Retail vs wholesale

The decision to come back to Inventory+ started with key part of Motors Northwest’s used car retailing process that served as an indicator of the fundamental difference between to two competing products.

“We write a description for every one of our cars,” JT said. “We send our cars out to a reconditioning place and have photos taken of them, and then we write a custom description for every single car that comes into inventory.”

The new tool didn’t allow JT and his team to do that, which impacted their ability to retail their inventory the way they wanted.

“Maybe you have to lean one way or the other, but I would tell you your competitor’s solution leans into the wholesale side of buying, marketing, and reselling your cars. And Inventory+ leans toward the retail side of marketing and selling your car,” JT said.

Focus on profit with TrueTarget

The biggest flaw in the wholesale approach is that it aims to help dealerships turn over their inventory quickly but sacrifices profit margins to do so.

“Your competitor turns everything into a race to the bottom. All they want to do is tell you how to become the cheapest car out there and sell as quickly as you can, for the cheapest possible price,” JT said.

To stay out of that “race to the bottom,” Motors Northwest relies heavily on TrueTarget to make informed pricing decisions that take all factors into account and help protect their profit margins from the start.

“It’s really important to know how I do with a Ford Mustang, but also how my local market does with a Ford Mustang,” JT said. “TrueTarget is really, really nice to have because it helps me make the most money possible on each car."

At Motors Northwest, the impact of TrueTarget can be felt beyond the standard appraisal process. JT and his team also use the reports while negotiating with customers during the sales process.

“We do it all the time when we’re in the middle of a sale and our cars are aggressively priced,” JT said. “We’ll print it out, hand it to the salesperson and have them show the customer. They know about Zillow for real estate, so we just tell them that this is like that for the automotive industry and that really helps.”