a hand to mouth basis and in the moment, (the “Just In Time” market), it will be a challenge to acquire used car stock at prices (and in the volumes) that ensure your business remains profitable. 

But there are others, albeit very few, those who (like me) spent the lock downs monitoring the market and rewriting previously very successful programmes of used car stock acquisition, from the ground floor up, in order to develop the programmes and initiatives required to ensure that used car stock holdings are being secured for future markets right now. And via campaigns and initiatives that will leave the competition with years of work to catch up; even if they can find the skills required already within the four walls of their business? 

The used car stock acquisition skills now required to secure success can’t be taught via any training programme, it is too fast moving a discipline and covering too vast an array of skills-sets. So in reality successful used car stock acquisition now necessitates an environment of strategic alliances via commercial arrangements. The market value of the skills involved would also make it too financially restrictive to employ genuinely successful used car stock acquisition professionals; there are too few of us, so for the moment those days are gone. 

That said I am working with 2 businesses building and delivering the used car stock acquisition programmes they require; having made a commitment to work with three at all times. So for those grasping the seriousness of their current situation and wanting to take immediate action, I will be working with another business over the next 12 months, in order to deliver the used car stock acquisition expertise and initiatives required, for that business to survive and prosper in the used car market to come. 

Should you wish to explore synergies and the potential to collaborate in this regard, please do not hesitate to contact me via LinkedIn, so we can arrange a mutually convenient time for an exploratory call. 

Andrew.