As supply levels continue to drop amid the chip shortage, dealers are facing a competitive second half of the year that is going to require a new level of strategic action. According to data uncovered and forecasted by AlixPartners, inventories are currently down 70 percent since the start of the year but should begin to recover by the fourth quarter, assuming no other disruptions crop up.

With all facets of the automotive industry continuing to work hard towards recovery, dealers are continuing to prioritize inventory sourcing to fill their lots, but must also continue engaging prospects throughout their shopping journey.  As the saying goes, time is money, and that should especially be considered through the lens of current economic challenges. Here’s how—with one simple tool—dealers can strategically pinpoint opportunities while saving their time and money right now:

Use A Tool with Unparalleled Advantages

The market is becoming increasingly competitive in the fight for inventory and customers, and there simply isn’t room to lose revenue opportunities. But with the current labor shortage, there may also not be enough staff to support new endeavors. Affinitiv Quote, a dealership equity tool that helps uncover hidden prospects, makes it easy to continuously engage database customers—without any action required by dealership staff. Here are three unparalleled advantages to Affinitiv Quote:

1) Launch Control: Equity Communication Targeting
Identifying timing based on payment intervals, debunking automation

2) High-Performance Handling: Unknown Payment Customers
Leveraging DMS data for estimated payoffs, loan payoff integrations

3) Intelligent Navigation: Trade-Up Predictions
Predictive analytics as a guide, AI-based notifications, strength of AI-scoring

Uncovering a heap of precise opportunities, Quote makes it easy to start the right conversation with service lounge customers or send targeted e-mail campaigns that push new vehicle inventory and trade for quality, pre-owned vehicles. A next-level tool so efficient and impressive, it even sends Trade-Up Prediction AI alerts to dealers identifying which customers are most likely to buy.

Create Ideal Predictions

More accurate predictions will result in more precise offers—it’s that simple. That’s why Affinitiv Quote has been proven to increase purchases by 10x when prospects were identified using the AI-driven prediction tool. Estimating payoffs and payments for unknown customers has never been simpler. These estimated payoffs and payments can be directly presented to service-only customers, rather than assuming their potential trade is owned outright. Which, as we all know, will ultimately drive the wrong conversation. By using Affinitiv Quote’s proprietary technology, dealers can deliver the right message with more accurate payment offers.

With the Trade Prediction Score (TPS), Quote uses DMS data to pinpoint which customers are more likely to trade. To start, Quote analyzes key ownership lifecycle data points in the DMS like vehicle mileage, monthly payments, vehicle age, high dollar repair orders, declined repairs, warranty expiration, and many more. Then, predictive analytics identify customers most likely to buy, providing a score from 0 to 100. The higher the score, the more likely the customer is motivated to trade. Factors like high mileage, out of factory warranty, high-interest rate loans, and monthly payment savings will result in a higher score. This technology utilizes all the valuable data that every dealership has, and it’s totally untapped. Quote is even more unmatched, in that it goes beyond just tapping into this useful data—the AI machine learning helps this tool become even better over time.

Implement Effective Equity Communications

Once the top-rated prospects have been identified, they must be met with an effective equity communications strategy. Because of this, Affinitiv Quote developed a highly customized cadence based on payment intervals along with a side-by-side comparison of their current vehicle. These cadences drive valued customers to action by providing carefully considered offers and communicating only when it makes sense.

As customers receive communications based on their current payment relative to the new payment, they are segmented into groups to receive the most appropriate communications. With these groups and messages that escalate timing and urgency, the final communication pushes how important it is for the customer to trade—and how much money they will save should they do so. 

With precise targeting of equity communications, leveraging data to project payoffs and payments for service-only customers, and leveraging untapped DMS data to determine those most likely to purchase, Quote is a crucial component in helping to maximize dealership efficiency and revenue. It has become a game-changing tool for dealerships, especially when facing today’s industry challenges.

While vehicle prices continue to rise, sales could slow down as consumers are being warned to purchase now before prices further escalate. It’s more important than ever to provide curated options—to those most likely to purchase—and take the guesswork out of their shopping journey. This thoughtful and frictionless experience can be so memorable that it ultimately helps build trust and loyalty for the entire dealership, creating even more opportunities for retention.

In uncertain times ahead, this strong relationship between dealership and client will be critical. Once the automotive industry fully restabilizes after another tough year, dealers need to be top of mind to resume all plans for continued growth.

Take action now! Make equity mining part of your dealership’s sales strategy to create more operational efficiency, and ultimately, more sales. Contact us today.