When it comes to battling adversity as a business, sometimes the only thing we can do is look for aspects that remain within our control. Over the past year we’ve often pivoted to operate within the different regulations that have a direct impact on dealership operations – in-store shopping, closed to the public, open by appointment only, to name a few. While these unprecedented times resulted in steep learning curves, they also opened the doors to strategize and plan the different areas of your dealership, often resulting in optimizing processes you currently have in place.
Reconditioning plays a huge role in your dealership’s success, and, when done effectively, makes a positive impact to your profits. We have witnessed, first-hand, that investing in a reconditioning strategy that works for your dealership is key to your bottom-line.
The path to reconditioning success starts with having a strong plan in place, as well as a solid process to manage that plan, ensuring vehicles move swiftly through each stage. You want your eyes and ears on where a vehicle is at. Mike Boyd, founder of iRecon Used Car Reconditioning software and an innovative mind in the automotive industry, outlines some key considerations to get to the bottom of how efficient your reconditioning process is:
- Is your reconditioning completed on or off-site?
- Do you need to move your vehicles off the lot to be reconditioned?
- Do you always know what stage of the process a vehicle is at?
- Do you have clear communication with your reconditioning vendors?
- Does your team know the status of every vehicle?
- What is your reconditioning end goal? Do you want to spend less time? Spend less money?
Looking at some of these questions you may be thinking, “I can cut down on time spent if I look for a vendor closer to me” or “I spend way too much time tracking down vehicles”. These are the types of queries that Mike and his team use to evaluate a dealer’s current used car reconditioning process and help them establish and execute a strategy and plan to get them to where they want to be.
The answers to these questions are all baked into vAuto’s Used Vehicle Reconditioning Software, iRecon. Mike and his team help dealers like you rethink their reconditioning strategy to not only help them feel more confident with their plan, but also, to save money and increase profits. After establishing the desired end state, they work with each dealer to put a plan together that works for them.
A critical step in the journey to used car reconditioning process is the ability to make nimble decisions in order to take action sooner, thus getting the vehicle ready for your used car lot without delay. iRecon provides real-time notifications and reports to track the status of each vehicle, so that if it gets stalled at any point, you can take immediate action by communicating with your vendors. What makes this process even more convenient is the iRecon mobile app, which enables you to have your reconditioning in the palm of hands – quite literally.
Through the iRecon mobile app you can send and receive photos, as well as leverage advanced features, such as VIN scanning and location tracking to find a vehicle at any time. Each vehicle can have a customized reconditioning plan, that are, of course, simple to action through the Quick Plan Templates feature. Successful reconditioning is not only about making a vehicle look great, but moreover, saving you time and optimizing your daily operations.
iRecon helps dealers achieve unmatched results. Think about it this way, for every 2.5 days saved in your time to sale, your business will instantly recognize the benefit. It’s the equivalent of adding an additional inventory turn. Just imagine having a 13th month of sales to make this year your best yet!
While the reconditioning process and results will be different for your individual dealership’s needs, these time and cost savings are too good to pass up. When multiple cars get hung up in the process, this spirals even further, ultimately putting a dent in your bottom line.
The sooner you re-evaluate your plan and take action, the faster you’ll start seeing results you didn’t even know you could achieve.
